The Rhiannon's Keepers

By B. Lin Standley

In 1856, Melissa James becomes in control of a large inheritance and the light house keeper of her childhood home, Crescent Island, after the death of her great uncle Jason James.
With the war clouds on the horizon, the ships from the mainland have become fewer for the use of trade. Melissa buys The Rhiannon, a three mast schooner, for the village to use for continuous trade that they depend on. She also hopes it would help her to get rid of the fortune seeking suitors.
After hiring an ex-pirate crew under mysterious circumstances, strange things happen to Melissa, physically and emotionally. Unknown to her, the attractive captain, Philip Morgan is keeping many secrets from Melissa. Will it be her downfall in the end?

• Language: English
• Publisher: B. Lin Standley
• Release date: Nov 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311166784

B. Lin Standley

B. Lin Standley grew up in the New England town that started the salem witch trials, Danvers, Mass. She developed a talent for story telling from having the imaginary friends that comes from being an only child, her surroundings, and the stories that her father would tell.As an adult, B: Lin joined the US Army and became a medic. Later she added chemical warefare defense to her training. After her military career, she became a Medical Technologist and has a B.S. in biology.B. Lin now enjoys her life in Montana

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THE RHIANNON'S KEEPERS

B. Lin Standley

Copyright 2013 B. Lin Standley

Published by B. Lin Standley at Smashwords

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Table of Contents

THE RHIANNON'S KEEPERS

About the Author

THE RHIANNON'S KEEPERS

Sitting on the cliff's edge, I was looking at the waves crashing against the rocks below. A decision had to be made regarding my future due to my Uncle Jason's death at the age of seventy five. I had checked on the grave marker before coming here to make sure the living dates were right, March 18, 1781 for his birthday and then May 2, 1856 for his death since he was to be buried in two days' time. I just finished getting his keeper's uniform on him before I came to the cliff. I needed the time to think over the choices available to me.

Neither choice seemed worth my while. I could marry Todd Logan, who was an old childhood friend and sweetheart at one time. However, time changed him and I suspected his marriage proposal was for money only. The other choice was to move in with my cousin and his family. I did not care for that either because I never really got along with his wife due to her jealousy towards me since we were girls.

Often I would go to the cliff to look over the ocean that surrounded Crescent Island when I had to make a big decision. Sometimes I would look towards the old lighthouse that had been standing watch over the island for a very longtime. It was made of local brick and painted white with a long wide red strip. It was the best color combination to be seen by the ships going by during a storm. The living quarters were newer. It was red on the outside with a kitchen, two bedrooms and a pallor area where my uncle and aunt would occasionally entertain visitors.

Closer to the cliffs and a little distance from the lighthouse, was the small graveyard. One grave was of my Aunt Lillian, the other was our mare, Ginger, and the farthest one was of my mother, Contessa. Once in a while I would ask the occupants of the three graves for advice. I knew I was not going to get an answer but for some reason I got a sense that they were thinking over what I said. This time, I heard myself say wait it out because something good was coming around. I gave a silent thank you to the ladies and went back to the lighthouse to prepare for the funeral. In the morning, the men of the village would be around to dig the grave beside my aunt Lillian for Uncle Jason's final resting place.

I gave a silent thank you to the ladies and went back to the lighthouse to prepare for the funeral. In the morning, the men of the village would be around to dig the grave beside my aunt Lillian for Uncle Jason's final resting place. During the funeral, a temporary solution did come up. The region's head light keeper asked if I would take my late Uncle Jason's position. He did not know if the higher ups would agree since I was a woman but I was old enough being eighteen years old. However, we needed someone for the lighthouse now. Crescent Island was a rather remote area and getting someone to fill the position would be almost impossible. Since I was already the backup lighthouse keeper, it would be best to offer the position to me. I told him I would take it and I felt better knowing that I could remain in the place that I called home for most of my life.

Even though Jason James was my great uncle, I always called him Uncle Jason. He was a tall, lean man. I always remembered him with the salt and pepper colored hair and mustache to match. He had glasses, smoked a pipe and very rarely did I see him raise his temper or wearing anything other than his lighthouse keeper uniform.

I came into the care of my Uncle Jason and Aunt Lillian when I was two years old. My mother had died during child birth and my father was incapable of raising a child since he was a sailor. They agreed to care for me and named me Melissa, after my great-grandmother. What my name was before, they never said. However, I did remember something of that time before I got to Crescent Island.

The memory started with me being in a room and I heard raised voices in the background. It was keeping me awake because they were saying how they were going to dispose of me and it frightened me. The room I was in was the only home I had known at the time and I did not want to leave. I knew something had happened to my mother because she had been gone a long time.

A boy came in shortly afterward. He must have been six years of age and I had always known him to be around. I could not make out if his hair was dark or if the room was just that dark. He sat down beside me and his green eyes looked onto me. He held me tight and said that he would do his best to keep me safe. Then he handed me my toy bunny and I was hugging it really hard. I did feel safe in this boy's arms and it seemed that he did this many times when I needed comforting.

Then a group of men came bursting in. I could not see who the man shouting was because his back was to the light at the door and he told the boy to move away from me. The boy stood his ground and he said to leave his little sister alone. He also added that I had nothing to do with it. The same man countered that I was the child of that traitor and needed to be gotten rid of like the trash because I would be just like my mother.

The man went to the boy and forcefully shoved him away from me. I remember screaming and crying as I grabbed the boy. I was crying the boy's name but I cannot remember what it was. I do remember him yelling to bring me back and went after the man as he grabbed me from the bed. The man carried me over his shoulder and the boy was pulled back from going after us.

The man that carried me threw me into the arms of a younger man. He ordered that man to take me to the stables for the night. Then he was to dispose of me in the morning. I cried and kept asking what I did as I was taken to the stable. The young man told me not to worry because he was taking me to my family in the morning. He also said that the problem was not me. I cried to see my mommy and the man said that I could not see her right now. Then I lay down onto a pile of hay and cried the entire night. The memory stopped when the sun came up.

I told my aunt and uncle about it one time. They said that it was just a nightmare. I had a bad experience with my father's family before he brought me here. That was his final reasoning for bringing here. He was afraid that I would be hurt by one of them when he had to leave port to be on his ship. I left it at that and the memory went away for a very long time.

When I was about six years of age my Aunt Lillian died from a long illness. Uncle Jason always told me that he was grateful that he had me. It cushioned the blow of losing his love, especially since I resembled her. We both had ebony eyes and hair, with a petite size and a pixie like face. Sometimes, Uncle Jason would joke that I was Lillian reborn because I acted just like her. Sweet in nature until my temper was pushed, and then I became vixen from hell.

A few years after Aunt Lillian's death, a lady came to visit us. Uncle Jason explained that the lady's name was Caroline. She was a lovely woman who had a large figure with a medium height and had a striking appearance. Her hair reminded me of a silver fox, with the sliver gray and soft to the touch. She wanted to be my adoptive grandmother and Uncle Jason thought that I could use an older woman's company so he agreed.

When Caroline first came, I did not meet her directly. I was supposed to be in bed when I heard her talking with Uncle Jason. I heard him say that the only reason he agreed to Caroline coming to his home was because of his final promise to his wife. He promised to make peace with Caroline and to let her have visits with me. Otherwise, he would have nothing to do with her because of the way her family had turned their backs on Yvette and Sarah all those years ago. Then he told her that I did not know anything about Yvette and to keep it that way if she wanted to continue with the visits. I heard Caroline agree but it sounded like she was upset with the idea. At the time, I could not understand what awful thing did a nice lady like Caroline do to Yvette and who was Yvette anyway?

Caroline came to visit me from the mainland every summer. She would spoil me and Uncle Jason would have to put his foot down with her. Later, she got cunning with the spoiling. She stayed in the guest house that she had built for her use. Along with the house, she had a few horses brought in as well. One of her mares birthed a colt that I got to name Blaze. I gave that name to him because of the white blaze that went down his face. The rest of him was a dark brown. With Uncle Jason's blessing, I got to keep that colt and the mare Ginger on the condition that I care for them and that Caroline had a stable built for them. Ginger was given to me because she was getting to be an older mare and Caroline did not think she could be back with her the following summer.

There was one ritual that Caroline did that I never did understand at the time. Before retiring for the night, Caroline would put a pink rose on my mother's grave and cry. Once in a while I heard her saying that she was so sorry that things worked out the way they did. What got me was why she called my mother Yvette?

Starting the second summer of her visiting, Caroline and Uncle Jason had a discussion that was very serious about my future at their usual speaking spot by the old oak tree near the stables. At the time I did not understand why because Uncle Jason told everyone else to mind their own business when it came to raising me. They both agreed that I needed some schooling. Yes, I had been taught to read and write. Every chance I got I did read and Caroline always made books as part of her gifts to me, along with a few new dresses and boots.

That summer, Caroline took me into town numerous times. We went to the school house one time to meet the school teacher there. Miss Moore was a nice lady and they discussed a few things. In the end, she decided that I was not going to the school. The idea of me staying in town did not sit well with Caroline since she did not like any arrangement for me staying there. During other visits into town, I had met with other adults but Caroline was being very picky about something.

Then she met with Brother Daniel, who was the village's primary clergy. He would come to the lighthouse weekly for Uncle Jason to have a sermon since he could not go to church on Sundays. He had to stay at the lighthouse. When Aunt Lillian was alive, she and I would go to church on Sundays. Then we would have dinner with the Logan family before coming back to the lighthouse.

Caroline explained that Brother Daniel was a Franciscan monk that came to the village to help with the religious needs of the sailors that often came to our harbor. I did hear her comment how she thought that he was too good looking to be a man of the cloth. When she walked out the door I heard her remark how that man could have been one of the models for the ancients making their statues. It wasn't until I was much older before I realized what she meant.

That fall, after Caroline left, Brother Daniel was at the lighthouse on Mondays as usual. He gave Uncle Jason his sermon but I was out playing as usual. I was never required to listen in on them. The only rule was if I stayed I had to be quiet and listen to the whole sermon, or I could be outside and not come in until I was told to. I mostly spent my time with the horses when the sermon was going on. When the sermon was done, I was brought in to be tutored.

Brother Daniel gave me lessons in history, math and science. Usually he taught in practical ways. Like the having different size fishing poles and/or different strengths of strings and ropes to determine what was better for fishing and why. That was my science classes after we went through different theories. History, he would take what was going on currently and trace the issues back in time. Sometimes Uncle Jason would say otherwise and the two would have a conversation about it. I would get bored of their conversation and go back outside with the horses. When that happened, Brother Daniel would let the lesson be and leave me the list of what I needed to read and do before he came back. It was always fun seeing Uncle Jason trying to explain how I should be doing the homework later because he did not have a clue of how to conduct the class.

I also learned how Crescent Island came to be populated. It started off with the Franciscan monastery being placed on it because there was no real claim to the island. Later it became a territory of the mainland under mutual agreement. The monastery was self-sufficient but they needed outside supplies as well. However, with a natural sand barrier that surrounded most of the island, it was hard for the cargo ships to come to them. To get the supplies, the monastery offered sanctuary for any pirate ship that would come and do business with them. Many of the pirates stayed on the island and settled down with families. Almost every citizen on the island could trace their family back to a pirate that settled there, even though no pirate did take sanctuary in over a generation at that time. If one did present themselves, sanctuary would be granted out of tradition and respect of the island's past.

When Caroline came for the summer, Brother Daniel would stop the lessons and say it was a summer break. He figured that I would be too busy with Caroline to be paying attention to my lessons. Uncle Jason would remark that the man was too scared to deal with an older woman that found an interest in him.

Caroline's last visit was during my fourteenth summer. We learned that she passed away during the winter. Unlike my aunt, when Caroline passed away, she did not linger in her death. I was glad for that. She left most of her estate to me because she had only one other family to give it to. I learned years later why she did not give all of her estate to the one family member.

When all was said and done, I was a rather rich young woman. At the time, I had no idea of what it all meant. I was still in the same house with my Uncle and Brother Daniel was tutoring me. However, I did notice there were a lot more families coming to visit the lighthouse afterward and they were talking with my uncle about their sons. I had a hunch that they were talking about marriage but my uncle would not hear of it. He told the parents that I would decide who I would have for a husband when I was old enough.

The problem got worse when I turned sixteen. Usually, most girls would be engaged by that time. Uncle Jason did not like the idea of arranging a marriage for me when I was still young and not able to understand love in a marriage setting. Rumors spread that he wanted my inheritance. By not letting me marry, he would still have company at the lighthouse and the money stayed there. Unlike the others, I knew that Caroline left Uncle Jason with some money and I was told it was a thank you for letting her stay here and be with me in her last years.

Even though I was too young for marriage, it was decided that I was old enough to stop the studies if I choose. I asked if I could learn the lighthouse routine so that Uncle Jason could get some rest. He agreed and seemed very happy to teach me that. At this point, Uncle Jason was getting old and needed help with the lighthouse. None of my cousins would help him so I decide that I needed to. However, you could count on them being around when it had to do with money or a gift for their birthday and/or Yule time.

I learned the routine and duties of being a light house keeper fast. The biggest obstacle was getting the kerosene canisters up to the lighting unit. Uncle Jason always took them up a few at a time thought the day. I just wasn't strong enough to do so. I could only carry one at a time. Then I thought of the pulley system to do it.

I remember going into town to get the materials. Brother Daniel saw me and asked what was going on. I told him about the problems I was having with the canisters and showed him my plans to work on a rigging system to get the canisters up easier. He looked it over and smiled. He told me not bad for a first time and said he would be by later to help; I was probably going to need it. Then he went into the store and I was trying to figure out where I went wrong in my plans. Not seeing any problems I went back home.

Back at the lighthouse, I ran up the stairs to get the rope and pulley to the top. My uncle just stood at the bottom trying to figure out what I was doing. I had gotten the rigging up and was testing it when Brother Daniel came by. I got the canisters on the swing and started to pull on the rope. The swing slowly went up and I was really proud of myself thinking I had succeeded. However, halfway up, I heard a cracking sound from the pulley on the top and everything came down! I heard myself screaming as I ran out of the way of the falling canisters.

The two men stood there watching me while trying not to laugh. Brother Daniel held out a rigging system that was a bit bigger than what I had. He said that I forgot to consider the extra weight of the full canisters. Then he added that once I got the mess cleaned up, he would help me out.

Brother Daniel took the bigger rigging to the top of the stairs as I cleaned up my mess. Uncle Jason came back with two more full canisters and shouted to Brother Daniel that he had them ready. I reattached the swing and put the canisters on it. I started pulling on the rope and Uncle Jason told me not to pull on the rope so fast this time. So I took it slower and the canisters went up without a problem. Brother Daniel told me to hold on to the rope because he thought he could get a counterweight going to get the canisters up.

When Brother Daniel got back down, he took the slack end of the rope I was holding. He put another swing on it and had a lot of pre-made sand bags for me to use. By evening, we had come up with a system that would let me get the canisters up and the empties back down. Later, the idea would prove its worth when a storm was on the way.

As time went on, Brother Daniel learned to help out at the lighthouse when a storm was approaching. My uncle always felt better knowing that he was safe with us and not in his small shack of a house by the beach. He stayed there because he left the monastery to minister to the needs of the sailors passing by and for those in a ship wreck.

I had taken over most of the duties of the lighthouse keeper at this time. Uncle Jason kept the title of light house keeper in name only. He had become so brittle that I was afraid that he would hurt himself very easy. We all were grateful that he died peacefully in his sleep. However, his spirit did not leave the lighthouse. His ghost was most frequently seen on the stairwell going up and down to the light unit. Once in a while, I could