The Ancestors

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. They came in the night. And it was for that reason Sarah lit every lantern and candle in the small cottage. She sat directly in front of the wood-burning fireplace. A blanket and the warmth from the fire cut the chill. 

And then there it was…the stirring of wind, the hum. To those who didn’t know, it was just a winter wind rustling through the forest. But she knew different. 

“He is my refuge and my fortress, My God in whom I trust…,” Sarah whispered the prayer to herself.

The hum grew louder, turning now to moans. 

“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”

The door rattled. The moans continued. Sarah pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

“You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness.” This time she spoke the prayer louder. 

Now banging on the windows. Through threadbare curtains she could see no human form. But they were there. The banging persisted. The rattling of the door grew louder.

“What do you want!” Sarah shouted this time. Frustration over her repeated visitors gave her more courage than she felt. And just as shouted her question the door flew open. A gust of cold air and snow swept through the front room accompanied by a swirl of golden light. The light shot through the room and landed in front of Sarah. She held her breath. 

“I don’t know what you want from me,” This time she pleaded softly. 

“Release us. Release us.” A soft voice whispered. “Set us free.” 

“Free from what? Who are you?”

The light energy shifted. It moved past the fireplace, extinguishing several of the lit candles as it went. Then dove under the wooden dining table hovering there. It did not move. A cloud of tiny twinkling light, like glitter dust, stayed there fixed under the table. 

Sarah pushed the front door shut, and cautiously moved towards the table. She suddenly recalled the rug under the table concealed a small trap door. She had never been down there as her folks had sternly forbade her from it - always cutting her off if she even inquired about it. And so over time, she forgot about the existence of it altogether. Until today. The cloud of light still hovered there.

“Is what you want in there?” she asked the light. It grew and expanded and then moved in a spinning circle like a tornado in the spot above the rug. Sarah got on her hands and knees and crawled under the table. The light shifted to one side as if to give her space. She pushed the rug aside revealing a small hatch door - just big enough for a grown man to fit through. A small circle was shaped at one end of the door - she put her finger through and gave it a tug. Nothing. She shifted to a position where she could get two fingers in the hole, one on each hand. She pulled up with more energy and the door lifted open. The light swooped down into the dark opening with such force that Sarah was knocked back. 

“Release us. Release us.” She heard the voices say again as the light exposed a set of stairs going straight down into a hole. 

Sarah felt a chill up her spine. But her curiosity always outweighed her fear. A characteristic her mother often warned her about. “Your need to know, what you don’t need to know, will surely be the death of you,” she would say. Despite the warnings, Sarah could never help herself then or now. She leaned down into the hole to see if she could get a better perspective. “Hello? Are you down there?” She called out to the nameless, faceless cloud of light. Only quiet. 

Sarah pulled a lantern from the fireplace mantel. Moved assuredly back to the hole. The steps were steep and narrow like a ladder. She would have to walk down backward. With the lantern in one hand, she slowly descended until she found her footing on the flat earth. She held the lantern in front of her exposing a dirt corridor at the end of which she could see the glow of the shadow light. Moving cautiously as there was not enough room to stand upright she crouched and walked towards the glowing light. 

“Down here. Down here.” Sarah heard the voices again. She followed until the corridor opened into a small room. The glowing light was there hovering in one corner of the room where Sarah could barely make out a stack of what looked like a dozen or so wood and metal boxes the size of shoe boxes. Closer to the boxes and the light she opened the lid of the box sitting on top. With her lantern, she could make out jewelry, gold coins, and other trinkets. She set that aside to pick the next box, the same thing a box full of jewelry, a comb of some sort, silver pieces. Each box was the same - a collection of treasures. Toward the bottom and back of the pile was a larger box this one the length of her height and several feet deep. Sarah set the lantern aside and pulled with all of her strength to move the larger box away from the wall. When she opened the lid she found not more treasure, but bones. Human bones. Different sizes. Different shapes. The shadow light, which had been still, began to dip and dive in and around Sarah and the box of bones.

“Release us. Release us. Set us free!” The voices sang out this time in a chorus. The owners of the bones. They wanted out of this hole. Sarah contemplated knowing the box was too large and heavy to manage, through the narrow corridor and back up the steep dirt stairs. Picking up her lantern she moved as quickly as she could back toward the opening to the underground and climbed up the stairs. Breathing rapidly now she moved to the bedroom. Tugging at the bedding on the bed until she could pull free a sheet.

With the sheet bundled close to her chest and the lantern in hand, she returned down to the corridor. The shadow light was still fixed over the box of bones. She carefully picked up each bone placing it on the sheet. One by one until she had transferred all of the bones inside the center of the sheet and there was one thing left in the box. A folded browning wilted paper. She delicately unfolded it. A list of names. The glowing light came closer directly over Sarah giving her light by which to read.

“Theodore -34, Justine - 28, Maro  -6, Henriette -74, Foster - 14, Sarah -15, Jax -20 days. Property of Sinclair Tisdale. Sarah-15?”  Sarah felt a burning in her chest. Anger swelled there. For years, before her parents' untimely passing, she had questions. She looked different than them. Her hair was dark and curly. Not straight and blond like her mother or straight and brown like her father. Her skin was more olive than pink. She never met relatives. They never interacted with anyone. There was never anyone else around. 

She had questions. But not for now. 

Tucking the paper in her pocket she pulled together the ends of the sheet containing the bones. She dragged the bundle, pausing every few feet to take a breath. Once at the stairs, she placed her lantern at the top of the hole knowing she’d need both hands and all her strength to levy the bundle of bones. The light shadow came to rest near the bottom of the stair. She climbed and pulled with her back leveraged against the back of the staircase. The shadow of light started to swirl again underneath her creating a force against the bottom of bundled sheet and making it easier for Sarah to lift. In short order, she and the bundle of bones were resting next to the table. 

“Now what?” Sarah rested her hands on her waist. It was now fully dark outside. The light shadow rested itself on the bundle of bones. Sarah pulled the sled from the corner of the kitchen. She used it to carry a whole deer before. It should suffice. She hefted the bones on top and using twine secured the sheet at the top and the bundle to the sled. She put on as many layers as she could to protect herself from the cold outside - a heavy wool cloak, bonnet, and a pair of her father’s old work gloves. When she opened the door the snow was still falling but lightly. The shadow of golden light swooshed past her and out the door lingering in the air. “Follow. Follow,” it said. 

The packed snow made it easy to glide the sled with its heavy cargo. She pulled as she followed the light and slowly wound her way through the dense trees. Though it would be normal for a young woman to be afraid out on her own in the dark, snowy night. She felt no nervousness as she diligently followed after the golden light. A short time later, she was standing at the ledge of the river embankment. The rushing water was moving quickly carrying the melted snow from the mountains, north to south. 

“Release us. Release us.” Sarah untied the bones from her sled. Lifted the bundle into the water. And watched as the bedsheet unfurled itself releasing the bones into the rushing water and then floating away. “Thank you. Thank you…our Sarah,” the voices said again in a chorus. The light circled Sarah, and then suddenly disappeared.