Spook Light

"Yes, Sally, I do like you. I just never thought about you as a sex object. I mean, we were friends, buds. Hell, we did everything together for years then when we got into high school, for some reason we sorta grew apart or something. You quit skinny dipping with me, and didn't want to hunt or fish any longer so I just thought you were angry or didn't like me any longer."

"You doofus. Of course I quit doing a lot of those things with you. I didn't want you to think I was some kind of slut or something, besides, my mom and dad would have killed me if they found out I got naked with you. Besides, we both began doing a lot more things in school. You had your sports and I had my clubs and band. We both had chores at home. We neither one had as much time to hang out as we did when we were younger. Didn't you notice me hanging around you before and after games when I got to attend? Didn't I still come over and visit sometimes? How could you not know how I felt about you? I almost killed Donna when she hurt you, and you don't think I cared?"

"You did that to Donna? Sarah told me she had an accident the night she broke up with me and went with George."

"Well you don't think she wanted to admit a junior beat the crap out of her, do you?"

"I guess not." Todd laid his bow aside and stood up. He continued talking. "I usually sleep out here when I'm drying meat to keep varmints off it and keep the fire going. You can either stay out here or in the cave, but I'm tired now and need to sleep."

"I'll stay here with you if you don't mind."

The two young people quickly spread their ground sheets and sleeping bags, and then Todd helped Sally put one of her tarps up to shelter her sleeping area. Todd made sure the fires had enough wood to smolder a while, then he crawled into his bed. He woke up later and put more wood on the fires, then quickly crawled back into his blankets. There was a definite chill to the air at that time of night. Todd knew the summer was coming to an end. Sometime before he woke the next time to check the fires, Sally must have become cold. She had moved her sleeping bag and blankets next to his, and was snuggled up beside him. She moaned when he rose to stoke up the fires.

After he returned to the bed, he lay awake thinking about their situation. He hoped before Sally showed up that he had enough food stored. Now he was even more worried, since he had another mouth to feed. At least he could catch some fish from the river and hunt some throughout the winter to supplement his preserved food. They would have to make do and tighten their belts.

Todd and Sally settled into a very harmonious relationship. He found her to be a great help and even better company. Before long they were holding hands and sitting beside each other with their arms around the other from time to time. Sally began keeping "house" for Todd the second morning, and when he moved his bed into the cave she moved hers, also, and placed it beside his. Todd looked at her and said, "Are you sure you want to sleep there? What if I grab you in my sleep or do something inappropriate?"

"Todd, you're mine now. As far as we know, we're the only people here, and I'm just where I want to be. Don't you want me at all?" Todd saw the beginning of tears in Sally's eyes.

He quickly moved toward her and wrapped her in his arms. He said, "I didn't say that, Sal. I just asked if you were sure this is what you want. I mean, if we're ever able to get back home, we, uh, well, your parents might be really upset if anything happened, and I'm not sure I can keep my hands to myself if you sleep with me."

"Doofus. What makes you think I want you to keep your hands, or any other part of your body to yourself?"

The winter came as it always does and the young couple made out just fine. They were getting toward the end of their stored food when the first buds of spring began showing on the trees and bushes.

One early morning they were heading back to the cave with a small deer Sally had taken with her bow when they heard voices and clinking of metal against metal. Todd quickly pulled Sally back into the brush and into a shallow wash. They squatted there and watched as a small group of five wagons weaved back and forth between the trees, heading for the bend in the river, Todd assumed. There were several children running around near the wagons. Each wagon had a man and woman sitting on the seat and there were several men or older boys riding horses, out from the wagons a few feet.

One of the young boys began running toward Todd and Sally and stopped with a yell when he saw them hiding in the ditch. When he yelled, he stopped and stood staring at the young couple. Three of the outriders turned their horses toward the couple and they pulled pistols from their holsters.

When Todd saw the weapons appear, he moved his rifle to a better position and yelled, "That's far enough. I don't want to shoot, but I will if I have to. What are you doing here?"

The young men pulled their horses to a quick stop and bailed off them, taking cover wherever they could. An older man rode up and stopped about fifteen feet from Todd and Sally. He carefully kept his hands in sight and away from his weapons as he said, "Howdy, stranger. We don't mean no harm. We's jus' aheadin' down ta tha river heah. We be ahuntin' land fer tha takin'. My boys heah come thru 'bout ah yeah ago and come home ta git us. We was agonna settle heah abouts and take ta farmin'.

"You live 'roun heah now? They done tole me they weren't nobody heah abouts when they come thru befo. If ya doan mind we would particular like to settle heah abouts. Ya jus tell us wheah yer propity lays, and we'll respect that.

"I'm Hiram Tolliver and these here other folks is my famly. Got my two brothers an' their famly, my sister Stella and her man an young'uns. Clark Eagle is his name and he's agonna start up a genr'l store here 'bouts. He done brung two wagons of goods with 'im. We gets settled, we gots more folks acommin. We'll have a nice little town here. We's all God fearin' folks.

When Sally heard the man introduce himself and some of the people on the train, she became excited and grabbed Todd's arm. She leaned close to him and whispered into his ear, "Todd! These are the people who settled here first. I remember grandmother talking about Stella and Clark Eagle and their store. Their children and grandchildren operated it until the hospital closed in the late 1960's then they couldn't make it and closed. We have to let them stay. We just have to. I don't want to do anything that might mess up our time. I'd hate to think my parents and yours didn't exist. Grandmother said they named the town after Stella."

Todd stood and held his rifle pointed downward in his left hand. He strode up to Hiram and reached up to shake his hand. He said, "I got no problem having neighbors. You and your folks are welcome. We live over by the bend in the river yonder in the cave. We would like to keep the land behind the cave and across from it on this side of the river. We'll be filing on those two sections, but I would be willing to arrange the boundary of the one on this side of the river so you could build your town close by. There's an excellent town site just over there."

Hiram shook hands with Todd, then leaned over and spit his chaw on the other side of his horse. He smiled and said, "Well, that's right neighborly of ya. The boys was a tellin' us 'bout a nice place for a town near tha river. Lets us go see what we can find here. Getting' late. We needs ta set up camp here quick like."

Todd turned and headed for the deer he had been carrying. As he picked it up he said, "Ya'all just follow me and I'll take ya to the place I was talking about. We'll cook up this deer and have it for supper if you like."

"Sure now, and we'd be glad to hep ya eat it. We was agonna have ta hunt for meat before we cooked today, so that will hep lots. Our wimmen folks will cook up beans an cornbread to go with it. We're obliged."

When Todd showed the settlers his proposed town site one of the outriders spoke up and said, "Now don't that beat all pop. This is almost the exact spot we was thinkin' 'bout fer tha town. This here feller's a straight shooter fer sure."

The town could be seen from Todd and Sally's cave, but it was about three-eighths of a mile away on higher ground where floods wouldn't damage the buildings if the river got out of its banks. Todd and Sally continued to hunt and lay in meat for the winter, and even made a deal to trade some of their meat to Mr. Eagle for flour, cornmeal, coffee, salt, sugar and other necessities they had ran out of or were in short supply. The settlers were appreciative, because that freed up the men who would have hunted to help build cabins and other structures in the new settlement.

One day Sally had been to the store, (well, to the wagons, the store building hadn't been built yet) and came back all excited. She had a tablet of paper and some pencils. She almost ran up to Todd and said, "Look what I found in the store. I promised Mr. Eagle a big mess of fish for the paper and pencils. Now we can write down our story and keep records of everything we do!"

"Uh, okay, but why? No one will believe it anyway, and they might even think we're crazy or ungodly or something. I'm not sure that's a good idea, honey."

"Oh poo. If you're worried about that, we can keep it hidden and only pass it down to family. Besides, if anyone finds it, we can always tell them you're trying to write a book. Besides, how many people in this day and time can even read and write? I bet not more than a handful. Todd, I really think we should do this. Besides, we can use this to teach our children to read and write. I don't want them to be totally illiterate!"

"We'd have to have some, first, and then it'll be several years before we need this stuff."

Sally blushed and bit her lower lip. She almost whispered when she said, "It'll be sooner than you think, Todd."

"What," he said, then his eyes got big and he grinned before continuing. "You mean you're pregnant? Why didn't you tell me before? How long has it been? When did you find out?"

"Todd. Todd, just chill! I only decided I might be a day or two ago. This is the second month since I've had my period so I suppose I got pregnant a couple months ago, or so."

Todd grabbed Sally and swung her around before giving her a nice kiss and hug. "Man," he said. "Now we have to build a house. I don't want our baby to grow up in a cave. We'll get started on it tomorrow."

Sally was laughing and could hardly talk for her mirth. Finally, she managed to say, "Calm down, honey. We have plenty of time. Besides, what's wrong with living in the cave? It's safe and easy to defend if we need to. The roof doesn't leak and there's plenty of room, for now. We can build the house after the baby is here."

"Okay, okay, but I'm still going to begin working on the cabin in my spare time, so we don't have to do it all at once. We'll put it to the side there where old man Hunter's house was. We can still use the cave in bad weather and when it's so hot."

Todd let himself be convinced that he should write their history, as Sally demanded. He was as accurate as he could be, describing everything he could remember from his childhood (and hers), their contact with the Spook light and movement back to what they now knew was 1848 (their hometown was founded in 1848 and the Tollivers verified that date).

As the years passed, Todd kept meticulous records of their lives, their children (they had seven) and the growth of the small town and area. He and his friends and neighbors weathered the Civil War with little trouble; however, several of the younger men did fight for the Union. He even recorded their occasional skirmishes with the Indians. He found it hilarious the Indians called him "Walks With Demons" because of one fight he had with some of them when his bobcats helped. They jumped on a brave attempting to stab Todd from behind while he was fighting another brave.

For the most part, however, the local Indians, of which there were few, were friendly. Todd always thought it was mostly because he insisted they be treated with respect. He had two fights with other white men who were bothering the local Indians, and that made him friends in the tribe, also.

Todd and Sally became very successful farmers and ranchers, making a lot of money during the war selling beef to the Union. After the war, they continued working their farm, using many of the methods they learned in the future. Their methods of farming were controversial, but no one could argue with their success. They were one of the first families to introduce better beef animals, bringing in Herford bulls to upgrade their stock and raising beefier animals that brought top dollar for the times.

As their children aged, the four boys helped with the farming and the three girls married and moved to their husbands places. One girl married the son of the man who moved in and took over hunting for the area. Since he was gone a lot on hunts, they let him and and their daughter live in the now expanded house with them and willed it and their share of the farm to them upon their deaths.

Todd died in his sleep in the winter of 1909 of pneumonia. Sally lived four years longer and died of breast cancer. They were both buried in the family plot on the bluff over their cave. The written record Todd kept of their life remained hidden in the secret compartment built into the chimney of the old cabin, part of the now substantial house on the bluff.

*****

Thomas Sinclair came into the house and wrapped his arms around his wife, Marilyn. She had been standing at the stove preparing the evening meal and quickly pushed him away. She said, "Tom, stop. You'll make me ruin supper. Besides, you're hot and sweaty and I've already had my shower."

She gave him a deep kiss, then stepped back and continued, "Now, go on. Get cleaned up and don't take too long. Supper's almost ready."

Tom headed for the master bedroom and the shower. When he was about to leave the kitchen he stopped and said, "Jordan stopped by the field this afternoon. He'd been to town for parts and saw them wrecking the old Hunter place on the bluff. George Hunter told him they finally decided to build a new house there like he promised Abby."

"Well it's about time. That old place was an eyesore. My gosh, how old was that house anyway? I bet it was 100 years old at least."

"Older than that. He said it was built around an old log cabin. They were trying to salvage the old fireplace to incorporate into the new house, but he said when they took the logs out, the fireplace collapsed."

Later that evening, there was a knock on the door. Tom started to get up to answer it but Marilyn said, "You sit. I'll get it. Wonder who it can be this late at night?"

Marilyn opened the door and said, "Well, hello, George. I heard you were finally building Abbey's new house. What brings you out here this time of night?"

"Uh, well, I need to talk to you and Tom, Marilyn. We, uh, well, could we come in and chat a spell? I have something to tell you both and, well, I'm not even sure I believe it but..."

About then, Abby Hunter pushed George and said, "Damn it, George, let's wait until we get seated at least."

Marilyn broke in and said, "Abby! I'm sorry, I didn't see you out there. Come on in. Of course we can sit and talk. We're in the living room watching the news, but it's the same old crap. We can turn it off."

After everyone was seated and drinks had been refused, Tom said, "Well, George, I heard you tell Marilyn you needed to tell us something? What could be so important you come all the way over here this time of night?"

George looked at Abby and then turned back to face the Sinclairs. He looked nervous, but took a deep breath and held out a brown paper grocery sack. It contained a thick stack of papers when Tom looked in it.

Tom started to take the papers out of the sack as George said, "Tom, I had no idea there was a hide in the old chimney. When it collapsed, we found this stack of papers wrapped in oil cloth and canvass inside it. We don't know what to make of it but, well, we thought you should see it and maybe decide what to do about it.

Marilyn stood and walked over beside Tom. She said, "What is it, honey?"

"I don't know, a stack of papers with pencil writing on them."

When Tom opened the oilcloth, the first thing he saw was two small rectangles of plastic covered paper with two small pictures on them. There was also some change, some paper money and other small pieces of paper. He reached out and picked them up to look at them closer. The plastic was yellowed and hard to see through. It was very brittle. His face turned white and he collapsed back in his chair, dropping the papers onto his lap. A sob escaped his lips.

Marilyn said, "Tom! What is it? What's the matter?"

Tom sat there shaking his head, but he couldn't speak. Marilyn picked up the two small pieces of plastic and looked at them. She began trembling and held her free hand to her mouth as tears began to run down her cheeks.

Finally, Tom managed to speak. He turned to the Hunters and said, "How did you... No, you said this was in your fireplace chimney?"

"Yeah, Tom, it was. I'm sorry as hell to spring this on you, but we thought you should see it as soon as possible."

Marilyn regained some control and moved over to her chair. She picked up the phone and dialed a number. When someone finally answered it she said, "Milly, its Marilyn. Tom and I think you and Jordan should come over here."

"No, Milly. Now. Right now. It's important. No, you need to see this. No. Please. I really think you should come now. Okay."

She looked up and said, "She's not real happy, but she promised they'd be here as soon as they got dressed. They were already in bed."

Marilyn finished speaking and moved back to sit on the arm of the chair with Tom while he read the faded writing. Tears were running down his cheeks as he read. Marilyn picked up the pages as he finished them and put them aside. She, too, was crying. When the knock came on the door, she put the papers down and stood. She wiped her face as she moved to the door.

When Jordan and Milly Johnson, Sally's parents, entered, they stared at Marilyn's red tear covered face. Milly moved to Marilyn and said, "Marilyn, are you okay? Why are you crying? What's so darn important we had to come over here tonight?"

A sniffling Marilyn managed to say in a broken voice, "It's Sally and Todd. I mean George found something and..."

"WHAT!"

By then, they were in the living room standing beside the still crying Tom. Marilyn reached out and picked up Sally's driver's license. She handed it to Milly, then picked up the papers she had finished reading and handed them to Milly, also. She said, "George found this in a hide in his old chimney. We didn't know what to do, but you deserve to see this, too. If it's real... I mean, well, I can't believe it, but everything written down here so far is correct and a lot of it, no one could possibly know except Todd and Sally."

"But it's been three years and these things look so old?"

The three couples spent almost the entire night reading the biography Todd had so meticulously kept. Finally, at nearly 4 AM, they could not keep reading. Marilyn offered to let everyone sleep there and they all went to bed. They were up again just before 11:00 AM.

After several cups of coffee and a large country breakfast, they returned to reading the biography. Marilyn looked up and said, "Seven children. If this is true, we have grandchildren older than we are, maybe even dead now. What should we do?"

Tom looked around and said, "We need to call the sheriff, I think, and then we need to find out if this can possibly be real or if it is some kind of horrible practical joke or what. Who would do something like this and how could this get into the chimney?"