Chapter Five

After a peaceful evening on the deck, Sonya and Trey plan a weekend sail with friends. In their room, Dobbs pounds from above, but Sonya and Trey choose intimacy over fear, reaffirming their connection and belief that love can withstand the haunting.

In the morning, the group conducts a systematic attic search. They uncover a tulipwood desk with a locked center drawer and, using a taped key, find Marianne Louise Poole’s diary and pressed bouquet flowers. Entries capture Marianne’s joyful wedding day and her late-term hopes for twins amid the Civil War, underscoring the poignancy of her brief life.

They establish a guest office with the desk, a fitting chair, and lamps, then rearrange furniture for flow. Sonya begins cooking pulled pork while the others continue organizing. They find children’s drawings, including Jack’s detailed sketch of the manor with Dobbs looming on the widow’s walk amid storm clouds, confirming he had seen her. Sonya leaves a sketchbook and pencils in the kitchen “For Jack,” which later vanish, suggesting the gift was accepted.

Back in the attic, a rush of cold and a red glow from the Gold Room signal Dobbs’s displeasure, but the group presses on. Sonya finds a washstand holding tarnished silver collar stays monogrammed HCP, connecting daily artifacts to Hugh Poole. Moved, she proposes a display cabinet in the Gold Room to present personal items—collar stays, Lisbeth’s pen, small keepsakes—alongside photos, building a living history of Poole Manor.

They continue curating: a hall rack, pitchers and bowls, and a trio of etched mirrors for the guest office. While no rings surface, the team advances the restoration, clarifies their larger quest for the seven rings, and notes that Dobbs’s interference is limited to cold drafts and ominous light.