Freeing Lost Souls (The Family Tree Series Book 1)

by Tracy Kincaid

  “Fine. You guys are party poopers,” Benny utters as he leads us over to a less imposing hill. He sets one of the three sleds down and says, “Ladies first.”

  “Why, thank you, kind sir,” I say as I hold the sled in place.

  Bruce and Benny each take their own sleds and set them down on either side of me. “Okay, on the count of three push off. No cheating, Benny,” Bruce adds as he eyeballs him.

  “Who, me?” Benny asks with a wicked grin.

  “Ready?” Bruce looks at me.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “One, two…” Of course before Bruce can say three, Benny has pushed off, grabbing hold of my sled as he goes, causing me to start down as well. At the last second, I grab Bruce’s sled and the three of us zip down the hill. I’m laughing so hard I don’t notice that Benny has already stopped. I’m going down this hill backward right toward him.

  Bruce yells, “Watch out!”

  I turn just as I see Benny fly out of my way. I’m still going pretty fast down the hill, so by the time I finally stop, I must be about a hundred yards away from where Benny landed. But I don’t have time to think because Bruce is now flying toward me with his feet in the snow trying to slow down. I’m struggling to get off of my sled and out of the way too late!

  “Oof,” I say as Bruce plows into me, knocking me down as I’ve landed on top of Bruce in the snow. At some point he has grabbed me, apparently attempting to protect me from hitting anything. I look up into Bruce’s concerned eyes.

  “Are you all right?” I stop laughing.

  “Yes, are you?” he questions me as he pulls my hair out of my face and tucks it behind my ear. I lost my beanie cap somewhere along the way, and now my hair is falling out of my braid. We are both still a bit breathless after our tumble.

  “Yes,” I murmur. He’s really good-looking from this position. I need to get up, but I really don’t want to. It feels good to be in his arms, warm and safe.

  Benny hurries over to us as we scramble up and brush ourselves off. “Are you guys all right?”

  “Yeah, that was fun,” I answer with a giggle as he hands me my beanie that he has retrieved. “Thanks.”

  “Want to go again?” he asks.

  “Of course!” Bruce and I say in unison.

  We go up and down different hills several times before Benny announces he’s hungry. We make it back to the truck and find a roadside café.

  As the waitress leads us over to a table, I excuse myself to go to the bathroom. I stand at the sink washing my hands and looking at myself in the mirror. I have a bit of a sunburn on my face from the reflection of the snow and the sun. It’s funny how that can happen when it’s so cold outside. I take my beanie off and brush my hair out. It’s still wet, and I have a few twigs stuck in it. I leave my hair down and beanie cap off and make my way over to our table and take a seat next to Bruce.

  “Everything all right?” Bruce inquires.

  “Yes, why do you ask?”

  “Took you a while to come back,” he says.

  “I was trying to get some of the twigs out of my hair,” I explain as Bruce reaches up behind my head and pulls a twig out of my hair.

  “I think you missed one.” He chuckles as he hands me the twig. I feel my face heat up from embarrassment.

  The waitress takes our order and brings our decaf coffees over to us. We sit around, waiting for our food with small talk about birthdays, families and our favorite types of food. When she finally brings our food, we all stop talking and dive in. We have used up so much energy that we are all starving.

  We finish our very late lunch and beat it to the truck. The snow has started to fall lightly again. I can’t wait for spring. Bruce drives off with the radio on. We are all quiet on the way home, and I must have fallen asleep because when the truck finally turns off and I open my eyes, I realize that I have my head on Bruce’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I guess I fell asleep.” I look over at the passenger’s side and notice that Benny is no longer with us. “Where did Benny go?” I look around confused and notice that the snow is picking up and we are parked outside of our lofts.

  “I dropped him off already. You fell asleep almost as soon as we started home.”

  “Oh, I guess I haven’t been sleeping very well lately.” We sit in the warm truck a few more minutes when we see that the snow is coming down even harder.

  “At least we made it back home before the snow really picked up. Come on, let’s get inside before we need a shovel to tunnel our way in.” He opens the door and lifts me out like he did earlier, and we walk into our building together.

  Sally was just inside the door taking her boots off and toweling Buc off. “Oh, hey, guys. Buc and I just came in. I was trying to let him run off some energy before the snow really started to come down.”

  “Thanks. Hey, buddy, you ready to come inside and cuddle to get warm?” I ask Buc. He shakes to get the rest of the snow off his back and walks toward our door. “Bruce, thanks for a great day. I had a lot of fun. I’ll see you two tomorrow at some point. Good night.”

  “I’m glad you had fun. So did I. Good night,” Bruce claims. The three of us make it back to our own lofts for the night.

  I change for bed and crawl in. During the cold winters, I have Buc up on the bed with me to help keep me warm. During any other time of year, he wants no part of sleeping in my bed. Thank God he shares his heat during the winter, because I am freezing.

  Chapter 10

  The brutal winter came and went in a blink of an eye. The more Bruce and I hang out, we find that we have tons in common. I haven’t met anyone like him before and it’s nice. I can see myself starting a relationship with him. I’ve even tried to show signs of interest, but I need him to make the first move. I’m not sure if he’s even interested.

  Now that it is spring, I’ve managed to get a few more of the battlefields drawn and the Historical Society loves them. They have most of what I’ve done on display at the museum. It’s nice to see people enjoying my work. It makes what I do even more satisfying. However, I haven’t made it back to the Wheatfield since meeting Bruce. I figure I’ll give it another go sometime this week. The weather is warming up, and Bruce announces that we are starting to get into tourist season.

  Buc barks as Bruce opens the door to my loft. We are all like family now, so just a knock before entering any of the lofts is fine for each of us. “Hey, what are you up to?” he inquires as he walks over to my easel where I’m working.

  “I’m just putting the final touches on McPherson Ridge. What are you doing home? I thought you had tours today.”

  “I did, but I finished with them. God, you did a good job on that one. I’ve been watching your drawings go up and I think this one’s the best so far.” He is standing behind my back, watching as I work.

  “Thanks.”

  “So what are you doing for the rest of the day and tonight?” he asks as I wipe my hands clean from the chalk.

  “I don’t have anything planned. Why?”

  He smiles and adds, “Well, I have this friend that works in Pittsburgh. He was able to get something for me, and I wondered if you would like to go with me to see it? It’s about a four-hour drive. I thought we could get hotel rooms and drive back tomorrow, or we could drive back tonight. You choose.”

  “Sounds intriguing. What will we be looking at?”

  “Can’t tell ya, it’s a surprise.” He has a really goofy grin on his face that makes me laugh.

  “So, who is going?”

  “Just the two of us, if that’s all right with you.”

  “Sure, what time are we leaving?”

  “As soon as you’re ready to go.”

  “Sure, give me an hour. What should I wear?”

  “Jeans and maybe that baby blue top. You look good in that one,” he suggests as he heads out of the loft to get ready to go.

  That was odd. I wonder what we are going to look at that I can’t know about. I finish drinking my water and putti
ng away the rest of my supplies before packing an overnight bag, jumping into the shower, and changing my clothes. It’s just after noon.

  * * *

  Bruce and I make it to his truck. I’ve not been to Pittsburgh yet, so this will be a nice break.

  “Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?” I hate not knowing what’s going on.

  “Let’s just say an old friend of mine owed me, so he is paying up tonight. It’s a surprise for you, actually. That being said, you’ll have to wait a bit longer to know what it is.” He gives me a wicked grin as he drives.

  * * *

  Bruce pulls up to the Consol Energy Center in downtown Pittsburgh. Tons of people are standing outside. I think they play hockey here, but I’m not a hockey fan. He pulls into a parking garage, pays, and parks the truck. “Are you ready?” he questions as he opens my door.

  “I think so,” I say.

  We walk over to where everyone is standing and get in line. I’m starting to get a feeling that we may be seeing a concert. It’s not until we’re in line that I see a T-shirt that someone is wearing of the concert we must be seeing. I turn and look at Bruce, who has a huge smile on his face.

  “Are you kidding me?” I holler and practically jump him as I hug him. “Imagine Dragons? You are taking me to see Imagine Dragons?”

  “Yes. Are you surprised?”

  “I had no idea they were anywhere near us. I can’t believe you did this. Why?” I’m so excited I’ve no idea if I’m making any sense at all.

  “Well, I remember some time ago you mentioned that you liked them, so I asked my buddy if he could get us some tickets. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Of course I don’t mind. I still can’t believe we are standing in line to see them. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I don’t know what to say. I’m so happy I could kiss you.” When I mention that he turns bright red. It’s classic. I’ve never seen him blush before.

  The crowd begins to move forward as security opens the door. Bruce and I make it to the door where he talks to a guy in a suit. The guy waves us in and has us stand by a side door. “What’s going on?” I whisper.

  “You’ll see,” he whispers back in my ear. I get a tingle down my spine when he does that. I kind of like it.

  After standing and watching people file in, another guy in a suit walks up to Bruce and shakes his hand. “Hey, Ted. Sarah, this is my friend Ted. Ted, this is Sarah.”

  “Nice to meet you, Sarah. I’ve taken care of everything. Here are your lanyards. You know what to do with these. Have a great time, and if you need anything, you know how to get me.”

  “Hey, thanks for doing this on such short notice,” Bruce responds as he shakes Ted’s hand again.

  “Don’t mention it. It was my pleasure. Sarah, it was nice meeting you. I need to get back. Have a great time, and I will see you after the show. Bruce, don’t be a stranger,” Ted says as he heads back through the door he just came out of.

  We put our lanyards on as we walk into the arena. I take a better look at the card at the end of the lanyard. “Oh my God, these are all access, Bruce.”

  “It’s nice having friends.” He wags his eyebrows and smiles. “Come on, let’s go get some souvenirs.”

  After grabbing T-shirts and the latest CD, we make it in to get a good spot to stand on the floor. Turns out that we are not only on the floor but up front close to the stage in a special roped off area for VIPs. I’ve been to concerts before but never like this.

  “I can’t believe you did this.”

  “Think of it as a late birthday present.” He hands me a pair of ear plugs and we put them in.

  “Thank you,” I say and kiss his cheek.

  A few minutes later we begin to hear drums, and the crowd goes wild. There is a big curtain over the stage to give a dramatic effect with the lights and sounds. It looks wonderful and sounds even better. Doesn’t take long before everyone is singing along with the band and dancing. I can’t remember ever having this much fun at a concert. Bruce and I dance, and I’m surprised he knows all the words as we sing along with everyone else.

  The whole concert’s unbelievable! I love this band. They leave the stage, but the lights are still dimmed. Everyone is waiting in anticipation for the encore to happen, and when it does, everyone goes nuts because it’s the song that has the highest energy, and everyone knows it. The drums produce their beat and everyone cheers and sings “Radioactive” at the top of their lungs. This is the best drum song ever, and I love that the whole band has a drum to beat. I wish I had one to beat!

  After the concert, I figured that we would go back and stand with the crowd and wait to watch the band walk by, but that’s not where we go. Bruce leads me to where we find Ted standing by yet another door.

  “So what did you think, Sarah?” Ted quizzes.

  “Best concert I’ve ever seen. I wish I had some of their energy. They are awesome!” I explain excitedly.

  “I’m glad to hear it, and I know Dan will love to hear it, too. Go ahead inside. You’ll find food and drinks, a bar too, if you want. Have fun.” He winks at me.

  Bruce and I walk into another room that seems to have been set up for some sort of an intimate after party.

  “Bruce, how did you do all of this? It must have cost a fortune.” There are a few people in the room already, but no band members yet.

  “Like I said, it is nice to have friends. I met Dan, the singer, on a tour of Gettysburg, of all things. This was several years ago before they were big. He said anytime they were in town and I wanted to ‘impress a girl,’ his words not mine, that I should just let him know. So I did. Are you impressed?” He smiles.

  “I’m more than impressed. I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “Just have a good time. That is all I ask.” About that time the band walks in and Dan, the singer, comes right up to Bruce, shakes his hand and gives him a half hug. I’m just standing, staring like an idiot, completely star-struck. I need someone to pinch me.

  “Bruce, I’m glad you made it. What did you think of the show?” Dan inquires.

  “We loved it. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a concert, and you guys nailed it.” Bruce looks at me and sees that I’m still staring like an idiot. “Dan, this is my friend Sarah. She’s an artist, doing some work in Gettysburg.”

  Dan turns to me and smiles. “Hi, Sarah, nice to meet you.” He reaches his hand out to shake it.

  I shake his hand. “I can’t believe I’m standing here with you right now.”

  He and Bruce laugh. “We are just like everybody else, Sarah.”

  I nod my head. “I’m so sorry. I’m a bit star-struck, I guess.”

  “Don’t sweat it. Get yourselves something to eat. I need to go say hi to a few people, but I’ll be back. Have fun and get a drink if you want,” Dan suggests as he goes to talk to another couple in the room.

  “I’m sorry I’m embarrassing you. I’m embarrassing myself.”

  “No, you’re not. You get used to it after a while. They are cool people. You’ll see. Are you hungry?”

  “I can eat.” We collect food and drinks and go find a table. The room is not very big, but big enough for about twenty people, but I only count maybe ten people. And most of them look like crew. The band is actually sitting at the table with us, eating and talking. It’s great! I still can’t believe I’m here. I’m so happy right now.

  It’s well after two in the morning when the guys say their goodbyes. They are off to another city and another concert.

  I’m dead on my feet when we walk across the street to the hotel. Bruce had gotten us two rooms next to each other.

  When we stop at my door, I say, “Thank you for a wonderful evening, Bruce. I’ll remember this for a really long time. Good night.” I give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before going into my room. We’ll take off early in the morning since he has tours scheduled. As I crawl into bed, I think about how wonderful Bruce is and the amazing thing he did for me
tonight.

  Chapter 11

  Bruce has been trying to talk me into doing this reenactment thing with him for the past few months. He promises that it’s a lot of fun. The three-day event starts with a fair the night before, and after each day a group of friends go to the local pizza place for beer and food. It does sound like fun, but I’m not usually into that sort of thing. I’m just not sure if it’s for me. But I agreed after the last time he begged me to join him. He actually showed up on my doorstep in a full Union uniform. I have to admit, he looked hot in a uniform. I figured it was the least I could do after he had surprised me with the concert.

  Also, I found out more about my family history from Ms. Parker, making my connection to the Civil War stronger. Turns out that we had family fighting on both sides of the war, two on the Union side and one on the Confederate. But the one that has stuck with me is the nurse, Elizabeth Finny. I’ve been reading up on my family since finding out who they were. The soldiers didn’t really have much going on, the same story as most soldiers of the time, fighting for what they believed in. All three of them had families. Only one of the three, the Confederate, actually died in the war. The others lived on to have big families.

  Elizabeth Finny was another story. She had been asked to help with the wounded who came through Gettysburg. With so many men wounded on and around the battlefields, they needed all the help they could get. From what I’ve read, these men lost limbs and lives so fast that it was hard for the medical people to keep up with their care. And the heat was unbearable. I’ve yet to find out how Elizabeth died. Ms. Parker is looking into that as well.

  Bruce decided to go ahead and have Ms. Parker look into his family history as well. He had tons of family in the war. Since most of them lived in this area, they were mainly on the Union side. The strange thing is that he is related to Elizabeth Finny’s fiancé. It’s a strange coincidence. Edward Wilks was Bruce’s father’s great-great-great-great grandfather.