Chapter 4 Daydreaming and a visit by Charlotte
The Kennedy family, Samuel, SJ and a young five year old Jason had driven across the Mississippi basin from Baton Rouge in a clapped out old hire truck. They had moved themselves and after a long hard drive they had pulled up outside their new home only to be told by the awaiting real estate man, a Mr. Robert Williamson that there was a problem. The problem was that the vendor of the property had contacted him to say that Samuel and SJ’s lawyers had not released their money to allow the purchase to go through it was due to have been released at 9.00am that day but nothing had come through.
After many fraught hours trying to track down their lawyer by phone and Samuel turning incandescent with rage they had given up hope of moving in that day and driven to local motel on the outskirts of Spicebridge. They had ended up staying there for two nights and endured a very stressful thirty eight hours of phone calls and faxes to their lawyer, initially to try and track the elusive man down and then to try and get their money released to complete the purchase. SJ later told Samuel that those forty eight hours had been the worst of her life and that if she had had a gun she would have driven off to find their lawyer and probably shot him were he stood. His name was Kendrick Toup, a man who SJ had always thought of as being slimy and toad like, he had apologized profusely blaming the bank and human error but Samuel was highly suspicious. Kendrick Toup had always been difficult to track down having an office in Baton Rouge and one in Spicebridge and whenever Samuel spoke to his colleagues in either office they never seemed to know where he was or what he was doing.
On the thirty ninth hour of waiting Mr. Williamson arrived at their motel with a set of house keys and some good news, the money had been released and the sale completed, the house was theirs, he had tried to contact their cell phones but had lost their numbers.
They spent the rest of the day lugging furniture and boxes from the hire truck into their new home and by mid afternoon the three of them settled out on the lawn at the back of their new home to have an impromptu picnic, the sun was high in the sky and it was very hot and the humidity was overwhelming, they were all exhausted. Both Samuel and SJ were astonished how different the climate was in Lokchapi, they had only travelled just over eighty miles from Baton Rouge and the high temperature and humidity of the last couple of days was quite debilitating, central Louisiana seemed to have its own intense micro climate and that was something the three of them would have to get used to.
It was on that hot sunny afternoon that a Great Blue Heron, the father of their current feathered friend Mr. Heron had first appeared on the horizon, moving across the lake with a slow grace, it circled high above them before finally settling in lone Cypress tree at the bottom of their new garden.
Jason had been enthralled with this spectacle, such a large magnificent bird landing in a tree in his own garden. Nothing like this had ever happened in their small terraced house inBaton Rouge, the occasional starling or sparrow may have landed in their tiny garden or on their front gate post but Jason had never seen anything so big, so close and so beautiful.
“Corr Mommy look at that bird.”
He had squealed with delight.
“What is it?…., is it an eagle?”
He continued excitedly.
“No Jason, I don’t think it’s an eagle. “
SJ had replied.
“I don’t really know to be truthful, there are many animals up here that we are going to have to get used to seeing, some good ones and some that we need to keep away from, like….”
“You mean Alligators.”
Jason interrupted.
“Yes I mean Alligators…., and if I see an alligator within one hundred yards of this house I’ll pick you up and rush inside and lock all the doors.”
“Will Daddy come too?”
Jason asked a little bewildered.
“Yes of course I’ll come rushing inside with you and Mommy.”
Samuel replied with a smile.”
I certainly won’t be staying out here in the garden with a large snappy alligator and only a garden rake to defend myself with.”
Jason thought this was hilarious, he rolled about on the lawn on his back kicking his legs in the air and laughing until it seemed to hurt.
“Daddy would be dancing around shouting for help……, hitting the big old snappy alligator….., with a useless garden…….., rake.”
He spluttered out in between fits of laughter and gasps for breath.
“Never mind about alligators and garden rakes.”
Samuel said as he scooped his still giggling son up from the lawn and held him in his arms.
” I think it is time that a certain young man got some sleep, its been a long day so far and mommy and I have still got some more unpacking to do later and then its another early start tomorrow….. Don’t forget we have to take the rental all that way back, which is two days late already and then we have to pick our cars up and drive all the way back up here again”
“Ok Daddy.”
Jason said as SJ stood up and joined Samuel as he carried the still giggling Jason back up the lawn towards their new home.
“Do you think we really will see alligators?”
Jason enquired as the three of them reached the shade of the veranda that ran the entire length of the back of the house.
“Of course we will.”
Samuel replied.
This is were they live and have for millions of years… ,I think.”
“What the same ones.”
A still giggling voice said as they entered the cool chaos of stacked boxes and misplaced furniture in the dilapidated kitchen.
“No not the same ones of course silly.”
SJ replied over her shoulder as she reached across a pile of unpacked towels and blankets to switch the overhead fan on.
It was only much later that Samuel had told SJ that as soon as Jason had been settled into his new bedroom and fallen asleep SJ had dozed off on top of their bed in their new bedroom, It was then that Samuel had got to work writing first to his lawyer and then researching who he could complain to about the lawyers conduct and poor service.
Samuel had not initially told SJ but one of the letters that lay in their hallway awaiting their arrival in their new home was a final bill from their lawyer. It was nearly twenty percent higher than the amount they had agreed and it had been fattened out with all sorts of charges for letters, phone calls and photocopying that Samuel could not account for and had no recollection of receiving. The long and the short of it was that they had been well and truly ripped off. Samuel had also suspected that the problem with getting their money released was not a banking problem or human error but a cynical move by Mr. Toup to gain thirty eight hours more interest on their house purchase money that sat in the lawyers’ bank account.
Samuel had been furious when he had opened the lawyer’s letter on that very first day in their new home but didn’t want his anger to spoil the excitement, joy and happiness of moving into their beautiful new house, so he had kept it all to himself. Outwardly he seemed happy, maybe a bit over energetic or hyper but his mind was in turmoil, his anger triggered volley after volley of destructive thoughts. The only outlet for this energy was to find out who he could complain to about Toup’s poor service and overcharging and then sit down and write a detailed letter of complaint.
That night in the bright light of SJ’s laptop screen, Samuel had typed away furiously while SJ silently slept next to him. He had found out that he could complain to the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board that was based in Baton Rouge, so he compiled his detailed letter and complained about Mr. Kendrick Toup’s conduct, fees charged and the conduct of the law firm that he worked for; Latham, Kellar and Bond. With the letter completed the storm of energy that had fizzed and crackled in his mind started to dissipate and an air of semi calm normality spread throughout his body. Samuel quietly turned off SJ’s laptop, put it on the floor next to their bed and rolled over and in no time was sleep.
After a few weeks had passed Samuel received confirmation of receipt of his letter of complaint from the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in Baton Rouge. It was accompanied by an official complaint form which he duly filled in and returned the same day. Some six weeks after that he received an acknowledgement of his complaint, then nothing. Samuel did call a couple of times over the next six months, each time being told that the complaint was being investigated.
A year past before he heard from the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in Baton Rouge again, this time to be told by letter that the complaint was still live and being investigated, then nothing for another six months, when completely out of the blue a letter arrived informing Samuel that his complaint had been considered, investigated and was to be held on file, nothing more. No decision or no outcome, his complaint was neither dismissed nor had it lead to any type of formal disciplinary action was to be taken against Mr. Kendrick Toup or anyone at the law firm Latham, Kellar and Bond. Samuel laughed to himself, what more did he expect, he had complained to lawyers about lawyers, it was like complaining to the police about the police, you get nowhere quickly. At least it was being held on file against Mr. Toup and Latham, Kellar and Bond. With that he had scrunched the letter up in his fist and threw it in the trash.
Samuel and SJ had been lucky in finding their home twelve years earlier. It was an old wooden plantation house, part of the old Fonte not plantation. It was not the main mansion, which had burned to the ground over one hundred years ago, thanks to a jealous husband, an alcoholic wife and a steady stream of admirers who would visit her while her husband was away on business in the State Capital.
The house Samuel and SJ chose to be home for their young family was the overseer’s house; it was constructed completely from wood and was painted a pale crème with dark grey wooden roof shingles. It was a reasonable size with three bedrooms and bathroom upstairs and three reception rooms and a kitchen downstairs. It had a small garden to its front with a short driveway and double garage with picket fences on both sides of the property. The rear garden was large with a well tended lawn and numerous shrubs, bushes and flowers and a majestic lone Cypress tree at the bottom of their lawn by the edge of the mouth of the Lokchapi bayou and Lake Cavelier. It was situated in a beautiful location on high ground next to the church o fLokchapi and it was very close to the town center, only a minute or so on foot and was accessed by a narrow windy dirt track that ran past their home they had neighbors dispersed here and there on both sides of the track all the way from the town center past their home and north for about a mile as the track carried on its winding course to the settlement of Malase.
SJ had cried with delight when they first went to view it all those years ago.
”Its so pretty, so much character, and look at that lovely garden stretching down to the water.”
She had said enthusiastically to Samuel and the real-estate man who had beamed with pride in his ability to find his clients such a hidden gem.
“I think she likes it.”
Samuel had said to the smiling real-estate man after they had been shown around.
“And I like it as well, in fact it is the nicest house we have been shown in the last three weeks.”
He continued.
As SJ stood daydreaming her mind drifted back to the days before Lokchapi, Originally both Samuel and SJ had lived in Baton Rouge the state capital of Louisiana, a city of some two hundred and twenty thousand people, living and working in and amongst a mixture of French, Spanish, British and 20th century American Architecture. The mixture of buildings laid out the history of the city for all to see, founded by the French on a bluff on the eastern bank of the Mississippi in 1719; it was then ceded to Great Britain in 1762, and captured by the Spanish in 1779. The United States acquired the city in 1815, following a brief period when it was a part of Spanish Florida. It became the state capital of Louisiana in 1849. It had seen action during the Civil War, being captured by Union forces under the command of David Farragut after the fall of New Orleans in May 1862. The local Confederate forces did mount a brave attempt to recover it, but failed in Aug 1862 resulting in a very high loss of life on both sides. The history, mix of cultures and climate of the region gave the city a certain vibrancy that they both had enjoyed in their younger days.
There was always something going on of interest, bars and clubs would be filled with happy dancing people who would move and jig, dance and clap to the tones of the banjo and box, and sweet sounding bluegrass music would drift through the streets on sultry evenings, wafting between buildings on a warm breeze, interspersed with laughter and the occasional dog barking its appreciation. Some clubs throbbed to the beats of reggae and others were a mixture of R&B, rap and dance music or the more traditional jazz clubs.
Samuel and SJ frequented them all; they all had their own appeal. Either the energetic atmosphere of thousands of young revelers dancing the night away in the reggae or dance clubs or the slower more sedate but equally appealing blues, jazz or bluegrass clubs and bars.
When the city became too hot from mid June until the end of August Samuel, SJ and a group of friends often headed out of the city for the river, the great Mississippi, the men would all grab themselves at least one cool box, load it up with beers and ice with the girls adding their beers and wines, some light food and off they would all go.
They would drive either north or south from the city, as the city and outlying neighborhoods that skirted the river were quite heavily industrialized. Generally the direction would be north, they would drive for about fifteen miles to one of two locations, the first and most popular was a place called Ruggles Creek. It was a tributary of the mighty Mississippi, and where the two met, down below a sandy dirt bank, was a beautiful secluded beach surrounded on three sides by mature Cypress trees, the fourth side faced the majestic Mississippi. It swept on buy in a timeless flow loaded with vessels of all sizes that moved up and down the river plying their trade. Ruggles creek was named after brigadier general Daniel Ruggles, who had commanded the 1st Division of the second corps of the Army of the Mississippi (for the Confederates). It was General Ruggles who after fierce fighting in and around Baton Rouge had fought a valiant rearguard action under the fire of Union guns and made his last stand along this creek line before the complete annihilation of his forces.
With such a poignant and sad history, which still to this day stirs local feelings it is surprising how much fun was had there by Samuel, SJ and their friends. During the heat of the summer days they would sunbathe, swim, play ball games, eat, drink, and generally fool around. Then in the evenings, as the sun set beyond the western bank of the mighty river they would build a fire, a guitar and banjo or two would be produced or a radio or cassette player would be attached to a car battery, wired up to an amplifier and a couple of very large speakers and they would party on into the night. Drinking, dancing, giggling and singing, a mass of happy young people reveling in their youth and energy lost themselves to the beat, the alcohol and the heat. As tiredness or the copious amounts of alcohol consumed took hold, their parties would eventually quieten and they would make themselves comfortable around a crackling fire. Blankets would be brought out and they would snuggle up in groups or as couples, staring into the flickering glow of the fire or laid out on their backs looking up at the wonders of the Milky Way which was splashed across the sky in all its brilliant, sparkling glory.
The sound of the college bus pulling up outside on the dusty track brought SJ back from her daydreaming, she must have been standing there for five minutes or so completely lost in her memories of a happier past. She heard the hydraulic hissing sound and a clatter as the school bus door closed and the engine revving as the bus pulled away in a cloud of dust that chased it all the way along the track.
“Hey Mom.”
Jason called out as he opened the front door and walked in, tossing his college bags one way and kicking off his hot sweaty sneakers in a totally different direction.
“Hi Jason.”
SJ said as she walked towards him in the hallway with two glasses of lemonade.
”Why has the bus come on down here today?”
She enquired; it usually dropped all the children off in the town center.
“Oh one of the Vallier boys was late to catch the bus home and fell and hurt his leg quite badly as he ran for it……., it’s not broken….., I don’t think so anyhow….., but he shore did squeal……, Anyway the bus driver said he would drive him home to Malase and so I jumped off here.”
“Oh that’s kind of him.”
SJ replied.
“More like scared of the Valliers and the Leblancs, nobody would want them on their case.”
SJ chose to ignore this comment; even though the families who lived in Malase had a considerable reputation around the district she had got to know most of them over the years through Samuel and liked them all. She knew how others misjudged them, but she, like Samuel always judged people on their own merits, how they were as people, how they acted and as far as she was concerned they were good people.
”Look Jason I must dash I have a client waiting for me…, did you had a good day at college?”
SJ asked as she disappeared towards her studio.
“Uh…. yes I suppose it was ok.”
Jason responded as he walked off along the hallway towards the kitchen to fix himself a cool drink from the refrigerator and wash away the afternoons dust from his lips. He poured himself Coke from the refrigerator cooler and walked out the backdoor onto the veranda.
“Hi Dad.”
He shouted down the garden to where Samuel sat at the waters edge. ‘The boys’ as Jason affectionately called his two dogs were waiting, they had heard the school bus pull up, and sitting with ears pricked looking back up the garden towards the house, they were ready to spring into action. On hearing their best friends’ voice they both leapt to their feet and raced up to greet him with tails wagging furiously as they ran. Moo raced ahead with Pooh plodding resolutely along after him at a slower pace, he was twelve now and his age was showing physically in the form of arthritis in his hips, at heart he was still a mischievous puppy but his body now constrained him. Moo bounded up the steps onto the verandah with Pooh in steady pursuit and they gave Jason their usual loving, excited greeting. Pooh found one of his hide chews, picking it up he wagged his way in circles around Jason. Moo did the same but with an old shoe. Jason reached down and patted and stroked them both as they circled.
“Hi Boys how are you both, good boys, good boys.”
He said as he patted the heads and the backs of the encircling mini pack.
“How’s Dad today?”
He enquired of his circling friends.”
“Is he Ok?”
He asked.
Obviously not expecting an answer, but more of an affectionate routine he had got into over the years, being an only child his two dogs were his best friends and being that he would talk to them, love them and in return they showed him friendship, company, love, affection and total unquestioning loyalty. Jason was their pack superior and friend and they were like a gang of three mischievous boys together.
Samuel had been roused by the dogs jumping up and racing off and he had turned slowly and looked back towards the house. ‘Oh Jason is home’, he thought to himself, ‘I must get up …, I must find some energy’, and with that thought creeping across his mind he raised his hand and called out.
”Hi Jason, how are you……………., had a good day?”
“Yeah OK.”
Jason replied as he settled down on a chair in the shade of the verandah.
Samuel mustered all his energy, tried to focus his mind and using the stout buttressed trunk of the Cypress tree for support pulled himself up onto his feet, he stepped onto the lawn, bent down to pick up his sneakers and slowly walked towards the house. Both of the ‘boys’, came back down from the house down to greet their master, wagging their tails as they circled around. They were both vocal dogs and both made gentle noises that were a mixture of a whine, a growl, and a howl, Jason always said that they were singing and that description is probably the best that anyone could think of. The ‘Boys’ were singing with happiness, their master had finally got up and moved and their best friend was home from college, what more could two dogs wish for? SJ smiled from the window of her studio as she watched her Moo race and Pooh plod down to the bottom of the garden and escort Samuel back up across their lawn towards the house. She checked her watch, she had one more client who would be arriving any minute, she had already placed one cool glass of lemonade on the counter ready for her and stood sipping her own lemonade while she awaited.
Charlotte was SJ’s last client of the day, a relatively new client who had only been coming to see SJ for a couple of months, she was very sociable, SJ liked her and they had got on extremely well from the Charlotte’s very first visit.Charlottewas a well educated and intelligent woman of Cajun decent, as were about a quarter of the locals for miles around. She had studied law at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and upon graduation had continued to live in the city for thirty five years. She had married, raised three children, and had had a very successful and gratifying career. Charlotte and her husband Landon had moved back only three months ago to their hometown ofLokchapi, somewhere where they could both truly relax and feel at home. They had been childhood sweethearts, their love had lasted the three years thatCharlottewas away at university and while she studied Landon learnt his fathers craft as a blacksmith, he was good and had a natural affinity for metal, working it with ease. Very soon afterCharlotte’s graduation their first baby was born and that was followed almost immediately with their marriage. Landon had taken a small loan from his father and moved down to the big city with his new bride and daughter to set up home.
The first few years had been tough for them both,Charlotte started as an intern working for a well respected firm of lawyers who conducted and were engaged by with the state legislature process. Over the years she spent many long hours walking the corridors of power in the Capital Building, meeting and being on first name terms with not only many of the states most senior political figures but also heads of industry that crossed state boundaries including some notable Washington names.
Unknown to SJ as well as all of Charlotte’s other friends, family and acquaintances, that is apart from Landon,Charlotte had been recruited into the CIA during her first year as an intern and had kept up the persona of a lawyer as a cover. She quickly established herself and was found to be highly intelligent, quick witted and the reputation she had gained for getting the job done had lead to her being fast tracked within the organisation and a meteoric rise through its ranks followed. However the pressure of bringing up first one, two, and then three children and being one hundred percent committed to her job led her to re-asses her life and she choose to focus on her family leaving behind her CIA life.
Once the youngest of her children had started high school and all three children had varying levels of independence she chose to re-start her career. She had become accustomed to running her own life and being available to tend to the needs of her family over the previous twenty one years, so she choose to respectfully decline the open invitation to rejoin the service, deciding instead to work as an independent security and investigative consultant. Having established high profile contacts with heads of industry and national and state government officials, she had no difficulty in delivering her services and skills as a consultant upon highly secret and sensitive assignments. Her focus, as when she was in the service of her country was to investigate industrial espionage, state and national government corruption and advice upon corporate and personal information security.
SJ had always been fascinated by the stories Charlotte told and genuinely enjoyed her visits. Her anecdotes were always highly interesting, often funny and always spiced with the air of intrigue, but they were always told from the viewpoint of a mid ranked lawyer.Charlotte never hinted at her true career, she had told SJ about her days as a lawyer and that she now did the occasional piece of local government work, just to keep her hand in, have a small income stream and keep her agile mind active. What Charlotte knew, had uncovered or been told was kept buried deeply within her database of a mind. That included the parts she had played in four ofLouisiana’s biggest corruption scandals and one national scandal that ended the careers of a state governor and four congress men. All of the people she had helped to expose presented themselves as, honest, patriotic Americans, when in truth asCharlottewould have told anyone that asked, the majority of them were so devious and manipulative that to get what they wanted they probably would have killed their own mothers.
Landon on the other had had a more erratic start, initially he could not get work as a blacksmith and found work on construction sites for the first two years before finally securing a position with one of Baton Rouge’s, most prestigious firm of metal workers. Once through the door it did not take Landon long to gain the acceptance and admiration of his peers for his hard working attitude and quality of craftsmanship. Within 10 years he had his own firm employing twenty skilled artisans who mainly worked upon the conservation of the historic, Spanish French and British architectural heart of the city.
SJ held the mirror behind Charlottes’ head for her to admire her new look from all angles.
“That is absolutely lovely SJ, I am thrilled, thank you so much.”
Charlottesaid with a beaming smile as she leant forward to pick up her very stylish and fashionable handbag.
“I wonder how long that will last in such a lovely condition now you’re living in the backwoods again with us country folk.”
SJ said with a laugh before continuing.
“I do still miss certain things about city life, clothes…, fashion…., no dust or mosquitoes…., oh I could go on and on.”
“Here you are SJ, thanks, I absolutely love my new cut.”
Charlottesaid as she pressed the normal fifty dollars for the hair cut and a twenty dollar tip into the aching hand of a hot and tired SJ.
SJ accompaniedCharlotteto the front door of their house, waiting patiently as she got into her car, started the engine, and then waved her goodbye as she reversed off of their drive onto the dusty dirt track. She turned and closed the door behind her, ‘finished at last…., right what’s next?……., clean the salon then dinner’, she thought to herself as she walked back through her house towards her salon.
Charlotte tore along the track from SJ’s house by the bayou and bounced onto the black topped main road just outside the center of town, with a squeal of tyres she turned left and headed for Spicebridge which was some eight miles away. She had to make it by 5.00pm to collect a parcel from the post office; it was a very important parcel to Charlotte because it contained four new outfits, a new handbag and two new pairs of shoes that she had ordered online from her favourite Boutique in Baton Rouge. The main road was quite busy with traffic and she dodged in and out, overtaking at the first opportunity. The importance of the parcel and her need to collect it before 5.00pm was driven by an invitation to a cocktail party that evening in Ville Platte. The quality of the clothes she wore and her appearance were paramount to her now she was in semi retirement and had much more time to socialize.
I hope you enjoy your reading. It is available on Kindle and a free copy can be borrowed for download at https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Blue-Heron-Howard-Moore-ebook/dp/B00KK6BWLK..
Howard Moore
