"The Doom Statues" - Chapter 30
While doubling up on the paychecks was great, Jeremy is relieved that it’s finally over, and he can remain at this retreat full-time. Though he and the others failed to locate any trace of that tall, possibly glowing man, they remained up well past three in the morning discussing it, relocating to his and Emily’s cabin so that Kay could sleep. Someone pointed out that there seemed to be a pattern to these sightings, however limited, as both occurred on a Saturday night, during major events here at Otherwise. So this in turn, most seemed to agree, including him, tended to bolster the theory that it was some local teenager screwing around.
Sunday is spent puttering around and cleaning up after the event, which he supposes will become a weekly tradition for him. The same applies to catching up and comparing notes with his parents, who were just too busy throughout that tour. Both remain cautiously enthusiastic, saying they love it here, and wouldn’t mind making a regular career out of this, though still unsure it’s viable year-round…although Jeremy suspects the caution is just a public fa?ade, because they’re both secretly thrilled to death, unable to believe their good fortune at landing this.
He feels the same way. It’s less work for more money, in a lovely, secluding setting, surrounded by friends, family, and new acquaintances he mostly already likes. The occasional weird occurrence is certainly not going to alter that outlook. Even Harry Kidwell, though a cheesy goofball, is at least affable pretty much all the time, an easy boss to work for even when he’s on site giving orders.
As was the case much of Sunday, during which time they tracked down a pair of generators in the barn, got those up and running. Kidwell mentioned that the thought there was a third in some janitor’s station in the school, though they never got around to locating that. But there had been a brief circuit breaker overload during the tour on Saturday, due to heightened activity in the main house, and Kidwell was correct, with them being this isolated, it wouldn’t hurt to make sure a backup plan was in place, in the form of these generators, for any potential future episodes.
Now that Monday has arrived, he finds himself again driving into Stokely, to visit the town library. This too might turn into a tradition, who knows. The only difference this time around is that he’s driving alone. After chatting with his parents again briefly, when it was just the three of them hanging out in the kitchen, they also called Lenny and took turns on the phone with him. He’s at least home and getting around okay on crutches, if not yet anywhere near back to work.
Arriving in Stokely this gorgeous fall morning — and, wow, it is already early October — Jeremy thinks that, while extremely dull, far duller than Jenson even, somehow, this little village is not without its charms. Driving past the Fairlawn Diner, he even glances over and can spot that adorable old lady Doris, pouring coffee and joking about something with a table of guests. So while Emily has already said she would love relocating to this region, he knows that’s farfetched, anyway, considering she would never willingly give up her entire network of friends. But he wouldn’t necessarily be opposed, either, if she were serious about it, particularly if he could remain employed at Otherwise.
He pulls up at the library and finds the parking lot even less populated than it was the first time. Then again, it’s just barely past nine and they probably only open at that hour. Drifting through the front door, he glances left and nods once to Paul Hilldreth, who is leafing through some magazine but nonetheless rooted to his same, apparently eternal post, standing behind that counter. Jeremy continues ahead to the glass walled, local history room, but, after a quick inspection of the aisles, concludes there’s probably nothing here specifically pertaining to his question, and it would take an eternity to stumble across it somehow even if there were.
Drifting back out to approach the librarian again, he’s considering various angles for phrasing this question, without sounding like a crackpot. Eventually decides to just state the basics, about spotting some dude in a costume walking around their pond, and the leading theory that it’s likely just some teenager sneaking onto the property to mess with them. Also mention this William Allensworth whom Hilldreth had alluded to last time.
“Who was he? I can’t seem to find out anything about the guy,” Jeremy says, though omitting the fact that he hasn’t exactly looked for any information, either.
Hilldreth nods once, as though waiting for this, and says, “and…there’s a reason for that. You’re not going to find anything back there on this topic.”
Believing that he catches this guy’s drift loud and clear, with one elbow propped on the counter as they casually chat, Jeremy grins and asks, “are you saying this stuff has been removed?”
The librarian offers him a knowing simper and repeats, “like I said, you’re not going to find anything back there. Let’s leave it at that. But here, I’ve got somewhat you might want.”
Bending slightly as he reaches into a lower drawer, Hilldreth straightens and hands Jeremy a book. It’s a slightly larger than standard paperback, with a murky if unmistakable portrait of the main house at Otherwise on the front, at night, with quite naturally a full moon above it, to the left, illuminating all with its distant, soothing beams. The cover itself is black, aside from the author name and title in yellowish-orange at the bottom: The Allensworth Incident at Stokely Home For Girls.
“Stokely Home For Girls?” Jeremy questions, “I thought this was always…some sort of, artist’s retreat kind of deal? Well, aside from that Howard thing you mentioned, last visit.”
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Hilldreth shakes his head, though maintaining the knowing smile, and says, “not always. Not even most of the time, actually.”
“Hmm,” Jeremy murmurs, thumbing rapidly through the book, which features a handful of black and white photos, a photo of the author in the back. Also a handful of folded up newspaper clippings, which Hilldreth himself presumably tucked in there. “How old is this thing?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe thirty, thirty-five years. But I go back even farther than that, to say the least, and trust me, this is a tremendous account. I mean, yes it is clearly self-published — the blinding white pages! The typos! The kooky, oversized font! Oh, the terror! — but uh, yeah, if you want an accurate portrayal of the events leading up to and then the, uh…final episode itself, this is it.”
“So wait a minute, what is this Allensworth incident?”
Hilldreth offers some furtive glances around the room, to illuminate his point, and says, “I really shouldn’t get into that here. Just read the book, and the clippings.”
“Okay,” Jeremy nods, picking up the book to examine its back, and read the vague blurb. “Will do.”
“I’ve been up there, you know. A couple of times,” the librarian offers, “I wanted to get a feel for the property, visualize the layout a little.”
“Oh really?” Jeremy glances over at him, “did you spot this…Allensworth figure? I mean that is basically what we’re implying this is now, right? Or at least some prankster dressing up like Allensworth?”
“No I didn’t see him. Mostly just walked around that lovely pond, cataloged the wildflowers on hand. You’ve got — or did have — some tremendous yellow trillium, twisted stalk, nodding mandarin…uh, I even saw swamp pink, the wonderfully named deathcamus…”
“Eh. Well. I wouldn’t know anything about that junk,” Jeremy cuts him off. “But, ah, should I sit down here and read this, take notes? Or are pictures cool or….”
“It doesn’t matter,” Hilldreth says, waving him off, “you can take it with you, really.”
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