Haunting Danielle 28 The Ghost and the Birthday Boy

by Bobbi Holmes

  “Why was Caroline sent there? According to Millie, and I’ve heard it before, back then a woman could be sent away simply for being outspoken,” Danielle asked.

  “I have no idea. When I was younger, after church our family would visit the cemetery and put flowers on the graves. We have quite a few family members buried at the Frederickport Cemetery. Before I found her on the census, I already knew how old she was when she died, but I always assumed she died at home.”

  Thirty-Three

  Lily had to admit, Connor having a ghost playmate was not such a bad thing. Rupert entertained Connor, as he had once entertained her. Marie had explained to Rupert why removing Winnie’s stuffing or giving stuffed animals a bath was not a good idea, and he seemed sincerely contrite for his behavior. He admitted to Marie he had been jealous of Winnie and of Lily’s stuffed animals. But now that he understood his reality, he simply wanted to move on and be with his parents again.

  Even though she couldn’t see Rupert, Lily was no longer anxious about the two boys playing together. She had conveyed to Marie that it was unnecessary to stay by Connor’s side because of Rupert’s presence.

  Lily knew Rupert would not be staying indefinitely. The plan was for her and Danielle to drive to Salem on Friday, to attend his mother’s funeral. If she was, in fact, his mother—they still weren’t certain. Rupert had already agreed to go with them. But leaving with Danielle without her mother or Laura trying to tag along was the challenge.

  “The only problem with a beach wedding, the weather,” Kelly said.

  Lily glanced over to where Kelly and Laura sat on nearby beach chairs. After breakfast, they had all retreated outside, behind Lily and Ian’s house. Everyone sat in beach chairs, aside from Lily, who sat on a large blanket with Connor while he played with his sand toys.

  Conversation between the women was Kelly’s upcoming wedding, while the men sat some distance away, involved in their own discussion. Lily just listened, so far resisting comment.

  “Which is why Lily and Ian should have gotten married outside,” Laura said. “I tried to get her to, but she is so stubborn.”

  They all turned to Lily. She smiled at her sister and said, “I had the wedding I wanted.”

  Laura raised her hands and said, “Just look at this weather. It is amazing today. This is how it would have been at your wedding!”

  Lily shrugged. “Hey, I live on the beach. I can enjoy this whenever I want.”

  “You are spoiled,” Laura teased.

  Lily laughed. “True.”

  “Have you and Ian decided what you’re going to do for your anniversary?” June asked.

  “They should go away for the night. Find a nice little romantic place along the ocean,” Tammy said.

  Lily laughed again. “Mom, didn’t I just say I live on the beach already? Why would we want to spend money to rent a place on the beach?”

  “Gosh, Lily. Have you and Ian been married a million years, or what?” Laura scoffed.

  Lily frowned at Laura. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Oh, stop picking on your sister,” Tammy chided Laura. “Lily is just comfortable. Although, a married couple should take time for themselves.” She looked at Lily and said, “And it is your anniversary. Back when you were little, I would have loved to have both sets of grandparents offering to watch you kids so we could take a little time for ourselves.”

  “I appreciate that, Mom. But Ian and I can go away anytime. And you’re only going to be here for a couple of weeks,” Lily said sweetly.

  “You can’t get away without Connor,” Tammy reminded her.

  Lily shrugged. “Danielle and Walt are always willing to watch Connor, and there is Heather.”

  “What about me?” Kelly interrupted.

  “I was going to say you,” Lily lied.

  “Lily doesn’t need to be bothering that Heather again,” June said, “now that we’re moving to town.”

  “Let’s talk about Kelly’s wedding,” Lily suggested. She looked at Kelly and said, “Ian and I talked about it, and if you want to have your wedding here, you guys are more than welcome to.”

  “Unless they have it in the next week, they might be getting married in the rain,” June said. “And even then, there is no guarantee.” June glanced up to the clouds gathering overhead.

  “Thank you, Lily. I appreciate your offer. I’m going to be talking to Joe about it,” Kelly said.

  “If you and Joe would wait a year,” June began, “you could have your wedding at our new home. I have so many ideas for the gardens. There is so much room!”

  “Imagine Joe and Kelly getting married at Marymoor?” Lily told Danielle and Heather Monday evening. She had slipped over to Heather’s house after the parents and Laura had returned to Marlow House to get ready for dinner, and after Danielle had sent her a text message telling her to meet her at Heather’s.

  “Are they really going to?” Heather asked. The three sat around her kitchen table.

  “I doubt it. I don’t imagine Kelly wants to wait that long,” Lily said.

  The teapot on Heather’s stove began to whistle. She stood up. “Do you guys want some tea?”

  “I’d love some,” Lily said.

  “No, thanks. But I would love a glass of iced water,” Danielle said.

  Heather paused for a moment and looked at Danielle. “Do you not want tea, or can’t you have it?”

  Danielle shrugged. “Not sure.”

  “You haven’t started your period?” Heather asked.

  “No.”

  “Why haven’t you taken a test yet?” Heather prodded.

  “I just haven’t bought one yet. No time. Are you going to let that teapot whistle forever?”

  Heather rolled her eyes and turned from the table. When she returned with a cup of tea for Lily and water for Danielle, she said, “If you stopped at Old Salts this morning, you could have gone to the pharmacy.”

  “Yes, Mom,” Danielle teased, taking the water.

  A few minutes later, they returned to their previous topic. Heather said, “I doubt that house will get built. Ian’s parents will eventually see something over there to make them change their minds.”

  Lily shook her head. “I don’t understand it. They drove by again this morning, and they still saw nothing. At least, nothing they told us about. And when Kelly took Laura over there, nothing unusual happened.”

  “I assume that’s when Chris and I were there, and the Forgotten Women of Marymoor made an appearance,” Heather said.

  “The what?” Lily frowned.

  “You haven’t told her what Tori said?” Heather asked Danielle.

  “I haven’t had a chance to tell her,” Danielle said before telling Lily about her conversation that morning with Joe’s sister.

  “Wow. If they’re the ones haunting that place, it sounds more sad than creepy,” Lily said.

  “I don’t know about that,” Heather said. “Why were they committed? Perhaps a couple of them went Lizzy Borden on their families.”

  “At least one of those spirits was a killer—Waylon,” Danielle reminded.

  “Have you or Walt found anything about the other guy, or something about any of the women? Ian hasn’t been able to do any online research with his family here. I’m not sure what excuse I’m going to come up with to get away with you on Friday to go to Salem.”

  “We’ll figure out something for Friday. But Walt was saying we need to all get together and do some more brainstorming, especially now that we’ve learned a little more,” Danielle said.

  Lily groaned. “You do not know how hard it was for me to sneak over here without someone seeing me.”

  “I was thinking about your anniversary,” Danielle said.

  “I told you, Ian and I decided we aren’t going to do anything now with all the family here.”

  “Yes, you are,” Danielle disagreed. “You’re going to the Glandon Foundation for your anniversary.”

  Lily frowned. “I am?�
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  “Yeah, but tell them you’re going to some restaurant out of town,” Heather said. “I’ll be picking up burgers, so you won’t starve.”

  “I don’t understand.” Lily frowned.

  “We’re having a meeting of the mediums on Wednesday evening at the Glandon Foundation, and you and Ian need to be there.”

  “After six thirty,” Heather said. “Everyone will be gone by then. We really can’t do it at my house or Chris’s. Someone might notice your car.”

  “Then we can figure out what to do next,” Danielle said.

  “Thanks for doing my hair,” Lily told Danielle on Wednesday evening. She sat on a chair in her bedroom while Danielle stood behind her, weaving her long red hair into a fishtail braid.

  “Hey, I’m happy to do it. Consider it my anniversary gift to you.”

  “I always felt anniversary gifts were supposed to be between the couple, not from other people. But in this case, I will happily accept your gift.” She then added in a whisper, “Although this all seems silly since we’re not really going out.”

  “We have to make this look good. And about anniversary gifts, it looks like June got you guys something. I’m sure she’s planning to give it to you before you leave,” Danielle said.

  “That’s nice of her, but I wish she wouldn’t have.” Careful not to move, Lily stared into the dresser mirror, watching Danielle finish up her braid.

  “There. I’m done!” Danielle announced.

  Lily smiled and leaned closer to the mirror, examining the finished product. “It always amazes me how easy you make that look.”

  “It’s beautiful on you. You should let me braid your hair more often.”

  Lily stood up and gave Danielle a hug. “Thanks. I guess I won’t worry about Connor. With both sets of grandparents watching him, he should be okay—as long as my mom and June don’t kill each other before we get back.”

  “And when all of this is over, Walt and I will watch Connor so you and Ian can have a real anniversary date.”

  When Danielle and Lily walked out into the living room ten minutes later, they found the two grandmothers sitting on the sofa chatting, while Connor sat on the floor playing with his toys. The grandfathers were in the dining room with Walt and Ian. John had drawn up some ideas for their new house, and he was showing them the plans. But when Lily and Danielle walked into the living room, June and Tammy started complimenting Lily on her hair and outfit. The men stopped what they were doing and walked into the living room.

  “I have something I want to give you before you go,” June announced. She stood and picked up a wrapped package from the floor next to the sofa and handed it to Lily. “This is for both of you, for your anniversary.”

  “Thank you, June. That’s sweet,” Lily said before handing Ian the gift and insisting he open it. They all watched Ian open the package. Inside was a piece of luggage.

  “It’s leather,” June announced after Ian removed the small suitcase from the box. “The third anniversary is leather. If you were spending the night in Astoria, you could use it.”

  “It’s lovely, Mom. But like we said, we’re just going out for dinner,” Ian said.

  “But it’s your anniversary, and there are plenty of sitters. You two could enjoy a nice little second honeymoon,” June said.

  “We appreciate the offer. But on our next trip, we will definitely use this,” Ian promised.

  “June really wanted to get rid of us for the entire night,” Lily whispered to Danielle as she got into the passenger side of the car, and Ian got into the driver’s side. She glanced back to the front porch. Her parents stood with Ian’s, with John holding Connor. They waved at her.

  “I’ll see you guys over at the foundation offices,” Danielle whispered to Lily as she shut the car door.

  Thirty-Four

  “Why do I feel like a teenager sneaking out of the house to go to a party?” Lily asked Chris and Heather when she and Ian walked into the front office of the Glandon Foundation. Hunny greeted the two with a wet nose and wiggling butt while Chris stood up and shook Ian’s hand. Heather remained in her swivel office chair, her back to her desk. She gave the pair a wave.

  “How you doing, ferocious?” Ian greeted Hunny after shaking Chris’s hand. He gave the dog a vigorous pat along her broad shoulders. Hunny replied by swiping a wet tongue over his mouth.

  “Yuck,” Heather said. “I hate when she does that.”

  “I’m used to dog spit,” Ian said as he wiped his mouth and took a seat.

  “Where’s Walt and Danielle?” Heather asked.

  “They should be right behind us. Dani was leaving our house when we drove off,” Lily explained.

  Ten minutes later, Walt and Danielle showed up. Before they got down to business, Heather brought out the food she had purchased and passed it around.

  “Happy anniversary,” Chris told Ian and Lily as he lifted a can of beer in toast.

  “I have to say, I feel overdressed,” Lily said as she glanced down at her outfit.

  “You look cute. And I love your hair,” Heather said.

  Lily flashed Heather a smile. “Thanks. Dani fixed it for me.”

  “Some mornings I’m tempted to knock on Danielle’s door and ask her to braid my hair like that,” Heather said.

  “I don’t believe that,” Walt said.

  Heather frowned at Walt. “Why?”

  “Because you never knock, you just walk in.”

  Heather threw a french fry at Walt. Instead of hitting him, it boomeranged back to her, bouncing off her nose. “You cheat,” she told him as she grabbed the fry before it fell to the floor.

  They all laughed and continued eating while rehashing some of the information they all knew. When they finished dinner, Heather picked up the trash, and Chris passed around more beverages.

  “Walt knew some of the Forgotten Women of Marymoor,” Danielle began after Heather returned to her seat. “That list Tori sent me helped him find more information.”

  “Back then, you didn’t hear about any of them being sent to Marymoor?” Heather asked Walt.

  “No. I guess if they had, then they wouldn’t have been the Forgotten Women of Marymoor, as Tori called them,” Walt said. “But they were all from wealthy families.”

  “Were they all married?” Heather asked. “Did their husbands send them to Marymoor to get their hands on their money? You said they were from wealthy families. I could see some gold digger doing that. Hooking a rich woman and then having her locked up to get her money.”

  “I don’t know why they were sent there,” Walt said, “but they weren’t all married. Several were considered spinsters.”

  “I hate that term,” Danielle said. “And for one thing, they were not all that old.”

  “Understandable,” Walt said. “But a woman who didn’t marry by the age of twenty-three was considered a spinster.”

  “Hmm, Laura is a spinster? She might smack me if I called her that,” Lily said.

  “Actually, she is a thornback,” Ian noted.

  Lily frowned. “What’s a thornback?”

  “Oh, I’ve heard of that!” Heather laughed. “It’s worse than a spinster—it’s a woman who is still unmarried at twenty-six.”

  “So both of our sisters are thornbacks?” Lily asked Ian.

  “So am I,” Heather said. “I rather like the term. It’s like something you shouldn’t mess with. And I hate to remind you, but until you married Ian, you were a thornback.”

  Lily rolled her eyes.

  “So we don’t really know why those women were sent to Marymoor. We just know they died there, and they all came from wealthy families. Some were married, some weren’t?” Danielle said.

  “That’s about right,” Walt agreed.

  “Considering they’re haunting the site, they obviously have unresolved issues,” Chris said.

  “Duh,” Heather snarked.

  “We know who Molly is, and Waylon. Any idea who this Sid and Randal are?”
Lily asked.

  “The name Randal sounded a little familiar to me,” Walt said. “I looked through some of the documents from Marymoor.”

  “Did you go back to the museum?” Chris asked.

  Walt shook his head. “No. Remember the pictures Danielle took of the documents? We found the one Tori mentioned, and I must agree with her, Tori, that is. I believe those initials were the women in the photographs. Not only their initials, but their birth and death dates matched. I also found papers on Randal. I wondered why the name sounded familiar. He was the head of the sanatorium. At least, a Randal Snide was.”

  Heather cringed. “Snide? That sounds like a villain’s name.”

  “Is he haunting the place too?” Lily asked.

  “We didn’t see him,” Heather said. “But the ghosts mentioned him.”

  “I looked him up online, using one of the genealogy sites Danielle likes,” Walt began. “Looks like he retired right after they closed Marymoor. And he retired a very wealthy man, considering where he was living. He died in Salem and is buried in the same cemetery where Rupert’s mother is being buried.”

  “If his grave’s at Salem, would he really be haunting in Frederickport?” Lily asked.

  “Eva and Marie often visit other cities,” Danielle reminded her.

  “Yeah, but they aren’t haunting them,” Heather said.

  Chris turned to Heather. “Remember that old adage? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder?”

  Heather frowned at Chris. “What does that have to do with this?”

  “Kind of the same thing. What is simply a friendly ghost stopping by to one person is a frightening haunting to another. Look at Walt,” Chris explained.

  “Why look at me?” Walt asked.

  “I’m sure when you pitched that croquet set at Adam and Bill, they didn’t see it in the same light as Danielle’s encounter with you.”

  “Are you suggesting we might not really have anything to worry about regarding the Marymoor spirits?” Ian asked.