Chapter Twenty-six

After agreeing on photography plans for Sonya’s Ryder Sports pitch, Corrine reflects on Johanna: their sisterlike bond, Johanna’s values, her joyous garden wedding to Collin, and the sudden fatal fall. Corrine recalls seeing Johanna’s spirit in her wedding dress urging her to comfort Collin and keep living. The memory deepens Sonya’s understanding of Johanna and affirms placing Johanna’s portrait in the music room.

Post-visit, Sonya walks Yoda and meets Trey, noting the Gold Room window slamming. Owen arrives, detours to Cleo’s studio, and is moved by her unfinished mermaid painting. They strike a trade: Owen will build Cleo a wooden Sunfish in exchange for the painting when finished.

Joined by the dogs, the group searches the attic for the elusive mirror, uncovering furniture and curios—including Cleo’s chosen chest and a flamboyant lamp—but not the mirror. Trey and Owen then secretly test the haunted wing. The corridor grows unnaturally cold; the Gold Room door shocks and bucks. Inside, wind roars, windows slam, a fire flares, and the walls bleed.

When Trey steps over the threshold, an unseen force hurls him into the wall, bloodying his nose. Sonya and Cleo rush in; Trey apologizes for the reckless side trip. He reports a brief sighting of a black-haired woman in black—Hester—concluding many effects are illusions since the curtains never moved and Hester could not, or would not, cross the doorway.

They stand down for the day. Owen will stay overnight, cook breakfast, and later join Sonya’s Ryder shoot (with Cleo for yoga and Trey for baseball), while the team plans to continue the search in the basement next.