had dates or symbols chiseled into them. When we
found something really interesting I�d jot the name
and date in my notepad, then we would race back to
the Bugle office. We�d look through the newspaper
archives to find out who the person was� where they
lived� and how they died. Actually it made
attending a funeral kind of exciting.
Until this afternoon - when Scott and I found
seven headstones. A father, mother, and five kids
had all died on the same day. I quickly wrote their
names in my notepad. Scott and I raced to the office
as usual and headed straight for the archives.
It was pretty easy to locate any information
you needed. Mr. and Mrs. Travine had placed all the
old newspapers on microfilm. Then, about five years
ago, they bought a computer and upgraded their
entire system - which included a scanner. Now you
could find anything that was printed as far back as
1906, when the newspaper was first established.
Scott turned on the computer and opened the
file dated 1942. He clicked on the one marked
February and enlarged it so we could read it a little
easier. I glanced through the articles until I found
the obituaries.
�Here it is,� I whispered. ��Memorial services
will be held for William A. Bentley and family on
Thursday, February 15th at 10:00 a.m. at the
Glendale Chapel. The family will be laid to rest at
11:00 a.m. in the Oak Memorial Cemetery. The
family includes William A. 37, Matilda R. 34, and
sons James D. 12, Luke R. 11, Richard P. 10, and
one-daughter Cassie A. 8 years old. The family died
in the fire that destroyed their two-story home at
234 Juniper Rd. early Saturday morning around 1:00
a.m. There were no survivors or known relatives.�� I
paused for a moment and a cold shiver ran down my
spine.
�I thought there were seven graves,� Scott
looked at me with a puzzled glance.
I picked up my notebook and re-read the names
again. "There are seven names but only six are listed
in the newspaper. They missed one. This one . . .
Melissa J.�
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