Spirits of the Season

by Phoebe Rivers

  “Oh! Something big happened.” She knew anyway. “Tell me.”

  “Tell you what?” Avery Apolito asked from the seat next to me.

  “Sara and Dina went to the mall the other day,” Lily explained.

  “Together?” Avery scooted even closer.

  “It’s not a big deal,” I said. I shifted my attention to the lines of kids streaming down the aisle next to me, filling up the auditorium, as if I was searching for someone.

  He saw me looking when his class entered. My face flushed as he stopped alongside my seat.

  “Feliz Navidad.” Jayden leaned on my armrest. I could smell the almond scent of his soap.

  “Joyeux Noël,” I replied. I felt Lily’s and Avery’s eyes cataloging our every movement. I tried to pretend they weren’t inches away.

  “You read your handout, I see,” Jayden said, waving the pale green flyer in his hand. It listed how to say “Merry Christmas” in ten languages. “And you wore a red sweater in honor of the Holidays Around the World assembly. Impressive display of school spirit.”

  “I try.” I grinned. I loved the easy way we talked. “What happened to you? Brown is not very festive.”

  “I don’t do red. Green is okay, though.” He tapped his fingers on my armrest. “What’s your favorite color?”

  “Why?”

  “I need to know. It’s a surprise. Just answer.”

  “Blue.”

  “What kind of blue? Dark or light—”

  “Hey, Mendes! You’re causing a traffic jam,” called a tall boy behind him.

  “Keep moving!” shouted some other guy.

  “Later,” Jayden called to me, as he headed down the crowded aisle.

  “He is so buying you a present!” Lily squealed.

  “Shhh,” I quieted her, although it did look that way. “Now what do I get him? I need major help here.”

  “A red shirt, for sure,” Avery said. “That would be funny.”

  “It would.” Should I go the funny route? I wasn’t sure. I thought again about the old couple in the store. It was so sweet how he always got her the perfume.

  “I don’t think a T-shirt has enough meaning,” Lily disagreed.

  “It means she has a sense of humor,” Avery countered. “Guys are into funny.”

  “But it doesn’t say that Sara really likes Jayden,” Lily pointed out.

  “Sara likes Jayden?”

  Lily, Avery, and I turned together. Dina Martino stood in her typical hands-on-hips pose in the aisle alongside me. Another eighth-grade girl stood beside her.

  “It’s Jayden who likes Sara,” Lily countered. I couldn’t believe Dina had overheard us talking about Jayden.

  Dina eyed me thoughtfully, then smiled. “I think that’s great, Sara. Jayden’s really cute. Isn’t he cute, Ava?”

  “Totally.” Ava nodded enthusiastically.

  “Oh, hey, I’m liking the outfit.” Dina pointed to the skinny multicolored scarf I’d wrapped around my neck. “Especially the scarf.” She smiled at me again. A big, friendly smile. “See you later, Sara. Maybe after school?”

  “Bye,” Ava called. She followed Dina down the aisle, as the assistant principal tapped the microphone onstage for attention.

  “What was that?” Avery exclaimed. “Dina is now your friend? How did that happen?”

  “I’m not quite sure,” I admitted. My finger found the opal among the gemstones and crystals on my necklace.

  “That must’ve been some shopping trip,” Lily murmured, as the lights dimmed to start the assembly.

  “Mouths closed, attention up front,” a gray-haired teacher warned. “That’s the rule.”

  I liked her rule. I was keeping my mouth closed. I wouldn’t tell Lily and Avery what had happened at the mall, and I certainly wouldn’t tell them what Dina and I were about to do.

  I didn’t know which they’d think was stranger: my talking to gummy bears or my agreeing to help Dina with her evil plan.

  I was the first one out of school.

  I’d told Lily I had to race home to help Lady Azura with chores. Not a total lie, because I did do that in the afternoons, but I was really avoiding Dina. I doubted she’d be so bold as to track me down at home.

  “Hey!” I greeted the knitting woman on the porch. I was used to her always sitting there, never talking.

  I entered the front foyer, and sobs floated down the stairs. The crying spirit.

  The sobs sounded clearer today. Less muffled. I stood against the dark-wood banister and listened. They weren’t all coming from upstairs, I realized with a start. Slowly I followed the noise down the narrow hallway, back toward the kitchen.

  Why was the crying spirit downstairs? I wondered. Ever since I’d moved in, she’d never left her rocking chair in the pink bedroom.

  Turned out it wasn’t the crying spirit I was hearing.

  I stopped in the doorway, unsure what to do. Should I back away? It felt wrong to stand there and watch.

  “I’m fine,” she said, not turning to me. “Come in.”

  I inched over, my eyes focused on the black-and-white photographs scattered on the table. Before I could make out any faces, she scooped them in a pile and tucked them into a yellowing envelope.

  I’d seen Lady Azura cry only twice. Once in that vision and now again. Something bad must be going on.

  “I’m sure Richard will come back. There’s still five more days until Christmas,” I told her.

  “I’m not crying for Richard.” She dabbed her smudged mascara with a paper napkin. “Richard always comes back on Christmas morning. Very early. Up with the birds.” She smoothed her hair. “But he’s not the only man I wait for.”

  “Really?” I sat next to her.

  “Really.” She pressed her bony hands together and pursed her lips. “When I graduated high school I met the most glorious young man. He worked at the shoe store. Let me tell you, I bought a lot of shoes that summer! Franklin was so handsome. The palest gray eyes, and smart! We talked for hours. We fell in love.” She turned to stare out the window. “He was my first love. My true love.”

  “What happened?”

  “Franklin proposed to me at the end of the summer, and we set a wedding date. December 22, 1944. We rented the hall. I shopped for a dress. We were so happy. We had such big plans.”

  “So you married him before you married Richard?”

  “No. World War II was raging overseas, and Franklin was called up to the army that September. He died in battle. There was no wedding.”

  “I’m sorry.” I wanted to reach out to her, pat her hand or something, but I wasn’t sure if I should.

  “He came back,” she continued. “That December twenty-second, he came back to me. I put on my wedding dress, and we danced. All day we danced and laughed. And then he was gone again.” She fumbled with the collar of her aqua silk blouse. “Every December twenty-second, though, Franklin came back to visit me. For over fifty years, we shared that one day together. I wait for that day every year.”

  “That’s why your Advent calendar only goes to the twenty-second!” Now I understood. “So he’ll be here in a few days.” I wondered if I’d be able to see him too.

  She shook her head. “He stopped coming ten years ago.”

  “Why? Was he jealous of your husband?”

  “No. He came for years and years while Richard was alive, and Richard had been long gone when he stopped.” She sighed. “I don’t know why he stopped coming. I fear I’ve gotten too old for him. He remains forever a young man, and I have grown into an old woman with these horrid wrinkles.”

  “What? You look great.” I meant it. Lady Aura was the most exotic, most fashionable old person I’d ever seen.

  “Not great enough.” She shook her head. “I keep waiting. Maybe this year . . .”

  “Can’t you summon him? Bring him here?” I’d seen Lady Azura call back the spirits of the dead. She had the power to do it.

  “Sometimes one needs to accept the way
things are. My feelings are selfish. Until I can go to him, it must remain Franklin’s choice.”

  She slid out the top photo from the envelope and pushed it toward me. “This is my Franklin.”

  He wore a plain white button-down shirt and dark pants and was posed with both hands in his pockets. He looked happier, less tired, more, well . . . alive than the last time I’d seen him, in the mall. Even though he wasn’t wearing his uniform, I recognized him immediately. Franklin was the army guy.

  I’d had it all wrong. The soldier wasn’t looking for the crying spirit upstairs. He was looking for Lady Azura!

  “Okay, enough about what’s long gone.” Lady Azura stood and pulled back her thin shoulders. “I need something to sweeten this day. Candy is the answer.”

  Candy was always her answer. But I had a different answer. An answer even sweeter than candy. I would surprise her and bring Franklin back to her.

  Chapter 9

  The ugly sweater with Mrs. Claus’s smiling face was starting to look pretty good to me. At least, pretty warm, after I passed the Salty Crab’s window display for the eighth time the next afternoon.

  I zipped my parka up under my chin and pulled my wool hat over my ears. I’d been walking up and down Beach Drive for almost two hours, pretending to shop for presents.

  I was really searching for Franklin.

  I hoped he would be out here. Somewhere. It sure seemed as if every other spirit lurked about. Three older men in long overcoats on the corner of Dune Lane sang a harmonized “Silent Night” every time I passed. I was the only one who heard their ghostly song.

  I looped around and started up the other side of the street. I dodged women with strollers and giggling groups of high school girls. The sidewalk was crowded with people out shopping the Friday before Christmas. I stared openly at each one and then slid my gaze sideways to the spirit that often hovered nearby. An old woman. An old man. A toddler, hurrying to catch up.

  No Franklin.

  I wished I knew a better way to find him.

  He’d been here the first time I saw him, I reminded myself.

  I thought about my talk with Lady Azura. Did Franklin have something to do with why she wanted Dad to move out? Or why I’d had that vision of her at a funeral? I couldn’t figure out how they were all connected. Maybe if she wasn’t so sad about Franklin, she’d tell me.

  My phone buzzed. It was from a number I didn’t recognize.

  I ducked alongside the Seasons Sports window to read the text.

  R WE ON 4 TOMORROW NITE? GOT 2 STOP THEIR TRIP!

  I’d been avoiding Dina all week at school. Now she’d found me.

  R U THERE???? NEED 2 PLAN NOW!!!!!

  I continued down the street, reading Dina’s texts. They kept coming, each more insistent than the next.

  Finally I couldn’t take it. Ignoring her wasn’t working. I circled back and entered the Salty Crab. The small store was warm and smelled of candy canes.

  “Sara! Have you come to shop? Where’s Lily?” Aunt Delores called from behind the counter. She was wrapping a box with shiny gold paper.

  “I’m by myself,” I explained. “I need a present for Lily.”

  “Delightful!” Delores looked ready for Santa’s workshop. She wore a red furry cap with a jingle bell on top, and her round cheeks were rosy. “Let me fishing wrapping these, and I’ll be right there.”

  I scooted over to the table where the ugly pom-pom hat still lay. Figured. No one would ever buy it. At least, I hoped not. I could just imagine my dad thinking it was fun and surprising me with it. Luckily, this was not his kind of store. If they sold it in the hardware store, I’d be a goner.

  Another text buzzed in. Dina.

  IS THIS REALLY A GOOD IDEA? I texted back.

  YES!!!!! U PROMISED. Her fingers must’ve been hovering over the phone, she texted back so fast.

  Y DONT U WANT THEM 2GETHER? I wrote.

  Did she not like my dad? I couldn’t see why. He was a really nice guy. Good-looking in that rugged way. Maybe not the funniest sense of humor, but not horrible, either.

  Wait. Maybe it’s me, I thought. Did she want to break them up because she didn’t like me?

  NOT SHARING W U. U NEED 2 DO THIS. I WILL SHOW THAT VIDEO!!!!!

  “Did you find something?” Delores pushed a stray auburn curl under her cap and hurried over.

  I lifted the red-and-green hat.

  “Oh, perfect! So fun! So Lily!” She reached for it. “Would you like it wrapped?”

  “Thanks.” As she returned to the counter, I stared at the flood of texts from Dina. Instructions on how to keep Dad from going to Philadelphia tomorrow with her mom.

  I was so stupid! Why hadn’t I made her erase that video in the mall? Why had I thought I could trust her?

  FINE. I’LL TRY, I wrote back. I didn’t see that I had a choice.

  I reached down for the Stellamar snow globe. The boardwalk with its Ferris wheel, arcade games, and haunted house were all squeezed inside the clear plastic dome. I shook it, watching the snow flutter. Inside, the town looked so peaceful and empty. No spirits trapped inside.

  I squinted at the tiny arcade, remembering the time Jayden and I had sat so close in the photo booth. We’d been together in Lily’s uncle’s pizza place and her other uncle’s ice-cream shop. I could make out both places inside the tiny globe.

  A shiver suddenly tingled my neck, and the temperature around me plummeted. I hugged my arms around my chest and turned. Had someone opened the door, letting in the cold air?

  The store was quiet. The door was closed. Delores wrapped away, not noticing the arctic drop.

  I started to shake. A chill coursed through my body, turning my blood cold. Something was happening.

  I closed my eyes. Tried to stop it. Tried to come up with a White Light. Something to block whoever was seeking me out.

  “Oh, look! It’s starting to flurry!” Delores exclaimed.

  I opened my eyes and glanced out the door’s glass window, and that was when I saw him hurry past.

  Franklin!

  “Can I come back later to get the present?” I asked, halfway to the door.

  “Sure, I’ll—” That was all I heard. Franklin was turning the corner, almost out of sight. I chased after him, weaving around shoppers and carolers.

  He headed down a small side street I’d never noticed. The snow swirled about, sticking to my eyelashes, making it hard to see. Franklin moved fast, his feet always an inch above the ground. Never truly here on Earth.

  The chill I’d felt had been him.

  “Stop!” I called.

  My voice was drowned out by the clanging of the Salvation Army volunteer’s bell. I sidestepped around the collection pot, all the while keeping Franklin in sight. His body wasn’t fully solid, but I could still track his khaki uniform in the sea of holiday red and green.

  And then I couldn’t.

  A wall of bundled-up toddlers and parents, loaded down with cameras and bags of snack food, appeared at the next corner. Everyone pushed together, trying to get into what looked like an Italian restaurant.

  “Excuse me! Excuse me!” I cried, trying desperately to slip through the crowd.

  “Back of the line,” a man with a clipboard called to me. “Santa’s only taking pictures for another forty-five minutes, and these folks have been waiting.”

  “I just need to get through,” I said. I’d lost sight of Franklin. “Please!”

  A woman with twins holding on to both her hands made room, and I squeezed through. I ran down the next street. Searching, searching . . . for a ghost.

  This was the first time I was looking for one of them instead of the other way around.

  He seemed to have disappeared. I stopped running and stood, watching the snow blanket the sidewalk. My first snow. Maybe we would have a white Christmas. I sighed. Did it matter? How fun would it really be with Lady Azura so sad?

  Then I got angry. What was with Franklin? What gave him the right to s
top visiting her and cause her to cry?

  “Franklin! Franklin!” I whirled about, screaming until I was hoarse.

  “Over here.” His voice was low. I had to shade my eyes to find him, waiting for me in a nearby doorway.

  “You came,” he said, when I squeezed next to him. A small overhang blocked the snow. “I didn’t think you would.”

  “I had to chase you down.”

  “I didn’t realize you were following me. I was trying to understand the streets.” He raised his arms, as if giving up. “I never know where I am anymore.”

  “Where have you been?” I demanded. “You haven’t shown up in ten years. Ten years! That’s a long time.”

  “I know.” His gray eyes drew me in. “I’ve been searching. . . .”

  “Searching for what?”

  “For her. For Azura.” Once again, I could feel his frustration. His sense of loss.

  “But she’s lived in the same house for”—I realized I had no idea how long—“for a long time.”

  “But I can’t find it anymore,” he said, frustration obvious in his voice. “Everything in this town has changed. I left her in that house when I went off to war. She has always lived in the house she grew up in. I came back to that house every year. I followed the same streets every year to get there . . . and then one year I returned and couldn’t find my way.”

  “Why not?” I raised my eyebrows at a woman watching me from across the street. I knew she couldn’t see Franklin. I knew I appeared to be talking to the door. For once, I didn’t care what some stranger thought. She could just mind her own business. I needed to help Lady Azura.

  “The town built this enormous building with a hundred stores all inside it. The strangest thing, really. It takes up many, many blocks. When they built it ten years ago, they changed around the streets. Added new ones. Rerouted old ones. I don’t have a map. My sense of direction is forever in 1944.”

  “The mall! You’re talking about the mall,” I said.

  “Whatever that big place is, it’s kept me from her.” He reached out to me with his one good hand. “I miss her so much.”

  No longer did I smell death on him. He smelled almost citrusy. And he sounded sincere.

  “I can take you to her. I’ll show you the way to the house!” I was so excited. “Let’s go. I’ll show you now.”