Echoes in the Bayou (10 page)

"
No. I’ll be fine I promise, this woman…" Ava
looked at the old woman but before she could ask her name, Sinta volunteered it.

"
Sinta, my name is Sinta," she replied with
cordiality in her voice.

"Sinta
is it?" Magnus asked. He was still confused and worried about Ava.

"
Yes, sir," Sinta answered.

"
Sinta, would you mind explaining to us just how it is
exactly that you came to find your way inside our house?" He folded his
arms and looked at the woman suspiciously.

"Yes
sir she said and went on to tell them the exact reason of why she was there and
what she needed from them. By the time Sinta had finished her astonishing
story, both Ava and Magnus sat at full attention. Ava was the first to believe
in it all but Magnus however, was a bit skeptical. He raised an eyebrow at the
woman and ran his fingers through his hair.

"
So let me get this straight, you're saying that Ava is
Celeste reincarnated and I'm a direct descendant of the man who raped and
murdered her?"

He was up
out of his seat now and pacing the room. Excuse me for saying this Miss Sinta,
but that story sounds much too incredulous," he said with a nervous
chuckle.

"
No Mister DuPonte, it don’t. It da truth and I can
prove it," Sinta said. She too was standing now and finished speaking.
"Mister DuPonte, Miss Ava, you’ll want to follow me," she told them
more so than asked.

"
Ava, I don’t think we should be following this woman
anywhere," Magnus protested.

She needed
to only give him a look before she slowly got up from the settee and followed
Sinta towards the door
.

"You
coming?" Ava turned and asked him
.

 
The sun was about to set on the day and as Sinta led
them deeper and deeper into the bayou; Magnus cursed himself for not bringing
his baseball bat along. He kept his arm firmly around Ava and though he thought
she’d object or cringe at his touch she did not, in fact she was holding onto
him as well. Since the day that she had arrived, the bayou had allowed itself
to be awakened and the once thin marshland was now swollen with wildlife, trees
and bogs. Just as Magnus was about to insist that they turn back Sinta stopped.
In front of them stood the largest oak tree either had ever seen and right in
the middle of the great tree were the initials,
C.M.

Ava
let out a gasp and took hold of Magnus’s hand.  "Jesus," was all
that he could say. The tree let out an earthly groan when Ava touched it.

"
Sees? I’s told you I’s was telling da truth, now do
you's believe me?" She asked them both.

The area
around them grew quiet as Sinta continued her story. She told the two tha
t unless they were able to resurrect Celeste, Magnus
would never be allowed to love and be loved for whom he is and that John
DuPonte would never let Ava leave the plantation alive. "He part of the
curse Miss Ava, that why his spirit still here. He got a tight hold on you and
that house," she said.

"
Your soul would have belonged to him had I not come
along Miss Ava, you got’s to believe me," she cried.  "John
DuPonte working some strong hoodoo on you. I’s been trying to work agin’ it but
his evil just too strong, I’s needs yours and Mister Magnus’s help."

Magnus
threw his hands up in the air.
"Okay Sinta,
let’s say that all of this is true, and I'm not saying that it is but for
arguments sake let’s say that it is. How the hell can we help? I mean, if this
John is as evil as you say; then how can we stop him?"

 
Sinta went on to explain that once the body of Celeste
was resurrected and reunited with Will’s then the awful curse would be broken
and John DuPonte would be returned to the underworld where he belonged.

"
So now we have to find Will’s body too?" Magnus
asked. He was getting more and more frustrated.  Ava could sense his
frustration.  "Magnus, this is a huge plantation, I'm sure there is a
family cemetery on the premises. All we have to do is find it."

"
Easier said than done," he retorted and threw his
arms open wide as he looked around the vast property, it went on for miles.

"Don’t
worry," Ava said to them both. "We’ll find it."

"
I’s knows you will," Sinta replied. I’s knew from
the moment that I’s seen you that you was gon’ to help me. You have kindness in
your heart, just like Celeste," Sinta said and took hold of Ava’s hand. She
then abruptly turned and stared hard at Magnus before releasing a smile.

"
Now Mister Magnus, you ain’t got that tainted blood
like your ancestor, thank god for ‘dat. But what you do got is a strong
yearning, you needs love and you only want that love from Miss Ava. Ya’ll two
meetin up like ‘dis ain’t no coincidince, no sir.

The
spirit’s done bought ya’ll together because it was meant to be. That why Master
Will been takin’ o’er your body almost every night and sometimes your ancestor
John DuPonte take it over too. But you got’s to be strong Mister Magnus, you
got to fight your ancestor, tell him ‘dat you ain’t like him. That you
ain’t never gon’ hurt Miss Ava."

Both
Magnus and Ava stared intently at the old woman. Magnus wondered how she knew
that his feelings for Ava, albeit premature, were strong none the less.
And how did she know that his body was being over taken by Will and more
recently, John DuPonte?
This woman is the real deal,
he thought to himself and shook his head in
bewilderment.

"
Ain’t no sense in trying to figure out how I’s knows
Mister Magnus, you two just work on getting that bad juju out your house so
that Miss Celeste and Will can be reunited and be free. Now ‘da both of you
turn round and don’t look back."  Not needing to be told twice,
Magnus and Ava turned to leave, Ava turned to ask the old woman one more
question, but she was gone.

 On
the walk back to the house, Ava was lost in her thoughts. Was the reason why
she’d felt like the place was beckoning her because she really was Celeste? It
was true; she did have profound intuition, Sinta told her that Celeste had the
same gift. Although given what had happened recently between she and Gavin, she
felt like maybe she was losing her touch. But the rest, the rest was almost too
crazy to believe. But like it or not, she did feel a strong connection towards
Magnus the moment that she met him and she was sure that he felt the same
way. 
What
if Will really was inhabiting his body in order to get to me
?
She wondered as they strolled into the house
together.

"What
are you thinking about Magnus?" Ava asked him.  He’d been quiet ever
since they returned to the house and now he was pacing again.

Magnus
looked at her with
fear in his eyes. "Ava,
what if everything that she said is true? What if I am the direct descendant of
the man who raped and murdered Celeste?" He kneeled down in front of her
as she sat down. "Ava, if I am what that woman says I am, please know that
I would never hurt you, I would never force myself upon you," he promised.

Ava touched his face. "Magnus I
know that you would never hurt me." She had tears in her eyes now. The
day’s turmoil had gotten the better of her, she had a terrible headache and as
she looked into his eyes she could see the authenticity in them. "I think
I need to lie down," she said placing a hand on the bump on her head.
Magnus knew better than to let her do that, he knew that anyone with a head
injury should be kept awake, at least for several hours after. He held her face
in his hands, hands that were strong but soft and gentle.

 
"Ava
I can’t let you go to sleep, you’ve got to stay awake; hey how about we read
this diary?"

S
uddenly her headache lightened and she smiled at him.
"That sounds like a perfect idea."

Ava
picked up the diary and very delicately placed it in her lap. After making them
both a hot cup of tea, Magnus sat down next to her. She hadn’t noticed before
but t
he pages that remained were in
extraordinarily good shape. She wondered if it was because she was the one who
was meant to find it and year after year, decade after decade, it weathered the
storms so to speak just so that when she did find it, she would be able to read
and understand it. Hypothetically speaking it was after all her diary, but that
didn’t stop the feeling of apprehension upon reading all of it.

"It’s
okay," Magnus said and gently rubbed her arm. "We’ll read through it
together."

After
gently turning over the pages that were too ripped and sh
redded to be legible, Ava found the passage that she
had read when she first came upon the diary.

It my birthday today I am sixteen but mistress wont
let me forget that I still got work to do as if I would ever forget I know what
I got to do she aint got to tell me I bin workin on my birthday every year now
since I eight year old that the year my momma died even then I member mistress
making me work right after my momma die an she wont let me go to her burial
that was a hard day for me When Master wish me a happy birthday mistress just
about up and hit the ceiling Her face got red like scarlet and she said to him
that today was nothing out the ordinary so I should stop thinkin like it i
s

Wil
l come in the kitchen today when I was alone and
planted a kiss on my cheek and he say we gon celebrate tonight right here in
the kitchen it our secret place oh I loves him so He helping me to read and
write better too I
no
the difference between the word
too two and to Will taught me that he say my talking and writing is getting
better and better every day but that I got to remember to talk my talk when
speaking to the master and mistress Because if theys find out that I can read
and write they beat me dead for sure Especialy Mistress she hates me more than
master
Master
can be kind but master can be brutal
too Once I sees him whip a field slave just cuz he wipe the sweat from his face
Master say he took too long doin it and he say all we need is more dyscyplin I
say all we needs is to be free

I got to g
o gots to
get ready to see Will I love him and he say he loves me I hav strong fealings
for him

Av
a let out an exasperated gasp as she closed the
diary.  "Well by all appearances, I’d say that this young woman was
deeply in love and extremely smart. But mistress, Will’s mother, treated her
incredibly bad."

"
Sounds to me like mistress was jealous," Magnus
added.

"
Magnus we’ve got to search the rest of the house and
see what else we can come up with, I'm afraid there is more to this than meets
the eye and you and I both know that if we don’t find anything else in this
house then its secrets will be lost and buried for good."

"
Okay, that’s why we go to the town hall; surely they
will have some records on this place."

"
Magnus you’re not getting it, yes they will have
records but records pertaining to business transactions only, they’ll have
nothing about the slaves from this plantation. Forgive me for saying this but
your ancestors weren’t very persistent about preserving the history of their
slaves, unless of course their slaves ran away, why then they’d go through hell
and high water to find them," she said with heavy disdain. 

"
Nor were they respectful in thinking that a Negroes
life story be conserved, they all but erased their identities, it’s sad and
atrocious.

The town
hall will only have a tidbit of what we need to find. We need more journals, we
need more personal stories; the stories that will tell us exactly what went on
behind these closed doors."

"
Well, I’ve got a few ideas of where we could continue
to look but right now, you need your rest. It’s been an excruciatingly long day
and I’d feel a lot better if you would try and relax and let me take care of
you."

She s
miled up at him. "Okay, I’ll relax right after we
read one more entry," she bargained with him.

No matter
what it was that she asked; Magnus knew that he could never refuse her. His
smirk let her know that he was ready to hear
another one of Celeste’s entries.

There is a house guest named John
DuPonte that arrived late afternoon and I dont like
him he look at me
wit
eyes like the devil inside him
and he try touchin me this morning when was just me and him in the kitchen I
cannot tell mistress though cuz the last girl that told mistress about one of
they
house guest rubbin up on her disaperred We ain’t never
seen her again I dont want to end up like that girl so I just keep my mouth
shut and do my work Been
seein my Will almost every nite now and he
make all the
bad things in
my head go away Especial when he tell me the words Youre my love and my love
for you will cease to exist when those beautiful gardenias start blooming in
the harshest of winter I ask him to help me memorized that becuz it the most
beautyful thing anybody ever told me
I cannot wait to feal his warm imbrace