The rain picked up then, and the light turned strange. Instead of gray gloom, the many windows of the cabin let in an eerie blue light. That sort of thing looks nice in the movies, but it's sort of frightening in real life. When the flashes of lightening started, I'd been sure that they'd upset Markie since he never took storms very well at home, but it seemed that the gentle rocking of the boat as Scully drove it through the water had caused him to drift off to sleep. I myself was none so relaxed, and it made me feel a little better to see that Mulder didn't seem to be bearing up much better than me, at least gauging from the way his hands gripped onto the edge of the bench he sat upon. Every lightening strike lit up only a few of the windows because the boat moved so fast- the lighting in the cabin kaleidoscoped blue and brilliant white.

The further we got from shore, the worse the storm got. It explained why there had been no other boats out when we left. I was beginning to worry that we'd signed out own death warrants by embarking on a foolish trip in this weather, much like those who died in that horrible book, the Perfect Storm, but it was only another couple of minutes before land was visible through the window Scully was standing in front of.

Looking at it, I wasn't entirely sure if I should be relieved or not. Yes, there the island was, even a dock, but the rest of it...Boulders were scattered along the beach, poking up jaggedly. A few pitiful trees, obviously twisted and stunted from the constant abuse of the tide and storms were the only sign of life. It was obvious at a glance that the island wasn't capable of supporting anything more complex. At the very center of the island there was a wrought iron fence marking off a lawn-less yard.

Smack dab in middle of the "yard" there stood one of the biggest mansions I'd ever seen, not counting the ones down in Rode Island. It was a weathered black, in obvious need of a good paint job and a few new shutters. Other than that, it looked fairly sound. I really didn't want to go in there.

The look on Scully's face seemed to suggest an unhappy familiarity with the place. I was pretty sure she didn't want to go in there either. Mulder, on the other hand seemed to be boyishly excited about the prospect, his calm returning the second that we pulled up to the dock. He seemed eager when he went out to drop the anchor.

"Have you been here before?" I asked her once he'd gone out to play. "You looked like you'd seen this place before."

"What? Oh...no, it just reminded me of some place we investigated a while back." I didn't have to be a mind-reader to know that whatever had happened then was not a happy memory for her. She gave me a weak smile. "The weather's pretty rough, so don't be tempted to take the life vest off, ok?"

I looked out at the pounding rain making the dock slippery, and the roiling water splashing up onto it from below. "No problem." The last thing we'd need was for someone to get washed off the dock without their vest on.

Mulder waved at us, urging us to come out. "I guess we better get going." She said, sounding as reluctant as I felt.

I nodded, and put Markie's rain hat on. I hoped I could get him into the baby carrier without waking him since he was already wearing his raincoat like I was, but I didn't count on it. He barely stirred when I picked the carrier up and strapped it to my back, the life vest made it uncomfortable. I was thankful for that small miracle as I followed Scully out of the boat. She and Mulder divvied up the bags of equipment they were hoping would prove to be useful.

Once we were on the dock, it proved to be as slippery as I'd feared, and I was surprised no one fell off. We made a point to get off of it as soon as we could. Unfortunately, the beach path was little better. The rain made it soggy and small rivulets carved through it at random, making the path treacherous. The gate gave an angry squeak as Mulder push it open for us, but it didn't otherwise impede out efforts to reach the building. I think Scully and I were both more relieved to be standing on the house's front porch a few minutes later than either of us could have anticipated from the boat.

"Which one of you has the keys?" I asked, shivering. The porch's roof keep the worst of the rain off of us, but the wind still made the air quite raw. I was glad I'd thought to dress the baby warmer than I usually would for that part of the fall.

"There aren't any keys. No one has lived here for seventy years." Mulder said, with no apparent dismay.

"Then how are we supposed to get in?"

"Like this." He said, turning the doorknob and opening the door easily. I stepped in after him and Scully. For some reason, they both turned and gave the door a look like they expected it to slam close behind us. When it didn't, I shrugged and closed it. Their apprehensive looks disappeared.

The inside wasn't nearly as dirty or smelly as I'd expected a building abandoned during the great depression to be. Oh sure, it was a little dusty and a little musty, but it could almost be ignored, especially in the dimness of twilight. Mulder's eyes lit up, and I saw him reach down for something I couldn't see near the door. When he moved back into the light I saw that he was holding a heavy old cane. "This should come in handy to test the stairs." He told us. "You can't be too careful in a building this age."

I saw what he meant when he carefully lined it up on the stairs, took the railing in his other hand, and leaned all his weight on the cane. He confidently ascended that stair and repeated the process. "I think they're good." He called down to us. We hadn't moved.

"Where were you planning on going?" Scully asked him. I was wondering that too.

"Up to the widow's watch. That'll offer the best view." He said, referring to the glass-enclosed rooms many sea captains had built on their houses so their wives could watch for their returns. Often they didn't so hence the "widow" part of the name.

She frowned at him. "Are you sure that's a good idea? We are in the middle of a severe thunder storm, and it is the highest part of the house."

"It's ok. There are lightening rods on the house too. I saw them from the boat." He then began to test more stairs.

She shook her head. "I think it's going to get dark soon, and we only thought to bring a couple of flashlights with us. I was thinking of looking for some candles or hurricane lanterns."

"Do you think they'd work?" I asked, wondering about things that would have been sitting around seventy or more years.

"It's worth a try. I've got matches on me, and candles don't usually stop working with age. And if we do find any lanterns, we can give them a shot too even if they're less likely to function."

"Ok." I said, "Do you want to look together, or split up?"

"It would probably be more efficient to split up." She said. I'd been hoping she wouldn't say that.