Hidden Voices (Tess Schafer-Medium)

by Deborah Hughes

  “That’s what we say for bodies, Kade. This was no body.”

  He lifted a quizzical brow. “Might have been a body part.”

  “Ewww.” Ted straightened so suddenly that he bumped his head on the mantel and rubbed it vigorously as he stepped back away from the fireplace.

  “There are no bone fragments or anything so it can’t have been a body part.” I crawled backwards out of the fireplace and stood up. “It does make me wonder about the red stuff that covered Big Red.”

  “Big Red?” Ted took a picture of the fireplace, glanced in the review window to verify it was a good shot, and then turned to take a picture of the rest of the room.

  “Kade suggested we call the guy I saw in here Red but I think Big Red suits him better.” Even as I spoke, I felt a sudden chill skitter across my skin. Instantly on alert, I turned toward the fireplace half expecting to see Big Red staring at me. Behind me Ted made a choking sound.

  “Holy sh…smokes!” Ted grabbed my arm to get my attention. “Look at this picture.”

  I looked at the review screen and waved for Kade to come see. “Ted got himself a ghost!”

  Just to the right of the window furthest from us, Ted’s picture captured a dark orb. A large one. Although there was a lot of controversy about orbs, I knew some of them were indeed the energy centers of spirit forms. Lots of people, however, believed they were nothing more than floating dust motes or insects caught in the flash. But Ted’s camera did not flash and this orb was too big, too round, and too solid to be anything other than a spirit.

  I stepped closer to the window where the orb was captured and put my hand out in front of me. The air temperature was definitely dropping. I stepped closer. It wasn’t Big Red, though, for I was beginning to recognize his energy. I remembered sensing someone standing by this window the first time I entered the room yesterday. The energy seemed weak but stately. It was more like a ghostly imprint than a spirit. Residual energy. I closed my eyes and drew in calming breaths. It took some time to push bothersome thoughts away and still the mind chatter but I did eventually accomplish it. Then I waited. As always, I imagined my protective light surrounding me then asked for Sheila’s help. Once I felt the light brush of cobwebs skitter lightly across my face, I asked the spirit who just joined us to communicate with me. Done with all my preparations, I stood quietly, focusing my mind on the spot by the window.

  After a while, I began to hear voices whispering around me. Lots of them. They weren’t spirits, however. Instinctively I knew I was tapping into the energy imprint of a time long past. People were frightened. I could feel their fear. The talk was subdued but full of emotion. It seemed they were having a heated discussion but were keeping their voices low so as to not be overheard. I couldn’t make out anything they were saying. One figure began to form in my mind’s eye. He was an older man, of medium height, his carriage straight. I sensed an air of calm authority around him. The last time I was in here, I sensed this same energy. On automatic pilot, I walked to the window. A throbbing pain shot up through my leg just as I reached the window and I leaned on the sill to alleviate some of the pressure from my right foot. Absently, I massaged the outside of my thigh in an effort to ease some of the pain and stared with wide-eyed wonder at the view outside.

  The paved street was gone. That was the first thing that caught my eye. Mud was everywhere. The few buildings I could see were made of roughly hewn slabs of lumber. They were unpainted and simple in design. I could clearly see the river for there were hardly any buildings obstructing its view. Boats of all sizes dotted the waterway. Several wooden piers jutted out along the riverbank. More boats, different from anything I was familiar with, occupied some of the piers. I knew I was glimpsing into the past and I took in my fill, my eyes darting everywhere in an effort to see as much as I could before the vision cleared. It was moments like this that my gift awed me. How more fortunate could one be than to get a glimpse into the past?

  One of my hands gripped the windowsill and as I became aware of this, I realized it was no longer my hand but his. Whoever he was, he was much older than me. His fingers were long and stiff. They were also cold and trembling slightly. Voices whispered behind us, some of them rising to a loud pitch before dropping to low murmurs. Haunting whispers. Though I tried to focus on them and tune in, I couldn’t make out what any of them were saying, so I returned my attention to the view outside the window instead. As for those behind me speaking in agitation and fright, to the devil with the lot of them.

  My eyes locked on to a boat anchored out in the widest and probably deepest part of the river. It was a long slender ship with two tall masts and complicated rigging. I would be hard pressed to describe more than that as I knew nothing about boats. A sense of pride washed through me as I looked at it and I knew instinctively that it belonged to the man with whom I was currently connected. And then it hit me who he was. In a flash of excitement, I knew, I just knew, I was connected to the energy imprint of Jonathan Buck. And because it was his energy imprint and not his spirit, I also knew I wouldn’t be able to communicate with him and that was a bummer, but even so, I was still quite excited. I managed to do what I came here hoping to do and I found immense satisfaction in that.

  The sudden flare of alarm that skittered across my back and up my neck made me swing around. Kade and Ted stood a short distance away. They both watched me in silence. Kade must have figured it out that I was in the throes of a vision and signaled Ted to be quiet. The vision gone, I met Kade’s concerned gaze and smiled. Before I could speak, however, we heard the loud creak of the foyer door downstairs. Someone was about to join us. Whoever it was, he was quite noisy as he bounded up the stairs. The three of us waited curiously and Ted offered a possible identity.

  “It’s probably Mark.”

  The heavy tread of footsteps gradually grew louder as they came our way. Since we couldn’t see into the hall from where we were standing, we merely looked toward the door and waited for whomever it was to join us. Although the footsteps came right into the room, we saw no one. Then the door swung shut with a decisive bang. Ted jumped and took a step back toward me.

  Kade didn’t even hesitate; he walked straight for the door and pulled it open. I could tell he was relieved that it did, in fact, open. I knew how deep that relief probably was. He’d had doors locked on him before. I pushed the thought away. I was not going to revisit what happened to us at Sea Willow Haven. I didn’t want it to influence what was happening now.

  Although an entity clearly came to the room, I didn’t feel that anyone was with us. It was nothing more than a ghostly occurrence then. More energy of a time past recurring automatically because of strong emotion attached to it.

  “What just happened? The door shut on its own, but no one is there!” Ted turned and looked at me for an explanation. Then, having a sudden thought, he turned back and took a picture of the open doorway. Kade stood just off to the side of it. Ted glanced at the review window on his camera and gave a sigh of disappointment. “No orbs.”

  “It was a ghostly event, Ted, not a spirit coming to speak with us. There’s nothing here.”

  “But you had a vision?” Kade asked.

  I nodded and turned back to the window. The paved street, busy with traffic, was back. Bummer that. “Yes. I think I connected with Colonel Buck actually.”

  Ted’s eyebrows rose. “Really? I thought you said there weren’t any ghosts here?”

  “There aren’t. I connected with an energy imprint of an event that took place here concerning him.”

  “What did you see?” Kade crossed the room and joined me at the window. He touched my arm in support, letting me know that he believed me and wanted to hear it all.

  “A meeting of some sort was taking place. There were a lot of men in the room. They were quite agitated, very upset. I couldn’t make out a thing they were saying but the discussion was heated and full of emotion. I think Colonel Buck was in charge, or at the least, a prominent authority figure.
He was quite calm but annoyed with the talk going on around him. I think if he could have, he would have hopped on his boat and sailed away.”

  “His boat?” Ted stepped back and took a picture of Kade and me. He glanced at the camera’s review window and shook his head with disappointment.

  “He owned a sloop named Hannah but it was destroyed by the British when they burned and ransacked the town. Since I feel that the time period I tapped into happened after that event, I wonder if he’d built another ship?” I glanced back out the window and marveled at how different the scene was from moments ago.

  “Maybe the meeting was about that attack?” Ted suggested.

  I shook my head. “I highly doubt it.” Filled with restless energy, I began to pace. “I feel pretty strongly that the scene I tapped into occurred long after the British attack.”

  “But how can you be sure?” Ted persisted.

  “Because they wouldn't have had time to come back here to assemble and talk. When the battle in Castine ended, the men involved scattered.”

  Kade squeezed my arm gently. “Well, you came here to connect with him and you did.”

  I smiled at his comment. When Kade first learned about my ability to speak with the dead, he hadn’t been sold on the idea. Now he took it at face value. He didn’t doubt me. But then why should he after everything we’d been through? “I’m getting close. But all the Indian stuff that’s coming through is confusing me. They shouldn’t have anything to do with that cursed stone.”

  “Why not?” Ted asked. “Maybe it was an Indian who cursed him.”

  “I don’t think Indians cursed people, Ted.”

  He waved off my protest. “What about the Medicine Men? Weren’t they into all that stuff? Spirits and all that?”

  “Being spiritual teachers and healers as they were, I don’t think casting curses was part of their job description.” Seeing that Ted reddened a bit, I hastily added, “But that doesn’t mean they weren’t involved in some way. Who knows, maybe the Indians killed the witch?”

  “But why would that make Buck’s stone carry the curse?” Kade shook his head. “I can’t see a correlation.”

  “What if Buck was expected to protect her?” Ted suggested.

  “Why would he be the one to protect her? He was an officer in the military but it was usually the lower ranks that carried out any specific tasks.” Kade would know about how the military worked and his argument was sound but something niggled at me. We were on to something. But we didn’t have it right. Not yet.

  “I need more clues.” And we weren’t going to be getting them here. I headed for the door. “Are you done with your pictures, Ted?”

  Not wanting to be last out of the room, Ted hurried along after me leaving Kade to fall in step behind him. “Yes. Thank you.”

  Once we were back out on the front porch of the Tenney house, we said our goodbyes to Ted. I reminded him to have his wife call me and after assuring me he would certainly do that, he hurried off. I wondered if I would ever see him again. He was a nice man and his wife sounded like someone I’d like to know. In any case, our meeting had served its purpose. He got me into the Tenney house. Twice.

  Kade looked at me with a lifted dark brow. “What now?”

  I reached for his hand. “Let’s walk to the cemetery so you can see the stone for yourself.”

  We walked at a leisurely pace along the sidewalk. It felt nice to be holding his hand and to be close to him again. As we walked, Kade told me about the painting he’d just finished and filled me in on the happenings at Sea Willow Haven. Nancy and Jack were pretty well booked solid for the rest of the year. I was so glad to hear that for they were very worried their resort would suffer because of what happened while I was there. I knew the publicity would help. It didn’t always matter if it was positive or not. Publicity was publicity. And they got a lot of it.

  “So, is Modesta still spurting doom and gloom about me going to hell?” She was the receptionist at Sea Willow Haven and a firm believer that my communications with the other side was the work of Satan. Nothing I could say would persuade her to believe otherwise and after a while I realized that it didn’t really matter to me what she thought. We are all entitled to our beliefs. If some new idea is brought to our attention and we chose to not accept it then that was certainly our prerogative to do so. Who was I to tell Modesta what to believe? Someday she’d know the truth. We all would.

  “She doesn’t hate you, Tess. I think she’s praying for your soul now so that’s a plus.”

  I laughed softly. “Yes it is. I can always use a prayer!” We finally made it to the cemetery and as we stood near the wrought iron fence looking in at the infamous stone, I felt no presence of a spiritual sort. Whoever the girl was that I’d connected to the last time I was here, she was not here now.

  “Well it definitely looks like the bottom part of a leg.” Kade pointed to the elongated heart near the top of the monument. “Does that have significance too?”

  “I don’t know. But I’m thinking yes.”

  “All I’ve heard about, though, is the booted leg.” Kade slid an arm across my shoulders in a casual hold as we stood there together and stared with critical interest at the one object that was making my life very interesting of late. Had I not the excuse of coming here to investigate, I’d be back home in New York and I wouldn’t be standing next to Kade. Maybe that heart was meant for us and anyone else who stood here staring at the stone.

  “In Italy there is a place in Verona that is believed to be the home of Juliet, you know of the Romeo and Juliet story. Her bronze statue stands in the courtyard below the famous balcony from which Juliet is supposed to have spoken her famous, “Romeo, wherefore art though Romeo” speech. One of the breasts on the bronze statue is nearly worn down from countless hands touching it.”

  “Seriously?” Kade pulled away just enough to twist around and look me in the face to see if I was pulling his leg.

  “Yes. The belief is that if you want true love to come into your life, you must rub the left breast, the one closest to her heart, and wish for true love. Everyone does it. As did I.” Mike was with me at the time and I thought he was my one true love. Turns out, he was only one of my true loves. Seems we can have more than one. A month ago, I wouldn’t have believed that.

  “You don’t feel that you were cheated? I mean, your husband is…well…” Kade turned away, his expression troubled. He was probably upset with himself for bringing it up.

  I lay my head against his shoulder for a moment. “No, I don’t feel cheated. I feel quite lucky. Mike was a wonderful husband for the time that I had him in my life. I don’t regret that. I am grateful for it. And now I’m moving on with my life and getting my happiness back.”

  Kade’s arm slid down my back and circled my waist. He turned to face me and brought his other hand up to cup my cheek. “I’m glad you are happy again, Tess.”

  I stared up into his blue, blue eyes, loving the way they peered at me through long dark lashes. The expression on his face made my heart thump hard and fast. Heat bloomed in my face and fanned out everywhere. “Me too, Kade.”

  He tossed his head to indicate the monument. “So why did you bring up that stuff about the Juliet statue? What’s that to do with this thing here?”

  “Well, I just wonder if that heart is there for another purpose. Maybe the stone isn’t cursed. Maybe it’s blessed with magic.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Excitement skittered across my skin, touching everywhere at once. Maybe I was on to something here. “From everything I’ve read, Jonathan Buck was a decent man. He was very respected. He had a large family and a devoted wife. The whole family was upstanding. Why would someone like that be cursed? Maybe he was blessed. Maybe that heart is a reminder that love doesn’t die, ever. Maybe if we stand here together and make a wish, we’ll find true love…again.”

  Kade gave me a thoughtful look. “Is that what you are getting from the other side? Is your guardian
angel telling you this?”

  I laughed at that. It was really amazing how much he came to accept the things I told him about myself and my beliefs. “No, this just came to me and even if it’s just a flight of fancy, who cares? Once it’s out there, it becomes real. My suggestion has now made it a fact.”

  Kade nodded, accepting my explanation. “Okay then.” He turned so that we were once again standing side by side and took my hand in his, raising it high. “Here’s to finding love again.” We both stood there staring at the heart shape stained into the stone and I couldn’t get over the fact that we were staring at it and wishing for love. A thrill of excitement zipped through me from the inside out. Happiness had a way of blooming to a burst then flaring out into the stratosphere. After a quiet moment, Kade squeezed my hand and let them drop down between us. “So what’s the foot represent?”

  “It takes one leap of faith…one step in the right direction, to change your life.”

  “I like that.” We both smiled at our fanciful thoughts and then Kade pulled me into his arms for a long, tight hug. I closed my eyes to enjoy it. I loved being close to him, feeling his strength, the warm glow of his feelings encompassing me. I snuggled my chin just under his and breathed in the scent of him. He always smelled so good. The slight musk of his cologne, the body wash he used, and a scent that was unique only to him. Everyone had their own smell and Kade’s was bone-melting nice.

  After a moment, I pulled reluctantly away and it was then, from the corner of my eye that I detected a shadow, a dark shape that was more than the natural shades cast by the tombstones and trees nearby. Dropping my arms from Kade’s gentle hold, I stepped toward the wrought iron fence surrounding the cemetery and kept my focus just to the left of the shadow. There were a lot of theories as to why people were more apt to see a spirit or ghost from the corner of their eyes and I remember thinking they were logical enough to accept. Although I have seen spirits straight on, this one was elusive. I looked at Buck’s monument, my gaze settling on the image of the leg and waited. Kade remained standing where I left him and did nothing to disturb my concentration. He was so great to have around, especially when something like this happened. I felt safe though I knew when it came to spiritual beings he really couldn’t do much in the way of stopping anything from happening. What he could do was lend me the emotional strength and confidence I needed to deal with whatever was occurring. In this case there was no danger, but his belief in me helped to strengthen my own belief in me.