Ghost of a Chance Book 1 in Above the Grave Trilogy

by Kara Kirkendoll

  “I’ll be back for you, Mary Ann.” She whispered, “Just hang in there a little longer.”

  Justice had come to one of the evil-doers though it cost Drew her life. Maybe Liza’s idea of justice wasn’t exactly that after all. Mary Ann was still fighting for a resting soul and Lezetta still wasn’t burning in hell. Somehow none of this seemed like justice to her. But it would come. She promised it silently to Drew. Justice would come.

  Chapter 10 The Sun

  Brendan laid Drew down carefully in her bed. He thought he understood now how Prince Charming must have felt when he looked down and saw Snow White so beautiful, so peaceful. He would never hold her, he would never kiss her. He was finally able to do all of the things that a man could do. He understood that now. He was a man. He was alive, and he was going to be alone for the rest of his life.

  “Who do I call, Brendan?” Liza asked through her sobs. “What do I even say?”

  All Brendan could do was to stare into Drew’s face. So many years he had haunted this house his body lay just as hers did now. Was her soul lost in the cemetery? Was she drifting inside the house trying to get their attention? It took him a long time before he was able to train himself to move things, to play the piano, to be in two places at once.

  Liza’s sobs were killing him. He couldn’t stand it. He wanted to yell at her and tell her to leave him be. He wanted to scream! He wanted to run! Instead he took Drew’s hand and laid his head on her chest. He froze, eyes wide when he felt her chest moving up and down.

  He sat up slowly, glaring at Liza with such force that it almost knocked her down.

  “What?” She said shakily, “If you are about to blame this on me…”

  “Blasted woman! Did you think to check her pulse before you jumped to the damned conclusion that she was dead?”

  “What?” Liza stuttered then ran towards the bed.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be a healer or something? Do your blasted job! Start healing!”

  Liza reached down to hold Drew’s wrist. Her pulse was steady though it seemed a little faint. It was there though. Drew was alive.

  This couldn’t be really happening is all that Drew’s mind could really muster as she watched the miracle unfold in front of her. Her kiss had sent Danny straight to hell while Mary Ann had used the Celtic knot, her Irish tongue, so much love, and so much anger to send Lezetta’s evil spirit off to God only knows where. She hoped that where ever it was, Lezetta deserved it.

  “Why do you think that He sent her off in a flash of white light?” Drew asked Mary Ann as they sat on the ground under the tree in the cemetery. The moonlight shown down on Mary Ann’s beautiful green eyes, they shown all of the emotions that the poor girl was holding inside. Drew saw tears of joy, of sadness, all of it streamed down her cheeks.

  “I don’t know, Miss Drew. Maybe He wanted to have a talk with her before He sent her to the burning depths of hell with her evil lover.”

  “I’m so sorry Mary Ann. I don’t understand why we are still stuck here.” Drew said wanting to cry herself.

  “I don’t believe that I am stuck here anymore, Miss Drew.” Mary Ann said. “Now that Lezetta and Danny are gone, I think that if I really wanted to I could leave the cemetery. I feel that my place is here though. I feel it calling me”

  “What is calling you, Mary Ann?” Drew asked.

  “Lezetta put a curse on me as well. I was going to be her body someday. I just have to find that special someone, just like Brendan found you so that I can leave this place.”

  “Oh my God!” Drew gasped. “That is gross!”

  “Well, you already had one rotting corpse up there Drew, what is it to you that there is another one on yer property?”

  “No, I mean eww, they were going to use brother and sister’s bodies to become physical lovers again? That is sick!” Drew exclaimed.

  Mary Ann couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Drew, I’m not Brendan and Danny’s blood sister! Their parents adopted me. My mother was killed during child birth and my father traveled and couldn’t take care of me. Our parents were great friends and they took me in as their own.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. No wonder Lezetta was so jealo us of you. She knew that Brendan loved you and that you weren’t really his family. She wanted to get you out of the picture I suppose. At least until you was needed again.”

  “Aye.” Mary Ann agreed. “She didn’t know that I would be the one to send her toher maker though.”

  “I’m so sorry that your life ended so young. At least you still have a chance though, right?” Drew asked sadly.

  “Oh, I will be fine, Love.” Mary Ann said patting Drew on the knee. You should probably get going now though. Brendan has waited too many years for you to be making him so crazy with more wait.” Mary Ann said. “Please do come and visit me though. I will be here waiting.”

  “What do you mean? Where is Brendan?” Drew asked looking around.

  Mary Ann laughed. “He is at the h ouse, Miss Drew. He is waiting on you to wake up so that he can tell you again and again how much he loves you. He is waiting to spend the rest of your lives together.”

  “Oh! Oh my!” Drew stood up then and started to run but turned back around to give Mary Ann one last hug. “If you aren’t stuck here, why don’t you come with me? You can stay in the house with us!”

  “I think I will be fine here for now. Get your lives together, Miss Drew. Hurry now! He is waiting for you! Wake up!”

  So much of her life had been spent in a silent misery. Thinking about the past and what her future could never hold. She had so many times watched other couples as they would walk hand in hand together down the French Quarter, in grocery stores, even in the art gallery as they looked at paintings . Their eyes as well as their body language showed so much trust in one another. Even Liza and her husband had a bond that Drew never saw herself sharing with anyone, this should have made it seem more real to her. Hell, she couldn’t even tell her own mother that she loved her, how was she supposed to feel that with a man that she barely knew?

  She did feel it though. She felt it in every inch of her body, in the very depth of her soul. Drew didn’t know how she had ever made it through life without him. She wanted to stroll through the park with him. She wanted to hold his hand as he held her heart and never let him go. He was her destiny. She knew that now. And she was going to make the most of every second that she was blessed with in her life from now on.

  Brendan sat watching Drew breath. He willed her to open her eyes, but it seemed as though they wouldn’t budge. They had been through hell together and back. It was time that they got to share their own piece of heaven. When Liza crept up behind him with some terrible smelling concoction he almost jumped out of his boots. He had been concentrating so hard on Drew opening her eyes that he didn’t even hear her come in.

  “What is that for?” He asked her.

  “It’s just some he rbal tea. If you can help me sit her up we may be able to get her to drink it. She needs something in her system to get her heart pumping and hopefully wake up her nerves.”

  “It smells awful. Something tells me that it isn’t tea at all, but I will take your word for it.” Brendan replied then reached behind Drew’s head and back and pulled her up against the head board.

  “It’s just a little something to help get her moving…” as soon as the cup was under Drew’s nose her head popped up and her eyes opened wide. She stared straight into space as if she were in a trance.

  “Drew?” Liza said softly. “Honey can you hear me?”

  Drew’s eyes moved to Liza’s face she scanned her as if trying to remember who she was. When her eyes met Brendan’s they began to tear up.

  “Am I dead?” she smiled. “Please tell me that I am dead so that we can be together now.”

  Brendan was afraid to speak for fear of how cracked his voice would sound. The woman was crazy wishing for her life to end if only to be with him. It touched him and he thought that his heart would e
xplode with the love that was over flowing it.

  “No my love, you are not dead. We are both very much alive. I can think of much more fun things to do together on the living end of the world than on the dead.”

  “How is it possible that I am alive?” She said through tears. Brendan thought that at this moment she looked like an innocent child. “I have seen hell unfold right before my eyes. I have seen angels protect me with their wings. I have seen a witch burn into nothing but ash and a girl walk right out of her grave. How could I have witnessed all of this unless I was dead? Yet, my heart hurts... so, I must still be alive."

  “Why does your heart hurt, honey?” Liza asked.

  “Because, it is so full.” Drew said and let the tears fall until she felt as though she would dry up.

  Why hadn’t he been glowing? Why hadn’t there been twinkling or miracle music playing in the background? Drew sat on the front porch staring out at her garden in the sunlight, rocking and singing a tune of her own. Brendan had just simply gone from being a ghost for one hundred and fifty years to being human overnight. Drew had lived and died and lived again in one night as well. So much had happened in such a small amount of time that when Brendan had pulled Drew out of bed and to him, they had known that every second of every day from that moment forward they would have together for the rest of their lives would be unpredictable, and would be greatly cherished.

  Drew couldn’t believe how fast the time had gone by. Brianna was due any day now and it had become impossible for Drew to work in her flower garden. Brendan had seen this and with Mary Ann’s help was transporting some strange new flowers that had begun to grow inside of the cemetery fence. He thought that it would be a great surprise to add to her garden terrace next to the pool.

  “Can you believe that I dreamed up these flowers in my head just last night, and then there they were all of a sudden this morning, right in front of my eyes?” Mary Ann exclaimed.

  Brendan laughed. “Only you would dream of purple flowers that were shaped like hearts with funny little pink spiraling centers, Mary Ann. I have to admit they are beautiful though. Drew will love them.”

  “There is so much magic in the world, Brendan. Who would have ever imagined it?” Brendan noticed that Mary Ann seemed off in another world today well, other than her obvious other spiritual world.

  “Is something the matter, Mary Ann?” Brendan asked though he already knew what the answer was. He too had been trapped in the other world for far too long.

  “I am so selfish, brother! Please forgive me. I should be overwhelmed with joy for the two of you. Aye, and with a baby on the way no less! I will work harder to raise my spirits and enjoy what God has given me, a loving sister and a niece all in such a short time, not to mention He has returned my brother to me.

  As fresh as the sun, the two of you have begun your new lives. A baby on the way will fill your lives with many more wonderful surprises.”

  Brendan took his sisters hand and walked her out of the cemetery towards where Drew sat smiling out at her garden.

  “Look there my sister.” He said as he watched at how she was glowing in the sunlight. “The sun smiles heavenly down on you. Your time of waiting is almost over. I can feel it in my bones. A new beginning is coming for you soon.”

  “Mary Ann!” Drew exclaimed as she slowly worked her way out off of the garden bench. “I’m so glad to see that you have finally left that awful cemetery!”

  “Aye, Miss Drew. That sneaky husband of yours lured me out just this morning. He said that the flowers I dreamed up last night would cheer you up.”

  “Oh, look at how beautiful they are, Mary Ann. You even brought the root! Come, Brendan help me to get them planted in my garden.”

  “They are magical flowers, Miss Drew. I don’t know if they will survive without me or not. I should probably plant them myself.”

  “You are right, Mary Ann. This whole place is magical, and none of us would have survived without each other. We all belong here together.”

  Just then they all turned to see Liza’s truck barreling down the driveway. Drew looked at Brendan then with a glow in her eyes that made his heart flutter. “I hate to break the moment, I’m so glad that you decided to join us Mary Ann, its time!”

  Brendan smiled down at his beautiful wife. “Yes, it is time for Mary Ann to get out of the cemetery and join her family.”

  “No sweet heart.” Drew said patting Brendan on the cheek then reaching up on her tip toes to kiss his lips. I mean it is time…”

  “Drew O’Keefe, get your butt in bed! Are you trying to have that baby on the lawn?” Liza exclaimed as she grabbed a bag and jumped out of the truck.

  “Ah, my mid-witch.” Drew laughed and watched her husband faint face first onto the ground.

  Drew had never experienced such a wonderful feeling in all of her life. The feel of her new born baby snuggled up to her breast, and her husband still holding an ice pack to his nose, cuddled up next to her in bed. She had everything she could ever dream of right there under her roof.

  She would like to say that the roof was paid for but she found out later that the cost of the home was just a front by Liza. Liza had been part owner of the home along with her fat cigar smoking cousin. Liza had paid her cousin off for his half of the real-estate. She would never admit to Drew how much that really was of course but there was no amount of money that would satisfy everything that Liza had done for her in her lifetime anyway.

  Liza peeked in on the sleeping trio and saw that the sun was shining down through the window on their beautiful baby girl. She had never witnessed such an easy child birth and knew that Drew would be up and running circles for the little doll in no time.

  As she was tiptoeing by to close the curtain she noticed that Brianna was staring up at her parents with a little grin on her face. She didn’t know how that was possible for a newborn. Must be gas, she thought. Seeing that she was wide awake though she went to pick her up to give her parents some rest. Just before she got her hands around her little body though, the baby had disappeared right in front of her eyes.

  Liza gasped and then heard what sounded like a tiny giggle. The baby then reappeared with a sly grin upon her face. “Oh my.” She whispered, picking her up this time. “Aren’t you going to be a little handful?”

  Somehow, Brianna, the little ray of sunshine, had inherited some of her daddy and Aunt Mary Ann’s ghostly traits it seemed. Well, not much surprised Liza anymore. She couldn’t wait to see what else this magical place would bring to them in the future.

  It seemed somehow that every end brought a new beginning, and as far as Liza could see, it was just the beginning for this little family, and she was much honored to have been a part of the miracle.

  Other works by Kara Kirkendoll

  Available in Print now: In Good Spirits: Book Two in the Above the Grave Trilogy

  Coming Soon: Above the Grave: Book Three in the Above the Grave Trilogy & Space and Time