Secret Hollows - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book 7)
Page 23
Mary found them a table tucked far away from the noise and business of the reception. Maggie scooted onto the folding chair and swung her feet back and forth. She sighed, a much larger sigh than ought to come out of a little girl.
“What’s wrong?” Mary asked, trying to hid her smile.
Maggie looked up at her. “I miss Mike,” she said simply.
Nodding, Mary reached over and took her hands. “Oh, sweetheart, so do I.”
“He didn’t even say good-bye,” she said.
Mary nodded, feeling the tears on the edge of her eyes. “He wanted to. I know he did,” she explained. “But everything happened so fast, he just couldn’t do it.”
Maggie shook her head. “Yeah, that’s what happened to the sad lady.”
“The sad lady,” Mary said. “You mean Jeannine?”
Maggie smiled, “Yes, that’s her name. Jeannine.”
“Did she have to leave quickly too?”
“Uh-huh,” Maggie said. “She told me to say good-bye to Clarissa for her. She told me to tell Clarissa that she will always love her.”
A pit started to grow in Mary’s stomach. “Who’s Clarissa, Maggie?”
“Clarissa is my friend from school,” she said. “We’ve been friends since kindergarten ‘cause we’re the ‘doption girls.”
“The ‘doption girls?” Mary asked.
“Yes, me and Clarissa were both ‘dopted,” she explained. “That means our families picked us to love, ‘steading of just being borned to our families. Cool huh?”
Mary smiled, “Yes, very cool. But why did the sad lady say good-bye to Clarissa?”
“When Clarissa would spend the night, the sad lady…I mean, Jeannine…would come and visit. Clarissa couldn’t see her like I could.”
“Why did the Jeannine come when Clarissa was there?”
“Cause Clarissa was her little girl, afore she was ‘dopted,” Maggie explained.
Mary pulled her chair closer to Maggie and looked intently into her eyes. “Maggie, this is an important question,” she said. “Where is Clarissa now?”
Maggie shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “Her daddy got killed by a bad man who wanted to take her. She was really sad and her mommy said they had to run away.”
Jeannine’s last words came echoing back through Mary’s mind. Find my baby.
About the author: Terri Reid lives near Freeport, the home of the Mary O’Reilly Mystery Series, and loves a good ghost story. She lives in a hundred year-old farmhouse complete with its own ghost. She loves hearing from her readers at terri.reid@reidassociate.com
Other books by Terri Reid:
Loose Ends – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book One)
Good Tidings – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Two)
Never Forgotten - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Three)
Final Call - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Four)
Darkness Exposed - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Five)
Natural Reaction – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Six)
The Ghosts Of New Orleans -A Paranormal Research and Containment Division (PRCD) Case File