The Curse of the Red Cross Ring

This is the true story of the tragedies that befell the small towns of Beaumont and L’Anse au Pigeon, Newfoundland, in 1928 and 1929. Central to the story is Azariah Roberts, our humblest of heroes. Az is a man among men. He is a successful fishing captain, a father figure to the town of L’Anse au Pigeon. He wears the ring of the Red Cross, the highest order in the Loyal Orange Association, but throughout Beaumont and L’Anse au Pigeon he is known as simply Uncle Az.

Enter Sod Mugford, Beaumont’s own Devil Incarnate. He masterminds the brutal murder of a schoolteacher, and fearing capital retribution he flees to the peaceful shores of L’Anse au Pigeon. When he reaches the protective fold of Azariah Roberts’s arm, Sod resumes his life and job as a fisherman in Uncle Az’s crew. And waits. As word spreads through L’Anse au Pigeon of the schoolteacher’s murder, the fingers begin to point at Sod. And for the first time in his life Azariah Roberts feels the small town, his child, slip away. Despite the rumours, he allows Sod to stay at L’Anse au Pigeon. Sick with worry, yet unable to accuse Sod of something he cannot prove, Uncle Az waits and watches silently amid murmurs of growing disquiet. But the worst is yet to come.

As the story unfolds, Azariah Roberts becomes increasingly aware of his bad luck, and he is convinced that it stems from his Red Cross ring. In a freak accident that almost claims his life, Az loses his ring, and instantly a great weight is lifted from his shoulders. But it seems the ring is not through with him yet. Life, for awhile, couldn’t be better for Azariah Roberts and the people of L’Anse au Pigeon. The fishing season gives a good yield, and everyone is excited about the construction of a new church. Feeling better than he had in a long time, Uncle Az ventures out one fateful day and makes a remarkable discovery.

Az’s crew is constructing a road to the new church, and while digging a path through a marsh finds something that may change the history of Newfoundland as we know it. There, lying in the marsh, are the long-dead remains of a Viking, as is evidenced by the artifacts found with it: a helmet covering the skull; a shield, approximately three feet in diameter, covering the body from its abdomen to its chest; and a sword, fashioned from a curious metal.

Incredibly, the crew reinters the body a few feet from its current location so they can continue with the important business of constructing a road to the church. The only souvenir they take is the sword, whose metal could be used for various purposes. Many of the men in Az’s crew would take the secret of this discovery to their graves.

Meanwhile, a close personal friend of Az has made a discovery of his own. The Red Cross ring which Azariah Roberts once held so dearly has been found. What’s more, his friend arranges for the ring, which has been damaged during its time away, to be spliced with metal from the Viking’s sword. Keeping his find a secret, he plans to give Uncle Az a Christmas present he will never forget.

Now, if one were a superstitious sort, one would almost certainly question the wisdom of combining a bad luck charm with a fragment of a Viking soul that has been awakened, screaming into the sunlight, a thousand years after it has been put to rest.

And one would be right.