Mara Louis; Girl of Mystery

by Timothy Paterson

  Affectionately yours,

  Henry Ford”

 

  “Grandpa” said Abe, “What are you going to do with all of this? It has to be worth millions.”

  “Well, first, I will publish his autobiography like he wanted,” said Mr. Lincoln. Some of this will go to museums, and some will be go to auction. I will have enough to send you to medical school, as well as set you up in your own practice afterwards.”

  When Abe started to object, his grandfather put his hand up top stop him. “I am merely following Mr. Ford’s wishes. I am doing what truly makes me happy, and Abraham, my dear grandson; nothing makes me happier than you.”

  Then, Mr. Lincoln turned to Mara and said; “Now, young lady, what can I offer you as a reward for your incredible discovery?”

  “I didn’t do this for me,” said Mara. I believe that my visions are a gift from God and I am just doing his work. But, if you make a lot of money from the autobiography and the auction, you might consider making a donation to your community, to help with the education of the children.”

  “Consider it done, Mara,” said Mr. Lincoln. Then, he turned to Mara’s parents and said; “You both must be very proud of this sweet child. Enjoy the time you have with her. Children grow up so fast. Mara’s parents were both beaming with pride as they looked at their daughter.

  Mr. Lincoln realized that he had to secure the items, until he could get some of the items to auction and the other items to a museum. He and Abe covered the plywood floor with the sheets of plastic and then Mara and her parents helped place stones on the plastic to keep it from blowing away.

  When that was done, Mr. Lincoln and his grandson insisted that Mara and her parents stay and watch a movie in the theater. They would not accept any money from the Louis family. Abe insisted that they have popcorn and sodas as his treat.

  It was after seven p.m., when Mara and her parents returned to their hotel room. Mara was so tired; that she went right to bed, after hugging both of her parents, goodnight.

  As Mara lay in her bed, she was filled with happiness, because she was able to help Abe go to medical school. She also thought of the children who would get a better education with any money that was donated by Mr. Lincoln. She also wondered what mystery, the next day would bring, for it would probably be the last one for that trip. She knew that they were headed for Hannibal, Missouri, but that was all she knew so far.

  Mara slowly drifted off to sleep, with a big smile on her face. Then, Mara began to dream.

  The Secret of Mark Twain Cave

  When Mara woke up, she found that she was still shaking. She had a dream about a cave, but this dream was different from the rest. In this dream, Mara saw a group of children visiting the cave. Mara sensed that one of the kids had not exited the cave after the tour. Mara knew that she would have to enter the cave to find the child.

  Mara wrote down all of the information that she could remember from the dream. Mostly, it was a list of names that included; Jesse, Samuel, Omar, Daniel, George, Harry, William, Meriwether and Troy. Mara knew that the cave was located in Hannibal, Missouri, but not the name of the cave, or where it was located.

  After breakfast, Mrs. Louis asked Mara; “Okay Mara, where’s the next stop on our mystery vacation?”

  “We need to go to Hannibal, Missouri,” said Mara. When we get there, I will know more.”

  They drove all morning and most of the afternoon. When they entered Missouri, Mara picked up some brochures on caves that were located near Hannibal. As Mara looked at each brochure, she tried to find something that she might remember from her dream. When Mara picked up the brochure for the Mark Twain Cave, she knew instantly that it was the cave from her dream. She handed it to her father and asked him to drive to the address listed for the cave.

  It was five o’clock in the afternoon when they arrived at the cave. The brochure stated that the last tour was at six p.m. Mara got out of the car and walked to the main office located in the building near the cave. She asked if any groups of children were scheduled to go through the cave that afternoon. Mara did not know how far in the future the child would become lost.

  “We just had our last group tour for the day,” said Kevin Riggs, the owner of the cave. “It was a group of eight year olds. I am glad that they are gone, too. They were a very obnoxious bunch.”

  As Mara’s parents walked up to the office, Mr. Riggs asked them if the three of them would like a tour of the cave. Mara just froze. She could not move. Her fear of caves had suddenly taken over her entire body. She was seized by pure terror.

  “Mom, can we come back tomorrow?” asked Mara. “I don’t feel so good right now.” As they began walking back to the car, a school bus, going rather fast, pulled into the parking lot. Mr. Riggs came out of the building, as the bus came to an abrupt halt. A frantic woman got off the bus and walked over to him.

  “We’re missing one of the children”, she said. “We thought that we had all of them when we left, but we must have miscounted. Troy Kruse is not on the bus.”

  Mara soon discovered that Troy was an eight-year-old Cub Scout. His troop had been studying caves and had visited Mark Twain Cave that afternoon as a field trip.

  Mr. Riggs made a few phone calls, and within minutes, three other tour guides arrived and the four of them began carefully searching the hundreds of feet of tunnels in the cave.

  After forty-five minutes, they tour guides came out of the cave empty handed. Mr. Riggs immediately called the sheriff’s department to send officers to help in the search. Soon, there were sheriff’s deputies and police officers searching the area all around the cave.

  Mr. Riggs told Ms Jameson, the troop leader, to keep all of the other cub scouts together, so that they would not lose any more children.

  Mara forced herself to go to the entrance of the cave. As she physically touched the cave, she had a vision of a small boy-laying unconscious on the ground, somewhere inside the cave.

  As Mara stood there, a car drove up and a woman got out. She ran up to the cave entrance, as Mr. Riggs approached the cave.

  “Please help my son,” said the woman. “Troy is a diabetic and he forgot to take his insulin this morning. He could die, if he doesn’t get it soon.” Mrs. Jameson had called Mrs. Kruse, to inform her about her lost son.

  “Mr. Riggs” said Mara, “Troy is inside the cave and he needs help right away.”

  “We thoroughly searched the cave and he is not in there,” said Mr. Riggs. At this point, Mara’s mother had walked up to them and overheard the conversation.

  “Mr. Riggs”, she said, “If Mara says the boy is in the cave; then he is in there. My daughter has a gift of psychic visions, and she is never wrong.”

  Mr. Riggs did not know what to think, but he had no other options. “Can you show me where he is?” he asked Mara.

  Mara knew that the boy did not have much time left. She had to go in the cave, even if it meant risking a Cave-in. She took a deep breath and forced herself to walk into the cave, with Mr. Riggs, Mrs. Kruse and her parents close behind her. Though Mara had never been in the cave before, she instinctively knew which way to go. After ten minutes, Mara knew that they were getting closer. As she turned the corner, into another tunnel, she knew that she was very close to Troy. As she walked further into the tunnel, she sensed that she was going further away from the boy. She turned around and started retracing her steps.

  When Mara returned to the spot where she felt Troy was very close, she started scanning the tunnel walls. She was looking for a hidden tunnel, when she saw a hole in the wall of the tunnel. It was no more than an air vent, but it was big enough for a small boy to fit through.

  Mara placed her hands through the opening and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she said, “Troy went through this opening. I think that I am slender enough to get through a
s well, if you can help me, Dad.”

  Mr. Louis and Mr. Riggs helped Mara get her feet through the opening and then carefully lowered the rest of Mara’s body through the opening. When Mara was able to stand up, she noticed that she was in another tunnel. Mr. Riggs handed Mara a flashlight through the opening, and Mara began walking down the tunnel. Gradually, it opened into other tunnels.

  As Mara searched for Troy, she heard voices and saw glimpses of people out of the corner of her eyes. When she would turn around, she saw no one there. Mara was also puzzled by letters and numbers carved in the sides of the tunnel.

  Mara’s psychic compass led her in the right direction. After twenty minutes of searching, she found Troy. He was laying on the ground, just as she had seen in her vision. Mara tried to wake Troy, but he would not respond. She saw that he was breathing.

  Mara knew that time was critical. She had to get him out of there fast. Mara put the flashlight in her pocket so that she could use both hands to carry the boy. She carefully picked up Troy and started carrying him towards the hole that led to the other cave. Even though it was pitch black in the tunnel, Mara relied on her psychic compass to guide them to the entrance.

  Even though Troy was small, he was solid and he was very heavy. By the time she made it to the hole in the tunnel wall, she was exhausted. She handed Troy through the hole, to