Middle Grade Novel

• The Spiritualists

  Oliver had always known that Gran grew up on Lookout Mountain. What he didn’t know was that her dying wish would send him back there to uncover a century-old mystery about their family, the mountain, and a secret group of spiritualists that met in the long-forgotten Natural Bridge Park. Was Oliver’s great-great-grandfather a part of this group? Can Oliver find clues in the cryptic journals he left behind? And will he uncover a secret that changed the course of his family forever?

  Oliver knew she was gone even before his mom came to the door. In the early morning light, as the branches of the oak scratched along the balcony outside his window, Oliver had felt the light touch of a soft, wrinkled hand on his cheek. He didn’t open his eyes, yet he saw her, her long, pale nightgown, her soft strawberry white hair, and her piercing blue eyes, alive still. 'I love you, Oliver. You are not alone,' she said. And then she dissappeared.
  
  Oliver stayed in bed for the next hour, listening to the shuffling feet of the nurse padding from his grandmother’s bedroom to the kitchen and back again. He heard his mother crying softly and pictured her sitting at the bedside, holding that soft wrinkled hand. By the time the hall light flooded his room, blocked in part by his mom’s silhouette, he was prepared.
  
  'Oliver?' she whispered.
  
  'It’s o.k. Mom, I know.'
  
  She walked to his bed and sank down next to him, wrapping him in a hug. Oliver hugged her back and inhaled the lingering scent of lavender, of Gran, still tangled in his mother’s hair.