Taking another listen, I recognized this
sound as whispers.
“ You’re making enough
noise,” I shouted. “Why don’t you come out?”
The cabin wasn’t very big;
it had one main room with a kitchen bench, dining table and chairs,
a leather couch and armchair, and coffee table. Off the main room
were two bedrooms, one with a double bed and one with two bunk
beds. When Leo had first organized the weekend away I’d planned to
sneak in and surprise him, but his dedication to the band had
proved superior when he’d uncovered my plans and had given me the
same advice as my two best friends – stay away.
“ Signs, Ruby. There are
always signs. Look for them. Prepare yourself for them.” The echoes of my mom’s advice to me when I was
eleven followed me deeper into the cabin. Off the main room was the
bathroom which had a shower and a bathtub. Out on the rear deck was
a hot tub. I’d seductively suggested putting the hot tub to good
use, too, but Leo wasn’t to be swayed. How stupid had I been to
miss the clear signals that other things ranked higher in Leo’s
life than me.
Whispers like scratches
against wood led me toward the bedroom where the bunk beds were
located. The door creaked and opened on its own – probably a design
flaw, nothing to do with poltergeists, nothing to do with
poltergeists, nothing to do with poltergeists.
My heart wouldn’t keep
still. Could anything even harm the
dead?
“ Show yourself,” I
shouted.
Even ghosts didn’t have
the benefit of super vision. I peered into the darkness, my heart
thumping wildly in my ears, imagining a multitude of night
creatures.
The door opened another
inch.
I waited…
But nothing flew out at
me. There was definitely something in the room, though.
It was staring at
me.
Chapter Four
“ Are you going to hurt
me?”
The voice that spoke from
amidst the darkness was female. She stepped out of the shadows and
into the moonlight. I automatically sized her up: young, perhaps
younger than me, wearing an old-fashioned floor length gown; the
clothes in our stores were outdated but at least they were from
this century. Maybe she’d lived in Providence during the gold
rush.
“ Of course I’m not going
to hurt you,” I said. “Come out of there.”
Instead, she stepped back
into the room and was engulfed by the darkness.
I hurried to the front
window to open the curtains to let in more of the bright moonlight.
Yet my hand swept through the fabric.
Seeing Leo and his family,
accepting my death, somehow I’d managed to hold back the tears, but
not being able to move the curtains was the final straw. I burst
into tears.
The ghost in the bedroom
emerged and walked over to the window, where she pulled the curtain
to the side with ease. That sent me into more of an emotional
flurry. Not only was I dead, I was useless.
I felt the presence of her
arms around me. This gesture stemmed my tears.
“ Thank you,” I sniffed.
“What’s your name?”
“ Anne Louise
Montgomery.”
The inclination to curtsy
was strong but I resisted. “I’m Ruby Parker. Do you—” live seemed the wrong
word considering she was obviously dead, “—haunt this
cabin?”
Anne hesitated, and after
an awkward moment she nodded her head.
“ Do you haunt this place
on your own?”
Her eyes dropped to the
floor a split moment ahead of her shoulders and her voice. Her
whole body was suddenly the portrait of regret. “Yes.”
“ When I came in you were
whispering. Who were you whispering to?”
She stared out the window
longingly. “His name is William Tisk.”
There were two ghosts in
this cabin? Had they been here a week ago when Leo, Simon, and
Thomas had written songs for their demo? Had they been here when
I’d shown up seeking answers to a question I should never have
needed to ask? A shiver tickled my spine at how none of us had
noticed the presence of these ghosts. But why would we? Until this
morning, I wasn’t
sound as whispers.
“ You’re making enough
noise,” I shouted. “Why don’t you come out?”
The cabin wasn’t very big;
it had one main room with a kitchen bench, dining table and chairs,
a leather couch and armchair, and coffee table. Off the main room
were two bedrooms, one with a double bed and one with two bunk
beds. When Leo had first organized the weekend away I’d planned to
sneak in and surprise him, but his dedication to the band had
proved superior when he’d uncovered my plans and had given me the
same advice as my two best friends – stay away.
“ Signs, Ruby. There are
always signs. Look for them. Prepare yourself for them.” The echoes of my mom’s advice to me when I was
eleven followed me deeper into the cabin. Off the main room was the
bathroom which had a shower and a bathtub. Out on the rear deck was
a hot tub. I’d seductively suggested putting the hot tub to good
use, too, but Leo wasn’t to be swayed. How stupid had I been to
miss the clear signals that other things ranked higher in Leo’s
life than me.
Whispers like scratches
against wood led me toward the bedroom where the bunk beds were
located. The door creaked and opened on its own – probably a design
flaw, nothing to do with poltergeists, nothing to do with
poltergeists, nothing to do with poltergeists.
My heart wouldn’t keep
still. Could anything even harm the
dead?
“ Show yourself,” I
shouted.
Even ghosts didn’t have
the benefit of super vision. I peered into the darkness, my heart
thumping wildly in my ears, imagining a multitude of night
creatures.
The door opened another
inch.
I waited…
But nothing flew out at
me. There was definitely something in the room, though.
It was staring at
me.
Chapter Four
“ Are you going to hurt
me?”
The voice that spoke from
amidst the darkness was female. She stepped out of the shadows and
into the moonlight. I automatically sized her up: young, perhaps
younger than me, wearing an old-fashioned floor length gown; the
clothes in our stores were outdated but at least they were from
this century. Maybe she’d lived in Providence during the gold
rush.
“ Of course I’m not going
to hurt you,” I said. “Come out of there.”
Instead, she stepped back
into the room and was engulfed by the darkness.
I hurried to the front
window to open the curtains to let in more of the bright moonlight.
Yet my hand swept through the fabric.
Seeing Leo and his family,
accepting my death, somehow I’d managed to hold back the tears, but
not being able to move the curtains was the final straw. I burst
into tears.
The ghost in the bedroom
emerged and walked over to the window, where she pulled the curtain
to the side with ease. That sent me into more of an emotional
flurry. Not only was I dead, I was useless.
I felt the presence of her
arms around me. This gesture stemmed my tears.
“ Thank you,” I sniffed.
“What’s your name?”
“ Anne Louise
Montgomery.”
The inclination to curtsy
was strong but I resisted. “I’m Ruby Parker. Do you—” live seemed the wrong
word considering she was obviously dead, “—haunt this
cabin?”
Anne hesitated, and after
an awkward moment she nodded her head.
“ Do you haunt this place
on your own?”
Her eyes dropped to the
floor a split moment ahead of her shoulders and her voice. Her
whole body was suddenly the portrait of regret. “Yes.”
“ When I came in you were
whispering. Who were you whispering to?”
She stared out the window
longingly. “His name is William Tisk.”
There were two ghosts in
this cabin? Had they been here a week ago when Leo, Simon, and
Thomas had written songs for their demo? Had they been here when
I’d shown up seeking answers to a question I should never have
needed to ask? A shiver tickled my spine at how none of us had
noticed the presence of these ghosts. But why would we? Until this
morning, I wasn’t
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