Sears Island
Copyright© 2012 by Howard Faxon
Chapter 3: The Pitch
They had acquired quite a few old family photographs. A computer had been used to create an averaged profile of their features, then a guy with calipers measured my face. They got a 'very good' match. My birth certificate was authenticated. After all that we got down to business. As the closest male descendent of the line I was to inherit an island if I performed certain tasks.
An elderly gentleman read aloud from the contract laid out over one hundred years before. The heir would only be granted ownership and access to the funds under management if an impressive home was raised on the site of the original homestead and was occupied by said heir for a period of one full year. The princely sum of thirty thousand dollars was to have been set aside when the contract was drawn up. Its purpose was to grant said heir the funds to construct their home. Occupancy was to begin within three months of the reading of the contract. He laid down the paper.
I'd been shot down before I even left the runway. My disenchantment must haves shown.
"Not much in today's terms, is it?"
"Nope. I might get it done for five times that, depending on what's available."
"You're in luck." He said in a dry tone of voice. "It went into an interest bearing account at five percent compound interest. The account balance is currently just over four point four million dollars."
"Holy Christ." I exclaimed. I sat back in the chair and thought about what was involved. Services would have to be run. I'd seen the lawyer's aerial photograph. The road was gravel and devastated by wash-outs. It would have to be dug out, properly filled in and paved. Hopefully all the services could be run parallel to the road, beneath the surface. The island was considered by many to be a wildlife refuge. There was no sense in rocking the boat unnecessarily. (besides, buried services should be relatively weather proof. Costal Maine wasn't known for easy winters.) For that reason I wouldn't put in a sewage field either. Instead I'd use a big septic tank.
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