Kentucky Hauntings(22)

The story has a simple plot. A person (man, woman, or child) is told that there is an odd grave in the local cemetery where a strange woman was buried long ago. This spirit did not like to be bothered, and she would reach up from the grave and grab anyone who dared to come to her grave and disturb her in any way. She would pull the person down into the grave, and the visitor would be lost forever. After hearing the story, the listener is challenged to go alone to the grave one night and stick some object (a knife, machete, fork, or whatever is appropriate in that culture) into the grave to prove his or her courage. The person making the challenge would tell the listener that he, the teller of the tale, would go in the morning to retrieve the object from the grave and return it to the brave owner.

In the story, the person goes to the grave and kneels to stick whatever he has brought into the grave. The poor person, being so frightened, doesn't realize that the object has pierced through a garment (a cape, jacket, raincoat, or whatever), thus pinning the visitor to the grave. When the person tries to stand up and realizes that something is holding him, he assumes it is the ghost's hand reaching up from the grave and grabbing him, so he dies of fright. The challenger goes to the grave the next morning and is shocked to find the person's body across the grave.

Tom and Edgar didn't believe anything drastic would happen to anyone who stuck something in a grave, but they did believe it would be a perfect prank to play on their not-so-brave friend Clarence. The more they thought about it, the more they knew they had to do it. It would be so funny to hide and watch Clarence approach the grave.

First, they found an old grave at the back of the cemetery by an old community church. Then they told Clarence the story, showed him the grave in daylight, and dared him to go alone at night and stick his new pocketknife in it.

Clarence resisted at first, but he finally agreed to do it just to shut them up.

“You guys have got to come along and stay close by,” he told them.

They considered it and decided it might be fun to go along as far as the cemetery gate and watch, but they had to agree to come running if Clarence called for help.

They picked a late summer night when a steady rain was falling to put their prank in motion. They made a point of wearing their lightweight raincoats in the hope that Clarence would stick his knife through his coat and freak out.

As they approached the cemetery, rumbles of thunder and jagged streaks of lightning in the distance provided the perfect atmosphere. Their nerves were a bit unsteady as they opened the gate and silently pointed Clarence toward the grave in the old section in the back. Clarence took a few steps and stopped, losing his nerve altogether.

“I don't think this is such a good idea,” he said. “It's disrespectful. Nothing good can ever come from disturbing the dead.”

Tom and Edgar looked at each other. Their prank was not going as planned.

“Nothing's going to happen, Clarence,” Edgar assured him. “It's not like we're digging her up or anything.”

“You're just scared,” said Tom. “I knew you'd chicken out. Come on. Let's all go stick our pocketknives in the grave.”

The idea of not being alone boosted Clarence's courage.

“Okay,” he said. “Let's go.”

Tom and Edgar took the lead, and Clarence followed closely behind. It didn't take long until they had crossed the cemetery and reached the grave they had chosen. Knives in hand, they raised their arms to plunge the blades into the earth, when suddenly a bolt of lightning danced on the old tombstone and thunder crashed angrily overhead. The rain turned to a white mist that rose from the grave and engulfed the boys. They felt an intense, unearthly cold penetrating their raincoats. Even though it was summer, they felt a sudden chill as they had never felt before. Shivering and without saying a word, they turned in unison and ran for the gate.

Tom and Edgar were in the lead again, with Clarence not far behind, trying with all his might to keep up. Suddenly, he stumbled and grabbed a tall tombstone to break his fall.

“Wait!” he screamed to Tom and Edgar. “It's on my back! Get it off! Get it off!”

Tom and Edgar stopped and looked back through the light mist that was still clinging to them. They could barely see Clarence, but they could tell that he was struggling with something.

“Hold on, Clarence! We're coming!” they yelled in the same breath.

They reached the obviously terrified Clarence, who was now gasping for air. They realized the best way to help him was to get him out of there as fast as they could. Each grabbed an arm and literally dragged Clarence along between them. They couldn't see anything on his back, but both boys felt that he weighed as much as two people!