Matty continued to scream and stomp her feet.
"Youse be wastin' yer drink dere Matty," Nanny Dove reminded her again. "Ise 'opes dar not bes Willam's gud stuff."
She turned to Bill.
"Youse sure dat bes da woman youse wants to 'ave yer children? She's seems a tad unstable to me," she laughed.
Matty stopped stomping and glared at Nanny Dove.
"Its a good thing you are already dead, old lady, because right now ...
I could kill youuuuuuuu," Matty screamed, as she stomped away from the rocking chair.
Bill started to laugh, thinking about what Nanny Dove had said a moment before.
"Are you laughing at me?" Matty snapped.
Bill turned away from Matty, so she could not see his face.
"No, my love."
"Yes, 'es bes," Nanny Dove said nonchalantly,
"Ise sees 'im."
"Shut up, old lady."
"But 'es be laughin', not me. Ise bes takin' all dis very serious."
Matty walked back to the couch and sat at the end near her grandmother, staring at her.
"Ise tinks Ise be leavin' now," Nanny Dove quipped quickly, as she disappeared.
"GET THE FUCK BACK HERE OLD LADY.
NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!"
Nanny Dove appeared again, looking pat Matty, at Bill.
"Please be tellin' yer wife to be nice to me."
Matty turned and glared at Bill.
Bill couldn't help but laugh.
"Your on your own, old lady."
"Chicken-shit," Nanny Dove snarled.
Matty smiled at her grandmother. An evil smile.
"Talk old lady."
She sipped her drink, her eyes never leaving the old woman's face.
"It were 1952 ifin Ise 'members right. Der were two young fellers dat came 'ere from da mainland. Dey asked ifin dey could looks around and do some prospectin'. Most of da men folk bes out fishin', so da womens 'ere said sure enuf.
Dey were nice lookin' young men and most of da womens loved dem."
Nanny Dove sat back in her rocking chair, a huge smile on her face.
"Nanny Dove? Please."
Nanny Dove snapped out of her daze.
"Well da two of dem looked all 'round 'ere. Dey were 'ere fer 'bout a week ifin I 'members right. Dey looked everywhere and den one day, da twos of dem came runnin' back to da Bay yellin' and screamin' dat dey had found gold.
Well, by den, da men were back and dere were a big meetin'. None of da women were 'lowed to bes at da meetin', but it were sad when it bes over."
"Why was that?"
"Well Willam, 'fore we knew what were what, da young men were escorted out of the village by da men. And dat were dat.
Wes never 'eard from dem young fellers ever again and dey were never talked 'bout again."
"So you never knew what happened to them?"
"Der were rumors, Matty. Not very nice rumors. Some says dey were t'rowed over da cliffs out dere. Some says dey were buried in dem woods. Some says dey be out dere at Anchor Point.
All Ise knows is dat dere never bes anyone else comes 'ere prospectin' after that."
"Who would know what happened?"
"Der bes a few 'ere dat would know. Maybe Clayton or Linda Tucker or even Wilson Pike. But Ise tellin' youse now, dey won't bes sayin' anyting 'bout it."
She took a deep breath.
"It bes one of da secrets of da Bay."
Matty turned and looked at Bill.
"What do you think?"
"Well, without knowing what happened to these two guys, it would be hard to say. Although, if they did make it out of here and even if they did promise not to say anything, chances are they did. I mean, something like that would be a hard thing to keep quiet. And even if they did stay silent about it, chances are there might have been something, somewhere, that mentioned their find. Documentation of some kind."
Matty nodded.
"Like a journal or diary."
"Makes sense to me. They may have even filed for a claim, before they came here. If they did, there would be documentation."
Matty laughed slightly.
"And if one of those two young men were a relative of Simon Hirst and if that person died."
"Hirst might have found some documentation mentioning something about the gold find."
Bill looked at Nanny Dove.
"Did any of the men here ever look into the validity of the gold find?"
Nanny Dove stared at me.
"Speaks English dere Willam. Ise no idea what's youse be saying."
Bill smiled and searched for simpler words.
"Did any of the men of the Bay ever go and look for gold?"
Nanny Dove shook her head.
"Now were dat so 'ard. Now Ise knows what youse sayin'.
No ones 'ere ever looked for gold, not dat Ise evers knew 'bout. Old man Tucker said dat dere were no gold in da Bay and dat were dat. 'e were da Mayor and dat were dat."
"What is with the, 'and dat were dat'?" Matty had to ask.
"When did you start using that phrase?"
"Always did."
Matty shook her head.
"I have never heard you ever use that phrase."
"Well, Ise usin' it now and dat bes dat. Live wit it, girlfriend."
Matty started laughing.
"Girlfriend?
You are losing it, old lady."
Bill was ignoring the banter, as another fact was of interest to him.
"I often wondered about that."
"About what?"
"How is it that a Tucker has always been the Mayor, even though it were the Doves that founded the Bay."
"Well Willam, me son. Da ways Ise 'eard it were dat da Doves 'ad no patience for da politics and da officials dat came 'ere from time to time, so da Tuckers was made Mayors."
Nanny Dove laughed.
"Wese all tot dey were da dumbest of da dumb, so dat was dat."
Matty stood and walked to Bill.
"So. Perhaps Hirst thinks there is gold in dem dere 'ills."
She started laughing.
"That would make sense."
"Enlighten me."
"Well, my lover. Remember, Tuckamore Bay is one of the few places that still has the old decree. They still own the rights to mineral finds and forestry that falls within the boarders of their property and although your official document, that we filed with the provincial and federal governments shows one boarder, the official decree describes a different boarder and even though the property has changed hands, as long as the original residents' families still reside on the property, then the mineral and forest rights still belong to the community.
You don't officially own the rights, but the villagers do, as long as they stay here."
Bill was a little confused.
"But that means that if we sold to Hirst and everyone left, he would not hold the mineral rights."
Matty smiled.
"No, but ...
if you have a corrupt official in your back pocket, especially someone like the Premier of the province. Perhaps someone who found an old claim filed for the hills around Tuckamore Bay. A claim that, if true, could amount to fuck knows how much money. And with no residents in the Bay, the mineral rights would defer back to the government and would fall under government policy and procedure."
Bill nodded.
"Which means that if a claim were filed by a relative of Simon Hirst, he would only have to prove he is a relative to reopen the claim. And to claim ownership."
"That is one possibility. Another would be that he would file for a new claim."
Matty poured a drink and stood in silence for a moment.
"Still that is a huge chance to take, based on rumors or speculation. We are talking millions and millions of dollars that Hirst was willing to invest here."
"You think he has something more?"
"He does or perhaps someone else does."
"You think maybe the premier?" Bill enquired.
Matty shook her head.
"No. Premier Best seems to be squeaky clean, but ...
Calvin Parsons might."
Nanny Dove grunted.
"Dem Parsonses bes a bunch of fuckin' crooks anyways. Wouldn't surprise me."
Bill let out a long sigh.
"So we can expect a little more pressure in the near future."
Matty nodded.
"I would think so. More than just a little. Obviously Hirst feels that there is reason enough to invest a lot of money into the mountains out there.
And I don't think he, or anyone else would do that without some kind of proof."
Matty shook her head.
"Fuck. Its not as if we don't have enough on the go right now, without having to worry about this shit."
She let out a long exaggerated sigh and looked at Bill.
"So what do we do next?"
"I don't know, my love. Right now I think we should just wait and see what our friend Mr. Hirst comes back with."
Bill looked at Nanny Dove.
"Can you do some digging and find out anything you can about the two men that were here."
Nanny Dove laughed.
"Youse wants me to go digging' in da graveyard out dere?"
Bill rolled his eyes.
"Would you?"
"Ise guess Ise could kick a few 'eadstones.
Rattle a few coffins.
Dig up some old friends.
Hold a seance.
Dust off dat old ouija board."
Matty stared, wide eyed, at her grandmother, laughing.
"Are you finished Matilda?"
"Ise is.
Bye bye."
She disappeared.
A knock came to the door.
"Who could that be?" Bill wondered, as he walked to the front door.
Jarge waddled through and looked up at Bill, squawking. A second later Mable walked through the door as well.
Matty shook her head.
"When did we suddenly have two pet seagulls?"
"I have no idea. We could throw Mable outside," Bill suggested.
Jarge put one wing around Mable and squawked at Bill.
"Just joking," Bill laughed.
"You know what is even funnier?"
Bill looked at Matty, shrugging.
Matty started laughing.
"A whole ocean out there and he comes home for dinner. And brings a guest."
Matty turned and headed for the kitchen.
"Come on you two. I have some sardines for you."
Jarge and Mable waddled off behind Matty.