Outskirts Press, INC.

A Family Heirloom Reveals A Secret.

Just after the Korean War, Fred Gray, a veteran and third-generation Oklahoma rancher, headed to the county courthouse to perform a land-record search on his property. In an old journal recording official events as far back as 1893, Fred found a handwritten drawing next to an entry made by his grandfather around the turn of the 20th century. He was curious about the drawings, but then marriage came, children were born and raised, and a living had to be made.

Fifty years later, Fred asks the county clerk to make a copy of that journal
page so he can study it more closely. He remembered a story his grandfather told him when he was a child, and although the years dulled the specifics of his grandfather¹s tale, he recalled it involved a family heirloom, a single gold candle stick. The candle stick, his grandfather Jeremiah¹s story and the drawing come together to reveal a 400 year old secret that pulls the rancher and his family into a succession of mysterious and terrifying events.

"I believe Jeremiah went into town after purchasing land from a neighbor to officially document the purchase, just as the entry says there. Since he had pen in hand and paper to write on, he drew the location, knowing no one else would be able to interpret it. He wanted a record somewhere, and the only paper he had at home was a well-worn copy of the Bible, and he wouldn't have written anything in that Bible. That's my guess."
So you think Jeremiah just wanted a place to record his discovery without spelling out what the discovery was, and the journal provided him the opportunity?" Robert asked.
"That's what I think. Ya know, I've been all over that land for the past seventy years or so, and if I hadn't known every inch of those twenty thousand acres, I don't think I could find the location. That's what Jeremiah was counting on."
Lee studied his copy. "You believe his intent was to return to the cave?"
"Without a doubt."
"Did he?" Lee asked.
"No. If I recall the story correctly, Jeremiah assumed the candlestick was loot from a wagon train robbery. Hundreds of families were moving lock, stock, and barrel from the east to California. The wagon trains hired their own security for protection, but even with hired guns they were sitting ducks for Indian war parties and bands of outlaws. The cavalry usually tracked the culprits down and either shot or hanged 'em, but by then it was too late for the settlers. Anyway, Jeremiah brought the candlestick back to the house and showed it to Grandma."
"And wha'd she do?" Robert asked.
"Grandma Gray was levelheaded, always the voice of reason, smart. She told Granddad, in no uncertain terms, that he was to leave the loot alone, if in fact there was more, and never go back to the location."
Robert interrupted his dad. "Why'd she do that?"
"For good reason. In her mind, she believed if outlaws hid the loot in the cave and came back to get it and it wasn't there, they'd come lookin' for the landowner, assuming, on their part, the landowner found it and was benefiting from the outlaw's plunder. They both agreed to leave it alone for fear of harm coming to the family."

100% of the first years proceeds for the sale of The Margin will be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.