levied on the property and school as well as pay to maintain the building.”
“This other document deeded the land that the school sits on, to Samuel Rogers in 1820. I believe that both of these documents will stand up in any court of law.”
“What this means” said Mara, “is that in 1938, when the school closed, the property and school reverted back to the Rogers family, probably the parents of Mrs. Bradford, and would have passed on to Mrs. Bradford, upon their death.”
“What about the taxes that the city has paid on the property since 1938?” asked Mrs. Bradford. “Will I have to pay back that money to the city?”
Mara shuffled through the documents and pulled one out of the stack. “This document answers that question” said Mara. “In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, the city fell upon hard times and Ezra Rogers, Samuel’s son agreed to defer rent payments, with interest added, until a time when the city could afford to pay the back payments and interest. Mrs. Bradford, do you know of Ezra Rogers?”
“Yes, I do,” said Mrs. Bradford. “He was my great-great grandfather. He died while fighting in the Civil War. As far as I know, nobody in my family since that time was ever paid any money by the city.”
“That means,” said Mara, “that the city owes your family over one hundred forty years of back rent plus interest, since it never turned the land over to your family in 1938. I think that comes to a lot more than the back taxes that you might owe them for the past sixty or so years.”
“I suggest that you hire a lawyer immediately,” said Mara. “Get an injunction to keep the city from tearing down this building while you settle the legal dispute. However, when the city is faced with the evidence, I don’t think they will risk a fight in court.”
As everybody was congratulating Mara; for solving the mystery and saving the school, her parents returned from sightseeing. Mr. Brady told them what Mara had done to save the school. Mrs. Louis put her arm around Mara and said, “That’s my girl”.
Mr. Louis looked around the room and said; “All that’s missing are the original desks.” This got Mara thinking and she went to the back wall, placed her hand on it, and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she had a big grin on her face. She picked up a crow bar and with her father’s help, she began prying off a board.
Mara looked into the opening and then she and her father quickly pried off the rest of the boards. There, stacked up, were some of the original desks and chairs from the school, as well as the old school bell, black board and the teacher’s desk as well. The old fireplace had not been torn out after all. It was still there. Only the chimney that came out of the roof had been removed.
Mrs. Bradford promised Mr. Brady that the school would remain open as a historical landmark forever. Then, she turned to Mara and said; “Mara, we owe you a debt of gratitude to you for solving this mystery. I’d like to give you a reward.”
“Mrs. Bradford, I cannot accept a reward for helping you. It was God, through Jedidiah who showed me what I needed to do. However, if you could keep my name out of the newspapers, I would appreciate it. I am starting to get tired of all the publicity.” The Bradford family and Mr. Brady promised that Mara’s name would not be mentioned outside the schoolhouse. Mrs. Bradford and the girls said that they would like to stay in touch, so Mara exchanged email addresses and phone numbers with all of them and promised to invite them to her Facebook page. Mara hugged everyone goodbye and then, Mara and her parents left and drove to the hotel.
That night, before Mara went to sleep, her mother kissed her goodnight and told her; “I am so proud of you for all you do to help others. You have shown us that you can handle responsibility nicely.” That made Mara feel very good inside and she thanked God for her gift, as she did every night.
The Mystery of the Hidden Vault
Mara had solved yet another mystery, this one in a one-room schoolhouse in Vincennes, Indiana. As she lay in bed recalling the events of the day, she was glad that God had bestowed the gift of her special dreams and visions, which helped her, solve mysteries, which also allowed her to help other people.
Mara thanked God for everything he had done for her and her family, and she fell into a blissful sleep. She was barely asleep, when she began dreaming. She was walking through a very poor neighborhood. She passed by an old Methodist church that was falling apart, as was much of the neighborhood. She made note of the street name as well as the name of the church. As with many other dreams, there were a lot of puzzling clues that by themselves, meant nothing to her, but later, when she put them all together, they would make more sense.
When Mara woke up, she quickly grabbed the notebook and pen that she always kept by her bed and wrote down as many clues as she could remember. Mara knew that the mystery would take place in Chicago. The clues did not make much sense. The list of clues included: a long house, Al Capone and the names; Henry, Kelly, Gary, Morgan and Sylvester Carter. There were also several words that came to Mara in her dream, including; vault, coins, the numbers; 1895 and 1905.
After breakfast, Mara and her parents were headed for the windy city; Chicago. By this time, Mara’s parents had realized that Mara had no control over her gift and they let her make plans according to her visions and dreams.
They arrived in Chicago that afternoon and after checking into their hotel room, Mara looked up the address of St. Christopher’s Methodist Church, in the phonebook. The address was on the street that Mara had seen in her dream. Mara called the church and made an appointment for her and her parents to visit the church the next day, which was Friday. Mara felt that once she walked into the church, she would find more clues.
The next morning, Mara and her parents met the pastor of St. Christopher’s Methodist Church. Reverend Long gave them the grand tour of the church. When Mara made a comment about the condition of the church building, Reverend Long told her that the neighborhood was very poor and there was no money to make repairs in the church, or to help fix up the neighborhood.
Since it was the summertime, the church was always open and there were many teenagers there. As Mara and her parents walked down one hall of the church, Mara heard music coming from somewhere. When they reached the source of it, Mara saw a boy who looked about fourteen playing the piano. He was very good, as if he had been playing for twenty years. There was also a girl in the room listening to the music.
When they walked into the room, Reverend Long introduced the teens to Mara and her parents. Once Mara was in the room, Mara noticed things that she had not seen from the hallway. Gary Jones, the boy playing the piano was blind, and the girl, Kelly Pickford was sitting in a wheel chair. Both of them were very friendly. Mara met several other teenagers that day, but for some reason, Kelly and Gary stuck in Mara’s mind. Even with their physical disabilities, they had very upbeat attitudes. Mara also realized that she had remembered their names from her dream the night before.
Reverend Long invited Mara and her parents to his home that evening, so that they could meet his wife. During dinner, Reverend Long and his wife told their story to Mara and her parents.
Reverend and Mrs. Long had arrived in Chicago thirty years earlier. They wanted to help inner city youth. They were both twenty-five years old at the time. They got so involved in working with troubled teens and kids at risk, that they never had any children of their own. Then, Reverend Long said that he did not know how much longer he could stay at that church.
“I don’t think that I am making a difference in lives of my congregation, especially the younger crowd, any more. I feel like I have failed them, Maybe, it’s time that I retired and let the church find a younger pastor that can reach the congregation.”
Mara thought long and hard about the situation. “Reverend Long” she said, “For the past few years, I have been having dreams and visions that have allowed me to help people. Last night, I had a vision about this church and
you. I know that I am here to help you and your church. I do not yet have all the answers, but God has always steered me in the right direction before. Do not make any decisions about retirement until I figure this thing out. Do we have a deal?”
Reverend Long looked at Mara as if seeing her for the first time. “Mara, if God sent you to help me and this church, then I will wait before I make any decisions.
Before the Louis family left Reverend Long’s house, he invited them to the Sunday worship service. Mara graciously accepted on behalf of her family.
That night, Mara had another dream, which was a little different from the night before. When Mara woke up on Saturday morning, she knew that she was there to help the church and neighborhood, but also to help Reverend Long see that he was still needed by his congregation.
That day, Mara and her parents went sightseeing around Chicago for most of the day. Mara did request that they make a stop at the main branch of the public library, so she could do some research. She had realized that she had misread one clue from her dreams. When she saw long house, she was thinking of some kind of Native American dwelling, when it actually referred to Reverend and Mrs. Long’s house. At the library, Mara did research on the