Chapter 5
In Which I Get Started
I am writing by candlelight. The past few days have been a blur. I am glad to say that I have managed to straighten my affairs in the following ways: first, that I have secured food and water, which required a three mile walk to the village, my car being nearly out of gas; second, that I have made arrangements for the delivery of some of my things from my apartment, which my sister has gladly agreed to send to me; and third, that I have begun researching into the possibility of purchasing this little inn where now I am staying. Reader, will you believe it? There is no record of anyone owning this abandoned place for over fifty years! The county clerk as much as told me that I might stay here indefinitely without cause for alarm. However, as I consider myself to be an honest citizen, and as I plan for this to be no small visit, I have begun the process of securing a lawyer to look into buying this place. It is the least that I might do.
Do not think for a moment that these necessary labors have kept me from my great work, however. I am happy to report that on the very first day I found time to begin cataloging the little library. It is in a sorry state. Many of the books I recall from just two weeks ago--though my mind will hardly let me believe it--are simply gone. Others are in various states of deterioration. Many--too many--are all but destroyed by insects or rodents, and all but a very few have some degree of water damage. All are disordered and haphazard, some on shelves, others stacked on the floor. However, I refuse to lose hope. One of the first finds that I made--will you believe it?--was the first volume of The Chronicles of Warwick, the very volume I had begun reading, which led to my decision to stay and research Warwick further. Perhaps you will find me gullible,
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but I take this as an omen that my decision was well-founded.
My first research will be into the life and times of Father Frank Wright. I have already published his biography--what little I know of it--here. He was, as I understand, the founder of the Veritist Society. The Chronicles make mention of a diary which he kept. I have no doubt that it was among the volumes once stored here. I shall go in search of it first and publish it here when I make its discovery.
Yours,
Richard Dearforth, Narrator
My first research will be into the life and times of Father Frank Wright. I have already published his biography--what little I know of it--here. He was, as I understand, the founder of the Veritist Society. The Chronicles make mention of a diary which he kept. I have no doubt that it was among the volumes once stored here. I shall go in search of it first and publish it here when I make its discovery.
Yours,
Richard Dearforth, Narrator