by Bobbi Holmes
“Is this the same livery that Bud’s sister owned?” Danielle asked.
“Yes, but this was before Bud was born. And probably before his sister was born. I imagine the stable was then owned by her future in-laws,” Walt said.
“So what does this have to do with pirates?” Heather asked.
“When they first inspected the wreckage, they found what looked like marks where someone had dragged something from the ship, like a large chest. There were some matching grooves left in the road, along with evidence of a carriage—which they believed was the missing one. Yet before they could search the wreckage for more evidence, or discover where it came from, another storm hit and washed the ship back out to sea, where it disappeared.”
“And they never learned where it came from?” Heather asked.
“No. The stories grew, and people were convinced the ship was one pirates had commandeered, and that when they washed up on shore, they had to move their treasure. It made for a good story.” Walt grinned.
“And they never found out what happened to the carriage and horses?” Lily asked.
“Not the horses, but months later they found what was left of the carriage up on one of the local mountains. Which mountain, I don’t know,” Walt said. “But that’s where that story evolved.”
“I assume treasure hunters searched for this elusive pirate treasure?” Danielle asked.
“If so, that was before my time. I heard the story years later, when I was about eleven. By then most people didn’t believe there was a treasure. Oh, there were those who speculated pirates buried it up in the mountains, but it was always said more in jest. Even if there had been a treasure, I think most people felt it was long gone. While they found the carriage, they never found the horses. The pirates—or whoever was responsible—obviously got away with whatever they took with them,” Walt said. “And whatever they took may not have been worth anything.”
“I don’t think Marie knows about this story,” Danielle said. “She mentioned pirates, but nothing about this story.”
“She may never have heard it,” Walt said. “It’s something I heard when I was a child, but I don’t recall anyone talking about it in later years.”
“But could this be the treasure Bud was supposedly looking for?” Heather suggested.
Walt shrugged. “I was told he moved a few months before my parents died. I heard nothing about him off treasure hunting until Cory.”
“What happened to the carriage they found up in the mountains?” Ian asked. “Were they sure it was the same one stolen from the Frederickport livery?”
“The owner of the livery stable took a trip up to the mountains after someone reported finding the carriage. I assume they brought it back with them, but I don’t know for sure,” Walt said.
“Maybe,” Heather said with a conspiratorial whisper, “they brought the carriage back, and the pirates had accidentally dropped some treasure, leaving it behind in the carriage. They found it, didn’t tell anyone, but the story of the found treasure was passed down in their family, and then Bud heard about it from his sister, and he took off looking for it because his sister told him where they found the carriage.”
They all stared at Heather.
Finally, Chris said, “You shouldn’t have given up writing.”
“What do you mean?” Heather frowned.
“You should consider fiction,” Chris teased.
Heather laughed. “Yeah, well, my writing career was brief and not especially productive. I’d better stay where I am.”
Chris glanced at his watch. “If you’re going to do that, we need to finish breakfast and get to work. We have those people coming in, in about thirty minutes, remember?”
After Chris and Heather finished breakfast and said their goodbyes, Danielle said, “You know, Heather’s theory was not a bad one.”
“I thought that too,” Ian said.
“So what are you guys going to do now?” Lily asked.
Walt considered the question and then looked at Danielle. “I have some things I need to do today, but why don’t we take a drive to Astoria tomorrow and see if we can find out what happened to Teddy?”
“I’m game,” Danielle said. “And while you finish what you have to do today, I’ll see what I can find online.”
Twenty
Later Tuesday afternoon, Danielle came knocking on Lily’s front door. She had a question for Ian. Lily answered the door and then led Danielle towards Ian’s office, explaining Connor was in his room taking a nap.
“You haven’t seen Marie, have you?” Danielle asked while following Lily down the hallway. Lily flashed Danielle an eye roll, to which Danielle responded, “You know what I mean.”
“I’m fairly certain she hasn’t been here today,” Lily said as she opened the door to Ian’s office. He looked up from his desk and greeted Danielle as the two women walked into the room.
“I was wondering if you could ask your sister something,” Danielle said.
“What’s that?” Ian asked.
“I’m not sure if this is going to help us figure this thing out, but Walt and I started talking more about this treasure Bud was supposed to be after, and we wondered if it was linked to the ship that washed up on shore. According to Ginny, when Cory mentioned it, she claimed not to know anything about a treasure Bud was looking for.”
Ian arched his brow. “And?”
“But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know something about the ship washing up on shore and the stolen carriage. Some story passed down in her family. Maybe she just didn’t connect the two. Walt didn’t at first,” Danielle explained.
“What would you like me to do?” Ian asked.
“I know Kelly did an extensive interview with Ginny, and not everything made it to the podcast. I was wondering if you could ask if Ginny ever discussed the stolen carriage they found up in the mountains or the ghost ship. That all happened long before Bud’s time, so I understand why she didn’t connect the two,” Danielle explained.
“Sure, I would be happy to,” Ian said.
“Kelly’s coming over in a little while,” Lily said. “Ian can ask her then.”
“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” Danielle said.
“Did you do any online sleuthing?” Lily asked.
“Yes, I did. I was going to tell you about it.” Danielle paused a moment and looked at Ian. “If you have time. I know I interrupted your work.”
Ian laughed and pointed to the loveseat in his office. “Yeah, right, you imply you found something, and you think I’ll have you tell me later? Sit down.”
Danielle flashed Ian a grin and then took a seat on the small sofa with Lily. Ian pushed his chair away from the desk and, while still sitting in it, rolled himself closer to the sofa.
“I searched old newspapers online. While they don’t have back copies of the Frederickport Press, they have other Oregon papers. I found a wedding announcement for a Theodore Newsome and Josephine Piller of Astoria, in November 1904. Teddy’s last name was Newsome,” Danielle explained.
“Wow, his wife dies in August, and he remarries a couple of months later?” Lily scoffed.
“Consider the time. Marriage was typically a practical arrangement, not necessarily about romance. It wasn’t uncommon back then for someone to remarry fairly quickly,” Ian reminded her.
“Anything else?” Lily asked.
“There was an obituary for a Josephine Piller Newsome, in June of 1905.”
“They didn’t have a very long marriage, did they?” Lily said. “Any idea what happened to her?”
“It didn’t say in the obituary. I haven’t found any articles on her death.” Danielle glanced at her watch. “I need to get going. I want to do some more research before Walt and I go to Astoria.”
“Are you still going tomorrow?” Lily asked.
“That’s the plan,” Danielle said.
“I’ll call you tonight and tell you what Kelly says,” Ian promised.
Kell
y arrived about a half an hour after Danielle returned to Marlow House. Lily opened the door for her sister-in-law but didn’t bother showing her to the office. She had just gotten Connor up from his nap, and he was in the living room, playing with blocks. Lily didn’t want to leave him alone.
When Kelly walked into her brother’s office, she found him sitting at his desk, typing on the computer. He looked up from his keyboard, stopped typing, and smiled.
“Working hard?” Kelly asked, meandering over to the desk.
Ian pointed to a stack of papers sitting on the corner of a nearby shelf. “I got the papers you wanted together. They’re right there.”
Kelly picked up the stack and began shuffling through them.
“Why don’t you sit down. I wanted to ask you about something,” he said.
Clutching the stack of papers to her chest, she looked at her brother. “Why don’t we go to Pier Café and talk there? Like we used to do, just the two of us. Get something to eat,” Kelly suggested.
“I had breakfast there this morning,” Ian told her.
Kelly frowned and asked, “Who with?”
“Just all the neighbors,” Ian said.
“You mean like Walt and Danielle?” Kelly asked.
“Yes, and Chris and Heather,” Ian added.
“We don’t really do anything together anymore,” Kelly grumbled.
“That’s not true,” Ian argued.
“Yes, it is. You have all your new friends, and I’m not included,” Kelly said.
“They are your friends too,” Ian argued.
“Not really,” Kelly grumbled. “It would just be nice if you and I could sometime go out to lunch, just the two of us. Talk like we used to.”
“I told you, I already ate at Pier Café today.”
“Ian,” Lily said from the open doorway. Both Kelly and Ian looked her way. “I think it would be nice if you accepted your sister’s invitation. Sorry, but I overheard your conversation. You two are kinda loud. But I totally understand what she’s saying. If my brother and sister lived closer, I’d like to spend some one-on-one time with each of them and not have to deal with their significant other—if they had one.” Lily grinned. “Go get some pie, spend some quality time with your sister, and be grateful you have a sister who wants to spend time with you.”
Kelly stared at Lily, her eyes wide. Finally, she muttered, “Thank you, Lily.”
Ian let out a sigh and stood up. “I guess I shouldn’t argue with the two most important women in my life.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Lily said. “Oh, and bring me home a slice of apple pie if they have any.
After Ian and Kelly sat in the small booth at Pier Café, Kelly asked, “Am I really one of the most important people in your life?”
“Why do you even ask that?” Ian said.
Kelly shrugged. “It’s just that I don’t feel as if we are as close as we used to be.”
“Naturally, things are going to change. I’m married now; you’re about to get married. Lily and I have a child. You’re still important to me, but we each have our own separate lives.”
“I suppose.” Kelly sighed. A moment later, a server came to their table and took their orders.
After the server left, Ian said, “I wanted to ask you something. About when you interviewed Ginny Thomas.”
“What about it?” Kelly picked up the cup of coffee the server had poured before leaving their table.
“Did she ever mention anything about a stolen carriage from her family’s livery stable that ended up in the mountains?” Ian then recounted what Walt had told him about the incident, leaving out references to Walt’s former life or mention of a ghost. Ian embellished some facts, unavoidable unless he wanted to reveal to Kelly the truth about Walt.
Ian didn’t believe telling his sister the truth about Walt would ever be a good idea. He wanted his sister to be happy, and she was in love with Joe Morelli. Ian understood Joe was even more a skeptic than he had been, and he feared that if he told Kelly about Walt, she could never keep that secret from the man she loved. It could destroy Kelly and Joe’s relationship, because Joe would be unable to believe what Kelly told him. The secret had almost destroyed him and Lily.
“No, but it sounds interesting. I’m meeting Ginny in about an hour over at her house; I’ll ask her then. Makes me want to look through those old newspapers.”
“Any idea when they will be at the museum?” he asked.
“A week or so. I’m not really sure.”
After Kelly dropped her brother off at his house on Tuesday afternoon, she drove over to Ginny’s. Ginny had discovered a box of vintage magazines she thought Kelly might be interested in seeing.
The two women sat in Ginny’s kitchen, the magazines spread out on the table, but they were not alone. Cory sat quietly in one corner of the room, assembling cardboard file boxes Ginny had purchased.
As Kelly thumbed through one magazine, she said, “Oh, Ian wanted me to ask you about something. Are you familiar with a ghost ship that washed up at Frederickport back when the town was first founded? Sort of like the Eva Aphrodite did a few years back. Remember, that yacht Walt Marlow once owned?”
“I remember reading about the Eva Aphrodite washing up on shore,” Ginny said. “It was the yacht Walt Marlow name after Eva Thorndike.”
Cory looked up from what he was doing and listened to the conversation.
“But there was another one, years ago. Do you remember hearing about it?” Kelly asked.
Ginny shrugged. “I guess. I believe there’s an article on it in one of the old newspapers. You can read about it when they get back from the bindery.”
“There was also something about horses and a carriage taken from your family’s livery stable. Someone stole them the same night the ship washed up on shore. I guess they discovered them missing the same morning they found the shipwreck.”
Ginny frowned at Kelly. “How would you know about that?”
“I imagine there’s an article about it in one of the old newspapers,” Kelly suggested.
“Yes, but how did you read it?” Ginny asked. “I was told there aren’t any copies of those editions aside from mine.”
“Oh, I didn’t,” Kelly said. “Walt told my brother about it, and they were curious if you knew anything about the story. Maybe something passed down in your family. But I’m sure they’ll be excited to read that newspaper when the museum gets them.”
“I still don’t understand. How did Walt hear about that story? You told me he’s a relative newcomer to Frederickport.”
“According to my brother, it’s a story that Marie Nichols told Danielle. I guess it’s something Marie’s father told her.”
“Marie Nichols?” Ginny frowned.
“Marie’s family has been here forever. I imagine she knew your cousin. Marie passed away a few years back.”
“What exactly did she tell Danielle Marlow?” Ginny asked.
“I assume just the story about a ship washing up, and the stolen carriage and horses. And something about people speculating pirates had taken a treasure off the ship and hauled it up to the mountains. They never recovered the horses, but they found the carriage in the mountains. They were curious what you might have heard about it,” Kelly said.
“Not really much more than what you’re telling me,” Ginny said. “Why exactly are they asking about this now?”
“I asked my brother that question too. He wasn’t really clear. But I got the impression they seem to think the carriage was found up in the mountains where the kidnappers took Walt. They were up there for a couple of days. I don’t know exactly what happened up there that got them thinking about this. You might ask Brian Henderson if you run into him.”
I really think they would be perfect for each other, Kelly thought to herself. I wish Brian had given her a chance.
Twenty-One
Heather stood at her open closet and wondered what she should wear tonight. She had arrived home fro
m work fifteen minutes earlier. Brian had called her that afternoon and invited her on a beach picnic. The weather reporter predicted clear skies for the August evening. Heather liked the idea of going to a remote beach where they didn’t have to worry about running into someone they knew who would ask a zillion unwelcome questions. Plus, it would be a pleasant change from hanging out at home. After Brian told her he planned to pick up food from Old Salts, she offered to bring a blanket to sit on. Glancing at the clock in her bedroom, she told herself to hurry; Brian would arrive in an hour.
Brian Henderson sat at a table at Old Salts Bakery, waiting for his order. He picked up the newspaper someone had left on the table and flipped through its pages. He started to read an article and then glanced up for a moment and noted how crowded it was tonight. It should slow down in a few weeks when summer visitors return home, he thought. Looking back at the article, he continued to read.
“Well, hello. Brian Henderson, right?” a woman’s voice said a few minutes later. Brian looked up to find Ginny Thomas standing over the table, grinning down at him.
Brian folded his newspaper and set it on the table. “You’re Kelly’s friend. Right? We met at the museum.”
Her grin broadened. “Yes. I’m Ginny. Are you here alone?”
“I’m just waiting for my take-out order,” he explained.
“Do you mind if I join you?” she asked, sitting down before he could respond. “I ordered takeout too.” She looked around the restaurant and said, “They’re pretty busy tonight, aren’t they?”
Brian glanced around and noted there were no empty tables. He silently chided himself for momentarily assuming she was hitting on him. She just wanted to sit down, Brian thought.
“It’s always like this in August. Last rush of the summer,” Brian said.
“Cory, that’s my neighbor, he told me about their cinnamon rolls. They are absolutely to die for,” she said.