Scott looked at Beth with a great deal of curiosity. “Where are you going?”
Michelle also sat up and looked at him, apparently surprised by his question. “Beth just suggested we all go swimming. Were you asleep?”
For the moment, Scott had the good sense to keep his mouth shut and not expose the fact that Michelle had replied to a statement that Beth never made. He knew for a fact Beth had not said a word about anything, including swimming. In his mind, he started to reconsider everything Michelle told him about her strange night.
Before Scott could speak, Beth said, “A Coke please”
Michelle had begun to speak at exactly the same time as Beth. “Would either of you like something to drink?”
Scott was in a position to see both of them look at each other as they realized Beth answered Michelle’s question before it was asked. Michelle then turned her attention to Scott before she stood up.
After Michelle walked toward the house, Scott sat up and looked at Beth who was now sitting with her legs stretched out in front of her. As she began to rub suntan oil on her legs, she was watching his expression. With a devious grin, she asked if anything was wrong.
For whatever reason, Scott decided to withhold any comments about their unusual behavior, but his curiosity required him to question Beth. “This may sound like a strange question, but what did you sleep in last night?”
Her answer was logical, but not what he was looking for. “I slept in my bed.”
Scott then rephrased his question. “What were you wearing to bed last night?”
She turned and looked at him for a minute before she began to rub the suntan oil on her arms, chest, and stomach. “I can’t help but wonder why you are asking, but I was wearing pajamas.”
If Scott were to find out if Michelle’s imagination was responsible for her two o’clock “ghost” experience, he had to know more. “Can you describe them for me?”
Beth’s curiosity was growing, as she wanted to know his motivation. “The bottoms of my pajamas are short and white. The top is also white with small pink elephants. They are not very sexy, but I like them. Why do you to want to know what my pajamas look like?”
Being completely shocked with her description, Scott stood up and walked toward the water before he turned around to face Beth, who was still sitting on her towel. “Does Michelle have any way of knowing what your pajamas look like?”
Beth could tell from his expression that he was serious and very perplexed. With the smile slowly draining away from her face, she continued to stare at him. “I don’t think any of the girls in my house even know what they look like. I just bought them before I came to the beach and last night was the first time I’ve worn them. I had to pick up Amie from the hospital this morning so I was dressed and gone before anyone else was awake. No, I can’t think of any reason Michelle or anyone else would know about them. Why are you asking me about them?”
There were only two possibilities Scott had to consider. The first explanation would be that Michelle and Beth were playing a joke on him. The second possible explanation would suggest something far more bizarre, which Scott did not yet understand or believe. Given the expression on Beth’s face, she appeared both serious and concerned. He would be able to gage Michelle’s reaction as she was now coming across the beach towards them.
When she approached, Beth reached up to take her Coke while Michelle handed Scott’s drink to him. “Beth and I were just talking about her new pajamas. They are short and white and have pink elephants on them.”
Michelle quickly turned around and looked down at Beth with an expression of astonishment. Beth instantly noticed the way they were both looking at her. As their expressions were making her somewhat uncomfortable, she slowly rose to her feet. “Will one of you tell me what is so interesting about my pajamas?”
They looked at Michelle for a moment before she nodded her head agreeing he should explain their situation to Beth. “About twenty minutes before you came down here today, Michelle described your pajamas to me, including the pink elephants.”
Michelle went on to explain her late night experience, but offered few details. When Michelle told Beth that her experience occurred at two o’clock, Beth quickly placed her hand over her mouth, suggesting the time factor meant something disturbing to her. “Something happened to me last night.”
She walked closer to the ocean and spoke with her back turned to them. “I woke up around two o’clock and my room looked very hazy in the dim light. At first, I thought it was smoke but there was no smell of smoke when I left my room to make sure there wasn’t a fire. After I closed my door and went back to bed, the haze became much thicker. I was getting really cold so I pulled the extra blanket over me and lay there until I could go back to sleep.”
Michelle looked at them as if she had no idea what to think about Beth’s comment. “Then what happened?”
Beth turned slowly and faced them. “I must have gone to sleep because I had a really strange dream. I was lying in bed with Scott while you were standing beside a dresser pulling a gown over your head. I was so cold that I snuggled up to Scott and then you came and got in bed with us.”
Michelle continued her questions. “What did Scott do when you were in bed with us?”
Scott couldn’t tell if Beth was being defensive or just honest. “He didn’t do anything. He was asleep. You and I just looked at each other and smiled. I don’t remember anything after that except waking up this morning when Amie called.”
Michelle once again questioned Beth. “If you were standing at the foot of the bed looking at us, which side of the bed was I sleeping on?”
Beth didn’t hesitate with her answer. “Scott was on the left side nearest the sliding glass doors, and you were on the right side of the bed closest to the dresser.”
Michelle was more perplexed than before. “You’ve never been in our bedroom, have you?”
Beth shook her head. “I’ve only been in the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. I’ve never been upstairs.”
Michelle was now starting to arouse his curiosity. “What did the bedroom in your dream look like?”
Beth closed her eyes as she tried to remember. “The dresser was tall, dark and had something strange on top of it, but I don’t remember what it was. It just looked out of place there. The bed matched the dresser and had four medium height posts with a head and footboard. The floor had carpet.”
Scott turned to Michelle. “What’s on top of the dresser that would be strange?”
Michelle wanted to test Beth before she answered his question. “Was there a clock, a big stuffed fish, some dishes, or a shoe rack on the dresser?”
Beth seemed to know the answer immediately. “I remember. It was a small shoe rack and I remember thinking that was a strange place for it to be.”
Beth looked at Scott for a moment before she continued. “I don’t know why I remember this. In my dream, Michelle and I were both cold. You didn’t even have on a tee shirt, yet you were very warm.”
Scott turned away and walked about twenty feet to the edge of the water to consider the options. The stories Beth and Michelle both told were almost identical and for that to happen, they must have collaborated with each other. The big question for Scott was why they would make up their story unless it was nothing more than a joke.
On the other hand, if Michelle’s “ghost experience” were nothing more than a joke, then they were both excellent actors. Scott had carefully watched their expressions and reactions as each other talked. He also knew with some certainty that Michelle was feeling nervous and apprehensive. Still, his few moments of solitude were not going to provide any answers so he made his way back to where they stood talking.
Like two gun fighters of the old west, Michelle and Scott looked at each other for several minutes without speaking. From the corner of his eye, he could see Beth as she studied Michelle’s face and then his. As time went along, Scott was sure Beth could pick up the hint of a grin on b
oth of their faces. Finally, Beth looked at them as she spoke. “What on earth are the two of you doing?”
Never taking her eyes off Scott’s eyes, Michelle replied, “He is getting ready to say something that he knows I don’t want to hear. He knows I am not going to listen to him tell me that there is no logical explanation for what we experienced last night. He also knows that if he wants to live long enough to see the sunset, he better be careful that he doesn’t tell me I am acting like some hysterical girl by letting my imagination run away with me.”
Beth took a few steps as she moved closer to Michelle and offered the same relentless stare. “I’m sure he knows that our not having a logical explanation for what happened last night doesn’t make us hysterical females.”
Slipping into his Sherlock Holmes personality, Scott placed his finger to his lip and then pointed at Beth. “Thank you Beth. Until this very moment, I was unable to confirm my theory and provide the logical explanation you both crave. Having seen the evidence you just provided, I can now solve the mystery of the ghost in our bed last night.”
Beth turned to Michelle, clearly doubting his credibility. “He is not going to tell us the butler did it, is he?”
Scott continued speaking, despite her lack of confidence in his detective skills. “As we can all see, Beth is a living and healthy female.”
Michelle was grinning as she took her turn casting doubt on his skills. “He never misses even the smallest detail.”
Scott once again ignored their cynicism. “Therefore, we can conclude Beth is not a ghost. Michelle is neither suffering from hysteria nor is she hallucinating, as you both report the same strange event. I am only left to conclude that the two of you, acting as co-conspirators, have fabricated this tale for reasons that escape me. Shall we all go swimming now?”
Beth looked at him with a sense of conviction and determination. “I understand why you would reach that conclusion, but your theory is wrong. I didn’t tell anyone until just now what happened to me last night.”
Michelle nodded her head and was equally serious. “She’s right Scott. We didn’t make up this story. It’s real.”
Scott stood watching both of them for a few moments realizing that Michelle and Beth were both serious and unyielding in their convictions. He offered them the only explanation he could think of. “Neither you nor Beth is crazy. Beth is not a ghost and you both say you are telling the truth. What is the explanation?”
Michelle thought for a few moments before she spoke. “All this leads to only one conclusion. Beth and I apparently share some strange type of psychic connection.”
Beth gave another reason to support the idea of a mental connection between them. “Just a few minutes ago, you said you thought I had a good idea about going swimming and we both started to get up. Michelle, I didn’t say a word to you about anything before you said that.”
Michelle appeared completely confused by Beth’s statement. “You said you were hot and you thought we should go swimming.”
Scott looked at Michelle for a moment before he replied. “Sweetheart, I was wide awake and Beth didn’t say a word about anything. You just came out of nowhere with your idea.”
Beth came to Michelle’s defense. “But Scott, that is exactly what I was thinking when she said it.”
Scott turned his attention to Beth. “You told Michelle you wanted a Coke before she asked what we wanted to drink. I didn’t even know she was going after drinks. I thought we were going swimming.”
Beth shook her head. “I thought we were going swimming too. I don’t know why I assumed she was going for drinks.”
Michelle pointed out what she thought should be obvious to all. “Doesn’t that mean that Beth is reading my mind and I’m reading hers?”
Beth started grinning. “This could be interesting.”
Michelle also smiled for a moment. “Saying this could be interesting is putting it mildly.”
After sitting quietly for a few minutes, Scott gave them his opinion. “I don’t think that’s the explanation. It might explain some things, but not everything.”
They both looked at him for a moment trying to understand his hesitation to accept their idea. Scott asked them each to tell him what they experienced from the very first moment. Michelle spoke first. “I went to the dresser to get my gown and that’s when I felt like someone was watching me. I pulled it over my head and turned around to face the bed. That’s when I first got the idea Beth was lying next to you. I just stared at her for a few minutes.”
Scott stopped Michelle and asked Beth the same question. “What is the first thing you remember?”
Her reply suggested her memory was clear. “I was lying next to you when Michelle got up and started for the dresser. She opened the third drawer and took out her blue gown. She pulled it over her head and turned to face the bed before she seemed to be staring at me.”
Scott decided to test Beth. “Was I lying on my side, my stomach or on my back?”
“You were on your back and you had one arm around each of us.” She replied.
Michelle nodded. “That’s the way I remember it too. You were warm and Beth and I were close to you. It’s strange because I knew she was cold too.”
“Do either of you remember anything else?”
Beth looked out at the ocean as she tried to remember what happened. “I remember Michelle and I smiled at each other.”
Scott suggested they all sit back down before he continued. They were sitting so they could face each other as Scott continued. “This is why I don’t think you are just reading each others mind. If Beth were reading Michelle’s mind, she would not have seen Michelle pulling the gown over her head. She would have the experience of pulling the gown over her own head. In other words, Beth would see what Michelle saw but instead, she was watching Michelle.”
Michelle understood his idea. “And if I was reading Beth’s mind, I would not have seen Beth, I would have been looking at me, which is what Beth would have seen.”
Beth also understood their point. “So you’re saying the perspective is all wrong. If that is the case, then what is the explanation?”
Scott waited for a moment before offering an opinion. “I have a theory, but it’s so far out there that it can’t be right. Suppose what the two of you saw last night did not actually happen last night but is something that will happen in the future. That would explain everything.”
Beth was completely surprised with his idea and had serious reservations about it. “Are you suggesting that your girlfriend is going to let me climb into bed with you at some point in the future? I don’t see that happening.”
Scott threw up his hands. “I don’t have any other possible explanations, do either of you?”
Michelle was looking out at the ocean when she replied. “I don’t know, but this is getting scary.”
Beth reached out and touched Michelle’s arm. “I know what you mean. Maybe I should pack my things and go home.”
Michelle looked at Beth as she replied, “I’m not sure leaving is going to solve the problem. I have a feeling something else is going on and we can’t run from it.”
Beth nodded her head in agreement. “I have the same feeling as you and I don’t think we can hide from it either, but I still wonder why Scott didn’t experience anything last night. Why was it just the two of us?”
They continued bringing up different ideas as they tried to reach some understanding. After a half hour of sitting in the hot sun, they spent the next forty-five minutes in the ocean being distracted from their previous conversation. At times, they would stand on the ocean floor as the waves were breaking all around them.
Scott could not help but notice the interaction between Beth and Michelle. They talked to each other with a sense of familiarity as though they had known each other for years and had been best of friends for quite some time. He could not think of anything that would account for what he was seeing as they shared nothing in common from their past.
&
nbsp; To his surprise, Beth extended the same sense of familiarity to Scott that she felt with Michelle. She would climb on his back proclaiming Scott was her horse. While demanding he carry her around, she made several suggestive sexual comments as her legs were wrapped tightly around his waist with her arms around his neck.
Michelle’s reaction to Beth was not what he would have expected either. At times, she seemed to encourage Beth’s physical interaction with him and laughed at most of her suggestive comments. Scott was becoming more concerned about Michelle than he was with Beth’s actions.
Having known Michelle for so long, he now saw her as being different from what he expected. Scott had become accustomed to her being assertive, but now she seemed to be almost complacent if not actually submissive with Beth. Still, his greatest concern was because she appeared far more nervous and distracted than he had ever seen.
Being ready to get out of the ocean, Beth suggested they go to her cabin a lay next to the pool. With Michelle also ready to leave for a while, she quickly accepted Beth’s offer. Beth then headed for shore to gather her things while Michelle and Scott stayed in the water for a few minutes longer at Michelle’s request. He was ready to have time alone with Michelle.
CHAPTER XV
Michelle was watching Beth walk up the beach toward her house when the sound of Scott’s voice appeared to startle her. “Michelle, are you alright?”
As she moved closer, he put his arm over her shoulder. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t know what’s wrong but there are some really strange things going on.”
Michelle wasn’t telling Scott everything she wanted him to know, mostly because she had not had the opportunity. Knowing there was something she wanted to say, Scott thought the time had come to have their talk. “You need to tell me what’s bothering you.”
Michelle showed none of the hesitation Scott had expected. “Last night, Beth and I were talking and she made the point that you and I started going to bed together to save our friendship. Her implication was that we didn’t let our relationship take its natural course. It didn’t make sense to her or me at the time. If Tom had never been in my life and you and I both had jobs in New Bern, would we have taken our relationship to the next level at this time?”
Brother Willy's Traveling Salvation Show Page 17
