Ancient Stones

By Steve Betts

The Dawsons have decided to take an impromptu camping trip since their parents are out of town. When the park closes at 8:00 p.m. and the sun sets, ancient residents make themselves known, and the three children are thrust into a supernatural world where their eternal freedom is at stake.

On a late September afternoon, three teens embark on a weekend of relaxation only to find themselves engaged in a supernatural struggle against an evil that seeks to take them captive for eternity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490840598

Steve Betts

Steven Betts received a BS in English from Drury University in Springfield. His book is written about a specific location in Southeast Missouri called Elephant Rocks State Park that he has visited at least once every year since infancy. In May 2012, he and his daughter, who was twelve at the time, were spending the day there with the church youth group. They conceived the premise of the story while walking on some old, abandoned railroad tracks. Three months later, he began writing Ancient Stones. Steven currently lives in Rolla, a small town in South Central Missouri. He teaches high school special education, coaches football, and pastors a local church. He is married and has three children. Kristyn is thirteen, Dalton is four, and Meredith is two.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

O n a comfortable late September afternoon, the three Dawson children drove south on Highway 21. The weather was warm, but they didn’t need the air conditioner to keep cool and made do by rolling down the windows. Lucian, eighteen, held the wheel with one hand and a bottle of soda with the other. Alex, fifteen, kept to herself in the front passenger seat, listening to music on an MP3 player. In the back seat, thirteen-year-old Kristal sang at the top of her lungs. Her voice was amazing. She had a God-given talent that most adults would envy. However, the mischievous girl wasn’t trying to sing well, just loud, hoping to get a rise out of her bro ther.

The three had left their home in Saint Charles, adjacent to Saint Louis County, earlier that morning and were on their way to Elephant Rocks State Park in southeastern Missouri. Most people considered Saint Charles a suburb of Saint Louis, but residents thought differently. Elephant Rocks was the one place the three could agree upon for their day away. They hadn’t grown up in Saint Charles but in a smaller town about two hours west. Earlier in the week, their parents had said they would be traveling to Memphis to visit an elderly great-aunt whom the kids hadn’t seen since they were in grade school. Their parents let them decide whether to go, and they chose to stay home.

The three siblings made up their minds to do something fun, something they couldn’t normally do now that they lived in a more urban locale. Lucian had suggested they drive to Hannibal, Missouri, the site of many Mark Twain stories. He was a freshman at the University of Missouri in Columbia and hadn’t decided if he wanted to major in English or history. Both subjects drew him to Hannibal, but his sisters didn’t feel the same attraction. Alex was a runner and preferred a place where she could be physically active. She didn’t care whether she was on a track or racing through the woods as long as she was running.

Kristal came up with the idea for Elephant Rocks, a place their family had visited at least once a year for as long as they could remember. Lucian and Alex loved the park as much as Kristal did, but they weren’t sold until she suggested they break the rules and camp overnight. Tourists could spend twelve hours at Elephant Rocks, but park rangers closed the gates at 8 p.m. during the summer.

On Friday afternoon, when Lucian returned home from college for the weekend, they planned their adventure. They would get under way around 11 a.m., grab some White Castle before leaving town, and drive south. They would park their parents’ 2006 Dodge Ram at a nearby convenience store and hike the extra mile and a half to the park. That way, when night fell and the park closed, no one would wonder why a truck was still in the lot. Lucian would carry two of the three sleeping bags in his backpack, and the girls would carry the food, the drinks, the flashlights, and the remaining sleeping bag.

They were fifteen minutes out when Lucian tapped Alex on the leg. She looked at him with a baffled expression, and he pointed to the clock. It was about 12:45 p.m. Alex removed her earbuds just in time to hear Kristal hit a high, earsplitting note.

Oh my gosh, Kristal! Shut up!

Kristal sheepishly smiled to herself and stopped singing.

We’re almost there, Alex declared. Can you guys think of anything else we need? The other two could think of nothing, but Alex and Kristal checked their packs anyway.

After taking stock of what they had brought, the three reviewed their plan one last time. They would investigate the park thoroughly, avoiding the areas they knew well, and would find a hidden location to stow their gear. They wouldn’t hide until around 7:45 p.m. and would do their best to avoid park rangers throughout the day. As Lucian was rehashing the plan for the hundredth time, Kristal’s mind wandered. She gazed out of the window to the field and the forest beyond.

Ahead about twenty feet off to the side of the road, a man stood alone. He was oddly dressed and looked like something out of an amusement park with a nineteenth-century theme or a play set in the same period. He simply stared at their oncoming vehicle.

Look at that guy, Kristal said.

What guy? asked the other two simultaneously.

That one right there, standing near the road, Kristal said.

Neither Lucian nor Alex could see anyone, but Kristal was adamant. As she watched, the man raised his hand and pointed at them. The hair on the back of Kristal’s neck stood on end as she made eye contact with him. He appeared to be in his late forties or early fifties and wore a black outfit that resembled a train conductor’s uniform. As they passed, Kristal clearly saw the words Missouri Pacific Railroad embroidered on his jacket.

Nearly hysterical, Kristal shouted, He’s pointing at me!

Would you please not scream while in the truck? said Lucian.

Yeah, Kristal, added Alex. Use your indoor voice. This last command came with a monstrous dose of sarcasm, making Kristal feel like a baby.

Are you serious? Didn’t you guys see him?

Lucian was becoming irritated. No, Kristal, we didn’t see anyone. What’re you talking about? There’s no one here. Now shut up and get your gear together. The convenience store is just around the corner.

Kristal pouted and grabbed her backpack. She felt a sense of foreboding. Maybe spending the night with her brother and sister wouldn’t be much fun after all.

As they pulled into the QuikStop parking lot, Kristal stepped out of the back seat and looked in the direction they had come. She couldn’t shake the creepy feeling she had experienced when that weird guy pointed at her.

Turning toward the shop, Alex said, Use the bathroom here. You know how gross those state park restrooms are. Oh, and Kristal, watch out for ghosts. She said this with even more sarcasm.

CHAPTER 2

W ith fully loaded packs, the three siblings walked the mile and a half to the park entrance. Their plan was to stow the gear in a good hiding place, to have fun until sundown, and, just before the park closed at eight, to return to where they had hidden their supplies. After waiting until well past dark, they would make their way back to the front entrance and look for park rangers, conservation agents, or anyone else who might give them trouble. It’s a perfect plan, Kristal said. What could go w rong?

The Dawsons knew this park better than their own backyard. They had lived in Saint Charles for only a few years but had visited Elephant Rocks more times than they cared to count. Made up of enormous granite formations, the park was one of the most unique places in that part of the country. Back in the nineteenth century, the granite was mined or quarried and sent all around the country to be used for monuments, kitchen counters, and other needs. The three siblings knew all this information since their father had forced them to read every sign and placard along the trail at the perimeter of the park.

They opted to place their supplies in a tight crevice between a couple of large rocks in the northeast corner of the park just outside of the perimeter trail. Lucian had found this spot at fourteen when he and a friend were playing a game of hide-and-seek. He had planted himself there and couldn’t be found for more than an hour. Eventually, he revealed his place of concealment. He never forgot the location, and now it would be put to use again.

Lucian stowed the three sleeping bags, a small cooler with some ice and a few bottles of water, and the flashlights with spare batteries. The food, consisting mainly of junk and a few sandwiches, he kept in their backpacks. Once the supplies were in place, the siblings headed back to the trail and off into the park.

They spent most of the afternoon climbing familiar formations and negotiating the mazes formed by the rock walls that towered above their heads. Alex was always in front, insisting that the others hurry or be left behind. Lucian could easily outclimb Alex, but he wanted to proceed carefully to make sure Kristal didn’t get hurt. Many of the mountainous formations could be reached only by jumping from one point to another. Kristal had no problem spanning the gaps in the stone, but her big brother didn’t even want to think about explaining to his parents how he let his younger sister break a leg or an arm or why she was cut so badly that she required stitches, so he paid close attention to where she was at all times.

During one of Alex’s many gripe fests, Kristal was studying the next fissure, considering where to place her feet. The gap in the rock was only about three feet wide but nearly twenty feet deep. It didn’t appear that daunting until she looked down into the chasm. Then it resembled the Grand Canyon.

As Kristal peered over the edge, a movement caught her eye. Someone stood below, just around the corner, looking up. As she adjusted her footing to get a better look, the person slipped quietly out of view. Kristal was fairly certain it was