Chapter 57: Water Girl

Leticia is in my bedroom library for the purpose of researching the manors history. The founder and his heirs were sticklers for recording their adventures, deeds, and all improvements to the property. Leticia discovered one of their earliest projects was a hand dug well. Penetrating down through the rock of the island by means of explosive charges and rock picks, they succeeded in reaching the water table after laborious effort, only to discover it was salt water. Their disappointment was filled in and abandoned. No freshwater wells exist on this island or on most Caribbean islands. Catching and hoarding rain water is the tradition. What frustrates Leticia is the lost location of that early well. As careful documentation was kept about everything else, it’s unlikely they considered the well’s location unimportant and not of interest, Leticia doesn’t believe they would fail to note the location for future reference. Possibly someone misfiled or misplaced the pertinent document. There are thousands of books, ledgers, and document folders to search. Tish has barely dented the archives and is already exhausted. Gladys is giving her a back and shoulders massage. Tish groans in pleasure.

“Would traipsing over the property visually searching possibly turn up the location faster than hunting through all these old papers?”

“Possible but not for me. I waddle when I walk and can’t go far without sitting to catch my breath. If I could be granted a single wish, it would be the genders swap roles. The men get pregnant and the women get all the fun.”

“I could look, if I knew where to begin and what to look for.”

“My guess, they would cap it with large stones to keep burrowers out, prevent them excavating the relatively soft filling. The most likely places are near the house. Even inside the house has potential. In a cellar, or a back room pantry. Perhaps in the arboretum. That would make irrigating plants easy and avoid leaving splashes carrying buckets through the house.”

“A large diameter curbed well such as you describe, digging it would produce a big pile of dug out debris. You said explosive charges were used. Can’t imagine setting off charges inside the house. Wouldn’t it more likely be located somewhere outside?”

“Miners set off charges inside mines all the time. What’s the difference? But if you have a hunch it’s outside, then I recommend you try the kitchen garden as the most probable locale.”

“Where’s the kitchen garden?”

“Behind the house right behind the kitchen. How can you miss noticing it?”

“Never explored behind the house or the side yards either. Not positive I’ve seen all of the house either, in fact I know I haven’t if there are cellars. Are there?”

“Look at the house plans. There are many wings and multiple levels. Careful you don’t get lost and beware the ghosties don’t get you.”

Tish is laughing at me. Easy to fix, I laugh too, and now she’s laughing with me. More tolerable than being laughed AT in my book! I’ll look at house plans later. Good odors attract me to the kitchen and a desire to see the kitchen garden entices me too.

“What are you cooking, Lilli? Smells mouthwatering.”

“Oh, that’s me you’re smelling. The boiling pot only has my laundry in it. Panties.”

“Oh, well something sure smells fishy. Ow!”

“Keep a civil tongue. Just to revenge your foul remarks, I’m going to force you down to the floor and bare-ass Hula on your head!”

“Revenge? Doesn’t sound threatening to me, more like a piece offering. What’s this roiling in your panties pot? Cooties? Biggest damn cooties I’ve ever seen, they’re big enough to pass as shrimps! Now you’re frightening me girl! How long have you been infested? Whoa! Don’t pitch that out, what? Are you crying Lilli? I’m sorry if my teasing came out mean sounding and upset you. Please forgive?”

“I haven’t even seen you for days, and when I finally get to be alone with you, are you romantic? What do I get? No, not one tender phrase is offered me, only vicious teasing. You don’t love me any more! I was cooking a special dish for you, and you made it sound disgusting!”

“Sweet tender hearted Lilli, I’ll never love you less, always more. I thought you were joking with me, so I made a mistake in reading the mood and made an ass of myself. Everything about you is precious to me. Everything you do is excellent and perfect. Is the dish ruined completely? Can we salvage the shrimp from the sink, and you remake the sauce again? It did smell mouthwatering as I remarked when I first came in. What was the dish? Shrimp with coconut it smells like, and something familiar I can’t place. Smells wonderful.”

“Shrimp, a little smoked fish for flavoring, coconut milk, and rice. I planned on enticing you to dinner in my room then seducing you. I don’t think the shrimp are dirtied, I’ll give them a rinse to be certain. The sauce is simple and quick to make and the rice gets cooked in the sauce and wasn’t started yet. You don’t have to eat it just to please me.”

“I’m anxious to have it and to have you for dessert. How long before it’s ready?”

“Maybe half an hour, a bit more? The rice takes the longest, it has to absorb all the liquid.”

“I’ll be right back here in the garden checking on something. Call me when it’s time to eat. Dress Polynesian, grass skirt and flowers, it sounds like a Polynesian dish. I’ll remove my shirt.”

The garden is walled. Is it a perimeter wall? What’s beyond the wall? Why is that huge statue on a big round pedestal, placed in the center of the garden? It would look right if it was a fountain used for irrigation but it isn’t a fountain, and never was. It’s a pretty girl about eleven years old, carrying a broken jug under one arm. The jug is missing a ragged piece in it’s bottom. If the jug were intact, I would interpret the girl was fetching water. A water girl with a useless jug? Covering a useless plugged well? Is it this simple?

Tish said they would probably cover the well with large stones. No one would accuse the founder of asceticism. Opulence and extravagance is the theme inside the house. This statue matches his sense of style. Mere stones wouldn’t even occur to him I think. We’ll have to shift the statue to find out what if anything is beneath it. I better inform Tish she can relax until we determine if this is a red herring or not.

Moving the statue might risk breaking or damaging the statue. It looks like fine art. Something you would find in a museum. We should perhaps have it appraised before attempting to move it.

Beverly is certified as an art teacher. Her opinion is valuable. I’ll call her too.

Soon everybody is gathered about the statue speculating about it. Beverly agrees it should be appraised. It has a grand master’s quality to it. The sculptor might have been only an itinerant tradesman in the founder’s day, and acclaimed as genius a generation later. This sculpture or could be extremely valuable.