Mystery at Devil's Elbow
Chapter Seventeen – Second Week of November 1969

“Can we go play in the backyard, Momma?” asked Lisa.

For the last week, the girls had played inside due to the evidence of the missing woman found near their home. Today was such a beautiful day that Lisa and Mary wanted to play outside rather than in the house.

“Yeah, the Sheriff said it’s safe but don’t go too far. It’ll be dark soon,” said Martha.

“Okay, Momma,” said Mary as she and Lisa slammed the back door on their way outside. The sun was setting, and the temperature was cold.

The stars were just coming into view and with time so would the moon.

“Let’s watch for falling stars, Mary.”

“That a good idea.”

They smiled as they looked at the sky, which was filled with millions of stars flashing on and off. The darker it got outside, the more brilliant the stars. At this point, the moon was also shining in the sky.

“Look at the top of that hill over there,” said Mary.

“Which hill?” asked Lisa.

“The one straight where I’m pointing.”

On the hill, about a hundred yards from their backyard was a very tall dark person and a smaller person. The moon was behind the people, and the light made it easy to see the outlines of the people, but not any details.

“Who could they be?” asked Mary.

“I don’t know,” said Lisa.

“One is so much taller than the other one.”

“Could that tall one be the big hairy thing we saw?”

The girls watched for about ten minutes, and the two people on the hill didn’t move. Suddenly a very bright light shone down from above the two people. Mary let out a shriek.

“Do you see that, Lisa?”

“Where’s that light coming from?”

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s go get Momma.”

Both girls ran to the back door yelling for their mother. Martha came out the living room walking toward the kitchen as the two girls came through the door.

“Momma, come quick! Look at these things on the hill.”

Martha walked out into the yard and saw the two people standing on the hill with the bright light coming down on them.

“What on earth is that, girls?”

“We don’t know, Momma, that’s why we got you,” said Lisa.

“How long they been there?”

“Probably ten minutes, Momma,” said Mary.

“Then the light came down just a couple minutes ago, Momma,” said Lisa.

“It’s bizarre.”

All three watched as the light changed from white to blue and the two people rose into the air.

Then the light went out. The three of them then saw a metallic, saucer-shaped craft that turned and rose in the sky. The ship shot away fast and became invisible.

“Could that be a flying saucer?” asked Mary.

“I don’t know what we just saw, girls. Let’s go to the living room and tell Daddy.”

The girls darted ahead of their mother as they ran to their father. Martha walked swiftly, unable to catch them.

“Daddy, you won’t believe what we just saw outside,” said Mary.

“What was it?” asked Lewis.

“We saw a flying saucer, Daddy,” said Lisa.

Lewis laid down the paper he was reading and paused. “A what!”

“We saw a flying saucer!” said Mary.

“Momma was with us,” said Lisa.

“Come on now. What did you really see, Martha?”

“Like the girls said, Lewis. We saw a flying saucer,” said Martha.

“Start from the beginning.”

“Me an Lisa were outside watching for falling stars when we saw two people over on the hill,” said Mary.

“We watched them for a while because they looked different. One was so much taller than the other,” said Lisa.

“They stood there for probably ten minutes, Daddy.”

“Then a bright light came out of the sky down on ’em.”

“That’s when they came and got me,” said Martha.

“As we watched the two-people standing there, the light changed from white to blue, and the two people went up,” said Lisa.

“After a few seconds the light went out,” said Mary.

“We kept watching, and we saw a silver saucer fly away.”

“I was there with them when we saw the light on the two people. The people flew up into the light. Then the light went out, and the silver saucer flew away,” said Martha.

“Are you sure that’s what really happened?”

“Lewis, I swear to you everything me and the girls just told you is true.”

“The whole thing’s impossible.”

“It may be impossible, but it just happened,” said Martha.

“Daddy, you remember we were coming back from Bloodland Lake me and Mary rode in the back of the truck?” asked Lisa.

“We go to the Bloodland lake a lot, girls. Which time do you mean?”

“It was the time we told you we saw a light following us, Daddy,” said Mary.

“Okay, I remember.”

“It looked like the same light,” said Mary.

“Well, I suggest we forget about this for tonight.”

“I think we should at least mention it to the sheriff, dear.”

“Well, tomorrow’s Monday, so if you want to tell him while I’m at work, it won’t bother me.”

Early the next morning Martha called the sheriff’s office to report the sighting. JD was out, so she left a message for him.

Later in the afternoon, the sheriff stopped by to speak with Martha.

“JD, it’s good to see you.”

“It used to be good to see you Martha, but now you always seem to have a strange occurrence happening out here,” JD said with a chuckle.

“I know, JD. That’s what I called about.”

“I guess I’m ready to hear what you have to say.”

“Why don’t you have a seat at the table and I’ll get the girls. Would you like a cup of hot coffee?”

“Hot coffee sounds delicious, thank you.”

“Girls, Sheriff Carson is here to speak to us,” Martha called up the stairs.

“We’re coming, Momma,” said Lisa.

The two girls ran down the stairs and joined the sheriff and their Mother at the kitchen table.

“Girls, how are you doing?”

“Good, Sheriff,” said Mary.

“Me too,” said Lisa.

“Why don’t you guys tell me what’s happened now.”

Mary and Lisa recounted the story for the sheriff.

“I was there with him when we saw the light, and when the silver craft flew away,” said Martha.

“How could that be?” asked JD.

“I don’t know, but I swear to you that everything we just told you is true.”

“The whole thing’s impossible.”

“That’s exactly what Lewis said.”

“I’m not saying I don’t believe you, I’m just saying that what you have described couldn’t have happened.”

Martha paused to take a deep breath.

What more could this flying saucer be capable of? I’m still concerned about the girls. Could one of them be harmed? I get the feeling that one of them is in danger.