Midnight storm, p.1
Midnight Storm, page 1
MIDNIGHT STORM
THE BECQUERELS
KATHRYN KALEIGH
To learn more about Kathryn Kaleigh, visit
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www.kathrynkaleigh.com
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PROLOGUE
TWENTY YEARS AGO
Daniel picked up the two-month-old kitten and held it close to his chest.
The kitten mewed and stuck its soft little claws in his arms.
“You can take him home,” Vaughn said, opening a big leather trunk in the dusty attic.
Daniel’s eyes widened with delight, then he stuck out his lip.
“I can’t,” he said. “My mom will have my hide.”
Vaughn smiled.
To Daniel, at the tender age of eight, Vaughn Becquerel was beautiful. And Daniel was smitten.
But Mama said she was too old for Daniel. At least forty.
Daniel didn’t believe it, much less care.
Didn’t matter though.
Vaughn was married to Mr. Jonathan.
Mr. Jonathan Becquerel had fought in Vietnam and Mama said Daniel should be nice to him. Said he had the PTD.
Whatever that was. Mr. Jonathan seemed nice, but Mama seemed to be afraid of him.
“It’s ok,” Vaughn said. “You can play with him when you’re here.”
“Really?” Daniel’s eyes lit up. He hugged the kitten even tighter.
“Sure thing,” Vaughn said. “You can even name him if you want to.”
He looked down at the little kitten, purring now in his arms. It had the longest whiskers Daniel had ever seen. “Whiskers,” he said. “I want to name him Whiskers.”
“Then Whiskers it is,” Vaughn said. “Now set Whiskers down for a minute. I want to show you something.”
Daniel set the kitten down on the floor next to him, but kept one hand on him.
“What is it?” he asked, running a hand over the top of the dusty trunk.
“Drumsticks,” Vaughn pulled out a set of what looked like well-worn drumsticks.
“Cool,” he said. “Are they from a famous musician?”
Vaughn smiled. “No,” she said. “They’re from a little drummer boy. Back in the Civil War.”
“What kind of war was that?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the drumsticks as he ran his fingers over the kitten’s little ears.
“You’ll learn about it in school soon enough,” she said. “But it was a very very long time ago. And these belonged to a little soldier about your age.”
“No way,” he said, looking at Vaughn now. “You know I’m only eight-years-old, right?”
Vaughn nodded. “I know. But this little boy lied about his age.” She lowered her voice to a whisper as though someone might overhear.
“Was it Mr. Jonathan?” Daniel asked, looking over his shoulder.
Vaughn laughed now. “No. But the little boy was probably brave like Jonathan.”
Brave. Not crazy. Daniel would have to tell Mama that about Mr. Jonathan.
“Would you like to hold them?”
“Can I?” Daniel asked, forgetting the kitten for the moment and clasping his hands together.
“You can,” Vaughn said. “But you have to remember something.”
“What’s that?” Daniel asked. Whatever it was, he’d remember it.
“You have to remember that no matter what you do, you have to be brave.”
“Like fight in a war?”
“That’s one thing,” Vaughn said. “But it’s not the only thing.”
Daniel nodded.
Vaughn placed the drumsticks in Daniel’s hands.
They were rough with lots of use. And much heavier than he’d expected.
“Can I play with them?”
“You can,” she said. “and if you like them, you can keep them. On one condition.”
Daniel experimented with the feel of the heavy wooden drumsticks. He tried to imagine an eight-year-old being in a war. Playing the drums.
“What’s that?”
“It won’t make sense right now,” she said. “But you’ll understand later.”
“I’ll understand,” Daniel said. “Mama says I’m old for my age.”
Vaughn smiled again.
“You have to promise me that you’ll follow your heart.”
Daniel tapped one of the drumsticks against his palm and scrunched up his face.
“Ok,” he said. “I’ll try.” Vaughn was right. He didn’t understand.”
“Good enough,” she said.
“Now take Whiskers and your drumsticks and go play out back ‘til your Mama gets here to pick you up.”
Daniel put his drumsticks in his back pocket and picked up his new kitten.
But instead of leaving, he put his arms around Vaughn and hugged her.
“I love you, Vaughn,” he said.
“I love you, too Daniel,” she said. “Now get out of here before I put you to work.”
Daniel turned and skipped across the attic floor, dodging old boxes and discarded furniture.
He wouldn’t mind staying and helping Vaughn, but he knew that Mr. Jonathan would be coming up soon to look for her.
And Daniel erred on the side of caution that his Mama might be right about him being a bit crazy.
CHAPTER 1
October 2021
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Daniel stood in front of his telescope and adjusted the lens. The tripod, secure in the soft dirt, settled a little more as he made adjustments.
He reached into his backpack next to it and pulled out a ten-millimeter lens. Slid it into the eyepiece.
It was a Hunter’s Moon tonight.
And Daniel had a perfect view of one of the moon’s mountain ranges.
An owl that had been watching him, fluttered in the oak tree behind him. Called out a questioning hoot.
Daniel’s dog, Biscuit, paced a wide circle around him. Biscuit was a two-year-old big black gangly dog. He’d been a stray when Daniel had gotten him from the pound. And he’d spent his few months chewing up everything from Daniel’s running shoes to his ties.
For some reason, the dog seemed to have an affinity for Daniel’s clothes, especially his work clothes.
But Biscuit had grown out of his chewing stage, then gone through his running phase, and was currently seemed to be in a pacing phase.
The last couple of times, when Daniel was out moongazing, the dog had just sat at his heels, with what looked like boredom.
But not tonight.
Tonight Biscuit was restless.
Maybe it was the cold weather.
Sometimes October in Mississippi was chilly, like tonight. But sometimes it was quite warm. This was actually the first time Daniel had brought Biscuit out in the cold.
The scent of honeysuckle was strong, but refreshing. It muted the murky scent of the Mississippi River not too far from here.
In his high-rise apartment building near downtown Dallas, Daniel rarely had the chance to be out in nature. Besides, the view of the moon out here as so much better than the view he got from his balcony. Too many lights in Dallas.
But this month’s hunter’s moon had coincided with Daniel’s fall break and since he had no other obligations at the time, Daniel had thrown a few things into a dusty duffle bag and taken a road trip. Been drawn almost automatically to the area outside of Natchez.
He had fond memories of this area from his childhood.
He’d spent his summers near here. Those three months out of every year when his father would drop him off at his mother’s house and head out of the country.
To this day, Daniel didn’t really know how his mother felt about those summers. His father, a university professor, just like Daniel, spent his summers volunteering in various less fortunate countries—places one couldn’t take a youngster.
Daniel had inherited his father’s inclination for science, but instead of going in the medical direction, Daniel had gone with math.
Numbers didn’t lie. Daniel found comfort in that.
When nothing else in his life had made sense, numbers had.
But the real kicker was the Daniel’s mother had her own busy life. Daniel had never been privy to his parents’ conversation and they remained a mystery to him.
His mother had been an attorney who spent most of her waking hours at the office there in Natchez.
That gave Daniel months of freedom that most boys didn’t get.
Still. When his mother came home at night, Daniel was expected to be there and was required to account for how he spent his days.
Most of his time was spent at the Becquerel’s home not far from this very spot. The owner, Vaughn Becquerel, had taken Daniel under her wing.
Daniel rested his eyes a moment and scratched Biscuit’s ears.
He never had found out his mother’s connection to Vaughn Becquerel. When he was old enough to think about asking his mother, she’d changed the subject.
The dog whimpered a bit.
“What’s wrong boy?” Daniel asked. “We won’t stay much longer.”
There was a dampness in the air that Daniel hadn’t expected and he didn’t want to risk getting caught in the rain with his gear.
Putting a hand on the telescope, Daniel tried to remember whether or not he’d fed Biscuit. Surely he’d remembered.
But what other explanation did he have for Biscuit’s uncharacteristic behavior?
Reaching into his jacket pocket, he found one of the dog bones he kept there for their trips to the park.
Biscuit raced over, too
Daniel rubbed his hands together. The moon went behind the clouds in what a few minutes ago had been a cloudless sky.
There was no accounting for weather, no matter how many times he checked the forecast.
In the unexpected darkness, Daniel bumped his telescope, sending the aim through the trees into the darkness.
Out of habit, maybe superstition, he peered through the telescope lens.
Adjusting the focus, he saw a light in the distance.
A lantern, a bright lantern, right there in his range of vision through the telescope.
Daniel looked up, but couldn’t see anything other than darkness with his naked eyes.
He looked back down, focusing his sight through the lens.
He tilted the scope enough to better see the light.
He was looking at the veranda of a house
Again, he pulled back and looked into the darkness. He should be able to see the light from here.
Maybe. Maybe not.
Looking through the lens again, he zoomed out a bit.
There were four people sitting there in the light of the lantern. Three young men and a young lady.
He could barely see the lady’s silhouette. Not enough to make out more about her than she was young.
He had a decent look at the men. One was sitting on a rocker facing the girl. Another had one foot propped on the railing of the veranda. And the other stared into the darkness. Toward him actually.
Daniel lifted his head, put his hands on his hips and looked around him into the darkness.
As far as he could tell, he was looking toward the old Becquerel place. It was supposed to be deserted.
Maybe some college students had picked the deserted house to have a Saturday night soiree. As a college professor, Daniel was quite familiar with the creativity of college students in finding places to hang out.
Curious now, he looked through the scope again.
From what he could tell, the young people were having a lively conversation. He didn’t see any beer bottles or joints or anything other than a couple of glasses of water sitting on a little wooden table.
He stood up, rubbed his eyes.
What he did see, however, was perplexing to say the least.
The men were wearing what looked like formal attire.
The young lady was wearing a long, full dress.
He looked again.
Maybe they’d been to a prom or some such.
But this was October.
A Fall Formal?
They could easily be high school students. Maybe college. he really couldn’t tell from here.
As he watched, one of the men opened the door and went inside the house.
The house was obviously deserted. He didn’t see any other lights other than the one lantern.
It was one thing for them to sit out on the veranda. It was another entirely for them to go inside the house.
He ran a hand through his hair and groaned.
So much for a quiet, peaceful evening watching the moon.
CHAPTER 2
October 1860
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Beatrice Edwards stood at her bedroom window and watched the three men parrying and lunging below.
Her two brothers and her third cousin were training for battle. At least that’s what they called it.
Beatrice wasn’t sure there was even going to be a war. Surely the men weren’t that stupid.
Her brother, John, lopped off one of her mother’s roses.
All three men froze. Then all broke into laughter while looking toward the house.
If Mama had seen that, they’d already have their ears boxed.
Her cousin, Wilford caught sight of Beatrice watching them and grinned up at her.
Beatrice dropped the emerald velvet curtain and took a step back.
Wilford needed no encouragement. He already believed that Beatrice was going to marry him.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one.
“Beatrice,” her brother John called up. “Come down and join us.”
Beatrice pretended not to hear.
“She doesn’t want to come down here,” her older brother Sam said.
Considering the nonsense of the war, Sam was the sensible one. Sensible Sam. That’s how she thought of him.
But even a sensible man obviously could get caught up in the anticipation of the chance to kick some Yankee butts.
Beatrice could have joined them. In fact, just a few months ago, she would have.
But she was grown up now and no longer played with the boys.
Mama had started making her wear long dresses when she’d turned seventeen.
“It’s time to turn this little ragamuffin into a lady,” she’d said.
Beatrice had resisted at first.
She so enjoyed traipsing about the countryside with her brothers.
But putting on dresses had changed things.
For one thing, Wilford had started looking at her differently.
Beatrice didn’t particularly like Wilford, but still, it was hard not to be flattered by the attention.
For another thing, Beatrice actually liked wearing the dresses.
Right now, in fact, she was wearing a pretty mink colored dress over wide hoops.
The skirts swayed with every movement.
It had taken some practice to learn how to manipulate the hoop skirt, but Beatrice was a fast learner.
All in all, Mama had been quite patient with her. Living out in the country had allowed her freedom that she wouldn’t have had in the city.
The freedom to roam with her brothers. Sensible Sam, two years older, and John, two years younger.
But those days were over.
She was definitely a lady now.
CHAPTER 3
Daniel took a flashlight from his backpack, called Biscuit, and started the trek over to the house.
It wasn’t that far.
In fact, he’d played out here in this area between the house and the river countless times.
He knew that there was a little gully off to his right and a fallen tree across it.
He knew that if he climbed up that tree and climbed up into the oak tree next to it, he could see the river for miles. He could also see the house and the dirt driveway leading to it.
He’d climb up and watch for his mother’s Mercedes when it was time for her to come and pick him up.
When he saw her turn into the driveway, he could be down the tree, to the house, and inside the back door before she parked in front of the house.
He smiled to himself.
He’d been quite the little rebel back then for such a little tyke.
Something slithered in the bushes and he jumped before he caught himself.
Biscuit ignored it and kept walking.
Daniel kept his light down. He wanted to assess the situation before he made his presence known.
There were too many things he didn’t know. For all he knew, these kids had a right to be here.
As he neared the house, he listened for signs of the kids.
The clouds had drifted over the moon now, so it was just as well that wasn’t trying to see anything through his telescope.
He reached the edge of the trees where the area opened up around the house.
The clouds shifted enough that he could see the house.
It was dark just like he expected.
But there was no one there on the veranda.
He stood there a minute. Biscuit sat next to him, looking up at Daniel questioningly.
Daniel looked over his shoulder. He had not gotten turned around.
Had he?
He clicked off his flashlight and started making his way around the side of the house.
It had grown up with high grass and brambles over the years.
When Vaughn had lived here, she’d employed a gardener who’d kept things looking immaculate.
He remembered roses and daisies and all sorts of flowers in different colors.
She’d told him that she liked to keep it the way it had been back when the house was in its prime.
Daniel hadn’t understood, of course, at the time how a house could have a prime, but he did now.
