Chapter 3

The rest of the summer went by entirely too fast. We spent more time with the Webbers. Along with more scuba lessons for me and swimming lessons for Beth, I had a chance to sit with Bob and learn how an author did his thing. I didn't have any plans on being a writer, but it was interesting to see just what was involved in writing a book. I was surprised how much time Bob spent just in research. I'd always thought all an author needed was a fertile imagination and a word processor! Well ... that and a good editor.

We spent an afternoon getting to know almost the entire Swanson clan—four kids and two very harried-looking parents. Only Jim's older sister, Barbra, was absent. After a day with them I was happy I had only one brother. I could hardly imagine what it was like to grow up with a house full of sisters. I had no idea how Jim managed it.

On Bob and Sue's recommendation we spent a couple of interesting days in Bimini—at least I think they were interesting. The Webbers had told us about this little place we just HAD to see while we were there. If they hadn't suggested it we wouldn't have set foot through the door. I mean, when you see a building that looked like a dilapidated shed with graffiti covering the walls—both inside and out—and a dirt floor, what were the chances it would turn out to be such a fun place? But The End of the World Saloon and Snack Bar was apparently THE place to see in Alice Town on North Bimini.

It also turned out to be where Beth broke her rule about never drinking again. After an outstanding conch salad and a couple of Goombay Smashes she was even willing to add her panties to the collection of clothing covering the walls and ceiling.

We woke up the next morning with screaming hangovers, barely able to crawl out of the berth. Luckily, we'd paid for docking rights for a couple of days, thinking we'd spend some time just looking around. It was after noon before either of us could face the world let alone remember what we'd done the night before.

There's something about the local drinks that causes temporary amnesia, I guess. I do remember asking what went into the drinks we'd both enjoyed. "Rum, more rum, even more rum, pineapple, coconut, and maybe some other stuff," was all I got for an answer from Sara, the owner and bartender.

"Oh, Tommy, how could you let me do that?" Beth moaned.

"I was just going to ask you the same thing. I thought you'd sworn off drinking?"

"Well, yeah, but..." She wound down and slowly shook her head. Obviously she was recovering faster than I was.

I finally recovered enough to get us underway—any more exploring of Bimini would require another trip, right now we both just wanted to get back to the house.

The next morning we both slept in and finally recovered from our excesses. About noon Beth crawled out of bed and gave her head an experimental shake. When her ears didn't fall off she looked at me. "I'm going for a swim. If I'm not back in an hour, see if you can find a passing dolphin to rescue me and tow me back."

"Hang on, I'll go with you," I said after testing the permanence of my own auditory organs.

Floating in the crystal clear Caribbean water was a great way to wash away the last vestiges of a night of excess. I was a bit surprised at how quickly Beth had become a good swimmer, but then, she seemed to be good at everything so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

After swimming ourselves into an early pruneage, a couple of hours baking in the warm sun sounded good. Once Beth was well done on both sides, she turned to me. "Tommy, would you take me back to the house?"

With a groan, I got up, reached down, and picked up my bikini-clad beauty.

"Tommy! What are you doing?" she squealed, squirming in my arms.

"You asked me to take you back to the house. Didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I meant THE HOUSE, not this one!" she said with a laugh, pointing to Matt's.

"Oh. Um, okay. You're sure you want to go back there?" I wasn't sure I wanted to. No, that wasn't true—I was sure I DIDN'T want to!

"I don't want to go in, but can we just sort of walk around it? Just kind of explore the grounds?"

"Oh, sure, that's no problem." Well, at least that couldn't be as bad as going in. Right?

"Okay, let me change."

"What? You don't want to meet a ghost in a bikini?" I kidded.

Damn elbow! Why don't I learn?

"I don't believe in ghosts—in bikinis or otherwise!"

For a gonna-be engineer my lady could be downright pedantic when it came to fuzzy subjects.

Once changed, we started walking up the path that ran through the island. When we got to the Webbers' Beth saw Sue working behind their house and pulled me after her as she stomped up to our friend.

"I want to talk to you!"

"Oh, hi, you two. What's the problem?" Sue's expression showed more humor than fear.

"That ... that place you told us we had to see in Bimini!"

"Oh. The End of the World? Did you enjoy yourself?" Sue was JUST able to keep a straight face.

"How could you do that to us? I mean I thought you were our friend!"

"What happened?" Suddenly Sue looked worried.

"That place should be illegal! And those drinks!"

"I thought you weren't going to drink any more?"

"I wasn't going to ... but Sara, the owner, suggested trying a something-or-other smash. I should have known better," Beth said with a moan.

"Oh, come on, one of those wouldn't hurt you," Sue responded.

I cleared my throat, "Um, it wasn't just one."

"Oh?" Sue said inquisitively.

"Yeah, we probably had about three ... each."

"About? You don't even remember how many?" Sue's grin was on full display now. "Did you get out of there with all your clothes?"

"Um ... no," I said. Beth spun on me.

"Is that where my panties went? I woke up on the boat and didn't have them on and didn't know where they were. I thought maybe you took them off. Tommy, how could you let me do that?!"

"I don't know. I guess it just seemed like a good idea at the time," I said in my defense. "Remember, I wasn't in any better shape than you were."

"Did I ... did I take them off right there?"

I just nodded.

"Oh, God," she said with a wail. "Right in the place? Did anybody see me?"

"Well ... you left the room, so no, nobody saw anything."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better? And I suppose you thought it was a good idea just to leave them there."

"Well, I couldn't very well pull them down."

"Pull them ... you mean they hung them up with all the others?!" I just nodded, thinking it would be wiser not to mention that I'd been the one who nailed them up.

"Right after you signed and dated them. Everybody was impressed that even as drunk as you were, your printing was still perfect"

"Oohhh," she moaned.

"Beth, don't worry about it. I'm sure there're more people who leave some piece of clothing there than don't," Sue said.

"Yeah, but what if someone sees my name?"

"Well ... nobody's mentioned recognizing mine!" Sue's grin almost equaled my lady's face for brilliance.

"Y-yours? You mean..." Beth looked flabbergasted.

"Of course! As we told you, it's a fun place."

We finally continued our walk toward our spooky destination. As we passed the vacant house north of Bob and Sue's, Beth slowed down. "That's so sad," she said. "To see a nice place like that just sitting there unused. It's too bad the kids can't agree on anything, so instead of enjoying the place it's boarded up and nobody gets to use it."

"Yeah. You know, if they keep it tied up in probate long enough, and with no maintenance, it'll start to look like the ghost house." Beth didn't say anything but just looked at the boarded-up building with her patented thousand-yard stare—the one that usually meant she was thinking of something. "Okay, what's up now?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking..." But she wouldn't tell me about what.

We walked around the house and just shook our heads over the deterioration we saw. I found myself wishing I could kick those selfish, argumentative idiots who would let a beautiful place like this go downhill.

Eventually we started back up the path to our mysterious destination. When we got to the house we followed the fence to the right as it circled the yard. Reaching the back of the property we found no beach, just a narrow path next to a drop-off of about forty feet to a jumble of fallen rock with the surf crashing at the base. The scene made me think of the windswept cliffs so popular with Victorian writers. I could see why Sue used the place as the setting for some of her books.

Beth led the way along the path until she suddenly stopped about halfway along the cliff and looked back at the house. I hope I never see a bleaker sight. The broken windows gave the house an almost skull-like look.

Just as she turned to move on there was a loud rumble and a large section of the cliff—including the path in front of us—fell into the sea. If we hadn't stopped...

"Tommy, get me out of here." I could hear my lady's teeth chatter as she turned back to hold on to me.

We followed the path back to the front of the house, then started down the main path back to our place. Beth took my arm and held on as if to make sure I wouldn't disappear and leave her alone.

When we got back to Matt's place Beth grabbed me and gave herself over to a major case of the shakes. I led her into the bedroom and got her onto the bed.

"Are you all right?" I asked as I lay down beside her.

"T-Tommy, we almost died out there. If I hadn't had the feeling I had to stop ... I don't know what it was though!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It was like somebody or something called to me from the house. But how could that be?" She was seriously spooked.

"I don't know. I'm just happy that we weren't any further along the cliff."

"That's what I mean. Why did I stop right there? Tommy, don't ever take me back there again. Promise."

That was a promise I was more than willing to make. I thought about our experience as I held Beth until we both fell asleep.

That night I was sitting at the table thinking about our morning's adventure when I remembered I hadn't checked my e-mail for a few days. It didn't take long down here to get out of regular routines. One of the messages waiting for me was from Joe at the photo shop requesting more of my tripod adapters. I e-mailed Todd at the machine shop and placed an order for another hundred sets. My little idea obviously had some legs and I guess the good magazine review didn't hurt.

A week later found us in Nassau again. Vacation or not, we still had to keep groceries in the house. After we'd dragged our supplies back to the boat I asked Beth if she wanted to visit one of the local dive shops with me.

"No, Tommy, I don't think so, but you go ahead, I'll find a way to kill some time. Have fun!"

We agreed on a time to meet back at the boat and went our separate ways.

Two hours later I realized I was late and made my way back to the boat. I hadn't meant to be gone that long but walking into the dive shop was like turning a kid loose in a candy store. A very expensive candy store.

Beth was sitting on the deck with a strange look on her face—it seemed like a combination of frustration and a whole lot of mad.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Bureaucrats! That's what's wrong!"

"Um, what happened?"

"You remember our conversation when we were walking around the boarded-up house next to Bob and Sue's? About having the place hung up in probate? Well, that made me think maybe we could find out who was listed on the deed for the ghost house."

"Hey! Now why didn't I think of that? What did you find out?"

"That government flunkies are the same all over. That's what I found out! I went to the registrar's office and asked for information on the house and was told there was no house! That there were only five dwellings on the island, and I had to fight to get that. He didn't want to tell me anything.