Tin Cup opened the door and it let out a screech. Everly and Lizzie both covered their ears as well. The sound of the door wasn’t the worst he’d ever heard, but combined with the echo, it was pretty awful.
As Ten tried to find his equilibrium, Tin Cup had moved the group down the corridor leading to the first row of cells. Theyextended down as far as Ten could see. Looking up, there were three more levels of cells, and a walkway, leading to a set of stairs Ten couldn’t see from where he was standing. He heard Wolf’s jubilant whoop as Jude snapped pictures of him in a cell. Ten hoped that was the last time Wolf, or any of the kids, for that matter ever saw the inside of a cell.
“Where’s our Everly?” Tin Cup asked.
“Back here!” Everly called, she ran toward the front, stopping at Ronan’s side.
“You said earlier that you smelled smoke and heard a siren.”
Everly nodded, but Ronan wore a shocked look. Obviously she hadn’t shared what she was experiencing with Ronan, which was odd. Everly shared everything with him.
“This cell house a man named Bellamy Blackwell. Bellamy had been scheduled to ship out to Europe the next day on the USSTexasand he had gone out for one last night with his fellow sailors. Just in case he never made it home. A fight broke out at the bar and Bellamy was arrested, tried, and convicted on charges of public drunkenness and what we’d now call conduct unbecoming an officer. He was sentenced to serve one year here at the naval prison.”
“Why did Bellamy think he wouldn’t come home from his cruise?” Aurora asked.
“This all happened in 1942 only months after the United States entered World War II. Bellamy’s ship was going to escort troop transfers and supply ships back and forth between New York and England.”
“Oh, just like Ben Who-fleck inPearl Harbor!” Everly said, looking excited for the first time all day.
“He was so cute!” Aurora squealed along with her. “I didn’t like all of the loud guns though.”
“Uh, Ronan?” Fitz said, sounding exhausted.
“Hold on just one second, Fitz. If you’re about to ask why I showed Aurora that movie, I’m happy to admit that it wasn’t me!” Ronan stood a bit taller. “If it wasn’t you, then my money’s on Jude.”
Jude wore a sheepish look.
“What the hell’s next?Titanic? Armageddon? Jurassic Park?”Fitz’s eyes were on Ronan as he spoke.
Everly opened her mouth looking as if she had something to say, when Ronan shook his head.
Ten didn’t need his gift to know Ronan had shown the kidsJurassic Park.
“We weren’t afraid of the dinosaurs, Daddy. The island they live on is far, far away from here,” Aurora said, patting Fitzgibbon’s hand.
Fitz looked angry enough to breathe fire. He flexed his fingers and took several deep breaths.
“If we watchedTitanic, the girls might lose their eagerness to take a cruise,” Jude said.
“What happened to Bellamy?” Ten asked, wanting to get Tin Cup back on track. He was starting to feel a bit queasy and wasn’t sure how much longer he had before his bacon and eggs made a return voyage.
“That’s where the story gets interesting,” Tin Cup said with a grin. “On the day before Bellamy was scheduled to be released,Warden Donald Benedict cited him for having contraband in his cell; photographs of his girl back home.”
“Magnolia Anne,” Everly said.
Tin Cup wore a shocked look. “Is she here with us?”
Everly shook her head. Not Miss Magnolia, but someone else.” She moved closer to Ronan and grabbed his hand.
Ten felt a presence. It was malevolent and cruel. Thankfully, the spirit hadn’t made contact with either himself of Everly. One word from this entity and he was grabbing his daughter and running outside.
“The warden sentenced Bellamy to another six months here in the prison. Instead of quietly accepting his punishment, Bellamy attacked the warden. He was stabbed several times with a homemade weapon. One of the wardens guards shot and killed Bellamy. After that, a fight broke out on the cellblock, which later turned into a riot. Seven other prisoners and two guards were killed and dozens more were treated for various stab wounds and burns.”
“That’s awful,” Ronan muttered. “We’re gonna have to cut the tour short.” Ronan reached out a hand to shake. “We can’t thank you enough.”
As Ronan was getting Wolf and Ezra out of the jail cell they’d been playing inside, a bright, white light appeared beside him. Standing inside it was a young woman dressed in World War II era clothes. She wore a long, pink flowered dress, that reached her feet and a hat with a matching ribbon.
“Magnolia Anne?” a voice called out.
