A Night in the Old Dark House - Part Two

 

     To distract himself, Oliver scanned the room and was stunned to see that there were other people at the table. To his right sat three men, one at the foot of the table and one at the end of each line of girls, himself excluded. The center man was corpulent, cigar in hand, breathing out a haze of smoke. The other two men were slightly younger, but sharing the same haughty aspect of privilege. All three men hungerly roved their eyes over the young women.

     A ringing of fork on crystal goblet pulled Oliver from this disagreeable sight to the head of the table where Minnie Hitt stood in authority. “My friends,” she said with a poorly-concealed choke in her voice. “You are all welcome into my humble home on this dreadful evening.” The rumble of the storm and the shriek of wind required that she increase her volume. “Our fine lawyers have informed me that in less than an hour, we arrive at the earliest legal moment to settle my dear husband’s affairs.” With that last word, she surveyed the five young women present. “This is something that I wish to have resolved at the earliest possible moment.” She smiled with a hint of glee. “This allows me to indulge in the melodrama of the reading of his will at midnight.”

     Oliver tried to return a pleasant smile but only suffered a further weight on his mood. The creepy old guy at the foot of the table gave him a knowing wink. Then Oliver realized that he was winking at the girl to his side. Between puffs of smoke, he winked at each of the other girls in turn.  The other two men were not far behind the old coot in looks of avarice and lust. He wanted to shield these refined women from the cesspool at the end of the table. Yet, as he looked towards them, he was dispirited to see that these girls didn’t appear to be much more innocent.

         “I have dismissed my staff for the evening,” announced Mrs. Hitt. “We will have to serve ourselves. Please tuck in to whatever dish you fancy.” Oliver did not recognize most of the dishes that were passed around the group.  He settled on what appeared to a couple variations of cottage pie and some vegetables.  While they looked pleasant to the taste, he found them, at best, a tasteless mixture of colored paste.

     The men at the bottom end of the table indulged heartily with each delicacy. Oliver did find it slightly comforting that several of the girls were clearly only going through the motions of eating.  At the head of the table, Minnie Hitt sipped from a glass and studied them all.

     Though Oliver was slow to notice, the dinner conversation deteriorated quickly. The men made increasingly lewd comments and innuendo. One of the younger men attempted to paw at one of the young women, fortunately, she shrank back from his clutches. It was like a dream turning into a nightmare; then Oliver remembered himself. “Are we not gentlemen?” he found himself asking with conviction and authority. The other men briefly looked stunned but then their faces darkened into contempt. In discomfort, Oliver scanned the women in the room and found them unreadable. Minnie continued to scrutinize them all.

      It was a relief to abandon the dining room. During his misery there, Oliver understood that the older man had been Frank Hitt’s business partner at some time in the past. The other two men were lawyers for the estate. Though it was unclear, the five young women all seemed to have had some kind of association with Frank over the last few years. They each insisted that they were “good friends” of the deceased. Oliver hoped that his inexperienced mind was only misunderstanding what the women were. It wasn’t possible. They were so beautiful, but maybe not.

     The time came for the reading.  The lawyers waited for the last chime of the midnight clock. Oliver found the will confusing. As far as he could tell, Frank had left Minnie all of his known assets, but he had maintained a number of hidden assets that had an alternate will. The two lawyers rummaged through some papers. The one broke the seal on a weathered envelope, pulled out a sheet and handed it to the other for reading.

     “I Franklin Hitt, being of sound mind, do evenly bequeath my special assets to any partners who are present at this reading as well as any of my special friends who make themselves known by proper documentation. Should there be any contested claims, I do instead leave those same assets to be shared evenly with all who should spend the entire night of this reading in my home, concluding at dawn. This is my final wish.”

     Immediately, two of the young women produced letters, which asserted that they had enjoyed special relations with Frank. The other three women insisted that the letters had to be faked because they had been Frank’s true friends. The first two cried in outrage. The old partner puffed his cigar in contentment. The two lawyers gave one another knowing nods, each moving to one of the first two girls, comforting them with sympathetic shoulder hugs that escalated to the soothing stroking of their long hair. Then the other three girls cried out in opposition. The lawyers released their grip on the first two, with the clear intent of sharing their sympathy and lawyerly counsel with the others.

     “Hands off! You men forget yourself.” shouted Oliver. “These ladies are not to be pawed at.” He was surprised at his own daring words. He certainly felt them, but he was just a kid talking to worldly men. Surprisingly, his words conveyed real power.  The men stepped away from the women, for the time being.

     “It would seem,” scowled Minnie, “that my Frank had a life of which I was not aware.” All were silent. They waited to see what she would do. She paced in front of the fireplace for some time. “I believe that I must let Frank’s wishes to be fulfilled, no matter how distasteful I find this.” She gazed at the two lawyers with contempt. “I suppose, considering all this,” she said pointing at the five girls, “we are locked into seeing this through.” She glowered at her guests. “You all have your room assignments. Let us see who is still here at dawn.” The storm continued to rage as the company surveyed one another with looks of distrust.

     As the others retreated from the room, Oliver noticed how pleased the three men appeared to be. Miserably, he wondered what he should do. He noticed Minnie quietly regarding him. “I’m clearly out of place,” he lamented. “I think that it would be better if I were to leave right now.” The thought of going into the storm did not appeal, especially considering the four miles he would have to walk.

     “You stay,” said Minnie with affection. “No matter what you see tonight, do not panic.” She smiled. “Know this, it is only an illusion. Just do your duty as a gentleman. Keep to your principles, and maybe when this is all over, we will laugh, and you can be certain of this: I will make it worth your while for going along with my little joke.”  

     The farm boy was stunned.  He only barely listened as Minnie gave him the option of taking a room for the night or sitting up all night in the library.