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She nodded Brent went down on his knees and bowed his head, hands folded in prayer

One by one, the other boys joined him Olivia held the lantern and watched, deeply touched

When they started back, Matt asked her, "How come we can read some of those stones so clearly?"

"Because volunteers come out now and then and see that the headstones are kept clean," Olivia told hiraves were known, and so was scrubbed on all of theht? And they knew about Mr and Mrs Turner and their son"

"Right," Olivia assured theone on ahead of her, she looked back She could see the general; he stood in aas they left

She suard over the land But then her smile faded She’d seen hi to tell her? Had he come upon Marcus too late?

"Liv? You ready?" Mariah called

"Coh gentle She went to give hi hih Dustin was keeping an eye on Brent, he was staying close to her

He was also watching everyone riding with them--and the forest around theround that led to the stream and the bluff that forded it, where they usually ca that had been useful whenever they were surprised by rain Tonight, however, prooing well, everyone helping Sean now seemed subdued; he looked over his shoulder frequently--and kept close to the others Aaron sent the boys to gather wood for the fire They used the ca area often and had a fire site ready It was on clean, swept soil and surrounded by rocks to prevent the fire fro

Within forty minutes of their arrival, the tents were pitched and the fire was blazing Aaron quickly had coffee going, while Mariah and Mason set up the grill They’d brought hot dogs and beans and the ry, and it wasn’t until they’d eaten and had gorged theoing to get to the ghost stories

"Ah, well, now!" Mariah sh, and the ather and rise on the moor!"

"Is this a moor?" Joey asked

"No, not really It’s a field in the foothills, but close enough," Mason said

"Rehost story doesn’t ahost stayed behind," Mariah said "And thatto tell us about General Rufus Cunninghaht?" Joey asked excitedly

"With a little help from my friends," Mariah said "Liv, you want to start?"

"Okay, if you’d like," Olivia said She looked around at all the boys, and forced herself not to s on Dustin’s left side

Sean was on his right--sitting even closer than Brent

"The best stories always coan "And to understand what brought about a ghost, you first have to understand some history, just like Mariah said As I’m sure you already know, Tennessee was the last state to join the Confederacy That happened on June 24, 1861 As soon as Tennessee seceded, it was like Nashville had a target painted on her Because the city was acenter and had a major port on the Cumberland River, both sides saw Nashville as extreht without supplies, without a way to keep soldiers clothed and fed And, of course, Nashville was also the capital of Tennessee It was important for the Union to take a capital, because that affectedwe learn in therapy of any kind is thatprophesies--believe there’s no choice but to fail and you will Believe you can make it and you will"

Joey cleared his throat "Uh, Olivia, the South did lose the war"

"Yeah, didn’t you hear?" Matt asked her, giggling

"Okay, it doesn’t alork" She smiled "Hard and bitter as that defeat must have been for the Confederates, tier as one country Toin the nineteenth century, the hts, and, okay, that was connected to slavery--and the econoreat triumphs was that slavery was abolished Today, we can look back and wonder how any hu" She paused to let the boys think about that