The Secret of the Bluff

By Lynn DeClare

About the Book
Since she was nine years old, Becca McCain has had dreams of a frightened, nameless little girl standing atop a bluff. Now a published author, she is returning home after a failed marriage to rebuild her life in the home where her father was raised, a place steeped in mystery due to the disappearances of her father’s two younger sisters – eight-year-old Casey and seventeen-year-old Autumn. The two girls disappeared without a trace six years apart and are never heard from again. Soon after Becca’s arrival, the dreams become something more than her dreams of a frightened girl. As she begins renovations on the home she plans to make her own, strange things begin to happen. When she befriends an autistic woman named Josephine who knew her two aunts when she was a child, Becca receives a cryptic warning of danger – “Be careful. He’s coming. He’ll hurt you.” Becca must use whatever skills she has to find answers to these mysteries. As her friendship with Josephine grows, she believes Josephine may be the key to the answers she seeks, answers she must find before her name is added to the list of the missing.
About the Author
Lynn DeClare was born in Louisiana, where she also currently resides. She is a mostly private person whose social activities revolve around her church. She is part of several community groups in her church that pray for and take care of others in their church family.
Lynn loves her family and has devoted a good portion of the last 20 years helping with the care of her mother-in-law and then her mother until both passed away. Over the last four years, she has also babysat for her grand-daughter. Additionally, DeClare graduated with her associate degree in surgical technology in 2008, but was then pulled into other directions due to family obligations. She loves to read and has always wanted to try writing, so she started this book in 2014 after her cousin John fell into a well and her imagination began to run wild with the story told in this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Aug 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889257745

Book preview

1

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April of 1947

The two young girls held hands as they crept through the woods. Shh. Don’t make a sound, Josephine. Autumn won’t know we’ve gone, Casey McCain whispered to her friend, Josephine Jackson.

I’ll be quiet, Casey. I’ll be quiet, Josephine said.

She just got out her drawing pad, Casey said. We’ll have a long time. Besides, all the pretty flowers are where we like to go. Will you make me a daisy chain today?

Yes, daisy chain for you. Autumn, too, Josephine answered.

Yeah. That’d be good, Casey said. Then she won’t be so mad that we snuck off.

After a short walk through a wooded area, the two girls reached a quiet meadow. It was their favorite place, a place of solitude, where they liked to go without anyone else. The little enclosure in the woods was not on the property belonging to Casey’s family. It was on land owned by Josephine’s family. Since Josephine was with her, Casey felt safe here, even though it was against the rules.

It was spring. During this time of year, the meadow was full of wildflowers. As they picked their flowers, the warm sun was shining on their backs. The fragrance of Yellow Jessamine was on the soft breeze coming from within the tree line where the brush grew thicker. It had rained the night before, but Casey avoided the muddy places so her shoes would not get too dirty.

She glanced up at Josephine who had found a dry place to sit. Josephine had removed the safety pin she always had pinned to her blouse for making daisy chains and was carefully making small slits in the daisy stalks so she could then link them together. She was five years older than Casey’s eight years, but did not seem older.

When alone one day with her mother, Martha McCain, Casey had asked, Mamma, why’s Josephine different from other kids her age? Me and Autumn are her only friends.

Martha had replied, Josephine may be thirteen, but she’s not quite right in her mind. You shouldn’t judge her because of any problems she may have, though. I believe Josephine has a good heart and she’s a quiet child most of the time. You’ve done a good thing befriending her, Casey.

Casey’s mother had then become serious. I want you to listen and be mindful of what I’m telling you, Casey. You two are not to go far away from our house. You have to be where I can hear you. If you go farther than I can hear, one of your sisters will have to be with you. Stay on our land. The tracks are too close, and you girls need to realize there are some bad people riding the rails nowadays.

Did she feel a tinge of guilt as she picked her flowers? It was not the first time they had broken the rules. To her way of the thinking, they had only broken them a little bit. She and Josephine liked this secluded little place, and it was just on the other side of the woods from the McCain property. It had the prettiest flowers, and her sister, Autumn, was nearby on the other side of the woods. She was always drawing something on her pad. It made it a whole lot easier for them to slip away.

What’s the harm? Casey muttered. I don’t need her bossing me around. Josephine and me can watch after each other. What could hurt us out here? Maybe a snake, but if we see a snake, we’ll run back through the woods. There’s no one or nothing out here but us.

Just as Casey completed that thought, a scream of pain pierced the quiet afternoon. It had not come from Autumn’s direction but from the other side of the meadow through the woods where the bluff was located. Casey looked up as Josephine was dropping all of her pretty flowers to run toward the sound.

Wait for me, Josephine! Casey could only think to stay with her friend. She was smaller and it took longer, but she ran through the woods and climbed the bluff as fast as she could.

As Casey climbed, she heard Josephine squeal as a man’s voice yelled, Out of the way!

Finally, she reached the top. After a quick look around, Casey found Josephine huddled in the thorny underbrush. Scratches from the sticker vines around her left some blood red streaks on Josephine’s face and arms. Stoney, Josephine’s older brother was a short distance away tussling over a shovel with a man. Did she know him? If he would only turn around, she could see. As the two fought, they came nearer. Turning her back on Stoney and the man, Casey reached to pull Josephine to her feet. We need to get out of here, Josephine! Casey yelled.

Casey was unaware when Stoney lost his fight to claim the shovel and was slung next to where she stood. She was only aware of Josephine’s shriek of fear and screams of, No, no, no! which startled Casey into losing her grip on her friend’s hand and falling back. That look of fear on Josephine’s face was the last thing to register in Casey’s brain.

Josephine could do nothing to stop what was happening right in front of her, because it all took place at once. The shovel flew through the air as it was swung at Stoney’s head. Stoney ducked under the intended blow just as Casey fell back, causing the shovel to hit the side of her head instead. The blow knocked the child five feet from where she had been standing.

 No, no! Not hurt, not hurt! Josephine ran screaming to Casey’s side and watched as Casey’s eyes glassed over in death. Don’t go, don’t go! My friend, my friend…

Stoney stared in shock at Casey’s crumpled body. Why’d you do that? She’d never hurt anybody. Why? As Stoney turned to run to Casey, the shovel hit him in the back of the head, sending him sprawling across her motionless body.

Josephine screamed, No, Stoney, no! Don’t die, Stoney! Oh, no…

The man went and stood over Stoney and Casey. He watched Josephine as she rocked back and forth whimpering softly with a vacant look in her eyes. He reached down and placed the shovel in Josephine’s hands.

Stoney’s shovel, Stoney’s shovel… Josephine muttered as she continued to rock back and forth.

Turning, the man walked away.

2

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Elias Jackson had come back from the northern part of the property where he and his two older sons, Frank and Austin, had been cutting young trees all morning to use as fence posts. He had taken the day off from work as a conductor for Kansas City Southern Railroad to get this job done. It would have been helpful if his youngest son, Stoney, had been there to help. When Elias rode his horse up to the house, he saw what had kept his son away. The holes Stoney had dug for his mother’s flower garden were plain to see. Disgust churned in his stomach as he looked at those holes. Stoney was fifteen years old. He should be helping in man’s work, not playing in the dirt.

Riding up to the well behind the house, Elias swung down and dipped some water from the bucket. He took his hat off and drank from the dipper, then poured another over his head. Pushing his wet hair back away from his face with his fingers, he settled his hat back on his head. With an annoyed look at his wife, Lillie, who was standing on the back porch nervously drying her hands on her apron, he asked, Well, where is Stoney? He should be out there helping us.

I sent him to the bluff to get his sister and some of those wild flowers I’ve been wanting for my garden, she said nervously.

Through clenched teeth, he said, Lillie, you’re ruining the boy. He’s practically no good now. He has to learn to be a man and do a man’s share. The least he could do is bring lunch. The boys have been waiting for almost an hour.

You’re right. I should’ve sent him to you and gone myself. If you let me borrow your horse, I’ll go get them. You go on in and eat, Elias.

Yes, you should’ve. Get the food on the table for Frank and Austin. They’ll be here soon and they’re hungry. Looks like Stoney and I need to talk about some things.

Elias…

Just do it, Lillie, he said. I’ll be back with the both of ‘em. Elias mounted his horse and rode off in the direction of the bluff.

Should she follow Elias’ orders or take a chance? Lillie watched Elias ride down the bluff path. Elias and Stoney did not need to get into an argument around Josephine. She was easily upset because of her mental problems. When upset, it took time to calm her. The food was already on the table, so she would push her luck and follow Elias. He was right. He was always telling her she babied Stoney too much. Maybe she did, but he was her favorite and the only one who cared about helping her with the things she wanted. He was a big help with Josephine, too.

With a decisive nod of her head, she went inside and poured two glasses of cold milk. she started out the door just as Frank and Austin rode up to the house. Go on in boys, the food is on the table getting cold.

She did not take time to explain herself; she just hurried onto the path Elias took. As she got closer to the bluff, she could hear Elias shouting. Lord above, she was too late. She began to detect the sound of panic in Elias’s voice as she was climbing the bluff’s steep side. Reaching the top, she immediately began running toward the small group and was soon horrified at the scene before her.

Stoney was standing but unsteady. Stunned, he was unaware of anyone or anything around him. At his feet lay the body of Casey McCain, the youngest daughter of their nearest neighbor. Casey’s eyes were open in a blank stare and something was wrong with the side of her head. Stopping short, Lillie froze, momentarily not knowing what to do. Beside Casey sat Josephine with a shovel clutched firmly in her hands, also unresponsive to the demanding voice of her father.

Elias had Stoney by the shoulders, shouting, What have you done, boy? What have you done? She’s dead, Stoney. Tell me why you did this!

Lillie watched as Elias looked from Stoney to Josephine. She could practically read his thoughts from his expressions. Looking from Stoney’s dazed look to Josephine’s withdrawn behavior, Lillie knew he was wondering if Josephine possibly became so upset that she had struck out at her friend and brother.

Which one of you killed her? Elias finally blurted out loud.

Lillie gasped. This could not be. It just could not be. Walking to the spot where Casey lay, she fell to her knees. She felt terrible for this sweet child’s loss of life, but she could do nothing for her. For now, she focused on Josephine who sat staring into the distance. Josephine, honey? Josephine? What happened, sweetheart?

Stoney’s shovel. Stoney’s shovel, hit.

"Oh, Elias, no. He wouldn’t…. He couldn’t – not my Stoney."

As awareness slowly returned to Stoney, he became conscious of Casey’s body lying at his feet. With a look of horror, he grabbed the shovel from Josephine and tried to swing it at Elias. Lillie could tell by the look on Elias’ face, Stoney’s actions solidified a suspicion in Elias’ mind.

Elias snatched the shovel away from Stoney and tossed it a safe distance away. Easy, boy, easy. It’s over. Looking back at Lillie, he said, We have to do something. They’ll take him away and kill him for being a child-killer. Even if it was an accident, it won’t matter. We have to protect our boy.

Stoney finally focused on his father’s face with a look of confusion. Lillie watched that look turn into one of panic when Stoney looked down at Casey and understanding of his father’s words hit him. Stoney shook his head in disbelief, saying, I didn’t kill her. I couldn’t kill Autumn’s little sister. I didn’t… I didn’t! Josephine, did you see what happened? I, I remember climbing the bluff to look for you, but… I, I don’t know what happened. I can’t remember. I didn’t do this. I…I… He reached up, touching the back of his head, and looked at his bloody fingers. "What happened? Did I fall? Someone please tell me what happened."

That was all it took. Lillie stood, hugging her son to her. It was as if someone reached into her chest and tore her heart in two. She knew she had to do whatever it took to keep him from harm.

Looking past her son, she saw scratches on Josephine’s face, arms, and legs. The numbness in her daughter’s eyes was a second blow. Josephine was thirteen years old, but was mentally years younger. Right now, she was terrified and had shut herself off from any further trauma. Even Elias could not draw a response from her. These were her two youngest – her most vulnerable, and she had to do something to protect them. It was not that she did not care about Casey – that was not it at all. What could she do? It was too late to do anything for her. However, she could help her own, and she knew she would do whatever it took.

Elias? What do we do?

Nodding as if making a decision, Elias walked over to Casey, stooped down, picked her up, and slung her body over his shoulder. Turning to Lillie he asked, Can you get Stoney back to the house yourself? Lillie nodded as her eyes filled with tears. Pull yourself together, woman. You need to hide Stoney away until I get back to the house. Then we’ll decide what to do. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he continued, A missing child… They’ll be looking for her soon. They’ll eventually get the hounds on the hunt.

As Elias started to walk away, he turned and asked, Lillie, did you ride out here or walk?

I walked.

You walk Stoney home; I’ll get Josephine home on the horse and leave her on the porch.

As they all started home, Lillie asked, What are you gonna do, Elias?

I’ll handle it. You don’t worry. Now let’s get moving.

They all climbed down from the bluff having to help Josephine find her footing. When Lillie and Stoney turned on the trail toward home, Elias hurried toward the creek. Tripping over a root, he dropped Casey’s body in the mud as he fell. Picking her up, he crossed to the other side of the creek and found a place beyond a thick, brushy area a short distance away to hide the body until he could get back. He then went back across the creek where Josephine waited. Putting her on the horse, he got on behind her, and hurried home. When he arrived, he sat her on the steps, telling her to wait for her mother. He received no response from her as she sat there.

As he started for the barn, Frank, his oldest son, stepped out the back door. Frank was the only one in the family he trusted because he was the most like himself. Son, I need your help. We have a job to do. Get your horse. Frank stepped off the porch, ready to comply, no questions asked. That was what he liked about Frank. He never questioned; he never argued.

The two men went into the barn where Elias got one of the big pieces of canvas he used when working on the tractor or anything mechanical to keep the sand from getting into the moving parts. He also got rope, a shovel, a flashlight, and a sledgehammer. Seeing a bag of lime, he grabbed it, thinking it might come in handy. They loaded what they needed onto their horses and Elias led off toward the bluff.

When they arrived, Elias led the way through the thick brush. Stopping, Elias watched his son’s reaction to the sight of Casey McCain, their neighbor’s youngest daughter lying on the ground. He looked at the scene as Frank saw it. Her small body limp and lifeless, her eyes glassed-over, and what appeared to be a bloody area in her hair on the side of her head.

I imagine you have questions. Elias said to Frank.

Frank turned, looked at his father, waiting but saying nothing. Elias explained, There was an accident at the bluff. We don’t know what happened. Stoney and Casey both were hit with the shovel, and Josephine was left holding it. It won’t matter who did what, but they’ll hunt down whoever did it and brand them as a child-killer. I’m not gonna let anyone hurt our family or our name. Besides, it won’t bring her back. Do you understand?

After a few thoughtful seconds, Frank said, Yes. Sometimes you just do what you gotta do.

I knew I could count on you.

When Elias directed Frank to do so, they spread the canvas on the ground and placed Casey on it. It was then Elias noticed one of her shoes was missing. He frantically searched for it but could not find it. Feeling he was running out of time, he rolled Casey’s body on its side and poured lime where she would lie. Rolling her on her back, he poured the rest of the lime on top of her. They wrapped the canvas around her, bound her with rope, and loaded the bundle on the back of Elias’s horse. The men worked at their gruesome job as they would if they were stacking wood – with a complete lack of emotion.

Both men mounted their horses and headed east toward the railroad. Elias already knew of a safe location and knew how to keep it safe. As he rode, Elias thought of what all he needed to do to make this work and what reason he could give for the condition of his children when they came to ask for help in the search.

As Josephine sat alone on the front porch waiting for her mother and Stoney, she cradled one little black shoe in her lap. Her mother and father were talking after her father had picked Casey up, and it had fallen right beside where she was sitting. She picked it up and hid it in her skirt pocket. Casey would want her shoe back, so she would keep it for her. She went inside and put it under a loose floorboard in her room. That was where she kept all her special things. She would keep it until she saw her friend again.

 3

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May of 1997

Becca had almost forgotten how uncomfortable Louisiana’s humid climate could be as she sped down I-20 with all her windows open. When she was near Marshall, Texas, the air conditioner in her SUV quit on her, but she was too close to her destination to stop. She leaned her head closer to the window so the wind could blow through her damp hair.

Rebecca Sue McCain was returning home at last. She had plenty of time, while driving over the past few days, to think of the last nine years of her life and what all had brought her to this point. Since graduating from LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1988, she had worked for a small-town newspaper for about a year in Prairieville, Louisiana. In 1989 she moved to Tucson, Arizona, to help an author she met while still in college do research for articles written for a Tucson magazine. The articles had to do with entertainment, high society events, recreational hotspots, and the history of the surrounding area. It quickly became obvious that writing was her calling, and Becca’s mentor urged her to do some writing of her own.

In 1991, she married a fine-looking real estate tycoon. Married to a man she was crazy about and doing what she loved, she believed her life could not get any better. After two years of marriage, reality began to creep into her dream world when the infrequent late night at the office became more of a regular thing. At first, it was not so noticeable because she was getting into the research for her book. There were also his occasional trips alone to their second home in Phoenix to meet clients. She did not remember when she began to suspect he was cheating. Things just started fitting together like pieces of a puzzle. There were the knowing looks from their circle of friends when they thought she had not noticed, whispers between these same friends, the frequent business trips, and the calls he had to take in another room.

For almost three years, she tried to ignore the signs and rumors. Then she came crashing down to earth when she walked by a coffee shop one afternoon and saw him with a young woman, their fingers intertwined, and staring into each other’s eyes as if no one else existed. It had been the same way with them when they first fell in love. When she tried to talk to him about it later, he was contrite. He held her tenderly, apologizing for being a stupid man. Saying, She means nothing, Becca. Without you, I would be lost.

When did you meet her? was all she could ask.

He looked at her sadly, and truthfully admitted he had met her at the country club in Phoenix a couple of months ago. It had just happened. He had not meant it to, but something had just sparked and he had had too much to drink….

Two months ago? she had asked. At his nod she had taken a deep breath, stepped back, searched for all the strength she could muster, and calmly asked, Then who else have you been seeing for the past three years? Trying to keep all the turmoil inside from being heard in her voice or showing on her face, she simply said, I may be young, but I’m neither blind nor stupid.

He watched her face for several seconds and crossed his arms. His tone was one that he would use with any of his close friends to whom he was trying to make a sincere point. They don’t really mean a thing to me. It’s just a release of pent-up energy. You mean everything to me. You have to know that. This is just who I am. Can’t you accept that and know that I love you? The more he talked, the more she understood and saw him for who he truly was. It was then that she realized there would never be a change and therefore, no reason to stay.

In March of 1996, after almost five years, she had to accept the fact she and her husband had a difference of opinion where marriage was concerned. She went into marriage believing you are my one and only until death do we part, but her husband had other ideas. Oh, he could play the dutiful husband in public, but the man could not resist a short skirt with high heels on a slim figure – the younger, the better. So be it. 

After a quick divorce with a good settlement, in which she received three quarters of a million dollars along with the house in Phoenix, Becca sold the house, the contents, and all the trinkets, which no longer held any meaning for her. With the settlement and another book deal under her belt, she was giving in to the pull to go home. She had enough of being alone without family to turn to for comfort. There was nothing or no one in Arizona she would miss. For the past year she had felt like she was circling the toilet bowl on a slow flush and was about to hit the pipes. It was time to leave.

Now it was May of 1997, and Becca was going in a different direction. She was on her way back to the home where her father, Thomas McCain, was raised. A very different place from where she was coming, it was located in the northern part of DeSoto Parish in northwestern Louisiana on the edge of the wetlands. Her grandpa’s property was 180 acres of partly wooded land with big fields where at one time her grandpa’s and now uncle’s cows grazed. It had a creek system running through it and had a disturbing history.

Thomas, Christina, and Reece were the only children left to the now deceased Benjamin (Ben) Thomas and Martha Mae McCain. Two daughters, Casey and Autumn, disappeared out there years ago. Casey disappeared in 1947 at eight years of age. Autumn disappeared in 1953 at seventeen years of age, supposedly running off with someone. Her family never heard from her again. Martha never got over losing her two youngest children and passed away in 1966, at 49 years of age. Ben lost the love of his life and never remarried. He passed away in 1995, at 88 years of age. After Ben’s death, Becca’s father, Thomas, inherited the portion of the land with the house on it, according to Ben’s wishes.

Her Uncle Reece lived in the first house her grandfather had built on the back of the property. He still ran some cattle and was a carpenter with a large carpentry shop next to his house. Aunt Christina had married and moved away years ago and was only interested in keeping her portion of the land for her children. With his home, business, and family in Shreveport, Thomas had offered to let Becca move into the old home place and fix it to her liking after talking it over with Nelson, Becca’s older brother. With the approval of the rest of the family, Becca was heading to an old house she had last walked through about four and a half months ago. It had been eight years since she had last spent any measurable time there. Now she would be returning there to make a home for herself. Thinking about it in this way gave her a moment’s pause, but the idea of solitude was so inviting. The house was approaching seventy years old, but she had the time and the money to make any needed repairs.

She felt she needed this. She had to rediscover the young woman she had been when she first moved to Arizona. She had been full of life and hope and ready for whatever life handed her. Now, she just needed time… Time and maybe some answers about a little girl who had been haunting her dreams for years.

4

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Becca pulled her packed SUV into her parents’ drive; and, as always, admired the large stucco house with its beautiful front garden. Her parents, Thomas and Sandra, had lived here from Becca’s middle school years until the present. Some of the happiest times of her life happened while she lived in this house. It had been four and a half months ago at Christmas when she was home last. Turning off the ignition, she felt a thrill of excitement just knowing she was home to stay.

Grabbing her travel bag of necessities, she hurried up the cobblestone path toward a house she knew would be cool and comfortable. As she walked in the front door, she could hear sounds coming from the kitchen in the back of the house. Mom? I smell something good cookin’!

Becca! Come in here, girl! she heard her mother’s happy voice and quick footsteps coming her way. Sandra enveloped her daughter in her arms. It felt good to be home. Safe.

Good grief, Becca, why are you so sweaty?

Oh, my dang a/c gave up the ghost on the west side of Marshall. I’ll have to check with Dad about a place to take it and get it fixed. Driving around in this heat trying to look for what I’ll need for the house isn’t my idea of fun. Do you think Dad will mind if I use the truck until I can get my car fixed?

I’m sure he won’t. Just ask him when he comes home. He and your uncle Reece have been spending a lot of time at the house. They’ve been checking off the things he has on his list of repairs he wanted done. They installed the new windows and doors. Someone will come out this week to give you a quote on central air. Your grandpa replaced the roof about six years ago when he installed the siding, so that’s in good shape. All it needed was a good power washing to make the house look like new.

Sounds like everything is moving in the right direction. How’s Uncle Reece doing?

Well, you know Reece. He’s happy you’re coming. At times, he almost seems preoccupied – a little on the uneasy side. If you ask him what’s wrong, the look disappears and he gets that slow, easy smile. I can’t help but think he worries a little about you being alone out there, but that doesn’t make sense. He’s just a short distance away.

Shrugging, her mom changed the subject, saying, Why don’t you go take a shower, Becca? You’ll feel better. Then we can have iced tea by the pool. It won’t be long before we finish dinner. When Gina heard you’d be in today, she asked if she could come cook crawfish etouffee for you like when you were a little girl. I wasn’t about to argue with that.

Becca ran into the kitchen and gave Gina a quick hug and a kiss, along with the promise to sit down and talk later. A smile brightened Becca’s face as happy memories from her childhood flooded her mind when she thought of visiting with Gina. Gina had always been there to listen when she and Nelson, Becca’s older brother, felt they needed to vent. She had a way of making them see there were two sides to every issue, whether they liked it or not. Gina had always been special to their family. No, it was more than that. She was family. She did not replace Becca’s mother, but she came in a close second. Gina was the only other person besides her mother who knew about the dreams.

5

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Becca told Gina about her dreams a few months after they started. They were always of the same little girl who looked to be around eight or nine years of age, which was Becca’s age at the time. She wore the same yellow and white checked dress in every dream. In the first dream, the little girl was picking flowers in a sunny meadow, but there seemed to be someone there with her whom she would look at occasionally. There was no one seen, it was just a look suggesting comfortable companionship. Becca had this dream many times over the years. Other times the little girl was alone and sad, sometimes afraid. In these dreams, she seemed to be in a different place other than the meadow. At times, the place seemed higher than ground level, as if she was looking out over an area. It was always the same few places but never a location Becca recognized.

When she asked Gina why she was having these dreams or what they meant, Gina would say, Only time will tell, sweet pea. You don’t worry about it. Becca had always felt Gina knew more about the dreams than she was telling her, but for some reason was keeping it to herself.

Gina Leboux had been a part of Becca’s family for as long as Becca could remember. Although from the northwest part of the state, she was part Creole and had family in the New Orleans area. It gave her a rather exotic air. Gina did not talk about it much, but Becca knew she had inherited the ability to perceive things independently of sight or hearing from the Creole part of her family. Usually this happened with people to whom she had a close connection, but on occasion, she could touch something personal to someone unknown to her and sense things about that person. Since Gina was a nurse, this ability sometimes caused a problem. She sometimes knew more about her patients than she wanted. She always knew which ones she was going to lose, which made it hard.

When Becca was a little girl, she asked Gina why she did not help people who had lost someone or something. Gina told her, I would have to develop the ability; it doesn’t always just happen. Besides, sweet pea, sometimes it’s more of a burden. You can get caught up in some bad thoughts from bad people. I want to live a normal life. And that’s that. No more questions.

Gina had come to the family on New Year’s Day in 1957, after an accident during which Sandra had a bad fall when visiting Thomas’s parents. Sandra was about three weeks away from her delivery date with her and Thomas’s first child. While out walking in the woods, she had fallen, hitting her head. She was unconscious for a while until labor pains awakened her.

The closest neighbor to the McCains was Mrs. Lillie Jackson. Her sons were home for the holidays and helped to form a search party for Sandra. Reece was the one who found her trying to make her way out of the woods, but she was not in good shape. Sending for Mamma Kate, the midwife who had delivered all the young adults in the Jackson and McCain families, and who lived just five minutes down the road, was the quickest thing they knew to do. She arrived with her great-niece, Gina, giving orders and sending all the men from the house.

Thomas Junior was stillborn. The umbilical cord was wrapped three times around his neck, and Mamma Kate believed the baby had died sometime in the days before the fall. When asked, Sandra did say she noticed a lack of movement for a couple of days. The doctor commended Mamma Kate on getting her patient through the ordeal. It was because of the hand of God Sandra had not been hurt any more than she had been, Mamma Kate had said. She considered herself just a tool God had used. After baby Thomas’ delivery, Sandra was taken to the hospital where she received the care she needed.

Recovering mentally as well as physically would take time. At his parent’s request, Thomas and Sandra decided to spend some time at Ben and Martha’s home until she could regain some of her strength. Mamma Kate urged Gina to help with the approval of Martha. The girl has the touch. She can ease Sandra’s mind. What Mamma Kate did not say aloud was Gina could protect her. In Mamma Kate’s mind, the land had a curse on it. Why else did bad things keep happening there?

An immediate bond formed between Gina and Sandra. Gina seemed to know exactly what Sandra needed before she asked. When Sandra moved home, Gina agreed to check on the progress of her patient several days a week. With love and patience from Thomas and the same from Gina, they got Sandra through it. Then three and a half years later Sandra gave birth to Nelson Todd, and five and a half years after Nelson came Rebecca Sue.

6

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Becca turned on the water in the shower. She thought about the dreams. They started sometime before middle school. Becca tried to recall exactly when. She was eight, maybe nine years old. They were seldom scary dreams, mostly sad but always with the same little girl in the same little dress. Sometimes she was crying, sometimes she was picking flowers. It never made sense in Becca’s world, and it never varied much. Over the years, it had become a familiar thing, until recently. Over the past year, the dreams had become more frequent and left her with an uneasy feeling. Had the changes in her life or the unanswered longing for children of her own caused the increase in frequency? She had no idea but after so many years, she wanted to know why these dreams plagued her.

As she stepped in the shower, she closed her eyes and let the cool water run over her. She tried to recall the dream, but all she could get was an empty field under a blue sky. Becca, you are losing it, she said as she reached for the soap with her eyes still closed.

Misjudging the height of the metal soap holder, she smashed her hand into the side of it, pulling part of her nail away from the skin. Crap! she yelped, as her eyes flew open. She saw the blood running down the side of her hand. Not a lot, but mixed with water it seemed like more. She stood staring as blood ran down her hand and dropped on the shower floor. She felt petrified. She could do nothing but watch the blood as a feeling of pure terror engulfed her.

Her vision began to cloud, and just like in her dream, she saw one of the places of which she had dreamed. It was not the meadow. At first, she did not recognize it. Then she began to see things she had seen throughout the years and realized this time it was from a different angle and looked to be a possible bluff of some sort. It was like looking at a picture with foggy edges.

For the first time ever, she saw what looked like a young teenage girl huddled in the underbrush with a look of terror on her face. Becca thought she could hear what sounded like a struggle in the background. Then the little girl from her dreams ran into her line of vision, reaching for the older girl and yelling, We need to get out of here! In the foggy edges of Becca’s vision, someone – possibly a teen-aged boy – stumbled back toward the little girl. Becca heard the older girl yell a warning as she looked in the direction of the boy. In an instant, a long object swung into Becca’s line of vision. The boy ducked as the object flew over him and struck the young girl in the head with a thud that had a metallic ring to it. Whatever the object was, it knocked the young girl out of her line of sight. The older girl got up and started to run in what seemed like slow motion.

As her vision clouded over, Becca could hear the older girl screaming, No, no, no, from what seemed like far away.

Becca felt her knees begin to give way as her vision began to clear. She leaned back, slid down the shower wall, and sat on the floor trembling. She let the water continue to run over her. She could not believe what had just happened. "Where the heck did that come from? What’s wrong with me?"

In all the years she had been dreaming of the little girl, she had never heard any spoken words. Other than the awareness of a friendly presence that the girl also knew of, there had never been anyone else in the dreams.