The 45th Parallel

by Maureen Hands

  “Once the Mormons were gone, Irish fishermen began to move in and encourage their Irish relatives to join them. The population grew to 881 residents in 1880, a large percentage being Irish. In fact, at that time, the Catholic Church conducted services in Gaelic, the Irish language.”

  Kat looked at a picture on the wall of a group of men and women. The label underneath the picture said “High Island Congregation 1905.”

  “What was the High Island Congregation?” Kat asked.

  “There was a religious cult that lived on High Island in the early 1900s. There were fifty-six of them when they first moved to the island, but after three years, they were all dead. Apparently they all caught some mysterious illness. The settlement was abandoned and the island has been uninhabited since,” Barb said.

  Barb continued talking, but Kat could no longer hear what she was saying. She was staring at a woman standing in the back row of the photograph. Barb continued to talk as she moved on to another display and Helene, Patrick, and John followed her.

  “Kat, what’s wrong?” Anna asked.

  “The dead woman I saw in the lake. The woman I see in my visions. She is in this picture. She is standing in the back row.” Kat whispered.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes…I recognize her face…her features.”

  “Thank you, Barb,” Kat heard John say. “We really appreciate you taking the time to fill us in on Beaver Island’s history.”

  Barb looked up at John and smiled. “You come back anytime,” Barb said. Kat thought that invitation was meant especially for John.

  “Do you know anything about the island superstition concerning the Reaping Moon?” Anna asked.

  “We just moved here full time a year ago after we retired. All I know is everything shuts down early that night. I’m still getting used to how quiet it is here off season,” Barb replied.

  They left the museum and John looked over at Kat and said, “Did you get anything in there?”

  “I saw the dead woman in the gray dress. She was in the High Island Congregation picture.”

  “Barb said they all died of a mysterious illness,” Helene said.

  “She didn’t die of an illness. She was murdered. Her wrists and throat were cut,” Kat said.

  John’s phone beeped to indicate he had received a text. “It’s from Jerry. He says he got a message that I was looking for him. They have decided to anchor at the south end of the island.” John dialed Jerry’s number but got no answer. “It’s not even rolling to voicemail,” he said. “I’ll send another text.”

  “Why don’t we see if the harbor master can radio Traversity again?” Patrick said.

  They walked back to the harbor but still could not reach Jerry’s boat. “We are going to have to get someone to drive us down to the south end of the island. Maybe we can see Jerry’s boat,” John said.

  They walked over to the tour office and found Dan eating lunch. John hired him to drive to the other end of the island. They searched all the possible anchorage sites but did not find Traversity. When they got back to town, it was almost four o’clock.

  “We only have a few hours left of daylight,” Kat said.

  John’s phone beeped and he checked his messages again. “Jerry said they are hiking to the stone circle. He must not be getting any of my messages. We are going to have to split up. Kat, Anna, and I will go see Father Gallagher. He is supposed to be back by now. Patrick, you and Helene can get Dan to take you to the stone circles to see if you can find Jerry. We can meet back by the Mormon print shop at five.”

  “Do you think the stone circles could be their resting place?” Patrick asked.

  “It’s possible,” John said.

  Patrick and Helene went back inside the tour office to get Dan and John, Kat, and Anna walked through town to the Catholic Church. As they passed the Mormon Print Shop, Kat paused.

  “What is the matter Kat?” Anna asked.

  “I have this feeling I missed something in there. I think I need to go in there by myself. There was too much distraction before. Why don’t I go in and look around again? I will meet you both out in front at five.”

  “Make sure you don’t go anywhere else,” John said, “and call us if you find anything.”

  “I will, see you at five. Good luck with Father Gallagher,” Kat said as she opened the door and went inside the museum. Barb looked up in surprise.

  “I thought I would look around some more. The history here is so interesting,” Kat said.

  “Oh, well, feel free and let me know if you have any questions. We close at five today.”

  “Thank you,” Kat said as she began to look around. Much to her relief, Barb continued to sit in her chair and read her book instead of following her around the museum. When she got to the picture of the High Island Congregation, she took a deep breath and focused on the woman in gray. After a couple minutes, Kat could hear the sound of Indian drums and the woman in the picture began to move. She looked out at Kat and then turned and pointed to a large tree in the background with a counterclockwise spiral carved into the trunk. The Indian drums began to get louder.

  “You are very interested in that picture,” Kat heard Barb say. She jumped at the sound of her voice.

  “Yes,” Kat said as she turned to Barb, “it’s just so sad they all died.”

  “I just came up to see if you had any questions.”

  “Actually, I do have a question about this picture. Does the large tree in the background with the spiral carved into the trunk have any significance?”

  Barb moved closer to study the picture. “That’s funny, I never noticed that before. There is a legend that after King James Strang was shot, some of his followers took his treasure and buried it under a large tree on High Island. Perhaps that is the tree,” Barb said. “Although I think if there really was any buried treasure, it would have been found by now.

  That tree is marking a spot but it is not treasure buried there. Kat decided to go to the church and find John and Anna to tell them the resting place was under a large tree on High Island. She followed Barb back out to the front of the museum and thanked her for her help. When Kat stepped out onto the front porch to leave, she saw Jerry Nelson in the distance walking toward the harbor.

  “Jerry!” Kat yelled but he did not hear her. She went back inside the museum and said, “Barb, I am supposed to meet my friends in front of the museum at five. If they get here before I get back, can you let them know that I saw Jerry walking to the harbor and left to go talk to him?”

  “Sure, I will let them know,” Barb said. Kat ran out the door and down toward the harbor. As she got to the docks she could see Jerry standing on the deck of Traversity. He looked up and waved at her. By the time she got to the boat, Kat was out of breath.

  “Jerry, thank goodness I found you.”

  “What’s going on? John sent me a message saying it was very important he speak with me today. I’ve tried to reach him but the phone service isn’t very good here.”

  “Is Robert West here?” Kat asked.

  “No, Robert went into town to get some supplies.”

  “Good, I need to talk to all of you about Robert.”

  Jerry looked concerned and said, “Come down into the cabin and we can all talk.”

  Kat climbed on-board and went down into the cabin. Dora, Denise, and Rose were all sitting on the salon benches looking at her expectantly. Robert West was standing behind them. Kat’s breath caught in her throat. She felt Jerry grab her roughly from behind, pinning her arms to her side. A white cloth was placed over her mouth and nose. The last thing she remembered was a sweet chemical smell and then blackness.

   •●• 

  Anna and John sat in a small, stuffy church office that had the slight aroma of incense, until twenty till five waiting for Father Gallagher. Finally, a short chubby man, bald but for a fringe of white hair came in the office and said, “I am Father Gallagher. I understand you have been waiting to see me.”


  “My name is John Warren and this is my friend Anna Cauley. I need some information on the Reaping Moon Witches. It is a matter of life and death.”

  Father Gallagher froze before lowering himself into his chair. “How do you know about the Reaping Moon Witches?”

  “I know about the Reaping Moon Witches because they killed my parents three years ago. I know tonight is the night they will go back to their resting place. I don’t have time to get into the whole story but I have good reason to believe that a group from Northport is being led to the resting ground to be sacrificed. I need to know where their resting place is.”

  “If we knew where it was, we would have dug them up decades ago. Many islanders have died trying to find it.”

  “Surely after all this time you must have some idea where it is,” Anna said. “There are four people who will lose their lives tonight if we don’t find it.”

  “Do any of those four people wear this pendant?” Father Gallagher asked as he pulled out a pendant from under his shirt that hung from a chain. It was the same Celtic charm Kat wore.

  “No, not that I am aware of,” John said.

  “Then they cannot break the curse.”

  “Break the curse?” John asked.

  “Do you know the story of how the witches came to be the abominations they are today?” Father Gallagher asked.

  “A group of Irish witches sacrificed a powerful Indian witch in order to gain eternal life. The witches were granted eternal life but can only walk among the living for six months every three years,” John said.

  “That’s right,” the priest said, “and if the curse is broken, they will no longer have to go back into the ground. We will have no respite from them. Lord knows how many lives they will consume.”

  “How is the curse broken?” John asked.

  “As the Indian witch was dying, he said that the key to breaking the curse is a powerful witch, descended from the Beaver Island Irish. After learning of this curse from the Indians, and losing a number of lives, the original Irish settlers began to wear these pendants.”

  “For protection from the witches,” Anna said.

  “Yes that was part of it. But these pendants were passed down from generation to generation so we could mark anyone descended from the original Irish settlers who may be able to break the curse…anyone who had special powers.”

  “A powerful witch of Irish descent is the key…” John said as his eyes grew wide. “That pendant,” John said motioning to the Pastor’s neck. “A woman who came up here with me wears that same pendant. She has strong…psychic abilities.”

  “Then she needs to go somewhere safe. They will be looking for her. Every three years they make another sacrifice on the Reaping Moon in an attempt to break the curse. God help us all if they succeed.”

  Anna looked over at John and said, “Kat is the key.”

  “Thank you Father Gallagher. We need to go find our friend,” John said abruptly as he stood to go.

  “When people were born with special abilities, the islanders would send them away in hopes of hiding them from the witches. You need to get your friend out of here before they discover she is here.”

  “We will,” John said as they left the office and ran down to the museum. When they got there, Barb was just locking up.

  “Is Kat still here?” John asked breathlessly.

  “She left about a half an hour ago. She said to tell you she saw Jerry down by the marina and she was going down there to talk to him.”

  As Barb was talking, Patrick and Helene pulled up in Dan’s car and got out.

  “Thanks Barb,” John said as he motioned for Patrick, Helene, and Anna to follow him. He ran down to the marina with them close behind. Anna explained what they found out to Patrick and Helene as they went.

  As they approached the marina, they saw the harbor master standing at the entrance to the dock staring out at the water. His lab stood next to him.

  “We are looking for the other young woman who was with us. Have you seen her?” John asked him as they approached.

  The harbor master’s eyes narrowed and he said, “I haven’t seen her. Hopefully she is seeking shelter.”

  “Did Traversity come in?” John asked.

  “It came in but they must have gone out again. They are no longer docked here.” The harbor master turned back to the lake and said, “It is very foolish to go out on the water now. There’s a storm coming.”

  “I thought the weather forecast was for light rain,” Patrick said.

  He turned back to Patrick, breathed in through his nose, and said, “I can smell the storm coming in from the northwest. The animals sense it too. Notice how quiet the gulls are, and how low they are flying.” The harbor master looked back out toward the water and they turned to follow his gaze. There were two seagulls flying low over the water toward the land.

  “Those gulls are looking for shelter,” the harbor master said. The golden lab whimpered and scooted closer to his master’s leg, its tail tucked between its legs. The harbor master glanced down at his watch. “If I were you, I’d head back to the inn soon. Everything will be closing in an hour.”

  “Do you know where Traversity went?” John asked.

  “No, they didn’t say and I didn’t see them leave. They must have gone when I was getting a bite to eat,” the harbor master said as he glanced nervously at his watch. “It will be dark in an hour. I hope they get to where they are going before this storm hits. Let’s go Bailey,” he said to the lab. “Good luck finding your friend.”

  John and Patrick watched as the harbor master and his dog walked up the sidewalk toward town.

  “Do you think Kat is on Traversity?” Anna asked.

  “Helene, you have to try to see if you can find Kat,” John said. “Let’s go to the sailboat. You can try to project from there.” They walked down the dock toward Legalease. There was a man standing on the deck of a smaller sailboat docked next to John’s boat. He had a scraggly beard and was wearing a dirty baseball cap.

  “Have you seen a young, pretty woman with brown hair wearing a dark green jacket?” John asked the man.

  “Yes, I always notice the pretty ones. I saw her board a sailboat. She seemed to know the man she was talking to.” The man looked over to the other side of the dock. “I don’t see the boat anymore. They must have left.”

  “Do you know if she was on the boat when they left?” John asked.

  “Not sure. I went down to take a nap, so I didn’t see them leave.” The man studied the look of alarm on their faces. “Is she in trouble?”

  “She might be,” John said.

  “I’m going up into town to get some beer. I’ll keep an eye out for her,” the man said as he scratched his beard.

  “Thank you, we would appreciate that.”

   •●• 

  When Kat slowly drifted into consciousness, the first thing she noticed was a dull throbbing in her temples. I must have had too much wine last night. She tried to move her hands up to rub her temples when she realized they were tied securely behind her back. She opened her eyes and let them come into focus. She was in the cabin of a boat, but whose boat?

  “You’re awake,” Kat heard a female voice say. She looked in the direction of the voice and saw Dora Sampson sitting on a salon bench across from where she was laying.

  At the sight of Dora, the memory of what had happened seeped into her consciousness.

  “Where am I?” Kat said in a groggy voice. She could hear the halyards clanging against the mast and felt the boat rocking.

  “You are on board Traversity.”

  “Dora, you have to listen to me. I know this sounds crazy, but Robert West is leading you to danger. You can’t trust him. I had a vision of you being murdered.”

  Dora smiled and shook her head back and forth. Her short salt and pepper hair tumbled out into long black and silver locks. Her skin turned white and her eyes sunk back into their sockets. “My dear, Dora has been dead
for a month,” she said. “Those visions are tricky. Never quite sure if you are seeing the past, present or future, are you?”

  “Are we at the marina?” Kat gasped.

  “We are docked at High Island.”

  “She is awake?” Kat heard a male voice say. She felt a hand gently touch her cheek and she looked up into John’s face. He knelt beside her and helped her into a sitting position.

  “It will be all right,” he said softly as he ran his hand up her thigh. Kat could feel a sharp, painful desire as soon as he touched her. “Why don’t you take off that pendant so I can kiss you?” he said as he leaned closer. He looked like John, but he smelled of death. A silver haired male witch came in the room and shoved him away violently. As he tumbled to the floor, his features changed and he became the dark male witch from her visions.

  “We need her for the offering,” the silver haired witch said.

  “Where are the Conservation Group members?” Kat asked.

  “We are the Conservation Group members,” the silver haired male said.

  “You are Jerry?” Kat asked in a shaky voice.

  “I borrowed Jerry’s identity.”

  “Then where is Jerry?”

  “Jerry is at the bottom of the lake. Don’t worry, he has Dora, Denise, Rose, and Robert to keep him company.”

  “You killed them all?” Kat said. Fear and dread crept into her voice.

  “We couldn’t have two of us walking around. They have been dead for weeks. Once we take someone’s life force, we know everything about them. It makes it quite easy to assume their identity.”

  “Oh my God,” Kat said in a small choked voice.

  The witch let out a low, dark laugh. “After tonight, we will be more powerful than your pathetic God,” he said.

  Thoughts were racing through Kat’s pounding head. She had been living among the witches, oblivious to the fact they had stolen the identity and lives of five people. Kat trusted these people. How easily they could’ve killed her.

  “Why didn’t you just kill me? You had plenty of opportunity,” Kat blurted out.

  “We were testing you. We have been searching for a very long time to find the one who could release us from the curse,” the silver haired witch said. “We have never found anyone as strong as you are,” he said as he held his hand within an inch of her face. The witch moved his hand down to the middle of her chest, closed his fist, and pulled his hand away quickly. His sunken eyes glowed in their sockets. “So much power,” he said.