"But he saved Mrs. Brown, too. It wasn't just Tully."
"True. But in grief, people form some strange opinions. I'm sure Sarah and Gloria felt real anger, and Zak was a convenient target."
"It's not fair. But I guess I can see how they felt."
She touched my hand with her gnarled fingers. "You're a good boy, Gus. And I know you'll grow up to be an exceptional man. You have a pure heart, and a clear mind."
"I do?" Her kind words embarrassed me. I picked up a bean and snapped it. "Thanks for answering my questions, Millie. It was driving me nuts."
She started working on her pile again, too. "It's okay, honey. I'm just glad you can handle all this mature subject matter."
"I didn't tell the twins."
"That's good. They're too young."
"I know."
She pointed to the road, where a dust cloud followed Oscar's car down the hill. "Here they come. We'd better hurry up. I've lots of cooking to do."
We both bent our heads over our bowls with fingers flying, and by the time the twins hopped out of the car, we'd finished.
Chapter Sixty-two
When Siegfried trotted up the porch steps, the spring in his step told me all. Elsbeth followed behind, swinging hands with Oscar and laughing at something he said. They'd spent a lot of time together over the past few days, mostly in the garden. The hours in the sun had helped her heal, but now the renewed sparkle in her eyes made my heart skip a beat. She looked like herself again, stepping lightly, spirits soaring. Glossy curls bouncing on her shoulders. Melodic voice filling the air with music.
I jumped up to greet them. "How'd it go?"
Siegfried's smile stretched from ear to ear. "She knew us, Gus."
Elsbeth hopped on the railing and swung her legs back and forth. "Ja! She seems like her old self."
Millie clucked at them as if they were little chicks. "Oh, my dears. I'm so happy to hear she's doing better."
Oscar took his hat off and clapped it against his leg. A dust cloud rose from the fabric. "She's much better. They say she'll be home by the end of the week."
I sat back on the glider. "We should celebrate," I said. "Could we have a campfire tonight, Millie? Oscar?"
Millie looked at her husband, who smiled and shrugged. "I don't see why not."
A voice came from behind us. "I hope I'm invited." Tully leaned against the doorjamb.
Elsbeth leapt to take his hands in hers. "Oh, Mr. Tully. Of course you're invited! And Penni, too."
Millie raised an eyebrow in Oscar's direction. I knew she'd heard about Penni, but hadn't quite decided if she believed in her yet.
Tully shuffled forward and lowered himself to a folding chair near the wall. "Ah. That feels good."
I pushed aside a lock of hair that nearly obscured my vision and leaned forward. "Maybe tonight can be the night we set her free." I warmed to the idea and jumped up, striding up and down the porch. "She needs to be released. And a freeing ceremony is exactly what might do it."
Siegfried tilted his head. "Hmm. We could each say our piece to her. Maybe write a poem for her."
Elsbeth piped up. "I'll sing her a song."
Tully chuckled, looking a bit embarrassed. But Oscar and Millie didn't look sideways at him or scoff. They simply listened. He stroked his long white beard and pointed back at the grove. "I think that would be the perfect spot."
Oscar rubbed both hands together. "Then it's settled. We'll have a campfire, with marshmallows and hotdogs."
Millie's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me, Mister Stone! I have a nice dinner planned. Turkey, baked potatoes, yellow squash, and green beans." She held up the bowl full of snapped beans as if to prove her statement. "And lemon meringue pie."
Oscar waved his hat in a grand gesture and bowed to her. "My dear. Forgive me. Of course we'll first enjoy your lovely dinner, and the children can toast marshmallows later. Will that meet with your approval?"
Millie milked it for all it was worth. "Well, I suppose. But I'd really like to have Elsbeth play us a few pieces before you turn them over to the wild night. A little music to soothe our souls."
Elsbeth brightened. "Ja. Okay. But I'll have to practice. Excuse me." Without waiting for our reaction, she darted inside and in seconds, lovely music wafted out the windows and screen door. It was the Chopin nocturne I'd been hoping to learn over the summer. The way things were going, I'd never learn it. Especially not with Elsbeth's skill.
Oscar herded us all indoors. "All right. We have a plan. When's dinner, Lady?"
Millie smoothed back her curls and smiled at her husband. "Five sharp. Concert at six. And after that, the night is yours, you wild heathens." Her eyes twinkled as she limped into the kitchen with the beans under one arm.
Tully moved slowly into the living room to listen to Elsbeth. I grabbed Siegfried's arm. "Come on. Let's go figure out what we're going to say tonight at the ceremony."
His eyes lit up. "Ja. Auf gehts. I have some ideas already."
He raced up the stairs, and I followed, two steps behind him.
Chapter Sixty-three
Elsbeth dressed up for the concert after dinner, wearing a dress Millie produced from the attic. Pale lavender layers of stiff crinkly material puffed up the skirt, which came to her knees. The bodice featured the same material, but it was silkier with appliqués of small purple flowers, encircled with a white satin bow tied around her waist in the back. She wore a touch of pale pink lipstick. A white silk headband fastened her mass of dark curls.
My heart skipped a beat when she entered the room where Oscar, Tully, and I sat on the couch, waiting. She stood beside Millie, with her hands folded in front of her and her eyes downcast. She looked like my very own angel, and all I could think about was kissing her soft pink lips.
Millie turned to us, all smiles. "Tonight I'd like to introduce my star pupil, Miss Elsbeth Marggrander. She's worked hard to perfect a series of Chopin pieces. I know you'll enjoy them." She moved behind Elsbeth and placed her hands on her shoulders. "I wore this dress as a young woman at my fifth grade piano recital, and kept it in case I had my own little girl someday. The Lord blessed me with just one child, so now know I was meant to keep it for dear Elsbeth."
We clapped when Millie sat down in the armchair near the fireplace, and Elsbeth slid onto the piano bench.
The music washed over me, weaving through my heart and mind with melancholy melodies that made me feel like crying and shouting for joy at the same time. I knew the pieces from Elsbeth's recital, and savored every one, note by note. I watched her dainty fingers fly over the keyboard, her hair cascade over her shoulders and almost touch the ivories, her body sway with the melody. And I knew, then and there, that I would marry her someday.
Tully seemed mesmerized, with his eyes closed and a smile on his lips. Oscar watched attentively, nodding to the beat. Siegfried grinned with pride. And Millie simply beamed and tapped her fingers to the music.
Elsbeth played for a half hour, without a break. When it was over, even Tully rose to his feet to applaud. Penni showed up just at the end, and floated around the room making all of Millie's crystal prisms on the girandoles wobble and tinkle. Millie watched them move—with no other hands nearby—and turned a shade whiter than her usual milky complexion.
Penni improvised with the prisms, having apparently enjoyed making her own "music" from them, and for a full five minutes after the recital, she shot light from one to the other, reflecting and refracting beams from mirror, to cabinet glass, to other prisms, and back again. It was as if she were doing her own recital, but with light. Pink, green, blue, and yellow lights danced about the room, reflected in Elsbeth's dark eyes, and glancing off Oscar's glasses. Rainbow patterns appeared on the wall and ceiling, floating higher and overlapping until the patterns were so sensational, it almost hurt to look at them.
When it was over, Millie stood and bowed her head. "That, I assume, was Penni." She looked up at the ceiling and around the room at no one in particular. "Thank you,
dear, for a lovely show."
Oscar watched with amusement. I still wondered why he was so unaffected by the appearance of a ghost in his house. He took it all in stride, and when it was over, clapped his hands. "I think Penni is ready for her ceremony."
Tully chuckled. "She is, but she's just getting warmed up. Wait 'til we go outside."
Siegfried and I bolted upstairs to grab our papers and props. Elsbeth slipped away to change. Tully followed Oscar out to the grove, and we all met outside just as the crickets started their evening chorus.
Chapter Sixty-four
We sat in a circle of chairs around the fire pit. Oscar fed it with logs and twigs and it roared high in the sky, cinders flying into the darkening heavens like fiery butterflies, twitching this way and that as the wind spiraled them higher and higher. Oscar had sprayed the ground around the fire with the garden hose, so the risk of anything catching fire was low. He also had several big buckets of water ready to go, in case he had to dash out the fire in a hurry.
Millie covered her shoulders with an afghan and huddled beneath it as if she were cold. But I didn’t understand, because I sat between Elsbeth and Sig in my shorts and t-shirt, perfectly comfortable. Earlier, I'd stashed my knapsack beneath my chair with gifts I wanted to donate to Penni. Elsbeth had changed into her pajamas, which made me smile. She said they were more comfortable than anything else she had at the house. Pink and soft, they made her look about five years old. She held the sash that had been around her waist earlier and waved it back and forth in the night air. Its soft fabric glanced against her cheek, whispering a silky message. I watched with bated breath. It was almost too much to handle, and I had to look away for a few seconds to regain my composure.
Oscar cut willow branches for us to toast marshmallows on after the ceremony. He stripped the leaves and stacked them up against a wide tree trunk. "Who's going first? And by the way, does anyone know if Penni's here?"
Tully stood, balancing on the arm of his lawn chair. "I'll call her." He closed his eyes, threw his head back, and hummed a long, low, mournful note. In seconds, a breeze swirled through the willows overhead, swaying long branches and trickling leaves over us like a soft rain. The leaves pattered onto our faces and bodies and fluttered to the ground. Magic crackled through the air. Penni swirled the leaves in serpentine patterns around our feet.
Millie looked up and laughed. Leaves slid through her fingers and swirled around her body. "Oh, my." She looked like a young woman, her worry lines vanished, and she seemed carefree as a child.
Oscar nodded as if he expected no less from Penni. "She's here, all right."
Elsbeth jumped from her seat and twirled around the fire, arms uplifted and pajama pants riding high on her calves. The sash sailed high above her, trailing in an undulating wave of white satin. "Penni. We gather here tonight to send you on your way to your great journey. We want you to be free to travel to the land of your gods, where there are no worries or fears." She began to sing a song that sounded more like a Chopin mazurka than a children's song, but the words were all hers, filled with hope, and dreams, and sweetness. When she was done, she placed a necklace on the stones around the fire pit. "I give you this crystal heart, which my mother gave to me. I hope it mends your heart and helps you fly safely to Heaven."
Tully opened his eyes, smiled at Elsbeth, and leaned back in his seat. He spoke with a singsong rhythm. "Welcome, Penaki, Indian princess and lifelong friend." He folded his hands across his chest and made a small bow. "We've cherished our time with you, dear one. But now we know it's time for you to be released. Be free, young spirit, and fly to your loved ones in the sky." He closed his eyes again and let his head drop to his chest. I watched to be sure he wasn't hurting, but he breathed evenly and seemed okay.
Oscar waited a few minutes to see if Tully was done, then stood and held a paper in front of him. "Penaki. This document I hold in my hands is the preamble to my new book, which will be the first accurate account of what happened in 1779 at the location we now know as the Ambuscade. I promise to vindicate you and your brother, to document your part in history, and to place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the man who led his troops to their death. I dedicate my book to you and your brother, who will remain heroes in the eyes of all who read of this event in all the years to come."
Sparks flew from the fire, higher now, spinning in a way that seemed more like a soft twisted ice cream than hot flames. I nodded to Siegfried, who rose and stood solemnly before the fire.
He closed his eyes, stretched his arms, and spoke softly. "Penaki. I wish to thank you for allowing each of us to connect with you from the great beyond. Your presence here has taught us much about the frailty of life, and has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that life does exist after death. Your kindness, humor, and playfulness have made me a better person. I wish you happiness in your new realm."
I looked at Sig with surprise. He sounded more like an adult than an eleven-year-old boy. But his face was so serious, I knew he meant every word. The science-loving part of his brain had been fascinated by the phenomenon of Penni from the beginning.
I asked Millie if she wanted to say anything. She just smiled and shook her head. "No, dear. I'm just thrilled to witness Penni's magic."
I took my bag from beneath the chair. I'd thought long and hard about this ceremony, well before we came to stay with the Stones. I'd planned to use the items I brought weeks beforehand, and had packed them for the visit, hoping since we were all together that we could accomplish the freeing of Penni's tortured soul. With a flourish, I unbuckled it and lay open the flap.
"Dear Penni. You've been more than a friend this summer. You've helped on two occasions, once when Mr. Tully fell through the floor, and the other when he had a heart attack and he and Oscar were almost killed in the fire. For that, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts." I placed a seashell from Onset on the largest rock, next to Elsbeth's necklace. "I give you this shell to wish you peaceful living, to sing you songs of the sea, and to give you a smooth ride if you hit troubled waters."
I stood for a minute with my head on my chest and my eyes closed. Next, I drew out a feather from my bag. "This feather fell from a red tailed hawk." I stroked it between my fingers, enjoying the soft down on the bottom. "I give you this feather to help you fly fast and sure to the land of your fathers. May it give you strength and power."
Last of all, I brought out a heart-shaped ashtray I made in school the year before. Nobody that I knew even smoked, but ashtrays were in vogue when I took the art class, so I made one. "And I give you this heart, filled with flower petals, to heal the hurt you suffered in your last days on this earth." I took the daylilies and sweet peas I'd picked earlier from the bag, and systematically stripped the petals from the stems, dropping them one by one into the ashtray. "May these gifts from my heart to yours help you on your journey to the afterlife."
The breeze freshened, whipping the fire higher. I backed up and plopped into my chair. The heat intensified. In the middle of the yellow and red flames, an image formed. Penni, flickering in the heat, rose to show herself. She stood full height, her image wavering in the blaze, a strong, young, beautiful woman with a deerskin dress, bare legs, and necklaces made of natural seeds and pods. Her hair lay in braids on her shoulders, plaited with pretty colored beads. But it was her eyes that mesmerized me–soulful, dark, pools of anguish mixed with joy.
Elsbeth squeaked and clapped. Millie's eyes widened with delight. Tully looked as if Jesus had appeared to him, and Oscar and Siegfried simply froze and stared. It pleased me that she'd shown herself to my friends, since I'd been the only one to witness her manifestations before. Now they'd know exactly what I meant. And they'd believe me.
A song rose from the trees and woods around us, as if there were speakers placed at strategic locations. In her native language, Penni sang to us. I guessed it was the saga of her life, but we'll never know for sure. In her own way, however, Penni spoke to us all that evening. We knew in ou
r hearts what she'd suffered, without knowing the exact meaning of her words.
When the song was over, she spun in a circle, locking eyes with each of us to say goodbye, and in one huge torrent of power, the fire collapsed on itself and went out. Coals smoldered on the ground; just a wisp of smoke remained.
Tully's shoulders shook. He put a hand over his eyes to hide his emotion. He'd known her longest and would feel her loss the most. Someday, I'd have to ask him when she appeared in his life. Was it when my grandfather died, when he needed comfort? Elsbeth went to him, sat on his lap, and laid her head on his chest. "It'll be okay, Mr. Tully. You have us, now."
A lump formed in my throat. I watched her give him solace, and the simple act of her kindness made my heart swell.
After a few minutes of still silence, the peepers resumed their nighttime noises. Oscar cleared his throat and stood. "Well. Perhaps tonight's not the night for marshmallows, since our fire’s gone. I think I'll turn in." He doused the orange coals with three pails of water, offering a hand to Millie. They linked arms and slowly shuffled back to the house. Elsbeth slipped off Tully's lap. "It was a great ceremony, Mr. Tully. She's free now. Soon she'll be with her brother and parents."
He looked at her, then at Sig and me. "Thank you, children. You've made an old man very happy."
I offered my hand to him. He leaned on me, pulled himself to his feet, and took a few minutes to regain his balance. "Ready to go inside, Mr. Tully?"
He straightened and nodded. "I am. Will you do the honors?"
I put his arm over my shoulders. Siegfried slid under his other arm, and Elsbeth took my free hand.
"Do you think it worked, Gus?" she asked. The moon reflected in her dark eyes, swimming in bright white circles.
I squeezed her hand and hugged her with my free arm. "I'm sure it did."
She snuggled under my arm and slipped her arm around my back. "She'll be okay now, won't she?"
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