as an apt mechanic. Henry plans to give his business to his grandson, but Little Henry wishes to attend college in Montana. In August 1944, they plan a trip to Yellowstone National Park, and Henry promises to visit his grandson in Montana. However, the night before Little Henry's departure, his grandfather dies of a heart attack. It is now December 8, 2002. Little Henry is now a 76-year-old widower residing in Las Vegas. An article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal explains that drought has exposed the ruins of St. Thomas, underwater for six decades. Accompanying the story is a photo of the elevated concrete foundation of the Lord homestead. Little Henry sets off to find his father's safe. Unfortunately, the safe is impossible to open. In frustration, Little Henry strikes the safe with a crowbar, inadvertently digging a small hole in the silt and knocking over his bottle of water, which spills into the hole. In the hole he finds a white object, which appears to be a large shell. He begins to dig it out and uncovers his mother's gold necklace. He realizes that the white object is actually a part of her skeleton. During the storm, Ellen attempted to remove the contents of the safe herself, but was trapped under the house and drowned. Little Henry decides that he will return to St. Thomas to once again attempt to open the safe but determines that his mother's remains will stay in St. Thomas, along with the remains of many other family members. Characters Henry Lord, an auto mechanic Ellen Lord, his daughter-in-law Thomas Lord, his son "Little" Henry Lord, son of Ellen and Thomas, grandson of Henry, narrator Mr. Whitmore, the postman Charlie Snyder, Little Henry's friend in 2002 Louis, the waiter at Sahara Saloon Background Ellis visited St. Thomas for the first time in 2012 and was intrigued by the remains of the Fenton Whitney home. Entering the crawl space beneath the elevated concrete foundation, he wondered what it would have been like for someone who left St. Thomas as a child to return more than 60 years later, and what they might have left behind as a child that could be retrieved after six decades underwater. Further inspiration was provided by the story of Hugh Lord. Lord refused to leave St. Thomas until June 11, 1938, when the water was high enough for him to step