part two of Tracy’s Trilogy
A few weeks passed before Reed told anyone of his strange encounter with Miss Tillie Rose. Around the fire making s’mores one chilly night, he shared the mysterious episode with his sister Ann Louise and their friends Naomi, Reese and Meredith.
Naomi was especially enthusiastic, having heard many spooky tales about The Lost Lady of Enka Lake from her Scout troupe. Naomi relayed the legend as she’d heard it:
“The Lost Lady was a young woman not much older than we are now, when she met and fell in love with a worker at the Enka textile plant.
Each day after work, she met the young man beneath the clock tower. From there they strolled to the lake, where he picked wildflowers for her. After a brief courtship, he proposed marriage. The besotted couple were inseparable, until the young man was shipped off to war.
Sadly, he lost his life in battle. The young maiden died soon after his passing – some say from a broken heart…others say from a lifelong illness. I’ve heard a variety of stories about The Lost Lady of Enka Lake, but they all boil down to two common themes.
In one version, she’s seen wandering the lake, collecting wildflowers and searching for her lost love.
The other version is more disturbing. It’s said that anyone who visits her grave during a full moon is grabbed and pulled down into the earth. I can’t vouch for either, but the stories are pretty consistent and have been passed down for decades between Scout troupes. Reed, I’m glad your encounter was the more benign scenario, as it was scary enough for you.”
The friends laughed together and agreed that, while they didn’t believe in ghosts, the encounter made for a very entertaining yarn. They were sure that someone familiar with the legend had played a trick on Reed, and he was happy to have provided fodder for Naomi’s next Scout campfire. They were all bluster and bravado until. . .all at once it seemed, the group realized that it was a full moon that night. They looked at the sky and then at each other. . .Did they dare test the legend?!
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