Many, if not most of the townspeople, thought that these men were the individuals who really made the important decisions that the town had to make. Not the selectmen. Not those five elected officials who always seemed to know what questions were to be asked. If they were, every now and then surprised, their answers still resembled the answers to the questions that were supposed to be asked. These same selectmen, or I should now say selectpeople because their was a woman on the board, arrived about an hour before the meeting was to begin. And a half hour after the town fathers had arrived.
This particular meeting had a greater purpose than most. It was to both debate and decide on a new planning system the town had desperately needed ever since the land values on the coast of Maine doubled if not tripled in value. The goat-ropers, as the locals were known to call all new settlers in Kroy, were arriving in such large numbers that the higher the locals sold off their lands the more these people wanted to buy. But this is where the problem begins. The school, water systems, and even sewer systems were calibrated to a small slow moving coastal community. Its population was only supposed to swell during the summer months. Because the summer only lasted for a maximum of ten weeks, this temporary population problem disappeared before it could produce any permanent damage.
Now the population was swelling with both intensity and permanence. The local builders, at first, were able to handle this growth in needed housing. But because of the large amounts of money that could be made from this population explosion, the big city contractors started buying up the small local contractors with such fervor that the old local cabinet maker builder was becoming extinct. With their extinction was the disappearance of the responsibility to restore the natural beauty of the lands that were to be developed. This was the reason for the out of the ordinary town meeting.
The concerned citizens arrived approximately twenty minutes before the meeting was to begin. The early arrivals hoped to be able to have some insight and friendly conversation with the powers before the meeting. Not that this swayed the minds of the power holders. It just made the common citizen feel important. Some of these early arrivals also had hopes of one day showing their importance by becoming a selectman. Never a town father though because your great-great-great grandfather had to have been born into that position.
The regulars were next to arrive. They did not dally in the outside vestibule to try and talk to the principals. They simply went into the main auditorium and took their usual seats next to their usual friends. The rest of the concerned citizens finally arrived to take what seats were left or to just stand in the back of the room. They hoped that they would understand what was about to begin. A few minutes before eight o'clock PM the room was full to capacity.
Everyone who was fortunate enough to get a seat and even those who were standing against their portion of the wall always seem to stare around the now ancient auditorium. Even though most had been their countless times before. The room reeked with age and character. Not long ago a group of organized goat-ropers wanted to build a new civic center and meeting house. This idea was easily defeated because the whole concept of a selectmen's meeting without using the ancient auditorium seemed utterly absurd.
The walls of the auditorium were obviously white washed hundreds of times before because every now and then you could see paints of years past through a crack or a chip in the most recent coat. The older the paints the creamier the color. The ceiling also gave away its age by not only being a ceiling of an auditorium but also a work of sculpture. Its hand carved embroidery was a glimpse into a perfection of past workmanship. The lights were also sculptured into the design of the ceiling with their bases continuing the pattern. The large now manila bulbs were yellowed to a point where the one hundred watt bulbs could only illuminate the light to the intensity of an early sunrise. As long as nature would allow it, the people of Kroy would keep this building for the citizen's place to meet.
The selectmen would be the last to enter. But all sounds would cease long before that. Yes, you probably guessed it. As soon as the fathers of the town entered the now full room and took their place toward the back by their section of the wall the buzzing and whispering quieted down. The selectmen finally entered and traditionally called the meeting to order.
Unlike all other meetings this particular assembly had a new presence in the form of a slightly obese balding man in the front row. He was known all over town as the king of the goat- ropers. The man who, as he says, united all the contractors of the area to reap the maximum benefits from the still growing building boom. But if you talk in confidence to both the young and older builders you would hear a different story. This guy was slicker than a new born worm kind of thief.
His name was Danny Popka. He was of Greek decent and Italian Heritage. Massachusetts based, he made his millions by making rural Nashua into an industrial giant. After draining that city of all the natural resources it had he decided to make Kroy his next target for total industrialization. Or as many of the locals put it. Total castration. What a perfect choice.. Kroy had been known for its endless supply of empty lots covered by grandfather type zoning. Danny Popka's now famous quote was that Kroy's beauty was second only to its opportunity for wealth. His wealth. Calling Kroy beautiful was not the greatest of compliments for the town because Danny's only views of beauty had to come from the potential of an ever growing bottom line.
He was now sitting in the front row waiting for his turn to address the meeting. He was wearing his customary light tan five hundred dollar suit. It was an impeccable fit for a man thirty to forty pounds over weight. He was extremely clean shaven and because the top of his head had absolutely no hair, it had the ability to shine under the ancient lights overhead. On his right was his local attorney, Bill Hisheen. Billy had barely kept himself above water before Dan came to town because he had the reputation that he would sell his mother's soul in order to make a buck. If their was ever a definition for legal weasel, Billy Hisheen was it. Just the type of attorney Danny could associate with and also control. To Danny's left was his corporate lawyer dressed in the same type of suit Dan had been wearing. His name was Arthur Gukler. He was the man that held the real legal power under, of course, Dan.
The meeting had many different items on its agenda which included renewals of liquor licenses, entertainment licenses, variances, and discussions concerning everything from sodium light control to crosswalks. About half way through the meeting the chairman of the board of selectmen opened up the discussion on whether or not the town should enact a building ordinance to override the existing grandfather ordinances concerning a building moratorium.
The discussions began with citizen after citizen stating that the reason they moved to Kroy was because of its rural safe nature. They argued that the openness of Kroy's fields were meant to end only at the rocky shorelines of its beaches. One after one they reiterated that their children and their old were happy in this setting. They warned that any non-controllable urbanization program would not only destroy the natural beauty of the area but also put an end to the life style that they and most other inhabitants learned to love. Discussion continued and ended in screams of agreement only to be quieted down by the chairman of the board banging the now one hundred plus year old gavel on the well over one hundred year old head table. The only people in the audience who remained silent were the town fathers who seemed more solemn than they usually were. Their solemness was obviously breaching on sadness. This sadness on despair.
The meeting rambled on for over two hours before the town attorney for Mr. Popka asked to be recognized. With some quiet moans and groans Billy rose and began to speak in an extremely nervous tone. He stated that it was always possible for any town to change laws that were made years before. Poor hapless Billy was shouted down after his statement to the point that all in the room thought he was going to break down and cry. Even before he sat down the meeting lost its Robert's Rules etiquette by having people stand unrecognized to voice their displeasure toward Billy's comments.
It was if the Pope himself walked into the room when Dan Popka raised his hand to become recognized to speak. The room immediately quieted down to hear what the newly ordained King of Kroy's industrialized future had to say. And say he did. Standing in the middle of the front of the room he turned toward the now silent crowd and stated the laws according to power and money.
"First of all", Dan smoothly stated, "their is not enough money in all of Kroy and in all of your homes to stop me from building where I want to build".
He said this so point blankly that the only people he did not shock were the town fathers. It was as if they had been in attendance at a similar meeting before. Dan was obviously taking his time so that all could ingest the reality he just expressed. He kept the silence going by saying nothing. He just stared into the crowd finding as many eyes as he could that were not focused down at their feet or hands.
"Secondly", Dan finally continued, "if I did decide to move on. You would be left with such a massive loss of revenue due to lost tax dollars that your roads and town properties would disintegrate before your very eyes."
Again he hesitated to continue and clearly saw that most of the eyes of the people of Kroy were propelled down to their shoes forced by the power which was being displayed before them. Except, of course, for the town fathers who just stared into the space in front of the selectmen's desk which happened to be occupied by Dan Popka.
"Finally", he continued; this time with a small not so hidden smirk on his face," most of you don't want me to leave because you see that this is probably your best chance to see the benefits of modern industrialization. This includes better schools, parks, theaters, roads, and just basically a better life. So stop this nonsense and leave this room with things left as they are supposed to be. Go home and dream about a different life in a different and better future."
Dan realizing that no applause would follow simply sat down to enjoy his created silence. Silence that existed except for a question made by the oldest of the town fathers; Arthur Weare. At first, because he was so old, he could hardly be heard and even though he was asked to, he refused to go to the front of the meeting room.
Old man Weare just sucked in more air and repeated, "What about Nubble Sanctuary?"
Whispers began to move through the crowd as though they were energized by this simple question.
Arthur Weare again repeated himself after the newly created noise calmed down. "What about Nubble Sanctuary?"
Nubble Sanctuary is an inlet of forest which grows in the midst of giant mountains of ledge and the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, it grows where it shouldn't be able to grow. The ocean winds should have blown away its topsoil with the numerous winter storms washing away any chance of a spring revival. But it never happened. The sanctuary in the winter lost its green color only to be replaced by every shade of brown and black one could imagine. Its stems and root stock hung on to the soils with such intensity that no winter storm could carry it away. Even during the storm of '78, which destroyed most of Kroy Beach, the Nubble didn't show the slightest disarrangement.
It seems that spring always came first to Nubble Sanctuary. While the whole coast suffered through the dampness and dreariness of the spring season, Nubble Sanctuary blossomed its colors right after the first sign of thaw. Their are old-timers still alive today who swear that the great frost of the summer of '33, killed most if not all of the vegetation on the coast of Maine except, of course, the Nubble Sanctuary. Every type of wild flower and plant thrived on this reservoir of life. A new color always seemed to sprout out of the thick bushes of green that occupied this natural wonder.
Summertime brought all who lived in Kroy out to view the wilds of the sanctuary. The thickness of its growth could rival any rain forest that the South American continent could produce. That was the phenomena which gave the sanctuary magic because their was little rainfall to sustain this type of growth.
People were not the only animals who enjoyed the beauty of the sanctuary. The birds were drawn to it. Every type, every size, and every color of bird found its way here. Nests could easily be seen throughout the dense stems and leaves of the underbrush. These nests were easily seen yet not easily reached because no predator was ever observed on sanctuary grounds. Except maybe for crazy Alice MacGraw's cat.
Everyone hated that cat. Including the MacGraw family. Except, of course, Alice who hated everything and everyone else. The story goes that one night after Alice's father downed his second bottle of whiskey, he accidentally tripped over the resting cat. Not that it was the cat's fault. But old man MacGraw tripped his way into kicking over his newly purchased second hand radio. Legend has it that he went crazy. He caught the cat and threw it into his wagon. He then drove to the edge of the Nubble Sanctuary where he threw the now terrified cat as hard as he could into the deep green of the underbrush. Alice never talked to her father again and was seen years later staring into the sanctuary hoping to see the only thing she ever loved or would ever love again.
In fact, to this day young lovers who park near the sanctuary swear that in the darkest part of the night they can hear that cat cry. But that is quite impossible because Alice MacGraw died over one hundred and twenty-five years ago.
"Yeah, what about the Nubble Sanctuary?", screamed young Mr. Pastor, the new high school biology teacher fresh out of the University of Maine at Farmington.
"What about its history, its beauty, and most important of all its natural view into the past that our children can see and admire."
Young Mr. Pastor's statement did the opposite of what everyone knew he wanted to do. Instead of causing an uproar of screaming and demanding that the sanctuary be saved it caused a few seconds of silence that made even the cold blooded Dan Popka shiver with apprehension. Seconds felt like minutes. Then the quiet gave way to murmurs which evolved into discussion which led to another complete breakdown of Robert's Rules of Order. Everyone now wanted to voice their plea to have the sanctuary saved. The gavel first had no effect on the voices of the crowd until, once again, the now composed Dan Popka stood up in front of the soon to be quiet room.
"The Town of Kroy no longer owns or has any jurisdiction over the Nubble Sanctuary!" Dan stated this point with clarity so that no one in the room could miss his point. Dan then allowed a long pause to pass because he wanted to make it even clearer that everyone understand exactly what he was saying.
"Those lands are governed by the same laws and ordinances that govern all of the privately owned properties in Kroy." Dan then took this time to turn his back on the townspeople and speak directly to the selectman sitting at the ancient table.
"Your children will have to find a new view into the past because that land is the first to be developed." Dan made sure that he met all the eyes of the selectmen before he continued to say anything further. He then continued a little louder so that all the people could hear even though he was still facing the selectmen.
"Your children will have to give up this view into their past and admire my monument to the future." Dan's monument was known to be a thirty unit condominium complex overlooking the ocean. Each unit was said to have a pre-construction selling price of over $250,000.
Even before the townspeople had a chance to begin any discussion Dan turned toward the townspeople and stated in no mixed words that, "all of you are wasting my time and your own. Their will be no delay and no interference with what is legally mine." He continued by exclaiming," I have already defeated you once when you cried monopoly because I unified your non-working contractors. If you try to delay me this time I will not stop until I acquire all of your good and respected homes through the courts.
Dan then finalized his thought by asking, "Is all of this perfectly clear to you fine and upstanding Kroy citizens?" Silence was and could only be their answer.
The chairman of the selectman's board, with the help of Dan, again acquired control of the meeting and asked if anyone wanted to move to have the discussions halted. Dan's local legal eagle was the first to raise his hand with Dan himself seconding the motion. The chairman then asked for a vote to see if anyone deemed it necessary to study a legal means to override the clauses which govern land development. Young Mr. Pastor raised his hand in compliance with ordinary town meeting rules but was simply ignored. Instead of complaining he just lowered his hand knowing that no one would second his obviously worthless motion.
Silence again ruled the room. The only exception was the sound that Dan and his two lawyers made congratulating each other on their victory. Dan was smiling but what no one else in the room saw, so was Arthur Weare.
The next couple of weeks saw a progression of heavy construction equipment and surveyors being brought into the once quiet Kroy Beach area. The largest influx of equipment being put in a vacant lot next to the Nubble Sanctuary. The planning for the development of the Nubble Sanctuary was completed months before with the legal maneuvers coming to its end at that ill fated selectman's meeting.
The beauty of the area slowed down the pre-construction crews to the point that they quickly dropped behind Dan's production schedule. The most common description by the workers was that the area radiated a relaxed and quiet aura. They all expressed the opinion that they had a hard time concentrating on what they were paid to do. In fact, one whole surveying crew quit because they came to the conclusion that they could not take part in the destruction of such a beautiful natural area.
This slow down forced Dan to take full charge of the preliminary construction process. He hired Henry Fieldstone to manage this part of the process. Henry was a mountain of a man whose face clearly showed what kind of a life style he lived. His hair was a thin veil of gray over a deeply tanned colored dome. His eyes were surrounded by thick layers of skin which were sculpted by years of squinting to block out the glare of the sun. He could obviously grow a full beard in a single day because after shaving in the morning, by afternoon a thick blanket of rubble appeared. His six foot five inch frame was solid yet lean for his 56 years of age. He demanded and received total compliance to his orders.
Henry worked for Dan on various other construction projects with consistent success. More importantly, on this specific project, he had no use for bleeding heart environmentalists. His idea that nature was created for use and even mis-use by man was a perfect compliment to Dan's own conceptions of how life was supposed to be. A glass lined condominium was of much greater value than a field of overgrown trees and shrubs. Dan knew that Henry was perfect for the job.
Henry brought in his own people. His workers were small mirror images of Henry. These included the attitude that nothing has any value unless you can make money from it. Yet even these hardened individuals couldn't help themselves to wonder about the mystery of the sanctuary. The day before construction was to begin the whole crew, including Dan Popka, got together for their traditional pre-excavating meeting.
This was more of a big drunk which included a keg of beer and plenty of Jack Daniels. The sanctuary was especially quiet that evening. The leaves of the trees and the brush showed no movement even though their was that perpetual sea breeze present. Even the birds of the sanctuary took this time to be silent. The only sound that could be heard was a distant cat like howl.
Early the next morning Dan and Henry were the first to arrive and start to string off which areas were to be bulldozed and which were to be spared. As the two walked deep into the sanctuary's heart the quiet became literally deafening. It was as though they walked into a vacuum. Both men felt uncomfortable but refused to show the other this demonstration of weakness.
As the two were surveying the contours of the landscape, Dan snapped his head back as though someone or something had hit him in the face. He fell down hard landing on his back on top of some heavy brush. Henry quietly called over to ask what the hell all the ruckus was. Dan, by this time, was holding on to the side of his face. Shaking his head and cursing the situation, Henry ran over to see what had happened. Very carefully Dan removed his hand from his cheek to show Henry what the problem was. From the bottom of his right eye to below the right side of his mouth was a deep six inch scratch. A gouge would be a better way to describe the wound. Blood covered the side of Dan's face with splatters covering the front of his shirt.
"What the hell did you walk into", half laughed Henry taking the opportunity to make fun of his longtime boss.
"Their is nothing here to run into, you jerk." Dan murmured as he looked away from the mini-laughter of Henry. "Something came up to my face and attacked me." Dan sobbed even though he was desperately trying to keep his composure.
Henry knowing that nothing lived on the sanctuary with the exception of a few birds and rodents took the opportunity to again make fun of his boss. "I think your imagining things." Henry responded. "Something probably fell off one of the trees and you were lucky enough to walk into it." Henry then proceeded to return to what he had been trying to do before Dan interrupted him.
The logic of Henry's statement settled Dan down even though he was very concerned over the blood flow down his face and onto his shirt. The expression on Dan's face made Henry smile. Dan then ranted on about his lousy luck which then caused Henry to begin a full fledged belly laugh. Dan followed with a few giggles himself but because he was feeling pain he couldn't get himself to completely enjoy the moment. Because Dan's face did not stop bleeding they both decided to get him to a doctor to check the wound and see if he needed stitches. Their moods were generally light until they both heard a large roar of what sounded like an oversized house cat.
The two of them stared at each other hoping that the sound was only a figment of their imagination. The area showing no signs of movement before now started howling as though a summer nor-easter was approaching. But Dan and Henry could not feel any wind.
The right side of Dan's face was now throbbing but because he started to experience fear, the pain seemed the lesser of the two problems. Henry broke the silence and succinctly said, " Let's get the hell out of here!" Dan didn't have to answer because he just followed Henry into what he thought was the way out.
The trees and the bushes were now swaying back and forth as though they were in the midst of a major storm. But the two men still couldn't feel any wind. Darkness seemed to be enveloping the area even though it was long after sunrise. To make things worse, even though Henry swore that he was back tracking his way toward where they entered the sanctuary the trees and underbrush kept getting thicker. They also not only couldn't feel any wind, they couldn't see any signs of an upcoming storm in the sky. The only thing they did hear was that damn screeching of something that sounded like a very angry cat.
"Do you know where the hell you are going!", screamed Dan now knowing that they were probably going around in circles.
"Blow it out your nose", retorted Henry not caring who had or who would continue to have the roll of boss in their relationship. Dan could see that Henry was now beginning to panic, for the man never got himself even close to lost before. In fact, Henry knew he didn't get lost, something else did. Something that was now scaring the be-Jesus out of him. Something he didn't want to know but knew in his soul that he did. The trees were now swaying back and forth as though they were in the midst of ripping themselves out of the ground.
Henry showing that he had begun to panic saw a large rock on the edge of a group of trees overlooking what seemed to be a small ocean inlet. Leaving Dan to tend for himself he climbed the rock to try and get his bearings. Dan followed in the hopes that this could be the lost exit. Dan's right eye was nearly closed but he didn't need both eyes to see what occurred in the next few seconds.
As Henry reached the top of the rock and bridged his eyes with his hands so that he could see more clearly, a whistling noise made by a swinging limb of one of the trees surrounding the rock screamed into the air. Before Henry could react, and too late for Dan to close his one good eye, the limb cleanly sliced Henry's head in two. To top half dropped into the surrounding water.
Dan watched in dis-belief as Henry stood on his pedestal, hands flaying in the air trying to understand what had just occurred. The top half of Henry's head below his now lost eyes was clearly missing with blood spurting like a broken water bubbler. It happened so fast that even though blood spurted out from the top of Henry's now halved head, his hands were still struggling uncontrollably in the hopes of finding what had just been sliced off.
Looking away from what he just observed, Dan saw the top half of Henry's head sink into the water like a large alka-seltzer tablet, spewing bubbles of red foam as it dropped out of view. Henry's now dying body turned toward Dan as if to acknowledge him for the last time and then fell into the water following his misplaced skull. Dan just stared in disbelief.
Now totally ignoring the throbbing gash on the side of his face Dan did not dare to move. Or probably could not move. The trees and bushes around him were not only swaying more violently around him. They seemed to be growing larger and thicker. Frozen by his own fears he listened for and heard the only sound that could be heard. The screaming sound of an angry and avenging cat.
He felt it first around his ankles. It was as if ropes were tying themselves around his feet. But these ropes were different in that they were not only growing around his ankles, they were growing into his ankles. At first he felt pain but his panic overwhelmed any mortal pain that he could feel. He actually heard the bones of his feet and ankles separate as the attacking vines grew into his now bloodied stumps. And the vines did not stop there. They started growing up and into his legs.
Dan's disbelief turned into belief in the unknown and the knowledge that he could do nothing about it. No money or power in his world could change what was happening to him. He came to a realization that his world was ending and a new world was becoming his reality.
The sound of his now crushed legs and hips were overwhelmed again by the pain of the knowledge that his life would soon be over. He also knew, because of his past lifestyle, that his soul would also be over. As the vines grew up through his shattered pelvis and into his body cavity his blurring vision chanced to see two yellow fluorescent eyes staring at him through the still thickening brush. The slanted eyes that calmly stared over what could only be viewed as justice.
The selectman's meeting started like every other selectman's meeting over the past two hundred and fifty plus years. First the town fathers arrived to have their mini-meeting in the chief of police's office behind the senior citizens hall. These were the real descendants of the town who included Ralph Rush, Bobby Leighton, Jimmy Weare, and Alice Freeman.
This particular meeting had a greater purpose in that it was to debate and decide on new construction which included the reorganization and industrialization of the Nubble Sanctuary. The selectmen arrived to start the meeting with James Pastor banging the ancient gavel on the even more ancient table.
As the new developers argued their points that this construction would bring prosperity and relieve the tax burden of the people of Kroy, only the well trained eye could see that Chairman Pastor and Jimmy Weare were smiling at each another.