Adrift

by Robin Wainwright

the truth. Yesterday I took Daniel up to the lighthouse station. We went through the cottage together and we went up on the widow’s walk. Daniel told me to be very careful and to not go anywhere he hadn’t cleared as safe.”

  Sarah nodded obviously focused on Heather’s tale, “And?” Sarah urged.

  “The view was so amazing, and I walked over to the edge of the widow’s walk.”

  “Oh god, Heather.”

  “I know, I know, but it was mesmerizing. I leaned on the railing that’s up there and it gave way.”

  “Heather!”

  Heather nodded. “I know it was terrifying. But then I felt someone grab me and pull me back from the edge.”

  “Thank god for Daniel! Now I feel guilty for thinking that he had hurt you on purpose. I think I’ll bake him some apology brownies. Of course, I won’t tell him that’s what they are—that would be too embarrassing. I’ll tell him they’re thank-you brownies. You are so lucky that Daniel was there to keep you from falling.”

  Heather waited for Sarah to stop rambling and then she continued, “Well, that’s what’s weird Sarah, Daniel wasn’t anywhere near me.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. If he wasn’t near you how did he grab you back from the edge?”

  “That’s just it, he didn’t. He was all the way on the other side of the roof.” Sarah looked at Heather as though she was gauging the truthfulness of her story. Then she glanced back down at the bruises.

  “Well someone grabbed you, the evidence is right there.”

  “I told you that I couldn’t explain it.”

  Sarah looked down into her mug of chocolate in deep thought. “Do you think it could have been the ghost you saw a few weeks ago?”

  “Ah come on, how weird is that?”

  “No weirder than that fact that you have bruises on your arm from an invisible someone who grabbed you back from the edge.”

  Heather laughed ruefully and shook her head, “True, but still…”

  “Did anything else happen while you and Daniel were at the cottage?”

  “Not really.”

  “You didn’t feel any really cold spots, unexplained noises or breezes?”

  “Not really. The only weird thing was a stuck door, but Daniel had a logical explanation for it.”

  “Heather just because you can explain something with logic it doesn’t mean that it’s not paranormal. It’s like those people who go around recreating paranormal events using camera tricks and wires. So you recreated it? So what? That doesn’t mean that the original experience was fake.” Sarah saw the surprised look on Heather’s face and realized that she might have gone too far.

  “I’m sorry Heather. It’s not that I believe everything I see or read, it’s just that I think you can be skeptical and still have an open mind.”

  “Okay, I can agree with that.”

  “Good. So tell me exactly what happened with the door.” Heather shared her experience with the stuck door at the cottage.

  “You didn’t find it interesting that the door opened when you said please?”

  “It was a little weird, but when we went into the room the windows were broken but not boarded over so there was a lot of wind. I figured that the wind had died down and let the door swing open.”

  “Um hum…” Sarah said skeptically.

  “No really.”

  “And when you went into the room.”

  “I didn’t go in.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. It was really cold in there and I just felt like I could see everything I needed to from the doorway.”

  “Heather, be honest. Why didn’t you go in?”

  “Okay, okay it did kind of freak me out, but that doesn’t prove anything.”

  “I wish people would trust themselves more. Our gut responses are part of our evolutionary survival mechanism. It is our bodies’ way of processing information beyond our five senses.” Heather looked confused and Sarah continued trying to clarify what she meant.

  “It’s like that little voice in your head that says you shouldn’t walk a certain way home, or that you shouldn’t trust a certain person. When you stood at the door instead of going into that room it was because your gut knew that there was something wrong.”

  “Okay, I guess I can accept that.”

  “Plus you said the room was cold?”

  “Yeah, but the window was broken.”

  “What it cold outside?”

  “No.”

  Sarah gave Heather a meaningful look and Heather had to laugh.

  “Okay, okay, so maybe there was something paranormal going on.”

  “Anything else happen while you were there?”

  “Yeah now that you mention it. Daniel used a heavy chair to make sure that the door wouldn’t close again, yet after I was saved from falling, the door slammed closed.”

  “Yeah, nothing strange going on there.”

  “You have a point, but answer me this. What gift do you bring to a ghost that saved your life?” They both laughed.

  “Since we’re on this topic something strange happened today at the lighthouse. The ground floor of the lighthouse is filled with trash, a mattress and such. Like folks have been partying and crashing there. Daniel went up to check on the lantern and I was waiting for him in the entrance.”

  “Wait, why didn’t you go up with Daniel? The view is spectacular. Did you feel uneasy?”

  “No. To be honest, and you cannot tell anyone,” Sarah nodded yes, “I snuck in a few weeks ago and my legs couldn’t stand the idea of climbing all those stairs again.”

  “Understandable. I did that once too and you’re right there are a lot of stairs. Made me realize just how out of shape I was.”

  “So anyway, I was standing in the door sipping my coffee when all of a sudden a huge gust of air brushed by me and stirred up all that trash. I had to cover my eyes and get out of there. It was really cold Sarah, like the wind in the cottage.”

  “Did Daniel say anything?”

  “Nope, he just came out a little while later and sat down with me on the bench. We spoke about what he’d found, but no scary stuff.”

  “Well, I’d be really careful the next time you go out to the lighthouse station. Something is stirring out there. Now tell me about the other big news, you and Daniel.”

  “Daniel,” Heather smiled.

  “Oh boy, from that look on your face I can tell you’ve got it bad.”

  “I do. Sarah, he is sweet, funny, intelligent and tenacious.”

  “Not to mention handsome.”

  Heather smiled, “Well yeah, but I didn’t want to be shallow.”

  “Tell me about tenacious. Tenacious about what?” Sarah said while wagging her eyebrows suggestively.

  “Probably about a lot of things, but in particular he seems to be tenacious about flirting with me.”

  “Nice. But from what I hear it’s gone beyond flirting.”

  Heather grinned and blushed a little, “It has, and he is a damn fine kisser.”

  Fanning herself, Sarah spoke in a Southern drawl, “Oh I do declare, I think I have the vapors.”

  “Stop it.” Heather laughed. They grinned at each other happily.

  “I’m happy when I’m with him, and I think I’d like it to go to the next step, but you know I’m only here for the summer.”

  “Summer love, it’s tough. But it’s just like summer camp...”

  “Oh god! If you tell me to treat it like a summer fling I think I’ll scream.”

  “I take it I’m not the first one to suggest it?”

  “Nope, Jennifer told me the same thing.”

  “Well, I think she’s right. Why not spend some time with someone that makes you feel good.”

  “It’s not fair to him.”

  “Sure it is. He knows that you’re only here until October right?”

  “Right.”

  “In all likelihood he may be here for even less time, depending on his bid.”

  “
True.”

  “So you both know the facts. Why not just enjoy each other.”

  “I guess you’re right, but I’ve never had a fling. I’ve never even had a one-night stand. My life has been one of serial monogamy.”

  “Well why would this be any different, it’s not like you’re seeing anyone else.”

  “I know. It just seems so cold and calculating to start a relationship with an expiration date.”

  “All relationships have an expiration date, but most of the time we don’t what it is. So stop looking at it that way. Live for today and let tomorrow take care of itself.”

  “You’re right I’m over thinking this, I should just relax and go with the flow.”

  “Yep, enjoy Mr. T while you can.”

  Heather looked at Sarah with a small grin on her face, “Mr. T?”

  “You said he was tenacious, Mr. T. Besides, if he lives up to his name you may not have too much of a choice.”

  ”That is the story of my life for the last couple of months.”

  Sarah reached across the table and patted Heather’s hand. “That may be true, but I, for one, am glad that life brought you to the village.”

  14

  Heather left Sarah’s and made her way to the Foghorn Tavern. She was concerned that Maggie would feel left out if she didn’t tell her about Daniel personally.

  Finding a quiet time to talk to Maggie was much harder than it was with Sarah, but she had to make the effort. She hoped that she had timed her visit right, somewhere between the lunch rush and the dinner crowd.

  She entered the tavern and saw that there were only a few patrons lingering after having finished their meals.

  “Hey Heather, Daniel’s not here.”

  “Argh! Did Sarah put you up to that?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When I went to Sarah’s she said the exact same thing.”

  “Scuttlebutt,” Maggie said with a knowing grin.

  “Scuttlebutt,” Heather said with a defeated air.