A Haunted Marriage & The Cookie Baking Poltergeist

Chapter 5: The Battlefield

    Along the mile long drive to the Saratoga National Battlefield Visitor's Center, Michael and Julia spotted five deer at different intervals by the roadside. One deer drank from a pond while another darted through pine trees and appeared to vanish. Another deer ran into the middle of the road, forcing Michael to jam on the breaks. The road was lined entirely with pine trees and other greenery. The outside leaves of most of the trees had already turned orange, some of them even brown and yellow. The lack of clouds enabled the trees to create large shadows basking the blacktop in spots of darkness. As the roadway ended, so did the trees, exposing a field of wheat that extended for at least two miles. More deer could be seen prancing through the stalks of wheat. Other deer extended their necks to nibble off of the ground. The road ended in a hill with a parking lot set at its base. The top of the hill contained the visitor's center for the battlefield. The center was a gray stone structure with a pointed brown roof. A set of picnic tables overlooked the battlefield. On this fall day, the second Saturday in September, most of the tables were full of tourists eating their lunches, hoping to spot another deer before their drive through the battlefield.

    "Why are there so many deer here?" Julia asked from the passenger seat of Michael's Honda.

    "Because this is federal land. There is a one hundred thousand dollar fine for any hunting done on this property."

    "It's so peaceful here so far. I can't believe we actually live near where this famous battle took place."

    "This place helps me appreciate where we live now. It helps me forget about all of the chaos that was our old lives in the city," Michael said, taking his hand off the steering wheel and placing it on Julia's shoulder.

    "I have to agree with you there. Although I still miss my mom and friends in Queens."

    Michael pulled his car in the only empty spot he could find at the base of the hill. He put the car in park before stepping outside to open the door for Julia.

    "How chivalrous of you," Julia said kissing Michael on the cheek before grabbing his hand. "We should hold hands, just like in our dating days."

    "If you insist."

    Michael led Julia up a sidewalk that extended up a tree lined path that would eventually end at the visitor's center. The path was also lined with flagpoles and the American Flag was perched atop each pole. Squirrels ran in front of Michael and Julia. Fallen leaves crunched under their each step. The entire path was shrouded in shadows courtesy of the tree cover. On their way up the walkway, they passed a group of schoolchildren led by their teacher on their way back to the parking lot, probably headed for the yellow bus parked right next to Mike's Honda.

    "Stay in line everyone. We have to head back to school by two," the male teacher said.

    Julia looked over the children as they passed her by and thought, hopefully one day I will have one of those kids to be my very own. Mike will be a great father and I will be a great mother.

I hope we can have children. Julia would be a great mother. It would be good for her. Michael thought.

    The tree line ended fifty feet before the doors of the visitor's center. Two wood benches stood immediately outside the center. One of the benches were occupied by an older couple eating a brown bag lunch together.

    Michael pushed open the glass door and held it open for Julia to walk through. Upon entering the center, the first thing any visitor would notice are the various flags of different countries hung from the ceiling. The flags of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Portugal, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland were all represented. Under those flags stood panes of tall glass windows that easily allowed anyone to gaze out onto the hillside below. On top of the hill sat a set of two cannons with picnic table set behind them. Down the hill, deer could be seen meandering in an out of the bushes and trees. At the bottom of the hill, the snakelike path of the Hudson River glistened in the sunlight. Beyond the river, were the mountains of Washington County, NY and beyond that the Green Mountains of Vermont could be spotted. The trees atop the Green Mountains were beginning to turn brown with the coming of fall.

    A cannon inside the visitors center pointed towards the front glass door. Michael approached the cannon and placed his hand on the bronze turret. Julia walked over next to the wheel of the canon.

    "I wonder how heavy this thing is?" Michael said.

    Julia left the canon and walked over to a set of bookshelves containing various American History books. The collections was set on three rows of polished wood shelves. Biographies of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Philip Schuyler and Benedict Arnold were among the collection. Michael came over and leafed through a book called The Battle of Saratoga: The Revolution's Turning Point.

    While her husband's nose was in a book, Julia walked over to another set of wood shelves containing various collectible items. Some of the items included small American flags, small muskets made into key chains, a chess set with minutemen and British Redcoats representing pawns and a doll of George Washington. There was even a children's section containing coloring books about the battle of Saratoga.

    "Isn't this cute honey?" Julia asked holding up a porcelain doll. "I think this one is Betsy Ross."

    "Yeah that is cute. This book is great. I bet Mr. Stone at my school, the history teacher, has already read this one. "

    Julia walked over to Mike and picked up a biography of Benedict Arnold to leaf through.

    "Do you folks have any questions?"

    Julia and Michael place their respective books back on the shelves.

    The park ranger behind the counter asked once again, "Anything I can help you with?"

    "Maybe," Michael said as he took Julia hand to approached the ranger's desk.

    Park Ranger Roberts was forty five years old and dressed in a brown uniform with a brown hat, similar to the hat Smokey the Bear would wear. He also wore round glasses perched atop a long nose. Ranger Roberts also had a holstered gun on his right hip. Roberts sizable belly made his waistline nearly extend into the counter in front of him.

    "This place is fantastic so far," Michael said.

    "Have you folks been out onto the actual battlefield yet? It's thirteen miles all the way around."

    "Not yet. We just moved up here a couple of weeks ago. We are still trying to get a feel for the area," Michael said.

    "In the next room to the right of the door you came in is a large diorama of what happened here two hundred and forty years ago. The Battle of Saratoga was indeed the turning point of the Revolutionary War. In seventeen seventy seven, the British were trying to split the colonies in two. They wanted to make their way down the Hudson River and link up with another army in New York City. General Washington knew that they had to be stopped. They needed to be stopped here. As you have noticed, there's lots of woods here. The British Redcoats excelled at fighting out in the open, but the colonist excelled at hiding and fighting from behind cover. The land here heavily favored the colonists. Many colonists signed up the fight because they were appalled that the British were using Indians to murder civilians. Not too far from here, at the behest of the British, the Indians murdered a woman named Jane Macrea. People were so outraged that they signed up to fight the British. Soon the British were outnumbered by colonists. At the time the British Army was the most powerful army in the world. Some colonists wanted to give into them and not fight. But the Battle of Saratoga is where Americans decided to take a stand and try to fight for something bigger, like eventually throwing off the yolk of the British Crown. People didn't like to give up. That's part of our culture up here till this day. Plus when we won the battle here, it encouraged the French to join us and fight on our side. I don't think without the assistance of the French Army we would have secured our independence from Great Britain. But it's better to see these things for yourself. I strongly urge you to take the drive around the battlefield."

    "Thank you very much. We will definitely do that as soon as we check out that other room here you mentioned first," Michael said.

    "Yes, thank you. It is great to learn about something so famous that happened right in your proverbial back yard," Julia said.

    Michael took Julia's hand and led her into a square room with tan walls. On one of the walls stood a timeline with paintings from the American Revolution. The timeline contained paintings of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin. In the room's center stood a table with a miniature display of the entire battlefield. Red lights on the diorama represented British troop movement and blue lights represented the colonists. Michael bent over the diorama to study the flashing light, similar to the way a surgeon studies his her patient under the operating room lights.

    Julia left his side and walked over to a wooden bin tucked in the corner. The bin contained clothing that the British, colonists or women would have worn at that time. Julia pulled out a blue minuteman jacket for Michael and a blue dress for herself.

    "Honey let's try these on," Julia said as she threw the minuteman jacket over to Michael.

    Michael left the display and buttoned up the blue minuteman jacket. He jogged over to the bin and placed a colonists hat on his head. By the time he was dressed up, Julia had already put on her dress and white wig.

    "You look like Betsy Ross."

    "And you look like the most handsome minuteman I have ever seen," Julia said as she walked over to Michael side with her cell phone in hand. "This is a great selfie moment."

    "You know I hate those."

    "But you love me well enough to give into your wife's demands. Just one selfie pleeease?"

    "All right."

    Julia extended the phone in her hand so her and Michael could fit into the photo frame. She clicked one photo before tucking the phone back into her purse. By that time, Michael had already taken off his costume. Julia removed the cell phone from her purse and ran her fingers across the touch screen before undressing.

    Michael's cell phone in his jeans back pocket beeped. He pulled it out to discover that he had a f*******: message. "Unbelievable, within two seconds you put our photo on Facebook."

    "What do you think of my caption?"

"'Do these two look like they would fight for anything, let alone the Revolutionary War?'"

    Mike laughed out loud, "Hysterical."

    It's great to see that the old Julia might be back, the Julia that I fell in love with five years ago. This has been a great idea for this date so far, Michael thought.

    Now that is the man I fell in love with.

    "Let's get back to the car to see the actual battlefield," Michael said while hugging his wife.

                                                                                   #

    The final stop of the battlefield tour was a place called Barber's Wheatfield. A parking lot stood in front of the wheat field. Michael popped the parking brake and again reached around to grasp Julia's hand as she stepped out of the car. Michael led her up a fifty foot path of blacktop surrounded by trees and small rocks. To their immediate left, a squirrel ran away from a deer. This time the deer appeared to be staring at them, remaining as motionless as a statue. Julia stared back before the deer decided to dart as quick as a bullet behind another tree. The path ended at an eight foot sign affixed to wood poles in the ground. The sign depicted a painting of blue coated American soldiers lined up against hundreds of British Redcoats. White smoke rose above the soldiers heads. The sign read:

    "The field represents the point in the battle where the Americans gained the advantage. The Minutemen poured a volley of cannonballs onto the British Redcoats and Hessian soldiers. The fierce volley totally collapsed the British right flank, leading the Americans to win the battle. It was here that General Benedict Arnold led an assault against the British that led to their eventual surrender."

    "Just imagine how loud it must have been here on that day nearly two hundred and forty years ago," Michael said.

    "This place looks to me like somewhere you might want to have a picnic on a summer's day."

    "Especially with someone you love," Michael said before kissing Julia on the forehead. "There's one more monument over there we have to see before heading on out."

    Julia followed Michael down another blacktop path that led to the left slightly down a hill and away from the wheat field. This path was aligned with fewer trees than before. At the end of the path stood what appeared at first glance to be a tombstone. But upon further inspection, the shape of a boot affixed to a stone slab could be made out. The stone slab didn't contain any writing or names.

    "I wonder what this means?" Michael asked,

    "Maybe one of the soldiers who remained unidentified was buried here."

    "No that's not it," a voice said from behind them.

I didn't even here anyone come up here, Michael thought before turning around to face another park ranger. This man was thinner that the ranger at the visitors center. His uniform looked one size too big and hung from his shoulders. He stood five foot six inches tall. The name "Smith" was on his lapel's badge.

    "This monument marks the bravery of General Arnold," Park Ranger Smith said.

    "But where's his name," Michael asked.

    "It remains nameless because this was before Benedict Arnold switched over to the British side and became a traitor. It commemorates his bravery but most thought it would be best if a traitor remained nameless. Benedict Arnold represented some of the best and worst characteristics of a young America. Arnold was a very proficient general, but he felt he wasn't rewarded enough by his American superiors, namely General Washington. The British promised him lots of money for joining them. They promised him even more money if he could successfully turn over West Point to the British. He nearly succeeded, but Washington discovered the plot. Arnold escaped to England and eventually died there. Arnold was a quitter to the cause of American Independence he fought valiantly on the field behind us to secure. Americans don't like quitters so therefore he remains nameless on his memorial you see before you. Many died on the field behind us. Some say you can still here the moans of the dying and injured to this day. I have had some visitors tell me that. You didn't hear anything did you?" Ranger Smith finished with a laugh.

    "No, just the wind blowing through the wheat," Julia said.

    "This area has a lot of history. With Halloween pretty soon I am reminded that some say that this field is a little haunted. Could be true. I have never heard anything, but some visitors swear they can still smell the smoke of that battle, a battle from over two hundred years ago."

    "We didn't notice anything. Anyway I think it's best that my husband and I head on out."

    "Just follow the road to the right of the parking lot. That will take you back to the park entrance on Route 4. You folks have a nice day," Ranger Smith said as he walked back over the hill out of view.

    Michael took Julia's hand and walked back over to his Honda. After putting on their seat belts, Michael said, "So I think we had a pretty good date today." Michael reached over to take Julia's hand but she pulled her hand into her chest.

    Julia swallowed before answering. "Yeah, for the most part. The guy at the end was kind of a kook. I am so sick of hearing about ghosts. There is no way this place could be haunted. People just make up these things for attention."

You may be right about this battlefield, but this area has lots of history so it's possible, but I do know for sure is something is in our house. Hopefully whatever is residing there will leave us alone so Julia and I can be happy, Michael thought.