Spirits of the Bayou by Morgan Hannah MacDonald

Author:Morgan Hannah MacDonald [MacDonald, Morgan Hannah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Celtic Moon Publishing
Published: 2016-04-24T04:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

“What?” Luc leaned over to see where Jake had his finger.

“All five of those parishes meet at one point. I wonder what’s there?”

“We need to find out. Whatever it is could be the answer.”

Jake flipped more pages until he came to a more detailed map. “That spot happens to be in the middle of Lake Pontchartrain. Unless we’re looking for buried treasure, I don’t think that’s the answer.”

“Okay, then go to the nearest parcel of land.” Luc said.

“There’s this tiny strip here.” Jake pointed. “It’s part of St. John the Baptist Parish. There is a town there called Ruddock.”

“I bet the answer is there.” Luc’s excitement grew.

Jake went to the glossary, looked up Ruddock, and went to that page. “Ruddock is a ghost town located on an isthmus between Lakes Ponchartrain and Maurepas. It was destroyed in 1915 by a hurricane, but there is still an exit for it on Highway 55.”

“That’s peculiar. By the time the highway was built, there was nothing left of that town.”

Jake stared at him with an incredulous look. “What about this entire situation isn’t peculiar?”

“True.”

Jake read from the page. “In 1892, William Burton and C. H. Ruddock founded the Ruddock Cypress Company. They constructed a sawmill and a town to serve their business; the town became Ruddock. In 1902, the sawmill burned down and was later rebuilt. By 1910, the town had a population of 700.

“The 1915 New Orleans Hurricane hit in September, destroying the town and killing 58 residents of Ruddock and the nearby town of Frenier. Ruddock has since become overgrown by vegetation, and all that remains of the settlement is rotted wood from the buildings.”

Spirit deflated, Luc slumped in his chair. “Great. Now what?”

Jake turned to him. “It might still be a clue. You want to check it out? By my calculations, it’s rather close, less than an hour’s drive.”

“Should we take Celestine?” Luc asked.

“Not this time, she doesn’t get off until six tonight. I don’t work today, so we can go anytime.”

They grabbed a couple of apples and a few bottles of water before they headed out the door. Jake was right, they reached the exit to Ruddock in forty-five minutes. They drove as far as they could and parked. What they found was a boat ramp with a chain-link fence, a heavy lock secured the gate. A white egret rested on the water side of the dock.

“What do you want to do now?” Luc asked.

“I say we check out the woods.” Jake slammed his door and the bird took flight.

Luc grabbed his backpack with the extra water bottles and followed Jake into a tall grove of trees so thick the foliage formed a canopy that blocked out the sun. As they burrowed deeper into their lush surroundings, the Jeep no longer within eyesight, their feet began to sink. The toes of Luc’s hiking boots disappeared into the mud.

The area was filled with the sounds of birds calling and crickets rubbing their tiny legs. Soon the cicadas joined in on the chorus.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.