Entry #551338, added on 03-04-08 @ 10:18 am EST
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| The Bay Road Legacy Chapter 12 Labor Day | Entry #551338 |
The BAY ROAD LEGACY
Chapter Twelve
Labor Day
As was expected, Father did have a few more friends, some from earlier days, and some newer friends that he had met before rejoining his family, and just by coincidence, or careful planning, there appeared to be a full visitor calendar for several more weeks to come. My Grandmothers visit would be planned for the last week in August, and would extend through the Labor Day weekend into early September. The plan was that Father, would travel back to Massachusetts on the next to last Friday in the month, and he would drive “Nana” up to New York for her visit. Almost as an added bonus for Labor Day weekend, my sister Lorraine would drive up on the Saturday before Labor Day, with her fiancée, and they would take Nana home with them at the end of their visit. It was a plan that more than satisfied mothers hopes, and in time it would come to pass.
Our routine was now established, and life on Bay Road was taking on a meaningful almost a regular life style. The only obvious deviation from a normal life apparent to us as a family was the continued presence of other world visitors on a regular basis. I knew that we could deal with it all quite well, and was truly beginning to enjoy the new life handed to me, to us as a family, as though it might just last forever. Two more weeks passed and July was nearing an end, and we were all still greeting each new day with inner hopes and I suspect with some new dreams. My Brother did not share this, and was planning to “escape” from New York by stowing away with Nana and Lorraine when they finished their visit. I guess he did have a dream. He wanted desperately to go back to Nanas house, return to a real school with real friends that he had grown up with and to resume his high school years as a band member and not as an upstate hick farmer. His goals were perhaps set to a higher calling, one that did not include Father and family ties. He continued to see Father in a much different light than mother or the rest of us. Time he felt would be on his side, all he had to do was escape from Bay Road.
Now in late July, at the beginning of this whole new life, one thing that one does not expect to happen did. Any day that starts with an early morning phone call, somehow always turns out to be a bad day. This morning would be no different. The call came from Uncle Jimmie at six o clock on Friday. The message was indeed bad. The senior Uncle Jim, on his return home from his visit to the farm, had become quite sick. He had suffered for about a week, and then slipped peacefully away in his sleep, on his new voyage, his new trip to heaven.
Jimmie told us that at Jims passing, the only regret that he had in life was that he could not have stayed at the farm on Bay Road longer, and passed on from there. This farm, this big and strange place, of all the places he had ever been, made him feel most at home. He had been surrounded by family, crossing several generations. He had thrilled at retelling his life’s story, and of his adventures. He claimed that it had made him feel twenty years younger. Aunt Lil had told Uncle Jimmie, that Uncle Jim, even mentioned how much he had enjoyed meeting and talking with the other old gentleman up at the farm, “that Mr. Fowler fellow.” Lil said that Jim was sure they would meet again. I remembered that the old coin, found on one of our outings seemed to be like a penny from heaven, meant just for him, and how Jim had put it in his pocket “for his next trip.” I began to wonder were there really hidden meanings to things in life that we almost always take for granted. Was Bay Road to leave us all with a new learning experience, a new legacy of thoughts and of identities? The realizations of changes in people, in family, in hope, and in me were just starting to appear. Life would never be the same following this summer. How odd, how very odd!
Our guests came and went, our evening performances continued, for several more weeks. Our young waitress friend did indeed come out to the house with her uncle, the county Sheriff. He stayed for only a few minutes and talked with Father out in back of the house, and then he left to attend to business. Mother showed the young girl around the house and then my brother and I showed her the barns and the farm stand. Doreen refused to go into the dairy barn, but she would not tell us why. She claimed it was the smell of the place, but I think that she may have had some other reason. She enjoyed seeing the whole of Bay Road, and stayed for lunch. She had to work that afternoon and it was mother who drove her to the ice cream parlor. She told mother that she had really liked coming out there and seeing it for herself, because now she could tell all of her friends just what a great place it really was. “Why all the stories of that beautiful house being haunted” that she had heard from her earliest childhood, “just couldn’t be true” she said as she got out of the car and rushed into her job at the business.
Mother told us what Doreen had said and wondered, actually thought out loud, if this little girl knew about the Ghosts, did every body know, even Father. There was a growing distrust between mother and Father, now coming ever so subtly to the surface. We were beginning, to see Father in a way that we did not really anticipate. Father was very careful to put forward his plans and his ways in such a way as to hide or minimize the possible consequences. His plans were always made by him alone and seldom if ever did we see mothers input into his thinking and most assuredly any input from us, the rest of his family would be unheard of. Yes the past few months had indeed become a life learning experience, an awakening for each of us. Well, like all experiences, we would certainly be the better off for it all, after all we were family. Bound together by blood and trying to learn love and concern and acceptance and a whole lot more, and doing so without real leadership. Our most common bonds as it turned out would be the shared experiences of life on Bay Road.
Now the time was at hand for another honored guest, my Nana and my sister Loraine and her intended. Mother had doubled her efforts to clean and wash and prepare for Nana’s arrival. She had purchased new towels and new bedding for the Guest beds, and had even picked up several food items that she knew Nana would like, just as snacks. Boxes of Saltine Crackers and several tubs of fresh turned peanut butter from the dairy store were put into the kitchen for Nana’s snacks. We were all filled with excitement and anticipation at their arrival.
The expected date arrived and Father left for work as usual. He took with him a small overnight bag, and would leave work just after noon and travel down to Massachusetts, and would arrive there during the evening hours. He would stay overnight with his brother CY and would pick up Nana and return to Bay Road on Saturday. We would be alone in the house, for the first Friday since moving in several months before. That fact did not enter our thoughts until late afternoon when my sister returned from work. She had gotten a ride from a friend, and when she arrived she offered to show the young man around the farm. He very politely refused. He was anxious he said to get home, and so he never got out of the car. He had lived in the area all of his life, and had no curiosity about the old house, at least none that was visible.
After supper, we went out to sit on the front porch. To take in the evening breeze, and to discuss our day, and to talk about our life with Father and the house and of all of the things that had been pent up in us over the last few months. We were all coming to our own individual conclusions and expectations, and now it was time to share them. Mother led off the conversation, by telling us that she was quite happy at no longer having to work, and at having the time to spend with her children. She was glad that Father had a good job and could finally support his family, and she said how much she had enjoyed learning to drive and to meet new friends. She was very happy that for the first time in her life she had been able to pick out new furniture, and actually new everything and she was quite apologetic that she had never been able to share so much with her kids. She spoke of us and thanked us for having pitched in and helped so much and for trying so hard to get along with Father. She knew it was not easy on any of us, but she was very happy that her children had turned out so well. We could see plainly that Mother was not discussing Father with us, simply telling us of the positive things that she had felt. The one comment that she made regarding Father was that she did not think anyone could ever or would ever be able to understand his thinking or his way of doing things. She did not think that Father even knew himself.
This was my brother’s cue to put in his comments. He did not like Father at all. He did not like the farm at all. He did not plan to stay at the farm at all. He was determined to bail out and go back with Nana to her house and to return to his school and be with his friends, and to sleep in his bed, and nothing would change his mind. He did not hesitate to point out that all he had agreed to do was to try this new and wonderful life, and now he had done that and he wanted out.
Mother knew that this would probably not sit well with Father, however she had agreed to it at the very beginning and so it was that David would be allowed to go back with Nana in just over a week. I think at that moment, David went inside to start packing his clothes.
Joan was next to speak and to reveal her thoughts. She liked the house even with all the ghosts and weird stuff happening. She thought having all the company to the house added a whole lot to being a part of a family, and she loved her new job in town. She was all and all quite satisfied, with the only bad thing being Greg’s inability to use the small room. She emphasized that no one should ever be put into that small room, and said it should be nailed shut. As for her relationship to Father, she took the high road in supporting mothers attempt at reconciliation. If Mother could put up with Father, then she would do the same. After all he was in fact a part of our family. Joan was in for the long haul. She would stay.
My turn came and I made it clear that I was old enough now to learn to drive, run a tractor, learn a whole new way of life, and to be a part of a full time family and I had no problem with any of that. I said I thought I could get along with Father, maybe not a close relationship, like going fishing or out to a ball game, or any of the mushy stuff, but I could get along with him if he stayed on course and did all that he said he would do. I did find him to be a little odd and overbearing at times, and I wondered out loud if we would ever find out more about where he had been and what he had done, while away from us. I think only Uncle Jim had the power to dig that out. I would stay and enter the new school and try to make a go of it all, and I did not mind if David wanted to go back to the old school and play in the band and all that. The new school did not even have a band. I made it clear that after getting adjusted to the weird stuff around the old house, that I thought it was a pretty good place to be, as long as nothing bad happened to us. Ghosts and things that go bump in the night did not bother me. Actually I was having fun and secretly hoped we would have more company to share it with.
Mother was the first to mention that it was Friday night and she wondered what kind of entertainment would be staged for us by the “unseen but noisy crowd upstairs tonight”. We would just have to wait and see.
Just before sundown we all went for a walk down Bay Road toward town, and looked over the scenery that surrounded us there. There were no cars on Bay Road, and we probably walked for a mile or more before turning back to the house. Dusty led the way, prancing ahead of us, stopping only to sniff at some tuft of grass or old rock near the edge of the road, all the while waiting for us to catch up. As we neared the house, it again looked like a picture from a post card of a century long past. With only one or two lights left on in the house, it appeared to be quite warm and inviting as we approached. Back up on the porch we sat and waited for the hours to pass before giving any thought to bedtime. The air was light and sweet smelling, the evening was still and from distant fields we could hear the sound of the cattle, and in a distance the sound of night birds singing. After ten o clock we all went inside and made half hearted attempts to prepare for bed. We each waited for the sounds, now so familiar to us on Friday nights, but none came. Had the unseen residents been listening to us, were they now determined to remain quiet in our presence, what had changed. Father was away and we were alone. The night passed without incident, and I believe that it was close to midnight when we finally went off to bed.
Saturday morning crept into the house with the first sunlight and the sounds of activity out by the barns. We had our breakfast and were off to start the day. This would be the day that Nana arrived, and we each had chores to do. My mother’s friend Helen arrived at about noon bringing with her a beautiful double layer cake, to share with my Nana when she got there. Mother always enjoyed Helens company and she was fast becoming a regular visitor at Bay Road. I suspect she knew mothers weakness in the kitchen and so she took charge of making sure we had all we needed for the coming week. A large grocery list was made out and she and mother went shopping. We each did those chores that had become routine and watched and waited for the arrival of Nana. One hour passed and then two, before mother returned. A car full of groceries were brought in and put away, and just as all activity seamed to come to an end, Father and Nana were in the driveway. What a greeting, hugs, kisses, come and see this, and come and see that and just an outpouring of love greeted her arrival. A new and honored guest was at our house on Bay Road. What kind of a week laid ahead.
Nana was quickly led into the big kitchen, while my brother and I brought in her old suitcase and took it up to the second floor room that had now become our permanent guest room. We returned to the kitchen, eager to be with Nana, and to give her the grand tour of Bay Road. She was somewhat tired from her ride and insisted that she would go with us in about an hour, after she had a piece of the lovely cake that Helen had made especially for her. Mother sent us all out for a breath of air while she and her mother got caught up on all that had taken place in the preceding weeks. There was of course a great deal to be told. Mother openly shared our experience with the things that go bump in the night. Nana had lived in a similar home in Pittsburgh many years ago. She would tell us the whole story of it at a later date. Now however she was ready for the tour of our new home. She had made friends with Dusty, and as had been the case with Uncle Jim, Dusty was to be her constant companion for the week to come.
We all went with her to the second floor of the house, and while there we showed her our new guns, safely put away in the closet. She was not impressed! She knew Uncle Jimmie, and knew that if he had been behind getting us guns, there must be a reason. She stated that of Fathers family, Jimmie was the only one that turned out “normal.” It was obvious, and always had been that she had little hope for Father. We moved on toward the rear of the house, and at the doorway to the now locked little room, she stood pondering as to whether she wanted to see inside. She said she did, and mother opened the room. Inside, was bright and clean and not at all what one would expect having heard the stories or experienced the events now firmly associated with that room. She and Dusty walked inside. This was the only time that he went in without being forced or coaxed to do so. He stood for a moment at her side, and looked directly at the rear window, and as he did he started to growl and cower at what he saw or felt. Nana patted his head and he again circled the room and left to enter the hallway. The door was closed and locked once again.
The tour continued of the house and barns and the farm stand and she was very reserved in stating any opinion of what she had seen. On return to the kitchen, where Helen was busy washing dishes and putting things away, she said to mother “I really think that this house is just a little too much for you, but I know that you had no say in it. I really think that Ben is still Ben and always will be.” From the time of Nanas arrival, Father had made himself scarce except for the few moments he took to share the cake and tea. As much as possible, Father, on his best behavior tried to avoid any confrontation with Nana.
Well the day went on and at supper time it was time for us all to clean up and head out for our new favorite restaurant down in Glens Falls. The meal was great and Nana enjoyed her guest of honor status. On our return to Bay Road, we all went out to the porch to enjoy the peace and quiet of another beautiful evening.
Sunday, and Monday, and all was well. Tuesday morning, mother surprised Nana, by keeping the car for the day. Nana did not know that mother could drive. After breakfast mother announced that since school would be starting in a few weeks, she would like us to go for a ride over to see the new building. It would be her last attempt to persuade David to stay on the farm, and she hoped Nana might help. Well Nana was not about to take sides in the matter and she agreed that if David wanted to return to her house it was okay with her, but she said she did not want the job of forcing him into homework or keeping track of him. He had to promise to behave, to study and to not be any trouble. It was a done deal! The new school was in fact quite attractive. This was the first year that anyone had attended classes in it. I was looking forward to the challenge, even knowing that my entire high school class would be just 12 students.
When Thursday came, Nana had so far enjoyed her vacation and some of the ice between her and Father was beginning to melt. She looked forward to Lorraine and her boy friend coming up on Saturday, and had mixed feelings about the long ride back. She did quip that having ridden with mother on several occasions now, she did not think riding with Lorraine’s beau would be so big a challenge. The day started out as most late summer days did, with bright clear skies and soft mellow breezes. Some of the farm animals had been brought up to the yard for treatments and baths, the produce for the farm stand had arrived and a Holiday weekend was ahead.
Yes today was Thursday, and we were all quite relaxed, with tensions diminishing. Just after noon time, the skies began to darken. A late day thunderstorm was forming just to the west, and we were going to get some rain. Dusty grew increasingly restless and moved into the living room taking refuge behind Fathers new chair in the corner of the room. As the storm neared, mother got out the oil lamps, “just in case” and set them out on the table. By one thirty in the afternoon rain started to fall and thunder could be heard growing closer. We all gathered in the living room now to await the storms arrival and departure. We, mother Nana, David, Greg, Dusty and myself sat staring out the windows, hoping the storm would pass quickly. As the storm neared, the house began to take on an almost familiar attitude of its own. The rooms seemed colder and darker, and the rain fell harder, and from upstairs strange sounds began to find there way down to the living room. Dusty became agitated and let out a few low growls. At the high point of the storm when it seemed it could get no worse, an overpowering flash of lightning flew across the room. The lightning bolt was clearly visible as it swept from the north side dining room across the hallway into the living room and out to the south through the large French doors. The lights went out, the telephone gave a desperate ring that died out at its midpoint, and thunder slammed down with noise never heard before on earth. We sat, dumbfounded and confused as to what had happened, not even speaking, or able to speak. Then the peace of the moment ended with the frantic ringing of the front door bell. Someone was pulling on the bell with avid determination.
I jumped up from my chair, with Nana right behind, and as we neared the door, Nana shouted to me to not open the door. I could clearly see the outline of a man on the porch through the sidelight of the door. Nana stopped Dusty began to bark and I opened the door. The man at the door was tall and dressed in a dark suit, and for all the world looked like he had been last seen in an old movie or perhaps a horror film of the type that would feature Vincent Price as a demon. Nana yelled now, “Do not let him in”. Mother came toward us and Nana again shouted out “do not let him in, He is Dead and coming for us.” Mother tried to calm Nana down, and the man turned to walk away, and as he did a car stopped in front of the house with its driver yelling to us to get out of the house, as it was on fire. My brother and I quickly jumped from the porch and could see flames towering over the house at the rear. I caught a glimpse of the older first man getting into a car the likes of which I had never seen.
We turned the corner of the house and were stunned to see the dairy barn almost totally engulfed in flames. The house was not burning, but steam was coming from the side facing the barns. The second man grabbed for a hose to put water on the house but it was no use. The lightning had followed the wiring from the north side of the house through the living room and back to the wiring to the barns and pump house. Mother grabbed Greg, put a leash on Dusty, wrapped a jacket over Nana and all went out to the front porch. Within minutes cars were lined up on Bay Road and the drivers were lining up to help in any way possible. A neighbor from 1 mile down the road offered to take Nana and Dusty and Greg to his house which mother was very grateful of. As the number of people gathered, it was obvious that nothing could be done to save the dairy barn, with the thousands of bales of new cut hay inside. All efforts would have to be made to save the house and other barns.
A volunteer fire company was the first team to be able to offer real assistance and they started to soak the house with water from their tank truck. Volunteers pulled hoses to the pond a half mile north of the house and soon a supply of water flowed in to help. Before thirty minutes had passed dozens of fire companies from as far away as Albany began to arrive to offer aid and to help. This blaze was the largest fire in upstate New York in years, and it was not under control for several hours. Father and Joan arrived home early as word had spread to their businesses that the farm was burning. Helen arrived and brought with her and endless supply of soft drinks, and coffee. Neighbors, farm hands, Mr. Roberts and most every one in town were now gathered on the front yard of Bay Road. The scene was one of pure pandemonium. News crews photographers, Sheriffs Deputies, State and Local Police, from several counties tried to take control of the traffic, and in the midst of it all, unannounced and a few days early my sister Lorraine arrived with her boy friend. They had to park one mile away from the house and walk up because of the traffic. This Thursday’s events were far beyond any that anyone might have expected or even considered. As the flames burned in the dairy barn, to everyone’s amazement the old silo stood tall. It was charred and smoke billowed from it but it stood tall, like a watch tower among the burning buildings.
As the fire burned, consuming the exterior of the dairy barn, the pipe work and other machinery inside the barn glowed red hot from the intense heat. The pipes sagged, and burst, sending sparks into the now darkening sky. As the evening approached, water was still being directed toward the house, which by now had discolored from the heat and flames and thick smoke billowing up. The smaller fires in the pump house and chicken coops and old ice house were left unattended to burn themselves out. Most all of the fire companies from out of town began to pack up their equipment and leave. Only the equipment from the nearby towns remained, along with crews from the electric company and the telephone company. The house was without electricity and running water and we would not be able to stay the night at Bay Road. From neighbors, calls were made to our favorite in-town hotel to secure rooms for Nana and Lorraine and for the rest of the family. We would check in very late and would certainly be out by daybreak. The fire burned through the night and into the morning hours, slowly consuming all of the hay and every thing else that remained of the structure. Still when we returned to Bay Road the next morning just after dawn, the silo still stood.
At noon on Friday, plans were made to level the structure and to bring in cranes that could scoop up the wet and still burning hay to allow for firemen with large hoses to try to extinguish the final flames. The number of people that returned to watch the last hours of activity was almost as great as had been there the day before. Deputies from the sheriff’s office still were on hand directing the flow of cars now coming to see the remains of the old barn, and among those to arrive was the young sheriff himself. With him was his niece our new friend, the waitress from the dairy. She brought with her a large box of donuts that she thought would come in handy, and took them into the kitchen to mother. Mother was at work in the kitchen trying to pack food from the now defunct refrigerator into boxes filled with ice. The electrician hoped to get power lines rerun that afternoon. The whole area, the house, the barns, the fields, the roadway and everything about the house on Bay Road now seemed to take on a whole new dimension of a life of its own. Would our lives be again changed by this event? Had our hopes and dreams of a nice family life in a quiet country setting gone up in the smoke of that Thursday? What chapters could be written to tell the story of Bay Road? This was after all, Friday and yes, we would once again stay at the house on Friday night!
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