by Alexie Aaron
“Come on,” Zoe urged in a sweet voice. “Upstairs, hurry!”
Mia climbed the stairs two at time to keep up with the young girl. She ignored the old man who stood in the hallway, invisible to all but Mia. She would consult Ted before mentioning him to Connie and her husband.
“We’re waiting,” Zoe said, standing half in and out of a brightly painted room. She popped inside as Mia approached.
Mia looked inside the door and sighed. There sitting amongst the teddy bears and princess dolls was Ted. A tea set had been set out on a small table. An older girl with Ted’s coloring sat next to her uncle. Mia assumed this was Tammy. Two other little charmers sat on either side of them.
“Welcome!” Ted said with exuberance. “I see you got my invitation. This is Tammy my niece, Cindy and Clara Cooper - their dad and I used to play D & D together.”
Mia shook each child’s hand in turn. “We must be related, my name’s Cooper too,” Mia said which made the young girls giggle.
“No, ma’am, you can’t be,” the eldest of the two dark-skinned girls protested.
“My name’s Cooper, your name’s Cooper… are we sisters?”
This brought a bunch more laughter from the Cooper girls. The youngest, Clara, got up and pulled Mia over to the door and the mirror attached to the back. She pointed out, “You’re made of white sugar, and I’m made of brown sugar.”
Mia wasn’t sure of the political correctness of this, but as she was dealing with a four-year-old, she let it go.
“But we’re both made of sugar,” Mia said, and the young girl nodded. “So are we having tea?”
“Oh yes,” Tammy answered. “Aunt Connie always lets us have a tea party in the playroom when we visit. No boys allowed!”
Mia pointed at Ted and said, “Isn’t he a boy?”
All four girls laughed. “He’s an infection,” Zoe said.
“Exception, silly,” her sister corrected.
“Exception,” Zoe repeated slowly.
“Tammy, Zoe may be right,” Mia observed, looking at her fiancé sitting on the ground wearing a tiara.
Ted smiled at her, lifted a tiny cup, extended his pinky finger out, and began to sip the brew. “Don’t mind her, girls, she’s been with grown-ups far too long.”
Mia sat down across from him and accepted a cup of tea from Cindy, who was mother, and agreed, “Yes, someone left me down there with all the big people alone.”
“Don’t worry, Auntie Mia, you’re safe now. Have a cookie,” Tammy urged.
“Thank you,” Mia said and took a cookie and bit into it. “Mmmm this is good. Did you make them yourself?”
“No, silly, Oreo, made them,” Tammy said.
“Oreos, don’t they live down the street?” she asked Ted.
“No they’re from out of town. It’s the Ore Idas you’re thinking of…”
“No, dear, they’re from Boise, and they make tater tots…”
“I love tader tots,” Zoe said.
The conversation changed to the correct pronunciation of potato products and ended up in fits of giggles as Ted started singing advertising jingles.
Mia loved how readily the little girls accepted her. She imagined being not much taller than them helped. Or it was Ted. The girls loved their uncle, and the young Cooper girls were developing quite a crush on their dad’s friend.
“Ahem.”
Mia turned around and saw Raedell standing in the doorway with crossed arms.
“Aren’t you two supposed to be making nice with the guests?” she asked curtly.
“I’m having a tea party with my bestest of friends, and you’re not invited,” Ted said and sipped his tea.
“Auntie Raedell, you can join us,” Tammy offered.
“No, honey, I have grown up things to do. Maybe later. Theodore, you better get your behind down those steps before Hallie…”
Ted calmly took off his tiara and bid adieu to the little girls. He thanked them kindly for the tea, walked over and extended his hand to Mia. She got up and smiled as Zoe pressed a couple of cookies into her hand before she’d let her leave. The little girl whispered, “For courage,” in Mia’s ear.
They walked out the door past Raedell with the dignity of royalty.
Chapter Seven
Audrey swallowed hard before she got out of her car. She walked over to the barn and knocked on the big sliding door. The sound echoed inside the darkened building. “Hello?” she called in a voice barely above a whisper. She regained her courage and called again in a robust voice, “Hello, Mr. Murphy, are you in there?”
CRACK!
The sound of Murphy’s axe came from the woods behind her. She turned and walked towards the picnic table where Mia assured her Murphy would be at four in the afternoon.
“I don’t know if you remember me…”
A sliding of iron on wood did little to ease the fear Audrey felt. But she needed his help and would at least tell him why she was there.
“I need to go to the hollow to check something out in the graveyard. Mia said I shouldn’t go alone. I thought that you, if you have time that is, wouldn’t mind going with me.”
Murphy looked at the woman with the bouncy red curls and sensed her fear. He admired her standing her ground. He tapped his axe a few times on the top of the table.
“Oh, I get it. Tap once for no and twice for yes. Would you go with me to the graveyard in the hollow?”
Murphy tapped twice.
“Good! I have a map. Would you like to ride with me in my car?”
Murphy tapped twice again.
“Great!” Audrey said and turned and walked over to her car. She didn’t know the etiquette of having a spirit in her car so she opened the passenger door, picked up the candy wrappers which she had eaten to calm her nerves off the seat, and walked around to the driver’s side and got in. She waited and wondered if she should close the door? She started the car, and the door seemed to shut on its own.
Audrey started out of the driveway. She looked at the map Mike had drawn on the cocktail napkin and did her best to follow it. After a couple of missed turns, Audrey found herself at the road leading into Cold Creek Hollow. Burt had warned her that the hollow was still haunted. He advised that she steer clear of the houses and not to go near the foundations of the old church. Mia, after finding out what she was going to do and that she would not be persuaded to wait until the PEEPs crew returned from Kansas, suggested that she take Murphy or Tom Braverman, her friend and local deputy, with her.
Since she was unfamiliar with Deputy Braverman, Audrey thought she stood a better chance anyway with Murphy and ventured to the farm. Later she would examine the sanity of this way of thinking, but right now she was determined to search out Giuseppe Basso.
“Mr. Murphy, I guess I should tell you why I’m here,” she said as she parked the car in front of the small graveyard. She related the information she had on the carpenter and the note he left behind. She pulled a photocopy of it out of her purse and set it on the dash so Murphy could see it. “I just have to make sure it’s his name on the grave and look around the graveyard for any other Bassos…”
Murphy tapped the dash lightly twice with his axe and opened the door of the car. As it swung open, Audrey couldn’t help but feel a chill run up and down her arms.
Murphy waited for her to gather her camera. Daisy Sprigs, curious about the car, had already moved to the road and smiled shyly at Murphy. They didn’t talk, just stood there as the redheaded woman walked slowly towards them.
“Okay, Mr. Murphy, I first need to find Daisy Sprigs…”
Daisy, surprised, clapped her hands together and jumped up and down. Murphy glanced over at the young woman and tried not to smile. He reached out and tapped the top of Daisy’s grave.
Audrey stopped her progression and followed the taps until she stood in front of the young woman’s grave. Audrey reached down and plucked a few weeds away from where Mia had planted geraniums earlier that month. Audrey pinched off t
he dead blooms so new blooms would come. She also placed a new white embroidered handkerchief wrapped in plastic on top of the gravestone and secured it with a rock. “This is from the McCarthys. Rest in peace, Daisy.”
Daisy rushed over and pointed to the gift and turned her tear-stained face to Murphy. He swallowed and nodded as he pushed down the brim of his hat to hide his glistening eyes.
Audrey moved on. She stopped in front of a small granite stone set in the ground. An abundance of carved birds decorated the stone. Giuseppe Basso, Husband, Father, Teacher, Friend. She looked around and examined the other stones. No other Bassos. She found it odd that he would be laid to rest here when his family still thrived in the Chicago area. With the exception of the recent sprucing up Mia had given the graveyard, there was no sign of any pilgrimages to see the great Giuseppe grave. Did they forget the patriarch of the family? The man who brought them from Italy with his hard-earned money and taught them the Basso trade?
Audrey took in the time. 150 years since the disaster here. He perished a few years before that. Maybe the family did make the trip until the memory of Giuseppe faded when the elder ones themselves died. Why was he buried here? Did he die on the job? She thought she would find answers here. Instead she just had more questions.
Daisy watched the woman at the old man’s grave. She often wondered about the little birds someone had taken the time to carve into the stone. Something in the back of her mind nagged at her. But too many years and too much of her own company had made her unable to recall the past. Some things she would not think of. Not if she could avoid it. She watched as Murphy moved towards the woman and tapped the top of Basso’s grave with his axe.
“Yes, it’s time to go,” Audrey said as she got up and dusted off her knees. She took a few photos of the grave and graveyard for her records before she got back into the car. She drove around the paved circle in front of the empty houses. She thought of what a waste it was to see them sitting empty when so many people could make use of them. Burt and Mike were adamant that she stay away from the houses. They weren’t safe. It wasn’t that they were slowly falling into ruin but that they still contained spirits that refused to move on. “Angry and dangerous,” Burt had said.
Audrey finished her circle and drove out of the hollow. She drove past a kerchief-waving Daisy, the ruins of the church and back into the wooded countryside. She didn’t look back. She didn’t notice the door opening on the house with the carved staircase nor the man who moved out of the woods and stared at the house with such hatred. All Audrey saw was her radio come to life and the digital numbers fly as Murphy searched for a good radio station to listen to.
~
Mia had a death grip on Ted’s hand as they descended the stairs.
“Mighty Mouse, you’re hurting me,” Ted complained. “I won’t leave you again, I promise.”
“If you leave my side, I swear I’m going back to the B&B faster than you can type, ‘I’m sorry,’” Mia warned.
“Heard and understood,” Ted said, feeling sheepish for ditching her in the midst of aunt central. “I went to the bathroom, and then the girls found me,” he explained.
“I can see the attraction. They are sweethearts.”
“Promise me, we’ll have a few of those.”
Mia smirked. “A few? How many are we having?”
“A baker’s dozen,” he said. They reached the bottom of the stairs, and he swung her into his arms. “More if you’re good.”
Mia smirked, “Let’s start with one and see how it goes.”
“Deal!” he said and kissed her.
“Ahem!” Raedell’s voice cleared. “Keep moving, you two, no conception under my watch.”
“Ew, Rae, ew,” Ted said. “I’m your brother for feck’s sake.”
“Honestly, if you don’t get yourselves outside and meet and greet the multitude, I’m calling in the big guns.”
“She means wicked witches of the east and west. Rae’s only an apprentice witch,” Ted explained.
“And you’re a flying monkey,” she snapped back. “I don’t know how you conned this poor girl into marrying you, but we are going to seal the deal with this Martin bash.”
“What she means is, you’re going to be above your head in Martins who will hunt you down if you leave me at the altar.”
“Really?” Mia asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“Yes, they will hunt you down. Not even Murphy will be able to protect you once Great Aunt Mildred gets the scent.”
Mia felt a chill. “Don’t worry folks, I’m here to stay. Call off your aunts.”
Raedell and Ted burst into a fit of giggles.
“Told you it’d work,” Rae said.
“You might be evil, but you’re smart evil, sis.”
“I’ve been set up,” Mia said faking outrage.
This caused the siblings to burst into laughter again.
Mia sniffed the air and started walking in the direction of the kitchen as if in a trance, “Beans, I smell beans.”
Ted followed, knowing that if Mia got her hands on a spoon and a casserole of beans, there wouldn’t be any left for anyone else.
They walked into the kitchen and broke up a hen party. Hallie, Connie and several of Ted’s second cousins were sitting, drinking from a pitcher of Margaritas while Connie monitored the heating of the casseroles.
Hallie introduced Mia, and try as she might, Mia couldn’t remember any names. She was handed an icy drink and a small photo album.
“I know my brother has been filling your head with lies so I am presenting photo proof that Theodore Martin was not the angel he professes to be.”
Mia opened the book, and there smiling proudly was eight-year-old Ted with a necklace of Barbie heads around his neck. Mia gasped and started laughing.
“Those are our dolls, or parts of them. Turn the page,” Hallie instructed.
Mia did as she was told. She saw a doorway filled in with colorful Lego building blocks.
“He did that while we were sleeping. I couldn’t get out to pee and had to use the trash can. Dad was no help at all; he just took the picture and kept saying what a genius the boy was,” Connie complained.
Mia turned another page. She wasn’t sure what she was looking at. Connie leaned in and explained, “That’s a sculpture he made of our bicycles while we were in vacation bible school. They are all interconnected.”
Mia looked over at Ted who was blushing. She turned another page.
A wet young man in a tuxedo stood dripping in the foyer of the Martin house.
“My prom date,” Hallie identified. “Ted took it easy on the homecoming date; he only glowed in the dark.”
Ted grabbed the book and tossed it on top of the high cabinets proclaiming, “That’s enough of that. Phew!”
Mia raised an eyebrow and drained the glass of alcohol, giving herself brain freeze. “Ouch,” she said, putting her hand to her forehead.
“Now look what you’ve done. You broke Robot Mia,” Ted said, rushing to get a glass of warm water. “Drink this.”
Mia did as she was told. The pain eased, and she felt foolish. The women around her assured that they had done it a time or two themselves.
“Campers, what have we learned from this experience?” Ted asked.
“That you tell a whopper of a one-sided story,” Mia said.
“No, don’t drink the witches’ brew. They make you see things like photo albums and…”
“What’s going on in here?” Ted’s father said as he walked over to the stove and began looking under the pot lids.
“Ambush. They ambuscaded me and Mia with the photo/proof album,” Ted whined.
“Clever boy, mischievous as hell but clever,” Reg said with pride in his voice. “Speaking of clever, Hallie, I just disarmed your boys of two pounds of firecrackers and two fully-loaded paint guns.”
“Oh my go… goodness, where did they get those…” she said looking at Ted. He raised his hands in innocence. “Is Cid Garret invit
ed?” she asked Connie.
“Yes.”
“Your evil twin’s here and…”she stopped talking and stomped out of the kitchen in search of her sons and Cid.
“I don’t envy the boys when she catches them,” Ted’s dad said.
Mia couldn’t help smiling. She finally felt at home. The stress of the first hour of aunt attack was forgotten. “Cool beans. Can’t I have another glass, please?” Mia asked sweetly.
“No, you’ve had enough. Any more and you’ll turn into one of those, and you’ll be flying away on a broom, Dorothy.”
“Didn’t she fly in a house?” Mia asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“Just asking,” Mia said sweetly.
“Come on, we better warn Cid that Hallie’s on the warpath,” Ted said, grabbing her hand.
Mia barely got out a, “Nice to meet you,” before Ted pulled her from the kitchen.
Reg looked at his remaining two daughters and the bevy of females in the room and asked, “So what do you think of Mia?”
“You mean besides her being beautiful, funny, a good sport and so blinded by Ted it’s embarrassing?” Raedell asked.
“Yup,” her father agreed.
“She’ll do,” Great Aunt Mildred said from the doorway.
The room became silent for a moment in reverence to the aging tyrannical woman.
“Don’t just stand there, pour me one of those drinks. It’s hotter than hell outside,” she demanded.
Connie quickly served her a drink. The others scattered. Only Reg was brave enough to stay.
“Tell me, Reginhard, is it true, our Ted’s girl can see ghosts?” Mildred asked.
“Yup,” Reg, smarting from the use of his full name answered. “She can hear them, talk to them, touch them, and if you can believe it, walk out of her body.”
“Land sakes, these modern gals have a lot of abilities. All I could do at her age was bake a damn good cherry pie.”