The Clockwork House

by Wendy Saunders

  Ava rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ she asked staring back at the guys unloading planks and metal poles for the scaffolding.

  ‘Not at the moment,’ Killian raised his hand in acknowledgement, nodding as one of the men signaled for him.

  ‘I’ll come and find you later,’ he told her, ‘until then…’

  ‘Stay out of the way?’ she replied.

  ‘More or less,’ he grinned. ‘I don’t think my brother would forgive me if I let you get hurt.’

  She rolled her eyes again.

  ‘Go,’ she shooed him away.

  ‘Okay,’ he backed up a few paces, ‘but the same goes for your dog. Keep her out of the way for the moment; I don’t want her getting injured either.’

  ‘Got it,’ she nodded as he turned and jogged toward the others.

  She wandered back toward the fire pit and whistled for Bailey. She passed her time building up the fire, keeping it fairly small. The sun was high in the sky and it was roasting already. The last thing she needed was a blazing inferno, however she did want some breakfast. She set the tin kettle to warm on the edge of the fire for coffee and grabbed her oldest most battered pan.

  Ten minutes later she was settled on a log seat with Bailey dozing at her feet, eating scrambled eggs and toast, watching the bustling activity around her. The old fencing quickly disappeared from the site and she watched as the metal structure was erected level by level around her building.

  After the first hour of just sitting there watching, she was well and truly bored. The initial excitement had worn off and she was itching for something to do.

  She set the huge metal urn she’d bought on the edge of the fire, resting it on several grapefruit sized rocks she’d collected from along the beach. Slowly it began to churn and bubble contentedly, filling the clearing with the tantalizing scent of coffee. Slowly one by one, it drew the crew and she happily plied them with coffee and bottles of water from the stack she’d bought days before.

  By mid-morning an old blue Chevy Tahoe drove into the clearing pulling up alongside her truck. She watched as an old guy with a yellowing beard climbed out, removing his hat and wiping the sweat from his forehead with a bright red bandana which he shoved back into the back pocket of his jeans.

  ‘My it’s a hot one,’ he smiled as he held out his hand. ‘Name’s Jed, from Island Market, you spoke to Martha yesterday?’

  ‘That’s right,’ Ava returned his friendly smile as she shook his hand.

  ‘Got your order in the back,’ he nodded toward the car. ‘Gotta say that’s an awful lotta meat for such a skinny girl.’

  Ava laughed, hiking a thumb over her shoulder toward the bustling crew behind her.

  ‘Got a lot of mouths to feed.’

  ‘So I see,’ he nodded. ‘So, it’s true then, you fixing the place up?’

  ‘Looks like,’ she replied.

  ‘I’m glad,’ he decided after a moment. ‘It was awful sad to see such a fine-looking building rotting away.’

  ‘You not a ghost enthusiast then?’ she asked.

  ‘No Ma’am,’ he turned his wide brimmed hat over in his hands before placing it back on his head to shield him from the sun beating down on his thinning hair. ‘I couldn’t say if there’s such a thing or not, but I do hate wasted potential. That house there is part of our island history and it don’t deserve such cruel neglect.’

  ‘Well I’m glad to do my part for the island then,’ Ava decided, charmed by the old man.

  ‘Is it true you’re Hari’s grandkid?’

  ‘That’s right,’ she replied.

  ‘She was a fine woman,’ he nodded, ‘a real looker. Knew your granddaddy some too. He was a good man, shame what happened to him.’

  ‘I heard he died in an accident,’ she replied.

  ‘That’s right,’ he nodded. ‘Taken too soon, God rest his soul. Still,’ he changed the subject, ‘where should I put this then?’ He opened the back of the Tahoe to reveal several large coolers and crates.

  ‘Just there is fine,’ she indicated the shaded side of the RV.

  She tried to help but Jed was having none of it. He waved her off and, in the end, she just stood and waited for him to finish.

  ‘Thanks,’ she handed him a wad of bills and shook his hand.

  ‘You gonna be feeding them on a regular basis?’ he nodded toward the crew.

  ‘Probably,’ she replied. ‘I like to cook, and it gives me something to do.’

  ‘Well you mind those boys pay you. You can’t be feeding them all for free,’ he warned her in a kind of sweet overprotective way, ‘and you’re obviously gonna be needing supplies on a regular basis, so come down to the market and we’ll open you an account. Make sure you get a good discount too.’

  ‘Thanks Jed,’ she smiled genuinely as her heart softened, ‘that’s really kind.’

  ‘Well you’re part of the island now, Miss Cortez and we take care of our own.’

  ‘Ava,’ she corrected, ‘please.’

  ‘Ava it is then,’ he nodded as he climbed back into his car and leaned out of the open window. ‘Now make sure you stop by; I’ll tell Martha to expect you.’

  ‘I will,’ she promised, standing back as he drove away.

  Wasting no time, Ava broke open the new barbecue she’d purchased the day before, eager to play with her new toy. Before long she’d set up a folding table, fired up the grill and was cooking up a storm.

  Killian rounded the corner of the building. He’d spent the last half hour inspecting the glass summer house at the back of the property, but as he approached all he could see was a cluster of his men gathered around, near Ava’s truck and RV. He headed over to see what was going on when he caught the smell of something delicious wafting on the breeze.

  The crowd parted and he found Ava in the middle of them, beside a folding table which was piled high with salad, drinks, condiments, plates and napkins. Ava herself was standing beside a grill upon which were dozens of fat, sizzling sausages and burgers.

  ‘Hey Killian,’ she greeted him as she handed a plate to another of his men, ‘you hungry?’

  ‘I am now,’ he stopped in front of her. ‘What’s all this?’

  ‘Lunch,’ she replied easily, ‘I figured y’all would be hungry.’

  ‘Ava you don’t have to do this.’

  ‘I know,’ she shrugged as she flipped the burgers, ‘but I wanted to. It gets tedious just cooking for myself. Besides its going to get pretty boring around here, if all I’m doing is watching you guys play with power tools.’

  He laughed and shook his head, ‘well at least tell me these bums are paying you.’

  ‘What? No way,’ she replied, ‘it’s on me. It’s the least I can do.’

  ‘Are you crazy Ava?’ Killian answered incredulously. ‘It’s not like we’re doing you a favor, you’re paying us a lot of money to fix the place up.’

  ‘I know,’ she smiled.

  ‘Don’t worry boss we got it covered,’ a gruff voice cut through the crowd.

  Killian turned to look and saw his foreman Bo holding a large can stuffed with bills and loose change.

  ‘Here you go Ma’am,’ he set the can down on the edge of the table.

  ‘You didn’t have to do that.’

  ‘Fair’s fair, Miss Cortez. You feed us, you get paid, although you may come to regret it. They’re like a pack of stray dogs. Feed ‘em once and they’ll keep coming back for more.’

  Ava laughed delightedly.

  ‘I think I can handle that, and its Ava,’ she handed him a plate loaded with food.’

  ‘Thank you, Ma’am,’ he smiled, ‘Ava,’ he corrected at her raised brow.

  ‘Looks like you’re gonna be a hit around here,’ Killian looked over at the grill with interest. Shoving his hand in his pocket he came up with a handful of bills and dumped them in the pot.

  ‘What do you want to drink?’ she asked.

  ‘I’ll take
a soda,’ he replied as she loaded up a plate for him.

  ‘You want potato salad with that?’

  ‘Sure,’ he watched as she scooped it out of a large mixing bowl and dolloped a generous amount on the side of his paper plate.

  ‘You make that from scratch?’ he wondered out loud.

  ‘Only way to make potato salad,’ she handed him the plate and a napkin.

  He took a mouthful and sighed in pleasure. The meat was perfectly cooked with just a slight smoky taste, the rolls were fresh, the salad crisp and the potato salad was just pure creamy deliciousness. He chewed slowly as he glanced around thoughtfully, taking in the whole set up she had going on. It was industrious; there wasn’t any power anywhere. She’d made use of the fire pit and the grill, cooking confidently on an open flame like she’d done it a thousand times before. She easily chatted with his men as she kept up a steady pace, never burning anything. She had a talent for feeding people, he could almost see the little love hearts in his guys’ eyes as they thanked her and ate her food.

  ‘You fixing to do this on a regular occasion?’ Killian asked.

  ‘That’s the plan,’ she nodded as she handed out the last plate and began to clean up the mess.

  ‘We’ve got some portable generators coming up this afternoon. We can’t get the house wired into the main grid until the whole property’s weatherproof, so we’re having to bring the power with us. We’ll rig you up some over this side of the clearing.’

  ‘That would be great,’ Ava replied enthusiastically.

  ‘You need some kind of cover too,’ he mused. ‘You can’t prepare food out in the full sun, so maybe a canopy of some sort. I’ll have something fixed up for you by tomorrow.’

  ‘You don’t have to do that,’ she replied as she began to stuff used plates into a large trash bag, ‘you’ve got enough to do.’

  ‘It’s the least we can do,’ Killian shook his head. ‘You look after us, we look after you. That’s how it goes.’

  Her heart gave another helpless tug and she blew out a breath. She was in very real danger of falling in love with the whole damn island at this rate.

  Saved from having to form a response, Ava looked over at the sound of another vehicle driving onto the site. This time it was a sleek silver sports car.

  ‘Flashy bastard,’ Killian grinned as the car pulled in and parked. A tall guy of medium build with sandy blonde hair climbed out, wearing a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and tailored slacks. He peered at them from behind a pair of Ray Bans and waved.

  ‘Drew!’ Killian placed his empty plate down and wiped his hands.

  ‘Did I just miss lunch?’ he grinned as he confidently sauntered over.

  ‘I can fix you a plate if you’re hungry?’ Ava offered. ‘There’s still some left.’

  ‘No thank you sweetheart,’ he removed his glasses and tucked them into the collar of his shirt, ‘I’ve had lunch. You must be Ava?’

  ‘That’s right,’ she wiped her hand on her denim shorts before offering it to the pristinely dressed man in front of her.

  ‘Andrew Duffy,’ he smiled warmly as he shook her hand, ‘but please, call me Drew.’ He glanced up at the house and whistled. ‘She sure is a beauty.’

  ‘Yeah the house isn’t bad either,’ Killian laughed and elbowed Ava good naturedly, causing her to roll her eyes.

  ‘Are you the architect then?’ she continued to clean up.

  ‘Sure am,’ he leaned back against his car, ‘and I can’t wait to get my hands on your house. It’s a dream to work on an original Talbot.’

  ‘Talbot?’ she questioned.

  ‘George Isaiah Talbot. He was practically the Michelangelo of 19th century architecture. He was born in England but moved to Boston as a young man. Some of his Victorian follies are just gorgeous, but buildings this size? He only built a few of them and this one is extra special because it was his private residence. He built it specifically for himself but after he died, his son, who didn’t have half his talent but had a lot of gambling debts, was forced to sell it, to your ancestor I believe, Ephraim Lynch.’

  ‘So I’m told,’ she replied.

  ‘He must have been very shrewd,’ Drew nodded. ‘I’ve seen the bill of sale and he bought the house for well under its actual value. Talbot’s son must have been desperate.’

  ‘That’s a sad legacy.’

  ‘Isn’t it?’ Drew agreed. ‘Anyway, I’m itching to see how much of the original features have survived. I’ve tried to track down the original blueprints to the building but so far, no luck, which is really strange. All of Talbot’s blueprints were preserved and archived, every single last one of everything he ever built, except this particular house.’

  ‘Is that strange?’ Ava shrugged, ‘I mean it was over a hundred and what…fifty years ago?’

  ‘We’ll see, won’t we,’ Drew replied. ‘I’ve got my people trying to track them down.’

  ‘Will it matter if we don’t have the original blueprints?’

  ‘It would make my job easier if I had access to the originals, not to mention more interesting, but I can do without them. It just complicates thing a little as I’ll have to measure everything by hand.’

  ‘So, what now?’

  ‘Now,’ Drew pushed away from the car and leaned in, retrieving a hard hat, a folder, and several other items, ‘now we take a little stroll through your house and make some notes.’ He turned to look at Killian. ‘Can we go in?’

  ‘Sure,’ he nodded, ‘just be careful. Stick to the ground level for now. We’ve got most of the supports in; fortunately, the main structure’s still pretty solid. The boarding is just coming off the windows now so you should have some natural light to work with. We’ll tell you when you’ll be able to get a look at the upper levels, but it probably won’t be today.’

  ‘I can work with that,’ Drew nodded. ‘Ava? You ready?’

  ‘Wait,’ Killian asked, ‘where’s Bailey?’

  ‘Asleep in the RV,’ she replied. ‘She’d have gone nuts while I was cooking sausages.’

  ‘Okay,’ he nodded in satisfaction.

  ‘Who’s Bailey?’ Drew asked.

  ‘My dog,’ she answered easily. ‘Just give me a moment will you. I need to finish cleaning up before we go in.’

  ‘No problem,’ he leaned back against the car and watched her as she bustled around, storing food and picking up empty paper plates.

  ‘You may as well pop your eyes back in there, pal,’ Killian leaned against the car beside him. ‘Kelley’s already staked a claim.’

  ‘Damn,’ Drew’s eyes trailed down her long, tanned legs. ‘You Ryans have all the luck.’

  Killian grinned. ‘Hope says hi by the way.’

  ‘Does she?’ he glanced across at his friend. ‘You know I should hate you for marrying my prom date and knocking her up.’

  ‘Hey,’ he smiled, ‘it was your choice to leave the island for the bright lights and big city.’

  ‘Yeah and I’m beginning to think I might’ve made a mistake,’ his eyes landed on Ava.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘No,’ Drew smiled. ‘As tempting as that tall drink of water is, I’m happy where I am.’

  ‘Okay I’m all done,’ Ava headed back over to them, taking the hard hat Killian offered her and putting it on.

  Drew chuckled and shook his head.

  ‘What?’ Ava asked.

  ‘You even look good in that ugly yellow plastic.’

  ‘Hey, yellow worked for Snow White,’ she relied.

  ‘So it did,’ he pushed away from the car. ‘Come on then princess, let’s go fix your castle.’

  She smiled widely at him and for a second, he had to stop and blink. It was like being blinded by the sun and the hell of it was, that she wasn’t even aware she was doing it.

  ‘It’s lethal, isn’t it?’ Killian murmured, ‘that smile of hers.’

  ‘Your brother doesn’t stand a chance,’ Drew laughed in delight.

 
Ava headed toward the house. She could see the boards being prized from the lower windows and was eager to get another look inside, this time in bright daylight. Killian disappeared leaving her solely in the company of Drew whose entire attention was fixed on the house in front of him with an almost reverent focus.

  They climbed the stone steps, bypassing the lion statues and rusted metal lamps, and headed toward the front entrance, which was wide open, with work crews wandering in and out, still carrying large planks of wood and metal scaffolding poles.

  Once again, just as it did the first time, as she entered the house Ava felt that tiny shift, so faint she wondered if she were imagining it. But the air felt somehow heavier, like it was heavy with static electricity.

  ‘Can you feel that?’ she asked Drew.

  ‘Feel what?’ he murmured staring up at the huge staircase which split and curved up either side of the foyer to a second-floor balcony.

  The was a loud, splintering sound behind them and the foyer was suddenly flooded with light.

  ‘Wow,’ Ava murmured looking up at the huge columns supporting the staircase.

  Her gaze drifted slowly down to the floor and her eyes widened. There was a huge canvas rug with a delicate floral design at its center and around the edges. Beneath it was an incredibly complex tiled floor, decorated with geometric shapes.

  ‘This is perfect,’ Drew kneeled down to study the tile, ‘and mostly undamaged. You’re going to want to save this. Help me move this rug, will you?’

  ‘What do you think that is?’ Ava asked as she eyed a huge, circular, black tar like stain in the center of the rug.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ he glanced up toward the ceiling looking for any signs of a leak, ‘could be anything. Let’s move it out, I want a better look at the flooring.’

  They each grabbed a corner of the rug and began to fold it over, dragging it to the edge of the foyer to be taken outside, but as Ava glanced back, she realized the stain was still in the same place. Whatever it was, had obviously gone through the rug and onto the floor where, instead of appearing black, it had an almost reddish, rust colored hue to it.

  ‘I wonder what it is?’ Drew frowned as he pulled out his phone and took several pictures, not only of the stain itself but the entire floor, including close ups of the patterned tiles. ‘It looks like dried blood.’