Mystery at Devil's Elbow

A week after the terrible truck accident, Lewis and Martha took the girls fishing and picnicking at Bloodland Lake. Lewis put his, flat-bottom boat in the water. The lake was calm, and the clouds covering the sun only occasionally kept the temperature comfortable on this fall day. Lewis had fished this lake for most of his life and knew exactly where the fish were. He rowed the girls wearing their new orange life vests out to the spot that curved inland, where the fish always seemed to bite. Martha stayed ashore and set up the picnic lunch.

For about an hour, the girls caught several small fish, all under six inches. Lewis baited their hooks, untangled their lines, and rowed the boat to some of the other good spots on the lake. The girls were laughing and joking with their dad about the nasty worms when Martha called from the shore for them to come and have lunch. The girls reeled in their lines while Lewis rowed them back to shore. Martha had brought fried chicken, okra, potato salad, sweet potato pie, and a jug of sun tea.

After lunch, Lewis took the girls back out on the lake while Martha sat in a lawn chair listening to the truck’s radio. Thank goodness for Lewis’ dad loaning them a truck until the insurance paid up. The girls fished for about an hour.

The sun was fading in the west when Lewis thought it was time to head back in. Martha had taken a good nap in her chair and was ready to go home. The sun was setting by the time they got everything back in the truck.

“Daddy, can we ride in the back and watch for falling stars?” asked Mary.

“Yeah, please?” asked Lisa.

“What do you think, Martha?” asked Lewis. “Looks like you got some sun. Your freckles have come out.”

“You leave my freckles out of this. Looks like you got a little burn on your nose too,” said Martha sarcastically.

“Well you know I love those freckles of yours,” said Lewis with a grin.

“So, you’ve told me,” Martha said with a laugh. “I don’t see why you girls can’t ride in the back if you sit in the bed.”

“We will,” said Lisa.

Lewis reached down, picked up each of the girls, and sat them in the back of the truck bed, so they were secure. Martha brought out the blanket from the picnic basket and covered the girls’ legs. Lewis drove the truck slowly on back roads towards home. The girls watched for falling stars as their dad drove.

“Do you see that light over there, Mary?” asked Lisa.

The light was a bright white oblong. It was just above the trees.

“Yeah, what do you think it is?”

“I don’t know. It seems awfully bright.”

The light stayed above the trees and appeared to be following them. Both girls watched for several minutes.

“I feel like somebody’s lookin’ at us,” said Lisa.

“Me too,” said Mary.

“Could that light be watchin’ us?” Lisa asked with a quiver in her voice.

“I don’t know.”

Each girl took turns watching. Both agreed that the light was following the truck because of the way it moved in the same direction.

“Could there be people in the light?” asked Mary.

“There’d have to be to follow us,” said Lisa.

“Could it be an airplane?”

“No, doesn’t sound like a plane.”

“It frightens me.”

“Me, too.”

The family was nearly home when Mary said. “We gotta tell Momma and Daddy.”

As soon as Lewis stopped the truck in the driveway, the girls started yelling at their parents. The girls’ eyes were wide open and watery.

Martha stepped out of the truck first and turned towards the girls. “Whoa, girls. One at a time.”

“Momma, that light up there’s following us,” said Lisa.

Martha looked at the light for several seconds. “Oh, you’re wrong.”

“Sure … must be,” said Lewis.

“No, it’s been following us,” said Mary.

“Oh, come on now, girls. It’s just a star,” said Lewis.

“Now it looks like it’s just sitting above our house,” said Mary.

“Yeah, dear, it just looks that way ’cause it’s so far away and bright, but it’s not sitting above our house,” said Lewis.

“Come on, girls, we’re gonna get ready for bed while Daddy takes things outta the truck,” said Martha.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” said Lewis.

Lewis put up the boat, fishing gear, and picnic accessories. He then gathered up the cooler with the leftovers and went into the house.

As he placed the food in the refrigerator, he couldn’t help but chuckle at the girls thinking they were being followed by light in the sky. Martha came downstairs, poured herself a cold glass of tea from the refrigerator, and went to the living room to watch television.

Lewis went upstairs to kiss the girls’ goodnight and tuck them in bed. He went to Mary’s room first. Mary was wearing her favorite elephant pajamas and holding her stuffed monkey as she lay on her side. Lewis sat at the foot of the bed.

“Daddy, can I sleep with you tonight?” asked Mary.

“No, baby, you can’t sleep with Momma and me. You’re a big girl now.”

“But I’m scared of the light.”

“No, not with me and Momma.”

“Can I sleep with Lisa’s?”

“Let’s go ask her, sweetie.”

Lewis and Martha had set up Lisa’s room exactly as she wanted it with flower wallpaper and a flower-patterned comforter on her bed. Lisa had a small desk where she kept her most important things safe in the drawers.

“Lisa, can sissy sleep in your room?”

“I was going to ask you if I could sleep with you and Momma.”

“No, neither of you is sleeping with me and Momma. You both can sleep together in this room if you’d like.”

“That’s okay with me, Daddy. Mary can sleep with me.”

He and Martha had put bunk beds in each girl’s room, so their friends could sleep over. It had worked out very well.

“That work for you, Mary?”

“Yeah,” Mary said as she settled under the covers.

“Okay, now, both of you go to sleep.”

Lewis kissed both girls and made sure they were tucked in bed. He handed Lisa, her pink panther. He was never able to sleep when one or both slept in bed with him and Martha. He went downstairs and got himself a can of beer and sat down beside Martha on the couch.

“The girls in bed?” asked Martha.

“Yeah, I put them in Lisa’s room rather than have them sleep with us. They both said they’re scared of the light.”

“That light wasn’t following us, that’s just silly,” said Martha as she frowned at the idea.

“I know, and I can’t have them sleep in bed with us. I need a good night’s sleep.”

Later the girls heard scratching against the window.

“You sleep Mary?” asked Lisa.

“No, I’m too scared.”

“You hear the scratching against the house?” asked Lisa nearly in tears.

“Yeah, what is it?” asked Mary from under the covers.

“It sounds like … an animal trying to get in,” said Lisa with a break in her voice.

“Don’t talk like that,” said Mary, choking back her tears.

“I guess it could be the tree branches rubbing against the house in the wind, but I don’t hear no wind.”

“Me neither.”

A loud click came from the closet. When Lisa looked toward the sound, she noticed the light was on in her closet. She was sure she turned it off.

“What was what?” asked Mary.

“The light just went on in the closet. See it under the door?”

“Yea I see. Did we leave it on before we got into bed?”

“I don’t think so, but can’t remember.”

Both girls pulled the covers over their heads to keep from seeing or hearing anything else scary. Lisa hugged her pink panther. After a short while, they were both fast asleep.

During the night, Lisa dreamt that there were several skeletons buried in the forest near the Devil’s Elbow Bridge that is a short distance from her home down the path behind the house. In the dream, she and Mary were skipping and jogging through the forest, looking for butterflies and birds, when they stumbled across pieces of a skeleton.

From in between the trees, the girls could see something tall and dark, just out of clear vision. It looked too big to be a man and too thin to be a bear, but it was hard to see for sure from a distance.

As they got closer, they could see a silhouette of the people under a large silver craft in the air.

The next morning, Lisa remembered the creature from her dream. The memory of the dream didn’t scare her anymore, and she didn’t mention it to her parents. However, the girls recalled the ghostly sounds and sights they experienced during the night.

“Daddy, there were ghosts in our room last night,” Lisa said with bloodshot eyes from poor sleep.

“Yeah, they scared us,” said Mary.

“Okay girls, stop. There’s no such thing as ghosts,” said Lewis shaking his head no.

“We heard noises in our room,” said Lisa.

“What did you hear?” asked Martha.

“We heard scratching,” said Mary.

“I heard scratching too, and it was the tree branches rubbing the side of the house,” said Martha.

“That’s right, your momma asked me to trim them more than once,” said Lewis. He looked at his wife. “I’ll do it today.”

“What else did you girls hear?” asked Martha.

“We heard a click, and the light was on in my closet,” said Lisa.

“The light switch in your closet doesn’t make a click when it’s turned off or on,” said Lewis.

“What could have made that sound?” asked Mary.

“Let’s see. The hall light switch makes a click when it’s turned off or on,” said Lewis.

“Your dad’s right, girls,” said Martha.

“Did the clicking sound happen right after I left your room?” asked Lewis.

“I guess so,” said Mary with a frown.

“See girls, the noises you heard can be explained,” said Martha.

“I guess you’re right, Momma,” said Lisa.

“What about the light that followed us home from the lake?” asked Mary.

“Like I said last night. I think it was the star. Most likely Sirius. It’s very bright at night and can appear to be moving,” said Lewis.

“Everything’s okay, girls. There aren’t any ghosts or aliens,” said Martha.

“Except for the Watchers,” said Lisa.

“Okay, except for the Watchers,” said Lewis.Martha froze and met Lewis’ eyes, but he just shook his head with a smirk.”