Hamelton (Dr. Paul) (17 page)

Downstairs in the kitchen I turned the gas on the stove to high and left the Hidden Six for the last time. I slowly walked back to the mansion. I had done the good people of Hamelton one last favor; the rouges would never be able to return again. About half way back, I heard the explosion as the gas ignited from the candle I had lit. I didn't turn to look. I just walked on, slowly. The dawn was arriving and a new day had begun.

I arrived at the mansion and Maggie was standing by the door watching me approach with the smoke from the blazing Hidden Six behind me. She said in a calm voice, "What do you want for breakfast?"

We sat and talked and neither one mentioned the fire over the hill. My friends came downstairs and joined us, unaware of the fire. After breakfast we put all of our suitcases, including Handy's, in the entryway. We loaded the Limousine and Albert drove us away from the mansion. When Jeff noticed the fire, I told him to ignore it. He watched it until the smoke was hard to see through the back window. We drove past the cemetery and I looked out and tried to get one last glimpse of the rogue headstone.

EPILOGUE

All that I told you, happened years ago. I felt that some readers may be curious for a shortened version of what happened after that.

When I saw Handy's father at the airport I could not bring myself to try to explain a story that I knew he would never believe. I told him that Handy vanished on a walk two days before we left England. I lied to him that I had made a police report and there was a missing person report out on him. When he called the town of Hamelton and asked for a copy of the report, one was predated and sent to him from the police station. Mr. Handy went to Hamelton and posted a large reward for any information about his son‟s disappearance. No one has claimed the award. Age eventually took Handy‟s father to his death still looking for his son. I could not write this if he was still living. Maybe if there is a bright side to this story it‟s that with no heirs he donated most of this money to some foundation for missing children. This would surely be a better use of the money than Handy would have used it for.

Hanna and I kept in touch for the next four years or so, and then we slowed down in writing each other due to the hard memories. I wrote to her last known address when I started to write this account of what happened, the letter came back “undeliverable”.
I had also sent a letter to Maggie. She said she was retired years ago, but keeps busy as the bookkeeper for her nephew, who now runs the family stables. Maggie said the stables has been busy with riding classes because the mansion is now owned by a college and is used as a retreat, which brings good profit to the town. She also said that Hanna left England six years ago to Australia because, "She could not find a decent man in Hamelton."

Jeff and Cindy were married two years later. They sold their gifts from William and bought an apartment building. They have two kids. Cindy was a cub until she had her man married, then she transformed into a lioness. She controls every moment of Jeff's life. Jeff has a low level aerospace job in California. When I call them Cindy sees that the conversations are short and they are never available to visit me.

I have had a difficult time since Hamelton. I dropped out of school that year. I have spent my life not holding down any job for a long time. I have spent years in therapy trying to find a way to handle what happened. Three times in my life I have committed myself to mental hospitals for help. I have been medicated, in assisted living, an outpatient and thru about allthe government programs for the “mentally ill”. This manuscript was originally a paper that one of my counselors recommended I write because the story was too complicated to understand verbally. I think he really felt that I could gain a better sense of peace if I saw how there was little I could have done to change things. He said my story seems to have been written in history years ago, so I was just playing it out. I can‟t help but wonder if this is wrong since I could have done any one thing different and the whole story would have never happened. I replay it constantly in my mind and everything indicates that it was prewritten in time. But did I not have free choice in my actions?

Yes, I did get a good sum of money for the museum quality gold coins, and I have the dagger and jeweled sheath of William R. Hamelton on my desk in front of me.