by Jen Jensen
Then sleep came and with it, dreams. She walked in the big field. The air was warm, the earth covered in green grasses and tall weeds. A woman waited on the other side. She wore yellow and her dark blond red hair reminded Jamis of Johnna. But when Jamis moved closer, it wasn’t Johnna and then she was gone. Jamis stopped and sat on the ground.
She crossed her legs, took a deep breath, and decided to engage with the urgency of the experience. It hadn’t been so vivid before. Jamis placed both hands on the grass. She drew power from it and heat flooded her body. Then the woman was back, watching from a distance. Jamis moved to close the distance between them, but with each step, the woman remained the same distance from her, like she was on a treadmill.
Jamis panicked as the woman faded. She dropped to her knees to crawl, just as she did earlier in the day. Something pushed her back. Bitter cold replaced the warmth. She was swept back into a brick building with many hallways and levels. Jamis crawled through them, fighting toward a door. She drew closer to it, until a rush of dark anger rose and blocked her way. She covered her face and fell on her side. The figure she’d seen earlier at the house moved closer, half of its head gone, side to back. It had no eyes, substance, or mass, and yet it was there. Jamis saw more of it somehow, her senses not confused as they were earlier.
Pressure mounted and then the building was Vince and Darcy’s front room. She lay in the middle of the floor. There was a grunt, cry, and a thud, followed by a sharp pain in her head. Jamis struggled to sit up. A warm presence lifted her from the ground.
Then there was knocking. Persistent, consistent, knocking.
Jamis opened her eyes, huddled under the covers, heart pounding. She touched the bed to be certain she was awake and forced herself to sit up. The knocking continued, and as her awareness returned, she realized someone was at the door.
Chapter Five
Jamis opened the door and held her hand across her eyes to block out the sunlight. It was Johnna, wearing jeans and work boots again, hair tied back in a braid.
“Morning,” Johnna said, smiling at Jamis. “I brought Carmen down and thought you might like a ride to your car.”
“That would be great. I never walk if I can help it.”
“I can come back, if you want to get dressed,” Johnna said. Jamis stopped her and opened the door wider.
“No, I’m so rude. I’m not awake yet. Come in.”
Johnna turned and whistled, fingers in her mouth. A dog ran across the parking lot to her and skidded to a halt in front of Jamis.
“This is Virginia,” Johnna said. Jamis knelt and Virginia licked her face from chin to hairline.
“I hope you don’t mind if she comes in the room. We’re a package deal.” Jamis rubbed Virginia’s turtle jowls and laughed at the slobber on her hands. “Obviously, you don’t.”
“I love dogs so much. Is she a pit bull?”
“Brindle pit bull,” Johnna said. Jamis motioned for Virginia to come into the room. “I’m sorry I woke you. I get up so early, sometimes I forget other people don’t.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m glad you came. I keep having this recurring dream. You woke me from it.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Johnna’s tone was kind, and Jamis turned to face her. In the light of day, she was even more beautiful than Jamis remembered. Johnna studied her with kindness and curiosity, her eyes light and spirit present.
“I don’t even know what to say about it, honestly.”
“Maybe later,” Johnna said. “Don’t push yourself. Go get dressed, take a shower. You smell like the Silver Nickel.”
“My mouth tastes like an ashtray. I may brush my teeth, too.” Johnna feigned to move away. “That’s harsh.”
“Truth is,” Johnna said. Virginia jumped on the bed. She pointed. “That okay?”
“Yes,” Jamis said, watching her with a grin. Johnna’s eyes were on her and she lapsed into silence, struggling to find something to say.
“Why don’t you come meet us at the diner?” Johnna filled the silence. “It’s just across the parking lot. Tess’s breakfast is awesome.”
“Give me five,” Jamis said, an unknown sensation coming to life inside. It was expansive. She imagined the blackened tissue around her heart turning pink and vibrant. The beats of her renewed heart echoed through the rest of her body.
“Okay,” Johnna said, eyes quickly downcast. Jamis noticed it, hopeful she felt the same way. Johnna called to Virginia and they left.
The thought of Johnna waiting for her at the diner made her regret not waxing her whole body before leaving home. Steam from the shower fogged the mirror. Jamis wiped it with a washcloth and leaned close to pluck stray eyebrow hairs. She looked at her wet hair, holding it in her hand. Did she have too many split ends? Why didn’t she take more time to groom? She slammed the brush down. There wasn’t time for any of this. She dressed quickly, not wanting to keep Johnna waiting.
She found them in a booth near the door at the diner.
“Yell-o. I’m clean and ready,” Jamis said, sliding in. “Thanks for asking me to come.”
“Sure,” Johnna said. Virginia sat next to Johnna, upright, waiting for her order.
“Does Sage Creek have relaxed public health standards?” Jamis asked, pointing to Virginia.
“Are you suggesting Virginia is dirty?”
“I’m just suggesting that it’s the first time in my varied and traveled life that I’ve seen a dog in a booth waiting to place her order.”
“Obviously, you’re not that well traveled.”
Tess arrived to take their order. “How did you end up with this breakfast date?” She pointed at Johnna. “Might be out of your league.”
“Good karma. And Carmen. I like her. Thank you,” Jamis said.
“I thought you’d like each other,” Tess said, turning to Johnna. “While you’re here can you look at Xavier? He’s not eating again.”
“Of course,” Johnna said.
Jamis ordered pancakes and eggs. Johnna ordered eggs for Virginia and oatmeal and fruit for herself. Tess left with their orders.
“Is Xavier a dog?” Johnna nodded. “You’re a veterinarian,” Jamis said. “That’s a real job. I’ve never had a real job.”
“It’s all I ever wanted to do,” Johnna said.
“Are you off today?”
“Yeah,” Johnna said. She didn’t offer anything else. She held Jamis’s eye contact long enough for her to know she felt the same way. It was like tiny fairies danced and unicorns pranced around their heads. Connections like this didn’t happen in real life, only movies and in books that ended with some conflict solved, heroines happily ever after. Jamis rarely noticed anyone in such a way. The draw was deep enough to penetrate the layers of her practiced detachment, even sober. Jamis couldn’t stand the idea that she’d leave her after dropping her off to get her car. The surge of emotion in her chest cast her off balance.
“Use your words,” Jamis said.
“I’m sorry?” Johnna looked at her with genuine interest.
“I don’t know why I said that. Martha, a counselor in a group home I lived in, used to tell me that all the time. I didn’t talk much. But I threw a lot of stuff.”
“You were in a group home?”
“Yeah,” Jamis said, staring at her. Was it too soon to tell her everything? It was, so instead she said, “My brain feels slow this morning.”
“Carmen felt the same way. She wasn’t very talkative.” Johnna let her change the subject but Jamis saw enough compassion in her eyes to know she could talk to her.
“Do you mind if I check in on my feeds real quick? I promise it will just take a minute,” Jamis said. She needed to break the spell. Johnna sat forward to peer over the table at Jamis’s phone. Jamis opened Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to thousands of notifications, replied quickly to a few, and then put her phone away.
“I don’t have any of those,” Johnna said.
“What? Social media?”
�
��Yeah. I don’t like computers. I still read the newspaper and paper books, too. Sometimes I get crazy and watch a DVD. My brother Sam lives with me, and he hooked up an Amazon thingy that plays music, but it mostly creeps me out. There is a TV thing too that connects to the Wi-Fi. It all feels so unnecessary.”
“That is so sad,” Jamis said.
“Tell me you don’t get tired of it.”
“I’m so connected, it’s hard to understand.”
“Well, when I told Sam about you, he went crazy. He follows you on one of the sites. Found a picture of Salt Lake you put up there and showed me this morning before I left.”
“My loyal legions of fans,” Jamis said. “Did he watch my show?”
“Yeah, he did. He said to tell you he has all the seasons on Amazon.”
“It was fun,” Jamis said. “Traveling all over the world. Seeing so many different places. Chasing ghosts, aliens, urban legends. You name it.”
“Do you miss it?”
“I do,” Jamis said. She felt like telling Johnna about her depression. About how her days opened up into nothingness without her show and made her face every uncomfortable emotion she ever avoided. How she spent most of her time alone, without friends, the crew of the show moved on to other things. No one in Hollywood took her seriously as anything other than a celebrity ghost hunter. There was nothing else for her to do. But she didn’t say that. Instead, she said, “Carmen is lonely.” It was easier to say she was than to admit the depth of her own loneliness.
“I know.” The light in Johnna’s eyes dimmed, and Jamis immediately regretted being the cause of it. She started to say something to make the light return, but Johnna stopped her. “You need new shoes. You can’t walk around Utah in winter wearing Converse.”
Jamis appreciated the deflection. But she couldn’t stop. “You two seem close. How do you know her?”
“I’ve lived here my whole life. I know a lot of people.” Tess brought their food. She set a plate of scrambled eggs in front of Virginia, who ate them, sitting in the booth. Jamis took a few bites in silence, as did Johnna.
“You just know her from around? Like just from living daily life?”
Johnna set down her spoon and studied Jamis.
“What?” Jamis’s fork was midair. Was she sorting through what was appropriate to share?
“Nothing,” Johnna said.
“Now I’m going to be paranoid. Were you going to say something about me? Do I have something stuck in my teeth? Hanging from my nose?”
“You’re charming.”
“Thanks,” Jamis said. “That’s probably why I was on television. But I don’t think that’s what you were going to say.”
“You’re humble, too,” Johnna said.
“I know. I’m the whole package.” Jamis took a bite. “I’m sorry. I’m working on this compulsive need to ask a million questions. I need to do a better job attending to the present and people’s feelings.”
“That sounds like something you’d learn in therapy,” Johnna said.
“Oh my God, you too?”
“So much therapy. Let’s save Carmen and therapy for another time.” Jamis agreed with a grin and a thumbs-up. “Tell me why you’re here?”
Jamis told her, in between bites and sips of coffee.
“Do you know anything about the house?” Jamis was still hungry. She looked at her plate and then turned to look for Tess.
“I’ll get it,” Johnna said and waved. “Tess saw me. She’ll bring more.” She smiled at Jamis. “I don’t know anything about the house. But I know who would. When we finish here, let me look at Xavier, and then take you to meet someone. If you have time.”
“Nothing but time,” Jamis said.
* * *
Jamis peered into the office behind the lobby desk. Johnna held a tiny Chihuahua on her lap and talked with Tess. Her hands were gentle and she held perfectly still, listening to Tess. Jamis watched her, feeling like a different light embodied her. Like she existed just outside the frame of energy that contained everything else around her. Everything around her faded from view.
Jamis retreated to the lobby, overwhelmed by her desire to just look at Johnna, and scrolled through the comments on her most recent post. They ranged from, “Be careful Jamis. Poltergeists OMG!” to “WTF you crazy bitch. Google Scientific Method.”
“Jesus sends poltergeists after u cuz your gay. Repent.”
It deserved a reply. “You’re. ~Jamis.”
When Johnna called out, she tucked her phone away.
“I think we’re ready,” Johnna said. She stepped into the lobby, followed by Tess.
“I hope he feels better,” Jamis said to Tess.
“Just stop by the clinic and pick up the meds. I’ll text Gloria. She and my part-time vet are there today,” Johnna told her.
Jamis pulled her phone from her pocket and responded again. “YOU’RE. Omg at least get that right. XOXO ~Jamis.” She looked up in time to follow Johnna outside, and waved back at Tess.
Johnna whistled at Virginia, who jumped into the back seat of the truck. “I texted Sapphire from the restaurant and she’s expecting us,” Johnna said.
“Sapphire?”
“Yeah. The two of you are a match made in heaven.” Johnna stopped right in front of her. She was a few inches shorter and Jamis stepped forward. Johnna lifted her hand and brushed something from the front of Jamis’s coat and fixed the collar, before turning away. “Let’s go,” she said. Jamis touched the coat where Johnna’s fingers had been.
Chapter Six
They retrieved the rental car from the market, and Jamis followed Johnna to the municipal building about a mile from the hotel. They parked and entered through a side door, held ajar with a rock. They started down a flight of stairs, until Johnna stopped. “I didn’t even ask if stairs were okay.”
“Totally fine. I’ll take them back up too. I need to burn off Tess’s pancakes,” Jamis said.
They trotted down two flights of stairs into the building’s subbasement. Johnna pushed open a double set of industrial doors. The walls were plain cinderblock and had been painted a light blue sometime during the twentieth century. The floors were light beige linoleum with gray rubber baseboards.
Johnna opened another set of double doors into a massive space. Jamis paused to take it all in. It was the town archives, and it stretched the length and width of the building. A large metal cage blocked the entry room from the archives. Behind the cage, metal shelving overflowed with filing boxes.
“This is amazing,” Jamis said, impressed and overwhelmed. “Kismet, Johnna. I needed county records, and instead, I meet Tess, Carmen, and then you.”
“Wait until you meet Sapphire.” Johnna moved closer to the cage. “Sapphire? Are you here?”
“I am. Hold on.” The voice came from far away, obscured by the metal cabinets. Jamis strained to look behind the cage. There were rows upon rows of boxes. They appeared to be sorted by date and type. In the first row she read, “Marriage certificates 1997,” but couldn’t see beyond that. The cabinets were positioned at an angle.
“Sapphire did all of this,” Johnna said. “My brother-in-law, Paul, my sister Sara’s husband, is the district attorney. He helped her secure the space and materials some years back. Before this, the county had stuff stored everywhere. She’s systematically brought everything here. Engineered fireproof systems and security. All of this with fifteen thousand dollars.”
Sapphire came around the corner and unlocked the cage with a key on a lanyard around her neck, immediately greeting Virginia. She had black hair and wore dark blue jeans and a plain red long sleeve T-shirt. She wore no makeup and had a small tasteful ring in her nose and multiple rings in her ears. She wasn’t overweight, but she had enough to keep warm, and her eyes were bright blue. A sleeve tattoo peeked from beneath Sapphire’s T-shirt. Jamis couldn’t wait to compare their tattoos.
“I’m trying so hard to be cool.” Sapphire dropped the file she was holding on the de
sk, leaped forward, and wrapped her arms around Jamis’s neck. Jamis held her arms at her sides. Sapphire whipped her around in excitement. She let go, stepped back, covered her mouth with both hands, and blushed. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry. It’s just you’re a geek legend.”
“That’s the best compliment I’ve ever gotten,” Jamis said, grinning. She didn’t even mind the hug.
“You never greet me like that,” Johnna said. Sapphire pulled her into a generous hug. “That’s better. Jamis needs help with a house. What was it again?”
“Thirty-two Third Street.”
“I gotcha. I’m your gal,” Sapphire said.
“Well, okay then,” Johnna said, as she turned to leave. “When you both finish here, why don’t you come over for dinner tonight? Sam wants to meet Jamis, and I know he’d love to see you.”
“I’ll be there,” Sapphire said.
“I’ll see you later, then,” Johnna said. She walked down the hallway with Virginia, and Jamis didn’t want her to leave.
“Johnna,” Jamis said. She liked saying her name.
“Yeah?” Johnna stopped in the hallway, Virginia at her side.
“I’ll see you later then,” Jamis said. Johnna waved, and a faint blush stole across her cheeks, but she turned away before Jamis could see more of it.
* * *
“Let’s start on the computer back here,” Sapphire said.
Jamis followed Sapphire past aisles of metal shelves to the middle of the archives. There were four flat screen monitors on a large wooden desk. They were stacked at alternating heights. There was a large desktop computer off to the side of the desk and wires ran from it to two other computers on the side. A laptop and a tablet were connected to all of it via cables and open circuit boards in the middle of the desk. Sapphire tapped on the laptop, and the whole system lit up with screensavers full of floating fish.