Bennett The Brave

Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Glass and other debris crunched underfoot as we watched Dad go from room to room to survey the damage. He stood between us in the main room of the cottage, his hands on his hips. He didn't say much of anything beyond a few hums and tsk-tsks; he seemed maddeningly calm. I wanted to say something, but didn't know where to start, it all seemed so overwhelming.

"Well boys," he said, draping his arms across our shoulders while staring out at the giant pecker painted along the wall and fireplace, "Somebody seems to be overcompensating for something."

Neal snickered, and I turned in astonishment to see Dad grinning.

"Holy Cow Dad!" I breathed.

"Oh, don't be so serious Bennett," Dad said softly, "I was planning on demolishing most of the interior of this place anyhow. Whoever did this just got me a head start, that's all."

And that was pretty much it. Dad started on the renovations of the cottage a little earlier than planned, but that turned out to be okay. The local Sheriff's Deputy came to investigate, and sorted out the vandals in short order. It seems, a few nights earlier, he pulled over a car load of four, drunk and very stoned boys from a town over. They were already being charged with stealing the boat that brought them to the island, and then running it aground near a rocky outcropping, some 6 miles up the lake. The deputy noted they all had paint-stained fingers, and he had assumed they were just inhaling the fumes. The drunk driving, drug possession and vandalism charges meant that we would probably not be seeing the likes of them again for a long while.

Neal and I helped. It was fun tearing down the remains of the interior. We gutted much of the cottage, down to the studs, in some places. The old plaster and lath fell away fairly easily, and made it easier to put in bats of Fiberglas insulation. I got to swing the hammer stapler by virtue of being taller than even my Dad, something he never failed to poke fun at me about.

Dad picked up a pontoon boat, with the idea that after we were done using it to ferry tools and supplies over, it could be used to transport guests to and from the island. I was thrilled at the idea, picturing Neal in a smart Captain's outfit, piloting the boat. It was kind of a little shock to myself when I realized the uniform I was visualizing Neal in, was pretty similar to the one the Coast Guard light keeper wore when we visited the lighthouse on Block Island. Then, of course, I couldn't help myself seeing Neal with the same sort of enormous prong the light keeper had possessed. The image was too comical in my mind, causing me to snort audibly. Neal took notice, and later on, in our little hunter's cabin, he pestered me until I explained my outburst. He too had a good laugh at the idea, and then demonstrated how perfectly his current dimensions fit him. And me.

It only took two weeks or so, to complete the demolition inside the island cottage. By then, the local utilities had dug an underwater trench between the northern most tip of the island and the mainland, bringing both electricity and telephone service to the cottage. Dad was thrilled the day the set up the pole on the island, and the temporary service box. That meant we now could use power tools which would hasten the renovation by leaps and bounds.

I marveled at how quickly work went, once the island was powered. Before we buttoned up the walls, an electrician ran thick cables throughout the house, installed outlets and prepared the kitchen and new laundry room, with some hug looking plugs. The old butler's pantry, off the kitchen, was where the laundry room was going to be. Of course, that meant a plumber had to come too. Since the cottage had never been outfitted with running water (apart from a hand-pump in the kitchen), or bathrooms, those things had to be accommodated. Two smaller rooms, one upstairs and one down, were conscripted to become the bathroom/shower areas. It reduced the overall capacity for sleeping in the cottage, but the new cabins would more than make up for that loss of space.