by Tony Nalley
And it was there beneath an October sky, outlined by the silhouette of darkenin’ pine trees that lay along an amber horizon …that Obadiah had hidden the stone. Everythin’ that had happened until now pointed there, to that place upon that map and to that precise moment in time! For over a hundred years the Stone of Blood had rested in its closely guarded slumber buried beneath these earthly grounds, the other side of my family’s farm …just there …beneath the surface and the shadows of Mr. Roberts’s red barn.
Twenty Seven
When I Almost Died
Ironically, the name Roberts was made famous in the early eighteenth century through the use of piracy, when a man of Welsh birth was captured aboard the slave ship Princess and was forced to join the pirate crew of the Royal Rover! Within six weeks of his capture, the pirate named Roberts was reluctantly elected Captain of the ship, and then went on to become the most successful pirate of his day! His stories became legends as he and his crew successfully pillaged, robbed, raided and captured more than four hundred and seventy vessels; more vessels than all other pirates combined, including pirates: Black Beard, Anne Bonny, Calico Jack and Captain Kidd!
Our next door neighbor, Mr. Roberts wasn’t a pirate. But the thought had occurred to me that if he were a pirate, he’d be very interested to know about the treasure that lay buried beneath the soil of his land. Perhaps he knew of the legend? Perhaps he had knowledge of the prophecy?
Mr. Roberts always waved whenever I’d pass him by and he always spoke whenever I was within speakin distance of him. I once found a four leaf clover that was as big as the palm of my hand and I showed it to him! He was so impressed by its size that I offered it to him as a gift, but he said that it was too special and that I should keep it. So I looked again into the patch of clover and found another one nearly twice as big! And I gave it to him! He thanked me, and then he traveled on.
I have heard it said that ‘a man can travel a great distance by sittin’ still and thinkin’ deep thoughts’. Well, while as I was sittin’ there holdin’ Cricket’s hand, I was doin’ a whole lot of thinkin’ …but it wasn’t gettin’ me nowhere!
The full moon would rise in four days; up and into the vastness of that cold October sky. And time was passin’ fast!
I sat with Cricket upon our rooftop lookin’ out over the horizon blowin’ bubbles from a plastic jar. And I looked at her as she watched them floating freely upon the winds. I felt such an attraction to that girl. I felt there was such good in her.
“Take me out and show me around the barn, Toby!” Cricket urged me as she broke my concentration. “I want to pet your pony, Prince, and you can show me where you saw the ghost!”
“Okay.” I told her as I helped her step back into my room through my upstairs bedroom window and I held her hand as we walked together down the stairs.
“Where are ya’ll off to?” Mama asked us as she eyeballed us again as we strode through the kitchen to the back door.
“We’re goin’ out to pet Prince and then I’m gonna show Cricket around the barn.” I answered matter of factly.
“Well …okay then. But ya’ll be careful out there by the barn. And watch out for snakes in the tall grasses!” Mama said as we went out through the kitchen door.
“Young Lady!” My mama shouted as she held open the screen door. “Does your mama know where you’re at? Do you need me to call her and let her know you’re alright?”
“Yes Ma’am …she knows.” Cricket answered back as I pulled her along by the hand. “I told her I’d be back before suppertime.”
“Well …okay then!” Mama said just before the door slammed shut.
Like I said, mama was always lookin’ out for me and stuff, a little too much for my likin’ most days!
My pony liked Cricket alot! All of our animals did. Prince would always come runnin’ whenever he saw her up next to the fence line! And our dog, Mr. Whiskers, would bark for her attention too! At least whenever he was awake enough to know she was there! And of course our dog Candy liked her; she kept mostly under foot whenever she was around!
Cricket was so beautiful standin’ there reachin’ through the fence line, feedin’ Prince handfuls of grass and pettin’ him! She laughed out loud when he nibbled at her fingers and she sat down upon the grasses and picked up more of it by the fistfuls and slipped it through the fence wires for him to eat.
I believe that girl must have kicked out of her shoes and shimmied back into a pair of cut off jeans the moment she got off of the school bus! And she stayed that way, pert near all of the time! But today, since it was colder I guessed, she had managed to keep her long legged blue jeans on instead. Not that I minded none. She’d still be pretty and lookin’ good to me no matter what she had on! But she never could seem to be able to keep her shoes on! And I don’t guess I minded that none neither!
I couldn’t put my finger on the exact moment in time that I fell in love with Cricket. But I knew then ...just as I know now, that I would be in love with that girl forever, or at least until I was a grownup or maybe even after that! And I think that she loved me too! Cause she was always laughin’ at me and nudgin’ me, and she never seemed to mind holdin’ my hand!
She’d even kiss me softly on the cheek sometimes too, whenever she said that I was bein’ really cute and other stuff like that. I kissed her back too! But mostly when nobody was lookin’!
The old barn stood before us by the fence in the field, just as it had the day me and Mary had been there. It was cold and dreary lookin’, with its door swingin’ loosely upon its hinges. I held Cricket’s hand as I pointed out to her where the ghostly apparition had appeared in the loft and I told her of how the ghost had knelt down by the windows edge and looked down into my eyes! I also told her of how my heart had pounded rapidly as I looked upon its ghostly face! And I mentioned to her of the voices that had filled my mind; voices that had scared me then, and of how we had run!
“What was that?” Cricket whispered as she pulled me towards the barn. “I thought I saw something just the other side of the door, in there in the dark!” And before I could stop her she had entered the darkened barn and she had pulled me along with her; inside that creepy, eerie barn!
“Something moved in here Toby!” she said as she released my hand and then turned around in the darkness and looked back at me. “I saw something. I really did!”
That was when I heard her scream!
That was when I almost died!
A man stood behind her now just inside of the shadows, holdin’ his hand over her mouth! And he held her tightly with his other hand as she wiggled and kicked and tried to get away! Another man stepped into the light from behind me, blockin’ my escape; while still a third man lingered eerily in the darkness to my right!
“It seems you have somethin’ that belongs to me.” The stranger before me said as he lingered in the darkness. “And now it seems that I have somethin’ that belongs to you!” He continued as he brushed the back of his hand across Cricket’s soft cheek. And I saw his hand as it took on the features of a ‘werewolf’…and I watched as his fingernails grew in thickness and in length!
“Who are you? And what do you want with us?” I asked him, knowin’ full well what it was he wanted but tryin’ to prolong the conversation for as long as I could; to figure out a way to get both of us out of there safe!
“You don’t know who I am?” The man asked me sarcastically. “Are you NOT the one of whom it has been foretold …would come?” he said as he stepped into the light.
It was him! The man with the cold blue eyes! The one I had seen in my dream that held the gun! The one Cricket had pointed out to me as …the alpha-male!
He leaned over to her then, to where she was bein’ held beside him …and he breathed in her scent.
Cricket kicked and squirmed in the arms of the man who held her securely against her will!
“You see I know who you are!” he said. “But this one …this one is of us?” he said of Cricket as he leaned i
n close to her and ran his fingers through her hair. “But you…” he said as he pointed his finger at me and shook it back and forth slowly. “…you are not of us!”
And then he stepped back slightly into the darkness.
“You are of no threat to me boy!” he said with disgust. “You are …human!”
And he looked up into the rafters of the barn as though he was lookin’ into Heaven itself, and he raised his arms up open wide.
“THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE SENT TO DEFEAT ME?” He shouted!
“Are you Nathanael?” I asked him.
“Nathanael?” He answered. “It is the blood of Nathanael that courses through my veins, yes! And it is his blood that draws me here!”
The man with the cold blue eyes took off his wide brimmed hat then and held it to his chest.
“Is it not written in your Bible, boy? Does it not say that ‘I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving kindness to thousands of generations, to those who love Me and keep My commandments’?”
He paused then as if in silent reflection and then he put his hat back on and adjusted its fit.
“There is a curse upon our fathers’ boy, a curse upon our children and our children’s children …throughout the generations!” he said. “But the ‘Sang Pierre’…the Stone of Blood is the key! A key to the power that will allow the blood of our fathers to be renewed! As foretold in the prophecy! You asked me my name, boy?” He continued. “Some say that I am the ‘Prince of Blood’ while others say I am the Alpha, the Grand Master and rightful heir to the throne of the ‘Order of the Wolf’!” he said as he then tilted his glare. “Who is it that you say that I am?” He asked scornfully.
“What would you have me call you?” I asked him cunningly as he stood half in and out of the light. I could see the outline of his face as he moved within the darkness. I saw him as he sneered at me like the one who had once lingered eerily in the night …as he also transformed between man and beast …between that of man and his much truer canine form!
I watched him then as he reached inside the long black trench coat that he wore and pulled out a silver revolver that glistened from the light that penetrated the barn …and then as he cocked it …click …click …and pointed it at my head! And I stood there silently …staring down the barrel of his gun!
“You will bring me the ‘Sang Pierre’ before the Blood Moon reaches its summit in the eastern sky, or I will take that which is yours!” he said as he turned his gun then and pushed it against the side of Cricket’s face. “You understand me?” He asked as he leaned over to her again and breathed in her scent and nuzzled her hair.
“I will kill her slowly, I will kill your family and then I will kill you…” He told me as he turned back again and pointed the gun at me. “…in that order!”
Cricket was tryin’ to scream as I watched her kick and squirm and I heard her muffled words as she looked to me to save her!
“Release her to me and I will give you the Stone of Blood!” I told him. “I will give you the ‘Sang Pierre’!”
And the room went quiet.
Cricket shook her head back and forth and I heard her scream “No!” But I couldn’t let him take her! I had to keep her safe!
The man with the cold blue eyes slipped back into the darkness then and I saw as he looked down into the tunnel; the tunnel where me and Colby had lain old boards and loose tarp across its entrance to keep it hidden; the tunnel whose door was now opened to the depths below.
“There is nowhere you can run that I will not find you!” He told me as he turned back again and motioned for the man to let her go. “You bring me the ‘Sang Pierre’ or I’ll be back for the girl! You understand what I’m sayin’? You understand me boy?” He turned to me then as he asked … asked as though he were talkin’ down to a child!
Cricket ran to me and wrapped her arms around me tightly; jumpin’ up into my arms and holdin’ me close! And together we watched as the two other men exited down into the tunnel, steppin’ down upon those broken cobblestone steps that would lead them back into the cavern.
The man with the cold blue eyes turned to me as he stood before the entranceway and he repeated his words, “…before the Blood Moon reaches its summit!”
And as I looked upon him I saw him take on the form of the ‘werewolf’ and then I heard him speak to me in a voice that was much deeper than it had been before …a voice that held much anger …and with a tongue that held much rage! And I heard a great howlin’ as that of a hundred ‘werewolf’ roars risin’ up from beneath the floorboards and still deeper growls from within the earth! And I saw his eyes glow in the stillness of the darkened barn as he looked to the stables and to the depths below him!
“My name is Lucian …it means ‘the light’.” The blue eyed ‘werewolf’ said, just before he descended into the deep. “You cannot stop me …so do not try!”
And I watched him as he returned once again to the form of a man and as he struck a single match and lit the end of a finely rolled cigar; and I watched as the puffs of smoke encircled him.
I saw him as he checked the time on his Pocket Watch …a golden watch that glistened between the shadows and the light comin’ in through the slats in the boards. The same Pocket Watch that I had found in the woods! The one that I had given to Ms. Lillie! And he saw …that I saw!
Lucian breathed in a long deep toke of tobacco as he looked upon me and Cricket, and as he grinned an evil grin. And through lingerin’ wisps and circlin’ rings of smoke he said, “You fail to bring me what is mine, boy, and my name will take on a much darker meaning for you …as the sound of her screams …fill your nightmares!”
Twenty Eight
Autumn Leaves
The sound of the shovel as it entered the soil; digging deeply into that rich dampened dirt was overshadowed only by the low grumble of my breath and the sweat that poured down like single drops of blood upon my brow. The rich scent of the fertilized earth overwhelmed my senses as I told myself over and over that I was ‘almost there …just a little bit farther’.
The days had become shorter now as the autumn leaves danced in the lively fall breeze; just as the cool brisk winds brought cold chills with em’ that could freeze you clear to the bone!
Normally, Mr. Roberts’s cows were kept in this barn. But they had been shipped to market a few weeks back, leavin’ only the smell of the manure and the shell of the old buildin’ …except for the rungs of tobacco that hung from its rafters and a few hay bales scattered here, there and yonder.
“So what you’re telling me is that this hole we’re diggin’, out here in your neighbor’s barn in secret and without him knowin’, and right out in broad daylight…” Colby stated as he sat down upon the ground with his legs dangling down into the hole and smilin’ about as big as his face could handle it. “…is because of ‘werewolves’ and that ‘ghost’ out there in y’alls barn?”
“Yep.” I answered as I stopped diggin’ and leaned against the shovels handle. “That’s what I’m sayin’.”
“Well then…this is just about as fun as hell! Now aint it?” Colby said as he lit up the end of a cigarette butt and exhaled its smoke!
“Colby!” I exclaimed. “Be careful with that!” I said as I reached out and grabbed the cigarette from his mouth and threw it down upon the ground and stomped it out! “We don’t want to burn the barn down!” And then I rolled my eyes at him. “And just exactly when was it that you started smokin’ anyways?”
“Well, just exactly when was it that you started seein’ that girl now, huh?” he answered. “Just when were you gonna let me in on that little secret?”
I just rolled my eyes at him again and started back to diggin’.
“Hey!” Colby exclaimed moments later after he’d given it some thought. “Does she got a sister?” He asked as he lit the end of another cigarette and ripped off another puff!
>
It hadn’t taken no whole lot of convincin’ to get Colby to come over and help me. All I had to do was to let him know that he was ‘of great importance to the mission’ and that ‘I needed his expert leadership’ to make it work! What that really meant was that I needed him to help me dig, and to help keep a look out for anybody comin’! I don’t guess he’d thought much about that dream he’d had a couple of weeks ago about the cave. I just reckoned he’d forgotten about it!
Accordin’ to the farmer’s Almanac, the full moon was set to rise tonight … Friday, October 7th!
Now I don’t know how Colby got to come over and spend the night durin’ the middle of the week, and on a school night too! But like I’ve said, Colby was an expert at sneakin’, spyin’ and gettin’ away with stuff! He just made it happen! Even if it didn’t make no sense at all!
