Chapter 4

Kate brought the box to Miss Maudie. It was about two feet long, sixteen inches wide and seven inches deep. The leather was cracked and dry. It was easily carried by Kate, so I knew it wasn't heavy. Slowly Miss Maudie undid the straps that held it fastened.

Laying it open on the table, Miss Maudie gently started removing papers from the box. As she laid the top paper face down on the table she said, "This paper is my story. It tells you the important facts of my life. Also things that have occurred affecting this property. Your name, Hattie Mae and your name, Jim Ryan, will be added to a blank page when I put this page back in the box. When I return everything here to the box, that page on top will say, Jim Ryan and wife, Hattie Mae, were chosen by Maudie Ferguson to continue as has been done in the previous centuries."

I stared at Kate, mystified as to what all of this meant.

Miss Maudie continued peeling pages down through the box. She picked up each page, reading off the date and the person whose page it was. She then laid it face down on the pile that was progressively growing thicker.

Why I did it I don't know, but I started counting the pages as she put them down. When she reached thirteen, she paused and said as she picked up seven pages together, "This is the first of the written records. They were started by a man named Andrew McPhereson. He had a huge land grant that he received from the English Crown for services rendered.

"He built a plantation where the town is now located. Loving the mountains, he explored extensively. On one of his expeditions he came upon an old Indian who spoke Spanish, however broken. Recognizing the language and surprised that an Indian could speak more than his own, he looked for a translator. These seven pages tell of what he learned. They also tell of him making these hundreds of acres that surround us into a Grant that couldn't be taken away for three hundred years.

"The reason I am so intent on choosing someone to carry on is that next year the Grant reverts to the state of Kentucky. Someone must decide what to do. Should this bit of history end and the Grant lost, or should some way be found to preserve it. Through my dreams it was indicated to choose you two to make these decisions. It will shortly be out of my hands as I have not many weeks to live."

I could see that the box was not empty. Nestled in a neat row were eleven Indian dolls in a tray. They had their own little partition so they couldn't be mixed up. Wondering what the significance was, but not wanting to ask questions, I waited to see if there was more to come. Miss Maudie took the tray out and put it by the papers. Fitted into the bottom of the box I could see what looked like a sword hilt. The sword blade was almost all gone, maybe four inches remaining. This took up two thirds of the space. She removed it.

The other third showed something flat wrapped in fine leather chamois. Sliding her fingers under the leather, Miss Maudie gently lifted out and unwrapped a white unglazed tile. Very uniformly across the face you could see lettering. I looked closely and could make out a name and a date. The writing was in Spanish. I couldn't do more than recognize it and I could not decipher it. "Miss Maudie, what does all of this mean?"

Miss Maudie smiled and said, "You are looking at a diary of sorts. It was started by a captured Spanish prisoner when Florida was a holding of Spain. He was transported here where he spent the rest of his life. The tile says that this is his tombstone, waiting to be sent back to Spain so he can be laid to rest with his family. The sword hilt is actually a key to a crypt that is located in a cave further up the mountain. The little dolls each represent those that have been chosen to carry the story forward. Not being able to write, they learned the story and passed it on--word of mouth. The first doll there is the one chosen by the priest. The second doll is the one that she chose, and so on down to Andrew McPhereson.

"Andrew McPhereson was smart, literate, and well-to-do. He found someone who could understand what the Indian was saying and what the eleventh doll represented. That is what is written in his pages. Each one chosen has learned this story by rote just as I am passing it on to you whom I have chosen."

She looked at me when she said this. The thought crossed my mind unbidden, that Kate's only chore was to bring me to Miss Maudie and I was to be the Chosen One.

"How long did it take you to learn the story?" I asked. I only had the rest of this week and next to give to this new duty. I wasn't going to reject it out of hand, but my vacation would soon be over. If I took it on, I wanted to give it my all, the same as I did everything. That is just the way I am.

Miss Maudie realized I was reluctant. "Oh, you must do this for me. I really do not have much longer to live. I must fulfill what I have been charged with before I die. You are the only one that can do this and do it right. Please believe me that although I am the one that chose you, you have been identified by a Higher Being to carry on."

Well, I thought, was this fate or predestined, or what? Somehow I believed Miss Maudie when she said that I really was meant to carry out her wishes.

To add more weight to her entreaty she said, "I have shown you the Story Box and told you what it is all about. Now I must have you see the crypt. Hattie Mae knows where the entrance to the cave is. I never could get her to enter it, so I guess it was never meant for me to show her what is inside. I will give you directions to enter the crypt."

She bustled about, well as much as a ninety-two-year-old could, handing me the sword hilt and two powerful flashlights. "I had Billy Bob get me these two weeks ago, for I knew they would soon be used. When you get in the cave you will find it darker than anything you could ever imagine."

I had been down into many of my grandmother's mines so I knew how dark she meant.

"Hattie Mae, you will have to go with him to hold the light while he opens the door to the crypt."

Kate had been afraid to enter the cave years ago with whom she thought was an old witch. I guess she trusted me to do this so she nodded agreement.

Miss Maudie handed me a paper detailing how to enter the cave and then how to find the door into where we were supposed to go. Also how to use the sword hilt to unlock the door. She cackled when she handed it to me and said this was somebody's idea of a joke because any old piece of iron of similar shape would unlock the door.

Miss Maudie urged us to go now. Kate and I did pause to admire the view. Right behind the cabin was a steep ravine going up. Twisting and turning, we ascended to a nearly level small landing. Kate pointed to a bunch of brush. There was a hole behind a boulder on the inner edge of the plateau. Going over and looking in we could see it rising sharply. "I hope there are no animals in here." It would be dangerous to meet a bear or a cat, I thought to myself.

I took a light and crawled up the incline about fifty feet. Kate was right behind me as we entered the cave. When we stood up I was amazed at the size. It had to be three hundred feet to where I could see it ended. I showed the light around. The floor, although nearly flat, looked like molten glass. I then realized the ceiling and walls were round and looked like glass too. Apparently when the earth was hot this had to have been a sand pit and the heat had turned the sand into glass. Then the glass had poured out and left a glass shell. We now were inside a glass bauble not unlike a Christmas ornament. Strange! More than strange! Weird!

The interior was very dry. There was no air movement and there was no dust. Kate spoke as I took my first step. The sound reverberated throughout the cave loud enough to hurt our eardrums. The sound was what kept any animals out of here, I figured. We conversed in whispers from that time on and even then it was almost too loud to bear.

With Kate holding the light, I read the directions again. I was supposed to put my hand on the wall to my right, and take twenty paces following the wall around. There was a vertical break in the wall that couldn't be seen before you came to it. Shining the light into the crevasse, we could see a narrow hallway about eighteen inches wide. With Kate hanging onto my shirt, I inched forward, around a bend, finding a narrow oak door before me.

The walls of the hall had become increasingly rough and by the time we reached the door, we had left the glass behind us. We were now in solid rock. Also the noise out of the bubble let us talk in normal tones. Not having room to stand by my side, Kate peering around me as best she could, said, "Open it."

Taking the sword hilt, I fitted it into a slot in the left side of the door. The shortened blade just fit. The directions given us by Miss Maudie were to pry up and down until the blade went in a little further. I had to do this four times, then I was to pull the handle to the left. It worked! The door swung open.

The crypt was roomy, again having been formed by unknown hands. The ceiling was about seven feet high and the room about eight feet by ten feet. More than enough space for what it was used for. Kate shrieked when she entered. Lying on a stone shelf about six feet from the door was a mummy. Or rather some mummified remains. There were some beads on a chain in the hands that were clasped together. A gold chain with a cross hung from his neck.

There was no evidence of clothes other than what appeared to be a tanned deer hide covering his lower half. I assumed he was just the same as he had been when placed here. In a row along the base of the floor was a matching set of eleven dolls just like Miss Maudie showed us in her Story Box. Engraved on a brass medallion was the name of Andrew McPhereson. After this came fifteen names on separate markers. Some wood painted, some of etched metal and a couple were done in ceramic. The last one in line was Maudie Ferguson, cast in pewter. There was room for one more and I knew that my name was going to be placed in that empty space.

Kate and I were silent as we studied what was before us. "Kate," I said, "I must do what Miss Maudie has asked of me. Will you help me learn the story of this priest and pass it on?"

She nodded yes. We took a little while inspecting and talking about how things must have happened. We knew that Miss Maudie had not been in here for the fourteen years that Kate had been gone, as she was too weak even then to make the trip. Evidently the markers probably had been placed shortly after a subject had been chosen.

I noticed a pile of tiles similar to the one that Miss Maudie had shown us earlier. Taking up the one on the left, I made out a name in Spanish, Juan Carlos Domingo and the year 1549 AD. This then was his diary written on clay and fired to preserve them. I counted fifty-three tiles. This was going to be interesting! Here were his words coming down through time for more than four hundred and fifty years. Not only that, it was a direct chronological detailed account albeit by word of mouth. Unbelievable!!

We finally realized that we were having trouble breathing. Not suffocating, but the air was very stale. We decided to exit immediately. Pulling the door closed by the sword hilt which was still at an angle, it slammed shut. When it did the hilt popped right out into my hands. We reversed the way we had entered. Again Kate said something when we reached the cave and again we were treated to an ear busting cacophony of noise. We would be aware of this the next time we came, I'm sure.

When we reached the cabin Miss Maudie asked us if we had met anyone on our journey. I said, "Just Juan Carlos Domingo."

Sneaky old lady. This was her way of finding out if we had entered the crypt. Was it a test? We passed anyway, for she was very happy. She asked us when we would have time to start learning the story. She said that it had taken her months, but we had to hurry as her time was short. I didn't dispute her assertion because she certainly looked frail.

The way she and those before her had been able to get the story down correctly and without mistakes was to listen and repeat it back until perfect. Sometimes, depending on how adept at remembering, it took the Chosen One hundreds of times to get it perfect and that was what the teacher was striving for--perfection. I knew that I didn't want to spend days and weeks here on the mountain with this old lady. In two weeks I had to return to work after my vacation. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to do this and do it right. On the return from the crypt I had thought of a way to satisfy Miss Maudie and take care of the short time element that I was working with.

I asked, "What was the Indian's name who was the first Chosen One? How long will it take you to start with her until you finish with yourself? Can you give me the history of Juan Carlos, first word to last word just as you learned it?"

"The first Chosen One was named Ooh Ne Nah. I can't rush the telling and I may have to pause and look at the dolls to remind me which Indian is represented. Andrew McPhereson had written it out in his pages as did all of those following him. I have done so as you will see. The whole point of this is to follow the priest's wishes that there be a verbal tale down through the ages.

"My dreams tell me that you will be the last Chosen One. I see in my dreams you returning his remains to Spain and laying him in the family tomb. Do you think that is possible?"

Without hesitation I said, "Yes, it is possible. So time-wise, how long is this narrative?"

Miss Maudie thought a few minutes and then answered, "About twelve hours the first time through. How long it takes you to repeat word for word is up to you."

Kate looked askance at me. I said, "Tomorrow we will start. I will be here late in the morning because I have to purchase some things." We could hear Billy Bob coming to fetch us so we wished Miss Maudie a good evening and were waiting outside when he arrived.

I asked Billy Bob before we got into our car if there was a Radio Shack store in town. He said no, but there was an electronics store that was as good or better. On the way into town Kate asked me how I was going to do all of this in the time I had left on vacation. She said she wanted to spend more time with me and not with Miss Maudie. "Two days. Can you sacrifice two days? With what I have planned that is all it will take."

When we got to town I rushed down to the store and bought a video camera and three long-term batteries for it. I also bought a battery powered tape recorder. When I was browsing around I found a couple of heavy duty powerful lights with stands. Kate had a really nice digital camera, but I knew I needed more space so got a couple more discs for it. The clerk was sure one happy person. I had purchased more of his inventory then he had sold in the previous three weeks. I was now all set for tomorrow I hoped.

Kate had made some buys also. When I questioned what she had in the packages, she said if we were going to put Miss Maudie in front of a camera, she might like to look more presentable. Having seen the old lady, I wondered if she really would care how she looked. Kate said, "She's a woman. She won't want her picture taken without looking her best. You wait and see if I'm not right."

The next morning we again used Billy Bob's jeep to reach the cabin.

Kate was right! Miss Maudie was ecstatic with her new clothes. When we got to the cabin Kate showed her what she had brought and Miss Maudie wanted to put them on right then. Kate convinced her that she should wash up and shampoo her hair. The only bath facility was a metal wash tub. The bath water had to be heated on the wood stove. I knew this was no place for me. I took the camera, one of the lights and a stand and headed for the cave and crypt. I didn't expect to get much done, but would get set up anyway.

It was pretty awkward trying to carry everything, but I managed. I did have to make two trips because I just couldn't hang onto the sword hilt with the other stuff. It took me a lot longer just getting in there. You might think I would be nervous being in a crypt alone with the remains of Juan Carlos Domingo. I wasn't. When I went in and had the light set up on the stand, I said, "Hello, Father Juan Carlos, you will be seeing a lot of me in the next few days. I have been chosen to serve you and eventually see that you get home."

It seemed natural to carry on a one-sided conversation. I didn't stay long. I did take some pictures and arranged the light to give me the best angles. I came to the conclusion that I definitely needed the second light. One thing I found was that I couldn't get far enough away to take in the whole row of dolls in one shot. I needed a panoramic picture to get the best effect. I would have to think on that.

I had been to many services in the Catholic Church including weddings, funerals, etc. I was the godfather to the son of a friend of mine. I was familiar with some of the ceremony. I was not a Catholic but it seemed natural to genuflect and give the sign of the cross when I was ready to leave. Did I hear, "Bless you my son?" Not out loud, but it was there.

Kate had been busy while I was up on the mountain. Miss Maudie was a changed person. Kate had shampooed her hair. I had assumed that her hair color was a natural dirty gray, but it wasn't. Washing it made it a beautiful snow white. Kate had arranged it flowing down her back and tied with a maroon ribbon. Dressing her in a yellow flowered dress and some maroon brocaded slippers to match the ribbon, it took twenty years off her appearance, even with the white hair.

I guess Kate and Miss Maudie had made their peace over Kate's disaffection fourteen years ago. Kate was acting like a dutiful granddaughter, and Miss Maudie was treating her as such. After deciding that it was too late for Miss Maudie to start in teaching the story of the priest, we sat around and socialized over tea. She told us of her life and even said that she had been in love one time. She seemed to want to talk about it so we listened.

Miss Maudie had been chosen when she was just twenty-six. When she was thirty she had signed a contract to lease a lot of the timberland to a paper company. They had come in and reforested hundreds of acres in pine seedlings. She was thirty-two before she fell in love. Her love was the foreman of the crew who did the planting.

The week before she was to be married she decided to tell him about Juan Carlos and how she was a Chosen One. He didn't believe her. She hesitated for some reason to show him the crypt to convince him. Then she heard a rumor that he was just going to marry that crazy woman to get control of the land. She faced him with the rumors. He denied it, but the seed was planted in her mind. Finally she decided that being an old maid wasn't so bad. He went on to become the manager of the paper company. He had to pay the yearly lease fee while the trees were growing and would bring it to her himself. The year the trees were mature enough to cut, a lightning strike started a forest fire and the major portion of the paper company holdings went up in flames.

She went on to say that even though the lease ran out years ago, he still paid her the same amount every year. When he died he had set up an annuity for her in the same amount that the lease fee was. That was what she had been living on all of these years. The only trouble was the yearly amount she received sixty years ago didn't buy much today. "He was a good man and maybe I should have married him. Still we had a long and satisfactory friendship and I think well of him."

Billy Bob questioned me as to why I was paying so much attention to Miss Maudie. I said I might be interested in buying her cabin. Then Kate spoke up and said that she always felt guilty about running from the old lady years ago, so was trying to make up with her. "Wait until you see her in the new dress I bought for her. I even gave her a bath. That was a chore. We thought that she was dirty because she wanted to be. The thing is, she isn't strong enough to get water, put it on the stove to heat and then fill the tub. Then she had to empty the tub. It just is beyond her capabilities."

Billy Bob was defensive. "I have done everything she has asked of me. After all when we made the deal for me to use the farm, nothing ever was said about her needing any personal care." He looked at Kate and said, "Hattie Mae, maybe that is what she wanted from you when she kept having me bring you up there years ago."

Kate just said, "Maybe," and dropped the subject.

We made arrangements to use Billy Bob's jeep tomorrow. He had full use of my car so he was amenable. On the way into town Kate and I discussed how unaware Billy Bob was about the cave and its contents. Apparently he knew about the cave but not the crypt.

Miss Maudie had said she didn't sleep much, so we planned on being at her cabin very early the next morning. I made another trip to the electronics store when I reached town. I bought a throw-away camera that would give me the panoramic views I needed. Next I bought a printer with a plug for my digital camera. I also ordered a wide-angle lens for the camera so I could replace the temporary throw-away camera.

The whole family was at dinner that night. They wanted to know what Kate and I had been up to. When Kate told about giving Miss Maudie a bath and how nearly helpless she had become, they showed indignation at Billy Bob. Miss Daisy had met her, but because she and Billy Bob had been estranged somewhat, she never gave Miss Maudie a thought. She knew that he did her heavy chores and shopping for her. She also knew that is how he paid for the lease on the farm. Beyond that she never gave her a thought.

The next morning Kate and I were at the cabin before seven. Miss Maudie was up and waiting for us. Before we started the old lady wanted Kate to wash her up a little and comb her hair. After Kate had dressed her, I started setting up the video camera and tape recorder. When I had the lights the way I wanted, I explained about how I was going to learn the story of Juan Carlos.

"Miss Maudie, you start your story and I will show you how I am going to learn it."

"Okay, this is the story in his words. In the year 1547 I traveled on a great Galleon here to the new world from my beloved Spain. In the year 1549 while teaching the Indians about God, the village was under attack by a different tribe. I was overcome and soon carried north to this valley you see before you. Knowing I was far from my countrymen and with no hope of being rescued, I decided to carry on God's work with these infidels."

I signaled Miss Maudie to stop her narrative as I paused the tape recorder. Rewinding it back and starting it, I said, "Listen now Miss Maudie, this is you speaking. I can start and stop your voice anytime I want and what you have said will be you repeating. I can work on this in the evening after work or when I am driving in the car. If I can't sleep some night, I can just lay in bed and listen to you. Then I can rewind and see if I have the story correct.

"So I will play this again and when you hear your last words, start speaking and continue the story." I will say that Miss Maudie was dedicated in wanting to get this done. She went right back to her narrative as I directed and we continued until lunch.

Kate had packed sandwiches and some fruit for our lunch. Miss Maudie made tea to go with our repast and then we took a half hour to rest before continuing. At two-thirty she reached the point where Andrew McPhereson entered the picture with the account written in English. Her spoken words matched perfectly with his written text. If all of the previous Chosen Ones had not deviated in the recitation, then what we heard from her were actually the words spoken by Juan Carlos Domingo.

By four p.m. Miss Maudie was tired and I was having trouble concentrating. The only respite we had was when I had to take time to change tapes and batteries in the machines. Miss Maudie said we were most done and would finish early tomorrow. She asked me to contact the law firm that handled the paperwork about the Grant that McPhereson had received from the English King. She wanted to see them as soon as possible to finalize her affairs.

I was lucky, I was able to find a law partner in his office shortly after eight in the morning. I had to explain who I was and that I was Miss Daisy's son-in-law, letting him know I was legitimate, I guess. I gave him a note that Miss Maudie gave me to give to him telling what was required. I asked if I transported him up the mountain, would he see her this afternoon? I said I was only going to be in town another week and she wanted me to help her get everything settled. He said that he would meet me at Billy Bob's farm at one-thirty on the morrow.

We finished up the narrative about eleven a.m. I was amazed at some of the natural phenomena that had been mentioned in the tales told by the various Chosen Ones. There had been wars, earthquakes, pestilence, hurricanes and tornadoes. Miss Maudie had mentioned the Spanish flu that had swept the country in the early 1900's, and of course the fire that had burned over the mountains sweeping away the paper company's efforts just a few years ago. Notable to me at least, was an account of a meteor shower where one Chosen One had actually seen meteors falling to earth. The tribe of one Chosen One had nearly been wiped out with smallpox. Luckily that Chosen One survived to carry on. He found another survivor to pass it onto before he succumbed.

Totally amazing! Here we had by word of mouth, monumental events that had happened down through the last four and a half centuries. Most could be cross-matched for accuracy from accounts by other observers elsewhere.

Stowing all of our equipment out of sight, I went down to the farm to get the lawyer whose name was Dale Evens. He had been to the cabin before to see Miss Maudie years ago. He was looking forward to seeing the view overlooking the valley again. Not being sure of what Miss Maudie had in mind and what his visit would entail, Dale thoughtfully brought one of his clerks to be a witness, if he was needed.

Kate had been busy these last few days cleaning and straightening up the cabin. The place looked pretty neat and Miss Maudie had on her new dress. It was a lot different than the dirty old lady and unkempt hovel that we had met just a few short days ago.

Kate and I stayed outside the cabin while Miss Maudie and Lawyer Dale conducted her business. About an hour later Kate and I were called inside. Miss Maudie asked me to get my video recorder out and tape what went on next.

Puzzled I complied. Then the lawyer spoke to me. "Miss Maudie Ferguson has made her last will and testament. She has directed me to do several things.

"First, she wants me to draw up a deed for land made out to Billy Bob Gruber, who has been her friend and employee. The deed is to be for the 170 acres that he has leased for the last forty years.

"Second, after many hours of consultations, Miss Maudie wants a deed made out to James Ryan and his wife Catherine O'Toole Ryan, the former Hattie Mae Gruber. The land is to include a 150 foot right-of-way beginning at the east boundary of the aforementioned property of Billy Bob Gruber and continuing north to this cabin. Then beginning at the cabin and being the center point continuing north up the mountain. This is to be 400 yards wide and for a one-half mile distance. This plot is acreage of approximately 100 acres.

"Third, the remainder of the property known as "the Grant" shall be deeded to the state of Kentucky to be used as they see fit. This Grant was originally deeded to Andrew McPhereson in the year 1706. Records can be found dating from that year. Attorney Dale Evens of this town will have charge of carrying this out. He has agreed to this.

"Fourth, Personal Property. James Ryan will receive and dispose of all personal property known and unknown and he has agreed to this. He has become the Chosen One to do this and has promised to carry out her wishes. In the event of his early death Catherine, his wife, will be the Chosen One to complete her wishes.

"Fifth, Billy Bob Gruber has graciously offered to have her remains laid to rest with his family. She thanks him for this."

I returned to the cabin after taking the lawyer down to his vehicle. On the way down, Dale was pretty curious as to where I had come from. He had never heard of Hattie Mae Gruber, much less Catherine O'Toole Ryan. I told him to talk to any of the Gruber family for confirmation of who we really were. He adamantly said that he would not start the final paper work until he had a copy of the videotape that we had made with Miss Maudie. I promised to have it in his office as quickly as I could get a copy made.

I concluded that Miss Maudie evidently did not trust lawyers. That is why the tape. When I asked her about it later, she said that Billy Bob had a bad experience with one and it cost him two years of his life. This that she wanted done was too important to get messed up. Besides she wanted it settled to her satisfaction before she died. I concluded Miss Maudie had learned a thing or two in her ninety plus years.