'Never in Time

The legend

THE LEGEND

With LE GRIFFON safely secured at the dock, preparations commenced for unloading the cargo. It was a slow process because the various pieces of cargo had to be sorted into different piles, depending on their final destination.

Still waiting on the pier, Antoine Landry was beside himself with impatience. "Surely Captain Picard, you can unload The Empress clock before everything else?"

Andre took his eyes away from 'Never for a moment. "We wanted to keep your clock as safe as possible, Antoine. That's why we packed it in the bottom of the hold. Late afternoon tomorrow is the best we can hope to do. However, I will take personal responsibility for delivering it safely to your residence."

Antoine resigned himself to waiting one more day before getting his hands on the prize.

"If you can do that by tomorrow, Captain, I will appreciate it greatly. As a reward, after delivery, you can join us for a fine meal, accompanied by all you can drink of one of my best vintages."

Andre beamed at the invitation as it meant he would see 'Never again.

The next afternoon, 'Never Landry eagerly awaited the arrival of both Captain Picard and the infamous clock. She lounged in the shade of the wide front porch sipping on some cool lemonade with her younger sister, Sara. 'Never had just turned eighteen on her last birthday. Sara, her only sister, was twelve.

'Never was Sara's idol. The younger girl worshipped her older sister, hanging on every word she said. They had been discussing the new arrival.

"Please 'Never, tell me again about the legend of the curse on The Empress."

The older sister laughed. "There seem to be many different stories about the curse. The cruelest legend says that Catherine the Great, the Empress of Imperial Russia, ordered the craftsman Anatoly Federof to sign a pledge, in blood, he would never build another Tall Clock for anyone else."

Sara winced. "You mean the clockmaker had to sign the pledge with his own blood?"

"Yes, and when he refused to sign the pledge, she had him locked inside The Empress clock until he starved to death."

"Oh, how cruel!"

'Never paused dramatically before continuing. "The legend also says when they finally opened the clock door expecting to find Anatoly's body, nothing was there."

Sara made a face. "Oh, that's awful!"

"Don't get too upset, Sara, it's only a story."

'Never failed to tell Sara that a completely different legend went on to say, on certain nights at the stroke of midnight, the ghost of Anatoly would sometimes emerge from the clock. She didn't want to scare Sara because of some stupid story.

Finally, the girls could see a heavily laden cart making its way slowly up the winding road from the harbor to the Landry Estate. A full team of horses, laboring under the heavy load, struggled for breath as they plodded up the hill.

The Empress clock had been wrapped securely in several layers of thick canvas. The clock seemed immense to the watching bystanders as the workmen slowly unloaded it from the cart. After an hour of futile attempts at delivery, the four burly seamen gave up.

"Captain Picard, we've tried every angle, but this thing is just too big to fit through the front door of the main house. What do you want us to do now?"

Grandfather Antoine intervened. "Andre, I think the only thing we can do for now is to move it to the gazebo in the back garden. If we leave the canvas wrapping in place, it will keep the clock protected from the weather. The gazebo has a good overhanging roof as well."