Hortons Bend

Immediately he stood up but it was at that moment the office’s interior lights went out altogether.
    In the dark, Banner shuffled towards his desk where he felt would be a comfortable place to coordinate his next move until the lights came back on. The commissioner tripped on an ornate brass stand up lamp and cursed his inability to navigate through his own office. With his hand firmly pressed on the corner of the desk, he balanced his weight and began to rub his shin that was starting to throb. Banner did not see the shadows through his office window nor did he see the two figures who appeared behind him. It was because he suddenly realized that he could use his cell phone to illuminate his way to the main part of his house. Smiling he cut the phone on and started to walk towards the door. The smile left his face when he had the oddest feeling that he was no longer alone. Turning to look behind him, Banner made the hardest of efforts to scream out but never quite managed to utter a sound. The ghostly figures moved in quickly. Their rough hands pulled him from the carpeted floor and forced him backwards into his desk. The commissioner’s last cognizant thought was confusion while his last conscious feeling was pure fear. One of the intruder’s hands rested on his forehead with the thumb firmly against Banner’s temple. When his family found him later that night, they honestly thought he had suffered a massive heart attack. During the next morning’s autopsy, the county coroner determined that Herschel Banner had actually died of an acute brain aneurysm. Banner’s personal physician, Dr. Robert Moss, was mystified since results from a recent CT scan had shown no evidence of any swelling or blood clots when he reviewed the findings.
    Chapter 21
    Paul Brody stood in the middle of the river’s floodplain and pondered his surreal situation. His look of total confusion was noticed by Horton who approached the archaeologist again. “Paul I know this may seem difficult but I think….well I know I made the right choice. Your earlier decision to help Mrs. King brought me to that conclusion. And remember that this won’t last very long and you won’t be alone. It will seem most conclusive which should satisfy your scientific side.” Horton walked a few steps away so as to allow the torch light to wash over his face. “Since you will help us by not conducting further investigations and by making strong efforts to discourage others to do the same I suppose I should give you a little background on this property that we consider so very important.”
    Horton was a natural storyteller and orato r. He was well aware of the audience’s obvious confusion. He began to calmly tell a story that has not been revealed for so very long. “When I and the others arrived here, this land was unrecognizable. By this I mean transportation accessibility was either a simple path or the river. And I can’t even describe the resources that were available. It contained unbelievable sustainability due to the lack of greed. The native people were, of course, in awe of us but once they understood our mission a synchronicity began to take shape. Their awe became a mutual respect for our approach to making contact and yet maintaining autonomy. Our intent was not to encroach but rather to act as a collective. We were one with them and not considered a threat. If was as if we had been here all along.” Horton stood looking at the ghostly figures for a moment before he continued with a sigh. “You have a saying ‘All good things come to any end’ and it is well served in this story. Our group was aware that European intrusion was imminent but we did not inform our friends. You see…we had to allow them to evolve as much as it pained us to do so. Believe me I almost broke this edict a dozen times but luckily I had wiser council to guide me too. The invasion came as predicated but our new friends reacted in the most magnificent of ways. Their sheer determination to maintain their culture despite the horrific acts did nothing except impress us further. We did not interfere but rather made our presence known in a peripheral way; the copper plate. By assisting to help design the plate and using a little magic, which I’m afraid that I don’t think you would ever understand, we frightened the invaders. Please don’t get me wrong; they wanted the plate but they were afraid of it. The Spanish never actually saw us but we did provide some brief