Finding The Truth on a Painted Lake

A tale that explains a mystery.

Finding the Truth on a Painted Lake

"I love Value Village! There I've said it and I'm not sorry! My favorite pastime is wandering around the place.

"The synergy there is amazing! I never fail to find true treasures in their large selection of items, most priced right for my pocketbook. The day I'm going to tell you about, is the one where I found this great landscape that reminded me of the Group of Seven.

"The minute I saw it, I knew it would look great on my living room wall. This particular wall is the one place in my apartment that I can never seem to find anything decorative for. I thanked God it was only two dollars and ninety-nine cents because I knew I had to have it.

"I bought it eagerly and carted it home. The old frame was pretty battered and would need to be carefully refinished to suit my decor. So, I removed the painting from it.

"When I did, the backing disintegrated at my touch. As I was about to spend some time on mental flagellation for such carelessness, I noticed a yellowed envelope fall to the floor of my craft room. Curious, I picked it up and took both it and the painting up to my living room.

"Feeling the need for something stronger than my usual tea, I made myself a large Brandy Alexander and took myself and letter to my favorite feather-stuffed wing chair and studied the envelope carefully. On the outside in faded brown ink was a word in neat copperplate hand. I had to use my strong magnifier to decipher it and even when I did, I was stumped.

"'gnikoms, gnikoms' I muttered aloud over and over trying to decide why the word seemed vaguely familiar. Wasn't there an Ojibwa spirit called The Great Mother who bore Manitou's children and created the Anishnabe in the world. Wasn't her name Nokomis? I wondered.

"Not the same, I decided, but fascinating anyway. Unable to resist any longer, I carefully opened the envelope. A smell reminiscent of halitosis greeted me as I peeled back the flap.

"A thin fold of pages was soon in my hand. Opening them gingerly, I began to read:

'Dear Tommy: I know you have much to do these days, what with your duties as a fire ranger and fishing guide; not to mention your beautiful paintings. I know you despair of ever selling enough of your art so that you can give up all your other jobs and marry me. I've tried to lift you from that despair and hope I have been successful.

' I worry constantly about your carelessness in the Park. It is much more dangerous than you know. Please be more careful, my love!

'But I am really writing this letter to tell you I know about your secret life as a spy for the Canadian government. I know also that you have tried to shield me from knowing. I love you all the more for it. Our quarrel yesterday was meaningless, and I believe it was your way of getting me away from some danger you expected.

' Knowing me and my people as you do, surely you know we are more than aware that there are foreign spies and saboteurs in the Park; not to mention poachers and deserters. We also know that you are continually trying to infiltrate these groups and bring them to justice. Let us help you, who better?

'I must hurry and take this to your canoe and leave it there for you. I love you more than ever, my Tommy."

" She signed it gnikoms, just as she had addressed the envelope. Eagerly, I went to fetch the painting from the coffee table and began studying it with a magnifying glass. As an amateur artist and craftsperson, I only know the mere basics about Canadian painters, but I felt in my bones that this had to be a lost Tom Thomson. It had all the detail and technique he favored.

"Certain as I could possibly be that I owned a real, undiscovered work by Tom Thomson, I sat down to re-read the letter. That's when I noticed a postscript on the back of the last page.

'They tell me you drowned. But I know better. I found you lying in your drifting canoe, bleeding from your head and a bullet wound in your heart. I will commit your body to your beloved Canoe Lake until I can safely return for it. You must lie near me so I can mourn you all my days. If you are found before I can come back, I swear I will find your resting place, remove you and return you here where you belong.' NT

"But to my dismay, I could find no signature on the painting. That's why I came all the way here. If it is, an authentic, previously unknown work by Tom Thomson I am willing to donate both the painting and the letter I found behind it, to your gallery in return for a donor's plate on them both. Is that possible, Ms. Wright.

Leanne Wright, Development Officer at the Tom Thomson Gallery in Owen Sound stood and reached for the painting.

"I may study it I hope?" she said to me.

"Of course, I said smugly.

Five minutes later, she was shaking my hand and watching me put my signature to a contract/waiver for both the painting and the letter. That was how I found out the truth about the mystery on a painted lake. or did I?"

I would like to thank the folks behind the website www.canadianmysteries.ca and the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound Ontario website for the factual information used in this story.

961 WORDS 9/2/2025