Hoots Mon

A light dinner, and serious conversation

 Brenda answered the doorbell, and let Mr. Griffin in through the Oliver street side of the house. The sun was setting and the oak trees were silhouetted against the sky. Daniel shook hands with him, took his tweed coat, and hung it in the "under stairs" closet. Brenda ushered him into the parlor, and served wine for herself, and Daniel while Mr. Griffin sipped a brandy.

It wasn't chilly enough for a fire in the living room fireplace, so they sat and watched the sun go down across the railroad tracks.  Mr. Griffin informed Brenda that her Halloween display was the talk of the town, and that he was going to be a Scottish Pirate for the get together. He had a large collection of wigs, and costumes from many eras. 

Daniel said that he enjoyed dressing up in costume as a child, and would be interested in joining the reenactments one day. He loved Charles Dickens, and Jules Verne stories. Brenda talked him into dressing in an authentic vintage Edwardian outfit like Mr. Blundon might have worn.

Mr. Griffin said that they could call him by his first name "Fairfield" if they'd like. He said that he'd be having 3 guests staying with him for a week, and that they were Freemasons from Great Britain, and Scotland. Misters Brae, Soames, and Feeney. Brenda asked if they could come to the Halloween party, and he said he would "absolutely try" to bring them. Mr. Feeney, he added, was very interested in the occult.

Dinner consisted of asparagus with cream sauce, sweet potato, corn bread, Loma Linda meat alternative cutlets, and a strawberry rhubarb pie. Daniel chatted a little about his work, and said that he still loved Riverdale Park after having lived and worked there for 12 years.  The subject of the Blundons came up, and they moved into the living room for further discussion.

Fairfield said that Fannie, Joseph's wife, had died in 1939 in Washington D.C. in her 80's. Joseph, of course had died August 11 1909 when he was struck down by a train walking home at night from having been in Hyattsville on social calls. There were great debates at the time as to whether or not he had killed himself for any number of reasons. 

His 13 year old son, nicknamed "Waters" and his cousin, Guy Brown, along with a friend, Charles Lynch, had possibly been sitting on the railroad ties on the night of July 27, 1895 watching a Northbound train go by on the opposite track, when they never saw the southbound train approaching them at 50 miles an hour. 

They were most likely partially decapitated by the train steps, and thrown onto the rocks, and never knew what hit them. A black man found them on the tracks on his way to work, and summoned Mr. Blundon. Fannie Blundon was not notified about the situation until the coffins were sealed. The three were in such a bad state, they didn't wish to upset her further. 

There was a lot more to tell. Daniel wondered if there were any police reports, that he might be able to check, but some of the papers were sealed. The train steps seemed to be the most likely culprit. He said that Mr. Blundon must have never recovered from the horrible sight in front of him. He felt that if anything similar happened to his future children, he would "be a mess for a long long time."

C J. Marks