Don’t Ring That Bell, Roxanne!

 

“I have an idea, Cathy, let’s go to the cemetery and see if Roxanne is awake!”

My best friend, Jill, was always bringing up crazy things to do. The last time I spent the night with her, she proposed that we sneak out after midnight and dress up like ghosts and scare people. Not wanting to seem like a fuddy dud, I went along. We were hiding on the side of the road when we saw some car lights headed our way. We jumped out and began flapping our sheets up and down, trying to be as spooky as we knew how. Old man Felty, after swerving and running into the embankment, jumped out of his car and ran screaming down the road away from the ‘ghosts.’ We found out later that he had a little too much of farmer Bill’s moonshine that night, but, it was a good thing because he swore off alcohol for the foreseeable future.

“Who the heck is Roxanne?”

Jill grinned and popped a piece of chocolate in her mouth. “She’s buried in the cemetery down the road and there’s a bell on her grave.”

Looking confused, I asked her, “Why is there a bell on her grave?”

“Well, in the olden days, sometimes people were thought to be dead but, just in case they weren’t, there had to be a backup plan. Someone would put a string in the coffin that was connected to a bell outside of the grave. If they woke up in the casket, all they had to do was ring the bell and people would come running and dig them out.”

I nodded. Jill knew all kinds of stuff, so I figured she knew what she was talking about. “What if they woke up at night when everybody was asleep, and no one heard the bell ringing?”

Jill shivered and grimaced. “Maybe they had a cemetery guard on watch day and night, listening for the ringing of the bells.”

I shook my head. “You couldn’t pay me enough to stay in a cemetery all night.”

“It’s not so scary in the day.”

Shrugging my shoulders, I said, “Okay, let’s go see Roxanne.”

The cemetery was just about a half mile from Jill’s house, but it was uphill the whole way and already hot outside. We were panting and out of breath by the time we got to the gate. It wasn’t locked so Jill lifted the lever and motioned for me to follow her. 

We began tiptoeing around the graves like the Grinch in Whoville. I couldn’t help but giggle and then Jill shushed me.  She pointed to some small gravestones that were similar and all in a row “I think those are all soldier’s graves from the civil war. The stones are so worn that you can barely read them,” she said.

Careful not to step where I thought they were buried, I tried to read the stones, but the writing was ineligible. The next row had a huge grave marker that had a picture of a man and a woman. It had a cross and ‘forever in our hearts’ printed under their names.  I thought it was a little creepy and odd to have a photo on a grave, especially in full color. 

Jill whispered, “Look at these. They’re all babies.”

I looked at the small graves. One had an engraving of Jesus carrying a sheep. I thought about my aunt Sharon. Her baby died when it was just a few days old. Did she have a grave? My mom never said anything about it. 

I watched Jill walk purposefully towards a grave next to the fence. She waved me over and mouthed, “Here it is! Here’s Roxanne!” Jill bent down and motioned towards the bell. “It’s not very big but I guess it would do the trick.”

Thankfully, the bell wasn’t ringing, not that someone who died in 1903 would be waking up and pulling the bell string. The air was hot and still, the only noise being a cow mooing down the road.

Jill patted the ground next to her. “Let me tell you the story of Roxanne. I heard it from my dad, and he heard it from his dad.” 

I sat down, my knees up and my arms wrapped around them waiting to hear about this lady with a bell on her grave. I was assuming that she was the only grave to have one. “Is it true or are you making it up?”

“Oh, it’s true all right. Cross my heart and hope to die and stick a needle in my eye.”

I had shorts on, and my legs were already beginning to get itchy. I watched a honeybee land on a dandelion close to my shoe and then looked at Jill. “Is it a scary story?” Jill knew I scared easily.

Jill shrugged. “Yeah, a little bit, but you’ll love it.” Jill put her hair behind her ears and then clasped her hands. “So, Roxanne was the prettiest girl that anyone around here had ever seen. Her hair was dark, almost black, and it fell all the way to her waist. She also had the bluest eyes, but they were a light blue and so piercing that men just fell into a trance when they looked at her.

“Her skin was white and creamy and …”

I held up my hand and stopped Jill. “Okay, okay. She was pretty. Get to the story.”

Jill held her hands out in irritation. “The fact that she was so beautiful is a major part of the story.”

“Fine.”

Jill continued. “Roxanne had a twin sister, and her name was Hannah.”

Jill smiled in a snarky kind of way. “Hannah was as ugly as Roxanne was pretty. Her hair was as red as Roxanne’s was black and she had a bad case of acne. Her eyes were the same piercing blue, but she wore thick glasses on account of being cross-eyed. Although Roxanne was beautiful, she was also, shall we say, dumb as a rock. Hannah was ugly but smarter than five Roxanne’s put together. Their father was the pastor of that church right up the road, next to the swinging bridge. Their mother died when the twins were just babies.

“Every Sunday after church, Roxanne and Hannah would stand on either side of their father on the front steps greeting people as they left the church. Roxanne would smile her pretty smile and Hannah would stand there all mad because the boys would make fools of themselves trying to get her attention. One particular boy, by the name of Johnny Jones, was Roxanne’s favorite but nobody knew that Hannah loved him too. Every Sunday Johnny would beg Pastor Duncan to walk Roxanne to his house where they usually ate lunch. His mama was a great cook and often invited the Duncan’s over for lunch after church.

One Sunday, as usual, Johnny asked Pastor Duncan if he could walk Roxanne but that day, the Pastor asked if Johnny could walk Hannah as well, so he could take care of some business at the church first. Hannah’s heart skipped a beat but then fell when she saw the look on Roxanne and Johnny’s faces. Of course, they didn’t want Hannah to tag along. Normally Hannah would have let the two lovebirds have their time alone, but that day Hannah had had it with being always left behind. She wondered how Johnny could love someone so stupid. Didn’t he realize that Roxanne’s pretty looks would soon fade but she would always be dumb? Hannah’s daddy said that one day Hannah would outgrow her awkwardness and bloom into a beautiful girl just like her mama did. Her daddy never lied but it was sure taking a long time.

Once Johnny and Roxanne realized that Hannah was going to walk with them, despite their obvious scorn, they both sighed and continued towards the path in the woods that would lead them to Johnny’s house. Hannah walked ahead but she could hear Roxanne giggling. As she turned and looked back, her sister’s face was red. ‘What are you looking at four-eyes?’ Johnny said.

“Embarrassed and angry, Hannah turned away and began stomping her feet towards the creek, mumbling about rudeness. She wondered how someone so handsome could be so mean. She tried to jumped across, but her boots landed in some mud, and she sank to her ankles. She could hear her sister and Johnny snickering. She pulled both boots out of the mud making loud sucking noises as she did so. As she was wiping the slimy mud off of her shoes with leaves, she watched Johnny lift Roxanne gracefully over the creek, making sure her feet landed on dry ground. His hands lingered a little too long on her sister’s hips as he looked longingly into her eyes. It was right then that Hannah had decided that she had had enough.”

Jill pulled a piece of candy out of her pocket and handed me one. We both began sucking our peppermints while Jill continued her story.

“Instead of walking on, Hannah cleared her throat and looked pointedly at the couple. She had an idea, one that had been on her mind for a while. Now was the perfect opportunity. ‘Did you know there’s a cave on the other side of this ridge?’

“Johnny looked at Hannah with contempt. ‘There is not. I know of every cave around here.’

“Hannah shrugged her shoulders. ‘Don’t believe me. I don’t care. Hawk told me about it, and he should know because he’s half Indian.’ Hawk was their housekeeper Cassidy’s son. His dad was an Indian and he had died in a mining accident.

Jill said, “Before the whites settled here in Mendota, there were bunches of Indians. Arrowheads are everywhere you look. She continued, “Johnny still looked at Hannah like he didn’t believe her. Hannah said, ‘I’ll show you if you want me to.’ Roxanne looked skeptical as well and said, ‘Come on Johnny, I don’t want to see some old dirty cave. I’m hungry.’ That was Roxanne’s biggest challenge. She liked to eat, and Hannah knew that her sister was gaining weight, especially around her middle. 

“Unfortunately for Roxanne, Johnny was intrigued, if only to prove that Hannah was lying about the cave. He grabbed Roxanne’s hand and said, ‘Lead the way.’

“Hannah began the trek through the woods, purposefully going through some briar bushes along the way just to aggravate her sister. One long limb caught Roxanne’s perfect hair, pulling it away from her head. ‘Ow!’

“Looking back, Hannah saw Johnny trying to fix the wayward strand, tucking it behind her sister’s ear in a very familiar way. She wondered just how close Johnny and her sister had gotten. Shaking her head, Hannah continued, getting closer to the cave. Finally, they were right in front of it and Hannah stopped. Johnny looked around. ‘Well, where is it?’

“Hannah pointed down. ‘Right there.’ It was just a hole about the size of a small boulder, but it was covered in vines and brush.

“Johnny got down on his knees and looked in the hole. ‘Are you sure that’s a cave?’ It was so dark that Johnny couldn’t see anything.”

‘Yes, if you get a torch and hold it down there you can see inside. I think some Indians used to go in there to hide. Hawk said that sometimes you can hear ghosts screaming like warriors in battle. It’s very spooky.’

“Roxanne whined, ‘Let’s go. I don’t like it here. It gives me the creeps.’

“Ignoring her sister, Hannah said, ‘Hawk said there’s a bigger opening but it’s very well hidden and it’s hard to find.’ She could tell that Johnny was very intrigued which was suiting her purpose. If she could just get Johnny away from Roxanne for once, he would find that what Hannah lacked in looks, she more than made up for in intelligence and conversation. She told him, ‘I can take you there later if you want me too.’ Roxanne was afraid of the dark so hopefully her annoying sister would stay home, and maybe eat another piece of cake.

“They made plans to meet later where Hannah would show Johnny the other opening of the cave.

“That afternoon, Hannah was waiting with matches and some unlit torches when she saw Johnny and her sister walk up. Hannah had changed into older, more sensible clothes but of course, Roxanne was still dressed in her Sunday best. Hannah couldn’t believe she showed up but tried to hide her aggravation. ‘Let’s go; it will take at least 30 minutes to get there. Are you sure you want to go, Roxanne?’ 

“Her sister looked irritated and shook her head. ‘Not really but I guess I have to.’ She looked pointedly at Johnny who only grinned. 

“’You’ll be fine Roxy, I promise.’ 

“Hannah turned around and began walking before they could see her disgusted look. Thankfully, her sister was able to keep up with them and only had to stop a couple of times to ‘catch her breath.’ They made it to the cave opening which was only large enough to enter if you stooped down. It was also covered in brush making it easy to pass by without noticing. 

“They lit the torches and slowly shuffled into the mouth of the cave. They felt the dampness and heard the slow trickle of water as they walked further in and were finally able to stand up. Hannah moved to one of the walls and held her torch up. ‘If you look really close, you can see the etchings made by the Indians.’ Growing up in their small town, Hannah had heard the many tales of the whites driving out the Indians years before. Mendota was even an Indian name, meaning ‘Bend in the river.’

“Johnny held up his torch and traced his finger on one of the etchings. Hannah could tell he was impressed but she could also tell that her sister was not. She was hugging her arms, either from being cold or scared or both. 

“Hawk, who didn’t have many friends, had showed Hannah the cave and told her a story about an Indian that had lost his life right outside that very cave, trying to protect his family who were hidden inside. He said the cave was haunted and to never go there at night. Hannah didn’t believe in ghosts, but she told them the story anyway, embellishing a bit here and there just so her sister would be scared. Sure enough, it worked, and Roxanne was shaking like a leaf.

“’That’s enough, Hannah. I know you’re just trying to scare me, just like you always do.’ She turned to Johnny and grabbed his hand. ‘Let’s go. This is stupid.’

“For once, Johnny ignored his beloved ‘Roxy’ and turned to Hannah. ‘How far does the cave go back?’

“Knowing she had Johnny’s complete attention, she pointed towards a dark area, ‘It’s pretty big but Hawk hasn’t explored the whole thing. Just up here is an underground spring. Want to see?’

’Heck yeah!’

“Roxanne tried to pull Johnny back. ‘Please, Johnny, I’m scared. Let’s go now. I don’t feel good about this place.’

“He tried to cajole Roxanne by saying, ‘It’s okay darlin,’ I’ll never let anything happen to my girl.’

“Hannah tried not to throw up and turned to walk toward the spring. Remembering about the drop off, she turned back to warn them when all of a sudden, she heard her sister screaming. Terrified, she held the torch closer to see what had happened, but the screaming stopped suddenly and only a deafening silence had ensued. Johnny’s eyes were as round as saucers as he scanned the crevice down below, holding his torch. They both flinched when they saw Roxanne laying at the bottom, looking like a rag doll, her head and limbs laying at odd angles.

“Johnny yelled, ‘Roxanne!’ but the only answer was his echo. Hannah and Johnny looked at each other with terror all over their faces, not knowing what to do or what to say. It had happened so fast. One minute they were all fine and in an instant later her sister was dead. All the mean things that Hannah had ever thought about her twin sister popped into her head. She also remembered the times when they were close and could practically read each other’s minds. She saw her beautiful sister smiling her beautiful smile. Hannah began screaming uncontrollably. She couldn’t stop.”

My mouth was hanging open in shock. “I can’t believe she died! What happened next?”

Jill sniffed and shook her head. “Hannah’s father was so devastated that he refused to believe that his beautiful daughter was dead. He insisted that they put the bell on her grave in case she woke up like she was Lazarus or something. Johnny sat by her grave day and night praying for a miracle. 

The funny thing was that her dad was right about one thing. As the years went by Hannah turned out to be as stunning as her sister. Her acne cleared up and her eyes straightened out but being beautiful didn’t make her happy. Everyone, including herself, blamed Hannah for Roxanne’s death. She never married and died an old maid. Her final wishes were that she be cremated so that nobody would visit her grave and hopefully forget that she ever existed. She wanted her ashes spread inside the cave where her sister died. People say that you can still hear Hannah crying on the mountain where the cave is.”

Jill and Cathy sat in silence, contemplating the sad tale.

Finally, Jill stood up. “Let’s go home and get a coke. It’s so hot and I’m thirsty.”

Cathy got up as well. She could feel the sweat trickling down her back. The air was stagnant, not even a touch of a breeze to cool things off. As they turned to walk out of the cemetery, Roxanne’s bell began ringing. It wasn’t just a jingle; it was intense and loud. Both girls looked at each other in terror and began running as if their life depended on it.