The Miracle

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

Two men were walking around the perimeter of the exercise yard at the Virginia State Penitentiary. Snow was on the ground and they could see their breath as they walked. There were no other prisoners in the yard as the temperature was in the twenties. Their feet made a crunching noises as they walked. Other than that sound it was very still and cold. Not even a bird could be heard.

They paused at the northwest corner of the yard to look at the only landmark they could see outside of the prison, the very top of a mountain some fifty miles away. It was Regus Collender's favorite place as he could at least see something outside of the gray prison walls. Gerald Billings, his companion, also stared off into the distance, each man in his own thoughts.

The older man broke the silence and said, "Gerald, we have to figure a way out of here. Five years is a long time to spend anywhere. Breaking out is impossible so that leaves only one way."

"I'm not following you, Regus, what other way is there?" Gerald asked.

"Someone on the outside must buy our way out of here," Regus replied.

"The only people on the outside we know who have that kind of money are the ones who put us in here," Gerald stated.

"Gerald, you have no imagination. You must keep your ears open and your mind alert. You're right, we don't know anyone who has that kind of money, but there are over six hundred and fifty other people in here and one or more may know someone and they don't even realize it. We need to find that person and cultivate his friendship. I'll take it from there as I can manipulate anyone given the time. Our job now is to find that person."

"I'll do what you say, Regus, but it's hopeless."

"It's never hopeless! There is someone here, I feel it. Let's concentrate on people who may have a possibility. There are two or three hundred who we can eliminate immediately so we will work on the rest. Let's start a list."

They both fell silent as they were again at the northwest corner of the exercise yard and stared toward the mountain again.

Regus began thinking about Billy Ryan and how he had pretended to be his friend. Ryan had betrayed him with that slavery scheme that started the chain of events that ended up with both he and Gerald serving life terms. Ryan had turned them against one another and both had testified to save his own skin. It took a year in prison before Regus figured it out. It took nearly another year before Billings, his brother-in-law, would listen to him.

As Regus stood in the cold with his hands under his armpits he began to muse about his plan that had been nearly perfect. He would have pulled off a great coup that would have had him inheriting a plantation and a large import-export business. His sister had married the heir to both in 1848. She had died twelve years later after giving birth to twin girls. That had set Regus thinking. If he could somehow eliminate her husband, son and the twin girls he would inherit it all.

Regus thought of how Paul Raymond had moved his family to New York City before he could even form a plan. Then the war started in 1861 and that had put everything on hold. Once the war ended he again began to lust for the large mansion on Raymond Manor again. That was when his plan started to develop in his mind. He remembered how he first thought of how he could become the overseer of Raymond Manor, then laid the plans to accomplish the rest.

He smiled as he thought of how he had arranged for the fatal accident to the overseer of the Raymond plantation. After that the false letters lauding him as an overseer from the factious owners of a plantation had fooled Raymond. Especially when they received a firsthand account from Billings when he posed as Dale Southern, the owner of a plantation adjacent to the factious plantation. Both Raymond and his counsel had bought it. He smiled again as he thought of how eager Paul Raymond had been to hire him as overseer.

Having Elwood Peters pose as a tobacco buyer for a Swedish firm was another stroke of genius. He had sent Paul Raymond a letter saying his company would like to sign a contract with Raymond Industries for a large amount of tobacco. The large contract had brought Paul Raymond to Richmond.

Peters had met Raymond according to the plan. Peters was an expert marksman who had killed several men in duels. Regus changed the terms of the contract from what had been agreed to through letters. Peters delivered the contract at his meeting with Raymond. When Raymond saw the new terms he pointed out that it was not what they had agreed to in their letters.

Collender smiled as he remembered how Peters had accused Paul Raymond of lying, slapping him in public then challenging Raymond to a duel and subsequently shooting him dead. That had brought his twin daughters from New York and his son, James Raymond, from Harvard College to Richmond for the funeral.

Regus Collender smiled again to himself as he thought of how he had Peters run the carriage carrying the twins off the levee road into the river drowning them both. He then arranged breakfast at an inn with young Raymond in attendance. Peters showed up for his payoff and Billings shot Peters dead. The three, which included Collender's wife Carrie, swore out a warrant that James Raymond had shot and killed Peters out of revenge.

The smile left Collender's face. A perfect plan except for one thing, James Raymond disappeared that day and he could not be found by anyone. By not having young Raymond in custody the counsel for Raymond Industries, Owen Taylor, had he, his wife and Billings removed from Raymond Manor by the marshal. He thought of all the money he had spent trying to locate young Raymond, but to no avail. Hundreds spent for nothing.

Then five years ago in 1875, he met Billy Ryan, Raymond's adopted brother. Hate began to fill Collender's mind and he swore aloud as he thought how he had been duped by Ryan.

Billings said, "What was that, Regus?"

"Nothing Gerald, I was just thinking and got carried away."

Hate also raged within him as he thought of James Raymond. He had been so close, now he was in prison for the rest of his life. Collender swore within himself, "If I ever get out of prison I will have both Raymond and Ryan serve the same life sentence that I have been given."

A prison guard said, "Times up," and Billings and Collender went back to their prison cells.

About a month later Billings was eating across the table from a Greek. The Greek was telling the man next to him that when he got out of prison he was going back to a Greek island where he worked for one of the richest men in the world. Billings could not wait to tell Collender what he had heard.

Regus said, "Gerald, you may have just found our way out of here."

Regus waited until an opportune time and met the Greek whose name was Varkus. He spent a week or so building a friendship by giving Varkus tobacco and soap that are always at a premium in a prison. Varkus told Collender and Billings about the island of Piros and a powerful man who owned it, Petra Karpus. He said that Karpus lived in the largest castle in Greece and maybe the world.

Varkus said, "No one in Greece crosses Petra Karpus. He is by far the richest and...