John Terrence Grey was beyond a shadow of a doubt the poorest, and the richest, kid in his class. The poorest in the eyes of his peers because he seldom had two coins to jingle in his jeans, and the richest in his own heart because he was passionately loved by two parents. Both of them struggled at low income jobs to provide daily sustenance, keep a roof over their heads, and furnish Johnny with school necessities.

He was conceived when his mother was sixteen and his father barely seventeen and they had done what they thought was honorable. They dropped out of school and got married. They both blamed their lack of education for their living conditions but were not inclined to dwell on their misfortune. After eleven happy years of marriage they were still very much in love and the pride of their life was Johnny. He talked to his parents and pleaded with them to let him have a paper route and help out, but they wouldn't hear of it. His education was their fundamental concern. He would someday be a leader of men, not a follower, be brilliant, not mentally challenged, someday he?d be CEO of a company, and not a janitor or short order cook. Minimum wage were words he would only read about and never be affected by their meaning. He knew his parents plans for him and loved them all the more for their concern.

To please them he sought for knowledge most of his waking hours. Most of his homework was done in the City library so he?d be handy to any source of information required by any subject he was studying. His young absorbing mind was like a bottomless pit that he endeavored to fill by reading everything within reach. His gray cells worked overtime and like a huge dry sponge soaked up every last drop of information, but his greatest asset was his ability to retain everything he read.

Then he noticed the carved wooden soldier in Rupert's window. Something drew him to that carving like dead meat draws flys to a meal. It may have been the straightness of his back, the hat tilted slightly on his head, his confederate uniform, or the smile on his handsome face. Whatever it was Johnny was totally enthralled by the miniature mannequin. He walked inside to get a closer look and couldn't help picking it up to admire it. The ever watchful eye of Rupert caught the expression of desire on the youth's face.

"Looks like that private has been AWOL for awhile." Rupert said displaying his broadest smile.

"What's AWOL?" Johnny asked.

"That means he has been Absent Without Official Leave." Rupert answered.

"No Sir," Johnny answered after giving the situation some thought, "he hasn't been AWOL. He has been in battle and a few days ago he captured at least a dozen of the enemy. Now he's hungry but there isn't anything to eat. This will be the third night in a row he's gone to bed hungry. I can almost feel his hunger pains and even though he's in the south he'll still sleep cold tonight because he has no blanket to cover up with. He can't fight any more because he doesn't have any lead or powder, he used it all on the last attack, and all the supply wagons have been cut off by the north. This rebel is in bad shape and unless he is taken care of he won't survive another night."

"You have a fantastic imagination for one so young," Rupert said knowing he had found another inheritor for of one of his carvings.

"I didn't imagine that, Sir. When I hold this soldier I can feel everything he went through. It?s almost like he?s me and I?m him."

"If you owned him how could you help him?" Rupert asked already knowing what the child would answer.

"The only thing I could possibly do is see to it that he is kept warm."

"I'm going to put him in a bag with a draw string top," Rupert said as he reached behind the counter and removed the bag. He placed the wooden soldier inside and drew the top closed.

"He?s yours to keep but he must stay in this bag anytime he is outside your house. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do. In my house he'll be safe and warm. Outside he would be cold and unprotected."

When Johnny got home he showed the carving to his parents and they thought it was wonderful but wondered why a stranger would freely part with such delightful object.

Prior to hitting the sack he stood the military figure on his night stand and in less time than it would take to say it, was fast asleep. Not the peaceful sleep of youth but the kind of disturbing slumber that one tries to forget as soon as he awakens.

The year was 1861, the month was May, and he was a private Terry Grey in the army with twenty two thousand Confederate soldiers being commanded by General Pierre G. T. Beauregard at a place called Manassas Junction, Virginia. They were fighting against thirty thousand Union soldiers under the command of General Irwin McDowell. Terry joined in with the others and cheered as the Yankees tucked their tails between their legs and headed back to Washington in defeat. He felt in his heart the war would be over soon if they kept beating the northerners in such great style and he wrote his experiences in a small book he kept in his pocket. The battle at Bull Run was something he wanted to remember so he could tell the story to his grandchildren.

Of course Terry was wrong. The northerners went back home and recruited thousands of men for the Army and in the early spring of 1862 over a hundred thousand of them moved into the peninsula between the York and James rivers. Another big battle was brewing and corporal Terry Grey was in charge of a small group of men he would lead into battle. In the Battle of Fair Oaks he received his first wound when he was shot in the left arm by one of those Boys in Blue who fired and fled.

The excruciating pain in Johnny?s left arm awoke him and for a moment he thought he had been wounded. On his left arm, three inches above his elbow, there was a crease in his skin and he realized he had been sleeping on his left side and a wrinkle in the sheet had caused his discomfort.

Dreams were Johnny?s way of experiencing fantasies like millions of other dreamers and like them he flew high above the clouds, sailed a pirate ship, or wandered undisturbed through Disney World. Now his dreams had drastically changed. His dream world was so vivid, so realistic, he was positive he had bodily been there. The sound of bullets being fired, the smell of gunpowder, the zing of lead speeding past his head and ricocheting behind him, and worst of all the look of fear in the eyes of his young comrades. It was imprinted in his mind as deeply as the words he read in books.

The digital clock on the table by his bed said he had been asleep only five minutes, yet he had traveled miles, faced death, and had been wounded. He closed his eyes again and as soon as his eyelids met he was off on another adventure.

It was August 30 and now sergeant Grey was participating in the second battle of Bull Run. The Confederate army under the command of generals Jackson, Longstreet, and Lee once more whipped the tar out of the Yankees and sent them heading for Washington in defeat. This victory was so impressive General Lee took fifty thousand men and in September invaded Maryland, but after losing eleven thousand men to death or wounds he returned to Virginia with his remaining men.

It was now December 13, 1862 and those dumb Yankees decided to invade Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock River. Lieutenant Grey raised his hands and yelled with joy when the Union soldiers turned tail and headed back to Washington after the loss of twelve thousand of their men. But then that drunken Yankee General Grant with help from a fleet of ships captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, and fifteen thousand Confederate troops. Now it was time for the southern troops to pull stake and head south to Mississippi and the northerners didn't want that event to take place. Several battles occurred but Captain Grey and his men were successful and ended up in New Orleans. But wouldn't you know it those damn Yankees followed and Major Grey and his men were forced to sneak out of Mississippi and head back to Virginia.

There were battles going on all over the place and Terry was anxious to get involved in another one but most of his time was spent in avoiding Yankee troops and scrounging food for his men. He joined up again with a hundred and twenty thousand Confederate soldiers at Chancellorsville and again they sent the Yankees north. But at a huge cost.

Every head bowed in sadness when they heard General Stonewall Jackson had been killed. Now under the command of General Lee the troops headed north and encountered resistance at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Here Terry lost some of his men and the Confederate army was forced to retreat to northern Virginia. Terry had tried to convince General Lee that they were at a big disadvantage in Gettysburg because the Yankee troops held all of the strategic high ground and because he had been correct and proven himself to be a good leader he was promoted to Colonel.

In early March of 1864 Terry and his men were assigned to reinforce the Confederate army at Petersburg, Virginia. This was a railroad center crucial to Richmond's supplies and here Terry proved to be a great asset to the military. General Grant tried to take the city from them but failed due to some of Terry's well thought out maneuvers. They fought for over nine months and Grant being unable to take the city temporarily ceased trying. Terry was once more promoted and wore the star of a General on his shoulder.

Atlanta had fallen and in March, Mobile, Selma and Montgomery fell. With reinforcements from the other troops Grant succeeded in taking Petersburg in April of 1865 and Terry and his men were forced to turn and run. On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant and the war was over for Terry. He returned to Mobile and with the money he had saved during his army tour purchased two thousand acres of prime soil, at ten cents an acre, to start a new plantation.

Terry had done an unusual thing when he first entered the military. Every payday he turned all his money into silver and gold dollars, just in case the north won and his Confederate bills would be useless, and stored them in a place known only to him. Now he had money that was valuable in the south and if it became necessary he could always melt it down and sell the silver and gold.

Johnny awoke with a start when he heard his mother call. His daily routine was normally a speedy exit from the bed, a warm shower, a leisurely, nourishing breakfast and a short trip to school, but today he was tired. It was almost like he had played hard or fought hard all night. His thoughts were running amuk with the strange notion there really was a General Grey, and if he once existed why wasn't he mentioned in the history books. He knew that after school today he'd spend extra time in the library searching for anything he could find out about a mysterious General.

He started with the name Grey, but was unsuccessful in finding any clues. So he turned to Generals in the Confederate army. After hours of dedicated research he was no farther ahead than when he started. Mrs. Willis, the librarian, sensing the trouble he was having offered her assistance via the library computer. Together they searched through the military archives, Army Generals, Confederate soldiers, and were unsuccessful until Johnny asked her to try prominent families of Mobile around 1865. Once the information was on the screen she showed him how to scroll and returned to her work. Johnny slowly read every name and was rewarded for his labor. He discovered that the real General Grey had gone through exactly what he had dreamed the night before, with one exception. The computer story continued on revealing facts Johnny was unaware of because he had been awaken by his mother. General Grey had indeed been a wealthy plantation owner and had died in disgrace.

As soon as hostilities ceased Terry left the army and spent every waking moment improving the conditions of his plantation. Because of his wealth, and being a bachelor, he was always invited to parties of the privileged few but seldom attended. One of the few invitations he did accept was a party at Mayor Pope?s house and that night drastically changed his life. He met, talked to, and fell in love with the Mayor's wife Caroline. Terry was still very young. His climb up the military ladder was exceedingly fast and love was not one of the commodities he had exposed himself to. But one look at her and all common sense was lost. Cupid's arrow had pierced his heart and there was nothing he could do about it. Then he received a note from her requesting a meeting. One meeting led to another and soon they were seeing each other almost daily. The Mayor was so busy with affairs of state he completely ignored his beautiful young wife and that left the door wide open for Terry. He tried to convince her to leave her husband and marry him but the fear of her spouse wouldn?t permit such an action. Terry had been a good soldier and thought things through carefully before he put them into action, until he fell in love. Now he had no more common sense than a love sick teenager.

The Mayor returned home early one day and caught the two lovers together. There was no love lost between the Caroline and the Mayor but with the political endeavors he was aspiring to reach he couldn't allow this love affair to continue. He packed all his wife's belongings and shipped her off to Europe for a year?s vacation with his relatives. Terry knew she was three months pregnant with his baby and was so heart broken that after putting up with his loneliness for a few months wrote a suicide note and hung himself in disgrace.

A sad youngster left the library and headed for home. He loved his wooden figurine but couldn't understand why General Grey would kill himself. There had to be much more to this than he knew.

That night he went to bed early hoping his dreams would come back and he might be able to find out the truth and clear the name of his new friend. The dreams returned as soon as his eyes closed and Terry was in Mobile, Alabama in the year 1872. The Mayor's wife had just returned from Europe with her young son Terrence Louis Pope. As far as all the Mayor's friends and family knew the baby was his and on those rare occasions where they were seen together he acted like the child was his and he adored it. The truth of the matter was the Mayor knew he was impotent and the baby belonged to Terry. He hated the child with a demonic passion and was planning to dispose of it at the first opportune moment.

Caroline knew of his desires and threatened to reveal the whole truth of her torrid affair. The Mayor aspired to be governor, and maybe even president of the United States, so he tolerated the child but did everything possible to discredit Terry. Using his political pull he had as many of Terry's military records destroyed as possible and tried to confiscate Terry's property. He wasn't able to accomplish that task without showing his hand so he simply went to the office of Land and Property Deeds late one evening and reduced the size of Terry's land from two thousand acres to two acres.

The Mayor had a friend at the bank and was surprised to find that Terry only had three hundred dollars in his account. Everyone thought Terry was wealthy. The Mayor spent hours manufacturing believable lies about Terry and had nearly destroyed him. At the same time Caroline was covertly doing everything possible to keep all of Terry?s possessions for herself and her son. She had written a five page account of all the unscrupulous deeds her husband had done and put it the one place she figured he's never find it. She put it between the pages in volume ten of one of the legal books he proudly displayed in his office. He had started as a lawyer in his younger years and couldn't bear to dispose of his legal library.

He died of a massive coronary in 1876 and his law books were so valuable they were left intact in the Mayor's office. Caroline cleaned out her husbands bank account, sold all their property, and headed north to Boston with her son. Johnny was already up, dressed, and had eaten his breakfast by the time his parents awoke.

"Dad, would you do me a favor?" he asked when he finally came down stairs.

"I will if I can, son. What do you want?"

"How long would it take to drive from here to Mobile?"

"About seven hours if we drove straight through." answered a somewhat befuddled male parent.

"How much would it cost?"

"Well, seven hours driving in each direction would cost about thirty dollars for gas. Then if we stayed overnight at a cheap Motel and had meals it would cost another sixty dollars. Why do you want to know?"

"Ninety dollars is a lot of money. Do you have that much in the bank?"

"We have a little more than that if we had to use it. We've been saving a little every month in your college fund to be sure you get a good education."

"Tomorrow is Friday. Would it be possible for you and mom to take a day off and drive me down to Mobile."

"You have school tomorrow, son."

"This is really important to me. It's part of something I learned about the history of the Civil war and I believe I can prove someone was done a great injustice. I'm sure a General in the Confederate army was slandered and cheated by the Mayor of Mobile."

Mr. Grey had never seen his son this serious in his life. Johnny never asked for anything and always bent over backwards to help whenever he could.

"Why do you think the Mayor of Mobile had anything to do with destroying the life of another man." "I'm positive he did and if I can get to the capitol building in Mobile I'm sure I can prove it. It could be the biggest historical find of the century."

"I don't know, son. It would take a lot of money and your mother and I would lose a day at work."

"Please, Dad," Johnny pleaded.

"I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll talk it over with mom and see how she feels about it. I'll be back in a minute."

Mr. Grey returned to his bedroom just as his wife had finished dressing. He told her of Johnny?s request and asked how she felt about it. They both came downstairs to talk to Johnny.

"Is this part of your schoolwork, Honey?" she asked her son.

"No, Mom, it isn't. It all started in a dream and I checked it out in the Library with all the books I could find. When I didn't have much luck the librarian helped me search for stuff on the computer. I found out enough to know I need to clear the name of a man that probably wasn't guilty of the crimes he was accused of committing. It will only take me a few minutes in Mobile to see if I'm right or not. I need one thing that might seem funny to you. I need to take my birth certificate."

"Can't you tell us what this is all about?" his mother asked.

Terry hung his head. "Really I can't, Mom. If I say all the things I want to say you'd both think I'm nuts, but I promise you this, if what I think to be true really is it could drastically change our lives. If it isn't true I haven't hurt anyone. BUT I've got to get to the capitol building in Mobile before the next election. It's real important to me."

"What's going to happen after the next election?" his father wanted to know.

"The next Mayor that comes in is going to donate all the books in the Mayor's office to the City Library. What I need is in one of those books. If I don't get it soon it will be too late for me and the man I want to clear."

"I'll tell you what I'll do," Johnny's dad said. "This seems to be very important to you so I'll take a sick day from work and your mother will call the school and have you excused for today and tomorrow. You and I will jump in the car and head for Mobile. If it will only take a few minutes to do whatever it is you need to do then we'll jump back in the car and head home. Is that O.K. with you?"

Johnny already knew he had the best parents in the whole world and this just confirmed it. He rushed upstairs, put General Grey in the drawtop bag, and joined his father in the car.

It was fun for him to be driving with his dad. They joked about everything they could think of, talked about the country side they were driving through, and after six hours of driving Johnny closed his eyes for a moment and was soon dreaming again. He saw the ruins where General Grey's house had been burned to the ground and the limits of his plantation. He saw an old potato cellar and a metal box containing some type of papers and an old book. He awoke when his father shook him and they were parked in front of the capitol building in Mobile. Together they walked into the Mayor's office and after waiting about twenty minutes were allowed to speak to the Mayor.

"Sir," Johnny said to the man sitting behind the big desk, "there?s something in one of those books that belongs to me and if you don't mind I'd like to get it." The Mayor was temporarily surprised at such a request but saw no reason not to give the youngster whatever it was in the book if it belonged to him.

"There are over a hundred volumes. Is there a special book that you need to look in?"

"Volume ten should have what I need," the youth answered. The Mayor took the book from the shelf and placed it on the desk in front of Johnny. Quickly the lad turned to page ten and there was an envelope with a wax seal holding the flap closed.

Before Johnny had a chance to get the sealed package the Mayor quickly grabbed the envelope and said, "This is property of the state and I'll have to keep it until I'm authorized to turn it over to you."

"I don't think so, Mayor," Johnny answered with all the confidence in the world. "If you will look at the envelope you'll see it?s addressed to any member of the Grey family and that makes it my property."

"How do I know you're name is Grey?" the Mayor asked after seeing what was written on the front of the envelope. Johnny withdrew his birth certificate from his pocket and passed it to him.

"I'm Johnny Grey and that letter is mine."

Reluctantly the Mayor passed the envelope to the boy and before he had a chance to change his mind Johnny and his dad were in their car and on their way back home.

"Aren't you going to open the letter and see what's inside, son?" Mr. Grey asked after they had been driving for about half an hour.

"I don't have to. I already know what's inside and if you don't mind I'd rather wait until we get home so Mom can see us open it. I think it will be one of the biggest surprises of your life."

Poor Mr. Grey was dying of curiosity but thought Johnny was right in wanting his mother to see the letter being opened.

It was nearly eleven o'clock that night when they pulled into their driveway and Mrs. Grey was waiting for them. They gathered at the kitchen table and Johnny passed the letter to his father.

"You open the letter, Dad. It's more about you than me."

Both adults wondered how their son knew what was inside a sealed envelope but caught in the spirit of the moment continued with their pleasant task. When the seal was broken and the contents removed Mr. Grey began reading aloud the words written by a lady married to one man and in love with another.

In this year of our Lord 1876 I must confess to one and all the sins I have committed. My husband, by law, is not the father of my son. Terry Grey, whom I love beyond all others, sired our offspring. When my husband discovered my indiscretion he banished me from our home in Mobile and made me spend a year in England with his kin. I was treated well there because they thought the baby was a part of their family. When I was allowed to return to the United States I discovered Terry had committed suicide by hanging himself and my life ended. Had it not been for our son I would have disposed of myself and joined Terry wherever he was.

Daily things happened that made think Terry had not committed suicide and as I watch all the dirty tricks my husband was doing to discredit the one true love of my life I began a clandestine search for the truth. I thought I knew my husband until I discovered the heinous crimes he had perpetrated against Terry. When I faced him with what I had discovered he laughed at me and told me of other things he had done as well. I went nearly insane hearing how he had destroyed Terry and decided to do everything in my power to make things right.

I loved Terry but I never loved my husband. It was a marriage arranged by my parents and a sad marriage indeed.

One night in the heat of an argument my husband let it slip that Terry had not committed suicide but had been hung by ruffians he had hired and paid to make it look like Terry took his own life. This was more than I could stand and I planned on a way to appease Terry's spirit. Everyone was surprised when my husband died so young of a heart attack. In reality he never had a heart attack. It's amazing what a large dose of arsenic and a few dollars placed in the hands of a coroner can accomplish.

I sold everything I had in Mobile, took the money from the bank, and tomorrow I'll leave for Boston. Once away from the miseries I have suffered here I shall legally have my last name changed to Grey so my son will carry the name of his true father.

May God have mercy on my soul.

I put a box in Terry's root cellar with the deed to his property, his diary from the war, and all the stocks he had purchased. I don't know why but I feel in the future someone will find this letter and the property will be returned to it's rightful owner. If it is remember me with kindness.

Caroline Pope Grey

"It looks like we have to go back to Mobile, Dad. I know where the property is and I know where the box is but this time mom should go with us."

"Johnny, how do you know all these things? Surely you didn't read about them on the computer," his dad said.

"I dreamed them. From the first night I got my wooden soldier I have had dreams about all the things General Grey did. I'll tell you all about them on the way to Mobile."

"I'm way too tired to start back again tonight, son. Lets get a good night's sleep and we'll return tomorrow."

"We can go back tonight and be there first thing in the morning if I drive." Mrs. Grey said. "You can sleep in the back seat and Johnny can sit up here and tell me where to go once we hit Mobile."

"If you feel up to it, Honey, lets do it. I'm kind of curious to see what's in that box in Terry's root cellar."

It was nearly midnight when they left the house and Johnny?s mother had a rather heavy foot once they reached the four lane highway leading to Mobile. Johnny snuggled in his seat with General Grey located all warm and snug inside his drawtop bag and the dreams came back to the youngster. He dreamed for only a minute before they abruptly ended and he dreamed about those things all eleven year old boys dream about. He awoke when they were about twenty miles from the City limits of Mobile and reached for his bag. General Grey was missing and in his place was a few hands full of sawdust.

"Dad, did you open my bag to see what was inside?"

"Yes I did, Johnny, and I?m wondering why you're carrying around a bag with sawdust in it."

"There was a wooden soldier in there when we started, Dad. I forgot to tell you and mom you couldn't open the bag unless we were in the house. I'm so stupid. I was warned something like this would happen if anyone opened the bag."

"I didn't know." Mr. Grey said feeling his son's sadness.

"I don't blame you I blame myself for not telling you, but maybe this is the way it's supposed to end for General Grey. He told me all I need to know in my dreams and now at last he has joined Caroline.

Mom, the first thing we have to do is go to a hardware store and buy four metal stakes and a hammer. Then we need to go to the police station and have a policeman with us when we visit the old plantation."

"We're a little early for that," his mother answered. It isn't even seven o'clock yet and I doubt that any hardware store will open until eight or nine. What do you say to some breakfast first and then we can get on with your business."

Johnny had never turned down an invitation to eat and his stomach told him it was time for refueling. They stopped at a little restaurant, two buildings down from a hardware store, and enjoyed some good country cooking. By the time they finished the store had opened and they procured the items Johnny had been told to buy in his dreams.

They drove to the police station and requested an escort to the old Grey plantation and the policeman had no idea what they were talking about. The plantation had burned down in the late eighteen hundreds. Terry described to him where the plantation had been and the policeman still didn't have the foggiest idea what was going on.

"A few miles from here there's a road called Old Oak Road."

"Oh, I know where that is," the policeman answered, "the road is named after the most beautiful old oak tree in this part of the country."

"Have you seen the oak?" Johnny asked.

"Yes, I've seen it lots of times. I used to live not too far from there."

"On the tree there should be a huge heart carved into the wood and the words I'll LOVE YOU UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN CAROLINE. "

"Have you seen the tree?" the policeman asked wondering why they would need him to go there if they already knew where the tree was.

"No," Johnny answered, "I have never seen the tree but I know it is there. Will you please take us out to the tree?"

"Why do you want me to waste time showing you a tree if you already know that it?s there?"

"I promise I'll show you much more than a tree and we'll need you there so people won't think we're stealing things that don't belong to us. Dad show him the part of the letter that talks about the root cellar."

Mr. Grey showed the policeman that section of the letter trying not to reveal more than necessary.

"OK," the policeman finally said, "I'd like to see what's out there, if anything is there."

They arrived at the spot Johnny had seen in his dreams so many times and the first thing he did was tell his father to get the four stakes and the hammer. The policeman joined them as Johnny and his parents walked twenty feet back into the open field. Johnny got down on his hands and knees and in a few moments told his father to remove the stake that was already in the ground and replace it with one of the ones they had with them. Mr. Grey dug around the stake and finally withdrew a silver spike eleven inches long with the name Terry Grey scribed on it in big letters.

"Put that one in the trunk, Dad, and we'll find the other three. The next one is several miles down the road. There are two thousand acres here and it's shaped like a rectangle. Much of the property runs along this road with the length being twice as long as the width."

They got into the car and drove until Terry told them to stop.

"Is the next land marker here, son?"

"No, we are only half way there but I wanted to stop so you could see the old oak tree. It grew out in front of the main house." As Johnny pointed they could make out the tree sitting back nearly half a mile from the road. They continued on until they had exchanged all four silver stakes with iron ones and Johnny said it was time to explore the root cellar.

They drove off the main road where they had stopped to see the old oak and headed toward the tree. They exited the vehicle beneath the branches of the ancient tree and Johnny showed his parents the words that had been carved into its trunk so many years ago.

Johnny?s parents and the policeman looked around but there was no evidence a house had ever been built on that location.

The youngster took a dead branch he found beneath the oak and walked farther back onto the property. He hesitated in one spot long enough to dig one end of the branch into the ground and continued to walk as he drew the outline of a foundation in the dirt.

"This is where the house sat and it's where we must build our new one. It's a hundred and sixty feet long and eighty feet wide. The house we build must be exactly like the old one. The old one was two stories tall and I?ll draw a picture so you?ll know what it looked like. Is that agreeable so far?" he asked turning to his parents. They both shook their heads in the affirmative not knowing what to expect next. They didn't have enough extra money to buy the plans to a house let alone build one.

"Now comes the fun part," Johnny said as he took the branch with him and walked to the left forward side of the building he had drawn in the dirt. He drew an outline on the ground the size of a large door and stepped back.

"This is it," he said as he started brushing away the dirt that had accumulated over the years. His parents helped and in twenty minutes they cleaned away the entrance to the root cellar. The policeman watched as Mr. Grey used his hammer to break away a rusted old lock and lift open the door. Once open he passed his flashlight to Johnny so he could walk down the stairs into the underground pit. Johnny returned looking dazed and surprised.

"It's empty. There's nothing there."

All three of the adults felt for the lad. They could almost feel his heart break.

"That's alright Johnny," his dad said, "you did all you could and you've had one heck of an experience."

"It isn't over yet. It can't be. On the way down here before you opened the bag I was in the last stages of the dream. I walked into the cellar and all the stuff was there just like Caroline said. I must have done something wrong. Something's funny."

"Don't worry about it," his mother said "you did all you could do."

"No I haven't," answered a very despondent child. "I haven't cleared his name, I haven't found our property, and they can't be united until I do something else. I don't know what it is because the dream ended before I found out."

"Maybe if you hold the bag in your hand General Grey still may be able to help you," his mother offered. "Oh, thanks, Mom," Terry said throwing his arms around his mother and giving her the biggest hug she had ever received from him. He ran to the car and retrieved the bag holding the sawdust type remains of his wooden friend.

"Tell me what the words carved in the tree mean," Terry said to the adults as they walked toward it.

"It was his way of telling her he'd always love her," all three of the adults agreed.

"No," Terry said shaking his head, "suppose Terry didn't write that; Caroline did. See what it says. I'll love you until we meet again Caroline. Notice the exrta space between again and Caroline. It was her final message of love to him and I have the only way left to unite them." Terry walked to the tree and in the roots below the carved words he poured most of the remains of General Grey.

"There you go, General. I've done all I can do to get you two together and now I'll do all I can to clear both your names." As soon as the words left his lips darkness hit him and Johnny fell to the ground. He was awake again before his parents and the policeman even had time to reach him.

"Are you all right?" three concerned people wanted to know.

"I'm fine," he answered, "I had to take a quick nap to finish the dream. Everything is here exactly as it should be. Remember when we opened the door to the root cellar I said there was something wrong; there was. The door opened in the wrong direction. There's another root cellar next to the one we opened and everything is there. Come, I'll show you."

They returned to the open hole in the ground and Johnny started brushing away the debris to the right of the opening. Soon he uncovered another door and Mr. Grey broke the lock allowing Johnny entrance down the stairs. He came back shortly carrying the metal box he knew would be there. He sat the box on the ground and as the three older people watched opened the lid. There inside was the diary that the General had written about his war days. There was also a letter from Caroline, a bank book, a diary, and several sheets of stock. "I don't know how this will make you rich, Dad." Johnny said as he looked at the last figure entered in the savings account. It's only four hundred dollars and that sure isn't a fortune."

"It really is if you can collect it," the policeman answered. "Four hundred dollars has collected a lot of interest from 1830 until now, but that isn't where the money is. Your money is in that stock if it's any good, and it would be my guess it is. The stock is from the Baltimore and Ohio railroad when they first opened in 1830 and I wouldn't be surprised because of the number and the denomination of the stock that you own enough of it to be CEO of the company. That is, if you can prove that it belongs to you."

"That will be the easiest part of all," Johnny answered, "that was the reason we needed you along to see us open the box. Now I need you to take us to the police station and have someone record everything I say, or better still have them use a camcorder and everyone can see what's inside the letter at the same time."

An hour later they were all sitting in the police station and at Johnny?s request everything was recorded exactly as it happened.

"Before the letter is open I want to tell you what it says and why it is so important. In the letter I got from the Mayors office Caroline made no mention of this letter being in the box in the root cellar, she only mentioned the dairy, bankbook, and the stocks. That's because she returned to Mobile years later and added this letter.

Caroline left for Boston and changed her and her son's name to Grey exactly like she said she would. Her son Terrence married a young lady named Helen Spikes and she gave birth to a son in 1895 named William Grey. Caroline lived long enough to see her grandson Bill marry Lillian Carver and give birth to a son in 1916 named Jerome Grey who was my grandfather. Grandpa married a much younger girl late in life and my father was born in 1968 when grandpa was fifty two, and I was born 1985.

Caroline added this letter and her will to the box when she was in her eighties and for some unknown reason completely cut grandpa out of her will. I don't know if it was intentional or not. If anyone disbelieves the genealogy it will be easy enough to check out. The reason she put this letter in the box is threefold. First, and above everything else, she wants to clear the name of General Terry Grey and have him take his rightful place in history. Next she wants everyone to know what a big jerk her husband was and third she wants her legal heirs to have her inheritance. You'll find it all there in the envelope."

When the letter from Caroline was opened it was exactly as Johnny had predicted. It didn't take long to prove the ownership of the items in the box and in less than three months Johnny and his family were living in Alabama. They were building a new home on two thousand acres of their property.