by Rick Kueber
A second neighbor spoke up quite frankly saying, “That chair is a good six feet from the crib. This isn’t natural!” and he shot a look of displeasure towards Elijah. The friendly neighbors were suddenly not so friendly whispering amongst themselves and pointing at the child as if she were a rabid animal in a cage, or worse, some sort of evil incarnate. One finally spoke up, shouting, “THAT CHILD IS A WITCH! She is an evil tool of the Devil himself! Born in death, and born of death.” A second chimed in as if on cue, “She killed your wife and she's gonna kill you next!”
“GET OUT OF MY HOME NOW!” Elijah shouted. “Get out or she will put a curse on you all!” He yelled at them in anger as they fled through the front door, not stopping to grab the glass pitcher, or any of their personal belongings they had left sitting in the room where the cake and lemonade had been enjoyed just an hour earlier.
As the months and years past, he noticed the occasional oddity, or unexplainable event, but they were few and far between. The rumors were spreading though. The neighbors, and the entire community had labeled her as the devil's daughter, and he had been shunned as her protector. This lasted years and got worse and worse until he hated her more than he could even understand. He blamed Ashley Sue for Kathrine’s death and for being an outcast in his own town.
These unexplainable, seemingly supernatural incidents happened occasionally throughout her toddler years, and as she grew and became more educated in life, the occurrences became more frequent, more obvious, but never harmful to anyone in any way. None the less, it is what caused the distancing and lack of love that should have existed between a father and his only child. His hatred grew and was overtaking his life and his sanity, until it finally broke him. He consulted a new local church known as The Chosen, and they vowed to help him, but their help came with a lifelong price.
On Ashley’s ninth birthday, he told her to wait at home while he went to town to get her gift. She smiled and nodded to her father. The entire time he was gone she sat on the floor in front of the fireplace and wondered what her present would be this year. She still had her bear. One year she received some hard candy for her birthday, and once he had even brought her a ball. Her excitement bubbled over and as it did, the flames in the fire place grew higher and higher until they roared.
Though it seemed he would never return, in time he did. After a few hours alone on the floor, playing with her bear and her imagination, she heard the familiar clop-clop-clop of horse hooves on the hard clay path that wound around behind the home to the small white barn out back.
“Father’s home!” She exclaimed to her bear as she sprung to her feet. But her ears had deceived her, if only a little, for there in back of the house was her father dismounting his horse, but with him were several other men and women all dressed in black on this gloomy October afternoon. She wasn’t sure she recognized any of them hiding behind black-rimmed hats and black bonnets.
Ashley peered through the dirty window in the back door watching her father walk slowly up the rear walkway to the door while the others waited in a huddled mass whispering amongst themselves near the barn door. His hand grasped the doorknob and Ashley scurried into the front room to take her place seated on the floor in front of the fire.
“Happy birthday.” said the somber voice of Elijah entering the room, as he unwillingly handed her the paper bag he had been holding behind his back. She had known it was there since he walked in, but played along, so as not to disappoint her already unhappy father. Ashley smiled up at him with a big toothy grin, in anticipation of what surprise might be hiding within the bag he placed in her hands. It was too heavy to be another bear, or other animal, and too small.
“Open it.” He said to her, but his words were flat and emotionless. She crinkled the top of the paper bag open and rolled it down on itself a few turns. She reached in and pulled out a glass bottle. She had not seen anything like this before. It wasn’t shaped like a jar, more like a miniature wine bottle complete with a cork in the top. Through the clear glass she could see that it held a red liquid inside.
“Sit it down for a moment please, my little Ash.” His words were kinder than before. “There is more. Check the bag again.”
Ashley searched her thin hand deep into the bag and felt across the bottom. Then she touched it. Grasping the tiny object between her fingers, she lifted it out of the bag. She stared in amazement at the beauty of the stone. It was orange and red like a sunburst, with slivers of yellow streaked throughout. It was wrapped in shiny silver wire and was hung on a dainty silver chain.
“Oh, Daddy! It’s Beautiful!” she exclaimed! “Will you put it on me, please?” He took the silver necklace, unclasped it and from behind placed it around her neck hooking the clasp.
“I am glad you like it. It, however, is not nearly as beautiful as you my sweet Ash.” He paused for a moment and then continued. “Do you know why I call you Ash?”
“Short for Ashley, right?” she grinned up at him, so proud of her new necklace. “Yes it is, but my dear Ashley Sue Helmach, your initials, the first letter of your names are A. S. H. and that was not planned, but it is just another thing that makes you so special….now, about that mystery bottle. Can you pull the cork from it without spilling it?”
“I can try.” She said wishing to please her father, and so she did. Cautiously he pulled and twisted until the cork came out with a cute little “POP” that made her giggle.
“Taste it” he said to her, coaxing her with hand motions like he were drinking from an invisible bottle. Ashley put the bottle to her lips and tipped it up. A sweet taste of cherries filled her mouth and bubbled on her tongue. “Mmmmm, that is brilliant! May I have another drink please, father?” she asked as politely as she knew how.
“Of course you may. It is yours. Drink every last drop of it, and enjoy every moment of it until it is gone.” He replied as he walked to the other side of the room and sat in his favorite chair, the tears swelling in his eyes.
He watched Ashley play with her bear, pretending to share her “Magical Potion”, as she began calling it, with the bear.
Little Ash knew it was a ‘magic potion’ because with every sip she began to feel happier and the room around her became more and more surreal. The fire in the fireplace seemed to dance and the simple sitting room where she played had become a mystical palace of wonders. Maybe the necklace was magical too! Carefully sitting the bottle down, she sprung to her feet. Her head swam for a second and the room swirled. She gathered her senses and pushed her small wooden chair up to the wall. Ashley climbed up into the chair and stood-up on it. She slowly turned towards the wall and looked into the dusty wood framed mirror that hung there.
She immediately looked to her necklace and knew it must be magic. It seemed to glow with a light from within and everything except the necklace went blurry. The longer she stared, the brighter the stone glowed and the blurrier and darker everything else became until all she could see was the stone. Her head felt odd, dizzy and faint. Ashley had that feeling of falling as everything went black.
There was a pounding pain deep within her head. She could smell the smoky aroma of the fire filling her nose and lungs. There were sensations contradicting each other that at first made no sense, extreme heat made her face feel very flushed, and something cold lay heavy on her ankle. It pained her to try to open her eyes, but open them she did. The light was almost blinding at first and caused the pain in her head to grow even stronger.
Her eyes quickly adjusted to the brightness of the room and much to her dismay she found the flames had crept out of the fireplace and as she slowly turned her head Ashley could see they encircled her, from one side of the fireplace to the other, surrounding her completely. She struggled to stand but then the horror of the situation fell on her like an unexpected wave crashing down and taking her breath. She soon discovered the cold heaviness that was felt on her ankle was the cold, cruel, imprisoning black irons that were once used to confine a slave to his quarters. She was shackled a
t the ankle and its chain was locked tight to the cast iron fixture that held the black kettle over the fire.
Ashley mustered all of her strength to stand up. She searched the room for any sign of her father. Where could he be, she wondered, fearful that someone must have overtaken him and then done this horrid thing to her. Surely they would return soon, and certainly they would rush in to save her when they saw the taunting flames had escaped the fireplace. She scanned around for any signs of movement and noticed that it was already nearly dusk outside. “HELP ME DADDY!!!” she screamed when she saw the figures, through the window and already smoke filled air, standing outside in front of the house. The tears streamed down her soot covered face as she recognized the figures in black to be the same as the ones who gathered at the barn earlier that day. She watched in dismay as they swayed back and forth in unison as if performing some slow ritualistic dance.
Ashley fell to her knees when she saw one of the black figures had no hat, no bonnet and was
unmistakably…her father. On her knees in the circle of flames, she watched as they all turned and slowly began to walk away. She screamed in fear for help, and then in anger until her vocal cords were in shreds and she could make no more sounds but squeaky sobs as she cried and moaned uncontrollably.
Outside, as the strangers walked away, one of them spoke, saying “The Lord has shown us the way, the only way to rid your life, Elijah, and our community of this devil child. A witch must be burned, and now it will be finished.” The tall man in wire rimmed spectacles removed his hat and held it against his chest with his right hand and placed his left hand on Elijah’s shoulder. “You will stay with Mary and I until you are ready to move on, or rebuild. The council and I will return tomorrow and remove any unwanted remains and make sure all is right with God.”
“No! This is all wrong. She was never supposed to wake. That was what you said!” Elijah grew angry. “You all said she would fall asleep and feel no pain. That was the only way I was going to agree to this, and now, my only child, witch or not, is burning to death. I will pay for my stupidity, and you will pay for your lies and transgressions. It is my ignorance and false belief that has caused this, and I will finish this.”
The clouds had thickened in the late evening sky. While distant thunder rolled quietly in the background, the tapping sound of fat raindrops melodically beat down on the weathered roof of the old barn, the crunchy brown and golden leaves that covered the ground and the black hats and bonnets as they slowly walked away from the popping and crackling of the house that was once a home. Soon the rain came more steadily and soaked Elijah’s hair and face, hiding his tears, but nothing would ever be able to hide his guilt and shame.
It was three days later when Elijah returned with the tall man, Mathew, to survey the damage, and retrieve a few personal effects. The front windows were smoke stained, but the home appeared mostly undamaged and a horrible fear came over them both. What if they had left too soon and the fire went out, leaving Ashley burned but alive? Could she still be alive after three days? Upon entering the house, it was a somewhat different reality. Mathew headed to the backrooms to find the box containing Elijah's valuable possessions. The deed to his home, nearly a dozen photos of her family that had been collected since the war had begun, and a handful of coins and a couple paper bills. Most of the family's actual worth was tied up in the farm, and Elijah had plans to sell it once the damage to the farm house was repaired.
The ceilings were smoke stained throughout, as were the walls in the front sitting room where the fire had been set. Entering the front room, Elijah's stomach began to turn. Though the fire had been intense enough to burn a hole nearly seven feet in diameter, and part of the ceiling above it, it was a miracle the fire had not spread any farther. He slowly and cautiously approached the opening in the floor. The wood had burned completely away of the way up to the stone hearth of the fireplace. Elijah's eyes studied the smoke stained fire place and followed the black iron chain that had held young Ashley to her fate, from the fireplace to the point where it hung over the floor's edge and into the hole. Elijah peered over the edge and into the small root cellar that had been dug beneath this area of the house.
Some part of him was relieved that she was most definitely not alive, and still a larger part of him stood in repulsion and remorse upon seeing the grotesquely distorted body of Ash was partially hanging upside down, still caught in the leg irons. Her twisted body showed every sign of struggling to the last moment. Though mostly charred flesh was all that remained, her arms and torso were outstretched across the cellar floor, giving the appearance that she had been clawing to pull herself away from the flames, but the irons kept her from escaping. Something tiny caught a ray of sunlight and glimmered on the floor of the cellar very near what was once a beautiful face surrounded by locks of golden hair. The sight and smell sickened Elijah and he slowly backed away from the morose sight. He jumped in fright and gasped when he accidentally backed into Mathew, who had returned from gathering Elijah's personal items.
“Dear God in heaven! You gave me quite a fright!” he said still trying to catch his breath. “It will be alright Eli. We did the right thing.” Mathew consoled him. “Let us leave this place. You can return when you are truly ready.”
The two exited the front door of the farm house. Elijah pulled the door closed tight and locked it. Though he hadn't mentioned it to anyone yet, he knew he would not be returning to the family farm, ever. He would sell it and move west, as far away as his profit would take him. Mathew placed the wooden box into the back of the wagon and as they prepared to board it and leave forever, Elijah turned back and over his shoulder said, “One moment please Mathew.” He headed around to the side of the house quickening his pace with every step until he reached the small cellar door that would lead him directly under the front room.
The door lay at an angle from the ground and sloped upwards to just under the window sill. Elijah could see smoke stains around the edges of the door that had been partially erased by the rainfall a few days prior. He bent down and unlatched the door. With a jerk, he pulled the stuck door open, and the ash billowed in the updraft. The cellar was only a few feet deep. Elijah crawled in and under the house, grinding the black cinders and ash into his hands and pants. A few moments later he found himself faced with the charred remains of his daughter.
Elijah wept and though he wanted to cry out in remorse and anguish, his words would not come, only guttural sobbing and gasping breaths.
When he could weep no more, he reached out into the incoming rays of sunlight and scooped up the glimmering thing that had caught his eye from above. He held the birthday stone in his hand. The burnt silver strands of the necklace reached out to the neck of the body that lay before him. Lifting the necklace it broke free with a pop and a puff of ashy flesh, but much to his horror, it was not the necklace that had broken. The unrecognizable head of his daughter had broken free of its body and rolled to him colliding with his elbow. Elijah screamed and jumped up, hitting his head on the floor joist above him. Everything went black for a moment and when he came to, he had fallen into the remains and broken them into bits. Ashley's foot and leg still dangled, swinging slightly in the leg irons. Elijah scrambled backwards and landed directly on his bottom. He abruptly turned toward the entrance for escape from this nightmare, and looking into the daylight saw a figure standing bent over him. 'Was it Mathew?' he thought, but he soon recognized the figure before him as Ashley, but she was not burned. By some miracle she was there unharmed, reaching out to her father. Elijah, wondering if he was hallucinating, reached his hand back to her crying out to her, “I will make amends, I will put this right. I will pay my debt to you.” They touched, and suddenly his daughter became a raging inferno, scorching his hand, and a black winged shadow blocked the sunlight from the cellar doorway. He jerked his hand back immediately and broke her hold. Ashley was gone and Elijah scurried out of the cellar. He took a moment to close and latch the cellar door and then ra
n back to the wagon where he found Mathew waiting to leave.
“You look a mess! What happened? Are you okay?” Elijah replied trying to catch his breath, feeling like his heart would burst from his chest. “No... No I am not okay, and I may never be again. I had to face my daughter.” Opening his hand, he looked down to see that he still held the 'magical' birthday necklace in his hand. He opened the box in the rear of the wagon and retrieved an envelope. He placed the keepsake inside and sealed it tight running his fingers around every edge and then pressing it firmly against his chest. He placed it into the box, climbed into the wagon and took a seat. Mathew whipped the reigns and the horse began its journey back to Mathew's home.
“I want you to make a promise to me Mathew.”
“Absolutely brother!” “I am leaving this place tomorrow, never to return. I want you to do the same, and swear that you will do whatever it takes to keep anyone from ever coming here again.” It was at that moment that Elijah had decided to keep the property. He couldn't bear to allow anyone else to experience the sheer terror of his daughter's fury.
Mathew started the legend of the 'Child Witch of Helmach Creek'. The legend grew and eventually became known throughout the Appalachians as 'The Burning Girl of Helmach Creek'.
Many adventurers and thrill seekers tried to follow the creek and find the legendary house over the next century or so. Most, perhaps all, found nothing, though some had claimed to.
Elijah found his way to Tennessee and tried to start over, however he was never able to completely remove himself from that fateful time in his life. He had decided that since he had damned his daughter to death by fire for being a witch, he would change his last name to Coven, but when he received his papers it had been misspelled, Covand. He married, had a son, and separated from them over the next ten years. His past would haunt him until one day when he would finally return to West Virginia. Much like the adventure seekers, he searched the woods and fields surrounding Helmach Creek but finding his way home was now a challenge that he did not know if he could meet. Everything had changed, and he had a fear that he might die in the woods before he found his way back to Ashley. He began to think that was what was meant to happen. He had erased his daughter, and every record of her, from the world as best he could, and now he believed that he too would be lost to the world forever.