The Stone of Blood (5 page)

After the Liberty bank robbery in
Missouri
, his partners Thomas Edward “Bud” and Alexander Doniphan “Donnie” Pence fled to
Kentucky
. Donnie became the
Nelson
County
sheriff and the brothers homes located at Samuels Depot became safe houses for both Frank and Jesse James.

Frank and Jesse
had relatives in the area and their mom had gone to a nearby school. One of their cousins had also married the local county jailer! So it was common knowledge that whenever federal marshals were nearby, the James brothers would be made aware of it far enough in advance to make use one of the many caves or safe houses in the area to lay low or to escape!

Jesse James rode his horse straight up to the Nelson County jailhouse; dismounted and met with the local Sheriff who’d come out to greet him.

“Your room’s all set at the tavern Jessie. Arrangements made with the
Inn
keeper; paid in full.”

“Much obliged Donnie. It’s been a long ride and I could use some sleep.”

“I’ll get your horse to the stables. She’ll be fully rested by morning.”

“I’ll be leaving out pretty early. The law’s been on me hard, and someone’s tracking me.”

“Yeah, they’ve put the word out!”

“I’ve got to be at Stone House by nine, a matter of importance. And then I’ll have need of fresh supplies if you got em’?” Jessie said. “And Donnie, I’ll be headed back to
Logan
County
before I make the trip to
Missouri
if you want to ride.”

“My place is here now Jesse, but we gotcha covered. Bud’s riding in from the depot. We’ll have you ready by first light.”

While officials from the northern government called Jesse James ‘
outlaw
’, alot of those in the south called him ‘
hero
’. Alot also depended upon the point of view of the press. If the writer supported the North, the Confederate armies would be called
guerillas and bandits
. But if those same reporters supported the South, they would be called
freedom fighters and heroes
.

After a few drinks to quench his thirst at the bar, Jesse checked into his room. The room had been paid for, prearranged with the
Inn
keeper as suggested be done; and under an assumed name. Jesse hung up his hat; sat down on the bed and emptied the contents of his saddlebags. Loot taken from a stagecoach robbery just this side of
Jefferson
: watches, rings and jewelry, golden coins along with a finely carved wooden box aligned with gold, silver and pearl inlay; holding a single blood red jewel within its chamber, a Blood Stone.

A Blood Stone is a gem that is generally made of green jasper dotted with bright red spots of iron oxide. In ancient times it was treasured. This stone however, was complete in its color; a deep blood red that held a transparency …likened to that of a crystal when held to the fire.

“What do we have here?” Jesse whispered to himself as he held it to the light turning it back and forth between his fingers.

“Somethin’ is different about this…” he whispered to himself in thought.

Jesse looked deep into the stone as he held it to the flame, mesmerized by its allure.

Sounds from the tavern jarred him back to reality; music, dancing and ruckus! He returned the stone to its box and the loot to his saddlebags and blew out the candle upon his nightstand, leaving a whisper of smoke that danced in the air.

Jesse lay down and rested upon that soft southern bed; kicked off his boots and listened to the sounds coming in from the street. Cool winds blew in through the window bringing with it the smell of a distant rain. Horses and buggies traveled up and down the cobblestone paths. People entering and exiting from the tavern below, conversations overheard as the whiskey made their words all the more louder.

The minutes passed slowly. Thoughts ran through his mind, the war, his home, the blood red stone …but sleep would not find him.

Suddenly!

The street light cast a blatant shadow about his room!

Jessie rose from his bed drawing his Colt .45s and fired!

Shots rang out! Six rounds fired into the darkness
at point blank range!

Four bullets lodged deep into the walls!
Flashes of light and the smell of smoke!
People rushed to his room, finding him in frenzy in the dark; whirling around brazenly with both weapons drawn!

Something had walked amidst the shadows of Jesse’s room that night, something that could scare a man who was fast with a gun! He had seen it! It had looked him squarely in the eye! But no lead could kill it! Had it been a ghost, a ghost of a man? His eyes shone white in the darkness before the light was lit. Images returned again to his mind! Images that sent cold chills down his spine!

***

Legends say that Jesse James shot holes in one of the rooms where he stayed at the Talbott Tavern. It is also said that he shot at a ghost! Bullets from his gun are still lodged in the tavern’s walls as proof of what had happened to him and of what he’d seen!

Many claim that the ghost of Jesse James now walks the halls of the old tavern, searchin’ for somethin’ that he had lost or for that which was taken; vanishin’ into thin air with a smirk on his face!

I’ve heard it said that
“Bardstown is like a black hole. Once you get sucked in, you can never get out again!
” I surely hope that’s not how it happens, not why his spirit still walks.

I aint seen Jesse’s ghost myself. Heck, I haven’t even been inside of the old Tavern! But I guess I don’t have a mind to go over there anyways!

***

June 1864

Caleb felt the sting of the bullets pierce his flesh! Screams of pain and blood altered him without challenge. And he stared into the face of the gunfighter, wild eyed and snarling!

Rage and fury enveloped him in mere moments of time!

Jesse James dropped to his knees as he looked into the eyes of the beast that towered before him!

Caleb made for the window with target in hand, climbing up and over to the back of the building just as
people rushed into the room! He mounted his steed and disappeared into the darkness.

Shadows followed

Three

In the Shadows of a Great Dark Cloud

Grandpa told me that everyone has a voice. The difficult part was learnin’ what to do with it! What to say and how to say it! And how to use that voice to find that special callin’ that we all hold deep inside of us, that voice hat leads us down the paths of life we choose to travel!
I began to develop my voice in a little white house on
Daughtry Avenue
. It was located on the north end of town; though it could have been right smack in the middle for all I knew!

At that time in my life, my whole world existed within a twenty foot radius of wherever I happened to
be
at the moment; where a cool summer breeze and the smell of freshly cut grass would find me playin’ beneath the shade of an old tall tree.

I wasn’t very good with directions then and I can’t say that I’ve gotten any better with em’ now! But I reckon that the best way to tell ya where we lived back then …is just to point out the closest landmark that I’ve got in my memory:
St. Joseph
’s Church.

People say that
St. Joseph
’s Church was the first Cathedral built this far west. I can’t say that I know exactly what a Cathedral is, unless maybe it means that it was big! Cause that’s the reason I remember this church in particular. It was the biggest one I’d ever seen! The church steeple towered high over our city! And it’s still there today!

I’ve been told that when people started comin’ to our town to settle in, that
Kentucky
was still a part of the state of
Virginia
, and that the settlers that came here …were mostly people of the Catholic faith.

I’ve also read in history books that their Catholic Bishop, Father Joseph Flaget came here in the early eighteen hundreds, and that he helped build a church just a few miles south of Bardstown known as
St. Thomas
. That was a little while before he helped lay the cornerstone for
St. Joseph
’s Church.

I’ve further read that Father Joseph Flaget was given several rare and valuable paintings for the church! They were given to him by a few of the royal families of
Europe
; people like the Pope, the King of France and the King of the Two Sicily’s.

Now …once you’d passed
St. Joseph
’s Church and circled around our county courthouse, all you had to do then was to head straight up through the middle of town, for about a mile or so, and then take a left at the Burger Queen restaurant. Our house was about four houses down from it on the right.

The Burger Queen restaurant stands out in my memory cause of a grand opening event and an occurrence with a giant “
Queen Bee
” mascot; the outcome of which I simply choose not to talk about at this time!

Our house sat on about a half an acre lot then, with a front yard big enough for one huge, round elm tree. The tree was so big that I couldn’t get my arms all the way around it! And there wasn’t much room in the yard for anything else. The soft grass was divided into sections by a cracked and broken sidewalk, outlined by a dirty rock driveway.

I didn’t play in our front yard very often, cause I wasn’t allowed to go past that big old tree by myself. I mean …I was five years old after all! But I could go anyplace I wanted to in our back yard! So that’s where you could find me most days! And our back yard went on for what seemed like miles! Green grass for as far as the eye could see! Or at least for twenty feet!

Tall green bushes lined our backyard on either side; with both sides connectin’ to fence posts that separated our land from the apartment houses and open fields in the back.