HOURS: 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS & THE FIRST
SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH
“HOME OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST
BOTTLE CAP”
“What kind of museum is only open twice a week?” Alara shot Lukas an I-told-you-so look.
He tapped on the front window. “One that’s full of revolutionary taxidermy.”
Priest wiggled the wire and a small screwdriver inside the lock. Elle hovered behind him, which seemed to be slowing him down.
“After we destroy the demon and save the world, I totally need a tutorial,” Elle said. “I can never get into my locker.”
“We’re in.” Priest opened the door and waved Alara over from where she was standing at the edge of the porch. “Alara, let’s go.”
She held up one finger, with her phone to her ear.
Elle grabbed the elbow of my jacket. “Come on. She’s on her cell again.”
“Who’s she talking to?” I’d never seen Alara call anyone except her parents.
“No idea. But every other day, she calls someone.”
Inside, the museum looked like a cross between an eighty-year-old woman’s cluttered living room and a display at a natural history museum. Glass cases, full of Revolutionary War memorabilia, were crammed between antique curios that held everything from pocket watches and thimbles to a shoehorn and a butter dish.
The bizarre taxidermy collection appeared to be the only thing that wasn’t behind glass. A deer dressed in a wedding gown stood on its hind legs behind a Victorian dollhouse. Inside the miniature rooms, chipmunks positioned in classic fencing stances wielded tiny epee swords.
Elle backed away from a squirrel bronco-riding a saddled rattlesnake. “That is wrong on so many levels.”
Priest poked at it. “Some people have too much free time.”
Alara made her way toward us from the front of the store, dodging two white mice with unicorn horns, and a beaver wearing a golden crown.
“Talking to your sister again?” Jared asked.
“When who I call becomes any of your business, I’ll let you know,” Alara snapped.
“So where’s this giant bottle cap?” Elle asked in one of her not so subtle attempts to change the subject.
“In here,” Lukas called from the next room.
Four cables secured the bottle cap to the ceiling.
Elle sighed, unimpressed. “I expected it to be bigger.”
Lukas knocked on the red metal. “It’s the size of a monster truck tire. How big did you think it would be?”
Elle dug through her gigantic purse and pulled out a plastic camera.
Alara started to say something, when Elle waved the camera in the air. “It’s disposable. I don’t need to hear the ‘only use your cell to call your mom’ speech again.” She handed me the camera and stood in front the bottle cap. “Take my picture. And I want one of those stickers that says: I visited the world’s biggest bottle cap.”
I snapped the photo before World War III could break out between them.
Priest stared into one of the display cases that ran the length of all four walls. “You can take your picture with John Hancock’s shoelace, too, if you want.”
Someone had taped a laminated note to the glass.
Historical artifacts generously donated by
the residents of Topsfield, Massachusetts
and their families.
According to the labels, the cases lining the walls held the personal effects of Revolutionary War patriots: an assortment of muskets and bayonets, tattered flags, broken dishes, a bible, and a wooden leg. The highlight of the exhibit featured John Hancock’s shoelace, a halfpenny that supposedly belonged to Samuel Adams, and a page from Paul Revere’s Bible.
Priest pointed at the random items. “All three of them were members of the Sons of Liberty and the Freemasons. John Hancock was a Grand Master. His signature showed up on lodge ledgers years before he signed the Declaration of Independence. Samuel Adams was Illuminati, too.”
Alara’s head shot up when he said the word Illuminati. “That’s a joke, right?”
Jared and Lukas looked at Priest, waiting for his answer.
“No, it’s true.” Priest’s eyes darted between Lukas, Jared, and Alara, who were all frowning at him. “Lay off. I didn’t vote for the guy.”
“Back up,” Elle said. “Does someone want to explain the difference between the Freemasons and the Illuminati for the regular kid in the class?”
Alara looked unamused.
“In 1776, the Illuminati surfaced in—” Priest began.
Elle held up her hand to stop him. “I just want the Cliff Notes.”
“My granddad used to say the devil is in the details. Along with the truth.” Priest gave her a sheepish smile. “But I’ll do my best. The Freemasons and the Illuminati are both secret societies that date back to the 1700’s, but they had different agendas. The Illuminati wanted to overthrow the existing governments and churches, so they could create a new world order.”
“So the Illuminati were the bad guys?” Elle asked.
“Definitely,” Lukas said. “And it was the Legion of the Black Dove’s job to stop them.”
“What about the Freemasons? Good or bad?”
Lukas grinned at her. “The Freemasons were stonemasons. They formed a group in the Middle Ages to protect their trade secrets and pass down their skills. So they were good guys.”