When The Spirit Moves You

by Thomas DePrima

  Amelia smiled. "Exactly, Roberta. That's the paradox. I knew that you'd understand."

  "But I don't understand. I don't understand any of this. It doesn't make sense."

  "Exactly. That's what a paradox is; a self-contradiction. An assertion that's essentially self-contradictory, although based on a valid deduction from acceptable premises." She added, "I looked up the meaning in the dictionary and I haven't been able to get the definition out of my head since this occurred to me."

  "Amelia, you're saying that we're going back right after the ceremony?" Elizabeth asked.

  "I'm saying that I don't know what will happen. But I want you to be prepared for anything. We may be permitted to spend the rest of our lives here, but we may suddenly be snapped back to our own time when the paradox becomes unavoidable."

  Instead of the animated responses that Amelia was expecting, she was met with serene expressions.

  "Aren't any of you upset over the possibility of being taken back to the future," Amelia asked. "I thought you were all delighted to be staying here."

  "It's not that," Roberta said. "It's a matter of, what could we possibly do to prevent it? If it's going to happen, it'll happen. We've all been going along with this situation because we've had no control over any of it since the spirit killed us and pulled our souls back in time. Now you say that we might just wake up back in the future because none of this would ever happen after Anne gets married. My head is spinning. Answer me this— what if this never happened? If we had never come back, because we never went to the mansion for the séance, then Anne wouldn't have gotten married to Gerald, and the spirit would need us again. It seems that puts us right back here again. It's like an endless loop of Anne dying, the spirit bringing us here, Anne living, the spirit not bringing us here; and over and over again."

  "My head is aching," Elizabeth said. "What I wouldn't give for a Tylenol right now. Does anyone know when they were invented?"

  "I don't want to go back to the future," Martha said tearfully. "Not now that I have Tad."

  "None of us want to return, dear," Roberta said. "I think that Charles is serious about his affection for me, and I know that I'm serious about him. I love my parents of the future, but I've also grown to love my family here. I didn't have any siblings in the future, so I couldn't miss them. But if I left now, I know I'd miss my sister and brother from this time, terribly."

  "I have Donald," Elizabeth said, "and a loving family right here. I vote to stay."

  "There is no vote," Amelia said after sighing. "Perhaps I shouldn't have said anything at all, but I wanted to prepare you for any eventuality."

  "Since whatever happens is far beyond our control," Roberta said, "we'll just have to take what comes."

  Attempting to ignore the topic of paradoxes, a subject she didn't even pretend to understand, Martha made a comment about the graduation dance the following evening, and Elizabeth and Roberta quickly joined the new topic. They'd all had new gowns made for the dance, and couldn't wait to show them off. As Roberta had said, they had no control over it, so they'd just accept whatever Destiny visited upon them. Amelia sighed quietly and dropped the matter of the paradox, although it would continue to weigh heavily on her mind. She herself had mixed emotions about it. She wanted to remain, but she also wanted to get Martha safely back to the future. The debate that she was having with herself, over whether she should tell Martha what the cards had really said, would continue.

  When the boys called for them at Elizabeth's house the following evening, Elizabeth's father spelled out the rules for the evening, and they left for the dance in two carriages, along with Elizabeth's mother who functioned as a chaperone. Amelia was delighted to dance with Jeremy again, dancing every single time that the band played, and since all the boys had brought dates, no singles sought to cut in. The evening ended much too quickly, and the boys had to return the young ladies to Elizabeth's house by the required hour. The graduation ceremony in two days would be the next time that they would all meet. The families of the boys would be there as well, and the girls were all looking forward to seeing Anne and her father again.

  * * *

  The skies were overcast on Saturday, and the temperature was definitely a bit cooler, while the wind carried with it the unmistakable scent of rain. But the moisture never fell over New Haven, and the Yale graduating class of 1883 received their diplomas amid all the pomp and ceremony normally associated with such prestigious events. The boys, so handsome in their caps and gowns, maintained staid expressions as they paraded towards the stage, but the girls knew that they were screaming with delight on the inside. They'd had their pictures taken in their commencement regalia several days before, and each of the girls would receive a picture of their special someone, plus a group picture of Jeremy and the friends that he had invited to the mansion for the engagement party and the wedding.

  Amelia sat with Anne, her father, and Gerald for the ceremony, while the other girls sat with the family of the boy who had invited them. Beverly Burton, Anne's cousin, had come down on Harry Millar's invitation, and sat with the Millar family. After the ceremony was over, the families of each of the boys had an opportunity to meet. Mr. Westfield had reserved a private room in a restaurant for a graduation lunch, and the entire group went to celebrate the occasion. The mood was festive and light-hearted as the end of schoolbooks and teachers' scolding looks were toasted by the graduates. The sadness of leaving close friends behind hadn't yet pervaded the merriment of having completed their four years of study.

  As the celebration attendees began to leave for home following a delicious meal, Anne's father arranged for a carriage to return the girls to Elizabeth's house. Jeremy stood with Amelia, staring into her eyes without speaking, until the rest of the girls were in the carriage. Amelia knew that he wanted to kiss her desperately, and she wanted it just as badly, but she finally turned and climbed into the carriage. Once seated she resumed eye contact with him and held it until the coach pulled away.

  All four girls left for Hartford the following day. Elizabeth would stay with Martha while Roberta stayed with Amelia for the several days before they continued on to the Westfield mansion in New Bedford.

  * * *

  With Anne's wedding less than ten days away, the mansion was once again caught up in the tumultuous activity associated with hosting a major event. At least this time, weather was much less a factor when the girls arrived. The lawns around the house had been carefully manicured, and with the gardens all in bloom, the air was saturated with the delightful fragrances produced during efflorescence.

  Martha and Amelia took the room they had shared previously. No dances were scheduled before the wedding, but just spending the days with Jeremy was enough for Amelia. They took long walks around the grounds during the days, and spent their evenings in either the library or the music room with the others. Amelia several times glimpsed the unmistakable desire in Jeremy's face to grab her and kiss her, but he always behaved like a perfect gentleman. For Amelia's part, she wanted nothing more than to be held in his strong arms, and kissed long and hard. But the strict rules of Victorian propriety dictated her conduct as well.

  Before retiring for the night on the eve of Anne's wedding, the four girls met in Amelia and Martha's bedroom to discuss the events of the following day.

  "The wedding is tomorrow, Amelia," Roberta said after everything else had been discussed. "Have you come up with anything new on that paradox thing?"

  "No, nothing. I guess we'll either be here after the wedding, or we won't."

  "There must be some way we can find out," Elizabeth said. "Maybe we should have another séance? I can't just go and leave Donald without any explanation."

  "If we return," Amelia said, "as the result of a paradox, he'll probably never even know you were here. We'll probably never even know we were here. Time will just sort of— reset itself, I think. We may instantly be back at my house, trying to think of a good place to hold the first séance, but we probably
won't consider the mansion because it won't be haunted by Mr. Westfield's spirit."

  "Have you considered what I suggested in New Haven about us being caught in a loop of time?" Roberta asked.

  "I've thought about it a great deal, but I just don't know the answer. Perhaps we are. But would we even be aware of it? Each time might seem like the first time to us. Without knowledge of previous events, we wouldn't do anything differently."

  "Perhaps we are?" Elizabeth echoed. "You mean that it might have already happened before? We'll just continue to loop; like forever?"

  "I don't know, dear. Nobody knows. As far as I know, no one's ever gone back in time before. Or if they have, they haven't left any statement to that effect, along with proof that they accomplished it. I'm basing everything I say on what we learned in school, or in books, or by watching those scientific documentaries on television. I'm sure that the greatest minds of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have tried to think this through. I know that Albert Einstein has talked, or rather will talk, about the possibilities of time travel. I've coupled everything I've heard with what we've experienced, to develop my personal theories, as limited as they are."

  "What about my suggestion that we have another séance?" Elizabeth asked. "Maybe the spirit of Martha, or Elizabeth, or somebody else's spirit can tell us? It's been months since we last contacted them; they must be recovered from their first contacts with us by now."

  "Who wants to have another séance?" Amelia asked.

  Elizabeth immediately raised her hand, and, when prodded not so gently by Elizabeth's elbow, Roberta held up her hand.

  "You don't want to have another séance, Martha?" Amelia asked her closest friend.

  "They keep using me for their public address system," Martha said resentfully. "If they'd pick on someone else, I'd do it."

  "We don't have a choice as to who gets selected to function as the medium," Amelia said. "The spirits choose who has the most compatible body for their purpose."

  "Come on, Martha," Elizabeth urged, "We'll tell you everything they say if they use you again. And I volunteer to be used this time, if we have a choice."

  "Oh, okay," Martha said reluctantly, raising her hand.

  "Very well, let's get ready. Elizabeth, would you please get the candles from your bedroom. Roberta, would you please get something from the kitchen. Martha and I will arrange the furniture in here and we'll need three chairs. Neither of the two rooms across the hall has been occupied yet so we can borrow the desk chairs from those rooms."

  Ten minutes before midnight the girls were seated at the table, waiting for the large clock in the downstairs foyer to signal the hour. It normally couldn't be heard from this distance during the day, but in the quiet stillness of the night, the loud chime could be faintly heard throughout much of the house as it announced the hour. When the clock began to sound, the four girls placed their hands on the table and prepared themselves mentally for the contact.

  "We're trying to contact the recently departed spirits of Amelia Turner, Martha Fuller, Roberta Johnson, or Elizabeth Reese," Amelia said loudly. "Can any respond?"

  From past experience they knew that it might take time for the spirits to answer, so they just sat quietly and waited without further summons. The terror that they had felt at their first contact had lessened with each successive exchange, and each girl was perfectly calm this evening.

  After ten minutes, Martha said, "I am here, Arlene Watson. It is I, Amelia Olivia Turner."

  "Welcome, Amelia. It's a pleasure to speak with you."

  "You have each blended well with our families," the spirit said. "They have not suspected the tragedy that befell us. The love they felt for us, has continued, and been extended to each of you. We are most grateful."

  "We love them as if they were our own. Each of us has experienced real joy as we've taken your places. Can you tell us if we'll continue to remain here?"

  "All will be as it should."

  "But will we continue to live in this time? Should we make plans to continue our lives with the young men for whom each of us have developed special feelings?"

  "You should make plans to continue here. That is why we've assisted your relationships."

  "Wait a minute. You've assisted our relationships?"

  "You were told that we would help you adjust in any way we could."

  "And just how have you assisted our relationships?" Roberta asked.

  "By keeping thoughts of you ever present in their minds."

  "You made them fall in love with us?" Amelia asked, shocked that the spirits would become involved like that.

  "We could not do that— nor would we if we could. We simply refreshed the mental image of each of you with the young man of your selection. Whether the image was positive or negative depended upon you, and the passions you've kindled in the young man in question. By thinking of you more frequently, each young man has devoted more time to deciding for himself if he desires a future with you."

  "Then we're not going back to our own time because of a time paradox?" Elizabeth asked.

  "What will be, will be."

  "That is not an answer," Amelia said.

  "It's all the answer I can offer. Seek your answers in the cards, Arlene Watson. The spirit who guides you there is very old and very wise. I must go now. I'm becoming fatigued."

  "Wait, the answers I've gotten from the cards have all been completely accurate?"

  After fifteen seconds without an answer, Amelia said, "Amelia, can you hear me?"

  "Are you telling me that they did it again?" Martha demanded. When Amelia nodded, she added, "Now I'm really getting angry. Why do they keep picking on me?"

  "Just as the spirit of Martha Fuller said that Amelia's connection to the immortal world is strong, so must yours be, dear," Elizabeth said. "I guess they've found you to be a good conduit for their communications with us. You should be honored."

  "All I am is upset. They pop into me and take over my body, and then I don't even remember anything afterwards."

  "You're not missing much, hon," Roberta said. "Amelia keeps asking pointed questions, and they offer only ambiguous responses. We don't really know much more now than when we started."

  "Did you understand the reference about a spirit guiding you when you do tarot readings?" Elizabeth asked Amelia.

  "I've always felt that I was being guided by someone. It's as if someone is whispering in my ear as I do the reading, helping me to interpret the meaning of the cards."

  "I wonder who it is," Roberta said. "When we spoke to the spirit of Martha Fuller, she said that it would have taken a spirit who had completed the journey to the immortal world to bring us here because the spirit who started the transference by removing us from our bodies couldn't travel through time."

  "Yes," Amelia said. "It appears that spirits who haven't yet crossed to the immortal world can perform physical tasks such as blowing out candles, locking doors, manifesting, or stealing souls, while those that have crossed over have mostly metaphysical powers. It takes all their energy just to communicate with us for a few minutes. I have no idea who assisted Mr. Westfield's spirit, but I don't believe it was my spirit guide. Her voice was missing from my mind for some time after we first arrived, as if she'd lost track of me. When I performed the Tarot reading downstairs, she was suddenly with me again, as if my handling the cards helped her locate me in this strange body. Well, we know one thing from our session today, the spirits of the girls have involved themselves in our relationships with the boys."

  "What?" Martha said. "How?"

  "According to the spirit of Amelia, they didn't influence the boys one way or the other, but they formed mental images of us in the minds of the boys so they would focus on our relationships and decide if we were right for each other."

  "That comes pretty close to influencing them," Roberta said. "If you find yourself thinking about someone all the time, wouldn't you figure that you're in love?"

  "Jeremy has told me,"
Amelia said, "on more than one occasion, that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about me."

  "Have they been doing it to us also?" Martha asked. "I think about Tad all the time."

  The other three girls looked at one another without speaking. Each knew that they had spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about one of the boys.

  "Do you think they're playing at matchmaking?" Amelia asked after a couple of minutes.

  "No—" Elizabeth finally said with certainty, "at least not in my case. I've been attracted to Donald since I first met him. I was overjoyed when he began to return my affection."

  "And I've been enamored with Charles from the first also. The spirits didn't have to work on me."

  "I suppose you're right," Amelia said. "I fell for Jeremy the minute we were introduced, and Anne told us that first day that he was attracted to me. Look how upset he was when I stopped speaking to him."

  "He didn't need any help from the spirits either," Elizabeth said. Then smiling, and holding up her left hand while she wiggled her ring finger so everyone could see, she added, "Although maybe it's made them all a little more eager to take care of business so that they don't risk losing us."

  "But it doesn't seem fair for the spirits to help us that way," Amelia said.

  "Why ever not?" Roberta said, grinning. "Didn't somebody once say, 'All's fair in love and war?'"

  * * *

  Guests filled every bedroom in the mansion by Friday evening, and hundreds more arrived during the morning hours on Saturday. Many a flower bed had been sacrificed to decorate the house, although the gardens on the estate had been spared, and the house and grounds looked magnificent. Not a single cloud dotted the magnificent canopy of azure on the back terrace where the service was to be performed. It had been decided early on that their small church would be inadequate to accommodate the large wedding party. The ballroom had been prepared in case of rain, but there seemed little danger of that on this beautiful June day.