In previous chapters:
– Jeremy Captain prepared for a long seclusion on Lighthouse Island and Jane started living with her brother and Daisy.
– Mattie disappeared.

Thanks to the creators of the c.c. I use and my special gratitude to Fredbrenny for thinking with me.

While approaching Lighthouse Island, lots of memories came back to Jeremy. He remembered why he had come here the first time and tried not to think too much about it.

He found the lighthouse exactly as when he had left it. So, nobody else had been here since then. After cleaning out the fridge and plugging it in, he put away the groceries. He opened some windows, letting the fresh air in and put his clothes in the closet. As it was late, he went to bed and very soon he fell asleep.

Next day the sun was shining bright and he had a look in the garden.
Some plants were still alive but were overgrown with weeds. They needed to be taken care of. He prepared for a long garden session and he needed two whole days to make the garden look better.
Jeremy felt tremendously relieved having talked to Jane. He appreciated her too much to continue with her without really loving her.

He past the next evenings reading some new novels he had bought before coming to Lighthouse Island. His thought drifted off to Cynthia… He was curious to know her story and how she came to live here on the island. She hadn’t told him that. The only thing he knew was that she had lived here for about a year with Raphael Lightkeeper, who was considered by Jeremy as his Masteralthough he had passed away a long time ago and he never had met him in person.

Jeremy remembered himself as a young adult who had been lucky enough to earn a lot of money for being a popular football star. At that time he could have as many beautiful girls as he wanted to. After a match they always surrounded him for an autograph and some of them where so fanatic that they shouted out loud –Jemmy, I want your baby!– He recalled how he had smiled complacent and when he thought the girl was pretty, he just took her to a hotel room, if that was what she wanted . He was the only child of his family. His parents were fond of him, but his mother didn’t like him to be so thoughtless with girls.

Then his mother became seriously ill. His father loved his wife so much that he delegated the management of his Shipping Line and he stayed home to take care of his wife during that difficult time.

Jeremy loved his mother dearly and from that time on, he stopped his common behavior with girls just to please his mom. She said that it was about time for him to grow up to be a responsible man. When she died, her last look and words had been for him. He felt so bad that he just couldn’t continue the life he was living. He had been fired because of ignoring the daily trainings. So… his star had lost its glow and came down as quickly as it had risen.

It was not long after his mother passed away that his father died as well and he found himself alone in the world. The same world where every girl had wanted him was not interesting anymore. He started feeling worthless and felt disgusted when looking at his own face in the mirror. It was then that he was drawn to Lighthouse Island. He never felt like following in his father’s footsteps but now he could use the boat that his father had lovingly called after his wife ‘Frederique’. After getting all the necessary supplies he set off to Lighthouse Island.

In the beginning of his stay on the Island, he had suffered a lot. He was depressed and bored…, so bored that he thought that he ought to do something and he started to take care of the vegetable garden. He didn’t like to get his hands dirty but soon he found out that working in the garden brought him some peace of mind.

He was so concentrated on what he was doing that he didn’t notice it at once but after a few days he became aware that he heard a voice in his head. He had thought that he was going out of his mind. Even now, remembering this, it still gave him the creeps. That voice said ‘Look in the drawer’ and repeated that so often that he could not ignore it anymore.

He looked in the drawer and found a lot of esoteric guidelines that had been written by a man called Raphael Lightkeeper. When he started to read it, he didn’t understand it at first so he re-read it once and twice until he started to understand the meaning of this all.

Answers to the most difficult questions were laid in his head and he started feeling the simplicity of existence if though he had known it all of his life but very soon he noticed that he had to be open to continue in this state of mind. The moment he thought of worldly things, the simplicity escaped him again. It was if though he put his back to the truth and he decided to simply face it always. He had his long hair cut as a symbol of this big transformation. He had been there two years all alone; hearing his Master’s Voice as he called Raphael Lightkeeper. He even had seen him in his dreams.

From that time on, he had used every single moment to read Raphael’s philosophy. A whole new world had opened to him and he felt that his life was worth living again.

While doing the household, Jeremy was thinking about all those things. He felt as if he had arrived at a ‘dead point’ and he just wanted to stand again in the light of wisdom. That’s why he came back. He thought about Jane and about the fact that she, as well, had offered herself to him. Funny thing, he never had done anything to conquer a woman; they always had offered themselves to him.

After a few days on the Island, Jeremy started noticing something strange. Like there was water missing and food. He thought that it could be his imagination.

One night he woke up by an uncommon sound. He jumped out of bed and went downstairs, trying not to make much noise. He found a young thief in front of the open fridge. His eyes opened wide when he recognized the thief.

He exclaimed: – MATTIE, what are YOU doing here? How did you get here? Do your parents know that you’re here? –
Mattie was in shock that he had been discovered! Jeremy noticed that the boy was hungry and he prepared something better than just a sandwich and some water.

The boy looked dirty and Jeremy told him to have a shower and showed him the guestroom where he could have a good night’s rest. They would talk in the morning.
Mattie was exhausted and very confused. In reality, the boy felt relieved that Jeremy had found him. He was happy that the captain hadn’t asked for any explanations at that same moment and felt comforted that he could sleep in a real bed. He was very tired and fell asleep in the blink of an eye.

When he woke up, he saw Jeremy standing there looking at him. He told him to get dressed and come down for breakfast.
Once finished, Jeremy looked at him and only said: – I’m listening… –

–  Where do I start? –
–  How about you start at the beginning…! –

Then Mattie told his story:
– If I remember well, it was on Tuesday. I had been at Raph’s house for lunch and Cynthia trained me with the dummy. When we finished, I was in the kitchen with my friend when I heard you and Cynthia talk. You told her that you would go to Lighthouse Island and I always felt attracted to the island, wanting to visit it myself.

So I said goodbye to Raph and ran outside to reach the boat before you would arrive. – He stopped a moment and continued: – I knew I wouldn’t get permission if I asked for it and thought that missing one day of school wouldn’t be that bad because I’m a good student. Once on the boat, it took a long time before you got home…. –
–  That was because, after saying goodbye to Cynthia, I went to the grocery store to buy some supplies and to the bookstore to get some new books. By the way, why did you think that I would go to the island only for one day? –

–  Jane had called to say that she would be visiting us next day afternoon and as both of you are always together, I supposed it would be just for one day. After arriving on Lighthouse Island, I didn’t see Jane leaving the boat and wondered where she was. All too soon I found out that you closed all the doors and the only thing I found was a bottle of water on one of the tables on the deck. –
–  For heaven’s sake! Where did you hide that I haven’t seen you? –  asked Jeremy.

–  I hid underneath the stairs where you store the bucket and the mop. You were so close that I was afraid that you could hear me breath. When you left the boat, I came out of my hiding place and walked a bit around.

At first I was thrilled by the view of Sunset Valley but after a while I felt hungry and I knew that I couldn’t reach the fridge because you had closed the doors. I started getting nervous because it became clear to me that you would stay longer than just one day. I tried to calm down and drank a bit of the water that I had found just to calm my stomach. I made my homework and later on I tried to sleep on the floor in my hiding place.

At a certain point I lost sense of time and I was so hungry that I came near the Lighthouse. There I waited until you put off the lights. I sneaked inside feeling very nervous. Perhaps there was a burglar’s alarm…. –
–  There IS a burglar’s alarm but I didn’t connect it. –

–  Fortunately you didn’t notice that I went inside and I took some bread and water from the fridge. I have done that a couple of times until last evening when you caught me. I’m really very sorry; I never meant to be a thief…. – The boy looked very guilty.

– Well, you better prepare to face the consequences of your acts because you’ve been away for over a week. I didn’t bring my cell phone with me and the newspaper does not get delivered here but I’m sure that they are looking for you and your parents must really be suffering and be worried out of their minds. I will take you back to Sunset Valley right away. –

*****

Jane had been talking with Cynthia and she still stood there in Cynthia’s backyard admiring the view, when she saw that Jeremy’s ship was heading back to Sunset Valley. She wondered why, because he had told her that he would be on the island for some months. What could have happened? Could he be sorry and did he perhaps want her back? She decided not to do anything. If he wanted her back then she definitely wouldn’t make it easy on him.

Ilona and Chester were sitting outside on the patio and didn’t feel like doing anything. In this past week, Ilona felt as though she had grown older by years. They hadn’t received any further information and when somebody rang the door bell, both jumped on their feet running to the door with fear in their hearts. They wanted to hear about the boy but were afraid what kind of news they would hear.

Jeremy Captain stood tall in front of them, and behind him, very shyly appeared Mattie. That same moment Ilona fainted and Mattie had never in his life regretted something more as much as this escape.
Chester embraced the boy relieved and said: – We’re so happy to have you back, my son! While I take care of your mother, you should go and see your brothers and sisters; they all have missed you very much. – He hugged him again and after that he lifted Ilona up to take her inside.

When Mattie had changed and hugged his brothers and sisters, he came back immediately to be with his mother who, under her husband’s loving care, had come to. As Mattie had a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes, Jeremy told them everything the boy had told him and what had happened since he found Mattie.
They called the Police Station. They said they were sending an officer over to take their official statement so they could close the case.

Jeremy had done what he felt was his duty and he told Chester that he would inform Jane and Val, as well as Cynthia that the boy had been found.
Chester and Ilona were more than grateful they had their son back. They were in such an emotional shock, that it would take them some time to recover. Mattie had learned another lesson for life.

When Jeremy left the Hemmingways he took a long walk and from the distance he looked at Lighthouse Island. Then he decided to go immediately to Jane to pick up his cell phone. It hadn’t been such a good idea to leave it behind.
He was happy to be the bearer of the good news that Mattie had been found. Afterwards he would go to Cynthia’s place to tell her and Raph about Mattie’s adventure.

To be continued…