Andi Unstoppable by Amanda Flower

as he could afford, which brought him here to Killdeer, Ohio. For Silas, it was a new adventure. For Dominika, it was again an escape, this time from her husband’s disapproving relatives.”
    Jim waved his hands around. “Here they lived and raised their boys. For the first time, Dominika had a home and happiness. However, when her oldest son was twenty-one, the South left the Union. All five of her boys went off to war. She begged them not to go. Dominika had no interest in preserving the Union, and she didn’t care what the Southern states she had never seen did. However, the boys were like their father and sought adventure. The youngest, William, went off to war as soon as he turned sixteen, in 1862. Each boy who left met a cruel fate.”
    Jim took a breath and examined the faces staring at him through the fire. “Randall and Matthew were the first to perish. They died in 1861 in the camps outside of Washington. Both men died of pneumonia. Then, Harold died in January 1862 from a bullet wound that led to gangrene. And Luke died of infection when his leg was amputated.”
    Beside me, Ava took in a quick breath. I chewed on my lip as I imagined the stone house behind the triplets standing upright and with a candle in every window for the boys who never returned. I could almost see Dominika Shalley in the doorway, holding another letter telling her another son had died.
    Jim continued, “Each time Silas and Dominika received word of another son’s death, Dominika went into hysterics. She blamed Silas for what had happened. She thought he could have done more to discourage the boys from going off to war. Then in 1863, the greatest blow came. William, her youngest and favorite son, died when he was killed defending Little Round Top at Gettysburg. He was shot in the head.”
    I shivered.
    â€œAfter that, Dominika became hysterical and stayed hysterical. Her husband didn’t know what to do. Finally, two years after the war ended, he decided to take her back to New York for treatment, but they never made it. The night before they were set to leave, Dominika died in her bed.” He paused. “From a broken heart.
    â€œAfter his wife died, Silas abandoned the home and fled to California. He never returned, but Dominika did.” Jim leaned closer to the fire, so that it illuminated the planes of his face and dipped his eyes in shadow. “She walks the woods every night to visit the graves of her boys. You can hear her crying. Some have even reported seeing her in a white robe and long silver hair trailing behind her. Her feet hovering above the earth.”
    â€œHogwash,” Claudette said, as if she couldn’t take it anymore. “It’s a silly story to keep children out of the woods. I don’t believe a word of it.”
    Jim wiggled his eyebrows before leaning back into his chair. “Just because you don’t believe it doesn’t mean it’s untrue.”
    Claudette snorted.
    Trying to cover the creepy feeling climbing up my neck, I removed the marshmallows from the fire and blew out the flame caught on the stick. With one hand, I made a sandwich of graham cracker and chocolate and squished the marshmallow into the sandwich.
    Bergita flipped her braid over her shoulder as she thrust her marshmallow stick into the flames. “That’s a good story, Jim. Wonderful performance.”
    Across the fire, the triplets chuckled together.
    I handed the s’more to Colin and started to construct another.
    â€œDo you believe that story?” he whispered.
    â€œOf course not,” I said, but my voice shook just a little.
    Ava snorted and grabbed the stick from me. She took the last marshmallow. “It’s a dumb story about a crazy lady.”
    â€œI don’t think it’s dumb,” I said, feeling the need to defend Dominika. “I think it’s sad.”
    Ava examined me over her s’more. “So you believe there’s a