Page 28 of Trick or Treat with the Mountain Man
Ava whispered, “You shouldn’t disrespect it. It might get angry.”
I grinned at her. “Honey, I’m not afraid of a ghost… or bad construction, or whatever the sound is from.”
She picked up the envelope and teased it across my naked torso. “Read it to me.”
How could a man say no to that?
So, I worked my thumb under the edge of the envelope and slowly ripped it open.
A gold locket fell out, along with several sheets of paper folded in half. I put the locket aside and started reading the letter out loud.
Hello stranger,
Whoever finds this letter should know it was meant to be. There’s no other reason you’d be rooting through the floorboards of the old gardener’s cottage otherwise.
I’m eighty-seven now, and I can feel it in my bones that the good lord is coming to take me away soon. I’ve lived the best life I could, given the circumstances. But there’s one thing I was never able to do. And it’s going to haunt me until it’s done.
Ava interrupted me. “See! Itisa ghost!”
I gave her a smooch on the cheek and growled, “I’ll haunt you if you don’t let me finish this letter.” Then I grabbed her breast and played with her nipple until she shrieked with delight.
“You have to stop that or I’ll be late for work,” she grumbled playfully.
That was my cue to start reading again.
My husband, Orson, and I were traveling with our baby boy, Wallace, when a flood came. We’d been on our way to San Francisco to start a new life, and we were in Kentucky when the rains started. It rained and rained and never ended.
We tried to stay together, but the water swept me away. Orson did everything he could to hold on to me, but I slipped out of his grasp. His wedding ring came off right in my hand, and then the waters took me. He’s probably thought I was dead all these years. But I survived.
The last time I saw him, he was holding Wallace with his legs wrapped around a tree trunk, reaching his arm out to me as I was whisked away by the angry waters.
After the flood, I walked for days trying to find them again. But I couldn’t even locate the roadside camp where we’d stayed. The whole thing had been washed away.
Even though I tried to make it west, I only made it as far as Arkansas before my money ran out. All of our valuables had been in the automobile, or in Orson’s pockets.
I didn’t know how to find him again, and I wandered lost and hopeless until a kind man took me in. Dr. Ferrel hired me to be his housekeeper, and I stayed here all these years because I didn’t know what else to do.
I sent telegrams to San Francisco for years, hoping Orson might check to see if there was one in his name. But I was always notified that they’d gone undelivered.
My entire life I dreamed of seeing Orson and little Wallace again. Now I’ve given up hope of that. Dr. Ferrel found his obituary and gave it to me. We’ll never be joined again in life, but I’m hoping we can still be joined together forever.
After Orson died, I tried to find Wallace. Dr. Ferrel even hired a private investigator since we finally had a lead. Orson passed away in Saint Louis.
That’s where my baby probably is. Although he’d be a man by now. A grown man.
If you find this letter, please do anything you can to find my baby boy. Please give him his father’s wedding ring so it can be put back on his finger where it belongs.
And give him this letter if you do find him.
Wallace, even though I couldn’t be there, I want you to know you were loved dearly your entire life. You will always be my son and the light shining in my heart. If you can, please bury me next to your father wearing our wedding rings. I knowthat’s a lot to ask. I’ll be in the Ferrel family cemetery plot waiting to be reunited with Orson.
Sincerely,
Cordelia Myers
1923
By the time I reached the end, Ava was crying softly, her body hitching lightly as she pressed herself tightly against me.
