Chapter 29

A meek smile pulled at the corners of Zeke’s mouth. The force of their hands on his back barely registered. His head jerked from side to side as they shook his shoulders. He heard their laughter. Yet the sensations, the sounds seemed far away, like he watched it all happening in a movie somewhere beyond his mind.

Had he done it? Was that it? It sounded like a spring flowed down in the well. His smile dissolved into a frown. He turned to the pastor.

“Is that it?” he asked.

“Son, I hear a spring. I’d say that is it. God heard you and granted your request. You are free. ‘And who the Son sets free is free indeed,’ the good book tells us.” The pastor threw back his head and laughed from his belly.

Zeke smiled. A stifled laugh bubbled up and rolled out of his mouth. Tears stung his eyes. His laughter morphed in to sobs. His relief and grief poured out of him in waves of weeping.

Vince held Zeke’s shoulders, and Clifford stood still next to him.

He heard Clifford sniff. Then, Zeke laughed again. He wafted back and forth between laughing and crying. Finally, he took a deep breath and lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe his face. He took another deep breath.

“Ahh,” he blurted.

Vince patted his shoulder and guided him back to the bluestone path.

“I’m overjoyed for you, Zeke.” Pastor James shook Zeke’s hand.

Clifford bumped fists with Zeke and followed the pastor out the door.

“I want to know about that Two-Rivers thing, Cliff,” Zeke called after him.

“I’ll look into it, I promise,” he called back.

Zeke closed the door and set the alarm. The house was so big and so—empty. Yet, he wasn’t alone. He took his mother’s Bible and the black urn to the library. The urn belonged in there. Luther had chosen the urn after all and he had loved the library.

He thought about the girl from the river. Was she all right? He wondered which hospital they took her to. He’d ask Clifford tomorrow. Zeke read until the clock struck midnight. Then he climbed the stairs and went to bed.

Birds singing outside the windows woke Zeke early the next morning. As he dressed, he thought about what he needed to do. He had broken the curse, helped Rosa and Otto move on, and the water had returned to the well. It was time he determined what he wanted to do. He made coffee and carried it outside. He stared into the garden and let the sounds of nature fill him with joy and, something else—comfort. All was right with this land now and the animals reflected it.

Ding. “You gotta call...” his phone rang. He looked at the screen, and then pushed answer. “Hey Cliff.”

“Hey cuz.” Clifford chuckled.

“Seriously?” Zeke nearly squealed.

“As a heart attack.”

“So, you talked to Twyla? Tell me all about it,” he said, a huge grin split his face.

“Dude, she’s such a funny bird. It was like pulling chicken’s teeth, but she finally admitted her family name was Two-Rivers. She changed it before she graduated from law school. She wanted to fit in with the white students, rather than ‘the white men changed her name so that they could pronounce it... ‘ whatever.”

They laughed.

“That is such good news.”

“Yeah, so ... we’ll see you tomorrow?” Clifford asked.

“Huh?”

“Your appointment with T.J. Rivers, tomorrow at two PM, sir,” Clifford said with his professional voice.

“Oh, right.” Zeke chuckled. “Yes, I’ll be there. And, Cliff...” He paused.

“Yessss?”

“Thank you. For everything.”

“No problem, since you’re family and all.”

Zeke heard Clifford chuckle and his phone went silent. Oh! He forgot to ask about the girl. He’d call back later.

For lunch, he decided to thaw out a steak and bake some thick fries. He fired up the grill. As he lowered the lid he looked out across the garden. Emptiness filled his chest as thoughts of Rosa and Otto came to his mind. He was glad he had helped them and they were no longer trapped out there, but he missed them anyway. He grieved. Uncle Luther, Rosa and Otto had all passed on recently as far as he was concerned.

He returned to the kitchen and put the frozen steak in the microwave to defrost. The machine whirred into action. He pulled out the package of thick fries and poured a large handful on a cookie sheet. He turned the oven’s thermostat to four hundred degrees and waited for the preheat buzzer.

His mind flashed back to the steak and mashed potatoes he had prepared for Clifford. There was something about Clifford he’d liked from the start. The fact that they were family made it all the better. He’d never had a cousin before and he wondered what it was going to be like.