Chapter 10
“I have a button-up, you’re welcome to it,” Kyle said from the doorway.
“So you were the one with the five suitcases that Murphy spoke so kindly about,” Harper said with a smirk.
“Maybe. Maybe I was, but in those five suitcases I have a button-up that might look a bit more formal than … that.” Kyle wrinkled his nose at Harper’s cargo pants and sweater.
She looked in the mirror. “You might be right, this is literally the most formal thing I brought. I straight up never thought that there was any possibility that I would be invited to take audience with the Great Lady Loreana Bell.”
“Here. Allow me.” Kyle ducked out of the small bathroom doorway and reappeared with a crisp white button-up shirt. “Sweater off.”
Harper pulled the sweater over her head and stood there in her sports bra. Kyle shook his head. “You’re a feral animal. Do you have a white T-shirt? Maybe a V-neck something?”
“I have Moreno wool base layers and fleece,” Harper replied, thoroughly enjoying Kyle’s frustration.
The team was far more excited about her invitation than she was, and had been rallying all day as they waited on file downloads.
Kyle had provided her with a timeline history he had found in a Boston library on the succession of the Lady Loreana Bells going all the way back to the 1700s when the first Lady Loreana Bell passed and her daughter took the mantle.
Shuri had stared wide-eyed. Her mother had met Lady Bell once during her stay on Bell fifteen years back, and had reportedly never met a woman who was so simultaneously terrifying and gentle.
Kyle, on the other hand, was preoccupied with Harper’s wardrobe.
“Of course that’s all you have. Wait here,” Kyle said in a mock-frustrated voice, hanging the button-up on the door, he reappeared once again with a neatly folded white T-shirt.
“Here. Put this on, like that, good, and now the button-up, no, not all the way, just to here, and let’s tuck you in just a bit—and you’re not as bad as you were. ”
“Well, that’s quite a compliment,” Harper said with a grin. But she had to admit as she looked in the mirror, it was an improvement. It wasn’t a ball gown, but it would have to do. Harper owned exactly one dress, and it was in a box in a BSI storage closet.
“You look fine, stop fussing, Kyle.” Shuri stood in the doorway and stared at Harper for a moment. “Is that what you are doing with your hair?”
“Do I have a choice? There’s not much else I can do with my hair.” Harper laughed. “Look, Lady Bell cannot be expecting much. It’s fine, and thank you, Kyle, this is definitely not as bad as before.”
Kyle looked pleased. “You’re welcome. I expect a full report.”
“Harper …” Shuri said as she sat on the sofa next to a sleeping Polly. “It’s bothering me. You said that this Nigel gave you the invite at the West Dock? How did he know you would be there?”
Harper considered the question. “I don’t know. I jog there every morning, perhaps they’d seen me? Maybe he was going to leave it with Murphy and I just happened to be there?”
“It’s weird is all.” Shuri stroked Polly’s ears. “My mother always told me that the Lady Loreana Bell was half yōkai, and she’d never explain it.” Shuri grinned at their blank faces. “The yōkai are like Japanese spirits, a little bit of this world, a little bit of the next.”
Harper nodded. “Excellent.”
“The Lady Bell your mother met is the same as now,” Kyle said excitedly.
“According to the timeline, she took over for her mother in 1998, shortly before Lady Bell Sr.’s death.
There was, according to the records, an emergency election held and Lady Bell was the only candidate.
In fact, that’s been the case with all the Lady Bells.
Suffolk County requires the elections and records, but there’s never but a single candidate since the idea of mayoral elections began back in the 1700s. ”
“How is that even possible? Don’t you have to have elections? And voting?” Shuri asked.
“Maybe she’s just that popular?” Kyle looked out the window. “Harper! Your ride is here!”
Harper took a last look in the mirror and grabbed her jacket.
“Kyle, thank you again. I’ll try not to destroy your nice white clothes.
Shuri, take care of Polly and I’ll investigate the yōkai.
” With that, Harper waved and headed to the same covered golf cart with the off-road tires that she had seen on the West Dock.
Inside sat a different figure in a stocking cap and heavy coat.
“Harper Haf … Hafdit … Harper.” It was a woman’s voice, low with rough edges. Harper nodded and climbed in the cart. The figure turned to her in the dark, her face masked by her winter clothes. “That’s a helluva last name. I’m Anna. I work for Lady Bell, you ready?”
Harper nodded. “Just Harper is fine. Nice to meet you, thank you for coming to get me.”
“It is my job, no reason to thank me,” Anna replied in a flat tone. Harper could not make out any defining features underneath the heavy winter gear, but the tone was the same barely tolerant cadence that the majority of Bell Island residents greeted Harper and her team with.
The night was cold, the winds were worse than they’d been that morning, and the air smelled of frost and salt water.
“I didn’t really have anything nice to wear, I hope this wasn’t a formal meeting,” Harper said mostly to tune out the uncomfortable silence.
Anna did not reply. Just stared ahead and drove.
“Are you from the island? Or …” Harper tried again.
“Lady Bell will meet you in the library. From there you will join her for dinner. Don’t mind the cats,” Anna replied in her flat, low voice.
“I don’t mind cats.” Harper gave up the idea of either conversation or digging any information from Anna.
The golf cart pulled out of the village and up the narrow road.
As they approached the West Dock, Anna took a right onto the steep road that led to the manor house.
Harper could see the zigzag path that led to the top of a flat mesa.
The road was narrow and even in the darkening twilight, Harper could see the road wasn’t paved exactly, it looked almost like cobblestone.
“The road, is it paved? I can’t tell.” Harper squinted out the window.
“Porous asphalt, although strictly speaking it’s not asphalt, it’s crushed stone native to Bell Island and The Graves. Storm-water friendly and allows for greater drainage,” Anna replied, her flat tone replaced with the closest to enthusiasm that Harper imagined she was capable of.
“Did you install it? You sound like you know your stuff,” Harper asked hesitantly.
“I installed it myself. The previous caretaker had packed gravel and it flooded with every rain and melt. This is properly installed and does not flood. I do know my stuff,” Anna said with unmistakable pride.
“You’re the caretaker? For the grounds?” Harper ventured further as the golf cart doubled back and forth on the twisting path.
“I manage the grounds, the electric, and am the supervisor in charge of the water pipeline from the mainland. I can also fix anything that becomes broken,” Anna replied as they pulled to the top of the hill. A tall stone wall rose up before them with a wrought iron gate. Harper gasped.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Anna said, and Harper could almost make out a smile on her stoic face.
The gate swung open seemingly on its own, though Harper saw a figure in a small stone guardhouse wave in the creeping darkness. Anna nodded in return.
“Why is it gated?” Harper asked as the lights of Bell Manor came into focus in the distance.
“Wind mostly. We grow much of our own food on Bell; you can’t see it at night, but the grounds have all been cultivated and we rotate our crops seasonally.
The wind rips through them, the original designers had to add the wall in 1701.
It can hit sixty-one meters a second during hurricane season, but these winter swells can clock up to forty meters a second.
” Anna pulled into a curving entryway. The manor house rose like a castle before Harper.
She held her breath as she looked up to the three stories and the tower on top.
The architecture was like something out of a fairy tale, but the dark sort where children were baked into pies and fairies had claws.
“My God,” Harper breathed.
“Lady Bell will like to give you a tour, though she really oughtn’t be climbing the steps at her age.
Scottish Baronial. That is what you are seeing, the original Lady Bell modeled the manor after their family castle in Scotland.
Note the gables and the corner turrets. On the corners you will see what they call a witch’s hat tower.
” The golf cart rolled to a stop in front of a sprawling stone entryway that led to grand double doors.
“Wow, you really do know your stuff,” Harper said quietly, overwhelmed.
“I do, indeed.” Anna looked at Harper for a long moment. “If you’re this impressed now, just wait until you see the library.”
The double doors of the manor opened on their own much as the wall gates had. An island cat with ginger ears and paws sat on the steps as they approached the doorway, regarding Harper with half-slitted eyes.
“Hello,” Harper said in greeting. Anna stopped and looked from Harper to the cat; she cocked her head slightly.
“Yes, hello, Gatsby.” Anna spoke to the cat, who turned and led them into the manor.
“Gatsby?” Harper asked as she entered.
“Yes, as in Jay,” Anna replied.