One such child was young Rebecca Holt. Her father had died in recent years and left her Mother and three younger brothers with only the old farm house and the hard work that went along with trying to keep food on the table.
Rebecca was only twelve, but her hard life made her seem much older. She had few pleasures in life. One thing she loved to do was ramble through the mountains, just wondering upon the hills and down through the hollers. One interesting thing that Rebecca had found was an old Cemetery way upon the ridge. She had come upon it one day last month. It was an odd place. There was a strange feeling there that she could not explain. She hadnt been afraid, just an odd uneasy feeling that hung over the old graves. She had hurried away, but planned to go back there as soon as she could sneak away.
Finally one day in early November, young Rebecca got her chance to return to the old cemetery. Her mother had sent her to look for the cow that had been gone all day. So Rebecca headed upon the ridge. As she neared the old cemetery, she thought at first, she heard voices, coming from just out of sight over a little knoll. But as she came over the little hill she heard nothing more. Something red caught her eye in the lower part of the cemetery. She could see something red on or near, one of the tombstones. Curiosity got the best of her so she walked down to the grave. What she saw puzzled her, for growing on the grave were roses. Bright red ones like she had never seen in her life. And never had she seen roses blooming this late in the year. There had been some real cold nights upon the ridge lately and even a little snow had fell last week. The roses were growing as if it were summer. Rebecca walked over closer and bent down beside the grave, She looked at the stone and read the inscription. " Rose" Died 1874. Thats all that was on the stone. Then Rebecca noticed the grave next to it. This grave had only moss growing over it. No roses covered this grave, even though it was close to the other one. In fact Rebecca saw that no other grave in the cemetery had roses on them. Rebecca knew that this was not a normal thing. Something was very odd about this grave.
Rebecca started to look at the other old stones and read the names on them. They were names that she had never heard of. One grave was unmarked and Rebecca had the oddest the feeling as she knelt beside it. The feeling was of terrible guilt, almost unbearable. As she knelt there she had the most unreasonable urge to pray for that poor lost soul in this grave. She could not understand why this feeling was so strong. Then suddenly from the corner of her eye she caught a movement. It came from the area where the red roses were blooming. She looked over to where that grave was, and her breath caught in her lungs. There sitting on the grave was a young couple. A man and a woman. The man was kneeling in front of the woman and the young woman was sitting side-ways on the grave, smiling at him. There was not a sound in the forest. No birds sang or any other movement. Rebecca could not move. It was like she was caught in a strong giant hand. Then, she heard their voices. They were talking and she could hear the young girl laugh. Such a happy sound. Then they both looked straight at her. And the girl seemed to recognize Rebecca. She smiled at her and then in Rebecca's head she heard the girl say, "Tell, Laura Im happy".. That was all. Then the couple vanished. The birds started singing again and the noises of the forest returned to Rebecca. She jumped as if coming out of a trance. She was suddenly scared, the message she had received was very odd. Because her Mother's name was Laura. Why was the ghost girl sending a message to her Mother.
It was then that Rebecca ran. She ran from the old cemetery, down the hill and over the ridge until she came in sight of her house. She ran through the door crying hysterically. Her Mother was at the fireplace cooking the dinner. She grabbed at Rebecca as she fell to the floor crying. Her Mother finally calmed her down and then Rebecca said, "Mother, who is Rose ? " Her Mother's face turned white with shock. And she asked Rebecca where she had heard that name. So Rebecca told her about what had happened in the old cemetery. By the time she had finished her Mother was crying silently. Tears streaming down her face.. She then told Rebecca that Rose had been her older sister and that she had died years ago of a broken heart when her young husband-to-be was found dead in the old cemetery. She told of how poor Rose had grieved herself to death after losing the man she loved. She told of the sorrow that her parents and sisters had gone through. The grief over her death had made them not even mention Rose's name as the years went by. They only remembered her as a young grief-stricken girl who had wasted away to nothing, and died all alone in the lonely old cemetery. But now, her Mother said, Rose is happy, she has let me know that. Now I can finally be at peace knowing she's with the one she loved.