Stuart's mellow voice filled the space around them as they sat next to his desk, listening to the story of the house, the origins of the Coopers Creek of today and how the house came to be.

"This is fascinating," Sage said, smiling, "I will have loads of questions, but for now, I'm just absorbing."

"Oh, is that the look of a sponge," Maddy said, grinning, "I was wondering."

Sage chuckled, "I guess I have that ... what look exactly do I have?"

"A faraway look as though you're somewhere else living a life you can only imagine," Maddy said, her words coming softly.

"Huh, it does sound good," Sage said, sighing, "maybe this life right now could be the life I imagined."

"May it could be," Stuart said, looking between them, "do you have any questions?"

"Yes, what do you know about the legend of the house?" Sage asked, "I've looked for that information everywhere but can't find anything. Do you know, as town historian?"

Stuart and Maddy exchanged a meaningful glance before Stuart cleared his throat and nodded, "I do know, but I'm not asked unless there is a reason. I will need to know that reason."

"When I was given the opportunity of freedom and peace from my ..." she sighed, "... previous life, I was told that I had six months to find out about the legend of the house at Coopers Creek and write about it."

"What is your profession?" Stuart asked.

"I'm a writer," Sage said, "why?"

The two looked at each other before Stuart shrugged and whispered, "It's your call, Maddy."

"There has to be a reason why it's happening now," Maddy's whispered reply drifted to Sage's alert hearing, "just tell her."

Nodding Stuart, turning to Sage, inhaling, exhaling and closing his eyes as though he was saying a prayer.

"Is he alright?" Sage asked Maddy.

"Ah ... yes," Maddy said, glancing at Sage before looking back at Stuart, "I ... think ... he is preparing himself for the lesson."

"Lesson?" Sage asked.

"Yes, the ah ...." Maddy's gaze looked everywhere but at Sage, "lesson of the legend."

"Oh, okay," Sage said, "and he needed your authority to tell it?"

Maddy's gaze snapped to Sage, "You overheard that."

"Yes, I did," Sage said, "is that why you're with me today? Giving your okay on my being here? Letting everyone know it's alright to interact with me, talk to me, make me welcome."

Maddy's expression softened, becoming pensive and guarded, "Are you angry?"

"No, why would I be?" Sage asked, shaking her head, "You should have told me how it would be; I would have understood."

"I'm... not permitted to speak of ... my role in the process," Maddy said, choosing her words carefully, "but I guess I can if you guess it."

"Okay, Stuart," Sage said, looking at the man as his eyes popped open, "tell me about the legend on the house."

"In the beginning of Cooper's Creek, there were a few dwellings and many smugglers hideouts where ... contraband of the day was kept, sold and hidden until required," Stuart said. Sage nodded, waiting for him to continue, which he did when Maddy gave him a nod, "the family that established Coopers Creek were loving, peaceful, kind and helped those living here to make a life out of the oppression and danger forced on them by the smugglers and pirates using the cove as a haven."

Sage leaned forward, "Tell me more."

"You're a thirsty woman," Stuart chuckled, "the family that first lived here had survived a shipwreck. Fortunately, it was close to the shoreline, and they could get ashore without losing their lives or many of the possessions and food supplies they had brought. The towns folk helped to selvedge more items from the ship before a storm rolled through the cove days later, destroying the ship and any sign the family were there."

"Who was the family?" Sage asked.

"Their last name was Cooper," Stuart said, "the young man was the younger son of the family situated within the nobility of his land of origin. A few weeks later, they were discovered by the Navy of the day. They were given a choice to live in the cove undetected and make a life, or they could be returned to their land of origin. They accepted the opportunity to stay in the cove. Supplies were brought, the house was built, and extra homes for the people living here were built in and around the cove. For a time, the family were happy, and they added to their number when a set of twins arrived."

"Simon and Anabel," Sage whispered; Stuart nodded, "Charlotte was their mother."

"Correct," Stuart said, "they lived in the house and maintained what became known as Coopers Creek for many years. Everything went well until the family's older brother, and as you probably guessed, arrived on a supply ship to find his younger brother and wife as the recipients of the goods."

"Oh, that must have been ... awkward?" Sage said, dread settling in her chest, "How old were the children then?"

"Sixteen years of age," Stuart said, meeting Maddy's gaze meaningfully, "do I continue?" Maddy nodded but remained silent, "Okay, let's continue," Stuart said, meeting Sage's concentrated gaze, "the older brother realised that a profit could be made from the cove. The people were untaxed, the land unused to the standards of a greedy man, and the cove could become a new stop where ships would need to pay to birth and unload, reload or have the sailors ashore."

"Typical," Sage muttered, "what did he do? Kill his younger brother?"

"Not quite," Stuart said, "I'm sure he thought of it as he was noted as a cruel, cold man. Instead, he bribed some pirates to "capture" his younger brother and stepped in to take over the running of the house, cove and ultimately the village. The problem was that his wife did not like Charlotte, and the villagers knew the twin brother was not the house's real owner. So he kept the children at the house for appearance's sake but gave Charlotte the option of leaving Coopers Creek forever or being killed."

"Abominable," Sage hissed, "tell me she was stronger than that."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"You know she is," Stuart said, "you found the letters between her children and herself."

"She stayed in Coopers Creek," Sage said, "now that makes more sense about the letters."

"It was the only way to ensure her children were okay," Stuart said, "and really, she was just a good mother. They wrote letters to each other for years. The children didn't dare keep her letters with them, so they would reply immediately and return her letter with their own."

"She kept them all," Sage whispered, "every single letter."

"Correct, and the new lady of the house continued to write in her journals as if nothing had happened," Stuart said, "all of this happened over two years. Charlotte was hidden by the villagers in a house not far from her children; they were an elderly couple who had lost their sons to the same pirates who had taken Charlotte's husband. When they passed on, they left the house and its contents to Charlotte and whoever else she decided to hide from the tyranny of the family on the hill."

"That was kind of them," Sage said, nodding and looking at Maddy, "that is how your family still live there. Why not in the big house again?"

"Let me continue," Stuart said, as Maddy shifted uncomfortably, "It was nearly four years later that the pirates returned to Coppers Creek bringing with them a much older and worn man who was too ill to work for them any longer, Charlotte blindly took him in not realising at that moment it was her husband. But when attending to him in the sick room, she made the discovery and was overjoyed at his return," Stuart said, sighing, "it was some time before he was well enough to realise where he was and discover what his brother had done to his family, he became enraged. Unable to stop his brother from what he was doing, he wrote to the one man who knew of his correct claim on the house, land and cove."

"Tell me he was still alive," Sage said, leaning back in her chair engrossed in the story.

"Fortunately, he was and had risen higher in the ranks of the Navy," Stuart said, "he came immediately and personally commanded the removal of the older brother and his wife but left the children to live in the house. By that time, they were nearly of age," Stuart paused, "back then, those words meant twenty-one years old."

"Wow, it went on that long," Sage shook her head, "the village must have been happy to have the taxes lifted."

"They were, but there was a problem," Stuart said, "the brother and his wife had set up a form of trust with the tax money with their bank and refused to say where it was or how much was in it. Only when they discovered the younger brother's return did they divulge that should he or anyone he brought into the world after their removal remain and live in the house, the village, house, and everything built in Coopers Creek would lose the funding of that trust."

"What?" Sage spluttered, frowning, "That is diabolical. So the children remained in the house, but their parents couldn't live with them?"

Stuart nodded, "After discovering what his Uncle had done, Simon brought his parents in during the day only to be the housekeeper and gardener so they could see each other and spend time together without putting the rest of the people they saw as a family in jeopardy. They did have more children in the house where Maddy now lives, and although all the men have the same name, the women have been a little more creative in naming their children."

"I noticed that," Sage said, "using variants of Charlotte and keeping all the names as second and thirds," she glanced at Maddy, "... as far as I can make out, you and your brother are the only ones with four names before your last."

"Is that significant?" Stuart asked, reaching for a pad of paper and pen.

"It could be," Sage said, "tell me the rest of the story."

Stuart nodded as he made a note, looked between the two women and continued, "Simon took a trip with the man who authorised Coopers Creek to uncover his Uncle's dealings. He discovered that he inherited his Uncle's entire estate, making him a Lord, Duke, or whatever they were in those days. But he was more interested in the trust; he uncovered a loophole and used it to amend the trust that anyone of Charlotte heritage had access to the house, would look after the house and the grounds and run Cooper's Creek indefinitely, ultimately cutting out anyone who wanted to use the place for personal gain. It was the only way to gain control once more. In uncovering everything his Uncle had done, Simon was initially unable to return as he had married, thus leaving his sister to fall in love with an honourable Navy Commander and have children of her own. At first, they stayed at Cooper's Creek; eventually, she left Cooper's Creek to sail with her husband and children, leaving the house unattended at night. Years passed, and Coopers Creek was forgotten until Simon's great-grandson brought his sister to see the mysterious Coopers Creek the family had learnt so much about."

"They must have been amazed to find family already here," Sage whispered, "tell me they were not tyrants."

"They were in some ways," Stuart said, "they tried to reverse what Simon had put in place, but he had made it ironclad for a million years."

"Million? Wow, he meant to keep Cooper Creek safe," Sage said, shaking her head, "what happened then?"

"The family remained in the house for many years," Stuart said, "cousins got to know cousins. Some left and returned, some left and never returned. Some stayed and wished to live in the house. Life seemed as though it would remain uncomfortable until Anabel's great-granddaughter returned with the will left to her," Stuart said, "history was in the making as the world was in the throws of the Second World War. Coopers Creek had once more become the place for spies to hide out and smugglers to use as in the old days. Except this time, it wasn't so civilised, and they tried to make Cooper Creek a base of operations."

"I guess that didn't go down well," Sage said, shaking her head, "it's like a soap opera but for a village in a cove."

Stuart chuckled, "Now the two cousins several times removed were having a face-off," Stuart said, "and Anabel's great-granddaughter won in the court of law. She took possession of the house, the village and the cove as Simon and Anabel had intended the family to have control in the days they lived in this haven. The great-granddaughter remained, had her children here and was fortunate enough to see her grandchildren grow as well," Stuart said, "it was at the end of her days that her granddaughter, Rosemary, found documents her great-grandmother had put in place to protect Coopers Creek from the greed that had ruined many lives in her family tree."

The front door chime was heard. Stuart stiffened, and Maddy looked around, worry suddenly sparking in her eyes, "Are you expecting anyone?" Maddy whispered.

"No, I wonder who it could be," Stuart replied hushedly.

"Stuart, you here," a male voice called from the front of Stuart's place.

"Jeffery," Maddy hissed, "how do we get out of here?"

"Use the tunnel," Stuart said, waving them toward the back of the room, "take the gloves with you. Hurry."

Sage silently followed Maddy to the far back corner, helped her move a pile of boxes and followed her through the trapdoor down a flight of stone stairs into a tunnel. The door was closed, and they were left in silence.

"What was that about?" Sage whispered, but Maddy put her finger to her lips and waited. Above them, she heard Stuart's voice raised in off-key singing, only to be interrupted by the voice who had called from the front of the house.

"Hey Stuart," the voice said, and the singing stopped suddenly.

"Oh, Jeffery," Stuart feigned a gasp, "didn't hear you."

"Obviously, I saw Maddy come in here with a stranger," the voice said, "but I didn't see them leave."

"Oh really, they were here," Stuart said, "but I heard them talking about taking the hill trail back to the house ... perhaps they left by the back door."

"Huh, the hill trail ... never known Maddy to go that route before," Jeffery said, "when did they leave?"

"A while ago," Stuart said.

"I need a time, Stuart," Jeffery said, irritation riding his words.

"How many times must I tell you I don't have time in this place," Stuart said, "I don't have a watch, and there are no clocks."

"I wish I could smash everything in this place," Jeffery snarled, "it's nothing but a time warp."

"You know what will happen if you do not stick with the rules," Stuart said, "or if you lay a finger on me or my possessions."

A strained silence was followed by a snarl and the slamming of a distant door. Stuart returned to his off-key singing, and Maddy let out a breath she had been holding.

"Can we talk now?" Sage asked.

"Not right now," Maddy said, "we need to get back to the house as quickly as possible."

"Why?" Sage asked.

"Coopers Creek depends on us being home when Jeffery arrives," Maddy said, briskly walking down the dark tunnel, "keep your hand running along the wall, and you'll be fine."

Sage shook her head, stretched out her hand, found the wall and followed the soft crunch of Maddy's feet ahead.