Captain Erasmus “Easy” Eagan surveyed his unsuspecting passengers from the Adirondack’s bridge. By day, Easy was a jovial steamboat skipper, his booming laugh echoing across Chateaugay Lake. But beneath the captain’s hat and dapper salt-and-pepper moustache resided a predator, the ringleader of a clandestine operation that made piracy look like child’s play. Tonight, a disquiet gnawed at Easy. The usual intel from Jebediah, the stuttering innkeeper at the Cooteyville House, had been suspiciously absent.
The full moon, a time for bountiful pickings, hung heavy in the obsidian sky. Yet, the Adirondack churned through the inky water, an unnerving silence blanketing the normally boisterous deck. Easy tapped his foot, a rhythm counterpoint to the slapping of the paddlewheel. Beside him, first mate Finn “The Shark” O’Malley, a man whose smile curdled sour milk, muttered, “Jebediah better not be developing a taste for that Brazen Serpent Wendigo Whiskey™️ himself.”
Suddenly, a flicker of movement on the starboard side caught Easy’s eye. A lone figure, swathed in a long coat, emerged from the shadows near the gangplank. Relief washed over Easy, a cold sweat clinging to him like a shroud. It was Amelia, Jebediah’s niece, her face a pale smudge in the gloom.
“Captain,” she whispered, her voice hoarse, “There’s been trouble. Jebediah… he’s…” Her voice cracked.
Easy’s gut clenched. Jebediah, the spineless simpleton, the weak link in their chain. He ushered Amelia into his cabin, a cramped space redolent of pipe tobacco and stale coffee. The gas lamp hissed, casting long, skeletal shadows across the worn leather furniture. Amelia sank onto a threadbare sofa, tears welling in her eyes.
“It was those new revenue agents,” she blurted, her voice trembling. “They stormed the Cooteyville House, accusing Jebediah of… of…” Shame choked her voice.
Easy’s blood ran cold. Revenue agents? Their meticulously crafted scheme, a web of deceit spun over years, was at risk of unraveling. He slammed his fist on the table, a snarl twisting his features. “Where are they now?”
Amelia’s voice was barely a whisper. “They’re… they’re holding him in the back room. They say… they say they’re taking him to Plattsburgh in the morning.”
Easy’s mind raced. Plattsburgh. A jail. No! Jebediah, a simple man, would crack under pressure faster than a hollow eggshell… He’d spill their secrets like spilled grog, dragging the entire operation – and Easy himself – down to a watery grave!
“We need to get him out,” Easy declared, a steely glint in his eye. “Tonight!”
Amelia’s eyes widened. “But… how? The whole neighborhood’s crawling with those… those revenuers!”
A slow, feral grin spread across Easy’s face. “Leave that to me, sweetheart. We’ve got a performance to orchestrate.”
The next few hours were a blur of whispered plans, frantic activity, and the cloying scent of fear. Easy rallied his crew, a band of misfits as comfortable with violence as they were with the rhythmic pulse of the steamboat’s engine. Finn, ever the pragmatist, procured a length of sturdy rope and a grappling hook. Amelia, her fear morphing into a steely resolve, scouted the Cooteyville House, memorizing the positions of the revenue agents.
As the clock struck midnight, the Adirondack, adorned with an elaborate set-up of festive lanterns – a ploy to lure unsuspecting passengers onto the deck – drifted towards the Cooteyville House dock. The strains of an improvised lively jig, courtesy of the ship’s resident accordion player, filled the air.
Easy, now sporting a flamboyant top hat and a mischievous glint in his eye, addressed the assembled crowd. “Folks! A spontaneous celebration! Tonight, we commemorate the… uh… the unparalleled beauty of Chateaugay Lake!”
The passengers, a mix of weary travelers and enthusiastic tourists, cheered, lured by the promise of free drinks and merriment. Easy’s booming voice rose above the din. “And to add to the festivities, a grand fireworks show!”
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd as Finn, silhouetted against the moonlit sky, launched a shower of rockets from the deck. The rockets, a potent mix of gunpowder and Amelia’s well-placed “persuasion” at the nearby Chateaugay Ore and Iron Company dock, exploded with a cacophony of sound and light, momentarily blinding everyone on the shore.
In that window of chaos, Easy and his crew sprang into action…
What mysteries of Chateaugay Lake haunt you?