Ghost of a Shadow

by Andrea Engel

  “Aaachhhooo…zzzzzttt…hahahahaha.”

  Sadie jumped as a zap of electricity shocked her shin. “Ouch! What was that?” She ran into a group of knee-high, bright-eyed, furry pink people. They were as wide as they were high.

  “Aaachhhooo…zzzzzttt…hahahahaha.”

  “Ouch! Stop it. That really hurts.” A dozen more little electric shocks pricked her skin. It reminded her of how she felt when her mother talked to her nonstop.

  “I told you to stop! Do you mind?”

  “Yes, actually. We do. We Freanweas had to sit and listen to you whine to Penelope. The least you could do is say, ‘Zap choo you.’”

  “Zap what now?” Sadie asked in complete confusion.

  “It’s the proper thing to do when one zapchoos.” The tallest one reached out and touched her again.

  “Aaachhhooo…zzzzzttt…hahahahaha.”

  One Freanwea turned to another and chortled, “Zap choo you.”

  “Why zank you very much. Hahahahaha.”

  Sadie didn’t know what to make of this bunch. Honestly, they were really getting on her nerves.

  She couldn’t get Penelope’s sudden departure off her mind. Did I whine? I don’t think so. I only told her about my day. I deserve my time to vent as much as anyone.

  “Aaachhhooo…zzzzzttt…hahahahaha.”

  “Cut that out!”

  “We can’t help it,” one of them confessed. “Sure, we love to zapchoo, but we don’t do it on purpose. Take a deep breath and relax when you hear it coming, and it won’t hurt so much. That’s what the others tell us they do. They tell us they smile, breathe deeply, and the pain’s gone in a flash.”

  “The air makes our noses feel tickly funny,” said another Freanwea.

  “My nose is just fine,” Sadie insisted. Totally exhausted, she took a seat on the ground. “Aaachhhooo…aaachooo…aaaachooooooooo…”

  “Achoo you,” a Freanwea told her.

  “Uh, thank you?” Sadie stood up and realized the air felt different. “Your air is unusual down there,” she told them.

  “Aaachhhooo,” belted out a younger Freanwea.

  Sadie, now understanding, took a deep breath and smiled.

  “Zzzzzttt…hahahahaha.”

  “Zap choo you,” Sadie said to the smaller Freanwea. Despite the zap, they were right. It wasn’t as bad as before.

  “Why, zank you very much.”

  “Hmmm, let’s see if I can figure this out.” Sadie walked away from them for a minute to avoid any further shocks and took a good look around. She heard a faint clinking sound, like when she was younger and she and her family were at the beach. She would put some dry sand and pebbles in a can and shake it all around. It would go, Tink, tink, tink.

  On her search she found a small field of plants. They each had a cylinder at the top with small holes. Whenever the breeze blew, the plant leaned over, and Sadie could see something shake out.

  She put her hand out to catch some of the dust. Holding it to her nose, she smelled it. “Aaachooooo.” Pepper. They were pepper plants. That makes sense.

  “Okay, guys,” she called to the Freanweas. “You need to avoid these plants.”

  “Oh, the pepper plants?” they asked.

  “Yes. You know what they are?”

  “Of course we do. What else would they be? They’re our delicate pepper plants.”

  Oh, boy. “Okay, well if you want to stop zapchooing, just move a little to the right.”

  All at once, the group twirled to the right until they were out of the direct line of the pepper wind. Immediately they stopped zapchooing.

  “Thank you, Sadie,” they replied in unison. “Thank you for helping us. It was a bit much at times. Not all the time, though.” With that, one of the Freanweas jumped to the left and zapchooed Sadie unexpectedly. They all started giggling again.

  She hadn’t had time to try her “smile and breathe” trick. “Ow,” Sadie gasped, but with a giggle in her voice now too.

  Still rubbing her zapped leg, half sore, half smiling, Sadie found herself standing in front of Banyan. “How did that happen? Abrupt much?” Sadie placed her palm on her friend’s trunk.

  After a few moments together, she stepped out from beneath his branches to look at the sky and double-check. Clouds. “Okay, I’m back. I guess it’s time to head home. See you tomorrow, Banyan.”

  As soon as she got home, Sadie glanced at the clock while her mother started talking.

  Ugh, here she goes again. What time is it? Seriously? I was gone only thirty minutes? I spent a whole day in Mystashan—well, five or six hours at least. It feels longer listening to five minutes of Mom.

  “So today I had to go to the grocery store. I must have been there for two hours. I had to make sure I picked up all the snacks you like. Then I had to go to the post office to pick up a package your Aunt Sue sent you and then to the dry cleaner to have them hem that skirt that’s too long on you. Next I did the laundry. You put a red shirt in with the whites, but I didn’t notice until it was too late. It turned all of your dad’s underwear pink. I just knew he was going to be upset. I tried to get it out, but I couldn’t, so then I went to the mall and bought him some new ones. Then I came home and had to wash them…”

  On and on. Sadie felt her temperature rising, and the fire prickles came as a shock to her system. Hmmm, like a shock to my…oh.

  Smile and breathe. Smile and breathe. It started to work. She began to relax. She heard more of what her mom actually said. She was able to listen a bit longer without getting upset.

  Dink. Sadie felt the weight of a stone and sneaked it out of her pocket. Glancing down, she saw that it read, TOLERANCE. Smile and breathe. Words her mother had recently uttered were coming back to her: Snacks you like. Picked up Aunt Sue’s package for you. Your skirt to the dry cleaner. Wow, Mom did all that for me today? Smile and breathe.

  “Thanks for doing all that stuff for me today, Mom.”

  Her mother took a step back. “What? Oh. You’re welcome, Sadie. Your sweet words made my day.” She smiled.

  Dink. Was it another stone? She took it out. A grin spread to the far reaches of her face. I missed you, she thought. APPRECIATION was back.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Finn Zeroes In

  Though the bags they’d bought were in the truck bed, Finn fancied he could smell oranges in the air-conditioned cab. He didn’t know how Basset could tolerate the disgusting odor.

  As if on cue:

  “Don’t they smell wonderful, Mr. Finn? From what I read in one of those tourist brochures, Florida oranges are considered some of the best in the world.” Basset’s expression of enthusiasm, in full flower, was soon quashed.

  “Smells like rotting plant material,” Finn scoffed. “I wish you wouldn’t purchase them ever again.”

  Basset was usually quick to agree, but he sat quietly this time, head hanging low on his chest.

  “What? Did I say something to offend you? Speak up, pup. There’s no need for pouting.”

  “Yes, Mr. Finn.”

  “Yes, you understand, or yes, there’s no need for rancor?”

  “Whatever you choose, Mr. Finn.”

  “Speak up! Let me see that backbone of yours, Basset. I want to know it’s there. Turn around and point to it!”

  “Yes, Mr. Finn,” and Basset rearranged himself in his seat.

  “Seriously? You’re as dumb as you look, Basset. Sheesh!”

  “Please, Mr. Finn. I don’t want to argue.”

  “Then do as I say. Stop buying those stinking oranges! Now step number one,” Finn continued, “is to find a good base camp as soon as possible so we can unpack and get settled. I have good intel that our new residence is around here somewhere.”

  Basset’s eyes widened. “Intel? From who, Mr. Finn? Someone in the store?”

  “It happened back in the cabin, but never mind that now. Don’t be nosy.”

  After another hour of driving around in circles, Finn was nearly out of his
mind with frustration—this was meant to be easy. But he was Finn after all; patience had its limits. He took it out on the steering wheel as they continued going around corners in this monotonous neighborhood. He was about to include Basset in the “conversation,” when a sharp pain stabbed his left eye and hijacked all his brain’s senses.

  Two young girls appeared in the distance. As his brain came back online, he grew increasingly aware of the coincidence. His pain arrived with the appearance of the girls and grew as they came closer. Pangs of recognition dawned on him. It was the blonde in the pigtails. His signal surged.

  “There she is. I knew I’d find her.” As the girls passed by, wrapped up in their own world, his temperature rose, and the tightening in his jaw was almost too much to bear. Almost…

  Finn pulled the truck over to park. His pain subsided. As subtly as possible, he got out, using the stealth that came so naturally to him. He didn’t want them to take notice. Not yet. They appeared so involved in what they were talking about that there was no need for him to worry.

  He hid behind a huge maple and watched them. Snippets of their conversation drifted his way. The pain in his eye returned as they drew closer. He closed his eyes to steel himself against the throbbing. When he opened them, the blonde stared at him.

  Don’t you know it’s rude to stare? he thought.

  He leaned back, pressing himself against the tree and out of sight.

  “What, Sadie? What is it?” the dark-haired girl asked.

  “I don’t know,” the blonde one said. “I thought I saw something.”

  “Well, the only thing I see is an empty collection box. Let’s start making some cash.”

  Finn peeked out again after the girls resumed their conversation. They walked toward an old two-story, beige-and-purple “fancy house.” What a waste of space, he thought.

  He waited until he could no longer hear their voices, then returned to the truck.

  “All right, Basset. Good news. We’ve found the key. We need to watch her. See where she goes and what she does. We’ll find her next time more easily now that I have this signal leading me toward her. That should cheer you up, pup.” He threw his head back and laughed giddily, a rare thing for him. “Oh, I never get tired of saying that.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Eye Kaleido Spied

  Sadie walked from school to the corner by the footpath that led back to the creek. Even before she crossed the street, she had a clear view of their meeting place. Sam was already there, sitting on the curb. He stood up and waved with gusto, and she returned the greeting.

  “Hi, Sam.” Sadie put her hand in his. He was so kind and open, yet she couldn’t even tell him her real name. “So what do you want to do? Walk along the creek, maybe?”

  “Or…” He leaned down so she had no choice but to look at his face. “You could take me to your house. Introduce me to your parents, let me see your room.”

  For an instant, Sadie considered it. Maybe it would be better to get it over with now. She thought of her mom, as well as Dave and the others, and felt the guilt creep up from her gut into her face. Two more days, and the dance will be over and done with. And then I’ll come clean; I’ll explain everything. He’ll understand. She forced a smile. I hope he’ll understand.

  “Hey, you okay? It was just a suggestion. We don’t have to go to your house. We can go anywhere you want.” His smile brought a bit of relief to Sadie’s churning stomach.

  “It’s a mess there now. We’re cleaning up from the destructo phase of the remodel, and that’s the worst. It’s so dusty, but it should be over in a few days. If you just give me until after the dance that would be better. Things should calm down by then.”

  Sam opened his mouth to say something but obviously thought better of it. “Okay, Annie, that’s fair, but I eventually would like to meet your parents and see where you live… Oh, wait! I know what we can do. There’s something I’ve wanted to share with you since we met.”

  “Oh, yeah? What’s that, Mr. Perez?”

  “Ooh, being formal, Ms. Cooper? You’ll see soon enough.” He gently pulled her forward, leading her down the well-worn footpath toward the creek before veering left and over a small embankment.

  “Can you give me a clue?” Sadie asked. “Are we heading toward it now?”

  “So many questions. So little patience.” Sam smirked.

  She saw the familiar twinkle of light that shone from his deep-brown eyes. She couldn’t help but get lost in their depth and knew she was falling hard for him. She never would have thought it possible, but the truth of it opened her heart more every time she saw him. Even though this made her happy, it also scared her. She’d felt the same way about Christopher during their time together, and what did he do? Despite all his promises of their shared future, he had left her.

  But he’s not Christopher, she reminded herself. He’s Sam. Even more perfect. Stop it. You’re not helping yourself at all.

  As they walked together, Sadie stuffed down her guilt and basked in the wonderful comfort that was Sam. He held her hand as they walked through the woods, stepping over roots and stones along the way, and lent his support as they forded their favorite creek.

  They walked up to one of the tall oaks on the far side. “We’re here, Annie.”

  “Here? Where’s here?” She looked around but only saw the woods that were now familiar to both of them.

  Sam pulled something out his pocket, and she recognized it as a pocketknife with all the attachments. He squeezed her hand briefly then walked over to one of the ancient oaks flanking the creek. He pulled out the short blade and began to carve.

  Wait, is he really doing what I think he’s doing? I always wanted Christopher to do this for me, but it never happened. Is it finally going to happen? Sadie’s excitement continued until she remembered. Ugh, he thinks my name is Annie. Crap.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I want this to be our tree, our place. I want to mark this moment in time with our names.”

  Maybe YOUR name…crap again.

  All Sadie could do was smile and nod. In the end, it didn’t really matter that it wasn’t her name. He was doing this for her, with her.

  As Sam started to carve the A into the tree, she thought she heard something—maybe a groan. Huh? She listened harder but heard nothing. He continued with the C. There it is again. It sounded like the wind moaning but with a lower tone and no breeze.

  “Hey, Sam, do you hear that?”

  “Hear what?”

  Sadie closed her eyes and listened. “Never mind. I guess it’s nothing.”

  Finished with her initials, he started carving his. First an S and then the P in the bark of the old tree. For the finishing touch, he made a huge heart around them.

  He reached out for Sadie’s hand, and they took a step back to admire his work.

  That’s when she felt it, an ache in her chest like she’d never felt before. It was similar to the pain she’d felt when she lost Gramma. A sadness that was beyond words. She felt awful…and afraid. She looked at the tree, and hundreds of eyes appeared, staring back at her. Glaring. Accusing.

  What have you done to me? the tree shouted in her head.

  She couldn’t move. She felt those eyes burning into her. Oh, no, what have we done?

  The seconds ticked by in silence. “Annie? Don’t you like it?”

  Sadie struggled to take a deep breath. She could see the hurt in Sam’s face. “It’s lovely,” she remarked. “I love it. I do. It’s just…I’m not feeling well all of a sudden. I need to go home. I should rest, especially with the dance coming up.”

  “Let me walk you there.”

  She looked up at his face and saw his concern. “No, please, Sam…I appreciate it, but I’ll be okay. I just need to lie down, I think.”

  “I don’t like you going by yourself if you don’t feel well. At least let me walk you to the corner.”

  Sadie nodded.

  When they reached the corner, Sam wrapped his
arms around her and hugged her tightly. “Be careful, okay?”

  “I will. I promise.” She pulled away and turned toward home. Looking back over her shoulder, she offered him a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sam.”

  He waved, and she quickened her pace.

  All Sadie wanted to do was get her music box and see Banyan. She was so worried: What would he think of her after the tree carving? What did the tree feel? How badly was it hurt? When she’d walked a couple of blocks, she looked back and saw that Sam hadn’t moved. She felt awful in every way.

  Once Sam was out of sight, Sadie ran the rest of the way home, picked up her music box and played the song that would take her to Mystashan. After telling Banyan she would talk to him on the other side, that is.

  When Sadie arrived in Mystashan, the sky was blue, as was the straime, but it was almost as if the sun had disappeared from the sky. As with mountainous areas, perhaps gateways between worlds had their own weather systems too?

  Banyan, standing tall in his timeless manner, closed the gate behind her. She could sense the energy field connecting Earth and Mystashan snap shut. Sadie stood in front of him, looking up into his thick, golden branches even though it brought tears to her eyes.

  “Banyan, please forgive me for not stopping Sam from carving our initials in that tree. I felt it hurting, Banyan, and it was awful. It felt as if it were happening to me too, though I knew my pain wasn’t as bad as the tree’s. I’m so sorry.”

  There’s nothing to forgive, Sadie. From my point of view, neither of you realizes the pain that trees have endured…and continue to endure.

  Sadie hugged him with all her might. She knew it wouldn’t hurt him. “See you soon, Banyan. Thank you for always being there.”

  Every time she went to Mystashan, it was both different and the same. The difference mainly had to do with how much easier it was getting from one side to the other. What was the same was the fact that she never lost her fascination and wonder for the beauty and energy of this place. In many ways, it felt more like home than the one where she ate her meals and slept. The beings here felt more like family than her own…lately anyway.