Her Tombstone

3 - Your Scroll

    PRESENT

    "Jordan, come downstairs please!" Dad said. "What?" I asked, from my bedroom door. I started walking downstairs. "At the office we have a big case today, and we could use extra help. I mentioned how you were advanced and would like to help. I need you to get changed, but not a suit. ( like I owned one ).We're going to the cemetery."
    Dad was one of the few detectives in Abilene, and recently they've been reading back on an old case called Her Tombstone. Apparently, there was someone in town and they died. Their funeral was a closed casket funeral, which doesn't make any sense because in these parts of Kansas bears don't live here, or any animals, really.

    "Alright Dad, I'll come. Wait, I still get breakfast, right?" I asked. Dad chuckled and put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, kiddo. You'll eat on the way there or here, if you get changed fast enough." "Are you challenging me?" "Sure am. You've got 2 minutes starting now."
    I ran back upstairs into my bedroom to get dressed. I put on some grey shorts and an empty t-shirt. I put on my shoes and made my bed, then ran downstairs. "Done!" I said. "Jordan, this is an investigation, not a slumber party." "I know." "Why are you dressed like that?" "Why did you buy me it?" "It's meant for the house, not the street. Get changed properly now."

***

    I was at the grave alone.  I don't remember much, but Dad and the crew left to investigate the old house that she lived in. I forgot to mention, we found out that the victim was a girl. My dad explained it a bit better to me on the car ride here. I don't know what they want me to do at the grave exactly, but I started looking around for anything that might help, don't know why, it was just an instinct.
    I checked around the fake grass. Nothing. I looked under it, nothing. I even double double double-checked. Nothing. So, I decided to move her tombstone to see if there was anything under it. It was too heavy, but I still tried. I lifted it about a few centimeters off the ground, just enough for me to see a yellow white paper folded under it.

    I grabbed it, even though the pain was, well— indescribable. It had dust on it. I looked around to check if anyone was there before reading it because I might seem crazy lifting a tombstone. I think it might also be illegal, I mean, at least in Abilene. I don't know why I was hesitating so much. I began to open it, still being cautious for- I don't even know the reason anymore. Inside of the scroll it read,
   
    Dear reader,

    If you are reading this, I am dead. I'm not sure of the reason either, mostly because of the cause I wrote this when I was alive.  I left this scroll under my tombstone. It used to be my mother's. Her body was ordered to be taken away. I don't know either, don't worry. There's many questions others have about my life, but I'm afraid not even I am sure of the answer to all. You've been smart and decided to look in every nook and cranny, which assuming I have a case for my death. I've left a puzzle for you, dear reader. You mustn't tell anyone, and must do thou work by thyself. I'm not sure of my locations being known of, but go to Yueansa's Mound. Although, I'm afraid that's all I am able to tell reader, I'm figuring it out myself.

                  Sincerely,

    The name wasn't signed on the bottom. She knew about this mystery, but couldn't even answer the questions herself. How did she know there would be a case though? Does she come a long line of sorcerers?

1885

    She wrote a scroll for future's hands, unsure of if it would reach the correct person. She didn't know if it would work. She hoped, and hoped, that whoever possessed this scroll, would reach the answers of her mother's death— and hers. While she was writing, she considered removing or adding some lines, but she didn't know much herself, and most of it would be mostly repetition in different wording.
    Her father had entered her bedroom. "Darling, may I ask what is keeping you occupied?" He asked, looking over to the paper. "It's nothing you would care about. What do you need of my presence?" "Supper is ready." "Yes, Father. I'll be there. May I have a few minutes, though?" The man approved of her request. "Thank you father, thank you!"

    She picked up the scroll and Carried it downstairs to the front door. "I'll be back before Dusk." She scurried off down the path into the cemetery of Abilene.  She was hesitant on her choice because she didn't want to get filthy, full of dirt and mud before supper.
    She lifted her mother's tombstone. She was barely able to lift it. She shoved the scroll under the crack she had made and dropped it. She didn't understand why to do so, she had just gotten a feeling it would be convenient to the future. She wanted to know, too.

PRESENT

    I wasn't able to look deep into it. I reread the sentence, You mustn't tell anyone, and must do thou work by thyself.  I have to work by myself? Even a dead woman has faith in me that I'm smart. Dad and the crew came back, and I did what the scroll said. I hid it in the pocket of my jeans.
    "Son, what is that paper?" "Nothing. My friends passed by and gave me a note." Nice thinking, Jordan. Why would my friends go to the graveyard? "Alright, well, we've checked out the house and found a dried bowl of ink in the empty house, specifically in the victim's bedroom. Not sure what to do with it." This scroll is really going to reveal itself.

    Wait, wait wait, if the bowl was still there, did she die after she placed the scroll under the tombstone? She said in her note that she didn't finish the puzzle yet. Great. Now the puzzle makes no help, and I still can't tell them, just in case. Maybe it's a distraction? No, probably not. All of this mystery is making me hungry.
    "Dad, where's the food?" I asked him. "It's in the car, we're done for today. We're going home." I got in my dad's grey truck and grabbed the bag of McDonald's. "Save it for home, I don't want a greasy mess all over my car." He hit the engine and we drove off. I'm still thinking about the scroll. I took the advantage of the ride and reread it. What could this all mean?