The Precipice

by Penny Goetjen

“I also had a dream. Could have been the same one as yours. I think it was your mother trying to show us what actually happened. She knew we were agonizing over it. You know, loved ones who have passed on have different ways of communicating with us. One way is through dreams. It is their way of helping us deal with our grief.”

  Elizabeth just looked at her grandmother in disbelief.

  “It’s true, dear. If you can resist becoming frightened when these things happen, they can be quite comforting.”

  Elizabeth went back to the images on the rocks in her dream. What an awful way to die…so the newspaper clippings she had dug out of the old desk in Cecelia’s room were about her parents. But one of the articles had a headline about three people being swept off the rocks, not two.

  Amelia continued. “At first, we thought all three of you had perished off the breakwater. You evidently were a little dazed after the incident, but somehow found your way back up to the inn. You slipped through the lobby unnoticed by anyone and went and hid in a closet in the rooms you shared with your parents. It took a while before anyone found you, so they were originally searching for three people. Someone from housekeeping finally opened the closet door and found you all bloody from your head lacerations and in a bit of shock.” As an aside she added, “We never did figure out why you hid in the closet so often.”

  Elizabeth was staring forward, looking like she was in a trance. “Aunt Cecelia.”

  “What?” She wasn’t sure she had heard correctly.

  “Aunt Cecelia.” She turned her head and looked directly into her grandmother’s face. Suddenly, her eyes filled with anger that had built up over the years. Her voice became firm and loud. “I hid in there because I felt safe… safe from Aunt Cecelia. She was always yelling at me when I was little. I hated it. I tried to stay away from her, but she always seemed to find me. The closet was my refuge from her.”

  Amelia was stunned. She wasn’t sure how to respond. “Lizzi…Cecelia is dead…She died before you were born.”

  Elizabeth eyes grew wide as she tried to understand what her grandmother was saying. “W-what?”

  “Cecelia died a long time ago. She wasn’t a very happy person to begin with, very bitter at the world, very self-conscious, suspicious of other people. She never married. She got sick one winter and she got really ornery. Her body never recovered. She was gone before spring. It was probably pneumonia. We didn’t really have all the medical resources back then like we do now. That was back in 1969.”

  This just wasn’t making any sense to Elizabeth. “How can this be?”

  “Well…I have heard that some of the guests over the years have reported seeing a ghostly figure of a woman from time to time. I thought perhaps that it was the young girl who died at the school. I suppose it could have been Cecelia.”

  Elizabeth’s mind was reeling. She was having trouble grasping everything her grandmother was sharing with her. She took a deep breath. Her great aunt was just a ghost? Her parents had died on the very rocks she had crossed so many times as a child and, yet, she had somehow survived? It didn’t seem fair. But then again, so many things in life weren’t.

  “Elizabeth, I am so sorry. I know this must be so hard to hear. I never knew when the right time would be to tell you so I kept postponing it. I’m sorry.” She gazed at her beautiful granddaughter whom she had raised from an adorable preschooler to a beautiful, young woman. She was as proud of her as if she were her own daughter. She just wished she wasn’t racked with guilt over Lizzi’s less than joyful childhood and the years it took her to tell her the truth. At least, now, it was out in the open and she would just have to try to help her accept it.

  Elizabeth was finally able to speak. “Nana, I love you so much. I know that it was hard for you to tell me.” She swallowed hard, almost choking on her emotions. “It was a bit of a shock to hear.” She took hold of both of her grandmother’s hands and looked deeply into her eyes. Her face looked drawn and worried.

  The strength of the wind was picking up again. It was time to brace for the other half of the hurricane.

  “Thanks for telling me, Nana.” She hugged her grandmother like she had never hugged her before. Amelia needed that.

  Then Elizabeth had a thought. “Nana…why did you come down to the lighthouse instead of going to the shelter?”

  “Oh, Lizzi. You were supposed to go off to the shelter and not worry about me.” She looked sideways at her granddaughter. “I couldn’t imagine leaving the inn even if a hurricane was coming. I thought I would stay with the ship, like your grandfather had done, and go down with it, if necessary. I had never left it before. I’ve seen this place through good times and bad. And there have been a lot of bad. I told Kurt and Rashelle that I would get a ride from you—”

  “And you told me that you were going with them.” She was starting to get annoyed with her grandmother.

  “Precisely.” She wasn’t going to let her Lizzi give her a hard time. This was her decision. “I realized that the safest place for me to ride it out would be here. So I managed to get down here before it got too rough.” She thought for a moment and then admitted, “It was a bit scary until you showed up!”

  Elizabeth couldn’t believe her grandmother was willing to die with the inn. Of course, that thought made her feel hypocritical. Thank God she had been there. It would have been certain death for her if her grandmother hadn’t been at the lighthouse to open the door for her.

  Elizabeth and her grandmother settled in again to weather the tail of the storm.

  Chapter 26

  The Pennington duo huddled close together as the wind howled loudly outside. Suddenly, there was a thunderous crash against the wall of the lighthouse behind them. It made them jump. Sitting on the floor across from the sturdy wooden door, they watched in horror as water started to seep under it. Quickly, grandmother and granddaughter jumped to their feet, gathering the blankets that had been cushioning their seat on the floor, and scrambled for the circular stairway. Elizabeth helped guide her Nana up the first few steps. Amelia ascended slowly, trying to be careful not to lose her footing. The old steps can trip you up very easily. They got narrower the closer you stepped toward the center column and if you weren’t keeping an eye on where you were placing your feet, you could take a misstep that would be very painful.

  Water rose quickly on the ground level. Before Elizabeth could reach the first step, she was ankle deep, one sneakered foot and the other one bare. Amelia and Elizabeth climbed a dozen or so steps before they turned around and sat down on the narrow planks of wood, a couple steps apart from each other, on the widest part of their steps. They huddled with the blankets around their shoulders, watching the water rising up the steps. After a while, it seemed to be receding, but the next big wave against the fortress brought more water inside. How far would it rise? Would the lighthouse remain steadfast in the storm? Amelia and Elizabeth were praying it would.

  ____________

  After nearly a half an hour of being perched on the narrow steps of the circular stairway watching the water rise and recede, Amelia spoke, “Lizzi, there is something else I need to tell you.” She looked as though she couldn’t wait any longer to get it off her chest. Elizabeth turned her head upward, looking expectantly at her grandmother. What else could she have to say? This can’t be good.

  “Lizzi…there may be a problem trying to hang on to this place.”

  “What?!” Elizabeth’s gasp was drowned out by the roar of the storm. She banged the back of her head against the metal railing as she reeled back. The knot she had received earlier in the tunnel started to throb again. She rubbed around it to relieve the pain.

  “Elizabeth, I may not really be a Pennington.” Amelia was looking down at her feet as if ashamed.

  Elizabeth could scarcely comprehend what her grandmother was trying to tell her.

  “Yo
u see, when I was little—and that was so many years ago. I was probably around four or five.” She looked into Elizabeth’s eyes, “…about the age you were when you lost your parents.” Elizabeth felt a nasty tug in her abdomen. “Well my parents, evidently, were having trouble getting along. I don’t remember much of it. I just remember a lot of yelling. Finally, they decided that the three of us would be better off if they split up. I don’t even know if they ever got divorced. That just wasn’t very common back then. So, I imagine, they argued about who would have custody of me. In all their wisdom, they decided I would decide who I would live with. A tremendous burden to put onto a small child. To do this, they took me for a ride to the shore, to the Pennington Point Lighthouse. Back then, the public could access the trails to the lighthouse during the summer months when school wasn’t in session. There were more trails back then, including one through the woods that brought you out further down the access road.

  So my parents decided to walk down to the bluff with me and leave me there. I was to decide who I was going to leave with. One waited at the top of the trail through the woods and the other waited at the top of the only trail that exists now. I was to decide and walk to the top of the trail where that parent was waiting. I must have agonized over the decision and took too long because neither parent was there when I got there. I don’t remember which one I tried first, but neither was waiting for me. Each must have figured I had chosen the other and given up.”

  Elizabeth couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Oh, Nana, how awful.” A small, warm tear rolled down her cheek.

  Amelia looked down at her granddaughter, not really acknowledging her reaction, “So I must have wandered the property searching for my parents. It got dark and I ended up spending the night in the woods. By morning, I was in shock, partly traumatized over the whole situation.” Amelia’s eyes started to fill with tears. “I’ve often wondered if they really just abandoned me.”

  “Oh, Nana! No!” Elizabeth jumped up and hugged her grandmother with all her might. “That isn’t true!” They embraced while the wind howled and the waves crashed outside.

  Finally they pulled apart and Elizabeth sat back down on the narrow step, taking a moment to glance at the water creeping up the steps. It had crept a few steps closer to them. Amelia pulled the blanket tighter around herself and continued. “Evidently the couple who owned the school, the Penningtons, found me and took me in. I don’t know if I could even tell them my name. They pieced together my story from what I could tell them. They probably searched for my parents, but if they had gone their separate ways thinking I was with the other parent, they wouldn’t have realized I was missing.” She paused to gather her thoughts. She let out an inaudible sigh before continuing. “So when I say they took me in, that’s what they did. They took care of me. I used the last name of Pennington because they never knew what my real name was. But they never really officially adopted me.” She let her last comment sink in for a minute.

  Elizabeth was getting it. If Amelia wasn’t really a Pennington, then neither was she. Perhaps neither of them possessed legal claim to the property. She felt as if the ground was collapsing beneath her feet.

  Amelia went on. “The Penningtons were such nice people. They had two children of their own. A boy and a girl, both were a few years older than me. After we were all grown, I grew very close to the Pennington boy.”

  Elizabeth thought she knew where this was going.

  “Things ran their course and, eventually, we fell in love. He asked me to marry him. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Of course, there were people who thought we were brother and sister when, in fact, we were no relation at all. We just happened to live under the same roof for many years. His sister was one of those people who opposed the marriage—always has.”

  “Aunt Cecelia…”

  “Yes, Cecelia.” Amelia looked like she was thinking carefully before she continued.

  Suddenly a thought crossed Elizabeth’s mind. “But, Nana, if you were married to the Penningtons’ son, then doesn’t that make you a Pennington, at least by marriage?”

  “In theory, yes. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a copy of our marriage license and the files at town hall don’t go back far enough. No one seems to be able to put their hands on a copy. This was an awful lot of years ago.”

  “So, why do you have to worry about that? You know you were married to him. Isn’t that enough?”

  “Not when this real estate attorney says he has proof that I don’t rightfully own it.”

  “What!” The howling winds and the crashing waves were taking a back seat to their conversation.

  “He claims that he has definitive proof and that I would be better off selling the property to him at a reasonable price than to lose it outright.”

  “Nana, this guy sounds like an extortionist. He can’t have anything on you. This is absolutely ridiculous!”

  “Well, I have no proof that I do own it.” Her head hung low. She looked exhausted and defeated.

  “Nana, don’t you worry another minute about this. I will figure out a way to get this guy off your back. You certainly do own this inn.”

  Amelia perked up a bit. She sat up straighter and a slight smile crossed her face. “Well, let’s see if we even have one after this storm passes through.” She managed a little chuckle. So much was out of her control. Everything was slipping through her aging, frail fingers. She was trying very hard to fight back the tears. She didn’t want her granddaughter seeing her falling to pieces. She wrapped her arms around herself, closed her eyes, and took deep breaths. Her little Lizzi sensed she was trying to be strong, so she scooted up as close as she could to her on the step above and put her arms around her wonderful grandmother. She had been carrying a lot on her shoulders all her life and even more so lately.

  The two Penningtons stayed cuddled in this position for what seemed like an eternity, as if the clocks of the world had stopped, but the wind and the waves were going to go on forever. Amelia had switched roles with Elizabeth. Once the strong matriarch of the Pennington family, now she was feeling her strength waning and her granddaughter was stepping into her shoes. She had every confidence that Lizzi would take care of everything. Liz had always been a strong, young lady, who went after what she wanted, and had grown into a young woman who usually got what she wanted.

  Elizabeth held tightly to her grandmother. Her head slid onto Lizzi’s shoulder. She just smiled. She was going to take care of her. She would make it all better. Amelia’s eyes opened. “Lizzi, I love you. You have grown into a wonderful, beautiful person. Your parents would be so proud of you. I’m so proud of you.” Liz struggled to hear her soft voice. “Thank you for everything you have done…everything you will do.”

  Elizabeth looked down on her like a parent looks upon her young child. Amelia’s eyes were getting too heavy. She was struggling to keep them open. This whole ordeal had been too much for her. Slowly her eyes closed. Elizabeth figured she could use the rest. Amelia’s body suddenly got very heavy for her to support. It was hard for her to hold her onto the step.

  “No...Oh, Nana, no!” Elizabeth couldn’t believe this was happening. A large tear ran down her cheek. She didn’t think she could feel any sadder. At that moment, she felt a gentle squeeze on her shoulder. Someone knew she needed some shoring up. It was going to take everything she had to hold onto her grandmother through the rest of the storm.

  Chapter 27

  Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes to the stillness that filled the dimly lit lighthouse. Sunlight pierced through the small dirty windows that punctuated the walls. The storm had finally passed. It was a new day. She turned to look to the step below and realized her grandmother wasn’t there. Trying to hold onto her throughout the entire night had proven too difficult for Elizabeth. At some point, she must have let go when she lapsed into inevitable sleep, unaware
that she had lost her grip. In the cruel reality of daylight, she turned her gaze toward the bottom of the stairway and looked in horror. There was Amelia in a lifeless heap on the lighthouse floor. Elizabeth leapt to her feet.

  “Nana!” She stumbled down the stairs landing awkwardly at the bottom, her legs sore and stiff from perching on the steps for so long. Her knees started to buckle so she gave into them and knelt next to her grandmother. Fortunately the water had receded from the floor of the lighthouse, but it was still wet and slippery. “Oh, Nana. I am so sorry I let you fall! I just couldn’t….I’m sorry.” An image of her grandmother rolling down the stairs started to cross her mind so she shook her head to clear the thought before she actually saw her land at the bottom. She reached out and gently touched Amelia’s arm. She couldn’t believe she was gone. “I’m so sorry….” Elizabeth pressed her eyes closed for a moment.

  Elizabeth’s mind was racing, trying to figure out what to do next. She needed to get them both out of there. She needed to get help. But since there was no one at the inn, help was a long way away. Leaning over, she kissed Amelia on the cheek. It was not the soft, warm face that she was used to feeling when they embraced. It made her pause. She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to shore up her emotions. Gingerly she stood up and hobbled toward the door. Elizabeth knew it was going to take everything she had to open it, so she put the left side of her body against the old wooden door and pushed. At first it didn’t give so she moved her feet slightly away from the door to give her more leverage. Another heartier push made the door move outward, letting sunlight flood into the base of the lighthouse. Elizabeth turned for one last look at her grandmother and then slipped through the opening, her eyes squinting against the bright sun. She paused for a moment as they adjusted to the extreme change in light. Then she thought of the uncomfortable bulge in her pants pocket. She wondered if her cell phone could have survived her treacherous trip out to the lighthouse at the beginning of the storm. Sliding her hand into her pocket, she struggled to pull it out of her still soggy pants. It looked like it was unscathed. She willed it to work and then flipped it open. Nothing. No lights. No sounds. It was dead. Elizabeth’s heart sank. Getting help was going to be more difficult than she had thought. Disgusted, she shoved the phone back into her pocket and started her trek back across the rocky breakwater.