Legacy

by Gerald Pruett

  “I sleep on a full size bed and Megan is welcome to sleep with me,” Ellen suggested before a thought had occurred to her. She then turned towards Megan while asking, “You don’t wet the bed, do you, Megan?”

  Megan glanced towards Everett while saying, “I’ve never wet the bed… since I was potty trained I mean… at least, I have no memory of wetting the bed.”

  “Great,” Ellen said delightfully. “Then you can sleep with me.” Ellen then turned towards Kristen as an afterthought. “If you’ll allow Megan to stay, that is.”

  “Please, Mom,” Megan slightly begged.

  Kristen sighed before saying, “Sure. Yes, you can stay, Megan.”

  “You’re welcome to spend the night too, Everett,” Allyson said. “There’s a twin bed in Sonya’s room, next to Sonya’s crib and we can move Sonya’s crib to Harris and my room.”

  “The twin bed is very comfortable,” Ellen added in a manner as if she was trying to sell the idea of staying to Everett. “It was my bed when I lived in Kansas City, and it will be Sonya’s bed when she gets old enough to sleep on it.”

  “Sure, I’ll stay,” Everett agreed.

  Kristen went into her purse and pulled out a small notepad and a pen while saying, “I should give you my work number.”

  “Okay,” Allyson said as Kristen went to jot down her number.

  Once the number was written down, Kristen tore the page out and then held it out for Allyson to take.

  As Allyson was taking the paper, Kristen told her, “Most likely I won’t be the one to answer the phone.” Allyson looked at the number as Kristen continued, “So you could either leave a message… or if it’s an emergency, have me paged.”

  “Okay,” Allyson said while dropping her hand that held the paper to her side.

  “I’ll see you all in the morning,” Kristen said.

  “Allyson and I are usually up by six,” Harris supplied.

  “I will be doing an errand tomorrow after I get up, but Harris will be here all day,” Allyson added.

  “Okay, I’ll be by around…” Kristen was only able to get out.

  “In the afternoon,” Megan quickly supplied.

  When Kristen shot Megan a curious look, Harris suggested, “If you’re anything like me, Kristen, you would like to sleep after you get done from working the nightshift, and Megan and Everett are welcome to stay here while you sleep. You can come get them when you get up.”

  Kristen slightly hesitated before nodding in agreement and saying, “Okay. I’ll be by around one o’clock.”

  “Okay,” Harris said.

  “Okay,” Kristen echoed before gesturing towards the door. “I’ll let myself out.”

  “Okay,” Harris and Allyson said.

  “Bye,” Kristen said with a wave.

  “Bye,” everyone echoed before Kristen could turn and walk away.

  As Kristen was leaving, Ellen gestured towards the TV while asking, “What is everyone watching?” After Megan had answered, Ellen continued with, “I went to see that when it came out at the theaters.”

  “Don’t tell me about it,” Megan demanded.

  Ellen grinned before saying, “I won’t. It’s a good show though.” Ellen then gestured towards the door. “Anyway, I got to use the bathroom.”

  As Ellen was leaving the room, Everett took a seat on the couch next to Megan. Ellen was gone from the room for a short time, and when she returned, she took the open space on the couch next to Everett.

  Everyone watched the current movie and a second movie. When the second movie came to an end, Harris moved Sonya’s crib to his and Allyson’s bedroom, and once Sonya was comfortable in the crib, Harris and Allyson went to bed.

  Ellen, Everett and Megan stayed up to watch a movie that was coming on cable. Everett didn’t know what the movie was about, but when he saw that a young boy was abducted he reached for the TV remote while announcing sternly, “I don’t want to watch this.”

  Ellen looked curiously at Everett for a short time before saying, “Okay.”

  After Everett turned the channel to the TV guide channel, Ellen’s eyes moved towards Megan and saw that she was looking at her hands and sucking her lips tightly together.

  “How old were you?” Ellen asked. Everett and Megan curiously looked towards Ellen and saw that she was looking towards Everett. “When you were abducted?”

  Without uttering a syllable, Megan looked towards Everett to see if he was going to answer, and after a long pause he finally said, “Six. How did you know?”

  “You don’t like to be snuck up on; you avoid shows with abductions and currently Megan looks as if she is carrying around a time-bomb of a secret that’s waiting to go off at any moment.” Megan thought for a second before shrugging. Ellen slightly grinned over Megan’s response as she continued with, “So I just put all the clues together and I guessed.”

  “At times I wake up from a nightmare of being abducted,” Everett said sullenly. “It’s not as often as it was years ago though.”

  “Were you randomly abducted or…?” Ellen was only able to get out.

  “It was some guy—a parolee—out to get even with my dad,” Everett said. “My dad had shot and killed his nineteen-year-old son when the son had threatened to shoot someone with a gun. The guy… the parolee was there and he watched his son being shot, and so he was planning to kill me while my dad watched.”

  Ellen rubbed Everett’s arm while saying, “I’m glad that, that parolee didn’t succeed in his plans.”

  Everett politely grinned before saying, “Me too.”

  “Okay, I’m ready for a more cheerful show,” Ellen announced.

  Everett held his grin while turning the channel and asking, “What about this show?”

  When Ellen saw what show that he was referring to, she shrugged while saying, “Works for me. What about you, Megan?”

  “It’s fine,” Megan said.

  As Everett was putting down the remote, he said, “Thanks for not asking me a lot of questions about my abduction.”

  “I got the gist of what had happened, but if you would ever like to talk about it, I’m a good listener,” Ellen informed.

  “I’m kind of talked out about it with Dr. Wilmer, but thanks for the offer,” Everett said politely.

  “No problem,” Ellen assured him.

  The conversation during the movie remained light and when the movie came to an end, Ellen and Megan went to bed on the full size bed while Everett took the twin bed.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Saturday morning, at 5:30 A.M., Sonya woke up crying for the second time during the night. The first time Allyson had changed her pamper and sung her back to sleep fairly quickly, but this time, Allyson and Harris got up and began their day.

  Harris went to go shave and shower after getting up.

  Allyson fed Sonya, and once Sonya was fed, she was placed in her playpen and the stereo was turned on for her to listen to. Once Sonya was comfortable in the playpen Allyson went to cook breakfast for everyone.

  Harris didn’t take very long in the showers and had walked into the kitchen just as Allyson was putting breakfast on the table.

  “Should I wake Ellen, Megan and Everett?” Harris questioned. “Please,” Allyson replied.

  Harris nodded before going to wake everyone up.

  Several minutes later, once everyone had eaten breakfast, Allyson drove to Claire’s house to babysit Spencer so Claire could leave and go visit Sally in prison.

  Ellen, Harris, Everett and Megan set up and played a board game. They were playing for a short time when Everett asked Ellen, “You don’t play video games at all, do you?”

  “I play video games,” Ellen quickly corrected.

  “You don’t own a game system,” Everett pointed out.

  Ellen shrugged before saying, “When I play, I’m always at someone else’s house.”

  “You ever thought about having your own?” Everett asked.

  “Because of my mom’s headaches, m
y friends weren’t really allowed at the house. So even if I had one I would’ve been playing it alone, and when I play video games I prefer to play with a friend.”

  “You wouldn’t have that situation here,” Harris assured Ellen. “Your friends will be allowed over, and if you would like a game system, I have no objections in getting you one.”

  “I know where a used game store is,” Everett supplied. “You can get the latest system for almost half price.”

  “Are they open today?” Ellen asked.

  “Yeah,” Everett confirmed. “They open at 10:00 A.M. and close at 8:00 P.M.”

  “Would you like to go buy a system today?” Harris asked.

  Ellen pleasantly grinned before saying, “I would.”

  Harris looked towards the clock before saying, “Okay. At nine-forty-five we’ll leave here and go check out that used game store.”

  “Thanks,” Ellen told him.

  “No problem,” Harris assured her.

  Later, at the Pulaski State Prison in Hawkinsville, Georgia, Claire sat patiently on the visitor’s side of the glass for Sally Harman to sit and speak with her.

  When Sally stepped up to the prisoner’s side of the glass, she stood next to the chair while glaring curiously at Claire.

  Claire picked up the phone on her side and gestured for Sally to do the same on her side.

  Sally took a deep breath before sitting down and picking up the phone.

  “With whom am I speaking with?” Sally asked as she stuck the phone to her ear.

  “Claire Berkeley,” she replied. “Peter Berkeley was my husband.”

  Sally took another deep breath before saying, “Coming here after five years is kind of moot at this point. Don’t you think?”

  “I finally got the courage to look at one of my husband’s notebooks earlier in the week,” Claire began. “The night before you had shot Peter, he had written that you had called him. You were troubled and fearful of your father and you had wanted Peter’s help. So I must ask. What happened in those few hours? Why did you shoot Peter?”

  “Mrs. Berkeley, please—for your safety—drop this inquiry,” Sally begged.

  “You speak as if you are genuinely concerned for my safety,” Claire pointed out.

  “I don’t want anyone else to be hurt.”

  “People are being hurt, Mrs. Harman,” Claire quickly informed.

  “What do you mean?” Sally demanded.

  “Jessica or Karla is hurting people to make it where your father can get out of bed.”

  “Jessica and Karla would never freely hurt anyone,” Sally insisted.

  “Look, I know about the mark of Merlin, and…” Claire was only able to get out.

  “Stop!” Sally hissed with fear in her eyes. “Don’t speak of that in my presence. Your life depends on it.”

  “Are you threatening me?” Claire demanded.

  “That was a warning, not a threat,” Sally insisted.

  “Call it as you will, but…” Claire was only able to get out.

  “It’s not safe to freely discuss… your chosen topic, and I never know when it is safe,” Sally told Claire before hanging up the phone.

  Claire quickly gestured for Sally to pick up the phone; however, Sally just looked over at the camera before standing up and walking away.

  Claire stood quickly and pounded on the window while demanding, “Speak to me!”

  Sally stopped a few feet from the exit. She turned quickly towards Claire and then walked quickly towards the phone. After picking up the phone again, she uttered, “Heathcliff’s army!”

  Sally went to hang up again as Claire questioned, “What’s Heathcliff’s army?”

  Sally was able to read Claire’s lips and mouthed out, “Ask your source.”

  When Sally turned to walk away again, Claire just stared after her without pounding on the window. When Sally disappeared through the door, Claire hung up her phone and left.

  After Claire got to her car, she pulled out her cell phone from her purse and dialed home. After two rings Allyson answered with, “Berkeley’s residence.”

  “Allyson, it’s me—Claire,” she said while starting the car.

  “Claire, were you able to meet with Sally?”

  “We met, but she refused to discuss the subject with me.

  She claims that it’s not safe.”

  “So you didn’t learn anything?” Allyson asked.

  “Well, she did mention Heathcliff’s army.”

  “Heathcliff’s army?” Allyson echoed in a confused tone.

  “She told me to ask my source,” Claire informed. “And I think she means the ones who had informed me of the mark of Merlin.”

  “Okay, well, that would be Harris then. I’ll call him and find out if he has heard of Heathcliff’s army, and then I’ll call you back.”

  “Well, I’m on my way home now, so you can tell me about it when I get there.”

  “Alright,” Allyson agreed. “I’ll see you when you get home.”

  When Allyson hung up she called home.

  Ellen with Sonya in her arms, Everett while carrying the game system, Harris and Megan were just getting back from the used game store. As they reached the front door, they could hear the phone ringing. Harris rushed to open the door and then rushed to get to the phone in time.

  As Harris picked up the phone he answered with the traditional, “Hello.”

  “It’s me, honey,” Allyson began. “Why did it take so long for you to answer?”

  Ellen had placed Sonya in her infant swing and was turning on the stereo when she heard Harris explaining, “To give Ellen, Everett and Megan something to do, we went out and bought a used game system. We were just getting back. So how much longer will you be?”

  “I just got off the phone with Claire and she’s on her way home now.”

  “So did she say how it went?”

  “Not well, but she did say that Sally had mentioned Heathcliff’s army,” Allyson informed. “And then Sally told Claire to ask her source for the explanation for it. Does that mean anything to you?”

  Harris collected his thoughts before drawing Ellen’s, Everett’s and Megan’s attention while saying, “If I remember correctly, Heathcliff was a wizard from one of the Raven’s acorn covens. He lived in the early 1500’s and was a knight in King Henry the Eighth’s army. Other knights had followed him into battle, which was how the phrase ‘Heathcliff’s army’ came about, and his campaigns were successfully high… I can’t remember anymore than that. Did Sally say anything else?”

  “Just that it wasn’t safe to talk.”

  “Let me call Sadie and find out if she knows more than what I had just told you.”

  “Okay,” Allyson agreed. “Call me back.”

  “I love you,” Harris said.

  “I love you,” Allyson echoed in a delightful tone before the two hung up.

  “What about Heathcliff’s army?” Ellen asked.

  “Did you hear what I told Allyson?” Harris asked. Ellen just nodded. “Well that’s all I know about it, and Sally had mentioned it without an explanation as to why.” Harris picked up the phone again while saying, “I’m going to call Sadie and find out if she knows any more than I do.”

  When Ellen nodded Harris dialed Sadie’s telephone number.

  After the phone rang five times, Sadie answered with, “I’m quite busy here, Harry.”

  “Okay, well, will you answer a quick question?” Harris requested.

  “If it’s a simple one.” Harris then heard Sadie say to one of her bookstore customers, “That’ll be thirty-eight forty-three.”

  “What can you tell me about Heathcliff’s army?”

  “That’s not a simple question, Harry,” Sadie pointed out as she gave the customer his change. “Thank you, come again.”

  As the customer nodded Sadie heard Harris requesting, “Will you answer anyway?”

  Sadie gestured for the next person in line to step up while saying, “Okay, well, he wa
s a knight in the early 1500’s, and… and hold on, Harry.” Harris heard a short conversation between Sadie and a customer before hearing the sound of a price gun. “I’m back, and the phrase ‘Heathcliff’s army’ came about when the other knights had followed him into battle, and… and he was executed—beheaded in the 1530’s by his own side for practicing witchcraft.”

  “He got caught?” Harris questioned incredulously.

  “He did,” Sadie agreed before turning her attention to her customer. “Twenty-one ten.”

  As the customer was paying with a credit card, Sadie heard Harris asking, “What spells was he doing when he got caught?”

  “Thank you, come again,” Harris heard Sadie telling the customer. “Harry, I don’t really know, but it was one of his fellow knights masquerading as the enemy who accused him of being a warlock. Apparently whatever Heathcliff was doing had caused his fellow knight’s mission to fail.”

  “Okay, well, if you can think of anything else about Heathcliff, give me a call back.”

  “Okay,” Sadie said before hanging up the phone. She then turned her attention towards the empty handed customer who stepped up to the counter. “How can I help you?”

  At Harris’s house, Ellen asked Harris, “What did Sadie say?”

  “The only thing she had told me that I didn’t know already is that Heathcliff was beheaded in the 1530’s by his own side after being accused of being a warlock.”

  “Yikes!” Megan uttered.

  “Yeah,” Harris agreed with a grin. “One of the threats that had hung over our heads before we had moved into the twentieth century.”

  “Were any of your ancestors hung during the Salem Witch Trials?” Megan asked.

  “All of my direct ancestors were in England during that time period,” Harris said. “But from what I know of the Salem Witch Trials, only one wizard was killed during the witch trials. The others were ordinary people.”

  “I’m going to go check the Legacy volumes for anything on Heathcliff,” Ellen announced.

  Before Ellen could leave, Harris told her, “There isn’t much in my family’s volumes on Heathcliff, so you’ll want to check your family’s volumes first.”