Avery sat on one of the Adirondack chairs on the front porch of the cabin, for once unaware of the stunning vista in front of her. Her attention was entirely focused on the small book in her hands. The inside pages were yellowed by time, but the tree and canvas had protected it from the elements. There were small initials embossed in gold on the front, MEK. The writing inside was done with black ink that had spotted and faded in places. The first few pages contained sketches of the cabin and the lake and poetic descriptions of the local scenery. Although she knew she should be dissecting owl pellets, she couldn’t help herself; she read the first few passages.
June 1, 1893
William arrived today to ensure that I am settling in. It was glorious to see him again! He is so handsome, so smart, and so kind to me. He stayed with me until late in the evening. We sat by a fire he made for us on the grounds down by the waterfront.
He informed me of his plans to build Camp Uncas. I imagine this will be our new home once he divorces Janet. I am not sure why it has taken so long but he promises me that it should be all settled by the end of this summer. My father will be very disappointed in me for not completing my schooling, but I don’t care. All that I care about is William.
Minnie
“Holy shit!” Avery stared at the page in stunned disbelief. She had the proof that Minnie actually was Durant’s mistress.
The sound of human voices caused her to look up from the diary. Three men were heading her way from the trail that led to Huntington. She quickly stowed the diary in her pack.
“Hey Avery!” Tom, the director of Camp Huntington, called to her. He had two men with him, one was that Jake fellow she recognized from earlier that morning, and the other, she guessed, was about thirty years his senior.
“Avery, I wanted you to meet the men who will be working at the cabin this summer.” The three men stood at the base of the porch steps.
“This is Jake, I heard you two met this morning? And this is Frank. They will be doing the bulk of the rehab on the loft. Every once in a while there may be others coming, but for the most part these two are going to handle it.”
“Nice to meet you,” Frank said as he worked his way up the steps to greet Avery with a handshake.
Avery rose to greet Frank. “Nice to meet you as well.”
“So Jake here tells me you’re studying saw-whets?”
“That’s the plan if I can track any down. I think I may have had some luck today.”
“Yeah, well they’re elusive little guys. I’ve only seen one once, while hunting in the woods. Came upon him sitting quietly in a tree. He looked like a pinecone, still as a mouse, with his eyes closed. I waited to see if he would open ‘em. Sure enough, he did, and when he saw that I was still standing there, well wouldn’t you know it, instead of flying off like a smart bird should, he just closed his eyes again.” Frank let out a laugh.
Avery liked him immediately.
“If you don’t mind, we’d like to take a look around,” Jake said, bringing the focus back to their work, not hers.
“Sure, go ahead,” she said.
The men entered, Frank giving her a quick wink as he walked through the door of the cabin.