The Legend of Fuller’s Island

by Jan Fields

  He pointed ahead. “The path leads to the buildings. Just keep the light out of my face.” Then he turned and began pushing through the overgrowth. The camera mostly filmed the back of his head for a while.

  Annie felt Alice lean over close to her. “What are you watching?”

  “Adventurers on Fuller’s Island,” Annie said. “They mostly seem to be stumbling around in the dark.”

  Alice chuckled as she watched the screen. Mostly it revealed barely lit foliage and the back of the young man’s head. “Not exactly an award-winning documentary,” she said.

  Annie nodded, slipping the earphones from her head to share with Alice. Suddenly the two people in the video stumbled into a clearing, and the beam of the flashlight carried a bit farther into the darkness. The corner of a darkly stained cinder-block wall reflected back at them in the beam. A thick vine with broad leaves climbed up the wall, hiding much of it from view.

  The camera swung back to the man as he turned and asked, “Do you hear that?”

  “I heard something.” The woman’s voice sounded a little shaky.

  “I think it was a dog!”

  The woman sounded doubtful. “I didn’t hear it clearly enough to be sure.”

  The audio had more sounds of moving through brush, as well as some wet squishy noises that suggested the ground was mostly mud. The cinder-block building grew closer, and Annie could see a deep crack running through several of the blocks. She hoped the couple didn’t plan to go into the building. It didn’t look safe.

  Then a distinct howl sounded from the distance. “That was a dog,” the man insisted.

  “I don’t think it’s close,” the woman said.

  “But it’s on the island. We have confirmation of at least one dog on—” his voice dropped as another howl sounded, clearer and closer. “Either that dog moves awfully fast, or there’s more than one. Maybe we should head back.”

  “We haven’t seen anything,” she said.

  The sound of muffled barking and more howls rang out, and the man simply pushed past the woman and ran. A snarl sounded close—very close. The woman spun, camera pointing at her feet as she ran. She slammed into something, the picture jerking on the camera. Then it fell to the ground. All it showed was foliage, but the sound of snuffling proved the dogs had caught up. Annie heard another snarl and the snap of teeth. Then the video ended.

  “Well, that got a lot more exciting at the end,” she said.

  Alice leaned close to her screen. “Let me copy down that URL. Jim is going to want to see that.”

  “He’s welcome to it,” Annie said. “I know I don’t care to see it again. Those dogs sounded big.”

  Alice nodded. “I wonder if the island has security. Those could have been guard dogs.”

  “That only makes them scarier.”

  Alice chuckled at that and turned back to her computer. Annie navigated back to the paranormal investigation site. Thankfully, it didn’t have any videos. There was only a brief mention of the group’s desire to do an “investigation” on Fuller’s Island. The site mentioned that the owner of the island lived in Boston, but it didn’t list a name. “Alice, look at this!”

  Alice leaned over, her eyes sweeping over the text. “That’s great. At least we know where to look, even if we don’t know who we’re looking for. I’m trying some genealogy sites.”

  Annie turned to watch as Alice went through searches on several sites. She entered both “Steven Fuller” and “Maynard Cole.”

  Annie turned back to her computer and tried a general search engine. She typed in the names from the list and then added “genealogy” before clicking on the search link. The search engine reported no results for that combination so she changed “genealogy” to “family tree.” This time she found a link to a school project posted online by Becky Cole. The child had traced her family tree back through Maynard Cole and Steven Fuller, and even further to other Fullers. “That’s it!”

  Alice turned back to Annie’s computer again and grinned. “That’s it all right. Let me print that.”

  As she sent the command to the library printer, Valerie Duffy leaned over to whisper, “We have some kids who need the computers for homework.”

  Annie glanced at the time read-out on the computer. She’d had no idea so much time had passed while they clicked around, read, and watched the video.

  “We’re done,” Alice said. “I just need to pay for the things I printed.”

  Valerie smiled. “Great. I’ll tell the kids they can have your spots.”

  Annie followed Alice to the printer where she gathered the small pile of papers. “Now all Jim has to do is find an address for …,” she paused and looked at the last page of the printout, “Robert Cole.”

  “And hope he gives permission,” Annie added.

  “Jim can be very persuasive,” Alice said.

  Annie grinned at her friend. “You would know.”

  4

  I don’t believe my great-grandmother ever completely recovered from the death of her husband. She settled in with my uncle and aunt at their plantation home in Charleston. Though well away from Fuller’s Island, they weren’t completely away from the scandal. No one in society made remarks to my great-grandmother’s face, of course, but she withdrew from everyone. I saw her ghostly thin figure only a few times, and in my memories, she always seemed a bit like Miss Havisham in Great Expectations.

  —Steven Fuller, 1925

  It didn’t take Jim Parker long to track down a phone number to go with the name Annie had found. When it came time to make the call, Jim invited Annie and Alice to listen in. “I wouldn’t have gotten this far, this fast, without you two,” he said.

  They had gathered in Alice’s bright and airy living room. Annie had to smile at how much Jim looked out of place next to Alice’s light, feminine furniture and decor. She was reminded of Peggy’s remark about Jim looking like a pirate. Right now, he seemed like a pirate having tea with the queen.

  “What are you smiling about?” Alice asked.

  “Just woolgathering,” Annie said. Then she turned to Jim. “Did you watch the website video that was made on the island?”

  Jim nodded with a wry smile. “Looked like gullible kids scaring each other in the dark to me.”

  “But you have to admit,” Alice said. “there were definitely dogs.”

  “I’ll ask the owner if he uses dogs in the security there,” Jim said, taking a deep breath as he fished out his phone. “Assuming he’ll talk to me, that is.”

  “Just charm him,” Alice said.

  “I’m not that charming.”

  “You charmed me.”

  Jim’s slow smile showed off a slightly crooked front tooth. “You’re a special case.”

  Annie cleared her throat. “You need to call, or I have to go home. I embarrass easily.”

  Jim and Alice laughed, and then he punched the numbers into his phone. He introduced himself to Robert Cole, explained that he had Alice and Annie in the room and asked if he could switch to speakerphone. After getting Mr. Cole’s permission, Jim explained his interest in Fuller’s Island. “I believe the island would make an excellent addition to my book, Mr. Cole.” he said finally.

  “I haven’t been on the island in years,” the man said. “Most of the buildings probably aren’t safe.”

  “I’ll be glad to sign a waiver,” Jim assured him, “holding you totally blameless if I’m fool enough to fall through a floor somewhere.”

  Jim coaxed the man for a few more minutes, and finally Mr. Cole gave a hesitant agreement. “But I want to have that waiver in my possession before you step one foot on the island.”

  “I’ll fax you a copy and then drop the original in the mail,” Jim said. “How’s that?”

  “OK,” the man said. “I’d tell you not to damage anything, but I expect there’s not much left to damage.”

  “Don’t forget to call your security,” Alice said. “So they know we’re coming.”

 
“Security?” Mr. Cole said. “I don’t have anyone on the island, lady. Like I said, there’s nothing really there to damage, and I’ve got the land posted for no trespassing. Beyond that, I’m not throwing good money at it.”

  “So you don’t have anyone on the island with dogs?” Alice asked.

  “Oh please!” The man’s voice grew sharper. “I hope you’re not planning to dredge up too much of that ghost-dog garbage. I spend enough time fielding ghost-hunter calls. I don’t need someone getting a fresh surge going.”

  “No, I’m interested in the images of how the island has changed through time,” Jim said soothingly. “And anything I run with will be about the history of the island.”

  “All right,” Mr. Cole said. “Then I agree, but don’t forget that waiver.”

  “I won’t,” Jim promised. They talked a bit longer about the best place to land a boat on the island, and then Jim hung up.

  “Wow, no security,” Alice said. “So where did the dogs come from?”

  Jim’s grin turned wicked. “I guess we’ll have to head down and find out. You’re coming with me aren’t you, Red?”

  Alice smiled. “To a haunted island with killer ghost dogs? You do know how to show a girl a good time.”

  Jim laughed. “Always.”

  “Are you sure about all of this, Alice?” Annie asked, shaking her head at her friends. She was glad it was Alice heading off to the island and not her. She didn’t believe in ghosts, of course, but it didn’t sound like ghosts on the video. And she wasn’t in any big hurry to get bitten by wild dogs. “I hope you’ll both be careful.”

  “Don’t worry,” Jim said. “I’ll take good care of my girl.”

  Annie smiled. “Take good care of each other, and I’ll be happy.”

  “I promise to send constant updates,” Alice said. “You just watch your email. I’ll send mission reports. Maybe I should do videos like those kids.”

  “Just don’t make any in the dark,” Annie replied. “You’ll only give me nightmares.”

  Jim pulled his laptop out of a bag on the floor and opened it on his lap. “I actually found some satellite images of the island online,” he said, as the computer booted up. “You can tell there are still buildings there, so I’m hoping for some good shots.”

  As soon as the computer booted up, Jim clicked over to the site with the satellite photographs and typed in the location. At first, the picture was of the whole southeast coast, but as he clicked closer and closer, it began to focus on the island.

  Finally, they could see the tops of buildings showing between dense clumps of trees. He clicked closer still, and they could see huge gaps in the roof of one of the buildings. “That one is looking a little rough,” Alice said.

  Jim nodded. “The floors are probably going to be bad in there. We might not be able to go in, but it would be great to shoot up from inside and show the sky.”

  Alice pointed to a smaller building, more obscured by the treetop canopy. “That one looks solid though,” she said.

  Jim nodded. “We won’t know for sure until we get there, but I think these will be enough to appease my publisher. It looks like a great spot.”

  The next few days, Annie didn’t see much of her friends as they prepared for their trip south. They did come to Grey Gables one afternoon for a particularly confusing session involving setting up Annie’s laptop with a program for video chats so she could keep in touch with Alice.

  “This way I can see if the ghost dogs manage to make your hair turn white with fright,” Annie said when she’d finally figured out how the program worked. “Just no scary live movies from the island.”

  “No worries,” Jim said. “I doubt the ghosts have Wi-Fi, we won’t be able to send email or video-chat each day until we’re back on the mainland.”

  “In a nice hotel,” Alice said. “Or maybe a bed and breakfast. I bet there are some gorgeous B&Bs in South Carolina.”

  “You know, that might be an idea for my next project,” Jim said. “Haunted B&Bs. Those old ones have as many ghost stories as lighthouses.”

  “I think I saw one of those on television,” Alice said. “The Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana. I thought it would be fun to stay there.”

  “You have a strange definition of fun,” Annie said with a shiver.

  Alice’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Don’t you think it would be a fantastic adventure?”

  Annie smiled at her friend. Alice had been wild about adventure since they were kids. Annie would visit her grandparents in Maine during the summer while her parents were on mission trips out of the country. It was those summertime visits that had sealed a friendship that had revived when Annie returned to Stony Point and Grey Gables after the death of her grandmother. Back in the day, Alice often dragged Annie into things that she would never try on her own.

  “I actually like tamer entertainment,” Annie said, “like walking on the beach and picking up shells.”

  “Chicken,” Alice teased.

  “You can’t get me to take dares now. I can totally live with being a chicken in my old age.”

  “Old age?” Jim pointed at her. “You don’t fool anyone, Annie Dawson. I’ve seen you take on some big scary things when you felt it was important.”

  “But not ghost dogs,” Annie said. “You can call me when you come across ghost bunnies or ghost kittens, something small.”

  “Ghost mice!” Alice suggested, and then she giggled when Annie shivered. She’d had more than enough trouble with real mice at Grey Gables in the past.

  “I will want to hear all about your adventure though,” Annie added. “But if you do anything dangerous, don’t tell me about it until you get home. Otherwise, I’ll worry.”

  “You’ll worry anyway,” Alice said.

  “A little.” Annie stood up and closed her laptop. “Can I get you two some more coffee?”

  “None for me,” Jim said. “My doctor says I need to stop living on coffee and stubbornness. We should head on to dinner. I have reservations at Maplehurst Inn. Do you want to join us?”

  Annie shook her head. “Three’s a crowd.”

  “You’re always welcome with us,” Jim said. “Especially since I’m whisking Red away for at least a couple of weeks.”

  “Yes, Annie, come on along for dinner.”

  Annie smiled but shook her head again. “You’ve convinced me that I’m welcome, but I think I’ll still have to pass. I want to call LeeAnn and talk to the twins. LeeAnn is considering buying the twins a pet as soon as they can both agree on one. I want to see if they’ve reached a meeting of the minds yet.”

  “Grandkids,” Jim said. “I guess that’s something I missed out on, never settling down.”

  “Well, you have to make it through having kids first,” Alice said. “And they grow up to be teenagers. Every time I get all mushy over kids, I just remember what I put my mom through in my teen years. It snaps me right out of it.”

  “LeeAnn worried Wayne and me half to death a time or two,” Annie admitted, “but it was worth it.”

  “I’ll take your word for it,” Jim said as he held out a crooked elbow for Alice. “Shall we go, milady?”

  “Anywhere you want.”

  After Annie closed the door behind her friends, she felt a small whisper of wistfulness. It would be nice to have romance in her life again. Since her husband, Wayne, died, Annie was often flooded with the little thoughtful and romantic things he did so often. Wayne never wanted them to become just old married people. He wanted to keep the romantic spark, and he’d worked hard at it. Annie felt now like she might have taken that almost for granted. She sure missed it now. She missed Wayne.

  With a sad sigh, she turned from the door and headed for the comfy sofa. Time to call LeeAnn and be reminded of the things that remained in her life.

  ****

  After Alice and Jim left on their trip, Alice was as good as her word. Every night she either logged in for a video chat or sent an email about her day. Annie foun
d she loved experiencing the adventure from a nice, safe distance, especially since Alice always made her experiences so vivid when she talked.

  “So, are the local people getting used to you?” Annie asked on the third night. “Have they gotten any friendlier?”

  “Not a scrap,” Alice said. “They still act like they think we’re carpet-bagging Yankees.”

  Annie shook her head. “I don’t think they’re likely to be hanging on to Civil War resentment; maybe they’re just shy about strangers.”

  “They’re hanging on to something,” Alice said. “I tell you, if Jim hadn’t flashed some serious cash, we’d have never gotten our rooms at this inn. I don’t know the last time I’ve gotten this many dirty looks.”

  “I hope the island has been interesting,” Annie said.

  “It’s fantastic,” Alice said. “I don’t know what dogs those kids ran into, but we haven’t seen anything like that. It’s just creepy old buildings and twisted trees dripping with moss. I can see why we had to sign waivers though. Some of the buildings are held up by memories and kudzu.”

  “I’m looking forward to seeing the photos. It sounds fascinating.”

  “We found some mysterious medical equipment in one of the buildings,” Alice said. “Jim got some very creepy photos of it.”

  “Are the buildings safe to go into?” Annie asked. “On the satellite images, they looked pretty run-down.”

  “Some are a little shaky for me, but Jim is fearless,” Alice said. “Speaking of fearless, we’re going to do some early-evening shoots because Jim was hoping to catch some nocturnal wildlife in some shots.”

  Annie smiled. “Oh? Will a possum or raccoon add to the ambiance?”

  “I never question the artiste,” Alice said, “but I might miss a check-in with you one night. I‘ll email though.”

  Annie kept Alice’s promise in mind the next night when she didn’t show up for their video chat. “I hope Jim found a photogenic possum,” Annie said as she scooped up Boots and carried her off to the bedroom. Boots blinked at her and offered a sleepy meow.