Havel House, Chapter 7
The teens were excited about their morning's adventure, but that didn't lessen their appetites. In fact, the adrenalin they'd expended during their discovery probably increased them.
After they finished eating, they took Mom up to see what they'd found. Kathryn was eager to see the secret rooms, and she appreciated the antique objects. However, that's as far as her interests went. The rest were free to dig into things as they wished. She knew Carson would be disappointed that he hadn't been in on the initial find.
The open coffin in the lab kind of freaked her out, but she told herself it was probably only a prop to make the place look spooky. Anton Havel probably enjoyed the reputation of being a mad scientist.
William stayed with the boys for a while. Using his camera, he tried to document everything. After feeling he'd accomplished his task, he went downstairs to work on job-related projects on his laptop.
The boys decided to take the locked book down to a little sitting room on second floor where they could comfortably look through it, side by side.
The book turned out to be a diary which Anton had kept for more than 15 years. In beginning the handwriting was elegant and precise, though it became less so toward the end.
The first page contained a kind of dedication.
"I, Anton Hovel, send you greetings from the past. Perhaps I am a fool to record my life, for it is not an extraordinary one. I have been blessed with a good mind and the resources to develop it. I am a secretive man. Some of the things I feel and do are prohibited in this age. It is my hope that the future may be more open, and that one of my descendants may find this tome and form a connection with me. If this falls in the wrong hands, I am sure it will be burnt and my soul damned to Hell fire. Perhaps, dear reader, you may be the one who understands."
The entries continued at regular intervals recording mundane incidents interspersed with very personal introspection.
It detailed some of his inventions. He had hired a brilliant young man by the name of Phineas Kirk to help him perfect his milking machine. The two of them thought very much alike and complemented each other's efforts. Phineas shared equally in some of the later patents.
Both were married men with relatively young children who often played together. The families even vacationed with each other on occasion. At first this worked wonderfully, but somewhere along the line, Anton's wife, Eleanor, became suspicious of the bond between the two men.
"19 May 1894: Eleanor is acting like a bitch! She's been downright hateful to Phineas. Why can't she understand that he's a wonderful companion for me and that men need time with other men? Rebecca seems to be okay with it.
I have a deep love for Phineas. It's like what the Holy Writ tells of David and Johnathan. Our love is greater than the love for a woman."
"Wow! Do you think they could have been like us?" Ashton asked.
"Yeah, I do. I wonder if this `Phineas' person is someone in my family tree. Uncle Ken might know, I think he's done quite a bit of genealogy. Hmm...."
The further they read, the more convinced they were that the two men had been lovers. In one entry, Anton recorded that Phineas had to travel to St. Louis for his mother's funeral and how much he missed the man. He longed for the time when Phineas would "share his bed" again. The boys speculated that he might be referring to the small one they'd discovered in his library.
There was also a description of a night in July when Anton and Phineas had lain on a blanket in a clearing in the woods not far from the house. They had taken along a telescope to study the heavens. Eleanor hadn't believed their story about needing to be outside in the dark. She thought the widow's watch would have been a better place for them to view the sky.
Evidently, the men had shared their bodies, as Anton's wife had suspected. Fortunately, the rustling of leaves had alerted them to her advancing footsteps and they'd been fully dressed and looking heavenward when she arrived.
Anton vowed to have the ceiling of his bedroom decorated to commemorate their glorious union. Then Phineas and he could celebrate it at their leisure when Eleanor and the children went on an extended trip to visit with her family, as the frequently did in the summer.
Later pages alluded to their celebratory trysts in that room.
On the last page of writing, Anton seemed to allude to the passing of his lover.
"My dearest Phineas, I fret that I may fail to bring you back. My experiments with animals have been mixed. The toad showed some signs of life but the cat did not. Now, time is running out. If we have an electrical storm, I shall make a valiant effort, for I know not how long your spirit will linger nearby. If I fail, mayhap God will take me to be with you, my beloved."
In response to their queries, Kenneth Kirk invited Rhett and Ashton over to his house on Sunday afternoon to share his genealogical discoveries. His nephew had been interested in finding out if he had a relative by the name of Phineas.
Ken had offered to share all his information with Coleen several years before, but she'd never been particularly interested in family history. He was delighted to find that Rhett was.
"So, you're interested in Phineas Kirk, are you? May I ask how you came upon that name?"
"We found it in an old diary from Ashton's house. He was a person associate with Anton Havel who built the place."
"'Phineas' was a fairly popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, but I've found only one with the last name of `Kirk.' So, I think we have a match. There is a man by that name who was your great-great-great-grandfather, Rhett. I know practically nothing about him because there aren't a lot of records. From what I've gathered, he died at about the age of 45, leaving a widow and two children in their late teens or early 20's."
"I think that's our guy!" Rhett exclaimed. "How will be know for sure."
"He probably is. According to old census records, he owned the property where your house sits today. So, he would have been right across the street from Anton. His wife's name was Rebecca. Does that fit?"
"Yup," Ashton said. "She's mentioned in a couple of places."
"So, my great-great-grandfather was involved with your family, Ashton. Were they close?" Ken asked.
"Closer than you might imagine. Anton and he were lovers."
"Do you know that for a fact?"
"Anton wrote about it in the diary," Ashton said. "It's framed in archaic terminology, but there's no doubt in my mind. He compared their relationship with David and Johnathan in the Old Testament."
"I've often wondered where my `gay gene' came from," Ken nodded.
"Then mine probably came from the same source. Does Mom know any of this?"
"Well, obviously she knows that her brother is gay, but she knows far less than I do about the family and you've just enlightened me on the gay aspect. May I read some of the diary, Ashton?"
"Sure. I know you'll handle it as carefully as we have. I'd like to transcribe it on my laptop to make sure the information is preserved. It might be important for people doing research to know about same-sex love in past centuries. I'll bet a lot of material has been destroyed by families who wanted to keep secrets.
"Why don't you come over and see the diary right now?'
"I don't want to intrude on your family's day of rest," Ken demurred.
"No problem. I'll text Mom to let her know. If she's napping, we'll go in the front and she won't even hear us. I already told her we might bring you back."
Kathryn and William were present to welcome their guest when the boys ushered him into the foyer.
"I have refreshments for everyone when you decide to take a break," Kathryn offered. "I'm sure you're eager to explore what the boys have found, so I'll wait until you let me know.
"Were you able to make a connection with this Phineas Kirk and your family?"
"Yes," Ken smiled. "It seems that my great-great-grandfather and William's great-great-grandfather were well acquainted and even shared in some of the inventions."
"Um, it's actually more than that," Ashton spoke up. I'm sure that they were lovers. Ken is trying to be tactful."
"I had gathered as much from the passages in the diary you pointed out," William agreed. "I have no issue with the truth. I suspect there's a very real connection between genes and one's orientation."
"I'm pleased to find you so open," Ken said. "It's too bad the world wasn't like that back when they were alive."
William accompanied Ken and the boys up to the small sitting room on second floor where they had kept the diary. He went along out of curiosity but wouldn't interrupt.
(Kathryn took the opportunity to catch a short nap in the recliner in their bedroom in the new wing of the house. Carson was off kicking around a soccer ball with some of his new friends and they were planning to go out for pizza later.)
Ken read the various pertinent passages which the boys had bookmarked with pieces of paper. They had clipped the last couple of pages together because they didn't want to get into a discussion about the final entry at the present time. When Ken was finished, he nodded, thoughtfully.
"I have to concur with your findings, guys. You've discovered an important part of our families' mutual history which has been kept secret for too long. If everyone agrees, I'd like to write a kind of thesis on this. I might turn it into a book."
"If you need my written permission, I'll certainly give it," William offered.
"It's going to be too late for you to have refreshments and a tour of the secret lab and library too. So, why don't you stay for supper? I'm grilling burgers and we can use the things Kathryn made for dessert. The boys can show you around while I'm cooking."
"That's very kind of you," Ken smiled. "I need to call Everett to let him know I won't be home to eat."
"Please tell him he's invited too," William insisted. "We have plenty. If he comes right away, he can explore the third floor with you."
Everett enjoyed the tour of the lab immensely. As a hobby, he wrote fiction in the sci-fi and fantasy genre, so he was already creating a plot in his head. Some of the gadgets Anton had used looked to him like props for a horror movie.
The picnic supper was a hit with everyone. The men turned out to be great conversationalists, and by the time the evening had ended, they felt almost like an extension of the Havel family. Carson was going to be sorry he'd been out with friends and missed it.
Rhett slept over with Ashton that night, and the two got off under the canopy of heavenly bodies. They snuggled together because the A/C kept the room cool enough to enjoy the contact.
Sometime in the wee hours, Ashton heard moaning. He wondered if it was Anton's ghost until he realized the sound was coming from Rhett.
"Hey, Dude, wake up. You're having a bad dream."
Instead of waking up, Rhett got up and headed for the door. Ashton followed him, thinking he might be going up to the third floor. However, Rhett went downstairs and into the kitchen. Then, he went out the back door and wondered around as if searching for something. Eventually, he got down on his knees and began to claw at the ground where there had been a raised flowerbed.
Ashton felt he had to wake Rhett up, but didn't know what to do. That was when he spied the watering can by the back door. He grabbed it and poured most of the contents on Rhett, who began to sputter and finally woke up.
"What the hell are you doing to me?" he demanded.
"What the hell are you doing naked in my backyard digging in the dirt with your bare hands?"
Rhett looked down at himself and gasped.
"This is nuts! What the fuck?"
"You were acting like you said I was when I discovered the lab. There must be something out here that's part of the mystery of this place.
"C'mon, we need to get you in the house and clean you up. Hopefully the neighborhood is asleep and won't report you for being a pervert," Ashton teased.
After showering, the boys put on lounge pants and went down to the kitchen for a snack. Initially, they were too keyed up to go back to sleep. Once their bellies were full, they began to feel drowsy. Fearing that they might come under some spell if they went back to Ashton's room, they lay side-by-side on the sofa in the family room of the newer wing of the house. With a throw covering them, they fell asleep cuddled together.
"What brought you down so early?" William asked the pair as they yawned and stretched.
"Um, Rhett had a kind of sleepwalking episode like I did when I discovered the secret lab. It didn't affect me and I followed him outside where he clawed at the earth near that old flowerbed. I think there's something sinister going on."
"Hmm...," said William looking out the window to the spot Ashton indicated. "That mound is evidently man-made. It's too symmetrical to have formed naturally. I think I might know what it is. We need to look at the very early photos of the house taken from the backyard."
Before William went off to work, he pulled out an album which he and the boys perused while eating breakfast.
"There it is," he exclaimed. "Do you see that door at about a 45 degree angle? That's got to be a root cellar close to the back door. Before refrigeration was common, lots of houses in this part of the world had them. Often, people would harvest ice in the winter and pack it in sawdust or straw to keep it from melting quickly. Milk, butter, and other perishables could be kept fresh. It acted like a refrigerator right through autumn."
"So, you think that's what Rhett was trying to find?"
"I wouldn't be surprised."
"Is it okay if we dig it up?" Rhett asked. "I know a couple of kids who dug fox holes for fun one summer when we were 12. They even made a firepit to roast hotdogs. The ground around here has a lot of topsoil and it isn't that difficult."
"If we'd have done that in Florida, we'd have hit coral or rock," Ashton said. "Anyway, can we do that, Dad?"
"I have no objection. We're going to have to do a lot of rearranging to make that area presentable anyway."
"Who's digging what?" Kathryn asked as she came into the kitchen.
"The boys are going to attempt to locate the old root cellar. I'll bet Carson will get into it too when he wakes up."
With the spades they found in the garden shed, plus one Rhett brought from his house, the three teens began their project around 9:30. It didn't take them very long to run into something solid under a couple of feet of topsoil.
Kathryn had thought their mission was probably futile, but she hadn't dissuaded them. What better way for three teenagers to burn off excess energy than to dig a pit?
Their whoops of excitement brought her out to see what was going on. Of course, she had to take some photos.
By lunchtime, they had uncovered the pair of doors which, made of thick cedar planks, hadn't decayed noticeably. The hinges which attached them to the frame hadn't fared as well. They were quite rusty, so the boys sprayed them with Liquid Wrench before going in to eat.
Having engaged in manual labor for several hours, they were ravenous. But before sitting down to eat, Ashton texted his father, sending him pictures of the door they'd uncovered.
William texted back to say that he was on his way home because he wanted to be in on the discovery. His schedule would permit being gone for the afternoon.
The boys had scarcely finished eating when William arrived. He quickly changed into old jeans and boots.
It took the guys a few minutes to get the first door to budge. Once it was swung open, they could get a better grip on the second one. A set of limestone steps led down to another door which was vertically placed. It was secured with a padlock. Using a prybar, William managed to pull the hasp out of the door so it could be opened.
Inside, there were rotting shelves with Mason jars containing food that had been preserved many years before. In the center of the floor was something nearly six feet long with a tarp of sorts. William pulled back one end to reveal a mummified corpse. Everyone gasped, but quickly recovered enough to take photos.
About an hour after the policeman arrived, the county coroner was on the scene. He also took a number of photos before having the body carefully transferred to a stretcher to take to the lab.
"Obviously, this isn't the corpse of the drug dealer who disappeared two years ago. This body has been here for decades. Do you have any idea who it might be?"
"Ashton and I think it might be one of my ancestors whose name was Phineas Kirk," Rhett spoke up. We think he died maybe 80 years ago. Uncle Ken is on his way over if you want to talk to him. He's the genealogist in the family."
"Well, I can wait for a few minutes," Dr. Cunningham said. "Obviously, there's no rush to do an autopsy, and if he can shed some light on his identity, it could lessen my involvement considerably."
Ken arrived almost immediately, and said he'd be happy to give a DNA sample to see if the body belonged to his great-great-grandfather.
"I'm not sure why the boys think it's him," Ken mentioned.
"Um, we didn't let you read the last entry in Anton Havel's diary because we wanted to figure out more stuff before it became public," Ashton admitted. "He mourned the death of his dear friend Phineas and vowed to try to bring him back."
"If this is the body of Phineas; we can probably pinpoint his date of death from my genealogy records. I'll bet it was close to when Anton Havel was supposed to have been struck by lightning," Ken suggested
"Until it's cleared up, I'd like to treat this root cellar as a crime scene," the coroner said. "I'll ask Office Fiker to seal the outer doors and put the yellow tape across it. Please don't disturb anything before I give the word. I'm sure you guys are curios to explore it."
"Don't worry!" Ashton exclaimed. "This gives me the creeps! I'll probably have nightmares for a while."
"In the meantime, I suggest that you shouldn't read Pet Cemetery," the doctor grinned.
That night, Rhett and Ashton asked if they could have a sleepover at the Butler's home. Everyone was agreeable after hearing their tale of Rhett's wondering in the wee hours the night before. They were even permitted to use the guest room so they could share the larger bed. Brant said he would be sure to arm the security alarm in case his son would get up in his sleep and go over to the Havel's backyard.
Wrapped in each other's arms, the teens fell asleep shortly after 10:00 PM. Their lack of rest from the night before coupled the with exertion of their labor knocked them out until 8:30 the next morning.
They didn't do anything strenuous all day and relaxed in the city pool when Carson took Brianna and them to swim after lunch.
Less than a week later, word came back from the morgue that the body they'd discovered was indeed that of Phineas Kirk. Uncle Ken arranged to have him interred in the cemetery were Phineas was assumed to be all those years. William insisted that they use the wooden coffin which was in the lab because he assumed that it was intend for him.
It took some convincing to have the cemetery officials open the grave, but when they did, it was found to be empty. So, with a simple ceremony, Phineas was finally laid to rest.
Snuggled in Ashton's bed under the canopy of stars a few nights before their fall semester would begin, the boys reminisced about their first adventurous summer together.
"Do you think it was fate that we found each other?" Rhett asked. "It doesn't seem possible that everything could have happened by coincidence. I mean, how do two kids going on 15 and living hundreds of miles apart end up in the same bed?"
"Yeah, it can't be just the roll of the dice. Have you noticed that the house is happy now? Like there's no ghosts and we don't have weird dreams when we sleep in this room."
"Anton's and Phineas' spirits must be resting in peace. Maybe you and I are fulfilling the fantasies they had for the future."
"I'd like to think so. Do you suppose the spirit world can sense what we're doing here on earth?"
"Possibly. Do you want to provide some entertainment for them?"
"I'm good with that!"
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Author's notes: Dear Readers, please don't be sad that this tale has ended. I'm plotting to have the characters continue in a story about Linwood High where they'll be going to school soon. I'm not sure what the title will be. I may not be ready to begin posting a week from today. For those signed up, I'll let you know via the "alert" list when it is posted.
In the meantime, I want to thank Mar H, Allen, Walter S, Mendy D, Frank K, Ott H, Skip M, Geoff S, Charles G, Jim M, Pol, Brad, GCD, Joe W (1), Bill K, Tim T, Don Mac, Hotrod, Les C, Ray M, Tony C, Bill T, Marty H, John L, Chris G, Drew M, Mark H, JCH, Nicxen, Dave C, Tim W, Joe W (2), George D, Gordon, Jim W, Chimel, Paul F, Paul R, Tom A, and JLF, who have emailed this past week, along with the many others who've responded since I began posting this tale. At least 80 of you have encouraged me to continue over the course of these postings. You are the ones who keep me plugging away at this avocation.
Thanks to David (Boxerdude) for editing this chapter.
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If you enjoyed this tale, I'd love to hear from you. Please write to me at: dlee169@hotmail.com