Jake unlocked the front door and hurried to the kitchen area to turn off the alarm he had installed when he first bought the house knowing he would spending a lot of time away on trips and the part of the island where the house was located was isolated and there were always people walking the beaches at all hours.  He also had a security service check the house each night to make sure everything was ok. Even then he was not entirely comfortable leaving the house for long periods of time but it was part of his life so he tried to accept it.

Finally getting the alarm turned off before the security service was signaled he took the time to slowly walk through the house turning on all the lights and making sure everything was as he left it four weeks earlier. Satisfied with his inspection he took his bags to the bedroom and decided he would empty them out the next day, tonight he just wanted to relax and get back into the mood of the house and the island.

Getting a soda out of the frig he walked over to the bar and grabbed a glass and a fifth of Makers Mark and headed for the deck that faced the ocean and turned on the outside lights as he slide open the sliding door.  The cushions for the chairs were still in the house so he set the glass and bottle down on the table and went back inside to get some cushions for the lounge.

While he was there he decided he would take the time to finally get a good look at the diaries he had carried back from New York. Getting them out of his carry on bag he headed back to the deck and the smell of the ocean mist flowing up from the beach. God how he missed this place he thought as he setting into the lounge now complete with soft cushions.

Reaching over to the table he opened the soda and poured it into his glass and mixed in a small amount of whiskey to give just a hint of bourbon taste.  Too much and the taste became bitter just a little and it gave the soda an entirely different taste that was pleasing to the palette.

Settling deeper into the cushion he looked around the deck and out on to the ocean and wondered where Janice was tonight. After a year he was still thinking about her and the house when he came home always brought back memories he did not want to lose.  He had not heard from her since the day she had left.  He worried for months because she never got in touch but finally realized if she wanted him and wanted to come home she would.  There was little he could do except wait for her or go on with his life.

There was no doubt he could have tracked her down but that was not what she wanted and he respected her wishes. ‘Perhaps one day she will return if not then hopefully I can find a life without her” thinking that knowing he would never get over her.  A man Jake’s age would find only one true love and his came late in life and he knew there would never be another.

Finally getting comfortable he set the glass down, adjusted the light behind the lounge where it would shine on the book as he opened it and started glancing through the first book.  The book had the name of Leanna on the front written in long flowing letters and a heart drew under the name.  Opening the book and fanning through the pages he saw there were only seven pages written in. Going back to the first page he started reading the words written over one hundred and fifty years ago.

The pages were filled with the thoughts and dreams of a young girl who appeared to be self centered and above all conceited.  Every line was about her and nothing else. No reference to her home family or the good and bad times of her life. Jake saw this book was a waste of time so he dropped it on the deck beside of the lounge and picked up the next book.

The writing was not as good and the contents were the same the girl had started the book complaining about the mean older sister that made her do things that were beneath a person of standing such as she.  Apparently the family was rich and the girl had been brought up to let other people do for her.  There were but ten pages filled out and each was full of nonsense and the thread of hating her older sister.  Jake closed the book and let it fall to the deck also. 

Well one more book to go and then on to the papers maybe there will be something in them. These books are a total waste of time. He picked up the final book and took off the pink ribbon that still held it shut.  This one had never been opened.  Mr. Donaldson had opened the first two and decided it was a waste of time and threw the lot back on the bed and forgot about them. Perhaps Jake should do the same.

The writing on the first page was bold and was not as feminine as the first two but had a style of a person who liked to write.  Jake thumbed through the pages and saw the entire book had been written in to the last page.  Well this might be some interesting reading after all.  Going back to the first page he started reading from the first line.

This is the diary of Jaclene Lowe the daughter of Samuel and Hannah Lowe landowners of Damien County in the state of Arkansas. This is the first passage I am writing in my diary.  I am fifteen years old and the eldest of three daughters.  I am writing a diary to keep track of my life on the largest farm in the state of Arkansas and to keep my most secret of thoughts at hand to review as I prepare myself for the role of taking over the farm someday and continuing the work of my Father, Samuel Lowe.

The land owned by my father consists of 14,00 acres of  bottom  land and 6000 acres of timber and hill land.  My father started the farm in the year of 1812 and built it up into what it is today in the year of 1863.  There are 45 people employed by my father and they work the mills and farmlands to produce crops and lumber for shipment to the cities in the north.

My mother, Jocelyn Lowe is the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Ackerman formerly of St. Louis, Missouri. She married my father in 1830 and I was the first born in the year of our lord 1833.  There are two younger sisters, Sarah Jane and Rebecca Lynn with Sarah Jane being the elder of the two.  Sarah Jane was born in the year of 1839 and Rebecca was born in the year of 1840.

It is my intention to be the owner of the land now owned by my father and to continue to nourish and develop the land as he has done in the years he has been working it.  I have no other thoughts or devices other than being a person who becomes a caretaker of what god has given us to care for.  While my sisters look to men and what they can give them I looked to myself and what I can give the world.  I seek not a man to provide for me but a change to prove to my father that I can run the farm.

Jake read the page again and still something did not feel right.  The writing was excellent, the spelling was correct but there was something wrong with the style.  Writing styles and words were different in the 19th century. It was more flowery with words not in use in modern times.  The text and style were the same as he used but, it was almost as if it was written yesterday.  Jake knew this was not the case. The use of words and phrases were one way of determining the age of a book and Jake had over the years become very adept at reading between the lines of antique books.

To make a forgery of an antique book was a long consuming process and there were very few people who would try to attempt the feat as there were easier antiques to copy and pass off as originals.

Jake picked up one of the other diaries and opened it to the first page and started to read.  The words style and spelling were exactly as it should be.

 He set the books down side by side and started studying the styles and words of each book.  The one written by the younger sister was sloppy at best but it did show the flowery words used in that century. Again Jake looked at the book of the older sister and it was astonishing the book had only one or two phrases and words that could be attributed to the 19^th century.

He looked further into the pages and saw they were all written in the same style and finally turned to the last page not to read as that would ruin the whole experience for him but to verify the style was the same.  Being a long time hardcore reader Jake used reading as a hobby and a way to pass the amount of time he had spent on planes and trains traveling around the world.  To learn about antiques and the research it took to find them required a large amount of reading and you had to enjoy the process or there was certain failure in your future. 

Jake closed the book of the younger sister and setting back into reading the last book he had taken up. Turning to the second page he focused on the content of the page and tried to stay away from the style of the text as he could not find an explanation in his mind for the way it was written and he wanted to find out more about the young lady who had written the story he was about read.

This is my second day of writing in my diary and I find I had many thoughts I want to put down but I believe it would be best to put down my thoughts concerning the farm and the things I am learning about the farm from the workers and my father.

My thoughts are running wild about the many things I learn everyday.  I spend as much time with my father as possible to avoid the tiresome boring work of the house and the constant whining of my sisters.

Mother, thankfully has two of the ladies married to the workers to help her run the large house and put up food for the winter months.  The garden is my territory now as I ask my father if I could take over the work of growing the truck garden food needed for canning and the daily table fare.  I am glad he allowed me to do something to help out my mother and contribute to the household chores without being in the house.  The garden gives me a place I can work with the land and learn when and how to plant the seeds and how to maintain the plants until time to harvest.

I have two of the young boys from the settlement who work in the truck garden in the mornings before they have to go to school and do their own chores at home.  They are really good workers and keep the weeds cleared out from the plants and the fence repaired to keep the deer out of the garden.

Jake thumbed through a few more pages and saw it was going to be a chore to get through some of the more boring passages relating to the farm life. He thought it odd the young lady did not mention having a boyfriend or even the mention of a man other than her father in any reference.  The reading was almost like reading a farm journal from the thirties.  He could not even gain a sense of the age of the young woman by her writing skills.

She could have been 20 years old and the writing would be the same.

          Jake turned the page and the writing got a little more interesting as he started to read.

          Mother and father went on a trip today to find grandfather Ackerman.  He has been missing for two weeks and mother is worried to death.   Grandfather has been in trouble for years and father has always had to pay his way out.  We are so sick of father having to leave home and go and find grandfather and bring him home every time he gets into trouble. He has brought many years of trouble and worry for mother and I wish he would just go away and never return.  Of course father will bring him back and we will have to put up with having him under foot until he wanders off again.

          Today mother checked the garden again to make sure I have planted the corn and beans in the rows she wanted.  She was surprised to find everything as it should be and complimented the boys and I on how well the garden looked.

          My sisters are getting so aggravating and selfish. All they want to do is set on the front porch and act like young ladies of leisure.  Father does not require any work from them and mother has given up on making them do anything.  Everything they do turns out  wrong and I have to redo it for them.

          Jake was tired from the trip and stressed out from dealing with people like Mr. Donaldson and Mr. Dawson. He found himself slowly slipping on into sleep several times before he finally gave up and let the book fall on his chest as he fell into a deep sleep.  The weather was still warm with a gentle northern breeze coming off the ocean.  Jake had slept for a couple of hours before he was suddenly awaken by a presence on the deck with him.  Slowly opening his eyes he looked out upon the beach through the opening of the deck walkway and it appeared to be hazy as if a fog had settled over the house and beach.

          He was half alert not really wanting to wake up when out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadowy movement move across the deck toward him.  Jake was not one to scare easily being a former military man with a few years spent in war zones but some thing was causing his skin to tingle with cold chills and there was a knot in his stomach as if something was going to happen and it was not going to be good.

          Keeping his attention on the area of the deck where the movement had first originated he saw there was now a distinct white shape forming out of the gray fog.  Keeping his eyes focused on the white it slowly took the shape of a tall young woman covered with a white dress that was touching the ground.  As the figure got closer he could see the young woman as plain as if she were standing before him inside a lighted room.

          Jake never moved either from fear or held spellbound by the beauty of the tall young woman. She had long dark brown hair flowing around her bare shoulders and ending just below her breasts.  Moving very slowly she kept her eyes focused on Jake’s eyes and she seemed to glide or flow across the deck floor without any movement of her legs or feet.

          She seemed to tower over Jake as she finally stopped at the side of the lounge he was lying in.  Jake slowly moved his head and body admiring the body of the woman as he tried to turn his head far enough to once again up into her eyes. As if understanding what he was trying to do she moved back away from the lounge until Jake could look into her eyes.

          Jake gazed into the dark eyes and saw a sadness there he had never saw before.  It was ageless and seemed to have no depth or ending.  The face was fixed in a frown of sadness and even with the frown was the first and last face of beauty Jake had ever witnessed.  It was as if it had been taken from a Greek statue the instant the artist had removed the final chip and polished the final cheek.

          The stare they shared seemed to last forever and Jake was so transformed he did not want the moment to end.  He hoped he was not having a dream but the situation seemed to dictate just that. No one was as beautiful as the woman before him and besides that no woman of her age and beauty would be standing before him on a Saturday night in Fort Walton Beach Florida.

          He was afraid to move thinking movement would somehow cause her to disappear he finally moved his eyes away from her glaze looked instead into the night beside of her face to see if she would disappear. She was still there when he moved his eyes back to her eyes and decided to take a change and say something.

          Not really knowing what to say he just decided to ask the most simple of questions.

          “Who are you?”

She never answered, just stood there with the white dress flowing in the breeze which had picked up considerable since Jake had first noticed her.

          Again he asked. “Who are you?”

Again no answer but she started to move back away from Jake. She did not turn around and move away but again just seemed to glide away from Jake facing him.  Afraid to speak again Jake just watched never taking his eyes away from hers.

          She spoke only three words in a silky low smooth voice as she moved toward the opening in the deck and the ocean.

“Read the Diary”

         Then she just disappeared into the night leaving no trace she had ever been there except for the images left in Jake’s mind. He just sat there not moving and still staring at the opening in the deck. He finally reach over and picked up the fifth of Makers Mark and slowly took off the cap and took a long drink to help him either wake up or to help his body and mind react to what he had just witnessed.

          No one would believe what had just happened hell he didn’t believe it. Jake was not a person that was subjected to illusions at any time in his life.  He thought about it for a few more minutes and finally gave up and gathered up the books and whiskey and decided it was due to being over stressed and tired from his long trip.

“A good nights sleep and maybe tomorrow I will feel better.” Jake thought to himself as he walked through the door to the house.  He never thought about picking up the diary and doing what she said. He was too shook up about what he had just saw to even consider reading anymore.