Page 44 of Stay Buried

“Your mother?” Lorelei gave her an owllike blink behind her smudged glasses.

Ashley could feel Malcolm’s annoyance, but she pressed on.

“Louise Flanders,” Ashley said, handing over the picture. “She was here just about two years ago, looking into our family history. You must have spoken with her.”

Lorelei held the photo and blinked three more times in rapid succession. “I’m afraid not,” she said, handing the photo back.

“But if you were town clerk, I’m sure she—” Ash continued.

“It was before my time in the position, dear.”

Ashley’s heart sank.

“I’ve been town clerk for not quite a year,” Lorelei went on. “Took over when Ellie Bellinsky had her heart attack and passed away, God rest her soul. She was running the office out of a little storeroom at the back of the library. I moved it all over here and we had a big fundraiser to help the library turn that dingy old room into a children’s section!You should stop by. It’s a lovely spot. There’s a train table and a puppet theater!”

“Sounds great,” Mal chimed in. “The children must love it!”

Lorelei nodded proudly. Ashley willed herself not to shoot a death glare at Malcolm.

Malcolm took a polite sip of coffee.

“Do you need more sugar, dear? More creamer?” Lorelei asked.

“Oh no, it’s delicious just as it is,” Malcolm said with a convincing smile. Ash picked up her cup as well and took a dreadful sip.

“So, Ms. Prentice—” Mal continued.

“Lorelei,” she corrected.

“Lorelei,” he continued with another smile. “I’m curious—was there ever a real town hall?”

“Oh, sure there was. A great big yellow building right on Main Street, across from the Congregational church. It was the oldest building in town, other than the clothespin factory, in fact. But it burned to the ground… oh, would’ve been about two years ago. That’s when Ellie moved operations over to the library.”

“Were many of the records destroyed in the fire?” Ashley asked.

“Oh yes, I’m afraid so. We lost everything: old charters and maps, vital records, property tax records, all the archived historical materials. It was like the history and memory of the whole town went up in smoke.”

“That’s… that’s terrible.” Ashley felt a burning sensation rising in her throat.

“Any idea what caused the fire?” Malcolm asked.

“I believe it was an electrical problem of some kind. Old building, old wires.”

“So there’snothingfrom prior to two years ago?” Ashley tried not to sound suspicious. “No papers? No archives? There’s no historical society or anything like that?”

Lorelei shook her head again.

“It’s just… we were hoping to learn something about our family,”Ashley went on. “About what happened during the flu. Anything about our great-grandparents. What other family might have been around back then.”

The things her mother must have come here to learn.

“I’m sorry. I’m afraid everything was in the town hall. Any records we had on the town, the residents, the history—it’s all gone.” Was it Ashley’s imagination, or did Lorelei seem strangely indifferent about this? “I hate to say it, but if that’s what you came to Boone’s Ferry hoping to find, you’re better off getting in your car and heading home before the daylight’s gone. Don’t want to be navigating the mountain pass in the dark.”

“Well, Ms. Prentice—Lorelei—that’s actually not the only reason—” Malcolm began.

“When exactly was this fire?” Ashley interrupted, feeling a little warning ripple run through her like a low-voltage current.

“October,” Lorelei said. “The fifteenth of October, 2014.”