by Tifani Clark
*****
“What took you so long today, slow poke?” Sophia asked when I arrived at my house. She sat on my front steps with her legs stretched out in front of her. “Let’s get to work.”
I didn’t respond. I just walked past her and unlocked my front door. On that afternoon’s agenda was a trip to the site where Sophia’s family lived before they all died. Her grandparents, Nathan and Sophia Briggs, built a home in Marion long before she was born. They planted so many rose bushes that it became known as Rose Cottage. Eventually Sophia’s parents, Benjamin and Sarah Briggs, built their own little home next to Rose Cottage. When they set sail on the Mary Celeste, Arthur stayed behind at Rose Cottage with Grandma Briggs. Little did he know that his family would never return for him. Grandma Briggs and her son James sold the home not long after the incident with the Mary Celeste, probably to escape the memories of the tragedy in their lives.
I put my things in the house and grabbed a snack. I didn’t bother to offer Sophia anything. “So,” I said finally, “how do you propose we get around this summer? I can’t drive yet nor can I fly around or creep through walls like you. I only have one bike and I’m sure as heck not pumping you around all over town.”
“Wow. You’re kind of touchy today.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t worry about it. You might not be old enough for a license, but I am. Remember?”
I looked up to see Sophia jingling a ring of keys in front of me. Attached to the ring was a small ship keychain. I knew immediately that it was a replica of the Mary Celeste. It was the exact kind of keychain I’d seen in souvenir shops my whole life. Tourists loved them.
“What do you drive? Wait, let me think . . . A little red, sporty, two-door something or other?” I guessed.
“Ha! I try to blend in, remember?”
I peeked out my front window to see a non-descript, white, four-door sedan parked across the street. It was the kind of car you could walk right by after you got off the school bus and not even notice.
I grabbed a notebook and we jumped in the car.
“So how long have you been driving?” I’ll admit I was a little anxious. It wasn’t often that teenagers drove me around.
Sophia put a pair of sparkly pink sunglasses on and looked at me. “Honey, I’ve been driving since Henry Ford rolled his first Model T off the assembly line.”
“Yay. I’m sure that would be the perfect story to tell my father when he finds out that you’re old enough to drive and proceeds to question your driving ability.”
Sophia was right—she was actually a great driver. In fact, probably better than a lot of the adults on the road. She’d been around for almost a hundred and fifty years, and I guess it was good that she had something to brag about. The site where Rose Cottage used to stand was on the other side of town. The cottage itself had burned down back in the early sixties. We didn’t know what we were looking for or what we were supposed to do. We hoped there might be other ghosts hanging around that could shed some light on the subject for us. We didn’t want to be caught trespassing so we sat on a grassy area across the street and watched the site where Sophia’s family used to live.
“My grandfather was killed at Rose Cottage, you know,” Sophia said after we sat in silence for a while.
“Killed? You mean he was murdered? Maybe that’s a clue to something.”
“No. He wasn’t murdered. He opened the front door to look outside during a big storm and was struck by lightning. He died immediately. Grandma Briggs cradled his body until the storm ended and she was able to get help.”
“That’s crazy. The chances of being struck by lightning are rare. Combine that with what happened to your immediate family and you could say that your family had a bit of bad luck.”
“Ha!” Sophia scoffed. “You don’t know the half of it. We had so much tragedy in our family that the townspeople began to talk about the Briggs family curse. All but one of my father’s brothers sailed as well. My Uncle Nathan died of yellow fever while at sea. Father’s sister and her husband, Maria and Joseph Gibbs, died when they were washed overboard when their ship collided with a steamer near North Carolina. They hadn’t been married very long and they left behind a son who stayed with Grandmother Briggs at Rose Cottage. Their son died a short time later, too. Then, the month I was born, my Uncle Zenus died of yellow fever while on my Uncle Oliver’s ship. The list just keeps going.”
I was astounded. I grew up with the story of the Mary Celeste, but I didn’t remember hearing anything about all the other tragic events. My heart ached for the strange ghost and her lost family.
“I’m really sorry, Sophia. No family should have to go through that much pain.” It sounded lame, but I didn’t know what else I could say.
“It is a really sad series of stories, isn’t it? But keep in mind that I was so young when I was kidnapped that I never knew any of my real family members. I didn’t learn about most of it until I started trying to extricate. And some of it I didn’t discover until this week when I was reading books in your bedroom. I know all of it happened to my family, but I’m having a hard time feeling any connection to them or this place where Rose Cottage used to be.”
Eventually, Sophia decided to invisibly poke around in a couple of the nearby homes. We didn’t find any ghosts that we could talk to. Our first mission was a complete failure.
Sophia dropped me off just before six, and I ran up the porch stairs and into the house where I found Dad making dinner.
“Dad? You’re home earlier than I thought. Sorry I was gone so long. I did plan on making dinner.”
Since Dad was gone so much, he gave me access to a household expense account. I usually did the grocery shopping and made dinner more often than not. Because I was typically a responsible child, he always kept money in the account that I could use to hang out with friends or shop for myself. It was a pretty good arrangement in my opinion.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad I get to see you on the first day of your summer break.” He paused to stir some soup in a pan on the stove. “Jamie, Camille stopped by a little while ago.”
“She did?” I didn’t mean to sound surprised, but it totally came out that way.
“I think she was upset about something, honey. Were you out with Sophia again?” he asked gently.
“Yes. We thought it would be fun to visit the site where Rose Cottage used to stand.”
It was Dad’s turn to look surprised.
“Remember? I’m showing her all our town has to offer this summer. She’s got to learn the story of some of Marion’s most famous people.”
“I vaguely remember when the cottage burned down. I was pretty young, maybe five or six, but there were rumors of it being haunted. Kids in town would dare each other to go onto the property at night,” Dad reminisced before changing the subject. “Can we talk about something that’s been bothering me, honey?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“Jamie, I’m worried about you. I don’t want you to throw away friendships that you’ve had your entire life to hang out with someone who might only be here temporarily.”
He didn’t know how right he was about the temporary thing. “I know, Dad. Sophia and I try to include Camille when we can, but she doesn’t get as excited about some of our suggestions as we do.” It was only a partial lie.
“Just be careful, sweetie. Remember to think before you act. How old is Sophia anyway?”
Now came the moment of truth. I wanted Dad to know that she was old enough to legally drive, but not that she was old enough to have graduated from high school already. What eighteen-year-old would willingly hang out with someone three years younger? I decided to go somewhere in the middle. It seemed safe.
“She just barely turned seventeen, Dad. She has her own car and she’s a really safe driver. Her parents totally trust her. I promise.”
Dad raised his eyebrows. “Just stay off your phones when you’re in the car, okay?”
“Of course,” I promised.
After eating dinner and helping Dad with the dishes, I retreated upstairs to my bedroom. A short time later there was a quiet tap on the door. I opened it to find Sophia standing in the hall. I grabbed her arm and yanked her into the room.
“Are you trying to get me into trouble?” I hissed.
“I didn’t know if your Dad wanted you to have friends over this late and I promised not to sneak up on you, remember?” she hissed back.
Sophia looked at me in my pajamas and registered a look of surprise. “Are you going to bed already?”
“I don’t know. I guess. I usually put my pajamas on after dinner and then read until I fall asleep.”
“We should go someplace. Ghosts tend to feel more comfortable going out at night. Maybe we can go find some. Come on, put some clothes on.” Sophia snapped her fingers.
I couldn’t take it anymore. “You know, I’m doing you a favor and it wouldn’t hurt you to be a little more appreciative and a lot less demanding. I didn’t ask to be your soul saver. I’ve spent every extra moment with you in the last week. Have you even noticed that I’m losing the people I care about most? I understand your predicament and I feel sorry for you. Really, I do. But the fact is that sooner or later you’re going to be gone and I will still be here. What if I have no one left to stay with me when you’re gone?”
Sophia appeared shocked as I fiercely whispered at her. I know I was shocked. Outbursts were not common coming from me.
I took a deep breath and continued. “I think you should leave for tonight. I have a lot of thinking to do.”
“Ok. Sorry, Jamie. I’ll see you later.” Sophia stepped back toward my closet and vanished.
I threw myself onto my bed and sobbed. Camille didn’t want to hang out with me anymore. I was disappointing Dad who I knew loved me dearly. If I didn’t help Sophia I would disappoint someone who had been lost for decades. I didn’t know what to do so I opted for Plan C. I cried myself to sleep.