Jessie finished her hot chocolate and looked expectedly at Nanna. ‘They’re just up there in the loft, Jessie,’ Nanna said as she pointed to a square hole in the ceiling. ‘I pulled the albums out of the chest and left them just on the edge. How about I just pass them down to you?’
Nanna brought a ladder in from outside, opened it up and placed it directly underneath the square hole. As she did, Jessie peered up into the darkness, wondering how Nanna had managed to get up there at all.
‘It’s only a small loft, really just for storage,’ Nanna said as she put her foot on the first rung.
‘It’s okay Nanna, I’ll go,’ Jessie said.
Nanna hesitated but Jessie thought she actually looked relieved. ‘Well, they’re very heavy Jessie. Just pass them down to me one at a time. And do be careful sweetie, this ladder is very steep.’
‘Sure Nanna.’
‘And take this torch. We don’t want you putting your hands anywhere you shouldn’t.’
Nanna held on to the ladder as Jessie started up, slowly taking one rung at a time. Nanna was right, it was very steep and by the time Jessie’s head was sticking up through the hole in the ceiling her knees were quivering from the climb.
She reached in with her arms and placed her elbows on the floor of the loft. Then she turned on the torch. As Nanna had said, the albums were right there, and just as well, Jessie thought. Even though the floor was clean, hundreds of patterned spider webs covered the timber beams inside the roof.
Jessie handed each of the six photograph albums down to Nanna.
‘Can you pull the hatch cover over while you’re up there love? Hopefully we won’t need to go up again.’
Jessie passed down the torch and stepped back down a couple of rungs, pulling the hatch closed behind her. Backing down to the floor she saw that Nanna had already loaded up the kitchen table with the albums and was opening the first.
A fine grey mist rose from the pages and Nanna started to cough.
‘They’re a bit dusty, Jessie,’ she croaked and then cleared her throat. ‘After all, they’ve been up there a very long time. Here,’ Nanna said, as she grabbed a tea towel, ‘why don’t you wipe them over as you go.’
Each photograph had a caption below it with the names of the people in the photo and the date it had been taken. Jessie studied the faces of pop and his brother Harold and saw how closely they resembled the portrait in the hallway.
‘They’re just like in the portrait, Nanna.’
‘Yes, it’s amazing isn’t it,’ she said as she picked up her knitting. ‘I really admire artists that can paint such likenesses.’
Amongst the albums were photos of Nanna as a young girl, Nanna engaged to pop, and then pictures of their wedding. But after a while Jessie started to lose interest and was ready to do something different. She closed the last album as Nanna put down her knitting and said, ‘Now I have a surprise for you, Jessie.’
‘Really?’ Jessie said without any real enthusiasm. What surprise could Nanna possibly have for her – all the way out here?
‘I have a new neighbour. Her name is Fleur and she only moved in a few weeks ago. She’s your mum’s age and we’ve had coffee a couple of times. When I told her you were coming to stay she invited us both over for afternoon tea. Won’t that be nice?’
Jessie rolled her eyes, away from Nanna.
‘Yep,’ she said, wishing the surprise had been something else, anything else in fact.’
‘But there’s something else, Jessie. Fleur has a daughter and she’s about your age.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. Her name is Harmony and she lives with Fleur some of the time and with her dad at other times. But Harmony is here this week and we thought perhaps you two might like to spend some time together.’
‘Yeah, I guess.’ Great! Someone to talk to.
‘Fleur is an artist, Jessie. She moved here from the city – she says it helps her creativity to be away from all of that.’
‘What sort of artist?’ Jessie asked.
‘She paints … well, interesting things really. Very bright colours; I’m sure you’ll enjoy seeing them.’
Fleur was seated in front of an easel in her front garden when Jessie and Nanna arrived. She wore a white coat, like a doctor’s uniform, only it was covered in splotches of different coloured paints. And underneath Jessie could see a long purple dress which flowed out all around her. Fleur had really long blonde hair that fell all the way to her hips. Maybe all artists look like this, Jessie thought. After all, she’d never met one before.
‘Fleur, this is my granddaughter Jessie.’ There was a deafening squeal as Nanna fiddled quickly with her right ear.
‘It’s lovely to meet you Jessie,’ Fleur said, smiling as she ignored the noise from Nanna’s hearing aid. ‘I’m afraid my daughter Harmony is glued to her computer, but I’m sure she’ll be out soon.’
‘You have a computer?’
‘Yes. Would you like to see it?’
‘That’d be great.’
Fleur put down her paints, wiped her hands on a towel and led Jessie and Nanna through the house. As she walked, her purple dress flicked from side to side and her long blonde hair swung across her back like a pendulum.
Jessie made a quick study of the paintings that seemed to cover every wall. They were interesting, and the colours were amazing – splashes of bright blues, and greens, and yellows and pinks. But she couldn’t really decide what they were all about.
Harmony was sitting at the computer with her back to the door.
‘You stupid, stupid machine!’ she said, ‘Why can’t you just do what I ask?’
‘Harmony?’ Fleur interrupted, ‘This is Jessie.’
Harmony turned around slowly, a frown on her face. Jessie thought she looked maybe a year or so older than herself. Harmony’s hair was black, short and in a bob. She wore a black shirt over jeans and she had dark makeup around her eyes. Jessie saw her nails were also painted black.
‘Hello,’ she said.
CHAPTER 4
‘Hi,’ said Jessie.
‘Harmony, Jessie would like to have a look at your computer. How about you two get to know each other while Nanna and I make some tea.’
‘All right,’ said Harmony, looking back to the computer as Jessie looked around for a chair.
‘There’s one here,’ Harmony said as she struggled to lift a pile of hard covered art books off a green velvet arm chair. Jessie helped Harmony put them on the floor and then sat down.
‘Computers can be a pain, can’t they?’ Jessie said as she made herself comfortable.
‘Always. Do you know anything about them?’
Jessie thought back to all the lessons she had had at school, ‘A little,’ she said.
‘I’m sending an email to my friend Kurt and I can’t attach the photos I want to send him. Do you know how to do that?’
‘Sure. Which folder are the photos in?’
Harmony searched around in ‘My Computer’ and then double-clicked on a folder. ‘It’s these ones –just three of them.’
Jessie saw they were photos of Harmony with a boy, presumably Kurt, sliding down a long slippery slide with water spraying all over them. Harmony had her mouth open and looked like she was screaming. Kurt appeared to be laughing.
‘Is Kurt your boyfriend?’ Jessie asked as she took the mouse from Harmony and went back to the email.
‘No,’ Harmony said, ‘He’s just a friend – my dad and his mum go out sometimes.
‘Oh. Well it looks like fun, anyway. Where is it?’
‘At Waterworld. My dad took us three weeks ago.’
Jessie attached each of the three photos to Harmony’s email and within minutes it was on its way.
‘Thanks,’ Harmony said. ‘Mum knows zilch about technology and my dad’s always working, so basically I’ve had to teach myself.’
‘We have computers at school so our teacher taught us the basics, you know, like how to open and save a Wo
rd document, how to surf the Internet, those sorts of thing.’
Harmony looked at Jessie and said, ‘How old are you?’
‘I’m eleven.’
‘Mmm.’
‘How old are you?’
‘Thirteen.’
Jessie shrugged.
‘Do you think you could teach me?’
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Everything about computers.’
‘Everything?’
‘Well, you know, the basics, like you just said.’
‘Sure. Do you paint too, like your mum?’
‘No. I’m not into art. I like doing exciting stuff, not sitting in front of an easel all day. How about you?’
‘Well, I used to play lots of netball, but since the accident …’ Jessie’s eyes started to mist up.
‘I heard about your parents. Must be hard.’
‘Yeah,’ she said, sniffing, ‘It is.’
Harmony nodded. ‘I thought the end of the world had come when my mum and dad split up. I wanted to live with my dad but they said I had to live sometimes with mum and sometimes with dad. I guess it’s working out okay. Except for when I have to come here.’
Jessie could feel tears rushing to her eyes. She pulled out a handkerchief; she always kept a handkerchief with her these days, just in case. She wiped her eyes and then blew her nose.
‘Do you mind if we talk about something else?’ she said, her voice all choked up.
‘Sure. So you live with your sister?’
‘Yeah, her name’s Sarah, and she’s …’
‘I always wanted a sister,’ Harmony interrupted. ‘Even a brother would have been okay. But I guess being an only child has its advantages. I get my own bedroom at home with dad and then here with mum too.’
Jessie turned away and rolled her eyes. Couldn’t Harmony talk about anything other than herself?
‘You girls ready for tea and cake?’ Fleur called.
‘We’re coming,’ Harmony called back.
Thank goodness, Jessie thought as she followed Harmony out to the kitchen.
‘Are you okay, Jessie?’ Nanna asked as they crossed Fleur’s property on their way home.
‘I just got a bit upset. Harmony was talking about … well, just stuff.’
‘What stuff?’
‘Well, she talks about herself all the time, like she’s got the worst possible life.’
‘And she doesn’t really know what that’s like, does she?’
Jessie stopped and looked up as Nanna folded her arms around her and hugged her.
‘Maybe you just have to be a bit more … assertive,’ Nanna said.
‘What does that mean?’
‘Well, just because she’s older doesn’t mean she should have all the say. Next time you should start the conversation and talk about something else.’
‘I don’t know if I want a next time.’
Nanna hugged her again and smiled.
‘Oh, Jessie. You’re been through so much more than anyone your age should have to go through. But you can’t let other people ruin your day. You have to learn to stand up to them.’
‘I suppose.’
‘Isn’t there something else you can talk to her about?’
Jessie dabbed at her eyes with her wet handkerchief. ‘Well, we did do some stuff on the computer. I taught Harmony how to attach photos to an email. And she asked me to teach her about computers.’
‘Well, there you are. That must have boosted your confidence, didn’t it?’
‘I suppose,’ Jessie said as they continued home.
‘And what did you think about Fleur’s paintings?’
‘They’re pretty, and really bright. But I don’t really understand what they’re about.’
Nanna laughed. ‘Me neither.’
That night Jessie lay awake in bed for ages, thinking about Harmony and how their situations were so different; and how she was so different to her mum.
Fleur was cheerful, even her clothes and her paintings were bright. Harmony was just plain drab, like her clothes; she felt sorry for herself and she hadn’t even lost her parents, they were just living in different places.
I guess I’ll go see her again, Jessie thought, but I’ll just talk about something else, like Nanna said. And Fleur’s paintings are really unusual, I’d like to see them again. I wish I could paint and then maybe I would understand what they all mean.
Slowly Jessie drifted off to sleep. But then she was awake again.
The voice. The same lady she had heard talking last night. Nanna must be talking in her sleep again, she thought as she slid out of bed and stepped into her slippers.
When she reached the door she just stood, listening. What was the point of crossing the hall in the cold if she didn’t have to? She couldn’t really make out what the voice was saying, but it was definitely a lady. Maybe Nanna’s having a bad dream, maybe I should wake her.
But as she was about to pull the door open, the voice stopped.
And then a man spoke.
Jessie pulled back suddenly from the door and almost fell over in her rush to get back into to bed.
A man’s voice! How could there be a man’s voice out there? In the hall!
Terrified, she struggled with the doona and pushed herself down deep inside it, pulling it up over her head. After a minute or so, she realised the voice had stopped.
Don’t panic, she told herself. Nanna is probably right. It’s just coming from the road, or maybe it’s her neighbours. But was it worth mentioning to Nanna again? No, Jessie decided, I’m just being silly. I just need to forget about it.
CHAPTER 5
When Nanna walked Jessie over to Fleur’s house the next morning Harmony was waiting outside. Today Jessie noticed she was wearing a different black shirt over jeans, a real contrast to the colourful flowers in Fleur’s garden.
‘Can you find your way back, Jessie?’ Nanna asked.
‘Sure, Nanna. I’ll be fine.’
‘Is your mum around, Harmony?’
‘She just drove into town for groceries. She said she’d be back in an hour.’
Nanna waved goodbye to the girls. This time as they made their way down the hall Jessie stopped to study two or three of Fleur’s paintings and thought they might be bunches of flowers, like in the garden outside, or maybe they were flowers in vases.
‘I wish Nanna had a car,’ Jessie said.
‘If she doesn’t drive how does she get groceries? Harmony asked.
‘She gets them delivered every week. She used to drive but she says she can’t be bothered anymore.’
Harmony shrugged. ‘I guess that’s what happens when you get old.’
Jessie changed the subject. ‘So you never painted?’ she asked.
Harmony shrugged. ‘Nope. We always had paintings everywhere when we lived in the city so I suppose I just got sick of them. And besides, I’d rather be going out somewhere. It’s so boring here, there’s nothing to do.’
Oh no, thought Jessie. I have to change the subject again. ‘Is it okay if I get something to drink?’
‘I’ll go get it. You turn on the computer and I’ll be right back.’
‘Is it okay if I check my emails?’
‘Sure.’
Jessie logged into her Hotmail account and started to read an email from her best friend Katie who was at their holiday house on the coast. Katie’s family had invited Jessie to go with them but Sarah had explained that Jessie needed to spend the week with her grandmother. Katie said she would email Jessie while she was away, even if she couldn’t read them. She could always catch up later.
And even though it was way too cold for the beach Katie said she was having a great time. Already they had visited an aquarium and a small zoo. Katie said she wished Jessie was there with them. Jessie wished so too.
She replied that she was using a computer that belonged to Nanna’s neighbour Fleur. Fleur was really nice and painted bright paintings. And Fleur’s daughter Harmo
ny was just two years older. She told Katie she was teaching Harmony how to use the computer. But none of what she typed in the email sounded anywhere near as good as what Katie was doing.
‘We only had grape juice left,’ Harmony said as she pulled up a chair beside Jessie. ‘That’s why mum needed to go shopping. And she wanted to call in at the gallery in town, there’s some sort of exhibition on soon and mum’s gonna be showing some paintings.’
‘Wow, that’s great,’ Jessie said, ‘I don’t know much about art, but your mum must be really good.’
She shrugged, ‘I guess.’
Jessie was determined to keep Harmony’s mind off herself so she showed her how to insert pictures into a Word document and print them out, and then helped her create her own signature block in email.
After a while Fleur popped her head around the corner and asked if they were having a good time.
‘Jessie knows heaps about computers,’ Harmony said.
Jessie felt her face become heated but was pleased by the compliment.
‘That’s great. And maybe once you learn a bit more, Harmony, you can teach me.’
Harmony turned to face Jessie and rolled her eyes. ‘As if,’ she mouthed.
‘Well, how about taking a break now, Harmony and helping me put the groceries away. Then we’ll make some sandwiches.’
As Harmony reluctantly left the room Jessie thought how lucky Harmony was to have Fleur. It’s just that she didn’t seem to realise that.
At first Jessie thought she was dreaming, like Nanna had suggested. She couldn’t believe the voice had woken her yet again.
It had been late when she had finally fallen asleep. Eager for Cairo Jim to solve his archaeological mystery, Jessie had snuggled up in bed with her book until she had finished it. Now she sighed and stepped down onto the pink rug. Her door was half open; in her tiredness she had forgotten to close it.
Forgetting her slippers, Jessie tiptoed across the cold timber floor and slipped out through the open door, into the hall. A light was on. Nanna must have been tired too and forgotten to turn it off, she thought, as she stepped out into the hall. And stopped.
Jessie's Ghosts Page 2