Blackwater

by Paul McParland

  “Em...sorry, sir. Were you looking to pay your check?”

  The man nodded and smiled. He had heard most of the conversation, made sense of the commotion and realized the good news.

  “That's 2 dollars, please.” She felt funny.

  Taking his change from a five, he said, “Thank you. Congratulations by the way!”

  “Oh, thank you.” Karen smiled. She felt even more absurd now.

  James returned to his position in front of the till. “So, when do the kids get out?” Karen thought he looked like a child who had been told they were going to Disneyland.

  Karen burst his balloon. “James, can we afford this?”

  “It’ll take everything we’ve got left, but we can do it!” James clasped her hands in his and shook them. “We can start over!”

  She laughed. “I'm about to pick Sophie up but I was gonna bring her back here so I could get a few more hours in. Marcus doesn’t get out ‘til three...”

  “What are we waiting for? Let’s go get Soph!” He ran out the door.

  The customers looked back at Karen, smirking. She hesitated. Half turning to leave, she realized she was still on the clock, and turned back to the kitchen.

  “Gaz, I'm going to pick Sophie up. I’ll be back in five!”

  “Is Tina there yet?”

  Karen looked back into the café. The other waitress was putting her apron on and readying her pen.

  “Yep.”

  “Okay. Be quick! I have a feeling the good weather is gonna bring a lot of thirsty people in!”

  Karen ran after James, he hadn’t bothered to wait for her and was halfway up the street. She wondered how he would handle the young Sophie on his own. He might escalate any child’s excitement to near catastrophic levels.

  After collecting the little girl and leaving her with her energized father, Karen returned to the now packed café. Distracted by the constant stream of punters, she was able to get her mind off the possibly worrying actions of her loose husband. She was convinced at one point he would collect Marcus early and leave for Blackwater without her.

  James had in fact collected a sleepy Sophie. She had not slept during the allotted nap-time for the class and had opted to color. She put her head in James lap as he sat on the sofa and fell immediately into a deep sleep. James sat with a notebook on the arm of the couch and wrote. He made a list of the things needed for the move and requirements for kick-starting the law practice. This helped qualm his restlessness, at least until Marcus and Karen returned.

  23

  The Dawsons traveled to Blackwater the following morning. The paperwork required signing and Karen, despite her trust in James that the house was in fact perfect, still wanted to see their future home before they did it. James had not told her he had bought the office space already.

  James couldn’t wait to start his new job and Karen had waited for this moment for years. Sophie was excited about the adventure. Marcus was the odd one out. He was not happy.

  “Why could you not just get a job in Boston?” Marcus interrogated across the dinner table.

  “Because there aren’t any vacancies for lawyers, son.” James leaned across the table and stroked Marcus’ hair.

  The boy pulled away.

  “So get another job!”

  “Marcus, buddy...we have an opportunity to have a great life in Blackwater. Our house is massive! It’s on a lake! You can go swimming whenever you want, we can play ball. There are tons of places to explore.”

  “What about my friends?” the boy had tears in his eyes.

  “You’ll make new friends! Better friends!”

  “I don’t want new friends!”

  Sophie was becoming upset by the argument. Loud noises frightened her, especially shouting.

  James motioned his son out of the kitchen where the family had congregated. Placing his hands on the young man’s shoulders, he led him into the living room.

  Once inside, he turned his son towards him, hands still on his shoulders. “Marky, please...your mother needs this...more than me in fact. She had dreamed of this place since she was a little girl. If you won’t go for me, do it for her...” He smiled at his son, desperate to remove this ‘wrench in the works’.

  The boy thought for a minute, looking at his father dead in the eye. He smiled sweetly, “Okay, dad.”

  “Good boy!” James grabbed his son and hugged him tightly. He kissed his head, savoring that precious smell that only a parent could sense.

  James and Marcus returned to the table, a triumphant look on James’ face. He made eye contact with his wife. James raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening. He blew a relieved sigh through pursed lips.

  “That was a close one!” it said.

  The three hour car journey was not unpleasant. “Are we there yet?” was not queried often. Once or twice just. Sophie asked about fifteen minutes into the ride, which didn't bode well but she remained silent for the next two hours, only asking again when Marcus himself questioned how much longer they would be driving. They were an hour and fifteen minutes outside of Blackwater when Sophie, who had no concept of time, asked if the foursome were home yet, only ten minutes after Marcus.

  Karen told her they were not, but she would tell her when they were near. The little girl nodded solemnly and resumed her examination of the countryside passing outside her window.

  Marcus read the entire journey. It reminded Karen of James and then of what Rosemary had said. She prayed that reading was the only vice that this father and son shared.

  Mid afternoon, a sign of a smiling family; father, mother, daughter and son greeted them. ‘Welcome to Blackwater. You're home!’

  “They look like us, mommy!” Sophie’s tiny voice echoed from the back seat.

  Karen turned in her seat, “Yes they do, baby! We’ve arrived in our new home!” she beamed.

  Marcus gave his mother an encouraging smile. His face dropped as soon as she turned back around.

  The car moved leisurely along the road. The highway had turned into Court Street. The New England countryside had now given way to sparsely arranged houses. These homes drew closer together as they reached the center of Blackwater.

  Crossing Otter Creek on a small timber-trussed bridge, the foursome found themselves on Main Street. The town was teeming with activity, James was sure all eight thousand residents had come out to welcome the new neighbors.

  People waved at the young family as they passed. James returned the salutations, aware now of the almost Eden-like atmosphere of the place.

  Karen could only marvel out of the window at the stereotype that had appeared before her.

  The children sat silently in the back staring out at the town. Sophie saw lots of new people; lots of new friends. Marcus saw strangers.

  James pulled into the parking space outside of the realtor’s office.

  “Wait here, I’ll go and get her,” he said as he leapt out of the car.

  James jogged around the front of the car and up to the door of the office. He disappeared inside.

  “So, kids, what do you think of Blackwater so far?” Karen smiled into the rear view mirror.

  “It’s so pretty, Mommy!” Sophie enthused.

  Marcus was less fervent. “Where is the house?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen it yet either. Your Dad said it was on the other side of the town, near a lake...” She looked hopefully at him; trying to garner a smile from him. Karen could tell the move still upset her son. She hoped he would be happier in a few weeks, once he had settled in.

  James appeared out of the doorway, a grin plastered across his face. A woman with dirty-blonde hair followed behind him. She, too, looked happy.

  Happy she got two sales out of us, Karen thought slyly.

  “This is Bethany Granger. She is the realtor in town. She’s going up to the house to get it ready. I've got the keys to the office. Wanna have a look at it first?” James said at Karen’s window. The keys dangled from between his fingers.
>
  “Okay.” Karen smiled back.

  Who gives a shit about your office? Show me my dream home, she thought, only half joking.

  James ran back to the other side of the car and got in. He waved to Ms. Granger through the windscreen and reattached his seat belt.

  Reversing out of the space onto the road again, he pointed further up Main Street.

  “The house is just up there, and the office is only down this street.” He pulled into a side street almost immediately after getting onto Main Street again.

  The car traveled to the end of the avenue where a glass-fronted office had a ‘For Sale’ sign plastered across its marquee. James pulled up in front of it.

  “This is it.”

  Karen thought his face would break if he smiled any more.

  The four of them got out of the Pontiac. James opened the door and led them inside.

  James quickly mended the dusty interior when he opened the blinds on the large windowed front. Karen looked around her.

  The place is quite cozy, she thought. Definitely needs cleaning though.

  “I was going to put a few chairs out here. Clear this section over here and just have a coffee pot and percolator.” James pointed around the main lobby of the office. There were chairs scattered across the floor, with a desk at one side of the room. Karen supposed it had been a secretary’s at one point.

  “A few magazines on a stand. Table there, maybe a few plants. Make the place look nice.” James continued, moving around the lobby, pointing at the corners.

  He walked through the doorway across from the entrance.

  “And here,” he shouted out. “Is my new office!”

  Karen walked in. The space was big enough. A window was situated on the back wall. In front of it was a large oak desk. They had passed right through the building. The view was of Blackwater’s backyard. A river flowed outside. Karen supposed it was the one they had passed over on the way in. She passed her hand over the surface of the desk. The grooves from decades of use nipped at her fingers.

  “Daddy, it smells in here...” Sophie complained, her cute nose screwed up in mild disgust.

  “Needs a clean too...” Marcus said wiping a thick layer of dust off a shelf on the wall beside him. He grimaced and smeared his jeans with it.

  James laughed. “Nothing a dust and an open window can’t fix!”

  “What about help? Are you sure you don’t want a secretary?” Karen asked. James met her eyes and something passed between them. A forgotten memory.

  “Ehh...no...I wanted to try and do this myself. If I need one you could do it...only if you wanted to of course...I’m sure it’ll be fine though.” He gave her a reassuring smile.

  “It’s nice. I like it.” Karen finally said. Looking around her, “We can make this very pretty. And lawyer-ly” she added quickly, looking at James’ face. They laughed.

  The four Dawsons finished their inspection of James’ new premises and got back into the car so they might see their new home.

  Driving back up Landry Isle, the sun beating down, they noticed a small grassy area to their right, a square off the Main Street. Children were playing, dancing around a grand marble statue that towered from the middle of the green.

  “Who’s that, mommy?” Sophie said awestruck.

  “I don’t know, honey. They must be important, what do you think?”

  The little girl nodded vehemently.

  The car turned left at the end of Landry Isle, continuing further up Main Street. They arrived at another bridge. It was a modern steel construct, open to the air, crossing Otter Creek again, the river that snaked its way back and forth across the town.

  The auburn leaves stroked at the car as it passed beneath the dominating maples, falling with the breeze. Beautiful Fall precipitation snowed down. The foliage gave way to houses again; beautiful colonial homes of a moderate size, but the eye stopped noticing them as soon as the Victorian-style manor appeared acrest a hill.

  The grass covered elevation had a stone staircase carved into it, winding an ‘S’ up towards the front door; an ornately decorated wooden frontage. This was the patriarchal house of Blackwater; old, grand and wise with years.

  “There she is, guys...our new home...”

  “Wow!” Sophie cried.

  “It’s wonderful, Jay! Oh, thank you!” Karen kissed her husband’s cheek as he steered the car up the steep incline of the drive.

  Marcus said nothing, but he was ashamed to admit it impressed him.

  24

  The door swung open. A slight creak accompanied the old scent that was released from the manor. It was an odd smell. It tasted of history.

  Karen could sense the years within its walls. She wondered about the previous owners and the families born and raised in this beautiful house. She trembled with the thought of her family being part of that great tradition.

  Karen stepped inside; a grand hallway with a ceiling that extended with the staircases. Two rooms lay either side of her; one to her left, one to her right. No doorways introduced them; they simply called from large openings in the walls. Ahead on the left was the stairs, and on the right, the hallway continued into the back of the house.

  Karen approached the staircase. The banister was mahogany. Its dark rich texture felt nice under her fingers. She caressed the ornate melding and craned her neck upwards. The stairs slowly ascended and turned back on themselves. They repeated this again. Large windows encroached upon the stairway. Huge beams of light cascading down into the hall below.

  She turned back to face James who still stood in the front door. She smiled, close to tears. The children were moving cautiously towards one of the rooms at the front of the house, hand-in-hand.

  Karen turned back to the house. She walked along the hall, deeper into the house. She let her hand extend and brush the wall as she did so. The place darkened as she walked. Like the front of the house, there were two rooms; one on the left and one on the right. These rooms had doors however; solid oak similar to the front door, without the elaborate carving. She chose the one on the left.

  Inside a kitchen awaited. The room was huge. Cupboards lined the four walls. Shelving covered the areas that were exposed. In the center was an island; a sink and a draining board that ran its length. A series of stoves and hobs were situated on both the island and on the wall behind it. Pots and pans hung from hooks expertly placed on the hood above the oven. This was a kitchen for a chef and his minions, not a family of four with a single cook.

  Karen savored the beautiful wood finish of the units and turned to leave.

  “Ahh!” Karen exclaimed in fright.

  Bethany Granger had appeared behind her.

  “Oh Mrs. Dawson, I'm very sorry! I was wondering where your family had gone!” she let out a titter. “I am sorry for scaring you.”

  “Haha! It’s okay, Ms. Granger, I was just entranced by the house. It’s gorgeous....” Karen looked around herself again.

  The realtor beamed, “Oh, I’m so glad you like it! This house has needed a family to brighten it up again and yours is just perfect!”

  “Thank you.” Karen smiled at the woman, but she felt uneasy with the realtor. Her choice of words was odd.

  “Have you seen the rest of the house?” Granger asked as they exited the kitchen.

  “I looked in the front rooms but this is the first room I’ve actually been in. The closed door intrigued me!” she laughed.

  Bethany Granger made no reaction, she simply announced, “This is the dining room in here...” as she opened the opposing door.

  The dining room was in keeping with the rest of the house; grand and old. The long oak table extended from one end of the room to the other. It reminded Karen of the sort you would see in a haunted house movie or of the old English gentleman sitting across from his stuffy wife in a Jane Austen novel; prim and proper.

  Candlesticks and servants sold separately, Karen thought, amused.

  There was a chandelier suspended from the c
eiling. It lorded over the dining table, commanding the guests to feast and be merry.

  Karen could see cobwebs in the corners of the room. A wisp dangled from the chandelier.

  How long had the house been empty? Karen thought.

  Out in the hallway, James stood. He waited for his wife to return. He wanted to let her experience it for herself. James had viewed it two days previously and had known she would love it.

  “Where’s Soph and Mark?” she asked.

  “They’re upstairs exploring.” He grinned.

  “Is it okay they go off on their own?” Karen may have liked the house but it was old and its dark corners still frightened her.

  James let out a warm, deep laugh; rich with content. He hugged his wife.

  “It’s fine.” He said simply. “Shall we have a look at the rest of the house?”

  She nodded silently.

  James led her into the first of the front rooms. The room had a few furnishings still; a small sofa sat in a corner with a rocking chair next to it. The fireplace had a mantle decorated with flamboyant carvings. Wooden cherubs clung to the precipices; their tiny round faces turned upwards, eyes almost sad. The delineations became so fine at some points across the horizontal section of the mantle, that if there were any specific designs, they were unintelligible.

  Karen fingered the elaborate motif, lost in the never ending cross section of lines and reliefs.

  “Honey?” James voice intruded. “Shall we?”

  He stood at the doorway, waiting for her.

  They walked into the other room. This was an almost mirror image of the other, but with a portrait hung above the fireplace.

  The portrait was of a man. He wore a calf length frock coat, beneath which was a white shirt and waistcoat with a notched collar. It was fixed in a double point at the bottom. A pocket watch chain hung across his midriff. The collar of his shirt was winged with a four-in-hand tie fixed neatly at the top. His trousers fell onto a pair of black heeled shoes.