by Becky Durfee
“I don’t know about this psychic business, but I just told you it wasn’t a suicide. Jove killed those people because we left; I never doubted that for a minute.”
“But the spirit I’m dealing with doesn’t believe it was Jove…he—or she—thinks it was the sheriff who committed the murder.”
“The sheriff?” Troy remained quiet for a long time. “Sheriff Babson?”
“Yes, sir.”
After more deliberation, he concluded, “Nah, I don’t believe that.”
“Can you tell me about your relationship with the sheriff? I’ve heard there was no love lost between you and him.”
“You can say that again.”
“Did you ever get arrested?”
“Often. Every one of us, but the charges would never really stick. We were like forty-seven thorns in the police’s backside, but we weren’t hardened criminals.”
Jenny stifled a laugh. “Sorry if this is too direct, but what about the drug use? And the theft? Aren’t those pretty substantial crimes?”
“Theft is a bit too strong of a word.” He made a grunting sound, presumably as he put his thoughts together. “Look, I am the first to admit we did a lot of stuff we shouldn’t have—sitting back and watching that girl die being the worst of them—but we weren’t bad people. Yes, we did use things that didn’t belong to us, but we always left some kind of payment in its place, and we returned most everything we could when we were done with it. We tried to be self-sufficient, but there are certain things you just can’t make when you’re living off the land. Like, how were we supposed to make a shovel?”
“You couldn’t,” Jenny said compassionately, hoping her empathy would invite Troy to continue.
“Exactly. So we would go into town, and if someone had left their shovel out, we would use it for a while. But we’d leave some tomatoes or cucumbers where the shovel had been, and we’d only use it until we could earn enough money to buy one for ourselves. Then we’d put it back.”
“Did you ask if you could borrow the shovel?”
“We did at first,” Troy admitted, “but everyone always told us no. That’s why we had to resort to taking things.”
“And this money you earned—was that from odd jobs?”
“Mostly. We did what we could. None of us had any regular income.”
“Again, forgive me for saying this; I’m just trying to get an understanding of what life was like for you,” Jenny began. “But wouldn’t it have made sense for some of you to work regular jobs to support the rest of you?”
“We couldn’t spare the manpower,” Troy said. “I’m not sure if you have any idea of how difficult life was at Eden. We grew our own food, made most of our clothes, tended the animals…honestly, I never worked harder in my life, before or since. The thing was, we didn’t work for money. We busted our humps all day long, but since we didn’t get those green pieces of paper at the end of the day, people thought we were useless as tits on a bull.” He paused. “Oh, sorry. Forgot who I was talking to for a second.”
“I promise you, I’m not offended,” Jenny said. Truth be told, she found him to be hilarious.
“The reality was, it took every single one of us to make that community work. If we started sending people out into the working world to bring home cash for The Family, we would have had to take short cuts to make up for it. Before you know it, we would have ended up just like everybody else, and that’s exactly what we were trying to avoid. Unfortunately, though, in this modernized culture, people simply can’t get by with no money at all. Every once in a while, we needed to send someone out to earn a few dollars.”
“I heard Music Maker went into town from time to time.”
Jenny didn’t understand the exaggerated silence at first, until she heard Troy mutter, “Music Maker. I had forgotten about him.” His tone made it sound like his memories of Robert were fond. “He was a good egg, that one.”
“I’ve spoken to his sister,” Jenny explained. “She spoke highly of him, too. They seem like a nice family.”
“I’m sure they are,” he replied softly.
Considering Troy believed himself to be the catalyst that triggered the deaths of everyone at Eden, Jenny imagined he harbored a lot of guilt when he thought of those people he once considered family. “I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. “This whole thing must be very difficult for you to think about.”
“It is,” he assured her, “but it’s not as hard as it used to be. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it over the years, and I realize it would have happened eventually anyway. Somebody, at some point, would have inevitably left The Family, and the rest of the members would have died anyway. If Sabrina and I hadn’t left, we would have been among the body count, I’m sure. And Tristan—that’s my son—he would have been, too.” Jenny could envision him shaking his head over the phone, wishing away the disturbing notion that had crept inside his mind. “Nah, we needed to get out of there. I would have never forgiven myself if something had happened to my boy.”
Realizing she’d allowed the conversation to steer off topic, she said, “You seem pretty certain that Jove had this in him…and that the sheriff didn’t.”
“Jove was a lunatic. I can see that now, even if I didn’t recognize it back then. He could give a speech that would make anyone do anything, which made it seem like we were all acting voluntarily—but the truth is, he had a tight rein on all of us. Of course, that was helped along by the fact that we were high as kites a good deal of the time. It probably wouldn’t have taken that much fancy talk for us to hop on board with whatever he was saying.”
“How did you get these drugs?” Jenny asked. “If you didn’t have money, how could you have afforded them?”
“We grew a good deal of it ourselves. The marijuana and the mushrooms were easy to come by. The fact that we had animals made the fields a perfect place for the mushrooms to grow. Those mushrooms love their shit, and God knows those sheep and goats shit a ton.”
Jenny bit her lip to keep from laughing.
Troy continued, “We got the LSD from a guy who used to come by delivering it.”
“But how did you afford it?”
“We bartered for it.”
“You bartered?” Jenny asked. “With, like, cucumbers and eggs?”
“No, we used a much more powerful form of currency.”
She thought for a moment before the realization hit. “Oh,” she said, raising her naïve shoulders up by her ears. Then she considered it a little longer, and a second potential form of currency came to mind. “Oh, dear.”
“Yep, it was the generation of sex, drugs and rock and roll, but the dealer wasn’t all that interested in rock and roll. We just paid with weed, some shrooms and the company of women.”
“Oh, my.”
“See, I knew I shouldn’t have been saying this stuff to a young lady.”
“No, I’m not offended,” Jenny assured him. “I’m just a little surprised, that’s all. I have to admit this is all very foreign to me.”
“As it should be.”
With a smile, Jenny added, “But the sheriff couldn’t arrest you for any of this?”
“Well, it ain’t illegal to have shit in a field, and where there’s shit, there’s shrooms. We couldn’t help that. We grew the marijuana off the property, so they couldn’t directly tie it to us, and we kept the LSD well hidden. If the police wanted to catch us with it, they’d need a warrant to search the house. I think they tried like hell to get those warrants, but the judge never gave them any.”
“Not enough probable cause, huh?”
“Chapping the sheriff’s ass isn’t probable cause.”
This time Jenny laughed out loud. “Did they ever catch you with anything that had been stolen—I’m sorry—borrowed?”
“Sometimes they did, which is what led to our arrests, but those always got thrown out. The best they could do is hit us with possession of stolen property since nobody actually saw us take the stuff, but th
ere were so many of us living there, the charges would end up getting dismissed. I mean, can you really arrest almost fifty people over a hoe? Taxpayers don’t have that kind of money. So we’d agree to return the hoe to the rightful owner, pay a fine, and we’d be on our way.”
She couldn’t help but smile; somehow she was finding herself sympathetic to The Family’s cause. “What about the public nudity? Did you ever get arrested for that?”
“A time or two. But walking around on our own property was hardly public nudity, especially if you consider how secluded that property was. The police had to come onto our land in order to catch us walking around naked, and then they tried to slap us with indecent exposure. The judge always threw it out, though, citing that the police had no reason to be on our land anyway. In fact,” Troy added thoughtfully, “I think the police were starting to get in trouble for harassing us.”
Jenny’s pulse kicked up a few notches. “Do you think that would have infuriated the sheriff enough to want to take matters into his own hands?”
“And resort to murder? That seems a bit extreme, don’t you think?”
“The spirit who spoke to me didn’t think it was all that far-fetched.”
Troy remained quiet on the other end of the phone. His silence was eventually disrupted by his declaration, “That type of action requires either a whole lot of hate or a whole lot of crazy. Truthfully, my money’s on crazy.”
Kayla rolled her suitcase behind her as she walked through the hotel lobby. “I can’t thank you enough for all of your help. Are you sure you don’t want to be paid for your time?”
Jenny smiled. “Your payment can be to call me in a few days and tell me that Matthew hasn’t come back. That will be reward enough.”
Closing her eyes, Kayla remarked, “If I can do that, I will be the happiest woman in the world.”
Clatter caused Jenny to look over to the other side of the lobby; Devon was running around in small circles, touching everything his little hands could reach. Clearly, Matthew wasn’t an issue at the moment.
“What’s next for you?” Kayla asked.
“Well, Zack and I are heading down to Bedford to visit Eden again. I’m hoping we can get to the bottom of what happened to all of those people back then.”
“If anyone can do it, you can,” she replied with a smile.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Jenny said. “I only wish I was as optimistic as you are.”
Loud shouts started to accompany Devon’s hyperactivity. “Oh my God, I need to get out of here before he tears this place apart,” Kayla said. “Devon, come on, honey. It’s time to go.” She turned her attention to Jenny, reaching in and giving her a hug. “You are a life-saver, do you know that?”
“I’m just glad I could help.”
The women let go of their embrace. “Devon, give Miss Jenny a hug. I’m not sure you know how much she’s done for you, but someday you will.”
Jenny could see the impact coming, but there was little she could do to brace for it. Devon approached her at lightning speed, wrapping her legs into a hug that looked and felt more like a form tackle than a term of endearment. Although she stumbled a bit, she was able to maintain her balance.
“Devon, the woman is pregnant!” Kayla said emphatically. “Go easy on her, for goodness sake.”
“It’s okay,” Jenny said with a smile. Remembering what her grandmother often said, she replied, “Tough old bird runs in my family.”
Even though they had driven to Eden before, Jenny was glad she was being helped along by a guiding tug. The compound was so secluded, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to find it again without a little spiritual intervention.
She pulled the car onto the flattened grass that served as a driveway until she reached the area that resembled a tended lawn. Zack remained quiet in the passenger seat, respecting her abilities as the car rolled to a stop.
A funny feeling washed over Jenny as she stepped outside, although she wasn’t sure why she was experiencing it. She walked several paces across the grass, looking out over the vast expanse of garden before her. Even if Jenny hadn’t seen the goats the last time she was there, the smell in the air left no doubt that there were animals on the premises. Jenny smiled, wondering if she could still find some of those magic mushrooms growing in the field as they had done decades before.
Although she felt funny, she wasn’t getting any insight. She was just about to turn to Zack and tell him the trip might have been futile when a man and a woman walked into sight from around the corner of the house. “Perfect,” she said, not taking her eyes from the couple. “Maybe we can ask them a few questions. It might be a longshot, but they may know something about what happened that day.”
“Who are you talking about?” Zack asked.
She glanced back over her shoulder to look at her husband. “Those people,” she replied, “by the house.”
She returned her gaze toward the couple, only to discover that nobody was there.
Chapter 13
“I swear to God somebody was just there.” She turned quickly back to Zack with wide eyes. “Two people, in fact—a man and a woman.”
Zack remained motionless, appearing reluctant to say the words, “I never saw anybody.”
Spooked from head to toe, Jenny whipped her head back toward the house. She looked at the garden again, noticing the plants appeared to be different than they had been a minute ago—there were fewer rows with more space in between. Her shoulders relaxed as she began to realize what was happening, noticing that the funny feeling she’d been experiencing was also gone. “It was a vision,” she said calmly. “I think this place just looks so much like it did back then that I didn’t realize what I was seeing was from the past.”
“What did the people look like?” Zack asked.
“Hippies,” she declared. “He had long, brown hair and a really long beard, and his clothes looked dirty. Her hair was long, too, and she wore a flowy dress that actually looked a little big on her. They were both barefoot.”
“That sounds like it could have been from the sixties,” Zack decided. “In fact, it sounds more like 1965 than today.”
Jenny nodded in agreement. “I think I may have just gotten a first-hand glimpse at Eden.”
“Cool,” he replied. “Creepy, but cool.”
“Creepy indeed,” Jenny said. “Honestly, that was the craziest thing…those people were clear as day to me, and when I turned back around, they were gone. I felt like I was losing my mind until I noticed the garden looked different.” She shook her head with awe. “This place looks almost exactly like it did back then. It’s amazing.”
“Maybe that will be helpful,” Zack noted. “Seeing some things the way they looked when your spirit friend was alive may trigger something in him.”
“Let’s hope.”
“Should we try to introduce ourselves to the new owners? They may not take too kindly to a couple of strangers hanging around their property.”
Jenny flashed a glance in his direction, gesturing to her pregnant belly. “Do I look like I’m going to cause trouble? I don’t think I could do anything bad and get away with it. A six year old could outrun me these days.”
Zack raised a finger. “Ah, but you must remember that not all psychopaths look like psychopaths. In fact, you would make a spectacular front for a depraved killer. When a pregnant woman knocks on your door appearing to need help, you’d let her in, wouldn’t you? And then, when you open the door, bam! I come in and kill everybody.”
Looking at him strangely, Jenny admitted, “I don’t think like you do.”
“Well, some people do, so we need to go introduce ourselves before we upset these people.” His eyes made their way around the premises. “Something tells me the owners have guns, and they may not like the sight of a couple of city slickers messing with their business.”
“I’m hardly a city slicker.”
“Compared to these people you are.”
He had a poi
nt. “Well, I’m game if you are. I’d like to spend some time on the property, so I guess we should get the owner’s permission to be here.” Remembering what Zack had just said, she posed, “Should I be the one to ring the doorbell, or would I look like too much of a front?”
“Doorbells require electricity,” Zack replied. “Somehow I think we’ll be knocking.”
They began their walk toward the front door, which was ironically situated around the side of the house. “I believe you have missed the point, my friend.”
“Sorry. The old home-builder in me just popped out for a minute.” He raised his eyes to the roof and said, “Although, I may have spoken too soon.”
Jenny looked up as well, noticing a series of solar panels on the roof. “Is that evidence of electricity?”
“They’ve apparently got some, even if it’s not a ton. Probably enough to run some basic appliances, at least.”
The couple ventured up the porch steps that looked as if they had been there since the dawn of time. Jenny felt nervous as she knocked on the door, half expecting Billy Joe Jim Bob to come out with a big hunk of chew in his lip, a loaded rifle in his hand and a distinct look of hate in his eye. Her nerves remained elevated as the seconds ticked by, ultimately plummeting when enough time had passed and no one had responded to the knock. “I guess nobody’s home,” she concluded.
“It appears not,” Zack replied.
They walked back down the rickety steps and started working their way back toward the entrance of the property. “Are you getting any funny feelings or anything?” Zack asked. “Any more visions?”
Jenny shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. I haven’t been specifically trying, though. Maybe we can hang out by the car for a while and see if anything comes to me.”
Zack shrugged. “That’s as good of a plan as any.”
Hearing a commotion from beyond the car, Jenny stopped for a moment and looked in the direction of the sound. Shortly after, the source of the noise made itself known; about fifteen people on bicycles rounded the corner, each with groceries in makeshift baskets tied to their handlebars. Their clothes all looked dirty and, in some cases, tattered. The men all had long beards and many of the women wore flowers in their hair.