Rosemary's Ghosts
by
Deborah J. Hughes
Copyright © 2013 by Deborah J. Hughes
www.DeborahJHughes.com
[email protected]
These stories are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Deborah J. Hughes.
Cover art by Anya Kelleye
www.AnyaKelleye.com
Acknowledgments
A special thanks to Bonnie Smith, Jean Royle, Elizabeth Vose and my awesome mom Judy Patten! All your comments, suggestions, compliments and criticisms helped me a lot in getting this story ready to share beyond our group! I especially want to thank my new editor Katrina Norwood! So very glad to have you on board, Katrina, thank you so much. I hope we have a long, satisfying future together. Now to write more books! But first...thank you to all who have read this series, sticking with me on each one. And for those of you who took the time to write and tell me how much you enjoyed the books...thank you, thank you!! Words cannot express how much that means to me.
Synopsis
It's Halloween and things usually get crazy for medium Tess Schafer, so when she's beckoned to a small island while out kayaking, she reluctantly answers the call for help. How can she refuse Rosemary's terrified plea? And so begins Tess's plunge into paranormal chaos. This medium is about to encounter a situation unlike anything she's ever experienced before.
Chapter 1
It was the day before Halloween and the man I relied on to watch my back when the spirit world gets out of hand was leaving town! I watched him pack with a growing sense of unease, the nagging feeling that something was about to happen increasing by the second. No doubt Kade's impending departure was causing the internal uproar.
“I hate that you aren't going to be here with me during Halloween.” The look I received after making that confession put me on the defensive and I wagged a "don't laugh, this is serious" finger at him. The pout that followed only made his grin widen. But really, of all people, Kade should know that Halloween was not something I took lightly. If he wasn't so handsome and that smile didn't look so engaging, I might be more annoyed. Instead, it made the pang of our parting all the more acute. "I know it seems trite to want you with me on Halloween night but things always get weird for me around this time of year."
"I know and I'm sorry. Next year I won't schedule anything to prevent me from being around but this year it can't be helped. Unfortunately I didn't know you at the time I said I'd do it." He tweaked my nose as if I was a child and then followed it with a very adult kiss. "How was I to know I'd meet a ghost whisperer who gets super busy with ghouls and goblins during Halloween?" Kade snapped his suitcase closed then turned to me and opened his arms.
I snuggled into them wishing it wasn't what it was meant to be ... a goodbye hug. I hated to see him go. It was to be our first time apart since moving into what was now considered “our” home. And though it was only for a couple days, the anxiety I felt about it bothered me more than I was letting on. I didn't doubt that I could handle whatever came up - because something would come up - but things went so much better for me when he was around.
Kade pulled back to peek at my face and I gave him another full pout though this time I made a face to go along with it. His mouth curled into an amused smile, making me want to kiss him again. So I did. He responded with a satisfying amount of enthusiasm and before things could get out of hand, he lifted his head and waited until my eyes reluctantly opened. Although his gaze danced with amusement over my unusual clinginess, there was passion in those darkened depths as well. I loved it when his brown eyes heated to a warm, melted chocolate.
"Stop smiling. I won't let you go if you keep that up." Oh how I hated that he was leaving.
Kade tilted his head back and laughed. “I am so going to miss you." He pulled me in for another quick hug then reached behind me to pick up his suitcase. "As for Halloween, do you really think anyone is going to come way down in here to do some trick-or-treating?”
“No. Besides, that isn't what I'm worried about and you know it.” If only Halloween was just about dressing in costumes and begging for candy! Although that's how many people view it, Halloween is actually derived from ancient traditions and is considered to be the one night of the year when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. So for someone like me it usually means an increase in spirit activity. Although that never really bothered me in the past, the things that took place in our home when we first moved in had me a little rattled. Despite my certainty that Kade and I had put that evil unpleasantness to rest, I was a little wary of what might happen over the next couple days. Would that sort of evil reoccur?
“Are you worried about him?” Kade’s gaze narrowed, warning me to be honest, so I gave him a gentle shove towards the door in the hopes of hiding my expression. He read me too well and I didn't want him to know that I was, in fact, a little worried. But not about the entity we vanquished from our home two months ago. Still, if Kade knew I was worried then he'd worry and I wanted him to go with a clear conscience. His art shows were important and I didn't want to take anything away from that.
“No. Not really. But Halloween is derived from Samhain. It's the time of year when the dead are known to mingle with the living. I’ve a feeling it could get interesting around here.” Not that it was ever uninteresting, but still.
Kade opened the front door and as I stepped out onto the front porch, a small wind gust hit me in the face, stealing my breath. Oh yes, trouble was brewing. Though I didn’t get a feeling of impending doom, I didn’t quite trust that things would not get out of hand. Kade was my steadying force. I felt invincible with him near and small wonder that. He had, after all, saved my life a time or two.
Ignoring the warning clangs sounding through my brain, I forced a smile on my face as I turned to look at him. He gave my arm a gentle caress as he passed by then paused on the porch steps to glance at his watch. I knew he was doing some quick mental calculations and I wondered what was going through his mind. When his dark brown eyes met mine, I knew he'd just come up with an idea. “You could come with me.”
If only I could, but practicality kept me grounded in reality. “Who will watch Dennis and Alex?” I nodded toward our fat gray cat that was lying stretched out on the porch steps and Alex our dog who sat at Kade's feet, his tongue hanging out and his eyes gazing with adoration upon him. “Next time you have a show, I’ll make arrangements for the animals but I can’t do that in the next few seconds and you can’t be late for the opening. It wouldn’t be right for the artist not to be there when the doors open at the gallery this afternoon.”
“I wish we thought of it sooner.” He glanced at his watch again and sighed. “I hate leaving you.”
Guilt over the fact that I was obviously making him feel bad about our separation made me change my tune. “It’s only for two days. I think we’ll survive. But you will be back early won't you?”
“Yes, though it will be late morning I'm afraid.” He gave me a searching gaze and I met it head on, determined not to show my growing worry. Giving a satisfied nod, he finally turned away and started down the porch steps, stopping briefly to give Dennis a quick affectionate scratch as he passed by. I watched the interaction with a concealed smile. The cat was definitely growing on him.
H
oping to receive another kiss before he left, I hastened along behind him, getting near as possible while he tossed his suitcase in the back seat of his car. He turned to give me another hug, nearly elbowing me in the process. A smile tugged at his mouth when he noted how close I was standing to him.
"I'm going to miss you, Tess." He pressed a kiss to my temple then claimed my mouth, giving me a thorough, satisfying kiss before lifting his head and meeting my eyes. The serious look he gave me spoke volumes. I was to heed his words and not argue. “If anything starts up, call Mary. She’s close by and can get here in minutes. Then call me. I’ll be here as quick as I can arrange it.”
“I will. Don’t worry, Kade. I don’t feel like there’s any danger. But, well, you know how it can get with the spirit world.”
“I do. That’s why I want you to be sure to keep your cell phone close and stay in touch. Call me if anything happens. Anything.”
Since he was waiting for me to agree to his demand (it wasn’t a suggestion by any means!), I nodded and gave him another shove to get going. “I will. Promise. Now go or you’ll be late.”
Kade nodded, satisfied that I would do as he requested. He reached down to give Alex a few quick scratches behind the ears then got in his car. After starting the engine, he rolled down the window and gave me a roguish wink. I responded by leaning through the window and pressing another long kiss to his delicious mouth.
“I love you, Tess.”
“I love you too.” And then, with much reluctance, I stepped away from the car and watched as he backed out of his parking spot, lifting his hand in one final wave. I blew him a kiss and pasted a bright smile on my face, holding it there until he was out of sight. It was only right to let him go worry-free while I stayed behind and dealt with whatever it was I needed to deal with. Halloween was sure to stir something up and I had to be the one to handle it, not Kade.
Once he was out of sight, I heaved a sigh and looked down to see that Alex sat watching me with an expectant, hopeful look on his cute face. A cross between a Great Swiss Mountain and a Wheaten Terrier, he really was quite adorable. Playful too. No doubt he thought we’d have a go at playing toss. He loved fetching things. Balls, sticks. It didn’t matter. “Ok. We’ll play for a few minutes but then I think I will cheer myself up by going for an ice cream."
Alex barked and pranced about with excitement and I had to laugh. He knew what I meant - he understood the word "ice-cream" quite well. There was no way I could go without taking him with me now.
And so it was that not ten minutes after Kade's departure, I was on the road myself and feeling much better. The anticipation of an ice cream and the pleasant drive into town was going a long way towards bolstering my spirits. Okay, perhaps spirits wasn't the right word. If there was anything I didn't want bolstered, it was spirits. I meant mood. Yes, my mood was now quite improved. I did so love autumn and although it was coming to an end, Bucksport was still aglow with fall's fading splendor. Scarecrows, pumpkins and dried cornstalks were on display everywhere. But it was the leaves, their colors beginning to fade into brown, that marked the final days of this beautiful season. Most were now stripped from the trees, covering everything.
The town's one and only ice cream parlor, Wahl's Dairy Port, had been in operation for over fifty years. My friend Mary said it was a staple in this charming little town and I hoped they remained so for many more years to come. Although they usually closed around the first part of October, the unusually warm weather kept them open a little longer. Halloween, I was told, would be their last day of business and so I was happy to take advantage of the situation and get one more taste before they did so. My friend Barb owned a B&B not too far down the street from it and I thought about stopping to say hello but the weather was so gorgeous, I decided right then and there that a kayak trip out on Silver Lake was in tall order.
Though I intended to get a cone, their banana splits were on special and I went with it, calories be damned. Once settled on a granite bench situated along the sidewalk near the parlor, Alex plopped down next to my feet and I gave him his bowl of vanilla ice cream. We enjoyed our treat with the added bonus of the scenery before us. At present, the Penobscot River was calm, reflecting the cloud-peppered sky above and Fort Knox, located on the banks of the opposite shore, sat in proud majestic silence. I looked at the large granite structure with fondness. Many a ghost I have encountered there.
A tanker of some sort was just coming under the expansion bridge spanning the river canal between Verona Island and the town of Prospect where the fort was located. It was an impressive bridge, sporting two tall towers at each end. The one on the Prospect side housed an observation deck I had yet to visit. Heights weren't quite my thing.
It was so peaceful that contentment washed over me and my worries for the coming days fell to the wayside. I liked it here, ghosts and all. Bucksport was a great little town and I was looking forward to meeting more of her citizens and making a niche for myself.
Alex barked at a dog walking with its owner across the street and that pulled me from my reverie. Time was a wasting. If I wanted to go kayaking, I needed to get a move on.
An hour later, I pulled my car into the public boat landing at Silver Lake and hopped out with eager anticipation. Now that I'd made up my mind to do this, I couldn't wait to get going. In fact, as I tugged the kayak from my roof-rack and dragged it to the water, an overwhelming urge to hurry the heck up made me hasten things along. Thank goodness my house was only about a two-minute drive from the lake or this impatience of mine would have driven me crazy.
So I locked my car, donned my life vest and took just a quick second to gaze out over the calm surface of the lake and the surrounding countryside. Truly, I was quite fortunate to live in such a great location. Close to town but on a quiet country road, I had plenty of privacy and yet was within minutes from friends. And I loved being close to water. In fact, my property bordered the marshy end of Silver Lake though it was divided from the main body by a short causeway. Because of that, I couldn't paddle my kayak to the lake from the house but one couldn't have everything. A private drive through the woods led to my place and when standing on the edges of the marsh I could see parts of the lake. I could also see it from the balcony off our second-floor bedroom and even more so from the roof which sported a pretty cool widow's walk.
There is something really calming about lakes, especially when the water is so still its surface is as smooth as glass, looking like a liquid mirror, reflecting the world. The illusion was pretty spectacular making me think of the phrase "as above, so below".
The sun beamed bright and warm, an unusual occurrence these days but most welcome when it happened. The nights, in any case, were definitely getting chillier. Though most of the trees had lost their colorful leaves, a few were still sparsely dressed in their autumn best. I always loved the fall in New York where I lived until moving here, but nothing compared to the brilliance of Maine’s colorful explosion.
A car honked as it went by and I turned to wave though I didn’t recognize who it was. The people around here seemed pretty friendly and although I’d only lived in Bucksport for just under two months, I loved it already. It was a nice town. A very haunted one I was discovering but still, despite all the ghosts, it was a nice town. It had history, character and everything I wanted in a place to live. I felt safe here, despite the evil Kade and I had to clear up when we first moved into our house. That wasn’t the town’s fault. The property's history and the people who used to live there took the credit for that. The place was steeped in human drama and the emotional energy generated from it still lingered. I knew upon first seeing it that a place like that needed someone like me. But that sentiment didn't pertain just towards my new house. No. The town was a virtual playground for spirit activity. Who better to live here than a medium willing to help them out if need be?
A breeze kicked up and just as quickly settled. It was enough, though, to prompt me into action. If I was going to take the kayak
out and paddle around the lake, then I best get to it. The weather, I discovered, could change around here pretty darn quick.
I put my cell phone in a plastic bag, tucked it into my vest pocket then pushed my kayak into the water, the leaves crunching loud into the quiet as I did so. Although the temperature was unseasonably warm, the lake on the other hand was quite cold, and I sucked in my breath as I waded into it, wasting no time getting into the small seating compartment. The water shoes I wore became just that - shoes filled with cold, wet water! Hoping my feet warmed quickly or this was going to be a short ride, I shoved off with my paddle and was on my way.
The first time I ever went kayaking was with my late husband Mike. Although he chose a profession that kept him indoors, law, he enjoyed outside activities during his free time. Unfortunately, he didn't get much of that. When he did, though, we didn't have to think about what to do for we both loved the water. In fact, we were fortunate to secure a house bordering a park that was situated along the shores of a pretty large pond. We could rent paddle boats, kayaks and canoes there and had done so quite often.
As I paddled further from shore, I couldn’t help but smile at the pleasant memories flooding my mind. I didn't often allow myself to think about my husband for I was determined to enjoy the present and not mourn over the past. Though his death was shocking and had initially thrown me into a tailspin of despair, I managed to work through all that emotional trauma and was now quite happy with my life. He was enjoying the afterlife and I was once again enjoying my own place in the world.
I didn’t feel guilty about loving Kade. When Mike was alive, I loved him with all my heart and loving Kade didn't diminish that. But he was gone, leaving me here alone and although I thought I would always be that way, it wasn’t the case. Kade not only filled a gap in my life but he enriched it in ways I never before experienced.
Rosemary's Ghosts (Tess Schafer-Medium) Page 1