Hearts of Grey Page 23

  “By gosh, Daddy, you’re absolutely right. If these guys hadn’t agreed to do Susie’s bidding, none of this would have been possible. Ain’t that a weird turn of events?” she proclaimed.

  The main event, the actual uncovering of the treasure was slated to begin at three o’clock. But that all depended on how the removal of the skeletons progressed. And as hard as it was, they were actually ahead of schedule.

  After talking it over between the four of them, the guys had decided to bow out to the ladies, giving them the job of speaking to the large crowd. The stage that had been built for Melissa’s party was moved up to grassy knoll and now supported a microphone and a public address system.

  Neither of the two ladies knew what they were going to say, but they would come up with something.

  Grady looked at the two confused ladies and shook his head at them. “You’re on your own, ladies. I guess you’ll work it out,” he told them as he walked away. As he approached the house, an elderly lady called to him.

  “Mr. Windslow, Mr. Windslow, I’ve been looking for you,” she told him.

  “Well as you can see you’ve found me. What can I do for you, miss?” he asked.

  “Mr. Windslow, my name is Mrs. Linda Johnstone, and I’m with the National Parks Service, and I’ve been ordered to offer you an amazing offer, sir,” she told him.

  “Well first off, Mrs. Johnstone, please call me Grady, and for secondly, if the United States government has a deal for me, I can’t see it being amazing to anyone except for maybe the government itself, but please do continue,” he answered.

  “Very well, Grady, I have been authorized—no, ordered would be the correct word to deem this land as a national landmark,” she told him.

  “A national landmark, are you kidding me? Why would I do that?” he asked.

  “Because as a national landmark, we would be required to restore this beautiful house back to its original glory and splendor,” she told him.

  “Oh really? And then what? Where would my and I daughter live?” he asked.

  “No, no, you don’t understand. You don’t have to move. We’ll restore this house and the entire estate and maintain it. And you and your daughter will still own it and continue to live here,” she told him.

  “So you’ll fix it up like she once was, and you’ll pay for it?” he asked.

  ‘Yes, sir, and it will also be deemed as a national historical site. All you have to do is put up with some tourist every once in a while. And we’ll even pay you to manage the place. How’s that for an offer?” she asked.

  “Well, I’m sorry to say that I’m not interested,” he told her.

  “Excuse me? Why not, may I ask?” she asked.

  “Here’s the deal. I’ll give you control of the entire homestead, but I’ll own it, you maintain it, and all, but there’s one more thing that you can do for me,” he said.

  “And what might that be?” she asked.

  Grady leaned over and whispered something into her ear.

  “That’s it? That’s all that you want? Are you serious?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma’am, I guess that will be enough. So is it a deal?” he asked.

  “But what about the house? We still get to restore it to its original glory and splendor, right?” she asked.

  “Well, I’d be a fool not to agree to that now, wouldn’t I?” he asked.

  “Well, I’ll have to confirm it with my boss, but I’m sure we will be more than willing to handle your request,” she told him.

  “Well, you check with your boss, and you get back to me when you know, okay?” he asked.

  “I will do just that. Thank you for your time, sir,” she said.

  “You’re welcome, and thank you,” he told her as he went toward the house. As he was approaching the front porch of the house, he noticed Susie Barnes sitting in his rocking chair.

  “Susie, are you all right, child? Have you been crying?” he asked.

  “Oh, hi, Mr.Windslow, No, I’m fine, but I’ve been waiting for you. I have, or I should say we, have a problem,” she told him.

  “How do we have a problem?” he answered.

  “Ten years ago or so, I watched my daddy shoot a guy. I also watched him bury him. I never told anyone about it until last night. But this morning, I found out that the man that my daddy killed was your brother, Jack,” she told him.

  “And? So where’s the problem?” Grady asked her.

  “For the life of me, I can’t remember where he buried him. I was watching what he was doing, and not where he was doing it. You need to find him and give him a proper burial. But I can’t help you. And it’s making me sick. I’m so sorry,” she told him.

  “Susie, right now with all of this going on, finding Jack isn’t a priority. I’m sure that later after all of this is done, we’ll find Jack, and then we’ll give him a proper burial. Okay?” he asked.

  “Okay, but I still feel bad. And my mom and I found a letter that my dad got from the bank. I guess you own our house. So Mom told me to tell you that we’ll be moving as soon as we find somewhere else to live, okay?’ she asked.

  “Nobody told you to move, so don’t. Katie has this all worked out, okay? Nobody has to move anywhere, okay? So relax,” he told her.

  “Mr. Windslow, why are the all of you being so nice to me? I’m a bitch, and I really don’t deserve all of this. Between you and your daughter, you’re treating me like a friend. Why, may I ask? Why do you do this?” she asked.

  Grady sat down in the chair next to her.

  “Susie, someday you’ll discover what Katie discovered a long time ago. Most people in the world are good-natured folk. Some of them kind of get lost or stray from their path. But a little kindness will set them straight.

  It worked with you, and we met three really nice gentlemen today that it worked on. What you did last night told us and God that you’re back on the right path. It’s that simple. Do you understand?” he asked her.

  “I think so. You know what? I was expecting this big old explanation, and it turns out to be the simplest thing in the world. Believing in the good of everyone, is that it?” she asked.

  “Congratulations, you just moved to the front of the class.

  “Even your father has some good in him, and you might start off my giving him a second chance. But that choice will be totally up to you,” he told her.

  “My father? He killed your brother and would have killed you and Katie. Do you really think he deserves a second chance?” she asked.

  “Well, what you had planned for Katie was pretty downright sick and mean, was it not? But Katie found it in her heart to forgive you . . . Didn’t she? Now as far as your father is concerned, greed will make even the best person go bad. And the greed in his family appears to go back a long way. So ask yourself this. Where is it supposed to end? Here or a couple more generations down the line? That’s the question that only you can answer. Just remember this, you’re not being asked to forget, just forgive.

  “When a society forgets its past, chances are that it will happen again. And things like the Civil War and Pearl Harbor cannot ever happen again. That’s why it’s important to forgive but never forget your past. So by remembering what you had planned for Katie, for an example, chances are, it will never happen again. And that will make ya a better person. Okay?” he told her.

  “But it all sounds too easy,” she told him.

  “Susie, in a world that’s as crazy and as hard as ours, you have to believe that sometimes the very best ideas are just that—simple. Not every thing has to be a mathematical equation. But you have a lot of learning and growing to do as a person. And sometimes, that growing and learning will come to you in giant steps, sometimes not. All you have to do is take that next step whenever you see the opportunity. The good Lord will guide you if you let him,” he said

  “You know what? You’re right, and I will do just that. Thank you for explaining it to me. I won’t let you down, I promise,” she told him.

&
nbsp; “Well, I hope that you do. But you wouldn’t be letting me down nor Katie for that matter. You would only be letting yourself down. But remember this—if you stumble and fall, stand up straight and continue onward. Don’t worry yourself about what went wrong. Focus on what’s right. And I’m sure that you’ll be just fine,” he explained to her.

  “Have you ever thought about being a minister ’cause you make it sound so easy?” she asked.

  “Me a minister? For heaven’s sake no. I’m just an old man passin’ on what it took my whole life to learn,” he replied.

  “Well, you’re very good at it,” she told him with a smile across her face.

  “Well, there’s Katie and Melissa over there. Why don’t you go over there and ask Katie to introduce you to her new friends and see if forgiving doesn’t pay off in the long run, Okay?” he told her.

  “I will, and thank you for taking the time to explain it to me,” she said as she got up to leave.

  Grady stood up at the same time and gave her a hug. “Go, have some food and enjoy yourself,” he told her.

  Just as Susie was walking away, Aaron came up onto the porch. “So are we ready to do this? I just got word that they’re removing the final remains as we speak. You do realize that this is a great day for the South, don’t you?” he asked.

  “Don’t you mean it’s a great day for America? ’Cause the South is America, right?” Grady responded.

  “Well, yes, but if this hadn’t happened, the outcome of the war might had turned out differently. The South might have won,” he responded.

  “You know what? You make it sound like it was two countries fighting each other. It wasn’t. It was brother against brother. Friend against friend. Imagine looking down the sights of your rifle and seeing your best friend lined up in your sights. Could you pull the trigger, or would you hesitate? But if you hesitated one second too long, you might die. Whoever coined the phrase “war is hell” must have lived through the Civil War. And in a war like this, there’s never going to be a winner. We’re all losers. Our country lost so many brave men on both sides. We lost our unity as a nation. And for a while, we even lost ourselves. No, sir, when these guys stole the gold from the South, they may have saved us all. The war might have raged on for years. And at what cost? How many more would have died? So when you say that it might have ended differently, you best be thanking God that it didn’t,” Grady responded.

  “Grady, you sound like you were there,” Aaron told him.

  “Watch it, sonny. I ain’t that old. I’ll be turning seventy-six years old in a few months. I was born in 1879, fourteen years after that war ended. And as I grew up, I heard stories, horror stories, from those that fought in that godforsaken war. Terrible stories. And I could feel the hurt and their pain as those people told me those stories,” Grady told him.

  “Well, I didn’t mean to offend you. I just didn’t know. I’m sorry,” Aaron apologized.

  “Forget it. How could you have known? But that’s why it was so important for Katie and me to find the treasure. We just had to,” he explained.

  “And you have. You should be proud of what you and your daughter have done here. I know that I respect you both for your unselfish acts. There are a lot of people out there like this Barnes character that would have wanted the gold for himself. But not you and Katie. No, sir, you have insisted from the beginning that it be returned to the rightful heirs that lost it when it was stolen. That’s an admirable quality indeed,” the agent replied.

  “Maybe, but our family paid a hefty price to find it. My brother, Jack, was killed because he got too close, remember?” Grady asked in a tone that told of his grief.

  “I’m truly sorry for your loss. But I’m sure Jack is looking down at you right now, and he’s mighty proud of the both of you,” Aaron told him.

  “So what do say about uncovering the treasure of the South?” Grady asked.

  “I’d say it’s about time. Let’s do it, shall we?” Aaron said as he put his arm across Grady’s shoulder.

  The Things that Dreams Are Made Of

  It seemed as if even before the announcement was finished that the uncovering was about to start. Everyone was either at the grassy knoll or on their way already.

  Sitting on the stage were a lot of local government spokesmen and some national spokesmen as well. Then there was Grady, Katie, Melissa, and Michael.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, my name is William Scott, and I am the mayor of Mattersonville. And on behalf of everyone, we’d all like to welcome you all to this once-in-a-lifetime event. Never before in the history of America have we ever had the opportunity as a nation to rewrite such a tragic chapter in American history. The Civil War brought out the best in a lot of folks like those brave young men fighting and dying for what they believed in, or the parents that sent their young men off to fight in such a nasty arena as this. But it also brought out the worse of some as well. But this is true in any war as well as the times when there was no war. And through it all, America has had its list of heroes. Men like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln, and the list goes on. But how do you decide whose name gets added to that distinguished list of names? Is it their lives’ accomplishments, or their one-time acts of patriotic duty? Is there a scale that we must use to see if one man’s deeds are worthy enough to allow his name to be added to such a list?

  “Well, for this, I’m sorry to say that I don’t have an answer. But I will tell you this. There are a few people up here on this stage that should be added to that list. If for no other reason than it’s the right thing to do.

  “You were all given pamphlets describing what actually transpired here some ninety years ago, so you already know their names. But they have asked that we do not ponder on their names but rather we focus on the events that lead us all here today. Well, if you ask me, that says more about these people then my words could ever say. But I will tell them this—thank you all for everything that you have done and for what you are about to unveil for us here today. But before I let these two pretty young ladies have the microphone, I ask that you join Father Mathews as he leads us in a prayer. Father Mathews, if you would please?”

  “Thank you, Mayor Scott. God does work in mysterious ways, does he not? And that is proven here today. All of you that have traveled far to join us here today were blessed with a safe journey.

  “Our little often-forgotten town will be forgotten no more. Maybe we’ll even get a zip code of our own? Who knows? But we have been blessed with the addition of some very unselfish people to our town’s roster. And I have met with these people, and I can vouch for them. I’ve even been scolded by one of them a time or two. And, yes, I did deserve it, I might add. But through their journey to this time and place, their belief in God has been tested and retested. But they passed all of God’s tests. And now, their journey is almost over. For the treasure that they sought was not only a place in heaven but the righting of a tragic misjudgment of the truth that happened some ninety years ago.

  “So I ask you now to join me in prayer, and I ask you to remember that we are praying for not only ourselves but also for the fourteen brave men that were discovered here in this makeshift tomb and for the remains of twelve horses that died here so long ago.

  “Our father in heaven, we pray to you and give thanks for bringing us all here in the safety of your guidance. We pray to you that we all have a safe journey home. We ask that you welcome these fourteen brave souls, which never received a proper send-off to your kingdom until now. We pray to you oh, Lord, that you allow these horses to graze in your pastures and allow them to run free once more. We pray to you, Lord, that never again will our brave young men ever have to die in another war such as the one that took them from us. We thank you oh, Lord, for bringing us those that brought us a reason to gather here today. And we ask you for your guidance through the troubled times ahead of us. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

  “And now it is my honor to introduce
to you a very beautiful and talented young lady who had a major role in the search of what you’re about to see here today. Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Katie Windslow.”

  “Thank you, Father Mathews. Hello, everyone. My name is Katie Windslow. Eighty-some years ago when my grandfather was first told of this fantastic tale, nobody could have known that it would have taken this long to prove and find the stolen gold of the South. A lot of things had to happen to get us where we are today, and obstacles had to be overcome. Simple little things like a very stubborn safe for one. I watched my daddy bang on that stupid thing with everything that he could think of. But God came to our aid when he directed me to turn the dial and hit the numbers exactly right, allowing the safe to open. What we found inside would take us on a journey of a lifetime. The documents would take us on a journey through American history and made me wish that I had listened a little bit more when it came to my history classes in school. Hey, who knew?

  “But while I could stand up here and tell you the story word by word, we have decided against that. That’s why we came out with the pamphlets that you all have. But before I tell the guys over there to open the vault that holds the treasure, I have a very important announcement to make. I was just informed about this decision not more than ten minutes ago. And I’m proud to announce to you that the fourteen skeletons found with the gold, along with the skeletons of those horses, will be all buried here on Matterson property. I find it an honor to have these graves here where everyone can visit them and pay tribute to them. After all, this was and shall always be their final resting place. So to all of those people that made this possible, I’d like to say thank you on behalf of all America. And now, I’d like you to meet my newest and dearest friend. And I have given her the privilege of giving the order to open the vault. So it’s my honor to introduce to you Ms. Melissa Gibbes.”

  “Thank you, Katie. Good afternoon, everybody. Wow, that’s a great announcement, isn’t it? You know, when Grady and Katie first told me of this wild tale, as an American history student, I found it almost impossible to believe. But as you’re all about to see, it is not only a fantastic tale, but it’s also a story that takes us all back to the darkest times in American history, back to the Civil War.