Justice Ch. 04: Old Scores

"I'm curious, how'd the town get its name?" she asked.

"There's a big outcropping of rock a few miles out the other side of town," he said. "Legend has it the native Apaches who used to live here would tie prisoners to it for days on end. Not sure if any of that is true, but that's what the legend says."

"Well, you know what they say," Danni said. "Every legend has some basis in truth. You think maybe we could go take a look at it before I head back?"

"Reckon so," he said.

"So, what can you tell me about this site?" she asked.

"Not much, really," he said. "It's been out there forever. Not a lot to see. Just an old adobe house in a box canyon. There used to be a barn, but it fell down on itself a long time ago. You can still see some fence posts, but I don't know how old they are. No one's lived in the place full time since before the depression, though."

"No one?" she asked.

"Except for the occasional migrant coming up from the border, no," he said. "Sometimes, kids go out there for Halloween or to make out, but they usually don't stay very long. Especially at night. There's no electricity and I don't think I'd trust any of the old plumbing there."

"Oh," she said. "So who owns the place now?"

"The county's been in control of it since about 1930," he said. "They still can't decide what they want to do with it, even after 90 years."

"I guess that's modern government for you," Danni said. Ryan laughed.

"Isn't that the truth?" he asked sarcastically, causing Danni to laugh.

"By the way, there's a paranormal group that's been coming out from time to time over the last couple months," he added. "They come out for a few days at a time, set up some cameras and stuff, then leave. They're here now, as a matter of fact. They rent a space on the edge of town and have an RV parked there when they come. That's how I know they're here. They seem to be good kids, keep pretty much to themselves, don't cause any problems. Personally, though, I honestly don't know what they expect to find out there."

"I take it you don't believe in ghosts or the afterlife," she said. He snorted.

"I don't know know about that, but I have seen some pretty strange things in my day," he said.

"You think it might be possible to talk to these paranormal people?" she asked. "I'd be curious to see what they've come up with."

"Your call," he said. "I don't have a problem with it, but I don't know how much good they'll be to you."

"You never know," she said. "As they say, the devil's in the details."

"Reckon so," he said. "Maybe if there's enough time after we're done at the site, we can head over. The park they stay in is right on the way."

"Sounds like a plan, Ryan," Danni said. They made small talk for the rest of the trip. They spent a good part of the journey on a rough "road" that consisted mostly of two ruts with weeds growing between the ruts. Because of the deep holes in the trail, Ryan was forced to drive fairly slow so as to avoid the worse part of the road.

"You were right," Danni said. "That Camry would never have made it through this." He laughed.

"Hate to tell you this, but that was the GOOD part of the road," he said. From there, the "road" became rocky and uneven, with a deep ravine on one side and piles of rock on the other. Eventually, it evened out somewhat, and they came upon a box canyon. The dirt trail led to the door of the adobe shack, which sat in the middle of the canyon. Ryan stopped the truck and they got out.

"Careful," he said. "There's all kinds of crawling things out here. Don't want you stepping on a snake by accident."

"I was raised on a ranch, Ryan," she said. "But thanks for the warning anyway." She looked around and took a few pictures from the truck. She walked around and saw tire tracks, perhaps left behind by the paranormal investigators. She walked up to the door of the house and opened it up.

"Careful now," Ryan said. "Those floorboards are probably 100 years old."

"Got it," she said, easing herself inside. She found herself standing in what looked like a combination living room and dining area. The exterior walls were surprisingly quite sturdy and seemed to be about a foot thick. The rest of the place, however, left a lot to be desired. Every window in the house was either cracked or broken and the floor was covered with dust and dirt.

She spotted a few electrical outlets, no doubt using old knob-and-tube wiring. It was clear these had been added a long time ago, perhaps in the late 1910s or early 1920s. She could see bare spots on the dirt-covered floor where people had slept and observed a few places where mice had left their droppings.

Looking around, she saw a kitchen with an old stove and a large sink. Except for an ancient tub-style washer, and an old refrigerator, there were no other appliances. A door in the kitchen led outside, perhaps where an old outhouse was located.

She could make out three bedrooms off the main room and a bathroom off the kitchen that had obviously been added after the place was first built. She carefully walked through the old place, testing the floor as she went. She could hear the floorboards creak as she walked around.

Did Elijah's family really live here, she asked herself. If he did, it must've been horrible. The place was tiny and would've been quite cramped with six people. She pictured them walking around in the small place in her mind and wondered what it must've been like.

"Did you really live here, Grandma Lizzy?" she asked quietly. She almost expected to get an answer, but none came. She took pictures as she walked around, then headed back outside.

"What do ya think?" Ryan asked.

"Not exactly 'Good Housekeeping' quality, but interesting," she said. "I can't imagine people actually lived way out there back in those days. What did they do for food, water and supplies?"

"They dug a well," Ryan said. "You can see what's left of that over there next to the place. I suspect they had a garden out here and probably raised cattle over there in the field. Back then, the town was about seven miles in that direction," he added, raising his arm. "I doubt they went to town very often, given the terrain. It probably would've taken most of the day to get there and back with a horse and wagon." Danni walked around the old house, taking photos as she went.

"Any idea what this might've been?" she asked, looking at a bare rectangular area in the dirt.

"No telling," Ryan said. "Maybe an old garage or a stable where they kept horses. If you look over there, you can see where the old barn was. It's been down for quite some time, though. You can see where the old well was, over there, and they had an outhouse in the back." She walked around a bit more, taking pictures of everything she could. After an hour or so, she stopped and took one last look around.

"I think I've seen all I need to see right now," she said. "Maybe we can come back out later if necessary, if that's alright."

"Sure," Ryan said. "Where to now?"

"I'd like to speak with those paranormal investigators if that's alright," she said.

"As you wish," he said. They got back in his truck and headed out.

...

The two girls lay in bed, their naked bodies intertwined after a bout of lovemaking. April and Jessica had been lovers since their senior year in college, about six years ago. They had known each other for three years at the time they consummated their relationship during the spring break of their senior year. Over time, their love grew and blossomed.

Sometimes, they would invite a man to share their bed, but their love was reserved for each other, and the odd man would find that he was a third wheel -- a human dildo to satisfy a physical urge and nothing more. In all, they could count the men they had during their years together on one hand. As April gave her love a kiss, she heard a knock on the door of their RV.

"Shit, someone's at the door," she said, rolling out of the bed. She threw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, not bothering with underwear. Slipping her feet into a pair of flip-flops, she stood up and looked at her lover. "Better get something on," she told Jessica as she headed for the door.

"Okay, okay," Jessica said as she sat up. April opened the door and found herself staring at a large, one-eyed bearded man in uniform and an attractive blonde who stood next to him. She recoiled a bit when she saw the scar running down the left side of his face. What happened to him, she asked herself.

"Yes, sheriff, what can I do for you?" she asked.

"April Jennings?" the man asked. April nodded her head in the affirmative. "I'm Sheriff Caldwell and this is Mrs. Danni Jones. She's doing some work for the state historical commission and would like a word with you about the old homestead if that's okay."

"Oh, okay," April said. She glanced back and saw that Jessica was dressed much as she was and turned back to the sheriff and Danni. "Come on in. I hope everything is okay. We have our permit from the county."

"Yes, I know," he said. "There's no problem with that at all." He guided Danni up the small stairs leading into the large RV. They both noticed her hair was disheveled and her nipples threatened to poke through her t-shirt. They stepped into the vehicle and saw the place covered with books, charts, computers and other equipment. They also detected the scent of vanilla, which did almost nothing to mask the odor of sex.

"This is a mighty big rig. Are you girls by yourself?" Ryan asked, seeing Jessica was in the same state as her companion. April nodded her head.

"Yes, it's just the two of us," she said. "My parents have a rig much like this one and my father taught me how to drive it when I was 17. I taught Jessica and we go everywhere in it. It beats having to rent a motel room."

"Reckon so," Ryan said. "I suppose I should also ask if you girls are armed."

"Yes, we are," April said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "Two girls on the road, alone? You better believe we're armed. And we know how to shoot. I've got all the permits if you'd like to see them."

"No, that's quite alright," Ryan said.

"Ms. Jennings, I just want to talk with you about your investigation of the homestead if that's okay," Danni said.

"Sure," April said. "Please, call me April. This is Jessica." They all shook hands. "Please have a seat if you can find one. Feel free to move some of that stuff if you need to," April said. "Can I get you something to drink? A Coke, maybe?"

"Coke would be fine," Danni said. "And please call me Danni."

"One coke coming up," April said, handing her a cold can out of the small refrigerator. "How about you, sheriff? Would you like a coke?"

"Don't mind if I do," Ryan said. "Thank you," he added when she handed him a can. She pulled out two more and handed one to Jessica as she sat on the small couch with her lover.

"So what would you like to know?" April asked.

"I'm curious to know what you've found so far," Danni said.

"You mean, have we encountered any ghosts or something that might scare off potential tourists?" April asked.

"Well, just in general," Danni said. "I'd like to find out what you've learned mostly."

"Uh huh," April said. "Well, Danni, let me start by saying that the vast majority of what we do is research. Unfortunately, most people think that all we do is go someplace after hours with audio and video recorders, shout at the air and 'poof,' ghosts magically appear or start talking to us. It's not like that at all, is it, Jessica?"

"No, not hardly," Jessica said. "You see, we might collect hundreds of hours of audio and video and maybe -- just maybe, we'll get maybe a total of one or two minutes of what might be considered evidence. Then we spend hours combing through all that audio and video and try to debunk what evidence we may collect. Mind you, about 85 percent of what we capture can be explained. What's left -- the 15 percent of that one or two minutes worth of evidence -- is what we consider unexplained and possible paranormal."

"That doesn't mean there's ghosts or anything like that," April added. "It's 'para' normal, which simply means it's outside of what we can reasonably explain. We send that evidence off to an outside resource for additional analysis. The rest of the time, we go through libraries, county records and newspaper archives to learn everything we can about a place. In fact, we spend more time doing that than anything else."

"What has your research uncovered about the homestead?" Danni asked.

"From what we've learned, the original house was built in 1849 by Tobias Jones. He came here from Indiana with his wife, Margaret, his three sons, William, Travis and Elijah, and a daughter-in-law, Elizabeth. She was married to Elijah," April said.

"Elijah and his wife left in about 1856 and returned to Indiana," Jessica said. "He joined the cavalry when war broke out and was killed during Sherman's March to the Sea. Travis joined the Confederates in this area and was part of the push to take Santa Fe. He was captured by the Union Army and died in captivity. Tobias died in 1870 and Margaret died five years later. William stayed on the homestead until he died in 1903. They're all buried in the Hard Rock cemetery."

"The house was bought by a young couple in 1905," April said. "They stayed until just before the crash in 1929 and moved to California. The house has sat empty ever since, although the county did use it as storage for a few years after they took the property over. They quit using it because the road was simply unusable."

"Sounds like you ladies have done your homework," Ryan said.

"Thank you, Sheriff," Jessica said. "We have to. Without it, we can't even begin to provide context for any evidence we might get."

"Have you gotten any evidence so far?" Danni asked.

"Yes, we have," April said. "It's not much, but that's not too unusual. Would you like to see it for yourself?"

"Could I, please?" Danni asked, excited. Ryan said nothing, but was also interested in seeing what they had found. April looked at Jessica, who gave a slight nod of approval.

"Of course," April said, stepping up to the small table between Danni and Ryan. "There's four pieces we haven't been able to explain or debunk. They're still being looked into by our analyst, but he hasn't been able to explain them, either. There's three pieces of audio and one video. Here's the first piece of audio." She pressed a button on her laptop and everyone listened intently. They were surprised to hear what sounded like a gunshot.

"Can you play that back again, please?" Ryan asked.

"Sure," April said. She played the audio again as Ryan listened.

"That certainly sounds like a gunshot," Ryan said. "But it's obviously not a modern firearm. The report is much different."

"That's what we thought as well," Jessica. "We did some digging to see what we could learn and found an entry made by the sheriff back in 1855. From what he wrote, William had been shot but was recovering. We know that William had a difficult time getting around, which is why he never went into the army."

"I see," Ryan said. "What else have you got?"

"Here's the second one," April said. "It's very short, but you can clearly hear what's going on." She played the audio, and as Danni and Ryan listened, they heard the sound of an older man sobbing. April stopped the audio.

"Sounds like a man crying," Danni said.

"Yes, it does," April said. "But we don't have anything to put it into context. Here's the third piece of audio." They listened and heard an older woman say, "Eli." She sounded like she was in distress when she said it.

"I heard her say, 'Eli,'" Danni said when it was finished.

"That's what we heard as well," Jessica said. "And it sounded to me like she had been crying when she said it."

"That's what I gathered as well," Danni said.

"Again, we can only make an educated guess based on what we know of the family," April said. "But it sounds to me that the woman could very well have been Margaret, perhaps mourning the loss of her son in battle."

"Interesting," Danni said, her mind racing. "You said you also have video."

"Yes,"April said. "This one has us both stumped. We captured this last Friday night using an infrared filter. Our tech guru still hasn't been able to figure it out." She pulled up the video and pressed play. Danni and Ryan watched the blob as it appeared to crawl out of the ground and run away."

"What the hell was that?" Ryan asked as tingles ran up his spine.

"We don't know," April said. "You can see more if you watch it at a slower speed." She restarted the video, playing it again, only much slower. They saw the thing turn what looked like a head and saw the two yellow "eyes."

"Holy crap," Ryan said when it was finished. "That doesn't look like an animal to me."

"That's what we thought as well," April said. "We've got some old drawings of the property that were done in the very early 1900s. It looks to us like this was the location of the original well, which has since collapsed in on itself. I don't know if that has anything to do with this, though."

"You haven't seen anything like this since then?" Ryan asked. Jessica shook her head.

"No, nothing," she said. Danni closed her eyes and thought to herself for a few moments before speaking.

"You said Elijah was married to a woman named Elizabeth, right?" she asked.

"Yes," April said.

"One of my husband's ancestors was named Elijah, and he was married to a woman named Elizabeth," Danni said. April and Jessica looked at each other, excitement evident on their faces. "We know he served in the Union cavalry and was shot just as you described. We also know they lived in this part of Texas before the war. From what you've said, they could very well be the same ones who lived here. In fact, this was her engagement ring," she added, lifting her left hand.

"Wow," April said.

"There's more," Danni said. "After Elijah died, Elizabeth, or Lizzy, as she was called, began keeping a journal. That journal has been in my husband's family ever since. Would you be interested in seeing it?"

"Yes, we would, Danni," Jessica said. "Very much. I promise, we'll take very good care of it."

"I can't promise anything, but I'll talk to my husband about it today," Danni said. "I know his mother has made copies for the family, and keeps it under lock and key. She's very protective of it."

"I don't blame her," April said. "Yes, if you can get us a copy of that journal, that would be outstanding."

"Alright," she said. "How long are you two planning to be here?"

"We're planning to be here for another week, but we'll be back," April said.

"Okay, I'll let you know what he says tomorrow if that's okay," Danni said.

"We look forward to seeing you then, Danni," Jessica said. Danni and Ryan stood as they prepared to leave.

"Until tomorrow," Danni said, extending her hand. April and Jessica shook her hand and escorted them to the door. They watched the two leave in Ryan's official truck and turned to each other, squealing with excitement.

...

"You really think your husband's grandparents are the ones who lived in that old house?" Ryan asked as he drove home.

"I do," Danni said.

"Talk about a small world," he said.

"Yeah," Danni said quietly. "What do you make of that video? Have you ever seen anything like that?"

"No, I haven't," Ryan said. "I gotta admit, it sure was pretty compelling."

"Yes, it was," she said.

"Reckon I'd better keep an eye out for shadowy blobs with yellow eyes," he said, half-jokingly.

"Maybe you should put out an APB," Danni said with a smile, causing Ryan to laugh.

"Yeah, I can see it now," he said. "They'd probably lock me up in the loony bin if I did." They finally got back to his place, where they settled down for a nice dinner.