Part 24

Looking around from side to side, I rub at my eyes, as if trying to determine which way I'd come before - and then I realize, no, I'm actually rubbing at my eyes because they're blurring.  Damnit!
          "Oh, there it is, I can see my way now," I say hurriedly, starting off in a random direction, hoping to save at least one person here from wondering if they've gone crazy---
          But he's already gone, and I'm standing smack in the middle of a giant patch of burdock.  And it's just late enough in the season that the flowers are turning into burrs that'll take an age to painfully pull out of my hair.

          I step into the cool air of the library, looking around for the meeting.  I approach the already-populated table a little sheepishly, but Mary spots me at once and waves me over cheerfully.
          "Kimber!  Thank goodness. I was afraid some handsome ghost had swept you off your feet and absconded with you forever."
          "...and could you blame me, if it was Meres doing the abducting?"
          "Did I imply blame? Because it was wistful longing on my own behalf that you should've heard." She clasps her hands and puts them to her cheek, sighing dreamily as she looks far away.
          This earns her a mixture of giggles and groans from the group around the table.  I spot a print of our favorite picture of Meres on the table and scoop it up, waving it gently in the air in her line of sight.  She nabs it out of my hand, and gazes happily.
          "Boy, that Ralph's sure got some steep competition, doesn't he?" John comments.
          "Ha! He's not even in the running and he knows it."
          "Then why'd we see you sitting with him at the Methodist spaghetti dinner?"
          "Oh, that?  Pity."  She waves her hand absently, eyes still on the photo - but I see the glimmer in her eye and the hint of a smile at the corner of her lips.
          "Alright, so what new goodies have you all got for me?"  I look around the table: Mary, John, Susan, Ed the map guy, Brandon, and a guy about my dad's age that I don't recognize.
          "Now just you sit down and wait!  Brandon's in charge of this meeting, they're his photos," Mary proclaims, pushing out the empty chair beside her for me.
          Brandon looks a little embarrassed at this.  "All I did was make the prints - the quality of the images is all to Derick Reese's credit."
          "And yours for being a miracle-worker and letting us see them," Mary interjects.
          "Well, maybe a few minor miracles."
          The guy I don't recognize laughs, shaking his head.  "More than a few, and more than minor!  I've done plenty of work with images this old myself, you know, and even the most careful preservation of the plates won't keep them in that pristine of condition over that much time.  You've got quite a talent for this work."  He looks over at me then, smiling welcomingly.  "I'm Dan Reed, by the way - Mary's told us you're doing research on the Mason place?"
          "I am! Kimber Bennett.  And you did all the books with old photos of the towns around the county?  Those books are amazing, I didn't even grow up here and I'm a little obsessed with looking at them."
          "Obsession is a word we're pretty comfortable with at this table!" he comments with a laugh, but is obviously pleased at the compliment.
          "And on that note - I'm usually a very patient person, but Brandon, you've already kept me waiting for daaaaays.  Do you have any new photos of the Masons, or the grounds?"
          "Maybe."
          "Oh come on! Please?"
          Mary sighs exaggeratedly.  "Well, so much for my hopes of being a matchmaker.  Instead of a Romeo and Juliet, I've brought together two bickering siblings."
          I turn beet red, and am incapable of looking at Brandon to see his reaction.  The rest of the table chuckles at this.
          "Oh, now Mary, stop your meddling, there's enough gossip in this town without you having to invent new tales!"  Susan scolds, leaning across the table to smack Mary's arm.
          "You know," Ed begins, his voice calm and laid-back but his eyes sparkling.  "I bet these kids haven't heard the story of Mary and the flag pole yet."
          "Edward Josephson, you shut your mouth or I'll tell the story of little Eddie and his first-grade class photograph."
          "Now, Mary, you can't threaten me with that - that's just public knowledge, I came to terms with that one long ago."
          "You think I haven't got more?"
          "And who are the bickering siblings?" I ask sweetly.
          Susan laughs at this, and throws crumpled wads of paper at Ed and Mary simultaneously.  "Come on.  As secretary, I'm calling all of y'all to order now.  First order of business: you new folks have been introduced to everyone now?"
          Brandon and I nod dutifully.
          "Oh good.  Second order of business: the art gallery show went over very well, and I think we might have actually made a little money.  Brandon, you were a huge help, thank you again."
          "Oh, anytime!  Like I've said, it was an honor to get to work with those plates.  And I'm always glad when my pet esoteric interests turn out to actually be useful."
          "Third order of business: do we have a plan yet for the Farmer's Festival next month?  I know we've paid the booth fee already.  Manning it in shifts last year worked pretty well.  But are we going with a theme this year, or just putting out whatever we've got that's new?"
          They spend a few minutes throwing ideas around - doing a few "then and now" displays, some bits on the town founders, the upcoming anniversary of the town hall building... I zone out a bit, and peer intently at the pile of photos in the middle of the table, trying to see if I can make anything out.  The pile isn't perfectly neat, and though the pictures are all in plastic sleeves that are the same size, the prints in them aren't, so I can see a few tantalizing corners...  Finally, Susan calls everyone back to order again.
          "Alright, clearly, that's still under discussion.  We have some time yet, but everyone give it some thought.  And remember - we want something that normal people will find engaging."  She gives Ed a withering look.
          He shrugs and puts his hands up in a "you got me" gesture, chuckling good naturedly.  "We did have a pretty good response the year we had that satellite map out."
          "And now every kid has Google on their phone.  Afraid we can't give that one a repeat.  Let's see, next order of business..."
          Mary raises her hand.
          Susan raises an eyebrow.
          Mary bounces a little in her seat, waving her hand.
          Susan sighs.  "Yes, Mary?"
          "Can we please skip to Brandon and his photos?  I think the meeting will go a lot smoother if we all know about any hot men that are in that pile."
          Dan coughs, Ed chuckles, and John straightens his shirt collar.  "Now, Mary, isn't there enough eye candy for you in this room already?"
          "Brandon?  Can you just tell us if there are any more pictures of this fellow in there?"  She indicates the photo of Meres, which she's hung on to.  "Asking for a friend."  She quickly slides the photo over in front of me and acts innocent.
          He chuckles, and looks to Susan.  "Should I just go ahead?"
          She replies with a long-suffering sigh, but her eyes make it clear she doesn't actually mind.  "Oh, go ahead, she won't stop 'til we've appeased her."
          "Well, there are a couple I'm sure of, and a few I'm not.  But there are definitely some of the Mason estate, and what I'm assuming are the children - Kimber, I'm guessing you'll be able to help ID them?"
          I grin happily.  "Most likely!"
          "Plenty of other shots around town too, of course, some buildings you might not have a record of yet, Mr. Reed, and plenty of people I'm sure the rest of you can put names to."  Brandon starts sifting through the pile, which seems to be somewhat categorized already, pushing photos toward people he thinks might be interested.  "A few public events, and a couple of studio shots - but much fewer than I would have expected."
          "Oh, we have loads of his studio work already," Mary puts in.  "Most of that had, of course, been stored in the studio itself, and that collection was given over to us years ago.  This batch was found in storage with one of the family members, so we had a hunch it would be more candid shots."
          "And most of them are!  Well, comparatively candid, anyway, the technology didn't exactly allow for the kind of instant capture we're all used to.  Most of the images are outdoors, and the composition and lighting in some is really striking, the man was such an artist."
          "He certainly was," Dan says, already looking through a pile of buildings around town that Brandon passed over to him.  "Most people would have just taken a shot straight-on to the front of the building, but just look at this one of the old Presbyterian church."  He sets a photo in the middle of the table where we can all see - and it really is striking.  It was taken near one of the corners of the church, with the camera tilted up at an angle, just as you'd be looking up if you were standing beside it.  The narrow Gothic spires rise high into a pale clear sky, their sharp tips just barely visible as they fade into bright sunlight.  I realize my eyes are squinting a little as I look at it, as if I'm really looking up into a bright sunlight sky.