He pointed to small stack. "This is what I'm taking to my new house," he said.
"Is that all?"
"Yup. Except for clothes. I'm going to have a new bed. Daddy said I could."
Karen showed little emotion as she walked me to her room across the hall from her brother's quarters. Her room was equally unreal, all lace and flowers presided over by perhaps a hundred ancient dolls. A doll house, large enough to house a family of dwarfs dominated the wall opposite a mammoth canopied bed. Karen's moving-to- Summerside pile contained a half dozen stuffed animals, scores of books and the bag containing the new clothing we purchased together. None of the dolls made the cut.
"May I have new clothes?" Karen asked timidly.
"Sure," I answered giving her a hug. "We can find a mall near Summerside. Aren't there some outfits you want to take?"
"Only socks and . . . other stuff like that in the bureau. There's a coat I like; not the dead animal one."
I smiled. "We can donate the rest of your outfits to a historical society!"
Thus, began my tour of Castle North. I'd been in awe seeing the place on my first visit and was equally overwhelmed by my indoor exploration. I lost count of the number of rooms after twenty, each filled with furnishings and antiques far too large and luxurious for our humble Summerside home. While I politely raved at the elegance, Karen waved it all away as 'opulence', her new pet word. I silently agreed. Timmy tagged along but soon lost interest and joined his father in the downstairs den, not the small sitting room I'd first visited, but a two-room suit adjacent to the dining room.
There were two master bedroom suites, one next to Karen's room that contained an abundance of hospital equipment with a connecting nurse's room quarters. Karen waved a hand to show it to me but remained in the hall. Nosy Sarah gave it a look-see. The large walk-in closet held scores of expensive wooden hangers but no clothes. The bureau drawers were also empty. The only sign of Paul's deceased wife was a beautiful comb and brush set atop the bureau. It looked like gold.
"Karen, I called. Why don't we take these?"
"No," she answered abruptly.
"You could use them on your beautiful long hair."
"I have my own brush."
I persisted. It was a beautiful set. "I thought you might like to have them as a remembrance of your mother."
"I don't need that thing to remember my mother."
"Let's take them anyway. Perhaps you'll feel differently when you're older." Karen turned on her heels and walked away.