Hidden Voices (Tess Schafer-Medium)

by Deborah Hughes

  “Please do, I’d like to see what you saw.”

  Realizing that I was not helping Barbara pick up the beads, I immediately began to do so. “The Indians who owned these beads wanted me to know what they were used for. The design was of a strange looking bird inside a circle. The beads made several layers of circles around it and then these black ones,” I picked up a couple of the shiny hematite beads, “made up the chain from which to hang the necklace around the neck.”

  “Why do you think the beads were taken apart and put in this box?”

  “I don’t know. But I think I need to find out.” Thinking back to the emotions flooding the room, I would say that finding the beads had stirred up old resentments. The only way to calm them was to get to the truth. Kade was going to love this.

  Once the task of gathering the beads was finished, Barbara stood up. “So, did you find anything interesting in your research?”

  “I’ve been reading up on the Indians that were here before and after Bucksport was first settled.”

  Barbara nodded as if she were familiar with the stories. “Yes, there were quite a few. Maine still has a small population of Indians but none here in Bucksport that I’m aware of. Mixed descendants maybe but no tribes. We didn’t treat each other very well for a while there.”

  “From what I gather, there has been quite a large assortment of Indian artifacts discovered all over Maine, particularly along the coastal areas and other waterways.”

  “Yes there have.” Barbara pointed at the copper box now resting once again on the nightstand. “And you have a few more.”

  I glanced at my watch and said with some regret, “We'll have to discuss this more later, Barbara, but right now I've got to call Mr. Truman and then I've got to get ready to head out as I've been invited to dinner.”

  Barbara’s arched gray brows rose curiously. “Oh? I didn’t realize you knew anyone around here.”

  “I don’t really. I met Mary Rowan during my walk along the river yesterday. She’s invited me to dinner with her and her mother.”

  “Mary Rowan.” Barbara’s brows now came together as she sunk into thought. “I believe she just got out of the military not too long ago. Her family has lived here in Bucksport for a long time.” Her forehead wrinkled as her thoughts continued to dredge up what she knew of the family. “Her mother’s name is Dawn. She’s a very dear lady. You are going to like her. She’s about to lose her house, though. Very sad.”

  “How do you know this, Barbara?”

  “You forget, Tess, that this is a small town. I grew up here before my travels with my husband and I’ve lived here for over twenty years since returning. Dawn and I went to school together. She’s a couple years younger than me but the schools were small back then and we knew everyone. Her husband Night Rowan also attended school with us though he was several years ahead of us. He was a good man.”

  “Night? As in night time when the stars are out?”

  Barbara nodded. “They are a strange family but very nice.” She laughed as if years of remembered amusements filled her thoughts and turned to head out of the room. “You have a good visit with them. Give Dawn my love and tell her that I’ll be stopping by soon for a visit. Whenever I can get that scatterbrained daughter of mine to stick around long enough to keep an eye on the place for me.”

  “Will do, Barbara.” Once she was gone, I sank down on the bed and thought about what I’d just learned. Dawn and Night Rowan? It was almost as bizarre as Rid, Sid and Brid! Another thing that puzzled me was why Mary kept her family’s last name? She said she was going through a divorce, which meant that the divorce was not yet final. Did she not take her husband’s name when they married? If not, I couldn’t help but wonder why? Not that it was all that important, really. I was just curious.

  My gaze fell upon the alarm clock next to my bed and when I realized how late in the day it was, I pulled the business card from my back pocket and grabbed my cell phone. If I wanted to see Ridley Truman today then I needed to call him ASAP. Moments later, his familiar voice answered on the second ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Mr. Ridley Truman?”

  “Yes, this is Rid.”

  “Hi, I’m Tess Schafer. Did Ted tell you I was going to call?”

  “Yes he did! Hello, Tess. It is so nice to be speaking with you again.”

  So he knew I was the woman he spoke to outside the cemetery yesterday. “Did Ted tell you about what we found?”

  “Yes he did and I am excited to see them. He said you’d probably come around this afternoon?”

  My heart sank a little at the excitement in his voice. I really was hoping to hold onto my find for just awhile longer but it didn’t sound like that was going to happen. “I’ve got to be somewhere at six, can I come around five-ish?” It was ten minutes before four, which gave me about one precious hour with my little treasures. Darn.

  “Yes, any time will be fine.” He hesitated and I waited to see what more he would say. “Ted said he told you that you could keep the box. I’m too old to be holding onto artifacts so I’m okay with that. My nephew won’t care either. But I would like to see them.”

  The breath whooshed out of me. Oh my God. How awesome was this. “Mr. Truman, thank you so much. Of course I’ll bring them with me. I have lots of questions. Barbara said you know a lot about the area.”

  A chuckle filled my ears. “Yes I do as a matter of fact, and I love to talk. You might want to show up a little earlier or an hour isn’t going to be long enough. Do you know where I live?”

  “Barbara can give me directions.”

  “Good, dear, then I’ll see you around five.”

  “Thanks again, Mr. Truman.”

  “Not sure why you are thanking me, but you’re welcome. And please call me Rid. Everyone does.”

  “I’ll see you in an hour then, Rid.”

  After I disconnected from the call, I immediately dialed Kade. He answered on the first ring. It made me smile how quickly he always answered my calls. “Hi, Kade.”

  “More has happened? Did you have another run in with the bloody guy?”

  The concern in his voice made my smile widen and once again I felt like a grinning idiot. “Actually yes. The most bizarre thing happened. The beads fell onto the floor and formed into a design. They used to make up a necklace.”

  “They rolled around on the floor and formed into a design all by themselves?”

  Although his voice was incredulous, I knew he believed me. And that made him all the more endearing. Pushing down the swell of emotion in my chest, I managed to speak in a normal voice and not give it away that my insides were a quivering mess of excitement. “They did. Although it might have been a vision because when Barbara came into the room and I waved her around the bed to see it, the beads were a scattered mess.”

  “Oh, sorry. I know you would have liked for her to see what you saw.”

  Again he was saying all the right things. I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to tamp down the surge of emotion that wanted to well up and burst from my chest. “I’m going to draw what I saw, that will be almost as good. Luckily the design is pretty simple. I wonder what it means and who the necklace belonged to and why it was hidden in a box in a secret compartment in the fireplace?”

  “Sounds like we have ourselves a new mystery to solve.” Kade actually sounded excited about that. But then I knew he would be.

  “Yes, I’d say so.”

  “So, how early can I come tomorrow and do you think there is a bedroom open for the next couple days?”

  Laughing at his eagerness to join me, I headed for the door. “I know there are plenty of rooms free at the moment. I’ll let Barbara know right now to hold one for you. Ted is leaving tomorrow so you probably won’t get the chance to meet him. Oh, and before I forget, Rid said I could keep the box and its contents!”

  “That’s great, Tess. Maybe you can have the beads restrung into the design you saw.”

  “What a wond
erful idea, Kade.” I trotted down the stairs and found Barbara sitting in her chair reading a book with Max lying next to her feet. He lifted his head and began to thump his stumpy tail as I made my way toward them. “Hi, Barbara, I was wondering if I could book a room for the next few nights for my friend Kade Sinclair?”

  Barbara stood up and walked brusquely to the reception desk to grab her reservation log. “Certainly, Tess. Will he be arriving tomorrow then?”

  “Yes, early though, if that’s okay?”

  “He can come any time he likes. He’ll probably like the room across from yours. It’s a bit more geared toward the masculine gender.”

  “Thank you, Barbara, that would be perfect.” I gave her a little wave, pointing at my cell phone so she could see that I was still on the phone and ran back up the stairs to my room. “So it’s all settled. You come as early as you like.”

  “The crack of dawn too soon?” He gave a low laugh that made my breath hitch then went all serious on me before I could succumb to the lure of his sensual appeal. “So, what are your plans for the evening?”

  “Well I’m going to visit with Mr. Truman for a little bit, he wants to see the box and its contents and I want to pump him for information on Bucksport’s history and then I’m going to Mary Rowan’s house for dinner.”

  “Mary Rowan? Oh yes, the woman you met yesterday.”

  “Get this, Kade, her parents’ names are Night and Dawn.”

  Kade laughed softly. “How odd.”

  “I thought it interesting.”

  “Well I hate to cut this short, Tess, but I need to get some things here squared away before I head out tomorrow.”

  After giving him directions to the B&B, we ended our conversation and I fell back on the bed to enjoy the feelings of contentment wafting through me. It felt so good to feel good. I thought back to the angry bitter person I was only a month ago and shuddered with revulsion. How could I have allowed myself to sink so low? However, I couldn’t regret it. It was those negative emotions that led me to Sea Willow Haven and brought Kade into my life. Strange how life worked out sometimes.

  A glance at my watch told me I had just over a half hour before it was time to head to Rid’s place and then Mary’s. I set my cell phone on the nightstand, picked up the smooth rock then settled myself comfortably on the bed. Holding the stone in the palm of one hand, I rubbed its smooth surface with the thumb of my other hand. Closing my eyes, I focused on relaxing my muscles and when I felt I couldn’t possibly get any more comfortable, switched my focus to my breathing. Drawing in deep, slow breaths, I concentrated on the air entering and filling my lungs. As my chest expanded with breath, I imagined the oxygen enriching my blood and circulating throughout my body. With the exhale, I noted the feeling of my chest deflating and imagined my breath mingling with the air around me. Relaxed and focused, I switched my attention to the stone and noted how warm it felt in my palm. In fact, it almost felt as if it were pulsing along with my pulse. And then I felt my consciousness expand to awareness of the room around me. My body lost all form and became light as air. Then I was part of the air and soaring through it. Exhilarated by the sense of freedom, I let myself go and soared higher. Just when it felt as if I had become the atmosphere surrounding the Earth, I found myself rushing down and plunging beneath it.

  Everything went dark and the sensation of warm damp earth enveloped me. It wasn’t a smothering feeling, though. It felt nurturing and embracing and I luxuriated in the sensation. Before I could really wrap my head around those feelings, it suddenly felt as if I were shrinking and shrinking, becoming so small it was a wonder there was anything left of me. And yet I didn’t feel insignificant. Quite the contrary. As I marveled over this, the thought popped into my head that size really doesn’t matter and before that could pull my mind off in other directions, I suddenly became aware of the fact that I now was nestled within a small shell perhaps the size of a pea. I felt comfortable and safe.

  Content. I could have stayed there and enjoyed the feeling a little longer but suddenly I was filled with restless longing for more. I burst free and began to grow. Little tendrils sprouted from me in all directions and expanded through the earth, drawing from it nourishing nutrients I readily enjoyed. And then I was moving up, up and up until I burst free from the earth in joyful exhilaration. I continued growing, moving ever upwards toward the sky. I grew bigger and firmer and stronger and realized with wonder that I was now a tree, part of all, the earth and the air. I grew to such a height it should have made me dizzy. But it didn’t. I was very much aware of the land below me and loved the connection I felt to it. My branches danced with the wind and swayed to currents of air that moved around me in loving caresses. I drew in the oxygen-rich air and soaked up the sun’s rays. It was all so majestic and beautiful. For a while, time seemed quite irrelevant and I enjoyed the feeling of being part of everything.

  But as with all things, time moves on and I began to pull away and separate from the tree. A gentle sensation of floating down, down and then I was once again aware of the bed beneath me. I said a prayer of thanks for such a wonderful experience and opened my eyes.

  The bedside clock said that only fifteen minutes had gone by but it seemed as if I’d just experienced a lifetime. It was the strangest vision I’d ever had. A nice one to be sure. One that gave me a new appreciation for the world around me. The rock was cool in my hand. I sat up and stared at it in curious wonder. Just what sort of power did this rock have? Invigorated, I jumped off the bed and set it back in the box with the beads. I’d have to puzzle it out later. It was time to freshen up and prepare for the evening ahead. I couldn’t wait to get on with it and see what was going to happen next. I felt pretty certain tonight was going to bring about even more interesting revelations.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The drive to Rid Truman’s house was a short one. Anyone living within the town’s epicenter was relatively close by since Bucksport’s business district was quite small. The main drag followed along the riverbank on level ground but the rest of the town was built on a hill that I was told eventually leveled out again. Barbara told me to turn right just after the Tenney house. I would come to a stop sign with the police and fire stations ahead and to the left. She said most of the town’s churches were located on this street and anyone not told that would figure it out anyway for I saw several within easy view. I turned right and followed the street until it went up a steep hill. Barbara said Rid’s house was at the top on the left and to slow down after passing the Catholic church on my right. “You can’t possibly miss it," she said. "He has the nicest house on that street.”

  Barbara was right. Rid’s house was indeed impressive. Built in typical Colonial style and painted white with black shutters framing large windows, it was two stories high and had two large chimneys facing each other from opposite ends of the roof. A small cupola took center stage between the chimneys. I pulled onto a paved driveway ending in a three-car garage. A black BMW was parked closest to the house and I pulled in next to it. When I stepped out of the car, a door at the side of the house facing the driveway opened and there was Mr. Ridley Truman himself. He stood waiting with a smile on his wrinkled face. His pure white hair was combed neatly across his head to one side and it somehow made him seem gentle and engaging. Sitting at his feet was the dog he’d had with him during his walk the day before. The dog didn’t bark.

  A memory of Tootsie rose to mind. She loved company and used to get so excited whenever anyone stopped by for a visit. It took a lot of work to train her not to jump all over everyone and she turned out to be very well behaved towards the end. My throat felt tight as I allowed that memory in because such memories were always followed by a pang of sorrow. I missed her. I missed having a dog. I pushed the thought away as I stepped around the car and waved in greeting to my host.

  “Hi again.”

  “Hello, young lady. Welcome. Come on in.” Rid ushered me into the house and I entered a wide hallway where an antique coat rac
k took up most of the wall to our right. I slipped my sweater off and hung it on a hook then indicated my sneakers. “Would you like me to remove my shoes?”

  Rid waved the offer away. “Don’t worry about it. If it was winter and they were covered with snow and mud, I might take you up on the offer.” He walked ahead of me down a short hallway and I followed slowly behind. To the right we passed a door that revealed a huge kitchen. On my left was a bathroom. The next door we passed on the left was closed and then we entered the main living area, which was very spacious by today’s standards. Windows facing the front were to my right and on the left was a huge brick fireplace. Rid indicated I should take one of the comfortable-looking chairs placed near the windows. “I like to enjoy what is left of the afternoon sun if you don’t mind.”

  I sank down in the chair nearest to Rid’s obvious preference and he took his seat carefully, his back seeming to give him problems. As soon as he was settled, the dog jumped up to snuggle beside him and rest his head on Rid’s lap. He immediately went to sleep. Closer inspection revealed that the dog, a terrier of some sort, was probably older than Mr. Truman. In dog years anyway.

  As if reading my mind, Rid patted the dog’s head affectionately. “Teddy here is older than I am. The two of us are just biding our time until we move on to our next big adventure.”

  Although Rid’s voice didn’t sound sad about it, I felt a surge of sorrow well up within me. Was that how it would be when I got old? Would I just bide my time? It seemed so sad to me. I wanted to enjoy life until the very end. Like Mike had done. “How old is he?”

  “Well, let’s see…I got him when my son turned thirty-five. He’s going to be fifty next month so I guess that makes Teddy about ninety or so in dog years. Not bad for a little fella. I think he sticks around just to keep me company. I do appreciate it.”