The Empire

by C. L. Alden

  “She always looked so stern, and when she looked you in the eye, I swear it felt like she could see into your soul.” Darcy said with an unconscious shudder. After finding out all of this, maybe she could.

  CHAPTER seventeeN

  Darcy felt the light on her eyelids, it couldn’t be morning already, she thought. When she opened her eyes, her room was bathed in an orange glow. Fire! She ran to the window. The scene was not the ocean that should have been there, but of a great blaze. The Shoreton waterfront was on fire. She felt heat emanating from the windows and saw tendrils of smoke coming in under the window frame. Her room filled with smoke. It was hot and hard to breathe. She had to get outta there and warn her dad.

  Darcy woke with a gasp. Her room was dark and cool. She grabbed her phone and dialed.

  “Hello” a groggy voice answered.

  “Quick! Look out your window!”

  “Why?”

  “Just do it!”

  Ali got out of bed and went to her window. The night sky was layers of yellows, oranges and red. “Mother puss bucket! How the hell did you know?”

  “I had a dream. I’m on my way.”

  Main St. was closed just south of the municipal park and Schooners. Darcy had to cut up Village St. and over to get to Ali’s house which was behind the historical society. When she arrived, Ali was dressed, and had travel mugs of coffee ready to go for them. They headed towards the blaze. Main St. was choked with emergency vehicles, keeping an eye on the buildings to make sure the fire did not spread. They headed down to the park. There was quite a crowd gathering. From a vantage point on Schooners pier, it was evident that the old Barrett cannery was on fire. This was not the cannery Darcy saw with Eddie from the early 1900’s, but a more modern version, built a few blocks up, several decades later. The cannery had closed about thirty years ago, and the buildings had laid dormant since then. There were still active docks near there, where lobstermen docked to have their hauls weighed and inspected at the Barrett Lobster Pound which was owned by a branch of the Barrett family. The main canning plant was fully engulfed in flames as were several of the out buildings. Firefighters were on scene battling to contain the flames, as well as soaking the surrounding buildings still intact. Luck was on their side as there was no real wind.

  Darcy spotted the Founding Society woman in the crowd as they walked back towards the landing. Police were now on scene to keep the crowd contained and controlled. The woman was looking directly at Darcy and Ali as they walked with the rest of the crowd off the pier.

  “The Founding woman is here.” Darcy said elbowing Ali to get her attention.

  “Where?” Ali said scanning the crowd.

  “Next to the guy in the bright orange hunting cap and camo jacket. Grey hair pulled back, dark jacket, glaring at me right now.”

  Ali spotted the guy in the cap. “Nope. Can’t see her.”

  The woman pointed towards the theater. Darcy shook her head in acknowledgment. The woman disappeared. “Crap…” Darcy looked pale.

  “What?”

  “I just saw her disappear right before my eyes. Freaky.”

  “Son of a bitch.”

  “She wants me to go to the theater.”

  “Now?”

  “I guess so. I still have the key.”

  “Well you’re not going alone for cripes sake!”

  “She might not like you being there.” Darcy said.

  “Well, she’ll have to get over it. Who the hell is she anyway?”

  “Guess we should ask.”

  Darcy and Ali made their way back up the hill toward Main St. only to be shut down by the police officers guarding the blockade.

  “Now what do we do? She’s gonna be pissed.” Darcy looked worried.

  “Nothing we can do. There is no way to get to the Empire without being noticed by the cops. She’ll have to wait. In the meantime, let’s see if we can figure out who she is.”

  ***

  Ali brewed a pot of coffee when they arrived at the SHS. They headed over to the museum to look at the portraits that were hung there first.

  “Why the hell are the lights on?” Ali asked as they approached the front door. She unlocked the door and walked in. Nothing looked amiss. “Take a look at the portraits. I’ll—”

  Darcy stood in the doorway. “Um, I don’t have to. She’s here.”

  “Christ! Really? Where?” Ali said looking all around.

  “Hello again.” Darcy said towards the glass case containing the diorama of the town. The woman was standing towards the middle of it, and beside her was Ruth Bishop. “And your Aunt Ruth is with her too. Hello Ms. Bishop” Neither looked happy.

  “Hello Darcy,” Ruth replied.

  “Aunt Ruth is here? Where?” Ali looked around with a mixture of fear and excitement on her face.

  “Right here,” Darcy said motioning.

  “Tell her I said hello! And—”

  “She can hear you, right Ms. Bishop?”

  “Oh I can hear her alright. What a mouth this one has!” Ruth said motioning to Ali with a mixture of pride and disapproval.

  “She can hear you.” Darcy said to Ali.

  “Enough with the idol chatter, Miss Adams! We have business to discuss.” Darcy jumped at the sudden sharpness of the woman’s tone.

  Ali reacted to Darcy being startled. “What?! What’s going on? God this sucks!”

  “Blasphemer! In a church no less!” She scowled at Ali.

  As a sidebar Darcy mumbled “You might want to tone down the blasphemy a bit. This used to be a church you know”

  “It still is a church to me!” The woman added.

  “Who the hell said that? I’m sure to Christ it wasn’t my Aunt Ruth! She could swear with the best of them!”

  Ali saw a smile cross Ruth’s face, but quickly disappear when she glanced at her counterpart who was not at all amused.

  “Um, no...”

  “Well who the hell is this woman? Ask her name.”

  “Ma’am...Madam, what—”

  “Ms. Adams I can hear her as well. My name is Temperance Martin Bishop.”

  “Well, she’s a relative of yours. Her name is Temperance Martin Bishop.”

  “Cousin! Nice to sort of meet you.” Ali said, adding the flourish of an old fashioned curtsy.

  “My husband Abraham started the Founding Society, which now seems to have become part of your historical society, since you have some of his oldest journals,” she gave Ruth a look to which Ruth responded with a nervous nod… “among other artifacts that were his.”

  Darcy wondered what had just transpired between the two. Why did Ruth look so uncomfortable? Darcy relayed the information to Ali. “Her husband Abraham, started the Founding Society, and it sounds like the historical society has all his journals and such.”

  Recognition crossed Ali’s face when the journals were mentioned. Darcy could see some of the pieces had clicked into place for Ali. She’d have to ask her about that later.

  “I see… Well okay then. What’s all the hubbub about? Do we know?” Ali was getting impatient.

  “Slow your roll; I’m sure we’re getting to that.”

  “We most certainly are. Some of us, on this side, are not happy with what we are seeing.” Replied Temperance.

  Darcy began giving Ali shortened versions of the conversations.

  “They’re not happy on the other side.”

  “Duh, we know that.” Ali replied to which Temperance glared at Ali. Darcy was coming to the realization that Ali was a lot like her ancestor. “We need to know the why of it. And what this has to do with you, Darcy, and all the other crap that‘s been going on. And is Aunt Ruth in the middle of all this?”

  “Okay, okay, let’s let her talk and then I’ll tell you,” Darcy said. She hated being the monkey in the middle.

  “Ugh...there’s got to be an easier way.” Ali was already frustrated.

  “There could be,” Temperance replied.

  “Really? What?” D
arcy held up her hand to silence Ali before she started in again with the questions.

  Temperance walked over to the glass wall separating the archive room. She stopped and to Darcy it looked like she squared her shoulders and walked into it with purpose. Her body dissolved into a looser particle structure making her image look a little blurry as she melded into the glass and pulled herself out into the archive room. Ruth followed.

  “They’ve moved into the archive room.”

  Ali headed over to the door, punched in the code and swiped her badge.

  “Okay now what?” Ali asked.

  Temperance was walking back and forth the width of the room. When she got to the area where the long wooden table was, she stopped and paced back and forth around it as if she were looking for something.

  “Move this table.” Temperance said to Darcy.

  “She wants us to move this table.”

  “Why?” Ali asked.

  Darcy looked to Temperance guessing she was the only one who could answer that question.

  Temperance looked reluctant to answer. “Well, the short explanation is that I believe there is a stone under this floor that helps conduct mystical energy.”

  “Really?” Darcy said, intrigued. “Temperance says there’s a stone under the floor that can conduct mystical energy.”

  “Why?” Ali asked.

  Darcy looked back at Temperance who looked exasperated and at Ruth who looked puzzled.

  “Did Aunt Ruth know about this stone?”

  Ruth looked defensive and a bit flustered when Darcy and Temperance turned to her waiting for an answer. “Well of course I’d heard the story of the stones, but I wasn’t entirely sure where all of them were though I had my suspicions. That knowledge was lost before my time.”

  “Uh, the short answer is no.” Darcy said to Ali.

  “This would’ve come in handy…” Ruth muttered, looking a little disgruntled.

  “Ah...okay, whatever.” Ali went to one end and Darcy to the other. “Which way?” Temperance motioned towards the rows of book shelves.

  “This way,” Darcy said taking the lead and turning the table so that they could walk it sideways towards the shelves.

  “Now what?”

  Temperance moved around the area where the table had been. Darcy noticed that she had a kind of glow around her. Ruth followed and stood beside her, glowing as well. “Have Alison stand here,” she said pointing to the space on the other side of her.

  “Go and stand where the table was.”

  Ali walked over. “Here?”

  “Take a step back.” Darcy directed.

  Temperance moved so she was right in front of her.

  “See anything?” Darcy asked.

  Ali turned all around. “Nope. Am I supposed to?”

  Temperance looked perplexed. “Ms. Adams, come over and stand next to Alison.”

  Darcy did as she was told. Temperance was still standing directly in front of Ali. As Darcy tried to maneuver around Temperance, her arm brushed Ali’s briefly. Ali let out a scream, and stepped back.

  “Holy crap! I just saw a woman’s face practically inches from mine!”

  Temperance scowled at her. “It wasn’t inches. So dramatic!”

  “You don’t see her anymore?”

  “No. Is she still there?”

  “Yes. Take a step forward,”

  Ali complied.

  “Anything?”

  “Nope.”

  When Darcy grabbed her arm to try and manually position her, she cried out. “Hey! Whoa—” Darcy let go. “Wait no, she’s gone again, I just saw her.” She moved from left to right, adjusting her position to see if it would help. It didn’t. She touched Darcy again on the arm. “Hey yo! You’re my rabbit ears, Darce! I can see them! Hey Tempe, hi Aunt Ruth!”

  “It’s Temperance.”

  “Hi Ali” Aunt Ruth said waving. “Can she hear me?”

  “They’re kinda hazy, but they’re there. Can you hear me?” Ali asked. “This is wild!”

  “They can hear you fine, can you hear them?” Darcy asked. “Say something Ruth.”

  “That girl’s got a mouth like a sailor on her”

  “Wait, I hear something. It’s almost like the static sound on a radio. Keep talking Aunt Ruth. Come here, rabbit ears,” she said. As Ruth continued talking, Ali tried touching different parts of Darcy; head, shoulder, leg, back, to see if she could get better reception. When she grabbed both of Darcy’s hands, she could hear loud and clear.

  “—this one was always a pain in my ass, but a smart one.”

  “I hear you Aunt Ruth! God it’s good to see you. Weird, but good. Holy crap!”

  “You can hear me?” Ruth looked happy and excited.

  “I can’t believe this! This is so freaky, but so cool! How does this work?” Ali said looking around the space they occupied all scrunched together. “What’s so special about this spot?”

  “It’s a stone, but that’s a story for another time.” Temperance said, and then added quickly, “Now, to the business at hand.”

  “Yeah, what’s the sense of urgency? Why did you want to see Darcy tonight?”

  “There are those among us who think that the fire tonight was intentionally set.”

  “What? Why—” Ali was ready to rattle off some questions.

  “Silence!” Temperance said holding her hand up and then seeing the startled reactions, softened slightly. “Please, there is much to discuss. Hold your questions until the end and I will do my best to answer them.” All eyes were upon Temperance, so she continued. “As I was saying, there are those among us that think the fire tonight was intentionally started. They also believe that there are forces at work on your side that are trying to destroy our town.”

  Ali couldn’t hold her tongue at that comment. “What do you mean, destroy?”

  Temperance looked aggravated, but she answered. “Just what I said. Tear down what those of us across generations have poured our blood, sweat and tears into to build. Eradicate us. Wipe us from this earth.”

  “That sounds a tad bit dramatic there cousin Tempe. You are a cousin, right? Or an aunt?”

  “We’re related. Let’s leave it at that for now. And it’s Temperance!”

  “Ooo, touchy, geez...Temperance. Got it.”

  “As I was saying, there are those that believe that you want to erase the past.”

  Darcy stepped in, “I don’t believe that. I don’t know much about it, but I do know there is a committee to discuss ways to revitalize the town. Everyone is afraid of a bypass being built.”

  “We are aware.” Temperance replied.

  “Are you aware that the committee is divided about a solution?” Ali asked.

  “Yes, just as we are divided.”

  “How are you divided?” Ali asked.

  “Well, some of us prefer to wait and see what your side decides to do, and some of us want to intervene, to ensure the outcome we want.”

  “You can do that?” Darcy and Ali asked at the same time.

  “Oh yes!” Ruth said, before Temperance could answer.

  “We can, and I think we have. That is why I am here. I think the time has passed for wait and see. Emotions are running high on both sides. I think the solution is to work together.”

  “How?” Darcy asked

  “That is what I am here to discuss.”

  “Are you part of this Aunt Ruth?”

  “No, well... kinda. We need to talk,” she said motioning towards Temperance with her eyes and a slight tilt of her head. Ali got the message that Ruth wanted it to be private.

  Darcy caught on and kept the conversation going. “So you mean to tell me that you all can make things happen on this side?”

  “It’s complicated, but yes.”

  “Crap…” Ali said as the implications began to sink in.

  “I’m not completely sure, but I think some of the strange accidents that have been happening over here were caused by us.”

&nb
sp; “Oh geez…”

  “And if that is the case, things are going to get worse.”

  “Do you believe the fire tonight was arson?” Darcy asked.

  “I’m starting to believe that.” Temperance replied.

  “What would be gained?” Darcy continued.

  “That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” Ruth added.

  “Eddie wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize his family’s legacy…” Darcy argued.

  “What if he thought he was helping to preserve his family’s legacy?” Temperance asked. “The Barrett’s have played a prominent role in shaping this town. What if this Eddie thinks he’s doing his part?”

  “I’m not part of the committee, but I do know plenty of people who might at least have an opinion about it. I can make a few discreet inquiries.” Ali volunteered.

  “I’ll see what I can find out from Eddie, but like I said, I don’t think he’d do anything to harm this town.” Darcy added.

  Temperance looked preoccupied for a moment, “The fire is just about out.”

  “Well, I’m sure the fire marshal will be able to tell if it’s arson or not.” Darcy advised.

  “Perhaps”

  “We need to get to bed and get a couple hours sleep.” Ali said. “Seems we have a lot of work to do.”

  “Indeed.” Temperance agreed. “We shall leave you.”

  “Aunt Ruth, was there something…”

  “Oh, yes, have you looked at all the paperwork the lawyers sent over, quite a while ago I might add?” she inquired rather sternly.

  Ali sighed like a little kid being chastised. “I’m getting to it...There’s a lot of paper.”

  “Quit procrastinatin’ and get to it!” Ruth scolded.

  Ruth and Temperance dissolved into nothing.

  Darcy waited a moment to make sure they were gone before speaking. “Paperwork? Didn’t she die like two years ago?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Don’t judge, there’s been a lot going on.” she said by way of explaining.

  “Really? With historical stuff?” Darcy sounded skeptical.

  “Hey, it’s not as easy as it sounds. There’s a lot of it, and she died suddenly, so I didn’t get all the training.”

  “Training? What sort of training? Don’t you just have to memorize a bunch of dates and stuff?”