“For the first few years the town prospered. People were happy, new families begun to move in, and the mill expanded. But on August 10, 1895 somethin’ happened. By this time Phillip and Melody had two children, Jacob you know, and then there was Thomas, he was five, and Jacob was six. The two were really close friends as well. The other boys in town kinda stayed away from them. My father never understood why.”
Unexpectedly, Roy let out an empty chuckled as he reminisced back to the way his father used to tell him the story; he went on, “My dad always used to say that this was the good part, so he always told this part with more detail; more emotion. When we were campin’ in the woods he’d say: ‘August 10, 1895, it was just before dusk on a beautiful summer afternoon. The sun was goin’ down, causing the whole sky to turn the prettiest shade of purple and orange. The air was still, and quiet so you could hear the creek’s runnin’ water very clearly. There were some town folk walkin’ the streets; men and women holdin’ hands, children playin’. Everythin’ was too perfect.’” Roy chuckled again, and said, “I know it ain’t much, but that’s the way my dad used to start this part of the story.
“Anyhow, he told me that he was going to see Phillip Kroger on business. Jess’s dad, Joseph, went with him, but only to keep him some company. Joseph didn’t have any business with Phillip. At any rate, my dad knocked on the front door, Phillip answered, and invited my dad up to his den – which is your livin’ room, like I said earlier. Joseph stayed outside. Phillip Kroger didn’t like other people buttin’ in on business meetin’s. My dad didn’t think Phillip’s two boys were home; the way he understood it was that both boys were back in Baltimore with their grandma for Thomas’s birthday. So my father figured it was goin’ to be a nice, quiet business meetin’.
And at first it was; everythin’ was goin’ just fine – other then the fact that Phillip had that darn spade with him; carried it around like a trophy; that kinda made my dad a little angry, but he didn’t say nothin’. They had their business meetin’, and Phillip seemed to be in a fine mood. Afterward, they chatted for a while about goin’ fishin’ down at the river the comin’ weekend. Then, my dad told me that just before he was about to leave Melody had called Phillip to come to the back bedroom for a second. Phillip told my dad to hold on a second, and walked down THIS hall,” Roy pointed to the hall next to the kitchen he and Dawn were sitting in as he spoke, indicating to Dawn that it was the same hall, “and he went into the master bedroom. My father watched all of this from where he was sittin’ in the den.
“Well, the next thing he sees was somethin’ so horrible that he always had a tuff time explainin’ it, and, I remember as a kid, it always made him tear up. As a kid, I always thought that he added the tears for effect… but he wasn’t. He told me that after Phillip walked into the bedroom Melody was in, a minute or so past, and then he saw this… this… Indian walk outta the bedroom. In one of his hands this Indian held a bloody hatchet, and in the other hand this Indian carried the severed head of Melody. My father told me that he was carryin’ Melody’s head by her long blond hair; he said that the bottom of her neck was draggin’ on the floor, leavin’ a blood trail behind. Melody’s face, he said, was nothin’ but a picture of fear; a frozen surprised scream.” Roy sat back in his chair shaking his head back and forth, “Poor girl… she never had a chance I suppose.
“My dad told me that he watched in horror as this Indian walked into the other bedroom; the kids bedroom. And as this Indian walked, slowly, into Jacob and Thomas’s bedroom, he said that this feelin’ came over him. He said that he felt the presents of Phillip Kroger. I’m not really sure how to explain it to ya Dawn, other then to tell ya what my father said. He said that he felt that this Indian gave off the PRESENTS of Phillip. Take it how you will, but that’s what he said. After this Indian went into the children’s bedroom – remember my father thought that the kids were in Baltimore, so if your wonderin’ why he didn’t play the hero try to stop this Indian, that’s why. Instead, he got up off that couch and ran outta there.
He said that he was outta that house in a split second. Once outside, he told Joseph what happened, and for him to stay close to the house, just in case anyone came out. My father, he ran down Reed Street to the constable’s house. Got him, and brought him back to Phillip’s place. As my dad and the constable ran back to Phillip’s house my father told the constable – I think his name was Johnson – everything that he had just seen. Jess’s dad said that no one had come outta the house. So, with his gun in hand, constable Johnson went upstairs. All he found was two bodies, and Phillip Kroger cowered in the corner of his sons bedroom yellin’ ‘I didn’t mean to do it! It was the Indian spirit’.
“Constable Johnson just thought that Kroger’s ranting was just hysteria brought on by seeing his wife and son brutally murdered. There was no sign of an Indian, so the constable figured that this murderer got out the back door. He gathered a bunch of men…”
Dawn cut Roy off, and said, “I thought you said that Phillip had two kids, and that they were in Baltimore, but you said that there were only two bodies. So if Melody was murdered, and only one of his sons was killed, what happened to the other.”
Roy explained, “That’s the thing, Thomas was in Baltimore with his grandmother for his birthday, but Jacob stayed home because he was sick. I’ll get to more about that soon. Anyway, constable Johnson gathered a few men together – a posse – and they went out back, across the creek, and into the woods to look for this Indian. Now, when my father told the constable about what happened, he left out the part about how he felt Phillip’s presents in this Indian. My dad didn’t want to be seen as crazy.
“So when the constable and his men went out into the woods, he made sure that Phillip was protected. The constable didn’t want Phillip murdered too. Constable Johnson had my father guard the front door, he put Jess’s dad at the back door, and had Fred’s dad constantly walk around the house; just in case someone tried to get in through a window.
“A few hours past before the men came back from the woods. They didn’t find any Indian, and my dad said that no one came in or went out of Phillip’s house. Yet, when they went upstairs to check on Phillip… he was gone. There was no trace of him, and… no one ever saw him ever again. He sure didn’t leave the house. My dad, or the other guys would’ve saw him leave. There was a note though. It read something like, ‘I didn’t mean it! It wasn’t me! I LOVED HER!!!’”
When Roy started this story, the afternoon light was growing old. And when Dawn looked out the window, she saw that it was now dark. There were still a few stragglers – tourist, and shoppers – milling around on the street, but for the most part all was quiet.
But Roy wasn’t finished. “Now I told you that only one boy, Jacob, was killed. The other boy, Thomas was in Baltimore.” Roy paused, and looked at the photo he had in his hand. “Instead of goin’ on anymore, I’ll show you this now.” Roy slid the photo, face down, across the smooth surface of the kitchen table until it was in front of Dawn.
To Be Continued…
You can join Unsolved Mysteries and post your own mysteries or
interesting stories for the world to read and respond to Click hereScroll all the way down to read replies.Show all stories by Author:  56359 ( Click here )
Spring is coming |
