Loving You (Remembrance Series, Book 2) (16 page)

The weekend was relaxing. Mom and I had several talks about my work, the angst in the office and how I still couldn’t find a dress or decide on food that we liked for the party.

“You don’t need to rush everything at once, Jordan. You still have plenty of time to decide on things. I know Lorraine is anxious and the caterer needs to be booked, but it will all work out in the end. When you get some of these things behind you, the party/wedding planning issues will slow down and you two can just enjoy your time together.”

“I hope you’re right, Mom. I don’t know how much more of this “party” planning I can take. I feel like we almost need to get away for a weekend and leave everything else behind us, just to get some sort of sanity back.”

To my surprise, Gregory felt just as overwhelmed by things as I did. “You’re not alone in feeling that way, Jordan. Every time I turn around, my mom is having my dad ask me all sorts of questions. Maybe we do need a few days away, just to be able to breathe, again.”

Mom headed back, to Deland, early Sunday. I offered to go with her. “Honey, I miss having you there and I would welcome the company; however, you are still weak and I don’t want the extra drive to wear you out. You have a lot that you’re contending with at work and with Lorraine. When things let up a bit, why don’t you and Gregory come up and spend a couple of weeks with me.

“In the meantime, I got a call from your aunt Melinda. She and Tom want to come up and spend this week at my house. They want to go antiquing, drop by the beach for the day, and just have some fun together.”

I understood mom’s reasoning. I did get worn-out easily with the amount of work I was having to handle, plus the stress of everything going on between the workplace drama, our dreams, Angela and Lorraine’s demands. It was about to get to me.

After mom left for Deland, Gregory asked, “Do you want to rest today or would you like to try and do some research?”

I knew he was concerned for my well-being, but I really wanted to get to the bottom of what happened to us as Hannah and Aaron. “How about a little of both?” I replied.

He picked up our laptops and we laid out a plan. He would search the library systems genealogy department, while I searched online for the names.

We were not surprised to encounter some of the information as “not found.” The statistics of people were not well kept back in those days. Unless you were of major importance in the Colonial Army or of some significance to the town, the news just didn’t get printed or the information kept.

I was able to find an announcement in the Pennsylvania Gazette. It read:

The honorable barrister, Joseph Anderson Williams, and his wife, Catherine, are pleased to announce the marriage of their son, Aaron Anthony Williams, to Hannah Olivia Clark, the daughter of Doctor Joseph Daniel Clark and his wife, Emily. Their marriage is to take place on 27 August 1775.

There was a link below the article without any real title, just a hyperlink of “more.” I thought it was odd, since most hyperlinks stated what they were for. Instantly, I wondered if the witch’s dark shadowy minions had already beaten us to the punch and wiped away any traces of research.

Apparently, Gregory had found some information, because I heard the printer kick in and items being printed up. I decided to send what I had found to the printer, too, in case I came back and found the article wiped out from the system.

I clicked on the hyperlink and was not shocked to see the next article from the paper:

MISSING – Barrister Williams and Doctor Clark’s youngest children were to be married on 27 August 1775. In a turn of events, neither has been seen since the day before they were to be wed. Several of the colonists have formed search parties, trying to locate the missing couple. One member of the Williams’ family felt the two had run off with each other, citing tension amongst the families. In an effort to locate the pair, the Williams’ son, Nicholas, and daughter in-law, Rebecca, went missing two days, later. If anyone has any clues to what happened, please contact the Williams or Clark households. A reward is being offered for their safe return.

It was odd that both went missing the night before their wedding, again. What were the odds? Plus, I thought it strange that the daughter in-law and her husband, Aaron’s eldest brother, went missing two days later. I noted another hyperlink below the article and clicked on it, after printing out the latest information.

The new hyperlink was yet another article:

Nicholas Williams has been found and returned to his family. He states that he, and his wife, Rebecca, were in search of his younger brother, when they were attacked by red coats. They were held hostage and tortured for information regarding the colonists. Rebecca died while he barely escaped with his life. He claims to have overheard the British talking of killing another young couple, who he feels certain was his brother and soon to be sister in-law. Doctor Clark tended his wounds and feels he will make a full recovery. Both families are currently mourning the loss of their loved ones.

I took in a startled breath, as I read and re-read the statement. I was shocked to learn we might have been tortured and killed by the British; but, something felt off about that scenario. Why would Rebecca have sent a note to Hannah, requesting her presence the night before the wedding to give her a gift? Did she make it to the location? Why was Aaron there, or was he?

None of this made any sense. Plus, in my dreams I kept waking up feeling that I was drowning. Was this a residual effect of my life as Angeline or did we perish by water, again?

I printed out this information, too. “Did you find anything, Gregory?”

He looked up with a sullen face and shook his head. “I haven’t found much. I printed what I could, but there is so little to go on. I’ve managed to trace back both of our ancestries to Philly, but the record keeping back then wasn’t the greatest. The trail seems to dead end before I can reach Aaron and Hannah.”

“Maybe I can help. I found their parent’s names in an article from the Pennsylvania Gazette. Why don’t you try looking up John Anderson and Catherine Williams? I’ll try Joseph Daniel Clark and his wife Emily.”

We both began searching the genealogy listings and found some hits. We were able to trace our families all the way back, but discovered that both Aaron and Hannah’s names had somehow been omitted. Had someone attempted to purposefully wipe them out of history or was it an oversight since they supposedly perished? What was odd was that Rebecca’s name was still visible in the lineage, though.

Gregory looked up at me. “Feel like taking a trip to the library? I think they are open for another couple of hours.”

I was beyond tired, but knew we needed to get this part of the mystery solved. “Let me get my purse and the information we have managed to gather so far.”

We were in luck. The woman from the genealogy department, who had helped me before, was still there. We told her of our latest search, wanting to extend our family trees back to Revolutionary times, but had been hitting some resistance.

She looked up a few things and found some of the same articles we’d discovered on the Internet. Then she tried a different program and found a few books in the library. She printed out the Dewey Decimal Classifications for us.

To our surprise, the books were all available and no pages had been ripped or missing. We found some similar information, but also learned that
“Nicholas Williams was thought to have been suffering from a massive fever upon his return. He was full of delirium spouting off about evil having been near all of them and that witches did exist. He later recovered and could not remember any of his ramblings.”

The words “evil” and “witch” made me feel a bit faint. Gregory held me as I started to sway. “I think we’ve had enough mental exertion for today. It’s time I get you home so you can rest.”

I was able to walk out of the library, but he had to carry me the rest of the way to the car, because suddenly I was unable to move forward without fear of falling to the ground. He reclined the car seat so I could lie back, hoping it would help with the dizziness. It did help, but I still felt a wave of nausea rolling through me. My mind kept going back to what Nicholas had supposedly said and wondering if it was all true, that evil had been all around them and was it all around us, now? If so, how would we know?

My brain kept pouring over everything we had discovered and dreamed of, trying to make sense of it all. I knew we were still missing pieces of the puzzle– primarily the events that happened the eve of their wedding; but when and where could we find them?

Gregory pulled up to his townhome and helped me inside. I was about to decline his help, when everything went black. All I could hear was, “Jordan, no!”

Darkness surrounded me and uneasiness overtook my body. “Look everyone, there is one of the traitors, seize her!” I was disoriented by the sound of the voice, because it sounded just like mine.

I felt hands close in around me and my wrists being tied behind my back. “Here comes the other traitor, capture him!” It was Aaron’s voice, or so I thought, until the scene lightened and I saw the image of Nicholas in front of me. He was the spitting image of Aaron, except that his hair was much darker.

I looked back to see the traitor they had identified. Oh, no, it was Aaron. The men were roughing him up and had his wrists tied tightly behind his back.

He spoke, “What craziness is this? I was told by my sister in-law to meet my beloved here, because she had a surprise for me.”

Several townspeople were present and irate over the words coming out of Aaron’s mouth. I looked up and noted Rebecca was smiling a salacious grin. “Watch your ears. These traitorous demons are speaking in an evil tongue.”

Before I could say anything to defend us, I found myself being pulled close to the river and strapped upright into a chair. I looked over and saw that Aaron was already strapped in. We both looked at each other in puzzlement. “What do you make of this, my love?” He asked with questioning all about his face.

I shook my head, not knowing what to say. I realized that no matter what we said, apparently the people heard only what Rebecca wanted them to. When I looked at her again, I saw a familiar glow coming from under her clothes.
Where had I seen the glow before?

Everyone seemed irate and the men moved to grab the large handles attached to the chairs and swung us out over the river. Nicholas came toward us, “Do you have anything to say for your crimes?”

We both asked, in unison, “What crimes are we accused of?”

“They obviously do not want to speak, so I say let us make them confess.”

I hovered over the river and saw a reflection that was not my own. Somehow I looked like Rebecca. She walked over and asked, “Are you ready to confess?” I saw her reflection as mine and realized there had been some sort of evil at work creating false images for everyone.

When I didn’t respond, I found myself thrust into the river without warning. I managed to close my mouth in time, so I didn’t take on lungs full of water. When we were pulled up, I looked over to Aaron, who was no more than a foot away. “Why are they doing this to us?”

He yelled, “Hold your breath, my love,” right as they dunked us, again.

I felt myself take on water. It was hard to breath. I wanted to reach for the surface, but there was no way out. I tried yelling out, and I felt a pair of arms surround me. “Wake up, Jordan.”

I was upright in bed, struggling to breath. Gregory had his arms around me and a stranger was taking my blood pressure. I managed to squeak out, “Who?”

“This is my neighbor Dr. Peterson. He’s doing his residency at one of the local hospitals. He took a look at you when you fainted right before we left to meet my parent’s for the first time. I called him after you passed out. You’ve been out for over an hour now. I was worried.”

Dr. Peterson spoke, “It’s a pleasure to meet you again, Jordan. Since we’re neighbors, just call me Davis.” He grabbed a pen light and asked me to look at the far wall as he shined it in each eye. “How are you feeling?”

I had to think about the question for a moment, before answering. “I feel a bit dizzy and very tired.”

“Gregory filled me in on your accident and all the events going on in your life right now. I think you are maybe a little overwrought and need to take a break from things and rest for a little while.” He insisted.

I was about to object when he added, “I mean it. I’m going to write up a script that you can give to your workplace. I think you need to take a week off. You might be pushing your system too soon by returning to work so soon after your accident and now it’s catching up with you. If you don’t watch it, you could end up back in the hospital.”

He wrote some formal statement on a script pad and handed it to Gregory, before collecting his things. “I’ll call Gregory in a few days to see how you’re doing. If you need me in the meantime, Gregory has my number.”

“Thank you, Davis. It was a pleasure meeting you, again, though I wish it had been under better circumstances.” I tried smiling as I lay back on the bed.

“I’m just going to see Davis out and I’ll be right back.” Gregory smiled as he walked out.

When he returned, he crawled up in bed next to me, putting his arms around me and pulling me close into his side. “I’ve been thinking about what both your mom and Davis said. I think we have enough information to make a trip to Philadelphia, soon; but first, you need some rest. I’m going to talk to my family and see if I can get some time off; or at least work from home. And I’m going to talk with Caroline and give her the note Davis wrote. Our lives have been so hectic lately; we need to take some time to ourselves.”

I was about to argue when he added, “Remember what one of Ray’s notes said? He told you to rest and take care of yourself because you would need your strength to handle what we would be dealing with.”