“Asked you? Why? Are you her mother? And why do you always call her your ‘little sister?’ She’s not little.”
“She’s a freshman!” Kate squealed.
“Well, I like her. She’s cute like you, but with only half the attitude!” he said, pinching Kate’s cheek.
“Ha. She’s nothing like me.”
“Kate,” Chris said, sounding serious for the first time ever, “I have to admit. I kind of liked her the first time I saw her. She’s got, I don’t know, something so sweet about her. I mean, you do know her better than anybody. Is she really that sweet?”
Kate snorted. “Yes, she’s actually like that.”
Chris smiled and looked genuinely smitten.
“I hate you. I wish you had a little brother I could take to the prom. Show you how it feels.”
“You know, I do have an older brother. He’d love to go to the prom with you. I can see it now! He’d take you in his old, rusted pickup truck. He’s gained about thirty pounds since he left high school, so he’d probably have to buy a new suit. And, of course, his wife will want to come too. Might be a bit awkward.” Chris managed to say all this with a straight face.
Boys.
16.
Things were quiet around the Gilbert house for the next few days. Nothing strange happened. The house seemed to be resting, perhaps waiting for something.
Seth came back. In fact, he came back just as he left, quietly. Wednesday morning, he just appeared in his bed. He seemed calmer after his visit with Laura, but Kate and Seth didn’t really talk about that or anything else. In fact, Kate was so wrapped up in Jacob’s impending visit, she ignored everything else.
Later that morning, Patrick whispered to her in religion class. “Where were you?”
“What do you mean?” she whispered back.
“Yesterday, we were supposed to meet with Grace Hatfield? Remember? Pansy’s little sister? You didn’t show up.”
Kate’s mouth dropped. “I’m so sorry. I just forgot. I’ve been so excited about Jacob coming to town this weekend, I guess I forgot.” She turned to look at him and smiled apologetically. Guys never stayed mad at her. This one wouldn’t either.
He smiled back. “That’s okay,” he whispered back, but he still looked a little ticked.
“Mr. Murphy,” came Mr. Tilsen’s tinny voice, “since you have so much so say, why don’t you answer this question? What is the opposite of hope?”
“Despair,” was Patrick’s flat reply.
The teacher stood silent for a moment. “That’s correct. Thank you, Mr. Murphy.” He turned and continued his lecture.
Patrick mouthed the words, “We’ll talk at lunch.”
*
It was raining again, not a pleasant late summer rain. This was autumn rain, cold and driving. No lunch outside today.
Lisa, Patrick, Chris and Kate huddled together in their stake of hallway and pulled out their respective lunches. Lisa had her usual healthy packed lunch, complete with all four food groups. No junk food. Patrick and Chris both bought pizzas from the vendor who sold them off a truck in the parking lot. Kate found that a little unsavory. She opted for her usual candy bar and diet soda.
“So tell us. What did this woman say?” Kate asked, popping the top of her soda.
Patrick pulled his little notebook out of the pocket of his trench coat and opened it to a series of scribbled pages. He cleared his throat. “So, yesterday, I interviewed Grace Hatfield. John and Patricia Blacker, who owned the house in the early part of the century, had four daughters: Pansy, Rose, Lily and Grace, remember? Pansy, as we all know, was washed away in the flood.”
“Yes, go on,” Kate said impatiently.
“So, Grace was the youngest sister. She was born in the house and lived there until she got married. Her first husband was killed in World War II, so she remarried a guy named Steven Hatfield and had, get this, ten children.”
Lisa shook her head. “She’s already crazy by my standards.”
Patrick continued. “Anyway, she said that all kinds of weird stuff used to happen in the house. She said that things would disappear into thin air. One time, she said that she was getting ready to go to a party and she laid out all her clothes and everything on her bed. She turned around and one of her shoes was missing. She said she looked high and low and never found that shoe even though it had been there a minute before.”
“Huh,” Kate said with interest. “Which room was hers?”
“I’m not sure,” Patrick replied, flipping through his notes, “but, I know it was on the second floor. Another time, the family was getting ready to eat a Christmas ham. It was on the kitchen counter, ready to go on the table. When her mom went to get it, it was gone. Platter and all.”
Chris whistled. Lisa snorted. “Hello, did the family have a dog, by any chance?” she said. “Doesn’t it seem a bit more probable that it was a hungry dog, rather than hungry spirits, that stole the Christmas ham?”
“But the platter too?” Kate asked.
“A dog could have drug the whole thing out the door.” The other three just stared at Lisa silently. “Okay, forget it. It was a ghost. Yes, that makes much more sense!” she said, giving up, and took a drink of juice.
“So,” Patrick said, glancing at his notebook as he continued, “she said there were lots of times that books jumped off their shelves, chandeliers swung back and forth without being touched.”
“Ah-hah!” Kate interjected.
“She said that it just seemed like the spirits were playing with them. They just teased them, tried to scare them a little bit. Nothing too serious. That is, until….” Patrick paused for a moment to smile. He took a great deal of time flipping his notebook to the next page and smoothing his hair back with his hand.
“Come on, Patrick. Out with it,” Lisa said.
“Until,” he continued, “the year before the flood, 1930. Grace said that her sister Pansy was getting strange. Pansy was, let’s see, sixteen. She said that Pansy started staying out all night long, drinking with her friends, partying all the time, and she’d gotten mean to her younger sisters. She was short with them and suspicious of them. Grace said she didn’t know Pansy anymore. The spirits started to act up as well. They started acting malicious, throwing things at people’s heads, just missing them by an inch or so.”
“Things? What kinds of things?” Kate asked.
“Rocks, for one.”
“Again with the rocks.” Kate said, shaking her head.
“So, one night, Grace said, she couldn’t sleep, so she came downstairs and she heard something down in the basement. She was curious, so she crept down the stairs and into the room under the kitchen.”
“The laundry room,” Kate whispered.
“Yes, although I don’t know if that’s what it was called then. Anyway, Grace caught a glimpse of Pansy in the back room, the room that’s now filled with dirt. There used to be a door into that room. I guess the door got boarded up later, leaving just a window. That must have been after the flood.
Anyway, Pansy was in the room. It was only used for storage then. Grace crept up closer to the door to get a better look. She said that Pansy sat down on the floor and she lit some candles. Then, she started to whisper some sort of chant. Grace said that she couldn’t make out the words, but it was definitely a chant. After a few minutes, Pansy started to sort of sway and rock back and forth. Grace said that the room got really cold. Pansy stopped her chanting and got quiet for a few minutes. And then, this is really weird, she started to giggle.”
“Giggle?” Kate repeated.
“Yeah, she started to giggle and whisper, like she was having a conversation with somebody. Grace said it was so strange,” Patrick continued, “but after a while, she said she could almost hear a man’s voice as well.”
“Whoa,” Lisa said.
“Yeah, I know, creepy,” Patrick said. “She’s sure there was no one else in the room. Just Pansy.
“So, what happened then?”
Chris asked.
“Well, Grace was kind of vague. I think she was kind of embarrassed about this, but Pansy lay down on the floor and started making...what was the word she used?” He looked at his notebook. “Oh yes, ‘intimate sounds.’”
“Oh, my,” Lisa said.
“Grace said that she couldn’t watch that, so she left.”
“So, what happened next? Did she ever confront Pansy and ask her what she was doing?” Kate asked.
“She never did. She said she wanted to ask Pansy, but she never got up the courage. Pansy had been so mean. A few weeks later, Pansy was downtown and was swept away in the flood, her body never found.”
“Wow,” Lisa said.
“There’s more,” Patrick said, flipping his notebook shut and turning his eyes on his audience. “According to Grace, there’s more to the story than Mrs. Entwhistle told us, Kate.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Remember Lily, you know, the sister who lived in the house all by herself until she died? The one that said that the house talked to her? Grace says that Lily went crazy by the end of her life. She says that Lily wouldn’t ever leave the house. Apparently, she couldn’t leave because she needed to ‘be with her lover.’”
“What?” A cold feeling crept over Kate. “Not a real lover?” she asked, knowing the answer.
“No. According to Grace, Lily never even went on a date after she divorced her husband.”
“So, who was this lover?” Lisa asked.
“Grace didn’t know. She said Lily talked about him constantly. Once this lover appeared in her life, Lily stopped going to church, then she stopped going to the grocery. She wasted away until one of her sisters came over to visit. They would cook for her and make her eat. I guess they tried to put her into a nursing home, but Lily threatened to kill herself if they tried to take her from the house.” Patrick stopped and grew very serious. “Eventually, she killed herself anyway.”
“Oh, my God.” Kate whispered. “When? Where?”
“Just a couple of years ago, in the house. Right after that, the house went up for sale.”
“No wonder nobody in the Blacker family wanted it,” Kate interrupted.
“She took a whole bottle of pills. No note, no good-bye, nothing. They found her in the kitchen.”
All four teenagers were quiet as this startling information hung in the afternoon hallway.
“So, there’s a ghost in my basement who seduces women and a woman killed herself in my kitchen. Is that what you’re telling me?” Kate said, her voice a little strained.
Patrick shrugged and shook his head. “That’s what she told me.”
“Wow,” Lisa said again.
“Oh, so now you’re impressed?” Chris asked her, elbowing her.
“It is a scary story,” Lisa said, flipping her long hair over her shoulder, “if it’s true.”
“It didn’t look like she was making it up. I mean, it really tore her up just to tell me. I felt bad about dredging all this stuff up, so I spent the rest of the afternoon with her.”
“Really?” Kate said, impressed. “What did you do all afternoon?”
“Oh, well,” Patrick said, his cheeks beginning to redden. “Just talked and stuff. We had some tea.”
“You’re a good guy, Patrick,” Kate said, touching his arm with affection. He continued to blush as the bell rang for fifth period.
17.
It was finally the day. Kate popped in the cd that Jacob had made for her before she left Nebraska, ninety minutes of syrupy love songs.
“I don’t think so,” Matt said, reaching to eject the cd. He had volunteered to ride with Kate to pick up Jacob. Jacob would be dropped off at a Burger King by the interstate near Columbus, Ohio. They planned to meet at six. Kate was so excited, she could barely drive.
“Hands off, Matt!”
“I can’t listen to this mushy stuff!”
“Oh, come on. You’ll like it.”
Kate sang along as they crossed the rolling hills of southern Ohio, and even Matt joined in from time to time. She kept tapping her hands on the steering wheel and rapping her fingernails on the door, full of anxious energy. She imagined what the first moment was going to be like, when he threw open the door and held out his arms. She would run to him, tears of happiness streaming down her face. He would pick her up and spin her around, kissing her the whole time. It gave her chills just thinking about it.
When they finally arrived at the Burger King, it was just as wonderful. She leapt from the car and ran up the sidewalk to the door. Before she could even open the door, Jacob flung it open and grabbed her. He hugged her so tightly, she thought her ribs would break. Tears filled his eyes as he looked at her.
“You look great, Kate,” he said, looking into her eyes.
“So do you!” she said as she hugged him fiercely. He really looked terrific. His handsome face was freshly shaved, his dark hair was perfectly smoothed, and he smelled of sweet cologne. Thus far, the “freshman fifteen” pounds he was supposed to gain hadn’t appeared. He was still in great shape. Kate leaned against his chest and breathed in his scent. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her again. Tears welled in her eyes.
Jacob gave Matt a handshake hug, like guys do, and then they were off. Luckily, Matt drove home so Jacob and Kate could cuddle in the backseat. They talked about everything going on in their lives. Jacob kept one arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him, feeling warm and happy. By the time they hit Huntington city limits, Kate wanted to jump out of the car, run to the bushes and make out. Unfortunately, the entire family was there to greet Jacob as they walked in the door.
After dessert and coffee, people started creeping off to bed and Jacob and Kate saw their chance to escape. Sneaking out the back door, they jumped into Mom’s car and headed for the railroad tracks. Lisa told her that the dirt lot beside the tracks was a quiet make-out spot for teenagers, although Lisa had never been there herself. Since it was only Thursday night, the lot was deserted. Kate crossed the tracks, parked under an elm tree and turned off the ignition.
Without a word, Jacob leaned over and kissed her. She rubbed her hands over his smooth face and neck as his kisses moved down to her neck. She leaned back as he made his way down to her collarbone.
“I missed you so much,” she whispered.
“I missed you too,” he said, his eyes shining in the moonlight as he looked at her. “You’re so beautiful.”
She blushed and giggled. She loved him so much, the feeling bursting from her heart and filling her body. “I just can’t believe you’re here.”
“I know. I can’t believe I’m in West Virginia!”
“I can’t believe I’m in West Virginia!” she replied. They both laughed.
He reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a small box. “Here, I got this for you. It’s just a little something. I saw it and I thought of you.”
“Aw, Jacob!” she squealed. She opened the box. There, in on a satin red pillow, sat a tiny gold cross on a slim chain. “Oh, wow,” Kate said as she gazed at it with mixed emotions. Normally, she didn’t wear such things. It conflicted with her dislike of the Catholic Church, Catholic school, pretty much anything religious. It wasn’t her thing. Didn’t he know that? But the necklace was kind of pretty. She could wear it. It was from Jacob, so did it really matter?
“Do you like it?” he asked, his eyes searching her face.
“Of course, I love it.” She handed him the necklace and turned around so he could put it around her neck. She held her hair up as he fiddled with the clasp.
“I saw it and it just reminded me of you.” He finished and she turned around. She touched the tiny gold cross and adjusted the rearview mirror so she could see it hanging around her neck. It did look pretty.
“Thank you, Jacob.” She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss.
“Hey, what’s this?” he asked, catching a glimpse of the heart-shaped burn on her arm.
> “Ow, don’t touch it. It’s still a little sore.”
“Sorry, what is it?”
“Remember, I told you about it. I burned my arm cleaning a chandelier. Just my house trying to kill me.” She changed the subject to something more romantic. “I’m yours, you know. I’ve been yours this whole time. I’ve missed you and I’ve been faithful to you.” She smiled and played with the stray chest hairs that peeked above the top of his collar. The Jacob look-alike at the party flashed through her head quickly, but she pushed him away.
The Blacker House Page 17