Gem of a Ghost: A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery

by Sue Ann Jaffarian

  Emma gave her a silent nod, and the three of them headed through a door to the right of the gallows and down a narrow stairwell. As they followed Betty Lou down the stairs, Quinn put a hand on Emma’s shoulder. She stopped and turned to him.

  “What did you say to Campbell in the other room? You know, just outside the bathroom?”

  Emma weighed what to say, then answered in a soft but direct manner, “I asked him who Addy was. He disappeared without answering. Either he doesn’t know or doesn’t want to say.” Emma gave Quinn a faint smile and continued down the stairs. Surprised by her words, Quinn stared after her, watching her from behind, too surprised for a moment to follow.

  If the main cell block was depressing, the basement of the jail, which housed the solitary confinement cells, was triple that in its sense of dark foreboding. It was much colder in the basement, but Emma couldn’t tell if it was because of being downstairs with little to no natural light or from the presence of spirits.

  “Horrible place, isn’t it?” asked a familiar voice.

  Emma gave the ghost a small smile of relief. “I’m so glad you’re here, Granny.” She spoke to Granny in a soft voice respectful of the gravity of their surroundings but not in a whisper. She didn’t care that Quinn and Betty Lou were privy to the conversation. She was on the brink of learning something important. She could feel it in the cold weight that continued to invade her body. Once more she touched the ring hidden beneath her sweater, pressing it to her as if it were a talisman of protection.

  “Anything about Addy yet?” Granny asked.

  “No. Have you learned anything?”

  Granny shook her hazy head. “This place is crawling with unhappy ghosts, but no one’s talking. Want me to get tough with them?” She slapped her right fist into her left hand. There was no sound from the impact.

  In spite of their dismal surroundings, the idea of diminutive Granny getting tough with the spirits of prisoners amused Emma. She smiled and shook her head at the spunky spirit. “That won’t be necessary.”

  “Who’s she talking—” Betty Lou started to say, but Quinn gently shushed her without taking his eyes off of Emma.

  Once Granny left, Emma started inspecting the dungeon area while Betty Lou and Quinn watched wide-eyed with expectation. They kept a few feet away from her, giving her space without interruption.

  Without the vaulted ceiling of the main cell block, the basement space felt tight, like the walls and ceiling were closing in on her slowly, compacting in from the top, bottom, and sides, like she was a piece of garbage being manipulated into a small, convenient package. The walls were rougher than those on the floor above, with old paint and plaster peeling away like skin from an orange. Dampness and mildew permeated the air like a stale cologne.

  She approached the first cell. The door was thicker and heavier than those above. There was no iron door with crisscross bars to allow conversation or the prisoner to look out. The door was solid, with only a tiny opening through which communication with the prisoner could be conducted. Inside, the walls were rough-hewed, as if scraped out of the concrete with a large spoon. The ceiling was arched. Set high at the end of the cell was a window much tinier than the ones in the cells above. Betty Lou and her husband had brought in lamps to provide low-level yellow light so visitors could see inside them.

  Emma shivered as she stepped a foot into the first one. She turned, slowly rotating to get a sense of the place and the people who had inhabited it during the history of the jail. She still could feel spirits around her but couldn’t see them.

  She left the first cell and entered the second, which was much the same except for one thing. In the second cell she could have sworn she could make out the face of a man on one wall. It wasn’t an imprint, as with the hand in cell 17, but a three-dimensional outline, as if the man was trying to come through the wall but changed his mind, leaving a relief of his face protruding through the plaster.

  “Don’t be afraid,” she said to the image. “I’m here to ask a few questions, not to bother you.” The imaged faded, the wall returning to its rough flatness. Quickly Emma left the cell and went to the next one—the cell on the other side of the wall where she had seen the facial imprint.

  As she crossed the threshold to the third cell, her heart began beating faster. The light in this cell came from a bare low-watt bulb at the end of a thin upright lamp pole. The small window was covered over except for a small opening the size of a deck of cards through which the sun shone like a laser pointer. The cell was the same size as the other two dungeon cells she’d seen, but it felt smaller and more cramped. The air inside this cell was different. It moved, in spite of no visible means to do so, and it was cold.

  Again she did her slow pivot, taking in the details of the cell and letting the spirits present see that she came in peace. As she turned, she spied a dirty toilet built into the front right corner. It was nothing more than a toilet seat fastened to a box. The wall to the right of the toilet was the wall shared with the cell she’d just left. She stopped turning as her eyes confirmed what her heart already told her. Attached to the center of the wall were heavy chains with manacles at the end. This was the cell in her dream.

  Through her sweater, she placed two fingers on the ring. “Who’s Addy?” she asked the seemingly empty room.

  Quinn stepped forward but didn’t come close. His face was dark with concern. “Emma, do you mean Addy Ames?”

  Without turning toward Quinn, Emma said, “I don’t know her last name.” The spirits around began manifesting themselves. “But they know her.”

  The first to show himself was Alexander Campbell. After him, two more appeared. Like Campbell, they appeared to be in their forties, and both had thick black beards. Emma remembered them from her dream. She remained still as they circled around her and came to rest. Keeping her right arm close to her side, she showed her palm to Quinn, signaling for him to remain where he was.

  “Has Addy come home?” Campbell asked.

  “Yes, Mr. Campbell, Addy’s here.”

  “Edward will be pleased.”

  At Edward’s name, the stone around Emma’s neck turned warm. Emma touched it again, trying to assure Addy all was well.

  Another ghost walked through the wall into the cell. It was the youngest of those she’d seen before, the fair-haired young man with the noose around his neck, but this time he didn’t wear the hangman’s rope.

  As in her dream, he held out his hand for Emma to take. “Addy,” he beckoned.

  Emma extended her right hand toward him. “I’m here, Edward.” As her hand touched that of the ghost, a shock of deep sadness and tragedy ran through her, nearly stopping her racing heart with the weight of its darkness.

  “I’m back, Edward,” Emma said to the spirit, her hand still touching his.

  The other ghosts looked on, their faces not as stern as they had been. Quinn and Betty Lou watched transfixed, cemented to their places by the door.

  Edward started to retreat back into the wall, taking Emma with him, but as her solid outstretched hand struck the stone, she stopped and dropped her hand. Tears ran down her cheeks. “I can’t, Edward. It’s not over. Not yet.”

  The ghost of the young miner came back through the wall and extended his hand again. Once more Emma took it, but this time she didn’t try to follow. “I’ll be back, Edward. I promise.”

  Emma dropped her hand and turned to look at Quinn. Her eyes were unfocused, nearly rolled back into her head, and her face was flushed. He jumped forward and grabbed her shoulders, gently shaking her. “Emma, come back to us.”

  twenty-five

  “Emma, snap out of it,” yelled Granny, popping in by her side. The ghost looked around the cell, taking stock of the other ghosts standing around watching. “Make Addy stop,” she snapped at them. When the ghosts of the Molly Maguires did nothing but look on, Granny scowled, “Men! Worthless in life and in death.”

  Granny started blowing into Emma’s face while she snarled
at the ghost in the ring. “Let her go, Addy. Emma never harmed you. She’s the only real friend you have on this earth.”

  “I’ll call an ambulance,” Betty Lou said in a worried voice and disappeared.

  Emma started coming out of her fog. “No.” She pushed away from Quinn. “Tell Betty Lou no ambulance. I’m fine.” She turned to Granny, letting the worried ghost see she was back to herself.

  Seeing Emma had returned to her senses, Quinn ran out. Emma could hear him calling out that she wouldn’t need medical care. He asked Betty Lou to bring down some water instead.

  When he returned to the cell a second later, Emma was staring at the wall where she’d seen Edward. Quinn watched in silence, never out of reach should she need him. Granny stood by the far wall, keeping an eye on Alexander Campbell and his men.

  Emma stretched out her hand again toward the wall. Edward’s ghost reached to take it. This time it was Emma speaking, not Addy through her. “Come on, Addy,” Emma said, coaxing the ghost in the diamond. “Here’s your chance to be free. Take Edward’s hand.”

  “No!” Addy shouted in defiance. “It’s not time.”

  Without warning, Emma cried out in pain and looked down. The front of her sweater, the spot over Lainey’s ring, was scorched, the heat burning into her flesh.

  She started pulling on the chain around her neck. “The ring,” she yelled to Quinn. “Help me get it out.”

  Granny danced from foot to foot. “Help her,” she shouted at Quinn, even though he couldn’t hear her.

  Quinn jumped to Emma’s aid again. Staring down at her chest, he first thought it was blood, then watched as the burned area grew like a match had been held under the fabric. As Emma pulled on the chain, trying to free it, Quinn grabbed the hem of her sweater and yanked it over her head, getting the chain and ring caught.

  “Wait a minute,” Emma told Quinn as she became tangled in her garment. When he stopped pulling, Emma freed one arm. Moving the chain to the hand of the free arm, she kept it away from her skin while she cleared her other arm. The chain was also warm but not hot. Her sweater was ruined. So was the tee shirt under it and the bra. The small patch of skin between her breasts was stinging, but luckily the layers of fabric had kept it from being seriously injured.

  She pulled the chain over her head and held it aloft, glaring at the ring. “There was no need to do that, Addy.”

  A fuzzy stream of light oozed from the ring, and soon Addy materialized in front of Emma. Her face was smooth and peaceful as she looked at Edward with a loving smile. “I will be back, Edward. I promise.”

  He held out his hand again, his young face eager and pleading. “Come with me now, Addy. We’ve waited so long.”

  Addy took his hand but didn’t move to go with him. “I’ve hurt a lot of people,” she confessed. She turned to look at the other ghosts. “Innocent people. But now I have the chance to help one of them.”

  “No one helped us, Addy,” Campbell reminded her. “Not you, not Edward, not me or the others. Go with Edward now, and be free of the bonds of the living.”

  Quinn, still clutching Emma’s sweater, sensed the drama he couldn’t hear. He took a few steps back, hoping to see even a glimmer of the spirits. “What’s going on, Emma?”

  “The ghosts are having a discussion,” Emma explained. “They want Addy to go with Edward. She wants to stay to finish something.”

  “Is it the ghost of Edward Kelly you’re talking about?” The question came from Betty Lou. She had returned unnoticed. She stood at the doorway to the cell holding a bottle of water. Her face was twisted in concentration in the hope of seeing and hearing the spirits she knew existed. “He spent a lot of time in this cell before he was hanged.”

  Emma turned to the young man. “Are you the ghost of Edward Kelly?”

  He nodded. “Aye, I am. And standing yon with Mr. Campbell are Tom Fisher and Yellow Jack.”

  Emma turned to the three ghosts standing near Granny and gave them a polite nod before advising Betty Lou and Quinn of what Edward had said.

  Betty Lou bobbled a bit. Quinn stepped to her side, but she waved him off and leaned against the thick doorway for support. “I always knew some of the Molly Maguires were still here.”

  Quinn turned back to Emma. “Edward Kelly and Addy Ames were sweethearts.”

  Emma had surmised as much from the way the two young ghosts behaved with each other. “But who did you marry, Addy? Who beat you?”

  “That would have been Ronald Dowd,” Quinn answered for the ghost.

  Addy shuddered at the name and became agitated. She dropped Edward’s hand and floated to stand in front of Emma. “The girl is still in mortal danger.”

  “What girl?”

  Addy pointed at the ring dangling at the end of the gold chain.

  “You mean Lainey?” asked Emma.

  Addy nodded. “Yes.”

  Protective anger bubbled to the top of Emma’s emotions. “Leave Lainey alone.”

  “The danger is not from me.” Addy started to fade.

  “Stay, Addy,” Emma pleaded. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  Turning around, Emma saw Alexander Campbell was also starting to fade. His friends were already gone. Campbell floated over to Betty Lou. “Thank you, dear lady, for keeping our memory alive.” He glanced at Emma. “Please tell Mrs. McBride what I said.”

  Emma shook her head to clear it. She didn’t want to play interpreter just now. Addy had just announced Lainey’s life was still in danger. That’s all Emma wanted to deal with, but the stern look on Campbell’s face made her take a deep breath and stop a moment.

  “Betty Lou,” she said to the museum owner in a rush of words, “Mr. Campbell wants me to thank you for the museum and for keeping the memory of him and the men who died with him alive.”

  The ghost of Alexander Campbell bowed slightly before Betty Lou McBride and took his leave.

  “Oh my!” said Betty Lou. She opened the water and took a big drink of it.

  With urgency, Emma turned her attention back to Addy. She and Edward were standing face to face. “Come back to me when you can, Addy,” Edward said. “I’ll be here.” Then he disappeared into the wall.

  Addy returned to stand before Emma, her image fading more by the second. She pointed at Quinn. “He can help you.” Then she vanished into a stream of smoke that was sucked into the stone of Lainey’s ring.

  Granny floated over and stared at the ring. “In all my days, I’ve never seen anything like that. Gives me the willies.” The ghost rubbed her arms against a chill she couldn’t feel.

  Quinn was just as amazed. “Did I just see smoke going into that ring or out of it?”

  Emma looked down at the ring. “You saw that?”

  He nodded, not taking his eyes off the large diamond. “I did.”

  “The smoke was going into the ring, Quinn. It was the ghost of Addy Ames returning to her haunting place. She won’t go off with Edward until Lainey’s safe. Lainey is the young woman who owns this ring. Addy tried to kill her before.”

  “And now she’s worried about her safety?”

  “Seems so.”

  Quinn started to touch the ring, then stopped and looked up at Emma, his eyes brimming with excitement. “May I?”

  Emma handed him the ring. He rolled it in his fingers, feeling the cut of the facets as he searched for the life within it. He looked up at Emma. “Is this the Dowd diamond?”

  Betty Lou shook off the excitement of having a ghost address her and stepped forward. “The Dowd diamond? You mean it’s real?”

  Emma took the ring back from Quinn. Putting the chain over her head, she tucked the ring back inside her burned tee shirt.

  “You sure that’s wise?” Quinn asked, holding up her scorched sweater as an exhibit to back his concern.

  “I don’t think she’s going to try to hurt me again.” Emma held out her hand for the sweater. “It’s cold in here.” Quinn handed it back to her.

  “It was a lot colder a m
inute ago,” Betty Lou observed. “When the ghosts were here it was absolutely freezing in this cell, like a deep freeze. You didn’t feel that?”

  Emma shook her head. “Usually I do, but not this time.”

  Quinn cocked his head and gave Emma a lopsided grin. “Then again, your clothes were on fire.”

  Emma pulled at the front of her sweater. There was a blackened hole between her breasts, but for now it would have to do. Anxious to reach Lainey, she reached into her jeans pocket for her cell phone.

  “Darn it. My cell’s back at the hotel, recharging. I forgot to take it with me this morning.” She started for the door. “We have to go back to the hotel. I have to call Lainey to make sure she’s okay.”

  Quinn pulled his phone from his pocket and held it out to her. “Here, use mine.”

  “Cell phones don’t work down here,” Betty Lou told them. “They don’t work well anywhere inside the jail, and not at all down here.”

  After the three of them were back upstairs, Emma thanked Betty Lou for showing her around. “It’s been a great deal of help.”

  “No, Emma, thank you. I can’t tell you what today has meant to me.” Betty Lou gave Emma a quick hug. “Now go help that Lainey girl so Addy can come back.” She turned to Quinn and gave him an affectionate embrace. “You know the history of this place and of the Dowds better than I do. You help Emma.”

  Outside the jail, Emma called the phone at her cabin in Julian. Her mother answered. “Mother, it’s me. Is Lainey all right?”

  “Yes, dear, she’s fine. Why?”

  “Addy just told me that Lainey’s still in danger. She didn’t say how or why, but the danger isn’t coming from Addy any longer. Maybe it’s Lin. I’m not sure how Addy knows that unless she overheard it, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “She’s over at Susan’s right now. I’ll go right on over, and we’ll not let the child out of our sight.”

  “Thank you. Where’s Dad?”

  “He and Glen went into town to get something—a tool Glen needs, I think. Did Addy go home?”