“She passed through the gate, Henri. She didn’t wait for us. She was supposed to wait.” I didn’t know what else to say. I needed a moment to think.
“What are we supposed to do now?”
“Henri!” A voice called out from the darkness of the adjoining street. Lenore appeared on the other side of the gate. “Where is she?”
“She’s gone.”
“I was afraid of this.” Lenore tapped her lip with her finger. “Well, time for plan B. Do we have one?” Everyone stared at me.
I paced in front of the gate. No, we didn’t. My half-cocked plan A was all I had, and now Detra Ann was gone.
“Ashland, what do you see? Are the ghosts still here?”
He peered into the inky blackness and said, “No. They are all gone. There were dozens of them here just a minute ago.”
“Shoot! When she ran through the gate, it must have closed the connection.”
“How do you know that?” Lenore asked me suspiciously. “You done this before?”
“Kind of. We went through the wall together at the hospital. And when I walked through the gate the other night, I ended up in the basilica. Look, we all saw her. The gate was open, and now it’s not and all the activity stopped. That’s got to mean something, doesn’t it?”
“She’s gone.” Henri sat on the ground and stared into the darkness.
“We’re not giving up. We have to go to the church. Maybe the gate works both ways.”
“Sounds like plan B to me. Let’s go. I’m freezing.”
I walked through the open gate, closed my eyes and half hoped it would work, but nothing happened. Ashland looked glum, Henri wasn’t talking at all, and Lenore acted like this was all a joke. As we walked toward the church, the music got louder. We would have to cross the parade route to get to St. Joseph Street. The Order of Polka Dots sailed down the street on vibrant floats, while the crowds roared, pleading for beads, moon pies and candy.
“Carrie Jo? You okay?” Lenore stood inches from my face. “Hey!”
“Yeah, I’m okay.” I suddenly realized how lovely Lenore could be if she actually cared about what she looked like. She grabbed my hand and dragged me behind her as we dashed across the street.
“Lenore! Wait! You’re hurting me.” I snatched my hand away.
She walked toward me and got in my face again. “You don’t have time. Death has her, and he ain’t gonna wait,” she shouted at me over the music. I waved to Ashland and Henri, who were stuck on the other side of the street. A police officer on horseback stepped into my line of sight so I couldn’t see them anymore. “Carrie Jo, listen to me. Don’t get them involved, please. Trust me when I tell you that it can only be bad. We can do this together. Let’s go. They know where we are going, and they’ll catch up.” A drunken reveler pushed me as he chased after a float. Another one brushed up against me and leered at me. One thing was for sure—we couldn’t stand here on the street. Maybe Lenore was right. Could I really put Ashland and Henri in danger? I’d already managed to lose Detra Ann. I looked one more time toward the street, but the crowd was growing and people were pushing and shoving.
“Let’s go,” I shouted back at her and began following her through the crowd toward St. Joseph and Clairborne Streets. People with painted faces and novelty lighted headbands circled me and shouted, “Happy Mardi Gras!” A man in the parade spun me about playfully as I struggled against him, feeling a surge of panic. Finally I broke free from the crowd and pushed to the edge where I could see the red and white building of the cathedral in the distance. Lenore took my hand, and together we ran as fast as we could. I glanced behind me, half hoping I would see Ashland and Henri close, but they were nowhere to be found. We ran to the cast-iron gates, and I held on to the cold metal as I tried to catch my breath. I could plainly see that the gates and the church doors had been locked. I swore under my breath. Grabbing my hand again, Lenore led me down the sidewalk.
“Give me just a second. I have to catch my breath.”
“We’re running out of time. This way.” Lenore pulled me toward the back of the building. This was the side that faced St. Joseph Street. I’d never explored this area before.
“Maybe we should call someone and ask them to let us in.” I knew that was a stupid suggestion, but I was out of ideas. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do even if I could get inside.
“Look! We can get in that way!” There were some narrow concrete stairs that led down to the basement of the church. That was unusual in itself, as most buildings in Mobile didn’t have cellars. Especially here in the downtown area, as close as it was to Mobile Bay. Yet here it was right in front of me. She tugged on the gate twice, but it would not budge.
I looked over my shoulder again, half expecting to see the red-haired caretaker come running toward me, but the streets were empty. “Let’s do it together.” Lenore nodded, and we shoved hard on the gate. To my surprise, it worked: the gate rattled open, and we walked down the stairs, closing the gate behind us. The rusty old latch cut my finger, but I managed to wriggle it back into place without locking it. Better to make it look closed so no one suspected anything.
What were the chances that the door would be unlocked? Lenore blew on her cold fingers and then turned the round knob. It opened with a click, and she smiled at me as if to say, “See, I told you this would work.” We walked inside the church basement, and I was immediately assaulted by the musty smell. When was the last time anyone had aired this room out? Lenore was fiddling with a lighter she retrieved from somewhere. She flicked the flame and moved it around slowly so we could get our bearings. “Looks like a mission closet or something. Hey! There are some coats!” She walked a few feet away and began digging through a pile.
“We can’t take those. They belong to the church, Lenore.”
“Okay, you freeze to death, but I’m borrowing a coat.”
Standing there shivering while she slid on a warm brown coat was more than I could bear. “Alright, if we’re just borrowing them.” I grabbed a long black trench with an insulated lining and slid it on. I immediately felt warmer. Seeing a pile of woolen hats, I grabbed one of those too. “Where is that lighter? We have to get upstairs.”
Lenore flicked the lighter again, and together we searched for the door. We found it, but it was locked, and no amount of banging would open it.
“Shoot! There has to be another door.” I felt along the dusty walls, and Lenore walked in the opposite direction doing the same.
“Hey!” she yelled. “I think I found something over here. Come help me.” I ran to her, practically tripping over a box of books that someone had left on the floor. “It’s in the floor. Look!” Next to the back wall was a small hatch in the floor with a metal chain attached to it. “Help me.” Together we tugged on the chain, and the hatch opened. The smell of moldy earth rose up to greet us. Lenore cast the light around the entrance quickly, but there wasn’t much to see beyond a set of dodgy-looking wooden stairs.
“I don’t know. Should we be going down those things?”
“It’s the only option we have, isn’t it?” Without another word, she was climbing down the ladder. I heard the wood creak and complain under her weight, and she was smaller than me.
I heard a thud coming from the entrance of the cellar. It sounded like someone was coming toward us. I hurried down the ladder and reached into the darkness. “Lenore!”
She clicked the lighter, but it wouldn’t work. “I’m here. Take my hand.” I did, and she clicked again until the lighter released a small flame. “This way.”
The historian in me couldn’t help but pay attention to the wooden beam that ran along the top of the passageway, the dirty gas lamps that hung from the walls and the random items that I occasionally tripped over like a shovel and a small metal cart.
“What on earth is this place?” she asked as she waved furiously at a cobweb.
“I’d say an underground railroad.” I squinted around us in the dim light.
; “Are we going the right way?”
“Stop a minute, Lenore. Listen!”
She scowled at me but kept quiet for a few seconds. “What’s that?”
I tugged at my coat, pulling it about me tighter. Straining to listen, I heard a voice. It had to be Detra Ann! “That’s her! Move faster, Lenore!” We blindly ran until we reached a fork in the tunnel.
“Where now?” she shouted. We stood waiting to hear something.
“Help me! Someone!”
“This way! She’s this way!” I took off to the right and stumbled over an unseen obstacle as I ran toward Detra Ann’s voice. Shafts of light filtered through the grate above us. I stood under it, looking up into the church, when I heard another noise, a scratching, fluttering sound. “There! Grab that and we’ll climb. Maybe push the grate.”
“Better idea. Let’s go up those stairs.”
How had I missed those? We hurried up the curved stairwell and into the church. The only light was dim candlelight. I didn’t know when it happened, but somehow we had passed through the “gate” because we were in the old church. The walls were as they had been during my supernatural trip, painted burgundy and gold. According to my online research, the renovations had completely changed the look of the cathedral. In modern times, the basilica had white walls with gold accents.
“Let her go! You have no place here! Leave now!” It was Father Portier, standing in front of the altar. Detra Ann’s blond hair swirled around her, moving in an unearthly black cloud that seemed to want to swallow her. “Go, now!” The priest stood rigidly in defiance, but a blast of the black cloud sent him flying backwards into the wooden pews. Horror and dread filled me as I watched the old man collapse into a heap.
“Father Portier!” I yelled, running toward him with Lenore beside me.
At that moment, Detra Ann saw me and screamed, “Run, CJ!” The black cloud expanded, shrank and expanded again. Suddenly it broke into a hundred smaller clouds, and I heard the scratching, fluttering sound again. In the blink of an eye, the clouds became crows that flew straight toward us with deadly focus.
“Get down! Under the pews!” I screamed, dragging the priest to the floor and crawling under the benches. The crows flew above us, diving occasionally to peck and scratch at us. Lenore screamed in pain, and I looked back under the pew toward Detra Ann, who lay on the floor about twenty feet away. “Father Portier! Please! Help us!” I shook him again and again until he began to stir.
The old man turned his head toward me and pleaded, “You have to go. Before it’s too late.”
“I am not leaving without my friend.”
“You have no choice, I am afraid. He will not release her.” I peeked out from under the bench at the spinning vortex of birds that threatened us.
“I am not leaving Detra Ann!” My heart pounded in my chest as I crawled under the benches toward the front of the church, crying and praying as I went. When I finally made it to the front of the church, I reached my hand out from under the pew. Just then an angry bird with a sharp beak dipped down and scratched my skin savagely. Crying out in pain, Detra Ann spotted me and shook her head. The black cloud gathered around her thin frame, and a hundred screeches echoed angrily through the church.
Defiantly I slid out from under the wooden bench and stood in the aisle. Lenore and the priest were standing there beside me. The cloud of birds fell to the ground and broke into a thousand pieces of black paper. Suddenly a tall man—taller than any I had ever seen—stood between us and Detra Ann. I could not see his face; a gauzy black fog covered his entire body, and only his pale white hands were clearly visible. He did not speak, but his head rose as he observed us.
“Help us.” I said to the priest.
Father Portier said in a sad voice, “There is nothing I can do. He is here to collect a life. If I had one to give, I would gladly give it for your friend. But alas I do not. I am sorry, my dear.”
“But it wasn’t her fault. She never asked for this! We didn’t do anything wrong! For pity’s sake, Father. Please do something.”
He nodded sadly and said again, “I am sorry, my dear.”
I heard Detra Ann crying behind the tall figure, and I walked ahead a few more steps. “You can’t have her! It’s not her time!” Death did not respond, but neither did he move. Then his answer came. He beckoned me toward him, and I knew what he wanted. He wanted me. He would take me in exchange for Detra Ann. A life for a life…. I heard the words ringing in my head.
Death waited for my answer. What about the baby? Fear washed over me, and tears rolled down my cheeks. Then there was Lenore. “I’ve got this,” she whispered. She stood, hopping up and down in her hand-me-down Reeboks as if she were gearing up for a prize fight. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see she was about to do something stupid.
“Wait! What are you doing?”
“Thinking about someone else for a change!” She grabbed my hands and hugged me. “I knew this was how it was supposed to be. I knew it when I met Detra Ann. She’s not the only shade here. I’m one too—I’ve been one ever since Aleezabeth died. It should have been me that day.”
“I don’t understand,” I confessed. The figure in front of us growled, but Lenore didn’t appear moved by it.
“I cheated Death once too. I’ve been running all these years, but it’s time to stop. This is what’s right. This is what Aleezabeth wants.” She hugged me again and suddenly released me. Then she ran toward the growling figure, screaming, “Aleezabeth!”
I yelled at the top of my lungs, “Lenore! No! Come back!” I watched in horror as she sprang into the air and fearlessly hurled herself toward Death. Then the massive shape vanished, taking Lenore with it. Everything changed. All the coldness, the fear and the dread vanished—even the interior of the church was different. I could smell the freshly painted white walls; the sooty sconces had been replaced with modern-day pin lights that shone from the ceiling. I stood rocking on my heels in shock at the transformation.
I tried to process what had just happened. Lenore had given her life for Detra Ann. My friend lay crumpled on the floor, and I ran to her side.
“Detra Ann! Wake up. Please wake up!” I patted her face desperately. I had to know she was okay.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at me. “Is it gone?”
“Yes. It’s over.” We held one another, both of us crying, and then she asked me. “Where is Lenore? I saw her—you came for me. Is Henri okay? Ashland?”
“The guys are fine. Lenore is…she’s gone.”
“Oh no…” she cried and held onto me as I helped her up from the marble floor. The priest had disappeared too. Detra Ann and I alone stood in the church together, holding one another until Ashland and Henri came up from the basement and ran down the aisle toward us.
“Carrie Jo? Are you okay, baby? Why are you bleeding?”
I glanced down at my hands. He was right—they were bleeding. “It’s okay. I’m okay.” He put his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.
Henri held Detra Ann tight, tears streaming down his face. “Lenore, where is she?”
“She’s gone, Henri,” I said softly. “She wanted to be with Aleezabeth. She said it was right.”
Detra Ann held him closer and whispered in his ear. I couldn’t hear what she said, but I didn’t need to know. They had each other now. He nodded and wiped his eyes. This would be hard for him. Lenore was all the family he had. Except us. We were a family. A strange, wonderful family.
Chapter Sixteen—Carrie Jo
The next few days were strange to say the least. I felt like I was walking in a fog. I closed the office while we worked out the details of Lenore’s memorial service, then the four of us took the Happy Go Lucky out into Mobile Bay. The only one who seemed truly happy was Detra Ann, and who could blame her? Our first evening out was quiet. The water was like smooth glass, and the air felt warm and welcoming. We were sailing to Point Clear, where we would stay for a few days. With just a quick phon
e call, Ashland had managed to book two suites at the Grand Hotel. It was a beautiful place with a breathtaking view of the bay. Naturally, I was fascinated with the history of the place and promised myself that sometime during my stay I would explore the older wings and the grounds.
After dinner on the boat, Ashland and I spent an hour looking out over the bay, enjoying the lights and the stars that glittered above it all. We held hands and quietly enjoyed the peaceful view.
“How are you?” he asked softly, his eyes still focused in front of us.
“I’m fine. The baby is too. Everything is okay.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“What about you? How are you doing with all this?”
“I haven’t seen anything in forty-eight hours. Any ghosts, I mean. It’s like everything went quiet again. It’s times like this when I question if I ever saw any of what I thought I saw. But I know I did.”
“Don’t question it. You did see those things. Just enjoy the quiet for as long as it lasts.” I smiled at him and squeezed his hand. Then I asked, “Are you sure you want to stay in Mobile, Ashland? I think the Port City has more than its share of ghosts, don’t you?”
“I love Mobile, but I want you to be happy. Do you want to leave?”
I squinted at him in the dim light. “Nope. You’re stuck with me, babe. Wherever you are—that’s where I want to be. We made a promise, remember?” I slid out of the white leather chair and climbed into his lap.
He kissed me like he meant it. I kissed him back, and I definitely meant it. With a wicked smile, I led him to the shower, stripping off my clothes as I went. I loved this ridiculously large shower stall. It had four shower heads, a smooth stone floor and sultry blue lighting. Just perfect for what I had in mind. I kicked on the wall stereo and turned on the water as Ashland raced to join me. It was a nice way to end the day.
The Stars We Walked Upon (Seven Sisters Series Book 5) Page 14