Mara Louis; Girl of Mystery

by Timothy Paterson

Anna.”

  “Was Anna, a slave that belonged to David Lynch?” asked Mr. Johnson.

  “Yes and no” said Mara. “Basically, this is what happened. David and Emma Lynch inherited this mansion from his father. They moved into the mansion in 1850, after they were married. Shortly after they moved in, they were in town, picking up supplies. They came upon a slave auction. One of the slaves was Anna, a girl of just fifteen. One man, who was bidding on her, was a very cruel man and Emma could not bear the thought of what would become of Anna if he bought her. She encouraged her husband to bid on Anna as well. Well, David loved his wife dearly and out of his love for her, he bid on Anna and when the bidding was over, Anna went home with them, as their property.”

  “When they arrived at the mansion, David and Emma told Anna that she was free to go. They were granting her freedom. Anna told them that she would be caught as a runaway slave and sold again. She persuaded them to let her stay with them as their housekeeper. David and Emma agreed and within a couple of years, Anna had persuaded them to help other slaves escape, by using their basement to hide runaway slaves.”

  “David and Emma realized that they would not be suspected of helping runaway slaves, because everyone thought that Anna was their slave. Therefore, David and Emma would sneak the slaves into their home under the cover of darkness, feed them, clothe them, and offer them a place to sleep. When it was safe, they would sneak them out at night, to awaiting boats on the Mississippi River, where they would make their way to the next safe house.”

  “David and Emma became so involved in helping the slaves that they put off starting their own family. Finally, in 1860, Emma gave birth to a son, Jonathan Lynch. By this time, Anna had become part of the family. She helped take care of Jonathan, as if he were own son.”

  “A year later, Emma became very sick and died. David was heartbroken. Anna offered him help with the household, and the task of raising Jonathan. She comforted him as much as she could. Gradually, David and Anna fell in love. David found a minister who was opposed to slavery and he agreed to secretly marry the two of them. He performed a simple marriage ceremony in the mansion. The marriage certificate is here among the legal papers.”

  “One year later, Anna gave birth to a daughter named Sarah, and in 1863, she gave birth to another daughter named Grace. David wanted to let everyone know that he and Anna were married, but Anna insisted they keep it a secret, so that they could continue to help runaway slaves. It hurt David a lot that everyone thought Anna was his slave, but he respected Anna’s wishes and told no one about their marriage.”

  “In 1866, a year after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, David Lynch died. The bank officials lied and said that David had owed money on the mansion and they took possession of it. Jonathan Lynch, who was six years old, was shipped off to relatives in Jackson, and Anna took her two daughters and found work as a free woman working for another family.”

  Mara took a break, to give the adults a chance to let the story sink in. Mr. Johnson looked at Governor Lynch and said, “Well Bradley, I guess that makes us family. Sarah Lynch was my great-great grandmother.”

  “Grace Lynch was my great-great grandmother,” said Mrs. Green. “I guess that I am related to both of you as well.” Amanda, Keith, and Margo realized that they were all related to each other as well. They thought that it was cool.

  Mara cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “There’s just one more document that you might be interested in as well,” she said. “It’s David’s will. He was a very wealthy man. Before he died, he decided to hide most of his money. In his will, he stated where all of it was buried. He wanted all of the money to be used for the education of children who could not afford it, no matter what color skin they had. He hoped that someday, America would be colorblind and not judge people by their skin, but by their hearts and souls.”

  “Where is the money buried?” asked Mr. Green. Mara turned to Mr. Burke, the owner of the mansion and said, “The money is buried on your property. Will you go along with David Lynch’s wishes and allow all of the money to be used for the education of the needy?”

  As everyone looked at Mr. Burke, he replied; “I am in my late sixties, with no family left. I make enough money from this bed and breakfast inn to support myself comfortably. I will honor Mr. Lynch’s wishes. The future of our state and of our nation depends on our children having a decent education.”

  “Well then” said Mara, “what are we waiting for? Let’s go on a treasure hunt.”

  With Mara leading, the group went outside, and by using the map, and Mara’s psychic ability, she quickly located the spot where the money was buried.

  Governor Lynch and Mr. Johnson both began digging. After thirty minutes, they hit something metallic. After ten more minutes, they lifted an iron chest out of the hole. There was an old padlock on the front of the chest. Mr. Johnson was about to break it off with his shovel when Mara said, “Wait, I have a key that was with the will.”

  Mara cleaned off the lock, inserted the key and turned it. The lock popped open. Governor Lynch opened the chest and everyone was speechless when they saw that it was filled with twenty-dollar gold pieces. They carried the chest into the mansion and they counted out the coins, there were more than ten thousand coins. The face value of the coins was two hundred thousand dollars, but with the historical value and the price of gold, they would be worth more than twenty million dollars. All of the coins were dated before 1860.

  While everyone else was very excited, Mara was very quiet. “What’s the matter, Mara?” asked Mr. Johnson. “Aren’t you excited?”

  “I was just thinking about that newspaper that wrote the story about Governor Lynch’s ancestor owning your ancestor. I thought that our nation had started to really become one nation, instead of a bunch of individual groups of people living on the same continent. Then, you have some person who wants to stir up trouble all over again, just to sell newspapers. I think that you and Governor Lynch need to hold a press conference and put an end to this controversy before it does harm to the state.”

  Mr. Johnson looked at Mara and then at Governor Lynch. “How about it Bradley, are you up to it?”

  Governor Lynch agreed and told Mara; “I would like for you, Amanda, Keith and Margo to join us at the press conference.”

  “I’d like to be there,” said Mara, “but I have to be back to school tomorrow.”

  “Don’t worry about that, Mara” said Governor Lynch. “I will write you a note to excuse you from class.”

  At nine o’clock Monday morning, the news conference began, at the state capitol. Both Governor Lynch and Mr. Johnson stood at the podium. Governor Lynch told the reporters the true story of David and Anna Lynch.

  Then, Mr. Johnson told them that the election was not a racial issue, but a political one. “I respect Governor Lynch as a person. I may not agree with him on the issues, but it is not because he is white. As our great-great-great grandfather said, almost one hundred fifty years ago, ‘Why can’t we become a colorblind nation’ a nation where the color of one’s skin isn’t important? Judge people by their actions and what’s in their hearts, and not where they come from, or who their parents are.”

  “My grandson, Keith has been good friends with Governor Lynch’s daughter Amanda for several years now. Kids have the right idea. We should learn from their example.”

  Then, the governor spoke again. “Mr. Wesley Johnson and I have both agreed to fully support the winner of this election in November, to help Mississippi become a better place to live.”

  Margo, Keith and Amanda walked up to the podium and told the reporters about the family treasure. Margo told the reporters, that as soon as the money was sold at auction and or to private collectors, the money would be used to set up scholarships to those in need, regardless of race, religion or gender.

  Margo, Keith and Amanda
stood at the podium with their arms around each other, all of them smiling. “We have just learned that we are related,” said Margo, “but we have been best friends for over six years. Now, we have a new best friend. Mara, come up here and join us.”

  Mara walked up to the podium and put her arm around Margo. As the four of them stood arm in arm, Governor Lynch pointed to them and said, “Our children are our future. Let us follow their example.”

  The reporters gave everyone at the podium a standing ovation. Mara knew that she had accomplished her mission. She had started the process of uniting the people of Mississippi. Now, it was up to them.

  That afternoon, Mara and her parents said goodbye to everyone. Mara exchanged email addresses with Amanda, Margo and Keith. Before Mara got in the car, Mr. Johnson handed her a small box and told her that everyone agreed that Mara should have some of the coins for her coin collection. Mara graciously accepted them and wished him good luck in the election.

  When Mara handed the governor’s note to the principal, he read it and laughed. He told Mara that he had seen her on television and would have excused her even without the note.

  As Mara headed to class, she passed Scott in the hallway. He told her congratulations on her latest solved mystery.