The Witches Ladder

by Wendy Wang

  “Any room for me?” Ben asked. He glanced into Jen's face. Her cheeks heated when their eyes met.

  “Sure. Billy, would you mind switching places with . . .” Charlie started.

  Lisa grabbed her cousin's wrist, squeezing it tight.

  “Ow.”

  Jen and Lisa both threw a questioning look at Charlie. “What?”

  “No,” Lisa mouthed.

  Charlie scowled and whispered harshly, “Stop it. I'm not moving if that's what you're worried about.”

  Music began to play indicating the service would begin soon. Billy scooted toward Charlie forcing everyone to move down so Ben could take a seat on the end of the of the pew.

  “Good morning,” the minister began. “We are here today to honor our sister in Christ, Debra Duguid.”

  Lisa relaxed a little and sat farther back in the pew. Jen glanced down the row at Ben. He was not paying attention as the minister droned on and on about what a valued citizen Debra was. Ben seemed to be scanning the crowd. Jen swept her gaze across the sanctuary. What was he looking for? Or maybe a better question was . . . who?

  Jen saw Charlie stiffen in her seat and lean forward. The temperature of the room dropped despite all the warm bodies and then the overhead lights flickered. A soft murmur spread through the church and Ben stood up and slipped out of the sanctuary.

  “Sorry, Lisa,” Charlie said softly just before she rose from the pew and followed him. A moment later two bulbs exploded raining slivers of white glass onto the crowd below and the rest of the room went dark.

  Chapter 15

  When Debra Duguid marched into the sanctuary and began to tell off her husband Charlie knew she was dealing with an unpredictable spirit. When the lights started to explode she shifted to being dangerous. As the security lights flickered on, Charlie slipped out of the sanctuary to find Ben. They needed a plan and fast, only this time she didn't have a God's-eye cross with her to trap the spirit. She would have to do something she hated thinking about. She would have to rely on Ben to trap the spirit. But first she needed to talk to the dead woman.

  “Charlie?” a familiar voice said. Charlie turned to find Tom approaching.

  “What are you doing here?” She asked.

  “I'm the funeral director. Remember?”

  “Right,” Charlie said shaking her head. “By the way, Deborah Duguid just walked into the sanctuary and blew out the lights.”

  “All right,” Tom said. “I'll have to go change and capture her.”

  “No, wait I need to talk to her.” Charlie said.

  “About what?” Tom asked.

  “I need to understand exactly how she died,” Charlie said. “It's important.”

  Shouting came from inside the sanctuary and the door flew open and mourners with panic written all over their faces began to flood out.

  “I'll see what I can do,” Tom said. “Right now, I need to talk to the minister so that we can get this mess under control.”

  “Fine. I'll see if I can find her,” Charlie said. She pushed her way through the crowd to the stairway on the side of the lobby leading to the upper balcony seats overlooking the sanctuary. Once upstairs, she approached the railing to get a better view of the darkened church. The last of the attendees had left and only Tom and the minister remained in the middle of the long aisle up to the pulpit. The only light coming in was from tall windows on each side of the building and a large abstract stained-glass window behind the pulpit. The church had lost the original window in hurricane Hugo almost 30 years ago. The purples and reds and yellows and blues of the current window were beautiful, but they couldn't compare to the original, which was over 100 years old. Charlie scanned the sanctuary for any sign of Debra's spirit but there was no shadow, no flicker, no odd light to indicate her presence. Still the sanctuary remained cold. Charlie listened as Tom and the funeral director decided to move the casket and finish the service at the graveside. Perhaps Charlie would have luck finding Debra in the cemetery behind the church.

  As she contemplated all this, like an unexpected shock of cold water to the face, suddenly the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Charlie inhaled a deep breath, listened for a sign. Had someone opened a window? A hidden hole in the roof allowed in a rush of icy wind? Her heartbeat ramped up, her brain's code for danger. Charlie never lied to herself; she knew what it was.

  Slowly she turned and found herself face to face with the spirit of Debra Duguid.

  “I know you,” Debra said. “You're Evangeline Ferrebe's niece, aren't you?”

  In life Debra Duguid had been intimidating. In the early seventies, she'd been a beauty queen and she never let anyone forget it. Even at sixty she left home perfectly coiffed, eyes made up, and dressed to the nines. Charlie could never remember the woman without her signature pink lips.

  In death Debra had transformed to something altogether different. She emanated a dark energy. Anger and sadness rolled off of her in waves and crashed over Charlie, making her nauseous. Charlie swallowed back the sour taste that filled her mouth.

  “Yes, I am,” Charlie said.

  “We were rivals when we were young,” Debra said. “Martin chased her and I chased Martin. I thought for sure he was gonna be in love with Evangeline forever. But she was such a tease. Then she met Ronnie Ferrebe and that was that. Martin turned to me for comfort, and I got the life I wanted.”

  Debra's face darkened. “I was not ready to die.”

  “I know,” Charlie said. “None of us want to go, Ms. Duguid. But they're still good things that could happen to you.”

  “I thought there would be a light or tunnel or something. But it's just been torture instead. All the things.” Debra said. “You know all the things, good and bad.” Her lips quivered and if Debra could have shed tears, Charlie knew she would have.

  “I know,” Charlie said. “I know. That can still happen. But before it does, Before you leave for the next world. I need to know more about the day you died.”

  Debra glided backwards, her hand drifting up to her throat. “I don't want to remember.”

  “I know this is painful and I'm so sorry, but someone cursed you. That's why you died, and I need find that person, so I can stop them from ever doing it again. Please Ms. Duguid. If you help me I will make sure you see that light.”

  A loud keening sound resonated, making Charlie's ears ache and her teeth hum. She clapped her hands over her ears to stop the sound, but it didn't help. It was as if the sound was coming from inside her head. Debra continued to wail and the sound swirled around Charlie's head. She swayed with dizziness.

  The hymnals that had been laid out on the pews began to fly across the balcony, landing on the seats below. Charlie tried to duck but one of the hymnals struck her in the side of her head, knocking her off balance. Her hip hit the old wooden balcony and it shimmied and creaked against her weight.

  “You there!” The minister called. “Stop that right now.” A hymnal sailed over the railing and he dove out of the way just in time to avoid being hit. The book landed on the back of one of the benches, its cover ripping away from the delicate yellowed paper of the old book. Another hymnal struck Charlie in the shoulder and she swiped out at it. She quickly ducked down behind the long, polished benches next to the railing. For a brief second, she wished she still had her pentacle to protect her.

  “Ms. Duguid,” Charlie said. “Please, stop. Talk to me. Let me help you.”

  A loud cracking sound thundered through the sanctuary. And the pew Charlie was hiding behind lifted into the air. And hovered over her head. Charlie stared at the long wooden bench, paralyzed. Thinking of the words Debra had said to her. I was not ready to die.

  “Hey, Debra.” Ben's voice boomed across the balcony. “Put that bench down.”

  His words broke Charlie's paralysis and she scrambled from beneath the bench just as Debra dropped it onto the floor. It cracked down the center and sagged. Ben pulled something from his pocket and tossed it at Debra's apparition. The o
ld woman screamed and disappeared.

  Ben was kneeling next to Charlie a moment later. “Are you okay?”

  Charlie was almost touched by the concern in his face. “Yeah, I'm fine.” She touched the tender skin around the growing goose egg on the side of her head. “Was that salt?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I usually keep some on me. We should probably get you some, too. And maybe some sort of protection pendant.”

  “I think that's a great idea,” Charlie said. Ben got to his feet and helped Charlie to hers.

  “Looks like we may have lost her for now,” Ben said. “Were you able to get any information out of her?”

  “Nothing that really made sense. She seems to be doing nothing except thinking about the past and she said that she had seen it all. I'm not sure what that meant.”

  “I'm no expert on spirits. But there are some cultures that believe that when you die you have all the knowledge in the world. At your fingertips so to speak. You know every thought that people had about you and you know every deed and misdeed you did and that people did to you. Maybe she's seen something that's devastated her.”

  “Her husband is supposedly having an affair,” Charlie said. “His daughter knew but I don't think his wife did.”

  “Well my guess is she knows now,” Ben said.

  “She's pissed and sad,” Charlie said. “Her emotions made me physically sick. I thought I was going to throw up.”

  “Where would you go? If you just learned everything you believed about your world was a lie?” Ben asked.

  “I would probably go and confront the person at the heart of the lie,” Charlie said.

  “Exactly,” Ben said. “And where would that be.”

  “Home,” Charlie said. “I bet you Debra went home.”

  Chapter 16

  Charlie and Ben joined the small crowd standing around Debra's grave. After the strange happenings, half of the parking lot had cleared out. Only her cousins and Debra's closest friends and family remained. Charlie observed the way the minister held his Bible tightly against his chest as he spoke about Debra and what a pillar of the community she was. She also noticed Josh Helms standing next to Kristin holding her hand. Charlie scanned the cemetery for any sign of Debra. But the woman's spirit didn't reappear. Jen moved through the crowd and sidled up next to Charlie.

  “Are you all right?” Jen whispered.

  “Yeah,” Charlie nodded. “I'm okay. Debra's not though. She got a little upset.” Charlie turned her head so her cousin could see the faint blue bruise at her temple.

  “Stars above,” Jen said softly.

  “Yes, she made a mess in the balcony. I wasn't too keen to go to the reception but now I need to go.” Charlie said

  “okay,” Jen said. “What about Ben?” Jen mouth his name.

  “Jury still out but I may have been wrong about him” Charlie said. Ben leaned forward and gave Jen a smile and a little wave. She bristled and shifted her gaze forward.

  When the minister finished, Tom stepped up in his best black suit. He took the electronic box that would lower the casket into the grave and pressed the button. Kristin pressed her forehead against Josh's shoulder and he slipped his arm around her and let her cry against him. The electronics squealed as the casket got closer to the bottom of the grave. Tom looked into the grave. He gave the minister an awkward smile and pressed the button again. A moment later a loud crash came from inside the grave as Debra's casket dropped the last 2 feet. The crowd backed away from the grave and the minister gave Tom a mortified look.

  “I'm so sorry,” Tom said. “I've never had anything like this happen before.”

  “She's here somewhere,” Charlie whispered into Ben's ear.

  He nodded. “Let's see what she does.”

  Charlie continued to look around, hoping to see Debra's spirit reappear. What caught her eye was a blue dress. Charlie squinted her eyes trying to figure out if it was a real woman or an apparition standing in the shadow of the woods at the edge of the cemetery. She nudged Jen with her elbow.

  “Do you see her?” she whispered. “Under the oak trees over near the fence.”

  “That's Melinda Helms,” Jen said.

  “Why is she standing over there?” Charlie asked.

  “Why do you think? Her husband has his arm around another woman. Separated or not, it's still humiliating,” Jen said.

  “Yeah, exactly. Melinda's never been one to wallow in humiliation.” Charlie said.

  “Well she's also never ended a marriage. People do all kinds of things when relationships end,” Jen said.

  “Yes, they do,” Charlie said.

  The minister asked everyone to bow their heads and he said a quick prayer for the peaceful rest of Debra Duguid's soul. The crowd dispersed, and Charlie glanced over her shoulder one last time at the woods where Melinda Helms had stood. A cold finger touched her heart sending a shiver through her. Melinda was gone.

  Once they got to the parking lot Charlie and Jen went their separate ways. Ben trailed behind Charlie.

  “You want to ride with me or you want to follow me?” Charlie asked.

  “I'll drive my bike, thanks,” Ben said.

  “Okay, have it your way. I may be a few minutes late, though. I need to stop at The Pig and get some salt.”

  “Good idea,” Ben chuckled. “I'll keep my eye out for Debra to get there.”

  “That's fine. But whatever you do don't put her in that amulet of yours. I need to talk to her.”

  “No problem. I can't put the second spirit into it anyway, not until I cleared out the spirit of Tony Smoak. I need to talk about it with that reaper friend of yours and see if he can help me out with that. “

  “Good idea,” Charlie said as she unlocked her car and got in. Ben climbed onto his motorcycle and adjusted his gear. He drove away as she fastened her seatbelt and watched Josh and Kristen walk across the parking lot. A large black SUV pulled out of a parking space and sped past them. Horns blared as it turned onto the road without slowing down for the oncoming traffic.

  Chapter 17

  The ride to the mayor's house was quiet and Charlie savored her alone time. On the seat next to her was a paper bag with two large cartons of salt inside. Just in case. She turned into the mayor's neighborhood admiring the perfectly manicured lawns of St. Augustine grass. The azaleas had faded by mid-April but there were still neat little rows of daffodils standing guard around the bases of flowerbeds and trees. It wouldn't be long before the heat made them fade, too, and summer annuals like mounding petunias would replace them. She glanced toward the blur of perfectly landscaped yards. She took a curve around a large pond and began to see the cars parked along the side of the road.

  “I didn't mean to get so upset,” a voice said from her back seat. It startled Charlie so badly she slammed on the brakes leaving a trail of black on the asphalt and the acrid scent of burning rubber stung her nose. Charlie glanced into the rearview mirror and she realized she still had not spirit-proofed her car. Her hand flew to her chest.

  “You scared the crap out of me, Ms. Duguid,” Charlie snapped without thinking.

  “I apologize. It's just very overwhelming to realize that you're dead,” Debra said. Charlie pulled her car over to the side of the road and put it in park. She turned and stared at the spirit sitting in her back seat. Debra fiddled with the pearls around her neck. A habit she must've had in life.

  “I imagine it is,” Charlie said. “You said something about seeing everything. What did you mean by that?”

  “Exactly the way it sounds. Everything seems to just open up and you know things about people. Private things,” she said, her voice filled with sadness. I don't think were meant to know these things. I certainly didn't want to.”

  “What do you know?” Charlie asked.

  “It doesn't matter now. I'm dead and there's nothing I can do about it.”

  “That's not quite true,” Charlie said. “There are things you can do. Things that will help you deal wi
th this new knowledge I think.”

  “Please,” Debra said sounding a little desperate. “I'll do anything if it will make this stop.”

  “Tell me about the day you died. Do you remember what happened?”

  Debra's lips curved into a smile but there was nothing warm or inviting about it. Instead it made Charlie's heart ache.

  “Yes, I remember. For the first time in fifteen years I got flowers from my husband.”

  When Debra finished her story, her chest expanded as if she was taking a deep breath. “How amazing,” she muttered. “There's a light.”

  Charlie nodded her head. “You should go toward it.”

  “It's so bright,” Debra said. “It's like looking at the sun but without being burned.”

  Charlie opened her mouth to encourage Debra again, but the spirit disappeared before she could. “Rest in peace, Debra.”

  Charlie tucked one of the cartons of salt into her purse, got out of the car and walked up the street towards the mayor's house. As she drew closer she saw Ben leaning against one of the brick posts on the side of the driveway. “What took you so long?”

  “I had to stop for supplies,” she said. She opened her bag, so he could see the round blue carton.

  “Very good,” he said.

  “I had a visitor on my way over.”

  “Who?” Ben asked as they made their way up the driveway to the large antebellum house overlooking the river.

  “Debra Duguid. She's moved on by the way. So there won't be any need to trap her.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said that the day she died she received flowers and inside the flowers was a box with a bracelet made from onyx and gold beads.” Charlie said.

  “A classic cursed object. A piece of jewelry,” Ben said.

  “Yep,” Charlie said. “That's exactly what I thought. My question, though, is, was it really for Debra?”