My heart is still pounding like a drum.
Why did she narrow her eyes when she looked at me?
Has she seen me before?
Did she recognize me?
Does she know who I am?
Damn everything to hell.
I have to be very careful. If I’m not, all could be
Changed … forever.
Jesse closed his eyes and concentrated on slow deep breaths
until his heart was back too normal. He stood and walked
toward the home. He had unfinished business to attend to
and it had to be today.
#
He watched from a distance as the two women climbed into
the car and started down the narrow lane. He hurried to his
truck and climbed in.
I have to go to town right away. I don’t have much time.
#
Manda slowed and stopped when she came to a crossroad.
“What’ll it be, Mom? Right or left?”
“Let’s go left.”
She turned left and followed the lane as it began to wind
up a small hill. The lane came to an end close to a flat
field at the top.
“Let’s see what that is, “Teresa said, pointing toward an
area enclosed by a low stone fence.
As they got out of the car, Manda commented on the fence.
“That’s unusual. I’ve never seen a fence like that.”
“It’s called a slave fence.”
“Why,” Manda asked, frowning.
“Back when plantation owners kept slaves, the slaves built
the fences and this is how they built them. This one is in
excellent condition. The stones aren’t held together by
mortar. They were just fit together so well that the fence
stood by itself. It took talent to build one of
these.”
“So our ancestors were slave owners?”
“Probably, although I suppose their labor could have been
hired from a neighboring plantation. Of course, the workers
didn’t get the money. The master who owned them did.”
“My God, Mom. That was so cruel.”
Those were bad times, Hon.”
They were so busy talking that they didn’t notice what was
in the enclosure until they reached the gate.
“It’s a cemetery! What’s a cemetery doing way out here?”
“ You are a babe in the woods sometimes, Honey.”
“ It’s a private cemetery. You’re looking at a lot of your
ancestors. Back then; there weren’t many public ones.
Distances were too great, so families had their own burial
grounds.”
They wandered through looking at the tombstones.
“ I recognize some of these names from the records at the
courthouse, but there’s a lot I haven’t seen before.”
Manda bent down to trace the name and date on a stone so
old that the words were barely legible.
“Oh, I don’t believe this!’
“What, Manda ?”
She pointed at a small symbol on the bottom of the stone
just to the left of the name. She glanced at the date of
birth.
“They match!”
“What are you talking about?”
“ The birth date on this stone is June the 2nd. This marking
is the astrological symbol for the sign of Gemini.”
Manda raced to several other stones, bending to check them.
“Mom, all of these have the correct symbols for the
birth dates!”
“This is intriguing, Manda. What do you suppose the odds
are that you studied astrology as did the rest of the
family?”
“Astronomical, I imagine. I’m going to come back as soon as
I can and write all of these down.
Teresa looked around.
“There’s a separate enclosure.” They entered. The stones
were smaller in this one.
Manda checked several of them. “There are no symbols on
these. What do you suppose that means?”
“This may be the burial place for loyal slaves who had no
other family. I’m not sure.
We’ll have to see if Kate knows.”
They turned to go back to the car.
“Well, these cemeteries are well taken care of. Well
maintained.”
They got in the car and headed back the way they had come,
only taking the other fork this time. After a short drive
they found themselves along the coast of the gulf. They
pulled off at the first convenient place and stood on a
small bluff overlooking the body of water that appeared to
be endless. The sunlight flickered on the crests of the
waves and reflected off of the white sand, causing each
woman to shield her eyes.
“Manda, tomorrow, when we do the shopping for the
cottage…we’re going to include
new swim suits, beach umbrellas, a huge cooler, etc. The
first free hour or three, we’re going to have us a picnic
on the beach.”
“Yeah, Mom. OK by me. Best idea I’ve heard for a while. I
can use some ‘laid back’ time. Right now though, I can use
…FOOD,” they shouted together.
Piling into the car, they did a three point and headed for
Kate’s place.
#
They saw Kate chatting and flirting with the table of old
timers as soon as they walked through the door.
“Bless em, Kate’s place must be their daily gathering
place.”
“They couldn’t pick a better place or a friendlier
hostess.”
A waitress approached and led them, at their request, to a
table by the window.
Teresa smiled at her daughter,” The group of fellows picked
their spot…I guess we’ve picked ours.”
They ordered lemonade to start and requested the waitress
to see if Kate had time to see them for a few minutes.
“Never mind, Lorie, I’m already here.”
Kate plopped into a seat.
“Lorie, bring me a coffee when you have a minute, please.”
“Will do, Ms Kate.”
“Good to see you all; what are you doing with yourselves on
this beautiful day?”
“We’ve been checking out Live Oaks today. It is so
gorgeous.”
“Yep, Teresa, it’s a very special place. What all have you
seen?”
“I showed Mom the manor. Then we visited the cottage,
cemetery and went to the beach. Oh, we met the
gardener, Jesse.”
Kate chuckled, “You better not let him hear you refer to
him as your gardener. He’s had an extensive education in
his field. Better just think of him by his name instead of
a title.”
“He’s an strange guy…not very friendly,”Manda commented.
“Jesse??”
Lorie appeared with their drinks.
“Kate, can you join us for an early supper? We’d love to
visit with you, wouldn’t we, Manda.”
“Yes, please say you can, Kate.”
“Everything under control in the kitchen, Lorie?”
At Lorie’s nod, Kate made a quick decision.
“Thank you, I’d love to. It’s been a long day and I could
use a break. Even my toenails
hurt.”
“What would you suggest for supper? What’s good today?”
Kate knuckled Manda in the arm.” Manda Harris…all my food
is good,” Kate laughed.
Manda blushed.” I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant.”
“I know, I’m just teasing you. I’m always teasing…. you’ll
realize that when you get to know me better.”
“Today’s special is roasted chicken and dressing with a
salad and two sides.”
“Ummm, sounds good, “Teresa and Manda said in unison.
“We’ll take three, Lorie,” Kate ordered for them.
“Right away, Ms Kate.”
“Now, what’s this about Jesse? He’s the most relaxed and
friendly person I know.”
Manda looked confused and glanced at Teresa.
“Manda only saw him for a minute. He was very friendly with
me but he did kind of chill down when she joined us.”
“You probably saw him at a busy time. He’s really a great
guy…. and so handsome. Females all over town are after him.
I think it’s because of his wild gypsy look…. makes him very
sexy.”
“I didn’t get a good look. He had a cap and sunglasses on
and he kept ducking his head.”
“Well, you’re in for a nice surprise, then.”
“Kate, do you know anything about the cemetery?”
“We saw that there’s an area that’s separated from the main
one by a wall. We wondered why.”
“ I really don’t know. Maybe that’s where the black sheep
of the family were planted,” she said with a small smile.
“Every family has a few, you know. Nanny May and I didn’t
talk much about the place. I know she didn’t want to be
buried there, but she felt that she didn’t have a choice.
Something about it being her ‘duty’. I’ve only been there
once and that was for Nanny May’s funeral. I wasn’t paying
any attention to the grounds then.”
“I’m sorry, Kate. It was insensitive of us to ask. We’ve
made you sad.”
“Please don’t apologize. I have so many terrific memories
of her. I miss her very much, but so many times when I
think of her, I have to laugh. She was wild, wacky,
wonderful woman.”
Lorie arrived to serve their meals. Conversation slowed way
down, as they were all ravenous.
When Teresa and Manda groaned from having stuffed stomachs,
Kate grinned, “How about coffee and dessert, gals?”
Another groan from the ‘gals’ while Kate laughed.
“Well, in that case, how about coffee with dessert to go?
You can enjoy it tonight at the hotel.”
“Now, there’s a thought!”
“What’s a thought, lovely ladies?”
They looked up to see Mr. Lanier.
“Hi John. Join us for coffee?”asked Kate.
“I’d love to but I have a busy evening ahead of me.”
“How so, friend?”
“I have to do a few home repairs. I came to town to get
some supplies.”
“You? In case you’ve forgotten, my old chum, you haven’t
any idea how to hammer a nail…let alone do repairs.”
“Now Kate, I’m not without a few talents. These jobs are
very simple ones anyway.”
“Manda, how are you and your mother doing?”
“Fine, thanks. We’re going to move into the cottage
tomorrow or the day after. We’re shopping for supplies in
the morning.”
“Don’t forget your meeting with the staff.”
“ I won’t. You’re going to be there aren’t you?”
“Sure will. Don’t worry; they’re all great people. You’ll
get along just fine”
“Got to go ladies. Have a nice evening.”
“Thanks, you too.”
Manda smiled as she watched him leave.
“I don’t know what I would have done without his help and
advice.”
Kate nodded, “You can always depend on him. He’ll never let
you down. So you’re moving in! May I help you two?”
“We can probably manage but I’ll keep your offer on the
front burner.”
Teresa grinned at Manda then turned to Kate.
“We do have a question for you. What can you tell us about
the fireplace in the cottage?”
Kate’s eyes widened and she clapped her hands over her
mouth.
Groans of,”Um…um…um,” began to emanate from behind her
hands.
Teresa began to rise from her chair.
“Are you OK? Do you need help?”
“Are you going to throw up?’ demanded Manda.
Teresa shook her head vigorously as she groped with one
hand toward Teresa.
Teresa continued to rise from her chair with anxiety on her
face. At this point, Kate began
to gesture frantically for her to sit back down but Teresa
remained half way in a standing position.
Kate’s eyes flicked wildly between Manda and her mother as
she began to gasp for air.
“Mom, what should we do?? We have to help her !!”
Kate’s face became bright red and her eyes began to fill.
She removed her hand from her tightly closed mouth and
clasped her arms around her waist, beginning to rock back
and forth in her chair. Her intermittent groans began to
change into a high pitched keening that sounded like a dog
whining with terror.
“Mom, call an ambulance! She’s having a seizure or
something!”
Both women leapt from their chairs as Kate’s body jerked
with several convulsions.
Tears streamed down her reddened face as her mouth opened
and peals of uncontrolled laughter bounced off the walls of
the restaurant.
Manda stared at Kate with horror as diners whipped their
heads around to see what was happening.
Kate grabbed the corner of the tablecloth and shoved it
into her mouth in an effort to control herself.
Teresa dunked her cloth napkin into her water glass, wrung
it out, and handed it to Kate, who began to mop her face
and neck as she continued to choke with laughter.
The old timers across the room began to hollar,” Hey, Kate
darlin, share the joke with us. We need a good laugh,” even
as they pounded each others shoulders and backs with
hilarity.
Teresa and Manda plopped back in their seats with a mixture
of relief and consternation as Kate struggled to compose
herself. It took several minutes before Kate’s face began to
return to its normal color and for her breathing to
subside to an acceptable rate.
“Kate, you just scared the absolute hell out of us! My
heart is still pounding!”, Teresa blurted.
“I’m sorry…really. Give me a minute to gather my wits and
I’ll explain.”
”Mom. I’m going to the ladies room seeing as how I’m about