LeAnn was the last one to get up in the morning. She found everyone in the dining room having coffee.
“Hi sleepyhead!” Hannah said.
“What time is it?” LeAnn still felt the effects of the trauma of the night before.
“Nine-thirty,” Adam answered, “You want an omelet?”
“Just coffee, thanks. How did everyone else sleep?”
Adam got up to get his sister a cup of coffee.
“Considering what we went through, surprisingly well. Even Hannah slept well.” Nick hugged Hannah.
Adam came back into the dining room with LeAnn’s coffee.
“Honey, we guys have been talking and we’re thinking about going down to the boathouse,” Matt said, putting his mug of coffee down.
“No!” LeAnn and Hannah both said at once.
“You can’t. No, Nick, I won’t let you!” Hannah was practically screaming, clutching Nick’s hand.
“Matt, Adam, why in the world do you want to go down there? There’s nothing but danger. You can’t be serious! What do you think you’re going to do? Catch a ghost and tie him up?” LeAnn was angry at the stupidity of her brother and boyfriend. She stood up, quickly stormed out of the room, and ran up the stairs. They all heard her bedroom door slam shut.
“Damn!” Matt said and went to follow her.
He found her crying on her bed.
“LeAnn?”
“Go away. You guys are stupid, stupid! You saw what that—that thing can do. You. Matt, of all people, saw what it did to me and Hannah, and you still want to go down there? Why?”
“There has got to be a reason for all of this. If we go down and look around -”
She interrupted him. “Yeah, there is a reason, and I think that Phoebe and Amelia can tell us something. I told you, I want to go see them.”
“Okay, okay. I told you I’ll ask my mom.”
“Today, Matt. You ask her today!” LeAnn couldn’t control her anger or tears any longer.
“Fine, I’ll ask her today. I promise. Come here,” Matt he reached for her and she clung to him, shaking.
They returned downstairs to rejoin the rest.
After an hour they one by one they went upstairs to clean up. Matt was going to take Nick and Hannah back to the resort, and then he had a doctor’s appointment to get his hand checked. He was glad Adam would be on the island with LeAnn.
Before leaving, Hannah gave LeAnn a hug. “I wish you’d come back to the resort with us.” Hannah begged.
LeAnn smiled sweetly. “No, this is my home. I’m going to continue reading the journal and see if there are any clues that can explain what’s going on. There has to be something in that damn journal.”
Hannah shook her head and turned to Adam. She gave him a hug and then reached for Nick’s hand.
Matt kissed LeAnn and said he’d get back just as soon as he could.
She and Adam watched as the three left and went through the woods towards Matt’s boat. LeAnn liked that no one had to go past the boathouse. When the others were out of sight, LeAnn and her brother went back into the house.
“I think I’ll see if there’s a football game on,” announced Adam.
“Good idea. I think I’ll read for awhile.” LeAnn smiled at her brother then said, “Adam? I can’t tell you how glad I am you’re here.”
He smiled at his twin, “Me too.”
LeAnn went to find where she had put the journal. When she found it, she went out on the back deck to read.
June 1, 1942
Mommy, I need to ask your forgiveness. Please, please don’t hate me. Jonathan and I have been seeing each other a lot when he comes into town. He was just here. Papa is in Chicago so I went to meet Jonathan. I know it’s a sin and do pray God forgives me, but mommy, I couldn’t help myself. I love him so much, and he loves me. I met him at his hotel, and he asked me up to his room. Yes, I knew it was wrong, but I wanted to be with him so badly. When we got to his room he kissed me ever so gently and my heart was beating so fast! He held me close and tight and his hands were wandering over my body. I could feel his warm breath on my neck, whispering my name and saying he loved me. His breath made me tremble all over. Mommy, we made love. I never knew I could feel this warm and excited but also so afraid. I didn’t know what to expect but he was so gentle and told me he would not do anything I did not want to do. When it was over he couldn’t stop kissing me and I never felt so warm and safe.
After we got dressed, he handed me a box. He said, “This is just a small gift to show how I feel about you.” I opened the velvet box and, Mommy it was the most beautiful bracelet I had ever seen in my life! It was a pearl bracelet with a gold heart hanging from it. The heart had JA to AT on one side and on the other it had “Your Heart Belongs To My Heart” That was the song title of our first dance together. He put the bracelet on my wrist and told me never to take it off and to always remember the love that we share is undying.
LeAnn laid the journal down. The bracelet! He gave it to her after they had made love for the first time. How sad! They were so in love.
She opened the journal to continue.
We went down to the lobby, and, Mommy it was awful! Papa was there! He was talking with some men, and he saw me. His face turned so red. He marched over to the two of us and grabbed me by the arm. He yelled at Jonathan and told him to stay away from me, that he would not be responsible for the consequences if he didn’t. I tried to plead with Papa to let me explain. I wanted him to know how much we were in love. Papa wouldn’t listen and dragged me outside and took me home. I turned to look at Jonathan and I was crying and reaching out to him. My beautiful Jonathan looked so helpless.
I know I’m wrong to love him, Mommy, but how do you turn love off?
June 22, 1942
Mommy tonight is the ball. Papa just came in my room and told me that he had to invite Jonathan Armstrong and his wife because of business reasons,
LeAnn now realized that those so called business reasons were that Jonathan’s father-in-law, Mr. Carver, owned the banks that Ephraim Tabor had been building, and that Mr. Carver was going to make Ephraim Tabor a lot of money. So Carver’s only child, and her husband, had to be invited.
and that Mr. Armstrong would be attending. He said Mrs. Armstrong was too ill and at the last minute said she would not be coming to the ball, but she insisted that her husband come without her. He warned me that I was not to be alone with Mr. Armstrong. If he caught me acting in anyway not becoming to a lady, he was going to send me off to school in Europe. That I should remember that Mr. Armstrong was a married man with a very ill, crippled wife. He warned me not to embarrass him as I had in town. I apologized to Papa and told him I would behave. Papa then walked out of my room.
Oh, Mommy, why aren’t you here to help me? I need you so badly. I’m confused, and I can’t stand that Papa’s is mad at me, but I cannot help my love I have for Jonathan.
Mommy? Mommy? It’s two in the morning. Does that mean I need to put June 23rd on this page? I don’t know. I’m confused. I’m lost. I don’t know, I don’t know what happened.
Mommy, Jonathan is dead. My beautiful Jonathan is dead. Someone shot him tonight! He’s dead, mommy!
Jonathan is dead and so am I.
LeAnn gasped. Of course she had read the newspaper articles about the shooting at the ball, but it was different to read about it in this poor girl’s journal. To read about the extent of their love, to know that Amelia and Jonathan had loved each other so passionately, and now Jonathan was dead—murdered. It hit LeAnn hard, and she started to cry. She turned the page in the journal to see what happened next, but there were no more entries.
Oh my gosh! She never wrote again after he died. It was like she had died with him. Now LeAnn knew she had to meet the two women—if they would meet with her.
LeAnn took the journal and went back into the house. She walked into the living room where her twin brother was asleep on the couch with a football game blaring in the back ground. Smiling, she went into the kitchen to get a soda.
She couldn’t stop thinking about Amelia and Jonathan. Suddenly, she remembered the love letters. That poor girl didn’t know that Jonathan had written her! She also remembered the bracelet. I have to get them to her!
LeAnn picked up her cell phone and dialed Matt’s number. It went straight to voice mail. She figured he was still at the doctors, and left him a message, “Matt, I don’t want to be a pest but please don’t forget to ask your mom about Amelia and Phoebe. I really need to talk to them. Hurry back. I miss you, and I love you.” She pushed the end button and put her phone down.
She decided to go back outside and headed for the front porch. Now that it was daylight, she wanted to see where they had parked the boat last night.
The air was clear and crisp. She took in a deep breath. Deciding she needed a jacket, she reached for one on the hook just inside the door. Pulling it on, she walked down the stairs and to the right. Stopping, she turned and looked at the boathouse. It looked old and quiet. If she could figure a way, no one was ever going to have to walk past the boathouse again. I might just tear it down, even if it means destroying the beautiful ballroom, she thought.
She turned to continue her walk, noticing, for the first time, there was what looked like an old pathway. The trees and bushes were overgrown, but she was positive this was an old path. She continued on and then emerged on a sandy beach. This must have been where we parked Matt’s boat last night, she thought. Walking along the shoreline, she could see below the surface large wooden posts sticking up. They looked like they, at one time or another held, up a pier. It looked like the posts had rotted due to weather and, lack of care. She kept walking along the shore and could see that the pier had been quiet large. Turning to look toward her house, she could see the red roof.
She started to talk out loud to herself. “It makes sense! They invited a lot of guests to the balls, and of course all of the boats couldn’t fit around the boathouse pier. So Mr. Tabor probably had a larger pier and walk way built to house and to the ballroom! Heck, I’ll bet there was an even larger pier on the other side of the boathouse.”
LeAnn was so excited about her discovery. She definitely could rebuild this pier and clear out the path and never go near that boathouse ever again. “I can’t wait to tell Matt!” She smiled, proud of herself. As if right on cue, she saw Matt’s boat coming toward her. It looked like he was headed for the boathouse, so she started to jump and shout.
“Matt! Matt! Over here! I’m over here!” She waved her arms wildly. He spotted her and steered the boat toward her.
As he got closer to the shore, he saw that she had a big grin on her face. She looked like she was excited about something. He threw her the rope, which she caught and tied to the big tree a few steps from where she was standing.
Matt rolled up his pants, took his shoes off, and climbed in the water. “Thanks a lot, lady! Do you realize this water is freezing?” He pretended to be angry, but rushed over and grabbed her up in his arms and swung her around. “Look, Ma, no stitches!” He said, setting her down.
“Let me see.” She grabbed his hand gently and then frowned. Matt, this looks like a lot more than ten stitches.” She was very concerned as she turned his hand over in hers. There was a large bandage on the palm of his hand as well as one from his little finger to his wrist on the upper part of his hand.
“Ah, yeah, thirty-eight to be exact. But the good news, there is no permanent damage. No tendons or nerves were cut. The doctor didn’t want to worry my folks, so he lied.”
“Great doctor,” LeAnn said sarcastically.
“LeAnn, he is a good doctor. You don’t remember what kind of shape we all were in when he got here.”
“I’m sorry, you’re right. Hey, look what I found!” She pulled him to the shoreline to look at the wooden and posts in the bottom of the water. Then she showed him what she thought was an old path to the house and boathouse. “I think this was where guests parked for the summer balls. I couldn’t figure out how all the boats fit around the pier at the boathouse. This must have been the path leading to the house and ballroom, and it would have been all lit up, maybe with lanterns. See? Look over the top of the trees.” She pointed. “You can see the roof of my house. I’ll bet we’ll find the same thing on the other side of the island. Think about it. The ballroom holds a few hundred people, that’s a lot of boats, so they would have to park all around the front of the island.”
“Makes sense.” Matt examined the path.
“Matt, I would really like to hire some guys right away to rebuild the pier and clear this path. Can you help me? Will you help me?” She was playfully batting her eyes at him.
Laughing, he said, “Yes my darling, I’ll get some guys out here. They’re not going to be too happy getting in that cold water, but it’s only October, so it’s not freezing yet. But it will have to be a small temporary dock for now. Winters coming. I promise, though, in the spring, we’ll build the best pier and dock around. Okay?”
“As long as I don’t have to walk past that damn boathouse again, that’s fine.”
“I have something for you.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded envelope. “Here.”
“What is it?” she asked, looking up at him as she took it.
“Open it.”
It was a note from Mrs. Weston:
LeAnn, dear,
Here are the phone numbers and addresses for Mrs. Armstrong and Miss. Tabor. Mrs. Armstrong still lives in the house she had with her husband in Hayward, and Amelia Tabor is living in Cable.
Please be careful, and remember they are very old. Can’t wait to see you again.
Love,
Margaret Weston
LeAnn gasped as she read that both the women were still alive and living close by. Now the hard part; would they agree to see her.
“Thank you, Mat,” she said solemnly.
“It’s against my better judgment, but I knew if I didn’t get the numbers for you, you’d find them on your own. Okay, now I need a beer and where’s your brother?”
She laughed. “Sleeping watching football.”
They walked hand-in-hand through the bushes where the new pathway was going to be.
Things were going to get better, LeAnn could feel it, and they just had to!
They reached the porch, and just as they opened the door they heard Adam on the phone.
“How about dinner tonight?” There was a pause in his conversation. Then he said, “Great. I was thinking maybe Ridgewood’s, or we could go to Hayward.” Adam listened and then said, “Oh, that sounds great! So I’ll pick you up at your grandparents? Okay, see you at six. Bye. Yahoo, I have a date with a beautiful Greek girl.” Adam announced to his sister and Matt.
“Wow, Merika?” Matt asked surprised.
“Yup,” Adam replied with a big grin. “We’re going into Hayward. She said there is a new wine bar there, and they have good food.”
“They do if you’re going to The Cellar,” Matt responded.
“I think that’s what she said the name was. Anyway, I’m picking her up at six o’clock at her grandparents’ house. I guess they live next door to the tavern.” After a few minutes, Adam thought of something, “Oh, damn! I don’t have a car or boat.”
LeAnn saw a great opportunity to tease her brother. “Wow, that is a problem, isn’t it Matt?”
Matt nodded, catching on. “Oh, yeah. Beautiful girl, a date, and no mode of transportation. I guess you’re going to have to cancel, Adam.”
“Or Swim!” LeAnn said, cracking up.
“Ha-ha. You two are a real riot,” Adam said, making a face at them.
Matt and LeAnn couldn’t stop laughing. “Listen, little brother, after all of the crap I’ve taken from you over the years, you deserve some payback.”
Adam relaxed his face, and then he joined in the laughter. “So, can I borrow both a boat and a car?”
“Yes.” LeAnn went to get her car keys. She stopped suddenly when she remembered her boat was in the boathouse. “Matt?” She turned to him, fear in her eyes.
Knowing what she was going to say, Matt said, “I’ll go move it now while it’s daylight.”
It was creepy how Matt could read her mind.
“What?” Adam asked, having no idea what the two were talking about.
“Alone?” Her lip quivered.
Then Adam realized what they were talking about. “LeAnn, I’ll go with him, and I promise, neither one of us will go up into the ballroom. Okay?”
She looked at Adam and then Matt. She slowly nodded, not sure if it was okay or not. She handed the car keys to Adam. “The boat keys are in the boat.”
She watched from the doorway as they walked toward the boathouse, keeping her eyes on the upper floor waiting for something to happen—waiting for the faceless eyes to appear in the windows or a cloud of dark mist. After what felt like hours, her boat appeared in the water with both her brother and boyfriend safely in it. LeAnn sighed with relief and went back into the house.
She reached for the phone on the hall table, holding the note from Matt’s mom. Who should she call first, Amelia Tabor or Phoebe Armstrong? She decided after a few seconds to call Phoebe. The phone rang quite a few times before a voice came on the line. “Hello?”
LeAnn’s heart started to race. “Hello, is this the Armstrong residence?”
“Yes, what can I do for you?” the female voice asked coldly.
LeAnn took a deep breath. “My name is LeAnn Klein and I just purchased Tabor Island and the house. I was wondering if I might be able to come by and see Mrs. Armstrong.”
There was a long pause on the other end. “Whatever for? Do you not know that Mrs. Armstrong is an elderly woman and not in very good health?” The voice sounded extremely agitated. “Why in the world would she care if you bought the island?”
“I meant no disrespect. I just wanted to meet her and—” The woman cut her off.
“Miss Klein, Mrs. Armstrong is ninety-three years old. She has been bedridden for years and before that, for most of her young life, she was confined to a wheelchair. I really don’t think it is a good idea for you to visit her. I have been taking care of Mrs. Armstrong for twenty-two years, and my mother took car of her before me, from the time of the accident.”
“Please, please, I am so sorry if I have upset you. That was not my intent. Will you please take my phone number and just ask Mrs. Armstrong if I may come and visit with her?” LeAnn pleaded.
Again, silence, “All right,” the woman said, finally giving in. “What’s your number? But, I’m not making any promises that she will see you.”
“I totally understand.” After giving the woman her phone number, LeAnn continued, “I do thank you very much for your time.”
“Hmmph,” the voice said. “Good-bye.” The woman hung up the phone before LeAnn could say good bye back.
“Well, that went well.” LeAnn was shocked at the conversation she had just had. She wondered if she should call Amelia Tabor next, not sure she could handle another not-so-friendly phone call. She decided instead to go see what the guys were up to. She walked out onto the porch just as they were coming out of the bushes on what would be her new path to the lake.
“Matt found some old lanterns in the boathouse, and we set them up along the shore and path. We cleared as many weeds and greenery as we could by hand,” Adam said proudly, wiping his hands on his jeans
“Great! Thank you. I think it will look good once we get everything cleared up and the pier built,” she said to them both.
“Yeah. We need to do something for the short term so that we’re not always walking in water,” Matt added. “I think I’ll go change and see what I can find around back and in the forest. We may have to build a plank of some sort.”
Adam walked behind him, “I’ll help, but let’s have a beer first. You know priorities,” he said, laughing. “Want one?”
Matt said yes, LeAnn said no.
“I just called Phoebe Armstrong.”
“You spoke to her?” Matt sounded shocked
“No, some care person. She wasn’t too happy to hear from me. Said I shouldn’t come out, but I insisted she at least ask Mrs. Armstrong if I could come see her. The woman said that Phoebe is ninety-three years old. Imagine, living that long without her husband.” LeAnn shook her head and then said, “I finished the journal. Well, I guess I should say the journal just ended when Jonathan died.”
“No clues as to who killed Armstrong?” Matt asked, frowning.
LeAnn shook her head no. He hugged her close. Then she asked him, “Did anything show up or happen in the boathouse when you and Adam were in there?”
“No. All was quiet. Your brother really wanted to go upstairs to the ballroom.” She pulled away from him. “But I was able to keep him from going up.” LeAnn relaxed and put her head back on his chest.
“LeAnn, are we staying here tonight?” Matt wanted to know if she was finally ready to admit how dangerous it was to stay here.
LeAnn sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I really hate to leave my home, but after what happened last night I don’t want any of us hurt. Maybe we should stay at Ridgewood’s tonight. I can’t have my brother coming out here late after his date.”
Matt was relieved as he said, “Good, I’ll get him a nice condo next to mine. Okay?”
“Thank you. That would be great.” She looked up at him and he mouthed, “I love you.” She mouthed it back to him.
Adam interrupted them and handed the beer to Matt. “That’s enough, love birds. So, what’s up?”
“We were just discussing staying at Ridgewood’s for awhile,” Matt said. “I’ll set up a condo for you next to mine. That way you’ll have your privacy and won’t have to worry about sailing the boat here late tonight. And, you’ll be close to your sister.”
“Awesome. Thanks!”
“All right, guys. You go figure out a plank for the temporary pier, while I go and make a phone call and pack a few things.” She kissed Matt and headed upstairs.
LeAnn picked up her phone and dialed Amelia Tabor’s phone number. The phone rang, and a woman picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Miss Tabor?”
“Yes,” said the friendly voice. “Who’s this?”
“Miss Tabor, my name is LeAnn Klein. I’m the one—”
“I know who you are, Miss Klein.” The voice went suddenly cold. “If you are having any problems with the house, you must go through my attorneys.”
“No, no, Miss Tabor. The house is fine. I’m calling to ask you if I can come meet and talk with you.”
“What for? No!”
LeAnn could tell Amelia was getting ready to hang up, and hurriedly said, “I found some of your things that I think you would really like to have back.”
Amelia Tabor didn’t say anything, and LeAnn continued. “Miss Tabor, I found your journal and a few other things that I don’t think you were aware of.” LeAnn was referring to the box with the letters but she didn’t want to tell Amelia about them over the phone.
“Miss Klein, there is a lot of sadness for me on that island. Things that I don’t want to remember, sadness that I have spent the majority of my life trying to forget. I doubt there is anything you have in your possession that I would be interested in.”
“Please, Miss Tabor, just let me bring them to you. If you don’t want them, you can throw them away, but I feel it is only right that I give them back to you.”
Again, Amelia didn’t say anything.
“I’ll tell you what, Miss Tabor. I’ll give you my phone number, and you take your time and think about it. Please.”
Reluctantly, Amelia Tabor responded. “All right, wait a moment, please.” LeAnn could hear what sounded like Amelia rummaging for a pen and paper. “Go ahead,” she said.
LeAnn gave her phone number and then said, “I really do think you want what I have found, Miss Tabor.”
The line went dead.
Matt and Adam came in and saw LeAnn standing there looking at her phone on the hall table.
Adam spoke first, “Everything okay, sis?”
LeAnn looked up with a smile, “Yeah, fine, I just hung up with Amelia Tabor.” She didn’t tell them Amelia Tabor had hung up on her.
“Is she going to see you?” Matt asked.
LeAnn shrugged. “I don’t know. She said no at first, but then I told her I found a few things that I thought she would like to have. She said she didn’t want anything from this island. I told her to think about it and call me. She sure wasn’t excited to hear from me.” LeAnn perked up. “Oh, well, I guess I’d better pack.”
LeAnn walked upstairs to her room and walked over to her vanity. She ran her fingers over the metal box with the love letters and reached for the velvet box lying on top. She opened the velvet box and took out the beautiful pearl bracelet. Admiring it for the hundredth time, she said, “I hope I can get you back to your owner.” She placed the bracelet back in the box and then put it in with the letters. She started to pack and made a mental note to take the bracelet and metal box with her.
Matt joined her. As he packed his clothes, he said, “I called my dad, and the condo next to me is available, so Adam is all taken care of.”
“Thank you, Matt. You were right to suggest we leave. I don’t think any of us want to go through another night like last night,” she said, grimacing.
Matt didn’t say anything; he just gave her a loving smile.
A few minutes later, Adam showed up in the doorway of her bedroom. “Ready?”
Matt was holding LeAnn’s and his bags and told him yes.
LeAnn went to her vanity, picked up the metal box containing the letters and the velvet box. She looked around the room hoping she hadn’t forgotten anything. “Ready.”
Before leaving, she walked around the house making sure everything was locked and turned on lights. She looked at the guys, who were watching her in amusement. “I’m not leaving the house in darkness,” she said, walking past them.
The guys looked at each other, shook their heads, and chuckled.
With the front door locked, they turned and went down the new path towards LeAnn and Matt’s boat.
LeAnn could tell they had cleared a lot of the path, so that they could walk through with no problem. When they reached the beach area, she started laughing. They had created a pier, of sorts. The wooden boards were warped, and there were large spaces in between them.
“Don’t laugh; it works!” Matt said.
“I’m sure it does. Let’s just hope no wind comes up.” LeAnn giggled, but was secretly impressed.
They slowly walked ‘the plank’ and got in Matt’s boat.
Adam got in LeAnn’s boat. They all agreed it would be safer docked at the resort.
Matt pulled out first, then Adam.
LeAnn looked back at her house with a pain of sadness in her heart. God, please watch over my house. Don’t let anything bad happen, she prayed silently.
She then looked at the boathouse, glad to be away from it. But she had a feeling she was being watched by the faceless eyes.