Camino Ghosts полностью

They were consumed with Lovely’s history of Dark Isle. Mercer wanted it to be her next book but could not decide if it should be fiction or nonfiction. She could easily take the story, otherwise known as “stealing” in the trade and perfectly acceptable, and change the names and as many of the facts as she wanted. She would have complete literary license to create and fabricate. Thomas preferred nonfiction and wanted her to stick to the truth. He had sort of agreed to work as her researcher, though they had a long way to go. Being married would be enough of a challenge. They weren’t sure if they could survive working together.

They went together to the Santa Rosa library and got lost in old newspapers, but didn’t find much about Dark Isle. Lovely’s story spanned over 250 years and had plenty of gaps. They didn’t expect to verify any of it, but they had to dig anyway. Her story also stretched the imagination at times, almost to the point of disbelief.

Since Bruce Cable was the only person they knew who’d ever met Lovely, they were eager to talk to him. Mercer called and suggested lunch, always the best entrée with Bruce, and he responded predictably: Lunch tomorrow! And at his house, which, of course, meant a longer meal with a longer nap to follow, preferably in his hammock. He had someone they needed to meet.

Noelle was in France buying antiques, so Bruce, no slouch in the kitchen, cooked a tomato pie and served it with an arugula salad. They ate on the terrace with ancient ceiling fans swaying and creaking above. Bruce poured ice-cold Chablis and wanted to know all about Scotland.

Steven Mahon arrived fifteen minutes late, with apologies. He had met Mercer at the bookstore but she did not remember him. He had also just reread Lovely’s book and was up to speed. “Bruce says you may want to write the story,” he said.

Mercer frowned at Bruce and wanted to say, Well, Bruce, as always, has a big mouth. But she demurred with “We’ll see. It’s interesting.”

“It’s fascinating,” Steven agreed. “And now the plot is getting really thick.”

Mercer asked Bruce, “Do you think Lovely will talk to me? I’ll have to tell her up front that I’m a writer and I’m thinking of borrowing her story.”

“I have no idea. She’s a pleasant person but very guarded. I always get the impression she distrusts everyone and for that reason doesn’t say much. I can call and find out. As I said, she refuses to talk on the phone.”

“And she’s here, on the island?” Steven asked.

“Yes, lives in The Docks, on the south end, outside the limits of Santa Rosa, an old neighborhood on the bay side where the oyster houses and canneries once operated. Many of the workers were black and they settled around the canneries. A hundred years ago The Docks was a bustling community with its own economy and churches. Even had an elementary school. It’s still there, still busy. A lot of the blacks have scattered and a lot of hippies and artists have moved in. The housing is cheaper.”

“Also known as Voodoo Village,” Mercer said.

“That too. Years ago, when it was all black, white folks knew better than to go there after dark. There were stories about witch doctors and ghosts and such. African curses, rituals, and so on. But it’s different now.”

“So Lovely lives in Voodoo Village?” Steven asked, amused.

“The Docks. I haven’t heard it called Voodoo Village in years. But, yes, she lives there as far as I know. I’ve never seen her house, never been invited. She told me at the bookstore one time that she lives in a small house with her neighbors just down the street. I got the impression they look after her.”

“She has a friend, right?” Mercer asked.

“Yes, Miss Naomi, who is sort of her caretaker. When she visits the store, Miss Naomi is always driving.”

“When did you move here, Bruce?” Thomas asked.

“Over twenty years ago.”

“And you, Steven?”

“Just six years ago. Retirement.”

“So none of us were here when Lovely tried to convince the state to preserve Dark Isle.”

Bruce shook his head and said, “I’ve never heard that story.”

“We found it this morning in the archives at the library. The story is dated in March of 1990. She claimed to be the owner of the island, the last descendant of the slaves, and she wanted to give it to the state of Florida if it would promise to protect it. Evidently, the state had little interest in doing so. It wasn’t much of a story.”

But Steven especially liked it. “That could be important evidence. It tends to prove that she was in fact the owner of the island. You see the problem here, right? A rather huge problem. In her own book, Lovely admits she left the island when she was fifteen years old. If we can believe that she was born in 1940, then she left in 1955. And she writes that she was the last person to leave. Everybody else was dead. Tidal Breeze will no doubt use her own words to drill home the point that the island was deserted then and has been so for decades now.”

“How can she prove she was born there?”