by Bobbi Holmes
She especially enjoyed this experience during the early evening, when people gathered in their homes, warm lights brightening their windows. Not being in a hurry Saturday evening, this was how she traveled to Marlow House, leisurely drinking in the sights and sounds of Frederickport.
Just as she flew over the rooftop of Pearl Huckabee’s house, she spied a curious sight. Pausing mid-flight, Marie looked down and watched as Pearl—Marie assumed it was Pearl—crouched along the bushes lining her fence on the south side of her property, the fence separating Pearl’s yard from Heather’s.
Curious to see what the woman was up to, Marie floated down to the ground, the illusion of her blue and green floral sundress’s hem fluttering gently. Just as she was about to land next to Pearl, Marie reached up and straightened her straw garden hat. A moment later, her shoes settled on the ground next to Pearl. In reality, the shoes, along with the feet inside the shoes, were nothing but an illusion. An illusion Pearl could not see.
“What are you doing?” Marie asked the woman.
Pearl wiggled closer to the fence, bending at the waist, her backside protruding while her nose pushed its way through two flowering bushes, their buds closed for the evening.
Curious to see what had Pearl’s attention, Marie stuck her head through one bush. She looked to the lit area of Heather’s back patio and spied Heather and Brian sitting on Adirondack chairs, each with a beverage in hand, chatting. Considering the lack of lighting along the fence, Marie doubted Heather would see her if she glanced over. But because of the patio light, both she and Pearl could see them.
Pulling herself out of the bush, Marie looked over at Pearl, who continued to crouch by the fencing, spying on her neighbor.
“You really should not be such a snoop!” Marie said, impulsively giving Pearl’s backside a reprimanding swat.
Pearl let out a yelp and stood up abruptly, her face no longer smashed between two bushes. Both of her hands grabbed hold of her injured backside. She looked around warily and then scurried toward her house.
Next door, Brian and Heather heard Pearl’s yelp, and both glanced toward the bushes while Heather asked, “What was that?”
Marie watched as Pearl quickly retreated inside her house, slamming the back door closed behind her, followed by the sound of the deadbolt snapping into place.
“That lock will not keep me out.” Marie snickered. A wave of guilt washed over her. Marie looked upward and said, “Okay, I guess I shouldn’t have done that. Sorry.”
With a sigh, Marie floated back up, off the ground, again by the rooftops. She continued to her destination, gliding over the fence separating Pearl’s yard from the Marlows’. She spied Walt and Danielle on the front swing and continued toward them. A moment later she floated down from above, landing in front of the swing.
“Your neighbor Pearl is a busybody,” Marie announced once her shoes made touchdown.
“Evening, Marie,” Danielle greeted her.
“Were you flying by and just dropped in to say hi?” Walt teased.
“It’s one of the many advantages of being a ghost,” Marie beamed.
Walt shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. When I was a—spirit—I didn’t get out much.”
“What about Pearl?” Danielle asked.
“I caught her spying on Heather and Brian. Those two seem to have gotten rather chummy since their little adventure in the mountains. Brian’s over at Heather’s right now. The two are sitting on her back porch, visiting. Unlikely pair, if you ask me. But he seemed smitten with her when they were up on the mountains. Of course, he’s too old for Heather.”
Danielle looked to Walt and said, “I don’t think Heather’s secret is going to stay one for long.”
“What secret?” Marie asked.
Walt and Danielle exchanged glances, and Danielle said, “Obviously, they’ve become good friends since their misadventure in the mountains.”
Marie arched her brow. “How good of friends?”
“You’ll have to ask Heather,” Danielle said.
“You haven’t seen a strange ghost hanging around, have you?” Walt asked.
Marie frowned. “Strange ghost?”
Danielle shivered. “Can we take this conversation in the house? It’s getting cold out here.”
Twenty minutes later, Walt sat in the parlor with Marie, telling her about the mountain man ghost, and what the ghost had told him in the cemetery, while Danielle was in the kitchen, throwing together a quick dinner. Walt had just finished the telling when Danielle walked into the parlor, carrying a tray with two roast beef sandwiches, some potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, and two glasses of iced water.
Marie, who had been sitting on the sofa next to Walt, moved to a chair facing the sofa, allowing Danielle to take her place after setting the tray on the coffee table in front of Walt.
“You have no idea who he is?” Marie now faced Walt and Danielle.
“None,” Walt said, picking up one sandwich.
“And you think he might still be around?” Marie asked.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he has moved on now that he understands he’s dead,” Walt said. “But if he hasn’t moved on, I really would like to talk to him again. Who is he, and why does he think my father is a murderer?”
“On a positive note, a ghost does not necessarily know who killed them. I certainly didn’t know who killed me. Walt, you didn’t even realize Roger had murdered you, and Stoddard believed Danielle had killed him. So his claim may have no substance. But when I see Eva, I’ll see if she knows anything. She always seems to know more than the rest of us,” Marie said.
“Tomorrow we’re going to the museum,” Danielle said. “According to one of Kelly’s podcasts, someone donated what appears to be a complete collection of the Frederickport Press. All the way back to the first edition. We want to look through the 1904 ones and see what happened back then that might give us a clue to what the ghost is talking about. Or tell us who he is.”
“Interesting. I wonder who donated the papers,” Marie said.
“Kelly interviewed the woman on her podcast,” Danielle explained. “I didn’t hear it, but the chief did, and he told me about it. The woman recently moved to Frederickport after inheriting a house from her cousin. Her family are longtime residents of Frederickport, dating back to when Walt’s grandfather first settled here. She found newspapers stacked in the attic of the house she inherited, and she wanted to clean it out. After realizing how old they were, she checked with the museum, and of course they said they wanted them. I never heard about it until the chief told me. I missed the last Historical Society meeting, and the last time I spoke to Millie, she never mentioned it.”
“You say her cousin died and left her the house?” Marie asked.
“That’s what the chief told me,” Danielle said.
“I wonder if that’s Emily Pavlovich,” Marie said.
“Who’s that?” Danielle asked.
“She died a while back; I attended her funeral,” Marie said. “We had a pleasant chat before she moved on. I have to say she was surprised to see me.” Marie chuckled.
“Why do you think it’s her?” Walt asked.
“Emily’s family has been in Frederickport for as long as mine,” Marie explained. “We never really socialized; she was much younger than me. But I’d known her for years, which is why I felt obligated to make a showing at her funeral. Her cousin was there, a nice-looking young woman, a little younger than Joanne. Widow, according to Emily. She told me that’s who the house was going to, and she was rather excited the cousin decided to settle in Frederickport. Emily hated the idea of the house being sold to strangers.”
“I take it Emily didn’t have any children to leave her house to?” Danielle said.
“No. Sadly, her only daughter died when she was still in high school. Quite tragic. She got into drugs, overdosed. Although, some suspected it was suicide,” Marie explained. “And her husband died about ten years ago.”
“That’s so sad,” Danielle muttered.
“And from what I recall, Emily and her mother were hoarders. It wouldn’t surprise me to find stacks of newspapers in her attic. I’m sure that’s not the only thing her poor cousin will have to haul off,” Marie said.
“Do you know what their name was? Pavlovich certainly doesn’t sound familiar,” Walt said.
“No, it wouldn’t. That was her husband’s last name, and he moved to the area from somewhere back east,” Marie explained. “I doubt you would recognize her maiden name, because as I recall, she inherited the house from her mother’s side of the family. I don’t know her mother’s maiden name, but I remember my father saying her family started the livery stable in Frederickport.”
Walt perked up. “Really?”
“You remember who that was?” Danielle asked.
“Certainly. When I was younger, I enjoyed going down there to see the horses,” Walt said.
“Where was the livery stable in Frederickport?” Danielle asked.
“You know where you normally get your gas?” Walt asked.
“Yes.”
“It was along there. The Uncle Bud I mentioned, his family owned it,” Walt said.
“So this Emily is related to your uncle Bud?” Danielle asked.
“Distantly. As I recall, his sister married the man who owned the livery,” Walt said.
“I’ll be curious to see if you find anything of interest in those old newspapers,” Marie said. “In the meantime, I’ll track down Eva, see if she’s heard anything about your mystery ghost.” The next moment Marie vanished.
Eleven
The morning sun peeked over the treetops, casting an eerie shadow over the cemetery. He had returned to the mountains after talking to Walt Marlow the day before, and there he had found it—his grave. If honest with himself, he always knew. But he didn’t want to acknowledge the painful fact, so he had lied to himself. Yet the burden of what he had known weighed heavily on his soul, making him unable to move on, unable to accept the rest of it. After seeing Walt Marlow, he understood it was time to step out of his confusion and face his eternity.
Standing alone in the Frederickport Cemetery, he thought this was where he should be, not up alone in the mountains in a shallow grave, far from his family. He stared at the headstone and read the inscription. He hadn’t noticed it on yesterday’s visit, but he found it not long after arriving this morning. Destiny had brought him to the spot. Yesterday he had not been ready to see it, nor would he have understood. Yet now he did.
“This is where I should be,” he told himself. The next moment he vanished.
Police Chief MacDonald had Sunday off, but both Joe and Brian were on the schedule. When Joe showed up for work, he found Brian sitting in the lunchroom, having a cup of coffee.
“Morning,” Brian greeted him when Joe entered the room.
Joe glanced at his watch and said, “You’re here early. Did I read the schedule wrong?”
“No. I didn’t feel like making coffee at home, so I came in early.”
“Is it feeling a little lonely at your place now?” Joe asked.
Brian frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Your cousin, didn’t she go home Friday morning?”
“Oh… yeah.” Brian sipped his coffee.
Joe walked over to the coffeepot and grabbed his mug from the overhead cabinet. As he poured himself a cup of coffee, he asked, “So what did you do last night?”
“Nothing.”
Joe glanced over at Brian, a filled coffee mug in hand, and said, “Kelly and I had dinner out last night.”
“Yeah, I figured that,” Brian said.
“Oh, so you saw us at Beach Taco?” Joe asked.
“Beach Taco? No, were you there? I was talking about Kelly wanting me to join you last night for dinner with that friend of hers.”
“Oh…” Joe sat down at the table with Brian.
“So you guys went to Beach Taco too? I picked some food up for dinner. Is Kelly mad at me for not going out with you last night?”
“No. Of course not. I understand not wanting to find yourself on a blind date with someone you may not even be interested in,” Joe said. “I told Kelly it’s better to introduce two people on neutral territory, with no prior commitment, and then let them decide if they want to take it farther.”
“Like speed dating?” Brian laughed.
“Have you tried speed dating?” Joe asked.
Brian laughed again. “No. And I’m not into internet dating either. But the fact is, my little time in the mountains helped me see things differently.”
“What do you mean? What things?” Joe asked.
“How we see people, how we want them to be—or judge them by preconceived notions. Take Walt, for example, you’ve never really liked him. But I suspect your feelings for Danielle had something to do with that.”
“I have no feelings for Danielle,” Joe insisted. “At least not those feelings.”
“I’m talking about the feelings you had for her back then. And I misjudged him, so it wasn’t just you.”
“You like Walt?” Joe asked.
“Yes, surprisingly, I do. He’s been through things you could never imagine. But I also learned something about myself.”
“What was that?” Joe asked.
“The women I’ve gotten involved with over the years. The type of women I found attractive. They were women who went out of their way to please me. They wanted me to find them attractive.”
Joe laughed. “And that is a bad thing?”
“I didn’t think so. But they weren’t doing it because they really cared about me. They were doing it to get something from me,” Brian said.
“You’re talking about manipulation?” Joe asked.
Brian let out a sigh. “Yeah, I guess I am. Looking back, I was pretty good at finding the manipulative ones.”
“Well, what did he say?” Kelly asked. She sat at her desk in her home office, talking on the phone to Joe.
“He isn’t interested in going on a date with a stranger. And I totally get that,” Joe said.
“But they really would be perfect for each other,” Kelly insisted.
Joe recounted Brian’s observation regarding his past poor choices.
“Then I know she would be just what he’s looking for,” Kelly said.
“I don’t think he’s currently looking. That’s sort of the point.”
“Come on, Joe. You know what I mean.”
“Like I suggested last night, it would be better if he met her without being obligated to spend a few hours with her, and then leave it up to him if he wants to ask her out,” Joe said. “And who knows, maybe Ginny wouldn’t be interested in him once she meets him.”
“Does that mean you’ll bring him by the museum today?” Kelly asked.
“Okay. But I’m doing this because it’s the only way you’ll stop bugging me. You know, Kelly, you can be damn persistent,” Joe said.
“But it is one of my endearing qualities,” she cooed.
“Not sure about that. But okay, when we go to lunch today, I’ll tell him I need to stop at the museum. But after he meets her, then you need to back off. Agreed?”
“I promise, Joe.”
When Danielle and Walt entered the museum on Sunday afternoon, Kelly and a woman neither of them recognized greeted them.
“Hi, Kelly, surprised to see you here. Doing some research?” Danielle asked.
“Hi, Danielle, Walt,” Kelly returned, the woman at her side silently observing the new arrivals. “I just stopped by to talk with Ginny. Have you guys met?” She glanced at the woman at her side.
“You aren’t Ginny Thomas, are you?” Danielle asked. “The one who donated the newspapers?”
“You listened to my podcast!” Kelly beamed.
“Yes, I am.” Ginny smiled. “Kelly said Walt and Danielle? Would that be Walt and Danielle Marlow?”
“Yes, and it’s nice to meet you. In fact, we were hopin
g the newspapers might be here,” Danielle said.
“I’m afraid not,” Ginny said. “The museum sent them out to the bindery. I don’t think they’ll be back for a couple of weeks.”
“I mentioned that in the podcast,” Kelly said.
Danielle looked at Kelly and smiled. “I confess, I haven’t listened to your podcast—but I intend to. The chief told me about it—and about the donation to the museum.”
Ginny looked at Walt and said, “Apparently, our families were friends.”
“The chief mentioned Thomas is your married name. What was your family’s name who lived in Frederickport?” While Walt remembered the family who owned the livery stable, he wondered which branch of the family Ginny came from.
Kelly chuckled. “I doubt you’ll recognize it.” She looked at Ginny and said, “Walt is actually a very distant cousin of the Marlows, who were friends with your family. He’s been in Frederickport for just a couple of years.”
“I’m not sure how distant,” Ginny noted, “considering he looks like the spitting image of the Walt Marlow who knew my ancestors. That is, of course, if the portrait the museum has is an accurate depiction.”
“It is,” Danielle said. “I credit the uncanny resemblance to the fact they are both descended from double cousins of twins.”
“What do you mean?” Ginny asked.
“It’s when a pair of identical twins marry another set of identical twins, and their children are biological siblings,” Danielle explained.
“Interesting.” Ginny looked from Danielle to Walt and said, “I find it terribly romantic Walt Marlow’s portrait is here with Eva Thorndike, although I imagine it gets a little crowded since his wife is in there too.”
“Romantic?” Danielle frowned.