"Watch that gun mister. That is my brother that you have that gun on," Jason said nervously.

"I don't think I would be the one making demands then right?" The old man smarted back. "Besides what do you are doing here?"

"I think we should be askin' you that question. This is my grandma's land," Jacob replied. The old man did not seem to like Jacob's comment. He jabbed the gun into Adam's back, knocking him to the ground. Jason as about to come to Adam's aid, but the old man pointed the gun straight at him.

"Grandma? Who's yer Grandma?" he said Then he stopped, as he thought for a moment. "Wait a minute? Are you Shelby Williams kid?"

"I am her son, Jacob," Jacob answered. "They are my cousins."

The man stood back and studied Adam and Jason very carefully. Adam was still on the ground, looking up at the man. He wanted to tackle him, but he was afraid that the shotgun might go off.

"Are you Lorie's kids?" the old man asked, looking at Adam and Jason.

"Yep, they are visitin' for the holidays from California," Jacob said. "Now tell me who you are?"

" I am Jeb. I live not too far from here. I like my privacy," He said as he lowered the gun. "I thought you were up here messing around. Sorry about scarin' you like that."

"Where do live at? I have never seen a house up here before?" Jacob asked. In all the times he had been up there, he had never seen anyone let alone a house.

"Just over the ridge. As I said, I value my privacy," Jeb said. "You guys better git back before you worry your parents." With that, he quickly disappeared in the brush.

The three boys just looked at each other, confused and relieved that everyone was okay. They quietly picked up the tree and rode in silence on the way home.

It was late afternoon before they reached the old farmhouse and the warmth of their grandmother's fireplace. Shelby was in the kitchen talking with her sisters about regular small town gossip while the boys lay on the floor by the fire. Carl and Jacob's father, David, were sitting in the two recliners, watching the races on television. Jacob decided to break the silence and told his uncle and father about their run in with Jeb. Both men listened and the women in the kitchen also stopped talking to hear the story of the afternoon's events.

"I never knew of anyone living up there?" David said with alarm. "We own the next ridge so I have no idea where he says he has a house."

"Oh, it is just Jeb. I didn't even know he was still alive. That man must be about 90 years old by now," Grandma said, bringing in a plate full of homemade chocolate cookies and milk for her grandsons. "I am just glad that the boys are back safely. Jeb would never harm anyone, but he is getting up there."

"Do you know him Mom?" Katherine asked, standing in the doorway.

"Why yes I do and so do you. When you were younger, he used to come and help us collect the maple sap to make the syrup. Every Christmas he would whittle a nice ornament from pinewood for the Christmas tree. I will have to show them to you later," Grandma said, sitting on her old sofa to rest.

"I know whom you are talking about now," Laura said, as both of her sisters seemed to have recalled the old man at the same time. "I wonder why he quit coming around?"

"Well, you were too young to remember, but he was known as the crazy man. So after his wife and daughter left him, he went into the hills and we have not seen him since then. It was really sad. He asked your father if he could camp out on the back 200 acres and that was the last time I ever saw him," Grandma recalled.

"Why did they call him crazy?" Jacob asked, grabbing the last cookie before anyone could get it. Grandma's cookies made the trip all worth the hike to get the tree.

"He claimed to have seen a creature that lived in the hills here and in Mason County. Jeb claimed to have seen this man that had red glowing eyes back in 1968. He said it chased him all the way home one night while he was deer hunting. They sent him away for awhile to the asylum in Athens, but he was never the same. His wife divorced him and left with their little girl the day after he was sent off. When Jeb came back after two years, he asked your grandfather if he could live on the back 200 and your grandfather agreed. I really thought he was dead by now," Grandma said with sadness. "He was such a nice man. It sounds like he still wants his privacy."

"But don't you think we should know where he is back there so we can stay away from him. I don't want one of our kids getting shot for walking on their family's own land," David replied. He was a little upset over someone holding a gun on his relatives, not to mention his son.

"I think we should just leave him alone and let him live out the rest of his life in peace," Grandma said, looking over at her son-in-law. "I am sure that he meant well. Jeb would never shoot anyone with that gun."

David did not like what Grandma had to say about the situation, but he knew that her decision was basically the law.

"Enough of sad stories, let's get this tree decorated!" Grandma said, trying to change the subject.

"Grandma?" Adam asked. His grandmother turned to face him. "Do you believe in the creature that he saw?"

"You mean Moth Man?" his grandmother chuckled. "I don't know Adam. I have never seen it, but a lot of people around here claim that they have seen him."

"Who?" Adam quizzed his grandmother further.

"They are older like me, most of them have passed on. It was something that you just did not say out loud for fear of being put into the nut house like Jeb. But I do know that the sighting seemed to have stopped after the Silver Bridge fell on December 15th, 1967. That was such a sad day. So many people from both sides of the river died when the bridge fell out from underneath them. Your grandfather could have been on that bridge on his way home from work if he had not have stayed home that day. He had caught a death of a cold and had to stay home for two days," Grandma answered. Adam could tell she was reliving the day in her head. He saw a slight tear form in her eyes.

"There was not a family in the area who did not know someone who died on that bridge. It is a tranquil place for me since they could not recover all the bodies."

"Why not?" Jason asked. He knew why his brother was asking about the creature, but the story of the bridge caught his interest.

"It was really cold that winter. Divers recovered what they could, but a lot of the cars were covered in the debris from the bridge. Also the currents swept some of them down stream. But there are still people buried in their cars underneath the river," his grandmother answered. "On the anniversary of the disaster, Point and Gallipolis have memorial services for those who died on the bridge that cold winter day."

"I don't know about you, but I am tired of hearing sad stories. We have a tree to decorate and the night is not getting any longer," Shelby said as she walked over to the basement door. "We had better get the tree stuff up here and get going with it. Christmas is coming!"

With that, the subject of the bridge and the Moth Man was dropped. Katherine went to get Stephanie and her oldest daughters Micheala and Stacy so they could help with the tree decorating. Her husband, Keith, was away working on the barges. He would return the day before Christmas. Carl and David helped bring the boxes up and soon the family was trimming the tree with old homemade ornaments and tinsel. Jacob and Adam lay on the floor and watched everyone one else. Adam motioned for Jacob to join him on the front porch. Both boys slipped out quietly into the cold night. There was a full moon still and it lit up the countryside with the most beautiful soft while light.

"I think we need to go and find Jeb and ask him about Moth Man," Adam said looking out over the ridges. He could see his breath in the cold air as he spoke.

"What! Are you crazy? He has a gun!" Jacob yelled back, but Adam quietly shushed him.

"Grandma said that he would not hurt anyone. I bet that gun was not even loaded! I want to find out more about Moth Man. I want to know if that is what we saw that night," Adam said, whispering.

"Oh no, I'm not goin' to have any part in this. I got into enough trouble already," Jacob whispered back, going back towards the house.

"Then I will go myself," Adam said stubbornly.

"You don't know yer way around up there. You'd git lost and then I would be in more trouble. Jus' fergit it all happened Adam. You are here to visit, not solve a case or somethin'," Jacob said with an attitude. "Also you can't go up there in your condition by yourself. You are brain damaged. God knows what could happen to ya."

That last statement angered Adam. He had often heard that at home and he was not in the mood to here it in Ohio either.

"I can take care of myself. I am not retarded you know. I can still think and use my brain unlike someone else," Adam fired back. Jacob's comment really hurt his feelings.

"Are you sayin' I am retarted?" Jacob said, squaring his shoulders up to face his cousin.

"Retar-d-ed, not retarted," Adam snorted back. "It sounds like you're the one who said that! You are not in much better shape than I am in, but at least I was not born that way."

Adam regretted what he said the minute it came out of his mouth. But it was too late. Jacob's eyes were already filling with tears.

"Yeah, I was born that way. You did it to yerself by bein' with that whacked out girl and her crazy family. Everyone here was prayin' you'd be fine and learn yer lesson 'bout bein' around people like that. Then you let that crazy man run yer life and mess with yer head. Grandma always wished you guys hadn't moved so far away from home. So am I really the retarted one?" Jacob yelled back.

"It was not my fault what my uncle did and Alyssa was a victim too. Don't you ever bring her into this again. You don't even know her!"

Jacob walked closer to Adam and stood in a confrontational stance. "You know what I wonder. I can't help but wonder why you didn't tell. Were you too chicken? No matter how much I hate Steph at times, I would never let anyone git away with doin' that to her. I wonder if you are not tellin' the whole story since we are talkin' about that."

Adam was boiling at this point. He could not believe what his cousin was saying. It was true, he should have told and that part haunted him everyday. But how dare his cousin throw that into his face. Also, he could not figure out what he meant by the whole story. Of course he had told the whole story.

"What do you mean by that?" Adam said, standing up straight not too far from Jacob's face.

"I wonder if he messed with you and you're just too chicken to tell anyone. It is funny that you go out and solve all these cases, but you were too scared to help your own family!" Jacob said with an even tone. "You let your family down. I might not be perfect or smart like you, but I have never let my family down like that."

Adam was mortified at the first statement. He knew that his mother often called home and that his family had heard about everything that had happened, but why would Jacob even think that. It made him sick at his stomach just thinking about it.

"Why did you say that for? You don't know what happened," Adam said with an angry tone.

"I know that I overheard my mom talkin' to yer mom and that is what they are afraid of. That yer not tellin' the whole story. That Bill messed with you too and that you won't remember it, especially after the wreck," Jacob said in a mocking tone. Adam was shocked. Did his mother really think that? He HAD told the whole story and he knew that it did not happen that way. Bill just beat him. He never touched him in that way. Then he thought, does Dad and Jason think this? He could not catch his breath at the thought. Adam knew that his memory about those events was still in tact, but now his parents and brother doubted his memories. They doubted his abilities. Jacob noticed Adam's silence and decided to chide him one more time. "Yeah, you had better think about it cousin, they are afraid you will never be the same again. Your father even doubts that you'll be able to investigate things when you get older because you are dumb like me, not to mention you have those fits or seizures. So I would watch whom you go around callin' retarted you moron. How does it feel to be treated like you don't have a brain in yer head!"

Unknown to the cousins, Jason was standing on the other side of the front door. He heard everything that was being said. He did not want to come to Adam's defense, but the words cut through him like a knife. Cousin or not, no one was going to talk like that to his brother. He opened the door and quickly closed it behind him just in time to see Adam shove Jacob. But before Jason could react, Jacob came back with a roundhouse hit that knocked Adam down the two steps and to the ground beside the porch. Jacob then quickly grabbed Adam to hit him again, but Jason held him back.

"That is enough," Jason said, trying to hold Jacob back. But Jacob was full of rage and adrenaline. He struck Adam on the side of the head and then in the stomach before Jason could wrestle him down. Adam was too stunned to do anything at the time. He looked up to see Jacob pushing his older brother to the side. This really angered Adam. He got up and stumbled over to Jacob.

"Don't touch my brother!" Adam said as he hit him square in the nose, knocking Jacob to the ground. Blood started spewing out of his cousin's nose. "Don't ever touch my brother again." He was so angry that he was shaking uncontrollably. Jason just looked up at his trembling brother. The last time he saw his brother in this type of emotional state was when he told him about what Bill had down at Chuck's house. Adam looked over at Jason and the brothers' eyes met. A lot of things were said with just that one look.

By then, the front porch light came on and everyone came out onto the porch to see what was going on. What they saw was unbelievable. Jason was on the ground about three feet from Jacob, who was holding his nose in agony. Blood streamed down his hand and dripped onto the ground. Adam stood there looking blankly at the whole sight. He could not believe that he hit his cousin like that. He felt his own face. His eye was swelling up where Jacob had hit him, but he did not care. He felt numb and alone. He wished he were in California, sitting on the beach with Alyssa as she stroked his hair in the salty ocean breeze. She was the only one who did believe in him. Jacob' comments had got the best of him. He could not face his family or his parents. The shame was too great. He turned and ran. Adam ran and ran despite the cries for him to come back. He heard his father come after him, but he just ran faster. He did not know where he was going, but he knew where he was not going to go.