Page 64 of It'll Always Be Her
“These are the exhibits from the little section we had about Millicent Pepper.” Edith took the lid off the box to show Bee the stack of items inside—scans of old newspaper articles, items from the former schoolhouse, and several books. “As I said, there’s not much, but hopefully, it will be helpful.”
“You didn’t have to bring this over here.” Bee picked up an old book of fairy tales. “I could have stopped by the museum.”
“It was no trouble. Honestly, we hadn’t even put any of it back in storage yet, so it was all still in the box. Feel free to keep it as long as you need.”
After Bee thanked her, Edith went to get a few books from the new releases section. Bee put the lid back on the box and stored it under the counter to look at later tonight. She flicked the lights to indicate closing time in five minutes.
The crew began filing out of the conference room to set up the shoot. Bee locked the doors behind the last few patrons, catching Adam’s eye as he started toward the stairs.
“I’m going to do some research in the archives while you’re shooting,” she said. “Just text me if you need anything.”
“Careful about saying that,” he remarked. “There’s no telling what I might need.”
“Does it have something to do with chocolate cake?”
“Or whatever dessert you have tucked away in your basket tonight.” He shot her a grin and started up to the mezzanine.
A warm, fuzzy feeling spread through her and lingered as she finished the closing procedures and fed Puffalump. Picking up the box Edith had left, she headed down to the basement archives to continue perusing Captain Marcus’s letters and diaries.
Although his life had been cut too short, John Marcus had had some fascinating experiences, from his early sea training in the West Indies to his stint in the Navy to his rising through the ranks to start his own company. He’d been involved in negotiating free-trade policies between the United States and the kingdom of Hawaii, and he spoke out against slavery and economic servitude.
Bee studied his letters and diaries, pausing often to take notes on her laptop. In addition to the details and stories about his seafaring adventures, he wrote a great deal about his family and Bliss Cove—known as “the cove” before it became an official town. He made particular references to the “exceptional climate” and “beauty of the landscape.”
Bee was pleased that those things, at least, hadn’t changed since Captain Marcus’s lifetime. Neither had the sense of joy and camaraderie he’d found here—his descriptions of the community events and festivals were filled with enthusiasm about the food, games, and people.
She took out the stack of letters and diaries dated in October over the course of a decade. Although she’d known that Captain Marcus had loved autumn and Halloween, she was surprised by the increasing details he’d written about the season.
A letter to his brother about his All Hallows’ Eve party was five pages long and had detailed plans for a bonfire and a costume ball. Another diary entry listed the party menu, which included chocolate creams, hickory nut cake, baked oysters, ice cream, russet oranges, and syrup-glazed apples.
(M’s favorite. Ensure extra.)
Bee pulled the diary closer to the light and peered at the scrawled addendum written next to the “syrup-glazed apples” menu item.
M.
Obviously, Captain Marcus wasn’t referring to himself in the third person. He had a niece named Mary, so that might have been her. Except why would he single her out and make a point to order extras? He’d treated all his nephews and nieces equally.
Bee quickly skimmed through the other diaries and letters dated the month of October. There were a number of references to “M.”
M loved the decorations, danced with M a half-dozen times, M having tea with Anne tomorrow, ask M about San Fran. Taking M to the boardwalk on the weekend.
The references appeared to start in 1892. But where was the actual name? Not in the 1890 diary, so it must be in 1891.
She pushed away from the desk and went to the storage cabinet packed full of the captain’s diaries. 1889…’90…where was ’91?
“Aren’t we having dinner?”
Adam’s deep voice jolted through Bee like a shot of electricity. She turned, her heartbeat increasing as he came into the room.
“You’re hungry already?” she asked.
“I’m always hungry, but it’s past eleven.” He tapped his watch.
“Really?” Bee pushed a lock of hair away from her forehead. “Goodness, I lost track of time. I was looking for one of Captain Marcus’s diaries, but I can’t find it. I thought we had all of them here, but 1891 is missing.”
“It might’ve been put back in the wrong place.” With a slight grimace, Adam opened another cabinet filled with books and journals. “Paul and I were here this afternoon filming some of the photos and pages. We were careful with everything, but we might have misfiled them. Why are you looking for it?”
“I’m not sure, actually,” Bee admitted. “I’m trying to figure out why Captain Marcus’s ghost is still here, and I think it has something to do with Halloween. I found out that he’d been the one to actually name Bliss Cove, and when I was at the Historical Museum this afternoon, I found some papers relating to a woman named Millicent Pepper.”