Chapter 27

I spent most of the rest of the summer healing and trying to find out what Lucy Lou did with my Candy Hjálmtýsdóttir and waiting for the tribal elders to show up. After a month, daddy took me back to Ludington's Paulina Stearns Hospital.

"Much too soon," said the doctor, and sent us back to Pentwater so I could watch Grace sail the race buoys like a barrel racer ... damn it.

"Daddy! If I ever get back to my ... ok ... our boat ... I'm gonna be crew while Grace is helm." Daddy just laughed.

"Teach you to stop falling down ladders," he said.

"By the way, what are you doing with my quarters?" I asked.

"What quarters?" he asked.

"The quarters for the pay binoculars?"

"Pay binoculars? What pay binoculars?"

The binoculars on the roof of the boathouse weren't daddy's doing. They were Graces. Not only was she tearing up the surface of Pentwater Lake ... she was making me pay to watch her do it!

I am gonna kill me some sister!

Instead, I took a little piece of allowance and went to Gustafson's Emporium ... and Purveyor of Fine Goods.

Early in the century, Carl Gustafson decided Pentwater was the Coming Thing and built a Quality Department Store. Five stories of white faced brick and huge display front windows. The stock took up an entire three masted Lake Schooner shipment, if you couldn't buy it at Gustafson's you didn't need it.

The first year, Carl lasted five months and the snows hit. It's hard to sell anything when no one in town saw out of doors for weeks at a time ... and they knew it was coming.

For the next thirty-five years, Gustafson's changed hands faster than a tax dollar. Every new owner added stock, sold like crazy for five months and left.

The Quality Department Store became the Mercantile, the General Store, Annie's Attic and that eyesore.

When the disastrous fire burned the wood buildings between Gustafson's and The Antler, the Volunteer Fire Department protected the best place in town to get an after work drink and hoped the eyesore would burn to the ground ... it didn't.

Since I had nothing else to do and I could eat only so many Antler Wendy burgers, I went looking in The Emporium. Since there was everything from rusty gold pans to water damaged wallpaper, I was sure I could find a pair of binoculars ... if I looked ... and look I did.

Success! German Pre WW2 Carl Zeiss Jena Starmorbi Triple Objective 12, 24 & 42 x 60 Binocular with mount and case. Brand new, still in the wood crate and original oiled wrappings. Price when new in 1937... 15 dollars.

"Jesus Christ, David, you're getting dust everywhere," said the latest California owner. "Where did you find that junk?"

"Fifth floor under an old carpet. Nice carpet, Persian, I think, " I replied. "There are a couple more crates but I couldn't lift them one handed."

"Gimmie $15 and get them out of here."

I sighed heavily, "You sure?" I knew ... from both former lives that these were worth a couple of thousand bucks ... and I was willing to go a hundred.

"Make it Ten, and don't tell my wife."

"Don't tell me what?" she asked. "Who are you cheating now? Hi David, how's the arm?"

"Still in a cast." I liked his wife.

"I see that," she said. "What in the world have you found?"

"German binoculars." I showed her the stenciled label: Carl Zeiss Jena Starmorbi Dreibettzimmer Ziel 12, 24 & 42 x 60 Fernglas mit Halterung und Gehäuse.