The Total December Experiment

  My heart is still pounding like a drum.

  Why did she narrow her eyes when she looked at me?

  Has she seen me before?

  Did she recognize me?

  Does she know who I am?

  Damn everything to hell.

  I have to be very careful. If I’m not, all could be

  Changed … forever.

  Jesse closed his eyes and concentrated on slow deep breaths

  until his heart was back too normal. He stood and walked

  toward the home. He had unfinished business to attend to

  and it had to be today.

  #

  He watched from a distance as the two women climbed into

  the car and started down the narrow lane. He hurried to his

  truck and climbed in.

  I have to go to town right away. I don’t have much time.

  #

  Manda slowed and stopped when she came to a crossroad.

  “What’ll it be, Mom? Right or left?”

  “Let’s go left.”

  She turned left and followed the lane as it began to wind

  up a small hill. The lane came to an end close to a flat

  field at the top.

  “Let’s see what that is, “Teresa said, pointing toward an

  area enclosed by a low stone fence.

  As they got out of the car, Manda commented on the fence.

  “That’s unusual. I’ve never seen a fence like that.”

  “It’s called a slave fence.”

  “Why,” Manda asked, frowning.

  “Back when plantation owners kept slaves, the slaves built

  the fences and this is how they built them. This one is in

  excellent condition. The stones aren’t held together by

  mortar. They were just fit together so well that the fence

  stood by itself. It took talent to build one of

  these.”

  “So our ancestors were slave owners?”

  “Probably, although I suppose their labor could have been

  hired from a neighboring plantation. Of course, the workers

  didn’t get the money. The master who owned them did.”

  “My God, Mom. That was so cruel.”

  Those were bad times, Hon.”

  They were so busy talking that they didn’t notice what was

  in the enclosure until they reached the gate.

  “It’s a cemetery! What’s a cemetery doing way out here?”

  “ You are a babe in the woods sometimes, Honey.”

  “ It’s a private cemetery. You’re looking at a lot of your

  ancestors. Back then; there weren’t many public ones.

  Distances were too great, so families had their own burial

  grounds.”

  They wandered through looking at the tombstones.

  “ I recognize some of these names from the records at the

  courthouse, but there’s a lot I haven’t seen before.”

  Manda bent down to trace the name and date on a stone so

  old that the words were barely legible.

  “Oh, I don’t believe this!’

  “What, Manda ?”

  She pointed at a small symbol on the bottom of the stone

  just to the left of the name. She glanced at the date of

  birth.

  “They match!”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “ The birth date on this stone is June the 2nd. This marking

  is the astrological symbol for the sign of Gemini.”

  Manda raced to several other stones, bending to check them.

  “Mom, all of these have the correct symbols for the

  birth dates!”

  “This is intriguing, Manda. What do you suppose the odds

  are that you studied astrology as did the rest of the

  family?”

  “Astronomical, I imagine. I’m going to come back as soon as

  I can and write all of these down.

  Teresa looked around.

  “There’s a separate enclosure.” They entered. The stones

  were smaller in this one.

  Manda checked several of them. “There are no symbols on

  these. What do you suppose that means?”

  “This may be the burial place for loyal slaves who had no

  other family. I’m not sure.

  We’ll have to see if Kate knows.”

  They turned to go back to the car.

  “Well, these cemeteries are well taken care of. Well

  maintained.”

  They got in the car and headed back the way they had come,

  only taking the other fork this time. After a short drive

  they found themselves along the coast of the gulf. They

  pulled off at the first convenient place and stood on a

  small bluff overlooking the body of water that appeared to

  be endless. The sunlight flickered on the crests of the

  waves and reflected off of the white sand, causing each

  woman to shield her eyes.

  “Manda, tomorrow, when we do the shopping for the

  cottage…we’re going to include

  new swim suits, beach umbrellas, a huge cooler, etc. The

  first free hour or three, we’re going to have us a picnic

  on the beach.”

  “Yeah, Mom. OK by me. Best idea I’ve heard for a while. I

  can use some ‘laid back’ time. Right now though, I can use

  …FOOD,” they shouted together.

  Piling into the car, they did a three point and headed for

  Kate’s place.

  #

  They saw Kate chatting and flirting with the table of old

  timers as soon as they walked through the door.

  “Bless em, Kate’s place must be their daily gathering

  place.”

  “They couldn’t pick a better place or a friendlier

  hostess.”

  A waitress approached and led them, at their request, to a

  table by the window.

  Teresa smiled at her daughter,” The group of fellows picked

  their spot…I guess we’ve picked ours.”

  They ordered lemonade to start and requested the waitress

  to see if Kate had time to see them for a few minutes.

  “Never mind, Lorie, I’m already here.”

  Kate plopped into a seat.

  “Lorie, bring me a coffee when you have a minute, please.”

  “Will do, Ms Kate.”

  “Good to see you all; what are you doing with yourselves on

  this beautiful day?”

  “We’ve been checking out Live Oaks today. It is so

  gorgeous.”

  “Yep, Teresa, it’s a very special place. What all have you

  seen?”

  “I showed Mom the manor. Then we visited the cottage,

  cemetery and went to the beach. Oh, we met the

  gardener, Jesse.”

  Kate chuckled, “You better not let him hear you refer to

  him as your gardener. He’s had an extensive education in

  his field. Better just think of him by his name instead of

  a title.”

  “He’s an strange guy…not very friendly,”Manda commented.

  “Jesse??”

  Lorie appeared with their drinks.

  “Kate, can you join us for an early supper? We’d love to

  visit with you, wouldn’t we, Manda.”

  “Yes, please say you can, Kate.”

  “Everything under control in the kitchen, Lorie?”

  At Lorie’s nod, Kate made a quick decision.

  “Thank you, I’d love to. It’s been a long day and I could

  use a break. Even my toenails
hurt.”

  “What would you suggest for supper? What’s good today?”

  Kate knuckled Manda in the arm.” Manda Harris…all my food

  is good,” Kate laughed.

  Manda blushed.” I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant.”

  “I know, I’m just teasing you. I’m always teasing…. you’ll

  realize that when you get to know me better.”

  “Today’s special is roasted chicken and dressing with a

  salad and two sides.”

  “Ummm, sounds good, “Teresa and Manda said in unison.

  “We’ll take three, Lorie,” Kate ordered for them.

  “Right away, Ms Kate.”

  “Now, what’s this about Jesse? He’s the most relaxed and

  friendly person I know.”

  Manda looked confused and glanced at Teresa.

  “Manda only saw him for a minute. He was very friendly with

  me but he did kind of chill down when she joined us.”

  “You probably saw him at a busy time. He’s really a great

  guy…. and so handsome. Females all over town are after him.

  I think it’s because of his wild gypsy look…. makes him very

  sexy.”

  “I didn’t get a good look. He had a cap and sunglasses on

  and he kept ducking his head.”

  “Well, you’re in for a nice surprise, then.”

  “Kate, do you know anything about the cemetery?”

  “We saw that there’s an area that’s separated from the main

  one by a wall. We wondered why.”

  “ I really don’t know. Maybe that’s where the black sheep

  of the family were planted,” she said with a small smile.

  “Every family has a few, you know. Nanny May and I didn’t

  talk much about the place. I know she didn’t want to be

  buried there, but she felt that she didn’t have a choice.

  Something about it being her ‘duty’. I’ve only been there

  once and that was for Nanny May’s funeral. I wasn’t paying

  any attention to the grounds then.”

  “I’m sorry, Kate. It was insensitive of us to ask. We’ve

  made you sad.”

  “Please don’t apologize. I have so many terrific memories

  of her. I miss her very much, but so many times when I

  think of her, I have to laugh. She was wild, wacky,

  wonderful woman.”

  Lorie arrived to serve their meals. Conversation slowed way

  down, as they were all ravenous.

  When Teresa and Manda groaned from having stuffed stomachs,

  Kate grinned, “How about coffee and dessert, gals?”

  Another groan from the ‘gals’ while Kate laughed.

  “Well, in that case, how about coffee with dessert to go?

  You can enjoy it tonight at the hotel.”

  “Now, there’s a thought!”

  “What’s a thought, lovely ladies?”

  They looked up to see Mr. Lanier.

  “Hi John. Join us for coffee?”asked Kate.

  “I’d love to but I have a busy evening ahead of me.”

  “How so, friend?”

  “I have to do a few home repairs. I came to town to get

  some supplies.”

  “You? In case you’ve forgotten, my old chum, you haven’t

  any idea how to hammer a nail…let alone do repairs.”

  “Now Kate, I’m not without a few talents. These jobs are

  very simple ones anyway.”

  “Manda, how are you and your mother doing?”

  “Fine, thanks. We’re going to move into the cottage

  tomorrow or the day after. We’re shopping for supplies in

  the morning.”

  “Don’t forget your meeting with the staff.”

  “ I won’t. You’re going to be there aren’t you?”

  “Sure will. Don’t worry; they’re all great people. You’ll

  get along just fine”

  “Got to go ladies. Have a nice evening.”

  “Thanks, you too.”

  Manda smiled as she watched him leave.

  “I don’t know what I would have done without his help and

  advice.”

  Kate nodded, “You can always depend on him. He’ll never let

  you down. So you’re moving in! May I help you two?”

  “We can probably manage but I’ll keep your offer on the

  front burner.”

  Teresa grinned at Manda then turned to Kate.

  “We do have a question for you. What can you tell us about

  the fireplace in the cottage?”

  Kate’s eyes widened and she clapped her hands over her

  mouth.

  Groans of,”Um…um…um,” began to emanate from behind her

  hands.

  Teresa began to rise from her chair.

  “Are you OK? Do you need help?”

  “Are you going to throw up?’ demanded Manda.

  Teresa shook her head vigorously as she groped with one

  hand toward Teresa.

  Teresa continued to rise from her chair with anxiety on her

  face. At this point, Kate began

  to gesture frantically for her to sit back down but Teresa

  remained half way in a standing position.

  Kate’s eyes flicked wildly between Manda and her mother as

  she began to gasp for air.

  “Mom, what should we do?? We have to help her !!”

  Kate’s face became bright red and her eyes began to fill.

  She removed her hand from her tightly closed mouth and

  clasped her arms around her waist, beginning to rock back

  and forth in her chair. Her intermittent groans began to

  change into a high pitched keening that sounded like a dog

  whining with terror.

  “Mom, call an ambulance! She’s having a seizure or

  something!”

  Both women leapt from their chairs as Kate’s body jerked

  with several convulsions.

  Tears streamed down her reddened face as her mouth opened

  and peals of uncontrolled laughter bounced off the walls of

  the restaurant.

  Manda stared at Kate with horror as diners whipped their

  heads around to see what was happening.

  Kate grabbed the corner of the tablecloth and shoved it

  into her mouth in an effort to control herself.

  Teresa dunked her cloth napkin into her water glass, wrung

  it out, and handed it to Kate, who began to mop her face

  and neck as she continued to choke with laughter.

  The old timers across the room began to hollar,” Hey, Kate

  darlin, share the joke with us. We need a good laugh,” even

  as they pounded each others shoulders and backs with

  hilarity.

  Teresa and Manda plopped back in their seats with a mixture

  of relief and consternation as Kate struggled to compose

  herself. It took several minutes before Kate’s face began to

  return to its normal color and for her breathing to

  subside to an acceptable rate.

  “Kate, you just scared the absolute hell out of us! My

  heart is still pounding!”, Teresa blurted.

  “I’m sorry…really. Give me a minute to gather my wits and

  I’ll explain.”

  ”Mom. I’m going to the ladies room seeing as how I’m about