“You’re right, Lucy. You know it seems as if the property is on a natural inlet, like a small personal bay. It is higher here. Hang on, I’m going to try and get as close to the building as I can, and it might get rough.”
The van bounced and swayed as Megan inched up the drive and finally came to a stop off to the side of the cottage. It was as close as she could get while still staying on the driveway. Giving a sigh of relief, she turned off the engine and looked over at Lucy.
“Well, we made it this far! You ready to get out and see what we are up against? Grab Barney’s leash and we’ll get out and look around. I want to be sure it’s safe before we attempt to go inside.”
Lucy had a firm grip on the leash as she opened the van door and followed the excited puppy out. Giving Barney a moment to sniff his immediate surroundings and do a little leg lifting, Lucy took in the scene around her. The storm surge had washed up debris from both nature and neighbors. Man-made objects were tangled up with broken branches, Spanish moss, sand, and wet smelly seaweed. It was clear that Lady Fish Bay had not gotten off as lightly as Citrus Beach. Barney’s tug on the leash brought Lucy around the side of the van, and she took in her first sight of the Potter’s family fishing retreat.
“That’s what Charlotte considers a cottage? It’s bigger than my house!”
“Yeah, I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. In all fairness, it does seem as if it started out as a cottage.”
The two women looked at each other and laughed. In front of them was a two-story stilt house, painted white with marine blue shutters, shut tight to protect the interiors from the weather. There was a wide front porch on the first floor and beautiful bay windows on the second floor that provided views of both the ocean and the river. Plenty of work was ahead of them, getting the house open and the outside cleaned up. The moss seemed to be hanging on every rough edge the house provided, where it had landed after being blown out of the trees on the property. As they walked up around the perimeter of the house at ground level, Megan was relieved to find that there was no apparent structural damage. In the far back corner, raised up three steps and braced between two of the support beams, was a storage unit. Megan walked over to it and unlocked the padlock with one of the keys on the ring she had picked up from Mrs. Potter. Pulling the door open, she grinned when she saw the fairly new generator. If the upper floors were safe, they would be sleeping in comfort tonight instead of in the back of the van.
While she was looking through the storage unit, Lucy and Barney were investigating the rest of the area. They walked the entire area two or three times before Megan looked up and saw the puzzled look on Lucy’s face. Dusting her hands off on the seat of her pants, she walked over to stand next to her friend.
“Is there a problem, Lucy?”
“I must be missing something basic, but how do we get up into the main house?”
Megan gave her a funny look, but after taking a more careful look herself, she realized that Lucy was right, there was no staircase to the upper level. Before she could answer her friend, they heard the sounds of the squirrels running across the upper deck. Barney also heard the noise and took the hunting dog stance of his breed, tail straight out and front leg curled with his nose pointing up in the direction the sounds had come from, sure that his prey was there. Automatically looking at where he was pointing, Megan also looked overhead and was surprised by what she saw secured to the upper rafters.
“Lucy, I think Barney has solved our problem! I’m sure these pull-down stairs should be used for emergencies, but they will help us get to the next level. Help me pull them down and we’ll go up and get a closer look. I bet from up on the balcony, we will also be able to see more of the property and get a better idea of the work we have before us. Barney, good boy! Now come on, sweetie, I need to secure you to this post before anything else.” Megan took Barney’s leash and tied it to the post that was in the shade to be sure her pet didn’t run off or get in the way of the upcoming work before them.
Between the two of them, the ladder was quickly pulled down. Deciding to leave the puppy where he was for a few minutes, Megan quickly put some water from her bottle into the portable bowl she had brought along for him. Grabbing a flashlight out of the van, Megan went to the stairs and started up to the floor above them. Lucy was right behind her. Moving slowly, they worked their way up through the opening, onto the front porch. Once they were both safely up, Megan looked around her and saw that everything looked to be in good condition on this side of the house. The hurricane shutters had done their job protecting the windows and now it was time to open them up and see what was in store for them in the interior of the building. Working together, they took down the shutters across the front door and a large window to the left. Using another key on the ring in her hand, Megan unlocked the door and pushed it open. Between the lights coming in through the doorway and window, the women were able to see that the inside of the room appeared to be in good condition. As they shined Megan’s flashlight around, it was obvious that the cottage had been closed up for the summer season. Sheets covered the furniture to keep dust off the fabric, and nothing seemed to be out of place.
Continuing to use a flashlight, they moved deeper into the house, looking for water on the flooring or any windows exposed during the storm. Megan was concerned about the east side of the house that would have been subjected to the strongest winds coming off the ocean. They did not spend a lot of time inside; with the low light it was too hard to discern anything unless it was glaring at them. The shutters would have to be manually taken down since they were the old-fashioned kind and Lucy agreed that the sooner they got to work, the faster they could bring their own supplies up to the cottage.
“I’ll go down and get the tool box from the van, Megan. You look for a stepladder so we can reach those top bolts on the shutters.” Lucy was the first one back outside onto the porch, and she was already climbing down the ladder as she spoke.
Waving her on, Megan decided to walk around to the ocean side of the cottage first. What she saw as she rounded the corner, made her gasp. It was obvious that this was the side the family used for entry into the building. There was a wide, winding stairway that was more of a long ramp that ended at the start of the sea dune. At least there should have been one. Part of the railing was still intact, but most of the ramp could not be found, ripped away like an angry child had taken his hands and just swiped anything in the way during a fit of temper. There was no way that they would be able to access the building from this way until one of Paul’s crew could get here to do some repair work. It looked like they would have to use the fold-down stairs for the time being. Megan took only a second to notice how calm the sea was after the fury of Arlene before she turned and went to look for the stepladder Lucy had requested.
The two women worked steadily on the shutters for the next hour. Lucy had not only brought up the tools they needed, but also Barney. As wood shutters where taken down, Megan stacked them up to create a safety blockade across the opening where the ramp had been. Barney happily supervised their work, running back and forth between them, occasionally barking his encouragement. Once the last window was uncovered, Lucy went inside and opened the windows to allow air to flow through, and Megan ran a couple of extension cords out through the windows that were directly over the storage shed holding the generator. Her goal was to be able to run a couple of lights at least and fans for the evening.
Deciding that they needed a break, the three of them went back down to the ground level and began to explore the area. It was eerily quiet, with only the sound of the waves and the sea birds. It seemed as if many of the homes were used only during the winter months. Of course, the few who were year-round residents that had obeyed the evacuation order for Lady Fish Bay would be returning soon and then the sounds of rebuilding and restoration would begin.
Barney was not happy about being kept on a leash, but Megan did not want to chance his running off. They walked the beach first, fi
nding a riot of assorted shells and driftwood piled up in odd areas where the waves pushed them until they would go no further. The erosion was so bad, the dunes looked as if a large knife had cut part of them away. Megan and Lucy had to struggle to climb back up the newly-formed dunes, but Barney made it up with no problems.
Once they made it back up to the top, the women started across to the river side. Here the going was much slower as they walked around trees and debris. Megan found that she and Lucy had been right, the river area in front of the cottage made a small inlet. Because of this natural formation, it was now a collection area of building materials, household items, and personal treasures that had been blown out of the ill-prepared homes when the winds from Arlene had broken windows and picked up anything in its path. As they walked, Megan couldn’t help but bend down and retrieve an odd item here and there. Some of the items were obviously destroyed and of no use, but other things seemed to be in perfect condition.
It was a wedding album that Lucy found lodged in a tree that brought both of them to tears. Now it was more than just storm debris, it was about the people whose lives would be forever changed. Without a word, they worked the album free and carried it with them as they continued. It seemed that every few feet, one of them would bend over and pick up something. Within a short time, their arms and pockets were full, and they had to make a choice: continue on or turn back and find something to use to carry what they found back to the cottage.
“Megan, we can’t just leave these pictures and momentums here to go out with the next tide. We have to do something. I would be devastated if this was my wedding album and I never saw it again. Some of these photos are still in good shape!” Lucy was still trying to pick up one more item when Megan stopped her.
“Lucy, I agree. But we can’t put ourselves in danger to do it. We have no gloves on and let’s face it, anything could be lurking in this debris. We need to step back and do this the right way. Trust me, I have an idea that I think will work, and the Potter Cottage is perfect for it. Come on, let’s head back and plan the best way to tackle this. Come, this way, Barney.”
Megan’s words halted Lucy’s reach for the next item as she realized the logic behind them. Looking over at her friend, she saw the conviction in Megan’s eyes and recognized the signs of another project in the workings of her mind. Lucy had seen that look before and knew that Megan would accomplish what she was planning, and it would be unexpected. A short time later, the two of them were working on the first stage of Megan’s plan.
“Tell me again why I’m nailing these tarps to the beams down here?” Lucy shook her hand after striking it once again with a small hammer and looked over at Megan in frustration. Megan was having no problems with her side of the tarp; the ability to handle small tools seemed to be natural to her, while Lucy struggled with it.
“We’re trying to make a wind block. Lucy, you’d have better luck if you kept your eyes open and aim for the nail. It’s a good thing you married a carpenter … you’d never be able to do your own repair work!” Megan laughed at her friend’s attempts, but in fun.
“That’s why they created the yellow pages … I don’t need to be self-sufficient,” Lucy joined in the laughter.
“Here, why don’t you let me do that? Can you go up and drag a couple more tarps from the supply in the van? I think if we just concentrate on the direction the sea breeze comes from, then it will be enough.”
“Sure thing, but would you please explain to me just what you are trying to do? Or are you still trying to think it through?”
Twenty minutes later, the two women were up on the main-level balcony, sitting in a couple of fold-up beach chairs they had found inside. Barney had found a spot in the shade, and all of them were enjoying the salty breeze coming in off the ocean and a bottle of ice cold water from the cooler. Lucy had a pad and paper in hand and she was jotting down notes as Megan explained her idea. Ever the practical one, Lucy would keep all the ideas Megan would randomly throw out in a concise order and note any questions she had about any part of the plan.
“It was that wedding album that got me thinking. Everyone will be concentrating on the day-to-day needs and retrieving items of value, but what about the irreplaceable items, Lucy? Baby photos, wedding albums, trinkets; these all hold special meanings to the owners. If we can save as many as possible, it will be wonderful.”
“I think this is a brilliant idea and we are going to need a lot of help to pull it off. Megan, this will mean so much to those people. I think Charlotte will be pleased with this idea and support it any way she can as well.”
“We’ll need to start collecting in the area closest to the water, so the tide doesn’t steal anything back out to sea. I thought we could use the lower area here for holding the items we find, it’s concrete and up higher. With the tarps that we put up, we have a little bit of a wind-break, so things won’t blow around too much.”
Lucy nodded her head in agreement and made a few notes of supplies she thought they might need to get started. Megan kept rattling ideas off while she wrote.
“We can use the shutters as temporary tables. They will be perfect for laying items out to dry. Anything that we find that looks to be of any value, we’ll bring up here.”
“If we open up the dining room table and clear off the buffet, then we can use that room.”
“Things will have to be separated into items that have clear ownership and items that have no clear markings or any way to identify the owner. We can try to contact the rightful owners by phone if that information can be found.”
“When I was looking around the kitchen, I found a directory for the residents of Lady Fish Bay. That would be a good place to start.”
Megan reached over and rubbed Barney’s belly while she thought. This was a huge undertaking that they were planning, but she hoped that as people finished working on the cleanup of their homes and properties, that they would be able to join her and Lucy on their task.
“You know we could follow the lead of the group out west that went through all those tornadoes. I can take pictures of the items that we can’t locate the owners for and post those photos on Facebook and Twitter. We can ask for the owners or anyone with information to contact us and for anyone following our page to forward the information to their friends.”
“That’s a great idea. We could let the media know what we are doing, as well.”
“Lucy, I think we can make this work! I’m ready to go collecting items now. What about you, Barney, do you need to go for a walk?”
Barney did not need a second invitation; he happily got to his feet and put his front paws on Megan’s knees, wondering why she wasn’t moving any faster. Laughing, the women got up, stretching as they stood.
“There are gloves and heavy boots in the back of the van. I’m going to grab the laundry baskets I saw off the kitchen and then we’ll get started. We are going to have to watch our time. Once it starts to get dark we need to be securely back here and settled in for the night. That should give us a good hour or so.” Megan glanced at her watch as she spoke, surprised at how late in the afternoon it already was.
They worked steadily until the afternoon light began to fade. Both of the laundry baskets were filled and emptied multiple times, before Megan and Lucy agreed that it was time to give up for the evening. As they emptied the baskets for the last time that evening, the women found that they were encouraged by the amount they had managed to salvage in the short time they had spent that afternoon. They had swatted mosquitoes (that seemed to multiply faster than they could kill the biting insects) and wadded through seaweed and debris. They deliberately left the larger items such as broken patio furniture, fishing gear, and displaced household items in order to collect the items they knew were treasures to someone.
Megan had agreed with Lucy to concentrate on photos that had a chance of salvation. They managed to save a number of photo albums from the water’s edge, as well as professional photography that now lay in broken fr
ames with missing glass. From baby through childhood, graduation and weddings, pets and vacations, the pictures cataloging lives of the victims from hurricane Arlene were carefully retrieved and transported back to the area designated as a holding area. As they worked, small trinkets were also added to the baskets: a pretty handmade vase, sports trophies, a child’s toy, a mug with a child’s hand print and the words “I love Grandma” were just a few of what had survived the storm.
They only spent a little bit of time sorting through the items that had made it back to the cottage. Megan wanted to be sure that the generator was running and that there was some power cords attached and running up to the main floor. A floor fan and lights could provide them with some minimal comfort that night. She had every intention of pulling up the stairs for safety and had made sure that the generator was securely chained to one of the foundation pillars. Although they had not seen any other people that day, they had heard the sounds of the start of some cleanup farther up the road. Lucy had to agree with her, even though there was very little likelihood of any danger, it did not make sense to invite trouble. They had both heard the horror stories of vandals and transients moving into the area after a natural disaster and did not want to become a headline for the evening news.
Lucy had finally gotten a cellphone signal strong enough for her to call Paul and let him know they were okay and relay the list of supplies they would be needing. Megan left the room with Barney to give Lucy some privacy to talk with her husband and to try and text Aiden. She felt bad that she had left Citrus Beach just before his flight was due to arrive. She was disappointed to learn from his text that he was leaving to go back to DC the next day and they would not see each other until he returned sometime next week. They promised to stay in touch, but before they could write anything else, or call each other, Megan lost the signal. A few moments later, Lucy joined her. She had also lost her cellphone service.
SCENT OF A MYSTERY...A CITRUS BEACH MYSTERY (Citrus Beach Mysteries Book 2) Page 4
