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Theodore McConnell
and The Case of The Missing Wagon
By Barry L.
Hatt
We have all heard the old
saying, “Kids will be kids”, and although times change and new
gadgets are invented, the youth of any age have to find something to do to
occupy their time.
The same was true back in the late
1930s. Theodore and his wife ‘Lizzy’ McConnell lived out on the
L’Etang Peninsula on the Lime Kiln Road. Their property had a beautiful
house, along with a big old barn, an outhouse and several other buildings that
served the purposes of a farm property.
The kids in
the neighbourhood thought that Theodore was a bit too gruff for their liking
and always tried to do mischief to him on Halloween. My aunt Dorothy, in
looking back, feels that Theodore acted like that to get them going to see what
they would do. She also said that they always felt welcome at their home and
that the girls used to love to watch ‘Lizzy’ knit, because the
knitting needles were almost like magic as they quickly danced over the yarn,
leaving the girls fascinated.
I guess the
disappearance of the McConnell wagon was a favourite theme at Halloween and
that year was no exception. Halloween night arrived and my dad and Aunt Dot
along with Henry Hatt, Joe Hatt, Billy and Marjorie Stewart, left on their
annual quest to help the wagon disappear. To their surprise they found the
wagon with chains padlocked to the wheels, so they would not turn. The girls
went in the house to visit and the boys figured there were enough of them to
drag the wagon away and set off to do so.
They pushed
and pulled the wagon out on the old dirt road and started towards Andrew
Stewart’s, a good push and pull up the road, and that old road was not an
easy route at the best of times. Large rocks and potholes and loose gravel all
made the task more difficult, especially with a wagon with wheels that did not
turn, but they finally managed to get the wagon as far as Andrew’s lower
driveway. Once there, Billy Stewart started whooping it up and laughing about
how they had outfoxed Theodore again.
At about that
time Carson Cook came walking down the road and ever after was associated with
the heist, although he had nothing to do with it. He protests his innocence, in
that caper, to this very day. Billy thought Henry was right behind him and as
he bent over laughing, Theodore, who had been following them down the road,
gave him a good boot in the seat of his pants and sent him flying.
Needless to say all accomplices disappeared in an
instant, so fast that even Houdini would have been proud. Billy Stewart, being
the recipient of the boot, recovered quickly enough to disappear right behind
the rest, and Theodore, it is rumored, laughed all the while as he went to get
his horse to take the wagon back home. You know, I think that may have been the
last time that Theodore McConnell’s wagon was ever bothered by the haunts
of Halloween.
Barry Hatt lives in Fredericton. You may contact him through his e-mail address which is blhatt@rogers.com
THE END
