SLOGGING THROUGH WINTER... Good & bad (Part 169p)

SLOGGING THROUGH WINTER… Good & bad (Part 169p)

There was a note on my desk chair when I got to work the next day. It was from Ward, the cleaning service owner, and it told me the desk in the cellar had been moved. I headed downstairs immediately. It was the first time I’d been in the storage area after J J and I had lifted/carried Lena out of there the previous day. After unlocking the door I took a look at the mess we’d left what with cardboard cartons randomly placed where Lena had searched through them. I’d told Mike, the messenger/custodian, to get rid of the dead rat so that was gone. It was then that I remembered that Lena had wet herself and took a look on the floor to see if there was any evidence of that but there wasn’t. Next I went over to the third storage bin and couldn’t believe the size of the desk now that it stood all by itself. It was at least six feet wide by four feet deep. It was a magnificent piece of furniture with carved ‘gingerbread’ on the face and sides. I guess they had a lot of free time back in those days to do all the scrollwork. But, what I really wanted to see was what was stored in the area behind where the desk had been located. Having spent time there on Saturday I came armed with a flashlight. It was more of the wooden crates we’d found only these didn’t have ledger cards in them but were filled with leather bound books. As I pulled one out the leather sort of disintegrated in my hand with the bound pages falling out leaving me holding what was left of the leather cover. Where I’d grabbed the cover I saw the leather had turned to powder. I blew on it and watched a puff of brown dust falling onto the rest of the books in the crate. I picked up the bound portion and found the pages to be extremely brittle. I wanted to know about the contents and after having a few pages disintegrate as I tried turning them, gave up. I then took what I was holding and tried opening it in the middle and saw it was some sort of medical like text. I knew I had to get back upstairs as the bank was about to open for the day so left it for later. I was a bit puzzled as to why the bank would have books like what I’d just seen in it’s possession.

I had it in my mind most of the morning. However, at noon time when I saw Bert, the president, leaving for lunch the thought came to me that he, having worked at the bank the longest, might have some ideas or answers. Normally, he would take off right at noon for home to have lunch with his invalid wife. But, when I approached him with my question he obliged me with a plausible answer. He said he couldn’t swear to the origination of the volumes but he did know that one of the founders and an original Trustee had been a doctor. He added that the original bank was actually located in his house. After giving me that enlightening bit of information he headed out the door. I remember standing there in the lobby contemplating what could be done with the material and came up blank. However, I was excited to get back to cellar after the doors closed for the day.

Mae was tied up with Lorie doing the final proof for the day when I headed down the stairs. By the time she joined me I’d lugged about a dozen crates out to where the desk was now located and where we had better light to work by. I don’t remember how many volumes were in each crate but we set about confirming that the contents of each were basically the same. After pulling out about six volumes our fingers were a vivid orange from the disintegrating leather covers. In trying to solve one problem (lack of space) I’d created another (what to do with the materials). A bit discouraged I headed to the back end of the bin and rooted around a bit to see what other stuff might be buried there. Mae decided to tackle the wooden file cabinets and started opening drawers. I didn’t pay much attention to her at first as I was busy moving crates and miscellaneous junk. When I finally looked over at her she was actually sitting on the dirty cement floor with both knees pulled up towards her chest. Her wardrobe was very basic… usually a gray or navy blue skirt that came to about an inch above the her knees. She could care less about fashion and for her, wearing a flowered blouse was about as ‘dressy’ as it got. She had what looked like a scroll in her hands and was twisting her body to try and get more light to shine on it. But that wasn’t what I was concentrating on. I’ve mentioned that Mae was not the least bit attractive and her shape was typical for, to be a bit cruel, a blue collar mother of three… round but not fat. It was probably from years of keeping an eye out for an upskirt opportunity that made me focus on the space between her legs. I couldn’t see her eyes because of the scroll so I knew she couldn’t see mine. I got a bit brazen by taking about four or five steps towards her and I could see light colored material at what would’ve been her groin area. I managed to divert my eyes as she lowered the scroll and quickly asked what she’d found. Hearing my voice and seeing me she lowered her legs. “I think it’s important…” was her reply as she handed it to me. And… was it ever! It was the original charter for the bank dated 1872.

I helped her up, garnering another very quick glance between her legs and we headed upstairs. I suggested we go straight to Bert’s office which was on the second floor. The back stairs was right there and she, literally, bounded up to the landing. If I’d been paying attention I might’ve gotten another peek but all I remember was seeing the back hem of her skirt bouncing up and down a few times. In the past, while following some of the other females up tje stairs, especially Lillian, it had proved to be a very good source of upskirt peeks. Approaching Bert’s office I saw Lena who didn’t see me. With Mae leading/blocking we were in front of her desk. The color on her cheeks went from flesh colored to almost tomato red in seconds. I honestly believe she couldn’t speak. So, I did and told her we had made an important discovery and needed to see Bert. She would normally just ring into his office on the phone but she got up and went to the door. It only took a second before she pushed it open and then walked away from us. In observing her I couldn’t help but smile... just a little bit.

Bert couldn’t have been happier when we rolled out the piece of parchment. (...they really did it right back in those days...) I remember him looking up at me saying that there had been a search for it going all the way back to when he was hired (1931). I knew it was important but was taken aback by just how excited the man was. He then went on that the discovery couldn’t have come at a better time because the hundred year anniversary of the founding of the bank was coming up in just three years. Looking straight at me he told me that finding the charter was a “sign” to get started on how the bank should celebrate it. I didn’t know if he was just making a broad statement of giving me a ‘charge’ to get on it. In leaving his office I felt I’d just won a couple of ‘brownie points’ but worried a bit as to just what a project like that would entail.


To be continued...