The Feud: Spark!
About the bells...
During late summer and early fall of 1900, Jake Fern and Jules Donovan began a secret romantic relationship. Due to the horrible attitude of her mother, Agnes, towards Fern, the pair went to great lengths to keep all rendezvous in the woods. As part of this, in order to recognize each other and only themselves, they would ring tiny bells. One person would ring theirs and wait, listening for the tenative reply of the other. And once assured they were alone, kids did what kids always do.
As for Agnes, if she had any suspicions, they weren't spoken. She continued to find rotten jobs for Fern, forcing him to work past the point of exhaustion. From sunrise to sunset, she was there making sure he was productive. Any slack time was a reason to nag her husband to find more chores Fern could do.
Further, Agnes determined her daughter's formal education wasn't up to par. She convinced her richer relatives to send her to Europe and a proper finishing school. So at the beginning of the new year, the young lovers would be split forever.
November 21, 1900
It was a clear sunny day, a clear evening and a clear plan was set in motion. Jules and Fern decided to run off together that night. During his lunch, Jake Fern went into town and closed his bank account. His little savings would be enough to see them across the state line and get settled for a life together. They would elope on the way.
The fastest route they figured was by water from Shoreline 104, out and around to Shoreline 105 and then across to Okaso. The pair met up that night around 7pm and escaped on foot as fast as possible, traveling light. They stole a small rowboat and headed out with the stars and the lighthouses to guide them. No moon, no breaze. A long yet not difficult route of about 5 hours.
Of course, they were never seen alive again. Some say they woke something in the night out there.
A month of fog!
The next day terrible weather rolled in. An unusual cold front stalled off-shore and the last mix of warm air inland combined to create a nearly impenetrable layer of clouds from the ground to the sky. The broad bank of fog consumed the entire area including the town of Herrington. It was hard to imagine the world existing outside.
At the same time, Agnes finally snapped. She hunted high and low for her daughter, screaming her lungs through the forest, along the beaches, at random people, searching everywhere. Stark raving mad at Fern. Some thought she was nuts. And the town cut right down the middle on whose side they were one. Either you were happy Jules ran off with Fern or the worst offense in history happened under her nose. Rational discussion was thrown out the window. The Herringtons sided with Fern and the Sheridans sided with Agnes.
Added to this, the lighthouses' foghorns were blaring at regular intervals. Each lighthouse horn sounds on a schedule and frequency slightly different from another. This gives sailers the ability to listen and know which direction they are headed. The same is true of the speed of the light rotation. Except in this extreme weather, the lights weren't penetrating far. Think of it: three foghorns going off like an alarm constantly day after day, night after night. If tensions weren't high enough before, this sent them through the roof.
An odd aside: this is when the Black Tarot Pub closed down. The old brick building kiddy-corner to Sam's Sport and Rec is standing there to this day. Kids dare each other to run up and touch it. Anyway, the people running it maybe knew something bad was coming and high-tailed it out of town. It wasn't a major loss, the sobriety movement was gaining steam around that time. One less drinking establishment was a good thing.
December 20, 1900
At long last, the fog began to lift. There was, however, no relief. That same day, the body of Jules Donovan was found washed ashore. Her skin was a pale green and her eyes completed turned to black from prolonged submersion. Not too far away was her bell, now silent because the clapper was missing.
News spread fast. Someone was to blame for her death. And that was all it took for the fighting to begin.
So at a Ghost of Lighthouse Past party, people dress in 1900 clothes and will pin on small bells. This is to help you remember who and where your friends are. And like any good party, when you hear the foghorn, take a sip of brandy to keep the fog clear.
Unfortunately this isn't the end of Jules and Fern's story. There is at least one more evil twist to it. Read about it here.
