Ghost Song

by Mark L'Estrange

  “That said, I had already been formerly tutored in the art of young ladies’ etiquette, so I knew not to be rude and interrupt once I finally allowed the pair of them to start their conversation. I waited patiently, still holding onto Amy’s hand, while the pair of them seemed oblivious to all the excitement and merriment that was happening around us. Finally, Amy made some comment about me wanting to see the rest of the fair, and she handed me back over to Spencer. Even at such a young age, I could tell how reluctant that they were to be parted. But I am afraid that my eagerness to see what else was on offer overrode any feeling on guilt that I may have had at being the one who was driving them apart.

  “On the carriage ride home, I was fit to bursting, relaying all the wonderful things I had experienced at the fair to Spencer, as if he had not been there right beside me all along. He however was far more subdued than I had ever seen him before, and I found myself having to tug furiously on his sleeve to exact any kind of response from him. The fair was in town for two weeks, and Spencer returned to it every day, but too early for it to be open. I pleaded with him to take me back again, and he promised me another trip before it left town.

  “Spencer was always as good as his word, and sure enough, he took me back to the fair the following week. Only this time, once we arrived, Amy joined us and stayed with us throughout our visit. It made the experience extra special for me, because everywhere we went, when the show people saw that Amy was with us, we were treated like proper royalty. I was ushered to the front of the queue every time I wanted to go on a ride. I was being fed so many free treats by everybody that towards the end of the evening I was starting to feel a little queasy, and Spencer had to start refusing their kind offers on my behalf.

  “Amy introduced me to all the animals in the show. Not just the lions, although she did take me to stroke them again. But also, a dancing bear, some gorgeous horses, and the elephant that was giving the children rides. The one which I most hesitant about was when she asked me if I wanted to meet the members of the freak show. She laughed when she saw the scepticism in my little face and crouched down to my level to explain that they were all completely harmless and would very much like to make my acquaintance.

  “Even so, I can still remember how tightly I held onto her hand as she introduced me to them all. But she was right of course; they were all incredibly friendly and full of compliments for me and the dress I was wearing that day. By the end of the visit it was almost as if their deformities no longer existed, and I was actually sad to have to leave their tent and move on, but I was old enough to appreciate that they had a show to do.

  “After the fair, Amy accompanied us back to the manor. Spencer and I had walked over this time, so Amy borrowed one of the carriages from the fair, and we rode in that. Spencer let me sit up front with him and Amy, which made me feel like a proper grown-up, and I arrived home feeling like the luckiest girl in the world. Amy joined us all for dinner, much to Artemis’ chagrin. This was the first time, to my knowledge certainly, that Spencer had ever brought a girl home, and I have often wondered if, even on that first visit, Artemis had recognised the special connection between them.

  “Spalding, for his part, could not take his eyes off Amy, although he made a hash job of pretending not to notice her. After dinner, Spencer and Amy took me upstairs to tuck me in. I was still buzzing from all the excitement of the day and was obviously in no mood to sleep. Then, Amy began to sing to me. I later found out that it was an old Romany lullaby, and she had such a lovely voice that within minutes I was sound asleep.”

  “At the mention of Amy’s singing, my aunt, once more, noticed me stiffen in my chair.”

  “Remind me to give you something before you go!”

  “Once more, her words were uttered as more of a command, than a mere suggestion in passing. I nodded my response and urged her to continue.”

  “Where was I? Oh yes, I remember being awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of Artemis screaming his lungs out at someone. I was too afraid to venture out of my nice warm bed to see what all the commotion was about, so I pulled the covers over my head to help to block out the noise, and eventually, I fell back to sleep. The atmosphere at breakfast the following morning was particularly grim. I had hoped that Amy would still be there, but Spencer told me later that she had left soon after I had fallen to sleep. I remember throughout the meal Artemis glaring menacingly at Spencer over the breakfast table, and I surmised that he must have been the one that Artemis had been shouting at during the night.

  “Whenever I would catch Spencer’s eye, he would wink at me and smile, as if to allay my concerns. Later that morning, Spencer came and found me and informed me that he had proposed to Amy, and that she had accepted. I was so thrilled by the prospect of Amy coming to stay that I found it hard to contain my excitement, and started jumping around, and whooping with delight. But then Spencer informed me that Artemis was not at all pleased with the news, and that was why he had been shouting at him in the middle of the night. Spencer confessed that he had informed his uncle that once he received his inheritance he intended to sell his portion of the business to the highest bidder, and he and Amy would move away to start their married life.

  “My mood changed immediately upon hearing this news, and Spencer was not oblivious to it. But he pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me and assured me that once he and Amy had their own house, that I could come and stay with them during the holidays instead of at dreary Denby Manor. This announcement switched my mood straight back to one of sheer joy, and I hugged Spencer back so hard that he complained I was about to break his back.

  “The atmosphere in the house from that day was visibly more strained than it had ever been before. Mealtimes especially were conducted in utter silence, with Artemis grumbling and mumbling under his breath and shouting at the servants even more than was his usual custom. Spalding, for his part, would sit there in silence, concentrating on his food, while Spencer would always make a point of throwing me the odd wink just to assure me that everything was going to be alright.

  “Then one night, about a fortnight before I was due to return to school, I was woken by the sound of my bedroom door opening. At first, I was naturally petrified, imagining all kinds of bogey monsters and goblins coming to snatch me away. But my terror transformed into immediate relief when Spencer peered from around the door, holding his finger to his lips as if to convey to me that I needed to be quiet. He came over and sat on my bed and asked me in a voice barely above a whisper if I would like to go to his wedding.

  “I was naturally overjoyed by the prospect but asked him why he had not waited until the morning to ask me. He explained that because of Amy’s Romany traditions, the wedding had to take place at midnight, when the moon was full. He also explained that he did not want his uncle or Spalding to know, just in case they tried to intervene and prevent the nuptials from taking place.

  “I quickly dressed in what I felt was my prettiest dress and wore my best Sunday shoes and bonnet. Although it was a beautifully clear night, with a sky full of stars and a huge full moon, due to the lateness of the hour I wrapped a woollen shawl around my shoulders to fend off the cold before I tip-toed down the stairs to meet Spencer outside. We walked for a little way, just until we were out of earshot, and there was a magnificent-looking carriage waiting for us, pulled along by four of the horses from the fair, all decked out in their performance finery.

  “When we arrived at the fairground camp all the performers were in attendance, sitting on the ground in a huge circle with a table in the middle. There were lit torches dotted around the circle, illuminating the entire scene, and when we alighted from the carriage, the bearded lady came to greet us and led me to my place in the circle. I felt a little hesitant, sitting on the dirt floor in one of my favourite dresses, but I was so overcome with the emotion of the moment that I complied without any fuss.

  “Spencer was escorted to the middle of the circle and he was left to stand alone by th
e table. I noticed that there were two bottles upon it, one with a dark red liquid and the other with a clear one, which I considered might have been water. I had never attended a wedding ceremony before, but even so, I had heard about them from some of the girls at school, so I knew right away that this ceremony did not follow the traditional form of practice.

  “Everyone began singing, but as I could not understand the words, I just hummed along to the tune, which was merry enough, and all those around me were smiling and cheerful, so it was easy for me to be caught up in the merriment of the occasion. After a short while, Amy emerged from one of the tents surrounding our circle. She looked absolutely gorgeous in the moonlight. Her hair had been braided with flowers and she was wearing a stunning floral-print dress, which accentuated her amazing figure far more than I was used to seeing young ladies, at the time, allow themselves to be adorned.”

  “Again, I could feel a shiver rush up my spine when my aunt mentioned Amy’s wedding dress. Surely, that must be the same one her ghost had worn each time she plagued me during her nightly visits. This time, however, I purposely did not allow my apprehension to show outwardly I wanted my aunt to finish her story with the minimum of interruption, so that I could finally get to the truth. My trick seemed to work, as she continued speaking as if she had not noticed any change to my demeanour.”

  “Well, the ceremony itself began in earnest when Amy broke the circle and entered to stand opposite Spencer. As they stood there, I presumed, waiting for the singing to cease, Amy turned and gave me a wink, which somehow conveyed to my young mind that she was happy to see me in attendance. As the singing came to an end, the crowd around me began to murmur in hushed tones, some kind of ritualistic oration, which again was in a language which I could not understand, so I just sat there quietly, taking in the ambience of the magical event. Spencer and Amy took their cues, and recited their vows to each other, one line at a time, simultaneously, and when they were finished, Spencer produced a ring and slipped it on Amy’s finger. Amy held her arm up with the gold band on display, and an almighty cheer went up from all those gathered, including me.

  “Next, Amy poured some of the red liquid from one of the bottles into a glass, and then she mixed in some of the clear. She then began swirling the combined mixture until it became a uniform rose-tinted hue, before draining the glass in one swallow. Then she did something which I at least found very odd. She removed her shoes and placed them on the table next to the bottles. She then proceeded to fill each shoe with the liquid from one of the bottles in turn. Once she was finished, Spencer picked up the first shoe, with the red liquid, and drained it, before executing the same procedure with the other one, also.

  “After this, they carried Amy’s shoes over to an old lady, who I had not noticed until then, who was the only person in the circle who was sitting on a proper seat rather than on the ground. The old lady took both shoes from them, and both Amy and Spencer went down on one knee, so that the woman could kiss them both on their foreheads, before making a strange sign in the air above their heads. Once the old woman was finished Amy and Spencer breached the circle, just as the elephant which I had ridden on at the fair was brought out by its trainer. They both climbed aboard and rode around the camp three times, at the end of which there was another huge cheer from the crowd, and everybody rose to their feet and started dancing.

  “I was grabbed by the hand and pulled into the middle of the melee and was immediately caught up in the music and the singing which pervaded the night air. So much so that I did not see anything of Spencer or Amy until the sun started to rise, which was when the celebration officially ended. Even though I had only had a few hours’ sleep before Spencer had crept into my room I did not feel the least bit tired, and I believe that I could have continued dancing for hours to come. As it was Amy and Spencer took me back home, and I was sound asleep before we even reached the manor.

  “I woke later that morning in my own bed, and for a minute began to question whether or not I had only dreamt about the festivities. But when I came down to breakfast, there was Spencer and Amy sat together at the table, and I knew immediately that it was all true. I rushed over and gave them both a huge hug before sitting down to await the others. When Artemis and Spalding finally arrived, they were both obviously surprised to see Amy sitting at breakfast. But, when Spencer announced that they had been married, I thought that Artemis was going to burst a blood vessel there and then. His face turned a bright puce, and his cheeks puffed out like a hamster storing its nuts.

  “At first he did not seem capable of speech; he just kept opening and closing his mouth without any words escaping. Finally, he roared out something about Spencer not being allowed to marry without his express permission, which of course was nonsense, but Artemis was evidently convinced that he was in the right. Just as the first of the breakfast trays arrived, Artemis leapt from his seat, causing the serving maid to upend her tray, spilling kedgeree all over the table. As he stormed out of the room Spalding followed behind, and we did not see either of them again for the rest of that day.

  “The fair moved away, and Spencer and Amy took me with them as she bade farewell to her friends and family. They were all so genuinely happy for her and Spencer that it made me feel quite bad for Amy, considering the frozen reception she had received for Spencer’s side of the family. But for all that, Amy never let it show. She continued to be the brightest, happiest, most wonderful person I had ever met. Over the next few days, whenever Spencer was summoned by his uncle to a business meeting, Amy would go out of her way to make my remaining days at Denby an absolute joy.

  “We would go out on carriage rides together, and sometimes she would pack a picnic for us if she knew that Spencer would not be available for lunch. She was always singing, and spent hours entertaining me, teaching me how to make necklaces out of flowers and twigs, and anything she could find to hand. On warm days we would go swimming in the lake, and she also taught me several different ways to wear my hair, some of which made me feel far more grown-up than my meagre years. She was also a dab hand at music and did her best to teach me the harpsichord. But to be honest, I was more interested in just lying on a couch and listening to her play and sing for me.

  “The situation with Artemis seemed to grow a little less fraught over the next few days. In fact, by dinner on the third day after the wedding announcement, both Artemis and Spalding began to pass the odd pleasantry, although I could still feel an underlying hostility in their overall manner. But Amy and Spencer seemed happy enough to ignore such inferences, and as each day passed they fell more and more in love with each other.

  “Then, tragedy struck. Artemis had asked Spencer to accompany himself and Spalding to another town a few miles away on business, claiming that it was necessary for Spencer to attend as he might be called on as a part-owner in the business to sign certain documents. But, on their way back to Denby, their coach was attacked by robbers on horseback, and Spencer was shot and killed.

  “From that day, Amy was never the same! She would spend most of the day in bed, and at night, I would often hear her wandering the corridors, crying and sobbing. She refused to eat, and even passed out at Spencer’s funeral just as his coffin was being lowered into the ground. Fortunately, one of the mourners nearby managed to catch her as she swooned, otherwise she would have ended up inside the hole on top of the coffin.

  “There was a terrible commotion the following night when the local constable brought Amy home in the middle of the night, having found her lying on top of Spencer’s grave in the pouring rain, singing to him. Unfortunately, though she was in no fit state to realise it, Amy was supplying Artemis with all the ammunition he needed to have her committed to an asylum. He had already taken over Spencer’s share of the business, by arguing that he and Amy had not undergone an official wedding ceremony, and as such, they were not legally married, which made him Spencer’s heir. But his asylum bid failed when he could not find two independent doctors to sign a release to st
ate that she was indeed insane.

  “Poor Amy seemed oblivious to everything that was happening around her. I must confess that there were times when I would try and visit her in her room, and the look in her eyes actually frightened me. Worse still were the occasions when I would try to convince her to come down for meals, and she would look straight at me and say that she was waiting for Spencer to come and fetch her. It was almost as if her life had stopped moving forward, and she was forever stuck in a void between life and death.

  “Then, one-day, Artemis received a visit from a solicitor from out of town. He had apparently been abroad when Spencer was killed and had only recently returned to discover the news. He produced a will, signed and dated by Spencer, leaving his share of the family business to Amy. Artemis was naturally furious. He was a man who was used to getting his own way, but he knew that he could not argue with a legally drafted document. He even called in his own solicitor and insisted that there must be some way that Spencer’s hasty will could be invalidated. He even suggested that Amy had put Spencer under some kind of gypsy spell to force him to sign his will. But in the end, there was nothing that his solicitor could do about it. The will was legally binding, and Amy was the sole beneficiary.

  “The final straw, for Artemis anyway, came when Amy discovered that she was pregnant. At first, no-one, myself included I must confess, believed her. For one thing it had only been just over a week since she and Spencer were married, and as young as I was, I had always understood that it took far longer than that for a lady to be in that state. But Amy insisted that she had known the minute she had conceived, and furthermore, she was convinced that their child would be a boy. Old Artemis dismissed her revelations as nothing more than insanity, caused by grief. But I saw a change in Amy that day, as her sorrow finally gave way to anger and she confronted Artemis with the fact that she was going to do as Spencer had wanted and sell her share of the business to the highest bidder to get away from him.