Of Lakes, Mysteries and the Odd Lunatic

Chapter XXI: In which we end on a leisurely walk

Chapter XXI

In Which we end on a leisurely walk

The afternoon sun filtered down through the branches of the towering oak trees, lighting up the leaves a luminous green, and falling upon the gravel path and the plants that bordered it. It fell upon the Roses, the Tulips, and the little Scilla flowers, tiny bursts of electric blue among the greenery.

Lawrence walked along this path at an unhurried pace, admiring his surroundings. The path wound up from the Institute to a little hollow in the hill, where there was a small forest and a garden once maintained by the Institute’s owners. Lawrence planned to hire a gardener to tame it once again back to it’s former beauty, but right now he had to make do with picking his way through the vines that stretched across the path and brushing away the low-hanging branches.

The Machine had fetched a substantial price at the Museum of Science and Engineering, it being the only example of re-animation technology that used certain systems. Most of the talk with Mr. Bridges had gone over Lawrence’s head, but what hadn’t was the price.

It was more than enough to cover the repair costs for the Institute, food for all the patients for a year, a caretaking team, a second cleaning team, and that bonus that had been promised to Mason. Already the Institute was full of workmen, all fixing the various defects of the building, ready for the health inspector’s visit in three days.

Lawrence hadn’t had a day off since he started the Institute, but, now that he had hired an extra doctor, he could have one every so often. But Lawrence had to be careful; the money wasn’t an endless supply. Every purchase he made had to be carefully considered, with Lawrence asking ‘Will it help the patients?’ for every purchase.

Lawrence came to a stop beneath the largest oak tree in the forest. Its branches spread far out into the air, and it rose to a height almost unfeasibly tall. It would take four men hand-to-hand to go round the base of the massive trunk.

The path was set back from the tree a good five meters, and what was once a perfectly cut grassy lawn surrounded it, strangely free of bushes and vines. Just in front of the tree was a slab of stone perpendicular to the ground it had been placed into. It had a simple inscription upon it:

                                                 Marie Oakland

                                                 Taken by fever

                                                  Oct. 22, 1776

                                                   Feb. 6, 1808

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