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
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
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