Echoes of the Past

by Mailer, Deborah

  “What do you think happened?”

  The old man thought for a moment. “She had been excited for a couple of weeks. Some man had offered her a job. It was meant to be a great opportunity. He was going to hire her as his personal assistant. Back in 1968, that was a very good job for a woman. Not like today when they want to be running the business.”

  “Was Susanna able to do that job?”

  “Oh yes, she had gone to secretarial school, she could do that shorthand stuff and type, she was very bright.”

  “Why was she working in the pub?”

  “Oh just passing time, waiting for the right job I suppose.”

  “Do you know who this man was?”

  “No, but he had money. I saw him pick her up one day and head out of town, down toward that little village, Luss. Back then not many folks had cars never mind big fancy ones like that.”

  “Do you recall what he looked like, or what kind of car he drove?”

  “Look, son, its over forty years ago. I never saw him, and I don’t remember what the car was; only that it was flash. Anyway, are you not a bit late looking into this now? Your lot didn’t want to know at the time.”

  “You all right, Granda?” A young woman appeared at the doorway of the shop, she reached over and lifted the old mans empty teacup from the garden table in front of him.

  “Aye, love. This man was just askin directions.”

  Tom nodded at the old man and walked back to his car.

  *****

  At 5pm, Elsie and Lee were closing the tearoom. It was already getting dark outside.

  “Are you going to see if your visitor is still at home?”

  “Oh, don’t remind me, Elsie.”

  “Do you want the company of an old witch? Maybe I could even help you with it.”

  Lee laughed. “If you like, are you up to the excitement?”

  “Don’t know, its been so long since I had any.”

  The two women crossed the High Street to Potters Lane and into Lee’s house.

  “Cup of coffee, Elsie?”

  “No, tea, love. No, make that water. You want everything pure when you’re dealing with this kind of thing.”

  “Water it is then.”

  Elsie settled herself on the sofa and Lee came back from the kitchen with two bottles of water.

  “Do you still have your Ouija board?”

  “Oh no, that thing was nothing but trouble. I’m not going down that road again.”

  Elsie laughed. “For a sensitive you are really picky about your methods.”

  “I don’t think I’m sensitive, as you put it. I think everyone can feel these things, it just depends on wither or not they are willing to listen to their instincts. I’m happy to listen, but the board is seriously dodgy.”

  “Ok, we’ll do it old school.” Elsie got up and closed the curtains.

  “Do what?”

  “Find out what your little visitor wanted this morning,” replied Elsie. She ordered Lee to get some candles. On a small post it pad she wrote the words, Yes and No and stuck them down on Lee’s kitchen table.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. I suppose you want an upturned glass too.”

  “Anything will do as a pointer.” Lee looked around the kitchen but ended up taking a glass from the cupboard.

  “Now, all we are going to do is sit here and concentrate and when we feel something we will ask a question. I’m going to keep a pen and note pad by me just in case I get to do some automatic writing, I suggest you do the same.”

  “Automatic writing, are you having me on.”

  “You’re the one that said you felt a presence.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t expect this. This all seems a bit bizarre …”

  Elsie pursed her lips, “I used to do this for a living, many moons ago. Now put the lights out and sit down.” A few deep breaths and a moment later Lee heard Elsie in a high-pitched voice. “Is there anyone there?” Lee folded into uncontrollable laughter.

  “Are you going to be serious?”

  “I’m sorry, Elsie, but I’ve normally had at least a bottle of wine before I get to this point with my friends.”

  Elsie straightened in her chair. “Do you think I’m kidding when I tell you about my mum and Aunt Alice visiting me?”

  “Of course not, Elsie, I just, I don’t know, I just find your stories so funny. The way you talk about arguing with your dead mum, it seems almost surreal.”

  “Well, it’s not. And just because someone is dead, it does not make them less argumentative. My mother was the same when she was living. Now how many times have I been in your house, Lee?”

  “I don’t know. Lots.”

  “Well, never before have I felt anything, but tonight I do. So something has changed, someone is trying to get through to you. Now, put your finger on the glass and concentrate.”

  Lee wiped a tear from her eye and tried to contain her laughter. She lightly placed a finger on the glass and emptied her mind and began to concentrate as Elsie had said.

  Lee jumped and pulled her hand back as the glass shifted across the table to the word, Yes.

  “Shit, Elsie, did you do that?”

  “Hush, get your finger on.”

  Reluctantly Lee placed her finger on the glass.

  “Are you trying to get a message to Lee?” Back to Yes.

  “Are you a friend of Lee’s?” Across to No.

  “Do you wish her harm?” Lee held her breath. Back to No. Elsie’s hand was working furiously on the note pad at her side.

  “Have you been here a long time?” Back to Yes.

  “More than ten years?” Yes.

  “More than twenty?” Yes.

  “More than thirty?” Yes.

  “More than forty?” Yes.

  “More than fifty?” No.

  “Do you need our help to move on?” The glass began to vibrate. Gliding across the table from Yes to No, back and forth. Lee pulled her hand back. The hairs stood on the back of her neck as she watched Elsie write furiously yet still the glass moved of its own volition.

  “Enough!” Lee jumped from the table and switched on the light. An eeriness had settled in the room.

  “What the hell was that, Elsie?” Elsie looked down at her pad.

  “I think we should have set an alphabet around the table.”

  “Elsie! What just happened?” Elsie looked up at her.

  “You made contact, there is someone here. And they need help.” Elsie pushed the pad across the table to where Lee could read it. Still standing at the light switch afraid to move she leaned her head over to read the pad.

  “What does all this mean?”

  “Well, the words at the bottom are pretty clear. HELP! As for the rest of it. I don’t know.”

  Lee walked over and lifted the pad. “How does this writing thing work?”

  “I just contact the spirit and clear my mind. I draw scribbles on the page to start with, and if the spirit wants to get a message through they guide my hand in what ever way they need, and the scribbles turn into words.”

  Lee read down the page, first scribbles as Elsie had said, and then the word STABLE. More scribbles then SUE, FATHER, CLOSE.

  “Good God, Elsie. You’ve scared the hell out of me.”

  “I’m sorry love. I thought you were all-right with this kind of thing.”

  Lee rubbed her eyes. “Normally I am. If it’s talking about it, or feeling something, or even speaking to someone you’re not sure is there. But to do this. To get this. It’s all too freaky for me. The last time I got anything was from that board for the girl that used to work in the tearoom. After that, I got shot of it. Give me a minute to pack a bag and I’ll walk you home.”

  “Why are you packing a bag?” asked Elsie.

  “I’ll stay at my brother in law’s tonight. I’m not staying here.”

  Elsie laughed. “Don’t be so daft. She’s gone. She passed on her message and now she’s gone. Do you think the dead have nothing better
to do with their time than hang around frightening people?”

  “Pretty much. How do you know she’s gone?”

  “Because I would feel her if she wasn’t, and so would you.”

  “I can’t feel anything but fear right now.”

  Elsie chuckled and pushed her thick glasses up her nose. “Put the kettle on, I’ll switch on the telly. After a cup of tea and a chat about other things, you’ll be brand new.”

  Lee did as she was told, her hands still shaking. She doubted she would feel brand new any time soon.

  Before Elsie left, Lee had put on her pyjamas and brought the quilt down from the bedroom. “I’ll sleep on the couch tonight with the telly on.”

  “If I had known you would be this bad I wouldn’t have done it.”

  “If I had known it would work, I wouldn’t have let you, Elsie.”

  Elsie chuckled again as Lee gave her a hug and said good-bye.

  *****

  It was the small hours of the morning before Lee fell asleep. The telly, murmured away in the background as she dropped into a restless dream. Disjointed images flashed through her mind. Faces that she didn’t recognize flashed in front of her. A large barn with animal stalls and blood running down the walls.

  *****

  At 9am, the alarm woke her. She had never been so grateful to see the sunlight in her life. She opened the curtains to bathe the room in brightness.

  A hot cup of coffee and already the night before seemed a lot less frightening in the cold light of day. Lee hauled the quilt upstairs and dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a vintage gypsy top. She headed back down stairs tying her long blond hair back in a pony; she was feeling much more at ease in the house again. She didn’t bother with breakfast; she would get something at the coffee shop. She lifted her coat and walked down the hall to the front door. A small flickering light from the study caught her eye. She must have left the computer on all night, she thought as she went into the room to turn it off. A stark white screen with black writing stared back at her. FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME. Filled the screen. The blood in Lee’s veins turned to ice. Her stomach began to knot. She pushed the lid of the laptop closed and ran up the hallway to the front door banging it closed behind her. She did not look back until she was closing the front gate at the top of the garden behind her.

  *****

  “Breakfast, Jess.”

  “I don’t feel good this morning Dad, I don’t think I could eat anything.”

  “You all-right? Is it a bug or something?”

  “I don’t know, I think I’ll go back to bed if that’s all right.”

  “Do you need a doctor, Jess?”

  “No, it’s probably nothing.” Jess couldn’t look her father in the eye. She knew he could always see right through her.

  “Is this because I was so late home last night, did it upset you, did you have a bad dream?”

  “No, Dad, I just don’t feel so good, it’s probably a cold.”

  Tom looked at his daughter. He could work from home today, he had intended to go on the police database but he could do that tomorrow.

  “I’ll work from home.”

  Jess turned round “No, no don’t do that, I’ll be fine honestly, and if I’m not I can call you at work, ok.”

  Tom rubbed his chin with his hand. “Ok, but if you get any worse call me or Aunt Lee, got it.”

  “I Promise.” Jess padded upstairs and waited for the sound of the front door closing. She hoped her Dad did not run in to Gemma on her way up to the farmhouse. It was twenty past eight, Gemma would be here soon. Jess pulled on her jeans and a sweatshirt, her dark curls fell around her face making her look even paler. She opened the front door just as Gemma approached it.

  “Hi, did your Dad suspect anything.”

  “I don’t think so, what about you?”

  “No, they always leave for work before I even get up for school.” Gemma threw her jacket over the kitchen chair. She carried a plastic bag containing the board and pointer.

  “Where do you want to set up?”

  Jess looked around. “I don’t know, in here?”

  “Well, where do you feel Olivia the most?”

  “In my bedroom.” Jess felt a little uncertain. Her bedroom had taken on a completely different feel about it lately, and it wasn’t pleasant. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to do it there. The kitchens probably best.”

  “Nope, best to go where you feel the strongest presence.”

  “How come you know so much?”

  Gemma picked up the bag and headed upstairs. “I watch Paranormal Witness.”

  Jess reluctantly followed her friend upstairs to the bedroom. Gemma set about clearing a space on the floor.

  “I don’t get you, Jess, you are so organized with everything, yet your bedroom is even worse than mine.” Jess lifted a small pile of clothes and put them on the chair by her dressing table. She spread over her bed and lifted the board.

  “No, I think we should do it on the floor. The bed isn’t stable enough; you don’t want the pointer sliding around.” Gemma lifted the polished beach wood board and gently set it on the floor. The girls sat in front of it.

  Jess ran her finger across the letters, which had been beautifully painted across the board in an arch. The words yes and no had been painted at opposite ends of the board. Jess thought it strange that someone had put so much work into it. Gemma drew the pale lemon curtains closed, but it had little effect. She lifted a note pad from the bag and sat it beside the board.

  “Ready? Place your fingers gently on the planchette and concentrate.”

  “What’s a planchette?” Jess said.

  “It’s the pointer.”

  “What do I concentrate on, Gemma?”

  “Eh, I don’t know, think about Olivia; it’s her you want to talk to isn’t it.”

  Jess closed her eyes and began to think about her friend. A moment later, the pointer shifted slightly under their touch. The two girls looked at each other.

  “Is someone there?” Gemma said, not sounding half as confident as she had two minutes ago. The pointer gently slid across the polished board to, Yes.

  “Are you doing that?” whispered Jess.

  Gemma shook her head, her eyes huge.

  “Is it you, Olivia?” Jess said. Again, Yes. Jess could feel the hairs on her arms stand on end as the room became just slightly darker.

  “I’m so sorry, Olivia, for making you meet me that day. Do you forgive me?” The pointer did not move. Jess felt a lump in her throat.

  “Is it you that Jess feels in her bedroom, Olivia?” Again, Yes.

  “What happened to you?”

  The pointer began to move across the board. Gemma spelled the letters as she wrote them on her pad.

  “S U E. Did you say Sue?” Gemma said. Back to, Yes. The pointer seemed to be moving almost effortlessly now.

  “B O X.”

  “What does that mean?” Jess whispered.

  “Maybe she doesn’t remember,” Gemma said, who was also speaking in a hushed tone. “Do you know where you are, Olivia?”

  “C L O S E”

  “What dose that mean?” whispered Jess again.

  “I don’t know.”

  Again the same word.

  “Are you here alone?”

  The pointer glided back to, No.

  “I don’t like this, Gemma.”

  “Do you have anything to say to Jess, maybe a message or something?”

  The pointer began moving faster around the board. Gemma spelling the letters as they came.

  “R U N R U N R U N.”

  As the realisation of what was being spelt dawned on them, the girls looked at each other. Jess jumped to her feet and headed for the door, her heart racing in her throat. Gemma immediately followed. Jess grabbed the newel post at the top of the stairs and spun round heading down, Gemma right behind her. At some point in the panic, Gemma’s ridiculously long legs became entangled with Jess. Both girls missing the cu
rve of the staircase hit the balustrade and rolled down the remaining seven steps. Gemma didn’t wait to hit the floor. She was up and out of the front door, not stopping until she made it through the gate at the top of the path.

  She stood bent over with her hands on her thighs trying to catch her breath. “My God, Jess. What just happened?” She turned to see where Jess was. There was no sign of her.

  “JESS! JESS!” Tears began to well up in Gemma’s eyes as she realized that Jess was still in the house. Too afraid to go back inside Gemma called her again. No reply. Gemma looked around her in the hope of seeing someone, anyone. Mustering everything she had she headed back down the path toward the house. Just inside the door lay Jess. Still on the floor, crying.

  “I think I broke my ankle, Gemma.”

  “God, no.” Gemma went over to assess the damage. Jess indeed had an ankle twice its normal size and growing.

  “Help me up and get me out of here.” Gemma helped Jess on to her good foot, with an arm around her shoulders she helped her hobble out the front door and up the path.

  “You’ll have to phone my Aunt.”

  “Ugh, no way, I’m not going back in there, Jess.”

  “Don’t you have your mobile?”

  Gemma felt the pocket of her Jeans and smiled. “Oh thank goodness.” She helped Jess sit down on the grass and handed her the phone.

  *****

  “I don’t think it was trying to upset you, love, I think it is trying to get a message through to you.” Elsie spooned beans on to the cooked breakfast and handed it over the counter to Lee. “That one’s for Jim, my love.” Lee carried the breakfast over to the older man sitting in his usual seat by the window. Another breakfast followed for his companion.

  “Well, I am upset, Elsie. If you had seen that computer this morning, you would be upset too. I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s a strange atmosphere in the house, I’ve never had that before.”

  “Not just your house. I’ve been picking it up all over town.”

  “What do you mean?” Lee asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Can’t quite put my finger on it? Look don’t mind me, I’m just an old witch.”