Ghosts in the Garden

by Judith Silverthorne

  “We’re going to have to head home,” Sam said.

  “My supper time too.” Mrs. Goudy turned back to them and grinned.

  “Will you be all right on your own, if we leave you now, Mrs. Goudy?” J.J. asked.

  “Oh yes, girls. I’m fine.” She looked amused. “I’m not the least bit scared, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “The thought crossed my mind,” Sam admitted, feeling just a bit rattled herself.

  “It is a little strange, but after all, it’s only my dear sister,” Mrs. Goudy said. “I’m thrilled to see her again.”

  “We’ll just tidy up a bit before we go,” J.J. said. She took the juice and water glasses to the kitchen.

  “Thank you. You girls are such a delight,” Mrs. Goudy said. “Don’t worry about doing the dishes. I’ll have plenty of time later.”

  Sam brought a cloth from the kitchen and wiped the table where they’d had their snack. “Shall I leave the cookies here within reach?” she asked. “Or would you like me to put them in the kitchen?”

  “The kitchen, please. Just on the counter is fine. I’ve already spoiled my supper a little,” Mrs. Goudy patted her stomach, “but it was well worth it. Please thank your mom for me.”

  “I will,” Sam said, as she rolled her poster and slipped it back into the protective tube. “And thank you for all of your help. And for the photographs!”

  “You’ll come back for another visit, won’t you?” Mrs. Goudy looked sad that she might not see them again.

  “You bet we will,” J.J. said. “We’ll help you figure out what Lily wants, if you’d like us to.”

  “I’d enjoy that,” Mrs. Goudy said. “And I want to know how you make out with that poster contest too. Don’t make it too long before your next visit.”

  “We won’t,” Sam said.

  Mrs. Goudy reached out to each of the girls for a hand and clasped them in hers. “See you soon,” she said, as they took their leave.

  Sam thanked Amber at the reception desk for her help with the photos, but Sam was so deep in thought that she didn’t say a word to J.J. until they were at the foyer door. The light had faded, and mounds of grey clouds had built up in the darkening skies.

  “Oh no. It’s going to rain,” J.J. said.

  “It’ll be faster if we cut through the grounds of Government House,” Sam said.

  J.J. shook her head. “I don’t want to go that way. I’ve had enough of ghosts for now.”

  A smattering of rain landed on their heads.

  “We’ll be soaked if we don’t. We’ll run; it won’t take long,” Sam said.

  “Only if we stick to the lighted paths,” J.J. warned. “And we don’t go anywhere near the places where we’ve gone back into the past.”

  “Agreed! Let’s go!” Sam took off like a shot. J.J. overtook her at the first bend in the walkway.

  Light rain fell through the bare branches of the trees. They ran on, holding their hoodies tight, Sam awkwardly clutching her poster tube under her arm.

  As the rain came down harder, J.J. shrieked. “Faster!”

  Sam turned her face towards the sky. The rain pelted her face, and its surprising warmth felt good, though her vision was blurred from the moisture pouring down her forehead. She ducked her head, shook off the rain and pressed onward.

  All at once, her left foot slipped off the wet, paved blocks. Sam sprawled onto the ground into a clump of soggy leaves.

  “Wait, J.J.,” she called, as she picked herself up.

  J.J. ran back to help her.

  “Darn, I’ve messed up my best jeans.” Sam wiped the mucky mess of leaves and mud off of her knees.

  “Isn’t this like a déjà vu thing, with us sprawling on the ground?” J.J. said, handing Sam a tissue from her pocket.

  “We do seem to be picking ourselves up off the ground a lot lately,” Sam said, rubbing her hands with the tissue. “Ever since we ran into George Watt.”

  “No!” shouted J.J., too late to clamp her hand over Sam’s mouth.

  Abruptly, the scene changed.

  •••

  J.J. groaned beside Sam under a late afternoon sun. She gaped across the stark grounds to the main house. George trundled away from the rose garden with his wheelbarrow, empty this time except for a rake laid on an angle across the top.

  “I’m so sorry,” Sam moaned.

  “Me too,” J.J. grumbled next to her. “We didn’t need this right now!” Why was Sam always getting them into trouble?

  Sam had a sudden idea. “But now that we’re here, maybe we can find out more about why we keep seeing Geo…, and maybe it will stop happening.”

  “Maybe,” J.J. said. She really didn’t want to face anything more right now.

  Sam was already limping towards George.

  “Are you okay to walk?” J.J. asked, catching up. She removed her wet hoodie and tucked it over her arm.

  “Just twisted my knee a little. I’ll be fine,” Sam said. She rubbed it, tied her hoodie around her waist, and continued on.

  Just then, George caught sight of them. He set the wheelbarrow down and waved. As he waited for them, he pulled his chain from his vest pocket. He looked surprised when there was nothing on the end of it. He examined his vest pocket again and patted down his pant pockets. Scratching his head, he searched the ground, and then glanced at the sun. It was perched low in the sky, above the open prairie.

  “Good afternoon, young ladies,” he said, when they were closer. His face still held a puzzled look. “Although I seem to have misplaced my watch. I believe it’s time to call it a day outside and check the progress of the mushrooms. Perhaps you’d like to come with me?” he invited.

  “Mushroom watching, just what we need,” mumbled Sam under her breath.

  “You’re the one who got us into this,” J.J. reminded her friend in a whisper. Out loud to George, she tried to be enthusiastic. “Sounds great.”

  George rattled the wheelbarrow over to a small shed, upended it against the wall, and then perched his rake upright next to it.

  “We’ll just take a peek, and then see if we can get back home again,” Sam said.

  “It should be easy enough, seeing as how we only seem to have to say his name,” J.J. said. “In fact, we could say it right now.”

  “No, wait!” Sam said. “We might as well take a quick look while we’re here.”

  “Fine,” J.J. said, crossing her arms sternly. “But we’re not hanging around for long.”

  Sam agreed. J.J. shuffled along beside her, hands in her jacket pockets. Why did she always wind up agreeing with Sam? She supposed it was because a small part of her was curious too.

  They followed George into the basement through the back door, down the dimly-lit hallway and into the warm, moist room lined with wooden beds. When her eyes adjusted, J.J. saw a mass of small white polkadots, like marshmallows of various sizes, nudging out of the soil.

  George stood with a pleased smile. Then he picked up a basket.

  “They’re best when they are still small like these,” he said. “You gently rotate them.” With a gentle turn of his wrist, he demonstrated how to pick the tender morsels.

  “You try,” George said. “Just pick one at a time.”

  Sam and J.J. each reached for one.

  “This is easy,” J.J. said. She bent to pick several more, careful not to touch any other mushrooms next to the one she plucked.

  As they worked, the hissing of the steam system surrounded them. J.J. brushed her moist hair from her face and continued on, feeling satisfied as the basket filled.

  “You can eat them raw too,” George said. He rubbed the flecks of dirt off of one. His face lit up as he popped it into his mouth.

  J.J. followed his example. “Mmm. More flavour than those you buy. I’ve never had one this fresh before.”

  George cleaned one and handed it to Sam. She took a cautious nibble as the others watched.

  “Not bad,” she said, and popped the rest into
her mouth.

  Once they’d filled the basket, George allowed them to step into the hallway first, and then closed the door securely.

  “With any luck, you can have some for your next meal,” George said. “I need to go back to the rose garden to look for my watch. But first, let’s take these up to the kitchen to be cleaned.”

  J.J. and Sam looked at one another. An unspoken question passed between them: Should they go with him or leave for home?

  Sam shook her head and whispered. “We can’t let anyone else see us.”

  J.J. nodded her head towards the back door. She wanted to leave right now. There was no way she wanted to have any more encounters or do more exploring.

  “Uh, we’re supposed to be somewhere else right now,” Sam said, but George was already part way down the hall.

  “We won’t be able to come with you,” called J.J. after him, but he did not hear them, nor realize they weren’t following. They needed to get his attention.

  “Mr. Watt,” Sam called after him. At the same time, J.J. yelled, “Uh, George.”

  Within a blink of an eye, the girls were standing under a moonlit sky, in the yard overgrown with caraganas.

  “Sheesh!” said Sam. She whirled around. “We never even got to say goodbye to him. He’ll think we’re rude.”

  “What’s worse is that we didn’t go back to our own time,” J.J. said, looking at the thousands of stars winking overhead in the warm summer night.

  “Maybe we’re back with Bert and Lily?” Sam said.

  “Hard to tell,” J.J. said. She gazed across the landscape studded with various buildings and the inevitable grid of caraganas.

  They moved along the wall of the staff quarters, passed an herb garden and went on towards the wooden sidewalk that led to the back door of the main house.

  “At least it’s not raining.” Sam shivered.

  “Small help.” J.J. scowled at Sam. “What do we do now?”

  “Let’s head to the staff residence,” J.J. said, tugging at Sam’s hand. “Maybe we can go to the same corner and find our way back from there.”

  “I don’t think so,” Sam said, staring across the yard. “At least not until we figure out what’s happening over there.”

  J.J. stopped and gaped at the fancy carriage pulled by four horses, clopping through the main entrance towards Government House. Two drivers in dark uniforms and white hats sat high up in the front seats, white-gloved hands holding the jangling reins.

  “It’s the landau that was on display in the foyer!” Sam said, breathless with wonder. “I wonder who’s in it.” The carriage proceeded along the drive and disappeared around the front of the mansion.

  “His Honour and Mrs. McNab with…” said a voice behind them.

  J.J. screamed and raced away. In a minute, she realized she couldn’t hear Sam’s footsteps pounding behind her.

  Chapter Seven

  “Oh, I say, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Sam whirled to face an older man with dark hair, neatly trimmed, standing before her in a black suit and vest, with a white shirt and black bow tie. His hazel eyes looked concerned.

  “Who are you?” Sam demanded. Her heart pounded so loud, she thought he could hear it. So loud, she couldn’t hear J.J. running any more either. What had happened to her? She darted a glance over her shoulder, but J.J. wasn’t there. Sam swallowed hard. She turned back to the man.

  “Ernie Myles, miss. I’m the outside gardener, doubling as the butler tonight.” He offered her his gloved hand. “Excuse the gloves. They’re a beast to get on and off, and I’ll need them on again in a moment.”

  Sam shook his hand with the tips of her fingers.

  “Sam, get away from him,” J.J. yelled from across the grounds.

  “It’s okay, J.J.,” called Sam. “This is Ernie Myles.”

  J.J. trotted up to them and stared at Ernie.

  “Hello, miss,” he said, his eyes crinkled at the corners as he nodded at J.J.

  Suddenly, the back door of the house opened, and a young woman in a black dress and a large, draping white collar with a bib-like apron poked her head out.

  She called cheerily, “There you are, Ernie. The guests are arriving.”

  “Coming,” he said.

  J.J. stared wide-eyed at the woman. “Isn't...isn't that Lily,” she stuttered.

  “Sure looks like it,” Sam said. A shiver ran up the back of her neck.

  “You’re right.” Ernie looked at J.J. in surprise.

  “Oh, I see there’s someone else there.” Lily stepped onto the back step. “Who are you chatting with?”

  “I’m not rightly sure,” he said, turning back to look at the girls.

  Lily closed the back door and walked towards them. Her sensible black shoes tapped on the wooden sidewalk.

  “A couple of young waifs by the looks of them.” Ernie gave them a quick smile. “They seem to know who you are.”

  J.J. shrunk back a little. Sam stood rooted to the spot.

  “I don’t believe we’ve met,” Lily said as she joined them.

  Sam was sure Lily couldn’t possibly know who they were. At least not when she had been living at Government House, like she was doing right now.

  “We actually haven’t met,” Sam said. Not in the normal sense of meeting people, anyway. She wasn’t sure if ghosts counted.

  J.J. came to the rescue. “Someone showed us a photograph with you in it.”

  “You recognized me from a photo? That’s really good.” She laughed. Then she turned serious. “But what on earth are you doing out here? Where’s your family?”

  Before Sam could answer, the back door was flung open again.

  “Lily, Ernie. Hurry!” A blonde-haired woman in a similar outfit to Lily waved them in.

  “Coming, Alice,” Lily’s voice sang out.

  Sam realized with a start that Alice was Mrs. Goudy when she was a young housekeeper. How pretty she looked.

  As Lily swivelled to return to the house, she called over her shoulder. “Do you need help finding your way?”

  “We’re fine,” Sam said. “Our family is just over there.” She pointed vaguely towards the avenue.

  “We were just watching the landau arrive,” J.J. said.

  Ernie touched his forehead. “We’ll be seeing you then.” He hurried after Lily.

  Sam felt her pulse drop, as Lily and Ernie made it inside and the door closed behind them.

  “We got to see Lily and Alice when they worked here,” J.J. said. She exhaled in a long whistle.

  “Lily seems really nice,” Sam said. “I wish we could see more.”

  “Oh no you don’t,” J.J. said. “We’re in enough trouble now. We’ve got to get home.” J.J. stomped off without looking back.

  Sam ignored J.J. “I’m just going to take a little peek,” she said to herself.

  She tiptoed up the sidewalk and tried the doorknob. It turned. Slowly, she eased the door open a crack. Wonderful smells of roast duck and simmering vegetables and sauces wafted out. There was no one in the entryway. Opening the door wider, she slipped inside and crossed the vestibule to the edge of the kitchen.

  Steam rose from several large pots cooking on a huge range, their lids plop-plopping rhythmically. A woman with dark hair coiled on top of her head stirred each pot in turn, then moved to a long table in the centre of the room. She arranged canapés on several platters on the table. Beneath her feet, the floor was covered with the decorative ceramic tiles Mrs. Goudy had told them about. Sam’s lips curved with pleasure.

  Next to the cook, Ernie opened bottles of wine and set them on a gleaming silver serving tray. “The guests are in high spirits tonight,” he said. “And it looks like you’ve outdone yourself to match the occasion, Kate.”

  “It is rather special to have Princess Alice and the Earl of Athlone here for dinner again,” Kate said.

  “Yes, it’s not everyone who gets a visit from the Governor General of Canada, nor twice in one year,” Ernie re
plied.

  “And only five months ago.” Kate threw him a look of exasperation.

  “A lot of work for you, but they sure enjoyed your meal in April,” Ernie said. “Said you were a superb cook.”

  “Thank you,” Kate said, looking pleased.

  With practiced ease, Ernie balanced the wine salver on his shoulder and proceeded towards the dining room.

  Sam leaned forward, trying to look through the kitchen at the guests in the dining room, but Kate glanced her way. Sam ducked back into the vestibule. Her heart gave a lurch. She had to be more careful.

  The next time she dared peek around the door frame was when she heard someone else enter the kitchen. Instantly, she drew back and listened. Two women were talking. Sam poked her head out again. Alice and Lily stood by the table in the centre of the kitchen that held the canapés.

  “You came in rather late last night,” Alice said, glan-cing at Lily with a little smile. “With preparing all day, I haven’t even had a chance to ask you how Bert liked his birthday gift.”

  Lily beamed. “He said he liked it just fine. The best thing anyone has ever given him.” Lily paused. “But…”

  “But what?” Alice looked at Lily.

  Sam pressed herself closer to the door frame to see and hear better.

  “It’s nothing really. I just wonder if he was really pleased, or just said he was.” A flicker of doubt crossed Lily’s face.

  “You silly goose. Of course, he was pleased. You need to get over worrying about how you came to get the pocket watch for him.” Alice eyed the trays.

  “You don’t think I should tell him I found it on the grounds?” Lily tugged her apron straighter.

  “Why on earth would you do that?” Alice shook her head. “All he needs to know is that you cared enough to get one for him. He’ll figure you spotted it in a second-hand store. Where else would you get a lovely antique like that?” Alice patted Lily on the back. “He’d have done the same. None of us can afford to buy antiques from a special collector, or anything of that quality brand new. It’s become rather a fun and expected thing to find such second-hand treasurers where we can.”