The Ghost Locket

by D. Allen Wright

  She had never thought of a boy in this way, and it both, confused and excited her. She thought about David's face and recalled kissing him on his cheek. She found herself wishing that her kiss had found his perfect mouth and wondered what it might feel like, taste like. She pressed her fingertips to her lips.

  "What is wrong with me?" She thought, suddenly trying to thrust the strange new thoughts from her head. "He's just a boy!"

  Kit's encounter with David caused her to question all of her notions of the opposite sex. Was this at the root of the artist's passion that she had read about, so many times in books? Was this what drove artists mad, she wondered? Was this the insanity that Julia spoke of. She struggled with these strange new feelings.

  Kit stepped from the tub and toweled her body dry. She slipped her nightshirt over her head, and then slid her panties on. Although she was physically drained, she fought the urge to crawl into her bed.

  Placing one of her blank canvases on her easel, she quickly sketched the outline of David's face in pencil. She wanted to capture it while it was still fresh in her mind. She pictured him hovering over her, as he had earlier, laying the cool cloth to her forehead. When she was satisfied, she laid down her pencil and poured her exhausted form into her bed. She stretched her arm, turned off the lamp on her nightstand and promptly fell into a dreamy sleep. Images of knights in shining armor jousting on the field of honor filled her dreams. Dispatching the evil black knight with his lance, the white knight rode his gallant steed draped in his colors, before the King, Queen and the Princess, Lady Katherine, to claim his prize. He raised his visor, exposing his face. It was the face of David.

  Chapter 18 - Graduation & David

  Julia took a taxi to Kit's school, arriving early. The weather had been unseasonably warm so the graduation ceremonies were scheduled to be held outside. A stage was constructed with a podium and microphone, and steps led up one side and down the other for the procession of students graduating. Facing the stage, were row, after row, of white folding chairs for the student's families. To the left, another section of chairs would hold the, soon-to-be-graduates, all dressed in their caps and gowns.

  Julia found Celeste in one of the first rows, already patiently waiting for the ceremony to start. She waved Julia over to the seat she had saved beside her.

  Looking somewhat lost, a smartly dressed, attractive woman, wandered down the center aisle.

  "Sybil," Julia called out, "is that you?"

  Sybil noticed Julia, waved and joined her.

  "I didn't know you were coming," Julia said.

  "I don't usually do these things, as you know," she paused, "but when Kit called me up last week and invited me, and told me how much it would mean to her if I came- well, how do you say no to that?" Sybil replied.

  "She can be very persuasive," Julia said.

  A young man walked up the aisle, attracting the attention of many of the ladies already seated, not just because of his ruggedly handsome features, but also because of the big black cowboy hat he wore. He reached the row of chairs where he saw Celeste, politely removed the hat and held it in his hands.

  Wearing a sports jacket and jeans, he might have been mistaken for some New York model. Only the hat and the well-shined cowboy boots betrayed his rural roots.

  "Now there's a handsome young man," Sybil said.

  Julia and Celeste both turned to see who Sybil was referring to.

  "David, over here," Celeste called out, catching his attention.

  David smiled in recognition and started to make his way to her seat.

  "You know him?" Julia asked, curious.

  "He's a new friend of Kits," Celeste said. "It's a long story, so I'll let Kit tell you herself."

  "My God, he's a hunk," Sybil said, her voice low and husky.

  "Down girl," Julia said. "He's young enough to be your."

  "Don't say it," Sybil cut her off.

  David politely stood next to Celeste as she introduced him to Julia and Sybil. He then took the seat on the other side of Kit's mother as they exchanged small talk.

  "It's nice of you to come to Kit's graduation," Celeste said.

  "Well Mam, it looked like a nice day to be outside, and I don't know too many people in New York. Kit just seemed like the kind of person I'd like to have for a friend." David said, his easy country charm combined with a hint of shyness showing through.

  "I'm sure Kit will be pleased that you came."

  As the last of the families took their seats, a recording of "Pomp & Circumstance" started to play. That was the signal for the graduates to file in from the rear and take their seats. Kit and her friends scanned the crowd in front of them to find where their families were sitting.

  "There's your Mom and Julia," Alicia said to Kit, pointing.

  Following where Alicia pointed, she picked out her mother, Julia and Sybil. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw David sitting next to her mother.

  "He's here," Kit said, finding it difficult to take her eyes off him, and impossible to mask the surprise in her voice.

  "Who's here?" Alicia asked.

  "David," Kit replied, "David's here."

  "Who's David?" Gwen said from Kit's other side.

  Kit had intended to fill her friends in on the events of the previous day, but had decided to wait until after the hectic schedule of graduation was over.

  Now the principal had approached the podium and was beginning to give the traditional speech, intended to be inspiring to the graduates, but somehow, always falling short.

  "Who's David?" Gwen asked again, this time, too loudly. The principal paused momentarily and gave a stern glance in the direction of the graduates. Much of the audience turned as well.

  "Shhh," Kit replied, now embarrassed. “I'll tell you later!"

  Celeste, Julia and David looked in Kit's direction and smiled, as if they were let in on some private joke.

  The principal finished his speech and then introduced the valedictorian, who gave hers. This was met with a standing ovation from the grateful audience, primarily because it had been mercifully short, and the temperatures were approaching the high 80s. As the names of the graduates were announced, each filed across the stage, where they received handshakes, congratulations and their diplomas. From that point, it went rather quickly and was soon over.

  The crowds of students and family filled the reception area, and the throngs were busily posing and taking pictures. Julia brought her camera and took several pictures of Kit alone, Kit with her mother, and Kit with her friends. David offered his services as a photographer, to take some shots of them all together.

  Julia and Celeste stood watching Kit and David from a distance.

  "Talk about your body language," Julia said, smiling and nudging Celeste as they watched the couple conversing.

  "Yes," Celeste said, smiling through her tears. "It's more than I hoped for, to be around long enough to see this."

  "When did this happen?" Julia asked.

  "Yesterday," said Celeste.

  "Boy, you blink, and you miss everything," Julia said. "The one day she doesn't call me, and bam! I didn't think she even liked boys yet."

  "She didn't," Celeste said, "but this one's different. Kit saw it right away, and so did I. He's got a lot of character, this one."

  "I don't know how you keep up with her Celeste. Everything in her life seems to happen with the speed of light," Julia said, then added, "They do look awfully cute together, don't they?"

  "I didn't know you were going to be here," Kit said to David. "I hope you weren't too bored."

  "Me? Nah," David said, shrugging it off. "I thought you could use the moral support."

  "Nice hat," Kit said. "But I thought the good guys wore white hats."

  "Now you're just messing with me," David replied, looking down and shuffling his feet.

  "Maybe a little," Kit said.

  "No, I like it, seriously," Kit said. "Put it on for me, please?"

  Reluctantly, Dav
id raised his Stetson and placed it on his head. His hands expertly adjusted its position until it sat perfectly.

  Kit gazed appreciatively at him, then smiled. Just when she thought, he couldn't look any better.

  "What? David said, suddenly self-conscious, "too much for New York."

  "No," Kit replied, "not at all. I'd say it's just about right. In fact, you may be the only one I've ever known who could pull that look off."

  "Well, I used to wear the hat a lot back in Montana, here I get a lot of stares, so I've been kind of trying to break the habit."

  "Their loss!" Kit said, and meant it.

  "Oh my God," Kit thought. "I'm actually flirting with him." Usually, that kind of behavior from girls disgusted her, actually made her sick, and now, she was doing it herself.

  "How did you know where I'd be?"

  "It wasn't too hard. It's the closest middle school to your apartment. I took a shot."

  "Say, we're all going out to eat after this, why don't you come along?"

  "That's nice," he said, "but I wouldn't want to intrude."

  "No, it would be great if you'd come."

  "Well, if you don't think anybody would mind."

  "Of course not," Kit said, taking him by the hand and leading him over to the rest of her group. "I hope you like Italian."

  A short time later they were all seated at their table waiting to order. Kit sat next to David with her mother on her other side. David couldn't help feeling a little outnumbered. Mrs. Shay had joined them at the last minute as well, so with Julia, Sybil and Celeste, he found himself the only male, among five females.

  "You ladies will have to excuse me if I use the wrong fork, or if my table manners are a little rough," David said. It's just been me and my Pa for quite a spell and I might be a little out of practice."

  "Nonsense," Celeste said, "We're all pretty normal people here. Just relax and have fun."

  David took Celeste's words to heart and soon felt quite comfortable, talking with Kit and the rest of the ladies. Predictably, since he was the new presence, the conversations turned to him and his background."

  "Kit tells me your father trains horses, and that you had a farm back in Montana?"

  "Uh, ranch, Mam," He corrected, "He started when he was a kid himself. He was pretty successful too. But he always had the dream of owning his own horse ranch. He met my Ma in Montana, and they bought a spread outside of Billings. A while later, I came along and things went pretty well. We got some good brood mares, and we were doing just fine until Ma got real sick. She was ailing for a long time, and Pa had to sell a lot of the stock to pay for her care. Finally, she passed away and we had to sell the ranch to make good on all the bills that had accumulated. Pa went back to being a trainer so that we could make a stake to start over again."

  "So I take it that you like to ride?" Sybil asked.

  "Oh yes Mam," David replied. "My folks had me in the saddle almost before I could walk."

  "I have a horse," Sybil said, proudly, "he's an Oldenburg. I use him for jumping and dressage. Of course that's English style riding. You probably wouldn't be familiar with that style of riding, coming from Montana."

  "On the contrary, Mam," David said, "My Ma taught jumping and dressage. You know; thoroughbreds make great jumpers. Pa may have met Ma in Montana, but she was originally from Connecticut. Her folks were involved in horses there for generations. She taught me how to ride English style when I was younger, but I'm afraid that with Pa's influence, I still prefer Western. We ran a couple hundred head of cattle too, so we always had some cutting horses on hand."

  "So you really are a cowboy, the hat isn't just a fashion statement?" Sybil asked.

  "Yes Mam, I'm as cowboy as cowboy gets. Doing that, the hat's just practical; here in New York though," he paused, "yeah, I suppose it could be considered a fashion statement, though I never thought of it that way. The hat just gets to be part of who you are."

  "So you aren't planning on making New York your permanent home?" Julia asked.

  "We tried the rodeo circuit out west for a while, but Pa's getting pretty old for that. He got busted up pretty bad doing the bull and bronc riding. He says it's a young man's game. So when the trainer's job came up, we pulled up stakes and headed out here. Pa figures that a couple of years doing that, will give us the money we need to get another spread, either in Montana or Colorado. I wouldn't be any kind of son, if I didn't support him. After all, he's doing it for me too. He wants to leave me some kind of legacy."

  "He sounds like a remarkable man," Celeste said, admiringly, "we'd all love to meet him."

  "Yes," Julia said, "The next time we get together for dinner, you'll have to bring him along. What's his name?"

  "Joel, Joel Tyson. Mam, I'm sure he'd be pleased to accept your kind invitation." David said.

  "It sounds like you miss your home in Montana," Julia said.

  "At first I did, but it's not always about the place; it's about the people. Some people do make it easier."

  David's eyes turned and fixed on Kit. She looked back, smiled, and looked down, blushing. Their mutual gazes, as the others looked on, caused the table to go quiet. There was a brief pause in the conversation. Julia and Celeste turned and looked at each other, smiling too. Had they just had a moment? Julia wondered to herself. Celeste wondered the same thing.

  "Kit, I understand that you have all the paintings completed for your exhibition. Now that school is out of the way, we'll have to schedule a date and start publicizing the event," Sybil said.

  "Kit's an artist?" David asked, his gaze returning to her face.

  "Oh yes, quite a good artist, didn't she tell you?" Julia chimed in.

  "It didn't come up in conversation yet," Kit said.

  "We're all hoping to see Kit go to art school," Mrs. Shay added, "How about you David, any plans for college?"

  "Well Mam, it may not be in the cards for the immediate future, but my mothers dying wish was that I would realize my dream of going to school and being a large animal veterinarian. Like I said, it may take a while, but I believe I'll get there one day!"

  "Seems like we're all learning a lot about each other this evening." Mrs. Shay added.

  Chapter 19 - First Kiss

  Julia returned to her artwork with a new dedication. The pain at the loss of Paul and Emily was still there, but getting more tolerable with every passing day. Kit even inspired her to return to her first love, painting. She immersed herself in it, and it had made the time go faster, and the time spent alone, more bearable. The latter, was also easier to endure because of her new friendship with Kit and her mother.

  She heard the doorbell ring and went to answer it. The door opened to reveal Kit standing there.

  "Kit, I was just thinking about you. Come in, please."

  "Is everything alright? Is your mother okay?" Julia asked, a worried look on her face.

  "Everything's fine," Kit replied, "Mom's fine too. I just wanted to talk to you."

  Julia heaved a sigh of relief, then quietly hoped that Kit didn't read anything into her seeming over-reaction.

  "Sure, of course we can talk. Let's go out on the balcony. Do you want something to drink?"

  "Yeah sure, you have a coke?”

  "Coming right up," Julia said, "So what's on your mind?”

  They both sat around the table and there was a long pause before Kit started to speak.

  "Julia, do you think I'm pretty?"

  "Why Kit, of course I think you're pretty. What brought this on?"

  "I mean, do you think a boy might think I was pretty?"

  Julia gave her a knowing smile.

  "So that's what this is all about," Julia said. "You really like him, don't you?"

  "No, I mean, yes," Kit said, her words jumbled. "I don't know what I mean. We've spent more time together lately, and yes, I really like him!"

  Kit did look very confused. She knew she had feelings for the boy, but it was all so new to her. She had never felt this way about a
nyone before, and she was having a hard time making sense of it. Perhaps the hardest feelings she had to deal with concerned the wall she had put up around her, and her emotions. She learned to guard herself so carefully, to keep her softer, feminine side, well hidden; now there was David, and all bets were off.

  "Well, you came to the right person. It just so happens, I've had a little experience in these matters." Julia said, taking her by the hand, "Come on, this is a couch talk."

  Julia led her back into the living room. She sat on the couch and patted the space next to her. "Step into my office," she said. Kit sat next to her, and Julia pulled her close, resting her head on her shoulder; her hand stroking Kit's hair. "Now talk."

  "I don't know; I just feel weird around him; he's so different. He makes me feel safe and important. He listens to me, like what I say, matters. I don't feel like a kid around him, and I don’t have to act all tough, either.

  When I'm not with him, he's all I can think about. He's so beautiful; I wonder if I'm even pretty enough for him."

  "Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that. I've seen the way he looks at you. At dinner the other night, he could hardly keep his eyes off you. I think he's probably got it as bad for you, as you have for him."

  "You really think so?" Kit asked, as her mood lightened.

  "Trust me, I know the look, and he's got it B-A-D, for Y-O-U!”

  "I met a boy my sophomore year of high school. His name was Tommy Sullivan. I was this tall, gangly girl with braces on my teeth. I had no confidence at all. Tommy was a Junior, a football player, and oh so handsome. He could have had any girl he wanted, but he wanted me. He convinced me that I was beautiful, and in his eyes, I was. Over the next year, I lost the braces, filled out in the right places and viola." Julia said.

  "So, what happened with you and Tommy?" Kit asked.

  "Oh, that loser, I dumped him. I caught him making out with one of my friends in the movie theater." Julia looking deadpan suddenly burst out laughing and started tickling Kit; causing them both to fall off the laughing.