Chapter 30

I woke early Sunday morning and felt refreshed. I didn't dream, or at least I don't remember dreaming. This was a different feeling after having had dreams for almost a week. To an extent, I missed learning more about what happened up there and what happened afterward. I suppose the historians will have to figure it out.

After using the bathroom, warming some coffee in the microwave, and starting a fresh pot, I was ready to begin the morning chores when Mom walked into the room dressed and ready for the day. A minute later, Marita and Karen came from the bedroom, also dressed. The next person to emerge from the other end of the house was Millie, hugging John to her as he gurgled and smacked his lips to let the world know he was hungry.

Mom made the observation, "Your kid is so much like you were that it's uncanny. You very seldom ever cried, even when you had reason. You would let me know that you needed attention, but never raised a big fuss."

Millie sat in a rocking chair and let the hungry baby begin nursing. She said, "I'm going to give him some mixed baby food this morning. I think he needs more than just my milk now. He's growing fast and isn't very heavy."

Mom told her, "Spoon feed him some of the baby cereal to see how he likes it. I used to mix a little honey in all of my kids' cereal. It was just a few drops, but I think they all liked it."

I was putting my boots on when Marita said she was going to help Mom milk this morning, and Karen should do the chickens. The fresh morning air up on the mountain is always something to bring a smile to your heart. Watching the dogs running around sniffing where animals had visited during the night is always interesting.

As the three of us, Mom, Marita, and I, walked to the barn, a sleek beige and brown critter came prancing up to us waggling its head, then ducking it in front of us to get a scratch behind the antler ridge where new antlers were trying to sprout. Mom laughed, "It looks like your wild animal has figured out it can jump higher than your stock fences. Let's see if it jumps back in to get food or if he is ready to be out on his own."

The problem with the deer is that he wanted to follow us into the barn. When we wouldn't allow that, he banged his head on the door a few times before going off to do something else.

One of our big sows had produced a bunch of piglets during the night. You never know whether to separate them or let the piglets stay with the mother. They seemed to be content with her lying on her side as the little piglets nursed.

There was another sow that looked ready to give birth, but was still waddling around with a big belly and swollen nipples. The other hogs were in a separate pen. This pig breeding had been one of Mom's experiments, saying that we should be raising pigs from our own stock. Personally, I was never hot for raising pigs, but I do like pork so there is value there somewhere.

As I put hay and grain out for the steers, the deer was back in the stock area getting his share of the goodies. I wondered when he would go out to find a doe or two to form his own herd.

Going back into the house, Mom told me they had gotten more than three quarters of a ten gallon can from the three cows this morning. She told me, "With three cows fresh at the same time, we're getting twelve to fourteen gallons of milk a day. I think that's an unusually high quantity from three Jersey cows. You must be feeding them right, but it is spring and the new grass is nourishing to them."

I asked, "Mom, have you noticed something different up here?" When she just looked at me with a puzzled expression, I explained, "No wild onions; remember the war we always had with the cows because they would eat all of the wild onions and the milk would smell bad. That's when we had to sell the milk as grade C for cheeses."

"You're right, Mike; you must not have any up here. I'm surprised, as I thought those things were weeds that grew everywhere in the spring."

Karen had quickly finished with the chickens and had begun breakfast under Millie's direction. We didn't have biscuits and gravy this morning, but we did have some great sausage and eggs with pancakes.

As we ate, Millie said, "We're having the road guys for dinner today. Mom and I cleaned six hens yesterday for fried chicken today. That should be enough for them, as well as the university people if they get back early. Martha told me they were eating dinner at another church member's house today. She said some people thought we might be monopolizing them."

Mom advised, "Ezra is going up to Mount Sterling for a gun show, so he won't be with us. I'm surprised that you didn't want to go up there, Mike."

"No need, Mom. I just bought that really nice auto-loading shotgun and another Winchester lever action. The two new guns you found for me yesterday would sell for a bunch up at a show, but I don't think I want to sell them. I think I'll just stick with what I have. In a few years, when John is old enough, I'll get him something like I had and teach him how to use a gun and hunt. We're going to be on a rabbit diet for a while when that happens. I'm sure you remember that, Mom."

Mom giggled, "How could I forget having to cook rabbit every day for almost two weeks? Thank goodness you ran out of shells. That's when you found out there was something else good to eat around the house. Your dad had to have a talk with you about how the rest of the family got tired of rabbit. The good news is that I have since learned that you can use rabbit to make spaghetti sauce and other Italian meat dishes, meat loaf, and other dishes that disguise the flavor and texture. Ground up rabbit is a lot like using ground turkey."

I put all of the historical material away in my office, and the two handguns into the wall area. It still looked like a section of wall, and not the container for all of the firearms in the house. I might devise a hidden lock on the door so that when little John began getting curious, he doesn't stumble onto it.

We dressed and went to church. We sat with our growing group of friends. It's funny to see the road crew dressed in dressier clothes. They did clean up nice. Marita was sitting next to Jet, hugging his arm, and I noticed that Karen had sat next to Marita, and Jimmy somehow found an empty space to sit next to her. I was bookended by Mom and Millie, who was holding John on the end of a pew so she could get out if John became disruptive.

After the service, there were the usual gatherings of people visiting inside and outside the church. Mom introduced me to Eloise Sanders as the lady who had traded all of the Civil War stuff to her. It was during my chat with her that I saw Maude and Mom talking, and shortly afterward, I noticed a larger gathering of Gene and four other men talking to her. I wonder.

Eloise and I spoke for a few minutes. "Ma'am, I think I should tell you about what was in those boxes and how it may mean a lot to some of your family."

"No need, Mike. I've been trying to give them to one of my kids and to any of my nieces and nephews, but none of them want to have to store anything. I know very well what's in those boxes. I've read every word in those books, looked through each of the items, and thought about the person they must have belonged to. You're an Army man, Mike; everyone around respects you and I want you to have those items. I brought them to the market yesterday hoping to see you, your mom, or Millie, and I found your mom first. She wouldn't just take the bundle; she insisted I take something for it."

"Thank you, Eloise; I'm going to treasure those items. Some may end up in a display up at the university in Lexington, but I'll make sure your name is listed as the donor." I paused a second before asking, "How about coming up for dinner today? We're having some people come and I'm sure you would enjoy them."

"That's so nice of you to ask, Mike, but I'm supposed to drive to my son's in Mount Sterling for dinner. Ask me another time, since I've never been up on Mystery Mountain. Now that you're up there, I'm sure it's a safe place to visit."

As I spoke with Stanley Conner a little later, Mom came up to me and asked, "Can you stop by Kroger and pick up some more fryers? We're having more people up than I had planned." She looked at Stanley. "Want to come for a chicken dinner? We have a, let me count, Summer and Bradley, the ten road guys, Maude, Gene, and four cable men, the metal detector guys, and I saw the university truck go by, so that's three more. You would be just two more, Stan, come on out. Let me find Gracie, she'll want to come. Oh, Mike, make that a dozen more, cut up, okay?"

Why would she tell me to go if she is riding with us? I found out very shortly, as Mom handed me a set of keys and pointed to a very ragged looking Jeep. "I traded for that yesterday, too. Drive it home for me, and pick up another big bottle of cooking oil when you go by the store."

Jeep? Why would Mom want a Jeep, especially one that is as ratty as this one? It used to be yellow, but now it was mud and rust. I'd've bet if you pushed hard on the hood, your finger would go right through the rusty metal. Hoped this thing made it home.

The old 70s stock CJ-5 didn't have any side curtains, but the top was still all there. The floor wasn't rusted through and looked like it might be sturdy. I'd find out soon enough. The tires on the vehicle looked reasonable, along with the spare mounted on the back. They should last for what Mom wanted to do with it.

The Jeep ran smoothly when I started it, and upon shifting it into gear, the clutch felt tight and the tranny seemed to be okay. I went through the gears smoothly, thinking that I would probably make it home if I stopped for gas. Actually, if the gas gauge was accurate, I hoped to make it to the gas station.

The tank wasn't bone dry because it held only fourteen and three quarter gallons. Considering it only has a fifteen gallon tank, the little 4X4 was close to empty. I checked the oil and water to make sure they were okay. I figured the old Jeep should make it home.

I went by Kroger and bought a dozen cut up fryers and the biggest bottle of vegetable oil they had. I knew that if I brought anything else home, I would be in danger of hearing about it from the women who provided very well from our well-stocked pantry.

The little Jeep felt like it had a decent engine, but I didn't push it as it didn't look like it could stand to be pushed. When I got home, I parked the Jeep in the end slot of the garage, as this thing was going to require some work.

It's a wonder all of the visiting cars and trucks fit in the parking area. Ever since the funeral it seemed that we were having more and more people visit at one time. When I walked in the door, I saw rows of shoes by the bench and a mass of humanity congregated throughout the big living room and dining area, with some outside on the back porch.

I think all the women were in the kitchen at once, attempting to make dinner. I also knew that at any second, there would be a shrill whistle and Mom would get all of their attention and begin delegating jobs so each woman would have something to do, and she could proceed to do the cooking.

The whistle came, and I watched as she gave directions before looking around for me. She wriggled her finger and said, "Go light the woodstove. We're going to need that for dinner. I guess I did go overboard on people this time."

I started the woodstove and reached out the door for a few handfuls of stove wood. When I got it going, I decided to use the big pot out here for some good coffee. I had missed the good percolated coffee that came from the stove.

Back inside, I visited with Bradley and Summer, telling them of the deer and his new ability to jump the stock fence. Summer wanted to take the deer to their place, but Bradley was probably correct in thinking that the deer would just show up back here and could get shot or hit by a car getting here.

I told Bert that I had some items that he would be interested in, but I would prefer to wait until the masses were gone to discuss them. It was then that Jimmy commented, "My cousin said that he and his buddies are searching again today. They are having so much fun that they may stay out here all week."

Bert sincerely said, "I hope they don't have that many targets. They were almost halfway down the mountain before we left."

Bert continued, "I brought a university trailer back with us so we don't have to use yours. That will be one less round trip."

I was watching out the window when the treasure hunters' ATV came up the road. It was lunchtime and they were used to being fed. A couple of more mouths wouldn't be a big deal. I went to Mom and hugged her. "The metal detector guys just rolled up. Want to fix them some bologna sandwiches?"

"No, Michael, they'll eat with us. If we run out of chicken, we have most of a ham in the spring house. Go tell them to wash up out in the barn and come in."

I put my shoes on and walked out to talk to the guys. They were ecstatic, since you could smell the fried chicken from outside. I smelled something baking too, so the woodstove was doing its part.

Watching the road crew interact with the cable guys, and the metal detector guys talking to the university people was fun. Stanley came over to me and said, "This is like it is at our place at Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are so many people that I can't even call all of them by name. People watching can be fun in a group like this."

Stan said he thought that the lowlands I had bought for him were going to dry out enough to plant this year. He figured on some late corn or soy beans. He wanted me to show him how I could get such a good stand of alfalfa in my field. He said he always had to reseed the second year. I told him my dad always planted clover and lespedeza grass at the same time. It seemed to help the alfalfa roots spread better and made the hay very appealing to the animals.

We talked about the cost of mixing the grasses instead of the cost of reseeding, and he said he would try a small field that way this year. He didn't raise much hay since he was primarily a grain farmer and only raised a few head of beef for the family's use.

There weren't enough chairs or table space, but it seemed that everyone had a plate and a place to sit. Since the fireplace wasn't lit, several guys sat on the hearth stone. The boot bench was full, as was every chair in the house. I had to make a trip to the barn spring house to get more milk, as most of the young men wanted milk to drink.

We were in the midst of eating when D came through the door. Seeing all of the people, his eyes lit up and he pushed his shoes off and came to shake my hand. "Oh, Mike, you have so many friends and you bring them to your home. You are such a wonderful man. I won't stay, but I brought in some of the new wine that is making very well. I brought a big bottle of grappa too. You'll need that."

Mom came over and grabbed D's arm and pulled him to the kitchen area. D soon had a plate of food and was hunting for a place to sit. I wonder where Mom found more food as the guys kept getting up and going after more pieces of fried chicken.

There were delicious rolls to sop up the cream gravy that leaked from the mashed potato lake next to the green beans on my plate. This was some good eating.

Mom waved for me to follow her to the summer kitchen and had me open the push out windows and prop them open. She began taking pies from the oven and putting them on the wide window sill. She refilled the woodstove oven with another six pies, and I noticed that there were six more ready to bake sitting on the work counter. She had me carry the massive coffee pot into the kitchen for those who wanted coffee.

The metal detector guys were soon ready to go back to searching, and the university people wanted to go see how far they had searched. That took seven away. Maude and Gene wanted to go to the movies in Mount Sterling, so the cable crew left with them. Mom sent a pie home with them. It left only my road crew and the Conners. Marita and Jet had gone out to take a walk, while Jimmy asked Karen to go walk with him.

We enjoyed some pie, followed by small glasses of grappa. D was telling stories of how wonderful life had been before the cartels began demanding everyone grow poppies and coca making the people let the grape vineyards go. Those farmers who didn't comply disappeared. D explained that he had grown poppies and coca on the flat lands, but also kept his vineyards up. The men who were demanding the poppies thought he was shorting them, and that's how his family had also disappeared. Those listening felt his loss and wondered why the populace didn't rise against those people.

I knew the answer was the superior weapons of those who placed demands on the farmers. If they thought a farmer might be dangerous, he disappeared. It was as simple as that.

The road guys were all very grateful to Mom and Millie for the great food. The eight remaining men got Bernie out to their cars and trucks, leaving Jet and Jimmy to get home in Jet's truck when they returned. When it got late, Stanley and Gracie said that they needed to go, so Bradley and Summer decided it was time for them to leave as well. D shook my hand and thanked us for including him for the day's festivities before he left.

And just like that, we were back to my house only full of two women and John. I played with John a while before the two couples returned, then it was time to do chores. Mom and I ended up doing the milking, as Marita, assisted by Jet, did the chickens, and then she had to help inside the house along with Millie and Karen.

As Mom and I were washing the milking utensils, she said, "We have one more surprise for you from yesterday. Come on; let's go see what we can find for supper and what your surprise is."

Now what? The bundle of artifacts from the Civil War and the Second World War was a real surprise, and Mom coming up with a rusty old Jeep also is a strange surprise, but what else could there be?

When I opened the cabin door, the place had filled back up. The metal detector crew was inside, along with the university people. They were all drinking a beer, and as soon as I came in, Millie handed one to me. Mom announced to everyone, "Michael needs to show you folks what he got yesterday, but before that, I want you to see what we found for him, or maybe for you folks from the university."

Mom went to her room and came back with a very long coat box. She set the box on the big table, opened it, and then folded some tissue paper back.

There was a hat on top of a Confederate officer's jacket. Mom pulled them both out of the box and gently laid them on the table. Under the jacket was a pair of wool trousers that matched the jacket. Lying across the pants was a leather belt and a couple of scarves. The condition of the pants was the same as the jacket, like new.

When Mom picked the trousers up to lay them aside, the rest of us gasped at what lay on the bottom of the box. There was a very ornate sword in a scabbard, with an ivory handle sticking out the end. There was also a pistol similar to one that had been in the chest from the cave.

Bert exclaimed, "That's a LeMat, and it looks brand new. This is a wonderful find."

Mom folded a leg of the pants over, showing a sheet of heavy yellowed paper filled with writing in an ornate script. She handed the paper to me.

I began reading out loud: "Henry Jefferson Gibson, born July first, eighteen thirty-five, to Judith and Edward Gibson, in Beaver Pond, Kentucky. Henry was a scholar from a young age, and when there became a division between the North and their beliefs, and the South; Henry proclaimed his intent to lead local like-minded men to engage the Union enemy in 1862. Henry believed that all men should be free, but those slave owners should be reimbursed for the cost of the slaves that were set free. He proposed that those men in the area free the slaves, but let them work out their cost to their former owners. Henry felt this would give the former slaves employment, along with freedom. Henry also believed that sovereign states had the right to leave the Union. This uniform was made for him by his mother, and the weapons given to him by his father.

I looked at Mom. "What happened between 1891 and now? Who did Marilyn Finnerty give this to, and do we know whether she might be one of the Finnertys that formerly lived on the mountain?"

Mom smiled and handed me another piece of paper, but it was the old thin onion skin paper this time. There were only a couple of handwritten lines.

The paper read: "I, Marilyn Gibson Finnerty, bequeath all of my worldly possessions to Wilma Stockholm. Signed: Marilyn Gibson Finnerty, Witnessed, George Cantor, Witnessed, Marcus Rivers, M.D. Dated, January 3, 1948."

Mom said, "According to Agnes Johansson, who is now in her eighties, her Aunt Wilma was only twenty when she received this after Marilyn Finnerty died of the flu. She was the last person in her family to die, or so she thought. Did you note the doctor's name is Rivers? I wonder if Sheryl Rivers is a descendant."

Marjorie from the University said, "That uniform needs to be in a museum. You have documentation of how this was handed down. That is the way we can preserve our history."

I told Mom, "Put it all back into the box just the way we found it, and maybe it should all go to a museum. How about it, Bert, where should it go?"

The man sat staring at what lay in front of him before saying, "I don't know, Mike. I just don't know."

That made me ask, "Mom, did the lady who you traded for the other stuff, also trade that to you?"

"No, it was her sister. We were talking and I was telling them how passionate you were at finding local Civil War items. Eloise's and Agnes' sister, Frances, told me that she had a box of old Confederate stuff that might be valuable and should go to someone really interested in that history. She had me run her to her house where she brought the box out. I briefly looked in the box and she told me that I could have this for you, but I had to remove her deceased son-in-law's old Jeep for her. She said it ran, but she couldn't drive it and didn't want to. So you see, Mike, this is all for you to do with as you think you should."

Mom put the garments back into the box. I asked Bert, "Where would you put these if the university had them?"

"I don't know that either, Mike, but I have an idea that might work for the regents. Marjorie, Marsha, and I have a very large collection of items. From what we have found on the mountain, and what we already have, we could have a display worthy of any university museum. There is a large area in the east end of the Library that is unused. It was going to be a classroom, but another building was erected and the class now is held there. I'll bet they will let us use that space, especially if it will bring the university more notice."

I told the trio, "Get that space and I'll give this box to you. I have a couple of more weapons from that era I will donate as well."

Bert asked, "Your mom said you have some items to show us, can you do that now?"

I smiled as I checked my watch. "How about we do that tomorrow sometime? I'm tired and will probably have a busy day tomorrow. How about it, can you wait until tomorrow?"

"Sure, Mike," Bert said, "I'm just excited about all of the fantastic artifacts we've found."

Jimmy's cousin spoke up, "You know there are over two hundred targets for us to dig up and document. I've made a chart of the entire mountainside, so I know exactly where each of the targets are located. We've numbered everything so you're going to have the best historic site in the state. I wish I could tell others about it, but I understand, Mike. Besides, with all of those dead soldiers' souls up there, I think I would rather keep my mouth shut. Mystery Mountain may not be so mysterious any more, but I somehow think that those spirits are still up there and around here."

I agree with that.

When everyone had left, Mom asked me, "Do you really want to give that awesome sword and pistol away? Those two items are really something."

"Mom, ol' Henry never made it to battle, and I think the guy was a little mixed up about how to handle slaves. Who knows how I would have felt back then, but later in the war, Kentucky had a lot of black troops that fought with the Union. They were soldiers like everyone else. Just think, from what we've seen on the mountain, it looks like Union troops attacked a Confederate group of troops that were smuggling slaves to Chicago. Both were trying to achieve the same goal, and ended up annihilating each other. That was a terrible war for everyone back then."

I was tired and wanted to go to bed. This day had been emotional because of so many people in the house. I hoped we'd settle down and only have a few at a time, but Mom loves people to come so she can feed them. She was happier than I remember for a long time.

We went to bed and snuggled up, with Marita's head on one shoulder and Millie's on the other. Karen and Mom stayed in their own beds for a change. As we were snuggling, ready for sleep to find us, Millie whispered, "Your mom is taking us to get new beds tomorrow. Isn't that exciting?"

All I could think was that I was not sure. Did a bigger bed mean more women in it? Pretty soon, all of those women could sleep together, and I'd find a cot or couch and sleep there. I didn't need all of these women to tempt me. I knew that Mom thinks I might try Marita, but I wouldn't do that to Jet. Then there was Karen, who tries to act casual, but sure spent a lot of time brushing up against me. And there was the biggest taboo, Mom. She constantly showed herself to me as if by accident, but she always had that teasing look on her face. She surely couldn't think of me that way. It was too bad if she did, because I was going to remain a one woman man.

A cold moist nose touched my nose. I opened my eyes to see Spook with his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth. Witch was pacing back and forth between the bed and the door, wanting the same thing Spook wanted.

I slid from the side of the bed, not even thinking about how I had gotten there. I looked back at Millie, Marita, and Karen. Four in a double bed is a little crowded.

When I opened the door to let the dogs out, they both gave a little growl and shot out of the door toward the orchard area. Thinking that it was time to get up, I was reaching for the coffee pot when I saw the clock. It was only two-thirty.

Hmm, now maybe I should be worried about the dogs. I went back and opened the door to listen if there was a dog scuffle or something else happening. I didn't hear anything, but there was a scratch at the door a few minutes later. Both dogs had a drink from their pan and were ready to go back to bed. Whatever the crisis was, it was over.

As I slid into bed, I thought of the last vivid dream, talking to Eliza, Bud, Ben, and Bernard, and was almost afraid to go to sleep again. Enough with these dreams! Do I really feel the presence of all of these spirits? Why me? I really didn't do anything for Eliza. She wanted out and I wanted in. As for Ben, he helped me as much as I helped him. It always made me happy that I had made some of his later years fun. But Eliza didn't get anything from me but money and a ride to her new place. She did kind of make me want to help her ghosts that weren't ghosts, but she never told me there were those other spirits up here. I drifted off.