by BobA. Troutt
*****
The Fall of Night
Love Letters
About thirty-five miles from the Florida state line, the ocean spray ballet against the rocky bluffs of the Georgia coastline. The waves splashed against the rocks driving the tide inward. The milky looking clouds set abreast of the dawn as the warm winds stirred about. Afar off, across the troubled waters, a little thunder could be heard and flashes of lightning could be seen from time to time; a storm had moved in. It was 1921 in the small town of Mossey Stone, Georgia where I was born and raised. I am Brother Warner, the local church pastor.
It was a typical Saturday afternoon when I reached Stone Cottage Cove. The cove was just outside of Mossey Stone. It was located on a bluff near the ocean and was accented by a small body of water that fed in and out of the ocean. The lighthouse stood so tall and bold; it dressed the coastline with its stylish character. I always enjoyed my visits to the lighthouse. Every time I went there, it brought back fond memories of my childhood. My friends and I played around the lighthouse a lot when we were young. Oh, what I would give for those days again. But, that’s life. You have to take it as it comes, do your best and let the rest be. I think sometimes it would be nice to go back. However, after I take a look back, I quickly realize that I really don’t want to.
Jud Wilkerson was the lighthouse keeper. He and Holly, his wife, had been there for years. Jud moved to Mossey Stone from the northeast. He became the lighthouse keeper after the death of Sandy Forrest, the former keeper. Soon after, he met Holly and they later married. They had one daughter, Jo Alice, and lived in the adjoining house at the base of the towering lighthouse.
As I stood at the top of the bluff looking out across the ocean, I watched the water splashing furiously below. The strong wind blew the hair on my head aimlessly about and caused my pants legs to flap in the wind. I was enjoying the warm breeze upon my face when Jud came out to see me.
Jud was a quiet man and stayed to himself. He was a low key sort of guy and a good friend of mine. I dropped by to visit him from time to time. I tried to encourage him and Holly to come back to church. They used to be faithful members until life’s trouble got them down. Jud and Holly were good down to earth people. But, sometimes when you get down it’s not so easy to get back up. It not only happened to Jud and Holly. In my line of work, I saw it happen to a lot of people.
I remember that day clearly; the angry waves beat against the rocky coastline. The sky turned a blackish-gray as it drew back the light of day. I watched the brewing storm change swiftly. It gained momentum every second, recklessly driving the water about as the snowcapped waves formed and rested upon the shore.
“A storm is brewing,” I said as the hard wind ripped the coastline with a fear-filled chill.
“Yep,” replied Jud, “sure is.”
“I’ve been missing you and Holly at church,” I said. “We miss you and your family.”
“Yep,” he replied. “I appreciate your concern.”
But, he would not say any more.
“Jud, you know, we have been friends for a long time. We’ve been through a lot together, especially in the last few years. I know Jo Alice comes from time to time and it is always a blessing to see her in church. However, Jud, she needs you and Holly to be strong for her.”
“Yeah,” I know Jud replied. “But it’s not the same anymore. There’s too much water under the bridge to make any difference.”
“Yes, I understand that things happen in life, Jud. Why, I can’t explain. It was a long time ago when that happened and you have to find a way to move on. Let it go, Jud. I pray you give it to the Lord. You’re going to have to let it go. Or, it will eat at you and you’ll only grow more bitter and angry.”
High above us, the seabirds sailed about and squawked. The crashing waves hit hard against the rocky coastline causing the silent cry of the ocean to break up against the rocks and return back to the ocean as a haunting whisper.
“The storm will probably move back out,” stated Jud. “If it does, we will miss a good chance of getting some much needed rain.”
“You may be right,” I replied. “Well, I better get going just in case the storm does come ashore. Jud, you’re a hard man to convince,” I said. “You can’t change the things that have happened. We all make mistakes; it’s time to put it behind you and move on. I hope you’ll think about what I’ve said. Jesus loves you and your family,” I said as I reached out to shake his hand. “I believe you’ll do the right thing when the time comes. Tell Holly and Jo Alice I said hi and that I’ve been thinking about them.”
“I will. Thanks, Brother Warner, for coming by,” he responded. “Come back anytime.”
“I’ll keep you all in my prayers,” I replied as I turned and walked away.
When I left, Jud headed back to the lighthouse. He was right; the storm shifted and went back out into the ocean. I figured we would probably get some rain off the storm but not a lot. As I drove away, I thought about the story of the lighthouse I heard as a child. The haunting story of the lighthouse dated back to the 1800’s. It was told that the lighthouse keeper killed his wife and then committed suicide when he found out she had an affair. The wife’s lover was said to have disappeared; he was never seen again. There is an old unmarked grave not far from the lighthouse. People believe the keeper of the lighthouse killed his wife’s lover when he confronted him about the affair. It is believed that his wife’s lover is buried in the unmarked grave. All of that may be old tall tales which have been told down through the years. Things have happened around the lighthouse that can’t be explained. Strange voices have been heard, a light climbing the lighthouse tower late at night has been seen and unexplained blackouts have occurred. The haunting cries have been heard throughout the spiral chamber for years. Stone Cottage Cove definitely had its dark secrets.
As time went on, nothing changed much around Mossey Stone. People just came and went. In the lazy days of summer, families gathered together to drink homemade tea, pitch horseshoes and play a little crochet around Lancaster County. But, times have changed. Also, the people have changed; they have different priorities. It used to seem like people worked together and tried to help one another. However, over time, it seemed like the people didn’t have the time to care anymore. I see it more and more each day.
As I drove back to town, I couldn’t get my mind off Jud. He truly was a hard man but, in his own way, he was a good man. Don’t get me wrong, Jud was no saint. He was a recovering alcoholic; he had been on the wagon for a pretty long time. I was really proud of him. He and Holly had their share of troubles. A few years ago, Jud fell off the wagon and started drinking again which caused his abusive ways to return. When Jud was drinking he was hard to be around. Not only was he physically abusive toward Holly, he was verbally abusive as well. She and Jo Alice had to leave home quite a bit because it would get so bad. They had to leave several times in the middle of the night to get away from his abusive ways. He started staying out late at night, fighting and getting in trouble. No one really knew why Jud started back drinking. But, it was around the time Holly was having an affair with a sailor named James Turner from Savannah. Their affair went on for several months. Jud found out about the affair when Holly became pregnant. She didn’t know for sure who the father was. But, deep down in her heart she believed her lover, James, was the father. Things got pretty bad for a while. Jud swore he would kill him if he ever saw him. Jud and Holly tried to work things out but didn’t make much ground. Holly told Jud that he drove her into another man’s arms. It did appear that way. However, it still didn’t justify for what she did; two wrongs don’t make a right. Time soon passed and things didn’t get any better between Holly and Jud. Holly moved out and went to live with a friend of hers. Jud went by there every day, cussing and causing trouble; he was arrested a few times and ordered to stay away. But, he was so overbearing and hear
tless.
Jud eventually encountered Holly’s lover one night at a bar in Savannah. He recognized him from a picture he had found of Holly’s. The two men had a few words and pushed and shoved each other a little bit. However, James told Jud it wasn’t worth it and walked out the door. Jud followed right behind him cussing and threatening him with each step he took. When James turned around to confront Jud, he saw that he had a knife. He told Jud he didn’t want any trouble because he loved Holly and his feelings for her would never change. They both disappeared into the night and James was never seen again. Some say he returned to his ship for deployment. Others who knew how hotheaded Jud was think James is buried in the unmarked grave near the lighthouse.
Holly, trying to make the marriage work, moved back to the lighthouse with Jud. Even though Jud had quit drinking they still had some troubling times. The unexpected pregnancy was definitely a thorn in their flesh. However, after the baby was born, things turned around. The child helped close the wounds of the past.
Jo Alice was a good girl and loved living at the lighthouse. She was a heavenly light sent from Heaven; the Lord used her to free two shattered lives from a darkened past. She was the joy of their lives and a blessing to them in so many ways. Jud never forgot the smile on her face when he brought home a dog one day to surprise her. Jo Alice named him Mr. Tenpenny; he was a blessing to her and gave her such love and joy in her heart. She loved him and the lighthouse so much. She and Mr. Tenpenny played around the lighthouse and had so much fun.
In time, life around Mossey Creek was good again. Jud and his family came to church occasionally. It seemed like everything had come together for them. Jo Alice grew up so fast and Mr. Tenpenny was no longer a pup but a lazy hound lying around the base of the lighthouse steps.
The townspeople seldom mentioned anything about the unmarked grave anymore. They had basically forgotten about it. Jo Alice kept it cleaned off and tended to the wild flowers that grew about it. It always bothered her that there was no name or date engraved on the headstone. She felt sorry for the person buried there because they had been forgotten. The headstone had weathered with time and was covered with a little moss. From time to time, Jo Alice would ask Jud and Holly about the grave. She always asked who was buried in the grave and if they went to Heaven. They always told her they didn’t know and they hoped so.
Life in Mossey Stone moved on. I still pastored the church there; it had grown a little but we had lost most of our older members. In general, life stayed pretty much the same until we were hit hard by a storm. It swept across the water through the darkness of night producing heavy rain, high winds, thunder, lightning and fierce waves. The winds twisted and turned out of control, tearing down everything in its path. Jud was in the lighthouse the night the storm hit. He shined the light out over the ocean searching for ships caught in the storm. As he fought with all his might to keep the light aglow, he noticed a ship caught up in the midst of the storm. It was being tossed violently back and forth in the troubled waters. The sailor steering the ship could see the small glimmer of light piercing its way through the angry storm. With the Lord’s help, Jud was able to guide the ship safely to land. After the surge of the storm, the waters calmed down and were peaceful once again. Unfortunately, Jud died of a massive heart attack after he had guided the ship to shore. When they found him, he was still clutching the light.
The loss of Jud hit the community hard. Despite everything, he had a lot of friends; he was well liked and everyone spoke highly of him. He was respected by many after he accepted another man’s child into his home and raised her as his own. I don’t think Jud or Holly really knew who Jo Alice’s father was. I prayed and hoped he had things in order before he died. After his death, Holly maintained the lighthouse with Jo Alice’s help. They had learned everything they knew from one of the best lighthouse keepers around. The lighthouse never seemed the same after Jud died; he was gone but not forgotten.
A few months after his death as Jo Alice played in the tower, she found an old cigar box full of love letters. She found the box behind some loose bricks in the tower wall. She opened one of the letters; it was addressed to her mama from James. She read it as well as the others, seven in all. They were all written to her mother from James. After reading the letters, she was confused and couldn’t figure out why her mama would cheat on her daddy. She took the letters to her mama and asked her why. As soon as Holly saw the letters in her hand she knew exactly what they were.
“Mama, what are these?” she asked as she tossed the letters onto the table.
“Where on earth did you find those?” questioned her mama. Jud must have found them and hid them from me, she thought before she responded.
“Jo Alice, honey, you shouldn’t be concerned about those. Actually, it’s been so long ago that I had forgotten about them myself. I didn’t want you to ever find out about mine and your daddy’s past problems. But, since you found these letters, let me explain. Several years ago Jud started drinking again. He wasn’t the best person when he drank. He became physically and verbally abusive toward me, more than I could take. He was so out of control. I couldn’t bare it so I left him for a while and stayed with Ellen, my friend. That’s when I met James. I met him by accident at the market. Considering the way things were at home, it was easy for me to slip into another man’s arms. He was the exact opposite of your daddy in so many ways. James and I had an affair which lasted only a few months. James was everything I wanted Jud to be. Jud found out about the affair after I got pregnant. We started to file for divorce, but Jud told me he would stop drinking. I went back home and tried to make our marriage work. It wasn’t easy but we decided to stay together and make the best of it for you. Jud loved you. He changed for the better after you were born; he never drank again. You gave him something to live for.”
“So, are you saying Jud is not my biological father?” she asked.
“No…I mean, yes. Oh, I’ve always felt that James was your real daddy. I guess in the back of my mind I always hoped he was.”
“But, that doesn’t make it right,” Jo Alice cried.
“Jud and I did what we thought was right,” she explained. “We thought it was in your best Interest.”
Jo Alice rebelled for a while because she was torn by the things she had found out. At first she was angry and hurt. On several occasions when I went to visit Holly, Jo Alice talked to me about what she had found out and how she felt about it. She was confused and searched for answers to help her accept the situation. We had several conversations about the lover letters and I tried to help her understand. She slowly began to heal. As time passed, she forgave her mother and eventually asked her what happened to James. Holly explained to her that she didn’t see or talk to James after she went back to Jud. She did tell her that she had heard about the encounter Jud and James had at a bar in Savannah. And, after that night, James disappeared and wasn’t seen again. She told Jo Alice she just didn’t have much information about him or his whereabouts.
After several conversations with Jo Alice, I finally decided it was time for me to give Jo Alice something Jud had told me to give her if anything ever happened to him. I drove out to the lighthouse to see her and told her I had something for her. I opened my Bible and handed her a letter from Jud. Jud had written it to Jo Alice after she was born. In the letter he asked her not to blame her mother and told her he loved her and only wanted her to be happy. The letter went on to say how he loved Jo Alice as if she was his own daughter and always would. When she finished reading the letter, it seemed like a peace came over her. I honestly believe it helped bring closure since it was in Jud’s own words.
Life went on after that, I stepped down from the church as the pastor and handed it over to a young man filled with fire. He and Jo Alice hit it off real good. I was so glad she met someone like him. Not too long afterwards, there came a knock upon the lighthouse door.
Holly ran to answer it. She thought it was the new pastor dropping by to see Jo Alice. She was startled when she answered the door….
“James?”