How many other surprises could I expect? Perhaps a few skeletons in the cellar? I wasn’t about to find out because I wouldn’t put such a thing past this family of murderers. Who were these people really? How did I know the house wasn’t booby-trapped, or maybe there was a family curse? And where was this family put to rest? Wherever it was, it seemed they’d neglected to take Amelia with them. It was bad enough she was haunting my dreams; now I had to ward her off in person too.
I needed to sit down. I was making myself crazy. More crazy than the time Emily and I were at summer camp when we were fourteen, and we’d paddled the canoe out too far and couldn’t get back before the sun went down. At the time, it was scary for me since I was so afraid of the dark, but this stuff was downright bone-chilling. I tried to push it from my mind and pasted a smile on face for the sake of Ben who was so excited about moving into the cottage. For me, I wasn’t so sure anymore.
Emily walked into the kitchen and handed me Sophia, who had picked so many dandelions, she was having trouble trying to hold them all in her chubby little fingers. I held my arms out to her and she handed me the flowers.
“Flower,” she said proudly.
I smiled at her and hugged her. It was only the second word she’d said since we’d had her, but it meant everything to me. I didn’t even know she knew the word, and I was amazed that she was so comfortable with us so soon. This was what it was all about. Making her and my new husband happy. It wasn’t about the past, or the family that I was completely unconnected with. It was about my new family and what was best for them. I determined to do whatever it took to make them happy, even if that meant ignoring my own fears of the manor for their sake.
After an exhausting day, I was glad to be back home in my own bed. Sophia was asleep in her crib, and Ben was rattling on about moving and making plans I wasn’t participating in.
He smoothed my hair. “You’ve been awfully quiet tonight. After dinner, Sam asked if you were okay. I figured you were probably tired from being a new mom and a new wife, so that’s what I told him. But I have to be honest; I’m worried it’s something more. Am I right?”
“I’m probably just a little overwhelmed, but I felt like my mind was playing tricks on me earlier. I thought I saw Amelia, the little girl in the picture move, but she couldn’t have because it’s just a picture. It made me feel a little crazy, and that’s why I lied about seeing a spider. I probably just need a good night’s sleep and I should be okay in the morning.”
I hadn’t told him yet about the dreams, and realized it might have been easier to start with that.
He kissed me lightly and agreed with me about getting some rest. It had been a long day for all of us. He tried to reassure me I wasn’t crazy, but I wasn’t convinced. I turned out the light on the bedside table and cuddled in close to my husband where I felt safe.
I woke to the smell of homemade waffles. It made me think of my mother, and I began to cry. Ben must have heard me because he came rushing into the room to check on me. By this time, I’d found my way to the bathroom and was blowing my nose.
A knock at the door startled me. “Claire, is everything okay?”
I opened the door. “You made waffles.”
He hugged me. “I found the waffle iron in the cupboard and made some batter. You’re not upset about that are you?”
“I guess I’ve been suppressing thoughts of my mother, and the smell reminded me of her. That’s all. I’m glad you made them—really.”
“I’m glad you feel that way because our daughter loves them.”
He steered me into the kitchen where Sophia was elbow-deep in syrup.
I poked Ben in the chest. “You’re cleaning her up.”
“No problem, honey. Now sit down and join us for breakfast.”
He pushed a plate in front of me, but I didn’t feel like eating. I had too much on my mind. Although I looked forward to our move to the cottage, I dreaded the thought of moving into the manor when the time came. Even though the cleaning crew would be back today to finish, I knew there would be more work ahead of us to update the home and move the family’s personal belongings up to the attic to make room for our own things. The transition probably would take a few months, but even that didn’t seem like enough time to prepare myself mentally for spending a lifetime fighting off the ghosts of my family that obviously haunted the manor.
When the last load of our belongings was packed in both trucks, I looked around my childhood home one last time before saying goodbye. I knew I’d be back from time to time before it was sold, but this would be the last time I’d live here, and it seemed like the final farewell to me. I took a moment, remembering conversations between my mother and me, and even the few arguments we’d had when I was a teen. But now, those voices were quieted, never to be heard again. I glanced at the fireplace in the living room where two stockings hung every Christmas, and the section of wall leading into the kitchen where my mother measured my height from the time I was able to stand on my own. I traced the line of the final measurement placed there on my eighteenth birthday. Now I was all grown up with a family of my own, and traditions to carry on with my own daughter. I whispered a quiet, mournful, goodbye to the house and to my mother as I closed the front door and turned the key.
As we pulled into the driveway of our new, temporary home, Ben squeezed my hand excitedly. Even our family and friends were all eager to get us moved in, but I still had some reservations. Not so much about the cottage; mostly about the manor, and anything that had to do with the children—Amelia in particular. For some strange reason, Amelia seemed to be at the center of my focus as far as a possible haunting was concerned. I hoped I was wrong—about the haunting, anyway.
I pasted on a smile and helped with the unpacking. I hadn’t taken many dishes with me because the Widow Karington had a full set of Fire King milk glass dishes with a red, flower pattern on them. It was a service for eight, complete with salad plates, cereal bowls, berry bowls, and tumblers, and snack trays. Most of the service still had their gold, foil labels on them, as though they hadn’t been used yet. Emily encouraged me to research them on the internet, and although I discovered they had some worth to them, I wasn’t interested in using them for anything other than feeding my family. My mother would have agreed. She would probably have scolded me if I let them sit in the cupboard and collect dust, or if I sold them. They were part of my heritage now, and I intended to honor my mother by accepting every bit of it just the way it was—haunting and all.
I knew I probably watched too much TV, but it was my opinion that Amelia must have a reason for haunting the manor, and perhaps it was up to me to answer the question that had been on the mind of the town’s people for over one hundred years. I knew that it might involve going into the manor, and I wasn’t sure I was ready, but how does anyone ever prepare themselves for such a thing anyway?
I walked outside for a bit of fresh air, and stared across the lake at the seemingly haunted manor with all its shadows lurking, and realized I’d somehow begun to feel somewhat intrigued by it all. I was determined to search through the personal effects left behind in order to learn more about the family that once lived there. I suddenly wanted to know everything about them. I felt strangely calm as I mentally planned to start my search as soon as Ben went back to work. By that time, the cleaning crew should be finished, and the inspections should be complete.
Once Sophia was tucked in her crib in her new room, Ben and I made our bed. We’d had a new mattress delivered from The Mattress King in town because the one that was on the widow’s beautiful, wrought iron bed was not salvageable. I was tempted to crawl under the down-filled blankets and sleep, but I was sore from all the moving and wanted to soak in a warm bath first.
Still feeling a little mentally wired, I found myself in the bathroom, filling the claw-foot tub with the hottest water I figured I c
ould tolerate. As I sat on the edge of the tub, I traced the shape of the small, black and white octagon tiles on the floor with my toe, while the steam rose from the tub and covered me in its warmth. I let my mind wander to the manor, wondering what I might find there, and if ghosts could talk or hurt me in any way, so I made up my mind to research the subject on the internet. Without warning, Amelia suddenly appeared big as life, at the pedestal sink only a few feet from me. Startled, I lost my balance and fell backward, landing in the tub with my clothes on, water splashing everywhere. Thankfully, the water wasn’t hot enough to scald me, but I didn’t dare move, for fear the child would hurt me. She seemingly looked me in the eye, placed a finger to her lips as before, then she vanished.
Ben rushed into the room just then and held a hand out to me when he saw me struggling to climb awkwardly out of the tub. “What happened?”
“I lost my balance. I guess I’m a little more tired than I thought.”
It wasn’t the complete truth, but he accepted the excuse at face value. I was glad because I wasn’t yet ready to tell him his new bride was probably going crazy.
After an uninterrupted night of sleep, I felt refreshed and very ready to start over again. I determined I would try to talk to Amelia if she appeared to me again, since she was seemingly trying to communicate with me. Though I was still certain I’d be frightened, I reasoned with myself that I’d seen her twice already, and aside from my own clumsiness, I remained unharmed.
After breakfast, I phoned Emily, hoping for some positive feedback about the situation.
“You saw what?” She was practically screaming into the phone.
“Don’t make me regret telling you, Em,” I warned her.
“Let’s think about this logically.”
That was Emily’s automatic response whenever there was a “situation”. But this was far more serious than any situation we’d encountered in all the years we’d known each other.
“Logical people don’t see ghosts, Em.”
“Settle down, Claire. Maybe they do.”
I struggled to think of a logical explanation for what I’d seen, but there just wasn’t one no matter how I looked at it.
“Do you want me to come over on Monday and explore with you while Ben’s working?”
“Would you, Em?”
“Of course I will. When have I ever let you down?”
“Never, but I think you’re only in this for the thrill. I know how curious you are, Em.”
“True. But I’m there for you even if we don’t find anything. Just promise me you’ll call me in the meantime if you see her again.”
I agreed and hung up the phone so I could join my family. Ben wanted us to explore the property this afternoon once it warmed up. He’d seen a forked trail to the other side of the manor and he wanted to see where it led. I’d reluctantly agreed, feeling a little leery of the thickly wooded area between the manor and the orphanage.
When the sun was directly overhead, we got into the car for the short drive to the manor. Thick woods also separated the cottage from the orphanage, but there was no trail, so we went to the only route between them. I was perfectly happy driving to the orphanage from either side, but Ben was determined to impose upon me his desire to explore my new property on foot.
I pulled Sophia’s sweater over her, and tied my sweatshirt around my waste, knowing that it might be chilly where the sun couldn’t reach us through the thick trees.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped to the entrance of the wooded area, and walked beside my husband, who was carrying our daughter. My eyes darted back and forth every time I heard even the slightest of noise. I even turned around repeatedly, watching my backside for any surprises.
Ben stopped. “Is this making you nervous, honey?”
“Not really. No.”
“I’m not convinced, Claire.”
I nudged him. “I’m fine. Just not a real fan of the woods.”
“What’s wrong with being in the woods?”
“Just keeping an eye out for werewolves.”
Ben laughed. “You have the oddest sense of humor, but I think it’s adorable.” He kissed my cheek.
I wasn’t trying to be funny, or make him laugh, or show off a sense of humor, because, though he didn’t know it yet, I didn’t really have a sense of humor. I was just plain scared. Nothing more.
I continued to walk beside him, staying alert of the possibility of anything unusual. Up ahead we could see a clearing. I was hoping it was the end of the trail, but since I couldn’t see any sign of the orphanage, and knew we hadn’t traveled that far on foot, I hoped for a chance to warm myself in the open area where the sun shone brightly.
As I stepped into the clearing, I caught sight of headstones. There were several severely weather-worn headstones to each side of the clearing, and four that stood alone at one corner. I clenched my husband’s hand. “I don’t think we should walk through here.”
He held up the hand I clenched and pointed to the connecting trail on the other side of the graveyard. “I’ll bet that leads to the orphanage.”
“I’ll bet I don’t care,” I said sarcastically.
I backed up, hoping he would follow me back to the car, but instead, he walked deeper into the graveyard.
He motioned me with his arm to join him. “Come on, Claire. The sun is shining. It’s not like it’s dark and stormy.”
Behind him, the air appeared to darken, and before I realized, several faceless strangers appeared, and they were gathered around a primitive casket. In the middle of them, Amelia held a black parasol in one hand and put her finger to her lips with the other.
I let out a squeal, but no sooner had they appeared, than they disappeared.
Ben looked up at me. “What’s wrong, Claire?”
“Snake,” I stammered, and pointed to the ground. “I thought the stick was a snake.”
“Is this the same as the spider? Or did you really think you saw a snake?”
I didn’t answer since it was obvious he knew I was telling stories again.
Ben and Sophia were preoccupied with a ladybug he’d found on a twig on the ground, and went back to it as though I hadn’t interrupted them.
I looked behind him again, trying to stay strong, thinking it would bring the image back. I concentrated, thinking of Amelia at the funeral that must have been her mother’s. My mind momentarily drifted to thoughts of my own mother’s funeral, and how I felt being there. I felt numb standing there, as though none of it was real. I couldn’t imagine how Amelia and the other children had felt when they attended their mother’s funeral. They were so young and innocent.
I forced my eyes to focus, and they appeared again. It was pouring down rain, and they were all dressed in black coats. Amelia was dressed in what looked to be a petticoat over a black dress. She wore black stockings and even had a black ribbon in her hair. In her hand was a black parasol to guard her from the rain. Beside her, a boy who resembled the boy named Fredrick in the sepia photo was dressed the same, though it appeared he was wearing knickers instead of long pants. On the other side of her, stood a man wearing a neatly pressed suit, and in his arms, was Baby Lizzie. He held the umbrella over her head, but the rain fell on his own face, mixing with tears that poured from his eyes. All eyes were cast to the ground, save Amelia’s, who bore a hole through me with her cold stare. I walked toward her, but she put a hand to her lips, and made a shushing gesture with her lips, though no sound escaped them. I blinked and they were gone.
What was it that Amelia didn’t want me to know? Was she hiding something? Or was she just a child with a child-like secret who didn’t know she was a ghost? Maybe there were some clues on the internet in some of the reports of sightings. I wondered if anyone else had seen the same things I’d been seeing. Or perhaps the only answer had been buried with each family member more than one hundred years ago, and I would never discover the answer. The thought discouraged me, but I wa
s more determined than ever to find an answer, and I couldn’t wait to tell Emily what I’d seen. It was possibly another piece to the puzzle—or I was completely off my rocker. Either way, despite my fear, I was looking forward to exploring the manor on Monday more than ever.
While Sophia napped, Ben searched through his files for the case he needed to prepare for. He had turned the sun porch into a study, and was busy working so I could sit with my laptop in the bedroom and conduct a search while Emily stood by on the phone, waiting for anything that could help us find clues to what was awry with Amelia. I plunked my air-card in the side of the laptop and connected. Scrolling down the list of sites that boasted documented sightings of ghosts, I clicked on one that said Girl with a Secret.
“Here’s one, Em.” I scrolled down further. “This person claimed to see something similar to what I saw in the photo. It’s a newspaper clipping with the photo that I have in the box out on the sun porch.”
I went on to tell her that the fifty-year-old, Julia Farnsworth, reported to the paper that after seeing their photo in the obituary that she’d witnessed the older girl putting her finger to her lips as though she had a secret she was keeping. The poor woman’s family locked her in the asylum two days later.
“Oh my gosh, Em. That’s what’s going to happen to me. Ben is going to have to lock me up.”
Emily laughed. “Not if I get to you first, Claire.”
“This isn’t funny. I’m a crazy person. I can’t help it.”
Emily sighed loudly. “If this woman saw the same thing, then you can’t possibly be crazy. We can’t do anything to help Julia Farnsworth since she’s long since dead, but you and I can get to the truth. And I meant what I said. I will be by your side the whole way.”
The Apothecary's Daughter (Romance/Mystery/Suspense) Page 9