Jana Nolan
Earth Star Publications
Eckert, Colorado
FIRST EDITION
First Printing October 2018
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2018 Jana Nolan
ISBN 0-944851-55-5
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
1. Sadness and Words Spoken . . . . . . . . . .1
2. Visit from Unexpected Visitors . . . . . . 14
3. Hiding and Watching . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4. The Basement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5. Another Time and Place . . . . . . . . . . 35
6. Trip to Henderson . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
7. Upsetting News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
8. Making a Decision . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
9. Night Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
10. Memories and Questions . . . . . . . . . 70
11. An Agreement to Help . . . . . . . . . . 79
12. Visiting Aunt Carol . . . . . . . . . . . 88
13. Revealing Information . . . . . . . . . . 97
14. Tea and More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
15. Trapped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
16. Darkness Was Near . . . . . . . . . . . 134
17. Our Escape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
18. Happiness, Hendereson, and What's Next . 147
INTRODUCTION
For those of you that aren't familiar with any of my books, or my style of writing, I would like to say that this one took me on a journey in my mind to bring you stories that will thrill and chill you.
I grew up in a small town called Montrose, Colorado. Being a country girl, many of my stories revolve around country living or a small town atmosphere.
The title, "Return to THE OLD HENDERSON MINE," was chosen by me because of a remake that I wanted to write to take you back in time to a story that was written many years ago. I added on for your enjoyment of this book.
Sit back and get ready for a story that will give your thoughts a ride of a lifetime. After reading my novel, remember that this book is only fiction, or is it?
I will be taking you in two different directions. In the beginning, you will read about an older woman who will tell her story of what she and her husband encountered in a small town in Ireland. She then goes on to tell about what her parents found in a small town called Henderson, Colorado. With a unique gift that she inherited from her mother and grandmother, she explains how all three of them saved the lives of many people through mental telepathy, or better known as "Mind Power."
As with all of my books, I try to give my readers a sense of what could happen to them on any day. Fact or Fiction?
Now that I have shared with you a brief summary of what this book is about, it is up to you, the reader, to decide if this tale is capable of happening, or if it is just something that an author such as myself completely made up to captivate her readers.
However you interpret this book, remember that there are strange happenings every day that surround us, or that we find ourselves in the middle of because of bad choices. With all of this in mind, let yourself wander back in time to a different place and time period that will make you think.
Chapter 1
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Today is the day scheduled for my grand-daughter and me to make a long trip from Ireland to Colorado, where we will visit an old mine in a small town called Henderson.
Several years ago, my mother and father went there on an assignment from the Ridgewood Times newspaper. At that time there were many occurrences happening there that the owner of the newspaper wanted to investigate. He wanted an article to be written by them as this would be big news for a small town.
My name is Amy Peterson Allen. I grew up in California. There I went to a university, where I became a doctor. As I sit at my kitchen table, looking out the window, I am remembering my life and what brought me here.
Many years ago, when the funeral car passed through the cemetery, I turned my head in disbelief toward the window. I had chosen to look one last time at the grave site surrounded by fresh bouquets of flowers.
That day my eyes were filled with tears of sorrow and grief. The person who was lying still and silent in the ground in her coffin was very dear to me. She was my grandmother.
I felt like a big part of my world had been taken from me too soon. Her wisdom, smile and cheerful laugh I would miss deeply.
A few weeks before that day, while I was visiting a town in Ireland, I was offered a job at one of the
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hospitals here as I had been a doctor in L.A. for several years and was having doubts at that time on whether I should leave my home to move to a new place and country.
I was the youngest born to my mother and father. My sister, Karen, was always the one in school to excel in everyday activities ... and life itself. Her genetics are similar to those of our father. She has blond hair, blue eyes and a beautiful smile. In her senior year she was voted prom queen, cheerleader, and the most popular girl in her class. I, on the other hand, was the one stuck in the lab, working on a project for biology. After high school, Karen married a man she had met at the university that she attended. He came from a rich family that had made their money from selling textiles.
My older brother, Mark, is also a successful business man. He never got married, and likes being single. He is a quiet man who doesn't talk much. When our mother and father retired from the Ridgewood Times newspaper, they decided to buy the company. My father asked Mark to take over as executive manager and he accepted.
That day of my grandmother's funeral, we drove slowly through the cemetery. At that time I was reminded of a time from my past. My friends and I would spend countless hours playing and hiding behind different tombstones of those people who were lying motionless in the ground throughout eternity. When nighttime came, there were shadows from the trees that would scare my friends. Most of the time they would leave. None of them understood how I could stay in there all alone.
My words to them were, "Why be afraid....as we all know that eventually we will end up here."
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The thought of death never scared me. I believe that no one really dies and that each person lying motionless in the cemetery cannot only see me, but will also keep me company while I am there with them. I was sure that some of my friends thought of me as being strange and unusual. Everyone knows that a good news reporter has to have a good imagination. Otherwise, where in the world would they get some of those strange stories that they write about? My family were newspaper people and so I did come from good and intelligent people.
With me feeling empty inside, I wasn't ready to say goodbye. I knew that she wouldn't stay alive forever, and it would take time for me to adjust to her being gone.
The day before my grandmother passed away, I went over to speak to her about Ireland. I had decided to leave L.A. and move there. I had awakened early that morning and, for some reason, I was having doubts about my decision to leave. After much thought about it, I left my condo and drove up to Santa Barbara to talk to her about it.
When I climbed out of my car and walked up her sidewalk to the front door, I could smell cookies baking in her oven.
We went into her kitchen, where I sat and watched her make chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. As we talked occasionally, I would take a piece of dough and put it in my mouth.
Grandmother would softly tap my hand and say, "Amy, you are a doctor! You know that eating raw dough isn't good for you." She was right ... I did know better.
As the cookies baked she sat down beside me to
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talk. "Amy, there is something that I need to talk to you about. I'm an old woman that's not too sure how much longer she has to spend with you. I've had a good life. Plus I yearn to be with your grandfather again. As you know, you are the image of your mother. There has always been something special about you. We both know what it is that I am referring to."
At that time I smiled back at her. I knew what she was saying. I knew that I was different than Karen and Mark. I didn't want to talk to her about death, so I changed the subject to something else.
She encouraged me to take the job in Ireland. She told me that there was a time in her life when she wanted to visit that country. It was after she had married my grandfather. He had worked many years at a mine in Henderson, Colorado. They had a friend who was Irish, and they would sit for hours talking to him and listening to his Irish brogue.
She told me that my eyes were her eyes, and she could look through a window into the very soul of me. She said that she knew what I wanted to say or think before I did. She was more than a grandmother to me, she was a huge part of my being! She then put cookie dough on the end of my nose and we laughed and joked about everything.
I had to stop thinking about the past and return to what was happening that day. The funeral car stopped in front of my parent's home. I turned my head and looked at my family. Karen was wiping her eyes and nose. She continued to sob while her husband, Ted held her hand and tried his best to comfort her and wipe away the tears that filled her eyes. There was no way that anyone could stop the pain that was running through our hearts, not just that day, but for the rest
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of our lives.
Mark was staring out the window with his pipe firmly in his mouth. He, too, was trying not to show his true emotions. He had a sick idea that a real man never cries. When he didn't think anyone was watching, a tear drop would fall from his eyes.
My mother's head was resting snugly on my father's shoulder. She had a soft smile on her lips. I could tell that she, too, was thinking about Grandmother.
After all of us had climbed out of the funeral car, my father wrapped his arms around my mother's waist. Ted held Karen, and Mark walked with me into our house. In our minds at that time, we all felt as if life would never be the same without our precious grandmother there to lead the way for all of us.
As we entered the house I noticed that the mirror in the entrance way was tilted. I went over to straighten it. As I looked at the glass I saw what I believed to be an apparition of Grandmother staring back at me! I thought that maybe my imagination was making me see something that I wanted to see one more time.
When I looked back at the mirror, the apparition had vanished! I wanted to tell my family what I thought I saw. Instead, I decided to wait until another time and place.
My father took my mother into the living room to rest. Karen kept telling Ted how she should have spent more time with Grandmother, and Mark stood at the fireplace, puffing on his pipe. He still looked very distant.
After dinner I told everyone that I was leaving. When I left, I drove to Grandmother's home, in hopes of seeing her again. As I drove down the interstate I could feel the wind blowing my hair against my face.
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After I arrived at her home, I parked in the driveway and walked to the back of the house. Under the WELCOME mat was a spare key. I let myself in. On the shelf inside the back door were candles that she kept in case of an emergency. I took a match and lit one. Then I walked through the house and up the stairs to her bedroom.
As I stood there looking around the room, I saw many things that reminded me of Grandmother. I walked over to a stool in front of her big dresser mirror that I knew so well. That was the place where she would sit to brush her long hair. We had spent many hours in there talking.
When I gazed into the mirror, I saw an image start to appear and it was the image of Grandmother. She had come back once more to visit me. I looked at her eyes and said, "Grandmother, what is it that you want to say to me?"
I thought that some way she would speak to me and I could hear her voice again. I waited to hear her talk to me. I heard nothing.
At that moment I realized that there was only one way that I could communicate with her. That would be for me to use the one thing that we both shared. That certain thing was called our "Mind Power."
I looked deep into her eyes and listened with my mind. I could hear her say, "Amy, my darling granddaughter, I have come back to you, to tell you that our family is in horrible danger! When you were small, your mother and father told you the story about their trip to Henderson, Colorado. I'm not sure you believed them. What they told you about is true!
"When they left there, they thought they had destroyed all of the evil that was down in the old
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Henderson Mine. Later, when they had returned to L.A. at the time of their wedding, your mother talked with her mind to a man who had been transformed into one of the creatures of the night. He liked your mother before he was killed, and never forgot about her, even in death. He told her that some of the evil ones had escaped! The one that was feared the most was not destroyed. He also escaped! He swore to get even with every member of our family. It is time now! They want the revenge that they didn't get at the time of the fire and explosion.
"What I am saying, Amy, is this ... The Nosferatu are back! Karen and Mark are too weak. They would only be at their mercy. Your mother and father are too old to fight them again. It is up to you now to save your family! If the time comes when you need help, Amy, you can bring me back to help you. Be brave, and don't trust anyone unless you know that they are safe!"
At that time, I watched Grandmother vanish. I stayed there on her stool, staring at the mirror, hoping she would return. She didn't.
I had known all my life that I was different from Karen and Mark. I was born with mental telepathy. I guess that is why I can communicate with other people without them knowing it. Also, I was blessed with what my grandmother and my mother called, "Mind Power." All three of us shared it. With this power I can control objects in a manner that would benefit myself or a purpose. Up until that time in my life, I had found no need to use this power, but after hearing my grandmother's words to me, I knew that it was up to me to protect my family from the outrageous creatures of the night.
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