On the way back, I remembered Gwen’s invitation for later that day and slowed a little to watch for her blue mailbox. “Hey! You know your mail lady, Gwen?”
GM’s gaze flitted to me and she nodded.
“I ran into her in town yesterday and we had coffee. She invited me to go for a swim in her pool later today.” Even though I had the sharp set of wheels, I’d probably walk in case we had a few drinks. I scanned the mailboxes as we drove. It had to be not far from where we were now.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. You have work to do with me and—”
“I’m not going until after four, when you’re having your nap.” I looked over at her, surprised to see the scowl on her face, her eyes wide, staring at me.
“No, Keira; that’s a bad idea.”
What? “How is it a bad idea?”
“You have work to do. While I’m napping, I want you to see if you can contact Molly and Sam in your room. You also need to work on your telekinesis. “ Before I could say a word, she added, “As far as making friends with the locals...” She shook her head emphatically. “No. I’m against this.”
“You’re against it.”
“Yes. The nature of what we do, becoming friendly with people who live nearby only complicates things.” She raised an eyebrow. “They start asking questions you won’t want to answer, prying into your business, and generally become a nuisance.” She slapped the dashboard in front of her. “No. You have more important things to do with your time than some silly pool party. You need to cancel.”
Cancel? First of all, even if I wanted to cancel, which I didn’t, I didn’t have her phone number to do that. And what was the big deal about a couple of hours away from the house? GM wouldn’t even be awake during the time I was gone. “I’m going. I will be back for drinks and dinner, don’t worry.” I kept my voice even, despite GM’s high and mighty attitude. She’s not the boss of me!
GM was being quiet but from the puckered moue of her lips, she was angry. I didn’t get it. How could something this trivial set her off like that? But, I wasn’t giving in either. She couldn’t expect me to be a recluse. And I’d hardly call a two-hour swim with Gwen, a party.
I parked the car next to the Caddie and turned it off. My shoulders slumped for a moment as I sat there. She’d been so generous and this had certainly put a damper on the festive mood from earlier. I guess there was always a catch.
I got out and walked around the car to get GM’s door for her. If she wasn’t so angry, it would have been comical, seeing her hair, a cotton candy mess framing her flushed cheeks and flinty eyes. But I knew better than to make any smart-ass comment. Instead, I tried one more time, “Look, I’m sorry you feel that way about me going over to Gwen’s. I thought you liked her. I’ll make sure I’m back in time for drinks.”
She gripped my arm and set the point of her cane on the ground, pushing and pulling her frail frame up from the seat of the car. “Make sure you are, then.” When she got to her feet she gazed solemnly into my eyes. “I told you earlier, this is not a game, Keira. You need to learn a lot of things if you are to do this work. Don’t disappoint me.”
SIXTEEN
HER WORDS HIT ME LIKE A KICK TO THE STOMACH. I felt like I was twelve years old and had just gotten a scolding. GM’s rant was too much like something my parents would say to me. I could see the disappointment in me in her eyes. All my efforts: social work, photography and last but not least the acting school debacle hung around my neck like an albatross. I felt like such a loser as I escorted her up the stairs.
Lawrence was waiting, holding open the front door. Great.
Maybe I’m flighty. Or maybe like Gwen said, I haven’t found my passion yet. It didn’t matter. One quality I do have is, I am stubborn. And I was going swimming that afternoon, one way or another—so there.
“Lawrence, Keira and I will be in the living room. Would you mind bringing us lunch there in an hour? In the meantime, we’ll need a pot of tea.” At least she hadn’t said anything about my visit with Gwen.
His eyes flicked to me. “In the living room? Not the sunroom?”
“That’s correct, dear.”
“And, I suppose, you want the house blend, not Earl Grey.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Shall I be joining you then?” he asked quietly.
She nodded sagely.
“You’re sure about this?”
“Yes.”
“Very well.” He turned and headed to the kitchen.
Before I could ask what that was all about, she turned to me and her voice was businesslike, rather than her normal, light tone. “Keira, make yourself comfortable and I’ll join you in a few minutes. I need to tidy my hair.” With that she turned and her cane keep a steady beat as she walked down the hallway to her bedroom and bath.
I set the car keys on the small table near the door and ambled into the living room. I flopped down into the sofa and crossed my legs, feeling a lot like so many other times when I’d skipped school or been busted for some infraction, waiting in the principal’s office. I took a deep breath and shook my head from side to side. This was stupid. GM might be miffed about me going to Gwen’s but she’d get over it.
Whatever she wanted to teach me this session, I’d concentrate on learning. She’d see she was being unreasonable and I was up to the mark. Even though I still wasn’t one hundred percent convinced I was staying, at least I’d give it the old college try.
There was a small vase of pink rosebuds on the table in front of me. Perhaps if she came in and saw me practicing my telekinesis she’d recant her earlier words. I sat back and made myself comfortable, breathing slow and steady as I focused on the vase of flowers. My eyes closed and I envisioned the energy surrounding it... saw it draw together and pushed the vase.
The soft hiss of the glass moving over the surface drifted into my ears. It was working! I kept focusing, even more this time, willing more energy. It seemed like a long time before the swishing sound stopped. And then...
The sharp sound of shattering glass startled me. My eyes flew open and there was the vase in a million pieces, the roses in a pile amid the spreading water on the floor around it. Damn it; this day just kept getting better and better. I scrambled forward and then got up to run for some towels to mop the water up.
Just as I reached the doorway, there was GM, her hands tucked up the sleeves of her loose jacket, staring at me silently.
“I’m sorry. I was practicing and it went too fast... I mean, the vase went too far. I’ll clean it up.” I stammered under her reproving gaze at me and then the floor where the glass shards sat. I raced across the foyer and into the kitchen. Lawrence looked up from where he was pouring hot water into a china teapot. “I broke her vase.” I spotted the roll of paper towels on the counter and grabbed it.
When I got back, GM was perched on the chair across from the sofa, her hands on the head of the cane, looking away from me.
“I’ll just be a minute.” I bent and spread the towel, taking care of the pieces of glass and wiped up the mess. I scooped everything in my hands and walked quickly back to the kitchen to deposit the debris in the garbage can.
“The tea is ready. I’ll follow you in.” He picked up the tray and nodded with his head for me to precede him.
My cheeks flamed as I walked back into the room. One of my first forays on my own with telekinesis and I’d managed to smash a crystal vase. I could almost feel the smug look on Lawrence’s face as he followed me into the room. I took a seat across from GM and watched him pour tea into three cups. He was joining us. That was a first.
GM smiled up at him. “Thank you, dear.” She turned to me, while out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lawrence taking his tea to a chair near the door. “It’s time you learned firsthand about transitioning. Lawrence is always close by when I do this. I learned the hard way, many years ago how important it is to have someone with his gifts nearby.”
I looked over at Lawrence. He was about to take a sip of
tea but his hand paused midair before his smiling lips. “More skill than gifts, Pamela. You ladies have gifts, not I.”
“I won’t argue semantics Lawrence.” She turned back to me. “Occasionally, during a transition, other... powers try to interfere.”
This didn’t sound good. “Powers? What sort of powers?”
Lawrence spoke up from his vantage point. “Dark forces, Keira.” He tried to look casual, sitting there sipping tea, but I saw he was alert by how he was leaning forward. “There are powers that do not want the spirits to transition. They crave the havoc which ensues.”
“GM said something about them to me.”
“Good.” He looked to GM and asked, “Did you tell her how you become vulnerable during these transitions?”
Before GM could say a word, I held up my hands. “Wait a minute. Vulnerable? Vulnerable to what?”
His eyes flitted back to me, while his face was still on GM. “Attacks. That’s why I’m here. When your grandmother is communing with those poor, misbegotten souls, she’s unable to sense impending evil.” He pointed a finger to his chest. “I, on the other hand, am able to sense it coming. It’s nothing paranormal, though; it’s just a change in the... atmosphere of the room. Pamela’s too engrossed with her work to pick up on it, but I’m able to.”
Oh boy. “Attacks?” I didn’t give a damn that my voice squeaked. “What happens?”
“Nothing, now that Lawrence is here, dear. He gets my attention, and in so doing, disrupts the ritual, and everything goes back to normal.” GM saw this was scaring me, and her voice took on her gentle tone again.
“But what if he’s unable to? He senses trouble coming—has he ever not been able to... stop it?” My eyes went from GM to Lawrence and back. “Just how much danger is there?”
GM crossed her arms. “I won’t lie to you, Keira. To be honest, I didn’t expect you to be so insightful so quickly and be asking these types of questions this soon.”
“Yeah; I’m smarter than you give me credit for. Thanks for that.”
Now it was GM’s turn to look abashed. She dropped her head for a moment. “Yes, you’re right. This home is the safest location for you to experience the... wonder of watching a spirit cross over.”
“That’s good to know, GM.” I leaned forward and touched her shoulder. She felt frail. “But you didn’t answer my question. Just how dangerous can this get?”
Her head rose sharply. “Very.”
We stared at each other in silence. Honestly, I wasn’t all that surprised. Just the other day we were discussing how the fabric of the universe depends on this work, and how there exists an... an evil which is the Yang to GM’s Yin and wants everything to go to shit. I took a deep breath. “Really—very?”
She nodded. Damn.
“But you’ve been able to deal with it, right?”
She glanced over at Lawrence. “With help, but yes.”
I looked over from her to him and back again. “Well, I guess that’s good enough for now. I hope.”
GM was silent for a long space, sipping her tea quietly weighing her words. “Before we start, there is something I need to give you.” She reached in a hidden pocket of her pants and extended her hand to me. In her open palm was a black stone. “This is tourmaline. It possesses protective qualities.”
I took the black stone from her and closed my fingers around it. It was smooth, warm and surprisingly heavy considering it was only the size of a grape. Aside from that, I didn’t notice anything special about it.
“Close your eyes and take three breaths. Inhale to a count of four and exhale to a count of four. As you inhale, picture a pure white energy field which is coming into your body. On the exhalation, bid negative thoughts and feelings to leave.”
Believe it or not, it was harder to do than it sounds. On the first inhale/exhale, I couldn’t envision white energy; instead the image of a cascading waterfall was all I could come up with. I scrunched my closed eyes on the second breath, really trying to see a white curtain. By the time I did the third breath, I had it in my mind’s eye and settled into the ritual. I opened my eyes, blinking a couple of times. Actually, I did feel a little calmer.
“Now we’ll begin. Keira, finish your tea.”
I sipped the tea, which had a pungent, minty flavor which lingered on my tongue. I shot a look over to Lawrence. “House Blend?” I asked.
He stayed silent, and GM answered. “Yes. It’s a sacred blend I try to drink before any of these rites.”
“Where’s it from?”
“California. Now finish it please, so we can begin.”
I took a series of sips. Before I’d even finished, a feeling of calmness settled deeper in my body. I set the empty cup back in the saucer and put it on the tray.
“Alright, Keira. Let’s begin.”
I gazed at GM and took a deep breath. I was about to witness what she’d spent her life accomplishing... what she wanted me to carry on after her. Her hands sat loose, palms up on her knees and her chin rose.
“Mary Grace Clayburn, I summon you to appear to me.” Her voice was low and commanding.
My gaze flitted over the room, specifically to the doorway. I’d experienced Molly, upstairs, not down in the living room. The air changed. It became cooler and somehow thicker on my skin.
As soon as I sensed the air change, I saw her begin to appear. At first it was a pinpoint of light which floated from the other side of the room toward GM. Gradually, it became bigger, the air around it shimmering, bending the shapes of the furniture it passed by. The orb morphed wider and a face began to appear. Her hair was dark, pulled up and back. Next, a long gray dress came into view. From the style and length, it was clear it was from another period, long ago.
I didn’t dare to breathe, sitting mesmerized by the apparition. I was actually seeing her! My grandmother had summoned her and she’d come! It was nothing short of awesome! I glanced past her, around the room, checking for any of these other entities which GM and Lawrence had talked about... but there was nothing but the tremulous hazy image of Molly.
“Mary Clayburn, it is time for you to leave this realm.”
The apparition’s eyes went wider and she shook her head from side to side. It was hard to tell if the expression was sorrow or fear.
But GM must have known, because she continued. “There is nothing for you here, Mary. You must go on. Follow the path you were meant to travel and leave this earthly plane. Your home is beyond The Veil.”
Mary’s hands went up to cover her face and she shook her head no, even harder. The feeling of sorrow emanated into my body, coming off her in shimmering waves of grief. There was also confusion. As I stared at her, something inside me broke and tears began to flow. She was like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car, frozen, not knowing where to turn.
I didn’t dare to open my mouth, so I began to repeat the phrase “Leave. You’ll be happier”—silently. It became a mantra in my mind, repeating over and over as I gazed at her.
Then a curtain, the folds glittering with shining threads of silver and rose-tinted hues appeared. They were gently billowing as if a breeze was behind it, parting The Veil to reveal a glare of light, bright as the sun on a summer day. GM’s voice was a whisper as she sat forward in her chair. “It’s there, Mary. Go through to the other side. Lloyd, Tim and Alice are waiting for you. Join them.”
“Lloyd.” Although she’d mouthed the word, I could hear it in my mind, her voice a sweet soprano. She turned and stepped, or rather glided smoothly closer to it. Her hand rose and then disappeared into the light. She never looked back, when she took the next step and was gone.
The Haunting of Crawley House (The Hauntings Of Kingston Book 1) Page 39