Return to Seven Sisters

by M. L. Bullock

  But what about Calpurnia? How could I pull the plug on the activity now that she was back? Uncovering the truth about her disappearance had started me on this strange journey, and although we’d found some answers and met plenty of ghosts along the way, I’d never seen her again. Not here.

  Until now. I felt weepy, weepy and sentimental.

  You have to think about the kids, Carrie Jo. Put them first now.

  Funny how Momma’s voice popped in my mind whenever I needed to hear her. Whether it was my own heartfelt summoning of her memory or actually her, I knew she was right. I couldn’t help Calpurnia, not like she might want. She was dead and gone. Long dead. But my family, they needed me. I needed time to think about all this, to put the pieces together. It was just my luck that Calpurnia showed up just as Midas and Gulf Coast Paranormal were coming to help us get rid of ghosts. She was the last ghost I wanted to banish from this property. Maybe it wouldn’t come to that. Maybe.

  What about Lily’s room? Why was it so cold in there last night? While everyone was downstairs, I tiptoed across the hall and went to her room. Once upon a time, this had been Louis Beaumont’s room, but plenty of others had stayed here too. I examined the windows, but none were open and I didn’t feel any cool air coming through. I tugged at the window as a precaution, but it didn’t come loose. And come to think of it, it wasn’t cold outside last night anyway. I checked the floor vent too. There was nothing blocking it. Nothing at all. I paced around the room, then opened the closet and the toy box. I even checked under the bed…for what, I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t find any reason for the extreme cold we experienced last night. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to have professionals come check it out. I pattered back to my room and got ready for the day.

  By the time I got dressed and joined my family in the kitchen, our housekeeper, Kate, was cleaning up the breakfast plates and Ashland and the children were playing outside. It was a beautiful day. “Good morning, Mrs. Stuart. Would you like some eggs?”

  “No thanks. Coffee is all I need.” I eyed my husband from the window. So, Mister Secret Keeper. Time to spill the beans.

  “I made some fresh. Would you like me to pour you a cup?”

  I smiled at her and shook my head politely. “You look like you have your hands full with this mess. I’ve got it.”

  “What would you like for lunch today, Mrs. Stuart?”

  I watched Ashland and the kids playing in the side yard, tossing around a big blue ball. He was such a joyful person. It was nice to see him so happy. When was the last time he’d stuttered or walked with a limp? It had to be a few months now. Hopefully his improved health was permanent. But still, I didn’t like the fact that he had been seeing ghosts and didn’t tell me about it.

  “How about a picnic lunch today, Kate? I think we’d all like that.”

  “It’s a beautiful day for it. I’ll get started on it right after I tidy up.”

  “Thank you so much.” I took my cup and went outside to watch the fun. Ashland welcomed me with a kiss on the forehead, but Baby Boy wasn’t having any of it. “You have to share your Dad with me. Why are you so cranky with me?” My son pouted and held his ball out to his father. He really did have an attitude toward me lately, and I couldn’t figure out why. He’d always been high-strung, but here lately he didn’t want my hugs and kisses. He wanted to run and play and spend time with his father. Never me. But I tried not to take it personally. Kids do weird things; they work out things in their own way. That was a bit of truth I heard from the pediatrician. But what things? I wanted to know, but AJ was too young to talk about his feelings on any meaningful level. I trusted that the doctor knew what she was talking about.

  Lily grabbed the ball from AJ’s hands and took off running with it. She was laughing, and soon he was too. I settled down with Ashland to enjoy the beautiful morning on our swing. I loved the herb garden. Nothing traumatic had happened here. Not like the rose garden, which always felt like there were ghosts hovering around every turn of the path. Both Christine and Lafonda had loved the rose garden. But the Moonlight Garden…that place was always haunted, and it would always be if truth be told. What did we really hope to accomplish by bringing Midas here? He couldn’t change the past. Nobody could. We couldn’t go back and rewrite history. I’d tried and nearly brought disaster down on my family. Maybe the smart choice would be to cancel this whole thing.

  “You’re deep in thought, Carrie Jo. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “You saw her, didn’t you, Ash?” I asked in a whisper as I sipped my coffee. “You can’t deny it, babe. Why didn’t you tell me?” He shrugged as if I’d just asked him what color shirt he was going to wear tomorrow. “No, seriously. You should have told me. If she’s here, it must be for a reason.”

  “They always have a reason, Carrie Jo. Always.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. Should I point out that Calpurnia was his relative? That she was his blood? Or vice versa?

  “Did she say anything to you?” he asked.

  “No, she was talking to Lafonda. But the point is she came back, Ash. She came back to Seven Sisters. She was older…I don’t know, she must have been in her fifties, sixties? I can’t do the math, but it was her. She was still lovely but kind of sad.”

  “Good job,” he shouted to the kids as we watched them play kickball. AJ wasn’t great at it, but like his father he loved sports of any kind.

  “Calpurnia showed up at the house after the Yellow Fever epidemic and went for a walk in the maze. Lafonda found her by the statue. You remember the one where we found the…”

  “The treasure?”

  I put the cup down on the table beside me. “Yes, but I don’t think she was looking for that. She was staring at the statue, the Taygete statue. And she lied to Lafonda; she told her that her name was Rose. I wonder why she would do that. And why would she come back?”

  “I have no idea,” he said quietly as he tossed the ball back to the kids. “What I want to know is what is going on in Lily’s room? It was freezing in there last night. I came to look for you, and you were both asleep.”

  “I can’t figure it out either. There isn’t a logical explanation, only a paranormal one. Why else would there be a major cold spot in her room? I don’t like it.” Lily must have overheard us because she crept closer and pretended to be interested in an army of ants marching along the edge of the concrete porch. “We’re going on a picnic today, Lily. Won’t that be nice?”

  “Uh huh,” she said as she began to whoop around the yard happily.

  We both fell silent for a few minutes as we watched the kids. It was a beautiful day in downtown Mobile. I could hear the traffic on the nearby roadway, but there were also plenty of birds chirping and squirrels carrying on about something or other. It was our slice of heaven.

  So why was I shivering?

  “Hey, it’s going to be okay, CJ. We’ve made it this far. We’ll be fine. I should have told you, but I only saw her once, in the Blue Room. She was staring out the window, and then she vanished. But it was just the once.”

  “Okay. Well, I guess we’ll do what we have to. Yeah, you’re probably right. We have to stick to the plan. Close any doors we find. We can’t help them anymore.” Even as I said it, I felt horribly sad. Horribly down. “Let’s call the heating folks when we go back inside. Thought maybe we’d go to the park this morning. Just get out of the house for a while.”

  “That sounds great, babe.”

  I tried to smile at him but couldn’t, so I just let him hold me. I knew this was the right thing for my family, but I wanted to be able to do the right thing for all of us. Past and present.

  I looked over at the kids, hoping they were still having fun with their game, but Lily had dropped the ball. She was looking at one of the upstairs windows, and her face was as white as a sheet.

  Chapter Five—Cassidy

  “Come on, Sierra. Five more minutes. You can do it,” I said as cheerfully as I could. Which was getting more dif
ficult every minute. Sierra had been determined to shed her baby weight—her words, not mine—but after a week at the gym, the idea of getting in shape was losing some of its luster. And as a fitness fan, I knew how important it was for Sierra to find her own motivation. You had to pull it out of yourself sometimes. Motivation from others only takes you so far. After a while, it’s all on you. But I had no doubt she would pull herself up and get with it.

  “Okay, but you can’t expect me to keep your pace. I’m nowhere near as in shape as you.”

  “It’s not a competition,” I said sunnily as I ran on the treadmill beside her. Actually, I wanted to hit the elliptical, but she wasn’t ready for that yet. And since I did technically invite her to the gym today, I felt like I should stay with her. “Find a comfortable pace and then push yourself an extra ten percent. You can do it!”

  She rolled her eyes at me in the mirror across from us but managed to flash a weak smile. Her blond ponytail was limp and sweaty, and I didn’t look much better. But I was proud of myself. I’d nailed the last two marathons I’d participated in and raised a decent amount of money for two of my favorite charities. There were other marathons coming up, but I was being pulled in another direction now. Back to painting.

  It had been months since I’d painted anything inspired. I’d had no mental images appear, no compulsion to paint. At first, I welcomed that bit of normalcy. Without my psychic painting dominating my life, I had plenty of time to spend with my fiancé and our paranormal group. We’d investigated a few places, but there wasn’t much to see or hear. It was as if the paranormal world had taken a break from the annoying living. Sierra mentioned that she was experiencing the same thing. Our resident sensitive was adept at walking into a building and accurately identifying what entities might be lurking, but the last four walk-throughs had offered up zilch.

  And it was driving Midas crazy. He was kind of a ghost hunting junkie, but not in a bad way. He was not an opportunist. In fact, he never asked for one red cent on any investigation, but he loved the thrill of the hunt. And more than that, he loved helping people. Everyone on the team did.

  We’d recently lost a team member; Aaron left the group after taking a dangerous fall during an investigation, but I had a feeling that he’d be back. He was too much like Midas to quit completely.

  I was looking forward to our meeting this afternoon, and it was weird that Midas wanted us all to take the walk-through with him this evening. Usually he did that himself, and sometimes he took one other person. But the whole team? This was unprecedented. Then again, Seven Sisters was an unusual place. That’s what Sierra told me on the way over here.

  “Okay, girl. Time to cool down,” I said as I glanced at my watch.

  “Thank God,” she said as she sipped her water and tapped the treadmill buttons.

  I chuckled at her and did the same. Nah, I’d skip the elliptical today. I was feeling antsy…something was finally stirring in my mind’s eye! Funny how when you don’t go looking for anything paranormal, it comes to you. It was a good feeling. Beneath the sweat and grime, I could feel my hair standing up on end. Shoot! Was I going to have time to sketch anything before the eleven o’clock meeting?

  Sierra chatted away as we grabbed our gear and headed out of the gym. I half-listened as she talked about Joshua’s new job and Emily’s first tooth and the horrible diaper disaster that happened at church last week. I was happy for her and loved her family, but I found it hard to focus.

  “Earth to Cassidy, come in, Cassidy.”

  “I’m sorry, Sierra. I’m just tired. You wore me out today.”

  “You big fat liar. I know I talk too much, but come on, girl. You aren’t paying attention at all. Wait a second…it’s your gift, isn’t it?”

  I pulled into her driveway and put the car in park. “I’m not sure. I think so. This must be about Seven Sisters. I haven’t felt like this in so long. I really need to go and sketch.”

  “Thank goodness. Maybe this means Gulf Coast Paranormal’s dry spell is over too. Go home and do what you have to, but don’t miss the meeting. Helen and Bruce are going to be there. She wanted to surprise you.”

  “Are you serious?” I hugged Sierra as if she were Helen herself. I hadn’t seen my friend in so long. I missed the beautiful and loving Helen Devries. She was a sweet, rare soul, and for a time I thought we’d lose her to cancer. But like the warrior she was, Helen had prevailed and was apparently back in town after a runaway trip with Bruce. “Tell me the truth if you know. Did they get married? I kind of think they did, but she wouldn’t tell me.”

  “I don’t know either, but we’ll all find out at eleven. Be there. No, make that one. I think I can push the meeting back to give you more time. Midas will understand. I’ll tell Emily that you’ll see her another day.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Sierra,” I replied with genuine gratitude. I didn’t know why, but babies made me nervous, and Sierra was one to put the baby in my arms at any given moment. I didn’t want to believe it, but it seemed like every time I held Emily the child cried. Sierra assured me that I was just being paranoid, but it didn’t seem like that to me.

  She went inside, and I drove home like a madwoman—my mind was racing now. I had to get showered, change clothes and accomplish a few other things before I got lost in my work. Like clean Domino’s litter box. I was a good cat-mommy. Human children? Not so much. Midas and I never talked about kids, but I knew he wanted to have a family someday. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole Mommyhood thing. Unlike Sierra, I wasn’t a natural at holding babies. Or changing diapers. Or fixing bottles. Kids needed those things, right?

  The drive home felt like it took longer than normal, but I was back at the house in no time. I tossed my bag on the foyer table, grabbed my kitten and messed up his hair as I stole a kiss. He hated every minute of it, or so he pretended, but I wasn’t dissuaded. I cleaned up his litter box and made sure he had food and water before I hopped in the shower. As I went through my mental checklist and ticked off the tasks, images began to form clearly.

  I could see! Pictures. Lots of pictures. Whoa, brain. Was this a portrait or a collage?

  I was seeing many faces. Too many faces. I stood in my bedroom holding onto the dresser as I closed my eyes and tried not to puke. Eventually, I remembered to breathe and push back the mental clutter.

  I can’t see all of you. Not at once. One at a time, please. One face at a time.

  And then I saw her perfectly.

  A sad little girl with curly brown hair and vibrant hazel eyes. She had her face turned up, and she was looking at something. She was looking at a house, a massive old house with white paint. The little girl was staring at the window, and the window wasn’t empty. There was a woman there, and she was watching. She watched constantly. I didn’t want to see her face, but I had to. I struggled, pushing back the clutter in my mind, but it didn’t do much good. I couldn’t see her, only her silhouette. She appeared a black figure to me, like a paper cutout. Even though I couldn’t see her face or determine where her eyes were, I knew she was watching the little girl.

  Watching and waiting and hating.

  Watching and waiting and hating…

  And if she had her way, killing.

  She wanted to kill the little girl. Undoubtedly!

  I snatched clothes out of my bedroom closet. I didn’t care that they didn’t quite match. It would have to do. I pulled my hair up in a towel; I would let it air-dry in a few minutes, but I had something to do first. There was no way I would get a full-blown painting done before the meeting, no way at all, and I couldn’t miss this meeting. Not with Helen coming back to Mobile. I had missed her so much.

  But I had to get this down. I fumbled with the backdoor latch and grabbed my studio key from its hanger. Domino complained briefly but not enough to convince me to chase him down and carry him with me. Sorry, kitty. Another time. Momma’s got work to do.

  When I got inside, I flipped on some lights and wasted no time grabbing my ske
tchbook and favorite pencils. I wasn’t quite ready to paint yet. I had to make sense of these images. Just one at a time now. Okay, little girl. You first. I plopped down on my paint-stained desk and flipped the light on there too, then I immediately went to work. With each flick of the pencil, I felt like I was drawing closer to the truth. I could see the girl; she was an unusual little girl with special abilities. Abilities you could practically see in her eyes. That I knew. Yes, she was some kind of sensitive. And the Watcher in the Window knew it. And she hated that the little girl could see her. She didn’t want to be seen. She didn’t want to come out of the shadows.

  But the little girl was drawing her out. Probably unknowingly. She was drawing her out of the shadows and into the light.

  Oh, but the Watcher was angry.

  It wasn’t hard to connect the dots.

  This child was in danger, and the danger was at Seven Sisters.

  Chapter Six—Cassidy

  The meeting started right on time, as any meeting led by Midas Demopolis would. He thrived on sticking to schedules, but thankfully he didn’t complain when I arrived a few minutes late. Actually, Midas wasn’t much of a complainer, not like Sierra could be at times…especially if she thought I was getting “special” treatment. That used to tick me off, but after all this time I’d come to realize that was just Sierra and her heart really was in the right place. She protected the things she loved, including Gulf Coast Paranormal, and I had a huge amount of respect for her. Paranormal investigation wasn’t something to take lightly. It was serious business that at times immersed us in desperate situations. Some investigations were more heartbreaking than others—and there was always an element of danger. Enough for us to walk in sober and ready. This investigation would be no less serious.