Ghosts in the Garden

by Judith Silverthorne

  Although it was dark, there was a small glow of light, and Sam could make out a short, narrow staircase that led downwards. They crept down the stairs to a landing with a room off of it.

  “This must have been Chuen Lee's room,” J.J. said. The door was ajar, but it was too dark to see inside. A light glowed from around a corner and down a second short staircase.

  “I think we should go down this way.” Sam took the lead. “The staircase must lead to the kitchen somehow, and we know we can get outside that way.”

  Sam and J.J. eased themselves down the dark stairway. Sam was heartened by the glow of light at the bottom that helped guide them.

  “Good work, Sam,” J.J. said, as they stepped into the brightly lit kitchen.

  Pulling their hoodies tight around them, they scampered across the tile floor and made it to the back vestibule and out the door. A gust of cold wind hit them, and they found themselves up to their ankles in snow.

  As Sam stamped the snow off her feet, she asked, “Do you think we should go around to the front door?”

  “That’s the ceremonial entrance, only for special guests,” J.J. said with alarm.

  “I don’t know if they’ll hear us knocking from here.” Sam nodded towards the house. They could hear music and laughter from deep inside. “We don’t really have much of a choice.”

  “Whatever we do, we have to do it fast. Otherwise, we’ll freeze out here and never get home.” J.J. jumped up and down to keep warm.

  “Okay. Let’s go.”

  They ran around the corner of the house and were almost thrown back by another heavy gust of wind. Blowing snow whirled into their faces as they sprinted to the next corner, thrashing through drifts of snow to reach the front of the building.

  As they rounded the last corner, Sam slipped and fell. Jabs of pain shot through her bad knee. She limped up against the building to catch her breath. “The same knee,” she gasped.

  J.J. stopped beside her, breathing hard in the blustery night. “Only a little way to go. Can you make it?”

  The worry on J.J.’s face made Sam want to cry. “I’ll be fine.” She took a deep breath.

  J.J. put her arm around Sam’s waist and they stumbled to the portico as another blast of wind hit them. J.J. stomped up to the door and banged the heavy knocker as loud as she could. Sam leaned against the doorframe, sucking back the pain in her knee and holding her hoodie tight around her face.

  J.J. kept banging. At last someone opened the door. A blast of warmth hit them.

  “It’s the two waifs from the summer, isn’t it?” Ernie said, when he caught sight of them.

  Sam nodded.

  “What on earth are you doing out on a night like this?” he asked, as several glanced their way. Sam stared at the faces, searching for Alice and Lily. They had to get them alone.

  “Bring them in, dear fellow,” said Archie McNab, who had joined them at the door. “Then we can sort things out.”

  As Ernie ushered them into the foyer, Lily was the first to step forward.

  “You’re the one who remembered me from my picture.” She scrutinized them from head to toe. “You’re wearing trousers. And your footwear is very different. You’re not from around these parts, are you?”

  Alice came up to them and said, “My goodness, you’re not dressed nearly warm enough for a night like this. You must be freezing. Let’s get you by some heat, and then we can talk.”

  Sam and J.J. started to untie their laces.

  “Leave your, uh, shoes on,” Lily said, staring at their runners with the neon lightning bolts.

  Sam and J.J. wiped the bottom of their runners on the thick mat at the door and Lily escorted them across the ballroom. Sam’s feet felt squishy in her wet socks and runners as they crossed the hardwood floor. She glanced quickly at J.J. She seemed to be walking a little awkwardly too.

  When they passed a group standing around Archie McNab, he raised his eyebrows. “Looks like you two have things under control.”

  “Yes,” said Lily. “We’ll get some hot tea into them and make sure they get home.”

  “I’ll let you take care of them then.” He turned back to the others. “Come on. Let’s play charades.”

  Everyone dispersed with an air of joviality. As Lily walked towards the drawing room, her below-the-knee, green party dress swished. Alice’s red dress was more fitted with buttons, down to a narrow waist and straight skirt. Her blonde, curled hair bounced with her every step.

  Lily seated them on a couch near the hot air vents. “I’ll get some tea.”

  Lily left and Alice followed, saying, “I’ll get blankets.”

  Sam glanced at J.J. with a grim smile. “Well, we’ve made it in. Do you think we need to take them back upstairs, where we were shifted into this time?”

  J.J. rubbed her hands up and down her arms and thought for a moment. “We moved around quite a bit when we were back with, uh, you know who, so I don’t think we have to be up there again.”

  “Should we just say their names right here?” Sam sat hunched and shivering.

  “What will they think if we disappear before their eyes? And in front of all of these other people?” J.J. asked.

  “I don’t see any other way of doing it. And we’ve got to get back soon.” Sam leaned closer to the heating vents, rubbing her hands.

  “Let’s see if we can get them to the doorway at least,” J.J. suggested.

  “Good idea,” Sam said. “Let’s have a quick cup of tea to warm up and then go.”

  Lily arrived first with cups of hot tea and a gingerbread cookie perched on each saucer. She set the red, rose-flowered teacups on a low table in front of them.

  “Thank you.” Sam wrapped her hands around the delicate teacup and took a small swallow of tea.

  J.J bit into the cookie. “Mmm, this is really good. The gingerbread seems to melt in my mouth.”

  “I’m glad you like them,” Lily said.

  Alice arrived soon afterwards and wrapped a thick wool blanket around each of them.

  She and Lily sat in straight-backed chairs across from them, hands clasped in their laps.

  “First, dears, what are your names?” Lily asked.

  “I’m Samantha and this is Jensyn,” Sam said.

  “Unusual, but pretty names,” Alice said.

  “You can call us J.J. and Sam,” J.J. offered.

  “Thank you, we’ll remember that,” Lily said, her blue eyes twinkling.

  “And you’re Lily,” Sam said.

  J.J. greeted the other woman. “And you must be Alice.”

  The two women looked surprised.

  “How did you know?” Lily asked.

  “We heard your names, uh…” Sam sputtered.

  “Someone told us who you were in a photograph,” J.J. said.

  “Oh yes, the photograph you mentioned,” Lily said.

  Alice looked puzzled.

  “One of the two of you,” J.J. said, taking a sip of tea.

  “Taken outside in the grounds by a hedge,” Sam said.

  “That was taken last summer,” Lily said with a baffled expression. “But how on earth would you have seen it?”

  Sam was stumped. She had no possible answer. She shrugged. “I don’t remember.” She felt herself going red in the face.

  J.J. shook her head and sat in silence.

  Sam didn’t know what to say. What must the women be thinking about them? She bowed her head.

  “It is curious,” Alice said, “but we’re embarrassing the girls. So tell us, how old are you?”

  “Ten,” J.J. said, nibbling at her cookie.

  “Both of you?” Lily re-secured the ivory-coloured comb in her dark hair.

  Sam nodded. After a few bites of cookie and more swallows of tea, Sam felt warm again, though her socks were wet and her feet still cold.

  “Now, tell us, what brings you here?” Lily asked with a kind smile.

  “And on a stormy Christmas Eve,” Alice said, her brown eyes bright.
“You’re not lost, are you?”

  Sam shook her head. J.J. squirmed beside her. They had to say something.

  J.J. set her tea cup down on the saucer, clattering it only a little. “We saw the beautiful Christmas tree through the window and wanted to see it close up.”

  Saved by J.J. again. Sam breathed a little easier and reached for another cookie. They were really good.

  “In a storm like this?” Sam heard Alice asking.

  “It wasn’t storming when we first decided to come,” Sam said, thinking of the fall afternoon they’d left behind. Sam unzipped her hoodie.

  Lily scrutinized them again.

  “Where do you live?”

  “I bet you came from somewhere else to visit family for the holiday?” Alice guessed.

  “No, we live just across the Avenue,” Sam said, her mind whirring. They were asking too many questions. They had to leave soon.

  Lily and Alice exchanged glances.

  “Do your parents know you’re here?” Alice asked with concern.

  “Not here, they don’t.” J.J. clenched her hands in her lap.

  “They knew we were going for walk,” Sam added hastily. “It’s something we often do.”

  “But before they worry, we really need to get back home.” J.J. sat up straighter. “Yes, we’d better hurry.”

  “But it’s storming out,” Alice protested. “We’ll telephone your folks and let them know you’re safe here with us until someone from the R.C.M.P. can escort you home.”

  “You can’t phone our parents,” Sam said, bolting upright.

  “And you don’t need to call the police,” J.J. said with a squeak, as she zipped up her hoodie.

  “I already called,” Alice said. “Constable Roup should be here in another few minutes.”

  Sam looked over at J.J., who had a terrified look in her eyes.

  “We live really close by,” Sam said. “We’ll just go now and be home right away.” She shrugged the blanket off, jumped up and began zipping up her hoodie. J.J. stood up beside her.

  “We really should telephone your parents to let them know you’re on your way. Aren’t they on a line?” Lily raised her eyebrows.

  J.J. shook her head.

  “Uh no, well, the line is down right now.” Sam crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping they’d believe what she said. Thoughts tumbled in Sam’s head. She didn’t know if everyone had telephones back then, but there was no way they could dial any of their current numbers.

  Alice and Lily glanced at one another with worried looks.

  “It’s better if we just get back right away.” J.J. started edging towards the ballroom.

  “We’ll be home in no time,” Sam said, right behind J.J. They sure didn’t want to see Constable Roup again after he’d witnessed their last “disappearing act.”

  “At least let us get one of the men to walk with you,” Alice said. She glanced into the ballroom where the others played charades.

  “Oh no, we’ll be fine on our own,” Sam protested.

  “We live really, really close,” J.J. insisted. “We’ll be together.”

  J.J. edged farther into the ballroom, with Sam right behind her.

  “Though it would be nice if you both could just walk us to the door,” Sam said, keeping her fingers crossed that just the two of them would come. If they could get Alice and Lily over to the door and leave through it, it might seem more natural when they disappeared – if their plan worked.

  “We’ll certainly do that,” Lily said. “But we really think you ought to wait for an escort.”

  Sam and J.J. quickened their pace across the ballroom, back to the front vestibule, with Alice and Lily following them.

  “Goodbye girls. Merry Christmas,” Mr. McNab and the others called out as they passed the group of partiers.

  “Goodbye,” Sam and J.J. chorused. Sam was grateful no one else joined them.

  At the door, Sam and J.J. stood together, shoulders touching. Sam sure hoped their plan worked, and before the RCMP arrived.

  “You’ve been very nice to us. Thank you,” J.J. said, shaking each of their hands in turn.

  Sam followed suit. “Yes, thank you. It was very nice to meet you.”

  “Thanks for the cookies and tea,” J.J. added.

  “You’re welcome, dears,” Alice said.

  “Maybe we’ll see you again sometime,” Lily said.

  “I’m fairly certain we will,” J.J. muttered under her breath to Sam.

  “That would be nice. Maybe we will,” Sam said aloud. She hoped this worked; otherwise, they’d be seeing a whole lot more of the sisters, the McNabs, and their staff in the very next few minutes.

  Sam pulled open the door to the wind whistling around the portico.

  Alice and Lily shivered in the doorway, worried looks on their faces.

  “We can see our house lights from here.” Sam grabbed J.J.’s hand. “We’ll be fine.”

  “Thank you again,” Sam said, stepping outside, with J.J.’s hand firmly clenched in hers.

  The snow whirled about them, as she nodded at J.J.

  As Sam slammed the door shut, they called out together, “Goodbye, Alice and Lily.”

  Late afternoon sun filtered down on them from a darkish sky. The air was damp from the rain.

  J.J. hugged Sam hard. “We did it.”

  Sam sagged against J.J. “I’m so glad we’re back.” She put her arm around J.J.’s waist, and her friend guided her down the path towards home.

  Chapter Ten

  “You’re lucky some of the other kids didn’t have their posters done yesterday either,” J.J. said on their way home from school the next day.

  “Mrs. Lindstrom’s still docking a mark from each of us, to make it fair because we were late. But I deserve it,” Sam said. “I didn't have any time to finish it until last night. I didn’t do it at lunch or stay after school, like I’d planned.”

  “It isn’t like you were goofing off entirely, though,” J.J. said. “We were rather busy.”

  “That’s for sure.” Sam laughed. “I wonder how Alice and Lily took it when we disappeared so fast.”

  “You did slam the door in their faces,” J.J. said.

  “But it was stormy out,” Sam said. “So, I’m sure they understood.”

  “Hopefully they didn’t worry,” J.J. said. “It’s not like we could go back and tell them we’re okay.”

  For a moment, Sam was silent beside her. “In a way, we could.”

  No! I don’t want to go through that again! J.J. thought. She whirled on her friend and gave her shoulders a little shake. “Tell me, you’re not planning on going back again.” She stared into Sam’s eyes.

  Sam grimaced. “No way. Not after the way we got stuck in time last night.”

  “Good.” J.J. let go of her friend.

  “I was just thinking about the mystery of the watch. We still haven’t proved it was the same one.”

  J.J. said, “Do you still think it’s important to go to the interpretive centre? I’ll go with you now, if you like.”

  “You’re sure you’re feeling okay?”

  “I had a better sleep last night. I’m fine to go for a short time.”

  “You’re the greatest, J.J.” Sam hugged her friend. “I’d still like to check it out. I don’t really know anywhere else to find anything out.”

  J.J. grinned. Sam always made her feel appreciated. They linked arms and raced to the Government House. They toned down their enthusiasm when they entered the foyer.

  “Back so soon?” the commissionaire welcomed them.

  “Just want to see a couple of things again,” Sam said, standing in front of the counter.

  He waved at them.

  J.J. turned to Sam. “Let’s take the back way to the interpretive centre,” she suggested. “I don’t want to go through the rest of the house today.”

  Sam agreed. “Especially not after the way we saw it last night. It was so pretty, all decorated for Christmas. But
I still feel a little creeped out about how we left, even though it’s daytime now.”

  They turned the opposite way from the commissionaire’s desk and headed for the side stairwell, pumping up the stairs as fast as they could. On the second floor, they hustled along past the board room, offices, and through the art gallery, until they reached the back entrance to the interpretive centre. They were already familiar with the display rooms, and the Lieutenant Governors at Dinner Room, so they went straight to the exhibits.

  J.J. and Sam sauntered around the space, studying the various artifacts on display in glass cabinets. No watch, though there were some interesting articles from the past. Standing next to Sam, J.J. read the small, hand-written cards describing each piece and where it came from.

  “Can I help you find anything?” The visitor experience host, Robin, walked toward them, wearing a Victorian costume.

  “We were just looking for things that might have belonged to the gardener from a long time ago,” Sam said.

  “Like a pocket watch,” J.J. said as she leaned in for a closer look, brushing against Sam’s shoulder.

  Robin said, “That would be a nice addition. But which gardener?”

  “George Watt,” J.J. said without thinking. Then she gasped and grabbed Sam's arm.

  Suddenly, they were standing in a sunny greenhouse, filled with brilliant-coloured flowers and leafy greenery. The air was humid.

  “I’m sorry. It just slipped out.” J.J. felt horrified. The mistake was entirely her fault.

  “At least we can ask him directly about his watch,” Sam said. She pointed towards the far end, where George stood watering a huge, potted fern.

  “Maybe we don’t really need to know. Let’s get out of here,” J.J. pleaded, but George had already caught sight of them.

  “So you girls are back,” he said with a tilt of his head. “I wondered where you got to.”

  “We had to get something we left outside the other day,” J.J. blurted. “I guess you didn’t hear us tell you.”

  He shrugged. “No matter. So what brings you to the greenhouse today?”

  “We just wondered if you’d found your pocket watch yet?” Sam asked.

  He shook his head. “I thought maybe I’d left it in my house, but it’s not there. So I guess I lost it in the grounds. I’ve looked everywhere I worked that day, and even some places I didn’t, but no luck.”