by Patricia Fry
“And did the entity respond?” Rochelle asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“What were your impressions at the time, Iris?”
“Well, I remember thinking that I was being visited by a spirit being—someone who had crossed over and that he…” she paused and explained, “yes, I’ve always thought of it as a male, even from that first day.” She continued, “I guess I sensed that he was searching for something and he thought I could help him.”
“Wow! Good,” Rochelle said. “Now, do you have any idea what he wants? Did you have any images or thoughts that seemed not to be your own?”
“Hmmm,” Iris muttered. “I don’t think so. Just that he seemed to want something.” She leaned forward and said more enthusiastically, “I sort of imagined or wondered if he wanted me to help him get a message to someone or to find someone. I figured he was looking for a way back or a way home to his friends and family—you know, people who had already crossed over.”
“Or,” Rochelle said quietly, “someone who’s still here. Iris, I’m pretty sure you tuned in to the same entity that I did just now. It is a woman, and she left me with the same impression. She seems to be stuck here in this dimension because of something that happened or something she believes happened, probably many years ago.” Rochelle gazed into space for a moment. “I think she wants to right a wrong. She has unfinished business here and she needs help tying up some loose ends so she can rest in peace.”
Savannah broke the silence that followed. “So can a spirit, who’s invisible, actually touch you so you can feel it?”
Iris looked at Savannah, then Rochelle. “Yeah, does that ever happen to you?”
“Occasionally,” Rochelle said.
“How?” Savannah asked. “How’s that possible?”
Rochelle responded with one word. “Energy.” When she noticed the others waiting for more, she said, “It isn’t a physical touch, although it might feel like it is. It’s more just a shift or movement in the atmosphere around you—a soft breeze, a tingling, a brief sense of pressure, maybe.”
Iris’s eyes lit up. “Yes, that’s how I’d describe it. Not like a finger touching you, but a wisp or subtle whirl of air.”
Before anyone could speak, Savannah let out a yelp. She stood and ran to the other side of the room, brushing at her low back. When she heard the others laughing, she looked down at the bed where she’d been sitting and saw Rags staring back at her.
“Did he claw you or something?” Iris asked, having trouble containing her laughter.
“No!” she screeched. “I guess he pushed against me with his paws. I felt that and I thought…” She shuddered.
“You thought Ronnie was getting fresh?” Iris asked, laughing even harder now.
Savannah returned to the bed and ruffled Rags’s fur before sitting down next to him. Eager to take the focus from herself, she asked, “So you think Abe is Violet’s nemesis and she’s trying to avenge him? Heck, he could be long gone by now. It would seem that she’s looking for him in the wrong place.”
“Maybe not,” Rochelle said. She stared at Savannah, then said simply, “I think we need to find Abe.”
Savannah’s eyes widened. “Oh, I see. If you find out there was an Abe in the vicinity who had some connection to a lady named Violet or Vivian, you’ll pretty much know that the message you got is valid, right?”
“Bingo,” Rochelle said. She looked at Iris. “Now, who owned this property before you and Craig bought it, do you know?”
“Yes!” Iris asserted. “My new friend, Florence, married into the family. Their name is Windham. They’re the original owners here and they built this tract.”
Rochelle looked more seriously at Iris. “Do you know if they had an ancestor named Abe?”
Iris shook her head. “I sure don’t, but I can find out.”
“Well, that’s our starting place, then. Let’s learn what we can about the Windhams, someone named Abe, and a woman or a child named Violet.” She stared across the room for a moment and said, “Then we need to find out how Ronnie Griffith fits into all this.”
“Wow!” Iris remarked. “This could be a real challenge.” She jumped to her feet and said, “Hey, is anyone thirsty? How about a glass of wine now?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Rochelle quipped.
Savannah chuckled. “Lead the way.”
Chapter 3
Early the next morning, Rochelle found the other two women sitting at Iris’s kitchen table.
“Hi, lazybones,” Savannah greeted.
Rochelle yawned. “Sorry, but I attended a wild party last night and I think I drank half-glass too much of wine.”
Iris and Savannah laughed and Iris said, “Yeah, a girls’ giggle-fest is about the extent of my wild partying these days, too.” She waved her hand in front of her face. “Don’t even ask about my former life.” She held a carafe over an empty cup and offered, “Coffee?”
“Is it decaf?” Rochelle asked cautiously, easing into a chair across from Savannah.
Iris frowned. “No.”
“Good.” Rochelle pointed at the cup. “Hit me.” She then jumped a little and looked down. “Well, good morning, Rags. Aren’t you cute? Do you want to climb up into my lap?”
“He’s been trying to get to the fruit,” Savannah explained.
Rochelle looked across the tabletop. “Oh, what a lovely bowl of fruit. He likes fruit? I didn’t know cats ate things like that.”
“It’s the cantaloupe,” Savannah explained.
“Ooomph!” Rochelle spouted when the cat leaped up into her lap and started to step onto the table. She held him back with one hand and asked, “Can I give him a piece of cantaloupe?”
“Okay,” Savannah said, “but make him get on the floor first. We don’t want to reward him for bad behavior.”
Iris chuckled. When Savannah looked at her, she said, “You talk as if he has the ability to discern between right and wrong.”
“Well, he knows what we want him to do and not do.”
“But does he listen?” Iris asked. “Does he even care?”
Savannah winced. “I guess you have a point there. He’s one strong-willed cat.”
“Do you have cats, Rochelle?” Iris asked.
“Not yet,” she said while hand-feeding Rags a small piece of cantaloupe. “We just moved from an apartment into a house, and I’ve been thinking about getting one.” She stared down at Rags, who was standing with his front paws on her leg, again sniffing toward the fruit bowl. “But I’d like one that—you know, knows his place.”
Savannah said, “In our house, a cat’s place is…”
“…wherever he wants it to be,” Iris finished, laughing.
“Pretty much,” Savannah agreed, nudging Rags down from Rochelle’s lap. “No more, Rags. Go eat kibbles with Tommy-kitty.” When the cat sat down on the floor, she cooed, “Good boy.” What happened next, however, quickly changed her tune. “Raaags!” she bellowed.
Iris and Rochelle jumped to their feet and attempted to grab flying fruit and coffee cups as the beautifully embroidered tablecloth began to slide off the table. By the time Savannah was able to get her hands on Rags, the damage had been done. She took his paw and helped him retract his claw from the tablecloth, then turned him loose on the floor.
“I’m so sorry, Iris,” Savannah said, joining the other women in picking up broken pieces of china and cleaning up spilled coffee and fruit. “I’ll replace these pieces for you; just give me the name of the pattern.” She turned one of the saucers over and read from the bottom. “Oh, I’ve got it. Never mind.”
“It’s okay,” Iris said, but not very convincingly. “I’m the one who invited him over.”
“That’s right,” Savannah agreed. She looked at the small heap of china fragments piled on a paper plate and shook her head. “But you didn’t bargain for this. I should have been watching him more closely. I take full responsibility.”
“Oh, stop it,” Iris
said. “Things happen.” She looked at Rags, who was in the corner of the room, frantically licking his fur. “You don’t need to replace anything. Besides, this set is so old…”
“Yeah, and treasured,” Savannah lamented. “I can’t bring those pieces back, but I sure can have them replaced. They have sites on the Internet, you know. If I can find it, what do you need?” She looked at the spoils. “Two tea cups, right? Is there anything else you’d like replaced? I can order that at the same time.”
“Oh…um…I don’t know.”
“Well let me know.”
“Okay.” Iris set out fresh cups and picked up the coffee carafe. “More coffee, anyone? Sorry about the fruit.”
“No. Rags and I are sorry,” Savannah said.
After engaging in small talk for a few minutes, Rochelle asked, “Iris, did you get that message last night?”
“No,” Iris said. She picked up her phone and looked at it. “Did someone message me?”
Rochelle chuckled. “Not someone from this dimension.”
Iris looked wide-eyed at Rochelle. “What happened?”
“Well, I’m not sure, but I believe our lady, Violet returned. She’s a rather boisterous soul.”
“She is?” Iris asked. “I didn’t hear anything. What did she do? Did she tell you anything more? Oh my gosh. I can’t believe she came back. This is…well, I’m…” She asked again, “What did she do, Rochelle?”
“Simmer down, girl,” Savannah said. “Let her speak.”
Rochelle laughed. “Well, I’m pretty sure Violet visited me last night.” She stared across the room at Rags. “I think he was there.”
“Rags came into your room?” Savannah asked. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. I left my door open, hoping one of the cats would pay me a visit, and…” She squinted in thought. “I’m pretty sure Rags was there when I got the message.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “In fact, I know he was. I remember now. It was Rags who woke me up.” She asked Savannah, “Does he ever claw you to wake you up, sort of like he’s trying to dig you out from under the blankets?”
Savannah nodded. “Yes, actually, he does that, but rarely.” She thought for a moment before saying, “He usually has a reason—there’s a raccoon outside the window or one of the kids isn’t feeling well. Once there was a prowler.”
“Hmmm,” Rochelle murmured. “Well, when I began to wake up, I realized that Violet was back.” She gazed at Rags. “I think he knew.”
“So what happened, Rochelle?” Iris asked, excitedly. “What did she say?”
Rochelle winced. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you what it means; maybe you’ll know, but I believe the message was, ‘Skipper knows; find Skipper.’”
“That’s it?” Iris asked. “A sea captain? Or maybe a dog.”
“A dog?” Savannah repeated.
“Well, yeah,” Iris said. “Skipper’s a dog’s name, isn’t it?”
Rochelle shrugged. “Could be, I guess.”
“I wonder what Skipper knows,” Iris muttered.
“Where the dog bones are buried?” Savannah suggested.
Rochelle laughed, then became more somber. “Actually, as humorous as it seems, I believe this is serious business.”
“Serious business?” Iris questioned, wide-eyed.
“I mean, there was definitely an urgency in Violet’s messages. She’s obviously concerned about someone. It could be someone who’s living, or it could be your construction worker, Ernie or Ronnie or whatever.”
“You can’t tell?” Savannah asked.
Rochelle shook her head. “Not always. Some messages, for lack of a better word, come through in fragments. Some seem garbled. What I do is certainly not an exact science—not yet, anyway.”
Iris stared across the table at Rochelle and repeated, “Skipper knows, huh? Okay, now to find Skipper. Sheesh. This just gets more complicated.”
“These things often do,” Rochelle said. “So, Iris, do you think this is about your friend, Ronnie?”
Iris shrugged. “Man, I don’t know. I thought the spirit being was Ronnie. I’m totally confused now that Violet and Skipper and, oh yes, Abe have joined the party. Who are these people and what are they doing in my house? Are they connected to Ronnie in some way? Heck, who knows?”
“Well,” Savannah said cheerfully, “you have something to hang a hat on now. You didn’t have those names before. I’d think your research would get easier.”
“With just first names,” Iris complained, “that might or might not actually mean anything.” She focused on Rochelle. “Do you ever research the spirits you meet?”
Rochelle laughed. “Sometimes I do, but for the most part, I just leave it to the family that’s living with the entity. As an example, if something pulls at me when I’m in an old building in a city I’m visiting, I’ll enjoy the meeting, then walk away without getting involved.”
“Do you ever connect with famous people—I mean, from history?” Savannah asked.
Rochelle’s eyes lit up. “Sure I do. I sensed some of the cabinet members, from one of our long-ago presidents, once when I was in Washington DC. Another time I felt the presence of some famous performers while I was touring an old opera house. I won’t tell you who; it would be an invasion of their privacy.”
“They need privacy when they’re dead?” Iris asked.
“Even more so,” Rochelle insisted. “I don’t want to be responsible for every clairvoyant, spiritualist, psychic, mystic, or whatever they call themselves, bothering them.”
“Really?” Savannah said. When the conversation seemed to lull, Savannah stood. “Well, I’d better get home to my family.” She chuckled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a sleepover.” She addressed Iris. “Thank you. It was fun.” She jumped a little and edged her phone out of her pocket, then began to laugh. She spoke to her phone. “Hi, punkin. What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you,” Lily said.
Savannah laughed. “I’m coming home right now. Want to say hi to Aunt Ris-Ris?”
She turned the phone screen toward Iris, who began to laugh. “I see you, Lily. Hi. Are you Facetiming Mommy?”
Lily nodded. “Is Oshell there?”
“Oshell?” Iris asked.
“Rochelle,” Savannah said. “That’s what she calls Rochelle.”
Iris handed Rochelle the phone and she said, “Hi, angel. Did you sleep tight?”
Lily nodded. “Are you coming here?”
“Yes, Mommy and I are coming there right now.”
“Grammy made awfuls,” the child announced.
“Awfuls?” Rochelle questioned.
“For breakfast,” Lily said.
Rochelle whispered to Savannah, “What are awfuls?” When Savannah looked confused, Rochelle said, “Her grammy made some for breakfast.”
“Oh,” Savannah said, laughing. “Waffles.”
“Got it,” Rochelle said. Into the phone screen she said, “See you in a sec, sweetie. Bye.”
Savannah put Rags’s harness on him, then hugged Iris, “We’ll get out of your hair now. Thank you again for the interesting evening.”
Rochelle hugged her next. “I thank you too, for your wonderful hospitality.”
“Hey, thanks for coming,” Iris said. “I had a blast.”
Before leaving, Savannah asked, “So what are you doing today, Iris?”
“I’m going to pay Florence a visit and see what she knows about Violet and her two friends.”
“Good,” Savannah said. “Let us know what you find out.”
“Sure will.”
****
Savannah was quick to pick up her phone late that afternoon when she saw Iris’s name come up on her screen. “Hi. Anything new?”
“No. Florence doesn’t know of anyone in the neighborhood or in their family named Violet or Abe.”
“Oh, that’s going to upset Rochelle, isn’t it?”
“Is she still there?” Iris asked.
“I wanted to let her know we don’t have a link to those names yet.”
“Does that happen often?” Savannah asked.
“What?”
“That you get the names wrong?”
“Who said the names are wrong?” Iris spouted. “No, I don’t think that’s the problem. We just haven’t asked the right person or engaged in the right research.”
Savannah grinned. “Okay, if you say so.”
“It’s not me saying so,” Iris started. She then said, “Oh, Savannah, you just watch; we’ll find out who Violet and Abe are…or were. It can take time to discover the meaning of a message from the other side. Rochelle will tell you that.”
“Okay. Well, let me know when you solve the puzzle. It’ll be interesting to learn who’s been hanging out with us and listening in on our private conversations at your house.” When Iris didn’t respond, Savannah said, “Hey, don’t forget about Teddy’s birthday party Sunday.”
“Not a chance,” Iris chimed. “It’s hard to believe that little cutie’s going to be a year old.”
Savannah smiled at the baby as he bounced in his bouncy chair and chewed on teething beads. “Yesterday was actually his birthday!”
“And you weren’t there to celebrate with him?” Iris scolded.
“Sure I was. We had birthday pancakes for breakfast and we gave him his gift yesterday afternoon before Rochelle and Peter got here. He had no idea what was going on, but the rest of us had fun celebrating him. Oh, and he took a few steps on his own—on his birthday.”
“Really?”
Savannah chuckled. “Yeah, he was walking around the coffee table when he saw Buffy come into the room. He took three real steps before sitting down and crawling as fast as he could toward her.”
“What did that beautiful creature do?”
“She waited until he’d almost caught up to her, then she jumped up on the back of a chair where he couldn’t reach her. He tried for the longest time to climb up there. Kept him busy for a while.” She then said, “Hey, I can’t believe it’s mealtime again already, but it is. Gotta go.”
