Jane of Clement

Lula Jackson was born and raised in the rural community of Clement.

She attended the old Clement school and was honored to be a member of the graduating Class of 1964.

Growing up with two sisters and one brother, story telling was part of their entertainment.  Lula later told stories to her daughter, granddaughters and the children in the clement after school program, where this story began.....

In the late twenties (1920’s), when Clement was a new school, a girl named Jane was a third grader there.  The roads were dirt and houses far apart.  There were only three buses to carry the students to and from school.  Nearly every family farmed.  There were no telephones, televisions, or computers in the school at this time.  Students were not car riders because very few people had cars.  If you missed the bus, you missed school that day.  No one, back then, wanted to miss school, especially Jane.  Learning was something that was encouraged by a ‘motherly type’ teacher with patience and a smile.  Stress and book bags were not a part of this peaceful time........

Entering the shady path, Jane walked slowly remembering all the fun she had on this little path in the woods.  Sitting down on a log, she looked up at the trees.  They met making a large green umbrella above her head.  As she leaned against the tree, Jane closed her eyes.  All this playing had made her tired, so she drifted off to sleep.  With so many activities going on, no one missed Jane, not even the teachers.  The ringing of the bell this particular time meant it was time to go home.  The buses were waiting.  Mrs. Hall announced that everyone was to go by their classrooms and collect their belongings, then go straight to the buses.  The teachers would remain outside to begin cleaning up.  Everyone hurried and soon the playground was empty and quiet.  Everyone, including the teachers had left.......

Later the next day, when Jane’s father found out she was missing, it was almost dark.  Friends and neighbors would be ready to begin a search for her early in the morning.  Jane’s father checked with all the nearby neighbors that night.  Groups gathered the next morning to begin the search.  They checked the wooded areas as they made their way to the school, just in case Jane had tried to walk home and gotten lost.

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It was then that people remembered their parents talk of the disappearance of a little girl named Jane, years earlier.  The bus she rode was bus number ‘13’.  Could there be a haunted school bus making trips through the Clement community after this happened?   If so, why is it transporting adults also?  Some parents moved from the community after this.  Others remained looking everyday for the return of the children and Old bus ‘13’.  Not a day went by that Tim Tyson’s father didn’t think of him.............

As time went by, the stories of Jane and Old Bus ‘13’ faded.  They have not faded from the minds of the senior citizens of Clement.  The stories have been passed on to their children and grandchildren.  The younger generations didn’t believe that there was a Jane of Clement or an

Old Bus ‘13’.  Why should they?  Neither Jane or the bus had been seen in years, but that was about to change......