Chapter 66 - The Codicil of 1974
The lid lifted on stiff, ungreased hinges. Inside lay a leather binder tied with black twine, alongside several bundles of old United States Treasury bonds held together by brittle rubber bands that snapped the moment I touched them.
I pulled out the top document. It wasn't a standard will drawn up by a county clerk; it was a formal indenture between Evelyn Van Der Bilt, my father Arthur, and an entity listed simply as *The Trustees of the Diocese Trust of 1968*.
I skimmed the lines under the glare of my flashlight, the cold seep of the church settling into my lungs.
*In consideration of the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars advanced to Arthur Vance to satisfy the debts incurred at the Portland harbor terminal, Arthur Vance hereby conveys in fee simple all forty-two acres of the Oak Ridge tract to Evelyn Van Der Bilt, to be held in trust for the benefit of the Parish, subject to reversion only if said debt is settled in gold bullion or certified treasury tender prior to the fiftieth anniversary of this agreement.*
Fiftieth anniversary.
October 14, 1974 to October 14, 2024.
That was tomorrow.
May you like
Melissa hadn’t been trying to steal the land for a commercial developer out of sheer greed; she had discovered that the property didn't belong to the Vance estate at all. Our father had gambled away the deed half a century ago, and Evelyn had hidden the indenture here, waiting out the clock until the ownership defaulted entirely to her personal trust.
"You always were the curious child, Nora," a voice rasped from the gloom behind the altar screen. "The obedient one. The one who stayed behind to clean up the shattered plates."
