How an account book from 1887 started a trilogy

In my archive job I opened hundreds of boxes a year. Most held exactly what the label said. One box, labelled Harbour dues, misc., held a lighthouse keeper's account book instead.

What was in it

Lamp oil. Wicks. Bread. A cracked pane of glass, replaced twice in one winter. And every month, a payment of three shillings to someone recorded only as "the Bell".

Paid to the Bell, as is customary. 3s.

I never found out who the Bell was. So I made it up, and the making up took three books.

What I kept from the real book

• The handwriting gets worse in storms. Nell notices this in chapter four.
• The keeper counted everything, including the days without a ship.
• The last entry is not in his hand.

That last one is true. It is also where The Salt Ledger begins.