Hortons Bend

she started to turn to go back inside he quickly said “Ms. Jeanie please wait….I need your help.” The old woman stopped for just a moment and Brody could see that she had softened for just a brief moment. He could also see the hurt in her eyes. Brody continued “I know your son Ronnie knew the archaeology of this area better than anybody around. UGA and all the other schools should have sought him out and they would have learned a lot more too.” Brody had a little plead in his voice and hoped he hadn’t further angered the woman. Ms. Jeanie put her hands on her hips and said “You don’t have to tell me something I don’t know. My boy Ronnie was better at finding old things than any of them fancy college boys.” She fought choking back tears and made another attempt to speak. “He was good at it……”she managed before choking up. Brody quickly held up his hand gesturing to her. “Yes ma’am I know. I know. He went places that most people can’t get to. I just want to learn more about what he found. It would help me solve a puzzle that I can’t figure out about Horton’s Bend.” It was those two words that awoke Mrs. King who thrust her hand out and pointed to Brody. “Don’t you bring up that place to me!” she shouted. “And don’t you go nosing around there……it’s got a bad way. It ain’t meant to be messed with you hear!” Brody knew a line had been crossed and quickly tried to rebound. “Ma’am if I could just look at some of the artifacts that…”. He wasn’t even able to finish the sentence when she turned on her heels and closed the screen door behind her.

    Jeanie King walked back into her house and began to cry. She sat down at her kitchen table and put her head down on it. A rush of memories flooded her mind numbing her to the core. She jerked herself up and told herself to stop the waterworks. Wiping her eyes she walked into the bedroom where her youngest son was lying. She smiled when she looked at J.R. and then the sadness crept over her again. He had been in what the doctors called a “light coma” which basically meant he could function if he wanted but the victim usually lived inside their state of trauma. Staring into space and listlessly going through life seemed to be the destiny of her youngest. She sighed when she thought about the future. Jeanie accepted that she was an old woman who was getting to her twilight but what about her son? There was no one else and she didn’t have the savings to prepare for the future. She glanced around the room which was filled with artifacts and boxes of other artifacts that had been brought from Ronnie’s house. How long had it been now? Five years? It all seemed a blur but yet time had also stopped to a grinding halt when she looked back. She looked back at J.R. and walked over to pull the covers over her son. “Ronnie” she whispered to no one in the room “What am I going to do?”

    Chapter Four
    On Wednes day morning, Executive Director Barbara Peabody leaned back in a plush leather chair in her office of the Coosa Valley Historical Museum. Across from her expensive antique desk sat County Commissioner Herschel Banner. He had her complete attention as she knew Banner often held the purse strings for the finer things in life that she enjoyed. The museum’s non-profit status drew small sources of funding but it had never achieved the large corporate dollars necessary to expand the facilities. Banner’s coffers quietly drawn from the county tax payers kept Ms. Peabody the ability to attend social functions in style. Rumors about a tryst between the two were whispered amongst the small museum staff and the hired cleaning crew. The rumors, which ranged from brief interludes to passionate closed sessions, were always swirling. While the rumors were never confirmed, the two were quite familiar with each other since Ms. Peabody attended most of the county meetings when possible including planning, utilities development, and budget talks. She had always maintained that being a pillar of society meant being in the know.

    Commissioner Banner leaned forward to emphasize his position. “Now Barbara I appreciate how you’ve always been a strong supporter of our county duties and the fact that the museum has worked hard with the visitor’s bureau to bring more people to our fair city.” Ms. Peabody folded her hands wondering what Banner was getting to. She had not expected a visit today and tried to think back to