Sacred Ground
Satisfied with this conclusion, he’d stood for the final prayer, had a short but friendly exchange with the man who’d sat next to him and exited the pew almost into the arms of the girl he’d vowed to avoid.
She’d looked totally different. Her eyes shone with a friendly smile and her color was back. She was stunning in a navy blue outfit that looked like it had been made for her.
She’d said she wanted them to meet some people and took them around as if they were celebrities. That’s when he found out her name was Makima Gray, because people kept calling to her. The deacon was right, she was well-known.
Gabe finished with the dresser and found nothing out of the ordinary. Next was the closet. It didn’t take too long to go through the pockets. His great-grandfather apparently had emptied his pockets as a habit.
Gabe handled each garment then took all the shoes out to see if there was something hidden in them. Shoes made good hiding places. He even examined the bottoms, remembering stories of hollow heels. He felt silly but he couldn’t afford to pass up any possibility.
Makima had been wearing some nice shoes with three-inch heels and she’d walked confidently in them. He always noticed women’s shoes; you could tell something about a woman by the shoes she wore.
That Alana. She certainly was different from Makima. Makima had a sort of dignity about her even under stress while Alana was all gaiety and sparkle. The deep red pants outfit she’d worn had clung to her slim body. She wasn’t as tall as Makima and didn’t have her sister’s curves. Her shoes had been black sling backs and he’d bet she could have a date every night of the week if she wanted it.
He wondered how the sisters got along. Their brother, Bobby, seemed to be the quiet one of the siblings. He’d seemed to be all wrapped up in Valerie Wolf.
As Gabe searched through the rest of the room, even looking under the mattress, he speculated what Makima could possibly want to talk about with him that involved a business matter. She had seemed very serious about it.
By the time Drew came in he’d finished the room and had gone downstairs to have a bowl of chili and a salad.
“Have a good time?” Gabe asked.
“Yeah.” Drew opened the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of ice cream. “Want some?”
“Sure.”
Drew filled two bowls. “There was this guy in the movie who had to find out who was kidnapping little kids for ransom,” he began. “And the cool thing was that it was a bunch of high school seniors who cracked the case.”
Gabe was accustomed to listening to Drew’s analysis of the movies he liked. When Drew finished, Gabe said, “How’d you and Jeff get along?”
“Fine. He’s coming over tomorrow after school.”
We’re both having company tomorrow and we’ve only been here two days, Gabe mused as they went up to bed.
By the time Makima was ready to go to her appointment on Monday she’d tried on and discarded three different outfits. One was too dressy, the second was too informal and the third would do but that was all. She hadn’t been this nervous getting ready for a presentation to a foundation, she thought as she selected a fourth outfit.
This would do, or maybe she was tired of her indecision. The deep violet wool jacket with a shawl collar had pants to match. With them she wore a silk georgette blouse in a geometric floral print. She found some earrings with a single violet stone and decided to wear her new suede sling backs with the covered buckle and a matching bag. Looking at her image in the full-length mirror she felt ready for a business appointment with Mr. Gabriel Bell.
As she walked up the familiar steps of Mr. Zeke’s house, sadness overcame her. This was her first time back since he’d passed away. All her life she’d come up those steps and crossed the porch to ring this bell. As a little girl the porch had seemed so wide.
The door opened promptly just as it used to do but this time it was Gabe Bell who welcomed her in. He looks like he belongs here, she thought.
He wore dark pants with a striped pullover sweater and everything about him was well groomed.
“It’s nice to see you again, Makima. Please come in.”
“Thank you.” She instinctively turned left into the living room. “Oh, you’ve opened the curtains. I’m so glad,” she said involuntarily.
Gabe looked puzzled. “Great-Grandfather never opened them?”
“Not much as he grew older, and it was so dark in here. It’s lovely to have the light again.” She gazed around the room as if seeing old friends once more.
“Please have a seat and let me bring you something to drink,” Gabe said. “Tea, coffee, soft drink?”
“Water will be fine, thanks.”
He served the water on a small tray with a napkin and sat down opposite her with his own glass.
“I gather you’ve been here many times and are familiar with the house,” he said.
“I’ve been coming here all my life,” she said simply. “That’s why it made me feel sad when I walked up the steps today. It’s my first time here since Mr. Zeke passed.”
“I understand,” Gabe said and waited for her to continue.
“Miss Sarah used to call me her little girl. My father was principal of the school where she taught and they were great friends, which is one reason my parents allowed me to visit. Our house is on the street behind the church, so it was easy to walk or ride my bike over here.” She took a sip of water and saw amusement in his eyes. What had she said that was funny?
“I suddenly had this picture of you with your hair in braids whizzing along on your bike.” The openness of his smile invited her to smile with him at the picture and she smiled back before resuming her story.
“Miss Sarah had one daughter, Elizabeth, who died as an infant. But I guess you know all about that. Then she had two boys, but she’d always wanted a girl, so I was her make-believe daughter or granddaughter and we spent a lot of time together. Mr. Zeke was very kind to me, too. I used to follow him around to see what he was doing. After Miss Sarah died I came by often to keep him company. He’d explain to me how he fashioned parts of this house.”
“You can tell he loved working with wood,” Gabe said. “I’m finding out a lot about him little by little.”
This was the opening Makima had been looking for.
“This may or may not be something you knew about, Gabe, but Mr. Zeke had promised to sell me some property.” No, he hadn’t known about that. She saw that instantly and girded herself for battle.
Gabe sat straight in his chair. “He promised to sell you some of this property where we are or did he have some more?”
“It was this property we always talked about,” she said firmly.
“What was it for?”
“The Grayson Medical Clinic.”
“I don’t know anything about that.”
“The need for it came about because of a tragedy, as is so often the case.” Her tone softened and she relaxed in her chair.
“The youngest child in our family was my sister June. She was eighteen, getting ready to go to college. On a Saturday night she and three friends went to a football game at South Carolina State in Orangeburg. A drunk driver hit the car when they were almost home. June was sitting in the passenger seat in the front and that’s what took the impact. Everybody in the car had some injuries but June died because we couldn’t get her to the hospital in Swinton in time.”
“I’m sorry,” Gabe said “When did that happen?”
“Three years ago. Since then I’ve made the establishment of a medical clinic here in Grayson a priority.”
“By yourself?” Gabe sounded a little disbelieving.
“No, everyone in Grayson is helping and there’s a board.”
“How have you progressed so far?”
“We have ten folders with details which I’ll be happy to show you another time, but I can tell you that we’ve gone through most of the legal procedures. We’ve met with medical authorities and building contractors. We’ve written many grant proposals and met with quite a few foundations.”
“Have you raised much money?”
“The first large sum was the insurance that was paid for June’s wrongful death. Our family gave it as seed money. Since then we’ve added money from grants, foundations, organizations and frequent fund-raisers.”
Gabe turned his glass in his hand. “Where does this property come in?” He fixed on her with a direct stare.
Makima knew this was the moment of truth. He had to believe as she did that Mr. Zeke had intended to sell her what she needed.
“I asked Mr. Zeke to sell us a part of his property for the clinic. I’ve never considered any other place because this location is perfect and there’s something about it that draws me. I know that doesn’t make much business sense but that’s the way I feel.”
“What exactly did he say, Makima?” Gabe asked.
“He said, ‘We’ll see.’ I didn’t have the down payment yet, so I didn’t go beyond that, but each time I reminded him, he said, ‘It’ll still be here.’ In other words, when I had the money ready he’d sell it to me. Then he died quite unexpectedly, so I’m coming to you.” Makima took a deep breath and said a silent prayer as she waited for his response.
“How much property do you need?” he asked calmly.
“We can’t afford more than five acres.” Makima allowed herself to hope that this was going to work. It had to work for the sake of the whole community.
“It’s a worthwhile project and I wish I could help you, Makima, but I can’t.” Gabe looked at her with sympathy.
Makima flinched as if she’d suffered a blow. She couldn’t give up. The clinic had to be fought for.
“Why can’t you?” she asked.
“The will doesn’t permit it.”
“Mr. Zeke’s will?” Her eyes flashed. “That’s hard to believe. You are his heir, aren’t you?”
“Of course or I wouldn’t be here,” he said stiffly.
“You’re his heir and you can’t dispose of the property?” That didn’t sound reasonable to her.
“As I said, I can’t help you.” His voice was now formal and cool.
“Can’t or won’t? I’d hoped for more understanding and cooperation from Mr. Zeke’s relative.” She stood up. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time, Mr. Bell.”
Gabe escorted her to the door in silence, opened it and said, “Thank you for coming, Miss Gray.”
She felt him watching as she walked across the porch and down the steps, then got into her car.
What was she going to do now? She had to have that property.
Chapter 6
Gabe moved to the front window to watch Makima as she walked across the porch and down the steps. He could see the tension in her body and he knew he’d caused it.
He was sorry but there was nothing else he could have done. There was no way he could sell her any part of the property, not even one acre, much less five. He’d told her the will didn’t permit it and she’d had the gall to imply that she didn’t believe him, that he just didn’t want to consider her offer. That had made him angry.
She didn’t know him at all so where did she get off saying he was a liar?
He didn’t know her either but he’d listened to all she had to say about the clinic and had actually been impressed by her story. Losing her sister in such a senseless accident must have been terrible and he could understand how the need for the clinic arose out of it. He could only vaguely imagine how he’d feel if it had been Drew in that car!
The clinic would surely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and he wondered how Makima and her partners could raise that much money. He dealt with funding in the state agency he worked for and he knew it wasn’t only the cost of getting a business up and running that one had to be concerned about. Keeping it running also cost money and that’s why many enterprises folded after a year or two.
That would be a worse scenario for the clinic than if they didn’t get it started in the first place. Had she thought about that?
He didn’t see why she’d fixated on this property. There had to be other acres in Grayson on which the clinic could be built that would be just as convenient for the community as this was. But no, Miss Makima Gray had apparently made a unilateral decision for this spot and had bullied the people she was working with to accept it.
He could have told her the details of the will but he didn’t see why he had to. That was his private business.
He needed to warn Drew not to talk about it, especially now that he’d met Jeff. It could slip out in a casual remark about them being here for only three months and Jeff could mention it to his sister, who would tell Makima’s brother and the damage would be done.
The hardheaded woman would just have to deal with what he’d told her—that the will permitted no sale.
The next morning Gabe was beating eggs for an omelet while Drew made toast when there was a knock at the back door.
A gray-haired man wearing a sweater stuck his head in the door. “Can I come in?”
Gabe said, “You’re just in time for breakfast. I’m Gabe Bell and this is my brother, Drew.”
“Sam Williams is my name and I’m your neighbor directly across the street.” They shook hands and Sam pulled out a chair at the table and made himself comfortable. “That omelet looks good but I’ll have to pass it up. I’ll join you for some coffee and toast. Zeke and I had coffee together most mornings, you know.”
Sam had sharp eyes and a round face that sported a short gray beard, which Gabe noted was neatly trimmed. He appeared to be in his late seventies.
Gabe served the omelet, poured coffee for Sam and himself and milk for Drew. “How about some fruit to go with your toast, Mr. Williams?”
“Call me Sam. No fruit. I have it later in the day or it upsets my stomach.” His eyes twinkled. “Digestive system isn’t what it used to be.”
He tasted his coffee. “You make a good cup of coffee, Gabe, I’m glad to say. Can’t stand it weak. Heard the two of you caused quite a stir at church yesterday. Sorry I wasn’t there to meet you but this is better. Always good to meet people across a table, you know.” He twinkled at Drew. “You remember that, young Drew. Now, how old are you?”
“I’ll be sixteen in a few months, Mr. Williams.” Listening to this interesting neighbor, Drew had slowed his usual eating pace.
“Growing so fast you’re going to be right up there with your brother in a few years. Bet you can’t buy the groceries fast enough,” he told Gabe.
His good humor made even Drew laugh, especially since he was pouring himself another tall glass of milk. “I’m thinking of putting him out to work to earn his keep,” Gabe said just to see what Drew’s reaction would be.
“Zeke was a smart man, you know,” Sam said. “He grew most of the food him and Sarah ate. Had a garden every year and began one this year. Guess you’ve seen it. When we’re through here I’ll show it to you, young Drew, and tell you what you need to do to keep it going so you can put some food on this table.”
The idea seemed to appeal to Drew. “Okay,” he said.
I like this neighbor, Gabe thought, and waited to see what Sam would put him through. He took a bite of omelet and sipped his coffee.
Sam started in a roundabout way while enjoying his breakfast. “Zeke and I were alike in not having the pleasure of seeing our kids grown and having kids of their own. His daughter, Elizabeth, only lived a few months. Robert died at twenty when a horse threw him while Edward went up to New York and disappeared. It wasn’t until years later that Zeke found out he’d died of tuberculosis and left two sons.”
Gabe forgot to eat, immersed in this picture of his father’s family of which he’d known nothing all these years.
“Since you and Drew are Bells, I take it that Edward Bell was your grandfather?”
“Apparently, but we never knew about him,” Gabe said.
“Your father’s name was?”
“Booker,” Gabe and Drew said in unison.
An expression of satisfaction was clear on Sam’s face and as Gabe poured more hot coffee, he warned himself to be vigilant because Sam appeared to be an expert at drawing information out of you. Therefore Gabe would offer only what he didn’t mind everyone knowing about the conditions of the will. He’d no idea what Great-Grandfather might have confided to Sam. He only knew what he wasn’t going to confide.
“Drew, I think I’d like another piece of toast to go with this good coffee,” Sam said. Drew got up to replenish the toast supply and Sam asked Gabe, “You’d be about thirty-five or so?”
“You hit it on the head exactly.”
“Single?”
“So far.”
“Your parents?”
“Both deceased.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Gabe and Drew. I thought maybe they were since they weren’t down here with you.”
The sincerity in his voice was unmistakable and Gabe found no false note in it.
Drew put a plate of hot toast on the table and a jar of strawberry preserves. When everyone had eaten some, Gabe decided he would offer some facts.
“We were born and raised in Manhattan. The only relatives on our dad’s side that we knew about was his brother, Jacob. Uncle Jake never married and had no children as far as we knew. Our mother, Virginia Riley, came from a large family and those were the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents we knew.”
“What did Booker say when you asked about family on his side?”
“He’d say he didn’t have any, or that he didn’t want to talk about it, so early on we learned to leave that subject alone.”
“Your uncle Jake never told you anything?”
“Nothing. We didn’t see him on any regular basis. He’d breeze into town for a few days and we’d never know when he’d be back.”
“Is he still living?”
“He died a year after Dad.”
“I probably knew your great-grandfather as well as anyone in Grayson and better than most,” Sam said thoughtfully. “For years we sat at this table together, especially after we were both widowed. He never said a word about what was to happen to this property. The one time I mentioned it he said it was taken care of. I expected that and never talked about it again.”
He was silent and so were Gabe and Drew.
“He hadn’t been ill, you know,” he resumed. “He just died one day. The next thing I knew, there was a rumor flying around town that an heir from New York had been found. So naturally I was very concerned to meet that heir and see what he was like, you see.” He raised an eyebrow, his sharp glance on Gabe.
“I understand. You wanted to see if the heir was worthy of your friend.” Gabe looked at his inquisitor calmly. The two men measured each other and came to an agreeable conclusion.
“My great-grandfather apparently decided to make a search for Edward’s son,” Gabe said. “It must have been quite difficult because it was only a few weeks ago that Drew and I knew anything about this. We had a visit from an attorney who had worked for Great-Grandfather for some years. He established who he was and who we were. Then he read us the will. To say we were astonished doesn’t begin to describe our feelings.” He glanced at Drew.
“Blown away is what we were!” Drew said.
“It was very hard to believe. In New York inheritance scams are played on people every day, so it took some time to come to the conclusion that what the attorney told us was legitimate. I can’t tell you all the details, but we are the heirs and we’ll be here for a while as things work themselves out.”
Sam was nodding his head. “Your great-grandfather was deep, so I’m not surprised that he worked it out that way. You know, he was quite a scholar in his own way, particularly about Africa. Read books about it all of the time and when something would come on television about that place, he’d tell me to come over and we’d watch it together.”
“I have noticed a number of books about Africa in his office.”
“Those are just the ones he kept. He used his library card for a lot of others.” He drained his coffee cup. “Well, I guess I’ve taken up enough of your time for now. I’m real glad the two of you are here. Feel free to come over any time. It’s the white house with the green shutters.”
“What a character,” Drew said, cleaning off the table as Gabe cleaned up the pans. “I like him.”
“So do I, and I respect him. He’s no dummy.”
“He sure told us a lot about Pop’s family. Seems like every day we find out a little more. Don’t you think that’s crazy?”
“In a way, but on the other hand, we’re living where Pop’s family began, so even though it was a long time ago, people here know bits and pieces that we couldn’t hear about living in NewYork.”
“He forgot to show me the garden,” Drew remembered.
“I think he stayed longer than he’d planned but he won’t forget. Watch for him tomorrow morning. What had you planned to do in the time before Jeff gets here?”
“Hadn’t planned anything special. Why?”
“Do a little treasure hunt and see if anything at all looks unusual or that might be a clue for us.”
“Okay.”
“One other thing, Drew. Did you get the idea that Sam Williams wanted to know everything that was in the will?”
“Yeah. He was, like, champing at the bit but you didn’t tell him.”
“You and I both have to repeat to others what I told him because a lot of people are as curious as Sam is. Just say we can’t talk about the details of the will and we’ll be here for a while. The topic might come up when Jeff gets here because it’s a natural question. Okay?”
“Sure, I can handle that.”
Gabe was anxious to explore his great-grandfather’s office. If there was something significant about the treasured destiny to be discovered, shouldn’t it be in the place where he did most of his work and study?
He stood in the doorway, noting how it had been set up. A dark brown desk with three drawers on each side was on the wall to his right, flanked by a floor lamp and a two-drawer beige file. The rest of the wall was a closet.
Opposite the doorway where he stood was an eight-shelf bookcase. On one wall beside it was a large map of Africa while the map on the other side showed details of West Africa. A comfortable chair with a table lamp stood beside it. A curio cabinet, other maps of the world and several chairs completed the furnishings.
He created his own little library, Gabe observed, and probably spent most of his time here as he grew older. It was well lit, comfortable and warm. He could see himself spending evenings here dipping into the books.
He began his search at the desk. The drawers were filled with bills going back twenty years. Apparently, Great-Grandfather didn’t believe in credit cards. All the receipts showed payment in cash. This even went for large items like the pickup truck Gabe had seen in the garage.
The house was paid for. The property tax statements represented the largest outgo of money. Gabe read the figure for the assessment of the property and whistled softly. He laid the paper down, stunned.
He couldn’t fathom being the potential owner of such valuable property. It was like winning the lottery. He’d never thought of having a lot of money. The most he’d desired was enough for him and Drew to get by on comfortably.
Still a little dazed, he looked through the other drawers but discovered nothing out of the ordinary. The stacks of bank statements would have to wait for another time, when his head was clearer.
He stood before the map of Africa and studied it. The attorney, Mr. Moultrie, had told him that this destiny business had its origins with some African slaves, so Gabe could understand why Great-Grandfather had an interest in the continent. But it was so huge. Had one country been singled out?
He moved to the other map, which showed only the west coast of Africa and its countries. Most of the slave trade had embarked from the west coast, if he remembered his history. Maybe the map had been marked for easy identification as to the area the slaves came from.
Gabe picked up the magnifying glass from the desk and looked closely but could see no mark of any kind.