Bystander in Time

by Richard Stockford

  “Well, you guys are welcome to hang out at my place if things get too intense around here,” Annie said. I know phantom footsteps in the night would certainly scare the bejeebers out of me.”

  D.J. looked up sharply. “I’m not scared,” he said. “Well. Maybe a little, but I just don’t like it here. This place is…I don’t know, just creepy…”

  Dex pushed back from the table. “Well, what I’m scared of are the cracked rafters I saw in the attic. Now I know why the roof is sagging. We’ve gotta get that fixed and the roof needs patching around the chimney too.” He sighed. “Look D.J., there’s a bit of a mystery around this house that I want to look into. I know really old buildings can be a little spooky, but there’s a lot of history here and I’d like us to hang in and figure it out. What do you say?”

  D.J. nodded reluctantly. “Yeah, I guess.” Then brightening, “I do know somebody who can probably fix the roof,” he said. He told them about Zachary and said he’d ask him about doing the job the next day. Hiding his skepticism, Dex suggested that he ask Zachary to call him first.

  Annie had a pensive look on her face. You know,” she said, “I don’t know much about the history of this house, but I bet the old lady at the end of the street does. Her name is Missus Kneeland, Maud I think, and I guess she’s a bit of a recluse. I don’t know her very well, but I do know she’s lived around here all of her life. Maybe we could talk to her.”

  “Good idea,” Dex said, “but first I want to do a little more research on my own.”

  “You know, Dad, I’ve been saving up for a metal detector,” D.J. said. “I bet there’s all kinds of old stuff I could find buried around here.”

  Dex nodded. “That’s not a bad idea,” he said. “We’d probably have to take a trip to ‘Ellsworth to find a good one, but that would be a great way for you to help.”

  “Well,” said Annie, “I was going out to do some shopping anyway. Why don’t I take D.J. with me and see what we can find?”

  When Annie and D.J. left, Dex settled in at his computer to do some serious research on the history of Southwest Harbor and its founding families. He just found an interesting article on the Quill Shipping Company when there was a knock at the kitchen door. He opened it to see a tall weathered-looking old man bent over examining the screen door.

  “Yer boy stopped by; said you might need some work done. Ya know ya got some rot here?” the man said prodding the door jamb with a horny finger.

  “Er, yes, Mister…”

  “Name’s Zachary Taylor. You’ll want to replace this whole frame, prob’ly some of the sill and sheathing too, we’ll see. I kin do that for ya.”

  “Well, there’re some other problems as well, Mister Taylor. Uh, what’s your hourly rate and, uh, could you give me some references?”

  Taylor frowned. “Don’t have any references ‘n we’ll settle up when the job’s done,” he said, “You’ll pay me what the job’s worth and if you don’t like my work, I guess you just don’t pay me a'tall. Now, I’ll go get some lumber and get started.” He started for his truck and then paused, giving Dex a long searching look. “I allus figured you’d come back to the harbor,” he said cryptically.

  Chapter 29

  Zachary Taylor returned with his pickup loaded down with lumber and tools and started tearing out the kitchen doorway. Dex tried to talk to the taciturn old man, explaining what else he wanted repaired, but Zach only grunted, “ya, ya we’ll take a look” without looking up from his work. Finally, Dex gave up and got out of the way.

  Annie and D.J. returned with Chinese take-out for supper and the news that the stores in Ellsworth didn’t have the metal detector D.J. wanted. After they ate, Dex found one on the internet and ordered it, paying the extra for second day delivery. Spending the rest of the evening researching the Quill family online, he learned that Weldon Quill had established a successful business as an exporter of lumber and seafood in the late 1700’s, but could find no mention of the family prior to that time. The family business appeared to have gradually declined from a high point around the time of the Civil War and ended in the mid 1900’s with the death of the father of the woman who’d last occupied the Quill house.

  Dex shut down the computer at eleven o'clock and made his way up to bed after checking the locks. He'd undressed, turned out the light and was just getting into bed when the house reverberated with a loud crash and a louder yell from D.J.'s room. Dex jumped off the bed and ran into the hall, nearly tripping as Stanley bolted between his legs growling and spitting as he descended the stairs in two gigantic bounds. D.J. was huddled on the floor by his bed moaning in terror.

  “What happened,” shouted Dex grabbing at his shoulder.

  “T...there was some one here,” D.J. sobbed. “A man, right there.” He pointed at the foot of his bed.

  The room was obviously empty and Dex was sure no one had gotten by him in the hall. “Easy D.J.,” he said. “You had a nightmare.”

  “No I didn't. I was awake. I heard you come up and then you turned off your light and I looked up and he was standing right there.”

  “D.J., there's no one here.”

  “But I saw him, Dad. He was all dressed in black 'n he was just staring at me.” D.J. got to his feet. “I told you there was a ghost,” he said voice cracking. “I'm not staying in here.”

  Dex snorted. “Well, the only alternative is the carriage house and I don't think I'd recommend that,” he said recalling his own nightmare of the previous week. “Come on, let’s look around.”

  Once again Dex and D.J. scoured the house and found no answer. D.J. spent the rest of the night in his sleeping bag in Dex's room, but neither of them got much sleep.

  The next day, Zach returned and announced that he would take D.J. on as a helper. “I’m gonna need a second set of hands,” he explained lifting his head towards the ceiling, “Ya know ya got some busted rafters up there? Roof leaks too; house has prob’ly settled around the chimney a little.”

  “Can you fix ghosts,” D.J. muttered.

  Zachary chuckled and brushed the remark aside. “Old place got some quirks?” he asked. “'Minds me of some other old places around here. Ya just gotta ignore 'em 'n get on with your business. Now, you ready to get to work, boy?”

  D.J. seemed a little reluctant to return to the second floor, but Dex noticed that the two of them were soon thick as thieves as they planned the rest of the work on the house, the ghost apparently forgotten.

  Dex and Annie spent the morning sorting through the carriage house; separating boxes of old papers and faded photographs from the junk and broken furniture and stacking them by the door for further examination. Uneasy in the old building, Dex told Annie about the nightmares he and D.J. experienced. “I'm starting to think there's something wrong with this place,” he said. “Nightmares, strange footsteps, anonymous notes, a crazy cat; what's next, zombies?”

  After a break for lunch, they drove down to the house at the end of the road. It was a small gray clapboard cottage under a curling shingle roof sitting on a small lot that was surrounded by woods on three sides. There were neat flower beds along the short front walk and white trellises stood on either side of the front door. There was no car in the driveway alongside the house, and no response to their knock, but there was a folded piece of the familiar notepaper taped to the front door. Dex read the cryptic contents aloud; 'Gone to the City. Talk to you in a few days. Be careful!' “Well, at least we finally know where the notes are coming from,” he said. “I can't wait to find out what in hell this is all about.”

  When Dex and Annie got back to Quill house, D.J. ran out to meet the truck. “Zach has gone to get some more lumber, but we figured out about the ghost upstairs,” he yelled. “Come look at this.” He led them into the living room saying, “Wait here,” and ran up the stairs. After a moment, he called, “OK, come on up.” They had no sooner gotten upstairs and looked in the empty bedrooms than D.J.’s voice floated up from the living room. “I’m down here, guys.”
Downstairs, he stood with a broad grin before a narrow opening to the right of the fireplace where the bookcase had hinged back into the wall. A dozen very steep and narrow stairs, wedged between the backsides of plaster and lathe walls, led up to the closet in the main bedroom. The fit of the woodwork was so precise that, even knowing the doors were there, Dex could not see the joints.

  “There’s your logical explanation. He came down and went out through the kitchen while we were searching the bedrooms,” D.J. said.

  “OK,” Dex said slowly, “now we just need to know who he was, how did he get in and why was he here in the first place.”

  “I bet he was a burglar looking for the treasure,” D.J. said.

  “What treasure?” Dex and Annie said at the same time.

  “Uh, well Zach said there was supposed to be a treasure somewhere around here. He said that Quill guy was a pirate and his ship got blown up out in the harbor and he prob’ly had a diving bell and…”

  Dex sighed. “Look D.J.,” he said, “Zach seems to be an interesting character and he’s a pretty good carpenter, but you need to keep an open mind about this pirate story. Those kind of tales…”

  “No, it’s true,” D.J. interrupted, “I’ve seen some of the treasure. Zach found it in the harbor, and there’s more and it’s prob’ly around here somewheres ‘cause Zach says Quill was the pirate. Me ‘n Oscar ‘r going to look for it with the metal detector.”

  “But we looked, D.J. and there’s no record of any pirate battle in this area. If all that happened here don’t you think there’d be some record?”

  “Zach says no one but him knows about it ‘cause almost all the pirates were killed, and then Quill pretended to be a trader or something but he’s got a gold bar. It's real, I’ve seen it.”

  Dex held up his hands in resignation. “OK, ok, fine. Look around with the metal detector or whatever. All I’m asking is that you keep an open mind and don’t get carried away with it.”

  Annie left to work on a painting and when Zachary returned, Dex met him at this truck. “Zach, D.J. showed me the hidden passageway you found. That’s pretty cool. He probably told you about the intruder we apparently had.”

  “Well, those passageways are not unheard of in these real old houses,” the old man said. “Not so much meant to be hidden as just sort of an unfinished back stairway.” His lips pursed behind his beard. “Only thing is,” he said slowly, “them steps were pretty dusty when I opened the door. Didn't look to me like they’d been used in a long, long time.”

  In his own mind, Dex really hadn't believed in D.J.'s burglar theory, but it wasn't something he wanted to dwell on, so he just shrugged and nodded. “He also told me about the pirate ship that sank in the harbor and the treasure you’re looking for.”

  Zachary looked away. “The boy tells me you’re a history professor,” he said after a moment. “I expect you’ll appreciate that things get lost to history. No one sees or no one remembers and pretty soon it’s like something never happened a'tall. Or maybe someone lies and everyone believes 'em. I know there was a treasure ‘cause I found some of it. In my younger days I dived off the mouth of that harbor and I found some gold and the busted up remains of an armed sailing vessel, all scattered to hell and gone in sixty feet of water. People think I’m crazy ‘n that’s ok, but I know what I know, and I know it all started with the man that built this house. And speaking of that, even though no one knows about the pirate ship, no one in town would be surprised if there was a treasure buried around here somewhere. Around this house I mean. Old man Quill, the first one, was a rich man, but after he died, the family went to hell. They say he hid his money where his kids couldn’t find it,” he chuckled, “or took it with him. I’d as soon believe one as the other. Anyway, I've wanted to poke around this property, but I never had an invite. Now that I'm here, I’d appreciate your permission to look around a little.”

  As Dex listened, he heard honest conviction and reason in the old man’s voice. He made a decision, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to look around,” he said. “I’ll even dig a little deeper on the research side, but I want your word that you won’t let D.J. get too carried away with some fanatical treasure hunt.”

  Zachary nodded. “I’ve looked for years,” he said. “Steady and methodical, but never fanatical. The boy’s curious and it’s an adventure, but I won’t let it get out of hand.”

  “Thank you. By the way, what did you mean the other day when you said you always knew I’d come back here?”

  Zachary looked away again. “I guess I had a notion that I might have seen you here before,” he said. “Prob’ly thinking of some somebody else.”

  Dex heard the evasiveness, but decided not to pry. “Oh. Alright, let me give you a hand with that lumber.”

  Chapter 30

  The next morning, Dex spent some more time on his research of the history of Southwest Harbor. In looking at the Native American history of the area, he found that there were no known permanent Indian settlements, but that many tribes spent the summer months on the island clamming and fishing. Among a collection of Native American folklore he found several curious references to ‘ships that battled with fire and thunder’ but no specifics as to date or location.

  Around ten o’clock, a familiar brown truck pulled into the driveway and D.J ran out to collect his metal detector. At the kitchen table he tore apart the cardboard box to reveal a Garrett AT Pro metal detector complete with manual and headphones. Having already read the user’s manual online, he had four AA batteries ready and moments later bolted for the back yard to try his luck. Dex got a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and followed more slowly, curious but not expecting much. To his surprise, D.J. was already digging his heel into the grass to mark a spot a couple of feet from the steps. “I need a shovel,” he said excitedly.

  Dex reached into the carriage house and grabbed house grabbed a long-handled spade and handed it to D.J. and a moment later the two of them were kneeling on the lawn staring at a large, dirt-encrusted silver coin.

  “It looks like it’s a British half crown,” Dex said peering at his computer screen. They had brought the coin in and cleaned it at the sink finding the date 1759 on its badly worn surface.

  “Wow,” breathed D.J. “That proves there really is treasure here.”

  “Not necessarily,” cautioned Dex, just a little excited in spite of himself, “It probably just dropped out of someone’s pocket. There were all kinds of coins in daily use around here back in revolutionary times.”

  Zachary come down from where he was working in the attic and stopped to peer over Dex’s shoulder at the picture on the computer screen. “I kin show you three more just like that,” he said. “Found ‘em off Sutton Island.”

  D.J.’s eyes widened. “I’m gonna’ call Oscar and find some more,” he shouted running for the door.

  When Annie stopped by an hour later, she was met with the curious sight of D.J. and another boy pacing the back lawn with the metal detector, and Dex leaning comfortably on the spade. “Wow, it came” she said, “How're you doing?”

  “We didn't find anything but some old nails in the front yard,” D.J. Said, “but we got a British half crown by the back steps and some other stuff out here.”

  “Treasure?”

  Dex pointed to a small cardboard box. “Not treasure,” he said, “history. We got a couple of musket balls, two horseshoes, a brass buckle, a rusted knife blade and an old axe head.”

  “Too bad,” she said pretending disappointment. “I was hoping you'd be rich enough to take me out to dinner. Oh,” eyes widening, “speaking of that, I talked to Simon. We're invited to dinner at their place tonight.”

  “Me too, or is that like, a date?” asked D.J. overhearing the conversation.

  “Well, it probably will be a pretty adult evening,” Annie said.

  “Well, I'm not staying here by myself,” D.J. said. “Is it ok if I stay with Zachary? He’s gonna’ take me an Oscar up to the head of Somes sou
nd in his boat tomorrow morning anyway.”

  Melody Masters reminded Dex of nothing so much as a cat. Sleek and elegant, she slipped silently out of the kitchen in a wave of enticing cooking aromas to greet he and Annie, moving with a languid, feline grace. She was tall and slender and, although obviously close in age to her brother, her skin was as smooth as liquid chocolate and her eyes sparkled with youthful vigor. She wore a red apron over a light brown caftan and a beaming smile of greeting.

  With D.J. dropped at Zachary's for the night, Annie had guided Dex to an alley behind the Pieces of Eight Tavern where a stairway led to the Masters’ second floor apartment. When Simon led them into the living room it was like stepping back in time for Dex. He estimated that there was not a single piece of furniture less than a hundred years old, and all of had it the comfortable look of everyday use. Thick candles in gleaming silver holders and a couple of ornate oil lamps lent a buttery yellow glow to the room and a muted oriental carpet was soft underfoot.

  Simon laughed at Dex’s expression. “We do have modern utilities,” he said, “but we like this look and it may be more appropriate to the evening.”

  The meal was the finest assortment of fresh seafood that Dex had ever eaten accompanied by a bottle of chilled white wine, crisp salad and fresh-baked bread. Simon entertained with long tales of life on the Maine seacoast until Melody casually asked, “So, Dex, how does it feel being back in Southwest Harbor?”

  Dex replied, “I’ve never been here before, but I think I’m going to like it.”

  “Oh?” questioned Simon. Both Dex and Annie were too busy with their food to notice the quick glance he shared with Melody.