It took them nearly forty-eight hours to complete their task and when it was done, Matthew told them all to stay inside and stay warm.
“How cold will it get?” asked Eric looking at Ruby and Irene. The two elderly ghosts stared at one another and then at Matthew.
“We have no idea, so hold on.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
It started out slow. For those not on the Belle Fleur property, they believed it to be the strangest cold front ever seen in the area. The temperatures, already low for this time of year, were steadily dropping a degree every two hours.
When the rain began at 31 degrees Fahrenheit, the sleet started. As it continued to get colder, freezing the earth, the snow began. Then, out of nowhere, the wicked wind from the north blew in as if the apocalypse was upon them.
Within twenty-four hours the ground was a sheet of ice, the temperatures below zero. All they could do was watch and wait. The general public believed that the mysterious weather was unrelated to the spraying of the neutralizer for the strange virus. Little did they know that it was all connected.
With the bayou now covered in a thin veil of ice, even Alvin wanted nothing to do with the place he called home. When the ground was covered for three solid days, the sun finally took over, slowly melting away the ice and snow.
Temperatures rose gradually so as to not shock the earth or its people.
“What do we do now?” asked Luke.
“Now, we test the earth again,” said Rachel. “We shouldn’t see what we saw before.”
With a large group of people back at Harmon’s cabin, he stayed safely in his bed at the clinic and Beryl watched over the entire ordeal. She watched as the brilliant young woman dug up soil samples, repeatedly testing them for numerous things and viewing them under the thing she called a microscope.
Hours and hours of staring at samples when Rachel finally stepped back, smiling at them.
“It worked. It killed the mutations. The soil looks young and fertile but more than anything, it’s no longer toxic.”
“We did it,” smiled Cam.
“Was there a doubt?” frowned Ruby.
“No, ma’am,” he laughed. “There was never a doubt in my mind but Luke was doubting it all day long.”
“Hey, asshole!”
The group finally relaxed enough to actually laugh. When they were done, loading into the boats, they stared back at the cabin and saw Beryl standing there just as she’d been when they met her.
Matthew moved closer to her, grabbing her hands and speaking in a low, soft voice. She nodded several times and looked up, giving a small wave to Hezekiah.
“You’re free, Beryl. I forgive you,” he said calmly. With a whisper of wind Beryl was gone, leaving behind a dusty sprinkle of shiny earth.
Matthew stepped back onto the boat with the others, huddling close to Irene. He, Ruby, and Irene could have taken their own special way home but this afforded them the chance to spend more time with their ‘children’.
“Matthew? Will she be happy where she went?” asked Hezekiah.
“The happiest,” smiled Matthew. “Now, what should you like to do?”
“I have a choice?” he asked.
“You have a choice son. You always have a choice. You can move on, freely, happily. Or you can choose to stay with our merry band of strange men and women and continue to learn and perhaps live.”
“You mean that I could live here and still support your medical team? Your doctors and nurses would allow me to help?” asked Hezekiah.
“You may. Remember, Hezekiah, you can show yourself to others or choose not to. You should use that power wisely but it is freely given to you.”
Hezekiah stared at the others, then walked in big circles around everyone. Kennedy, Quentin, Jeremy, and the others all watched him. Secretly, they hoped he would stay. Although medicine and the techniques and tools used had changed dramatically since Hezekiah practiced, he offered a viewpoint that none of them could possibly have.
He saw things in patients they didn’t see. He suggested things they never thought of, probably because it was the simpler solution and they were trained to seek the complicated. He was valued and it felt good to him.
