The New Country DoctorJimmy Peterson carefully carried the breakfast tray up the winding staircase to his new bride. They had been married just over six months. He had graduated medical school just three months ago. It had been two weeks since they moved into their new home on Southfield drive. Everything was happening so fast, and so perfectly.

The house was a beautiful plantation house built in the late 1830’s. It was a gift from the town. Jimmy was a bit apprehensive about the size of it, but Jenny assured him that they would grow into it. The local carpenter had even converted the old summer house into an art studio for Jenny to work in.

This was their dream. Jimmy a country doctor, treating patients he would get to know and really have an impact on their lives. Jenny, an aspiring artist, had her own plans to fill their home with children and teach them to paint along with her.

When Jimmy agreed to take the position, Otter’s Drift got together and completely renovated the old hospital and turned it into a proper clinic with all the latest equipment. He had a small surgery where he could perform simple procedures. There was an office for doing the administration work with an adjoining examination room. There were three more examination rooms and a ward for patients to stay if necessary. He had two nurses under him, a receptionist and an orderly to do all the heavy lifting and cleaning of the clinic. It was much more than a small town of less than 6000 people really needed, but the town insisted that he should have the best of everything, as a thank you for giving them a practicing doctor.

They hadn’t had a doctor for the town in over fifty years. The nearest hospital was well over an hour away and for anything more serious they had to go to the big city, three hours away, for treatment.

The town was wealthy. Old money from cotton and tobacco still paid for anything and everything the town wanted. Since the young couple had moved to town they had been inundated with plates of every baked good imaginable and offers of dinner at neighbour’s homes. Anything they wanted the townspeople where happy to provide their new doctor and his wife. Jimmy and Jenny where truly blessed to have found this piece of heaven so early in their married lives.

“wakey wakey sleepy head” Jimmy cooed softly. Jenny stirred under the covers and groaned.

“It’s morning already?” she yawned sleepily as she pulled herself up on the pillows.

“It’s late” Jimmy said, “I wanted to make you breakfast before I head off to surgery. I’ll be gone most of the day today.”

“Oh” Jenny cried surprised by the morning treat. “You are way too good to me.”

“You know it!” He said.

He closed his eyes and curled up in bed beside her while she ate. He loved her warmth and the soft scent of the lavender soap she washed in last night. Reluctantly he rolled off the bed.

“I have to go.” He complained. “I have three procedures to get through before lunch.”

“You love it!” She teased. A sly grin crossed her sweet face.

“I do.”

“I do too.” She smiled and waved him to go.

Jimmy sped down the stairs and out the door. This town was perfect. His life with Jenny was perfect. Suddenly he felt a cold chill. Everything seemed too perfect. He shook his head and scolded himself. He had always been a worrier, a trait he had picked up from his mother. “Accept the good and forget that there’s bad.” He told himself, his father’s admonishment to his mother and him. His parents where perfect opposites. A loving couple, they were perfectly matched. She worried about everything, he worried about nothing. They were coming to visit the young couple in their new home in a couple of months. Jimmy’s Mum wanted to come right away but his Dad insisted that they let the couple get settled first.

Jimmy still couldn’t believe his luck when he received the invitation to come and practice in Otter’s Drift. It was an idyllic southern town founded in the early 1700’s. It seemed lost in time. There were no buildings or houses newer than 1900. The residence had such history with the town. Everyone could trace at least three generations back.

Jenny loved the town the minute she saw it. She said that it brought out the artistic muse. The lush gardens and historic architecture gave her so much inspiration she barely stopped painting long enough to eat or sleep. She had been up last night until nearly two in the morning when Jimmy came and brought her to bed.

As Jimmy drove through town to his surgery he felt like pinching himself, he just couldn’t be any happier. When he finally got Jenny to bed they had made love and fell asleep in each other’s arms. It was the perfect start to his week and he couldn’t be more grateful.

Jenny got out of bed, showered and cleaned up the breakfast dishes. She couldn’t wait to get out to her studio behind the house. It was a beautiful treed area with flower beds full of brightly coloured blossoms surrounding her. The air was sweet with the scent of the flowers and the songs of birds.

As she walked down the narrow stone path that led from the back porch to the studio, she noticed a man by the trees. “Hello”, she shouted and stood to get a better look at him. He turned toward her, waved and seemed to fade into the trees. “Odd” she thought. She shuddered as a cold breeze seemed to blow by her. She stood for a minute on the path trying to reason what she just saw. She wandered over to the trees where the man had been standing and had a look around. The tall grass was still tall and straight. She looked behind her where she had walked into the patch. The grass was bent and stuck to the ground where her feet had fallen. “Huh” she said out loud, a chill running through her. She half ran to the studio to get away from the creepy feeling as quickly as possible.

She worked in the studio for two hours going through canvas after canvas, painting furiously. She looked back at the still wet canvases she had finished and lined the back wall with. Every one of them was of the same old fashioned doctor’s house with attached clinic. She had never seen the house before and yet it felt vaguely familiar.

She stared at her pictures trying to make out an address or name on the sign that hung in the front garden. She barely remembered painting it and could barely make out the name on the sign.

“Dr. Eugene Parker

23 Magnolia Avenue.

Everyone Welcomed for Treatment”

Jenny looked at her watch, 11:30. She could take a lunch for her and Jimmy to enjoy and afterward she could see if this house actually existed. It would be a fun adventure in her new town. She pulled herself away from her work and headed to the house to find the town map and make a portable lunch for two.

Jimmy’s surgeries went by fast. Two ingrown toenails that had gotten so bad that he had to operate, draining of a sebaceous cyst and a carpal tunnel release all procedures went smoothly. He had finished before noon and was surprised when Jenny turned up with a picnic basket.

“Carmel told me everything was going better than planned so I thought I would take my handsome husband for a nice lunch in the park.” She smiled.

“That sounds perfect!” Jimmy beamed with appreciation. Jenny always seemed to know what he wanted before he did.

The couple headed, arm and arm to the park down the street from the clinic. It was a lovely walk. It hadn’t gotten too humid yet and the air was perfumed with the heavy scent of Magnolias. Suddenly Jenny stopped in her tracks, letting go of Jimmy’s arm.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, seeing Jenny’s face go pale.

“I thought I saw....Never mind” she said shifting her gaze from the ancient tree before her and walking again. Jenny shivered and grabbed Jimmy’s arm.

He laughed, “What’s gotten into you today?” he asked again. It wasn’t like Jenny to behave so strangely, she was always such a happy, upbeat person.

“If you must know I thought I saw a body hanging from that big tree.” She shivered again. “I only saw it for a second and it was gone.”

Jimmy stopped and looked at her. He brought his hand up in front of her eyes and moving his index finger from one side of her head to the other he asked, “Tell me when you can’t see my finger anymore.” She grabbed his finger away laughing, the old Jenny back.

“I haven’t had a stroke or a detached retina or anything else!” She laughed again.

“So you’re seeing ghosts, I’m not that kind of doctor.” He grinned teasingly.

They laughed together and set up the picnic under a huge old oak tree, Jenny’s episode quickly forgotten. They enjoy a tasty lunch of chicken salad sandwiches with pickles and coleslaw and finished with lemonade and the left over pie Jenny had baked the day before.

“I’ve only got a few appointments this afternoon, I should be home early.” Jimmy said.

“I’m going to explore more of the town this afternoon.” Jenny smiled, “I’ve still only seen about half of it.”

“Good idea!” Jimmy encouraged, “You can tell me what you’ve found when I get home. Do you want me to bring anything home for dinner, I’ve got to stop at the grocery store and pick up more coffee cream for the office.”

“Yes, bring home some burger fixings, I feel like barbeque tonight.” Jenny beamed; she had fallen in love with barbequing in her new home town. She was raised in New York City and very seldom got to experience country barbeques. It was her new favourite hobby. She bought every book she could find on the subject and scoured the net looking for recipes and smoking techniques.

They parted ways with a kiss after packing up the basket Jenny had brought. Jimmy took the basket back to the clinic and put it in Jenny’s car so she could walk over the hill to the

old part of town that she was anxious to explore. He caught his last glimpse of her when he turned to see her mounting the hill. Her golden hair shone in the fall sun, the floral dress she wore hugging her slender curves. He smiled to himself wondering at how lucky he had been to find such a wonderful girl.

At 3:30 pm Jimmy finished with his last patient of the day. He had sent his nurses home early so the only ones left in the office was Nancy, his receptionist and Hoyt the young orderly who lives in the back room of the clinic.

“See you tomorrow.” Jimmy waved to Nancy as he left the office.

“See ya’ll tomorrow Dr. Peterson.” Nancy smiled and waved as he breezed by her.

Bounding down the steps at the front of the clinic he saw Jenny’s car still in the parking lot. He stopped and pulled out his phone, quickly dialling her number. Her voice mail picked up. “Hey, Hun.” He said into the mouthpiece, “It’s nearly four; I’m just leaving the clinic and noticed your car is still here, did you get lost? I’ll go get the stuff from the grocery store, call me when you get this.” He hung up a little worried.

He got in his car and headed to the local grocery store. He quickly picked up everything he figured they needed for dinner and put it in the trunk of his car. As he slammed the lid down he realized he forgot the creamer. He ran back in, grabbed it quickly and while standing in line at the check-out pulled out his phone. There still was no call from Jenny. He felt a knot growing in his stomach.

He paid quickly and headed out to the car. Just as he opened his door he noticed a man, in old fashioned clothing standing staring at him from the far end of the parking lot. A chill ran through Jimmy. He threw the bag with the creamer into the car and looked up at where the man was standing, but he was gone. Panic set in to Jimmy’s soul, something about that man was familiar and yet unsettling.

Jimmy quickly jumped into the car and drove back to the clinic. Jenny’s car was still there. He ran inside. “Nancy, has my wife come back here?” He asked, trying to conceal his mounting fear.

“No, Dr. Peterson, was she supposed to?”

“No, it’s just she was going to explore the old part of town and left her car here. It’s still here and I’m a little concerned that she got lost.”

Nancy went a little pale but smiled and warmed immediately. “I’m sure she’s ok, Dr. Peterson. If she comes back here I’ll call ya and let ya’ll know. You should just head home and wait for her.” She smiled sweetly.

“OK, thanks Nancy.” Jimmy said, but he had no intention of going home. He headed back out to his car and went straight to the old part of town.

Driving down the streets he noticed dilapidated building after dilapidated building. Surely Jenny wouldn’t have stayed down here after seeing all of this. The contrast between the old and newer part of town was staggering. It was like he had entered a different town all together. He noticed a few black faces in some of the “better” houses, the one’s that weren’t completely falling apart, but other than a small number of these faces, it looked like a ghost town.

He drove up and down every street, no sign of Jenny in any of them. He pulled out his phone again and tried calling her. He got her voice mail again. “Jenny, I’m starting to get worried, where are you? Please call me when you get this.”

He headed back to the newer part of town and after seeing her car was still at the clinic he drove home. No sign of her anywhere. He jumped back in the car and started checking up and down the streets in every part of town and outlying area. Checking his phone often, calling and leaving messages on her voicemail, and passing the clinic to see if her car was still there, he must have driven every inch of road in the town. He finally went to the Sherriff’s office on Main Street.

The Sherriff’s name was Harvey Plunkett. He could trace his family tree in this town farther back than anyone else. Harvey was also the Mayor and was instrumental in recruiting Jimmy as the new town doctor. He once told Jimmy that it was his family that came from the England and founded Otter’s drift. They were plantation owners and ran slaves until after the War of Northern Aggression. Jimmy didn’t much like the Sherriff. He was a little too proud of the fact that his family not only owned slaves but traded in them as well. He was the most blatant racist Jimmy had ever come across, even in the south.

“Sherriff Plunkett?”

“Well, Dr. James Peterson, so nice to see you again sir. You makin’ house calls, cause I’m fit as a fiddle.” The man laughed, patting his rotund belly. He got up from his leather chair and put out his hand to shake Jimmy’s. Jimmy accepted more out of habit than friendliness.

“My wife has gone missing.” Jimmy said, breathless from worry. “She went exploring the old part of town this afternoon and hasn’t come back. I can’t get her on the phone either. I’m afraid she might have gotten hurt and....”

“She’s been gone since this afternoon?” The Sherriff interrupted. His slow southern drawl and deep voice infuriated Jimmy.

“Yes, “Jimmy answered.

“Well it’s only six o’clock now Dr., she might just as well be on her way home now.”

“But I...” Jimmy started.

“You go on home now Dr. Peterson, I’ll go have a look around and see if I can’t find her. But don’t you worry now, I’m sure she’ll turn up.” He hustled Jimmy out of his office and through the big doors to the front steps, and stood at the doors of the courthouse like a guard dog.

“I’ll go with you.” He offered the Sherriff.

“No sir, you should be at home and wait for my call. If she comes home you’ll need to be there so you can let me know.” He said, and turned back into the courthouse, closing the doors behind him and ending any kind of discussion they might have had.

Jimmy, feeling dejected, got into his car and, after driving by the clinic and seeing Jenny’s car was still there, drove home to wait for Plunkett’s call. Jimmy wasn’t happy with Plunkett’s dismissive attitude, but he knew that he had done all that he could do, so he had to turn the matter over to the police.

When Jimmy got home he looked around the house to see if he could find any clues as to where Jenny might have been headed. It was now nine o’clock, pitch black outside, and still no sign of Jenny or Plunkett.

Jimmy decided to call the Sherriff to see if there was any progress.

“Good evening, Sherriff Plunkett speaking, how may I help you?” The Sherriff answered.

“Hi Sherriff, it’s Jimmy Peterson, I was”

“Wondering if I had found your Mrs.” The Sherriff interrupted, instantly annoying Jimmy, “I was just about to call you and let you know that there is no sign of her whatever in the old part of town.”

“What do we do next; I have looked all over town today. Can we trace her using her phone?”

The Sherriff laughed. “Doctor Peterson, this isn’t CSI! I think you’ve been watching too much TV, sir. I tell you what. I can’t take an official complaint for 24 hours, but we can meet up again in the morning and you can bring me a photo of your wife and I’ll go see if some of the town residents have seen her.”

“Jenny could be hurt somewhere, we need to act tonight.” Jimmy began.

“Now Doctor Peterson, “the Sherriff began, with a new edge to his voice, “I’ve done more than what I should have already because you were so concerned, being a newlywed and all, but I can only do what I can do. Did you two have a fight or something?”

“What, No!” Jimmy shouted.

“Now Doctor, you can tell me, I’ve been married a long time and I know...”

“We did not have a fight!” Jimmy yelled into the phone.

“Now Doctor.” The Sherriff said anger clearly in his voice now. “I won’t be yelled at. I have done you a service by going and having a look for your wife a clear twenty hours before I was compelled to do so by law.”

“I understand, “Jimmy said, calming his voice down, “I am sorry for yelling, but Jenny and I had plans tonight, she wouldn’t just disappear without saying something.”

“I know your worried Doctor, but there is nothing more I can do until she has been missing for twenty-four hours. Get some sleep and I’ll talk to you tomorrow afternoon. Good night sir.” He said and hung up.

Jimmy looked at the phone in disbelief. His yelling at the Sherriff had gotten help pushed from the morning until the afternoon. Jimmy resolved to go to the Sherriff’s office first thing in the morning. Maybe he could make enough of an amends to get the Sherriff working with him again.

He spent the night looking through the house, pacing and trying to figure out where Jenny might have gone. He would cancel his appointments tomorrow and look for her himself, trace her steps on foot and hope for some clue. He didn’t sleep, he just worried and paced all night.

When it was light enough Jimmy set out to the park where he and Jenny had enjoyed their picnic lunch together. It was still too early to call on the Sherriff. He smiled at the thought of Jenny, her excitement to go exploring. “What have you gotten yourself into?” He thought to himself. “Oh Jenny, I love you, please let me find her!” He marched purposefully on.

When he reached the park he looked around for a sign. He noticed the big tree Jenny had thought she saw something at the day before. He walked toward it to get a better look. He caught a glimpse of the man he had seen in the grocery store parking lot in his left peripheral and turned to get a better look but again he was gone. Jimmy turned back to the tree and for a moment he saw the same man hanging from a branch of the big tree. He was there, swinging from the branch and then he was gone. Jimmy blinked his eyes, rubbed them and looked again, nothing.

“Not enough sleep.” He told himself and got closer to the tree. He looked around but saw nothing. Jimmy headed over the hill, the same one that he watched Jenny crest. He ached for her, gripped by the fear that she was hurt somewhere and unable to call for help he hurried his pace.

Jimmy walked through the old town, calling Jenny’s name and looking through yards and abandoned houses. There was no sign of her anywhere. He saw no one here, not even the faces from yesterday. There wasn’t a sound either. It was creepy, like the whole place was holding its breath.

At nine o’clock, Jimmy headed back to the Sherriff’s office. He had decided to apologize again and hoped to convince the Sherriff to help him this morning instead of waiting till the afternoon.

When he got to the courthouse he pulled on the big doors expecting them to open. They were locked. He pounded his fists against the door so the Sherriff would hear him. No answers, no movements from inside. He called the Sherriff. No answer, not even voicemail. Jimmy walked over to his clinic. Nancy was there, sweet as ever and smiling as if she hadn’t a care in the world.

“Hi Nancy, has the Sherriff been in this morning?”

“He doesn’t have an appointment.” She said.

“No, he is supposed to be helping me find Jenny.”

“Oh, she still is missing?”

Jimmy looked at her incredulously. Jenny’s car was still in the parking lot. How could this woman not know? He shook his head, of course she wouldn’t know, there could be lots of reasons for Jenny’s car to still be there. “yes, Jenny has been missing since yesterday afternoon. You haven’t seen or heard anything have you?” He asked gently. The girl was only 18. This was her first job and she was generally very good at it. She knew the locals, because she was one, and they knew and trusted her.

“The Sherriff did call this morning.” She said.

Jimmy shook his head in disbelief this time. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“You asked if he had been in, he wasn’t, he just called.” She looked at him blankly.

He had never seen such a blank look on this girls face before. Was she purposely trying to hide something? “What did he say?” He asked her, trying to keep his tone calm.

“He said that he had to go out of town this morning on an urgent matter and would be back late this afternoon to ...” She shuffled around some papers till she found a crumpled piece of paper, “help you further.” She pronounced proudly.

He felt the air leave his lungs. Weak and dizzy he fell into the closest chair in the waiting room.

“Are you alright Doctor?” Nancy asked concern in her voice she got up from her chair, filled a paper cup at the water machine and was at his side in a flash.

“Jenny is missing, probably injured, I don’t know what to do.” He replied weakly.

Nancy looked around the room and whispered quickly in his ear, “I have to tell you something, I’ll come...”

“Doctor, Nancy, everything alright?” Hoyt said, coming around the corner as if out of thin air.

Nancy jumped up, blushing slightly. “Everything is fine Hoyt. The good Doctor is just concerned because his wife has run off on him.” She shot Jimmy a stern look.

“Oh, that all.” Hoyt drawled chuckling to himself. “Shoot, that’s why I live in the back room; women folk don’t know their own minds half the time. Don’t worry Doc; she’ll be back when she’s ready. You’re a doctor after all, not some broken down, no good for nothing like me.”

Jimmy looked from Nancy to Hoyt confused. What the hell was going on here? He just wanted to get away from these two. “Cancel all of my appointments for the rest of the week Nancy. I want to be at home for when Jenny gets back.” He said, a look of desperation crossing his face. He got up and backed out of the office, looking at these two people he barely knew and didn’t really want to know anymore.

When Jimmy got home he looked around again, but still no sign of Jenny. He went and sat down in the big easy chair in the living room. He couldn’t figure it out. Sherriff Plunkett knew that Jenny was missing, but left town anyway? Nancy was about to tell him something but when Hoyt walked into the room she looked like a cat caught with his paw in the fish tank. And this man he kept seeing was he going crazy? None of it made any kind of sense. He was perplexed.

Jimmy drifted into an old fashioned doctor’s office. Jenny was standing by the examination table. She looked scared. She was wearing a costume from the 1800’s, a hoop skirted dress that she was holding down with both hands. It looked silly to Jimmy, where they going to a dress up party or something? He looked down at his own attire and realized he too was in costume from the same era. He smiled at Jenny but she didn’t smile back. Suddenly men burst through the door. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but they grabbed him and pulled him out of the office.

When they got him outside, he looked back at his wife. With her on the steps of the old doctor’s quarters were those same black faces he recognised from the windows of the old houses. They were also wearing period clothes, as were the men who had grabbed him. He felt like all of these people were his patients, and he had known them all for a very long time. He struggled against the grip of the men but he couldn’t get free. He yelled at them

but his words came out in the same unintelligible garble that he heard from their mouths. Terror gripped him. He knew something bad was going to happen, but he wasn’t sure what. The men took him to a part of town that looked familiar but he couldn’t quite place it. He saw a small church with a fenced in graveyard beside it. As they passed the graveyard he saw a newly dug grave. The wooden cross at the top read ‘Doctor Eugene Parker.’ He grew more terrified and squirmed out of the gip of the men and ran for his life. This posse of men had mistaken him for this Parker, he had to get away. He ran through the woods trying desperately to get back to Jenny, hoping that she offered safety.

He tripped on a tangle of shrubs and fell hard to the ground’ before he could get up the men where on top of him, their grip firmer than before. One of them took some rope and grabbing his arms tied his hands behind his back while another tied his feet. He heard laughing from the men, and more garbled words. He began to cry, something he hadn’t done since he was a child. He was overwhelmed with fear as the men carried him back the way he had run.

They came to a small clearing a few yards past the church. There he saw Sherriff Plunkett standing by a tree with a noose hanging from a high branch. Plunkett had a cold smile on his face. He unfurled a scroll of paper he was holding and began to read the document. The words were clear and crisp. “Doctor Eugene Parker, you are here by charged and convicted of defiling the good people of this town by practising medicine on darkies in the same rooms as you treat white folk. Now we are good and reasonable people in this town and we made allowances for you to treat the darkies that you insist on helping out in the wood shed behind your house. But that just wasn’t good enough for you. Your insistence on defiling your good neighbours has brought us no choice but to hang you by the neck until dead. Gentlemen if you please.” Plunkett nodded toward the noose.

Jimmy was suddenly filled with as much anger and contempt as he was fear. The men carried him to the tree and pulled an old sack over his head. He felt the noose go around his neck and then....

A knock at the back door roused him out of his terrifying dream. Jimmy bounded to the back door, pale and shaking but hoping desperately to see Jenny’s face. It was Nancy. She looked around furtively and squeezed passed him into the house.

“Close the door quick.” She whispered, “no one can know I’m here.”

“Why?” He asked, “What’s going on?” He scanned the garden and closed the door assured that no one was there.

“I am so sorry Doctor Peterson.” She said. “You are far too good for this town. You never should have come here. But you didn’t know any better.”

“What are you talking about, and what does this have to do with my wife?”

“Well, let me tell you. We haven’t had a doctor here in 50 years, so we all thought that maybe the curse had run its course. After all we’ve had a bunch of nurses living here and helping people with minor complaints. That’s kind of like a doctor, right?” She asked hopefully.

“I guess, kind of.” He agreed hoping she would give him something useful.

“You see generations ago there was a doctor here named Parker.”

Jimmy sank down in shock, his knees weak he put his weight against the kitchen table.

“What’s wrong? You ok Doctor?” Nancy asked concern visible on her face.

“You said Doctor Parker? Doctor Eugene Parker?”

“Yes, how’d you know? We were all told to keep our mouths shut about the curse and Doctor Parker.”

“I just dreamt about him. You woke me up from the scariest dream I have ever had. Doctor Eugene Parker was being hanged by Sherriff Plunkett for treating black people.” He didn’t know if he could trust Nancy, but he felt better talking about the dream to someone, although he wished it was Jenny.

“That is so weird!” She said her eyes wide. “It wasn’t Sherriff Plunkett though it was his great-great Granddaddy, Orville Plunkett who hanged Doctor Parker. He was the mayor at the time. I guess they do look a lot alike though, all the Plunkett men look the same really. Hoyt’s probably the only one that doesn’t.”

“Wait a minute; Hoyt Dixon is a relative of Plunkett’s?”

“Yes sir, he’s Harvey’s nephew by his sister Charlene Plunkett-Dixon.”

Jimmy was incredulous. He had no idea who these people where. He felt more foreign than he did when Jenny and he went on their honeymoon to Brazil. He was out of place and wanted to get out of here immediately, but not without Jenny.

“So anyway, “Nancy continued, “Orville Plunkett and a bunch of the town fathers got together and decided that Doctor Parker had to go because he was treating black people with the same equipment as he treated the white people. They didn’t like that much back then. Let’s face it, Harvey Plunkett doesn’t like it now. You see at the time, it wasn’t like today. Black people had to be segregated by law. It wasn’t until 1862 that segregation was, well, less than legal, even though most everybody still practiced it until the 1960’s or so.” Nancy relayed this information as if it were a bit of tedious gossip.

“So they hung Doctor Parker?”

“Well yeah. He wouldn’t leave town and the town couldn’t get a new doctor to take his place until the old one left. It just wasn’t done. So, they had to hang him.”

Jimmy sat in stunned silence. Nancy’s matter-of-fact portrayal of the events seemed almost comical if it wasn’t so tragic.

She went on. “So after they hung Doctor Parker, they brought in another doctor. One from the south with the same gentile ideas as the town had. He was here about two weeks when his only son, Jeffery went missing. They searched for days and never caught sight of him. Dr. Taylor’s wife apparently went crazy and they left town a month later. After they left Jeffery’s body was found by the church, near the hanging tree. Nobody thought much of it at the time, they just figured that Jeffery had wandered off and was attacked by a wild animal or something. Then Doctor McDougal came from Scotland with his wife and, if you can believe it, ten children. Within a month of their arrival Mrs. McDougal and three of the children all went missing. Two of the remaining children insisted that they saw their mother with a young man carrying a doctor’s bag. That was when the town’s people knew it was all connected to Doctor Parker.”

“Anyway, what I’m trying to tell you, and I’m real sorry about this, but your wife just isn’t coming back, honey. You have to let her go and get yourself out of here.”

“I’m not going anywhere without Jenny, and I don’t believe that she’s dead.” He stated with more conviction than he felt.

“Well honey, the only doctor that stayed on after his entire family disappeared was Doctor Thompson, and he died within a year of his arrival. He was only twenty-five. His hair turned white and he got all addle-brained and then died of a heart attack. That was in 1965. He was the last doctor, until you. The town’s folk just couldn’t take it anymore. They decided then that there would be no more doctors in this town.”

“So why did Otter’s Drift ask me here?”

“Harvey had an eight year old son named Kenny. About a year ago, Kenny came down with pneumonia. They didn’t get him into the city in time and he died. Harvey has been on a mission ever since to bring a doctor back to Otter’s Drift. He convinced most everybody that the curse was over and that it wasn’t right that we should lose any more children because of an old scary story.”

Jimmy felt defeated, he had to find Jenny and take her away from here. “Nancy, where was the old church?”

“I can’t say.” She looked scared. “Just get yourself packed quick as bug and get yourself out of town.” She left out the back door. Jimmy went after her but she was gone like a shot. He turned to go back into the house and noticed a light coming from Jenny’s studio. There was no electricity in the summer house so Jimmy went to have a look.

When he went inside there was an old oil lamp burning in the middle of the room. He looked around and noticed the same clinic he saw in his dream painted on multiple canvases resting against one wall. He grabbed the lamp in one hand and looked through all of the paintings that Jenny had done since they had arrived. Every last one had some part of the old clinic or Doctor Parker, or both in them. In one of the newer ones, against the wall, he saw the hanging tree. Did Jenny realize what she had been painting? Surely she would have said something if she had noticed?

Jimmy grabbed the clearest painting of the doctor’s clinic and read the address 23 Magnolia Avenue. He searched his memory for the places he had looked at earlier today. He thought he could remember a Magnolia street, but maybe it was Avenue. He blew out the lamp and headed for his car.

Jimmy arrived at Magnolia Street. It wasn’t the place he was looking for. He parked the car and got a flashlight out of the trunk. When he opened the trunk an awful smell greeted him. It was the groceries from yesterday. In the chaos he had forgotten about them. He quickly found the flashlight and closed the trunk; he could deal with that later.

He searched the next street and looked up past an old schoolhouse. There was the church. He ran up the street and found the graveyard he remembered had Doctor Parker’s name on it. There was a stone marker in place of the wooden cross that he had seen. He shone the flashlight on it and dusted away the dirt and cobwebs. It read ‘Doctor Eugene Parker 1822-1853, beloved husband of Jenny and devoted father to Franklin’ A chill ran through Jimmy.

Jenny’s maiden name was Franklin. Her family always told stories about when her Great Grandparents had come to New York City. Her Grandfather started using his father’s first name as the family’s last name. No one knew what their real last name was. It had become a family joke. They all had made up crazy stories about why it was done. Everything from renegade royals to an unpronounceable ethnic name had been bandied about, but no one really knew the answer. They had no idea where they had come from before New York. Jenny always wanted to know and tried to find out by searching websites and public records but always came up blank.

A cold wind blew past Jimmy from the south. He shivered and rose from the grave marker. He headed north, it was the direction of the wind and he now remembered it was the way to Doctor Parker’s clinic.

Standing outside the old clinic stood Harvey Plunkett. “I knew you would find your way here eventually.” He drawled. Hoyt came out of the shadows to join his uncle.

“Why did you do this?” Jimmy asked

“I was overjoyed when I realized that old Doctor Parker’s great-great granddaughter married a doctor. I figured he wouldn’t kill one of his own. So I asked ya’ll to come here and fulfil that darkie lover’s obligation to this town. He won’t let any other doctor do the job, so why not one of his own. I lost my boy to that abomination! He owes me!” Spittle flew from Harvey’s mouth.

“Your ancestors killed him for doing his job, how could he possibly owe you anything? And your son died of pneumonia, not ghost attack!” Jimmy ranted back.

“My boy died because we had no doctor here. If Parker would go to hell where he belongs, my Kenny would still be alive.”

“You’re insane!”

“I’m right. And what kind of an abomination kills his progeny? Huh? One that belongs in the deepest pits of hell, that’s what!”

“Jenny isn’t dead!” Jimmy insisted, more sure now than before.

“She’s dead, and so will you be soon. Hoyt!”

Hoyt pulled some rope from behind his back and started slowly walking toward Jimmy, a grin spreading across his face.

Jimmy saw a shadow appear behind the Sherriff. It was Doctor Parker. He seemed to step into Harvey Plunkett. Plunkett’s eyes fluttered and changed. “Hoyt, come here!” The man commanded with a strangled voice.

Hoyt turned and looked at his uncle. It was obvious that something had changed in the Sherriff. He was redder in the face than usual and was standing straighter also.

“Uncle Harvey?” Hoyt questioned, jutting his head forward and squinting at his uncle. He cautiously moved toward him. Harvey writhed suddenly and Parker was behind him again, looking angrier than ever. Hoyt saw the apparition and jumped backward, startled.

“Run!” Harvey yelled at Hoyt but it was too late. Parker grabbed the rope and looped it around the younger Plunkett’s neck. He snapped it tightly and Hoyt was dead in an instant. Parker vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

“What have you done?” Harvey glared at Jimmy.

“I didn’t do anything. I was yards away from Hoyt. You saw Parker, you had to have!”

“I saw you kill the last of the Plunkett line, boy!” Harvey spat. “You and that Missus of yours will pay for this.” He lunged toward Jimmy, but Jimmy dodged the older man and ran into the old clinic, slamming the door behind him and pulling old furniture in front of it to

brace it. Harvey hammered on the front door, yelling “Parker, Parker, I will kill your line like you killed mine. You will never get away with this , do you hear me Parker?”

Jimmy backed away from the door and looked around. He needed some kind of weapon and an escape plan. He searched the cupboards but the clinic had been cleared out long ago. He made his way to the back of the room and through the door that led from the clinic to the house. He saw one of the black children hiding in a corner.

She was wearing the old dress of years ago and Jimmy realized she too was a ghost. She grabbed his hand and put her finger to her lips for him to be quiet. She led him down the hall to a back reception room. She pointed to an old threadbare rug on the floor. Jimmy pulled it aside and saw what she was trying to show him immediately. There was a trap door in the middle of the room, probably leading to a root cellar. He wasn’t sure how it would help but he pulled the old mouldy leather strap and lifted the door. He grabbed the rug and holding it up against the edge of the back of the door he stepped down the stairs and gently lowered the door over his head, pulling the rug to re-hide the door behind him.

Just as he lowered the door he heard a crash at the front of the house where Harvey had broken through one of the old windows.

The little girl appeared again and led him to a corner of the cellar. He saw an old shelving unit against a dirt wall. When he came close to it, it sprung from the wall and the one side closest to the corner swung out revealing a tunnel. Amazed he headed down the maze like tunnel behind the little girl. He noticed several off shoots of the tunnel with a few dead ends and some caved in parts. Jimmy realized that this was probably how Parker brought his black patients into the clinic without anyone seeing. He had been caught in the end, but it was ingenious and showed how dedicated Jenny’s Great-Great Grandfather had been.

The little girl led Jimmy finally to a set of stairs that led into an old shed. This might have been the wood shed that he had heard about in his dream. The door was hanging off the hinges. He moved the door away and looked around for the little girl, smiling. She had disappeared.

Jimmy stepped out of the shed into the moonlight. He looked around and found himself in the park on the other side of the pond from where he and Jenny had their picnic. The shed had been blocked by three huge weeping willow trees that edged the pond. Jimmy looked around and saw a terrifying sight.

The old hanging tree form his dream and Jenny’s vision stood a few yards away. A noose had been hung from the same branch as had hung Dr. Parker. His heart sank as he took it all in. This is where Jenny’s family had suffered terrible tragedy. It was so horrifying that the family choose to change their name and never speak of it. They tried to kill the memory and move on. But here he was, facing the same demons that had existed over a hundred years

ago. How he wished the world had changed. It hadn’t, not really and it made his heart sick just thinking about it.

“Jimmy?” He heard a voice from the base of the tree. There was no mistaking that voice, not for him. It was the voice of the woman he loved with all his heart. The one he loved more and more with each passing moment of this nightmare from deep in her past.

“Jenny?” He asked, tentatively, “Is that really you?” He couldn’t believe his senses. It felt like forever since they had been together in the park eating sandwiches and wondering at how lucky they were. It was only a couple of days ago but so much had happened since then.

He ran to her. She stood up on shaky legs and he grabbed her and held her, stopping her from falling. “What’s going on?” She asked. Why am I in the park?”

“You’ve been missing since yesterday!” He said, amazed that she knew nothing of what was going on. “What’s the last thing you remember?” He asked.

“No, “she said, still groggy from her sleep. “I remember our lunch. I was heading to the old part of town to see if there was really a Magnolia Avenue because I kept painting this house with a doctor’s clinic in the front of it. I was looking for the address I had painted, and guess what, I found it! I must be psychic.” She said dreamily smiling. “I went into the house...” She frowned. “I don’t remember what happened next.” She looked into Jimmy’s eyes questioningly. “if I’ve been missing I must have bumped my head. You’ve been looking for me ever since, I can see the worry all over your face.” She giggled and regaining her strength she straightened up and stood firmly under the noose.

Jenny’s face suddenly darkened and she spun around and looked up at the tree branch. “What is that?” She demanded.

A voice rang from the top of the hill. “Parker?” It was Harvey. He came bounding down the hill toward them. “That noose is for both of you!” He yelled as he ran.

Jimmy grabbed Jenny by the hand and pulled her into the shadows of the other trees.

“Why is Sherriff Plunkett calling you Parker?” Jenny asked.

“He’s mad for starters.” Jimmy told her.

Parker appeared again, faintly this time and motioned for them to stay hidden.

“That’s my Great-Great-Great Grandfather. He told me in a dream. I was named after his wife, my Great etc... Grandmother.” Jenny whispered happily. She was completely oblivious to the danger they were in. Jimmy was almost grateful for that but at the same time he needed to protect her.

“Stay here.” He whispered to her, gesturing for her to stay.

“He just told us both to stay here.” She complained.

“Parker is a ghost, he can’t protect you now.” He said, leaving her hidden and moving the long way around the trees to throw Harvey off of her hiding spot.

“Harvey!” Jimmy yelled, he purposely straightened his back to make himself seem taller and wider. He was already a couple of inches taller than the Sherriff, so he hoped that making himself seem even more imposing might give the man pause. It didn’t.

“Parker!” Harvey yelled. “Where’s your wife? Ladies first, I am a good southern gentleman after all.”

“Stay away from my wife, Plunkett! Oh, and by the way, my name is Peterson, not Parker, you want to hang a ghost you fool!” It’s maybe not the smartest thing, to antagonize a lunatic.

“You’re still the progeny of that abomination as far as I’m concerned. And I will end you for what you have done to me and my kin.” Harvey fumed his eyes wild with madness.

Parker appeared again, more clearly this time and he wasn’t alone. The dark faces of the people Jimmy had seen on the porch in his dream, along with a number of others. He also saw the Doctor’s that had either died or been driven mad by grief standing by Parker’s sides.

Jimmy was confused. Wasn’t it Parker who had killed the doctor’s families? And yet here they were in sympathy with the doctor.

Harvey saw the mob of departed’s and whistled. “Well looky here, we got all the devils out of their graves. You all come for little old me?” He taunted. “You look confused Jimmy.” He spat. “You still haven’t figured it out, boy?” He laughed hysterically.

Jenny was suddenly by Jimmy’s side, her hand in his. “Jimmy, Parker didn’t do anything to these people, it was all the Plunkett clan. They believed that doctors are demons performing witchcraft. It’s a long line of mental illness. My Great Granddad was only the first they managed to find an excuse to kill. After they got away with that they kept bringing doctors in so that they could kill them. Parker explained it to me in...What I thought was a dream but must have been some kind of vision.”

Jimmy stood still and silent. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hearing. “None of the town’s people ever knew?” He asked incredulously.

Parker was suddenly beside Jimmy. He smiled at the young doctor and spoke to Jimmy for the first time, his voice soft and full of kindness. “They suspected, but the Plunkett’s have always held the seat of power in this area. They were defenceless until now.”

Parker turned and faced Harvey, the mob of the dead fell in behind him. As one, they seemed to fade together and whip over and through Harvey like a deadly wind. Harvey fell to the ground, his hands at his throat, his face turning purple. Harvey started writhing, his body convulsing, he floated into the air flailing as if he were having fits. He dropped suddenly and with such force that his body split apart. The Plunkett clan was gone, and so were Parker and his horde of ghosts.

On the air Jimmy heard a faint chorus of “Thank you” from a dozen or more haunting voices. Jenny squeezed Jimmy’s hand tighter. “It’s over. We can go home now.”

“Home to New York?”

“No, home to Southfield Drive.” She smiled encouragingly.

“Not without this.” Jimmy said, going to the tree and pulling down the noose. As he pulled it down he saw people, real ones this time, not ghosts. Town’s people he barely knew had left their homes having heard the commotion and were filling the park. They began to clap. They thanked him and Jenny for coming to town and saving them from the oppression of the Plunkett’s.

In the weeks that followed Jimmy discovered that the Plunkett’s had victimized the entire town for generations. They had treated the citizens like slaves. There had never been an election in town, not since 1901, by then the towns folk had given up. The Plunkett’s would harm anyone that stood against them, usually through the children of the instigator. Some people had managed to leave, most didn’t get very far before one of the Plunkett boys would find them and bring them back. The escapee would be hung from that big tree in the park.

A year later the hanging tree was cut down and burned along with the noose. It was part of the celebration the town called Emancipation Day, because Harvey’s death was the same day as the Emancipation Proclamation had been passed 151 years before.

Jimmy and Jenny’s families had both come in for the celebrations. Jenny’s family stayed a few days longer so that they could explain the family connection to the town. They were enthralled by the tale. They finally knew where they had come from and why the family’s name had been changed. It was simply to hide from the Plunkett’s.

That night in bed Jenny curled up closer to Jimmy. She put her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat for a minute, then she looked up into his big blue eyes and said,” I think we should call him Parker.”

Jimmy looked at her, confused for a moment and then realized what she meant. He smiled as his heart filled with joy, “Your telling me we’re pregnant?” He asked.

“Well I am psychic,” she teased. “But I also went to the doctors in the city when I was picking up our parents. I wanted to make sure before the big reveal.”

“A boy?” He asked.

“That’s the psychic part, but I’m pretty sure.” She smiled.