Return to Seven Sisters

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Return to Seven Sisters Page 30

by M. L. Bullock


  “The night Max died, did you see him?”

  That was an easy question to answer. “Yes, I saw him, Father.”

  “Did you two argue? Did Max strike you or hurt you in any way?” A cloud of cigar smoke hid Father’s face briefly.

  “No, Father. I did not argue with Max.”

  Father thought about that question a minute and asked another. They were slow questions, so they did not make me nervous. Not like the sheriff who hated me and was always teasing me about the ghost in the jail. Old Nothing was the ghost’s name. He’d hanged himself in that jail, and nobody ever knew his name, so they called him Old Nothing. After Barnum had told me that story many times, I began to see Old Nothing hanging from the bars. I screamed and cried, but Barnum did nothing except laugh. And the other men…they did much worse when they could get to me.

  “Who did Max argue with, son?”

  “Only Mama. She can tell you all about it, Father. Yes, she can explain it all. I did not argue with Max; he was my friend, but Memphis does not like him. She says he hurt her once. I will have to talk to him about it.” I felt nervous now. I had not thought about that before, but Max was dead. I did not really want to talk to him now. What would I tell Memphis?

  “Your Mama argued with Max the night you left with Memphis?”

  “Yes. Are you mad at me, Father?” I slid off the bed and sat on the floor beside his chair, ready to cry. If Father was mad at me and I had no Memphis, I would have no one in the world.

  “Jonatan, you are my son, a Delarosa. Please, listen to me. Tonight, when the sun goes down and the sky is dark, you will leave this place and go with Memphis.”

  I clapped my hands in excitement. Father did not clap, just kept his face straight, no smiles, no frowns. This was how I knew this was very important. I could tell he wanted me to really listen. So I did.

  “Memphis is my wife, Father.”

  “Yes, she is your wife,” Father said patiently. “Listen to me now. You take this bag. Yes, it is my leather bag. You take this bag to Memphis. She will know what to do.”

  “But how will I go to Memphis? The deputy is outside my door, isn’t he? He will not let me leave.” I frowned and then asked, “Are we going to trick him, Father?”

  “There is no deputy at your door. Not yet. But I want you to use the secret door.” Father stood up and pushed on the wall panel, revealing Max’s secret room. So he knew about this all the time! “Go out here, take the stairs down and do not go up to the attic. You will go out the servants’ door and run to the Moonlight Garden. Memphis will be waiting for you by the Atlas statue. Do you understand?”

  “Memphis is at the Atlas statue? Should I go now?” I knew I gave the wrong answer to his question, but I could not hide my excitement. I would see Memphis soon!

  “No, you cannot go now. You must wait until dark and then go through the secret door and go downstairs. Go to the servants’ door and then go to the Moonlight Garden. Repeat it, Jonatan.”

  I sighed and smiled. I knew how to do this. I would repeat it until I remembered it. I had a good memory, really, I did. I could remember lots of things like open the right side of the door for ladies, the left side for gentlemen. I remembered to unfold the napkin in my lap and drink only one glass of wine. I remembered to keep quiet when I did not know what to say and smile no matter what happened.

  That had not worked at the jail.

  I would not smile anymore.

  “I must go now, Jonatan. I have to speak with your Mama.”

  “Father, if you leave, Max will come. He is bloody and has no face except his eyes. Please do not leave me, Father.” I grabbed his hand, but he did not scold me.

  “Lafonda is on the way with food. Why don’t you lie down until she comes up? Be kind to her, Jonatan. She loves you. Do not harm her or I will let Max get you.” With that threat, he hugged me and left me alone. As soon as he was out of the room, Max’s face appeared, hanging in the air like a ball. I jumped on the bed clutching my father’s leather bag and pulled the covers over my head.

  I counted to twenty over and over again until I heard footsteps on the floor. Wet footsteps. Like someone who had taken a bath and had not dried off, or someone who had blood on their feet! “Go away, Max! Go away from here! I did not kill you! Go haunt someone else!” I pulled the white sheet even tighter and to my horror saw bloody handprints on it. Max was on top of me, and his blood must have seeped through the covers. Just as I was about to scream, I passed out.

  When I woke again, the room was much darker and I could smell food. Slowly, I pulled back the covers and found Lafonda sleeping in the chair by the door. I took the cover off the silver tray she’d left by my bed and saw it held three croissants and a crock of honey. I gobbled them up in a flash and drank all the milk too. Suddenly, my sister woke up.

  She smiled at me, but I did not smile back. Max was standing behind her, and his hand was on her shoulder. Oh yes, he wants my sister. “Get away, Max. Leave Lafonda alone!” I growled as I charged him. Lafonda drew her arm up as if I would hurt her. Didn’t she understand that I had just saved her? I could see by her face that she did not.

  “Thank you for the food, Lafonda, but you must go. It is almost dark now. I need you to go.”

  “But I brought some cards. You like to play cards, brother. Let’s play a game.”

  “No, no games, Lafonda. You have to go before Max comes back.” I lied a little to my sister. I really wanted her to go because I didn’t want her to know I was leaving. Father did not say it was a secret, but it felt like one. Why else would I take the secret stairs?

  “But…Jonatan, I love you.” I quickly kissed her and handed her the tray. She glanced at the bed and then looked back at me. “That’s Father’s bag. What are you doing with it?” she asked.

  “Miss Fancy, I did not steal it. He gave it to me, so there.” I stuck my tongue out at her. She reached for it, perhaps to see what was inside, but I was too fast for her. “No, you cannot look inside. This is for Memphis; Father says so. Not for you, Miss Fancy.”

  She shook her head and said, “I see. I will leave, then. Have a nice trip, Jonatan.”

  “Thank you, I will.”

  “Jonatan, you cannot tell people you are going. You have to be careful. Do whatever it is Father told you. Please go as far away as possible, Jonatan. Go be with Memphis and never come back.”

  I did not see Max, and my heart was breaking now. “I will miss you, Miss Fancy. I love you more than all my bugs and toy soldiers.”

  “And I love you more than The Delarosa Compendium of Flowers and Plants.”

  “The Delarosa Flower Book,” I corrected her with a smile. “It is dark now, Lafonda. I have to go. Father says I have to go.”

  “You go, then, sweet brother. You run as far and as fast as you can. Run away. Be kind to Memphis and the baby.”

  I held her until her hair tickled my nose, then I opened the door and she walked out. I had to go now! Now, before Max came back and before anyone noticed I was gone. I had to leave. It would be dark in the secret passageway, but I could make it. I had to make it.

  Memphis was waiting!

  I closed the secret door behind me, which made the whole place very dark. One cracked doorway ahead of me shone some light into the hallway. I raced toward it and then down the stairs, then straight, and then I waited behind the hidden door next to the servants’ stairs. I peeked around the door but saw no one. Clutching the bag, I sprinted down the back steps. A servant girl saw me, but she did not give me away; she just curtsied and went in the other direction. I ran even faster now toward the Moonlight Garden. I turned back once and saw that nobody was chasing me. I laughed to myself. I cleared the first part of the maze, one statue and then another. I could not remember their names, but Lafonda knew them all.

  I was supposed to meet Memphis somewhere, but where? I was tempted to call out her name, to scream for her, but I did not. I ran for several minutes, my dark hair sweaty and sticking to my face now
. My fresh clothes were damp with sweat too. I would need another bath soon.

  There it was! There was Atlas! That was the statue! I did not see Memphis, but maybe she was late. It was possible. I forced myself to walk slowly now.

  Then I heard a voice calling me. It was Mama! “Jonatan, wait! Wait, my son! I must speak with you.”

  To my horror, I turned to see her hurrying toward me. She wore all black today as she sometimes did on sad days or church days. Was today a church day? But then I saw that she was not alone. Max was with her. His bloody hands were on her shoulders. He had her—she belonged to him.

  Suddenly, the picture changed. Max wasn’t behind Mama but lying on the ground in front of her. She had a knife in her hand. The blade flew down—she drove it down again and again. Max screamed as blood gurgled from his mouth, but Mama would not quit until he was dead.

  And then he vanished and my mother walked right over him as if she never saw him.

  Max showed me the truth, that Mama had killed him…and if I wasn’t careful, she would kill me too. As soon as she got close enough to me, I choked her. Max reappeared over her shoulder and whispered in her ear, but I did not care. I had to end this, to make her pay for Max so he would leave me be! I choked her hard until Max disappeared with a smile. “I did it, now go away! Go away! She is dead, Max! Go now!”

  I screamed at Mama, “You did murder! You murdered Max!” As I looked down at my handiwork, I was shocked to see that it wasn’t Mama lying on the ground. The lifeless body before me was not her at all.

  I had strangled my own Memphis.

  Memphis, my wife, was dead.

  And I had killed her.

  Chapter Sixteen—Carrie Jo

  “Carrie Jo? Babe? Wake up. We’ve got a problem. I think Jonatan followed us.”

  I was lying on the fainting couch in the Blue Room. How did we get in here? Oh yeah, dream walking. “You okay, Ash?”

  He appeared anxious, and he stuttered now. “Yessss, but there’s a problem. Jonatan is here…he came back with us. I think because of me.”

  I sat up and pushed my curls out of my face. “That’s not how dream walking works. They don’t come back with you; you go visit them,” I said, rubbing my face and struggling to stand up. I was discovering that dream walking very often left me weak.

  Ashland’s worried expression didn’t diminish. “Yeah, well-ll-ll, I’m not your average dream walker. I see ghosts, remember? Even in real life. I’m more of a psychic medium, really.”

  I gave a dry laugh. “You are admitting to being a psychic medium? As much as you dislike psychics…”

  He helped steady me as I stood up. “Yeah, well, I’ve learned a l-lot since then…”

  A crash in the hallway surprised me. “What the frick?” I said as we walked out into the hallway and looked around. One of the small statues had been broken—and on purpose. This wasn’t the kind that slipped off the shelf on its own. The bust of an angel lay on the floor in about a dozen pieces. Thankfully, it wasn’t valuable. “Now what do we do?”

  “I think I know. Let me try something, okay?”

  I nodded and kept my eyes peeled. Yeah, the air was thick in here.

  “Hey, Jonatan. My name is Ashland, and this is Carrie Jo. I know you are angry, but you cannot tear around and break things. This is our house now.”

  A door slammed and then another. Soon all the doors on the bottom floor were slamming. “Okay, point taken, Jonatan.” I whispered, “Are you sure it’s him, Ash?”

  He nodded his head at the front door. “Oh yeah. I can see him. Can’t you? I-I think he saw us watching him in the garden.”

  “No, I can’t see him at all, but he’s doing a number on the house. How can he see us, and how did he follow us to our time?”

  “No idea, Carrie Jo.” Suddenly a thunderous crash echoed from the empty ballroom.

  “Oh God! That was the chandelier!” We raced to the room, and sure enough, I was right. The chandelier was hanging awkwardly, and large sections of the crystals were scattered on the floor beneath it.

  “Babe, do you trust me?” Ashland asked.

  “Of course I do. What do you have in mind?”

  He held my hand and spoke to the empty room. “Jonatan, I know where Memphis is. She’s in the Moonlight Garden. I know it is dark out there, but she is still waiting for you. She has been waiting.”

  And then I could see the thin, silvery outline of Jonatan Delarosa standing in the doorway weeping. Forever guilty, forever confused, forever without Memphis. How was Ashland going to fix this? Could it be fixed? Were we fools to try?

  “Go to the garden, Carrie Jo. I want you to pretend to be Memphis,” Ashland whispered to me.

  “He strangled her the last time. What do you think he’ll do to me?”

  “He’s not going to hurt you. I’m going to be with you every step of the way. Every. Step. Go, and I will lead him out there. Go to the Atlas statue.”

  “Fine, but I better not die, Ashland Stuart, or I’m haunting you big time.”

  As I left the ballroom and headed for the garden, I heard Ashland talking in patient tones to Jonatan. “Trust me, Jonatan. I can take you to Memphis. She wants to see you. She has been waiting. Memphis knows it was all a mistake.”

  “Oh God, oh God, oh God,” I prayed nervously as I headed into the maze. What if Memphis didn’t show up? Could I blame her if she didn’t? I mean, Jonatan had killed her the last time. Would she forgive her mentally challenged husband who had been duped by the ghost of Max Davenport? Only one way to find out.

  “Memphis? Memphis Overstreet Delarosa, are you here? I have to talk to you. I know what happened to you,” I said as I walked the pathway as quickly as possible. I had not made it to the Atlas statue yet. “I know he killed you…but you have to know, Memphis, he did not mean it. Jonatan was tricked. Max made him think he was strangling his mother, not you. It was Jacinta who killed Max, not Jonatan. He was tricked. He never stopped loving you, Memphis. You were everything to him.” I suddenly stopped. Memphis was here now, her face glowing slightly beneath her soft gray cape hood.

  She was holding something in her hands…what was that? A cluster of red flowers, roses. Suddenly, she tossed them down to the ground and collapsed, just as she had been found when Jonatan murdered her. The blooms had been torn asunder, and her skin paled quickly in death. Even her lips faded.

  Then Jonatan came running into the maze. He found her immediately and fell down beside her. Ashland ran toward me, and we watched Jonatan weep over his wife. “What do we do, babe?” I whispered.

  He didn’t answer me but held my hand. Nobody else came. No Jacinta, no Max, no Lafonda, no Nobel. There was no one in the Moonlight Garden except Ashland, Jonatan, Memphis and me.

  “Memphis,” I whispered, “can you forgive him? Can you forgive Jonatan?”

  She did not answer me, but suddenly she was breathing again. Jonatan was kissing her and crying. She put her arms around his neck, and he picked her up. As they walked into the hedge, they began to fade and Memphis’ voice filled my ears. “Thank you,” she breathed as she laid her head on Jonatan’s shoulder.

  They would be together forever now, and nothing would separate them again.

  Ashland and I didn’t talk as we walked back to our house. We didn’t talk as we cleaned up the mess Jonatan’s ghost had left behind. But we didn’t complain either. We did what we had to do. I texted Detra Ann and told her we’d pick up Baby Boy in the morning. She sent something back, but I didn’t read it. I knew it would be just fine.

  We crawled into bed half undressed and went to sleep.

  Neither of us dreamed, and it was as it should be.

  Epilogue—Carrie Jo

  The dream did not want to allow me in. I could not understand why, but I continued. I stood outside Jonatan’s door, and nothing happened. Finally, I walked downstairs. Ashland was still sleeping, but I could not rest until I saw the end.

  “Please, Christine. If you can hear me, let me
in. I have to see Jonatan. Please, don’t interfere.”

  I heard her sigh, and the air around me suddenly shifted. I could see that I was in the ballroom now. I was with Lafonda and could hear her thoughts.

  Thank you, Christine!

  ***

  Mama laid Jonatan out in his birthday formal. His coffin was surrounded by dozens of candles; there were so many that the few well-wishers who came to the funeral could not get close to him. I had been sitting for hours in the cane-back chair. My legs were going numb, and my feet felt as if they were being poked with pins and needles. Lettie had tied my black boots far too tight, but I could not do anything for myself today.

  My brother had murdered Memphis, that much was true, and he had quickly been hanged for his crime. Max’s murder was no longer the most shocking murder at Seven Sisters. Jonatan had sealed his fate by not running from the garden. He had stayed with Memphis’ body all night. It wasn’t until the deputy began to search for Jonatan that he found him there with her, in such a state that he could no longer speak.

  “Stark raving mad. It’s a shame we let him return home. He has killed again. I should never have allowed it,” Barnum spat as he carried Jonatan away for the last time. Mama alone cried for him. I could not speak. Papa went inside and immediately began drinking.

  I waited with Jonatan’s body, but no one came to see him. No one was coming.

  What demons had driven him to kill the woman he loved? Oh, Jonatan. We failed you. We all failed you. I am sorry, my brother.

  My stomach felt sour and I needed to relieve my bladder, but I refused to leave my brother’s side. They would come for him soon. He would be buried in unholy ground, unblessed and forgotten. Murderers were not permitted entrance in any of the city’s graveyards, not Magnolia Cemetery or the larger one on Church Street. Papa decided he would be buried here at Seven Sisters, in an empty mausoleum. What did it matter? He was gone now.

  Suddenly, Philip was standing by me. I did not look up at him, but he offered me his hand. I held it but did not rise, and my eyes never left Jonatan.

 

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