Over the next weeks, more snow buries the island, many of the man-made structures collapsing under the relentless weight of the gathered snow.

It was a harsh spring as well. Great storms drove rafts of ice onto the island, crushing all but the hardiest of structures and trees within a walking distance of the water. Only the lighthouse and quay remained intact.

Eventually, the weather broke, and the ice cleared. Rescuers traveled to Coal Island, intent on mercy and absolution for their part in trapping five thousand men in isolation.

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What they found was a stone-built quay, stone roads, a stone parade ground, and a cemetery with an elaborate mausoleum dedicated to the man who had run the prison and a vault for a Confederate general. Of the over five thousand men who had inhabited Coal Island, there was no sign as if they had simply disappeared. Search parties combed the island, finding a few more wrecked structures to the north, but no men.

Spooked by the quiet of Coal Island, the rescuers left quickly; leaving the island to rot as a mystery grew over the years to become a legend, but not before Coal Island claimed more hapless victims.

The past existed close to the surface of Coal Island and the past was determined to be heard.

The End

R.A.Buehre