An Inheritance

Chapter 22

Lauren begrudgingly acknowledge that she had; she wasn’t sure where Odilia was going with this.

Odilia continued.  “She wrote wonderful letters.  The ones she received in turn, and kept, are part of her history, part of her life; she cherished them immensely.”

Okay, this sounds benign enough.  “Yes, I read the ones from Armand and Adelaide first.  I had always thought Armand was a ne’er-do-well and to find he was a student who died so young made me feel so sad.  I didn’t know my Aunt Adelaide very well; I only met her a few times.  But it seemed from the letters she had been terribly unhappy living here in Slidell while she eventually thrived in Atlanta.  There was some strain in the relationship between herself and her mother, although I could tell they loved each other very much.”

Odilia nodded her head.  “Yes, after Armand died, I think your grandmother wanted too much from her, even though both of them knew there was no way Adelaide could fulfill those expectations.  And what about your mother’s, have you had a chance to read them?”  

Lauren was immediately on guard.  She still was so unsure of what she had read about how her own birth had affected her father, she didn’t want to go over any of that.  “I have gone through some of the earlier ones, but there are quite a few left.  I don’t know why, but I’ve just been dragging my feet, maybe it’s because of the sheer volume of them.  I was really surprised she had written so many and so often, I hadn’t even known they kept in contact.  I’ve always thought that there had been some bad blood between them, but I’ve only found they had a deep, loving bond.”

 “Oh, yes.  They had an intense bond, and your grandmother was extremely proud of her, and of you girls, too.  When I would come by, Alma would bring out the latest letter and give me the highlights.  I probably know you as well as I know my own grandchildren.”

Lauren wasn’t sure if she liked that or not.  She was a very private person and she was never one to tell others what she was really thinking or feeling.  But Odilia was so easy to talk to, she felt like she could tell her anything, and that in itself made her leery.

Odilia smiled gently and seemed to change direction.  “You know, your family has taken care of this land and everything on it for generations.  In return, it has absorbed the life flow of your family and has been a continuation of it; your family and the land are almost as one. There hasn’t been any disruption of that flow for generations; there has always been a Labeaux on this land for almost as long as this area was first settled.”

Lauren started to relax, Odilia wanted to find out if she was going to get rid of the property.  “I really have no intention of selling this land.  I’ve grown used to it in a way.  I can see why my ancestors loved this area, even with the bayou and all of its inhabitants.  There is a serenity here that I’ve never found anywhere else.”

Odilia’s smile broadened.  “Not too many city people can appreciate the bayou, but then, you do have it in your blood.  Alma used to tell me that she could feel everyone that had come before her; that the land and everything on it would talk to her.  She loved that old cypress tree, the one right on the edge of the marsh there.  She would listen to it and it would tell her who was coming and what was needed.  The healing way is not only through hereditary, but right from the soul.”

Starting to return the smile, Lauren froze as a prickly sensation went up her neck.  She knew exactly which tree she was talking about; whenever she was out in the back she would often just watch the old cypress and feel it ‘talk’ to her as a breeze would catch its leaves.  That must be a common sensation.

Abby had come up to Lauren’s chair and was stretching her body with her front paws on Lauren’s legs.  In one muscular move she was up on Lauren’s lap and circling to find a good spot to settle into.  Distracted by the cat and her own thoughts, Lauren realized she was missing some of what Odilia had been saying.

“… but she had another special gift, the ability to know things about people and events that she had no direct information on and to foresee events that hadn’t played out yet.  She had these powers that even those that had known her for years were still amazed by.  Alma considered it a sacred trust, although some would consider it a curse.  Your mother did.”

“What do you mean; my grandmother was some type of witch or something?”  Lauren’s nervous laugh ended lamely as she noticed the expression on Odilia’s face.

 Odilia turned her head slightly and looked at her.  “Witches, Wiccans, Shamans, voodoo queens.  Each culture has had its own name for us, but not necessarily the correct name.  We prefer to call ourselves seers, for lack of a better term.  We don’t cast spells or cause havoc, but through our senses we are able to feel things about people or see incidents that haven’t happened yet.”

 “So, you’re also like my grandmere, you’re a ‘seer’ too?”  Great!  I thought she was a little odd and now she’s proving it.  But something was playing in the back of Lauren’s mind; little bursts of pictures and feelings she hadn’t thought about in quite some time.  Her uneasiness had returned and her heart was starting to race.

 “Yes.  Although I in no way have it to the extent your grandmother did, she saw that I had some powers and helped me make meaning of it all.  And even though I wasn’t born with the natural ability, Alma taught me the ‘healing way’.”  Odilia inhaled deeply and paused.  “You have both gifts, and even if I hadn’t heard it from your grandmother, I could tell.”