Rogue's Hollow (18 page)

Eighteen

M
alachi sat at the breakfast table sipping his steaming mug of orange pekoe. His brain felt overwhelmed trying to figure out the right thing to do and guide Travis down the proper path. This parenting was no easy task and he felt a bit rusty.

Travis rubbed his eyes as he breezed into the room and poured himself a glass of milk. He took a long drink of the cold beverage, let out a sigh of satisfaction. He leaned against the counter and glared at Malachi. “When were you gonna tell me?”

Taking a sip of his tea, Malachi replied, “Tell you what, son?”

“Damn it, Malachi. You said there would be no secrets between us.”

“And I meant that. I will always be honest with you.”

Travis pulled a small black book from his back pocket and flung it onto the table in front of Malachi. “Then when were you gonna tell me about this?”

Malachi didn’t need to look at the book. He recognized the tattered edges and the words carved onto the leather cover that read,
the truth shall set you free.
It was his great-great-grandfather’s personal journal. Malachi stared at the book and solemnly asked, “Did you read it?”

Travis scowled at him. “Yup. Stayed up half the night trying to make sense of it.”

“Why would you do that?”

“The truth shall set you free, Malachi. Why don’t you try being truthful with me?”

“I have never lied to you, son.”

“No, you just told half-truths and avoided it altogether.”

“Travis. What does it matter at this point? They had lost their minds.”

“Ambrose sounded pretty sane to me. The rest of them were loco maybe, but he still had it together.”

“This is part one of his journal. Part two is under lock and key in a strong box hidden away.”

“I want to read it.”

Malachi shook his head and bristled. “Absolutely not.”

“No secrets. You said no secrets. Come on, Malachi. Are you gonna be honest with me or not? This is bullshit!”

“Don’t curse, Travis.” Malachi sipped his tea and stared at the book on the table.

Travis sat down next to him and tried reasoning with him. “I don’t know why, but I need to know what happened. They were my ancestors too. I have a right to know!”

Malachi looked at the young man’s serious face. He was relentless. It was one of the traits he admired most about Travis. He questioned himself and wondered if he should just let him read it. Confusion blurred his thinking as he tried to sort it out in his mind. It showed a dark side in their families’ past, but Travis had already seen darkness in his father. Maybe he could handle it okay. It was such a long time ago. Malachi had read it, processed it the best he could and filed it away, keeping the knowledge safe and hidden from the public. Maybe he needed to trust that Travis would be able to do the same thing. Travis had kept his word about everything else that Malachi had shared with him. This should be no different.

“I told you that I would always be honest with you and I meant that. I will let you read it, but you have to understand the magnitude of the information you will receive. We will need to talk at length when you finish, is that clear?”

Travis nodded. “Yeah, I just need to know what happened out here.”

Malachi looked into his eyes. “Travis, you’re in an unstable place right now. You’ve gone through a lot. I will help you get to the other side, but you have to trust me. You will have a lot of questions and I promise that I’ll do my very best to be honest with you, but you must be honest with me as well.”

Travis nodded. “I will.”

Malachi took another sip of his tea, and then stood up and went to his room. He pulled a small metal box out from under his bed and wiped the dust off the top with his stumpy-fingered hand. He searched his carabiner and stopped at the small blackened key that would open the lock and expose all their secrets. Malachi shook his head and whispered, “I hope I’m doing the right thing. Heaven help me.”

Travis spent the next day completely immersed in the book. He closed himself off in his room and only came out to grab a bite to eat and use the restroom. On the second day, when he finally emerged, he looked disheveled. He hadn’t showered and looked a mess. Malachi made some breakfast, while Travis cleaned himself up.

They sat quietly at the table, consuming their bacon and eggs. Malachi finally mustered up the nerve and broke the silence. “More juice, son?”

Travis nodded.

“So, are you done with Ambrose’s journal?”

Again, Travis nodded, shaking his leg profusely.

Malachi refilled their juice glasses and stared at him. “You ready to talk about it?”

Travis stared at his plate in a dazed state. Finally, he looked at Malachi. “How could they have done that?”

Malachi wiped his mouth and leaned back in his chair, sipping his juice. “They went mad. You read my great-great grandfather’s journal, but that was just his version of what happened. When I was younger, I spent years researching ‘The Awakening’ and was lucky enough to talk to some old-timers who had insider information. I have a pretty good overall picture of what actually happened here.”

Travis finished his food and leaned back in his chair. “I’m gonna need some help making sense out of all this. Those guys were seriously messed up.”

“They were actually in a drug-induced mental state. I don’t think they knew what they were doing most of the time. Or, maybe they did and the joke’s on me. No one knows for sure.”

Malachi picked up the dishes and placed them neatly in the sink. He poured a cup of tea and looked at Travis. “How about we go out front and get some fresh air?”

Travis followed behind him. As they settled into the rocking chairs on the front stoop, Malachi tried to figure out where to begin. It was such a tangled mess. Sometimes he had trouble making sense of it himself. How was he ever going to explain it?

“Guess it’s best to just start at the beginning. Ambrose, Marcus and the others began this innocent venture with good intentions and pure hearts. They moved their families to the hollow, which at that time was just a rural area of Doylestown. They all lived in small cottages, while the men worked here at the mill. The only other option for a job at the time was the coal mines. These were not hardcore coal mine men.”

Travis listened intently. “So the religious group was centered around the mill?”

“Yes. They held their meetings or church sessions in the front room which is now the store. The men were very dedicated to the mill and spent long hours here working and studying the scriptures. Then the accident happened.”

“What accident? The one at the mine?”

“Yeah. That was the big turning point for the religious reformists. The miners tapped into a cavern down in the mine shaft. Folks heard the explosion and screaming throughout the hollow. Horrible sound they said. Evil mixed with pain and suffering. One old man that I talked to said he was there when he was just a child and that the sound haunted him his entire life.”

“What was it?”

“I believe it was a pocket of Methane gas that they tapped into. There was a horrid explosion and the miners burned to death in the shaft. Only one survived. When he came to, he had quite a story to tell.”

“What’d he say?”

“Did you read the part about a man named Tyson?”

Travis nodded. “Yeah. It was hard to make out some of the writing. Was he the one who talked about the portal?”

Malachi nodded. “That was him. He was convinced that they had tapped into an actual portal to hell. He swore that evil came out of the hole and attacked the miners. Says he saw tongues in the fire, licking them and torturing them as they died.”

“Is that really what happened?”

“No one knows for sure. I think it was probably just the gas that played tricks on his mind. He died a few days later, but the members of ‘The Awakening’ were convinced that true evil was released into that mine shaft.

After the accident, a beautiful flower began to grow and bloom at the opening of the mine shaft. It was an Angel’s Trumpet. They believed it was God’s way of keeping the evil trapped in the hole. It was their protection.

Several weeks after the accident, the town folks felt that it was safe enough to venture into the shaft and retrieve what they could of the bodies for burial. As they removed the boards that covered the opening, the flower began to die. It was probably the remainder of the gas being released, but they were convinced that it was the evil seeping out.

The religious men refused to go into the mine, but others went right in. They removed what was left of the bodies, which was mostly just ashes and a few bones. The reformists noticed that the protective plant was beginning to spring back to life. Upon closer inspection they saw that some of the human ash had spilled onto the plant as the bodies were being removed.

“This was when one of the reformists took the reins and emerged as a leader. His name was Alexander and he became very powerful. He convinced the other members that there indeed was evil released into the mine and that it was their job to keep it at bay. He told the others that the plant was their only hope and that it was placed there by angels for protection, but that it must be fed human ash to survive.”

“That night, he and several other men snuck back into the mine and collected as much ash as they could find. Once a week, they would take a little bit of it to the plant. Mixing the ash with water, they fed the angel plant. They became obsessed with it and believed that it was their only hope for survival. They were so fanatical about it that they would take petals from the plant and rub it on their foreheads so that they would have protection back at the mill. Even went as far as to propagate saplings from the plant which were brought here, placing one at the front and rear entrances of the building.” Malachi paused and pointed to his Angel’s Trumpet bush.

Travis looked at the plant, then back at Malachi. “Wait, are you saying that’s one of the plants?”

Malachi nodded. “It’s an offspring of the original. I promised my grandfather that I would take care of it. Even though granddad didn’t quite believe that the plant was magical, he didn’t want to take any chances with his family. There was no way that he wanted to tempt fate. It was almost like an insurance policy for extra protection. I promised him that I would watch over it and I have kept my word all these years. Soon, it will be your turn to take over.”

“What? Why does it matter at this point?”

Shrugging, Malachi grinned. “It’s just tradition, I guess.” He stood up and stretched his back. “Feel like taking a walk, son?”

“Sure.”

They locked the front door and headed out back, up a narrow trail that led deep into the woods. Malachi was trying to figure out a way to piece it all together and he was struggling. “I look at the past as a history lesson. Just like when I read about Hitler or any other crazy leader from days of old. Do I honestly believe that the angel bush protects us? Probably not, but why risk it? Plus it’s beautiful and it gives me something to do,” he said with a slight grin.

Malachi stopped next to a large boulder and placed his hand on it. “Here it is.”

“What?”

“This is the opening to the mine. The reformists felt it was best if they blocked the entrance to keep the evil locked inside.” He walked around to the other side and pointed out an Angel’s Trumpet bush. “This one here, it’s the original. Or an offshoot of the original at least. I still tend to it as well. Just for added protection.”

Travis walked around the boulder, inspecting it. “Do you really think it’s a portal?”

Malachi shrugged. “Who am I to say? I know there’s a strange darkness to this old hollow. But, is it evil? I can’t answer that. I do know that the research I’ve done shows this particular plant can not survive the harsh Ohio winters when left outside. But for some reason this one here never dies. I don’t know if it keeps reseeding itself or if there is something else going on. The soil around the mine opening appears warmer than it should be. There is some kind of heat still being released from the old mine. What that is, I just can’t say for sure.”

They continued onward up the hill to Silver Creek Ridge. Malachi was winded when they arrived at the peak. He stood tall and stretched his back as he looked out over the valley that had become Rogue’s Hollow. 

Travis walked around inspecting the area. “Is this the sugar camp you told me about?”

Malachi nodded and took a deep breath. “Sure is. This is where I make our famous maple syrup every spring. You, my friend, will be helping me this next harvest season.” It was just a small building with a huge kettle in the middle that was used to boil the sap into syrup.

Travis smiled and replied, “Cool.” He was always up for learning something new.

Malachi made his way over to a brick structure near the sugar shack. “And this here is the old kiln. They said that it was built for brick-making, but later it became their crematorium.”

Travis walked over and peered inside. “Seriously? This is what Ambrose was talking about?”

“After several years the miner’s ash was all used up. The cult members grew desperate to keep the plants alive. They were certain that the plants protected them from evil. Little did they know, they were also extremely toxic. Angel’s Trumpet in small doses is a hallucinogenic and in large doses, it can kill you. Every day the men would rub the liquid from a small petal across their forehead for protection. It got them high and caused them to hallucinate. They began to see the evil coming after them. It was seeping out around the boulder. Hands would reach out to them in the darkness, begging for help.”