Midway down the hallway, Clyde happened to knock his foot against something near the left side of the wall. Stopping immediately, he pointed the light toward the supposed obstruction. “Holy shit!” he exclaimed. “Tara!” The tiny woman’s feet were inches into the hallway as she was sprawled face-down on the bathroom floor. Clyde noticed the gaping hole in her head and a pool of blood settled beneath that unabashedly revealed that she was no longer alive.
Tara was only five feet three and very thin. She could pass for a school girl if spotted from afar. But up close, her face told the story of countless struggles and battles. Life with Don had not been a walk in the park, particularly since he became a slave to the bottle twelve years earlier. No amount of talking or arguing ever made him see the light.
“Trevor!” Clyde cried. He stepped into the bedroom he had seen the boy enter a minute earlier. “Trevor!” He called out frantically. The glare of his light was set straight ahead, then instinctively, he scanned the light from left to right.
“Jesus!” He almost dropped the flashlight. “What in the world? Trevor?” He held his head, gripping his short, black strands with agonizing force. There, outstretched on the floor, were the remaining members of the Beesley household, each in their own pool of red - Trevor was no exception. The .44 Magnum rested just inches away from Don’s lanky body and it appeared to Clyde that drunken Don had been the sole perpetrator.
Reluctantly, Clyde inched closer to Trevor’s body. His older sister, Abby, was slumped right next to him, her arm resting limply across his back. Everyone in town knew she had always been protective of her little brother and Clyde could tell that she had done all she could to protect him in that moment of madness, though to no avail. Trevor’s injury was undoubtedly fatal as was evident by the entry-wound of the bullet that pierced his back. The others had each suffered a merciless blast to the head – the sight of which made their neighbor feel sick to his stomach. He realized just then why he had felt the uneasiness in his gut by the mere silence of the house.
“I gotta get the hell outta here!” Clyde backed out of the room. He hurried down the hallway, yanked open the front door, and darted out to the parked jeep.
Slamming the car door shut and fumbling with the gearbox, he sped out of the yard.
“What happened?” Doris asked, shocked by his actions. “Looks like you’ve darn well seen a ghost!”
“I… I did! We did!”
“What?” She frowned.
“It was Trevor.” He shook his head rapidly and she saw his eyes were moist with tears. He glanced her way. “Call the police. They’re all dead!”
Panic-stricken, Doris’ eyes veered to the back seat where Trevor had sat. The story her husband would tell moments later would shake her to the core and the enigma of how the boy, already dead, could have possibly accompanied them for the drive back to his house.
2
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Rosie was kneeling on the sofa gazing outside through the large living room window. Her eyes were bright with excitement to the point she could barely keep her little legs still.
“When are they coming?” she asked Mira who was busy dressing the table for dinner.
“They’ll be here any minute now, honey. Just relax. You’re making me nervous for no reason!”
“I can’t relax, Mom. It’s been like forever since I’ve seen Tommy, Uncle Wade and Aunt Norma.” She turned and gave her mother a worried look. “They might not even recognize me anymore.”
Mira stopped what she was doing and stood with her hands at her waist. “Sure they will! It’s not been that long since we’ve seen them.”
“About a year,” Sara interjected, rubbing her hands on the front of her yellow apron. “But they couldn’t get away, Pumpkin. Your aunt and uncle have both been so busy with work.”
“I know.” Rosie looked out the window again.
“How about you come into the kitchen with me and we’ll check on the pound cake?” Sara glanced at her watch. “I think it’s time we took it out.”
“I don’t want to!” Rosie frowned. “I wanna see when they get here.”
“Okay. Have it your way.”
“There’s no way you’re getting her from there, Mom,” Mira said quietly. “She’s been stuck at that window for a whole hour now.”
Sara smiled and headed back to the kitchen.
“They’re here!” Rosie exclaimed, minutes later. She jumped for joy as the long, silver van pulled up in the driveway behind Sara’s brown Cadillac. Rosie ran to the door and sprinted outside just as the vehicle came to a stop.
“Rosie!” Tommy yelled from the back seat before getting out.
“Tommy!” Rosie couldn’t wait to give him the biggest hug.
Wade and Norma exited the vehicle just as Sara and Mira approached, and they all embraced each other warmly. Sara and Mira took turns hugging Tommy and planting kisses all over his face, while Wade and Norma did the same with Rosie.
“Feels like it’s been forever since I’ve been home.” Wade was holding his mother closely.
“Funnily, that’s what Rosie said before you guys got here. That she hadn’t seen you all in so long,” Sara said.
Rosie had already taken Tommy by the hand and they scurried into the house.
“She was afraid you all won’t recognize her,” Mira revealed.
Wade and Norma laughed.
“Norma, you look lovely, as always,” Sara complimented her daughter-in-law, who graciously thanked her. “It’s so good to have you all here for a week and a half.”
“I wish we could stay longer, Mom,” Wade admitted. “But the hospital’s short-staffed.”
“I understand, honey, especially after being in the medical field myself for so long. I’m concerned though that you two are working too hard. You must be careful of that.”
“You’re right, Mom.” Norma affectionately called her that. “That’s why we plan to take another two weeks off later in the year.”
“You’ll be coming back here?” Mira asked, curiously.
“We’ll spend a week in The Poconos, then head back here,” Norma replied.
Mira smiled.
“I have the benefit of practically my entire family living close by in Florida, so we see each other a lot, but Wade doesn’t have that convenience, so we’re trying to get down here as much as possible. Furthermore, Tommy has missed Rosie so much! He’s been constantly asking us when we were coming here for a visit.”
Placing an arm around Norma’s waist, Sara said, “Well, you’re here now and we’re all together, so we’re gonna make the best of it while it lasts.”
Norma’s face suddenly beamed with anticipation. “I can’t wait for our road trip!”
“Neither can I,” Sara replied as they headed inside. “Neither can I.”
3
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The adults literally sat for hours after dinner catching up on old times while Rosie and Tommy played every game they could think of within that time frame. They showed no signs of slowing down when they placed their electronic devices on the bureau and started outside for yet another game of “hop scotch”.
“Don’t be long, kids. It’s getting dark,” Mira said behind them.
“It’s the last game,” Rosie assured her mother, with Tommy hastily nodding. “Tommy wanted to play again.”
“Okay. The last one, then you guys have to get washed up for bed.”
“We won’t be long, Aunt Mira!” Tommy was skipping behind his older cousin. Rosie had him by a full year and a half and she filled her big cousin role exceptionally well.
“Who do they remind you of?” Wade looked Mira’s way. She was slumped on the couch after helping herself to a generous plate of roast, yellow rice and coleslaw.
“Us, of course,” she replied.
Sara and Norma looked on quietly.
“We did practically everything together, didn’t we?”
Mira nodded. “Yeah, we did.”
Mira giggled as she observed the expression on their mother’s face. Wade soon noticed.
“So, my suspicions were right all along!” Sara gave them both a reprimanding glare. “That’s why my cooler always smelled like fish!”
“We tried our best to wash it properly each time, Mom,” Wade confessed. “There’s only so much a couple of teenagers can be held responsible for.”
“And that canal! Your father always told you kids never to go down there. Suppose one of you had fallen in and drowned?”
“We didn’t, Mom, so chill,” Mira said. “All is well...”
“… That ends well,” Wade added, before he, Mira and Norma started laughing.
Sara was the only one that didn’t find the revelation the least bit amusing.
After managing to compose herself, Norma crossed her legs and turned to Mira, who was seated next to her. “Wade talked about all the fun exploring you two did as kids and he mentioned this one haunted house that’s somewhere in the neighborhood. I’d really like to see it.”
Mira wasn’t sure how to respond. She glanced at Wade and he watched as the angst settled on her face.
Clearing his throat, he said, “Sis, do you ever talk about that day and what happened?”
Mira shook her head. “Not really. Don’t feel the need to. Nice that you filled Norma in though.” She looked her way. “How long ago did he spill the beans?”
Sensing the obvious, Norma sought Wade’s unspoken approval, but he wasn’t making eye contact with her. “Actually, he didn’t speak a word of this so-called haunted house until we were on the plane heading here. Is it supposed to be a secret or something?”
“No. No secret,” Mira replied. “Most folks around here already know about the Ferguson house.”
“But not everyone knows about what really happened, Sis,” Wade interjected. “And I don’t understand why you don’t open up about it. What happened on that property when we were kids is something all of us should be proud of, especially you. You were the one who had a special connection to her.”
Mira gazed into nowhere.
Sara knew that Karlen Key’s story still held a treasured place in her daughter’s heart all those years later and that the overwhelming effect of the experience never left her.”
“You don’t have to feel funny about it, Sis,” Wade continued. “I hadn’t mentioned it to Norma before, nor to anyone else because I know it’s a touchy subject most people won’t understand, but more so because, for some reason, you never wanted to talk about it after it happened. But now, twenty years have passed. I started to feel like we had kept it hush long enough and I should be able to share something so awesome with my own wife. When I told her the story, she didn’t judge you even in the slightest. I knew she wouldn’t.”
“You obviously have a very special gift, Mira,” Norma said. “In fact, I think you must’ve been pretty amazing for Karlen to reach out to you in the manner that she did. Wade said you were instrumental in helping her put together the missing pieces that had kept her confined to that place even in death.”
“Must we really get into this topic right now?” Mira asked, not knowing how to digest the news that her brother squealed to her sister-in-law that she sees dead people. “I’d rather discuss the road trip. Everyone set to leave first thing in the morning?”
No one objected.
“Uh, yes,” Wade said. “Matthew Town in the Sogog area, as you all know, came highly recommended by another doctor at the hospital, who happens to be my boss. He and his family stayed there for a month because it has the most beautiful scenery you could ever lay your eyes on. The lakes, streams and landscapes are breathtaking. I think we can use an escape to such a place to just exhale and I heard the small community makes the place even more inviting.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Mira announced. “I haven’t had a real vacation for a whole year now. New procedures were implemented and more modernized equipment brought in several months ago. And just like what you guys have been facing at the hospital, Doctor Barns has been slow in hiring more staff.”
“I know you’re glad you finally finished your internship,” Wade remarked.
“Elated is more like it.” Mira cracked a smile, satisfied that they were now discussing something of a more upbeat nature.
“How’d you manage to convince your boss to let you get away for a while?” Norma asked. “We know how much he depends on you.”
“He’s a nice guy and all,” Sara chimed in, “but seriously, he needs to settle down and find himself a wife around his own age and allow someone younger with better use of their faculties to run that clinic.”
“For your information, Mom, Doctor Barns manages quite well despite his age, and furthermore, he says he doesn’t have any use for a woman. He’s already been married four times. I agree it’s best he stays single, don’t you?” Mira rebutted.
“His four wives were four children.” Sara scoffed.
“Children?” Norma was flabbergasted.
“A twenty-something-year-old compared to a seventy-year-old man is a child.” Sara clarified. “He’s had four of them!”
“Mom!” Mira sucked her teeth, hopelessly. “If he wanted someone younger to spend his life with, that’s his prerogative. I don’t care what he does in his personal life. He’s a good employer and an excellent doctor; that’s what matters to me and to his patients. Leave the man’s personal affairs alone. Furthermore, how about giving more thought to your own?”
Taken aback, Sara grimaced.
“You know what I’m talking about.”
Wade was smiling.
“So, which hotel are we staying at, Wade?” Mira asked him, picking up where they had left off.
“The Marietta. It’s the better one out of the two.”
“There are only two hotels in that town?” Sara asked.
“Yep.” Wade nodded. “One grocery store, two schools – a primary and a high school – a couple of pharmacies, and from what I’ve heard, one doctor. His name’s Whitmore. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with him before we came here.”
“One doctor?” Mira asked. “How do they manage with one doctor?”
“I guess they manage. The town is quite small – less than two thousand people. Whitmore has a pretty functioning clinic with several well-trained nurses. From the sound of it, he’s also a staple in his community. Heard he’s very charitable too and sometimes sends his patients off without charge.”
“Well, that’s nice to hear,” Sara stated. “Doctors like that these days are few and far between. Many only see dollar signs. No money, no service. That’s how it is.”
“You’re so right,” Norma said.
“You know what’s really odd to me?” Mira grabbed everyone’s attention. “How we all ended up in the medical field, except for Dad. And Wade even went and married a doctor.”
They all smiled, nodding in agreement.
“Y’all doctors have your hands full,” Sara commented. “I’ve always loved being a nurse – not that my job was any easier. It’s a rewarding profession, especially when you love and care about the people you serve. It was so difficult to retire when I did, but I didn’t have a choice, as you know.”
“Right. If you didn’t leave when you did, I’m afraid they might have escorted you out!” Mira teased. “You’d passed your retirement age a few years prior. I’m surprised they kept you on.”
“That’s because she’s so valuable.” Wade patted his mother’s knee.
“Thanks, son.” Sara was beaming. “You were always so wise, even as a boy.”
“That’s not even remotely true, Mom,” Mira said. “After all the trouble Wade got us into as kids, wise is not a word that suits him. You know that!”
They all chortled.
Norma went for the kids who
se clothes were stained with sweat. “We have to get up early in the morning. You both need to wash up now.”
The children finished off their game, then headed inside to separate bathrooms to get ready for bed.
4
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The Cullens piled into the van Wade had rented near the airport after their arrival in Mizpah. Starting out, he was the designated driver and Sara would be his co-pilot who’d refer to the all-important map. After securing the house, Mira climbed in next to Norma, and Rosie and Tommy took the back seat with games in hand.
“Everyone set?” Wade asked, after starting the engine.
They all affirmed in unison.
“Let’s go, Dad!” Tommy urged him.
Smiling widely, Rosie found a more comfortable position near the window.
Wade reversed out of the yard and headed down the street.
“How long will we be driving before we get there, Uncle Wade?” Rosie asked.
“About eight hours,” Wade reluctantly replied.
“Eight hours!” Tommy shrieked. “How can we drive for that long? I’m gonna have to pee.”
Mira giggled. “We’ll be stopping along the way at rest stops so we can all stretch our legs, use the bathrooms and get something to snack on when we’re hungry.”
“Your Aunt Mira’s right, sweetheart,” Norma said. “Eight hours sounds like a long time, but before you know it, we’ll be in Sogog, then a few minutes later, in Matthew Town. Just sit back and enjoy the trip, you two. We’re gonna have a wonderful time.”
“I know we will, Aunt Norma.” Rosie thought to be mature about it.
During the drive, Wade and Sara chatted endlessly, so did Mira and Norma behind them. The kids were mostly occupied with their games, only alerting each other when they happened to win a round.
A little less than an hour later, Rosie leaned forward and touched the nape of her mother’s neck. Mira turned her head slightly.
The Cornelius Saga Boxed Set Page 24