Beach House Mystery

Chapter 4

Morgan gave one more look towards the beach after messaging the officials before turning and hurrying to catch up with Gabe and Mr. Hornberry. She casually slipped her arm around the older man"s arm to help balance him as they walked up the stairs. She gave Gabe a sharp shake of her head when he steered the older man towards the front glider.

"Mr. Hornberry, why don"t we go inside, and you can show us those projects you want Gabe and Ben to work on?" Morgan suggested. Gabe winked at her over the older man"s head, catching on. There was no sense in letting the old man sit on the front porch getting more aggravated by watching the activities on the beach. For once, the older man didn"t fuss, and he allowed himself to be led into his home.

Morgan always loved to be inside his home. The smells were wonderful; Mr. Hornberry loved to bake and the aroma of his desserts mixed with the spicy pipe tobacco he loved gave his home a unique scent. His house was immaculate inside; antiques in every room, lovingly cared for and polished to a shine. The older man had often told Morgan that his wife had treasured the furniture, and he felt duty bound to keep it in the best repair he could.

"I"ve got a list over on the dining room table for you, Gabe," The older man led the way to his dining room and, sure enough, there was a piece of paper on the table with six or seven items listed. Morgan glanced at the list and saw most of them were things Gabe could do himself.

"Mr. Hornberry, do you have any of your wonderful lemonade ready?" Morgan asked.

"Of course, I do. There"s always a pitcher in the fridge."

"Why don"t I pour us all a glass of lemonade and we can go over your list?"

The older man nodded at Morgan"s suggestion, and while Gabe picked up the paper to look over the list, Mr. Hornberry pulled out a chair to sit on. It didn"t take Morgan long to get the drinks and place them on a tray to bring to the table. When she returned, she found Gabe and Mr. Hornberry in deep discussion.

She placed a drink in front of each of the men and then sat down next to Mr. Hornberry to join their conversation. Occasionally she would offer a suggestion, but mostly she just listened. Mr. Hornberry had lived his entire life on Pearl Island, and his mother’s parents had been from England. She could still hear his English accent when he spoke, but there was also a mix of good old US Southern. Commonly called ‘Florida cracker’ down in the South. The mixture of dialects made Morgan smile as she listened. Somewhere in the back of the house, she could hear a radio playing classic country music.

Gabe and Mr. Hornberry had worked out a schedule of what projects they were going to work on first.

Leaning back in his chair, the older man crossed his arms and looked at Gabe. "Well, now that we have our priorities in order, let"s get started."

"I wasn"t planning on starting today–"

"Why not? You"re here, aren"t you? No sense putting it off. The sooner we get started, the sooner it will be done."

Morgan hid her smile behind the glass of lemonade as she raised it to her lips. Gabe should have expected this, she thought to herself.

Gabe didn"t bother to argue with the older man; he knew it was a losing battle. But he paused long enough to call Ben, asking his friend to join them as soon as he could. Then finishing his drink, Gabe got to his feet and walked out the back door to the storage shed where he knew Mr. Hornberry kept his tools.

"That"s a smart boy." Mr. Hornberry laughed as they watched Gabe leave the room.

"Yes he is, but you had this all planned out, didn"t you?"

The older man grinned back at Morgan, not bothering to answer her. The two sat in comfortable silence as they finished their drinks, and then Mr. Hornberry struggled to his feet. Morgan jumped up to assist him, and together they walked into his living room. The view from the bay window was of the beach, but because of the sea dunes, it hid the activities along the shore from view. The two of them sat on the couch and Mr. Hornberry pulled out a folded piece of paper, yellowed with age. Without a word, he handed it to Morgan.

"What"s this?"

Rather than answer her, Mr. Hornberry made a motion with his hand for her to open the paper. Curious, Morgan did, and she stared down at a beautiful drawing. It was a sketch of a beautiful mermaid surrounded by coral and exotic fish, the face hauntingly familiar. It was Keyna, as lovely as Morgan had imaged her. There was a second paper with another drawing, a miniature of a painting she knew well that hung in the Maritime Museum. It depicted two mermaids floating in the ocean. One mermaid was crying, beautiful pearls floating in the surrounding water along with the dolphins. She could see other mermaids in the distance. On the other side of the painting a second mermaid floated, her arms raised above her head as if commanding the seas. The dorsal fins of sharks could be seen around her and the sirens of the sea were visible in the waves. Cora was in full command of the darkness of the sea. Morgan knew the tale that went with this painting well, it was the tale of her ancestors. You see, the two mermaids were fighting over a sailor named John Seaver, the original settler of Pearl Island and Morgan"s ancestor.

"Where did you find this?" Morgan said, looking up from the drawing. It was easy for her to see that the same hand that created the drawings she held was also the hand that had painted the canvas in the museum.

"I found an old box in the storage closet way in the back. It"s been there for years." The older man looked at Morgan and pointed at the paper she held. "I figured you would want that. I guess one of my ancestors was also here at the same time as John Seaver, and he drew that picture. Look at the signature."

Morgan had to squint to see the small signature hidden in the picture"s corner. It was only one word, and she looked up in astonishment.

"Morgan?"

"Guess that makes a connection between our families."

Morgan was silent for a moment, and then she slowly nodded. It only made sense that somehow her family and Mr. Hornberry would be connected. The two oldest families on the island; it would be hard not to be. It piqued Morgan’s curiosity. She made a note to herself to search through the journals and library of the Seaver beach house for any connection she could find between the two families.

"Thank you, Mr. Hornberry." Morgan reached across and squeezed the older man"s hand in gratitude, but before he could reply Gabe returned. The moment was lost, and Mr. Hornberry got to his feet to oversee the work Gabe was going to do. Morgan stared back down at the drawing for a moment and then felt a sense of restlessness return. She watched the two men for a moment and realized she would only be in the way as they started working. Making her excuses, Morgan left, wondering if they even realized she had walked out the door; they were so involved in their project.

Normally Morgan would have walked the beach rather than the roadway home, but there was too much noise coming from the boaters and partygoers. Right now, she needed some quiet time. She couldn"t explain the restlessness, but she had the distinct feeling that by Mr. Hornberry giving her that picture something had been set in motion.