The Treasure of Ecarte Island

Burn

        The skeletal structure of the observatory rose as a small cathedral up to a sky threatening rain. The construction crew of over a dozen men worked busily at a number of tasks including carpentry, stone masonry, ironwork and plumbing.  Among them were a few Ecarte Island boys ranging from the age of 15 and up, eager to learn a trade.
         Casper Bridges spent a goodly amount of time with his foreman, Gerald Cleary, pouring over blueprints, following every specification to construct a structure that could withstand any and all island weather conditions, which could sometimes be fierce.
"My word!" an awestruck Dietfried praised, "All this in only three months??"
"I know!" Petrich replied, "Casper said his crew was well ahead of schedule, but that can change day to day. Those rain clouds, for one, could throw a wrench into the machine."
"And the stormy weather between Casper and Ms. Callie? Could that be another disruption in the clogs?" Dietfried wondered aloud.
"Could very well, I'm afraid." Petrich sighed, "It was quite obvious how deeply Jenna's words affected him. A shame, really. He had done all he possibly could to quietly reconcile with her."
"Trauma never goes away, my boy. Not completely," Dietfried said, as they strolled the site, "Gilbert still faces episodes of being trapped under bomb debris and the sound of exploding ballistics. And as for you. . ." He gave Petrich a sidelong glance, "Well, you and Ellenora came through something much more recent, but just as mentally devastating."
Other than looking away and making a slight nod with his head, Petrich made no comment.
"Your dog," Dietfried continued, casting eyes down to Gretchen walking at Petrich's side, "Fitz wrote in her last letter to me that you would perhaps benefit from some sort of service animal."
"Nora hoodwinked me," Petrich grinned, but it faded quickly. "Claimed Gretch, here, would make a subpar herding dog, but that wasn't true. She still can't trust me on my own, so her aim was to make Gretchen another Huter for me."
"And was Ellenora right to do it?" Dietfried asked.
"Having Gretchen provides a sense of peace for me whenever I am alone. So, I would say yes."
"And the visions? Can Gretchen do for you as Huter did in keeping the visions at bay?"
Petrich gave the question some thought before shaking his head. "I don't know. The hallucinations are few and far between now." He shrugged. "Could be that I am finally healing enough to not see them as often. And, it could be that Gretchen can see them and gets rid of them before I can perceive anything. I honestly do not know. There have been instances where I could actually believe Gretch was actively keeping me safe from reacting to what isn't there."
Dietfried smiled and laid a gentle hand on Petrich's shoulder as they walked on. "Either way, my boy. Seeing you and Ellenora return to your mentally healthy state is an answer to my prayers to the gods." 
             "Thank you, Dietfried. Your unwavering support is crucial to us." Petrich tilted his head to the sky that had darkened, even as they spoke. "Thought there'd be rain, just not this early. Best get back to the cottage. Gretchen is not so very fond of rain."

Dietfried decided to wait out the rain at the site as Petrich, quite sure he could beat it, made for home located only a couple of miles along a trail into the valley.
He was still nearly a mile out when the sky became its most dark, and a scattering of raindrops began to fall. It was then when he saw something of a short pillar of fire in the distance among a grove of Ecarte native trees.
A campfire? Or perhaps one of the trees caught, which would have been possible if this had been a lightening storm.
And then the pillar of fire moved out from the grove and at a hundred paces Petrich could see that it was not just a pillar of fire but a burning man.
The rain began to fall more steady now, rendering Petrich's eyeglasses next to useless. The image of the burning man became distorted through trails of raindrops rolling down the lenses. Petrich had to take them off his face and squint a little in order to see at all.
The burning man left no flame in his wake as he crept awkwardly from the trees and onto the path.
"Is it real?" Petrich asked his lone companion, without taking his eyes off the figure.
Gretchen made no sound nor movement. She only shook the rain off her fur, waiting for Petrich to move forward. This made Petrich take a hard swallow. She was obviously not seeing what he was seeing.
Petrich tightened his jaw and slowly began walking along the trail again.
"Well, if it is real, what ought to be done, Gretch?" he asked aloud finding that the sound of his own voice calmed his nerves. "I don't believe it can burn us. Look, there! The grass is not even singed where he has stepped. You're being a brave girl, Gretch. I'll be brave, too."
They were slowly closing the gap between themselves and the burning man, whose features had began to melt away beyond recognition. Then it began to speak through vocal cords that had charred from the fire consuming them.
"Fancy meeting you here out in the rain." greeted the burning man.
Petrich refused to have this hallucination shatter his mind. He had come much too far to be broken again.
In Ecarte Island tradition, Petrich tipped his cap. "Yes, fancy it, and what brings you out in the wet? It does not look to suit you." he said, keeping the conversation very in general.
Petrich was now only ten paces from the burning man, and upon closer inspection, he stopped abruptly. The burning man was wearing hiking trousers and a jumper Petrich recognized as belonging to Hilary.
Gretchen was not bothered, apparently, for all she could see was the young man she had met the night before and who had even given her a pat on the head. Yet, Petrich saw a fire consumed melting figure in Hilary's clothing.
In choosing to ignore the hallucination, Petrich continued the conversation. Before him was a grotesque image of a burning corpse, as well as a young man Petrich could discern was up to no good. Perhaps it could be the reason that Petrich perceived him to be on fire, just like the old legend.
Petrich dared to step closer, feeling no heat from the fire, as he expected. "Why were you in wait for me, Hilary?"
Then slowly the fire began to smolder out and the melted features gave way to an extremely soaked Hilary Baugainvillea. Petrich sighed a little in relief. The burning man hallucination had simply been too disturbing, not that Hilary's scowl was much better.
"You have something I need, Petrich." Hilary replied, a little dangerously.
"Oh? Must be something awfully important to have us both out here soaking in the rain."
"I need the necklace." Hilary stated simply.
"The necklace?" Petrich asked with a surprised laugh, "What in the world for? It is no more than a . . ." He stopped in mid-sentence. "Why is it you are so desperate to have it, Hilary? If you're hoping it is a true Rextheia Crystal, then you are in deep somehow. So deep you can't tell your uncle."
"SHUT UP!!" Hilary shouted, his voice cracking with emotion, "Just shut up!! Yes! I AM in trouble! So much trouble that if Dietfried finds out, he could reconsider my inheritance! So, congratulations, high master scribe! You took Ellenora and now you could be in line to the Baugainvillea fortune! He'd much rather you had it anyway!" And then Hilary broke down and began to sob.
Petrich shook his head and took Hilary by the elbow and turned him on the path in the direction of the cottage. "Come on." Petrich urged, "Any more of this standing about in the rain and we'll both catch sick and die! Then who would be around for Dietfried to give his millions, hm?"
"No!" shouted Hilary, wretching his arm out of Petrich's grasp, "I won't go back there!"
Petrich stared at him, then snatched Hilary by the neck of his sweater, and growled through clenched teeth. "What did you do to her!!"
Hilary shoved Petrich away from him causing Petrich to almost lose footing, but caught himself. Hilary then rushed him and they both tumbled onto the wet ground with a very excited Gretchen hopping about barking.