WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.379 In the hollers of Kentucky, some stories ain't 00:00:03.379 --> 00:00:07.879 written in books. They're carved in ash, bone, 00:00:08.339 --> 00:00:12.560 and memory. One of the darkest whispers out of 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:15.640 Mead County belongs to a young woman whose only 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:21.120 sin was knowing too much. Her name was Leah Smock, 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:25.100 and though they tried to burn her body, they 00:00:25.100 --> 00:00:29.839 couldn't burn her legend. To this day, They call 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:35.619 her the Witch of Battletown. You found your way 00:00:35.619 --> 00:00:40.159 to Kentucky Melody, where Appalachian scary stories, 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:43.439 Kentucky ghost stories, and haunted tales of 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:47.380 the hills come alive. Around here, we don't just 00:00:47.380 --> 00:00:51.759 tell scary stories. We let the dead speak. So 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:55.240 settle in, friend. Keep your lantern lit and 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:58.829 your prayers close, cuz tonight, We're stepping 00:00:58.829 --> 00:01:01.829 into the smokehouse fire that birthed one of 00:01:01.829 --> 00:01:05.670 Kentucky's most enduring ghost stories and meeting 00:01:05.670 --> 00:01:10.629 the witch of Battletown face to face. Leah Smock 00:01:10.629 --> 00:01:15.469 comes squalling into this world in 1818, right 00:01:15.469 --> 00:01:19.189 there in Battletown, a place where the Ohio River 00:01:19.189 --> 00:01:22.730 fog don't never quite lift and the hills seem 00:01:22.730 --> 00:01:27.230 to lean in close, listening. From the start, 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:30.980 She weren't like the other girls her age. While 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:33.719 most little gals was taught to stitch quilts, 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:37.819 shell beans, or tend to babies, Leah filled her 00:01:37.819 --> 00:01:41.400 head with stranger things. Books, the woods, 00:01:41.859 --> 00:01:45.560 and wonder. She'd burn through every lesson her 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:48.200 school teacher could scrape together, then go 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:51.420 hunting knowledge on her own. Like her mind was 00:01:51.420 --> 00:01:54.019 starved and the world itself was the only meal 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:57.890 big enough to fill it. Folks round there said 00:01:57.890 --> 00:02:00.849 she had eyes that had cut clean through a body, 00:02:01.209 --> 00:02:04.829 dark, sharp, and curious, like she was seeing 00:02:04.829 --> 00:02:08.389 not just what you were, but what you was hiding. 00:02:09.110 --> 00:02:12.650 And she always carried that staff with her, a 00:02:12.650 --> 00:02:15.129 thing carved from hickory with a snake's head 00:02:15.129 --> 00:02:19.189 knob that glared mean in the firelight. That 00:02:19.189 --> 00:02:22.849 staff weren't no toy neither, not it was a gift 00:02:22.849 --> 00:02:26.360 from her Cherokee friend, Jim. who whispered 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:28.740 the old songs of the land to her and taught her 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:32.719 which roots cured fever, which bark brought sleep, 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:36.099 and which leaves might set a man dreaming of 00:02:36.099 --> 00:02:41.039 things best left alone. Together they wandered 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:46.479 into the woods folks called Lapland. Now Lapland 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:50.479 weren't like no ordinary patch of timber. The 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.349 minute you stepped under them boughs The sun 00:02:53.349 --> 00:02:56.590 dulled down like it was being smothered, and 00:02:56.590 --> 00:02:59.449 the critters all went silent, like the whole 00:02:59.449 --> 00:03:03.349 forest was holding its breath. More than one 00:03:03.349 --> 00:03:06.349 hunter swore they'd turned back out of there, 00:03:06.930 --> 00:03:09.490 feeling eyes on them that didn't belong to no 00:03:09.490 --> 00:03:15.389 deer nor man. But Leah, she belonged to it. She 00:03:15.389 --> 00:03:18.210 walked them hollers like a queen among her court. 00:03:18.819 --> 00:03:21.659 whispering to the moss and letting the wind tell 00:03:21.659 --> 00:03:26.699 her secrets. Leah weren't wicked, least not in 00:03:26.699 --> 00:03:30.219 the way them church -going folk meant. She was 00:03:30.219 --> 00:03:34.199 a healer. She gathered herbs at dawn, mixed her 00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:37.539 poultices with a steady hand, and prayed over 00:03:37.539 --> 00:03:41.780 the sick with words soft as creek water. More 00:03:41.780 --> 00:03:44.939 than once she helped a fever break or a wound 00:03:44.939 --> 00:03:48.560 knit up quicker than it had any right to. But 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:51.800 in them days, a woman who knew too much was a 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:56.860 dangerous thing. Men didn't trust it. Women feared 00:03:56.860 --> 00:04:01.120 it. And when Leah's vision started, when she'd 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:04.500 look a body over and know, somehow know, when 00:04:04.500 --> 00:04:09.000 death was standing close by, well, the whispers 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:14.539 started too. Witch, not screamed, not shouted 00:04:14.539 --> 00:04:18.430 at first. just breathed low in kitchens, hissed 00:04:18.430 --> 00:04:21.310 round fires, muttered on church steps when she 00:04:21.310 --> 00:04:25.550 walked past. That word clung to her like smoke, 00:04:26.089 --> 00:04:30.050 and in time it would burn her just the same. 00:04:30.910 --> 00:04:35.009 By the summer of 1840, hard times had settled 00:04:35.009 --> 00:04:37.490 on Battletown like a heavy quilt you couldn't 00:04:37.490 --> 00:04:41.550 shake off. When the corn come up thin, beans 00:04:41.550 --> 00:04:45.160 rotted on the vine, and sickness crept through 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:48.620 cabins like a thief in the night. Folks were 00:04:48.620 --> 00:04:52.240 wearied, hungry, and desperate for something, 00:04:52.819 --> 00:04:57.319 or someone, to blame. That's when it started. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:01.220 A neighbor's horse took ill, a fine animal that 00:05:01.220 --> 00:05:05.160 had pulled plows and wagons for years. Leah done 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:09.439 all she could, ground herbs into poultices, prayed 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:12.519 over it, laid her hands on its trembling flank. 00:05:13.100 --> 00:05:16.620 But the horse went down anyhow, foam flecking 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:21.480 its lips, eyes rolling back white. Folks whispered 00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:24.660 quick, glancing toward Leah with fear they didn't 00:05:24.660 --> 00:05:28.680 dare speak out loud. And when that same family's 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:31.860 baby took sick and passed the very next day, 00:05:32.540 --> 00:05:37.060 them whispers turned to poison. Now, death was 00:05:37.060 --> 00:05:41.879 common back then. Everybody lost kin. But grief 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:45.040 makes monsters out of men, and they made Leah 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:48.740 their monster. Didn't matter she tried to help, 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:51.899 didn't matter her own mama wept for the child 00:05:51.899 --> 00:05:56.639 too. All that mattered was fear, and fear's a 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:00.019 spark that'll set the whole world alight. On 00:06:00.019 --> 00:06:03.339 the 21st of August, Leah's family rode off to 00:06:03.339 --> 00:06:06.160 Brandenburg, leaving her home with one sibling. 00:06:07.019 --> 00:06:11.550 That's when they came. Not strangers, not outlaws, 00:06:12.069 --> 00:06:15.930 but men she knew. Neighbors, church deacons, 00:06:16.189 --> 00:06:19.050 men who'd broke bread at her father's table. 00:06:19.889 --> 00:06:22.689 Their boots crunched gravel as they come up the 00:06:22.689 --> 00:06:27.050 path, faces hard as stone, carrying rope and 00:06:27.050 --> 00:06:31.449 purpose. They tied her wrists and ankles, tight 00:06:31.449 --> 00:06:35.509 enough to bite into her skin. Dragged her, struggling 00:06:35.509 --> 00:06:39.040 through the yard to the family smokehouse. Just 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:42.800 a squat, wooden shack, smelling of cured meat 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:46.720 and ash. They barred the door, their breaths 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:50.100 heavy in the august heat, and stacked wood high 00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:54.120 against the walls. Some said prayers, others 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:59.399 spat, none met her eyes. And then, without a 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:03.079 word, they struck the match. Flames licked up 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:06.860 dry kindling, then roared to life, cracking and 00:07:06.860 --> 00:07:10.550 spitting. Smoke curled under the door, poured 00:07:10.550 --> 00:07:14.529 out the chinks between the boards. Inside, Leah 00:07:14.529 --> 00:07:19.170 fought for breath. Some say she screamed once, 00:07:19.870 --> 00:07:23.250 just once, before the smoke swallowed her voice. 00:07:24.209 --> 00:07:28.209 A cry so sharp it rattled the men standing outside, 00:07:28.910 --> 00:07:31.490 made one cross himself though he wouldn't admit 00:07:31.490 --> 00:07:35.879 it. Others swear she never screamed at all. that 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:38.879 she stood there in the firelight, eyes burning 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:41.680 through the cracks, staring out at them with 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:45.800 a fury they'd never forget. Either way, when 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:48.720 the roof caved in and the embers cooled, and 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:51.579 there weren't nothing left but blackened timbers, 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:54.839 gray ash, and the stink of sin that clung to 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:58.339 their clothes, them men stood silent in the smoke, 00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:02.000 calling it God's justice, whispering they'd cleanse 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:06.269 the town. But deep down, Each one knew the truth, 00:08:06.889 --> 00:08:09.970 that what they'd done weren't righteous, weren't 00:08:09.970 --> 00:08:15.290 holy. It was murder, plain and raw. And murder 00:08:15.290 --> 00:08:20.290 leaves a stain the fire can't burn clean. Her 00:08:20.290 --> 00:08:23.250 daddy done what no father ought ever have to 00:08:23.250 --> 00:08:26.889 do. He gathered up what was left of his girl, 00:08:27.389 --> 00:08:30.889 bone, ash and sorrow, and laid her in a rough 00:08:30.889 --> 00:08:35.320 coffin. No church bell told. No preacher come 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:38.460 to pray over her. Folks wouldn't have her in 00:08:38.460 --> 00:08:41.759 hallowed ground, not with that word hanging on 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:46.679 her name. So John Smock dug with his own blistered 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:49.879 hands, carving out the first grave in the lonely 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:52.919 patch of earth that came to be called Betsy Daily 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:57.740 Cemetery. Leah was the first laid there, and 00:08:57.740 --> 00:09:01.399 some say that alone cursed the place. The air 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:05.259 hangs heavy still. Like the ground itself remembers 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:09.379 it weren't ready to take her. But Leah didn't 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:14.759 rest. It started quiet, whispers from hunters 00:09:14.759 --> 00:09:18.100 coming back late through Lapland woods. They 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:20.720 spoke of a white figure slipping between the 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:24.000 trees, pale dress glowing where no moonlight 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:28.740 reached. Her arms hung low, wrists still bound 00:09:28.740 --> 00:09:31.240 with black ties like the day they dragged her 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:34.909 to the fire. And wherever she went, the air turned 00:09:34.909 --> 00:09:40.529 cold. Sharp, biting, unnatural. Breezes swept 00:09:40.529 --> 00:09:43.090 down the holler, even on the hottest nights, 00:09:43.669 --> 00:09:46.789 rattling leaves like bones in a cup. The very 00:09:46.789 --> 00:09:50.309 men who'd lit the match felt it worst. Their 00:09:50.309 --> 00:09:54.049 dreams soured. They heard footsteps in the dark 00:09:54.049 --> 00:09:57.649 when no one followed. In desperation, they tried 00:09:57.649 --> 00:10:01.200 again to bury what they'd loosed. They hauled 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:05.120 wagonloads of stone, big white slabs pried from 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:08.740 creek beds, and piled them high atop her coffin, 00:10:09.580 --> 00:10:12.679 thinking the weight might pin her spirit under. 00:10:13.860 --> 00:10:18.000 But come morning, them stones was gone, sunk 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.879 deep into the earth like the ground itself had 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:24.419 spit them out. And the men understood what they 00:10:24.419 --> 00:10:28.620 feared most, that Leah had already slipped free. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:32.840 She didn't belong to dirt no more. She belonged 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:35.940 to the wind in the trees, the hush of the holler, 00:10:36.340 --> 00:10:40.720 the very breath of Battletown itself. Her mama, 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:44.259 Margaret, swore she'd seen it with her own eyes, 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:47.360 went standing at the smokehouse ruins, tears 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:50.340 streaking her cheeks, begging her daughter to 00:10:50.340 --> 00:10:54.940 rise. Leah, she cried, use your power and get 00:10:54.940 --> 00:10:58.850 out of there. And the ashes stirred. The air 00:10:58.850 --> 00:11:02.649 shimmered like heat over stone. Then Leah came, 00:11:02.950 --> 00:11:06.289 pale, silent, floating up out of them cinder's 00:11:06.289 --> 00:11:08.549 eyes burning with a light no mortal ought to 00:11:08.549 --> 00:11:13.429 look on. She didn't speak, didn't smile, just 00:11:13.429 --> 00:11:16.690 fixed her stare on the world that betrayed her. 00:11:17.450 --> 00:11:21.389 From that moment on, folks knew you could burn 00:11:21.389 --> 00:11:25.350 her body, you could bury her bones, you could 00:11:25.350 --> 00:11:29.210 weigh her down with rock. But Leia Smok would 00:11:29.210 --> 00:11:34.110 not stay still. From that day on, Battletown 00:11:34.110 --> 00:11:38.029 weren't never the same. The land itself felt 00:11:38.029 --> 00:11:41.529 marked, like the fire that took Leia had scorched 00:11:41.529 --> 00:11:45.110 more than wood and flesh. It had burned a hole 00:11:45.110 --> 00:11:49.110 in the soul of the place. Folks started whispering 00:11:49.110 --> 00:11:51.730 of strange lights flickering out yonder in the 00:11:51.730 --> 00:11:55.490 cemetery, soft at first like lanterns bobbing 00:11:55.490 --> 00:11:59.320 in the dark. Only there weren't no hand carrying 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:03.019 them. Some swore they felt footsteps falling 00:12:03.019 --> 00:12:06.139 just behind them on the path, close enough to 00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:09.360 raise the hairs on the back of their necks, though 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:13.500 when they turned, nothing but empty air and quiet 00:12:13.500 --> 00:12:18.320 breathing. And always, always there was a woman 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:23.039 in white. Standing at the tree line, pale dress 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:27.500 drifting like fog, black ties cinching her wrists, 00:12:28.220 --> 00:12:32.740 eyes accusing and waiting. She didn't move, she 00:12:32.740 --> 00:12:37.279 didn't speak, just watched, like a flame frozen 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:41.759 in the dark. Her legend clung to Battletown like 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:45.940 dew on the grass, wet and chill, never shaken 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:49.879 loose. Even in modern times the young folk tempt 00:12:49.879 --> 00:12:53.700 fate, dancing with fear. They dare each other 00:12:53.700 --> 00:12:56.899 to creep into Betsy Daily Cemetery at midnight, 00:12:57.580 --> 00:13:01.840 laughing at first, but it don't last. More than 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:05.399 once come running out pale as bone, swearing 00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:08.000 their car wouldn't crank till they rolled past 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:12.480 them gates. Some said the headlights died too, 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:16.559 leaving them blind in the dark as if Leah herself 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:19.779 was sitting in the back seat, cold fingers on 00:13:19.779 --> 00:13:25.370 the wheel. And in 1991, a news crew come to prove 00:13:25.370 --> 00:13:29.009 it false to turn her into nothing but story. 00:13:29.950 --> 00:13:33.629 But the land wouldn't have it. The moment they 00:13:33.629 --> 00:13:36.750 stepped on her ground, every battery they carried, 00:13:37.230 --> 00:13:41.250 cameras, lights, sound gear, all of it flickered 00:13:41.250 --> 00:13:44.509 dead at once like something reached right down 00:13:44.509 --> 00:13:47.909 their throats and snatched the life out. They 00:13:47.909 --> 00:13:52.019 stood there stunned. Cold sweat running, their 00:13:52.019 --> 00:13:56.340 flashlights the only thing working. Soon as they 00:13:56.340 --> 00:14:00.120 gave up and left the grave behind, every piece 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:02.740 of gear sprung back to life like nothing had 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:06.960 ever happened. Only difference was not one of 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:11.159 them laughed on the ride home. And so the warning 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:16.360 still stands. Walk Betsy Daily Cemetery on an 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:19.750 October night if you dare. But listen close. 00:14:20.509 --> 00:14:22.669 You might hear the whisper of skirts dragging 00:14:22.669 --> 00:14:26.429 through the leaves, or feel icy fingers brush 00:14:26.429 --> 00:14:29.769 your arm though the night airs still. And if 00:14:29.769 --> 00:14:32.950 you're real unlucky, if you're bold enough to 00:14:32.950 --> 00:14:37.250 look, well, you just might find her eyes in the 00:14:37.250 --> 00:14:42.210 dark, burning, accusing, watching from the shadows, 00:14:43.149 --> 00:14:47.960 waiting still. But here's the strangest twist 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:52.980 of all, friend. Instead, a run from her shadow, 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:57.460 Battletown leans straight into it. Every October, 00:14:57.700 --> 00:15:00.220 when the nights grow longer and the fog settles 00:15:00.220 --> 00:15:03.600 low across the river, they hold a festival in 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:07.539 Leah's name. What started as a few folks gathering 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:10.159 quiet like to mourn her turned into something 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:13.500 bigger. Something that feels half celebration. 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:18.379 half conjuring. Lanterns line the path through 00:15:18.379 --> 00:15:22.320 Betsy Daly Cemetery, glowing like a trail of 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:26.200 Will of the Wisps. Guides lead folks past crooked 00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:30.000 stones, stopping by Leah's grave to whisper her 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:33.539 tale under breath, their words mixing with the 00:15:33.539 --> 00:15:37.860 hiss of crickets and the snap of firewood. The 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:41.519 smell of burning sage and autumn leaves clings 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:44.929 in the air. like the forest itself is listening. 00:15:46.409 --> 00:15:49.610 Along the roadside, vendors set up stalls selling 00:15:49.610 --> 00:15:53.570 herbs, charms, and trinkets, not so different 00:15:53.570 --> 00:15:56.610 from what Leah herself once carried in her apron. 00:15:57.610 --> 00:16:01.269 Folks say buying a sprig of dried mugwort or 00:16:01.269 --> 00:16:04.009 a hand -carved talisman might keep her spirit 00:16:04.009 --> 00:16:07.990 from following you home. Music drifts up from 00:16:07.990 --> 00:16:12.590 the riverbank, Fiddle's crying, banjos thumping, 00:16:13.289 --> 00:16:16.230 the high lonesome sound of Appalachia rising 00:16:16.230 --> 00:16:19.669 into the night, and when the music swells, the 00:16:19.669 --> 00:16:22.870 people join hands and dance the witch's dance, 00:16:23.429 --> 00:16:26.649 shadows leaping wild across the grass, looking 00:16:26.649 --> 00:16:29.529 for all the world like the very fire that once 00:16:29.529 --> 00:16:33.970 consumed her. Now, some reckon this festival 00:16:33.970 --> 00:16:37.289 eases Leah's unrest, giving her one night of 00:16:37.289 --> 00:16:40.940 peace in the company of the living. But others 00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:44.639 whisper different, saying the light, the music, 00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:48.220 the crowd stir her up, calling her closer to 00:16:48.220 --> 00:16:52.580 the land she never could leave. Either way, one 00:16:52.580 --> 00:16:56.139 truth stands. Her story ain't been buried, not 00:16:56.139 --> 00:17:00.559 by fire, not by stone, not by the march of years. 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:04.339 If anything, it's stronger now than ever, woven 00:17:04.339 --> 00:17:07.359 tight into the very bones of Battletown, like 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:10.730 roots twisted through rock. And each October, 00:17:11.029 --> 00:17:14.450 when the lanterns glow and the fiddles cry, you 00:17:14.450 --> 00:17:18.369 can feel it, that she's there, lingering at the 00:17:18.369 --> 00:17:24.430 edge of the circle, watching, waiting. But what 00:17:24.430 --> 00:17:27.390 chills me most about this tale ain't the ghost 00:17:27.390 --> 00:17:31.750 at all. It's the truth that birthed her. Leah 00:17:31.750 --> 00:17:35.970 Smock weren't evil. She weren't wicked. She was 00:17:35.970 --> 00:17:40.059 just different. Too smart, too curious, too willing 00:17:40.059 --> 00:17:42.579 to walk her own path when the world expected 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:46.440 her to kneel, and in them times that was enough 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:50.259 to get a girl branded, tied, and burned till 00:17:50.259 --> 00:17:55.359 nothing but ash and bone was left, then buried 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:58.940 under stone by the very folk who should have 00:17:58.940 --> 00:18:03.299 broke bread at her table. Her spirit, they say, 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:08.220 still roams Battletown. Not to hex, not to haunt, 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:12.920 not to curse, but to remind. To remind us what 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:15.480 fear can do when it takes root in the heart. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:19.319 To remind us that once fire's lit by ignorance 00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:23.339 and hate, it don't just eat the body. It swallows 00:18:23.339 --> 00:18:27.039 the whole community, leaving scars that outlast 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:30.980 generations. So if you ever find yourself wandering 00:18:30.980 --> 00:18:34.480 near Battletown on a fog slick night, And the 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:38.039 wind shifts cold on your neck Don't think too 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:41.980 quick, it's just the weather That breath you 00:18:41.980 --> 00:18:46.279 feel may well be hers The weight of every sin 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:49.759 folks tried to bury but couldn't Pressing down 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:53.019 on you in the dark And if you're bold enough 00:18:53.019 --> 00:18:56.519 to lift your eyes to them trees Don't be surprised 00:18:56.519 --> 00:19:00.460 if you see her there Pale dress drifting, wrists 00:19:00.460 --> 00:19:04.950 still bound Eyes glowing with a fire no man's 00:19:04.950 --> 00:19:09.950 match ever lit, watching, waiting, reminding. 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:16.490 So tell me, friends, what do y 'all think? Do 00:19:16.490 --> 00:19:19.509 you believe Leah's spirit still lingers, watching 00:19:19.509 --> 00:19:22.769 from the tree line? Would you be brave enough 00:19:22.769 --> 00:19:26.130 to walk that cemetery during the festival, lantern 00:19:26.130 --> 00:19:29.460 in hand? wondering if the white figure behind 00:19:29.460 --> 00:19:34.440 you is just another visitor, or her. Drop your 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:37.359 thoughts in the comments. I'd love to hear your 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:40.339 take. And if this tale sent a shiver down your 00:19:40.339 --> 00:19:45.339 spine, do us a kindness. Like, share, and subscribe, 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:48.559 so you don't miss the next story echoing out 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:53.319 of these Kentucky hills. Until next time, keep 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:56.779 your lantern lit. and your prayers louder than 00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:57.400 the dark.