Goddesses and Gremlins - Conclusion
By Beaten Man   Replies to humbled@abeatenman.com 
Part 8  -  The Balancing


Chapter 58

Constable Daniel Bartlett was a nervous man as he tethered his horse in front
of Nathanial Wards manor that hot August afternoon. The son of the wealthiest
and most powerful man in the state had been murdered and to him had fallen the
task of the investigation. All he knew was that the mans body had been
discovered the previous morning and no one knew what happened to him. He
hadn't been stabbed or shot and there were no witnesses to his death.

His instructions had been quite simple, do whatever Nathanial Ward instructed
him to do. He was to treat the matter with the utmost delicacy and the utmost
professionalism. He must not antagonize Mr. Ward in any way and he must bring
credit to the Charleston County constabulary by solving the crime.

It hadn't been necessary for his superiors to warn him about treating
Nathanial Ward with respect. Everyone in the state knew of Ward and how
important a man he was. The constable had no doubts that his entire future
rested on how he handled this investigation. This wasn't just any farmer who
had died. This was the man who would have been the states most important
citizen had he lived.

And now he was visiting the man who actually was the state's most important
citizen and visiting him in an official capacity.

He was standing on the large covered front veranda trying to work up the nerve
to knock on the door when the first of three gun shots rang out. He was
already at the top of the great staircase by the time the echo of the third
one died down.

Chapter 59

Foote cursed himself for only carrying two pistols as he desperately fought to
reload them while the confusing scenario played out in front of him. His first
shot had only succeeded in wounding Lucas and when he had fired his second
pistol at the slave on the ground he had managed to shoot Gabriel.

Now Nathanial was screaming that the girl must die and cursing Foote as a fool
as he bent over his wounded grandson. To make matters worse Lucas was not
responding to Nathanial's commands and was standing like a statue with the
Slave woman again wrapped around his body. The blood from the gunshot wound
was dripping on the floor and the chanting Amazon had her hands wrapped around
his throat and yet he just stood there as though paralyzed.

Foote managed to get his pistols reloaded and was again taking aim at the girl
when Lucas suddenly turned and grasped the screaming Nathanial Ward by the
neck. He lifted him off the ground and uttered the first word Foote had ever
heard him speak. No,

He repeated it as Ward struggled in his grasp.

Foote reached around the crazed slave woman's head and placed the barrel of
his pistol in the giants eye socket. He fired as the giants other hand closed
around his own neck. Lucas fell over backwards with Shatiluaan's still
straddling his chest, her hands around his throat, and Ward and Foote still in
his grasp.

It was at that moment when three members of the household staff followed by
constable Bartlett burst threw the bedroom door.

Chapter 60

The vile serpent's spawn had been within her grasp. She had looked into the
demons soulless eyes and seen the evil. It was the time of his destiny and the
Nai Obin Sha would smite him as the Mother commanded. Then suddenly she was
snatched from her duty and the thunder of the fire sticks was ringing in her
ear.

The monster was standing above her. She must not fail the Mother again. She
arose from the floor and took him once again within her grasp. Now he must
surely die. Again the thunder echoed in her ear but the Nai Obin Sha would not
be denied this time. She rode the monster's chest to the floor and continued
to administer his destiny. She looked again into his eyes as she sat on his
chest. There was a gaping hole where one had been and the other stared back
emptily.

She drew back her hand and with the Mother's guidance drove her index finger
deep into his skull and wiped forever the empty stare from the other eye. Now
he would suffer blindly for eternity. Now his ledger had been balanced. The
Mother's will had been done.

Shatiluaan sat upon the monsters lifeless chest and praised, once again, the
wisdom of Rasha Shaluaan.

Chapter 61

The Constables mind was reeling as he stood in the bedroom doorway. On the
ground in front of him was the biggest man he had ever seen. There were bloody
holes where his eyes should have been and an Amazon black woman was astride
his chest chanting in some foreign tongue. The most powerful man in the
Carolinas was laying unconscious with his neck in the giants grasp. In the
grasp of his other hand was a gasping man dressed in black with a smoking
pistol laying by his side and another pistol still in his hand. To the side of
the giants body there was an injured young man with his head in the lap of an
hysterical woman. The woman was sobbing he's been shot, please help him.

As he watched the scene the man in black suddenly freed himself from the
giants grasp and started to place his gun at the head of the black Amazon.
Bartlett could do nothing about the condition of the giant but he could stop
the death of the black woman. He pushed passed the three servants that had
entered the room in front of him and hit the black clad Foote in the head with
his night stick. Foote fell unconscious as the gun dropped from his grasp.

Ignoring the sobbing white woman and the now statue like Amazon the constable
next went to the side of Nathanial Ward to see if he could render some
assistance. Ward's neck had been crushed, there was no pulse. He had died as
the huge slave tightened his grip in death.

As there was nothing to be done for Ward the constable now turned his
attention to Gabriel. With the assistance of Ward's servants he carried the
young man to Nathanial's bed and applied compresses to the wound to stem the
bleeding. He ordered that someone from the manor be dispatched to bring a
physician to attend to him and then ride into Charleston to notify his
superiors that Nathanial Ward had been killed.

When he was satisfied that he had done all he could for Gabriel he bound the
hands and feet of the unconscious Niles Foote to prevent him from causing any
further violence. While he was doing that he asked that the servant women
kindly remove the Negress from atop the chest of the dead giant.

With order restored the constable could get back to the task at hand. He would
have to get to the bottom of what just occurred. And, of course, there was the
matter of Martin Ward's unexplained death. Somehow, the constable believed, he
would find the events connected.

Martin Wards death had been a matter of some delicacy, Nathanial Ward's death
had made it a matter of earth shaking urgency.

The constable was not a fool. He had been sent as an errand boy. A nameless
rider appears in the early morning saying he brings news of Martin Ward's
death. And then that same afternoon Nathanial Ward himself comes to Charleston
and reports that his son has died under mysterious circumstances? His
superiors had sent him as a courtesy. A courtesy to the most powerful man in
the state.

Now the local god he had come to assist was dead. What had been, at best, an
errand that if handled properly would have allowed him to keep his job, was
now an opportunity of limitless dimensions. Fate or destiny or whatever he
might call it had just made the Constable the most important man in the
Carolinas at that moment. Now if handled properly the errand might make him
the next chief constable or perhaps even more.

This would be a busy day, and most likely evening, for the constable

He was witness to two deaths and everyone present would need to be
interviewed.

The presence of the two slaves, one eyeless and dead, the other a now statue
like female, and their relevency to the goings on had to be looked into.

He would have to speak with anyone having knowledge of the circumstances of
Martin Ward's death as well.

And what about the wounded young man, the constable might yet be witness to a
third death. Who was he and who was the sobbing woman cradling his head? They
needed some explanation.

Constable Bartlett would indeed be having a busy day. He had a lot to do.

Chapter 62

There would be no more lies or deceptions Lucille Ward swore to herself.

By the lords mercy her son was alive and by that same Lords charity he was the
wealthiest and most powerful man in two states. And by the wisdom of only a
God there was no longer any reason to lie.

The Lords mercy would even allow her a clear conscience. There was neither
anyone nor anything to protect Luann or even herself from. The truth would set
her free and no harm would come to the slave girl because of it.

She needed no further proof of divine intervention than the presence of
someone able to attend to her son at a moment where delay would have been
fatal Whether it be destiny or coincidence something or someone produced that
constable when there was no one else that could have saved him. That could
only be the work of God.

She had always been a child of God. The one time in her entire life that she
told an untruth, a lie, it had almost resulted in her son's death. She had
sinned yet god had forgiven her and spared Gabriel. She would not betray that
Gods trust.

The young man that you are attending is Gabriel Ward He is the grandson of
Nathanial Ward and son of Martin Ward. I am his mother and the widow of
Martin. Lucille Ward spoke clearly and in a steady voice as she answered the
constables first question. I am also the person who discovered Martins body
and the person responsible for placing it where it was found.

She told him that the gentleman in black he had knocked unconscious was the
principal assistant to Nathanial Ward in managing the Plantation and that the
dead slave was Nathanial's bodyguard. She went on to identify Shatiluaan as
recently purchased breeding stock and then described for the constable
everyone's activity from the time she and Foote entered the manor until the
constables appearance in the doorway.

The constable was making good progress. He had asked one question of the only
fully conscious and coherent person present in the room and already knew who
everyone was and who was responsible for the death of Nathanial Ward. He even
knew who was responsible for his killers death and the wounding of the young
Ward heir.

His second question, asked of the same individual, brought him the answers to
the exact condition of Martin Wards body upon discovery and the circumstances
that existed at the time of it's discovery. As a bonus the same answer
revealed how the body found it's way to the secluded pathway where it was
rediscovered the following morning.

He was making excellent progress indeed. He even had every possible suspect in
the killing of Martin Ward in the same room. He would soon have that mystery
solved as well.

Destiny was not merely smiling on him that afternoon, it was positively
beaming.

Chapter 63

Lucille was not the only who felt that divine intervention was upon their
person that afternoon. Niles Foote had never felt more fortunate in his entire
life. He'd had to endure a bump on the head and the indignity of being bound
for a little while but he felt that was a small price to pay for having his
wildest wishes granted.

He had dreamed of controlling the Ward empire for twenty years. He had the
blood of dozens of human beings on his hands as he did Wards bidding, a few of
them not slaves either.. He would have been willing to kill Martin, Gabriel,
Lucille and even Ward himself to attain his goal. Now he need only tell the
truth and it was his. This was better than any scenario he had ever imagined.

He was the hero who had slain the giant and saved everyone from death at his
hands. That is with the unfortunate exception of Nathanial Ward.

Thank God the constable knocked him unconscious and prevented him from
following Ward's last order. Killing someone, even a slave, at the behest of a
dead man seemed foolish and could only have been counterproductive. Now there
was nothing to stain the valor of his acts that afternoon.

It was true he had wounded Gabriel, but he did so by accident while attempting
to carry out the wishes of the then very much alive Nathanial Ward. And even
there the Lord had provided that same constable to prevent Gabriel's wounding
from becoming something more serious.

Gabriel's mother had admitted her own culpability in trying to deceive
everyone in the circumstances of her husbands death. All Foote need do is
corroborate her story regarding the removal of Martins body from the crime
scene, something he alone was witness to, and her credibility would be
destroyed. She had admitted that she originally wished to deceive Nathanial
and protect Martins killer. There would be a trustee but who else would the
trustee have to turn to for assistance in managing Wards affairs but him.
Gabriel would not come of age for almost two years. In two years Foote could
amass an awful lot of money controlling the Ward enterprises.. Anything beyond
that was gravy. Who knows, something could happen to Gabriel and the trustee
might be in control forever. One never knows what fate has in store.

He didn't even have to contradict himself regarding the scratches and bruises
on the Slave girls face. Why bother to stain his honest reputation admitting
to a lie that he had never needed to tell? Whether Martin scratched her face
or not it was either the slave or Lucille that killed him. They were the only
persons other than Martin in that room, and that certainly was the truth.. Let
the constable sort it out.

Foote wasn't sure if it was God or the Devil assisting him that day but
whoever it was, destiny was certainly on his side.

Niles Foote's wit was perhaps even sharper than his face. The irony of truth
being his ally was not lost on him.

Chapter 64

Gabriel Ward had been a very lucky heir that day. The rider dispatched by the
constable had managed to find a doctor less than an hours ride from the Pines.
He came immediately.

The bullet from Foote's pistol had passed completely through his body. Within
three hours of being shot, between the constables quick action in stemming the
flow of blood and the relatively quick response of the physician, Gabriel was
resting comfortably on his grandfathers bed with his mother by his side.

He watched Shatiluaan chanting softly by the open window as he filled the
constable in on his fathers movements two nights before and his own activities
that day. Thank God she wasn't harmed he thought as he told the constable of
how she came to be in his grandfathers bedroom.

He told the constable of her terror on seeing Lucas the previous morning and
of how she'd reacted when she saw him that day. He told him of how his
grandfather had ordered Foote to bring her to him and of how he had ordered
her killed. He was unable to give him any reason for Nathanial's having done
so. Neither could anyone else.

There was surprise on his mothers face and a bit of envy on Foote's when he
described his evening of passion with the slave woman. Gabriel blushed as his
mother turned his face to hers and kissed him on the forehead.

Chapter 65

Constable Bartlett had indeed made excellent progress in his investigation
into the deaths of both Martin and Nathanial Ward. The only remaining mystery
was who had killed Martin and the constable even had a theory regarding that.

He knew that Martin, followed by Foote, had gone to his home and raped the
slave woman. He knew that he had been discovered dead with deep bruises on his
neck by his own wife. He knew that the only person in the room when the body
was discovered was the raped slave. He also knew that for some reason the
woman was terrified by the giant and had even attacked him upon seeing him in
Wards bedroom.

From his examination of Martin Wards body he knew that whoever strangled him
was indeed powerful. The marks on Martins neck were as deep as those on
Nathanial's and Foote's.

There must have been someone else in that basement with Martin and the slave.
Lucille was far to frail to have been the one to have strangled Martin. The
slave had already been beaten and scratched by Foote, he knew that from
Foote's own admission, he doubted if she could have killed a man of Martins
size with her bare hands as he raped her.

There was at least one other person at Martin's home that evening. Foote had
admitted following Martin there and was still there when his body was removed
from the cellar. His reasons for maintaining his silence about the bodies
removal did not make sense. Why would he wish to protect the slave? Why would
he wish to protect Lucille Ward?

It was the Constables theory that Foote, assisted by Lucas, had killed Martin.
He believed that Lucas strangled Martin under Foote's orders. That would
explain the girls terror at seeing Lucas for supposedly the first time and her
behavior at seeing him again.

His theory even explained why Foote was so quick to kill the giant, shooting
him not once but twice. It also explained why he tried to kill the slave
woman. They were the only other witnesses to his crime.

The constable believed that Foote's motives in protecting Lucille were related
first to a desire to hide knowledge of his presence at the crime scene and
then as an added benefit he could later blackmail her when she and Gabriel
controlled the Ward fortune.

He was sure Foote's motives in killing Martin were related to a desire to
control the Ward fortune. Martin was the only person that stood between Foote
and Nathanial. Nathanial was an old man and couldn't have lived much longer.
With Martin gone Foote was the logical choice to run things when the elder
Ward died.

He even believed that Lucas was acting under Foote's orders when he killed
Nathanial. After all Foote was the slave master and Lucas was one of his
charges. The giant would have followed Foote's orders blindly, it was apparent
that he did not have a will of his own.

Foote was the only person who had both the motive and the opportunity to kill
Martin Ward. He'd either killed him himself or brought the giant to do the
deed for him. Either way Foote was his man. Nothing else made any sense.

Sheriff William Osterman listened in silence as the constable reported his
findings and theory to him. He had been awakened the previous evening by aids
who reported that a rider had come from the Pines bearing news of Nathanial
Wards death at the hands of his own bodyguard.

He had set out at first light with a posse that morning for Ward's plantation.
Now fifteen minutes after arriving he had both crimes solved. Constable
Bartlett was to be congratulated for such a fine job.

Niles Foote was arrested and charged with Martin Wards death that morning.
Within an hour of the sheriffs arrival at the Pines Foote was taken away in
chains screaming of his innocence.

Chapter 66

Events moved swiftly after the death of Nathanial Ward and the arrest of Niles
Foote for Martin Ward's murder. The Ward empire was vast and complicated and
there was only Gabriel and Lucille to manage things.

Upon learning that her son had a sexual relationship with Luann Lucille felt
even more of a kinship and bond with the slave woman. Shatiluaan was sent back
to Lucille's home to live accompanied by the servant staff that already lived
there.

Lucille and Gabriel temporarily moved into Nathanial's manor but visited with
her daily teaching her the language and customs of her new home. Shatiluaan
was a quick learner and within a month was communicating as though she'd lived
in America for years.

Both Martin and Nathanial were buried in the original Ward homestead the week
following Nathanial's death. Lucille, Gabriel and Shatiluaan accompanied by 25
freed slaves would move to that same farm three months later. Just about the
time Shatiluaan's pregnancy became apparent for all to see.

Gabriel had no interest in continuing the Ward empire. He wished for a quieter
and simpler life. The estate was worth far more to others than it was to him.
The memories of his Fathers and Grandfathers death because of that fortune
disturbed him and his mother. Working with Nathanial's solicitor, Gabriel and
Lucille liquidated all of Wards holdings with the exception of the three
hundred acre original homestead. That farm became their home and was one of
the first in the south not to use slave labor. The slaves they brought with
them to their new home were all free men and women, including the pregnant
Shatiluaan.

The estate was large and complicated. Its total liquidation took two years but
when it was complete the now adult Gabriel was one of the countries richest
men. He invested wisely insuring continuing wealth for himself, his eventual
heirs. and their heirs for many generations.

In late June of 1810 Shatiluaan, now called Luann Natalee gave birth to twin
daughters. They were much lighter skinned than their mother. The first born of
the twins was named Shatille Luann Natalee. Her first daughter, born twenty
years later, would be named for her grandmother and also be called Shatille
Luann Natalee. The second of the twins was named Luanna Natalee.

Shatiluaan remained with Gabriel and Lucille until the twins were a year old.
Accompanied by a half dozen freed slaves she eventually followed the Green
Hills north to the non slave state of Pennsylvania where she settled amongst
the growing Amish population. She remained there for over sixty years. During
the first ten years she lived there she had eight more daughters.

Gabriel and Lucille maintained a life long correspondence with her and visited
when they could. The twins were Gabriel's children and Lucille's grand
children. The Wards provided handsomely for Shatiluaan and the girls. Gabriel
would eventually marry and raise a family on the old homestead but upon his
death half of his estate was left to the twins Shatille and Luanna. He never
forgot the night he lost his virginity or the woman who made him a man.

Niles Foote was tried and convicted for Martin Wards murder. He went to the
gallows in October of 1809 screaming of his innocence even as he swung from
the rope. The irony of his execution for the one killing he hadn't committed
and not for the dozens he had, was not lost on Foote. His wit was as sharp as
his face right up until the end.

Chapter 67

Shatiluaan was Natuli, the Nai Obin Sha. She was the temple of Rasha Shaluaan.
She was the chosen people and they were home. She was the mother of her
successors mother. The Natuli were eternal. Praise be the wisdom of the
Mother.

This and more she would teach her daughters and her daughter's daughters. They
would be fruitful and they would multiply in the promised land. The truth of
the origin of mankind and of their Mother's love and wisdom would be spread
far and wide.

She was Shatiluaan, the Nai Obin Sha. the first daughter of the En Atu Ule
Clan. This was her destiny.

Chapter 68

18 April in the year of Our Mother 1824

His Eminence Pope Leo XII

Vatican City

I, George Gordon, known as the Lord Byron, to hereby attest and swear that I
am the author of all that you have read and will now read. I do so set my seal
this 18th day of April.1824

Your Eminence,

I write this final chapter neither in fancy nor in jest. The matters contained
here-in are of the utmost urgency and only you can decide what is to be done.
It is neither a matter of state nor economy to which I refer. It is a matter
of our very faith.

I have been accused of heretical and depraved behavior in my brief life. To
these sins I plead guilty, your eminence, and beg the forgiveness of our
creator, the eternally nurturing presence we are born of.

But I write of urgent matters of theology. The events recounted here to fore
are of no real importance. Only the significance of the truths revealed within
them are.

I die tomorrow your eminence. I will be a memory well before this dispatch
arrives in Rome from Greece. If it ever, in fact, does.

I know it as surely as I know I write this manuscript. She has come to me and
made this and much more known to me. She is the matter of my urgency. She has
revealed all that I have written. It appeared in my thoughts in an instant.

Why I have been chosen is beyond my power of reason. I only know that I have
been.

Perhaps the foretelling of my own demise, a matter which forces me to act
without further thought, is yet another proof of the wisdom of The Mother of
us All

As the keeper of our faith I turn to you to rectify the errors in the
teachings of all those who believe correctly that there is but one true God.
For over five thousand years human kind has been deceived by the very serpent
that was responsible for its expulsion from paradise. The fallacies of a
retributive and masculine creator must be transformed to the truths of the
nurturing Mother of us all. Our faith and our eternal souls depend upon it.

I do not no how I know this just as surely as I do not know why.

I have seen our entire history in less than a second. In that second I saw
every event from the casting of the ledgers in stone right up to my own death.
At the very same instant I saw the future, all humanity, connected and sharing
daily with one another across the entire planet and even beyond this world..

These revelations can only have been shown so that I might share them. There
can be no other reason. They cannot have been meant solely for me. I am of no
importance. Surely I have not the wisdom to understand our Mothers motives.

Perhaps I was chosen because I write and I am read by many. I write this to
you Your Eminence or any other who may gaze upon this manuscript. I send as
many copies of this document as time allows me to prepare to as many sources
to whom I can dispatch it.

Your Eminence can be assured that these words will be seen. If not by you,
than by a future generation. It may take centuries but a time approaches when
humanity will speak one to another daily. Somehow or someway these words will
survive.

It may be the twenty first century or even beyond but, Her will shall be done.
She will be known..

I remain your humbled servant,

George Gordon

The Lord Byron

Missolonghi, in Grecia

..............................................................................
...

Epilogue

My name is George Gordon. I am neither royalty nor a direct descendant of the
original author of this manuscript. I am simply a first time novelist. I am,
however the author of Goddesses and Gremlins and perhaps a rather distant
relative to the aforementioned Lord Byron.

The story is based upon materials I received from the estate of my late
grandfather, the George Gordon for whom I was named. The letters and documents
along with a slightly different storyline were included amongst the family
documents, old picture albums and items of memorabilia contained in several
boxes of my grandfathers possessions. Until coming across the Goddesses and
Gremlins source material I had no idea I was in any way related to Lord Byron.
Other than the material being in my grandfathers possession and the
coincidence of our names I have no reason to assume I am..

Though I am the stories author I am not the author of the stories conclusions
made abundantly clear in the final chapter of my distant relatives narrative.
I cannot take credit for Lord Byron's revelations as I did not share his
alleged divine inspiration.

My function was to simply change some names to protect the privacy of the
descendants of the stories central characters and to add a little imagination
to the original tale. I have done my best to substantiate the letters and
historical references included but due to the age of the original documents I
cannot attest to their true origins.

As to the original George Gordon's conclusions, I will express no opinion. It
is up to you, the reader, to form your own.. I have formed mine and I am
comfortable with them and with my faith.

I will add one thing that may or may not assist you in your conclusions. The
entire first chapter of the story came to me quite suddenly and almost
verbatim. I awoke one morning with it in my mind and set it on paper. That was
five years ago. I kept it and would occasionally sit down and try to figure
out where to go with the story but was never able to develop it. The Lord
Byron documents did not come into my possession until just recently. One
reading of them and I knew where I was going. An almost exact same first
chapter was included with the documents..

If I was divinely inspired than I say to you Her Will Is Done, She is Known.
If I was not than I will simply say that I hope you enjoyed the story. Thank
You for reading it.