“Justin!” Susan exclaimed, with a smile. “Not so loud, they might hear you. I don’t really want the ‘boys’ to break anything.”

After taking the heavy briefcase from Susan, he slipped his arm around her waist and walked her to the SUV. He opened the door and placed the bag on the passenger seat. “Taking your office with you, feels like. Well, just don’t work too hard.” He closed the door as she adjusted her seatbelt. “Love ya, baby. Be careful, ‘kay.”

“Love you too, darling and I will be.” Susan leaned out the window and gave him a kiss, to the delight of the movers, who hollered in appreciation. She smiled and with a shake of her head started the vehicle and pulled away.

§ § §

Within ten minutes of leaving her house Susan found herself in a small rural town. She drove around aimlessly until she found the town’s library. It was a large white building with antebellum columns and wide stairs in the front, which led to a heavy set of solid oak doors. Standing in the grass to the side of the stairs was a sign proclaiming “Brackleburn Town Library.” As she climbed the stairs, Susan continued her study of the building and noticed that etched into the marble above the columns were the words “County Courthouse.”

“Well, if the library is in the building that once housed the courthouse, there must not be much crime in Burnsville,” Susan muttered to herself, as she pulled open one of the doors.

Walking across the foyer to a wall mounted map of the library, she was shocked to notice just how loudly her shoes echoed on the polished granite floors. Using her finger in the air to mark her progress, Susan scanned the index trying to figure out where to look first. She nearly jumped out of her shoes when she heard a soft voice from behind.

“You lost, honey? Can I help you?”

Susan turned around and saw a short, elderly woman dressed in a floor-length wool skirt and white ruffled linen shirt, her frail blue-veined hands clasped together, starring up at her. “Well, I’m planning to do some research this morning and I was trying to figure out where I would find old county records of births, marriages, deaths. That sort of thing,” Susan explained.

"Well, now, that would depend on when the events in question took place," the lady said in a whispery voice that was fragile with age. "If you're looking for records that are pre-50s, 1950s that is, those we store in the basement, protected from light and moisture. But, if you're looking for records after that time period, they can be found in the main county registers office on the second floor just to the left of the stairwell. Which is it, honey?"

"Basement it is I guess. I'm looking into events from around the turn of the century, the twentieth century," Susan answered before turning back to the map. "I can't seem to locate the stairs to the basement; do you know were how to get downstairs?"