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LIGHT OF THE ATMA – THE SPARK WITHIN
s their carriage proceeded back to the mansion, Allison was brewing up a fever-pitch anger toward Crogg. By the time they reached the mansion she was ready for a fight. “Please go directly to your room Peter.” She patted him on the shoulders. “I have some business to take up with Mr. Crogg!”
When Allison entered the house the crowds were even larger. She went straight to the sitting room from the back entrance.
It was Charles who found her in the large crowd and helped her to clear a path to the sitting room. She asked him if it were possible to go in search of Crogg. Charles nodded and soon found Crogg in the smoke-filled library. He approached him cautiously.
“WHO WANTS ME?!” Crogg shouted over the noise of the crowd.
“The governess wishes to speak with you in the sitting room,” Charles repeated. “She says it is extremely important.”
Crogg thought for a minute. “Oh – all right. Tell her I will be there shortly.”
“My – my,” Crogg spoke with a patronizing spike in his voice as he was let into the locked room by Charles. Seeing Allison with a scowl on her face, he said, “So… what’s on your mind?”
“Why didn’t you let me know that the Liberty Bell was reported missing since a week?!”
“Oh that!” he responded. “Well, the ship’s not missing at all, it’s just late. I don’t ever remember a time when Mr. Smith’s ship was on time.”
Allison’s face turned red with anger. “Oh,” she queried lingeringly, “then why didn’t you tell me? You knew all the time, and you deliberately said nothing to me? You let me go down there knowing I would get desperately worried?”
“I don’t see what you’re so steamed up over, you have to give some leeway when you’re traveling the seas. Timing and punctuality are not always as they are on land, if you can call our land travels certain to any degree. “He passed a look at Charles who was sitting in a chair across the room reading a book, so he decided to sit down himself.
“Then why didn’t they tell me at the shipping office that it was normal procedure to report a ship missing, when in fact it is only late? Isn’t that a little odd? And since you knew this all the long, then why this party?”
“Oh – you mean this little get-together?” Crogg noted. “Well… it’s a morale booster. Some of the boys get a little edgy when the ship comes in late. It breaks the tension, don’t you think?”
She gave him an unsatisfied look then asked, “Why wasn’t I personally notified by the shipping office itself, that the ship was behind schedule?”
“I told them not to tell you,” he boldly admitted.
Barely holding back her temper she fumed, “May I ask the reason why?”
“Not to worry you,” he answered with a tone of specious concern. “But I can see that did not work.”
“Didn’t you give any thought to the idea that I would become worried once I discovered it had not yet arrived?”
“I let you go down there on the possibility that it would come today, after all…”
“I see Mr. Crogg. You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”
“Look!” he interrupted “What’s done is done. I’m sorry if I handled this situation with you so poorly. I can see you’re a woman who has a mind for bookkeeping and business.” And he stood up and got ready to leave. “If there is anything I can do to be a service to you, you just send me word,” and he turned to leave.
“Yes there is!” she demanded holding back her anger. “You can take your party out of here!”
He turned around to face her. “Well -” he replied hesitantly, “that won’t be easy. The boys aren’t going to like leaving before they’ve barely begun. They’re bound to get a little unruly.”
“Mr. Crogg!” she began to say in an angered tone.
He stood there staring at her, gauging her mind, then said, “Okay. I’ll try! But you must know that this task is one that will be much harder to put into effect than you may think. There are over two thousand people here already and they won’t leave at once the moment the request is issued.”
Allison wanted to roll her eyes. “Just try! Mr. Crogg, just try!”
“I’ll try!” he repeated again as he noticed her displeased face, and he left the room.
Two hours later the mansion was still jammed with people and even more were still arriving. As the minutes ticked by, Allison’s patience grew thinner and thinner. She looked at Charles and asked if he would check on Crogg’s progress.
Charles returned with the message from Crogg that he was ‘on the job’, then Charles excused himself and left.
As the night wore on, not one party guest had left. Peter was still in his room and Allison was beginning to feel confined in the sitting room. Losing all patience, she unlocked the door to the sitting room and opened it.
Affronted by a barrage of noise and a rabble of people who looked as though they were about to force their way in, she quickly closed the door before anyone could push their way inside. Not willing to put up with Crogg’s excuses any longer, Allison got on the telephone and placed a call to the police station.
“Right away Miss Hamilton,” the sergeant assured. Allison hung up the telephone wondering if anything at all could be done to end the ruckus.
Within the hour, by about 10 pm, an entire wagon of police officers had arrived. On her orders, they sent everyone on their way with the command of the law and the threat of jail behind them if they didn’t obey. Though there were only eight officers to handle the swollen crowd of nearly three thousand people, they used psychological tricks to get everyone to leave, with the knowledge that the rest of the force would not be far behind for back up if needed.
Two hours later, by 12 midnight, as the last of the people were leaving the mansion, Allison came out of the front door to speak with the officers. She stood there on the front steps next to the open doors. She had her arms folded in front of her and waited to speak to the policeman who was shuffling Crogg out with a girl on each arm.
As Crogg passed her, he gave a dangerous glower which actually frightened her. But, he cleverly changed his look before anyone could catch it, for it was a message meant only for her.
In a phony style of speech he said too her, “There was no need to call out the gendarmes Lassie. We were only having a little fun.”
But Allison was nonetheless cautious. She knew that a glaring look such as the one he gave her, spelled trouble. The pretended integrity that Crogg sported, vanished from his stylish character with that deadly stare.
After everyone was expelled from the mansion, Allison requested that as many offices stay behind as possible. “…just in case other rowdies show up,” as she put it. And there were. Hundreds yet, were still streaming towards the mansion at the pitch of midnight. One could see the endless coaches with the lights, headed their way.
“I’ll call and check it with Captain Faraday,” the officer responded. “But I’m sure it will be possible. I can see that the traffic headed this way is still quite heavy.”
“You may use the telephone inside,” she replied.
Captain Faraday, who was a close friend of Michael’s, was enthusiastic to serve, especially since it would mean some extra favor from Michael when he returned.
As the officer hung up the telephone, he equipped himself with a pleasant smile, flung out his chest and puffed it with pride as he spoke. “Captain Faraday says that he is at your service; anything we can do to help, we will do.”
With this, he tipped the edge of his cap with his fingers and told her he and his men would check the entire mansion for any guests that might have lingered behind. His partners would then guard all entry ways, and he himself would stand guard at the front door to keep out all further arrivals.
As soon as the mansion was declared free of intruders, Allison began to feel a release from some of the tension she was experiencing. She had Charles check on Peter. Before long, Peter came downstairs and joined her. “I’ve been watching the streaming caravan of party people that were driving away and being turned around from my window. This is the first time that’s ever happened to them.”
Allison, Charles, and Peter along with many servants, stood in the main room looking around at all the mess. “It’s this way on every floor too,” Peter pointed out.
Allison looked at everyone and sighed. “It might take us days to clean this,” she murmured as she shook her head in disgust. The servants who were on duty stood about the room just staring at the endless litter and disorder. Drawing on the knowledge that Margaret told her about offering bonuses to everyone and anyone who cleaned up after such events, she said to them, “Well, anyone who stays to clean for as long as it takes, will get rewarded for doing so.” And with spirited determination, she herself rolled up her sleeves and waved Peter to join in, thus rallying everyone to work.
The servants smiled hesitantly at Allison’s and Peter’s participation but welcomed their help nonetheless. Then, in team effort, hundreds of servants all worked together through the entire night to clean.
Allison and Peter helped clean everything, including the tables, furniture, dishes and glasses, stairways and railings, then swept the floors and even helped scour them free of scuffs and marks with a scrub brush and soapy water. The night seemed long, and the work hard and by the time the cleaning was over, the sun was peeking through the windows.
“I can’t believe that human beings can turn something so clean, into something so dirty!” she said as they stood there surveying the last room they had just cleaned.
The servants who got to work on her team with her, felt a certain sense of friendship being that she didn’t place herself above them. Peter, who worked through most of the night shoulder to shoulder with the servants, was already fast asleep in the parlor.
Allison felt determined not to allow things to get out of her control again. “I don’t want anyone to come in this house who has no business here,” she told all the servants. “Each one of you will be my eyes and ears from this point on. Agreed?” Grover, who just woke up from his night’s sleep, listened on as she imparted some instructions to some maids. A priggish man through and through, Grover could not stand the feel of dirt under his fingernails and detested those who had to work at cleaning up after others.
His pride came from the idea that his position was superior to most others; after all, it was his orders which most of them had to obey. As he walked toward Allison, he gave her a down casting leer. “Really,” he sneered with a despiteful tone drawing out his voice with contempt and sarcastic disdain. Then satisfied that he gave her enough of a dirty look, he smugly lifted his face in the air and proceeded along his way.
“Speaking of dirt,” she voiced aloud as she watched him prance off. This remark caused a spontaneous burst of laughter in all the servants.
he rest of the morning passed in quiet. The birds could be heard singing, and the gentle tingling and tinkling of the wind chimes added to their pleasant song.
About midday, people started to show up again. ‘What on earth do they want this time?’ she protested as she heard the commotion outside. The small crowd of people who had gathered, was a bustle with anxiety. The moment they saw her they all started talking at once. She stepped out onto the front porch and stood there without saying a word until there was comparable silence.
“If you wish to speak with me,” she suggested, “do it quietly and calmly, otherwise you will go away unsatisfied.”
The one person in the crowd who seemed to have the most seniority spoke. “As you’ve probably heard,” he began, “rumors are thick in the air that Mr. Smith’s ship was lost at sea.”
Remembering what Crogg had said the previous afternoon, Allison questioned, “But hasn’t this sort of delay happened before?”
“Well… of course, but… this time, jetsam has been found.”
“Jetsam?” she repeated with a sense of shock. She grasped her mouth then asked, “What about wreckage? Has any wreckage been sighted? “
“No wreckage spotted yet,” the man replied, “but some of the Liberty Bell’s goods were found floating on the water.”
Not wanting to hear anymore, Allison glanced at the officer as she turned and instructed, “Admit no one.”
“Yes Miss,” he acknowledged as he tipped his hat. He dutifully turned toward the small group of men and dealt with them.
When she entered the house, she closed the door then leaned on it for a moment. Trying to keep her composure in trim, she pushed herself away from the door and went directly to the living room where she paced back and forth from one end of the room to the other.
Charles came in and offered his services. “I couldn’t avoid overhearing…” he admitted. “If I can be of any help at all…”
Allison gazed at him with her thoughts percolating through the do’s and don’ts. She then suddenly asserted, “Yes you can. Please telephone the shipping office or go down there or wherever you have to go, and keep me posted on any developments that occur.” Then she added in a thought to herself which she spoke aloud, “I don’t want this place crawling with people, not at a time like this.”
or two days, Allison kept herself busy with housework and trifling things and made sure Peter kept himself busy in the garden or with other tasks or hobbies that would occupy his mind. She didn’t want to be hasty and call her parents or Peter’s grandparents and worry them unnecessarily, so she waited for more information hoping the rumors she was hearing would be proven untrue.
On the third afternoon, Allison was standing at the front window in the living room observing another gathering of people. They made her nervous and worried. Just then, she heard the telephone ring in the study. She gave an ear to the echoes of Charles’ voice in the hallway, then heard the click of the earpiece being placed on its holder.
Moments thereafter, Charles solemnly walked down the long hallway which led to the living room. Still peering out the front window, she sensed his presence behind her and turned around with a fearful expression on her face. With his lower lip quivering and his eyes filled with the pain of sadness, Charles released his words from the pool of agony welling up from his heart. Tears started to form in his eyes as he mustered the courage to speak. “They found wreckage,” he finally disclosed.
Allison dreaded hearing these words. She had prayed they would never be spoken as fact. Tears formed in her eyes as she stood there looking about the room. She looked at Charles in a sharing agony and whispered sorrowfully, “Tell Peter I want to talk to him.” She turned around and gazed out the window, half peering into her own mind for answers.
Peter was in the backyard gardening and thinking about his mother’s return and the nice bouquet of flowers he would make for her, when he noticed Charles coming his way. As Peter looked at Charles, he felt that something was wrong.
“Your governess requests a word with you.” Charles’ voice was obviously filled with sad emotions and his eyes were still wet with tears even though he tried to wipe them dry.
Peter got up from the ground and brushed himself off. He wanted to ask Charles if anything was wrong, but Charles purposely walked away before he could. Peter began to suspect something awful. He walked slowly up the walkway to the house; he could hear some servants crying in the distant rooms. This served to increase the anxiety in him even more. His heart began to pound hard, and the fear that surged within him filled his eyes and facial expression.
When he reached the living room, he stood in the middle of the large entryway and stared at Allison, who was standing with her back toward him. Allison turned around; her eyes were filled with tears which ran down her cheeks as she blinked.
Suddenly Peter knew. His heart seemed to fall to his stomach. His face turned pale and his breathing grew hard. He shook his head not willing to accept the bad news. Tears filled his eyes while wrenching agony filled his heart. Allison rushed to help him, and gently taking him into her arms like a delicate bouquet of flowers, hugged him. A chilling silence crept over the mansion, only to be occasionally, sorrowfully disturbed by mournful crying.
Allison thought deeply about the things that had happened. Being that there was something about Crogg that disturbed her, she decided the best thing to do was to take Peter to his grandparents. She sent her parents a telegram explaining the situation and asked that they tell Peter’s grandparents of the loss, and to expect them within a couple of days.
She told Peter they were going to Boston. “We need to get out of this stuffy ol’ barn anyway.” Peter half expected that she would take him to Boston; he looked at her knowingly. “You change and get ready,” she suggested. “I’ll have Charles see that your things are packed.” Charles, listening on, acknowledged his duty with a look and set the servants on the task of packing everything Peter would need.
Allison held Peter’s hand, “Are you going to be all right?”
Peter sniffled. He shook his head, but assured her, “I’ll be all right.”
She gave him a comforting embrace then sent him upstairs to change. Gathering strength in her heart, she went to talk to some of the servants.
t that very moment, Crogg was arrogantly stepping down from his carriage in front of the Smith’s mansion. He walked up the steps to the door and, ignoring Rafety, the officer at the door, reached for the door handle, but Rafety stepped in front of him to block the entrance. “The Misses has given orders that no one is to be admitted.”
“Well,” Crogg retorted taking a step backward, “some orders are superseded by other orders, aren’t they?” and he handed Rafety some papers.
As Rafety read through them he stated, “This clearly gives you permission to enter the premises all right,” and he folded the papers and handed them back to Crogg in a polite manner, then officially stepped aside.
As Crogg entered the mansion, Grover, who was nearby, took the opportunity to ask if he could be of service. “Tell Miss Hamilton I’ll be in the reception room,” and he freely escorted himself in. Once there, Crogg sauntered about looking at everything as though he was surveying it for his very own. He picked up a small statuette and a couple of other little valuables appraising them one after the other. After putting them aside he nonchalantly browsed around taking in all the other artifacts he had envied for so many years.
When Allison walked into the reception room, she immediately felt on guard. She wondered exactly what he was doing back there, considering the orders she had given. Crogg stood there with an arrogant pose saying nothing to her. He only stared, aggravating her beyond belief with his lecherous smile.
Feeling an uncomfortable chill run down her spine, she stopped in her tracks and looked at him with strange suspicion. Without saying why he had come or why he sent for her, he pulled from his vest pocket a Havana cigar, unwrapped it, ran it under his nose to take in the aroma then stuck it in his mouth, and biting off the tip he lit it. ‘Puff, Puff.’
Allison looked at him knowing he was up to something very wrong. “What are you doing back here?” she questioned. “And how did you get past the policeman at the door?” He gave her another scheming stare which repulsed her, but she stood her ground waiting patiently for him to answer.
Instead, he strutted around the room like a peacock. She peered at him with grave suspicion. “May I ask you what you are doing here? Do you have business with me?” When he said nothing, she hastened, “I do not like the game you are playing! And if you do not answer me I’ will have you thrown out!”
He gazed at her with the look of a man who had just stolen another man’s claim. “I am afraid I will have to ask you to leave.” His words were as brackish as they could be. He blew smoke her way then sat down on the sofa in a hoity-toity way giving her a challenging leer.
Surprised at hearing this strange request, she sat down on the edge of an easy chair in an erect posture with her hands folded upon her lap. Stung by his unexpected notice she murmured, “I am not sure I understand what you mean?”
He gave her a nefarious glint, then rubbing the inflection of his words on the whetstone of his coarse ways he rasped, “You’re excused from your post – dismissed from your position.”
“I beg your pardon,” she rebuffed, “but I hardly see where it is within your authority to dismiss me. Now please leave.”
His cocky facial expression seemed to say it all as he pulled some folded documents from his vest pocket. He rudely tossed them onto the sofa cushion next to him. “It’s all in there,” he informed. She looked at them strewn on the cushion. “Go ahead,” he urged challenging her a bit more, “read them. They will tell you that I’m now the official executor of this estate. You see Miss Hamilton, any or all documents you may possess are now void — invalid, get my drift?” and he blew more smoke in her direction.
Frightened at that prospect, she slowly got up and reached for the papers. As she did, he grabbed her arm with a tight grip and suggested, “You better read them, and read them now!” and he let her arm go.
She gave him a stare that burned a look of mistrust in his eyes, then took the papers from the cushion. She walked over to the fireplace to read them. “This states that all of Peter’s inheritance has been transferred to you.” She glared at him with disbelief. “This is blatant inequity! You cannot legally do this.” Her eyes brushed over the clauses again. Then, directing the focus of her gaze back to Crogg, she stated, “Mr. Smith’s Will is quite specific in the case that both he and Mrs. Smith were not here to care for Peter. This is a clear violation!” and she rubbed her wrist.
“Will swill,” he sneered defiantly. “What are Wills besides flimsy papers with words on them?”
She shook her head not believing his flagrant attitude. “Flimsy papers? You cannot dismiss me,” she argued. “The terms of my contract become ironclad in the case of their deaths. I have duties and responsibilities to fulfill, and you cannot interfere with them – period!”
He stood up and walked over to her. His arrogant gait spoke louder than words possibly could. “I can’t huh? Well – we’ll just see how much I can’t do if you don’t vacate these premises by this afternoon.” He then drew in a deep breath of smoke and blew across the side of her face. “Oh, by the way – Peter…”
She questioned with protective concern, “What about Peter?”
In between puffs he added, “Oh, didn’t I tell you? The boy stays. I’m also his temporary, legal guardian.”
She shook her head in disagreement, “By whose authority!?”
“The Court’s of course. Legally, I’ve been given every right over Peter’s affairs and have no obligation to explain a thing to you,” and he released his puffs of smoke into the air over her head.
Allison had enough of his obnoxious attitude and behavior. “You had better explain something to me that I can understand,” she threatened, “otherwise I’ll have that officer out there throw you out on your ear and the newspapers on your case so fast you won’t even know what type of flock flew over you.”
“Now, now,” he chided, “getting the press overly involved would only bring embarrassment on the family name.”
“What do you mean by that? Embarrassment for what?”
“Well, it’s something I wouldn’t ordinarily tell a nanny, but since you insist on an explanation…” and he paused.
“On with it,” she prodded.
“Well,” he revealed as he puffed on his cigar, “Michael had many gambling debts. He was in over his head and borrowed against the company profits to pay them off. Ordinarily he would make good on his debts, but, well – this time there’s obviously no making good, is there?”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, that Michael agreed that if anything ever happened to him, all of his ‘stocks and holdings’ would come into my hands, after all, someone has to cover his losses, otherwise all that you see here would just… vanish. You can understand the humiliation and embarrassment – for the boy that is, now can’t you?”
She looked at him with cold, steel eyes. “You better have proof,” she warned, “because I simply don’t believe you.”
“In his very own handwriting,” Crogg replied. “Anyway, your non-acceptance doesn’t matter to me. The judge believed it and that’s what counts!” He slowly walked toward her and snapped the documents from her hands. He then folded them and put them back into his vest pocket. “You won’t need these,” he snorted with a threat in his tone, and he turned to leave.
“You moved too quickly on this,” she accused as he was leaving.
He slowly turned around, his eyes revealed his intent to destroy her if she stood in his way any further. The words that flowed from his mouth were not the words going through his mind. “Good business sense,” he snarled. His tone was ominous; his stare was deadly. “Now I expect that you’ll leave without any more fuss. Let me emphasize, Miss Hamilton, with clarity! Your tutelage is no longer needed.” He gave her a dark stare. “We don’t want to get all those pretty little feathers of yours ruffled up, now do we?” and with that parting remark, he left.
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