Mystery at Devil's Elbow

“Momma wake up,” said Mary as she shook her mother. “Come on Momma, please wake up.”

“Mary, what’s wrong?” asked Lewis.

“Daddy, is Lisa in here with you?”

“No, she’s not.”

“What? What’s wrong?” asked Martha.

Mary spoke through her sobbing, “I can’t find Lisa, Momma.”

Lewis jumped out of bed. “I’m sure she’s here somewhere.”

The three of them started in the upstairs rooms then made their way downstairs. All three were calling her name as loudly as they could.

She was nowhere to be found. Martha began to cry. Lewis was acting like a madman as he checked all the doors and windows on the first floor. They were all locked. The three of them met in the kitchen, drained from the frantic search.

“You two wait here. I’m gonna look around outside,” said Lewis.

After a few minutes, Lewis came back in the house. He grabbed his shotgun and a flashlight.

“Martha, call the Sheriff. I’m gonna look in the areas beyond the yard.”

Martha picked up the phone immediately and called the sheriff’s emergency number.

“We have a sheriff’s car on the way, ma’am. Please remain on the line with me.”

“Ugh, okay,” said Martha, collapsing to the floor with fear.

“Has someone searched the area outside the house?”

“Yeah, my husband did. He’s outside searching some of the wooded areas beyond our yard.”

“Has she ever left the house at night alone before?”

“No, never.”

“I’m relaying all your information to the sheriff’s deputy coming to you. He says he’s just a couple minutes away.”

“I can hear a siren now.”

“The deputy told me he just pulled into your driveway.”

“Yeah, he did. Thank you very much. I’ll go out to meet him.”

Martha ran out to the driveway. Deputy Rodney Bishop was just getting out of the car.

“What’s going on, Martha?”

“Lisa is gone, Rodney. Mary woke us up, and we searched the house and the yard. She’s nowhere around.”

“Where’s Lewis?”

“He’s out searching the wooded area with a shotgun and flashlight.”

“Go call him back before somebody gets hurt?”

“Okay Rodney, if he can hear me.”

“I’ll stay here with Mary.”

“I’m scared, Deputy,” said Mary with her tear-stained face and matted hair.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened.”

“I woke up and couldn’t find Lisa, so I woke Momma and Daddy.”

“Was she with your mom and dad?”

“No, they said they didn’t know where she was. So, we searched the house and couldn’t find her.”

“Here comes your mom and dad now. Let’s go inside.”

Rodney and Mary took a seat at the kitchen table. When Lewis and Martha came in, they sat beside them.

“Mary told me what happened, Lewis. Can you think of any place she could be?”

“I went around the yard and the areas outside of the yard. I went down to the area where the skeletons were. I went down to Devil’s Elbow Bridge. She’s nowhere.”

“Other than what Lewis just mentioned, I can’t think of where she’d be,” said Martha.

“Did anybody get in the house?”

“No, I checked all the doors and windows on the first floor as soon as we knew she was missing. They were all locked from the inside.”

“Okay, why don’t the three of you wait here. I’ll see if we can get some people together for a search.”

Rodney called the sheriff’s office on his radio. He notified them that Lisa was in fact missing and a search of the immediate area was negative. He requested searchers to meet him at the Fisher home.

“What can we do?” asked Lewis.

“Lewis, you and Martha can help by staying here with Mary in case Lisa comes back.”

Lewis threw up his arms in protest. “I can’t do that! I’ve gotta go look for her!”

“Okay then, but wait until the rest of the search team gets here. We’ll all search together.”

“I think we could all use some coffee. Will that help?” asked Martha.

“Sure, Martha, that’ll help. Since it’s only 4:00 AM, coffee will help wake everybody up.”

The phone in the living room rang. Martha ran to grab it.

“Hey, Martha, this is JD. I’m sorry to hear about Lisa. I’m sure we’re gonna find her very quickly. Can you put Deputy Bishop on the line?”

“Rodney, Sheriff wants to talk to you.”

“Yeah, Sheriff.”

“Rodney, is Lisa really missing?”

“I’m afraid she is, Sheriff. All the obvious places have been checked with nothing found.”

“What about forced entry?”

“All the first-floor doors and windows were locked from the inside.”

“What about the second floor?”

“Haven’t got that far yet, Sheriff.”

“Have Lewis run upstairs and make a quick check for me while I wait on the phone.”

“Lewis, Sheriff wants you to run upstairs and check the windows. Make sure nobody’s cut a screen or anything.”

“On my way.”

“Okay, while Lewis is doing that, any signs of violence around the house, Bishop?”

“I haven’t done a complete search, but the immediate area has nothing wrong. Everything seems in place.”

“Do Lewis, Martha or Mary have any indications of violence or blood on them.”

“Negative.”

“I need to know if all the windows upstairs are locked.”

“Sheriff, Lewis just got back and the windows on the second floor are locked.”

“Okay, the search teams on its way. Keep things stable until we get there.”

“Will do, Sheriff.” He hung up the receiver.

“Is everything okay?” asked Lewis.

“Yeah, the search team is on the way.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Here’s a cup of coffee for both of you.”

A few minutes later, lights flashed as a car pulled into the driveway. It was Pete Miller, followed by a second car from the sheriff’s department. Sheriff Carson and Pete Miller walked up to the house together, and Deputy Bishop met them at the door.

“Martha, can we spread this map out on your kitchen table?” asked JD.

“Sure, JD, let me clear it off.”

Martha removed the salt and pepper shakers and napkin holder. JD laid out a giant 3-foot by a 4-foot map of the county. It was very detailed with all the roads and trails marked.

“Lewis, can you show me on the map where you already searched?”

Lewis pointed to the areas just outside the yard, which included the spots where the skeletons were found near Devil’s Elbow Bridge and a short span of the forest. The map had a plastic covering, and the sheriff marked four search areas on the map with a wax pencil. He put hash marks on the areas that Lewis had searched.

“Did you find any trace of her while you were looking?”

“No trace at all,” said Lewis.

“Were you calling her name?”

“Yeah, I called for her the whole time I was out there.”

“Did you hear any response at all?”

“No, in fact, it was too quiet out there.”

“What do you mean?”

“There was no sound at all.”

“That’s odd.”

While the rest of the search team was on their way, Martha notified her parents and Lewis’ parents. Both sets of parents were on their way to the house for support.

Two more cars pulled up in the driveway. Three guys got out of the first vehicle, and four got out of the other. That was enough people to start the search. He and Deputy Bishop took a duplicate map and added the markings to the areas already searched. JD gave the duplicate to Deputy Bishop with directions on how he wanted the search conducted. In the meantime, everybody made sure they had a working flashlight.

“Okay boys, gather around the table here. I’ll man the checkpoint here at the house and will be in contact by radio with Deputy Bishop. Please call out her name, then give her a few seconds to respond. Remember she may be hurt and can’t answer with anything more than a whimper. So, listen carefully. Any questions?”

The men shook their heads no.

“Okay guys, let’s move outside,” said Rodney.

Once outside, Rodney led the men to the first search grid. He lined them up in a straight line about an arm’s length apart to ensure that the area was completely covered. The men walked forward with flashlights on, their heads down, and eyes focused. They alternated from looking up for large objects then looking down for footprints. He notified Sheriff Carson that they’d started the search of the first grid.

About an hour passed and the first grid was searched. Deputy Bishop notified the sheriff, who directed them to move to the second grid. Deputy Bishop walked the men to grid two and started the search.

“Is there any place else you think she could be, Martha?” asked JD.

Martha paused as she looked up at the ceiling. “I can’t think of any place!”

“Anything unusual happen lately, say the last couple days?”

Martha snapped her fingers. “There was one thing that happened just the other night, Sheriff.”

“What was that?”

“That was the thing I called you about. The two girls seeing people on the hill over to the East.”

“I remember now. Can you show me the hill on this map?”

“I’m not good with maps. It might be this hill right here.” She pointed.

“Okay, tell me again what happened that night.” Martha did, and JD shook his head.

“I just can’t believe a story like that.”

“You think I’m lying?”

“Oh no, Martha, we’ve known each other since we were kids. You’re one of the most honest people I know.”

“I appreciate that, JD. I’m scared and confused, but that doesn’t change what we saw the other night.”

“Okay, we’re gonna try something.” He pulled out his radio and contacted Deputy Bishop.

“Deputy Bishop, this is Sheriff Carson, come in.”

“Go ahead, Sheriff.”

“Deputy, take two men and go to the hill to the southeast of you and search there.”

“Got it, Sheriff. I’ll leave the rest of the searchers here to finish grid two.”

“Roger that.”

“You think she’s on that hill?”

“I don’t know. But it’s worth a try.”

Fifteen minutes later, a call came over the radio.

“Sheriff, we got her.”

Martha started to cry. JD went outside the house to speak over the radio.

“Is she okay?” asked JD.

“She appears to be, Sheriff. She was asleep and is groggy.”

“Send the two people back to the house with her, and I’ll call an ambulance.”

“On their way, Sheriff. Lewis is carrying her.”

“I want you to guard that site, so no one messes with any evidence. I’ll get an evidence team to meet you there.”

“Got it. The search team in grid two doesn’t have a radio. Can you send someone to get them?”

“Will do.”

JD used the house phone to call back to the sheriff’s office. He asked the deputy on duty to have an evidence team meet him at the Fisher house as soon as possible. JD also asked for a deputy to meet Lisa at the hospital and keep her secure.

Lewis arrived back at the house with Lisa, but she was groggy, opening her eyes but not keeping them open. She was mumbling, but not talking.

Most shocking was that her hair had streaks of white in it, her eyes had turned blue, and they could see the veins near the surface of her skin. Martha held her baby tightly. The ambulance arrived moments later to take Lisa to the hospital. Martha rode with her daughter. Her mind was racing.

I was afraid this was going to happen. Who took my baby and what did they do to her? Where are the Watchers who told Lisa they looked out for her? I almost lost her again.