by Beca Lewis
But this year they didn’t celebrate in the village square. This year the celebration was held on Emily’s hill. The whole town had voted. They wanted to celebrate what Emily had brought to their village, and although the discovery of the four women had brought heartache, it had brought joy and freedom too.
Almost every family with young children had become involved. Emily had even added adult dance classes in ballet and hip-hop, and within a few weeks, they were the most popular classes she had ever taught. She was still using the town hall for her big classes, and teaching the children in the house she was renting.
But a week of summer dance classes at the hill would start right after the July 4th holiday. Melvin said he would drive the little school bus Emily bought to transport her students to and from town. Just this year, he assured her. Next year he wouldn’t be around to do it. No one wanted to hear him say that, but they had all learned to respect what people knew, and Melvin was determined that he was right.
The finished dance barn hosted all the food. Gleaming mirrors and sturdy ballet barres lined the walls, ready for students. Some of the little girls from the town were holding on to them pretending to be ballet dancers. No one shooed them off. After all, this was a celebration of dreams come true.
In the center of the barn, long tables held every kind of picnic food imaginable. Hank had thought ahead and installed a refrigerator in a small pantry in the back of the barn. When Emily asked why she needed a pantry and a fridge in the barn, Hank reminded her that she might want to hold small celebrations there from time to time.
Emily had agreed, having no idea that the first celebration would not be small and would be in her honor. It would be a whole town arriving at her dream on the hill to wish her well.
As Emily helped serve food, she couldn’t help but wish that Aunt Jean would have been there to see it. Looking out across the hill down towards town, Emily thought that perhaps Jean was there. Her spirit was anyway.
Emily and her friends had held a small, very private, ceremony in the stone church in town. Afterward, they had scattered Jean’s ashes around Emily’s hill. And then they buried the urn under the white oak tree by the parking lot, not far from where Jean’s body had lain for all those years.
Four large stepping stones led the way from the parking lot to the paths that led through the property. Each stone had one of the women’s names carved near the top, and their favorite flower engraved into the middle of each stone.
Hank had the stones made as a gift to Emily, but Emily knew it was also for the town. Although the investigation had stalled and was moved to the back burner, no one wanted to forget what happened here. The three other women were returned to their families. Emily had called each one of them, and shared tears and memories. Each of the rooms in the barn were named for one of the women. Their families were grateful to finally know what had happened to them, or at least where they had ended up. Only one person knew what had happened to them, and he wasn’t telling.
At least he is gone, Emily thought, and then felt guilty for the thought. Craig kept insisting that Joe was innocent. As if to prove Craig’s point that Dr. Joe was a good guy, Joe had mailed a large manila envelope to the town hall. They had received it a few days after he had left town.
In the envelope, was a last gift to the town. Although he kept his house, Joe had given the rest of the land he still owned to Doveland. A note was clipped to the deeds saying he was grateful for all the business and friendship he had received in his years of living at Doveland. His only stipulations on the gift was that no shopping centers be built on the properties and that as many of the trees and as much of the natural lines of the land be preserved as possible. One piece of property he designated only for a public park, which made almost everyone happy.
Emily received her own envelope. Inside she found the deed to her land, along with a copy of what she still owed him. Across the top he had written, “paid in full.” He had included a nice note saying it made him happy to know that there would always be a celebration of art on the hill. There was also a copy of a trust he had set up to fund scholarships for students who wanted to take classes but couldn’t afford it. In memory of his wife May who loved the arts, he had written.
At first, she didn’t know what to do with it. Joe was evil, she knew it in her heart. But turning down the gift that would benefit so many seemed stupid and in a strange way selfish. So she said, thank you. Not to Joe, but to the universe. She accepted the gift in the name of her aunt and her mom, and Joe’s wife.
Once everyone had eaten, the crowd ambled up to the seats above the dance deck. Hank had kept his promise and finished it in time for summer camp, and the celebration. The seats were set back into the hill, rising with the gentle slope of the hill.
The deck was stunning. It jutted out from the hill, A vast open expanse, reaching out into the space between the hill and the town. To keep dancers safe there was a chest high clear Plexiglas barrier that ran the whole parameter of the deck.
It was more beautiful than Emily could ever have imagined, and she couldn’t stop thanking Hank for it. He just blushed and mumbled, “You’re welcome.” After the children performed, everyone was invited onto the deck to dance, music provided by Emily’s musician friend, Shawn. Emily laughed to herself. She knew that people thought there was something going on between her and Shawn. But no, she wasn’t his type. Besides, she had her eyes set elsewhere.
It was a glorious sight. As Emily watched the town dance on her deck, she breathed out a prayer of thanks. Silently Ava, Mandy, Mira, Grace, Barbara, and Sarah joined her to watch the dancers, and the moon rise.
“Thank you,” Emily said, smiling at all her new friends. The seven of them joined hands and headed to the dance floor. It was a night of celebration. They would let nothing take that away from them.
Epilogue
A few months later, in a small town on the Oregon coast, Edward pushed back from the computer. Every week for years he had logged on and checked for news. Now, after all these years of faithful watching, his patience had been rewarded.
It seemed to Edward, given how momentous of an occasion this was, the world should have tilted or done something unusual. After all, everything was entirely different for him. The sky should have turned purple, or clouds could have rained silver stars. But no. Outside, nothing had changed.
It was only Edward’s world that had drastically shifted. No matter how much he had wanted it to happen, it was still a shock to realize that it finally had.
Edward leaned back in his chair trying to decide what to do next. Within minutes he heard the command. “Just go.”
Following directions, Edward picked up the backpack that sat beside him at the coffee house. Without a glance behind him, he began the last leg of his long trip. This time he was headed towards a place that probably didn’t remember him.
In many ways, he had never existed there. But the village had lived in his dreams for a long time. He often wondered how much of what he remembered was accurate, and how much he had made up. Yes, he had been patient. He had patiently waited for the secrets to be revealed and for evil to give up and leave town.
Both had happened. Now Edward was free to go home. And he was taking his mom with him.
He patted the letter and tape that he had kept safe since his mother gave it to him. She made him promise never to show it to anyone until it was safe to do so. For all these years it had never been safe, so he carried them with him wherever he went.
They were never out of his sight. They were copied to the web. Copied to thumb drives. Hidden many places, with hidden instructions where to find them. Just in case he didn’t make it. The truth would still come out. Someday, someone would discover what he had kept safe for all these years.
But now it looked as if it just might be him that brought what everyone was looking for, Proof. And
something else. Something that would change the lives of more than one person.
Author’s Note
All characters in this book are fictional. Some are composites of people I have known. Most are entirely made up. As this series goes on, the characters and situations come more and more from my imagination.
Some places are real, others, like Doveland, I imagined. However, I grew up in State College, PA, and now we live a few hours from Pittsburgh, so these places and scenery are part of my DNA.
In today’s political landscape—although I am not sure it has ever been much different—there is so much throwing around of personal authority that I wanted to write about what, for me, is the authority that overrides all human authority. I found the word Exousia, and it meant exactly what I was looking for.
And, I love that women are the ones that are speaking up and that men are supporting them. Women taking their place in the world has been a driving force for me my whole life.
As part of that drive, I have been guiding a women’s council for almost fifteen years. They are just like the women in this book. Kind, generous, brave, and there for each other, all the time, in all ways. Being part of this council has changed my life. Although a few members have come and gone, there are a few that have been in the council the whole time. The council knows themselves as a Karass. Thank you for finding me!
And for my larger Karass, may I ask a favor of you? If you have a second, please review Exousia.
All authors ask the same thing. We need, love, and desire, your honest reviews. With millions of books in the world, this is one way that people find us. I thank you in advance for taking the time to tell others what you think.
I hope that you are enjoying the Karass Chronicles. The next one in the series is called Stemma. Read it to learn what happens when Edward returns home to Doveland.
I would love it if you followed me to keep up to date with what I’m writing. You can do that on Amazon from my author’s page. Amazon will let you know when the next book comes out.
Or come sign up for my email at https://becalewis.com, and you’ll hear from me a bit more often.
Connect with me online:
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LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/becalewis
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I could never write a book without the help of my friends and my book community. Thank you Jet Tucker, Jamie Lewis, Diana Cormier, and Barbara Budan for taking the time to do the final reader proof. You can’t imagine how much I appreciate it.
A huge thank you to Laura Moliter for her fantastic job of editing.
Thank you to the fabulous Molly Phipps at wegotyoucoveredbookdesign.com for the fantastic book covers for the Karass series.
Thank you to every other member of my street team who helps me make so many decisions that help the book be the best book possible.
And always thank you to my beloved husband, Del, for being my daily sounding board, for putting up with all my questions, my constant need to want to make things better, and for being the love of my life
OTHER BOOKS BY BECA
The KARASS Chronicles - Fiction
Karass
Pragma
Jatismar
Exousia
Stemma
Paragnosis
The Shift Series - Nonfiction
Living in Grace: The Shift to Spiritual Perception
The Daily Shift: Daily Lessons From Love To Money
The 4 Essential Questions: Choosing Spiritually Healthy Habits
The 28 Day Shift To Wealth: A Daily Prosperity Plan
The Intent Course: Say Yes To What Moves You
Perception Parables: - Fiction - very short stories
Love’s Silent Sweet Secret: A Fable About Love
Golden Chains And Silver Cords: A Fable About Letting Go
Advice: - Nonfiction
A Woman’s ABC’s of Life: Lessons in Love, Life and Career from Those Who Learned The Hard Way
ABOUT BECA LEWIS
Beca writes books that she hopes will change people’s perceptions of themselves and the world, and open possibilities of things and ideas that are waiting to be seen and experienced.
At sixteen, Beca founded her own dance studio. Later, she received a Master’s Degree in Dance in Choreography from UCLA and founded the Harbinger Dance Theatre, a multimedia dance company, while continuing to run her dance school.
After graduating—to better support her three children—Beca switched to the sales field, where she worked as an employee and independent contractor to many industries, excelling in each while perfecting and teaching her Shift® system, and writing books.
She joined the financial industry in 1983 and became an Associate Vice President of Investments at a major stock brokerage firm, and was a licensed Certified Financial Planner for more than twenty years.
This diversity, along with a variety of life challenges, helped fuel the desire to share what she’s learned by writing and talking with the hope that it will make a difference in other people’s lives.
Beca grew up in State College, PA, with the dream of becoming a dancer and then a writer. She carried that dream forward as she fulfilled a childhood wish by moving to Southern California in 1969. Beca told her family she would never move back to the cold.
After living there for thirty years, she met her husband Delbert Lee Piper Sr., at a retreat in Virginia and everything changed. They decided to find a place they could call their own which sent them off traveling around the United States for a year or so they lived, and worked in a few different places before returning to live in the cold once again near his family in a small town in Northeast Ohio.
When not working and teaching together, they love to visit and play with their combined family of eight children and five grandchildren, read, study, do yoga and taiji, feed birds, work in their garden, and design things. Actually, designing things is what Beca loves to do. Del enjoys the end result.
