Druid's Future

Chapter 4   

Jim Daniels left Chicago for California.  The Castle that he inherited
was almost complete.  Up within Mt. Shasta the castle had a perfect
setting.  Here the castle would be put to use.  Here the castle would be
enjoyed.  At 2000 feet up and situated against a dramatic cliff, though
the castle was within a national forest, it was still considered a
private home.  Only certain areas of the castle would be open to the
public when it was finished.  With two million acres of forest
surrounding the castle, there really wouldn't be too many people that
would disturb the serenity of the place.  Even though there was a lot of
publicity about the castle, there really wasn't much mentioned as to
where the castle would be built.  Jim was relieved for that.  He had
plans for modernizing it more and living in a portion of it.  Some of it
would be rented out to special groups for special occasions.  He heard
that groups like the Society for Creative Anachromnism was always
looking for space to hold their events where they could fight, feast,
and camp.  The SCA sounded like an interesting group.  Maybe he would
invite them over to a special open house and view the castle.

Jim's thoughts drifted back to when his uncle died, and when the lawyer
came and delivered the letter that changed his life.  He remembered when
the lawyer arrived.  Robert, his father, was very upset.  The lawyer was
delivering what was left of his brother's estate.  What Jim didn't know
was the anger and resentment that his father had for his brother.  The
lawyer was only there to do his job.  Robert didn't want to have
anything to do with him and when he discovered the letter was for his
son, that was almost intolerable.  Jim, however, was fascinated.  He had
almost forgotten about his Uncle Richard but looking at his father,
Robert had wished that his son had.  Jim, though, wasn't about to forget
it but what did he remember about his uncle?  Jim couldn't remember
much.  All he knew was that he had visited him in England when he was
very young and he had lived in a castle; the very same that Jim was
rebuilding in California.  Jim thought back to that time.  Even now he
could hardly believe what he had learned and yet, the evidence was
there, sitting next to him in his briefcase.  Jim could not understand
why his father had been so opposed to learning about their family's
heritage.  He could still remember the look on his father's face.

*****

Jim looked at his father.  He knew his father was holding something
back.  Robert, however just could not face the truth, and yet, he knew
he should have told his son months ago about the letter he received from
his brother.  They had not spoken in years.  Robert thought about what
was written in that letter and he shook his head in despair.  He could
not believe the odacity of his brother.  Richard had decided that Jim
would be his heir to his fortune.  Robert wrote to his brother telling
him that he did not want his son to have any part of it and now a lawyer
had come to deliver the news.  It was apparent that Richard did not
listened.  'Why did he have to choose my son and involve him in his
crazy skeems?' thought Robert.  Jim had a look of perplexity.  He could
not understand why his father felt the way he did.  He was even more
surprised that his Uncle would not even consider his father's feelings. 
Jim believed that part of the fortune should have gone to to his father.

'Why me instead of his dad?  They were brothers after all.'  Jim learned
that same day that they were not on speaking terms and had been that way
for many years.  He asked his father about it but Robert Daniels was
reluctant to talk about it.  

"Come on dad," said Jim.  "You have to tell me.  Don't I deserve to know
more about my uncle?  He was your brother, don't you even care?"

Jim would not stop pestering him until he would give him an
explanation.  

"It's not that son," Robert started to say.  The look in Jim's eyes was
enough for Robert to realize that an explanation was due to his son. 
What Jim's dad told him was a story that was hard to accept and yet
there was evidence that could not be explained or ignored.  Robert
Daniels had not thought of his younger brother in years.  Robert
believed that Richard was a crazy fool and he told his son so.  Robert
recalled the history of his family.  Was it history?  His brother seemed
to think so and so did their mother.  'Oh why can't I get away from this
damned curse,' he thought.  'Why can't it remain buried.' 

Robert thought about throwing the lawyer out on his ear and telling him
what he could do with his damned letter.  But his son would still want
to know the truth.  He knew it would not stop there.  Robert took a deep
sigh and began his tale.

"Years ago, before you were born, your uncle and I discovered that the
family owned a castle dating back over 1000 years in England.  Up until
your father and I learned about it, the castle had been forgotten for
many generations.  Even the people of the area forgot about it's origins
and it's history, but not about it's peculiarities. You see, this
particular castle was looked upon as a curse rather than a blessing. 
The village people wanted to be rid of it, but each time they tried,
strange things would happen."

"What kind of things?" Jim asked with curiosity.

Robert looked at his son and debated whether he should go into that kind
of detail.  

"It really doesn't matter.  You'll find out soon enough.  Anyway, for
hundreds of years the villagers tried everything to be rid of the castle
but nothing worked, they just gave up.  Until about 35 years ago, some
developers were interested in the land.  It was then the villagers did
everything they could to find the owner in hopes to be rid of the
thing.  I do not know why they did not think of it before.  Maybe they
thought the castle had no owner, that whomever it belonged to was long
dead.  It wasn't until Richard and I came on the scene that the
villagers had a ray of hope, you might say.  I cannot believe I even
went along with Richard on this.  Oh, the foolishness of the young.  I
wish I had not set eyes on the thing.  It has caused this family nothing
but grief.  Anyhow, we made our claim and were given permission to
search the castle for proof of ownership.  Once proven, the castle would
be ours."

Robert stopped his narration there.  He really did not want to go into
detail about the rift that had been formed between him and his brother
from the castle's existence.  It was just too painful.  How could he
explain to his son that he believed his brother had been driven insane
from it all.  Robert thought back on those days.  They were really no
more than kids fresh out of college.  When they learned about the
castle's existence, they had both been fired up from images of knights
on white horses, hidden treasures, and secrets only they would
discover.  

'It was rather strange how things changed,' thought Robert.  'At first,
I was the one interested in proving ownership of the castle and caring
for our heritage. Richard had been only interested in hunting treasures
and selling them to the highest bidder.  But after the discovery of
those blasted manuscripts . . .'  Robert let the thought remain unspoken
but he still could not resist looking back upon the past and trying to
cleanse what shame he felt and to try and understand what had happened
to his brother.

End of Chapter 4