“If I didn’t know better, I would swear those two are some sort of soul-sucking creatures. Mistress, I will find you something to drink and be back presently,” Sigmund said hurrying into the ballroom.
Helena sat there in the dark listening to the sound of the surf crashing on the rocks below, the fresh ocean air washing over her helped calm her swimming head after the conversation with the two Royals. Pulling out her only clue and spinning it in her hands, she contemplated the cork and Missy’s fate. Was she wasting her time? If the end of the world was coming, maybe she should enjoy her life a little more than she had? She sat on the bench pondering her life and the future, waiting for Sigmund to return with something to drink when she noticed the strangest thing. Down below her, she witnessed a procession of torches snaking its way down the cliff stairs marching towards the saltwater Suttor Baths.
The Baths:
When Adolph Suttor built his saltwater Baths below the Cliff House, he used the natural curve of the bluff and a hollow formed by erosion to construct them. The Cliff House sat on a point sticking out into the ocean toward Seal Rock. The lights that Helena watched moved at least three hundred yards along the coast.
Helena turned trying to find someone to show the odd display of torches across the chasm. She saw an older gentleman limping along with the assistance of a cane the tip clicking on the flagstones as he approached. Before he got too close, he began speaking.
“Good evening Miss Brandywine, you and I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting, but I’ve known your family for some time. I am Adolph Suttor,” the stranger introduced himself.
Helena had never met the man before though she knew the name immediately. The man behind the name, built the Cliff House and the Baths below, not to mention owning most of the property from the Presidio to the Pacific Ocean. He was the wealthiest man in California, possibly even the western half the United States.
“Mister Suttor, someone is heading towards the Baths with torches, they might be trying to destroy your building,” Helena said pointing at the lights so far away.
“No honey, those are the survivors. They come here once a month customarily on a Friday night.”
“Why would anyone want to come here on a Friday night?”
“I would like to think the inn is a nice place to visit.”
“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to offend, I love it here, so luxurious. I meant why would anyone be here with torches and so late at night. It should be obvious the party is here.”
“We are very close to the Golden Gate. There are many ships that never reach San Francisco Harbor, many of them end up on the rocks below. The water is cold down there, and the surf is unforgiving. Sailors and passengers that go into the water off the coast here never come back. The cold black water rarely gives up the dead. Those lights you see down there, they are survivors of shipwrecks and the loved ones of people who’ve been lost at sea. They gather in the Baths once a month as a safe, warm place to pay respect. That is not entirely true, some come to pay respect for family surviving, some come to mourn the loss of loved ones, and some come to give thanks for being spared a watery death.”
“But what do they do, is it like church?”
“It gives them a sense of belonging, of shared pain, think of it as a community. I rent the Cliff House and the Baths to several organizations, some are private parties some public. Like those people in there,” he motioned to inside the ballroom. “Like it or not they are members of your tribe, like your extended family.”
“I don’t even know those people, I know nothing about them, I don’t think they know a thing about me.”
“You would be surprised. Many of them, like myself, knew your parents and your grandparents. I would say many of them going back over fifty years. Back to the gold rush.”
Helena considered the cork nestled her hands. “I don’t even know my family, it seems my Stepfather didn’t want me to know anything.”
“I am sure your stepfather has his reasons. The question is when are you going to be ready to take your rightful place in your community?”
“I’m sure I don’t understand what you mean?” Helena looked up at the old man innocent eyes glistening with almost tears.
“Some people think I am the richest person in the city. I let them believe whatever they want. Like I said, I knew your grandfather. I know he comes from old money in Scotland. Money isn’t the only measure of life, but it is a very accurate one. When will you wed and enter your proper social circle? You would be a princess among those cretins in there,” he gestured with his hand to the people dancing.
“I don’t think I want to be like them. I haven’t seen anything that makes me want to join them.”
“You sound like so many young people, always trying to change the world.”
“You don’t think the world needs changing?”
“I think no matter what people do, there will be those that take control of their lives and those that blame others for their situations,” he sat down beside her before continuing.
“I thought up an idea. My idea made many people rich, those people made many more people rich, the money trickled down to the lowest worker. Without me, those people would have no jobs. It is not my fault I gathered an immense fortune, making others wealthy.”
“And what if the money has blood on it? Someone has to be at the bottom to support this lifestyle.”
“All money has blood on it. Read the works of
