Vanishing Bodies on Edisto Island

By Doris Holland

Doris Holland is a retired teacher who lives on her beef cattle ranch in
northwestern South Carolina. Her hobbies and interests are many. She is
very active in church and social activities. She enjoys traveling abroad and
loves to drive to different states visiting family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 13, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493183173

Doris Holland

Doris Holland is a self-made woman, the seventh child of eleven, the mother of four, and retired educator. Before she started to school she learned to read from her siblings’ books. Growing up she learned a lot about life from the many books she read. She grew up on tenant farms where she worked in the cotton fields and tended to the farm animals. Because of this she has a strong work ethic and loves to play making up for the fun she missed as a child. She married at the age of eighteen. The family spent summer vacations camping and toured all of The United States except Hawaii. Some of the other areas of travel included an extended education trip to The Soviet Union. At the age of twenty six, after her first three children had started school she entered college. She earned her BA she began teaching at the elementary level as she continued her education earning a Masters +30 and certification in 7 areas. She retired after teaching thirty years. She is still an avid reader and stays busy with many other activities especially traveling.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Rocky Start

They would have never ventured out of the house, had they known what was in store for them on Edisto Island. They would have at least visited a cardiologist to check to see if their hearts could take all they endured.

This outing was on the fourth year after two of the women decided to get together each year to celebrate their birthdays which were a few days apart. It would be a week of fun, fellowship, eating, touring the area and playing cards. This all began four years before on their 70th birthday. The first year there were six women in the group with three who shared February birthdays. Since there were six in the group each one decided to be in charge of one evening meal except for one. That special night they would go to a restaurant that specialized in local fresh fish. Each one decided what dishes she would prepare and brought with them the food and fixings she would need to prepare the meal.

For several different reasons, the makeup of the group had changed over the years. The only original ones were the two who were almost the same age. Bree was 26 days older than Rita. Rita always bragged about being the youngest.

The call that came a week before the trip started should have given them an indication of what was to follow. But it seemed so innocent at the time. Bree had already booked a unit at the condo a month before. The call was from the management of housing. She asked if the group needed a unit for the handicapped. This was a surprise because she had not requested a handicapped unit. The manager went on to explain there was a need for such a unit and the one that was assigned to Bree and her friends was set up for the handicapped. No I think we can handle a regular room but it would have to be on the first floor, was her answer.

The second thing happened on the day they got together to finalize the plans of the trip. Four of the five members decided to meet at Super Sub on Highway 81. When Vera didn’t show after Ollie, Bree, and Rita had waited for thirty minutes, the three decided it was time to eat. They were finishing when Vera rushed in apologizing. She had gone to another Super Sub which was also located on Highway 81 she explained. She had looked around and could not find the group there. When she inquired about three gray-haired ladies meeting her there, the waitress told her there was another Super Sub on 81 North. That, she exhaled breathlessly as she pressed her hand on her chest, is why I’m late.

Bree had not met Vera before and when introductions were made she had little to say after that because Vera had much to say. As a matter of fact Vera had so much information that she wanted to share, the other three were destined to be the captive audience. When Bree described Vera to her husband later about how she monopolized the conversation, he laughed and commented, So what were you afraid of, do you think she would be in competition with you?

As they ate their foot long sub they talked over their travel options. With five of us going we have two options, suggested Rita. "We can go in two cars, which will give us all plenty of leg room. Or we can go in one car which will limit our space in the back seat and the space in the trunk as well. But it will cut the gas bill in half if we drive one car.

A worried look came over Vera’s face, If we go in one car, there may not be enough room in the trunk for my hanging garment bag. I will have three pieces of luggage: a suitcase, my cosmetic bag and a hanging garment bag. I usually have a bag for shoes, but I guess I can pack them in one of the other bags.

I don’t need much room, offered Ollie I’ll just have one small bag. I usually travel light anyway. Ollie was the quiet one of the group.

Rita and Bree both explained they would be carrying a small suitcase and a small cosmetic bag. Rita, because she took a lot of medication, would need a small bag for that. Bree would be taking her laptop computer. One thing about Bree, she wouldn’t go anywhere without her laptop.

They had been in Super Sub two hours discussing their trip, planning the meals, and trying to decide the mode of transportation. Rita and Bree had the larger cars. Rita decided they had taken up a table far too long, so they decided to carry the ‘meeting’ outside. They went out to the parking lot and checked out the two cars, Rita’s Cadillac and Bree’s Crown Victoria. Bree never was a girl scout, but had a reputation of always being prepared. The bulge in her heavy purse was a testament to that fact. Therefore, she had a small measuring tape in her purse. This device was a 2x1½ x ¼ inches plastic compact which housed a 10 inch retractable tape. The tape has a self locking button which served as a safety feature. It also held the tape in position while it was being used.

The two cars in question were at different sections of the parking lot. There was a cold winter wind blowing as the four of them went from one car to the next. First Rita and Bree measured the leg room in the Caddy, and then they went to the Crown Vic and measured the leg room in the back seat of it. Then they walked back to the Caddy and measured the width of the seat in it. The four of them walked to the Crown Vic and measured the length of it. Then they measured the depth of the trunk of each. Rita’s Caddy had more leg room and the trunk was wider but the trunk in Bree’s Crown Vic was deeper. By then with all the walking back and forth in the cold wind, the ladies were ice cubes.

Let’s get on with it, my buns are frozen, Vera was jumping up and down and flapping her arms to keep warm.

Why didn’t we drive one of the cars near the other instead of walking back and forth? asked Ollie. They stared at each other and then burst out laughing at themselves.

Come over here, whispered a girl to another as she waved her over. They stopped cleaning off tables in the Super Sub and peered out the window. Would you look at this? Those three gray hairs and the bottle brunette have been walking back and forth across the parking lot. They are opening car doors and the trunks, but they don’t have any packages. What in the world do you think they are doing out there in the cold?

Maybe one of them lost something and they’re trying to find it. You know how absent minded old people can be.

Yeah I know. If they are like my Granny by now they have forgotten what they are looking for. They both laughed and went back to their job.

Outside, the ladies were still trying to decide whether to drive one or two cars. Finally frugality won out. They would drive one car, My Caddy, announced Rita. "But we won’t have room to carry food as we usually do.

Bree grinned, They do sell food at Edisto.

Where to meet was the next item to be settled. Since I’m driving, why don’t you come to my house and you can park your cars in my yard. One more won’t be noticed. And we will pick up Nancy below Columbia. She’s staying with her daughter there. Remember the last time we went to Edisto she couldn’t go because the roads there were slick with snow and ice. Her home is a two hour drive north of us.

I’ll get my husband to drive me there. I always keep my car parked in the garage and I don’t want it to be out in the weather, Bree answered.

Another indication that the simple vacation may not be what was planned came the day before they left. Plans were changed at the last minute. Rita decided they should go in Bree’s car instead of her car, because Bree’s trunk was deeper. This pleased Bree because she loved to drive anyway. So the question was where to meet this time. Since everyone except Nancy had planned to meet at your house Rita, why don’t we keep it that way? I don’t mind driving there to pick everyone up, Bree suggested.

Then there was another change Bree was to meet at Rita’s house at 11 am. After checking the time it would take to pick up Nancy below Columbia, Rita and Bree decided they needed to start at 10 am instead. The trip there would take 2 ½ hours. The plan was to pick up Nancy at Cracker Barrel where they could also have lunch. That meant they would be eating lunch at 1:30. That’s too late. I like to eat earlier than that, said Rita.

So instead of Bree’s husband carrying her to Rita’s, Bree would pick up the girls at Rita’s as previously planned. That would save them from driving to her house. Bree had planned ahead and filled up the car with gas on Friday. But attending a play in Abbeville used up half of that. So Bree decided to go get a top-off before picking up the girls. So she left earlier than she had planned.

Another set of circumstances had been set in motion. Bree’s doctor had prescribed another medication that required food. This new medication needed a wait of four hours between any other medications. Since she had other meds to take, she found she was to take pills four times a day, which meant she would be eating four times a day. Sadly she found that after losing ten pounds even during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, she would be eating four times a day. After not eating breakfast for years she now had to eat breakfast in order to get in four meals a day.

So before heading out on the trip, she needed to eat breakfast in order to take pills. Time was slipping away and Bree hated to be late for anything. Even though she asked her husband to stop at a grocery for a loaf of bread on the way back from the play, he forgot. They were out of bread and so she cooked biscuits. This took up some of her valuable time on her scheduled timetable.

Circumstances that took up valuable time and plans being constantly changed should have been a warning sign. But no one picked up on the hint that something was amiss, that fate had a rude awakening in store for them.

When Bree started out at her house she had to turn around and go back in to get her forgotten sweater. That doesn’t seem so odd alone, but putting other happenings together, someone should have noticed.

Well, she got to Rita’s house using a Garman GPS. That was fortunate because her car headed out in the direction that she usually took which was of course the wrong way to get to Rita’s.

Even with all this, she got to Rita’s early and backed up in her yard so it would be easier to transfer bags from the cars and house. She hadn’t paid any attention to that comment from Rita about parking their cars in her yard, One more won’t make a difference, until she pulled up in the yard. Then she remembered the comment and understood. The yard had all kinds of vehicles, implements, cars, and two tractors in the front yard. She was watching out for all the ‘yard ornaments’ to avoid hitting them and nearly backed into a pile of sand that had been there so long it was growing grass on it. For years it had been waiting there to go into the mortar mixture to make steps for the front porch. Bree’s comment about the sand was, Hey I know about procrastinators. I have one of those back at my house.

When the group got to Rita’s house, they learned that Nancy was sick and couldn’t go. Each one of the five was to be responsible for an afternoon meal. That left two days to eat out. Well, this meant one less person to share the expenses of the trip and one less person to cook a meal. They were especially disappointed because they were looking forward to eating the ham and stew Nancy had already cooked for Monday.

Bree was a little put out when she learned others had packed food to bring, even though they had decided to wait until they got to Edisto. I had a lot of fruit I wanted to bring but I left it because we said that we weren’t going to bring food, she pouted.

Now that Nancy was no longer going, the trip was changed again. Since Bree was early and Vera was not at Rita’s yet, Rita called her house to see if she had already left. She had not. So Rita decided they would go by her house to pick her up instead of waiting.

I can’t remember her address but it won’t be a problem I have been to her house many times, Rita assured them before they spent an hour and half trying several streets, each one Rita thought was the right one. Since Rita didn’t know her address, Bree couldn’t put it in the Garman. They finally found the right one and picked up Vera. They were on finally their way.

In spite of all that had happened they were determined to go to Edisto Island for some R&R. The younger folks say R&R instead of rest and relaxation, explained Vera. The other three rolled their eyes as if to say, We know that.

Since Bree was driving, she explained she wasn’t used to stopping except for gas. If anyone needs to make a pit stop or get a bite to eat you should let me know in plenty of time to find a place.

I like to eat lunch around noon, Rita answered.

Okay, why don’t I get us through the traffic in Columbia and then we’ll start looking for a place that’s not so crowded.

They were so involved in conversation Bree had not noticed the time until it was close to one o’clock. Oh my I forgot about lunch. We need to look for a restaurant.

We have passed several good places already, grumbled Rita.

Well for goodness sake why didn’t you speak up?"

I didn’t want to say anything.

"Well that’s a first," mumbled Bree.

What did you say?

Nothing.

The other two, Ollie and Vera, riding in the back were still talking. Does anyone have a suggestion as to where to eat? Bree spoke loud enough to interrupt their talking. They gave the typical answer, Anywhere if fine with me. So it appeared it was left to the driver. After