The Empire Read online

  “Sure, you can say we were friends if we erase all of junior high and high school, but whatever.” She felt herself suddenly irritated, and knew she was being ridiculous.

  “We— I—” he stumbled as if his brain was finally playing catch up with his mouth. “I’m sorry… I was such an arrogant tool back then, wasn’t I?”

  Darcy looked at him, surprised that Fast Eddie would realize that, much less admit it. “Yeah, you were.”

  He used the opportunity to paste on his most charming smile and in tones of the utmost sincerity he coaxed, “Come on, let’s meet for drinks. Let me make it up to you, at least a little.”

  “No need, really. That’s ancient history. We’re all adults. We’ve all moved on, right?”

  Eddie wasn’t taking no for answer. “I think so. So why not meet me for a drink. Please? One drink.”

  Darcy hesitated. Was she actually letting herself get sucked in?

  Eddie didn’t let her inner debate continue, he pressed on. “What do you say? Please.” The expression on his face, the slightly mischievous twinkle in his eye reminded her of the ten year old boy that used to be her best friend.

  How bad could it be, she thought. “Okay, yes. I’ll meet you at Schooner’s at seven for drinks.”

  “Excellent! It’ll be so great to catch up with you. I promise not to be a jerk,” he said with a wink as he slid out of the booth and headed out of the cafe.

  Well this visit was off to a funky start. Drinks with Fast Eddie of all people. She opened the Shoreton Gazette and continued to peruse it. The first article that caught her eye was a small item buried in the middle of the page titled ‘Town in Talks with Barrett Holding Company for Purchase of Property on Trader’s Point’. It seemed Eddie was continuing to build the Barrett legacy. It would be interesting to find out what type of man he’d turned out to be, she thought.

  “Good mornin’” her dad said as he walked over to the booth. “I see you couldn’t escape the pleasure of Barrett, Jr.” he chuckled.

  “He wasn’t too bad. He seems to have matured a bit.”

  “You think so?” Hank appeared surprised and dubious.

  “Yeah, I mean, he seemed nicer than he used to.”

  “I see.” His voice sounded agreeable as he nodded his head, but his expression suggested otherwise.

  “You see what?” she asked feeling a little defensive.

  “You’ve mellowed. You’re a pushover, a marshmallow.” Hank teased.

  “I am not! We’re only going out for one drink.”

  “You’re going out with Fast Eddie?!” he exclaimed rather loudly.

  “Sshhh! Jeezum’ crow! If I’m lucky, maybe they didn’t hear you over in Weskeag!” The Maine-isms were already starting to creep back into her speech. “We’re not going out. It’s just a drink.”

  “Uh-huh...Whatever you say.” Hank said rolling his eyes, and chuckling as he walked back toward the counter.

  CHAPTER THREE

  With a full belly and no solid plans for the rest of the day, Darcy made her way to the counter to say her goodbyes. The cafe had emptied out quite a bit. It was a work day for most. Outside it was a beautiful, sunny day in early October. Leaf peeper season had just begun. For the next few weekends, the town would be bustling with the bulk of the last visitors for the year. A walk down Main St. seemed like a good idea. It had been years since she had taken the time to look around town. Things had changed, she imagined.

  “I’ll see you again, right deah?” Mary called from the kitchen as Darcy was halfway to the door.

  She turned and walked back to the counter. “Of course! I’m sure I’ll be here everyday for breakfast.” That seemed to please Mary. Darcy said her final goodbyes and headed out the door. She stood there for a moment deciding which direction to head first. When she turned to head up the street towards The Empire, she ran smack dab into a kid. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” She apologized, reaching an arm out to catch her balance and grab the person she just practically mowed down. The impact had knocked the teenage boy backwards, and the grey hoodie off his head, revealing dark brown hair and dark blue eyes.

  “What the hell?!” He shrieked as she grabbed him. Darcy felt a strong jolt, for lack of a better word, when she touched him.

  It was like being zapped by an electrical current, and at the same time there was an energy surge through her brain that left her feeling over stimulated. She had a moment of clarity and, strangely, felt an intense but immaterial connection to the boy, and everything around her. Like some of the answers to the mysteries of the universe had been uploaded into her brain.

  “Ow!” She exclaimed, letting him go. The jolt subsided to a tingle all over her body, and the connectivity she experienced to the boy and her surroundings dissipated as well.

  By the shocked and confused look on his face, he must’ve felt it too. He immediately took a couple steps back.

  “I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there.” She reflexively shook the hand that touched him. “Whoa! That was some static electricity. Did you feel that?”

  He didn’t answer her, but stood there, rigid, staring at her. A deep penetrating stare, as if he were looking into her, not at her.

  “Are you okay?” Darcy took a step forward, and as if repelled, he took a step back, body still rigid, eyes unblinking. She stopped. What’s going on here? She felt a tickling in her brain, like when long forgotten memories are triggered by a sound, smell or taste. What was it about this boy?

  He didn’t move, but kept staring at her.

  “Hello?” She waved her hand in front of his face.

  Coming out of his trance-like state, his eyes broke the stare. He took a deep breath in and shook out his whole body as he exhaled.

  “You okay?” She asked. He looked a little pale.

  He was startled at the sound of her voice, as if he was hearing it for the first time. He took another step back, staring at her, this time like he was were measuring her.

  “Hey, can you hear me? Are you okay?” She didn’t move. She didn’t want to spook him any more than she apparently already had.

  After a moment, he took another deep breath, this time bringing a little color back to his face, and said, “Do yourself a favor, and leave them alone.” With that, he pulled up his hood, turned and walked quickly down the street, leaving her stunned and confused.

  His words had made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. “Wait! What?” She called after him, but he didn’t respond, except to walk faster. “Wait! What do you mean?” She hurried to try and catch up with him. “Hey, stop! What are you talking about?” She called as he turned down a side street. She stopped on the corner and looked down the street. He was gone. “Son of a—”

  “Hey, ho!” She heard a familiar voice beside her. A woman with dark blonde, pixie cut styled hair, streaked with pink was coming down the stone steps of the Harmon-Weston Stationery and Office Supplies shop with a large leather bound book in her hands. “Darcy?! What in blazes are you doing here?” The woman asked, surprised.

  “Finally getting around to writing your spells down?” Darcy replied in a playful, sarcastic manner, motioning to the book in her hands.

  “Ha ha. Look at you. Bitchy as ever!” The woman continued.

  “Crap! I thought I could avoid the likes of you.”

  “Yuh, not likely. Come here,” Alison Bishop said laughing as she grabbed Darcy up in a big hug. Ali had been her best friend since eighth grade. Still was. “How the hell are you? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

  “Kinda spur of the moment.”

  Ali eyed her, waiting for further explanation.

  “Long story. It’s so good to see you!” She exclaimed looking around Ali, hoping to catch sight of the kid.

  “Yeah, you’re not getting off that easily.” Ali never missed a trick. “What’s goin’ on? Why you walkin’ Main St.?”

  “Ugh, it’s been a weird morning. Did you happen to see a guy in a grey hoodie?”

&nb
sp; “No, why?”

  “I literally ran him down outside the cafe just a few minutes ago.”

  “Are you okay?” She asked looking her up and down. “Is he okay, ya big galoot?”

  “I’m fine, but when I grabbed onto him to steady both of us, I got the biggest jolt.”

  “Jolt?”

  “Yeah, like static shock times a hundred. I don’t know where it came from. It hurt, then left my whole body tingly.”

  Ali smiled and then raised her eyebrows suggestively, the expression on her face reminding Darcy of the countless hours they spent as teenagers talking about one cute boy or another, giggling and comparing notes about their latest observations about said hunk.

  “Ew! No, not like that! He was a kid for chrissakes.” Darcy chuckled. “You and your filthy mind!”

  “You didn’t say he was a kid. Anyway, are you okay?”

  “Yeah, the whole thing was strange though. After the jolt, he just stood there for the longest time staring at me, and then he snapped out of it and said something odd.”

  “What?”

  “Something like ‘leave them alone’ or something.”

  “Leave who alone?”

  “I don’t know. That’s why I was chasing after him.”

  “Huh. Strange.”

  “Yeah…” The whole morning felt kind of bizarre, Darcy thought to herself. She snapped back to the present. She was excited to see Ali. It had been ages since they’d talked. “Anyway, so how are you?”

  “I’m doing great! Even better now that you’re here,” she said with a smile. “What’re you doing right now?”

  “Nothin’ much. I was gonna roam Main St.”

  “Roam Main Street?! Why?”

  “I haven’t walked around down here in years.”

  “So, I haven’t seen you in years. Come hang out with me at the SHS.”

  “Don’t you have to work?”

  “Nah. Come on. I haven’t seen you in forever! You blow into town without so much as a call…would I have even seen you if you hadn’t practically run me down?”

  “I didn’t practically run you down!”

  “You never call... you never write…” Ali continued to pile it on. Her outgoing, plain-spoken personality with a splash of theatrics thrown in had always intrigued Darcy. It was part of the reason they became such fast friends in junior high. As a kid, Darcy was quiet and a little reserved, but she was drawn to people who were less inhibited. Ali’s personality, and independent streak pushed her far enough out on the social fringes that she never fell into any one clique either. In eighth grade they had four classes together and ended up as lab partners in science where they discovered their mutual appreciation for Matt Conley, the class hottie, or at least they thought so at the time.

  “Okay, okay. Guilt much?”

  “Excellent” she took Darcy’s arm and started walking.

  “The SHS, really? Is that like the Bat Cave, Fortress of Solitude or Hall of Justice?” Darcy teased.

  Ali rolled her eyes, but shot back, “Geek out much?”

  “Ha ha.”

  “Shoreton Historical Society is such a mouthful, and yes, the SHS sounds cooler.”

  “Well, true.”

  “You know, with that pink hair, add a cape or some spandex and you could be a local hero and fight for justice or something.”

  “Who says I’m not?”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Darcy and Ali crossed the street and walked up Central St. two blocks to where it dead ended at Park St. The Shoreton Historical Society was housed in the town’s first church. The First Congregational Church of Shore Town had originally been built in the early 1700’s. It was one of the first permanent buildings erected. The original church was a small fieldstone chapel that now served as the back of the church, with a larger wooden structure added onto the front in the early 1800’s. The church eventually outgrew the space and moved, selling the property to Jonas Bishop in 1945 who remodeled it and used it as headquarters of the newly established Shoreton Historical Society. About twenty years ago, the historical society added an administration building. The church now just housed the archives and museum. Ali steered Darcy toward the admin building. On the outside it was a rather plain white wooden clapboard structure built to complement the clapboard style of the newer part of the church. Darcy was shocked when Ali opened the door which led into the reception area. It looked more like a private library or sitting room than an office. Orchestral music played quietly in the background. Artwork from generations of local artists hung on dark wood paneled walls, showcased by museum type picture lighting. Deep burgundy carpet covered the floor, two large dark wooden bookcases filled a corner, and scattered about the room were enclosed lit glass cases on pedestals, containing memorabilia significant to the town history. The lighting in the room was minimal. Recessed lighting in the ceiling was set at its lowest setting. There were several sitting areas that contained pairs of comfortable looking overstuffed chairs divided by a floor lamp and side table.

  The most eye catching and astonishing facet of the the room was an enormous set of heavy, wooden doors centered on the back wall of the room, artfully reinforced by an ornate black iron design that crisscrossed and outlined each door. In front of these imposing doors, a cheerful looking, impeccably dressed older woman sat behind a large, luxurious wooden desk. Her desk was sparsely furnished with a phone, computer and desk lamp.

  “This is gorgeous! Those doors are incredible! I’ve never been in this building.” Darcy said looking around.

  “Thanks. It works for us.” Ali replied, downplaying the awe she saw and heard from her friend. She led Darcy over to the desk. “Darcy, this is Stella, the heart of this operation and maker of famous doughnuts. Stella, this is my old friend Darcy Adams that I’ve known forever. Her dad owns the Shore Town Cafe.”

  “Of course. Nice to meet you Ms. Adams.” Stella replied.

  Ali set the leather bound book on the corner of Stella’s desk. “I’m gonna give Darce here the nickel tour.” Ali said leading Darcy back outside and over to a high tech looking metal door on the side of the stone portion of the church. Ali pulled a card from a retractable holder on her belt, punched in a code and swiped the card.

  “So high tech!”

  “This is the archive room,” Ali said ushering her in and shutting the door which Darcy could hear automatically lock. “It’s climate controlled which is why it’s separated from the rest of the museum.” She pointed to the thick glass panelled wall with a secured door in the middle that separated the old and new portions of the church. “Bulletproof glass.”

  “Impressive! But geez, this is a whole lotta security for the little ol’ Shoreton Historical Society! What’re you housing in here, the Mayflower Compact?”

  “Not quite. But we’ve got quite a collection of local historical documents and relics. The history and artifacts of this town should be important to everyone, and therefore protected.” The room was set up like a library with two separate areas with rows of tall bookshelves, broken up by a couple of small tables accompanied by two chairs each. Along the back wall were several long tall filing cabinets. In the middle of the area was a large wooden table with chairs. Along one wall, away from the shelves were a couple of large scanners, a copy machine, two desks with computers.

  “Well you’ve got that covered. This is great!”

  Ali moved on to introduce two girls that were working with some old documents. “This is Katie and Lisa. They’re helping digitize our collection, while getting school credit. Ladies, what are we working on today?”

  “I’m scanning the 1789 sea journal of Captain Levi Kirby, “ a small brown haired girl with glasses and gloved hands answered.

  “I’m working on a collection of letters from the 1800’s donated by the Bishop family.” Replied another gloved girl with short blond curly hair.

  “Awesome! Keep up the good work.” Ali encouraged as she and Darcy headed into the museum portion through a security
door in the middle of the glass wall. Darcy wandered around glass cases of artifacts, framed photos and other memorabilia. A lot of time and care had been put into the museum which had grown considerably since the last time she’d been in it.

  “This place has come a long way! Last time I was here was the eighth grade Social Studies field trip.”

  “This place was pretty primitive then.” Ali admitted.

  “I just remember shelves and shelves of books, a few showcases and a diorama of life in 1800’s Shore Town. Then some ladies from the Historical Society dressed in different period clothes made us lunch from one of the old timey cookbooks and we ate in the large hall that used to be where the administration building is now.”

  “I remember that field trip. I’m pretty sure that annual 8th grade trip has been going on for generations, except no one back then seemed to care about our little town’s history.”

  “Judging by the upgrades, that’s changed.”

  “Yes, we have some very generous donors, and we also do a lot more marketing and fundraising.”

  “Even the diorama has received a facelift.” Darcy noted, walking around the model of life during the early days of Shoreton that focused mainly on the waterfront area from the south end to just beyond Trader’s Point. Horse drawn carts were shown pulling wagons full of limestone blasted from quarry walls, then broken down into much smaller pieces and loaded onto carts to make their way to the lime kilns that dotted the coastline. Large multi-masted sailing ships moored in the harbor, or set alongside a dock being unloaded and loaded with goods such as timber, barrels of salted fish, and powdered lime. It also featured shipbuilding, townsfolk walking along the storefronts on Main Street, open air markets and a Trading Post on Trader’s Point with a mixture of Native American and white settlers shopping and trading for goods.