The Vampire's Apprentice

"Sorry, I didn't mean to take us wrong," Norville said, backing up. He looked around. "The church is really pretty, though."
 
"Don't worry about it." Kitty let the glass door close, and she shrugged. "I do agree; it is a beautiful building. Wouldn't it be something if we lived in this area?"
 
"It reminds me a lot of pictures I've seen of England," Norville said. He grinned and lowered his voice. "For a place designed to celebrate the American Colonists declaring their independence from Britain, it sure is British!"
 
Sam gruffed, thinking she was talking to him, and trotted along beside her.
"So, where are we supposed to start?" Norville asked, grinning.
 
"Well, we can either check the map and find where we're really supposed to be," Kitty glanced over at him, slowing to match his pace, "or we can wander around a bit and then head back before..." she looked up at the sky, then in the direction of the sun, "about an hour from now, when Clancy wakes up."
 
"How about we wander in the direction we are supposed to be, and if we can find a tour easy enough, there we go! If not, we'll have a nice self-guided wander," Norville suggested, trying to walk and pull out the map at the same time. It was nearly worthy of a comedy routine.
 
She paused in her steps, letting him take out the map before continuing. "So, Master Map-Reader, where are he headed?"
 
"The... erm... wait..." He flipped the map over. "Got it! That way." He pointed left. "Yes, that way. I wish we had a GPS."
 
"Maybe," Kitty shrugged, following his direction. "Where's the adventure in knowing exactly where to be, though? Besides, you can't write on a GPS."
 
Alright, fair enough," Norville grinned and proceeded to guide her directly to where they were supposed to have ended up the first time.
 
And this time, they ended up exactly where they were meant to be. Another brick structure stood waiting for them, three stories high and covered in shuttered off-white windows. On the ground floor, it appeared as though the left side was a post office, denoted by the letters on the small balcony, reading "United States Post Office." To the left of that section was another two-window-wide segment of the brick building, two small pillars with a door between leading into the building; possibly a boarding house or something of the like. As well as having another unmarked post-office-like building beside them in the middle, the two rightmost parts of the structure followed the same homey pattern as the left side. In the center, extending inward from the wide sidewalk, was a tunnel, brick-red doors open wide for visitors to enter.
 
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"You know, it's funny, if a building makes it to a century, we consider it really old," Norville said, thoughtfully studying the building. "Over in England, two and three hundred years is pretty standard. Funny, isn't it? I think it's because we were founded by colonists for immediate survival instead of prosperity."
 
Kitty contemplated this. "I suppose that makes logical sense. I'd think the other part of it is that, for some reason, Americans enjoy tearing down older buildings to make way for the future...."
 
"True enough," Norville nodded. "Trouble is, a lot of the older buildings they tear down aren't that great to begin with. Now and then, though..."
 
"Hmm. I've never been to Idaho," she shrugged. "Personally, I enjoy the thought of old mansions and such. Y'know, like the ones in stories and stuff? With secret rooms, locked doors, ghost stories about the old man whom they say murdered three before taking his own– Maybe we should start the tour before it gets too late in the afternoon."
 
Norville chuckled and nodded. "I think that's the start over there," he said, pointing to a small group of people gathered around some kind of informative sign. "And, yeah, I gotta admit, the mansion idea is pretty cool. Who knows? Maybe if we stick with Clancy long enough, he'll take us somewhere like that."
 
On the inner-right wall of the tunnel was a small sign. Kitty nudged her way past the cluster of people to see what the sign said.

Benjamin Franklin went to and from his house through this original passage.
 
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