Charles Kelley
“Fathom” is a story of well-constructed, vividly portrayed characters, well formed into a complex story of love, loyalty, betrayal, romance and seduction. It tells how small-town America can be taken out of the hands of the people. Most of all, this is the story of a woman, a telepathic woman that has never-ending nightmares about her daughter being brutally abused, abused by a man she thinks may be her own husband. A nightmare where she hears her daughter scream to her for help, help that she searches and searches for a way to give her. From the very first paragraph you will be taken into the gripping, powerful and compelling descriptions of thrilling fast action mystery. Why are so many teenagers becoming pregnant in this typical American town? Why did an abortion go so wrong it nearly destroyed one’s life? Here then, is a novel the reader will find hard to put down, with numerous twists and turns to keep you guessing about the thrilling end before you get there.
This is a novel, not for the timid, but, for the true try to solve it, mystery and thriller reader.
Enjoy.
Charles Kelley was born in the Tennessee foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains. In his younger years, he knew the hard backbreaking work required of the whole family to make their burley tobacco producing farm grind out the just get by living of most of the family owned farms of the era. As a teenager, he looked to the future and entered a diesel engineering school to prepare himself for what turned out to be a very rewarding, as well as exciting twenty-eight year career in the United States Coast Guard. Retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer, Grade W-4. He says the Coast Guard he served in isn’t exactly what he envisioned it to be when he enlisted in the early fifties. His service placed him aboard seven different sea duty ships, started as a fireman watch-stander and eventually running Main Propulsion. Some of his foreign duty service even placed him in the Sahara Desert during the Arab, Israeli conflict we know as the “Six Day War”.
Mr. Kelley, in his pursuit of writing as part of his retirement career, feels he owes something to his style to Alfred Hitchcock, whom he emulates.
David Janssen and Charles met on the set of the “Harry O” series that often used the Coast Guard in the segments. David happened to get a look at a manuscript of Charles’ and told him that he was a hell of a storyteller. David told him that he would rather read a storyteller’s work anytime than to have to have a dictionary to try to find out what some literary giant was trying to get across to the reader.
Mr. Kelley says some of his fondest memories will always be of his Cherokee heritage in those beloved Great Smokey foothills. His ancestors came from Ireland some twelve generations ago and either bought or stole Cherokee wives from the Caroline Cherokees.
Charles Kelley says that after you travel around the world a few times and really get to see it for what it is outside the United States, it’s no wonder you feel like getting on your knees and kiss the ground when you finally get back and thank GOD for allowing you to be an American.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Country Club was putting on the annual New Year’s Eve party. As usual, all the prominent people from Willow Valley were there, the same as they were every year. Mark and Adele Newton said their good night to everyone and departed for home shortly after midnight.
“I’m glad I gave Arthur the night off and decided to drive tonight,” Mark told his wife as he pulled out of the parking lot. “Maybe I’ll park it somewhere and put the make on you.”
“Are you sure you’re not over the hill, old man? After all, you haven’t gotten it up lately, you know,” Adele chided him.
“To tell you the truth, Adele, the reason I wanted to leave a little early was because I’m not feeling all that well and would like to get home and relax.”
“Are you feeling ill, Mark?”
“No, just so damned tired all of a sudden that everything feels like it’s made of lead. My arms, legs, all of me.”
“Maybe you better pay Doc a visit tomorrow.”
“You’re probably right. I had a drink with him tonight and he told me I wasn’t looking my usual self and reminded me I hadn’t had a check-up in over two years. I didn’t realize it had been that long. Where does the time go so fast anyway?”
Adele moved over next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder as he turned the Mercedes onto the bridge toward Willow Valley. Mark placed his right arm around her and pulled her tight against him as he turned the car off the bridge and started down the steep hill into the small town stretched along the river bank below them.
Abbey was in a circle of women making small talk with them when suddenly she became frozen still. She found Robert and began talking in short, almost breathless words. “Robert, we have to leave, we have to leave now. I think something terrible is about to happen.”
“What do you mean, Abbey? What’s wrong?” Robert asked his shaking wife.
“I don’t know for sure. We have to leave now though please, Robert,” she was pleading with him.
“Okay, honey, come on. Let’s get our coats.”
In the car he asked her if they were going home.
“I’m not sure, Robert. Just drive towards town.”
As Robert crossed the bridge and made the sharp left turn onto the single lane road leading into town. He saw the flashing blue lights just below them. He pulled the car to a stop by the police car and got out. Abbey remained in the car, speechless, frozen, eyes wide open.
Mike Bishop, the Chief of Police, came over to Robert and placed his hands on Robert’s shoulders and looked past him at Abbey, still sitting in the car as he began to speak to Robert. Abbey saw Robert drop his head forward and cup his face in his hands, then, both men walked over to the car and Mike opened the door for Abbey to step out. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as Robert took her in his arms.
“You don’t have to say anything,” she whispered in his ear, “I already know. They went over the edge.”
“My God, Abbey, how did you know?” Robert asked his wife.
“I can’t explain it to you Robert, but I knew.”
She turned him loose then walked over to the edge of the road and looked down towards the river. There in the light of the full moon and the lights from the bridge above, shimmering in the water, she saw her parent’s car.
The Mercedes was lying on its top, mangled into the huge rocks of the river’s edge. The weight of the car falling the hundred feet had flattened the top all the way to the floor of the car. She knew her parents had been killed instantly when the car landed.
“I’m sorry, Abbey,” Mike tried to console her, “I saw them go over the edge. I had just left the desk at midnight and was heading up to the club to wish everyone a Happy New Year. The car had made the turn from the bridge and suddenly swerved to the left and went straight over the edge. Was Arthur driving them?”
“No, Dad was driving,” Abbey managed to say.
“An ambulance from the clinic is on the way now. That’s their siren coming up the river road now.”
A few minutes later the word came from the ambulance below over Mike’s car radio that both car occupants were dead.
“Robert, you can’t let her go down there and see them like this, take her home. I’ll have Doc stop by in a few minutes to see her. I’ll go up to the club and get him.
Abbey was too much in shock to argue as Robert put her in the car and drove her home. Dr. Norton arrived a few minutes later and gave Abbey some sedation to calm her down and make her sleep the rest of the night. When she was asleep, Robert called Arthur and Tina to tell them what happened.
Before Dr. Norton left, Robert demanded an autopsy on Mark Newton to try to find out what happened. The doctor agreed it was necessary and said it would be done before morning.
Robert and Abbey went to the clinic the next morning and Dr. Norton advised them that the findings of the autopsy revealed her father suffered a stroke and most likely became frozen at the steering wheel causing the accident.
That night Robert watched his wife as they lay in bed. The nightmare she was having must have been horrible. But something different happened this time, something that frightened Robert. Things in the room began to make slight movement at first and later began flying all over the room. Cosmetics from the dresser were slamming into the walls and breaking. Robert heard Abbey scream out her parent’s names and then came the familiar, “Fathom, Fathom.” Now Robert began to feel the bed tremble, then shake violently, then move across the room slamming into the opposite wall. He could see Megan standing in their doorway now with her hands at the sides of her head, her face drawn tight with wrinkles and wide open, dilated eyes, a face just like her mother’s. Robert managed to grab hold of Abbey and began to shake her violently to wake her up, but instead found himself hurled through the air to slam into a wall across the room where the bed had been before. He managed to get to his feet and ran toward Megan. He reached out to touch her shoulders, but was again thrown across the room as Megan raised her arms toward her father.
Robert was terrified now and knew he had no control over the strange phenomenon taking place. He could feel the entire house begin to shake and knew he had to do something, but what? Finally, without knowing why, he screamed as loud as he could yell, “Fathom, Fathom,” and as suddenly as it had all started, everything became calm again.
Megan walked over to the bed and put her arms around her mother and began to talk through the tears both of them were now letting go. “Mom, I just had the strangest feeling that I was another person and that terrible things were happening to me. It seemed so real. I’m frightened, Mom.”
“I wish I had an explanation for it Megan, but I don’t know what it means.”
Robert walked over to the night table and picked up the phone and punched the button. Finally he heard the familiar voice on the other end, “Doc, Robert Fallon here, get your ass out to our house as fast as you can. We’ve got to see you right away.”
