The Ghost in the Machine

by Mary Woodbury

  “Yeah, you’re right,” said Ty. He could feel the heat in his neck and ears. Doofus was a good word for him. He’d been concentrating so hard on fixing the car, on helping Robin, on running and biking with Haley that he hadn’t even thought about taking her on a real date. They’d been together nearly every day. He thought of their times together on the beach and felt a rush of heat.

  He looked up as Haley came dashing from behind the rocks. She was wearing black shorts and a purple tank top. Her damp hair was tight curled like an unruly mop. She tied it back in a ponytail. She was grinning from ear to ear. “Shall we go?”

  Suddenly he wanted to take Haley in his arms and give her a big hug right in front of Ben. He turned away and picked up the blanket and shook it. She joined him taking the other end and helping him fold it until it was a small square and they were close together, the folded blanket between them. He looked into her dark eyes and knew he didn’t have to say anything. He had the rest of the summer to let this play out.

  What a summer!

  “How do we get Princess ready for a new paint job? It’s going to really change her looks,” Ben said. He had made sure Marvin’s boat was secure and was heading up the hill with Leo at his heels.

  Ty explained how they had to sand the car down, fill in the cracks and dents, and tape over all the windows and headlights. “It’s a lot of work. I wouldn’t worry about it. If you and Haley go off to Calgary I’ll just finish it on my own over the winter.”

  “Maybe Dad could get Lynette a job.”

  “I might have to start working at school,” Ben sighed. “I’ve never felt like it was important.”

  “There’s some good schools in Calgary. I’ll get Mom to talk to Lynette about where they are.” Haley grinned. “We can help each other.”

  “I’m not sure I approve.” Ty was feeling pretty strange about Ben being in the same place as Haley. He didn’t like it much.

  “You’ll have to drive over and see us. We can’t break up the old gang. We’ve got scads of room,” said Haley. “Robin is thinking of coming over for the winter. Mom and Dad want to keep an eye on her. There’s too much work in her old house and her boys are busy at the coast with school and their girlfriends.”

  Ty kicked a clod of dirt off the path. “I don’t like the sound of what’s coming.” With Haley, Ben, and Robin gone, who was he going to hang around with?

  “Life will go back to normal,” said Haley. “You’ll have school.”

  “Nat will be back,” said Ben. “And without me around maybe Dougie will leave you be.”

  “You’ll have Princess.” Haley sprinted up the hill.

  Ty followed right on her tail. “Princess isn’t everything.”

  “So you say,” Haley responded. “I wonder…”

  Ben lagged behind. He hadn’t been working out all summer. “What’s the hurry?”

  Ty’s house was empty. Quiet as a graveyard. He searched through the junk drawer until he found the key to the trailer. He wasn’t sure he should be doing this. He should ask his mother. But his mother might get upset. Then again, Ben wanted to see his dad’s stuff. Scott was Ty’s uncle. He slipped the key in his pocket and glanced in the mirror above the sink. Ty ran a brush through his hair. He decided to open the trailer.

  Princess was safe and sound in her garage. The day after tomorrow he could drive her on the road. Ty had no words to describe how he felt about that. He had never felt anything so close to pure joy in his life. Was it because he found the car or it found him? Was it the work, the sheer force of will and work that had made this venture turn from dream to reality? If this is what being a grown up was like, he wanted more of it. If he could accomplish this, he could accomplish anything he set his mind to.

  Soon the three of them were running slowly and smoothly up the mountainside behind his house. They had left their spare gear on Ty’s front porch and run on.

  As they came into the clearing where the trailer was, a small animal scurried into the woods. Haley leaned against a large spruce and stretched her calves. Ben caught up and threw himself on the slatted wood flat which acted as a porch step to the trailer.

  “Is this hard for you?” asked Haley. “I mean coming back after all this time.”

  Ben shook his head. “No, I’ve always known it was here. I kind of see it in my mind’s eye all the time, but I’ve forgotten what the art looks like.”

  Ty toured the perimeter of the clearing, checking for any sign of large animals. To the north of the trailer in a sheltered grove he found two piles of rocks. They looked like cairns he’d seen in a National Geographic. Candle holders sat in front of each rock pile. He stood in front of them. Purple lupins grew wild behind them. A small spring bubbled deeper in the woods.

  “What’s up?” called Ben.

  “What did you find?” asked Haley.

  Ty bent down on his haunches. The other two came up behind him.

  “What is it, then?” asked Ben.

  Ty wiped sweat from his forehead. His eyes filled with tears. “This is where she comes. This is where my mom visits when she goes for her walk.” When had she carried these stones here, piled them so carefully, balancing each rock on top of another? Did she pray here? Did she sing like she used to in church?”

  Ben knelt beside him. “She built these?”

  “And planted the flowers.”

  “Your mom, right?” Haley sat on the ground. The silence in the woods seemed complete. No birds sang. No wind stirred the leaves and branches.

  “One for Scott and one for my little sister’s twin…”

  “Haley leaned closer to the cairns. “S.A. is scratched here on this big one.”

  “J.G. on the small one,” said Ben. His voice was hushed as if he were in a library or a church.

  Ty was staring at the cairns. He sat back on his heels.

  Haley took a box of matches from her pocket. She’d had them for the campfire. She lit the candles before each cairn. “I’ll blow them out before we go. The ground is so dry. We don’t want to start a fire.”

  Haley rose and walked towards the trailer. Ben joined her. Ty turned and tossed them the key. But he didn’t get up. He let them open the trailer.

  “Should we?” asked Haley.

  “It’s my dad’s, isn’t it?” Ben opened the door and went inside. Haley followed him.

  The blinds opened and their voices rang out across the clearing as they talked about what they found.

  Meanwhile Ty sat in front of his mother’s memorial to his family’s losses. He was remembering a conversation he had had with his mother early in the summer before Princess had been rescued. He had said something about wishing for a twin. His mother had dropped her cup. It had smashed to smithereens. She had gone upstairs for a few days and not come down.

  Had he, Ty, always known there had been a bigger family?

  Ty sat there alone for five more minutes trying to sort things out in his head. Then he blew out the candles and walked to the trailer.

  He’d probably never know the full story. But he felt closer to the truth.

  Chapter 19

  On the Wednesday after his birthday Ty drove his mother over to Robin’s for a visit. He and Haley walked back to his house to work on the body of the car. He had to run upstairs to change out of his new clothes. His mother had told him that if he got oil or grease on his new jeans he’d never hear the end of it.

  “Nice duds,” Haley had said.

  Ben hadn’t been able to come. He’d been grounded for taking Marvin’s boat without asking. He’d be able to come in a couple of days. He’d asked about borrowing the boat the day of their cross-lake swim. Marvin had said it was alright, seeing as he was doing it for a Nixon, even if a Graham was going along. They just wouldn’t tell Grandpa Beaton. Ralph Ferris had agreed to come too. Ty had asked him when he’d gone into Benton for his birthday dinner.

  His mom had asked him if something was bothering him. He’d been excited about getting his license. He’d
loved getting behind the wheel. The driver’s test had been a snap. It was just that he hadn’t been able to talk about going to the trailer and seeing the rock piles in the clearing. He was beginning to understand how soap operas happened. His mom had been so much better lately. His dad had been coming home more often. Veronica had even been staying home with her dolls and helping her mommy with tea parties, picking ripe fruit, and making cookies. Ty didn’t want that to change.

  He had told his mother that nothing was the matter, that it was probably growing pains, seeing as he was turning into the tallest, skinniest kid in the valley. His dad had taken a picture of them all at the restaurant. Ty was taller than any of them, even his father. Lyle had set the timer on the shutter and run and gotten in the picture.

  It had been the best birthday celebrations Ty had ever had.

  “Did you see the weekly paper?” Haley whipped her copy out from behind her back. On the front page was a big picture of Ty driving Princess down the main street of Benton with his mother beside him. Ty had thought he’d seen the photographer with Ralph lounging in front of the coffee shop. But he hadn’t seen him take the picture. Ralph had provided the copy. “Ty Graham of Kootenay Lake drives his family home in the 72 Volkswagen which he has just rebuilt. Ty received his learner’s license today. The car originally belonged to Scott Armstrong. The Valley Weekly congratulates Tyler for his perseverance and determination in such an achievement. Ty is a top student at Benton High School.”

  Ty read the account. He picked up a package of sandpaper and passed a sheet to Haley. “She’s not finished yet.”

  Haley took the sandpaper and put it down on the table. “You’re quite the local hero.”

  Something in her tone of voice made Ty glance up. Haley’s shoulders were slumped and her usual straight back seemed hunched like an old crone’s. Ty slid the sandpaper back and forth a few more times as he tried to figure out what was wrong. It dawned on him that no one had mentioned Haley Nixon as having anything to do with Princess’s rescue. He put down his sanding block and took off his leather work gloves.

  “I couldn’t have done it without you,” he said. It sounded down right corny to him but he meant it. “I’d never have got it finished this summer. If I’d known they were writing this, I would have made sure they mentioned you. I didn’t know Ralph was getting his buddy to take a photo.”

  “Oh, you great galoot,” said Haley. She gave him a quick hug. “I don’t give a hoot about your dinky little Valley paper. I just wanted to be there when you drove the car home.”

  Ty hadn’t even thought of that. He bashed his forehead with the palm of his hand. “So let’s take her for a spin. I’ll get my mom.”

  The sky above the valley was hazy. It smelled of burnt wood. The wind blew smoke from the next valley their way. They needed rain. Badly. The weekly paper had warned about wild fires leaping over the mountain. There was a complete fire ban in effect. Two summer families had been fined for lighting campfires on the beach.

  His mom and Veronica were putting fresh flowers in a vase. “I need to take Haley for a spin in the car,” he said. “She missed the first ride.” He handed his mom the newspaper.

  “Wow, you’re in the news, Ty.” Grace Graham smiled. Ty’s heart leapt. He hadn’t seen a smile that wide on his mother’s face since — since before Scott died. Maybe someday soon he could talk to her about the trailer and the cairns in the woods.

  The four of them buckled up and Ty drove along the road all the way to the ferry dock at Bell’s Landing. They went into the restaurant and had homemade pie and ice cream. Haley and Veronica had great fun making terrible faces at each other. They giggled.

  “I wish I had a sister,” said Veronica.

  Ty sucked in his breath, lowered his face and glanced in his mother’s direction.

  “Can I be your honorary big sister?” asked Haley. She made another wicked witchy face. Veronica bounced in her seat.

  His mother had blinked twice. She lifted her tea and took a sip. “Speaking of sisters, I should phone Celia in Vancouver and tell her the news. I could fax her a copy of the picture.”

  “I didn’t know you had a sister,” said Haley. “I wish I did.”

  “Now that I’m feeling better I’d like to talk to her more often. When I’m depressed I tend to shut everybody out.” Grace sighed and twisted her hands together in her lap. “Even those closest to me.”

  Like me and Dad and Veronica, thought Ty. He had a thought.

  “If we had a computer at home I could show you how to e-mail her,” said Ty. “You could talk to her every day if you wanted. It doesn’t cost anything to e-mail.”

  Haley interrupted her latest monster face. “We could write all winter, Ty. I’d like that.”

  “Don’t tell me you’d miss a galoot like me?” Ty teased, taking the last bite of his bumbleberry pie with ice cream.

  “Maybe.”

  “Saw your picture in the paper, young Graham,” said one of the people waiting for the ferry. “You must be proud of him, Grace.”

  “I am.”

  “Me too,” said Veronica. “He’s my really truly, only older brother.”

  The ferry was docking. “We better move fast. Don’t want to get caught in traffic.” Ty hurried from the restaurant.

  “Pray for rain,” called the passenger. “If we don’t get some soon…”

  “There will be a fire,” said Grace. “That’s all we need.”

  Chapter 20

  The days in August flew by. In the mornings the kids picked fruit, weeded the garden, or tidied the house. Veronica tried to help. She’d taken quite a shine to Haley. The two of them would go off together to pick flowers. “I’m going wiff my sister,” Veronica would sing out.

  Afternoons Ben would join them and they’d work on the car, sanding and cleaning Princess, until they got too hot. Then they’d go to the lake and swim. Ben didn’t seem to mind being the third person around the Haley-Ty, by now inseparable, duo. Ben had turned out to be a pretty neat guy. Ty was impressed. After supper they’d bike down to the gas station and store to hang out with the other kids in the valley. The kids teased Ty about Haley, and Haley about Ty. Ty blushed but it felt really great being the former “fatso” loner.

  The big day arrived for the lake swim. They had finally been able to get the boat, get an adult to go along, and get their act together. The days that Haley had left in the Kootenays were numbered what with her folks agitating for her to come back with them.

  They had fixed the body of the car as best as they could. Then they had painted it. Ben and Haley had taped all the windows and covered all the chrome neatly. The three of them took turns spraying the first coat of red primer on Princess. Ralph had rented Ty a paint sprayer. Now Princess sat gleaming in the garage, their “pride and joy” as Grandma Graham said.

  Ty was up early in the morning. He headed to the lake. Ben arrived with his uncle Marvin’s boat. This time he had permission. Ralph showed up with a whole cooked chicken, a case of soda, a cooler, and a huge bag of chips. Haley was a little late because her folks had arrived the night before and they had sat up talking.

  It was a scorching hot day already and it wasn’t even ten o’clock. Smoke from the fires near Cranbrook hung over the mountains behind Ty’s place. It darkened the sky but didn’t relieve the heat. A good day for a long swim.

  Ty’s dad said he would have liked to come along but he couldn’t. He had a couple of days work over by Cranbrook helping to control the forest fire. It was near the top of the mountain and threatening to come across the top. People had been warned to keep watch and to be prepared for evacuation. Most folk were hauling water to their farms and damping everything down. That and praying for rain.

  Ty’s mom and Veronica were coming down to the beach to meet them when they got back. Robin had invited them all for supper to meet Haley’s folks and celebrate the swim and the rescued Princess. Ty’s mom had made two berry pies. Veronica had made a brown sugar turnover with th
e last of the piecrust. The kitchen had smelled gloriously sweet and pastry rich like a bakery. “You should open a shop, Ma,” Ty said. “It smells heavenly in here.”

  Ben drove everyone across the lake to the secluded beach the two swimmers were launching from. He was good with the boat, a real pro, and he knew it. He stood at the helm, grinning. Haley and Ty waded into the water slowly. They’d done their stretches. Ben and Ralph circled slowly in Marvin’s boat.

  “This isn’t a competition, is it?” Ty asked. “You’re still in better shape than me.”

  “I doubt it.”

  Ty flexed his muscles and took a muscleman stance, flexing his biceps and rotating his torso. Then he burst out laughing. “No competition.”

  Haley was rubbing herself down with sunscreen and tucking her hair into a blue bathing cap. “No. It’s just something we want to do.”

  “A person’s got to do what a person’s got to do,” Ty said with a chuckle. He was feeling really great.

  Ty checked the boat. The two guys were concentrating on bringing it around and positioning all the supplies. “How about a good luck hug?” suggested Ty.

  He strode to her and took her in his arms. How natural it felt. He was so at home with Haley it took his breath away.

  “Us Caribbeans like hugs,” said Haley. “We’re great kissers, too.”

  “I better check that out?” said Ty. And he did. A fire lit its way to the pit of his stomach. Reluctantly Ty let go as he heard a couple of shouts and giggles from the boat. “Save one for me. Whoo! Hot stuff on the beach.”

  “Let’s go.” Ty dove in the cool water and started stroking. The shallows by the beach didn’t last long. Soon they were swimming in deep water. Nobody had ever found the bottom of Kootenay Lake. There was something awesome about swimming across a bottomless lake. Something about not being trapped or conquered by the dark and the unknown. Here, he was buoyed up by the water, swimming beside Haley, with their friends riding close by and his family waiting on the other side of the lake.