The house was built to be admired. It had even outshone the new hotel that stood only a few yards away on the corner of Main Street. The town of Kingston was growing up fast, sitting pretty and, above all, ready for the fast approaching twentieth century.
Andrew
had been born here on the edge of the Catskills, unlike the rest of his
family who had originally hailed from Lansdale, Pennsylvania.They had
made their money in retail around the Market East area of Philadelphia,
launching their grand store in the opening weeks of the American Civil
War. Most of the brothers and sisters had built villas around the
Schuylkill River but Edward, Andrew’s father, had decided to sell his
share of the claustrophobic business and move to the Hudson valley in
New York State.
Edward
continued to work in the trade by investing his money in, and running,
The Fifth Avenue Emporium in Manhattan. Each morning, he would ride the
train from Kingston into the Grand Central Depot and each evening, after
making more dollars than he could ever possibly need, would return home
again. If he was being honest, Edward lived for those return train
journeys, smoking his cigar and reading his journal as the evening sun
set on the shimmering Hudson River.
Edward’s
eldest son, Brett, was currently attending West Point Military Academy
and each night, as the train passed nearby, the proud father would give a
small salute. His middle son, Michael, was studying, as had all the
family, at The University of Pennsylvania and it was his hope that
Michael would follow in his father’s money making footsteps.
His
youngest son, Andrew, was born only a year after the family had moved
north and was still to blossom into a creature that Edward could mould.
As for Isabel, his devoted wife, he was pleased to report that both of
them still found each other’s company attractive.
Andrew
didn’t attend any of the schools in Kingston, instead his father had
engaged a tutor to ensure that all the educational needs, which Andrew
required, were carried out at home. There was also a nanny on hand, in
case Andrew was in need of a woman’s touch; his father thoroughly
satisfied himself that he had thought of every possible need and want
for his youngest son.
When
the boy required some fresh air and outdoor pursuits, Edward would take
his son hunting up into the hills around Woodstock where Edward would
stand behind his son helping him to aim the rifle and pull the trigger.
What Edward couldn’t see was that Andrew had his eyes closed almost
constantly and detested the thought of killing another living creature.
The
head of one of Andrew’s ‘kills’ was stuffed and mounted and put in
pride of place in the trophy room of that house which stood on the hill
and was built to be admired.
One day Edward took Andrew into the study to give him his birthday present.
“But my birthday is not for another two weeks, Papa.”
“I
know that son, but your mother and I will be travelling on that day, so
we thought you should get your present sooner rather than later. You
see, that is how much we love you.”
Andrew could tell by the gun-shaped wrapping, what the present was and he wasn’t disappointed.
“You don’t look too happy son?”
“No Papa, I like it. Thank you Sir”
Edward tussled Andrew’s hair and sent him on his way, adding “We can go shooting together when I return”
Edward
and Isabel were planning to attend The Chicago World’s Fair and would
miss their youngest son’s birthday. Edward explained to Isabel, in terms
that she would understand, that their son Andrew would have many more
birthdays but the World’s Fair only came along once in a generation.
Edward felt his wife understood and was happy to comply.
Andrew
watched the carriage pull away from the house as his parents left for
the rail road station and on to Chicago. No one had asked Andrew, but he
would have loved to have gone to the World’s Fair. He was now in his
tenth year and no one had ever asked Andrew what would make him happy.
Andrew
loved reading and his current passion was Woodstock by Sir Walter
Scott. He had taken the book, with his father’s permission, from the
family library believing it to be an adventure story about the little
town that lay in the Catskills. Instead, it turned out to be an exciting
story about the English Civil War and with the family away the library
was all his, so he planned to read Ivanhoe, by the same author, next.
One
stormy Sunday, and co-incidentally Andrew’s birthday, the nanny was
called away to Highland to attend to her mother who was dying. She had
given Andrew little thought as she assumed the tutor would be on hand
and anyway, she needed to travel the fifteen miles south as soon as
possible. The tutor was indeed at home, but had confined himself to bed
with a severe cold having been warned by Edward that should he ever be
ill, he should separate himself from the family at the earliest
opportunity. Not wanting to have the parents come home to find young
Andrew the subject of a tutorial infection, he had remained in his top
floor bedroom.
On
the wall of the family library, on the side which was forever in the
shadows, there hung several photographs taken of Edward and his hunting
trophies. One such photograph was of him on Slide Mountain just after he
had ambushed and killed a particularly old deer.
His
father had never taken Andrew as far as Slide Mountain, which according
to the tutor, was the highest in the Catskills. It had gained its name
from a landslide in the early 1800s which had left the mountain with a
large wound near its summit. Andrew’s father was always referring to his
own elder brother, Charles, as Slide due to the heavy head injury he
had picked up at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Andrew
decided that since no one was going to ask him, he’d make his own
happiness on his birthday and take himself off to Slide Mountain. So on
the afternoon of the stormy Sunday, Andrew took some bread and cheese
and placed them in an old satchel. He considered taking his birthday
present, just in case of wild animals, but decided against it and
condemned the rifle to remain in the cellar.
The
gentle climb out of Kingston and up towards Hurley was easier than
Andrew expected but then he didn’t have the prospect of shooting an
animal to look forward to. Once at the top, Andrew could see both
Overlook and Slide mountains in all their glorious splendour.
Andrew
and his father regularly climbed the trail to Overlook but it was
always busy with grown-ups and even more annoying, according to Edward,
were the new hotels rising up all over the mountain. So Andrew decided
to walk straight on and head towards Slide.
He
might be just a kid, but he wasn’t stupid and if there was one thing
his father’s hunting trips had taught him was that he had to keep a
watch out for wildlife; for his sake and theirs. Copperhead snakes
especially as they were mean. He had only gone a further mile or so,
when Andrew heard a rustling sound out to his left, he was hoping it
wasn’t hunters or Andrew would be in real trouble. He stopped and held
his breath and realised that the sound was following him in parallel.
Andrew
wanted to cry out but he knew that this would cause more trouble than
it was worth, so he decided to be a man and head towards the noise.
Whatever it was, this thing was quite large and it sounded in trouble.
Andrew
squatted down and slowly pulled back the vegetation, only to see a
black bear cub staring straight back at him. They were both very
surprised at the sight of each other which caused Andrew to fall flat on
his back and although Andrew knew little about bears, he was surprised
that the bear didn’t make his attack. Andrew quickly crawled back a few
yards and then stood up, it was then he noticed that the bear cub’s leg
was stuck fast in a rock crevice and the poor animal couldn’t move.
So
one abandoned child decided to help another abandoned child - I mean,
he just couldn’t leave the bear out there to die, now could he? His
father had told him that if a bear threatened, he should not make any
eye contact and to back off as quickly and as quietly as possible but,
hey, this was a small bear, just like him.
Andrew
found a fallen tree and used it to ease the stone which was holding the
cub's leg, just enough that it was able to free its leg and run for a
few yards. It then turned and growled which Andrew had assumed was its
way of saying ‘thank you’. Except it wasn’t, it was calling on its
mother who was approaching.
“Don’t
run, don’t make eye contact, don’t run, don’t make eye contact” was all
that Andrew kept saying over and over to himself. He backed away
towards a sturdy tree which was nearby, and was just about to climb it
when a soft voice spoke from behind it.
“Don’t
climb the tree” whispered the woman, “you’ll only get yourself trapped,
stay perfectly still and look at the ground. Don’t even scratch your
nose. If you understand me, breathe a little heavier”
Andrew
took a long breath. “Good” whispered the caring voice. “Now don’t be
alarmed little one but I’m going to pick you up and run some, only a
short distance.”
‘Don’t
run, don’t run’ was still going through Andrew’s mind, when all of a
sudden two large arms came around the tree and lifted him off his feet.
He could hear the bear growling and starting to move towards him. Andrew
was almost hanging upside down from the gigantic woman’s arms and he
could see the bear closing in when all of a sudden he was in a small
room with a door and no windows. The gigantic woman threw Andrew in the
corner then placed a large piece of wood across the door. The woman
signalled to Andrew to be quiet, which he did to such an extent that he
almost stopped breathing.
After
a few minutes of listening at the door the woman, relaxed, took a deep
breath and whispered “She’s gone” then said “Hi, my name’s Mary”
“Andrew”
“Good
to meet you Andrew, you sure did have a close one today, someone up
there must be looking out for ya. When it’s clear, we can head up back
to my cabin and get you cleaned up”
And
that is what they did. Mary kept an ever watchful eye out for anything
else, as she and Andrew walked to higher ground, arriving at the homely
cabin with the smoke coming out of the chimney. In that little hour,
Andrew was probably shown more care and love than he’d been shown in all
his short life.
The
food that Mary served up was easily the tastiest that he had ever put
in his mouth, and he loved the way she whistled while she was cooking
and serving the meal.
“When
we’re done, we can talk about what you were doing up in these woods
alone. Ain’t you got a ma and pa?”Andrew nodded that he had and then
continued eating.
When he’d finished, Andrew told Mary about his mother and father and their trip to Chicago.
“...And this being your birthday and all? If you was mine, I wouldn’t leave you”
Suddenly
Andrew wished Mary was his mother. So he told her about his brothers,
the ones who were always away from home, the nanny and her dying mother
and the tutor in his room.
“You poor little orphan, you sure is a sad one. Come over here and let Mary hug the life out of you. Come on now.”
So
the biggest woman in Andrew’s short life did indeed hug the life out of
him, then she set him down by her side, always keeping one arm safely
around him, and she told him a story.
“You
see Andrew...can I call you Andy?” and the boy nodded “Well Andy,
you’re a lot like me, you're one of the others. My mother was one of the
others and so was her father”
And
she went on to tell Andrew about the others, how a very long time ago
there was a land call Atlantis, and in that land lived the good people.
These were the ones who created music, poetry, painting, dancing and
would express love in so many kind and decent ways.
Because
they had not mixed with any other beings, they believed that this was
how life was meant to be lived, that each of us should always love and
care for one another. But then, and remember this was still a very long
time ago, the land of Atlantis arose in steam and fire and the ground
below their feet began to break apart. Some swam, others took to the
hills while some built small rafts and put to sea. As they looked back
from their little boats they could see the land of their home disappear
below the waves.
Some
of the good and brave survived and reached the lands we know of today
but because they did not want to frighten those they had come to know,
they dressed and lived as the strangers did. They married and had
children - they fell in love with those they lived amongst and through
the families they passed on the life force of the Atlantis people.
Not
everyone was lucky enough to claim such heritage, but once in a
generation a child would appear who had all the properties of Atlantis.
They would be kind and loving, although they would be rarely understood.
They would go out into the world and although they would be alone, they
would do great things because they knew that they were children of
Atlantis and they would never forget.
“When I saw you, Andy, I knew straight away you were one of those children”
“For sure?”
“For sure, little one”
So
Mary took Andrew’s hand and led him back across the valley, up over the
ridge and down to the house that was built to be admired.
As
for Andrew, he displayed all the goodness that Mary had told him about.
When he had finished college as a doctor, he travelled to Africa and
looked after the sick and the poor.
And never, for one second, did he ever feel alone again because he knew he was a child of Atlantis and that was a good thing.
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