Unsettled Graves: A Crossroads of Kings Mill Novel (The Crossroads of Kings Mill Book 3) (9 page)

Like in her dream, hundreds of disembodied voices called out to her, but she felt hands clasping around her ankles as if to drag her down. Startled and disoriented, she screamed. The BMW blared its horn at them.

Camden picked her up in his arms and carried her to the other corner just as traffic began to move. He sat her down on a nearby bench. She shook so badly. Was she going to be sick?

“My God, Tonya…are you okay? Did you get hit? What happened?” He looked from her towards the BMW that was making its way up the street and then back to her.

His hand caressed up her cheek, but she couldn’t feel his touch. Her jaw had locked as she focused on keeping her stomach from rebelling. Camden searched her bare legs to see if she had gotten hit, if there was any mark left by the car. Of course, there was nothing.

Tonya looked back at the intersection. Why did the intersection unnerve her so? Why would she experience such horrific sensations? What tricks did her mind play on her? And why now?

Maybe it was her migraine rearing its ugly head again after the hours of constant meditation to focus on her spirit world with Vickie. But her head was fine, well except for the tightening in her jaw.

Camden tilted her chin up to look him in the eye. “Come on. Talk to me, Tonya. What happened?”

She shook her head stiffly. “I’m…I’m…f…f…fine. I…I…just…um…” she rubbed her arms briskly in the eighty-seven degree weather. “Le…let’s…go.”

Trying to stand, the muscles in her legs didn’t want to cooperate and threatened to send her tumbling to the floor. They might as well have been over cooked noodles. Camden bent slightly and lifted her into his arms again. She found the strength to wrap her arms around his neck as he walked her the rest of the way to the tavern.

Entering the building, he sat her over on a cushioned bench near the hostess station. Millie approached and seeing her condition, knew something wasn’t right.

“Go get Vickie or April,” she commanded, to Camden as she bent down in front of her.

“What’s wrong with her? Is she going to be okay?”

Millie turned her head briefly. “Just go get one of them, please.” Her command was a bit harried, more forceful. Camden disappeared to go find one of them.

“What is it, Tonya? Come on, little sis… What happened?”

Millie knew there was something wrong. Just not the details. There was still a psychological connection between the two of them. Having shared souls, it was kind of like mind-melding…they were never far from one another.

“Hands…and voices…so many…so many…all in pain.”

“Where, baby? Where were they?” Millie tried to coax, trying to get her to talk about it. Talking helped to relieve the spiritual pressure, to put a tag on it, and push it away.

“Dragging me down…down with them…to them…”

“What’s going on?” Dottie showed up first, touching Tonya’s forehead as if she had a fever. “Dear God, she’s icy cold.”

Virginia showed up next. “Get her a blanket and something hot.” She moved away and ordered one of the waitresses to bring some hot tea.

Tonya could hear April putting Camden through the third degree in the background as Millie tried to explain to Dottie what Tonya had said to her moments before. And all Tonya could do was involuntarily shake from the shock the episode took on her mind and body.

Vickie showed up, saying, “Okay—everyone back up. Give the girl some room.” She turned to Millie. “Go secure an empty room upstairs. Camden, carry Tonya and follow Millie to one of the guest rooms. Virginia, bring up some strong tea…if you get my drift. And for God’s sake…don’t let Christopher know his daughter is in this state. I don’t need a repeat performance of his attitude from when she was in the hospital because of Millie.”

“What do I tell him then?”

“Say it’s a woman issue and that she needed to find something to change into…I don’t care. Men hate that kind of talk,” Vickie explained rapidly, waving her niece away.

Camden carried her up the stairs to the refurbished lodgings. Luckily they were mid-week and not many guests were in residence. One of the rooms at the far end of the hall opened and she was placed gently on the queen sized bed.

Millie went over and pulled the drapes, enclosing her in a dim light. All Tonya wanted to do was stop shaking.

“Camden, lie down next to her and hold her,” Vickie instructed. “Her chakras are all a hazy gray.”

“What?” Camden asked. “Don’t you think that’s a little…”

“Don’t think. Just do. She needs body heat.”

The bed shifted and Tonya didn’t care. She couldn’t think, function…she could hear but to comment was a struggle on her taxed mind. Strong arms surrounded her, tentatively at first and then more secure as he adjusted her body against hers, spooning. Their legs entwined, trapping her between him and the bed.

“Here, I brought down an extra blanket.” April’s voice came from somewhere in the room. Soon her body was enfolded with a lightly snoring man, and cloth. She closed her eyes, hoping for sleep. After a while, a few voices left the room but Millie and Vickie remained.

“What’s going on? You think she might be coming down with something? Or is it something I did?” Millie asked, concern lacing her English brogue.

“No, Millie, it’s not you. I’m afraid this might be something I’ve done…and her psyche is not ready to deal with her true ability just yet.”

Her true ability? They’d been working on her abilities for the past two days. All she’d gotten from it was a migraine and frustration of not being able to comprehend what her ‘true ability’ actually entailed. Nothing made sense and she just wanted to lie here and sleep.

“Her true ability?” Millie whispered.

“Tonya is an energy force, one she can’t control. Our ghost friends here in Kings Mill want to use her and her energy.”

“Why?”

It took Vickie a moment to answer, but Tonya didn’t like the sounds of it. “I’m not sure I know.”

Vickie didn’t know? Vickie had always been her saving grace. She knew everything about the paranormal world. This couldn’t be happening. Frightened, Tonya’s mind refused to shut down and relax. What ghost friends? Why didn’t Vickie know what was going on? And why was she suddenly terrified about the very place she’d grown to love?

Embarrassed and a bit overwhelmed by all the excitement she’d caused the night before, Tonya walked into work the next morning as if nothing had happened. She wasn’t one to freak out over nothing at all. Most people wouldn’t believe what she’d felt and those who did were walking around her like she’d lost her last living relative.

“How are you feeling this morning? Everything okay?” Camden asked as she sat down across from him at their work desks.

“I’m fine. Everything is fine. Just…I don’t want to talk about it.” She buried her face behind the downfall of her blonde hair.

Camden had ridden his bike in early and had asked her to pick up Joshua and Jared to take to Vickie’s. At least the two guys hadn’t sensed her unease over the night before. Vickie had looked at her with a mixture of apologetic wariness and uncertainty, though. Almost like a disciplinarian mother who wanted to soften the blow by giving the child a cookie but knew they shouldn’t.

“So how is your research going this morning? Finding anything more on Jared?”

“Other than the record of enlistment and the declaration of desertion…nothing.” Camden ran his hand over his head, exhaling. “The records in Colleton County Courthouse where Jared says he was originally born, were taken to Columbia in early 1865. Unfortunately, they didn’t survive the Columbia, South Carolina fire Sherman’s Union troops set later that year.”

“But I thought he was from Kershaw County?”

“That is where he signed up with Kershaw’s troops. Again…we are right back to where we started.” He leaned back in his chair. “What about your paper? Anything new on the Susquahanna tribes?”

“Other than they became extinct or melded into the Iroquis tribes that they fought? Nada. The Paxton Boys annihilated the last of them in a mob death near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. But other than the mass killing somewhere in Columbia, Maryland area by the Maryland Militia, nothing.”

“Columbia’s not far from here.”

“Yeah, we are technically in the path of most of their original land. They ruled from the shores of Eastern Virginia all the way up to New York State and farther west. So there is a wide area but most of their conflicts were within Northern Virginia, Maryland and South-central Pennsylvania.”

“So what are you trying to prove? What is the purpose of your paper?”

“I was working on researching the lost tribe. Supposedly, the one that were in the Columbia area. I want to know more about them. Exactly where they were laid to rest.”

“Columbia?”

“Yeah, but there is no definitive location. You have to remember that even the Mason Dixon boarder hadn’t been defined at that point. What we might consider near Columbia could be anywhere in the region. They were a fierce group but were known for their hunting and trading. The English settlers feared them so there were a lot of killings at the time. At one point they were killed because the English settlers were told they were evil and to shoot on contact. Other deaths were outbreaks of smallpox epidemics and battles with the Iroquoian Nation.” Tonya stared off into space. “It’s just sad that such a revered people were destroyed in such a little amount of time.”

“Are you trying to find a way to honor them?”

Camden’s question kindled a spark in her brain. These people were misunderstood by many, only wanting to do what they could to survive…as any other people would do. Yes they might have been vicious but in whose eyes? Those of the settlers who assumed they were heathens because they didn’t conform to the ideals of Puritanism? The ones who wanted their lands?

History says they were considered giants. That their human stature was taller than the average man. European men at the time were possibly as tall as five foot seven. So even if they were six foot, they would appear to have been ‘monstrous in size’. 

None of that mattered. They were people with the same dreams and desires of survival, life, and liberty for themselves, wiped from the face of the planet by the greed and foulness of a people they didn’t understand and those who didn’t understand them.

Yes, she wanted to honor them but how? What could she do to honor those who were no longer in existence? Who would even care or benefit?

April came in with a load of record books which seemed fairly old but well maintained. She sat them gently down on the table top between the two of them. The painful look on her face made Tonya forget about April’s gift of touch. Handling the antique books like she was must be taking a toll on her mental capacity. April’s psychometry was stronger than most people with the gift, so much so that she was able to bring a ghost to life by touching his grave.

Letting out a measured breath, April gushed. “I managed to get in touch with the head of the historical foundation in Gettysburg. These books are on loan to us for a limited amount of time. They contain all the recordings of every soldier, both Confederate and Union who fought at Gettysburg.” Taking out a smaller ledger from the bottom of the pile, she continued, “This is the first records of children who were brought to the orphanage. You might find some clues in these books to help you with your subject’s cases.”

Tonya looked at Camden. It was as if a treasure trove of possibilities were laid before them. Both were eager to get inside the fragile parchment filled books.

“I can’t help you. Danielle has a check-up and I’ll be taking the rest of the day off. She doesn’t do well with the shots.”

“Poor thing.” Tonya knew about baby Danielle’s tendency for fevers after inoculations. “I hope she sleeps this one off.”

“Me, too. Not only that, it worries her father half to death. He hates seeing her sick. Then I have two children to deal with.” April rolled her eyes. “Oh, these books don’t leave the office. I can’t afford to have anything happen to them. Lock them up in my office before you take off for the day.”

They both promised her they would take care of them. Eager to have something tangible to reference, her and Camden donned their cotton gloves for handling the delicate material they were about to view. Any oils from their fingers could deteriorate the natural fibers and all would be lost in very little time.

“Why didn’t they just send the microfiche or email the scanned files?” Camden asked when April had left the room.

“I don’t know. Something tells me that these records are more than what was professionally archived over the years.” Tonya knew in her heart that April wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of securing the tomes, otherwise. The mystery was now to find out just why April had done so.

With her paper on the back burner, Tonya worked diligently with Camden on slowly, methodically turning page after page of over a hundred year old material. The dark scrawled handwriting inside the ledgers were names of those who lived and died to tell a part of American History. It was an honor. Every name a beating heart, one that made her heart beat thinking about them. They had lovers and sweethearts, wives and mothers waiting for their return. Only, some of them never did.

“Look at this,” Camden called out after an hour or more of silence between them.

Tonya stood up, stretched the kink out of her back, and walked to his side of the table so he didn’t have to move the ledger he was going through.

“Is that the orphanage book?”

“Yeah. Take a look.”

There in black ink were the words:

Evansworth…boy…age: 8 months

             
“Do you think?” Camden asked, speculating on the possibility. “What are the odds of the name Evansworth?”

“It might have been a common name. We could look through every man in these books that might share the name. But even then, it wasn’t just the soldiers whose kids were dropped off there. They could be children of unwanted pregnancies or parents who’d both died in some unfortunate accident? We don’t know for sure.”

“Besides, was Jared even married?” Camden scoffed.

“Have we even asked him?”

Neither one could answer. It wasn’t something they’d even considered. Why? Surely he might have been one of the many to have a sweetheart back home…or wife. If there had been the possibility of offspring then they might have something to go on.

The thought was never far from the top of Tonya’s head the rest of the day. She’d been through two of the large Confederate rosters and had yet to come across the whereabouts of one Jared Evansworth. Granted these were tallies of the aftermath. So many had gone missing, been captured by the enemy, or possibly deserters. Still, there was no way Tonya could wrap her head around Jared being a traitor to his unit, the Confederacy or his homeland.

“Well, I’m done. My brain is mush which is not going to help my session with Vickie this afternoon,” Tonya groused. “You coming or staying late again?”

“I just want to stay a bit longer. Here,” he said, reaching into the front pocket of his khaki slacks and withdrew his apartment key. “Since you will be going straight to Vickie’s, can you pick up the guys and take them to my place? There’s hot dogs and macaroni and cheese if you want to fix them something to eat.”

“What, am I your wife now?” Tonya laughed. “Honey, pick up the kids and have dinner on the stove when I get home.”

Camden raised his brows at her. “Yeah if that’s the case…I’m getting the raw deal. There are no marital perks for me.”

“In your dreams, Camden. You wouldn’t know what to do
if
I were to bless you with my perks.”

He looked blatantly at her chest, crossing his arms. “Is that what they are calling them lately? Peaks, yeah, but I’ve never heard
perks
.”

“You’re an ass…but that’s okay. Most guys I know are.”

“Well, that’s too bad. You deserve better than asses.”

Tonya wasn’t sure what to say. Was he teasing her, complimenting her, or just making general talk? It had been awhile since they’d had a fight or disagreement. Not since before the whole Jared issue…when he didn’t believe.

Camden had returned to the books and she didn’t think it was enough of a subject to really toss about. It wasn’t like she was asking him to show her any interest. They were working together now, that was all that mattered.

#

Focusing on his main objective was a bit harder. The brief banter he’d shared with Tonya was disturbing. He was one of the guys in high school that would’ve put down a geek like her, not given a shit how he’d made them feel. But more importantly, he actually meant what he said. She deserved better than asses.

He knew she’d had a boyfriend. She’d mentioned him once or twice. What had happened to them? Or was it just one of those things where they drifted apart on mutual understanding like most high school/college relationships? He felt bad because he really didn’t know. Not like it really mattered, they weren’t hot and heavy for each other.

Scoffing at his own folly, Camden returned to the books. He’d moved on from the orphanage ledger, still keeping it open as if the line item he’d found stared at him, egging him on to a single topic. Tonya could be right. How many other Evansworths were there to consider?

With that thought, he took up to looking through some of the other books. The latest one intrigued him. Inside were documents of battle notes from various soldiers, generals, and commanding officers who played important parts in the infamous battle. These were the actual articles kept that were documented in various history books on the war itself.

Pouring over a few there was one from General Buford, the Union Calvary general who was there on the first day, north of Gettysburg. He was the first one to spot the enemy troops coming down from Cashtown.

Rough maps and drawings of various battle tactics whispered among the pages, spooking him. It was as if touching the artifacts gave him direct link into the past. Was this what Tonya felt but on a grander scale? He couldn’t fathom. In his hands, he held a piece of history. Amazing how something so mundane could mean so much. A hundred and fifty years and a specific time and place made an item an artifact. Something triggered a thought in the back of his mind. Jared had been scouting up near the Peach Orchard… Could these items hold any details about that incident? Could one of these notes be a command from General Kershaw to send Corporeal Evansworth to scout out the enemy?

Excitement of the unknown forced his hand. With as much grace as he could in his eagerness to locate some clue, Camden searched each document thoroughly. He wasn’t sure how long it had been. Minutes and hours blended. All that mattered was finding something…anything to give witness to Jared’s whereabouts.

…and then it happened and his life would never be the same.

#

“We’ve got to send Jared back in time!” they both said at the same time.

Camden hadn’t had time to chain his bike up under the stairwell of his apartment complex. Tonya had been standing at the top of the first floor landing when he’d rode up on his bike.

Anxiety shook them both, but Camden knew his reason, what was Tonya’s?

“What? Wait?” Shaking his head, he grabbed her shoulders as she frantically looked about. “Why?”

“Vickie thinks there is a time rip that I’ve disrupted by bringing him to this time and place. He’s been here too long, but I don’t know how to get him back.”

“I do,” Camden said. Well, he wasn’t sure about the whole sending him back in time. Physics was not his strong point. He wasn’t a brainiac who belonged with Stephen Hawkings and his team of scientists. “Where are the boys?”