The Friendly Fort (Chapter Four)

Hello All:

"This is a very, special week at The Literary World of Tom Raimbault; for this is Halloween week! And like we do every year, new stories written just for the holiday are featured throughout the week. This year we roll out some brand-new Mapleview material in the form of a mini novella titled The Friendly Fort. Be sure to visit each day for a new chapter. The Friendly Fort will be featured from Sunday through Saturday."
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VIEW PRELUDE AND CHAPTER ONE
VIEW CHAPTER TWO
VIEW CHAPTER THREE
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When I was a teenage boy I had been thrown out of my bed by a malevolent spirit. Now I should clarify that this spirit didn't actually enter the physical space where I slept that night. Rather, it somehow accessed my consciousness while I dreamed. It coerced me in my dreams to poise myself at the edge of my bed and then jump onto the floor. I recall growling some seconds before taking the plunge.

Then my feet hit the floor and I awoke in the darkened room. I screamed in terror and, of course, woke up the entire family. My father rushed in to see if I was okay.

"It threw me out of my bed!" I declared to my father who probably figured I only had a bad dream. But to me, the incident was very real. To this very day I know what happened. Through dreaming, I had exposed myself to some dark and evil place in the astral realm where a malevolent spirit with hyper dimensional existence managed to affect me, here, in the physical realm. For many months, thereafter, I had to learn how to protect myself while dreaming. And I developed a phobia some years after of my inherent skill of astral projection. It wasn't until I was in my early twenties that I resumed the practice of projecting my consciousness outside of my body.

But on that fateful night of being thrown from my bed; I recall having a series of bizarre dreams, afterwards, of a barn. It was an old barn that people had converted into a living area; not a farmhouse, but a barn. In my young mind, I concluded these people to be evil, perhaps even possessed by demons. And the barn held a mystery that could never be solved. You see, one would never want to enter the building because its infinite interior of ever changing, and "paradoxical" realities would trap an unfortunate visitor forever! The old building was a portal to some reality that we could never comprehend in this world.

While writing this introduction, I referenced the meaning of a barn on Dreammoods.com. The dream dictionary says, "To see a barn in your dream signifies the feelings that are kept in your subconscious. There is a possibility that you may be holding back your instinctual action or natural urges."

So there I have it! The mystery of the barn is solved! As a teenage boy, I had fragments of myself trapped in my subconscious mind. I might go so far as to say that the malevolent spirit that threw me out of my bed was actually my Jungian shadow that was yearning for me to consciously embrace and bring it to light Subconscious manifestation, after all, is one of our lifelong journeys.

Although possibly solving the riddle of the barn; it is soon to become a regular phenomenon of fictional Mapleview. In future Mapleview books that follow the upcoming, House of Witches, this barn will be used. And this isn’t the first time that I’ve put the mysterious barn in a work of fiction. During Halloween week of 2009 the short story, Things Heard from the Ouija Board, included the mysterious appearance and disappearance of an old barn.

This isn’t the last time that the barn will be mentioned during this week’s introductions to the Friendly Fort. I have plenty more personal stories to tell you about a barn. And wouldn’t you like to know just what the so-called, “friendly fort” is? You will know by the end of this week.

The Friendly Fort (Chapter Four)

Tuesday was a day which dictated conference calls, surveying more land to acquisition in Mapleview, and then creating reports. Spencer was much too busy that day to give attention to his cemetery investigation.

It wasn't until Wednesday when Spencer reported to the Mapleview Library to do some research. He had hoped on finding some historic news articles that might have gone as far back as the 1800s. And keep in mind that this was the 1990s. Internet use wasn't in prevalent use like it is today. What's more: The Mapleview Library hadn't updated its facilities to include public computers, much less Internet access.

"Excuse me." interrupted Spencer upon approaching the main desk at the Library.

It was an older woman with long, white hair who worked as the librarian.

"I was wondering if you had old news paper articles from Mapleview and surrounding areas.” asked Spencer.

"We do." confirmed the Librarian. "We have a collection on the periodical shelves over there that go back for about two years." She pointed towards its direction. “For anything going further back, you'll have to access it on microfiche."

"Well I was looking for some historic publications." explained Spencer. "I guess I'll have to be set up on the microfiche?"

"Well just how far back do you need to go?" asked the librarian.

"I was hoping you would have publications from the early 1800s."

The librarian shook her head in negation. "No, I'm afraid we don't have anything that far back for the Mapleview area. The furthest back we have is the 1950s. But that's just for the Mapleview region. We do, of course, have periodicals throughout the country that go back further, but not Mapleview. Can I ask what it is that you are looking for?"

Spencer hesitated for a couple of seconds. "Well... It's sort of strange. You see, there's an old cemetery that looks to be abandoned near my house. It's actually out in the middle of the woods. You can hardly see the gravestones, much less the names. The only thing that can be seen is a battered, stone cross in the ground. I'm assuming it's from, maybe, the 1800s. Oh, there is a name on one of the headstones that can barely be seen: Reverend Jensen."

The librarian stared off for a few seconds, apparently in thought. Then she offered, "I know this probably isn't the direction that you want to take this. But something tells me that an old, forgotten cemetery in Mapleview might have some urban legends attached to it. Now I know that urban legends are typically blown way out of proportion. But if you dig deep enough, you often find some grain of truth." She paused and stared at Spencer for a second, expecting some sort of comment.

Spencer shrugged his shoulders. "It's a start. Did you have some sort of book on these urban legends?"

The librarian smiled," Do we??? We definitely do! You see, the Mapleview region is full of urban legends—hauntings and stuff. And we have an interesting book that was written about this area. Follow me."

Spencer did as invited. He was led over to a small section of books that were under the paranormal category.

"Let's see..." spoke the librarian out loud. "This book is usually very popular around Halloween. It's probably still here... Ah! This is it!" She pulled out a large book titled, "Hauntings and Urban Legends in Mapleview and Surrounding Areas"  

"Let's bring this over to a table and see what we can find." suggested the librarian while heading over towards the main area.

Spencer followed, and then pulled up a chair next to the librarian where she had sat down. She fingered through the table of contents which offered the general names of the various urban legends.

·        Murder at the Historic Trivelli House

·        Flesh-Eating, Human-Appearing Creatures

·        The Curse of Nukpana's Hole

·        A Tunnel in the Basement

·        The Witch Burnings of New Essex

The librarian paused at the witching burnings.

"You think that's it?" asked Spencer.

"I don't know..." answered the librarian. Why do I think this is the one you are looking for?" She flipped to the title page of The Witch Burnings of New Essex. It actually had a black and white photo of the stone cross that overlooks the forgotten cemetery.

"That's it!" exclaimed Spencer.

"Shhhh..." the librarian reminded Spencer. (This was back in the day when people were supposed to be quiet at the library.)

"Oops, sorry about that." whispered Spencer. But that's the stone cross that overlooks the cemetery."

The librarian skimmed the opening paragraphs which additionally contained a small map with Creek Highway at the center. "And I assume you live over here, somewhere?' she asked.

"I do." affirmed Spencer.

"Okay, so this might be an old cemetery that had been used for a settlement back in the early 1800s before Mapleview was established. It was called New Essex. Is this book a good place for you to start?”

“It definitely is.” affirmed Spencer.

“Well, you are welcome to read all of this. You can check the book out if you need to." invited the librarian.

"Thank you." answered Spencer. "And thank you for all of your help. This is definitely an excellent place to start."

The librarian smiled in acknowledgement while standing up and then walked back to the main desk.

Spencer remained at the table and read The Witch Burnings of New Essex…

“In the early 1800s before Mapleview had been established, a small town of English immigrants called New Essex existed in the region of forested wilderness that surrounds Hidden Lake. It would have been the ideal place for a community to establish itself. Plenty of trees in the forest made it easy to build up their small town of log cabin homes, shops, a school, and a church. There are areas throughout the forested wilderness that open up to wide clearings. These would have been ideal for farming. The small lake (technically large pond in the middle of the forest) would have provided water for crops during the summer months.

But what happened to the long-forgotten and mostly buried town of New Essex? Local historians theorize that at one point there may have been mass flooding in the region of New Essex by a heavy rainy season. In modern times; Hidden Lake has been known to overflow and flood the surrounding area during heavy rains throughout various years. Residents would have had no choice but to evacuate and settle in a region of higher altitude to avoid further flooding. That place would most-likely have been where modern-day Mapleview stands today.

But modern-day locals of Mapleview have a different theory as to why the settlement of New Essex didn't last. Legend says that a small group of witches and warlocks—about a dozen or so—arrived and settled somewhere near New Essex. This would have been near the area where Mapleview Road intersects with Creek Highway.  You see; rather than move into the town of New Essex, they simply built a couple of large cabins in the forest along with a barn.  As for water, there is a freshwater stream that opens up to a wide brook before it narrows and continues to Hidden Lake. This, of course, would have provided plenty of water for these newcomers.

Hunters from New Essex accidentally discovered the small settlement while hunting. As they reported, it was as-if the group of newcomers traveled by night and quietly set up homestead in the forest. The residents of New Essex weren't angry, of course. The newcomers were quiet. They had their own farm and gardens, and even seemed to hunt in their own region of the forest. Through time, the town of New Essex actually traded and did business with these mysterious newcomers. They even allowed their children to attend the small grammar school.

But it was eventually noticed by the teacher at the school that the children of this neighboring settlement had no formal Christian education. They were clueless of holidays such as Easter or Christmas. They were unfamiliar with common figures of monotheistic religion such as Noah, Moses or Jesus.

Reverend Jensen of New Essex invited the newcomers to attend weekly Sunday mass, and insisted that there was plenty of room for everyone. But the mysterious newcomers with children who apparently had no Christian education never took the reverend up on the offer. They, instead, observed other religious practices.

It was easy for residents of New Essex to conclude that the newcomers were a small colony of witches and warlocks—something very unsettling for people at the time. The residents of New Essex might have fallen under a bad spell of mass hysteria. And just like the Salem Witch Trials of Massachusetts from the late 1600s, a witch hunt was underway that was launched by Reverend Jensen.

With no records or documentation, it's unclear of the exact number of people who lived in New Essex. But it's believed to be close to a hundred. Being the case, there would have been no contest when a large percentage of the town of New Essex surrounded the two homes of the suspected witches and warlocks in the night. They were forced out of their beds, and given a speedy trial led by Reverend Jensen. It was a trial by fire! One-by-one, each family member—including the children—were burned at the stake. Of course none of the supposed witches and warlocks survived this trial. Their remains were buried at a fresh cemetery where the trial by fire had taken place. Today the cemetery is marked with a stone cross. This very cross can be seen if hiking in the forested area at the edge of Mapleview where Mapleview Road intersects with Creek Highway. Some people have gone so far as to examine the surrounding area, and find large, flat stones embedded in the ground. They definitely resemble gravestones; gravestones that belong to an old, forgotten cemetery.

Legend further says that shortly after this sinister deed, Reverned Jensen died in a freak accident in his own church. His body was found in such a way that it appeared as though something had terribly frightened him. Residents of New Essex concluded that he was trying to get away from whatever it was. He might have tripped, fallen, and somehow broke his neck.

It just had to do something with the savage and murderous trial by fire of the suspected witches and warlocks. There was now some sort of curse on the town of New Essex. So to avoid any further tragedy—possibly to wash their hands of the reverend's sinister deed—the body of Jensen was buried at the cemetery along with those who had suffered their trial by fire.

From there, New Essex was quickly evacuated. It's theorized that its settlers moved to the area where downtown Mapleview stands today.”
To be continued...