The Ghosts of Misty Hollow

by Sue Ann Jaffarian

  Emma and Phil had arranged to meet Fran and Heddy at the turnout Emma and Gino had visited a few days earlier. It was the second turnout, the one closest to Mr. Dodd’s property.

  “No Gino today?” asked Heddy, surprised by the big man’s absence.

  “He and his daughter are spending some private time together,” answered Emma. “But you’ll meet Tanisha tonight at dinner.” Emma hesitated. “You are coming to dinner tonight, aren’t you?”

  “We wouldn’t miss it,” exclaimed Heddy.

  Emma let out a breath of relief. “Good, because Marta, Gino’s housekeeper, is back and she’s at the house cooking up a storm for tonight.

  “She shouldn’t go to any trouble,” protested Fran. “We can bring a covered dish or two.”

  Kelly shook her head and laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Marta is happiest when cooking for T and Gino. When I visit them in Chicago, I come home stuffed. After breakfast I heard her talking to herself as she planned the menu.”

  “Actually, Kelly,” Emma said, “I think she’s talking to Granny. Even though she can’t see or hear her, Granny told me that Marta chatters to her like an old friend when she feels her presence.”

  “And she’s not rubbing her crucifix any longer,” Phil said, joining the group. “Have you noticed that?”

  Emma laughed. “I have.”

  “How are you doing, Phil?” asked Fran, noting his left arm in a sling. “I heard you lost a lot of blood.”

  “Not too bad,” he answered. “The doctor said I should be fine. The bullet didn’t hit anything too important, like a main artery, but he recommended that I start physical therapy when I get home and see my own doctor.”

  Fran nodded her approval of the medical advice. “Sounds solid to me.”

  Emma started for the woods. “There’s a small path over here,” she told them. “But soon after we’ll be trailblazing for a bit.”

  The small party made their way into the woods, chattering happily among themselves as they hiked to Alexander Dodd’s property. Emma linked an arm through her daughter’s as they walked. “So when are you going to share with me your plans for after college?” she asked.

  Kelly gave her mother a sly look. “T and I are going to tell you and Gino tonight after dinner.”

  “T?” Emma asked with surprise. “So you two have something cooking together?”

  “Something like that,” Kelly said with a smile. “And we have a couple of surprise guests arriving today.”

  Emma stopped walking and pulled Kelly to a halt with her. “Guests? Does Gino know what’s going on?”

  Kelly laughed. “Don’t worry, Mom, Gino isn’t holding out on you and Phil. All T told him last night was that we had a couple of friends coming for the weekend and that we’d be making an announcement tonight.”

  “An announcement?” Emma was stymied. “Don’t tell me you and T have both found love and are marrying best friends?”

  “No, Mom, don’t be silly. I don’t have time for that right now.”

  Emma was relieved to hear that. She’d married right out of college and hadn’t wanted Kelly to do the same before experiencing more of the world. “Does Granny know this secret plan?”

  Kelly grinned. “She found out by eavesdropping on us. But T and I both know that Granny can take a secret to the grave.” Kelly paused. “So to speak.”

  “You bet I can,” said Granny, popping up.

  “I thought you were back at the house visiting with Marta,” Emma said to Granny.

  “I was but I didn’t want to miss this,” the ghost explained. “Besides, you’ll need my help getting those children to their family if you find them.” The ghost turned to Kelly and winked. “By the way, your guests arrived.”

  “Oh come on, you two,” Emma complained with frustration. “No fair.”

  Granny leaned in to Kelly. “I love it when she’s like this. Kind of levels the playing field, don’t it? Her being such a know-it-all the rest of the time.”

  Used to the banter between her mother and Granny, Kelly shook her head and started walking. The three generations of women, one dead and two very much alive, walked together, moving faster to catch up with the others.

  When they reached the stone wall that marked the beginning of Dodd’s property, Emma brought the group to a halt. “This is where I met Alexander Dodd,” she told them.

  She looked around but didn’t spot the old ghost. After climbing over the wall, she walked around the area, “Mr. Dodd, are you here?” She called out a few more times, but heard and saw nothing. Spotting the exact place where Dodd had been sitting the day they met, Emma moved over to it. “Mr. Dodd, it’s Emma. We met the other day. I was asking about those children.”

  “Did you have to bring the entire village with ya?” asked a disembodied voice. Slowly a ghost materialized a few feet away and studied the group.

  “There he is,” said Fran, pointing in the direction of Dodd.

  “So you can see me, madam?” Dodd said, coming full into view.

  “That I can, Mr. Dodd,” answered Fran.

  “Anyone else?” he asked the group. “Raise your hands if you can see and hear me?”

  In response, Emma, Kelly, Fran, and Granny raised their hands.

  “Good, now I know who I’m addressing.” Dodd looked at Granny, examining her pioneer clothing. “I haven’t seen you in these parts before. You’re not from around here, is my guess. I’d remember a sweet-looking thing like you.”

  Emma couldn’t tell if Granny was blushing, but her face did break into a wide smile. “I’m Ish Reynolds, Emma’s great-great-great grandmother,” Granny explained. “I hail from Julian, California. I lived there during the gold rush. Folks call me Granny. I travel with Emma sometimes. Kind of like a to-go ghost.”

  “Ah, gold. Yes, I remember,” mused Dodd. “A lot of men ran off to the gold fields out west to seek their fortune. I might have, too, if I’d been younger.”

  “Mr. Dodd,” Emma said to the ghost, “this is my daughter, Kelly, and our friend Fran. They can both see and hear you.”

  “Yeah, I saw their hands, remember?” the old ghost said.

  “And this is Heddy and this is Phil,” Emma told him, continuing with the introductions. “They can’t see or hear you, as you noted by the display of hands.” Emma moved closer. “We’re all here to see if we can find those children I told you about. Have you seen them lately?”

  Dodd scratched the stubble on his face, but it made no sound. “That I have. I told them a spirit woman was looking for them and they should stay in the area.”

  “This area?” Fran asked, indicating the immediate woods around them.

  “No, not here,” Dodd answered. “I saw them further up, at the other end of my property.”

  “Can you give us directions?” asked Granny.

  Dodd addressed Granny with a slight bow. “For you, my dear, of course.”

  “Get on with you, you old fool,” Granny snapped, yet still wearing a smile. “I’m a married woman.”

  “I was married in life, too,” Dodd said, “but those vows were until death do part. I’m dead, so I figure I’m single again. You, too, you sweet filly.”

  “I’d like to hear you say that to my man, Jacob,” Granny told him with a jerk of her chin. “We’re still together even in the afterlife. So stop flicking your whiskers, you old goat, and tell us where those children are.”

  Emma heard giggling and turned to see Kelly, her head leaned close to Fran’s, the two of them sharing a laugh. Heddy and Phil looked at each other, puzzled and eager to be let in on the joke.

  Alexander Dodd made a big show of shrugging his shoulders and looking hurt. He shot a look at Granny only to see she wasn’t budging on his overtures. Giving up, he said, “You follow this old wall here to where it ends. There’s a smallish clearing there, just
a few paces off, with a big old elm tree in the middle. That’s where I last saw them children.”

  After thanking Mr. Dodd, the party started walking along the broken wall, stepping over fallen stones and around trees that had grown up among the rubble. They followed it as it wound through the woods and low brush. While they walked, Kelly filled Heddy and Phil in on their conversation with Dodd.

  “So Granny’s hot stuff,” Phil said with a hearty laugh.

  “Go ahead and laugh, cowboy,” Granny said with a sniff, “but without me that old geezer might not have told you anything. I charmed it out of him.” The three mediums broke into giggles.

  They’d been walking about fifteen minutes when the wall abruptly stopped. Phil walked ahead a little bit to make sure the wall had ended and wasn’t just broken in that spot. “Looks like this is the end.”

  They all split off and examined the area on both sides of the wall, looking for a small clearing and a large elm.

  “I’m not even sure what an elm tree looks like,” said Kelly.

  “It looks just like that,” said Heddy, pointing to a large tree. “That’s an American elm, the state tree of Massachusetts.” She walked a few more steps. “And here’s another. And another.”

  “Yes, but here is a really big elm,” said Phil from several yards away. “And it’s in a clearing.”

  Everyone gathered around the huge tree. “This looks like a great picnic spot,” noted Heddy.

  “Or a grave site,” added Fran, “which I’ll bet it is.”

  “Shh,” said Emma, a finger to her lips. When everyone grew quiet, she called out, “Chester and Clarissa, are you here?” She turned a few feet. “Chester and Clarissa Brown. We’re here to take you to your family.”

  They all listened, hearing only the whisper of wind in the trees and the scurrying sounds of small living things in the brush.

  “Chester and Clarissa,” Emma tried again. “I’m the lady looking for you. The spirit woman Mr. Dodd told you about.” Emma motioned again for everyone to remain quiet. They all stood there, Phil with his good arm around Kelly’s shoulders, Fran and Heddy with their arms around each other. Emma and Granny remained in the clearing. They all stood and waited in silence. A minute later, Emma tried again. “Please come out, Chester and Clarissa. We’re here to help you.”

  “There,” said Kelly in an excited whisper. “There by that skinny bush.”

  They all turned in the direction Kelly indicated and soon the mediums and Granny saw two small images take shape.

  “That’s it, my sweets,” Fran crooned to the hazy outlines, taking a couple of slow steps forward. “We’re here to take you to your mother and father, so don’t be afraid.” The figures started taking on more definition and soon they could clearly see a boy and a girl. Emma recognized the Brown twins.

  “You can call me Granny,” Granny told the children. “I’m a spirit just like you.” She turned to the others. “These good people promised your family they would find you and bring you home.”

  “To Momma and Poppa?” asked the girl.

  “Yes, my sweets,” Fran confirmed. Kelly and her mother joined Fran close to the ghosts. “Some of us can see and hear you, but some cannot,” Fran explained, “but we’re all here to help you.”

  “Are you Clarissa and Chester Brown?” Emma asked, wanting confirmation.

  The boy nodded. “I’m Chester. This is my sister Clarissa.”

  “Where are you,” Emma asked, “when you’re not walking in the woods?”

  Chester and Clarissa exchanged looks, then Chester asked, “Do you mean where do we sleep?”

  “Yes, Chester,” Emma confirmed, “that’s what I mean.”

  Chester left his sister’s side and floated over to the edge of the small clearing where low bushes were creeping toward the tree, trying to claim the clearing. He pointed down to the ground.

  “Is that where the man put you?” Fran asked in a calm, soothing voice as she approached Chester.

  The boy nodded again. “A bad man.”

  “A very bad man,” Fran agreed. “Was it Mr. French? Did Mr. French put you there?” Again the boy nodded.

  “Chester, Clarissa,” Emma said to the children, “Granny is going to take you someplace away from here. She’s going to take you to your mother and father. Is that okay?”

  The little girl clapped her hands silently together, her ghostly face wreathed with joy. “Oh yes!” Her brother returned to her side, clearly just as happy.

  “Come now,” Granny said, going to them. “Come with me.”

  As the children started floating away, their images and the image of Granny Apples started fading. Just before disappearing, Clarissa Brown turned around and waved to them.

  “Where’s Heddy?” asked Fran after the children were gone.

  “I’m right here,” came Heddy’s voice from deeper in the woods. “I’ll be right back.”

  Everyone relaxed in the clearing, glad their mission had come to a successful end. Kelly wrapped Emma in a hug. “Thanks, Mom. I’m glad you were able to do that and I got to see it. It was so awesome.”

  Emma kissed her daughter’s cheek and returned the hug. “I’m just glad we were able to find the children. Their family probably saved our lives the other day.” Kelly tightened her grip on her mother.

  Heddy came out of the woods to rejoin them. In her arms was a collection of various small forest flowers and ferns. “Okay, now where did the children say they were buried?”

  “Right here, sweetheart,” Fran said, pointing to the spot Chester had indicated.

  With grunts and groans, Heddy lowered herself to a kneeling position and started artfully placing the flowers and ferns across the small area. When she was finished, Fran helped her back to her feet. “Even though this makeshift grave is over a hundred years old,” Heddy told everyone, “it still should be recognized and a word of prayer said over it.”

  Everyone joined hands and bowed their heads while Heddy said a short prayer over the grave.

  • CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE •

  EMMA squealed with delight when they got back to Misty Hollow and found Dr. Quinn Keenan in one of the rockers on the front porch. While she parked the car, he came down the steps to welcome them, much as Gino had just a few days ago. Both Emma and Phil gave him a hearty embrace, and so did Kelly.

  Emma turned to Kelly with a wide smile. “Is this our surprise?”

  “One of them,” Kelly said.

  “Hey, guys,” Quinn said with a laugh, “you didn’t have to hire a security team on my account. I’m sure my groupies would behave if asked nicely.” He pointed to a security guard posted at the end of the drive. The guard stood next to a Jeep that had been pulled across the driveway after Emma had pulled in. There was also a guard at the old house and one patrolling the grounds on foot. Across from the guard were a couple of paparazzi snapping photos. The news vans had left the day before. It was the price of fame, especially when the media smelled a possible scandal or murder.

  Quinn looked around, “Is Granny with you?”

  “Not right now,” Emma told him. “She’s on a very special errand, but she’ll be joining us tonight.”

  With Quinn was a tall, handsome young man. “Emma, Phil,” said Quinn, indicating the young man, “I don’t think you’ve met my son, Peter.”

  The young man held out his right hand to them. “It’s a pleasure. I’ve heard so much about you from Dad and Kelly.” Peter Keenan was as tall and strapping as his father, but with cocoa skin and black hair instead of ruddy skin and red hair, and with Quinn’s rugged jaw.

  “You’ve met Kelly before?” Emma was puzzled for a moment. “Oh, of course, you must have visited your father while Kelly was his intern.”

  “I did and am glad of it,” Peter said. “We’ve become very good friends.” He looked at Kelly and winked. “Even
more than good friends.” Now Emma was even more puzzled. She was sure that Quinn had told her that his son was gay.

  “Hey, look who’s back from ghost wrangling,” called Tanisha Costello, coming out the front door. She yelled back into the house, “Marta, tell my dad he can start cooking. They’re back and I’m starved.”

  “Gino’s cooking?” Phil asked with concern. “Are we having bacon and eggs for lunch?”

  “No,” laughed T, as they all came up the stairs and headed into the house. “Dad is also great with a grill. He uncovered the big grill on the back deck and fired it up.”

  As she passed T, Emma stopped and leaned in. “Did you and your father have a good talk this morning?”

  In response, T gave Emma a big hug. “Yes, about everything, including my mother. Thank you.”

  They were all seated at the patio tables enjoying grilled burgers, both beef and veggie, along with potato salad, green salad, and an assortment of cookies and brownies.

  “Marta,” Emma said to the housekeeper, who clucked over them like a mother hen, “I can’t believe you had time to bake all these goodies.”

  “I didn’t, Mrs. Whitecastle,” Marta replied. “Mr. Costello picked them up at a bakery in town while you were gone. The rolls, too. They’re good, yah?” Marta was not only happy that everyone was safe and sound, and Vanessa and Leroy were out of the picture, but she had received news that her friend was improving.

  “They’re wonderful, Marta,” Emma told her truthfully, “but I’m sure yours are even better.”

  “I’m making a cake for tonight,” Marta told her as she put down a fresh pitcher of iced tea. “Best chocolate cake in the world.”

  “I’ll vouch for that,” Kelly said with enthusiasm.

  “And a big turkey dinner,” Marta added. “But don’t worry, Mrs. Whitecastle, there will be lobster and scallops, too. Mr. Costello told me you like scallops.”

  “Yes, but not fried, okay?” Emma said. “I think I’ve had my fill of fried food for a while. That last binge gave me heartburn.” Everyone laughed.