Mystery at Fogarty Creek Beach
Annie loved nothing more than being on the beach. For as long as she could remember, she had been coming to Fogarty Creek Beach, a small park off the Oregon Coast near Depoe Bay. Her Mama had brought her here since she was a toddler, and now, Annie in her late 20's, loved it just as much as she had back then. Lots of good memories were made at this beach over the years. Building sand castles, combing the beach for shells and bits of sea glass, watching for seals bobbing in the waves, searching for sea urchins and starfish in the tidal pools. Annie had even had her first kiss at Fogarty, when she and some friends from school had come to the beach one weekend. They had gathered driftwood and built a fire on the beach and stayed until well after midnight, sharing stories and yes, kisses in the dark, while the waves crashed noisily in the background. She and her friends spent many a teenage weekend heading off to the beach and staying as long as time would allow.
Now, as Annie walked barefoot in the sand, she thought back to those carefree days and the friends who had all gone their separate ways after school had ended. The one constant in her life though, was Joe. Joe, who shared her love of Fogarty Creek Beach. Joe, who had given her her first kiss at the campfire all those many years ago. Joe, who had always been there for her. Her steady rock.
Annie laid her windbreaker down on the damp sand and sat on top of it to watch the ocean. She gathered her knees up to her chest and let the wind toss her hair every which way. It was a particularly windy day. Maybe a storm was coming in. Annie loved the way the sea mist occasionally blew against her face. She loved the salty smell of the ocean and the sound of the gulls riding the wind above the waves. Joe was out on that ocean today and her thoughts turned to him. He ran a local fishing charter that took tourists out of the marina at Depoe Bay five days a week, and today was his last run of the week. Tonight they would share dinner at home and have a couple of days to themselves. She always cherished her time with Joe.
As Annie sat there daydreaming about Joe, a strange moaning sound came to her over the wind. At first Annie thought maybe it was a fog horn from one of the buoys on the bay, but the noise came again and this time it was louder and more drawn out. Annie looked around, but saw no one else along the beach. This wasn't surprising - Fogarty Creek Beach was a small one, and almost always secluded. Most folks preferred the long, straight beaches you could walk on for miles, but Fogarty was nestled in some rock cliffs and was shaped like a crescent moon. You could only access it during low tide and the beach itself was very small and sloping toward the water. There was a small section of beach at the top where you could picnic on dry sand, but most of the beach was always wet and battered by the waves.
Annie stood and turned to search the picnic area, but again saw no one. The moaning continued, but seemed distant. Annie gathered up her windbreaker and started walking along the beach, looking up toward the cliffs. Maybe the sound was carrying from the small parking lot at the top of the highway? She tipped her head back and shielded her eyes from the sun, but saw nothing but ancient, weather beaten rock. Annie kept walking and was nearly to the end of the sand where the rock curved around a bend, when she heard the moaning again. This time, much louder than before. She stared hard at the cliff face and thought she saw a darkened space just at the bend where the sand ended. The tide was starting to come back in, so the waves would keep her from going any further, but this dark space seemed to be where the moaning was coming from. Could there be a wounded sea lion around that bend? Maybe the waves had carried it into the sharp rocks and it was stuck there suffering? She tried to make sense of the sounds, but the wind was picking up again and the water was rushing closer. If she didn't turn back now, she wouldn't be able to make it up the path to safety before high tide. Reluctantly, Annie turned around and headed back up the beach, and to the stairs leading to her truck.
Once up the cliff, Annie shook sand out of her shoes and slipped them back onto her feet. She sat on the tailgate of her truck and surveyed the parking lot. Hers was the only vehicle in the lot and besides the waves crashing below, the only other sounds were the cars driving by above her on Highway 101. She sat a little longer, straining to hear the moan, but it didn't come. She could only assume it was her active imagination, or as she thought before, a wounded animal stuck near the rocks. She hated to think of anything suffering, but there was nothing she could do for it. She and Joe would come back tomorrow when the tide was back out.
Annie jumped off the tailgate, slammed it shut and headed home. Joe would be coming back into port soon, smelling like fish and tired and hungry. She had put a pot roast in the slow-cooker this morning before she had left - Joe's favorite - and it would be ready by now. When she pulled in front of their little cottage by the sea, she couldn't help but smile. Its weathered gray exterior was accentuated by the light blue shutters Joe had painted and installed on the sides of each of their windows. Joe had cut a little whale out of each shutter, giving the cottage whimsical character. They had shared a laugh when he first hung them at the windows. Whale watching was a big business on the Oregon Coast and Joe had often treated his boat load of tourists to a sighting now and then while out fishing. They often joked about a landlubber hooking into a whale and carrying the boat off to sea. They had named their little cottage Whale's Spout and they cherished their little home.
Annie stepped up onto the side porch and tossed her shoes in a basket by the door. She could already hear their English Bulldog, Snout, sniffing and scratching at the bottom of the door, in anticipation of Annie's arrival. She opened the door and out came Snout, wiggling and grunting like a happy little piglet. His wrinkly face with its massive underbite was one only a Mother could love. And Annie was a proud Mother! She knelt down to receive Snout's kisses and to rub his ears. The house smelled wonderful with the aroma of Joe's dinner and Annie set off for the kitchen to bake a loaf of crusty bread to accompany their meal. Joe would be home soon!
Today's fishing excursion had been a good one and all eight of Joe's passengers had caught their limit. There would be buckets of fish to clean and package, and everyone, including Joe, was tired after a long day on the ocean. Each passenger paid a fee to fish for eight hours and that included the price of cleaning and packaging their catch to take home. Most of his excursions had eight to twelve passengers, and he took the boat out five days a week, weather permitting. It was a good living and he'd been enjoying the business venture for about ten years now. Two little boys were asleep on a bench at the back of the boat, while the adults visited and boasted about their catch of the day. It had been a good day, and the seas had been fairly calm. Everyone seemed to have had fun on the trip, whooping and hollering whenever someone hooked a big one and reeled it in. Even the little boys were able to pull in a fish or two, with the help of Joe or one of the parents. It had been a long day and Joe was hungry and tired, ready to head home to Annie.
After docking back at the marina, the deck hands unloaded the fish and set to cleaning them on big steel tables lined up on the dock. The passengers ventured upstairs for warm drinks and to get in out of the cold. There was an observation room upstairs with big windows looking out over the dock and bay, so they could watch the boats coming in and the fish being cleaned below. The men below would gut the fish and throw the waste out to the screaming gulls that were lined up along the railings, fighting and diving for every last scrap. They expertly filleted the fish and vacuum packed the meat for the tourists who had paid high dollar for their seafood bounty. Everyone would leave for home happy, and Joe hoped they would all come again and tell their friends what a good time they had.
The last of the passengers had shaken Joe's hand and patted him on the back with promises of returning again soon, so Joe set to hosing off the dock and securing his boat. It was starting to get dark and the wind was picking up. Maybe a good storm would roll in and keep them home this weekend, snuggled by the fire. Joe wouldn't mind being stuck inside with Annie and Snout. By the time he arrived home, it was darker and starting to rain. Lights glowed at every window and Joe spotted Annie in the kitchen, busying herself at the table. His stomach rumbled with hunger and he couldn't wait to get inside and see what she had fixed him. When he entered the kitchen, there was Snout at Annie's feet, looking up to catch any morsel that might find its way to the floor. Annie was known to drop a treat or two accidentally-on-purpose, and Snout was like a Hoover vacuum cleaner, waiting to suck up every last scrap. He didn't even notice Joe standing in the doorway until Annie turned around and greeted him. Then Snout set to wiggling around and dancing at Joe's feet, grunting for his affection. Joe bent to rub Snout's wrinkled face and then stood to give Annie a long hug. It was good to be home and see Annie's smile.
Joe's belly was full and Snout was snoring loudly beneath the kitchen table. Annie had cleared the dishes and was sitting across from Joe with a cup of tea, savoring one of her famous lemon bars. Joe had already polished off three of them, and truth be told, I'm sure Snout had had a nibble of one too. Annie couldn't wait to tell Joe about her day on Fogarty Creek Beach. "Joe, I went to our beach today and while I was sitting watching for seals, I heard a terrible moaning coming from the cliffs." Joe, fully aware of Annie's active imagination, prepared to humor her awhile and listened to her story. "I walked as far as I could Joe, and I think I spotted a cave. I think the moaning might have been coming from there. Do you suppose it was a wounded animal, washed into the mouth of the cave?" In all their time on Fogarty Beach, Joe couldn't recall every seeing a cave. Lord knows they had explored every inch of that beach since they were teenagers, spending all their extra time there after school and during their days off work. It must have been a trick of the sun hitting the rocks, making it appear to be a cave. Surely there were no caves along that rocky cliff. But Joe was prepared to humor his Annie, and he promised if the storm held off, they'd go there together tomorrow and check it out.
The next morning, Annie was up early and had already prepared bacon and egg biscuits with a thermos of coffee to go. She was anxious to show Joe the cave and hopeful he would see that she hadn't imagined it all. When Joe shuffled into the kitchen with his hair on end and sleep in his eyes, Annie hurried him along to get dressed so they could head out. He had hoped to stay in with a storm this weekend, but the weather had betrayed him and the sun shone brightly in a clear, blue sky. So much for a cozy weekend indoors with Annie and Snout. Snout, smelling bacon, came sniffing into the kitchen and went straight to his bowl for breakfast. He gobbled it down, sounding every bit like the fat little pig that he was, and then he waddled over to Annie to thank her with slobbery kisses. She took him outside for his morning walk around the yard while Joe got dressed. After Snout had watered all the bushes and sniffed every rock, she took him back inside, and Joe gathered up the bag of biscuits and thermos and they headed off to the beach.
When they pulled into the lot, there was only one other car in sight. They parked and locked the truck and headed down the steps toward the beach. As they stepped out onto the sand, they saw a woman with her little boy. He had a bright yellow bucket with a red shovel and was covered in sand from head-to-toe. The remains of his castle was on the beach behind him, and already the waves were inching up to wash it away. His grin was a mile wide and he waved hello as soon as he spotted them. Joe bent down to shake the little boys' hand and Annie greeted the woman with a smile. "Did you have a good morning on the beach?" Annie asked her. "Oh yes, we love this beach! We don't get to come often enough, but I drove him over for the weekend. We're on our way back home this afternoon, but he wanted to make one more sand castle." Annie wanted to ask the woman if she had heard any strange moaning sounds, but she didn't want to scare the little boy, so she bit her tongue and they all parted ways. Now Joe and Annie had the beach to themselves.
They tossed their shoes off and Joe grabbed Annie's hand and they walked toward the water. Walking in the damp sand was a lot easier than trying to walk in the fluffy dry. The sun was sparkling off the water brightly and sandpipers playfully skittered across the sand close to the water's edge. The tide was out, for the most part, so the beach was larger than normal and you had better luck finding sand dollars and shells. Annie tugged Joe toward the end of the cliff where she had spotted what she thought might be a cave. Joe, followed along, laughing at her child-like exuberance. When Annie got a bee in her bonnet, there was no stopping her!
Annie got within feet of the bend in the cliff, where she had heard the moaning, and spotted the dark area in the cliff. She turned toward the ocean and the wind blew her hair back. She turned her face up to the sun and closed her eyes and did her best to listen intently, hoping to hear the moan. But she only heard the gulls and the waves and the foamy water as it inched up the beach toward their toes. "Wait Joe, let's sit here and listen awhile. Maybe you'll hear it too!" So, Joe obliged and they plopped down on the sand and stared at the sea. They sat there on the beach for what seemed like hours. Occasionally Joe would get up and walk around a bit, picking up shells and pebbles that he thought Annie might like for her flowerbeds at the cottage. He'd bring them back to her and then go in search for more. It was getting late in the day and the biscuits she'd made earlier were long gone. Pot roast leftovers sounded pretty good and his stomach was rumbling. "Come on Annie, let's go home to Snout. We haven't heard a thing. It was probably just the wind." Joe said. "Oh Joe, I just know it wasn't the wind. I wish you could have heard it too." Annie replied. Annie got up and dusted sand off her pants, gathered up the treasures Joe had found for her and took his hand to go. They walked back up the beach toward the stairs, but Annie couldn't resist looking back one more time at the dark spot on the cliff. When she did, she thought she saw something moving in the wind against the rocks. She stopped and turned and watched. "What is that?" she asked. "Oh Joe, do you see it too?" Joe looked in the direction of Annie's gaze and yes, he did see something, but what was it? Some sea moss stuck on the rocks, blowing in the wind? He couldn't quite be sure. He held his hand up to his eyes to shield the sun and when he did, he thought he saw a woman's face in the rocks. A faced framed with gray hair that was blowing in the wind. He turned back to Annie and then back to the rocks, but the face was gone. There was nothing there but the dark colored rocks on the cliff. He blinked to clear his vision and searched the cliff, but didn't see anything else out of the ordinary. "I don't know what that was, but it's getting late Annie. Let's get home." They climbed the steps to the truck and were dumping the sand out of their shoes when a terribly sad and mournful sound came to them across the wind. Annie's blue eyes got wide as saucers and she looked at Joe, but kept silent. Surely he heard that too! From the look on Joe's face, Annie knew he had heard it. They both remained silent, holding their breath and listening for the moan to return. They waited several minutes, but didn't hear the sound again, so they both got into the truck and left the beach. All the way home, they wondered aloud about what they had seen and heard.
Later that night, after Annie had turned in with a good book and Snout was snoring contentedly beside her on the bed, Joe slipped outside to sit on the porch. He noticed their neighbor next door was sitting out on his porch too, so he called him over. "So, I see you're out for a little fresh air too, Sam." Joe said to his neighbor. Sam was an elderly man that lived next door with is bride of 55 years, Mary. They had been good neighbors to Annie and Joe, almost like parents to them - always watching out for them and sharing meals and local gossip. Joe and Annie had struck up a good friendship with Sam and Mary over the years and thought the world of them both. Sam had owned a fishing boat himself, back in the day, and he and Joe loved swapping stories about their love of the ocean. Joe had just finished telling Sam about his past week's excursions when he decided to tell him about what he and Annie had heard and seen at Fogarty Creek Beach. Joe told him about Annie's experience the day before, and then what they had seen earlier that morning and Sam listened intently, nodding his head and pausing to puff on his pipe now and then. "What do you suppose it was that we saw, Sam?" asked Joe. "Well now Joe," Sam said, "It sounds to me like you two spotted the old Sea Hag of Fogarty Beach." "The what?!" Joe asked. "The only sea hag I've ever heard of is the restaurant at Depoe Bay." The Sea Hag Restaurant was a very popular restaurant owned by an eccentric elderly woman in Depoe Bay and it was known for miles around for it's fresh fish dinners and generous portions. The owner, Gracie Strom, had owned this restaurant for years and it was passed down to her from her great-grandfather Eli Strom, an equally eccentric ship captain that had called the Oregon Coast home for many, many years.
"Yes, Joe. The Sea Hag Restaurant was named for the legend of the old sea hag of Fogarty Beach. It was Gracie's great-grandfather Eli that first encountered the sea hag one night on his way to Lincoln City. "You mean he actually saw the same woman we think we saw and heard today? She can't still be alive after all these years!?" Joe said. "Well, now Joe, I didn't say she was alive, did I? Even Eli Strom couldn't rightfully say she was alive, even back then." Sam said. "Tell me the story Sam." Joe said. "I want to hear it so I can tell Annie."
So, Sam sat there on Joe's porch, puffing away at his pipe and proceeded to tell him the story of the old sea hag, as best as he could remember it. After all, he'd been a very young boy himself when he'd first heard the story, so he had to think hard and be sure to tell it right. At least his version of it. The legend, I'm sure, had been changed a bit at every telling, as most stories are. He'd give it his best shot.
It seemed that Eli had been a young man when he first came across the sea hag of Fogarty Creek Beach. He had just finished a week-long fishing trip and had docked his boat at the marina in Depoe Bay, and was walking back to Lincoln City where he had a small cabin at Devil's Lake. In those days, the highway was just a one-laned gravel road, but the walk was just as long as if that road was paved like it was today. After a week of fishing, Eli was so tired he almost couldn't bear the thought of walking all those miles, but he knew he had to do it so off he went. He got as far as Fogarty Creek Beach when he just couldn't take another step. He crossed the creek at the bridge and climbed the steps down toward the beach in hopes of finding a nice sandy spot he could rest between the rocks until morning. He found a nice dry spot between two gigantic spruce trees and laid down to sleep. The sound of the wind blowing through the grand evergreen boughs above his head and the waves crashing out on the beach below, lulled him fast to sleep. It wasn't long after Eli had fallen into a deep sleep when he was awakened by an eerie moaning sound. At first, he thought it was just the wind, or the creaking of the branches above, but soon the moaning became louder and longer and there was no mistaking that it wasn't the wind young Eli was hearing. He sat straight up and cocked his head to hear where the sound might be coming from. At times it was distant, but other times it seemed the source was right there beside him.
Eli wasn't the type of man that scared easily, but he had goose bumps down his arms and the little hairs on the back of his neck were standing at attention. It was dark as pitch in the woods where he sat, so Eli stood and walked out into the open where the moon shown down on the ocean and its reflection made the night a lot brighter. He could see the beach, and see where the ocean was creeping up onto the sand. He looked up and down both sides of the beach but all he could see were the dark rock formations on each side and the crescent-moon shaped beach in the middle. The moan came again, long and drawn out, sad and eerie. It just floated by on the wind and faded away. Eli looked down at the beach and saw footprints in the sand at the water's edge. Footprints? Who would be fool enough to walk the beach in the dead of night? Eli climbed a few rocks down to the sandy beach and walked out into the moonlight. The beach appeared to be deserted, but as he neared the spot where he had seen the footprints, he looked down and sure enough, there they were. They were slender and small - the footprints of a woman. Eli decided to follow them down the beach.
The beach, being short, Eli didn't have far to walk until he came to the edge of the gigantic rock cliff. Once you reached that spot, there was really no where else to go because the rocks were sharp and jagged and there was no telling what lay around the bend. The beach itself ended here and sloped sharply down into the ocean. It wasn't a good place to be when the tide was coming in. If a person was caught in the pull of the tide, the waves would wash them out, only to crash them back upon the sharp rocks. A rogue wave chose that moment to crash and Eli was caught off guard. The water splashed him at the waist and he grabbed onto the rocks to stop himself from being pulled out to sea. He was hanging on for dear life and the rocks were cutting into the palms of his hands. He had just closed his eyes to send up a prayer when he felt fingers circling his wrists and pulling him up higher onto the rock. When he opened his eyes, all he could see was what looked like great masses of scraggly gray sea moss and a once-white gown of what looked like muslin, torn and tattered in spots and blowing in the wind. When he was able to secure himself more safely on the rock, and out of reach from the waves, he rubbed his sore hands and looked around for whoever had pulled him up on the rocks. He didn't see anyone or anything, just rocks for as far as you could see and the crescent-moon shaped beach below.
Just as Eli was about to believe he had imagined it all, he heard the mournful moaning again. It was louder now and very close by. Eli called out, "Who's there? Hello?" but no one answered. He strained his eyes in the dark, looking up and down the rocky cliff, and spotted what looked to be the entrance to a cave there in the rocks. He stood and made his way carefully over the rocks. As he got closer to the cave, the moaning began again. He now knew without a doubt, the moaning was coming from that cave. When he finally made it to the cave, he hopped down onto a sandy spot at the mouth and peered in. Honestly, Eli really didn't want to see the source of that mournful moaning, but curiosity got the best of him and he stepped further into the cave. The moaning grew louder, but the cave was dark and he could barely see his hands stretched out in front of his face. How deep the cave went, he didn't know, but Eli kept inching his way forward with his arms stretched out before him. Blindly, he slowly entered the cave. When his fingers brushed up against something soft, he almost swallowed his tongue he was so scared, but he stopped and felt the same hands that had rescued him, circling his wrists again and holding onto his arms. He couldn't see anything but the white of her gown, but he knew somehow the moans had been coming from this woman. He didn't know who in the world she could be. He asked her name, but all she did was sigh and moan. He asked her again who she was. How could he help her? What was wrong? But she didn't answer. Eventually she stopped moaning and loosened her grip on his arms. She released one of his arms and raised her hand to his face. Softly, she cupped his face with her cold hand and Eli felt in his bones all the things she could not say. It was as if she was putting her thoughts right into his head.
She told him her name was Annabelle and she had been lost in that cave for a hundred years. Her husband Josef, was a captain on the sea and was on his way home after being gone for nearly a year, when a great storm broke out on the Pacific. For days she waited for word about his arrival, but heard nothing, and every day she went to port only to find his ship had not yet come in. She would come here to Fogarty Beach to watch for him and sit for hours on end, hoping to catch a glimpse of his ship. One day, while sitting on the beach, she had seen something in the sand at the water's edge, so she waded out to see what it was. When she reached it, she had realized it was a large piece of wood, jagged and rough. She pulled and pulled until it was freed from the sand and she dragged it up the shore to examine it better. The piece of wood had a large letter "A" in gilded gold with two small "n's" and then the rest was worn to the point you could read no more. Annabelle recognized the beautiful writing because her husband Josef had commissioned an artist in Newport to carve and paint this into the side of his ship, The Lady Annabelle. A ship he named for her.
When she realized what this meant, she fell to her knees and was wracked with sobs. She now knew that her husband's ship had crashed against these rocks and her precious Josef had been lost at sea. Her heart was truly and utterly broken. As she cried and moaned in grief, the tide started to come in fast and a wave knocked her into the rocks. The water pulled her out deep, only to pour her back crashing against the rocks again and again. It went on like this for what seemed like hours until finally a big wave pushed her up and over into the mouth of this little cave. Her dress was torn to shreds and she was covered in cuts and bruises. She had no where to go, but further into the cave and there she stayed until she starved to death. No one knew to look for her there, as no one even knew the cave existed.
Eli was devastated to learn this about the poor woman. Tears rolled down his cheeks as she put these thoughts and memories into his head. She released his arms and pushed him away. He turned and stumbled back to the mouth of the cave and out onto the rocks. He wasn't sure how long he had been in the cave, but daylight had returned and he heard the gulls crying in the wind. He saw the waves had retreated and the sandy beach was near again. He climbed over the rocks and jumped down to the sand and found his way back up to the highway. No one would ever believe his story, but it had to be told!
As Sam finished the tale, Mary came out on the porch and spotted him over at Joe's. "Come on home, you old Codger!" she scolded. "Leave that poor boy alone! It's time for bed." "It's okay, Miss Mary." Joe called. "Sam was just telling me another story about the sea." Sam made his way home and Joe went back inside and up the stairs to tell Annie about the old Sea Hag of Fogarty Creek Beach. He had a feeling from here on out though, the telling of the story would change again and Annabelle would become a beautiful sea maiden, instead of an old sea hag. He knew too that Annie would be pestering him to find that cave so they could put poor Annabelle to rest, once and for all, and she could find peace with her long lost love, Josef.
