Mara Louis; Girl of Mystery

by Timothy Paterson

started the plan in motion. The first thing that he did was to call John Adams High School and request that Mr. and Mrs. Murphy report to the police station. He told the school that there were two children who needed help. Captain Brown also called Children’s Protective Services and requested that they send an investigator over at once.

  The last people that Captain Brown called, was Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. He informed them that Alex and Marissa were found hiding in an abandoned building and were being held at the police station. Captain Brown told the Nelsons that they needed to pick up the children.

  When Mr. and Mrs. Murphy arrived at the police station, the first person they saw was Mara. “Are you in some kind of trouble?” asked Mr. Murphy.

  Mara explained the situation to them. She told them that the children needed a temporary home until they could find another foster family. “I know that both of you are compassionate and understanding people” said Mara. “You are exactly what these kids need right now.” While Mr. and Mrs. Murphy were thinking it over, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson arrived to take Alex and Marissa home. They were taken into a room where Alex and Marissa were seated. The police officer left the four of them alone. What Mr. and Mrs. Nelson didn’t know, was that the mirror in the room was a two way mirror, and in a room on the other side of the mirror, quite a few people were watching Mr. and Mrs. Nelson; including Mara and her parents, Bailey, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, Captain Brown, the investigator from Children’s Protective Services and another police officer. There was a video camera and a microphone recording everything that took place in the room.

  Mr. and Mrs. Nelson started threatening the children with bodily harm. They told Alex and Marissa that they were both going to be beaten when they arrived home. They were swearing and becoming more belligerent.

  “I’ve seen and heard enough,” said Captain Brown. As he was about to open the door to the room, Mara said “Let me go in there first. I have to get the children away from those monsters.” Mara walked into the room, just as Mr. Nelson was about to punch Alex in the face. Alex and Marissa ran over to Mara and hid behind her. Alex was shaking with fear. As Mara put her arms around him, to calm him down, all of his anger, fear and the memories of the two years of terror started flowing from Alex into Mara. Mara had never felt more terrified in her life.

  At the same time, the police officers and Mr. Murphy entered the room. As the police were placing handcuffs on Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, Mr. Murphy looked at them and said; “If you ever lay a hand on either of these children, you will answer to me”.

  As the investigator from CPS started to take the children with him, Mara could see the look of fear in Alex’s eyes. Mara quickly glanced at Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, her eyes pleading with them to help.

  “Officer” said Mr. Murphy, “Would it be okay if my wife and I took these children home with us until you find a suitable home for them? We have both taught at the high school for over twenty-five years and the school will vouch for our character.”

  The officer looked over at Captain Brown, who gave a nod of approval. While the paperwork was being filled out, Mrs. Murphy got her first close look at Marissa. “Simon” she said to her husband, “Did you notice that Marissa looks a little like Beth Webster?” “Yes, I did,” said Mr. Murphy. “I also think that Alex reminds me of Brian Phillips a little bit.”

  When Alex heard this, he said; “Brian Phillips was our father and Beth Webster Phillips was our mother. They were both killed in a car accident two years ago. How do you know them?”

  Mrs. Murphy looked like she was going to cry. “Alex, Marissa, come over here and sit down,” she said. “I want to tell you a story. Mr. Murphy and I both started teaching at Adams High School twenty-seven years ago. We were both fresh out of college and it was our first teaching assignments. We were both attracted to each other, but we did not pursue it, because we did not want to jeopardize our jobs.

  Your parents were both freshmen that year. They had been best friends all through grade school. When they looked at us, they saw what we were trying to deny; that we should be together. Finally, one day, they got tired of us resisting the chemistry that they knew was there. Over the next six months, they kept devising devious plans to get the two of us together. Then, one day after they got tired of playing games and resisting the force pulling us together, they sat us down and gave it to us straight; ‘Just go out on one date’, they told us. If you don’t feel the sparks, then we will leave the two of you alone.’

  Well, we decided to take their advice, if for no other reason, than to get them to leave us alone. Well, that one date turned into another, then another. Six months later, we were engaged. Your mother was my bridesmaid and your father was Mr. Murphy’s groomsman at our wedding.

  We stayed close to them through high school and into college. After college, they began their own life and we lost track of them.”

  Mara was very surprised by this strange twist of fate. Her dream had not just united two children with a good set of foster parents. It had reunited four people who were all connected to a couple of compassionate people whose lives had been cut short by an accident.

  After Mrs. Murphy had finished her story, Mara told Alex and Marissa that she had a story to tell them as well. “For more than three years now” said Mara, “I have been blessed with psychic visions. Usually, I assume that the dreams come directly from God, but the other night, I had a dream that included all four of you. Alex, Marissa, I think that your parents wanted you to live with Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, because your parents trust them with your lives. I think that your parents are responsible for my dreams this time.”

  Mara put her arms around Marissa and Alex and said; “Your parents love you both very much and they are still watching over you.”

  It was at that point, that Mr. and Mrs. Murphy asked Alex and Marissa if they would allow them to become their parents and adopt them. Alex and Marissa both said “yes”, immediately.

  Bailey had witnessed all of this and thought everything turned out perfect, but she was thinking about the additional clues in Mara’s notebook.

  “Mara, how do the other clues; diamonds and Dunlap fit into all of this?”

  “”Did you say diamonds and Dunlap?” asked Mr. Murphy. “I have a good friend, named Roger Dunlap who is in charge of Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro. It is a state park about ninety miles from here, where you can search for diamonds and keep whatever you find. I believe that the park is open until five o’clock. I will call ahead and let him know that you are coming.”

  “That sounds like fun,” said Mara. “Thank you!” So, after Mara, her parents and Bailey said goodbye to Alex, Marissa and Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, they headed to Crater of Diamonds State Park.

  When they arrived at the park, it looked deserted. It was a little after four p.m. and all of the other visitors had gone for the day. Mr. Dunlap met them and told them that he was not going to charge them admission, or tool rental, because of the wonderful thing they had done in helping Alex and Marissa.

  Mara, her parents and Bailey each went in different directions. Mara realized that she was there for a purpose, so she closed her eyes and prayed; “God, I know that I came here for a reason. Please let me see what you request of me.” Mara suddenly felt completely at peace. When she opened her eyes, she sensed where she should start digging. It was in an area where the soil looked undisturbed. When Mara had dug down almost five feet, she hit something with her shovel. A big blue stone looked like glass. When she brushed off the dirt, she realized that it was a diamond. It was bigger than a softball. Mara put it in her backpack.

  Mara started walking again, with her eyes closed, using her inner compass. This time, at three feet below ground level, she found a beautiful red diamond. She did this twice more and found two more giant diamonds, one was yellow and the other one was pink. After she had found the last one, she knew that she had com
pleted her heavenly task. Then, everything became clear. She knew how the diamonds were connected to Alex, Marissa, Mr., and Mrs. Murphy.

  When Mara met up with her parents and Bailey at the park office, she saw that her mom and Bailey had each found a small diamond. Her father had found some other minerals, but no diamonds.

  As Mara was admiring the diamonds, Bailey asked her if she had found any diamonds.

  “Before I answer that question” said Mara, “I have a few questions to ask Mr. Dunlap. First, am I allowed to keep any diamonds that I find?” Mr. Dunlap assured her that she could keep anything she found. “Second,” said Mara, “is there a limit to the number of diamonds that I can keep?” Mr. Dunlap assured her that there was no limit. “Last question,” said Mara, “Can I request that my photo and name be kept out of any press releases?”

  “Would you let me photograph the diamonds?” asked Mr. Dunlap.

  “Yes, that would be okay,” said Mara.

  Mara’s parents knew that something was up, with Mara being so serious. They were trying to be patient, but Bailey was not the patient type. “Okay, Mara” she said. “Let’s see what you found”.

  Mara reached into her backpack and pulled out the yellow diamond. Mr.