The Legend of Youngs Corner XXIX

PART XXIX
Horses and Medals

Nick was the first to enter. I followed behind him. The cabin was very narrow and probably couldn’t fit more than 4 people wide. And with all the debris scattered around, it was tough for just one person to get around.

“Look,” Nick said as he pointed his flashlight to the wall. “The horses.”
Indeed, there they were. Bobby had spotted the horse posters during the first journey. He was the tallest and so the only one who could peak through the windows. This was the first time anyone had seen them upclose. There were several posters and even some paintings of horses, galloping through fields and mountain streams. What were they doing here in a rotten cabin set amongst the thick forest?

Nick and I searched the cabin with our flashlights, this way and that. Open crates were shoved against the walls with what appeared to be random debris erupting from their tops. A table sat to the left, below a window. Nick and I approached the back of the cabin and saw a ladder.

“So,” Nico had joined us. “Who’s going up?”
We all let out a small chuckle, the mists of breath dissolving soon after.
“I’m going, of course,” Nick said. And up he went.

It was a short climb, perhaps 7 or 8 feet. We actually could see the top, but it didn’t reassure us. A long cloth, stretching from both walls, hung from the ceiling and rested on a raised platform. The ladder was laid against this platform, but the cloth kept hidden what the platform contained. Nick was journeying into the unknown.

“Don’t worry guys,” a voice came from behind the cloth. “It’s just clothes,” Nick said as he descended from the ladder.
“Check that out,” said Joe as he pointed his flashlight past the ladder and to the back wall. A great shinning light reflected back to us. There, nailed to the wall, were five rows of mostly Maine license plates. Five across and five deep. However, none of us recognized these plates, and for good reason. There were all dated to before our time.

“1921,” Nick said. “That’s the most recent one I can see.”
They were simple plates, various colored backgrounds with a line around the borders. The color of the line varied from plate to plate. They contained no more than 5 numbers.
“This place truly is a mystery,” I said. “Some things are so old, like these plates, the Popular Mechanics magazines, the horse medicine. And yet, the newspapers date to 1997, there are posters here, and even a child’s crayons and toys, all modern. How can a place seem to exist in so many time periods? Who could live here in such strange conditions?”

And like always, it was about to get even more bizarre.

“Hey guys, I’ve found something,” said Amanda.
“What?” Nick asked.
“Metals, everywhere."