by G. F. Frost
Theo felt as though he was standing in a surreal world. He watched as Massey and Father Patrick stood at the gates of the cemetery looking back at him. He was trying to take it all in.
Theo could hear Mister Grant’s old rickety truck barreling down the gravel drive as he stepped towards the cemetery. As he joined the two there, he chanted the words that Father Patrick pointed to on the page. They crossed themselves and recited the Lord’s Prayer once again. >From time to time, Theo would look back at the huge house wondering if he had just seen it all. The three stood silently as the priest made the sign of the cross above each tombstone and shook holy water on them.
Theo watched Father Patrick closely. Once he knew the rite was complete, he led Massey to the front veranda and sat her in a rocker. She looked pale and frightened as if most of the blood had drained from her. Her hands were cold and she was still trembling. Theo tried to soothe her by rubbing his hands up and down her arms. She didn’t respond much to his efforts. Theo looked at Father Patrick as he stepped onto the porch.
“What in the hell is all this about, Father?” Theo asked as he rubbed Massey’s shoulders.
Father Patrick fell helplessly into a chair beside Massey, shaking his head. He laid the bottle in his lap, and stared at Theo as if he had no answer.
“I mean, I don’t know what in the hell could have caused that up in the room. I cannot believe the shit that was going on up there. Is this really happening?” Theo asked.
“Something is definitely really happening,” Father Patrick replied.
Theo walked to the steps of the veranda and sat down. He began to scratch his head. He noticed that Jenkins could still be heard whimpering under the porch. Rising from his place, Theo bent down and looked under the steps. Poor Jenkins was lying on his furry belly on the cold ground shivering. The dog could hardly fit beneath the steps, but he had somehow forced himself into the opening.
Theo began to pull the dog out by his hind legs, and it wasn’t an easy job. Jenkins dug his front claws into the cold damp ground as if trying desperately to remain there against all the tugging. Soon Father Patrick rose from his chair and helped with the animal. Together, the two men were eventually able to free the large dog from his self-made prison. As they freed him, Jenkins ran into the yard and began to shake the leaves and dirt from his back. He looked a bit hysterical himself. Instead of bounding onto the veranda towards Massey, the dog ran the opposite direction and leapt into the back of Theo’s truck. He stood there panting and looking over the edge of the pickup bed as if waiting for Theo to drive him away. They all watched the frightened dog.
“Maybe Jenkins has the right idea. Maybe we need to get out of here,” Theo said, looking at his wife.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Massey said defiantly.
“Well, neither of us is going upstairs tonight,” Theo replied. “I don’t know what is up there, but I’m not about to see. I’ve seen enough craziness for one night.” Theo brushed the dirt and leaves from his knees. “Come on, honey, let’s go inside. You’re going to freeze to death out here,” he said as he pulled Massey from the chair and looked back towards his truck.
Father Patrick pulled his cell phone from his pocket and began searching for a number. He walked into the yard as he placed the phone to his ear. Massey and Theo could hear Father Patrick speaking loudly and firmly to someone on the other end as they entered the house.
“Now, do you believe me?” Massey asked Theo.
“I come home to all these wild stories and then my house starts to shake like someone is driving a freight train right through it. I don’t know what in the hell to believe.” Theo said angrily.
Massey collapsed on the parlor sofa as Theo paced back and forth across the huge antique rug. He walked over to the mantel and looked at the picture of the couple. They stared back at him with their dark, lovely eyes. He placed the large framed picture face down on the mantel and looked at the baby booties lying there.
“I’m going to find that baby’s grave if it’s out there. Do you think that the baby’s grave it out there?” he asked curiously.
Massey nodded and looked at Theo. She was surprised that he considered that it all had something to do with dead people. She knew he was angry. She knew Theo didn’t like to question things. His life was all about rationalities. It had to be throwing him for a loop.
“I don’t know what the hell I’m thinking, right now. Maybe I just need to sit and think for a while. We’ll figure it all out,” Theo said, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself more than Massey.
Father Patrick returned to the house and walked into the parlor. He stood as if waiting for Theo or Massey to say something first, they didn’t. They looked at the priest, searching his face for explanations and answers. He didn’t know what to tell them. Father Patrick searched his own mind for the right words to say, but felt inadequate.
“I called the Arch Diocese and demanded to talk to the Monsignor. By the time I told him everything that had happened here today, he had an answer for me. He said that it was my responsibility to find the answers. He said that he didn’t think there was something paranormal happening here, but if it was, the blessing should take care of it. He didn’t sound happy with me at all, and asked me to come in next week for a review of everything. I think we’re on our own here. I’m sorry.”
“I’m going to get down to the bottom of all this. I just can’t believe this paranormal mumbo jumbo, sorry Father. Maybe the house is on a fault line or something, hell I don’t know, but I need to think about everything. We need to calm down. We don’t need the Arch Diocese. It’s just a house. We’ll be fine.” Theo rubbed Massey’s head.
Massey didn’t have a thing to say. She was tired of it all. She was tired of feeling that no one but her really wanted to get to the bottom of it all. She felt that the men just hoped it would go away, and she knew that it wouldn’t until someone found out what Joseph and Marie wanted from them. She felt angry.
Massey didn’t bother to offer anything for dinner or even to drink to the two men all evening. She sat and listened to them discussing “rational” reasons for all the happenings. She knew Theo didn’t believe any of what she had told him, and she couldn’t believe that Father Patrick was even entertaining Theo’s theories after all that they’d been through. She was feeling beaten down and a bit betrayed by the two men.
Theo finally made a pot of coffee for them and asked Father Patrick if he would like a sandwich. He knew that Massey was not in a state to cook for them. She hadn’t spoken for the entire evening. As Theo and the priest looked over the pictures of the cemetery, they heard Jenkins scratching at the front door. The dog had given up his hopes for traveling in the pick up to a place far away, and wanted to be close to Massey.
Massey walked to the door and let him in, and then she led him to the kitchen and poured food into his bowl.
“I can’t even depend on you. You men are all traitors,” she whispered as Jenkins devoured his kibbles and bits.
Massey threw all the blankets and pillows she could find in the downstairs linen closet into the middle of the parlor floor. Father Patrick and Theo looked up at her as if they were a little afraid of her. They knew she was not happy. She took a couple of the blankets, threw them into Theo’s big chair, and crawled into it. Before she knew it, she was floating off into the land of sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
Sometime in the early hours of the morning, Massey woke and raised her head. Jenkins was standing at the parlor window looking out into the yard. There were sounds of chopping and digging coming from outside. She looked around the room for the men, but they were gone. As she rubbed her eyes, Jenkins turned and noticed her. He ran to her wagging his tail and whining. She felt disoriented as she walked into the kitchen. There was a half-full pot of coffee on the kitchen counter. She could hear the chopping sounds louder from the kitchen. Leaning over the kitchen sink, she looked through the window blinds and out into the yard. She could make
out Theo and Father Patrick digging in the ground. A bright flood light was shining down onto the graves. The two men seemed to be digging frantically into the ground. Massey rubbed her eyes again and watched the men carefully.
She heard the men’s voices as she reached the foyer. Throwing on her warmest jacket, Massey walked out onto the front veranda and stood watching the men. Theo was covered in dirt. He dug tirelessly into the ground next to Marie’s grave. Massey felt a chill come over her as she watched. She saw Father Patrick glance towards her and tap Theo on the shoulder pointing at her. Theo let the tip of the shovel rest on the ground as he turned to look at his wife. Massey walked to them and looked into the ground without a word.
Both the men stood looking at Massey as if they were waiting for her questions. She looked into the small deep hole. Theo was breathing hard as if he had been laboring for hours. He didn’t speak, but began to thrust the heavy steel blade into the hole once again. Suddenly, as if waiting for Massey’s approach, the metal struck something hard and made the obvious sound of a shovel on wood. Theo stopped.
Father Patrick stopped digging and watched. Theo fell to his knees and began pulling the earth from the wooden object.
“Dig around it, Father,” Theo said as he frantically removed the dirt from around the box.
“It’s a little coffin,” Father said looking towards Massey.
She stepped closer and looked deeper into the dark hole.
“Bring me that flood light, Massey,” Theo said as he turned towards her.
Massey walked to the iron fence and unclamped the light from its perch. She handed it to Theo and watched as he pushed the light towards the small coffin. With the other hand, he reached towards the lid.
“No, Theo, wait! Massey yelled.
Theo and Father Patrick turned towards her.
“You can’t open the baby’s casket! You just can’t do that,” she said as her eyes filled with tears.
“What about the headstone, Theo?” Father Patrick asked.
Massey nodded desperately. The two men immediately began to dig shallowly around the small grave. Just above the hole partially hidden and deep under the root of a tree, Father’s shovel struck something hard. Theo walked to his side and the two began to dig simultaneously. Before long, a lovely tombstone emerged from the deep earth. Father Patrick chopped away at the tangled roots to free the stone. They took their time releasing the embedded stone. Massey watched anxiously as the two men reached under the loosened dirt and pulled the marker forward. As the light hit the marble, Massey gasped.
Joseph Batiste Duseau
Born July 19, 1878
Died August 27, 1878
Beloved son of Joseph and Marie
May we see you again in Heaven
May you be cradled in the arms of angels
Massey fell to her knees and began to dig a small deep trench at the top of the grave. Theo watched her lovingly, and then he pulled her from her knees and began to dig again. The trench held the headstone perfectly. The three of them steadied the stone and made sure it was level before filling the dirt in around it. Massey ran into the barn and came out holding a bucket. She ran to the spigot at the side of the house and filled it with water. Taking the wool scarf from around Theo’s neck, she dunked it into the pail of water and began to wash the stone.
When the headstone stood upright and clean, the three of them stepped back and looked at the small marker. Tears were pouring down Massey’s cheeks and she reached her arms up towards her tall husband and wrapped them around his dirty chest. She hugged Theo as tightly as she could manage. She didn’t mind the dirt and sweat. She wanted him to know that again, he had done the right thing. He looked at the little grave, walked towards it again with Father Patrick, and began to fill in the dirt they had removed.
Massey stood watching until they’d replaced all the dirt and Theo patted the last shovel full down with the back of his shovel. Father Patrick raised his right hand and made the sign of the cross above the child’s tombstone. He reached down and rubbed its edge. Once more, the three stood back and looked at the tiny grave.
There they were, the three of them together, beside one another as they should be, first, stood Joseph’s stone, then Marie’s, and then their child’s. Massey felt a cool breeze across her face. She turned as Father Patrick switched off the flood light. There was lightness in the air that Massey hadn’t felt in the little cemetery previously. She felt that things were right. She hoped Joseph and Marie knew what had taken place, and she hoped they were pleased.
The sun was just rising in the distance as they gathered the tools and returned them to the barn. There was not much to say. All three knew that they had done something good. Even if Theo’s motives were not the same as Massey’s, he had made an effort to make things right. She felt as if a huge burden had lifted from her shoulders as the sun lit up the morning sky. Father Patrick lifted his head towards the sunlight as if giving thanks for their accomplishment.
Father Patrick decided that the house felt lighter, and he told Theo and Massey that he believed their troubles were over and they could now live and sleep with no worries. He had walked with them throughout the house from room to room. Massey had to admit; even the darkest areas of the house seemed lighter. She believed that Father Patrick was right, she had to. Father Patrick was wrong though, this time he was very wrong.
* * * *
Thanksgiving approached before Theo and Massey knew it. She was busy cooking in the kitchen, surrounded by meats and pies and vegetables. Theo was in the yard with Mister Grant, clearing brush and making the yard as beautiful as a large yard could look in the fall. Massey had not had any bad dreams in three days, and Theo was beginning to act like his old self. They had agreed to avoid the subject of that night until after the holidays. Theo wanted Massey to feel nothing but happiness while Sadie was there. That is exactly what he planned to do.
Sometime within the last couple of days, Theo had removed the antique mirror from their bedroom. When Massey discovered what he had done, she felt relieved but a bit sad also. She felt that she still had a deep connection with Joseph and Marie, and she almost felt as though she was turning away from them by getting rid of the mirror. She knew that wasn’t thinking sanely though. She was ready for a normal life and a change at Lovesong House, and the last couple of days seemed just that. The Thanksgiving party was going to be the best boost that she and Theo could have.
“Look what the cat’s dragged in!” Theo said as he appeared at the kitchen door with Sadie.
“Sadie!” Massey yelled.
“Mums!” Sadie said as she ran to Massey and threw her arms around her.
“Wow, it smells so great in here. Are you expecting an army, Mom?” Sadie asked as she pulled a piece of chicken from a platter.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, we are. We’ve invited everyone we could think of. It’s going to be a bash to remember.” Massey smiled at her daughter.
Theo stood leaning against the kitchen door frame watching Massey tie an old apron around Sadie’s waist. Sadie danced around the room like a pixie, lifting the lacy edges as she stepped. She pranced towards her father, took him by the hand, and danced with him across the kitchen floor. Massey watched and laughed at the two remembering how Joseph had danced with Marie in his arms. Theo never looked happier, he never looked happier than when Sadie was there with him.
Massey and Sadie cooked well into the evening and spent an hour or so placing the settings at the tables and decorating the buffet for tomorrow’s festivities. They both loved decorating for holidays and preparing for parties. Massey let Sadie take charge of the intricate placement of name placards and chafing dishes and napkins. She knew Sadie would know just how to make things perfect. The smell of roasting foods and holiday aromas filled the house.
Everyone rose early Thanksgiving morning. The food was warming and Sadie was taking her time in the bathroom primping for the guests. Massey was straightening the linens and making sure ev
erything was in its place. Theo had made a run into the village for the fried turkeys and ice. Mister Grant arrived early to see if anything needed sprucing up. He was dressed in sharply pressed khakis, a dark blue crisp shirt, and cowboy boots. His hair was combed and gelled. Massey hardly recognized him. She was glad that she had thought to include him on her guest list.
The candles and the buffet were ready as the guest began to arrive. Theo, Massey, and Sadie stood in the wide foyer welcoming the guests with a cup of warm cider. Everyone filed in and mingled through the parlors snacking on the delicious appetizers and admiring the beautiful home as Massey filled the top of the buffet with the luscious foods.
The day was perfect. The air was cool and brisk and the sun was shining. People found their places at the long dining table and around the small circular tables in the parlor. Massey had set just enough places. Many of the men went back for second plates full of food, and gobbled up the desserts. The men made their way out to the back veranda and to the rockers. Many sat with cigars and cigarettes discussing planting and politics just as Massey had seen the men in her dreams do. Children were running around the barn and climbing some of the enormous oaks in the front yard. Mrs. Purdue and her daughter and granddaughter and great-granddaughter sat at a table with Sadie.
Sadie seemed enthralled by the sweeping stories Mrs. Purdue related during the meal. Sadie even pushed her wheelchair onto the front veranda and sat with Mrs. Purdue for the rest of the afternoon. Massey could tell that they had become fast friends. >From time to time, she would notice Mrs. Purdue’s hand patting Sadie’s as she spoke. Sadie would smile and nod and laugh as she listened to the ancient lady.
Massey walked through the house and out onto the lawn, stopping to make each of her guests feel welcome, and to make sure they had wine or cider in their glasses. From time to time, Theo would rise from his chair and find his way to Massey and Sadie. He wanted to make sure they were enjoying themselves. He felt happy to see their smiling faces and to know that the day was a complete success. This was what Lovesong House was built for, he thought as he looked around the yard into the smiling faces of the people.