“What’s wrong?” He pulled onto the road and glanced my way with concern. “Did something happen back at the fort? Did you get in touch with anyone?”
“Nothing’s wrong and yes I did.” Glad to latch on to any topic that didn’t meander into the area of our relationship, I went on to tell him about my experience in both the Officer and Enlisted Quarters. “There were several spirits there. I’m not sure if they died there or were lured there because of me. I did get the impression that some of them at least, died there. I imagine it was dangerous, backbreaking work building that fort. Deaths were bound to occur. I think I may have helped at least one of them move on but I can’t be sure.”
“So no big reveal or anything?”
“No.” Smiling, because it seemed that people always thought the dead wanted to share secrets when mostly they just wanted to make contact with someone who could acknowledge their existence, I shook my head with regret. “Sadly, no one there could offer me anything of any use in this world. I think most of them were confused about where they were though some were content with their situation.” I just couldn’t understand why people who passed on into spirit would want to hang out here any longer? Surely there was another whole realm of existence to explore? But then, people did the same in life…never exploring the world around them. Sad.
Kade turned off the road onto the new expansion bridge that spanned across the Penobscot River to Verona Island and I gazed up at the tall observation tower. Someday I might attempt to go up there but since I was somewhat afraid of heights, I wasn’t sure about it actually happening. The bridge sported two towers, one at each end, but only one of them had an observation deck. The old bridge stretched alongside the new one though lower down and looking decidedly smaller. Barbara said it was scheduled to be dismantled sometime in the near future. Time marches on. I’m sure that poor old bridge was quite the thing in its day. What would future bridges look like? Would we even need them?
As we made our way along the main route through Verona towards the bridge that led back into Bucksport, I felt a distinct chill race through me. Instantly alert, I looked slowly about and wondered where this new energy was coming from. Another spirit lingered here. A troubled one. I glanced at my cell phone to check the time and decided to let it go since we had a lot to accomplish today. I sent out a silent promise to come back another time and make contact then let it go. I couldn’t answer every call though I wished that I could.
As soon as we left the island and entered the bridge crossing to Bucksport, another chill, much more pronounced than the last one, began to seep through me. Standing up ahead on the bridge’s sidewalk was a young teenage girl. She stood with her back to the bridge’s rails, her dress and long hair blowing in the breeze. It seemed her dark gaze was latched onto me and I met it curiously. Was she alive or was she a ghost? Funny how I couldn't always make that distinction anymore. I closed my eyes for a second and when I opened them she was gone. It happened so fast I couldn’t be sure it actually happened, but my gut instinct told me I had not imagined it. Oh yes, for sure I would have to come back here and try to find her again. But not today. As we passed the spot where I saw her standing, I promised her I’d return and then gave a long sigh. Spirit work was never done.
It wasn’t long before we were making our way along a quiet country road leading out of Bucksport's town center. The day was sunny and warm, pleasant and peaceful. It was a good day to visit a graveyard. The energy was good.
We didn’t have to go far when we saw a glimpse of Silver Lake and just before it, a graveyard off to the right and built on the rise of a hill. Kade pulled up into it and parked about midway in. It was a pretty good-sized graveyard.
As we stepped out of the car, Kade quirked a questioning brow (I loved it when he did that). “So, any ideas on how we are supposed to find the Rowan family?” He swept his hand about him. “Seems to be a rather crowded place.”
I stood for a quiet moment then turned. “This way.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Kade followed quietly along as we moved among the graves, pausing every now and then to admire a gravestone’s engraving or special carving. It was always a risk for someone like me to visit graveyards but then it also amused me that many people assumed all graveyards were haunted. More often than not, a person who has crossed over and plans to stick around will linger around the area where they died or lived. Some of them attach themselves to something meaningful or to a person close to them, but rarely did they hang around their graves. That being said, people who visit these places are often focused on someone buried there and that focus alone can pull their spirit near.
Spirits wanting to make contact with the physical world were especially attracted to people like me. I wondered how it was they knew I could do that? Was my energy different than others? Perhaps it was just the fact that I often walked around in a state of awareness and it was that alone that pulled them to me? I didn’t know the answers, but I knew this much, some of the people buried here were beginning to amass. I put up a protective shield and silently let them know I was not open to communication. I was here for the Rowan family. If any of them were present, I’d surely appreciate them stepping forward and making themselves known.
Finally we came upon some old grave markers that bore the name Rowan. How we managed to find them, I don’t know, perhaps they helped. However we did it, I was quite grateful. I stared at the typically shaped tombstones, arched at the top, their engraved lettering faded into near obscurity. I didn’t care about that; I was hoping to make contact with their spirit, not read their grave markers.
“Are you getting anything?” Kade glanced around and as he did so I saw him reach for the pocket of his t-shirt and feel around. I grinned when I caught his eye and he realized what he was doing. He was looking for a cigarette. Old habits are hard to break. Obviously, he was a bit antsy.
“Why don’t you walk around, Kade? Graveyards, especially old ones, are so interesting to explore.”
His blue eyes met mine, looking serious and sexy and it made my heart pound looking into them. “You sure?”
I nodded in response. “It’s probably better I be alone.”
He stepped forward to press a kiss on my forehead then turned to head back up the hill. Something must have caught his eye earlier because he looked like he knew where he was going. Curious, I watched him for a moment then turned away to focus on my own agenda.
“Okay, if any of you Rowans are in the area, I’d like to talk.” I spoke quietly, almost under my breath, and laughed softly at myself. Sometimes it seemed so silly what I did. Until things grew serious. I thought about my time at Sea Willow Haven and quickly pushed the thoughts aside. No, I couldn’t allow what happened there to interfere with what I wanted to happen here. After a moment of calm silence, the graveyard really was in a peaceful state, I asked Sheila to give me a hand. Can you see if any of the Rowans will come talk to me?
While I waited, a movement caught my attention and I turned to see someone disappear down an embankment and through a copse of trees which led, if I wasn’t mistaken, back to the main road. I stood for about one full minute, if that, and headed for the trees. My senses were heightened, on alert, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of all the spirits I was attracting or if it was because of the person whom I wasn’t even sure I’d seen. Was she a ghost?
As I started down the hill and neared the trees, it looked like a mound of some sort was present there. Upon closer inspection, I knew it was the roof of a vaulted tomb. There was something of a path beside it and I made my way carefully down to the even ground below. A woman was sitting on the granite edging that jutted out on each side of the tomb’s main structure. They sloped from the top front corners to the ground. It appeared to be some sort of support. Probably a retaining wall to keep the earth cover from eroding away. Why I was thinking about walls when an older lady, perhaps in her mid-sixties, was sitting a few feet away I don’t know.
She wore a simpl
e white-buttoned blouse and a dark unpleated skirt which I found somewhat odd but then women her age wore whatever they felt like wearing and opinions be damned. Her graying brown hair was pulled back into a loose bun behind her head. Her hands were folded in her lap and she appeared to be lost in thought, unaware of my approach though I know I was loud enough to wake…well, the dead!
I stood for a moment, uncertain if I should bother her and looked around for her car. There wasn't one. She was wearing a pair of black shoes that looked comfortable enough to walk in. So, did she walk here? Was someone buried in the tomb that she knew? Did they still bury people in tombs?
Suddenly she looked up and gave a small smile. I think she was well aware of my uncertainty on approaching her. “Hello.”`
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you…”
The woman waved her hand to dispel my protest. “You are not disturbing me, I assure you. I come here sometimes to think.” She looked around and settled her gaze on the lake located a few feet away and obscured somewhat by a growth of trees. “It’s always so quiet here. Very peaceful.”
“Do you live nearby then?”
She nodded and waved a vague hand. “Just up the road a ways. It’s a good walk but I don’t mind. I enjoy walking and do a lot of it.”
I perched on the edge of the granite support wall on my side of the tomb and fell into silence with her. Since it appeared she had once again lapsed into her thoughts, I took the opportunity to covertly study her. She looked real enough though her skin was somewhat pale. Then again, she probably didn’t stay out much in the sun. I felt no indication that she was a ghost. Even my buzzing excitement from moments ago was gone. Was this what I’ve come to? Not knowing who is dead and who is not? Geez.
Finally the woman roused herself from her deep reverie and looked at me curiously. “You aren’t from here are you?”
“No, I’m just visiting.”
“So what brings you to the cemetery? You have family buried here?”
“No, I’m just…” Well, how to answer? “I like to visit cemeteries.” Did that sound any better than “I’m looking for spirits?” To some degree it did or so I thought. I figured since she asked, I could do the same. “Do you have someone buried here?” I indicated the tomb.
The woman’s eyes widened slightly and I wondered why she was surprised by the question. Blue eyes. Pale like the rest of her, though some color was beginning to show in her cheeks. Of medium build, she was a sturdy woman, not thin, not fat. She looked like someone who stayed busy but who also enjoyed a good meal. Happily, the two things balanced each other out.
“I don’t even know if they use this anymore to tell you the truth.” She gazed at the front of the tomb like the thought never occurred to her that people might be in there. “They don’t keep people in there for long, in any case. Just until they can bury them.”
“Have you lived in Bucksport long?”
The woman considered the question and I had to wonder what she needed to think about. “A fair amount I’d say.”
Which meant she wasn’t of the Bucksport-born-and-raised variety. Bummer. I was sort of hoping fate brought us together because she could offer some useful information on my investigation of Buck’s supposed curse. Well, I’d just throw it out there and see what came of it. “I came to check out that curse made on Buck’s memorial.”
Lips pursed, my new tomb-lady friend (what else was I going to call her?) chewed on my announcement for a moment then gave me a sideways glance that had my heart pounding again. Hard. She was going to do it. She was going to offer me something useful.
“Seems one can make a mountain out of any old molehill. It just depends on perspective.”
Nodding quietly as if I understood the correlation between that profound bit of wisdom and the Buck curse, I urged her on. “That’s quite true.”
“Every rumor exists for a reason. But then that’s true with anything isn’t it? Everything in existence is created for a reason.”
I totally agreed with that statement and enthusiastically nodded my head to let her know it.
“That leg appearing like that…even if it isn’t a cursed image, it has to mean something, right?” Tomb Lady (I really needed to ask for her name) cocked her head to the side and waited for me to challenge her statement.
Since I had no intention of doing that because I wholeheartedly agreed with her, I gave her a wide, approving smile. “Yes, I suppose so.”
The old woman’s pale blue eyes studied me for a few quiet seconds. Finally she smiled back, her eyes gleaming with approval. “There’s a lot that’s happened here. Who knows if our town founder was involved in something that resulted in that leg appearing on his monument or not? The fact is, the image is there and God put it there for a reason.”
“Have you ever heard of that cemetery being haunted?” I don’t know what made me ask the question, especially as I hadn’t bothered to ask anyone else but it popped into my head and now it was out there waiting for an answer.
Tomb Lady started laughing. Just a low one, more an amused chuckle, but it went on longer than what I thought was necessary. I didn’t quite get the joke. “Well how I see it, there’s ghosts roaming all over this poor town. It’s seen a fair share of tragedy after all.” She pointed a finger at the tomb. “Wouldn’t be surprised if this old chamber was involved a time or two with some of those tragedies.”
I glanced at its smooth granite front covered in moss and lichen and wondered. There were no markings on the tomb that I could see. The door was barred shut. Its construction was simple. Surely it had been here awhile? It looked like it had. Was this my message? Was I supposed to focus on the spirits of those who had come through here on their way to their final resting place? Not wanting to intrude any longer on her quiet time, I stood and motioned toward the cemetery. “I probably should go and not bother you any longer.”
Tomb Lady glanced at me for a long considering moment. “That you most certainly are not doing. I don’t get much chance to talk to people these days. Everyone’s too busy with their lives.” She glanced off into space as if her thoughts had just drifted into unpleasant territory and she wasn’t sure how to find her way back again. “Sometimes people want to know all your business and other times, they look the other way because they couldn’t care less.”
She looked so sad sitting there that I wanted to give her a hug but offered her a sympathetic smile instead. “It’s been that way since the beginning of time I think.”
Tomb Lady laughed softly, the sound a shade raspy. A smoker? “You are right about that. Yes indeed.” She stood up slowly as if her joints had frozen in place and she had to urge them into action. “I suppose I better start the trek home.” She waved a hand. “Nice to meet you, yes indeed. Enjoy your stay here in Bucksport. It’s a pretty decent town for the most part.” She took a step and paused. “If it’s ghosts you are looking for, I’d say you wouldn’t have to go far. Poor souls are everywhere.”
“You speaking from experience?” I wanted her to stay a bit more, see if I could get any more useful information out of her but she seemed determined to be on her way.
“Well, I ‘spose I’ve encountered one a time or two over the years.” She turned from me before I could respond, effectively shutting off further conversation, and shuffled off toward the road a few feet away. Once she reached it, she turned left toward town.
“You want me to give you a lift home?” I didn’t feel right to not at least give the offer but she waved a hand up in the air to let me know she appreciated the thought but no thanks. She didn’t even turn around to look at me as she did so. I watched her for a few moments. She looked like a woman with purpose, striding with confidence despite the struggle to rise from her seat. She said she walked a lot; one could see her and easily figure that out.
“What are you doing down here, Tess? I’ve been everywhere looking for you.”
Surprised that Kade had come down the rough path without my hearing him, I
swung around to look at him. “Sorry. I saw that woman come down here and had to investigate.”
Kade glanced around. “What woman?”
I waved toward the road. “Don’t know her name. We’ve been chatting for a bit and…” I turned to point to her and she was nowhere in sight. No way! I ran to the road for a clear view. Nothing. There were no houses nearby so she couldn’t have possibly left the road. Even if she’d stepped off the road for a shortcut home, I should still be able to see her. A shiver raced through me as the implications set in. A ghost? Really? But, she seemed so real. And though I knew this shouldn’t have surprised me, it did. Why couldn’t I tell when I was speaking to a dead person?
“Don’t tell me…she was a ghost?” Kade grinned at my incredulous expression. “It’s not like it hasn’t happened before.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how I’d feel if I were you. I can’t imagine speaking to someone who is dead and not even know it.”
Well this was interesting. Her appearance had to mean something. I began to think about our conversation, wishing now that I had written it down. Which was silly because of course I wouldn’t have done anything like that.
Kade glanced at his watch. “We need to get going. You said you wanted to work on your story for a while and I need to finish up my sketch for Barbara’s painting. We’ve a few hours before Mary and Dawn stop by for the beads and I’m getting hungry.”
I took his hand and headed for the path back up to the cemetery. “Well, let’s go find something to eat then. I’m hungry too.” I could almost feel the Tomb Lady’s gaze follow us back up the hill.
As our car pulled onto the road a few moments later, I glanced to my right and found myself looking for her. She was nowhere in sight. But she was here…somewhere. Who was she and why in the heck hadn’t I asked her?
Hidden Voices (Tess Schafer-Medium) Page 27