Ghosts in the Garden

by Judith Silverthorne

  “That about does it, except we should measure how far the southeast corner of the building is from the bench,” Sam suggested.

  “That makes sense. We know for sure where that is and where the trees are, because they’re visible in our time too.”

  “You got it,” Sam said. “We’ll each take a side of the bench. Meet you at the corner.” She raced off to one side of the bench, lined herself up to the corner of the building and counted silently as she walked.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see J.J. approaching. Sam sped up just a little. So did J.J. Keeping her mind focused so she wouldn’t lose count, Sam increased her rate a tad more. J.J. matched her pace for pace. Still counting, Sam speed-walked the final distance.

  “108,” she yelled, reaching out to touch the corner of the building first.

  “Nooo!” Sam heard J.J. shriek, just as the air sizzled and she plunged to the ground.

  The building had disappeared, and so had J.J.

  Sam was back in present time. Without her friend.

  “J.J.,” screeched Sam, jumping up. She dropped the notebook and pen on the ground.

  A giant lump swelled in her throat. J.J. couldn’t get back by touching the corner of the building without her. She had to get back to J.J. and bring her home. But how?

  Sam leapt onto the piece of foundation. She jumped up and down on it. But she stayed right where she was.

  “Lily and Alice,” she shouted. But nothing happened. “Alice and Lily,” she yelled their names in a different order. No different. Why couldn’t she get back to J.J.? Maybe they both had to touch the corner at the same time to shift backwards from the present time, but that didn’t seem possible.

  “J.J.,” she screamed again. No answer. Sam covered her face with her hands. What was she going to do? She couldn’t leave J.J. stuck in the past.

  Should she run for help? But where? And who would ever believe her? Even if they did, no one would be able to figure out how to find J.J.

  A huge knot twisted in Sam’s stomach. She took in giant gulps of air. She mustn’t panic. There had to be a way to get J.J. back.

  •••

  J.J. froze as Sam disappeared.

  Then she rushed to the corner of the staff building, and pounded her hands against it. Up and down, and on either side, everywhere she could reach she struck it. She tried a gentle touch, she tried caressing it, she tried a quick push, but no matter how she connected to the building, she remained where she was.

  All alone in the dark of night.

  In the past.

  “Sam,” she shrieked. “Don’t leave me behind. Sam, come back.” She cried and screamed, but it made no difference. She was cut off from the present world.

  Her knees buckled and she sagged against the building. Now what was she going to do?

  “Sam,” she called again. “Lily, Alice, Alice, Lily, Sam,” she repeated over and over again as she touched the corner of the building. But she remained in the past.

  All at once, J.J. heard scraping followed by a screech. Her heart lodged in her throat.

  Suddenly, she realized someone had raised a window above her.

  A head popped out, and a female voice yelled, “What’s going on out there?”

  J.J. flattened herself against the wall and held her breath. She didn’t dare move, but hoped she was hidden well enough in the shadows. Her heart boomed like a drum in her chest.

  “Is anyone there?” the voice yelled again. Then there was murmuring, and someone mentioned something about probably some animals caterwauling.

  Her heart still pounding, J.J took slow, shallow breaths and stayed tight against the wall. It seemed like an hour had passed before she heard the window screech closed again.

  She waited a few more minutes, and then eased herself around the corner of the building. She had to find a way back before anyone in the past found her. They’d never believe her story, and who knows where they’d send her. She’d never get home again.

  She hesitated a while longer, and then dashed over to the closest caragana hedge. Partway there, she noticed something lying beside the bench. Sam’s backpack. Clutching it to her body like a life raft, she stumbled with it and hid herself in the lower branches of the nearby hedge.

  She hoped no one would come out looking for her. Except for Sam. What was her dear friend doing right now? Was she trying to get back to J.J. in the past? But how could she? She thought they needed to be together to go back and forth in time.

  J.J. wracked her brain, trying to understand how Sam had wound up going back alone.

  Touching the corner of the building and calling Lily and Alice’s names hadn’t worked. She was all alone in the middle of the grounds, in the middle of the night. What if she never saw her family and friends again? She curled into a ball, shaking. A sob escaped from her throat.

  J.J. felt completely helpless and alone.

  •••

  Sam walked up and down, along the piece of foundation where the side of the building had been.

  She had to get J.J. back. She had to bring her home. But how? She ran the instances through her mind. They’d always had to do things together. The only exception seemed to be that Sam had to be the one to touch the corner of the building to get back from the past. They’d always said the names together too.

  No, they hadn’t. Either one could say George Watt.

  Was that the answer? J.J. just had to say his name and go back into his time, and then say it again to get back to the present. Would J.J. figure it out? How could Sam prompt her? She sat cross-legged on the ground, closed her eyes and willed J.J. to call “George Watt.”

  •••

  J.J. lay under the caragana bush, swiping the tears off her face. Although the 1940s were more modern than George Watt’s time, she couldn’t imagine what she’d do if she was stuck in it. And she certainly couldn’t just stay under the bush. She had to do something.

  She pondered all the times she and Sam had shifted back in time together. Obviously, they had to say Lily and Alice’s names together, and Sam had to be the one to touch the building, with J.J. in contact with her. What else was there?

  Suddenly, a thought entered her mind, almost as if someone had said it to her: “George Watt.” That was it. Either one of them could say the gardener’s name and not be touching one another.

  J.J. scrabbled to her feet.

  If she said his name, she’d go back to his time. And if she said it again, she should be back in the present. She almost whooped with delight.

  She told herself to stay calm as she swung Sam’s backpack onto her shoulder. Crossing her fingers, she hoped the plan would work. She closed her eyes took a deep breath, and in a strong voice called out, “George Watt.” She felt light-headed, and then a whirling sensation.

  •••

  Thud!

  Sam’s eyes flew open as something landed a few feet in front of her.

  “J.J.!” she screamed, jumping to her feet.

  “Sam!” J.J. raced towards Sam.

  They hugged each other for several long moments, laughing and crying.

  “I thought you were gone forever,” Sam said, blubbering and wiping her face with her hand.

  “I thought I was too,” J.J. said. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

  “How did you get back?” Sam asked. “I kept sending you messages, hoping you could somehow hear them.”

  “I think I did,” she said. “At least, I did what came into my mind.” She smirked. “By the way, you know who says hi.”

  “He didn’t!” Sam was flabbergasted.

  J.J. nodded her head and then started laughing. “No, I never saw him. I didn’t take the time to stick around. Just made sure I was in his time, and got out again.”

  “I’m so glad you did. And that you’re back safe.” Sam gave J.J. another quick hug.

  “So let’s go home,” J.J. said. “I never want to leave it again.”

  “I’m sure you don’
t. You must have been terrified.”

  “Wait until I tell you how I almost got caught,” J.J. said.

  Sam linked her arm with J.J.’s, and they strode across the grounds, chattering.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The next afternoon, they headed back to the edge of the Government House grounds.

  “This is absolutely the last time we are searching for this watch,” J.J. declared.

  “I’m in complete agreement,” Sam said. “If it doesn’t turn up, we have no other clues to go on.”

  J.J. stopped walking and turned to Sam. “Just as long as we’re clear.”

  Sam nodded. “I hope we do find it, because I don’t want to keep being haunted by Lily and you know who.”

  “Maybe if we stop searching, they’ll stop bugging us,” J.J. suggested.

  Sam shrugged. “Let’s see what happens today.” She swung her backpack down at the dig site and pulled out her trowel and handed her notebook to J.J.

  J.J. opened the notebook and consulted their latest calculations. “I’ll do the measurements from the trees to the bench. You can do the ones in a straight line from the building to the bench.”

  “Okay,” Sam said, rolling her eyes. J.J. could be so bossy sometimes. But that was okay; at least she was in their own time, safe. Sam set down the trowel and started walking toward the foundation of the old staff building. She called to J.J. “I know so much happened at once, but do you remember how many steps you had counted when I yelled out?”

  “108,” she answered, without a moment of hesitation. “I was too upset to finish, but I was almost at the corner, and, I had a lot of time to think about it.”

  Sam raced to the foundation piece and counted out the steps, aiming for where she thought the bench had been. She marked the spot with the trowel. She counted out the number of steps to the other side of the bench. A few minutes later, J.J. had confirmed both measurements from the trees in order to note the angles on either side of where the bench had been.

  Sam laughed when she and J.J. met up almost at the same place where they’d been digging the day before. “We were only out about a foot and a half.”

  “Not bad,” J.J. said. She picked up the trowel Sam had left on the ground.

  Within minutes, they had the top layer of lawn carved out and set aside. They took turns digging, not speaking at all as they worked.

  “Probably not much deeper now,” Sam said after a time. She took the trowel from J.J. and grubbed out more soil.

  Clink!

  Sam felt a jolt of excitement. “Hope it’s not just another stone.”

  J.J. bent over to look. “Keep going. I think I see something metal.”

  As Sam gouged around the edge of the hard shape, her pulse quickened.

  “It’s a tin box,” she said at last. “But it’s stuck.”

  While Sam scraped and pried, J.J. pulled and wiggled on the tin. At last, they had it loose. Together, they lifted it from the hole. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, they stared at the small round cookie tin that lay between them, coated in a fine layer of dirt. The scratched lid had an old picture of the former King and Queen of England.

  “So you think the watch is in it?” J.J. clasped her hands together.

  Sam stared at the tin for a long minute. “Maybe.” She was almost afraid to find out.

  Sam wiped the dirt off the lid and clawed at it with her fingernails. But it was stuck. She and J.J. wrestled with it for a few minutes, passing it back and forth, inching the lid up little by little around its edges. Finally, the lid popped open.

  Inside, there was a soft, tan leather bag that looked new. J.J. drew it out of the box and loosened the drawstring on the bag.

  Hardly daring to breath, Sam held out her hands. J.J. tipped the bag, and the watch slid out.

  “Oh,” J.J. said. “It’s gorgeous.” “And still polished, just like new,” Sam said. She admired the intricate carving, and then handed it to J.J.

  J.J. clicked a little button, and the cover sprang open.

  Sam said, “No wonder, it was so special to Geor…” She felt an elbow jab her side.

  “Don’t say it!” J.J. yelled.

  Sam clamped a hand over her own mouth.

  “I’m so glad we found it at last.” J.J. held it up to see it better in the light.

  “You know who would be so pleased to see it again,” Sam said.

  “For sure, he would. You don’t suppose…nah, never mind.” J.J. looked away.

  Sam grinned. “I bet you were going to suggest we take it back to him.”

  J.J. nodded. “But I made you promise we’d never go back in time again.”

  “We could maybe make this one tiny exception,” Sam said. “That is, if you agreed.”

  J.J. nodded. “We know it wouldn’t take long.”

  “If you’re up for it, I am.” Sam stared hard and long at J.J.

  “Okay.”

  They took special care to replace the watch in the leather bag and tuck it into the box. J.J. held it.

  “Say it together?” Sam asked.

  J.J. took Sam’s hand. “One, two, three.”

  “George Watt.”

  Sam looked around. They were still in the present. “Try it again,” she said.

  “George Watt,” they said again.

  Nothing happened.

  “It’s not working,” Sam said. “You try it by yourself.”

  “George Watt,” J.J. said.

  Still nothing.

  Sam tried next.

  J.J. placed the tin gently back onto the lawn. “What about now that we’re not holding it?”

  First, Sam tried alone, then J.J., and then they tried again together.

  “Do you suppose we can’t get back in time now because the watch is found?” J.J. asked.

  “I bet you’re right.” She sighed.

  “Besides, if we did take it back, what would that do with the things that happened over time? If the watch was returned, then Lily wouldn’t have found it and given it to Bert.”

  “Sounds too messed up. It might be really dangerous to meddle with the past,” Sam said. “But I wonder why we were supposed to the find the watch, then?”

  “Well, if nothing else, I’m sure George would be pleased that others will be able to see his treasure,” J.J. said.

  Sam shook her head. “That doesn’t seem like good enough reason for us to be led to search for it.”

  •••

  J.J. thought for a minute. “I agree. Especially when Mrs. Goudy and Lily got involved.”

  Suddenly, Lily was standing in front of them. She had a look of joy on her face.

  “Thank you,” she mouthed.

  J.J. nudged Sam, who was staring at the tin on the ground. “Lily's here,” she whispered.

  J.J. and Sam stood open-mouthed as Lily walked away, and a young man joined her. Arm in arm, they strolled across the grounds. J.J. and Sam watched until they disappeared into the shadows.

  J.J. felt her throat tighten. She heard a sniffle beside her. She glanced at Sam wiping at her eyes.

  Suddenly, J.J. punched a fist into her other palm, startling Sam. “I know why now,” she said. “Remember when we were in the basement with the class, starting our posters?”

  Sam nodded.

  “And we went for a drink at the fountain, and you wanted to explore…just before we met George?”

  “Sure.” Sam said.

  “Before I followed you, a woman passed me as she went towards the stairs. She smiled at me. Guess what she wore?”

  “Not a blue flowered dress?”

  J.J. nodded vigorously. “I’m sure that was Lily.”

  Sam shivered. “Wow. That makes sense.”

  “I don’t think us searching for the watch ever had anything to do with George Watt. It was Lily who wanted us to find it all along.”

  They stared at one another.

  Sam started laughing. “Guess we solved another ghost problem.”

  “Let’s hope i
t’s the last one,” J.J. said with a stern look. Then she broke into a smile. “At least we were able to do it together, and neither one of us are lost in the past.”

  “Let’s hope we never are,” Sam said.

  They filled the dirt back into the hole and packed the lawn pieces back on top.

  When they were done, J.J. said, “Let’s go home. We can fill Mrs. Goudy in tomorrow.”

  “She’ll be really excited to see the watch,” Sam said. “She may decide to keep it.”

  “Somehow, I doubt that,” J.J. said, linking arms with Sam. “She already said she’d like to donate it to the museum, so others can see it.”

  They hurried across the Government House grounds in the end of the day’s fading light.

  Once, Sam almost stopped. “I think I hear soft laughter in the shadows over there.”

  Shaking her head sternly, J.J. tugged Sam’s arm. Without a word or a backward glance, they continued towards home.

  Acknowledgements

  •••

  Thank you to my incredibly diligent, meticulous, and enlightened Editor, Anne Patton – the best Editor ever. It’s been a true pleasure to work with and learn from you. I hope we can do it again sometime!

  Thanks to the wonderful folks at Coteau Books, for taking a chance on me once again, and for the great production and marketing team. John Agnew, MacKenzie Hamon and Susan Buck, you rock!

  I’m so very grateful for the invaluable assistance, kindness and support of my research and book from the marvellous staff folks at the Government House Museum: Carrie Ross, Chad Delbert, Amanda Girardin, Sylvie Roy and Dick Stark, and the rest of the commissionaires and interpretive host staff. They tirelessly answered my questions and opened their archives to me.

  Thanks, Thuraya Brennan, for reading my drafts and responding with insightful comments. You are a gem.

  I am honoured to be a member of the Word Weavers writing group and can’t thank each of these special friends enough for their valuable feedback and suggestions: Patricia Miller-Schroeder, Alison Lohans, Sharon Hamilton and Anne Patton.