Ghosts in the Garden

by Judith Silverthorne

  That tallied with what Sam and J.J already knew. He’d sure scared them when they heard him walk right through a wall one night when they had been at Government House.

  “Have you heard the ghost stories about Government House?” J.J. asked.

  Mrs. Goudy shook her head and cleared her throat. “Now about the other staff. The cook hired after Cheun Lee was Katherine Sauer – Kate. She also helped me with the laundry. And she was a very good cook.”

  Mrs. Goudy turned a bright smile on them. “And I remember this wonderful ceramic tile floor in the kitchen. It was so easy to keep clean. But not so good if you dropped a dish, which I did from time to time when I helped serve. I was more useful making beds, dusting and doing floors than helping in the kitchen.” Mrs. Goudy shrugged her shoulders. “Some of us are just better at some things than others.”

  “Like J.J. is at drawing,” Sam said. “Any art projects I do aren’t very good, especially the poster we have to do for the Government House Anniversary.”

  Mrs. Goudy tilted her head towards Sam. “I’ve always believed that doing your best is all you can do. It’s the attempt that’s important, not always the outcome.”

  Sam didn’t feel confident about her attempts either. “My drawings of the buildings from the past aren’t very exciting,” she sighed. “There are hardly any photos of them.”

  “I’m sure you’ll do fine with it.”

  A sudden brain wave struck Sam. “What if I included the people from the past who worked at Government House? Maybe do a photo-collage of them over a plan of the grounds, with the old buildings?” She brightened and glanced at J.J., who gave her the thumbs up.

  Sam leaned towards Mrs. Goudy with her hands clasped. “Could I maybe get copies of some of your old photos?”

  Mrs. Goudy looked thoughtful for a few moments. “I believe that should be possible. When do you need them?”

  “I have to hand in my poster at the end of the week, so there’s not much time.” Sam gave Mrs. Goudy what she thought was an apologetic, yet hopeful look.

  “Let me ask Amber if she can make copies for you. I’ll get back to you by tomorrow evening.”

  Sam scribbled her phone number on a sheet from her notebook, tore it off, and handed it to the elderly woman.

  “Now, who else do you need to know about?” Mrs. Goudy asked.

  “Do you know anything about some of the earlier staff?” J.J. asked. “Like the gardener who grew the mushrooms?”

  Mrs. Goudy laughed. “George Watt was quite a bit before my time, but he certainly was known for his landscaping and gardening around Government House and the Legislative Buildings. But then, you probably already knew that, right?”

  J.J. and Sam nodded.

  “I bet you didn’t know he planted caragana bushes at Government House – the first caragana to grow in Regina soil.”

  Sam and J.J. shook their heads. “What’s caragana?” Sam asked.

  “Wonderful bushes that grow quickly,” Mrs. Goudy said. “Almost everyone used to have them as borders in their yards. Now you mostly see them in small towns or on farmyards. In the spring they have little yellow flowers, and when we were children, we used to eat them. They’re in all the outdoor staff pictures.” She nodded towards her wall.

  “That’s what those hedges must be in the park across from your grandmother’s in Moose Jaw,” Sam said.

  “I didn’t know that’s what they were called,” J.J. said.

  Mrs. Goudy continued. “When the King and Queen were here in 1939, they were so enthralled with the caragana hedges that Mr. McNab gave them some seedlings to take back to England. At that time, caragana hedges surrounded the mansion and went down past the houses for the gardener and coachman.”

  J.J. leaned towards Mrs. Goudy. “Where were the other buildings on the property?”

  “I’d especially like to know more about where the staff lived,” Sam said.

  “The buildings were all west of the big house,” Mrs. Goudy said. She took the notebook and pencil that Sam offered and drew a little sketch of where the buildings had been. The girls studied it while Mrs. Goudy continued talking.

  “There’s nothing left there now that I know of. Ernie Myles lived in the gardener’s cottage, which, as you can see, was in a direct line with the current conservatory on the edge of the present property. I used to walk across the yard from the staff’s quarters to visit him on his porch in the summer evenings once I was off work.” She gave a little sigh.

  “He was like an older brother to my sister and me, though Lily preferred to spend her time with the chauffeur. Bert Timmons was more her age, but he only lived on the grounds for a short time. The coachman’s house wasn’t the greatest and ended up being used for storage.” Mrs. Goudy shifted in her recliner. “Lily was three years older than I was, and Bert took her to the movies on a Saturday night. Until she found out he showed interest in someone else at the same time. That romance ended in a hurry,” she said with regret.

  “But before that, we all went to the world premiere of the movie North West Mounted Police. It was shown at the Capital Theatre right here in Regina, on Monday, October 21, 1940.”

  “How can you remember the exact date?” J.J. asked with surprise.

  “We went the day before my nineteenth birthday. What fun we had that night!”

  Mrs. Goudy pointed to a small, framed black and white photograph on the wall beside her. “There’s the picture of us with the actress in front of the movie theatre. Ernie came with Lily, Bert and me.”

  Sam and J.J. leaned over her shoulder to see four young people gathered around a woman in a long, sparkly evening gown, with a fur stole. Her long, blonde hair flowed in waves past her shoulders, as she snuggled close to Bert. Bert had a huge grin on his face, as he leaned towards the movie star. A young woman with short, curly, dark hair had her arm linked with Bert’s. The picture was so small it was hard to tell, but she seemed to have a forced smile on her face that was half-turned towards him.

  “The actress looks friendly.” Sam stared at the photo.

  “You could say that,” laughed Mrs. Goudy. “She took a real shine to Bert. After that night, he used to write her letters, and she’d send him autographed photographs.” Mrs. Goudy shook her head. “Of course, it all came to nothing. What would a Hollywood movie star want with a chauffeur in another country? It was just a lark for her, really, and didn’t mean anything.” She spread her hands and shrugged her shoulders. “But by the time Bert figured out that he’d made a terrible mistake when my sister dropped him, she had met someone else.”

  Sam jumped up. “Who are those people?” She pointed to the top row of photographs.

  J.J. joined Sam to look more closely. Some photographs were much older than the others. A few were brownish, some were black-and-white, and several were old square photos with faded colours.

  “These are photos of my family as far back as I have them,” Mrs. Goudy said. “The other people on the far left are staff from when I worked at Government House.”

  Sam went to look at the photos of the staff, while J.J. continued to study the family ones.

  “Who’s that?” J.J. asked about the photograph slightly below the others. A laughing light-haired young man in a uniform stood beside a caragana hedge.

  “Just one of the temporary summer groundskeepers,” Mrs. Goudy murmured. “I don’t even recall his name now.” She turned away.

  •••

  J.J. shared a look of disbelief with Sam. Why would Mrs. Goudy have a photograph of someone whose name she didn’t remember on her wall? She must know who he was, but why didn’t she want to tell them?

  Mrs. Goudy had gone silent, her face sad.

  To fill the awkward moment, J.J. blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “The styles in dresses sure have changed.”

  “Indeed,” said Mrs. Goudy. Her face brightened again. “You can tell the era by what the women wore.” She pointed out how the hemlines went higher and the skirts tight
er as the decades passed. “Men’s clothing is harder to pinpoint in time, because it doesn’t change as much.”

  J.J. recalled the clothing that George Watt had worn when they’d met him. The vest with the pocket watch was a dead giveaway that he was from the past, but other- wise they wouldn’t have known.

  Mrs. Goudy pointed to another photo. “There I am with my husband, Edward.” A tall, dark-haired man stood with his arm around his young bride’s waist and a shy, happy smile on his face.

  J.J. didn’t recognize their Mrs. Goudy, except for her charming smile and the little dimple on her cheek. Otherwise, the young woman in the photo, with her wavy blonde hairstyle and 1940s clothing, bore no resemblance to the woman in the room with them.

  J.J. noticed another photo nearby, of two young women standing in front of a caragana hedge with their arms around each other’s waists.

  She gasped. “Is that you with your sister?”

  “Yes, just before Lily left to be married in 1941, and not to Bert.” Mrs. Goudy looked sad. “He didn’t stay working there more than a few months after the movie night photo was taken.”

  “Sam, look at this one.”

  The woman beside Alice Goudy was the woman they’d seen in the hallway – and she was wearing the same flared, flowered dress, belted at the waist! Though the photo was in black and white, there was no mistaking the same pattern on the dress.

  Sam stepped over to look. “Oh, wow.”

  “What is it?” Mrs. Goudy asked, clearly surprised by their interest.

  J.J. murmured, “She looks like someone we’ve…uh…seen before.”

  Suddenly, J.J.’s heart thumped. This woman looked suspiciously like the one from the previous day in the basement of Government House! She’d have to remember to tell Sam about her.

  “I don’t think you could have.” Mrs. Goudy shook her head.

  “Is she still…uh…alive?” Sam asked.

  “Why no.” Mrs. Goudy stared at her. “Lily passed away fairly young – only a couple of years after she married. Not long after that picture was taken, in fact. Why do you ask?”

  Sam looked at J.J. for help.

  J.J. didn't know what to say. The woman they’d seen in the hall was a ghost. But how could they explain that to Mrs. Goudy? J.J. thought fast. “There don’t seem to be any photos of her when she’s older.”

  “At least not that we’ve seen,” Sam added, as she moved back to the love seat.

  “You two are very sharp.” Mrs. Goudy smiled, but she didn’t give them any details about her sister’s death.

  “You and your sister look quite a bit alike, except for the different hair colours,” J.J. said. She studied the photographs for a few more moments, sneaking looks at Sam. They needed to talk. Mrs. Goudy seemed to be lost in thought.

  Suddenly J.J. felt something cold, like an icy hand, touch her shoulder. There was no one beside her. As she shook the feeling off, a shiver ran up the full length of her back. She decided not to say anything.

  From the other side of the room, a pendulum clock chimed eight times.

  “I guess we have to head home now.” Sam gathered up her notebook and pen to stuff them into her backpack.

  “Just leave the glasses, dear,” Mrs. Goudy said, as J.J. bent to pick them up. “Amber will collect them for me. She’s good that way.”

  “Thank you so much for letting us visit,” Sam said.

  “The pleasure has been all mine. I’ll telephone you when I have the photographs ready,” said Mrs. Goudy. “It’s wonderful to talk about the past with someone who is interested. Please come again, any time.” Her eyes shone as they said their goodbyes and left.

  Once they reached the reception area, Amber waved goodbye and headed down the hall. J.J. watched her turn the corner towards Mrs. Goudy’s room.

  J.J. felt a sudden waft of cold air. As she turned back towards Sam, J.J. did a double take.

  Out of the corner of her eye, J.J. was sure she’d seen a translucent figure of a woman down the hall. The same woman as in the photo - Lily! Before J.J. had time to say anything to Sam, Lily held a finger to her lips, as if asking her not to say a word. Then, she vanished.

  Sam was busy on her cell phone. “We’re leaving now, Mom.” A pause. “Okay, meet you at the corner. Bye.”

  Sam grabbed J.J.’s hand and pulled her outside. “We have to hurry. Mom’s a fast walker.”

  Running breathlessly beside her, J.J. didn’t have a chance to tell Sam what had happened.

  J.J. and Sam raced across the two parking lots and down the moonlit path through the Government House grounds. As they hurried around the bend where they’d heard the laughter earlier, J.J. paused, but there was no disturbance in the night air. Once they reached the rose gardens near the main entrance, they slowed to a walk.

  “I’d like to know why Mrs. Goudy pretended not to know the name of the man in the photo,” Sam said.

  “Maybe he’s an old boyfriend,” J.J. suggested with a giggle.

  “I bet Mrs. Goudy knows something about the ghosts at Government House too,” Sam said.

  “I wonder why she didn’t want to talk about it,” J.J. said.

  “Maybe if we visit her again, she’ll tell us more,” Sam said.

  “I’d like to know more about her sister too.” J.J. told Sam about the icy hand on her shoulder, and what she’d seen before they’d left. “I hope we get a chance to see her again. I’d like to know why she wanted me to keep quiet about seeing her.”

  “Maybe we will when we go back to pick up my photos for the poster,” Sam suggested.

  “I wonder why we keep running into ghosts even when we’re not looking for them,” J.J. said.

  “Yeah, everything to do with Government House seems to be haunted,” Sam said.

  “And now Pioneer Village too,” J.J. said.

  “Must be because Mrs. Goudy has the connection to Government House, with all those photos up, and her sister probably stays close to her too.”

  J.J. stopped and gazed up. A full harvest moon glowed golden against the crisp navy sky. J.J. gazed at it for a few moments. Sam stood beside her, staring into the night. There was a gentle hint of wind, but otherwise, even the sound of the distant traffic was muted.

  “It’s so beautiful,” J.J. said. “I wish I could paint what I’m seeing.”

  “Let’s take a picture.” Sam pointed her cell phone at the sky and snapped. She looked at the result. “Not so good.”

  “Never mind. Let’s not be late to meet your mom,” J.J. said.

  Sam hissed at her suddenly. “What’s that?”

  J.J.’s eyes followed where Sam pointed. J.J. scanned the shadow-laden foliage of the grounds, staring in turn at bushes, pathways, and flower garden mounds. A caragana bush seemed to have materialized where one hadn’t been before. And at its edge was a human-like shape.

  “Is that a person?” Sam whispered.

  “I can’t tell if it’s anything.” J.J. moved closer to Sam.

  Sam raised her cell phone. “I’ll take a photo, and then maybe we will be able to see.”

  “If the shape is a person, the flash should temporarily blind him, and give us time to run,” J.J. said. If it was a ghost, she didn’t have any idea what would happen, but maybe they’d have a photo of it.

  Heart pounding, J.J. held her breath as Sam raised her camera. The shape separated from the bushes.

  J.J. jerked Sam’s arm. The flash went off.

  “Come on!” J.J. turned and ran.

  Sam raced after her.

  J.J. didn’t dare look back.

  What was lurking in the bushes? Was it a person, or was it a ghost?

  J.J. didn’t know, and she wasn’t sticking around to find out. She sprinted behind Sam, across the street to where Sam’s mother waited for them under the lamplight, hoping they’d left whatever it was far behind them.

  Chapter Four

  The next day, after school soccer practice, J.J. and Sam hurried along the two blocks to Gover
nment House. With only half an hour to explore the grounds, they didn’t want to waste any time before they had to return home for supper and to work on their posters.

  The late afternoon was turning to twilight as they crossed into the mansion grounds through the northwest service gate. Leaves crunched underfoot, and frost nipped the air.

  “Too bad that photo you took last night wasn’t any good,” J.J. snickered. “Not even a good shot of the sky.” The picture ended up being an angle shot of black, with a blob of light from the flash.

  “At least it scared off whoever was there,” Sam said, shrugging her shoulders.

  “Luckily, there’s still some light right now, and we can see there’s no one here,” J.J. said. She adjusted her backpack that held a flashlight, measuring tape and notebook.

  Sam said, “I’m sure we can find something to show us where the buildings might have been.”

  “Robin did say there was a strip of foundation out here somewhere,” J.J. said.

  Sam secured her dad’s camera around her neck and unfolded Mrs. Goudy’s hand-drawn diagram. “This should help, though things must have changed over the years since she worked here.”

  Together they studied the landscape and compared it to the drawing, then headed across the grounds. Gusts of wind whipped their hair, and they pulled their hoodies tighter around their necks. The fading light cast shadows across patches of lawn, making it difficult to see details.

  Beyond the last flower bed, J.J. switched on the flashlight. All was quiet except for the wind hustling leaves along the ground.

  “I’m not sure it was a good idea to come out here right now.” J.J. shivered. “It’s kind of creepy. Especially after last night.”

  “We’ll be fast.” Sam quickened her pace. J.J. rushed to keep up.

  They consulted the sketch as they scoured the grass, weaving back and forth across the back of the grounds. Next to the property was a huge soccer field for the nearby high school, and, closer to Dewdney Ave, a church and its parking lot.

  “The staff’s quarters should be right around here somewhere.” Sam poked at the ground with her toe.