Mystery at Devil's Elbow

A few days later, Lisa and Mary were walking along the railroad tracks near the Devil’s Elbow Bridge looking for butterflies. It was 2:00 PM, the sun was shining brightly in the blue sky.

Suddenly, Lisa collapsed. Mary walked over and shook her sister.

“Are you okay, Lisa?”

“I’m dizzy.”

“Should we go home?”

“No, I’ll be okay.”

“You want to keep lookin’ for butterflies?”

“Not right now. I had a strange thought.”

“What was it?”

“We were walking along these tracks, and we found a skull.”

“Wow.”

“It was in the roots of a tree just like that one over there.”

“Let’s go look and see.”

“No, it was just a thought.”

“Let’s just go see anyway.”

The girls walked over to the tree and rummaged around the large roots running on the surface of the ground.

Suddenly Mary shook her arm, pointing to the left of where they stood.

“There it is!”

“What?”

“The skull.”

“Don’t kid around like that.”

“I’m not kiddin’.”

Lisa walked over to where her sister was pointing. There it lay between two roots face up. It could be seen even though the tree-shaded it. It was a skull shape and the right size, with the color of white like bones. There was dirt in the eye sockets, and the jaw bone was askew. The girls wondered if it was a real.

“Run home and get Momma,” said Lisa in a loud shriek.

“I don’t wanna leave you alone here.”

Both girls ran home as fast as they could. When they got to the house, they crashed through the back door. It was Sunday, so Momma was in the kitchen making dinner.

“Momma, Daddy, come quick,” said Lisa.

“Momma, you gotta see this,” said Mary.

“Come and see what?” asked Martha.

“It’s a skull!” said Lisa.

“You better not be kidding.” Martha raised her eyebrows and placed both hands on her hips.

“We wouldn’t kid ‘bout somethin’ like that,” said Mary.

“Lewis, come here,” hollered Martha.

“Be right there,” said Lewis as he got up from the couch.

As he walked into the kitchen, he caught his breath. Martha and the girls looked like they’d seen a ghost.

“What’s going on?” asked Lewis.

“The girls say they found a skull down in the trees. Take them down there and see what they found. I gotta stay here and finish cooking dinner. Your parents will be here shortly,” said Martha.

“Okay girls, let’s go see what ya found,” said Lewis.

The girls jogged down the sloping hill of tall grass, leading their dad towards the spot where they found the skull. The girls slowed their pace as they approached the tree and walked beside their dad.

Lewis stopped and looked down. He’d seen a few skulls in Nam and knew this was real.

“Girls go back and tell Momma to call JD and have him meet me down here,” said Lewis.

The two girls took off running back toward home. They both went bursting through the back door again.

“You girls stop that before you break that door,” said Martha.

“Momma, Daddy, said call JD and have him meet Daddy down there by the trees,” said Mary.

“What’re you talking about?” asked Martha.

“It’s a skull, Momma,” said Mary.

“It’s true,” said Lisa.

Martha called the sheriff’s office and explained the situation. The deputy told Martha that the sheriff would be right there.

Martha took a moment to tell the girls everything that was said on the phone, so they could answer any questions Lewis might have. She wanted to keep Lewis updated as he waited for the Sheriff. She then sent them back to him with a final direction.

“As soon as you tell Daddy, come right back here cause your grandparents will be here any minute.”

Sheriff Carson was a large man with a muscular build. He appeared to be all business in his khaki uniform. He was at the house in 15 minutes.

Martha had the girls take him down to Lewis. JD parked the car just off the road, and he and the girls walked down to Lewis. As soon as they got near, the sheriff told the girls they better go on back home, and that he and their Daddy would take it from there.

The sheriff removed his sunglasses and looked at the skull with a furrowed brow. “Whatcha got there?”

Lewis looked over at the sheriff with a tight jaw. “It’s a human skull, JD.”

“Where on earth did it come from?” The sheriff’s tone was demanding.

“Don’t know, but it sure does appear to be human.”

JD put some gloves on and knelt to get a closer look. He moved the dirt around the skull. No other bones were around it.

“Lewis, you’re absolutely right. This is a human skull.”

“I’ll call some deputies down here to help me take this further. Go on home and have supper with your family. I’ll get it.”

“After all these years JD, I didn’t think I’d see another dead body or skeleton.”

JD sighed. “I know what you mean.”

As the sheriff walked back to his car to talk over the radio, Lewis made his way back home. His parents and wife had already sat down at the picnic table.

They all stopped what they were doing and sat there quietly with questioning looks as he entered the backyard. Martha must have filled them in on what the girls found.

“Well, JD’s on the case, so why don’t we have a nice supper?”

“Sounds good to me,” said Martha.

“I don’t want to talk about what the girls found, but JD will probably come up before he leaves.”

“I understand. Who wants some fried chicken?” asked Martha.

After a somber and quiet supper, Lewis looked down the hill and saw the sheriff’s department searching with floodlights where the girls found the skull. It was getting late, so Lewis’s parents moved with Lewis and Martha to the kitchen table to talk, while both girls went upstairs to play.

“That was good supper, wasn’t it, Dad?” Lewis asked.

“Sure was.”

“What’d you think, Mom?”

“Yeah, I liked it too,” said Evelyn. She was wearing a homemade print dress with a modest pearl necklace that matched her quiet personality.

“Well, I’m glad you both liked it,” said Martha.

Lewis cleared his throat and spoke in a low voice. “I’d like to talk to you both about something while the girls are upstairs.”

“Go ahead son, what is it?” asked Evelyn.

“After Lisa was shocked she told us that Watchers were with her while she was lying on the ground with no pulse, not breathing. She said they were also with her later in the ambulance.”

Kenny and Evelyn didn’t seem overly excited about the news of Lisa seeing and hearing things.

“We don’t know what to think of it,” said Martha.

“Dad, it happened again a couple of weeks ago when we had that truck wreck, and she got a head injury.”

“That’s right, she said Watchers were with her in the truck and stayed with her in the ambulance,” said Martha.

“Dad, I seem to remember you had an aunt who saw things.”

“That’s right,” said Kenny in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Whatever happened to her, Dad?”

“She married an Army man and moved out to New Mexico,” said Kenny. His tone was comforting.

“I don’t remember ever seeing her, Dad.”

“No, she left before you kids were grown. She and her husband stayed pretty much to themselves out there. I think she had four kids that stayed out there too.”

“What about her seeing things?”

“Well, she was what people called a Psychic.”

“What do you mean?”

Kenny took a deep breath. “She saw people and other things in her younger years and later saw things that happened in the past or would happen in the future.”

Lewis’ eyes were wide. “Was she sick, Dad?”

“No, she wasn’t sick. She had a gift, son.”

“Were people afraid of her?”

“I don’t think they were afraid of her. Just think they didn’t understand. While she was still at home, she found a couple of missing kids lost in the forest.”

“She helped the police out a few times, too,” said Evelyn.

“Really?” Martha asked. Her voice was shaky, and the color had drained from her face.

“Yeah,” said Evelyn.

“So, she really had a gift, Dad?” asked Lewis.

“Do you think that Lisa might have a gift or is she just making this up?” asked Martha.

“It’s hard to say. My aunt was just a year older than me, and I could never make heads or tails of what was goin on.”

“Why don’t you have Lisa come down here and talk to us for just a few minutes,” said Evelyn.

“Okay Mom, if you think it’s best,” Lewis said.

Lewis walked halfway up the stairs and hollered for Lisa to come down. She came skipping down the steps, giggling.

“Honey, tell your grandma and grandpa about the Watchers.”

“Can’t. Momma said no one except you and her,” Lisa replied, shaking her head no.

“It’s okay, honey. Tell Grandma and Grandpa about the Watchers,” said Martha.

“I saw Watchers, Grandpa,” said Lisa with a big smile.

“When did you see them, honey?”

“When I was on the ground an’ Daddy was pushing on my chest. The Watchers were all around me saying everything’s gonna be okay.”

“Did you recognize any of them, honey?”

“No.”

“Did you see them again?” asked Evelyn.

“Not until the truck wreck, Grandma.”

“How did you see them?” asked Evelyn.

“They were in the truck, and they laid down beside me on the seat. They went in the ambulance with me and told me everything’s gonna be okay.”

“Did you see them anymore?” asked Kenny.

“I saw them today, Grandpa,” said Lisa, her eyes wide open.

Her parents and grandparents all looked at Lisa with concern.

“What you mean, you saw them today?” asked Martha.

“When we were in the trees, Momma. I saw something in my head like a thought. I fell on the ground. The Watchers said it’d be okay. Then me and Mary found the skull like in the thought.”

“Why do you call them Watchers?” asked Evelyn.

“That is what they told me to call ’em, Grandma.”

“Do these Watchers tell you what to do?” asked Kenny.

“No, they just say everything’s gonna be okay.”

“Are you afraid of them?” asked Kenny.

“No, they’re nice. They make me feel good. They look like us with blonde hair, men, and women, in white robes, and a glow around them.”

“Come give Grandma a kiss and go on back upstairs and play,” said Evelyn.

Lisa gave her Grandmother a big hug and a kiss. She turned and skipped back up the stairs as if nothing was wrong. The next thing they knew, she and Mary were giggling and carrying on upstairs. The adults looked at each other with a blank expression, not saying a word for several minutes.

“She speaks of them the same way my aunt did,” Kenny said.

“Do you think she has a gift?” asked Lewis.

“I certainly do, son.”

“What should we do?”

“I don’t think there’s much you can do,” said Evelyn.

“Dad, won’t people think she’s sick.”

“Well, son, my family kept quiet about it, so most people didn’t know. There were a few, the ones she helped. Don’t make Lisa scared of these Watchers, son.”

“You also need to listen to what Lisa says,” said Evelyn.

“That’s right. Just because it sounds outlandish doesn’t mean it’s not true. She is seeing and hearing things we can’t,” said Kenny.

“This scares me to death,” said Martha, worry creasing her face.

“This really isn’t that big of a deal,” said Kenny.

“I hope you’re right, Dad,” said Lewis.

Kenny and Evelyn left about nine. Lewis and Martha waited to see if the sheriff would stop by before he went for the night. While waiting, they sipped on cold glasses of tea, but neither spoke. They heard a rapping on the door, jolting them out of their quiet reflection. Lewis went to answer the door. JD was on the other side of the screen door waving off a few of the moths around the outside light. His shirt was wet with sweat, and he had mud on his pant legs.

“Come on in, JD,” said Lewis.

“Thanks, Lewis. Got a few minutes so we can talk about what the girls found?”

“Sure do. Want to sit at the table?”

“Sounds good, mind if I have something to drink?”

“No, not at all. Want iced tea or a beer?”

“I’m still on duty, so better take tea.”

“Mind if Martha comes and joins us?”

“No, not at all.”

“Martha, you wanna join us at the table?” asked Lewis.

“Be right there,” said Martha.

After Lewis poured JD a glass of iced tea, the three of them sat down. Martha moved a plate of chocolate chip cookies from the counter to the table, in case JD was hungry.

“Would you like something to eat, JD?” asked Martha.

“No, Martha, I don’t have an appetite right now. But I do thank you.”

“The girls are upstairs so we can talk openly,” said Lewis.

“That’s fine,” he said. “Where should I begin. When me and my deputies went down to investigate the skull, we did some preliminary work before the coroner showed up. The coroner and his team were a little more aggressive in their investigation as they dug nearby and found what they believe to be over half the skeletal remains. Since it’s only a skeleton, and the bones appear to be healthy, he couldn’t tell how the person died. He’ll know more when he’s able to investigate back in his office. He’s going to bring in a forensic anthropologist to put the skeleton back together.” JD took a long sip of his drink.

Lewis and Martha sat there with their eyes wide open, looking intently at JD.

“He estimates that the body has been in the ground out there for a couple years. So, my office will look to see if there’s a missing person that matches. I don’t think there’s anything to fear for your family living so close to the burial site, and since the coroner says it was buried over two years ago, I’m not sure the person is even around anymore that buried the body. But I would appreciate if you don’t let the girls play down there for a few more days ’til we can make sure we find as much of this skeleton as we can.”

“Goodness, JD, do you think they was murdered?” asked Martha through tears.