Bio

Tom Keene was born in 1899. Tragically, his unwed mother, Elizabeth, died in childbirth so Tom was raised by the Saint Jerome Emiliani orphanage. For years he experienced many atrocities at the hands of the older kids. He was frequently beaten and robbed, and as he got older he was occasionally molested. At the age of thirteen Tom ran away from the orphanage and lived on the street for two years. At age fifteen, he got a job as an apprentice to a carpenter who let him sleep on a cot in his workshop. After two years, the carpenter realized that Tom lacked the skill to follow in his footsteps, and helped Tom get a simpler job at a wood mill.

In 1914, Tom joined the British Army and went to war where he benefited from the strength he had acquired from years of defending himself and hard labor. The army served him well, but when the war was over, he had no job and nowhere to go. He used the little money that he had saved to rent a room in a small village outside of Cardiff and started working as a handyman. He soon met James MacNeil who hired him to paint his estate. This was a very time consuming task for one man, and it took even longer due to James’ periodic distractions of lemonade accompanied by fascinating tales of horror from his days working with mental patients.

Once the painting job was completed, James continued to hire Tom to perform various tasks throughout the estate ranging from repairing sections of a fence to simply hanging old paintings. The two soon grew to be close friends, and eventually become much more than friends. Tom moved into the MacNeil Estate as James’ aid and companion. James’ son Tim made several offers to find him a better job in the city, and once even offered him a large sum of money to just leave, but Tom’s desired did not involve money.

Now, Tom travels with James as they continue to investigate strange and terrible tales of the occult as members of the Cabalistic Order of the Crescent Moon.