The Visitor_The Bell Tower 1873_1875 Read online

  THE VISITOR – THE BELL TOWER

  Book V – 1873 - 1875

  Barbara Cope Svetlick

  BOOKS OF THE VISITOR SERIES:

  This is the story of Mirisa Eppes, a young affluent girl from Virginia who is thrown into a world of untraditional love and murder. The story begins on her 16th birthday and takes you through the adventures of her life, the men she loves and their children.

  Book I – The Visitor 1862

  Book II – The Visitor – Texas 1863 – 1869

  Book III – The Visitor – Colorado 1869 – 1871

  Book IV – The Visitor – New York 1871 – 1873

  Book V – The Visitor – The Bell Tower 1873 – 1875

  Book VI – The Visitor – The Final Ride 1875-1928

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s great imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, business establishments or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  www.barbarasvetlick.com

  Facebook Fan Page: TheVisitor1862

  Copyright @ 2013 by Barbara Cope Svetlick

  Registration #TXU 1-599-926

  Dedication

  To my mother, Audrey “Val” Hooper, who gave me the spirit to see beyond the horizon.

  PRELUDE

  Mirisa looked from the door to the opening in the floor. She wrapped her arm around the rope and disappeared down the hole as Butch stumbled into the room landing on his face as he saw the top of her head disappear. A splintered piece of the wood door was sticking out of his thigh leaving a blood trail across the floor as he cursed. Butch’s big hands reached for the rope and started pulling it up as Mirisa put her feet against the stone wall bracing her back and trying to keep from losing her grip. She looked at Butch’s face which was grimaced as he pulled with all his might when the single shot rang out as his body fell half way into the opening stopped only by his massive girth. Meeks stepped over Butch and looked down seeing Mirisa with her back up against one wall and her legs locked with her feet against the other wall. She was about fifteen feet from the bottom.

  James looked up at Mirisa who was hanging only fifteen feet above him and even though she had just escaped the clutches of death she was afraid to let go of the rope. Her logic always evaded resolution to any intricate or difficult problem. How many times had she held it together under incredible odds until one of them came to rescue her. Mirisa would always be the perfect conundrum of their world and maybe that was truly the secret to loving her.

  THE CHARACTERS OF BOOK I and II

  The Visitor is a series that takes you through the life of Mirisa Eppes from the age of sixteen until the end of her life. The story begins at the beginning of the Civil War when her father sends her to his birth home of Natchez, Mississippi, as the Eppes family is torn apart by the events of the war. Dr. Eppes hires Dominic Lanfear to protect his daughter until the war is over not realizing that he has changed his daughter’s life forever.

  EPPES FAMILY

  Dr. Richard Eppes is a country physician and a Virginia plantation owner. He was born in Natchez and raised by his grandmother, a descendant of the Choctaw nation. After completing medical training, he marries a wealthy young woman who borders on frequent and uncontrollable bouts of mental illness. They settle in Virginia where they have seven sons before the birth of their youngest and only daughter, Mirisa.

  Lenora Eppes met Dr. Richard Eppes while institutionalized due to sever bouts of psychological instability. He marries her believing he can cure her illness but despite his efforts over the years she continues to worsen as she ages. Her antics have a dramatic effect on her only daughter Mirisa.

  Jed, Jes and Gus, are triplets born a few years before Mirisa. They are still living at home when the war starts and take up arms with their father for the South.

  Mirisa Eppes is a young, ideological girl who is raised encircled by rambunctious brothers and without the guidance of a loving mother or any female companionship. She knows nothing of love and less of life. Trusting and lonely, Mirisa spends her life trying to create the perfect family while struggling with her love for the men who capture her heart.

  LANFEAR FAMILY

  Conrad Lanfear was born in the 1700s and lived on the family plantation until he was sixteen when he takes up with a maiden, Algonquin, from the Natchez tribe. Conrad is a hired gun who rides with Algonquin's brother, Sequasi. For over a hundred years, Conrad has been waiting for Mirisa to step across the threshold of the Lanfear Plantation. Conrad is waiting when Mirisa steps out of the carriage on that stormy night and will slowly consume her until she can no longer tell reality from her haunted dreams.

  Dominic Lanfear is a descendant of the Lanfear family, one of Conrad’s descendants. He inherits the Natchez plantation and continues the family business of growing and trading indigo, tobacco and cotton. The Lanfear family has been beset with tragedy after tragedy since a curse beset the family in the 1700s following the war between the Natchez Indians and Conrad’s family. Dominic’s mother died at his birth, leaving him to be raised by a grieving and angry father who ruled with beatings and heavy drinking. When he was old enough, he left home and enrolled at VMI and began a military career that kept him away from home until his father’s death leaving all his holdings to Dominic. Like Conrad, Dominic's life is one of a mercenary with a cold hearted belief that killing is a necessary part of life.

  Dog Moon, Chief of the Choctaw Nation, is the great-grandson of Conrad and Algonquin who seeks to bring wholeness to his people. The visions of Mirisa become stronger after Conrad brings him into the circle forever connecting Dog Moon with Mirisa and her sons.

  DOMINIC LANFEAR’S CLOSEST FRIENDS

  The four young men become close friends while attending Virginia Military Institute before a stint in the Army stationed around Fort Lared along the Pawnee Fork and Arkansas River protecting and guarding traffic along the Santa Fe Trail. All four decommissioned before the start of the war and worked underground for the South while placating the Northern Army. Their thirst for life and adventure bonds them through good times as well as bad.

  Garnett Alexander is a criminal lawyer whose practice takes him up and down the Mississippi River. He was raised in Vicksburg, Mississippi and practiced the circuit down to New Orleans. Despite having a normal upbringing, he is beset with demons that struggle with his constant attempts to find happiness in his life knowing that it may never come to him. He is a cold and sadistic killer.

  James Alcorn, a banker and financial investor, has a natural talent to amass fortunes through investments. He was born in New York but raised in Natchez and spent most of his childhood as a close friend to Dominic. Intelligent and compassionate, his ability to kill is instinctual and his passion for life encompassing everything he does.

  Alexander Meeks is an independently wealthy entrepreneur. Born in New York City, Meeks took up with them at VMI forming a lifelong friendship with James. His upbringing has created a wall where he refuses to candy coat reality and refuses to let out his emotions. His ability to take a life is calculating but he takes no enjoyment in doing so finding it to be only a necessity.

  PLANTATION EMPLOYEES:

  Mrs. Chauvin is the housekeeper at the Lanfear Plantation. She is a powerful root woman and guide to th
e other world and her employment at the plantation was not by accident.

  Jasmine is Mirisa’s personal maid and closest confidant is a Choctaw Indian. Like Mrs. Chauvin, Jasmine is at the Plantation for the sole purpose of protecting Mirisa as she is taken into the other world by Conrad.

  Miss Minnie has run the Plantation kitchen since before Dominic was born. She was raised in the bayou by her grandmother and works with the many powerful concoctions and herbs to heal both the soul and the inflicted. She works in the darkest of magic known only by the mystical people of the bayou.

  Simone’ appears in the form of a housecat at the Plantation. His soul is unable to ever leave the grounds for it is his destiny to protect the portal to Conrad’s world but his attachment to Mirisa is unbreakable.

  Dog a wild Texas coyote latches onto Mirisa as a protector of her and the children.

  BOOK III and BOOK IV NEW CHARACTERS

  Charisse and Jack Casper – Alexander Meeks’ sister and brother in law. Jack Casper controls a shipping company and owns a section of the docks in New York City.

  Catherine Tyler – A beautiful young woman from New York City who is married to a well to do elderly gentleman. Her past rises to haunt her.

  Michael Cotes – A scout in the U.S. Army. Michael served under Dominic Lanfear in the Colorado Territory before the war.

  Louis Sampson – A wealthy businessman who has homes in New York, Italy and in the Orient. His manner in business is ruthless and his social manner is polished. He seals his deals with oriental women and opium.

  David Yarrow – Served under Dominic Lanfear in the Colorado Territory before returned east to become a United States' Senator.

  BOOK V NEW MINOR CHARACTERS

  Mr. Alston and Thomas Sinclare handle the charity for Mirisa’s trust.

  Mr. Clancey is a struggling street artist.

  Mecenda is Dr. Eppes longtime girlfriend and second wife.

  John Randell Tyler is Catherine Tyler’s father.

  Jacob Mannins is John Tyler’s partner and Catherine’s first husband.

  Russell Bellows is a questionable cad who is Catherine’s lover.

  Leonard Candlier is Catherine’s third husband.

  Members of the Army Unit

  Rollie Clark – First Lieutenant and tracker for the Unit

  Michael Dobbs – First Sergeant in charge of surveillance

  Melvin Dobbs – Michael’s younger brother and munitions expert

  John Benning – Ferrier/Blacksmith

  TIMELINE OF BIRTHS

  At the back of this book is a timeline of the births of the main characters as well as the children.

  1873

  “Matthew instantly stood in his stirrups as Meeks grabbed his reins to stop him from trying to get to his mother. The sound was like nothing Matthew had ever heard as everything in sight was swallowed by surging billows of snow soaring down the mountain so fast that it took everything in its path toppling trees and eating up the panicking wildlife running for their life as it blocked out the setting sun. Matthew watched as the snow seemed to devour his mother before his eyes as his dreams had foretold.”

  What appeared to be half of the mountain finally began to settle as the white clouds of snow dust found a place to rest and the eerie quiet blanketed everything on the mountain side.

  Meeks moved Matthew further north from the avalanche area to an over crop just in case there were more slides as another small tremor shook the ground. James and Dominic grabbed the reins of the pack horse working toward the ledge and dismounted. They watched as the air bound snow softly settled.

  Meeks dismounted and tied up his horse on a branch at the edge of the over crop. None of them said a word but surveyed the area looking for signs when a smaller slide started and slid past their position like water over the lower rapids. It didn’t look good and it felt worse.

  Matthew sat on his horse looking at where the snow had come down the mountainside and the last place he had seen his mother. The tears were just on the edges of his eyes and all three men had to look away.

  There were two more minor slides then the mountain seemed to stabilize. James gathered up wood and built a fire telling Matthew to dismount and tie up his horse. Matthew looked at him and didn’t like the looks on any of their faces. He got down and walked over to the edge of the overhang.

  “Matthew, stay close to the face of the rock in case another slide starts.”

  Matthew looked at his father then shut his eyes. This was his dream. He concentrated and cleared his mind but Matthew couldn’t find his mother and that scared him more than anything had ever scared him since the doctor had tried to hurt her. Matthew switched and sought out Dog Moon and the drums came. Slowly Dog Moon stood and turned toward him and listened. Dog Moon told Matthew that he would only be able to find Mirisa if she was able to accept his voice.

  Matthew asked if she was dead and Dog Moon told him that she had not passed or he would know and to keep searching. Jonathan was playing with Maggie when he turned to the mountains at the same instant that the slide began. Jonathan stood up and walked to the French door closing his eyes and reaching out to his brother. Unlike Matthew, Jonathan had a natural calmness in his young body that belied his age. Jonathan searched catching only snatches of thoughts but it was undoubtedly their mother. Jonathan turned back to Matthew telling him to remember the story of the mountain lion and the mother.

  James stood looking out over the freshly settled snow noting that much of the tree line south of their position had fallen. What was sticking out of the snow showed that the tree line had been taken back a good twenty feet.

  “How far below us were they?”

  Meeks lit his cigar and squatted as he tried to retrace the moments before the slide. “They were less than a quarter mile below us and probably half way through the open land. I think they were heading downward to where the large rock ledges are about a hundred feet above the trail.”

  James estimated the distance from their point to where they were standing before he determined how far across the open land had been and where the rock formations should be but it would still be difficult to pinpoint. “If the rocks are covered, we have to assume that it laid at least ten feet of snow when it came to rest. If we can find the trail we might be able to work back up since we passed the rocks before we started north to cut the trees. We’re probably looking for a slope in the snow drift of at least five or six feet.”

  Dominic told Matthew to stand closer to the fire as he took his horse and moved it out of the weather. All they needed was more dry snow on top of everything else but the snow had started again. Dominic knew Matthew was desperately looking for his mother because the drums were in the background almost like a headache.

  Garnett didn’t have to turn when the sound penetrated his consciousness knowing they were in the path to be overtaken within seconds. The noise drowned out anything he could have said as he reached over pulling Mirisa’s reins wrapping it around his hand. Time was so precious as Garnett raced the avalanche heading down the ravine praying that Mirisa would hold on long enough to get into the opening in the large rock formation. They no sooner cleared the opening before the snow covered everything and they lost all light as the spray filled the air and the stillness settled over them.

  Garnett dismounted and followed the reins to her horse when he realized that she must have hit something coming through the cave as she put her hands on his shoulders so he could lift her down. He couldn’t see anything so he sat her down and moved the horses to the side of the cave before going through his saddlebags looking for matches. He pulled out the waxed leather pouch and lit a match to see if there was anything to start a fire.

  Garnett found old splintered wood and built a small fire that gave off enough light that he could see. He knew it was dangerous to have a fire inside the cave without fresh air but he had to assess their situation. He lit one of the larger branches and traced the interior of the cave looking for an opening but the flam
e never wavered so he knew it was just a deep rock ledge. Garnett removed the rolled up blanket off Mirisa’s horse and laid it near the fire. Mirisa was semi-conscious but breathing normal as he laid her down. Garnett wiped off the cut on her head and examined it.

  Garnett went through her saddle bag and found several small candles, a simple kit for emergencies as well as food and several wool scarves and knitted hats. Very strange things to have in a saddle bag when you were going for Christmas trees. He took out the kit and wrapped her head to stop the bleeding before he put on one of the knit hats to keep her from losing heat. He put the other one on then wrapped the scarf around her and made sure her gloves were on. Garnett lit one candle and before he smothered the fire he brought over enough dead kindling to restart it if the temperature dropped too low. He took the other candle and examined the front of the cave to see how deep the snow was but he couldn’t find a thin spot which meant they were buried. He put out the candle, moved some of the pine needles into a pile and sat down and put her head on his lap.

  “Matthew, son come sit by the fire.”

  “No. I will find her. She’s hurt and I will find her.”

  “Matthew.”

  He turned to his father and Dominic told him to come over and warm up for a moment so he could try again. Matthew walked over to the fire and you could tell that he was starting to panic. Conrad had told him the same thing as Dog Moon that she had to be conscious or they couldn’t communicate with her. He squatted down and closed his eyes. The drums were getting more demanding and he gave them his gratitude for always being there when he needed them.