Spooky New England by S. E. Schlosser

Author:S. E. Schlosser
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493027972
Publisher: Globe Pequot Press

Mother started crying again when she saw the ring. I rubbed the gold band bemusedly and looked inside at the inscription engraved on it: “Forever yours, Maryanne.”

I placed the ring on my mother’s finger and kissed her on the forehead for my father.

Were ghosts real? As real as my father’s ring, I decided, and led my tired wife upstairs to bed.

PART TWO Powers of Darkness and Light

21

The Man Who Made Weather HALLOWELL, MAINE

Now, when you saw old Uncle Kaler puttering around among the roses in the garden at the back of his house, you would never have taken him for the local wizard. No sir. Uncle Kaler was small and wrinkled and bald. He lived all alone on Loudon Hill and he was always giving flowers to folk passing on their way to Cobbossee or the Hook. ’Course, many of the folk traveling that road were not really passing at all. Oh, they all had some trumped-up excuse for their journey, but they were really coming to see Uncle Kaler, wanting good luck charms, or love potions, or cattle cures.

But potions and amulets were just his sideline business; Uncle Kaler was best known for his ability to manipulate the weather. He could whistle up a whirlwind, start and stop a storm, make it snow in summer, or send a warm blast of air to heat the coldest day. People consulting Uncle Kaler for the first time were sometimes amused by the antics of the wrinkled, elfin man as he tested the wind with his finger or twirled his soup spoon around in the air. But when they got home, they would find their pond suddenly filled to the brim due to a cloudburst, or the ruined orchard at the back of their property cleared by a freak tornado, and they never laughed at Uncle Kaler again.

’Course, manipulating the weather is a tricky business, and sometimes it can get away from a body, even one as talented as Uncle Kaler. The incident I remember best came on a warm and misty summer evening a few years back. Uncle Kaler had spent the evening working among his roses, and as dusk fell he gathered an armload of yellow blossoms and brought them into the kitchen. As he was fetching out a vase for his treasures, he heard a horse speeding up the hill and stopping right outside his door.

Uncle Kaler opened the door. A youngish fellow appeared panting on his doorstep, holding a pretty young lady by the hand. Uncle Kaler recognized the young man at once, though he did not know the young lady. William had spent much of his time sailing the seas, and had done quite well for himself. His parents were very proud of their youngest boy, though some looked down upon him because his family came from poor farming stock.

“Are you Mr. Kaler?” William asked breathlessly.

“Yes, indeed,” said Uncle Kaler heartily. “And I am at your service.”

“Mr. Kaler, Elizabeth and I are on our way to Hallowell to be married.

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