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The librarian's eyes lit up behind his glasses. "Whispering Bluffs…" He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin. "It does sound familiar, but I can't pinpoint… give me a moment."
For a moment, he closed his eyes and tapped his index finger on the desk. "You know, I've only been here five years, but Blue Harbor is full of local legends and beautiful hidden spots, particularly along the lakeshore."
He was silent for another minute or two and then suddenly sat upright. "I've got it. I remember now. I was at a meeting of the local genealogical society, talking about the resources we have available here, and I had a side conversation with an older gentleman. He talked about forgotten favorite spots around Blue Harbor. Whispering Bluffs came up in that conversation."
The librarian leaned forward. "Surely, you've heard of Jack's Whacky Shack? Every visitor seems to eventually end up there. Jack Williams is the man who owns it, and he's been here his entire life. I heard about Whispering Bluffs from him."
Tyler suddenly smiled from ear to ear. A mischievous gleam sparkled in his eyes. "The Whacky Shack! Of course, I know it. Ronan, I used to love going there as a kid. It's a crazy little novelty shop full of ridiculous things and a few more valuable objects. Who would have known it might hold a key to your mystery?"
Tyler's enthusiasm was infectious. "I guess that has to be our next stop. Let's visit Jack and see what he can tell us."
The Whacky Shack erupted in a rainbow of color and chaos as soon as I opened the door. Unassuming from the outside, it was tucked in a row of other storefronts on Main Street. The windows gave a few clues to the atmosphere inside with displays of novelty T-shirts and aquarium-appropriate versions of Blue Harbor landmarks.
"Ronan, look here!" Tyler was like a kid again as he pointed at a stack of whoopee cushions. "I had a few of these when I was a kid, and I thought they were the funniest things on earth."
I chuckled, thinking about Tyler as a young boy hiding whoopee cushions to startle the unsuspecting. "You were a mischievous kid, weren't you?"
"Guilty!" He led me through the cluttered aisles. "Oh, and here are the fake mustaches. I wore one to our family's dinner one time and convinced my little sister that I'd grown it overnight. She believed me for days until Dad set her straight."
Tyler paused in front of a display of magic tricks. "This reminds me of the time I bought disappearing ink." He picked up a bottle to show me. "I was about ten, and it made me think of a prank for April Fool's Day."
He turned to me to share the rest of the story. "I took the ink and accidentally spilled it on my mom's favorite tablecloth. She was beside herself, thinking I'd ruined a family heirloom. Then, when the ink vanished before her eyes, she was so relieved that she started to laugh. She still grounded me, but we all had a seriously good chuckle as a family."
When we reached the counter, a man with a few streaks of gray in his brown hair looked up from a magazine. His eyes opened wide. "Well, if it isn't Tyler Kincaid! Haven't seen you in the shop since you were, oh, about this high." He held a flat hand up to his chest.
Tyler laughed and leaned against the counter. "Good to see you, Jack. Let me introduce my friend, Ronan. We were hoping you might be able to help us out with a local landmark."
Jack's bushy eyebrows rose. "Local landmarks? You might be at the right place. I do know a lot of random things about our little town. What's your question?"
I stepped up and unfolded my letter on the counter. "This letter, from one of my ancestors, mentions a place called Whispering Bluffs. We can't find it on any maps, but the librarian thought you might be able to help."
Jack squinted at the faded writing. He scanned a few lines and then looked up. "Whispering Bluffs… yes! And I haven't heard it mentioned in a long time."
"You know it?" I glanced at Tyler, who was beaming with endless admiration of the owner of the Whacky Shack.
"Back in the day, I mean, maybe forty years ago now, Whispering Bluffs was a hot spot for young lovers—a sort of Inspiration Point. It was a secluded little clearing at the end of a gravel road north of town. The view of the lake from there would take your breath away."
I sensed that the puzzle pieces might be falling into place as I listened to Jack. "Why did they call it Whispering Bluffs?"
Jack glanced at the letter again. Then he gestured toward us, drawing pictures in the air with his hands. "There used to be an impressive rock formation perched right on the edge of the bluff. When the wind blew just right, it pushed through gaps between the boulders and sounded like people whispering. The legend said if you carried on a conversation and whispered your secrets into the rocks, the wind would take them away and keep them safe forever."
I immediately applied the legend to Great-Uncle Ian's words in the letter, and it tugged at my heart. Perhaps he had shared his secrets with the target of his affections, and the wind carried them away. It was a strikingly beautiful image, and it made me long for that kind of connection in my own life.
Fixing my gaze on Jack, I asked, "What happened to the rock formation?"
He sighed and touched the letter with his fingertips. "About twenty years ago, there was a huge storm that rolled in off Lake Michigan. Tyler here would have been just a small boy. The combination of wind and water ravaged the coast, almost like those Nor' Easter's they have out in New England. Those boulders rolled down the bluff and came to rest just beneath the surface of the water. It silenced the whispering voices forever."
Tyler and I looked at each other, and I thought I saw a watery tear or two glistening in his eyes. Jack wasn't finished.
"The rocks might have been gone, but it wasn't the end of stories about the bluffs. People talked about seeing strange lights in the distance after dark and occasionally hearing voices on the wind."
Tyler spoke up. "That's amazing. Did anyone ever figure out the source of the lights or the voices?"
Jack slowly shook his head. "I don't think so. Some insisted it was just the reflection of the moon on the water and the rustling of tree leaves, but I don't know. Eventually, people got older, and Whispering Bluffs disappeared from any maps. I haven't heard about anyone going there for a long time."
I had to ask Jack one key question. "Do you believe the stories?"
He folded the pages. "I'm an avid storyteller, and I think there's truth in every tale, even it's not something immediately apparent. Whispering Bluffs had a way of encouraging people to confront the truth in their lives. That is something I believed in."
