Debts in the Depths

There was something suspicious about John Adams. No, not that one, the other one. This John Adams was not from Massachusetts, though his jurisdiction was up for debate. He was one of six men, who left the shore of Adams' lake, entering the black waters under the full moon. They all had a purpose for being there, but John Adams was different.

It wasn't just the way he seemed nervous, eyes darting all over the dark lake, nor that he resisted so hard to get in the boat to begin with. It was something altogether different.

Adams was the richest man in town. He said he made his money from the lake, and the lake was big, making up the majority of his estate. But John Adams never brought any fish to market. Really, no one could recall ever getting fish from the lake.

Many blamed an Abenaki curse. Whether it was real or not, townsfolk thought it was a passable explanation for the lack of fish in an otherwise healthy lake. If one looked hard enough, they might find that the rumor was produced and perpetuated by Mr. Adams, himself. But no one cared to look that hard, at least not until Patrick Henry (again, not that one, but a different one), started to investigate John Adams and the land he lived on.

It was 1763 and Patrick Henry was in the New England colonies at the formal request of the province of New York. For twenty years, New York and New Hampshire had squabbled over the land west of the Connecticut River, until New York formally appealed to the Board of Trade to settle the matter once in for all. Mr. Henry was dispatched to investigate. This was the reason for him being in New England. The mysterious disappearance of 15 men, was his reason for being inside the boat.

The boat belonged to Mr. Adams, and it comfortably sat six men and their supplies. Three pairs made the passenger list, each representing one party involved in the investigation. Mr. Henry and his attaché from the Board, a representative for the Governor of New Hampshire and a surveyor from the same province, and a reluctant Mr. Adams with his farmhand.

The boat left the southside of the lake an hour before midnight. The full moon on that fateful May day, lit up the lake perfectly, but Mount Pious on the East Shore and Mount Humble on the West were dark overlords, watching with hundreds of eyes as the expedition made its way through the inky waters of the lake.

The representative for the Governor of New Hampshire, Thomas Thornton was originally at odds with Mr. Henry - after all, Mr. Thornton's job was to protect the interests of the settlers of New Hampshire, and there was a growing fear as Mr. Henry's investigation moved forward that his findings would be less than favorable to the province. But Mr. Thornton and Mr. Henry found themselves fully aligned when it came to the disappearance of 15 men, and both eyed Mr. Adams cautiously the further they got into the lake.

"The boat always comes back, but the men don't seem to," Mr. Adam's farmhand, Matthew, said. He was an able worker of the land, and an honest man. Though even his honesty had surprised him. Oddly, the fact he'd just announced had missed him completely until Henry and Thornton inquired. He never thought about the fact that the boat returned soulless. Why had he never thought about it?

It was this statement that made it necessary that Mr. Adams join the expedition into the lake.

As the boat traveled further north, Mr. Henry and Mr. Thornton interrogated Mr. Adams, hoping their captive audience would be more forthcoming than when his feet touched land.

"Mr. Adams, how exactly did you procure your wealth from this lake?" Mr. Henry began.

Mr. Adams continued to stare at the lake. After a moment, he simply proffered, "Bah!"

Mr. Thornton followed, "Does it have anything to do with the rumors we've heard about the lake? It seems it does not matter who we ask in town, Puritan or drunkard, they all tell the same story."

"Take 100 Spanish Dollars to Adams' lake," Mr. Henry continued, "his boat will be waiting. Travel north at your peril until you pass the three island trees to the East, and arrive at the middle of the lake."

"I see the islands now, sir. We should be reaching them shortly." The New Hampshire surveyor called out.

"We should turn around." Mr. Adams said nervously.

"The 'peril' part is interesting," Mr. Thornton addressed Mr. Henry's story, completely ignoring Mr. Adams's protests. "Because the patrons of Seamus's pub say that at least one person has navigated this plan and been successful."

"Proud of your new wealth, they say," began Mr. Henry, "you seemingly drank your way through a cask of ale. You advised the fellow patrons in your drunken state that the lake had made you wealthy. Then ripped your shirt like Jacob and blubbered about the great sacrifice it cost you."

"We've reached the three islands," the surveyor called.

Mr. Thornton resumed where Mr. Henry left off, "Fellow patriots recall your tears drying and an offer that anyone with 100 Spanish Dollars could share the same fate."

"It's too late." Is all Mr. Adams could muster, his eyes staring unwaveringly beyond Thornton and Henry into the water.

The two men turned when they heard the other three gasp. Breaking just above the water was the head of a woman, whose eyes glowed with the moon.

"John Adams, you finally return to pay your debt." The woman called with a voice full of water.

"What is she talking about?" Henry asked.

"What is she?" Thornton followed.

She ignored them both and continued her business with Adams. "You were to return in one year's time. I gave you your wealth, instead, you sent me proxies. That was not our arrangement."

She then calmly dipped her head under the water and out of sight.

The men turned in the boat looking for her in the water, but all was still and quiet. Suddenly, an explosion in the water unsettled the boat, with all men flying free of its safe harbor. Upon hitting the water, they each searched quickly for the boat's edges and fought to exit the water. Henry was the first to make it in. He grabbed for Thornton to drag him aboard. They each then assisted Henry's attache, the surveyor, and Matthew.

Terrified, soaked, and half-drowned, the men gasped for air and waited while oxygen refilled their lungs. As they calmed, so too did the lake. The boat's two oars returned to the surface of the water, but Mr. Adams did not.