The Storm
A Place In Our Memories
When Lucy awoke the next morning her eyes flew open as she realized she wasn’t alone. It had been so very long since she’d awoke to find a man in her bed and immediately guilt filled her mind. “Stop” She whispered pushing that feeling away.
In his sleep Gerard mumbled something.
Lucy smiled as she looked into his handsome face. She forced herself to remember how safe she’d felt falling asleep last night, safe and…. Okay, that was not something she was ready to admit. Slowly she eased out of bed knowing it was early and not wanting to wake him.
When Gerard found her she was just coming back into the kitchen from collecting the eggs.
“Hey” He said softly, “I woke up and you were gone,” There was no hiding the disappointment in his voice.
“Sorry.” She said placing the basket of eggs on the counter. “I didn’t want to wake you but I had to deal with the girls.”
He felt his body relax, his first thought was she had regretted sleeping with him. “Yeah, I get that but I really wanted to see you when I opened my eyes.”
“You’re damn cute when you sleep.” Lucy said surprising him.
“What?”
She grinned, “Yeah, you look so…sweet.”
He rolled his eyes, “Sweet? Not exactly the word a man wants to hear.”
“Well, it’s true.” She giggled, “Very sweet and innocent.”
He moved quickly to close the space between them. Reaching out to touch her cheek he whispered, “How do I look now?”
Lucy’s heart picked up speed. “Uh, well…”
“Yeah?” He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “Come on, tell me.”
“You look dangerously sexy as hell.” She muttered.
“Again with the wording,” He laughed, “Dangerously sexy?”
Her body began to hum, “Dangerously sexy, incredibly yummy, heart stoppingly..” Her words were silenced when he pulled her into his arms, his lips crashing down on her.
Lucy wrapped her arms around him, pushing all thoughts from her mind.
Gently his tongue teased her bottom lip, begging for her to open her mouth and she did. Soon the kiss was deep and passionate leaving them both wanting more.
Lucy slowly stepped out of his arms. “Uh, if we don’t stop..”
“Why stop?”
She smiled slightly, “Because if we don’t stop we won’t have time to go see the town before it gets hot.”
“Seems pretty hot already.” He murmured.
“Damn hot.” She admitted “In here but outside it’s still nice.” She walked over towards the fridge. “I was thinking we could just have a quick bowl of cereal.”
He nodded trying to get his emotions back under control. “Yeah, okay.”
“Besides” She smiled over at him where he’d taken a seat at the table. “If you’re a good boy and work on your novel this afternoon you’ll earn a nice break.”
“A sexy break?” His eyes lit up in anticipation.
“Definitely” She smiled, “Most definitely.”
______________________________________________________
“Still no word from Gee?” Ray asked getting directly to the point of the call.
“Probably not long.” Mikey said sadly.
“Yeah but maybe it will make Gee come back?” Ray said slowly, “I mean, he’ll know he has to deal with this.”
“That’s assuming he’s even looking at the Net.”
“Come on, the Internet is everywhere, in every hotel. And you know how Gerard cruises the Net.”
“He did.” Mikey sighed, “But I don’t know him anymore, maybe he’s changed and don’t give a shit anymore.”
Ray was immediately worried about his friend, “Hey, your brother is always changing, you know that but deep down he’s still the Gee we know.”
“No, the brother I knew would never have taken off like this. He wouldn’t have left me hanging; he would have known I’d be worried.”
_____________________________________________________
Gerard smiled over at Lucy as they walked hand in hand down the gravel road. “I’m glad we’re getting an early start.”
“An early start is 5 am. “ Lucy laughed, “This isn’t exactly early.”
“Maybe not but the temperature is still nice.” He let his gaze go out across the fields. “It’s so fuckin’ peaceful here.”
She studied his profile. “You really feel like that?”
“Peaceful?”
She nodded.
“Yeah” He admitted, “I love not hearing the sound of traffic, dealing with smog or crowds of people.”
“You’ll get tired of this.” She said softly. “Right now it’s a nice change but…”
He tightened his grip on her hand. “Lucy, as much as I love the peacefulness here it’s because of you I stay.”
Her eyes grew sad as she let her fears speak, “You’ll grow tired of me and my issues.”
“And you think I don’t have issues? You think I don’t worry about the same thing? What if you get tired of dealing with me?”
“You’re not so hard to deal with.” She said softly.
“Well neither are you.” They’d reached the town. “So which building do we start with?”
She tugged on his hand leading him over to the nearest building. “Well, here we have the bank.”
They flattened the weeds as they pushed closer to the ruins.
“Wow” Gerard said peering in what was once a window. “Man, look at that. There’s the vault.”
She nodded, “Yes, but as you can see it’s empty.”
He nodded his eyes on the open heavy metal door. “Wonder why no one has carted it off.”
She laughed, “Uh, cause it weights more than five hundred pounds.”
“True” He said leaning in for a better look. “This is so fuckin’ eerie. Tell me the town’s history.”
Lucy was pleased he was so interested, “Well Neosho Falls is the oldest town in Woodson County.” She pointed across the road, “It was named after that river.” In early 1857 the town was founded by Col Goss and another man named Dow. Along with another settler they built a cabin and sold merchandise to the Indians.” She leaned against the stone building as she continued, “This area at the time was still part of the New York Indian Reserve it wasn’t opened for preemption until later that same year.Then in 1858 a company built a hotel called it Falls House and a store. Soon after that settlers starting building around here, just crude cabins at first but it that was the actual beginning of the town.”
He was amazed by her knowledge of the area. “Wow, you’ve done your homework.”
She grinned “Actually I found out a lot of facts when my photos were used in the book. Anyway, on Aug 16th 1858 Neosho Falls was formally declared the county seat and a courthouse and jail were built.” She paused “In the book there is a really great description of the courthouse written at the time it was built.”
“I only looked at your photos” Gerard admitted, “I’ll have to read the book. But please, go on.”
“When the railroad built its line south from Junction City through here it erected a round house and office. Of course the coming of the railroad meant a lot of people joined the town.”
Slowly they walked across the dirt road towards another large abandoned building.
“This is Township Hall.” Lucy explained as they drew nearer. “It was built in 1922.”
1922 was a jump from the time period she’d been telling him about. “Wait, what happened after the railroad got here?”
“For a time, the town grew but there was a lot of angry people who lived in Yates Center who believed the county seat should be located there. Finally in 1876 Yates Center got enough votes passed to have the county seat changed. Then the railroad built another line directly to St Louis.”
“Bi-passing here?”
She nodded, “Yeah the line here became only local. When that happened the round house and land office were moved away.”
Gerard quickly sprinted up the steps of the building to gaze inside. “Wow” He whispered, “Man, look at his.”
She giggled, “I’ve seen it many times.”
First he gazed down at the rotting floor noting how dangerous it looked. “Okay, how did you get those great shots?”
She moved to stand next to him in the doorway. “See that window?”
His gaze followed the path her finger was pointing out. “Yeah?”
“Climbed in through there then carefully stepped over the hole to a solid board.”
His frown deepened “That was dangerous. What if you’d fallen though the floor? Shit you could have laid there for hours maybe days before anyone found you.”
“Not true.” She said softly. “I never came alone. Rex always walks down here with me. If something had happened he’d have started barking and someone from the bar right down the road would have heard him.”
“So why didn’t Rex come with us today?”
Her answer was low and breathy, “I wanted you all to myself.”
She saw the desire in his eyes flash, matching her own. “Down boy” She whispered taking a step back.
Gerard laughed, “Shit, now you’re talking to me like Rex.”
Lucy giggled as they walked back down the steps. “Yeah, that’s true. Just wait until I tell you to roll over.”
He grabbed her hand as they started across the road to the large building, the first one he’s spotted when he’d driven into town. “Wanna tell me that now?”
“Nope, still haven’t shown you my favorite building, the High School.”
“Okay” He sighed dramatically, “So at least go on with my history lesson.”
She thought a moment. “Well let’s see. President Hay’s came here in 1879. Thousands of people came for that. They camped out in fields. Oh, and General Sherman accompanied him with a military escort.” She laughed, “Supposedly the Presidents first remark was “Where is the city?” He’d expected something bigger.”
They were now growing closer to the vine covered structure.
“But in the 1900’s things took a definite turn for the worse. When steam and electricity replaced water power the mills were closed down. Then there was a terrible flood in 1926.”
Gerard turned to look back at the river in the distance. “You’d have thought they might have figured that would happen, building so close to the water.”
She grinned, “You’d have thunk so but you’d be wrong. Then the newspaper closed down in the 1930’s, oh, and in 1933 the railroad closed down its line here.”
They had reached the huge building and Gerard was looking at it with a critical eye. “Is it structurally sound?”
Ignoring his question she moved forward pushing branches out of her way. Gerard followed nervously glancing around for snakes.
“Welcome to the Neosho Fall High School,” Lucy said crossing the threshold.
Gerard was amazed to see two huge open doors just beyond the vines and weeds. “Wow”
She grinned, “Come on.”
He quickly caught up to her intending to tell her to be carefully but when his eyes glanced around he was awestruck. “Holy shit.” He whispered “It looks like class was dismissed one day but no one returned.”
“Yep, exactly” Lucy said softly as they climbed a set of stairs. She led him into a classroom where old worn desks littered the ground, some upright, some on their sides. “Sometimes when I stand here and close my eyes I can still hear their voices, I can almost feel their adolescent emotions.”
Gerard was captivated by her voice.
“All their young dreams and hopes. Their confusion and fear of the future before them.” Slowly she opened her eyes. “Silly isn’t it?”
“No” He whispered. “Not at all. This place holds so many memories good and bad and seeing it this way..” He swept his hand around his eyes noting the graffiti on the walls, the broken chalk boards, “Intensifies those feelings.”
“Like time passed, people left this place but the place still remembers.” She whispered. She reached up to lift the camera from around her neck. Gerard stood still watching as she began to snap photos. He was surprised when she suddenly turned and snapped a picture of him.
“There’s a lot more to see.” She said lowering the camera.
“I want to see it all.”
The next place Lucy led him to was the Home Ec room. Gerard walked in slowly shocked to see the rusted stoves still in place. “I can’t believe they just left this stuff here.”
“The flood of 1951 was truly the end of Neosho Falls. People left, most didn’t return. Weird thing is people think this school closed then because of the flood damage but it really didn’t close down until the 60’s but by then the number of students had dropped dramatically.”
“So all of this damage wasn’t caused by the flood?”
“Not here. This is just what happens over time when there is on one to care.”
Again the tone of her voice and her words were captivating.Gerard glanced around the room. “Wonder how many cakes were baked in this room?”
She grinned as she pointed the camera and began snapping photos.
It wasn’t until they were in another large classroom that Gerard got his courage up to ask something that was weighing heavily on his mind. “Lucy, do you believe in ghosts?”
It was obvious by her look the question surprised her. “Ghosts?”
He nodded, “Yeah, do you believe those who’ve passed on can come back?”
She was about to tease him but when she looked into his eyes she could see he was serious. “I don’t really know. Why would they want to come back?”
His hands clinched nervously at his sides, “Because they left loved ones behind.”
Immediately he saw her body tense. “I don’t think they could do that.”
Slowly he took a step closer. “Why?"
“Why are you asking me this?”
He could see she was upset, very upset. He tried to lighten the mood, “Hey, we’re in a ghost town, in a wickedly cool old abandoned school. I was just wondering.”
Lucy placed the strap of the camera back around her neck but remained silent.
“You don’t believe they can come back because he hasn’t.” Gerard said softly.
Anger contorted her face, “I don’t think that.”
“I’m sorry.” He muttered looking down. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Tiredly she leaned against the wall. “No, I’m being over sensitive. I’m sorry.”
Gerard felt so torn. He longed to tell her the truth, that he knew the departed could come back out of concern for those they loved but would she even believe him? Would that knowledge bring her peace or cause her to retreat into the lonely world she’d built for herself?
Lucy pushed off from the wall, “Anyway” She said softly, “I’m not sure why your comment bothered me so much…in a way I’ve been living with ghosts for years.” She brushed past him to continue the tour, not another word about ghosts was uttered.
They toured the school for the next forty minutes, Lucy stopping often to snap photos. Gerard’s interest in the school pleased her more than she cared to admit. When they had first arrived she had believed he’d only had a passing interest but it was obvious by the way he studied each room this place had captured his imitation. However, the day was heating up and soon they both were sweating.
“Guess we should head back now.” Lucy said as they stood in the doorway of the school.
Gerard nodded, “Yeah, suppose so but thank you for sharing this with me.”
She grinned, “Hey, you didn’t need me to tour the place. Lots of people come here.”
“I know that.” He said reaching for her hand as they walked outside into the bright sunlight. “But you shared more than just the building, you shared your thoughts.”
A strange look of sadness covered her face. He was about to question her as to why when someone yelled Lucy’s name. They both saw a man standing across the street in front of the bar.
“That’s Clyde.” Lucy explained to Gerard as she waved. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to him.”
Gerard was slightly nervous as they crossed the road moving towards the bar. She had let go of his hand so he wondered how she would introduce him, as a friend, or as her cousin.
“Hey, Clyde” Lucy smiled as they reached the older man. “This is Gerard, Gerard Clyde”
He grinned extending his hand, “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you.” Clyde nodded as they shook. “Lucy giving you a private tour?”
Gerard nodded.
“Hey come on in.” Clyde said, “It’s too damn hot out here.”
Lucy and Gerard followed him inside. As Clyde rounded the bar Lucy said softly. “Be right back” Then headed towards the restroom.
Gerard slid on to one of the wooden bar stools noting they were the only customers.
“So what can I get you?”
“Uh, just a coke.” Gerard’s eyes were on the bottles of liquor behind the bar but he resisted the urge to order a drink.
Clyde filled a glass with ice then fountain soda. “Here ya go. So where you from?"
“California.” Gerard answered then took a drink. He could tell Clyde was curious about his presence. He hoped Lucy would return soon because he wasn’t sure how to handle any questions the man might ask. Hoping to change the subject to a safe topic he asked, “So, you own this place?”
Clyde smiled, “Yep, it’s been in the family for years. As you can see, not exactly a thriving business but no matter what you can count on most people not giving up drinking.”
Gerard was relieved when Lucy reappeared then climbed on to the stool next to him.
“What can I get you?”
“Just a Coke.”
Gerard didn’t miss the surprised look on Clyde’s face. Did Lucy come here to drink often, he wondered. He got his answer when Clyde set the soda in front of Lucy. “Been missing you, haven’t see you since before the twister went through. You get much damage?”
“Some” Lucy answered before taking a drink.
“Out at my place we lost several trees.” He turned his attention back to Gerard, “So I’m guessing it was your car I saw right before the twister came through?”
Gerard gave him a surprised look, “You saw my car?”
Clyde nodded, “Yeah, I was just locking the door when I saw you. I was gonna rush out and warn you but I saw you turn up the road towards Lucy’s place.”
“I got there just in time.” Gerard explained, “We made it to her storm shelter just as the twister was crossing the road.”
“Good to hear that.” He said while pouring himself a glass of soda. “They say more storms are headed this way late today.”
“I was wondering abut that.” Lucy admitted, “I can feel it in the air.”
Clyde’s attention went back to Gerard again. “So you visiting here for long?”
Lucy spoke up before Gerard had a chance to answer. “Gerard is an old friend from California. He’s a writer who wanted so peace and quiet to work on his novel.”
“Peace and quiet?” Clyde laughed, “Man, did you come to the right place for that. Not much ever happens around here.” He paused “But that might change soon.”
Lucy looked up, “What?”
“Yeah, heard yesterday from Linda that one of those ghost hunting shows is gonna film here in a month or so.”
“Shit” Lucy rolled her eyes, “You serious?”
Clyde nodded, “Yeah our little town here is going to be on TV.”
“Great” Lucy’s voice was full of sarcasm. “Just great.”
Clyde pattered her hand, “I know how you feel about that but honestly I’m looking forward to the people it’ll bring in.”
Lucy sighed, “Yeah, I understand that. I just hope they don’t destroy anything.”
“Know what you mean.” He nodded. “But hey look on the bright side, you’ve taken a lot of photos of the place. Might boost demand for them.”
“Anyone can take photos.”
“Not like yours.” Gerard said joining the conversation. “They are incredible.”
“They are, aren’t they?” Clyde nodded this attitude warming towards Gerard. “You see the ones I have framed over there?”
Gerard followed his gaze. He quickly slid off the bar stool to walk over to the framed photos. These shots were all different then the ones Lucy had showed him.
Clyde leaned over while Gerard was occupied to whisper something to Lucy. Gerard saw but pretended not to notice.
Slowly he walked back over. “Those are great.”
“Yep, our Lucy is a fantastic photographer.” Clyde said with pride in his voice. “I still remember the first time I met you. You had that camera around your neck snapping photos.”
Lucy remembered that day too. She and Rafe had just moved into the house and had decided to walk into town.
Gerard was watching her closely, he saw her body was tense.
“So” Clyde asked, “Did you know Rafe too?”
Gerard saw Lucy’s reaction to the question and it wasn’t good. “Uh yeah” He lied, “Sure did.”
Suddenly Lucy slid off her bar stool, “We need to be going. If there are storms coming I need to get ready.”
Gerard left a twenty after they said their goodbyes to Clyde.
Lucy remained silent until they started up the road towards her farm. “Why did you say you knew Rafe?”
Shit, he thought to himself, because I really sorta do, however he gave Lucy another answer, “Well you said we were old friends from California and I knew you and Rafe grew up together out there. Just seemed to me it would make more sense if I said I knew him too.”
Lucy’s eyes were on the storm clouds to the east. “Suppose that’s true.” She said softly.
They walked in silence for several minutes until she spoke again. “He’d have liked you.”
Gerard was very surprised by the comment. “You think so?”
She sighed, “Rafe liked everyone. He was like that. There was never a time he didn’t try to find some good in everyone he met.”
“I’m not sure what that says about me. Think it would have been hard for him to find something about me that was good?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.” Lucy frowned.
“So why do you think he’d like me?” Gerard asked watching her face closely as they walked.
Lucy forced herself to be honest, “He’d have liked that you obviously worry about some of the shit I do like taking dangerous photos, or climbing out on roofs.”
When he reached for her hand she allowed it.
“Did he go out on the roof with you?” Gerard asked.
“No” Lucy whispered, tears threatening her eyes, “He’d have told me it was a darn fool thing to do.” She wiped her eyes, “He thought I had a reckless nature.”
Gerard wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
Lucy suddenly changed the subject. “I really wish that film crew wasn’t coming here.”
“You worry it will bring too much attention to the town.”
“Yeah” She nodded, “That’s exactly what it will do. And once the episode airs a whole new batch of people will show up. I wouldn’t mind if they were respectful but..”
“You worry they wont’ be.”
“Stupid, isn't’ it? I mean her I am fretting over a bunch of abandoned buildings.”
He squeezed her hand gently, “I don’t think it’s stupid at all. You simply want to preserve part of the past.”
“But why?” she whispered. “Why does it matter to me? Things change, time passes and yet I can’t seem to let go of the past.”
He understood the deep truth to those words. “Because we shouldn’t forget the past completely. It’s important to remember it, give it a place in our memories.” Again he squeezed her hand, “But we can’t let it control our lives, we have to move on.”
“I know we’re not talking about the town now.” Lucy said softly.
Gerard stopped in his tracks causing Lucy to halt also. “I know you understand and I know how difficult this is for you.”
She looked into his eyes, “Thank you for understanding.”
“Don’t thank me.” He said smiling, “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”
Her eyes suddenly filled with fear. “I can’t promise you anything.”
“Lucy you’ve let me into your life, that means more to me than I can say.”
A clap of thunder in the distance caught their attention.
“Storms are coming.” She whispered as they started walking again.
“Yeah” Gerard agreed as Rafe’s words once more filled his mind. “But it’s okay, we’ll deal with them together.” He prayed his words were true.
After a quick lunch they settled into the living room where Lucy went back to typing and Gerard worked on writing. A few hours into their work Gerard set down his legal pad then walked over to the desk.
“Want to take a break?” He was surprised when the question seemed to upset her.
“Uh, I’d really like to finish typing up the rest of this chapter.”
He knew immediately something wasn’t right, he could see it in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Lucy sighed, “Honestly I’m not sure. I don’t know I just sorta feel yucky.”
He grinned, “Yucky?”
She nodded, “Best word I can come up with. I don’t understand it. I feel so damn tired.”
Immediately Gerard was concerned. “Hey, why don’t you take a nap?”
Lucy shook her head, “I never nap.”
“There ain’t nothing wrong with taking a short nap.” He tugged on her arm making her stand. “Over here woman.” He said leading her to the sofa. Once she was laying down he kissed her forehead. “Close those beautiful eyes.”
“I’m sorry.” She whispered.
“Sorry?”
“Yeah I know you wanted a sexy break.”
He stroked her hair, “Honey if you don’t feel good, it’s okay.”
“I wanted one too.” She admitted closing her eyes.
“We’ll see how you feel after your nap.” He moved back over to sofa intent on writing but his mind was on Lucy. Unless he was wrong she was running a fever, her forehead had felt hot when he kissed it.
In his sleep Gerard mumbled something.
Lucy smiled as she looked into his handsome face. She forced herself to remember how safe she’d felt falling asleep last night, safe and…. Okay, that was not something she was ready to admit. Slowly she eased out of bed knowing it was early and not wanting to wake him.
When Gerard found her she was just coming back into the kitchen from collecting the eggs.
“Hey” He said softly, “I woke up and you were gone,” There was no hiding the disappointment in his voice.
“Sorry.” She said placing the basket of eggs on the counter. “I didn’t want to wake you but I had to deal with the girls.”
He felt his body relax, his first thought was she had regretted sleeping with him. “Yeah, I get that but I really wanted to see you when I opened my eyes.”
“You’re damn cute when you sleep.” Lucy said surprising him.
“What?”
She grinned, “Yeah, you look so…sweet.”
He rolled his eyes, “Sweet? Not exactly the word a man wants to hear.”
“Well, it’s true.” She giggled, “Very sweet and innocent.”
He moved quickly to close the space between them. Reaching out to touch her cheek he whispered, “How do I look now?”
Lucy’s heart picked up speed. “Uh, well…”
“Yeah?” He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “Come on, tell me.”
“You look dangerously sexy as hell.” She muttered.
“Again with the wording,” He laughed, “Dangerously sexy?”
Her body began to hum, “Dangerously sexy, incredibly yummy, heart stoppingly..” Her words were silenced when he pulled her into his arms, his lips crashing down on her.
Lucy wrapped her arms around him, pushing all thoughts from her mind.
Gently his tongue teased her bottom lip, begging for her to open her mouth and she did. Soon the kiss was deep and passionate leaving them both wanting more.
Lucy slowly stepped out of his arms. “Uh, if we don’t stop..”
“Why stop?”
She smiled slightly, “Because if we don’t stop we won’t have time to go see the town before it gets hot.”
“Seems pretty hot already.” He murmured.
“Damn hot.” She admitted “In here but outside it’s still nice.” She walked over towards the fridge. “I was thinking we could just have a quick bowl of cereal.”
He nodded trying to get his emotions back under control. “Yeah, okay.”
“Besides” She smiled over at him where he’d taken a seat at the table. “If you’re a good boy and work on your novel this afternoon you’ll earn a nice break.”
“A sexy break?” His eyes lit up in anticipation.
“Definitely” She smiled, “Most definitely.”
______________________________________________________
“Still no word from Gee?” Ray asked getting directly to the point of the call.
“Nothing.” Mikey sighed “But I heard from Lindsey yesterday. She’s started divorce proceeding.”
“Shit.” Ray sighed, “Man, that sucks. Wonder how long it will be before that news hits the Net?”“Probably not long.” Mikey said sadly.
“Yeah but maybe it will make Gee come back?” Ray said slowly, “I mean, he’ll know he has to deal with this.”
“That’s assuming he’s even looking at the Net.”
“Come on, the Internet is everywhere, in every hotel. And you know how Gerard cruises the Net.”
“He did.” Mikey sighed, “But I don’t know him anymore, maybe he’s changed and don’t give a shit anymore.”
Ray was immediately worried about his friend, “Hey, your brother is always changing, you know that but deep down he’s still the Gee we know.”
“No, the brother I knew would never have taken off like this. He wouldn’t have left me hanging; he would have known I’d be worried.”
_____________________________________________________
Gerard smiled over at Lucy as they walked hand in hand down the gravel road. “I’m glad we’re getting an early start.”
“An early start is 5 am. “ Lucy laughed, “This isn’t exactly early.”
“Maybe not but the temperature is still nice.” He let his gaze go out across the fields. “It’s so fuckin’ peaceful here.”
She studied his profile. “You really feel like that?”
“Peaceful?”
She nodded.
“Yeah” He admitted, “I love not hearing the sound of traffic, dealing with smog or crowds of people.”
“You’ll get tired of this.” She said softly. “Right now it’s a nice change but…”
He tightened his grip on her hand. “Lucy, as much as I love the peacefulness here it’s because of you I stay.”
Her eyes grew sad as she let her fears speak, “You’ll grow tired of me and my issues.”
“And you think I don’t have issues? You think I don’t worry about the same thing? What if you get tired of dealing with me?”
“You’re not so hard to deal with.” She said softly.
“Well neither are you.” They’d reached the town. “So which building do we start with?”
She tugged on his hand leading him over to the nearest building. “Well, here we have the bank.”
They flattened the weeds as they pushed closer to the ruins.
“Wow” Gerard said peering in what was once a window. “Man, look at that. There’s the vault.”
She nodded, “Yes, but as you can see it’s empty.”
He nodded his eyes on the open heavy metal door. “Wonder why no one has carted it off.”
She laughed, “Uh, cause it weights more than five hundred pounds.”
“True” He said leaning in for a better look. “This is so fuckin’ eerie. Tell me the town’s history.”
Lucy was pleased he was so interested, “Well Neosho Falls is the oldest town in Woodson County.” She pointed across the road, “It was named after that river.” In early 1857 the town was founded by Col Goss and another man named Dow. Along with another settler they built a cabin and sold merchandise to the Indians.” She leaned against the stone building as she continued, “This area at the time was still part of the New York Indian Reserve it wasn’t opened for preemption until later that same year.Then in 1858 a company built a hotel called it Falls House and a store. Soon after that settlers starting building around here, just crude cabins at first but it that was the actual beginning of the town.”
He was amazed by her knowledge of the area. “Wow, you’ve done your homework.”
She grinned “Actually I found out a lot of facts when my photos were used in the book. Anyway, on Aug 16th 1858 Neosho Falls was formally declared the county seat and a courthouse and jail were built.” She paused “In the book there is a really great description of the courthouse written at the time it was built.”
“I only looked at your photos” Gerard admitted, “I’ll have to read the book. But please, go on.”
“When the railroad built its line south from Junction City through here it erected a round house and office. Of course the coming of the railroad meant a lot of people joined the town.”
Slowly they walked across the dirt road towards another large abandoned building.
“This is Township Hall.” Lucy explained as they drew nearer. “It was built in 1922.”
1922 was a jump from the time period she’d been telling him about. “Wait, what happened after the railroad got here?”
“For a time, the town grew but there was a lot of angry people who lived in Yates Center who believed the county seat should be located there. Finally in 1876 Yates Center got enough votes passed to have the county seat changed. Then the railroad built another line directly to St Louis.”
“Bi-passing here?”
She nodded, “Yeah the line here became only local. When that happened the round house and land office were moved away.”
Gerard quickly sprinted up the steps of the building to gaze inside. “Wow” He whispered, “Man, look at his.”
She giggled, “I’ve seen it many times.”
First he gazed down at the rotting floor noting how dangerous it looked. “Okay, how did you get those great shots?”
She moved to stand next to him in the doorway. “See that window?”
His gaze followed the path her finger was pointing out. “Yeah?”
“Climbed in through there then carefully stepped over the hole to a solid board.”
His frown deepened “That was dangerous. What if you’d fallen though the floor? Shit you could have laid there for hours maybe days before anyone found you.”
“Not true.” She said softly. “I never came alone. Rex always walks down here with me. If something had happened he’d have started barking and someone from the bar right down the road would have heard him.”
“So why didn’t Rex come with us today?”
Her answer was low and breathy, “I wanted you all to myself.”
She saw the desire in his eyes flash, matching her own. “Down boy” She whispered taking a step back.
Gerard laughed, “Shit, now you’re talking to me like Rex.”
Lucy giggled as they walked back down the steps. “Yeah, that’s true. Just wait until I tell you to roll over.”
He grabbed her hand as they started across the road to the large building, the first one he’s spotted when he’d driven into town. “Wanna tell me that now?”
“Nope, still haven’t shown you my favorite building, the High School.”
“Okay” He sighed dramatically, “So at least go on with my history lesson.”
She thought a moment. “Well let’s see. President Hay’s came here in 1879. Thousands of people came for that. They camped out in fields. Oh, and General Sherman accompanied him with a military escort.” She laughed, “Supposedly the Presidents first remark was “Where is the city?” He’d expected something bigger.”
They were now growing closer to the vine covered structure.
“But in the 1900’s things took a definite turn for the worse. When steam and electricity replaced water power the mills were closed down. Then there was a terrible flood in 1926.”
Gerard turned to look back at the river in the distance. “You’d have thought they might have figured that would happen, building so close to the water.”
She grinned, “You’d have thunk so but you’d be wrong. Then the newspaper closed down in the 1930’s, oh, and in 1933 the railroad closed down its line here.”
They had reached the huge building and Gerard was looking at it with a critical eye. “Is it structurally sound?”
Ignoring his question she moved forward pushing branches out of her way. Gerard followed nervously glancing around for snakes.
“Welcome to the Neosho Fall High School,” Lucy said crossing the threshold.
Gerard was amazed to see two huge open doors just beyond the vines and weeds. “Wow”
She grinned, “Come on.”
He quickly caught up to her intending to tell her to be carefully but when his eyes glanced around he was awestruck. “Holy shit.” He whispered “It looks like class was dismissed one day but no one returned.”
“Yep, exactly” Lucy said softly as they climbed a set of stairs. She led him into a classroom where old worn desks littered the ground, some upright, some on their sides. “Sometimes when I stand here and close my eyes I can still hear their voices, I can almost feel their adolescent emotions.”
Gerard was captivated by her voice.
“All their young dreams and hopes. Their confusion and fear of the future before them.” Slowly she opened her eyes. “Silly isn’t it?”
“No” He whispered. “Not at all. This place holds so many memories good and bad and seeing it this way..” He swept his hand around his eyes noting the graffiti on the walls, the broken chalk boards, “Intensifies those feelings.”
“Like time passed, people left this place but the place still remembers.” She whispered. She reached up to lift the camera from around her neck. Gerard stood still watching as she began to snap photos. He was surprised when she suddenly turned and snapped a picture of him.
“There’s a lot more to see.” She said lowering the camera.
“I want to see it all.”
The next place Lucy led him to was the Home Ec room. Gerard walked in slowly shocked to see the rusted stoves still in place. “I can’t believe they just left this stuff here.”
“The flood of 1951 was truly the end of Neosho Falls. People left, most didn’t return. Weird thing is people think this school closed then because of the flood damage but it really didn’t close down until the 60’s but by then the number of students had dropped dramatically.”
“So all of this damage wasn’t caused by the flood?”
“Not here. This is just what happens over time when there is on one to care.”
Again the tone of her voice and her words were captivating.Gerard glanced around the room. “Wonder how many cakes were baked in this room?”
She grinned as she pointed the camera and began snapping photos.
It wasn’t until they were in another large classroom that Gerard got his courage up to ask something that was weighing heavily on his mind. “Lucy, do you believe in ghosts?”
It was obvious by her look the question surprised her. “Ghosts?”
He nodded, “Yeah, do you believe those who’ve passed on can come back?”
She was about to tease him but when she looked into his eyes she could see he was serious. “I don’t really know. Why would they want to come back?”
His hands clinched nervously at his sides, “Because they left loved ones behind.”
Immediately he saw her body tense. “I don’t think they could do that.”
Slowly he took a step closer. “Why?"
“Why are you asking me this?”
He could see she was upset, very upset. He tried to lighten the mood, “Hey, we’re in a ghost town, in a wickedly cool old abandoned school. I was just wondering.”
Lucy placed the strap of the camera back around her neck but remained silent.
“You don’t believe they can come back because he hasn’t.” Gerard said softly.
Anger contorted her face, “I don’t think that.”
“I’m sorry.” He muttered looking down. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Tiredly she leaned against the wall. “No, I’m being over sensitive. I’m sorry.”
Gerard felt so torn. He longed to tell her the truth, that he knew the departed could come back out of concern for those they loved but would she even believe him? Would that knowledge bring her peace or cause her to retreat into the lonely world she’d built for herself?
Lucy pushed off from the wall, “Anyway” She said softly, “I’m not sure why your comment bothered me so much…in a way I’ve been living with ghosts for years.” She brushed past him to continue the tour, not another word about ghosts was uttered.
They toured the school for the next forty minutes, Lucy stopping often to snap photos. Gerard’s interest in the school pleased her more than she cared to admit. When they had first arrived she had believed he’d only had a passing interest but it was obvious by the way he studied each room this place had captured his imitation. However, the day was heating up and soon they both were sweating.
“Guess we should head back now.” Lucy said as they stood in the doorway of the school.
Gerard nodded, “Yeah, suppose so but thank you for sharing this with me.”
She grinned, “Hey, you didn’t need me to tour the place. Lots of people come here.”
“I know that.” He said reaching for her hand as they walked outside into the bright sunlight. “But you shared more than just the building, you shared your thoughts.”
A strange look of sadness covered her face. He was about to question her as to why when someone yelled Lucy’s name. They both saw a man standing across the street in front of the bar.
“That’s Clyde.” Lucy explained to Gerard as she waved. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to him.”
Gerard was slightly nervous as they crossed the road moving towards the bar. She had let go of his hand so he wondered how she would introduce him, as a friend, or as her cousin.
“Hey, Clyde” Lucy smiled as they reached the older man. “This is Gerard, Gerard Clyde”
He grinned extending his hand, “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you.” Clyde nodded as they shook. “Lucy giving you a private tour?”
Gerard nodded.
“Hey come on in.” Clyde said, “It’s too damn hot out here.”
Lucy and Gerard followed him inside. As Clyde rounded the bar Lucy said softly. “Be right back” Then headed towards the restroom.
Gerard slid on to one of the wooden bar stools noting they were the only customers.
“So what can I get you?”
“Uh, just a coke.” Gerard’s eyes were on the bottles of liquor behind the bar but he resisted the urge to order a drink.
Clyde filled a glass with ice then fountain soda. “Here ya go. So where you from?"
“California.” Gerard answered then took a drink. He could tell Clyde was curious about his presence. He hoped Lucy would return soon because he wasn’t sure how to handle any questions the man might ask. Hoping to change the subject to a safe topic he asked, “So, you own this place?”
Clyde smiled, “Yep, it’s been in the family for years. As you can see, not exactly a thriving business but no matter what you can count on most people not giving up drinking.”
Gerard was relieved when Lucy reappeared then climbed on to the stool next to him.
“What can I get you?”
“Just a Coke.”
Gerard didn’t miss the surprised look on Clyde’s face. Did Lucy come here to drink often, he wondered. He got his answer when Clyde set the soda in front of Lucy. “Been missing you, haven’t see you since before the twister went through. You get much damage?”
“Some” Lucy answered before taking a drink.
“Out at my place we lost several trees.” He turned his attention back to Gerard, “So I’m guessing it was your car I saw right before the twister came through?”
Gerard gave him a surprised look, “You saw my car?”
Clyde nodded, “Yeah, I was just locking the door when I saw you. I was gonna rush out and warn you but I saw you turn up the road towards Lucy’s place.”
“I got there just in time.” Gerard explained, “We made it to her storm shelter just as the twister was crossing the road.”
“Good to hear that.” He said while pouring himself a glass of soda. “They say more storms are headed this way late today.”
“I was wondering abut that.” Lucy admitted, “I can feel it in the air.”
Clyde’s attention went back to Gerard again. “So you visiting here for long?”
Lucy spoke up before Gerard had a chance to answer. “Gerard is an old friend from California. He’s a writer who wanted so peace and quiet to work on his novel.”
“Peace and quiet?” Clyde laughed, “Man, did you come to the right place for that. Not much ever happens around here.” He paused “But that might change soon.”
Lucy looked up, “What?”
“Yeah, heard yesterday from Linda that one of those ghost hunting shows is gonna film here in a month or so.”
“Shit” Lucy rolled her eyes, “You serious?”
Clyde nodded, “Yeah our little town here is going to be on TV.”
“Great” Lucy’s voice was full of sarcasm. “Just great.”
Clyde pattered her hand, “I know how you feel about that but honestly I’m looking forward to the people it’ll bring in.”
Lucy sighed, “Yeah, I understand that. I just hope they don’t destroy anything.”
“Know what you mean.” He nodded. “But hey look on the bright side, you’ve taken a lot of photos of the place. Might boost demand for them.”
“Anyone can take photos.”
“Not like yours.” Gerard said joining the conversation. “They are incredible.”
“They are, aren’t they?” Clyde nodded this attitude warming towards Gerard. “You see the ones I have framed over there?”
Gerard followed his gaze. He quickly slid off the bar stool to walk over to the framed photos. These shots were all different then the ones Lucy had showed him.
Clyde leaned over while Gerard was occupied to whisper something to Lucy. Gerard saw but pretended not to notice.
Slowly he walked back over. “Those are great.”
“Yep, our Lucy is a fantastic photographer.” Clyde said with pride in his voice. “I still remember the first time I met you. You had that camera around your neck snapping photos.”
Lucy remembered that day too. She and Rafe had just moved into the house and had decided to walk into town.
Gerard was watching her closely, he saw her body was tense.
“So” Clyde asked, “Did you know Rafe too?”
Gerard saw Lucy’s reaction to the question and it wasn’t good. “Uh yeah” He lied, “Sure did.”
Suddenly Lucy slid off her bar stool, “We need to be going. If there are storms coming I need to get ready.”
Gerard left a twenty after they said their goodbyes to Clyde.
Lucy remained silent until they started up the road towards her farm. “Why did you say you knew Rafe?”
Shit, he thought to himself, because I really sorta do, however he gave Lucy another answer, “Well you said we were old friends from California and I knew you and Rafe grew up together out there. Just seemed to me it would make more sense if I said I knew him too.”
Lucy’s eyes were on the storm clouds to the east. “Suppose that’s true.” She said softly.
They walked in silence for several minutes until she spoke again. “He’d have liked you.”
Gerard was very surprised by the comment. “You think so?”
She sighed, “Rafe liked everyone. He was like that. There was never a time he didn’t try to find some good in everyone he met.”
“I’m not sure what that says about me. Think it would have been hard for him to find something about me that was good?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.” Lucy frowned.
“So why do you think he’d like me?” Gerard asked watching her face closely as they walked.
Lucy forced herself to be honest, “He’d have liked that you obviously worry about some of the shit I do like taking dangerous photos, or climbing out on roofs.”
When he reached for her hand she allowed it.
“Did he go out on the roof with you?” Gerard asked.
“No” Lucy whispered, tears threatening her eyes, “He’d have told me it was a darn fool thing to do.” She wiped her eyes, “He thought I had a reckless nature.”
Gerard wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
Lucy suddenly changed the subject. “I really wish that film crew wasn’t coming here.”
“You worry it will bring too much attention to the town.”
“Yeah” She nodded, “That’s exactly what it will do. And once the episode airs a whole new batch of people will show up. I wouldn’t mind if they were respectful but..”
“You worry they wont’ be.”
“Stupid, isn't’ it? I mean her I am fretting over a bunch of abandoned buildings.”
He squeezed her hand gently, “I don’t think it’s stupid at all. You simply want to preserve part of the past.”
“But why?” she whispered. “Why does it matter to me? Things change, time passes and yet I can’t seem to let go of the past.”
He understood the deep truth to those words. “Because we shouldn’t forget the past completely. It’s important to remember it, give it a place in our memories.” Again he squeezed her hand, “But we can’t let it control our lives, we have to move on.”
“I know we’re not talking about the town now.” Lucy said softly.
Gerard stopped in his tracks causing Lucy to halt also. “I know you understand and I know how difficult this is for you.”
She looked into his eyes, “Thank you for understanding.”
“Don’t thank me.” He said smiling, “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”
Her eyes suddenly filled with fear. “I can’t promise you anything.”
“Lucy you’ve let me into your life, that means more to me than I can say.”
A clap of thunder in the distance caught their attention.
“Storms are coming.” She whispered as they started walking again.
“Yeah” Gerard agreed as Rafe’s words once more filled his mind. “But it’s okay, we’ll deal with them together.” He prayed his words were true.
After a quick lunch they settled into the living room where Lucy went back to typing and Gerard worked on writing. A few hours into their work Gerard set down his legal pad then walked over to the desk.
“Want to take a break?” He was surprised when the question seemed to upset her.
“Uh, I’d really like to finish typing up the rest of this chapter.”
He knew immediately something wasn’t right, he could see it in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Lucy sighed, “Honestly I’m not sure. I don’t know I just sorta feel yucky.”
He grinned, “Yucky?”
She nodded, “Best word I can come up with. I don’t understand it. I feel so damn tired.”
Immediately Gerard was concerned. “Hey, why don’t you take a nap?”
Lucy shook her head, “I never nap.”
“There ain’t nothing wrong with taking a short nap.” He tugged on her arm making her stand. “Over here woman.” He said leading her to the sofa. Once she was laying down he kissed her forehead. “Close those beautiful eyes.”
“I’m sorry.” She whispered.
“Sorry?”
“Yeah I know you wanted a sexy break.”
He stroked her hair, “Honey if you don’t feel good, it’s okay.”
“I wanted one too.” She admitted closing her eyes.
“We’ll see how you feel after your nap.” He moved back over to sofa intent on writing but his mind was on Lucy. Unless he was wrong she was running a fever, her forehead had felt hot when he kissed it.
Notes
Well I'm back and vacation was great. Thanks for all the comments the story received while I was away. Blue to help me fall...It really means a lot that you feel like you are living their story, that is a great compliment. MCRMuse...glad you too had a nice vacation! mcrmom...I always enjoy your comments, thanks and NekoNeko...thanks so much for the comment. I speak a little Spanish but had to rely on a translator and was hoping what I'd written was right.Oh and I did want to mention at this time that if you google Neosho Fall High School and go to images there are a lot of great photos people have taken. I haven't been inside the high school for years but when I was the place was like I described it in the story. There were even old high school photos on the walls. It really did look like class was dismissed one day and no one ever returned. Well gotta go...thanks again.
I absolutely loved this story! You are a very gifted writer & I
hope to find & read your other stories. I also look forward to reading Gerard’s book. Thank you!
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