[the four elements -- Ruth]

Jamie pulled up in front of the house and double-checked the address on her
list. The house was modest, even tiny compared to anything built more
recently. Simple clapboard shutters at the windows, and a plain, white door.
She knocked timidly, and she wasn't sure it was loud enough. She was about
to knock again, bolstering herself to knock more loudly, when the door
opened.

A young man, not much older than she, if at all, answered.  She faltered for
a moment. "Is Jackie Woods here?"

The young man smiled at her, and she decided that she liked him and wasn't
sure why. Something about him seemed deeply kind, she supposed. "She's at
meeting. She'll be back about noon."

"Oh." She must have looked more disappointed than she thought she let on,
because the young man continued.

"Meeting is next door. She always stays to chat, but meeting's over in ten
minutes, more or less. If you step in quietly, you can find her. She's got a
long silver braid. You won't miss her."

"Thank you!" She was at once relieved and again timid. 

She walked across the neat lawn to the low brick building next door. The
door was the same plain, white, simple door, but she decided it looked
inviting. She lifted the latch and stepped inside. 

There were thirty people, she figured, and all sitting quietly. A few turned
to look at her as she stepped in, and she whispered "Sorry!". The few smiled
at her and nodded, then turned back. She blushed fiercely.

She spotted who she thought must be Jackie Woods. The long silver braid was
indeed the give-away, hanging like a giant rope down her back, thick and
strong. She spoke. "Thank you all, friends."

The group murmured "Thank you", and everyone rose to life, no longer quiet.
Groups formed, a few left, and someone brought out a pitcher of tea and
another of lemonade.

Jackie came right to her. "What brings you here?"

Jamie decided she liked her right away. She saw the same kindness that the
boy next door had, and she decided she liked how crisply she spoke.

"I.. I came to ask you if you knew an Eleanor Black."

The woman smiled broadly, crows feet leaping up around her eyes, and her
blue eyes twinkled. "Yes I do. She was a dear friend for many years. A
friend of all of us."

Jamie felt like she'd struck the jackpot, and at the same time felt at a
loss for words. 

"What do you want to know about her? What brings you here, now?"

"I... Um." She stammered. "Well, the boy next door said you'd be here."

"That's my son, Christopher."

"Well, Christopher said I could find you here. I .. well, I'm trying to
unravel something of a mystery."

She told her about the attic-room, and the hints that the farm had once had
more interesting inhabitants than it now did.