Free Catherine's Cross by Millie West

him about Joseph Andrews’s pre-Civil War writings. She recounted the encounters with the wild hogs and the rabid raccoon, but she had a difficult time explaining what Miss Meta had told her.
    â€œSeth, she said that when she saw me for the first time there was an aura of another presence around me.”
    â€œWhat does she mean by that?”
    â€œShe means there is some type of supernatural energy around me. She said she sensed my energy, but also another source. What’s really odd is that she said she kept hearing the words twins, and she thought at first it was my sister Gigi reaching out to me.”
    â€œWhat else did she say?”
    â€œShe said that the other presence might be expressing this thought about twins.” She took a sip of iced tea. “I was told to look closer.”
    â€œAt what?”
    â€œShe doesn’t know.”
    Seth took a deep breath and quietly said, “It couldn’t be.”
    â€œIt couldn’t be what?” Jenks asked.
    Seth’s face became pale, and he rose from his seat and pulled her up.
    â€œLet’s take a walk to Sands Beach.” “Let me get a Windbreaker,” she replied.
    They walked to the beach, which was situated along the Beaufort River. The abandoned Port Royal shipping terminal was illuminated in the last rays of sunlight. Its hulking shape dwarfed the rest of the houses and buildings in the community.
    â€œIt’s a shame that the shipping terminal isn’t used.”
    â€œThere’s been more than one attempt to develop the property at the port. A number of businesses in Port Royal closed down in the wake of the developmental failure and the economic downturn.”
    â€œThat’s a shame.”
    â€œI understand that another developer is attempting to purchase the property for development.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œYes, this area will be very different if things work out for them.”
    When they got to the beach, Seth took Jenks’s hand in his. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
    She looked up into his chestnut-brown eyes, which were suddenly very sad. “The night we spoke on the phone about your sister’s death, I told you I understood how you felt.” He paused and his face darkened. “Like you, I had an identical twin, named Steel. He was my strength and my best friend—he died in Afghanistan two years ago.”
    Jenks was stunned by his admission and her mouth fell open. “Seth, I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”
    As night fell, they quietly walked back to Jenks’s cottage holding hands. Once at home, she made lemonade, and they sat on her screened porch to talk. Seth opened up about his brother and some of their experiences. “Steel and I did most everything together growing up. We lived in a North Georgia community named Asbury, which had about five hundred residents. One summer, when we were about fourteen years old, my father’s sister, Leona, came to visit. She had five of the worst-behaved kids I’ve ever known. My mother and my aunt went shopping one afternoon while they were there. My father was at work. He was a mechanic, and Steel and I were left in charge of Aunt Leona’s five hellions.”
    â€œOh, my.”
    â€œWe told them several times to stay on the porch and play a board game, which is what Aunt Leona had instructed them to do. Anyway, they decided they weren’t going to pay attention to what they had been told, and they were going to go down and explore the creek behind the house. Aunt Leona’s oldest son, Frances, was about eleven and the leader of the group. Steel and I climbed up on top of the porch with our BB guns and every time one of them attempted to leave, we shot them in the rear. Frances was shot about a half dozen times. I was surprised that he could handle that many hits.”
    â€œMy goodness.”
    â€œWell, when mom and Aunt Leona got home, her children raised cane