The Stone of Blood (3 page)

I don’t think that I have ever seen a witch before; at least no witch that I could have ever recognized. But I have seen a ghost! And right out there in broad daylight too! It appeared in that window loft yonder in the old barn sittin’ out in our back field by the fence. The ghost looked down at me, directly into my eyes! Me and
this girl that I knew, we both saw that ghost! She was my witness! Her name was Mary.

She
was a girl who I hung around with when I was younger. Her mama and my mama were friends from way back when they were in high school together.
Mary and them
had come over to visit. And we were out there in the back field together, walkin’ around near the woods.

“You know? You could hold my hand if you want to.” Mary said to me.

“Well I reckon I would if I had a mind to.” I answered. “I just don’t reckon I have a mind to is all.”

“Well then …what’d you bring me out here for then?” she questioned.

“I didn’t make you follow me!” I replied. “You came out here all by your own self!”

“So you don’t want me to be here?” she said while placin’ her hands on her hips.

“I never said them words
Mary
.” I said as I reached down and picked up a stick for breakin’. “Why is it that talkin’ to girls is always so complicated and stuff?”

“So now you’re calling me complicated?” she said, all actin’ like she was gettin’ mad at me.

I was startin’ to get flustered.

“See! That’s exactly what I was talkin’ about!” I stated.

“And just how many
other girls
have
you been talking too?” she questioned me further.

I just rolled my eyes around in my head, cause I just didn’t see much point in answerin’.

The old barn stood ominously before us; cold and grey. The darkened stalls and beacons of light summoned us from within its empty belly. Its door swung loosely upon its hinges and creaked loudly as it moved in the wind, like a mast swinging to and fro on a wavering ship. The old boards were weather worn; broken and rotted; as it was with the ladder nailed to its front that led up into its darkened eaves.

We stopped for a moment; becoming silent …as beams of light penetrated the barn! And as a ghostly apparition illuminated in its hold before us! With solemn stride the spirit walked through the darkness of the loft! And as it knelt by windows edge, it stared down upon us; lights emulating from within! I felt a cold chill run down my spine and the blood drain from my face as I looked upon its form! The ghostly manifestation of a Confederate Soldier! My heart pounded rapidly as my eyes met its gaze!

Voices filled my mind then; haunting words of forewarning and whispers telling me to run!

So we RAN!

We ran through the field as fast as our legs would carry us!

Runnin’ forward! Fallin’ down! Gettin’ up and runnin’ forward again!

Faster! Faster! Faster we ran! Poundin’ dirt beneath our feet! With adrenalin coursin’ through our veins! And all rational thought leavin’ our minds! It was like a horrible dream we were never to awaken from!

“Mary
Stop! Hey wait for me!” I yelled.

Mary
ran faster than me and I wasn’t too happy about that neither! But I reckoned that gettin’ away from that barn and that ghost made my losin’ a race to a girl not seem so all fired important at the moment! I was powerful glad that there weren’t no boys around to see it though! Cause I would never have been able to live it down! Me gettin’ whooped in a race by a girl! And with her wearin’ a dress and all!

Mary
ran through the field, climbed over the fence and continued to run straight into our backyard! She ran up to our moms, fallin’ down before em’ as they sat in the shade underneath the leaves of a huge maple tree!

Heartily excited, she told em’ of what had happened and of what she’d seen!

She told em’ of the apparition in the window!

We hadn’t had time to speak about it; we’d been runnin’ to save our lives!

But the stories we told were identical!

“It was a ghost of a Confederate Soldier!” Mary told em’.

“And it looked down at us from the window loft!” I said as I pointed to the old barn with one hand as I held my side filled with pain with the other. It was hard explainin’ everything while I was all out of breath and all!

“He had a long grey beard; that kind of came down to here!” Mary stated as she held her hand about a foot down below her chin.

“And he was wearin’ a
hat
with riffles crossed on it on the front!” I said makin’ a sign of an X.

“And there was no color in him at all except for a kind of bluish grey!” Mary interjected. “I could see right through him too!” she continued while lookin’ scared. “And I could see his cold gray eyes!”

“I could see the back of the barn loft through him too!” I stated as back up. “And I could see the light from the other side of the room comin’ in through those old boards up there!”

The grownups went out to the old barn, and they looked around.

By now my dad had even been told of the story and he’d come out and looked around too! He climbed right up into that old barn loft all by himself! He wasn’t afraid at all! No sir! Not my dad! And he searched the whole place as we stood outside watchin’! He searched all over, both upper and lower levels of the barn, inside and out as we continued lookin’! But he said that ‘
there wasn’t nothin’ or no one in the barn loft that he could find, and that there wasn’t no evidence or nothin’ showin’ otherwise!
’

I know the grownups believed we saw somethin’. But
what we had saw
I believe they just dismissed as
kids imaginations
.

I mean, we
were
kids after all. And sometimes, well …
kids
will just make stuff up, you know? Not all of us mind you, but there are those of us that do! And cause of it, those of us that tell the truth have to suffer for it! We get a bad name! And take the blame for it!

But if ya think of it, I mean really think about it …a kid’s word is all he has. He doesn’t own nothin’ …all he has is his word! So he ought to be believed no matter what! At least that’s what I gotta say about it! I know I believed us. It wasn’t a figment of my imagination! And it wasn’t so of Mary’s neither!

If it was, then how could we have imagined exactly the same thing? You tell me that!

But I
can
understand how hard it is for grownups to believe.

So I won’t go holdin’ it against em’.

I’ve looked for the ghost to appear many times since then, but I haven’t ever seen him again. And I’ve searched for clues around the old barn too, but I haven’t found nothin’ there neither, at least nothin’ that has led me to the answers anyways.

I even went to the library once and I checked out a book on the Civil War; a book detailin’ the battles that happened around here. And I discovered that soldiers from both the North and the South traveled up and down Hwy 31E through
Kentucky
durin’ that war. It’s the same road that runs not more than a mile east of my family’s farm! As the crow flies, our mountain would’ve been seen from that road just as it can be seen from it today! And I’ve been told that we are located on one of the highest points in all of
Nelson
County
. So they would’ve seen us!

I’ve also gone through some old documents and maps, to detect any changes that may have occurred in the placement of that road. I guess maybe to see if there could have been any changes made. Cause it could’ve been that 31E south
once connected by way of Cardinal Hill down there by that bridge near the
Beech
Fork
River
. And if it did, then our farm would have lain directly along that path.

Both armies would’ve marched right past here if that had been the case! But even if it didn’t happen that way, they could’ve taken that route anyways. If nothin’ more than just to keep off of the main road! Our mountain could’ve been used as a gatherin’ place; a place to scout for oncomin’ troops, or a place for their wounded to be doctored on …or even for use as a cemetery to bury their dead!

“Toby! Did you hear what I told you young man?” Mama shouted as I jumped at her voice! “Now you get down off of that fence and get up there on the porch like I said! It’s starting to rain!”

“Okay Mom!” I answered as I regained my composure and jumped down from the fence. And then I walked across the graveled driveway to the front porch.

I picked up a rock along the way and I skipped it across the driveway just for fun! And then I hurried up on the porch and sat down in the swing!

It was a comfortable old wooden swing that screeched and groaned when you swung in it. The view from which was an awesome sight, as we were all high up on a hill facin’ eastward towards the sun, with wide open views that went on for miles!

It was a great place for thinkin’, if there wasn’t nothin’ else for ya to do.

I waved at Cricket as she rode her horse through the fields across the way. She was a girl who lived just down the road a ways. And I watched her as she trotted her horse faster, just as the skies opened up with larger sprinklin’s of rain! And then as a small clasp of thunder broke before the heavy rains began to fall, with dark clouds blockin’ out the light.

The rain fell in long strands like curtains of beads, like you could just reach out and part it with your bare hands. I always liked the rain. It made me feel like I was alone on a tropical island somewhere, with nobody comin’ over to visit and nowhere that I needed to be.

The sound of water splashin’ upon the ground was really peaceful. It could lull you off to sleep if you weren’t careful about it!

Mama came to the screen door then and looked out and checked on me as I was swingin’ back and forth. I guessed she just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t still out there in the yard gettin’ wet!

Like I’ve said before, Mama was always lookin’ out for me and stuff.

It was really rainin’ hard now.

So I sat there in the swing for a while and I watched it fall.

***

June 1864

The night was dark and wet as the rider rode the back country.

He traveled fast! As fast as his horse could carry him!

They were chasing him! He could feel it!

A cold chill ran down the base of his neck as his horse trembled beneath him!

He crossed the creek to cover their scent, but still they followed! Closing fast!