The Tree and the Tablet (The St. James Chronicles Book 1)

by Kathryn O'Brien

  Turning on my heel, I opened the door to the study and slipped inside. For a moment, in the dark, it looked like there was a figure standing by the desk and I jumped, inhaling sharply with fear. “Hello?” No answer. Shakily, I reached behind me and turned on the light. All I saw was my own reflection in the window. Laughing at myself for my overreaction, I walked over to the desk and snatched the satchel and letter up, deciding to just take them to my room to explore. The satchel was heavy. Curious now, I decided that I’d grab a cup of tea on my way up and headed to the kitchen.

  After preparing a cup of Darjeeling, I settled myself in the middle of the queen bed of the guest room to read the letter and open the satchel. Excitement and curiosity warred within me. Opening the satchel slowly, I poured the contents out onto my left hand and was surprised at the ornately carved amulet that landed securely in my palm. It was beautiful.

  Looking to be from some sort of ancient time, there was an oval, milky-white stone about two inches long by one inch wide. It shimmered in the light. The mounting looked to be twenty-four karat gold and had carvings all around it that looked like birds and other types of designs that I’d never seen before. At the top of the amulet, where the chain ran through, was an all-seeing eye. It reminded me of something I’d seen on one of those shows about ancient Egyptians or the back of a dollar bill. Turning it over in my hand, there were a bunch of symbols arranged in a circular pattern starting in the center and working toward the outer ring of the amulet. In the very center, there was an opening about three centimeters in diameter that you could see the stone from behind. Hmmm. My chest tightened when I caressed the words on the back andthe sensation was slightly frightening which propelled me to set the amulet on top of the satchel on the bed.

  Looking away, I picked up the letter. Written on the front of the envelope in Andrea’s handwriting were the words, “To my beloved sister, Maggie.” Reverently, I ran my fingers over the letters. Closing my eyes, I felt the raised edges and the indentation made by the pen strokes as I visualized Andrea writing those words. My imagination saw her scrawling those words meticulously over the paper with the marble encased pen I’d purchased for her when I went to Greece two years ago. Sighing and holding the envelope to my chest as if I were hugging Andrea, I finally pulled it away and turned it over, opening it gently to find a letter folded neatly inside.

  Dearest Maggie,

  I wish you weren’t reading this right now, because that means I’m not with you anymore. Firstly, I love you. I’m so sorry about the burden I’ve left you, but I’m absolutely positive that you’ll take great care in protecting and raising Kelsey. —

  Stunned by her words, “Did she know that Dylon would die?” The sound of my words spoken aloud reverberated through the room, slightly startling me. A shiver crept along my spine with a sense of something unknown. Glancing over my shoulder toward the cracked door, there was nothing there, but I stared a little longer toward the opening waiting breathlessly for what…I didn’t know. Seeing that the situation hadn’t changed and there was still a void in the gap left by the barely closed door, a sigh escaped my lips. “Well, what did you expect?” Shaking my head, I returned to the letter.

  —I’m sure you have questions about the amulet, so I’ll try to fill you in. The most important thing I can tell you, is that the amulet is very powerful. Take every precaution to keep it hidden and safe.

  As you know, Jaxon and I have been trying to find our parents even though they were legally declared dead five years ago. About a month ago, one of our clients, who deals in ancient antiquities, came to us with an offer we couldn’t refuse. Carolynn turned us on to his work. He’d heard from her that we were looking for a way to find someone we’d lost, and since he owed us a substantial balance on his accounts, we made a deal to accept an ancient Mayan amulet called a Soul-Seer. It’s very old and it’s said that the souls of those who are lost can be channeled through the moonstone. It's supposed to possibly have other powers, but we weren't concerned with those. The Mayan’s had many beliefs and traditions that we’re still learning about, but taking a chance, we decided to believe this one. Some of the ancient writings link the Mayan beliefs to those of the ancient Egyptians, but I’m not sure how. This stone will allow the wearer to see and speak to their lost loved ones. It’s like a channeling device of sorts. Almost like what you and I used to do as kids. I know it sounds crazy, but you have to believe. Please. Your life depends on it.

  We were warned that if the amulet wasn’t used properly, it could cause great harm. The consequences of using this amulet are what made us fear for our lives and Kelsey’s safety. I sent Kelsey to stay with you under the guise of getting ready for Dylon’s arrival, but it was because Jaxon started having horrific nightmares. Shortly after that, we contacted Mr. Jacobs and asked him to change the will and keep the stone safe. We spoke to Jaxon’s buddy from college, Daniel BlackFeather. He consulted the elders in his tribe, and he said that we opened a portal of some kind, because Jaxon used the amulet in a way it wasn't meant to be used. I was so afraid because he changed, Maggie. Jaxon became obsessed with the amulet and was rambling about how we were all going to die. I had to protect Kelsey from all the things that she’d already witnessed. That’s the real reason I sent her to you. This is the real reason she was having nightmares. Not a silly movie she watched. I'm sorry I lied to you.

  We tried to contact Mr. Caulker, the man who gave us the amulet, but shortly after Jaxon started having nightmares and visions of his parents, Mr. Caulker was found dead in his Larimer street loft. I was so frightened. I saw the pictures, Maggie. His eyes were missing. I didn't know what else to do.

  Daniel spent some time with us right after we sent Kelsey to you and he bound the amulet with a ritual, but he says that might not hold its power for long. We’re still looking for a way to remove the curse. A man named James Maxwell has been working in the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza and Tulum for the last twenty years. He said he’d heard of the amulet and was very upset when he learned we’d used it without researching it first. After we contacted him, he was researching the amulet’s powers and how to control it when he went missing. He said there are some ancient alien researchers that believe that it’s a doorway to the god’s or another world and that if it is used properly, it will possibly allow communication with aliens. I thought he was crazy at first, but now... I don't know what to think anymore. I just wish we’d never gotten it.

  I know that this all sounds absurd. But, Maggie, you should see the texts and research. It’s incredible. We had some documents that showed the links to the ancient Egyptians and possibly to aliens, but our house was broken into and the documents were taken after we gave the amulet to Mr. Jacobs. Daniel went searching for Mr. Maxwell who’d disappeared. The last we heard from Maxwell was that he’d gone to the Olympic National Forest to try and find a cave there that’s supposed to have a tablet that can control or channel the power of the amulet.

  I know you don't believe in this sort of stuff, but please promise me you’ll be careful with it. Keep it safe. If you have any questions, contact Daniel. He'll know what to do.

  Lastly, I suppose you’re wondering when I decided on the tree thing. It was a last minute change to the will. I had a dream I was back in that fantasy land we used to go to in our minds as kids. In the dream, a beautiful woman, like an angel, told me that I needed to have my ashes turned into a tree. It was weird, but I felt like it really needed to happen so I changed the will when we went to take the amulet. The company that does this type of work had come up as an advertisement when I was scrolling through my social media account. I didn’t tell you because there was no time. I really hoped it was all a bad dream, but I’m just glad that you and Kelsey are safe.

  I love you, Maggie. Please take care of Kelsey for us. I’m so very sorry we did this to you.

  Love, Andrea

  Shocked, I set the letter on the bed, shaking my head. What the heck happened? Did they just go crazy? Maybe they were poiso
ned? I knew Andrea and Jaxon were trying to make contact, but this is ridiculous. Looking at the letter and then to the amulet, tears slipped down my cheeks. My mind whirled. To have gone through all of this and not share it with me was unfathomable to me. We’d always been so close and never kept secrets like this. The only thing my mind kept sticking on was that she knew she was going to die. Why would she have gone to great lengths to send Kelsey to me, write a new will, and write this letter? Reeling from the pain of this realization, the anguish coursed through me in pulsating waves. Picking up the amulet and speaking to it as if it were alive, I commanded, “If you are truly able to bring back those we lost, show me my sister.” Nothing happened and I cried harder, “Dammit, you stupid rock, show me Andrea!”

  Just then I heard an agonized cry from the doorway and Kelsey ran into the room like the hounds of hell were on her heels, “Nooooooooo!” She cried. Grabbing the amulet out of my hand, screaming at me on her way to the window, “Don’t say that! You don’t know. This necklace took my mommy and daddy away! I know it!” She flung the amulet out the window with all of her strength and dropped to the floor crying hysterically. She hugged her little arms around her curled up legs and balled herself up so tight that I couldn't see her face. Kelsey just rocked back and forth hugging her legs and crying, repeating over and over, “You don’t know. You don’t know.” Shaking her head back and forth.

  While initially surprised by her outburst, I knew that she was very smart for her age and had moments of extreme comprehension. However, my heart plummeted at the sight of her small form wracked with pain.

  Slowly, I crouched down in front of her, placing my hand on her arm, “Please, Kelsey, it’s just a necklace. Is this why you were having nightmares?”

  She stopped rocking. Big, beautiful, blue eyes, wide with fear, looked up at me, filled with anguish and flooded with tears, she nodded her head.

  "Oh, honey. That's silly. The necklace didn’t take your parents away. Your mommy and daddy were in a horrible car accident. That’s all." Gingerly, my hand strayed toward her to stroke her hair.

  Searching my face, she frowned. “You don’t believe it!” Shaking her head, she looked at me pleading, “You have to believe. I know!”— she whispered. — “They didn’t know, but, I saw it.”

  Trying to comfort her, “Kelsey, I know that what happened to your mom and dad was a terrible accident and I’m just as sad that they aren’t with us, but it simply wasn’t a necklace that caused it. It was just bad luck.”

  She looked at me and just cried. “You don’t know.” She started repeating again. Calmly, encircling her in my arms, I picked her up and went to the chair near the window. Rocking her slowly and singing her the lullaby that my mother used to sing to us, All the Best Things, from our favorite movie, I was finally able to get her to sleep. She’d been crying so hard that every couple of breaths, she’d hiccup like she was gasping for air. Her hair was matted to her face where the tears had gathered and I gently pushed it away from her face. There was still a look of fear etched on her brow and she mumbled in her sleep, “You don’t know.” My heart hurt for her. “Oh, Andrea, — I cried inwardly as I clutched my beautiful niece close to me — “What the hell happened?”

  Sitting there, holding her close, it seemed like an eternity passed. Seeing that she had calmed and was breathing regularly with less hiccupping, I decided to take her to her room. As I placed her in her bed and pulled up the blanket, she rolled over sighing heavily, snuggling into her blankets. Looking down at Kelsey, I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly it was that she saw and how I was going to help her.

  Stepping out into the hallway, it was like a magnet was drawing me toward the stairs. A wave of fog fell over my thoughts and almost as if I had no control over my own feet, I found myself wandering toward the back yard where Kelsey had thrown the amulet. Aimlessly winding my way through the hedge maze in the backyard, I stopped at the center.

  There, in the center of the fountain was a statue of the Greek goddess, Venus. Sitting as if it had been perfectly placed within the hands of the goddess, was the amulet. The haze I’d been in, was starting to lift. Looking back at the immense distance between the window and the fountain, I wondered whether Kelsey was practicing being a baseball pitcher. There was at least a hundred feet between the center of the maze and that window.

  Pulling up my pant legs, I waded into the fountain to retrieve the amulet. The moment I touched it, an electric current pierced my soul. Almost instantly, my mother’s voice encircled me, singing about my favorite things as if she were standing right there.

  Still holding the amulet in my hand, I turned around and there was Andrea. Startled, I jumped and just about swallowed my tongue. Tentatively, my hand stretched out toward her, but she was transparent and my hand went right through her. Mouth hanging open, I closed my eyes and shook my head violently, whispering to myself, “It’s not real. I’m dreaming.”

  “Maggie, you’re NOT dreaming.” The apparition admonished me in a soothing, Andrea-like voice.

  Opening my eyes slowly and exhaling through my teeth, I garnered my courage to ask, “What are you,” as my voice wavered with fear and I blinked my disbelieving eyes trying to clear my obviously stilted vision.

  The apparition that resembled my sister looked at me sternly, “Magpie, it’s me!”

  Only Andrea called me that. Shaking my head in disbelief and waving my hand as if to erase the vision, I swallowed hard, starting to close my eyes against the view, “No. Nope! Not real.”

  “Magpie, Please. You need to listen carefully, I only have a minute.” The appeal in her voice caused me to stop my frantic movements and my eyes roamed over her as I briefly wondered why I was still standing there. Her voice caressed me gently, “Take care of Kelsey. Protect her at all costs. Put the amulet away. Trust no one. When you receive the tree pod, bury the amulet under it. I don't know how I know this or why you have to do this, but it will keep you safe. Promise me, Maggie!” She pleaded with me. Blatantly staring at her, my response was a stunned silence. “Please!”—she looked like Andrea, but it just wasn’t possible, my mind reeled—“Maggie, I’m begging you.”

  Her figure started to shimmer and waver in front of me. “Remember to trust no one, especially those you think you can trust”

  Feeling a bit rebellious, I snarked back at my dream, “What will you do if I don’t?”

  The figure became dark and brooding and Andrea screamed. It felt like a large hand had reached in and grabbed hold of my heart. My breath caught in my throat and everything went dark. I'm not sure how much time went by but it was still dark when I woke up on the ground next to the fountain soaking wet from head to toe with the sprinklers spraying me in the face.

  Looking around, the amulet was lying on the ground next to me. Placing it in my pocket, I got up feeling utterly exhausted and went toward the house. The entire time, all I could think about was whether I dreamed about Andrea or if it was real. Once in my room, I placed the amulet carefully in the satchel, put it in the bedside table drawer and dried myself off.

  After dressing rapidly, I climbed into bed, wrapping myself in the warmth of the fluffy comforter in an attempt to get warm. My whole body felt like it had been completely sapped of strength. Reaching to turn the bedside lamp off, the weight of my own arm suspended in mid-air was almost more than I could bear. As I flicked the switch, it was all I could do to pull my arm to my side. Cringing against the strain, the sound of the lullaby swelled over the night sounds drifting in through the cracked window from the maze. Realizing I must have forgotten to close the window, the struggle to decide whether to close it was lost as I realized my exhaustion was winning the battle. Too tired to go close it, my eyes turned toward the clock, which reflected back at me with a blinding blue light illuminating the numbers, 3:33 a.m. Weird. With a deep sigh, I turned my head toward the lilting sounds coming from the garden and soon drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Four

  Jody and I spent
the next week while waiting for the funeral date, going through everything in the house. There were a couple of items that Jody asked for, and I gave them to her. I figured if they were going to go to charity, why not give them to Jody. Andrea and Jaxon would have wanted it that way.

  Andrea’s best friend, Carolyn, called, “Hey, I was wondering if I could come and help you go through Andrea’s belongings?”

  A chill crept up my spine, “That’s not necessary, Carolyn. Jody and I have this.”

  “Well, there might be something of mine within her things.” she sounded a little out of breath.

  “Can you describe it to me? That way, Jody and I can look for it.” I offered.

  “Umm. Well, I can’t remember what it exactly looks like, it's been so long since I've seen it is all.” She laughed nervously. “I mean, I think I lent it to her a while ago.”

  “So, you're not certain what it looks like or what it is?”

  There was a silence on the other line. I thought I heard whispering in the background.

  “Hello? Carolyn? Are you still there?”

  “Yup, here. I have to go, I’ll call you later.”

  “Okay.” my goodbye was answered with a dead silence followed by the sound of my phone beeping to let me know the call was lost. Immediately, I thought of the conversation with the Andrea spirit dream. Carolyn called a couple of other times but I let them go to voicemail. She never left a message, which I also thought was odd.

  One day, while we were going through some of Andrea’s clothes, I asked Jody about Daniel. She laughed hesitantly, “Well, I don’t know him that well. I only met him once about a week before Andrea and Jaxon...” she stopped mid-sentence and looked off with a sad expression. Collecting herself, she said smiling gently, “Sorry.”