“You ain’t kickin’ no ghost’s ass. He’ll kill you dead too just for messin’ with him. He’s an old ghost, and he’s been around these parts for a long time. Now what you got in that bag, Miss Summer?”
“Never you mind, Handsome! Now get out of the way!” I pushed his shoulder, but he barely moved. I slipped by him and continued toward my destination. Wherever that was. I walked past the MHP van with Becker running behind me.
Becker shouted, “Get the equipment, Mike, and come with me! She’s going to do something crazy!” Mike grabbed bags of gear and followed us as I walked down the narrow path to the center of the Ramparts.
Then I saw her. There was no doubt she was a ghost. To my surprise, she looked like me. She had long blond hair that fell in curls. She had a trim figure, which I could see quite clearly under that fluttering white dress. I think Becker saw her too because he gasped and began waving his K2 around.
She spoke to my mind so only I could hear her. You want him to suffer too. He rejected you too! You know how it feels to be loved by Ambrose and have him take that love away. I could not have that. She stepped closer, and the smell of burning hair began to fill my nostrils. No, I could not have that at all. But I took care of it. He’ll never be with her now. No more Susanna for him. I did my part, Summer. Now it’s time you did yours. Suddenly the girl, Coquette—I knew her name as surely as I knew mine—changed. There was no more blond hair and soft white skin. No more white dress. She was burnt beyond belief, her hair melted to her skin, her nose and lips nonexistent, her burnt fingers twisted and her nude body swollen. I screamed and screamed again, falling backwards and scrambling away as she stepped toward me.
“Don’t run from me. I am you and you are me. You must finish it, Summer. You must burn them all. Use it, use the lighter, burn them all!”
“No! I won’t do it! I won’t murder anyone!” Suddenly Handsome stood beside me. He tossed a handful of salt on the burnt corpse, and she began to steam and melt away into the forest floor. She screamed from the pain but never stopped reaching for me. Handsome tossed handful after handful of salt around me to protect me. I did as he told me and stayed in the circle until the place went still again.
And it was still now. So still that I wondered if there was anything living here.
Suddenly flames shot up from the ground. First one, then another. Coquette wasn’t through with us yet! The ghost fire burned invisible buildings on both sides of the street that appeared before me. I saw the world in the 1800s, and it was all on fire. Then I realized that somewhere in that world was Ambrose—he was alive, and if I wanted to be with him, now was the time. I would make him see I was right for him. He would not need anyone but me. I would be all things for him. And I would die to be with him.
Just then, Handsome grabbed my shoulders. “You ain’t gonna die today. Miss Billie is singing hard over you. You ain’t going to die today! Be still, child. Be still. That desire will pass. It’s a kind of magic, a bad magic, from that ring you played with as a child. The ring cast a spell on you even though you wasn’t able to claim it. No, you have to renounce it.”
“No! That would mean I would never…”
“And you never will, Miss Summer. It’s not you he wants…”
I cried and looked up into his eyes. I heard Becker talking, but I ignored him. He understood less than nothing. I didn’t have time to explain my life to him, nor did I want to. “What do I have to do?” It pained me to even ask the question.
“Say these words and mean them with your heart: ‘I renounce you, Ambrose Dufresne….’”
My lips trembled as I tried. “I renounce you…Ambrose Dufresne….” My heart was banging in my chest. I didn’t want to do this, but I trusted Handsome. I knew he would help me if he could.
“…and I renounce the ring and its magic. I am not your wife or your soul mate. I am nothing to you but a distant relative.”
I tearfully repeated the words, and suddenly Ambrose appeared. He wasn’t the fine, handsome young man I remembered but a corpse, a horrible-looking thing that I could never imagine desiring.
“He is letting you see him for who he is because he wants you to be free, Summer. He wants you to be free.”
I cried on Handsome’s chest and refused to look at Ambrose anymore. Finally, I felt the air warm and the stench dissipate.
“Let’s go home now, Miss Dufresne. Miss Billie has stopped singing. She’s all done. All is well now. We will be safe, I promise you, we will be safe. At least for a while.”
Chapter Twenty-Four – Avery & Susanna
Avery
Jessica and Megan passed me protectively as another door slammed. Or was it the same door? It couldn’t be the door to the Mirror Room, which was already closed. But this door, it shut over and over again. It was farther away. Impossibly far.
“Ambrose, are you here? We’re not here to harm you. We just want to talk. Avery wants to talk to you.” The three of us lingered in the hall, Megan waving her handheld scanner, the lights flashing from light green to deep green. Jessica had an audio device in her hand.
Jessica whispered to me, “If he talks to us the light will flash. You can’t always hear spirit responses with the naked ear.” I didn’t care about the details. I just wanted to get this over with. I wanted it all over with. Maybe I should go back to Atlanta and just leave all this behind. But that was just a dream. I had to face this; I couldn’t run from it. I wore the ring.
“Ambrose, if you are with us, just speak into this red light. We’ll be able to hear you…did you hear that?” The sound of retreating footsteps lured the investigators further down the hall. “It came from over here,” Jessica whispered. Apparently she hadn’t noticed that the door to the Mirror Room now stood open.
And soft candlelight now fluttered enticingly from behind the door. At least I thought it was candlelight…
My flashlight dimmed significantly and then went out completely. I heard Jessica say my name, but it was as if she were talking to me underwater. I couldn’t make it out.
All I could do was walk toward the light…and then I saw him. Standing near the candle, with his hand on the shiny oak table, was Chase Dufresne. He extended his other hand to me…with all my heart, I accepted it.
***
Susanna Serene
It had been a full three days since Chase showed up on the doorstep at Thorn Hill. His wound wasn’t as bad as Ingrid and I first believed, but even the doctor agreed that his blood loss remained a most serious concern.
He had no visitors, except the sheriff who merely inquired about his status. The ugly little man even refused to come inside the house, discussing it all on the front porch. I told him what I knew. That I’d had no contact with Chase for nearly two years until this unwanted visit. Yes, he lived, but recovery would be a slow process.
Thankfully no one else came by to ask after him. Ambrose stayed away, and the town was abuzz with the scandal. That first night, I watched my husband’s pale sleeping face until the wee hours of the morning. This was the face of the man who had rejected me, who had shamed me before his friends—and his second wife. Here was the man who would not claim me but also would not let me go. Chase had done even worse than that. He left our daughter with Etienne. Even if he hated me with all his being, he should have cared for her.
“How could I ever have loved you?” He did not stir—he did not answer. And what would he say? Just the night before he’d begged for my forgiveness. Would I forgive him? In the beginning I said no, never. But after days of care and attention, and as my desperation rose, desperation to see him healed, I felt my heart of stone soften. And that I didn’t want. I began to sling down whiskey in between my ministrations. I’d abandoned my duties at my shop and most days sent Ingrid instead. And in all this time, Chase had awoken only once and was so fevered that he thought I was his sister, Regina.
“Regina, dear. I knew you were not dead. I heard you calling me, but I couldn’t find you. I looked, sister. Where have
you been? Regina?” I calmed him, and he fell asleep again, lost in his mad world. For the first time in so much longer than I could remember, I prayed fervently.
Chase’s hair had grown darker; he wore it longer now. His dark blond sideburns made him appear older than he was—I knew he was a full two years younger than me. Gleaming from his neck was a golden chain and crucifix; it was a delicate Spanish working. I had given it to him as a wedding present. I touched it but withdrew my hand when he stirred. Eventually weariness overcame me and I fell asleep. For some reason I dreamed of Sulli and her wide eyes, her lips mouthing a secret I should have remembered but couldn’t. I woke to a light tapping on the guest room door. My back was stiff, and I was embarrassed to find that I had been lying across the corner of the bed. It was Ingrid, of course. She was up early, dressed neatly and holding a folded letter.
“This came for you, Miss Susanna. The man who delivered it is waiting downstairs for your reply. I have seen him before; he stays with Coquette. One of her servants, he is. So you can guess who this is from.”
I shoved the loose hairs from my face and accepted the paper. “Is there any coffee?”
“Yes, I’ll bring you a cup before I leave. And the doctor is here, too, don’t forget.” She eyed my sloppy hair and untidy clothing. I didn’t care. My fingers trembled as I read the page.
My Dearest Susanna,
Why have you given shelter to our mutual enemy?
It would have been a kindness to let him die when you found him, for if I return to Thorn Hill now I will certainly kill him with my bare hands. It is hard for me to imagine that you would wish such a thing, but it is the truth.
I give you until sundown to remove my cousin from our home. Let us this settle things between us. Make your choice, madam.
—A
I didn’t go downstairs.
“Ingrid,” I called after my friend, “please send the messenger away. I have no message to give.”
With another frown—Ingrid frowned perpetually—she nodded and went downstairs. I went to my room and changed my clothing. I didn’t bother with my hair except to pin the strands back away from my face. I planned to have an honest talk with the doctor about Chase’s condition and then prepare for Ambrose’s arrival. Even if it wasn’t today, I needed to know what to do and say when Ambrose did appear. From the tone of his letter, I could see that he assumed I was most pleased to have Chase come to the house, but that was not the truth.
At least not in the beginning.
By the time I dressed, it was a full half hour later. I could hear the doctor’s deep booming voice in Chase’s room. He was likely cleaning the wound, a painful procedure that required the application of whiskey to the wound to fight any infection. Chase screamed my name, and it was like a dagger shoved in my heart. I practically ran into the room and ordered the doctor out.
“Susanna! Make him stop!” Chase was in tears. I could see that the fever had not yet completely left him, but the pain and was making him crazy. I took the bottle from the doctor and poured a glass of the whiskey for Chase.
“Drink this! Don’t sip it. Drink it down. That’s good.” I filled the glass again, and he drank another shot. I turned to the doctor. “The next time you tend to his wounds, make sure he has taken his medicine first.”
“Well, madam,” he said, “I suppose whiskey is a kind of medicine. I’ll do as you ask, Miss Susanna. My apologies, sir.”
Chase nodded once and gritted his teeth as the man probed the wound. The doctor continued, “Good! That looks good! I’d say you have had some good care here, sir. Thank your lucky stars for that. If you’d been shot anywhere else, you might have been left for dead.”
Chase closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. When he opened them again he looked me in my face fully. “And you aren’t a dream? You aren’t going to disappear? You’re not a ghost?”
“No, Chase. I’m not a ghost. I’m a real woman. I’m…I’m still your wife and duty-bound to care for you.”
“Susanna, there are things I must say to you.” The whiskey had put color back in his cheeks and had loosened his tongue as well.
“Doctor, perhaps you can come back later. Or, if you prefer to stay, which you are welcome to do, you could go down and take some breakfast and coffee. Ingrid has made plenty.”
“Oh, that sounds delightful. Thank you, thank you, lady.” This was not the doctor who had cared for me, but he was also from the Ramparts and I liked him from the little I knew about him. Once he was gone, Chase grabbed my hands. That frightened me; I hoped he wouldn’t tear open his wounds again.
“Kiss me, Susanna. Tell me you have forgiven me. All I could think was to come see you. I don’t know what happened to me—I must have been shot when I got out of the carriage that night. How long have I been here?”
“Just a week,” I said as I gave him another shot of whiskey.
“I suppose I went mad for a little while. My father told me that you and Ambrose had planned for months to steal our fortune, and at first I didn’t believe him. But the night…that night, something within me snapped. I believed him that night, and I was a fool for doing so. I love you, Susanna. I should have known that this was all Ambrose’s doing. He hates me beyond reason. He’s always hated me. That’s why he stole you from me. But then I heard that he was toying with Athena’s cousin, Coquette, and I knew he must have tired of you. Whatever passed between us, let it end now. Let it end. I love you, my darling. I am sorry for what I have done to us. I let you spend time with him knowing that he was an evil man. Please, my own love, forgive me. And may our daughter forgive me.”
He rambled on and cried, and my heart believed him. It was nine o’clock in the morning; the windows were open for anyone to see us here on the third floor. Sunlight filled the room, and all I could do was cry. I climbed into the bed with him and cried. He held me close and whispered, “My own, Susanna, my darling, my love. I promised to honor and protect you, and I failed you. I listened to my father, and I lost you. Please tell me. I haven’t lost you forever, have I?”
I couldn’t answer. I could only cry. Chase held me for a long time, and when the door creaked open I didn’t care who found us together. All was right in my world once again.
“Miss Susanna, I am leaving for the shop now. Do you need anything? Should I set your tray here?”
“Yes, Ingrid. Thank you.” I noticed that she smiled at me, and I smiled back. It was a rare thing to see her smile. “You can send the doctor away too. We don’t need him anymore.”
“Very well. Rest well, Mister Chase.”
He nodded but never took his eyes off me. After she left he whispered, “Are we alone, Susanna?”
“Yes, I think so. There may be a housekeeper downstairs, but she won’t come up unless I summon her.”
“I scarcely dare to ask what I am about to ask. Make love to me, Susanna. I want to see my wife, to love her, to keep her, to have her. Please don’t deny me your love, not one more day. Have mercy on this poor, wretched creature.”
I got up and closed the door. He had a serious wound, but I could see that other parts of him worked perfectly, for he’d pulled the cover back to show me his strong body. I locked the door and shed my clothes too. What would it be like to lie with Chase after being with Ambrose for so long? Ambrose knew every curve of my body and knew exactly which ones needed attention. I felt an unexpected twinge of guilt as I walked to the bedside.
But this was my husband, the man I married before God. This could only be right.
“Let me see you, my beauty, my own wife. You’ll have to help me, Susanna.” Chase’s beautiful face held such desire for me that I could not deny him. I would not! For I wanted him too.
“And will you stay with me, Chase? Are you going to cast me off again? I don’t think my heart can take such torment again.” I lay beside him in the sweaty cotton sheets. The day was warming quickly.
He kissed my forehead softly, and the whiskey on his breath smelled spicy
and sweet. I kissed his lips, and in that instant the hardness of my heart faded away. It was gone. I loved Chase Dufresne with all my heart, it was true. What I had with Ambrose had been a dream only.
We are soul mates, Susanna… I seemed to hear him whisper in my ear. I spun about in the bed but saw no one there.
“What is it, love?”
“I thought I heard a voice.”
The whiskey made him woozy, and he smiled flirtatiously, “Listen to my voice, my darling. We are one, you and I, just like the priest said. Please make love to me. Let us reconcile in truth, Susanna. I care not what happens tomorrow. I care only about you and me and right now.”
And I obeyed him. We made sweet love. We lost ourselves in the beauty of our bodies, and once a desire was sated, another arose. The love we made love was a kind of healing love, and when we were finished we were spent.
“Only once more, my love. Once more. I must feel you again.” He’d drunk more whiskey and was feeling no pain now. As our frenzied desire again drew to a conclusion, the door to the room swung open. I could not see who it was; Chase’s back was in the way. Then I heard a gunshot, and Chase fell off me and onto the floor in a heap. When the smoke cleared and I stopped screaming, I could see that the bullet had grazed my shoulder and I was covered in my husband’s blood.
His murderer stood in the doorway. It was not who I expected at all. It was Chase’s right-hand wife, Athena Pelham Dufresne. Her freakishly large eyes stared at me, and they were full of hate.
After a few seconds she put the gun down. The shot never came. She lowered her weapon, then walked over to him and shot him again. Then she turned to me. “I will not kill you, for death is too good for you. Besides, tonight my cousin Coquette will do away with Ambrose Dufresne. He will be dead too. And then we women will be free!” She laughed so hard that she slapped the table under which Chase’s body lay. It was then that I noticed she was pregnant. And had been for many months.
“I never want to see your face again, Susanna. Do not come to Sugar Hill, or I will kill you. Just as I killed my unfaithful husband—and yours. You should thank me, you know. All these Dufresne men are devils. Even Ambrose. He would have seduced me too, if I had let him. Told me I was his soul mate, if you can believe that.” She waved the gun around as if it were a toy. “Goodbye for the last time, Susanna.”
Fire on the Ramparts (Sugar Hill Book 2) Page 16
