The Bones of Beacon Hill

By Steve Repko

Steve Repko was born in 1932 amid the Great Depression of that period and was raised buy Hungariant immigran parents t, John and Tressa. His faather was a ccoal miner who passed away suddenly 1n1935 durning a mining accident leaving a wife and nine chirdren to suffen in utter poverty for many years. Steve would eventually serve four years in the United States Air Force as a Control Tower Operaton in a bomber base that was active during the Koread War and upon his discharge from the air force, he spent 35 years as a civilian Enroute AirTraffic Controller for The FAA. He has written three novels refering to his rich memorie of his childhood days that he is proud of. His desire is to preserve those memories to the decendents of all people who lived during that period as part of the Great Generation. Steve is married to RoseMarie and has recently celebrated their 67 year together. They have four children, eleven grandchildren and twenve great grandchildren. He and RoseMary currently live in Wading River New Jerse,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669847144

Steve Repko

Born on November 25, 1932, the author is the eighth of nine children born to John and Theresa Repko, Hungarian immigrants that settled in a company-provided house in a coal mining community located in Allegheny Mountains of Southwesten Pennsylvania. The author’s father was killed in a coal mine accident in 1935, leaving the author’s mother a single parent of nine children and of little income. Since social security had not been enacted the author’s family were subsided on a $5 per child per month allowance from the mine. This allowance was only up to the sixteenth birthday. The author’s family lived in poverty during the hard times brought on by the Great Depression of 1930. The author was the first child in the family to graduate high school and soon afterwards served in the USAF during the Korean War as an air traffic controller. The author married in 1956 and had four children and moved to Brooklyn, New York, continuing his career as an air traffic controller for the FAA until he retired in 1986. He is currently residing in Wading River, New Jersey, with his wife of fifty-eight years.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 by Steve Repko.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 10/10/2022

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

846558

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: THE TRUTH HURTS

In 1948, eighteen-year-old Glenden Heller discovers that Bob and Myra Heller, who raised him since birth, are not his real parents. His birth mother, Betsy, left him with friends shortly after he was born, vowing to return for him, but she never did. It is the beginning of Glenden’s seven-year search for her.

CHAPTER TWO: GLENDEN PONDERS HIS FATE

Glenden visits Emma’s Café to speak to Emma and Stash. From there, he climbs to the top of Beacon Hill and rests beneath the ugly tree to try and come to a logical understanding of what had just happened in his life. He realizes that he has far less answers than questions, and if he is to ever learn the truth about his birth, he will have to find it himself.

CHAPTER THREE: THE HISTORY OF BEACON HILL

The story recedes to the 1920 decade to establish the history of Beacon Hill and introduces the inhabitants who live on the farms on the mountaintop. Luther Borman Jr., the son of Luther and Mary Borman, suffers through the dysfunctional marriage of his parents until Mary abandons him and his father. Luther divorces Mary and marries Linda.

CHAPTER FOUR: THE GOOD TIMES ARE OVER

The Great Depression unfolds. The miners in the Coon Valley face financial ruin. Wanda Heller and Margy Borman are born in 1929, and Glenden is born on Groundhog Day. Betsy leaves him at the café and never returns. Junior learns that Linda is not his real mother, and his search for his birth mother begins.

CHAPTER FIVE: THE DARKEST YEARS

Sisters Valarie and Karen Sproul both receive a substantial legacy when their father passed away in 1933. The Murphys lost their farm, and the Sproul sisters purchase it. The world is threatened by the armies of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Franklin Roosevelt is elected president, and the Depression recovery begins. A flood control dam is constructed in a valley on the north side of Beacon Hill. Wanda, Margy, Patty Yoder, and Junior enter grade school in Shamrock.

CHAPTER SIX: JOHN YODER’S BONE

The Depression continues. Poverty and despair spreads rampantly in the Coon Valley John Yoder finds a thigh bone, and the assumption among the locals is that it is from a young girl murdered and discarded on the slope of Beacon Hill. The discovery results in near panic among the highly superstitious immigrants of Shamrock. Evil rumors and prophecies amplify the residents. The state police assign Sgt. Chuck Burns to resolve the incident.

CHAPTER SEVEN: WAR CLOUDS DARKEN THE HORIZON

Germany, Japan, and Italy form a military pact. Our nation prepares for war. Fighting breaks out in Europe and Africa. The United States aids Russia and Great Britain with war supplies. The search for an ID for Yoder’s bone continues. Elbe Boone is convicted of assault and robbery of an elderly lady.

CHAPTER EIGHT: WAR IS HELL

Elbe Boone is drafted, goes AWOL, and is assumed dead. Valarie Sproul leaves Beacon Hill and is still missing. The casualties of the war continue to mount. The world is tired of the war. The end is near. Junior and Thresa search for Mary.

CHAPTER NINE: INDEPENDENCE DAY 1945

The annual Fourth of July holiday is celebrated at the Newtonville Fire Company’s park. Patty Yoder drinks too much at the park and struggles to make it home the next morning. She has a violent confrontation with her father and leaves home. Junior leaves the army. He and Thresa are married. The search for Mary continues. Linda and Luther’s marriage remains in the throes of a vicious divorce. The search for Valarie continues.

CHAPTER TEN: MORE BONES

A second set of bones is discovered. Patty Yoder is still missing and determined to be the donor. Sergeant Burns is tasked to investigate her case. Johnny secretly leaves Beacon Hill. Another puzzling crisis on Beacon Hill evolves. Valarie Sproul is still missing.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: RETURN TO 1948

This chapter is a continuation of events covered in chapter 2. Stash dies. Glenden and Margy delay their marriage until June of 1949. The Korean War begins one year later. Junior is reactivated by the army and is sent to Korea. Glenden fears that he might be drafted by the army and enlisted in the air force in 1951.

CHAPTER TWELVE: WHERE HAVE ALL THE YOUNG MEN GONE?

The war in Korea continues to escalate. Junior is involved. Glenden is stationed at Yokota AFB in Japan. He learns that he will not be returning to the United States for two years. Glenden and Junior meet in Tachikawa, Japan. They exchange personal feelings of home, the bones, and Patty Yoder and share their cryptic thoughts about the disappearances of their mothers.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: PATTY YODER AND ELBE BOONE ARE ALIVE

The Korean War is over. Junior comes home. Patty Yoder visits Beacon Hill. She shocks everyone and reveals the truth about her disappearance. Valarie Sproul is still missing. She becomes the new candidate for ownership of the second set of bones. Elbe and the Morgan boys rob a bank in Akron. Elbe is arrested for car theft. Michael Morgan is arrested for bank robbery. Jimmy Morgan disappears.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: GREEN GRASS OF HOME

Glenden arrives back home. He and Margy travel to Wheeling to search for Betsy’s past. They learn that she was seriously ill when she left. The FBI visits Beacon Hill, hoping to locate the stolen bank money. The site where the two strangers alleged to have buried something has been dug up and the contents removed. Glenden completes his enlistment and decides on the air force. Valarie is declared dead. Karen sells the farm and leaves the area.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: MARY AND THE THIGH BONE

Mary’s family hire a private detective to investigate her disappearance. Luther’s divorce papers are voided by the Clay County Court. Luther and his lawyer are accused of fraud. Mary’s whereabouts are still unknown. Pressure mounts on Luther’s involvement in Mary’s disappearance. Michael is arrested and convicted in the bank robbery.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: MARY BORMAN IS DEAD

Luther comes clean that Mary died in her sleep and that he dumped her over the ledge from Ridge Road. He had created a story to convince Linda that he was divorced. With strong objections from the Henderson family, Mary is determined to be the owner of Yoder’s bone, and Valarie Sproul has contributed the second set. Valarie’s remains are buried by Karen Sproul. Yoder’s bone is not accepted by her family.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE END OF THE SEARCH FOR BETSY

Betsy’s cousin Amy is contacted. Betsy died just a few weeks after she left Beacon Hill. Amy and Glenden meet and exchange memories of her life. Glenden finally knows the entire story of his birth mother. His father remains unknown. Glenden has closure. The mysteries of Mary Borman and Betsy Shuster’s disappearances are resolved, but the true origin of the bones of Beacon Hill lives on.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: MAYBE THE CAPTAIN KNOWS

The end. Glenden reviews the past and the current lives on of the farmers on Beacon Hill. The identity of the bones still remains questionable. Where is captain Bekon. Maybe he knows the answer.

INTRODUCTION

Beacon Hill is a fictional mountain in the coal mining region of western Pennsylvania. Typical in size and shape of many other mountains in the Allegheny range with steep, forested slopes, it is capped with a rounded top, suitable for farming. Three hundred acres of the mountaintop were awarded to Capt. Joshua Bekon in return for his services during the American Revolution. Initially inhabited by Indians and pioneers, Bekon cleared and farmed the land, eventually passing it down through the years until the 1920 era, when this story begins.

This story follows the lives of Luther Borman Jr. and Glenden Heller, born and raised on Beacon Hill, and their long and frustrating efforts to locate their birth mothers who left them shortly after they were born and were never heard from again.

The problems that the two boys encountered during their arduous personal searches occurred throughout the era better known for the Great Depression of the thirties, World War II, and the Korean War. Luther Borman Jr., better known as Junior, was five years old when his journey began after he learned that the lady that he called Mom was his stepmother and that his birth mother left home when he was just two years old and was never seen again. Luther Borman Sr. quickly divorced Mary and married Linda, a party girl working at Emma’s Café, located just across Rt 687 a short distance from the Borman farm. Linda would give birth to a daughter, Margy, Junior’s stepsister, in 1929.

Glenden’s mother, Betsy, was a young, unmarried girl who was discovered at the bus station by the police in December of 1929 during a severe winter storm. She was penniless, sickly, and obviously very pregnant. Taken to be cared for at Emma’s Café, she gave birth to Glenden on February 2, 1930, and mysteriously left the café a few weeks later, leaving just a brief note to explain her action. Betsy vowed to return for her son after she accomplished an important task. The Hellers, Bob and Myra, having just one child, Wanda, and unable to fulfill their dream of a large family, graciously accepted Glenden and raised him as their own, waiting for his mother to return. It wasn’t until after his eighteenth birthday, shortly before he and Margy Borman were to be married, that he learned that Myra was not his real mother.

The tiring efforts expended by the two boys were compounded by the Depression and the turmoil caused by the war years. However, the discovery of one human thigh bone on the south slope of Beacon Hill in 1937 and a more complete skeleton found in the same area ten years later grossly compounded their efforts. The investigation by the local law officials and the Pennsylvania State Police would go on for twenty years. It would end with an official report determining the owners of the bones and the cause of death. The controversial report was not logically accepted by many, and varied speculation continued.

Entwined in the mystic were related stories and historical events that would interrupt and complicate their search. Both boys would serve in the Far East during the Korean War. The other characters depicted in this story are also fictional, but much of the historical world events that were included in the book really occurred and included as I remembered it growing up in the area. The lore of Beacon Hill and the colorful slants of this interesting story were gathered throughout my own youth while listening to the obviously twisted tales that the old-timers of that time passed down.

The story does not rely on sex or violence to hold the readers’ interest, nor is it biased or racially objective. In writing this story, my goal, as in all my writings, is to provide a bit of history in an entertaining way to highlight a time when many of our ethnic relatives were just getting started in building America. As in my previous novel, Old George’s Gold, the setting of this novel is in the coalfields where many immigrants were initiated to the value of liberty. Those times and the events that made them dear to many of the elderly should never be truly forgotten.

CHAPTER ONE

The Truth Hurts

Glenden Heller’s life could not have been any better than it was on that spring day in 1948. Born in 1930, he celebrated his eighteenth birthday on February 2, 1948; and three months later, he graduated from Newtonville High School, which was located in the Coon Valley of the Allegheny Mountains in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Newtonville, the hub of the J. C. Newton Coal Mining Company that operated eight soft coal mines, tunneled into the hills surrounding the town. JC’s company owned all the mineral rights, most of the land, and almost everything else of value in the Coon Valley. The hamlets of Shamrock, one mile east of Newtonville and Saint Urban, located north of town, contained a multitude of company-owned houses that were rented exclusively to the miners. The Coon Valley was nestled between Beacon Hill and Coon Mountain, two parallel and similar mountains, and was drained by Coon Crick, a normally quiet stream that sported waters from the many pristine brooks that tumbled from the surrounding heights.

Margy Borman, Glenden’s neighbor and close friend since grade school, was now the love of his life and his date for the senior prom. The Bormans’ place was the first farm located on Ridge Road, a dirt road that tracked due east from the state highway Route 687 and extended for two miles along the southern ridge of Beacon Hill. Ridge Road ended at a farm owned by John Yoder, a crusty malcontent, and his wife, Sarah. A sixty-five-acre farm adjacent to the Bormans’ property belonged to Myra and Bob Heller, Glenden’s parents.

Returning from the prom festivities near midnight, Margy quietly nestled next to Glenden as they drove home. It had been a lovely evening, and she felt like she owned the world. When Glenden parked the car at the Bormans’ home and when Margy didn’t stir, Glenden wrapped his arm around her, pulled her close, and gently kissed her on the forehead. In the silence of the night, engrossed in that magical aura common to most young lovers, they shared the comfort of each other’s presence. Outside the car, a perfect sky filled with sparkling stars and a bright moon that illuminated the vast, freshly plowed fields of the Heller farm spread out before them. Dew-covered clumps of clover growing along Ridge Road reflected the moonlight and gently swayed in the soft spring breeze. It was a beautiful way to top off 159.

Glenden glanced down at Margy and fondly recalled the very first time they met, and from that point on, they were inseparable. They held hands as they walked to and from grade school. Margy was special to him back then. She made him laugh and feel good. As the years progressed, they realized that they were destined to spend the rest of their life together.

The moonlight that filtered through the windshield lit up her flawless face and revealed a contented smile. Glenden wondered what she was thinking. Cuddled against him, she had the appearance of an angel, and a whim of compassion swept over him. As he admired her beauty, he gently combed his fingers through her long blond hair and whispered softly that he loved her. Her reply was a grumbled murmur as she burrowed even closer to him. Hours later, as the first light of dawn lit up the horizon, they reluctantly decided to end the night. A quick peck on his cheek, and Margy bounded from the car carrying her shoes as she tiptoed gingerly across the cool, damp lawn and entered the farmhouse.

Driving from the Bormans’ home, Glenden took notice as the headlights flashed on the red ribbon tied to a tree limb. The ribbon marked the location on Ridge Road directly above the place where John Yoder found a human thigh bone back in 1937. A hundred yards farther on, another red ribbon tied to a tree limb suggested where the remains of Patti Yoder, John Yoder’s daughter, were discovered in 1947. Both sets of bones were found on the steep south slope of Beacon Hill a few hundred yards below a sheer rock cliff just off to the side of Ridge Road. Glenden still got the shivers every time he passed the ribbons. Patty’s marker was more disturbing to him since he and two of his friends found her remains while hunting. What pained him even more was the fact that Patty was a neighbor and a lifelong friend.

Sgt. Chuck Burns, a Pennsylvania state policeman, was assigned to investigate the case of what soon became known as John Yoder’s bone. The investigation continued for the next ten years, and the victim still hadn’t even been identified. When Patty Yoder’s skeletal remains were found, Sergeant Burns and Butch Grayson, chief of Newtonville Police Department, shared the responsibility for resolving both cases.

Graduating high school for Glenden was important, but what he and his classmates had to face was a bleak and pessimistic future. World War II was over, and for most of the nation, so was the Depression, but not everything was rosy in the Coon Valley. With the decline of the coal industry, decent jobs were hard to come by. The war ended in 1945, and so did the robust wartime industrial boom, and what employment opportunities remained in the Coon Valley were rapidly absorbed by the returning soldiers. Most of Glenden’s graduating class came from coal mining families. They couldn’t afford the costs of college, and their postgraduate options were sparse. Some of the guys planned to leave the Coon Valley and relocate to a part of the country where jobs were more abundant, but leaving their hometown where they spent their growing-up years and where their roots were deeply entrenched was a painful option. What were still available for them were the military services.

That generation of graduates was too young to have participated in World War II, but they harbored a fierce measure of pride for our military. They followed every campaign of the war from the beginning to the victorious conclusion. When the fighting stopped, they felt a touch of jealousy and a tinge of disappointment that they were too young to have to share in that glory. Even though the fierce, patriotic spirit that prevailed throughout the war years had waned within their elders, the young men still valued the option to enlist.

The returning servicemen who did participate in the war and had managed to avoid the ultimate sacrifice and the war-weary citizens were all longing for the American dream that dwelled just beyond the horizon. They yearned for some time of peace to lick their wounds and move on with their lives. After spending so long on their knees praying for the brutal war to end, they wanted a rest from the horrors that had taken so much from their lives.

Junior Borman, Margy’s half brother, was the only person from Beacon Hill to be drafted during WWII. He had his basic training at Fort Dix in New Jersey in January 1945; by then, the fighting in Europe and the Pacific was winding down, and his unit never left the country. Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, and the Japanese did the same three months later. Junior liked army life, and he urged Glenden to enlist. His remarks reinforced Glenden’s own thoughts and his lifelong desire to become a fighter pilot in the air force. He and Margy talked it out and agreed that, one year after they got married, he would enlist. Myra was the only one to disagree with that decision. Her argument contained a lengthy list of the frightening things that could happen to him, but eventually, she was convinced that since our nation wasn’t currently involved in any fighting, he just might not get shot and killed or lose an arm or a leg.

Bob Heller sprained his back bailing hay, and throughout the summer and well into autumn, he was practically useless on the farm. Glenden had to take on most of the hard work. As a result, Glenden and Margy rescheduled their wedding date from June to the second Saturday in December 1948. That also delayed his plans to enlist in the air force. He and Margy visited the recruiting office in Adamsville and spent an entire afternoon with the airman in charge. They were pleased to learn that flight training was available for every recruit who could pass a physical and written test. He was also assured that since he had a high school diploma and was in good health, he wouldn’t have any difficulty being accepted into the program. Their plans were falling in line, and they couldn’t have been happier, but when a problem surfaced one evening in the middle of October, everything was placed on hold.

While Glenden and Wanda were chatting about his approaching wedding date, the personal documents he and Margy would have to show the county clerk to get a marriage license came up. They had already made plans to visit Birch Grove, the county seat, for their marriage license and to submit to the required blood test. Neither Glenden nor Wanda had any idea what identification he would need, so they called Margy. She suggested that he bring his birth certificate, driver’s license, and social security card.

That made sense. Not anticipating any problems, Glenden got the shoebox from a shelf in the living room closet where Myra kept the important papers, and he and Wanda began fiddling through the contents. They couldn’t find his birth certificate or his social security card in the box. They found only his high school diploma, and the medical certification that he had been vaccinated. Frustrated, Wanda dumped the contents of the box on the floor and carefully worked through the pile of papers again, but the results were the same. Glenden had his driver’s license that contained his birthday, but he had never been approached to produce a birth certificate for anything. They were a bit disappointed but confident that their mother would know where everything was, and not being overconcerned, Glenden returned the box to the closet.

When Wanda went to bed, Glenden joined his mother in the kitchen, where she was washing dishes. He sat at the kitchen table, casually munching on a chunk of bread. He asked Myra about his papers, but she didn’t respond. Assuming that she hadn’t heard him, he repeated his question. He wasn’t prepared for the reaction that he got. Myra abruptly spun around from the sink and glared at him. She looked like she had seen a ghost. Her face, drained of any color, displayed the anguish that had suddenly overtaken her. Glenden never saw his mother act in that manner for anything, and thinking that she still hadn’t understood his question, he repeated his request for the third time. Myra turned to face him and laid her hand on his shoulder. She forced a smile, but it wasn’t convincing, and her raspy was barely audible as she assured him that she would find his papers in the morning. Myra started to say something else, but she stumbled on her words, and after an awkward bit of silence, she nervously wiped her hands in her apron. She tried to force another smile, but it wasn’t any more convincing, and it didn’t work either. Glenden became increasingly disturbed by her behavior when she swiftly turned away from him and, without a word, hurried across the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom.

The aroma of breakfast being prepared enticed him to abandon the comfort of his bed, get dressed, and join the others. Bob was already out in the barn, tending to the animals, and Wanda was fussing over what she wanted to wear to work. Outside, the weather was miserable. A mixture of a drizzle and kernels of sleet lashed across the fields. A brisk wind rattled the windows in the house and whistled through the lilac bushes near the back porch. The old windmill located just off the front porch screamed as the rusty pedals, spurred by the wind, spun out of control. Glenden devoured a piece of bread soaked in bacon grease and left the house to join his father in the barn. As he left, he noticed that his mother was a bit short with him when he tried to joke with her. When he got to the barn, it was also apparent that his father wasn’t his usual jovial self. Their subdued behavior called to mind the previous night, and his feelings then were amplified. He was certain that all wasn’t right between him and his parents.

Wanda left for work, Bob finished milking the cow, and Glenden made short work of the remaining chores. Eager to get back into the warm house, he and his father raced each other across the slushy barnyard and into the kitchen. Breakfast was ready, and Myra joined them at the table. The strange mood that his parents displayed remained prevalent. Despite his attempt to start a conversation with his parents, breakfast was consumed in silence. Attempting to read their thoughts, he observed that both were avoiding eye contact with him and with each other. The uncomfortable aura thoroughly altered what was normally a pleasant atmosphere at the breakfast table.

In a guarded and deliberate manner with the appearance of having something to be ashamed about, Bob finally broke the silence. He cleared his throat, and in a subdued and remorseful monotone, he managed to blurt out what he and Myra were struggling with. Bob said that they didn’t have his birth certificate. They never had it because there wasn’t one. Myra chimed in, and while the two were talking over each other, Glenden was having a problem deciphering what they were trying to tell him. Eventually, the pieces that he was able to grasp began to sink in, and the picture that began to appear was not good.

The people whom he lived with for eighteen years as their son were trying to tell him that they were not his parents. While they rapidly stumbled through their explanation, Glenden stopped paying attention. He waved at them, trying to slow them down. He rocked his head from side to side as some disturbing questions began to surface in his mind. Myra was insisting that he had a birth mother who left him at Emma’s Café shortly after he was born, promising to return for him. She said that when his real mother didn’t come back, Emma discovered she was unable to care for a baby. Emma asked them to make a home for him until his mother returned, and they graciously agreed. Myra added that his mother never came back and was never heard from again. They tried to find her, but so little was known about her personal life that their attempts were unsuccessful. Where she came from and where she went had since remained a mystery.

Glenden wasn’t absorbing much of anything else his parents were saying. Bob said that they wanted to adopt him, but because they didn’t know his mother’s full name and any other information about his mother, father, or any other relative, nothing could be done to register his birth with the county. Nobody seriously gave it a thought for eighteen years. Glenden was stupefied. He continued to shake his head in disbelief while alternating his questioning stare from one of his parents to the other. He was hoping that one of them would confess that they were just kidding. He had a smile on his face that transformed into a warped grimace when it became evident that what they were saying was true. He suddenly felt so empty like someone just ripped his heart from within his chest, and his lifeblood was rapidly draining from his body.

When Bob saw how badly his son was being affected by what they were telling him, he couldn’t do it. He got up and left the house. Bob realized that he and Myra were responsible for the pain displayed on his son’s face and that the way he looked at them was from a hurt that they caused. He retreated to the barn, leaving Myra alone with Glenden. She was better at handling the touchy problems than he was. Myra quickly realized how senseless it would be to go on. Glenden wasn’t listening. It was like talking to a tree.

Glenden sensed the anguish and desperation his mother was suffering, and when he saw the tears leaking from her eyes, he knew that he had to leave as well. She was crying, and he wanted to cry but not in front of her. It was his turn to feel guilty. It dawned on him that the two people who lovingly raised him as their own and whom he adored above all were also hurting inside. He never wanted to see his mother cry.

Myra tried to comfort him. She kept repeating that everything was going to be fine and that nothing was going to change. Glenden was already heading to the door. He had to get away. He took his coat and ran out of the house. Myra followed him, frantically pleading for him to stay, but the sound of her voice was no match to the roar of the storm that raged outside. Glenden blindly left the shelter of the back porch and was soon plowing his way through the mud and tall weeds across Myra’s vegetable garden plot and up the slope of Beacon Hill.

With his addled mind running wild, consuming any sense of logic, Glenden could think of just one thing. He had to run away somewhere, anywhere—a place where he could escape the unbearable weight he felt he was carrying. He needed to be alone to think. Sloshing through the light coating of sleet that had accumulated on the turf beneath him, he gradually progressed to the family cemetery, where he stopped to catch his breath.

The mixture of rain and sleet that began earlier in the day had changed to all sleet, and the fierce wind unmercifully stung his face and hands as it propelled the tiny kernels of ice through the air. Holding on to the cemetery fence to stay erect against the onslaught, he turned