Ghostly Tales of Iowa by Ruth D. Hein

Author:Ruth D. Hein
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781647553043
Publisher: Adventure Publications
Published: 2022-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Lost Books of Moses

Some German immigrants believed faithfully that there were two lost books of Moses: the sixth and seventh books. Supposedly these books were used to cast spells on people. The spells could make your livestock sick, keep your cows from milking, prevent your butter from churning, or cause your crops to wither in the field. Often, German-language newspapers available in America would contain stories in serial form that featured the lost books.

One true story from Iowa centered around these books. A German man had come from the old country and settled in Clayton County in northern Iowa. He married a neighbor girl and they had three children. She died in childbirth and he remarried shortly. Five more children were born before the second wife died of influenza. Finally, the man married for a third time to Helga, a vain young woman, who was not very popular with her stepchildren. The oldest daughter, Rosa, was nearly the same age as Helga. The new wife and her husband had two children, making a total of 10 children in the household.

After 10 years of marriage, the farmer died quite suddenly. Rosa, who had been close to her father, grieved greatly. Although her brother and sister had married and moved away, Rosa still lived at home. Housecleaning had always been Rosa’s responsibility, as well as a number of outside chores.

Helga inherited everything. Her first step was to inform Rosa that she would have to move out. Relatives of the second wife were contacted to take the younger five stepchildren. The three oldest children were bitter, especially Rosa. Helga would not even let them take their mother’s beautiful hand-worked tablecloth.

The widow and her two children now lived in style, as the old farmer had been frugal and hard-working. The farm was paid for, and there was gold and silver hidden in the old dry well.

Meanwhile, Rosa, who had moved in with her brother, went to her father’s friends in an attempt to obtain a copy of the sixth and seventh books of Moses. Most talked about the books, but none could produce them. At last, she found the books with an elderly cousin. Rosa planned to curse Helga and her children by somehow invoking the books. But Rosa’s brother, much as he hated Helga, would not allow a copy of the lost books in his house. Nor would her sister. So Rosa had another idea.

A clear summer day was fading into twilight. Helga was baking bread, humming a German tune when she heard thumping noises in the root cellar. Opening the trapdoor, she yelled down, “Stop making that noise, children! I must get this bread baked.”

No one answered. Peering down into the dark, damp cellar she could see nothing, but the thumping noises got louder. Dropping the trapdoor, she went to get a candle. Just then her children came in. “Ma, who is that in the ditch?” they asked.

Looking out the front door to the road, Helga could just make out a small figure in a white dress walking up and down the ditch, carrying an open book.

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