The Stone of Blood Read Online Free Page B
Author: Tony Nalley
Tags: Fiction, General, Historical, Mystery & Detective, Christian, Fairy Tales; Folk Tales; Legends & Mythology
generally made of green jasper dotted with bright red spots of iron oxide. In ancient times it was treasured. This stone however, was complete in its color; a deep blood red that held a transparency …likened to that of a crystal when held to the fire.
“What do we have here?” Jesse whispered to himself as he held it to the light turning it back and forth between his fingers.
“Somethin’ is different about this…” he whispered to himself in thought.
Jesse looked deep into the stone as he held it to the flame, mesmerized by its allure.
Sounds from the tavern jarred him back to reality; music, dancing and ruckus! He returned the stone to its box and the loot to his saddlebags and blew out the candle upon his nightstand, leaving a whisper of smoke that danced in the air.
Jesse lay down and rested upon that soft southern bed; kicked off his boots and listened to the sounds coming in from the street. Cool winds blew in through the window bringing with it the smell of a distant rain. Horses and buggies traveled up and down the cobblestone paths. People entering and exiting from the tavern below, conversations overheard as the whiskey made their words all the more louder.
The minutes passed slowly. Thoughts ran through his mind, the war, his home, the blood red stone …but sleep would not find him.
Suddenly!
The street light cast a blatant shadow about his room!
Jessie rose from his bed drawing his Colt .45s and fired!
Shots rang out! Six rounds fired into the darkness at point blank range!
Four bullets lodged deep into the walls! Flashes of light and the smell of smoke! People rushed to his room, finding him in frenzy in the dark; whirling around brazenly with both weapons drawn!
Something had walked amidst the shadows of Jesse’s room that night, something that could scare a man who was fast with a gun! He had seen it! It had looked him squarely in the eye! But no lead could kill it! Had it been a ghost, a ghost of a man? His eyes shone white in the darkness before the light was lit. Images returned again to his mind! Images that sent cold chills down his spine!
***
Legends say that Jesse James shot holes in one of the rooms where he stayed at the Talbott Tavern. It is also said that he shot at a ghost! Bullets from his gun are still lodged in the tavern’s walls as proof of what had happened to him and of what he’d seen!
Many claim that the ghost of Jesse James now walks the halls of the old tavern, searchin’ for somethin’ that he had lost or for that which was taken; vanishin’ into thin air with a smirk on his face!
I’ve heard it said that “Bardstown is like a black hole. Once you get sucked in, you can never get out again! ” I surely hope that’s not how it happens, not why his spirit still walks.
I aint seen Jesse’s ghost myself. Heck, I haven’t even been inside of the old Tavern! But I guess I don’t have a mind to go over there anyways!
***
June 1864
Caleb felt the sting of the bullets pierce his flesh! Screams of pain and blood altered him without challenge. And he stared into the face of the gunfighter, wild eyed and snarling!
Rage and fury enveloped him in mere moments of time!
Jesse James dropped to his knees as he looked into the eyes of the beast that towered before him!
Caleb made for the window with target in hand, climbing up and over to the back of the building just as people rushed into the room! He mounted his steed and disappeared into the darkness.
Shadows followed
Three
In the Shadows of a Great Dark Cloud
Grandpa told me that everyone has a voice. The difficult part was learnin’ what to do with it! What to say and how to say it! And how to use that voice to find that special callin’ that we all hold deep inside of us, that voice hat leads us down the paths of life we choose to travel! I began to develop
“What do we have here?” Jesse whispered to himself as he held it to the light turning it back and forth between his fingers.
“Somethin’ is different about this…” he whispered to himself in thought.
Jesse looked deep into the stone as he held it to the flame, mesmerized by its allure.
Sounds from the tavern jarred him back to reality; music, dancing and ruckus! He returned the stone to its box and the loot to his saddlebags and blew out the candle upon his nightstand, leaving a whisper of smoke that danced in the air.
Jesse lay down and rested upon that soft southern bed; kicked off his boots and listened to the sounds coming in from the street. Cool winds blew in through the window bringing with it the smell of a distant rain. Horses and buggies traveled up and down the cobblestone paths. People entering and exiting from the tavern below, conversations overheard as the whiskey made their words all the more louder.
The minutes passed slowly. Thoughts ran through his mind, the war, his home, the blood red stone …but sleep would not find him.
Suddenly!
The street light cast a blatant shadow about his room!
Jessie rose from his bed drawing his Colt .45s and fired!
Shots rang out! Six rounds fired into the darkness at point blank range!
Four bullets lodged deep into the walls! Flashes of light and the smell of smoke! People rushed to his room, finding him in frenzy in the dark; whirling around brazenly with both weapons drawn!
Something had walked amidst the shadows of Jesse’s room that night, something that could scare a man who was fast with a gun! He had seen it! It had looked him squarely in the eye! But no lead could kill it! Had it been a ghost, a ghost of a man? His eyes shone white in the darkness before the light was lit. Images returned again to his mind! Images that sent cold chills down his spine!
***
Legends say that Jesse James shot holes in one of the rooms where he stayed at the Talbott Tavern. It is also said that he shot at a ghost! Bullets from his gun are still lodged in the tavern’s walls as proof of what had happened to him and of what he’d seen!
Many claim that the ghost of Jesse James now walks the halls of the old tavern, searchin’ for somethin’ that he had lost or for that which was taken; vanishin’ into thin air with a smirk on his face!
I’ve heard it said that “Bardstown is like a black hole. Once you get sucked in, you can never get out again! ” I surely hope that’s not how it happens, not why his spirit still walks.
I aint seen Jesse’s ghost myself. Heck, I haven’t even been inside of the old Tavern! But I guess I don’t have a mind to go over there anyways!
***
June 1864
Caleb felt the sting of the bullets pierce his flesh! Screams of pain and blood altered him without challenge. And he stared into the face of the gunfighter, wild eyed and snarling!
Rage and fury enveloped him in mere moments of time!
Jesse James dropped to his knees as he looked into the eyes of the beast that towered before him!
Caleb made for the window with target in hand, climbing up and over to the back of the building just as people rushed into the room! He mounted his steed and disappeared into the darkness.
Shadows followed
Three
In the Shadows of a Great Dark Cloud
Grandpa told me that everyone has a voice. The difficult part was learnin’ what to do with it! What to say and how to say it! And how to use that voice to find that special callin’ that we all hold deep inside of us, that voice hat leads us down the paths of life we choose to travel! I began to develop
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