Forever Ash: The Witch Child of Helmach Creek (Frost & Flame Trilogy Book 1)

by Rick Kueber

  The coroner opened his black bag and proceeded to don a pair of blue examination gloves. He closed the bag again and asked politely, “Which one of you would like to direct me to the remains?”

  I pointed over his shoulder to the trees. “Elijah Helmach is right over there.” I stood up. “Come on, I'll show you.” The two men followed me over to the base of the tree where Elijah drew his last breath. The coroner knelt down and reopened his bag and began removing tweezers, solution, Vials, and other instruments for his examination.

  “I will leave you two to it, then, if that's alright?” “Yes, that would be better, actually. Just stay here on the property until we have finished.” answered the officer. “If we need you, or have any questions, we will come find you.

  As I walked away, I heard the coroner say, “These remains are so old, I doubt we can draw any conclusions without making some kind of DNA identification, and the ladies who inherited this farm may be too far down the blood line to have a positive match.”

  “Then take your samples, and we will get samples from the two ladies, and if you want to conduct the tests, by all means, go ahead, but I am not going to hold up the burial plans. If need be, we'll just have to exhume the bodies later.” The sheriff replied under his breath.

  The four of us opened the back of the van and carried the coffins in pairs. I was very impressed at the

  craftsmanship of them, made of cedar, which would deter the rotting, and embellished with brass corners and name plates which were intricately engraved with the names of Ashley and Elijah. We placed one close to where the two men were crouched, and set the other just to the left of the cellar entrance. When they had finished with Elijah, they approached us at the van, where we were all enjoying ice cold Mt. Dews and Dr. Peppers that Katie had grabbed for us while they were in town.

  “We have finished with the first, and you are free to carry on with the burial. Now, will one of you direct us to the body of the young person?” The sheriff spoke politely, showing respect as if it were our relatives about which he was speaking. I later expressed my gratitude to them both for the professionalism and kindness they had shown to four strangers from a different state.

  Katie showed them to the cellar entry, and explained where the remains could be found. She was understandably reluctant to actually go into the cellar again, even though the candle and sage rituals had been performed.

  The two men finished quickly in the cellar, and emerged with smudges of dirt and ash on their clothes and gloves.

  “So, that's the legendary witch child?” Sheriff Brian asked.

  “Yes, it is.” I said in a monotone voice. “Some people call her the burning girl, but to us she is Ashley Sue, or just Ash.”

  “Kind of an ironic name, don’t cha' think?” Sheriff Brian asked. “I suppose it is.” Katie answered. “But we hope everyone will hear the true story, and maybe it will change from a legend about a witch child, to the true story of how fear and narrow mindedness ended a very special little girl’s life, a girl name Ashley Sue Helmach.”

  “I hope you're right. Would you be opposed to having someone from the local paper contact you and maybe do a story about your paranormal investigation?” the coroner inquired.

  “That'd be great. I don't mind mentioning the EVP team, and some of our paranormal experiences, as long as the story can be about Ash, and the truth we discovered. The last thing I want is to have folks coming up here hoping to see a ghost.” I spoke as honestly as I could.

  “We don't want that either. We actually want to put the stories to rest, and let people know this isn't a creepy little town with a spooky witch legend.” the coroner responded, and the sincerity in his voice was clear and obvious.

  “I'm gonna come back later and put up some temporary cables between a couple of the trees out by the road, to keep trespassers from driving back here. I'll hook them together with a lock and leave a key in it for you and Dr. Covand, so you can get back in tomorrow. I'll keep the other just in case I need it, or yours gets lost or stolen... and I'll come back in a week or so with a couple of guys and we will put up a more permanent barricade with a few no trespassing signs. It's the least our town can do.”

  “Thank you, sir. That is a generous thing for you to offer. I'm sure the doc will want to thank you too.” I extended my hand, and with a few handshakes and goodbyes, the two men left us to finish our preparations.

  We carefully began the chore of recovering the remains of Ashley and her father. Katie had found some linens in one of the closets and lined the wooden coffins. We tried not to disturb the remains any more than necessary. After they were laid out on a second set of linens, we carefully lifted them and settled them in their coffins and then placed them beside their open graves. It was then that Katie and Jenn produced a couple of paper grocery bags. Katie opened one and withdrew a beautiful white dress.

  “We found this stuff in the house, and it just seemed like the right thing to do.” She said as she draped the dress over the remains of Ashley. She then produced an old stuffed bear, small and frazzled, and placed it inside, next to Ash's remains.

  Jenn opened her bag and produced pants, a button down shirt, and a bible. She similarly arranged the items in Elijah's coffin.

  We fought and struggled to get the headstones to their places. They were very much like the marker for Kathrine, and the only markings on them were the names. It seemed fitting. It didn't matter so much when they lived, or how long, but that they did live. Ash deserved that much and they all deserved a final resting place together.

  Chapter14 FAMILYREUNION

  (Burying the past)

  It was a long and tiresome day. We finished what we needed to do and headed back to the Holiday Inn to get cleaned up. I'm not sure if anyone else at the hotel had any hot water, but we all took our turn soaking in the steaming showers and baths, washing away the grime of the day. It took nearly three hours from the time we returned to the hotel until we had all showered and changed into clean clothes and were ready for dinner.

  Theo had suggested we order pizza and have it delivered to the rooms, but Katie and Jenn both felt like going out to a nice sit down restaurant. I voted for the restaurant. Jennifer can't have gluten, and though ordering pizza sounded good, there are some things she just can't eat. Besides, I wanted to get out, and have more memories of the town, not just the museum, and the farm. We asked at the front desk and were offered several suggestions, and though 'Flying Jack's Restaurant and Pub' sounded promising, the 'Good Times Bar and Grill' sounded like just the kind of distraction we needed.

  It proved to be a great way to spend the evening. The menu had a good variety that we all savored and the atmosphere was fantastic. I was afraid we would find ourselves in an establishment full of locals staring at us, either wondering who we were, or maybe knowing what we were doing in town and feeling unwelcome, but the locals we did meet were very polite and courteous, and this place was full of out-of-towners like ourselves, though they were probably here for the white water rafting and hiking, not to bury a local legend.

  After dinner we all took our adult beverages out to the veranda, and relaxed for a while. I was enjoying a few stout 'Crown and Cokes' while the others had a variety of blended or mixed drinks. Our conversations ran on and on about everything imaginable, except for the Helmach family, even though paranormal topics and experiences drifted in and out of the conversations.

  I had noticed the table next to us paying more and more attention to what we were saying, until one of them eventually broke their silence, scooting his chair over saying, “Y'all really into that stuff, huh?”

  “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Theo said with a wink to the girls. “Yeah? I seen that show on TV where them people go to haunted houses and stuff. That's crazy right there!” He said adjusting his ball cap, taking a drink of his long neck bottle and looking back over his shoulder to his scruffy friends at the other table. “You know there's a local legend here about some ghost witch they burn
ed at the stake or something like that? If y'all are into that stuff you should ask about that one there! That's some creepy stuff, huh?” He grinned at us, and then to his friends with a wink, thinking he had really given us some very insightful information, a good lead to follow up on, or 'one upped' us.

  “Really?” I asked with a surprised tone, and then looking back at my trio said, “I wonder if he's talking about that radical religious group, The Chosen, that shackled and burned the little 9 year old girl to death, calling her a witch because she had abilities that they didn't understand? You remember?... Ashley Helmach... poor kid. Can you imagine what it would be like today, if you had an ability that was called supernatural, like e.s.p. for example, and so your local church decided you needed to be burned alive when you were still a child?”

  I shook my head, and my trio nodded in agreement, saying, “Narrow minded fools.” and “Who knows, maybe she had a cure for cancer in her special mind too...” and “What a travesty!”

  The man’s face grew empathetic and he slid his chair back to his table. “Oh, yeah, maybe that's what the story's about, I just didn't hear it all. That's a horrible thang to do to a kid, huh guys?” He said to his friends at the table and they all agreed, muttering amongst themselves.

  My intention wasn't to dampen anyone's mood or put anyone in their place, but it seemed like it was as good a time as any to start spreading the truth, and maybe when and if the local paper did their story, these folks and their friends might just read it, assuming they could read.

  Small changes in the way people think, planting the seed and letting the truth grow, it was just a beginning, but eventually, perhaps this town would forget the ghost stories and remember Ash as a wonderful gift that was hidden and lost, and gift that should have been shared and loved, not feared.

  Later that night we found our way back to the hotel, and our rooms. Our conversations that night had taken us full circle, from the paranormal, to dozens of random topics and then back to Ashley Sue. Our tongues were tired, and our minds were exhausted. We did not drift off to peaceful sleep that night, we crashed....hard!

  I awoke to the sound of the phone and a wake-up call I didn't even remember requesting. My body was begging me for just one more hour, but the room was already buzzing with the others running in and out of the bathrooms, back and forth between the adjoining rooms, and the smell of fresh brewed Colombian coffee....okay, I could manage to drag myself from the comfort of the bed for a steaming hot cup of java.

  By 9 a.m. the van was packed up and we were ready to go. We made one last trip into the hotel to turn in the room keys, thank the desk clerk and snatch up some continental breakfast goodies for the road. We munched away at our muffins, bagels, bananas and oranges. The short drive was quiet and calming. I was experiencing a feeling of comfort, knowing there would soon be some closure and finality to this case. Katie pulled the van off the main road and up to the cabled drive. I hopped out of the passenger side and unlocked the cables and drug them off to the side to get them out of the way. I hooked the padlock back to one of the cables, placed the key in my pocket, and motioned Katie on.

  Katie parked the van near the house, and I opened the back door. Reaching under the conversion van bed, I extracted two twenty foot lengths of thin nylon rope.

  “What's that for?” asked Theo.

  “It's for lowering the caskets. I think it will work.”

  “Oh, good thinking... I wouldn't have thought about that until it was too late.” It was just then that Dr. Em's black Tahoe pulled off of the road and slowly found its way up our make-shift driveway. She parked several feet behind my old van and the two women and the pastor emerged. The three of them stood together at the front of the Tahoe for a few minutes pointing towards the house and other points of interest, including us, talking amongst themselves. I gave a casual wave hello, and waited for them to come to us when they were ready. Even from a distance, we could see the look of fear and dread on Shari's face as she sat in the front seat of the car. She was not ready, not yet.

  Shari sat in the passenger seat staring through the windshield to the house and beyond, struggling against the fear within herself. Pastor Greene reentered the back seat of the car and reasoned with her for the next ten minutes. Everyone tried to encourage her to come out and overcome what was frightening her, but her glazed stare was fixed to a distant point far behind us, it seemed. The pastor and Theo gave her words of comfort and assured her that there was a greater good that would be there to protect and watch over us all. We were all proud and impressed with her bravery when she emerged, obviously trembling and though she was afraid, she had chosen to no longer be a servant to her fears.

  After a bit, they walked up to the front of the house where we all gathered. With numerous introductions, handshakes and hugs, we were all introduced or reunited, as the case may be. Dr. Em and Shari both seemed a little disturbed, being in the presence of history, the history that had caused them so much emotion and anxiety. With some explanations and chronicles of how the mood and atmosphere of the farm had shifted, we were able to ease their tensions with stories of the sage and white candle blessings that had been performed.

  I spoke to Pastor Greene specifically, “I personally don't believe there can be an overabundance of positive spirituality. Would you be willing to perform a blessing on the property and the home that is concordant with your church?”

  I could see a change come over them as the pastor spoke. “I would agree with you, and I would love to bless the home, the property, and all those here, if no one would object to that.

  “I think I can speak for all of us when I say you will have no arguments here.” I was surprised to hear Theo speak up first, but then again, he was probably the most in tune with his spirituality.

  Pastor Greene began by saying a prayer of blessing for all of us and anointed us with oil from a small bottle he had pulled out of his right front pocket. We followed him and guided him around as he blessed the farm, the house and even the grave sites.

  “Sarah, Emily…” Pastor Greene spoke after he had finished with the grave site blessing. “Will you allow the coffins to be opened so I can offer a blessing and prayer to Elijah and Ashley before they are laid to rest?”

  The two looked at each other and back and forth at us with eyebrows and shoulders raised. “I don't see why not. I think it's a very good idea, unless someone has an objection.” Sarah spoke very honestly, being the only one besides the pastor who had not personally had any experience with any of the negative energies that invoked our presence here today. “It's a bit eerie though. Did I tell you about the dream I had last night?” Dr. Em nodded. “Well there was this little blonde girl standing in my room, I called out to her, 'Ashley, is that you?' and then she smiled and waved, and when she turned to walk away, she just slowly vanished... and now standing here face to face with her remains, it's kinda creepy.” A scared smile crept across her face and she looked as if she could cry, but she held her composure.

  The four of us stepped up, one at the head and one at the foot of each casket, lifted the lids off and placed them on the ground, leaning against the sides of the pine boxes. In some faraway place we could hear the echoing sound of rolling thunder, as if it were some omen.

  A thought crossed my mind and I excused myself while the pastor blessed the remains of Elijah and anointed the skull with oil. I rushed to the van and back as quickly as I could. I caught the pastor after he had finished, but before he began with Ashley's blessing.

  “I have one more item that I would very much like you to bless before you begin with Ash.”

  “Certainly.” he said, “Where is it?” I reached into my front pocket and withdrew a yellow envelope covered in blackened stains. I tore open the end of the envelope and poured the contents into my hand. I think everyone gasped except for the pastor. Even Theo and Sarah were shocked, having heard the elaborate tales we had all conveyed.

  Something caught Jenn's eye in the distant woods. “Wha
t?” Katie whispered to her, noticing her distraction. “I dunno... something moved over there, a deer maybe... how cool would that be?” They refocused on the situation at hand.

  There in my palm, lay a tarnished and blackened silver necklace with a fiery stone pendant. It had lost its brilliance in the fire and the dirt and ashes, but there it was none the less. The wind grew and brought with it a chill and howled through the trees.

  “This was Ash's birthday gift on the day her life was so tragically ended. I had thought I would get it cleaned and polished and offer it to Dr. Em and her family when this was all said and done, but I kinda think it belongs here, with Ash, forever.”

  A strong gust blew the coffin lids over, and caused Pastor Greene's comb-over to wave like a tattered old flag in the breeze. Once again, something caught Jenn's attention, and she pointed off in the distance. “Something moved over there again.” she whispered to Katie, but I think everyone could hear.

  Doctor Em and her family agreed with me, and the pastor spoke. “Very well said, and I too agree. This girl was deprived of so many things in life, I think it is an honorable thing to return this to her before she is finally laid to rest.”

  I held my hand out, and the pastor retrieved the oil from his pocket. He took the necklace in his hand and doused it in oil. As he said his blessings and prayed, he rubbed the oil into every crack and crevasse, massaging and working every centimeter carefully. He then withdrew the half full bottle of holy water that he had used during the blessings of the property and Elijah, and flooded the necklace. Thunder again rolled low and distant while he said a final silent prayer.

  He handed the necklace back to me. There were points and places that actually sparkled, though a good deal of it was still tarnished and smoke stained in spots, the oil had polished and returned the luster to the stone. It was beautiful in its own bittersweet way.

  The clouds over head were darkening and the wind had picked up steadily over the past couple of hours. “THERE!” shouted Katie, pointing off in the opposite direction of the house and into the forest beyond the cemetery. “There's some kind of big black thing moving over there in the trees.”