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The Desk
Last Updated on Saturday, 14 May 2011 04:06 Written by Administrator Saturday, 14 May 2011 00:34
"Now Jason, remember that he was a bit eccentric so..." Grandma's voice trailed off as she led me down the hallway that somehow smelled of pipe tobacco, ginger and caramel at the same time. The smell brought back so many memories. I had spent every summer and nearly every other moment I could manage at the estate, guest of the kindest man I had ever known.
We reached the end of the hall and Grandma inserted a strange looking key into the door. This particular door had always been closed when I was around and I wondered aloud why she was opening it now.
"This was Mr. Hamilton's study. He did all of his business in this room and his will stated clearly that you are to open the chest and read what's inside." she said.
I shook my head at the oddity of it all. Maxwell Justus Hamilton had been a well respected, even loved member of the small Texas town. A noted philanthropist and professor of ancient history at the University, he had been well known for his generosity.
The desk filled the small room. A number of objects sat on top of it, but in the center was a small chest complete with an ancient padlock. Grandma handed me the key and turned to leave the room.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"The instructions were very clear. The contents are for you alone." She paused, "He did so much for us...I think we should respect his last wish." She closed the door behind her.
I shook my head. Mr. Hamilton had always been a bit odd, but this was unusual even for him. Uncertain, I put the key in the lock and turned it. The lock, old as it was turned smoothly and with a solid clunk it opened. I set it to the side and opened the chest.
Inside was a roll of what turned out to be parchment, laying on top of a small, leather book. The chest also held a smooth black stone about the size of my fist, a simple but very sharp knife and triangular pendant. The pendant was black with tarnish, but appeared to be silver.
After a few moments of examining the other items, I unrolled the parchment. It was a detailed map showing several islands and notes in what looked like Spanish. Other than that, I couldn't figure out what the map was for since despite my initial thought, it had no markings I could see showing buried treasure. I chuckled at my own naivete.
I picked up the book and unwound the simple leather strap that held it closed. It was filled with notes. Hundreds of pages of detailed drawings of objects and pasted clippings from books, newspapers and letters. The back of the book had a small pocket fitted into the cover and in the pocket was the first clue that told me what all this was about.
It was a letter from Mr. Hamilton.
Dear James,
When you read this, I will have passed on and you will be wondering what
The New World
Last Updated on Friday, 26 March 2010 14:50 Written by Jerald S Jackson Friday, 26 March 2010 01:33
"Shh...did you hear that?" The loud whisper sounded clear in the night air to the young hunter who was watching the men from above.
Socu stood, relaxed against the trunk of the tree, 50 feet in the air. His position let him see the camp below, while remaining unseen himself. Given the way the men below were staring into the fire, he could just as well be sitting on a branch waving his feet back and forth and still have no concern that the men could see him.
"I didn' hear nothin." Another man said, his voice affected by whatever was in the flask they had been passing around.
One of them stood, stretched and muttered something before staggering off, moving out of the fire and into the trees where he voided his bladder loudly.
Socu smelled them coming and had just enough time to draw his bow. The arrow spun toward the target and slid into the eye socket of the intruder just moments before he thrust a blade through the neck of the drunken fool below. Socu looked inside to observe the area around them and noticed another 3 of the intruders moving into position behind the men as they sat on a log before the fire.
Notching another arrow, Socu continued to watch them, his head relaxed against the tree and his eyes closed. Without opening his eyes, he pulled the bowstring and sent the arrow spinning through the air, then repeated the motion twice more. All three intruders fell with arrows protruding from their mouths. The head of each arrow bisected the spinal cord in each of them.
Seeing nothing else, Socu looked around for another vantage point. It was doubtful anyone had seen him, but a good hunter could determine where he had shot the arrows from by looking at how the intruders had fallen. There were three spots that looked promising, but only one of them had a good escape route. He moved along the branches with a grace that somehow masked his speed.
Arriving at his new position, he once again looked inward. Seeing nothing, he settled in, molding his body to the tree. His breathing slowed and Socu expanded his mind to cover the whole area, searching for any intruders. The effort was minimal. This state was as close as he ever came to sleeping and the minute any of the others tried to creep in, he would be aware.
Below the men in the rough camp were either passed out where they sat, were laying too close to the fire or had bedded down too far from the other men. Their survival instincts were non-existent and Socu wondered how they had lived this long.
Blackedge.net
Last Updated on Friday, 03 September 2010 14:07 Written by Administrator Saturday, 07 July 2007 09:54
Blackedge.net has migrated to our new hosting provider, whom I so far recommend without reservation. At a time when it seems as though companies are working so hard to limit what they provide TigerTech has a wonderful list of services, a transparent policy on outages and customer support that is both friendly and fast to respond.
I was actually forced to move the site again since we have moved physically from Minneapolis to Southeastern Wisconsin. In Minneapolis I had an internet connection that allowed me to host a server in my house with a 10MB up and down connection. Here in Wisconsin I am not that fortunate, but have located what seems to be a solid hosting provider in Tiger Tech.
I will be transferring all posts from the old site and populating the stories as soon as I can. Shortly I will start participating in Fiction Friday, Three Word Wednesday and am looking forward to NaNoWriMo at the end of the month.
Regards,
Jerald S Jackson
The Box
Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 October 2009 06:00 Written by Administrator Saturday, 07 July 2007 09:54
She held her hair back while she stooped to look through the eyehole. An empty hallway, lit from one end by a hot sun burning through curtains that had long ago given up, was all she could see. Placing her ear against the door, she listened for any movement. Nothing. She remained still. Waiting. Breathing.
The hallway, still empty, was no longer lit by the sun. Instead the carpet and walls had taken on the slight greenish cast of the bare florescent bulbs that hummed overhead. A flash of black caught her eye and she watched as a figure moved toward the stairwell, then disappeared into the open doorway. Angel knew the second one would be waiting for her to open the door. Given the position of the first, the second one had to be right next to her door. There was no other place to hide. She moved with care to a standing position, next to the door and placed her hands to either side of where the other figure would be standing.
Angel closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. In her mind she slid to the side. Here the wall did not exist, but the other man did. She reached out and clutched both of his arms, then pulled them back toward her. At the last moment she slid back. As usual the world returned to her in gradual steps. Sounds faded in as if from far away. Shapes reformed before her eyes and the colors followed soon after. The pair of arms sticking through the wall were surrounded by blood running freely.
The others would be here soon. Angel shrugged into her jacket, pulling her hair free with one hand while reaching for her bag with the other. This night was far from over.
Alice
Last Updated on Thursday, 22 October 2009 01:36 Written by Administrator Saturday, 07 July 2007 09:54
Alice stroked the kitten idly as she stared at the door. She showed no sign of hearing the knock and did not respond when the man in the white coat opened the door and said, "Good morning, Alice. May I come in?"
Without waiting for a response he entered and carefully closed the door. "Did she like the cream I sent yesterday? I thought she might. She's looking a bit thin." He smiled and sat on the stool in front of the young girl.
"We need to run some more tests, Alice." He watched her carefully. "No more needles, I promise you that."
Alice continued to stare at the door. Other than her hand petting the kitten, she was catatonic.
"We are going to attach some leads to your head and take some measurements." He paused. It was difficult to talk with a patient that you suspected did not hear a word. However there was always the chance that she would understand and was somehow unable to respond. "It will not hurt at all." He paused, searching for anything else to say that might comfort her. For some reason he felt compelled to do whatever he could to keep her safe.
"I know." Alice said.
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