The Ghost Next Door

by Ginny Baird

  Despite all his ribbing at lunchtime today, Perry wouldn’t really be handing out goodies. Instead, he’d be helping his uncle prepare produce shipping boxes. Claire liked that about Perry. The fact that he was responsible. Sure he was a loudmouth and a show-off sometimes, but in truth he was a down-to-earth guy who worked hard to do the right thing. He’d told her about how special his uncle was. After Perry’s parents’ and little brother’s tragic deaths, Dan had taken him in. No questions, no doubts. They were family, and Perry belonged with Dan. It was hard for Perry not to think about the hurricane or all he’d tried to do to save his little brother. But sometimes nature took the upper hand, and for whatever reason there was, Perry had been left on his own after the storm surge had subsided. Claire felt awful for Perry having gone through that, but knew it was a blessing his kind Uncle Dan had taken him in. He’d told her he was grateful too. His uncle was very important to him. There was nobody Perry loved more. Up until now, that was.

  “I guess we’re ready,” Elizabeth said, appearing on the porch. “I wonder if we’ll get many kids tonight.”

  “At least a few,” Claire answered. “I mean, who can resist trick-or-treating across from a graveyard?”

  “Or beside a haunted house?”

  “Exactly.”

  A burst of air blew through, extinguishing the jack-o’-lantern’s candle.

  “Mo-om?” Claire said as the rocker at the house next door began to creak.

  “It’s all right,” Elizabeth said, patting her back. “Only the wind.”

  “More like Phantom!” Claire pointed at the cat, who’d just sprung out of a rocker on Mrs. Fenton’s porch and jumped up on another.

  Elizabeth laughed. “Why don’t you call him over?”

  “I’ll go and get him.”

  Phantom purred loudly at her approach. But the moment Claire set her foot on the stoop’s lower step, she regretted her decision. A chill raced down her spine so icy that gooseflesh rose on her arms. “Come here, you stupid cat,” she said, reaching for him. Claire pulled him out of the chair and carted him back to her brightly lit house that looked almost like heaven from here.

  Claire knew she was being lame, getting spooked just because it was Halloween. They couldn’t help that they lived beside a creepy old house any more than they could that they lived across the street from a graveyard. Cemetery. Whatever. She actually thought the two words were synonyms but wasn’t about to argue with her mom, the newspaper editor. Elizabeth had gone back indoors to get the bowl of candy they’d prepared. There was a low table by one of the chairs on the front porch that made the perfect candy-bowl holder. They planned to sit on the porch and visit while waiting on the trick-or-treaters. Later, when Nathan stopped by, maybe the three of them would watch a scary movie. But that was only if he could stay. Claire wasn’t sure she wanted to watch anything too frightening with just her and her mom around. Not that she was superstitious or anything, or believed in ghosts.

  “Think we’ll get anybody?” she asked when she returned with Phantom.

  Elizabeth glanced toward the walk and a minivan that was parked at the end of their drive. “Here come some now.” Three little girls, all dressed like fairy princesses, paraded toward the porch, their dad walking protectively behind them.

  Claire set Phantom down in a rattan chair and stroked him as he curled into a ball.

  “Aren’t you cute!” Elizabeth said as they held out their plastic pumpkins.

  “Aren’t you going to say something first?” Claire prodded, lifting the candy bowl.

  “Trick or treat!” the three little ones squealed.

  Claire had to admit they were pretty adorable. All accepted their treats with polite thanks as their dad nodded from behind. This was actually kind of fun, Claire decided. Being on the grown-up side of things. The only thing that would make it better would be having Perry here. But she would see him tomorrow. The two of them had already made plans.

  “Think I’m going to go on in the house to make coffee,” Elizabeth said after several more groups had come and gone. It seemed parents in Blayton were eager to help their kids comb the town for treats, even if that meant driving out into the countryside. “Want anything?”

  “I’m fine,” Claire said, preparing to man the fort. She rested the candy bowl on her knees and waited. A little ways down the road, she spied a new group of kids arriving on bicycles. These seemed a little older and didn’t have any parents with them. Elizabeth followed her gaze to the boys.

  “Want me to wait until after these guys are gone?”

  “No big deal,” Claire said. “I’ll handle it.”

  Nathan steered his cruiser down the narrow gravel lane. The former Parker place was worth checking on. He’d caught three middle schoolers there last year. They’d snuck in with sleeping bags and dared each other to last the night. A few of them even planned to record their ghost hunting on handhelds. Nathan had scared them badly when he’d shot the beam of his flashlight through the front window. Who knew what they thought he was. A ghost, probably, Nathan thought with a chuckle.

  He pulled into the drive, his headlights illuminating the sturdy Cape Cod. It had been built to withstand the mountain winds and was set in a scenic valley. Yet nobody had wanted to rent the house since the Parkers and their toddler disappeared from there two years ago tonight. While it appeared sunny and inviting by daylight, the streaming moonlight gave its dark windows a ghostly glow. Things seemed pretty peaceful from here, but he’d get out of his car and take a closer look on foot just to make sure.

  As the kids drew near the porch, Claire saw they were older than she originally suspected. Probably seventh or eighth graders. At that age where they were too old to trick-or-treat but wanted the candy just the same. All were dressed in army camouflage pants with dark T-shirts, their faces smudged in black. Rather than carrying kiddy-like plastic pumpkins, they clutched large pillowcases already sagging with their haul. “Hey!” one of them said. “It’s the ghost cat!”

  Phantom raised his head from the chair nearby to stare at him.

  “He’s not a ghost cat,” Claire said mildly. She positioned the bowl in front her and raised her eyebrows.

  But instead of saying the expected phrase, the kids remained fixated on Phantom.

  “He’s creepy,” the second one said. “See how the light from the jack-o’-lantern catches in his eyes?”

  Claire saw Phantom’s eyes glow orangey gold in the candlelight flickers but knew that was a natural phenomenon.

  “Isn’t that the cat that used to belong to Mrs. Fenton?”

  “The one who ate her?” another one asked.

  “Do you guys want any candy or what?”

  Phantom rose to stretch his legs and arched his back high. “Here, kitty, kitty!” one boy called, while another one surprised them all by suddenly shouting, “Boo!”

  His friends nearly jumped out of their skins, and he roared with laughter.

  Phantom leapt from the chair and darted off the porch.

  “Now look what you’ve done,” Claire scolded. “Phantom!” she called after him as he ran for the road. “No!”

  A car was approaching, driving much too fast for Halloween night. It sped toward the cat, and Claire’s heart pounded. “Geez!” She set down the bowl and chased after him. “Phantom, move!”

  A dark ball of fur sped out of the way of the car just in time. The car’s horn blared as the driver zoomed away. “Slow down!” Claire yelled after him, though she knew it was futile.

  Claire scanned the surrounding area, searching for Phantom. There he is! Right across the road. The cat tore through a row of tombstones and headed up the hill, moving fast. “Phantom!” Claire called, chasing after him. “Wait!”

  Nathan walked around the last corner of the house, shining the beam of his flashlight on the windows. Everything checked out here tonight. No mischief from the Bailey boys, three brothers all born within three years. Irish triplets, Martha said that was called. The poo
r Bailey parents had their hands full with that lot. The luck of the Irish certainly wasn’t with them there. Those kids were into everything and almost always in detention at school. But Nathan knew they weren’t bad to the core. They just had some kinks to work out, and they would someday. Each of them had potential. And all exhibited that more when they were apart rather than huddled together in some lamebrain scheme.

  Nathan returned to his cruiser, thinking how lucky Elizabeth was to have Claire. She was a great kid on her own and didn’t need a lot of coaxing. He checked the time on the dash and saw it was close to nine. He’d drop by for a visit now to see how they were doing. There clearly wasn’t any action going on here.

  As he backed his car out of the drive, Nathan glanced up at the night sky. A big, round moon danced in and out of dark clouds, sending bright light streaming earthward in sudden waves. One of them caught in his rearview mirror, causing it to shimmer. Nathan found himself thinking of the Parkers, then of Melody Anne and Belle, and all the other folks that had come and gone from this town. His eyes slowly returned to the mirror as he observed those familiar hazel eyes, the contours of that face… Something gripped him from the inside out, and then with a bolt of understanding, Nathan knew.

  He jammed his foot on the brake and put the car in Park, his whole reality reeling. His motions seemed surreal as he reached for his radio and called for his deputy.

  “All clear here,” Bernie said. His voice crackled through the airwaves. “How are things there?”

  Nathan told himself to stay calm and keep his breathing measured. “Bernie,” he said, “I need you to promise me something.”

  “What’s the matter, Chief? What’s going on?”

  “Just say you’ll promise, all right?”

  “You need back… I’m… You know that.” His voice was fading in and out, coming through in incomplete words. “… location?”

  Nathan’s tone was steady, commanding. “Have I ever asked anything of you before? Anything personal?”

  Their connection rippled and snapped with electric current before Bernie finally answered.

  “No.”

  “Then here’s what I need you to do…”

  Bernie stared out his squad car window in disbelief. He could see Elizabeth’s newspaper office straight ahead of him, with the Dollar Store and a few other shops aligned to the left. The business district was nearly silent, with all shops closed up tight and only a few lonely street lamps shedding their light.

  “What do you mean, if I don’t see you again for a while?” Bernie clutched the radio, his temples pounding. “Where are you going?”

  “I need you to give me a ten-four on that, buddy.”

  But he couldn’t! Just couldn’t promise to take over and run things for Nathan! Bernie barely got by as a deputy. I haven’t got what it takes to be sheriff. “Chief, I can’t… Don’t know how—”

  “Martha will help you. Everyone in Blayton will.”

  “You can’t do this! Just up and—”

  “Signing off now.”

  “Nathan!”

  “Give me a Roger.”

  Bernie hung his head in disbelief, though somehow he suspected Nathan was giving him no choice. “I read you,” he said, his voice cracking.

  “Copy back. Over and…”

  But the line sizzled and popped, cutting off his final word.

  When Elizabeth returned to the porch, she found Claire gone and three boys raiding the candy bowl. “Hey! Where’s—?”

  “Run!” They shoved fistfuls of treats into pillowcases and took off on their bikes, scattering in all directions.

  Elizabeth frantically scanned the yard, searching for Claire. There! Across the street! She saw her pacing back and forth between the headstones on the hill. Elizabeth reached into the house and snagged her jacket from the hook by the door. Then, she was off, walking briskly toward her daughter in the cemetery.

  Claire called softly to Phantom as he slunk along ahead of her, winding his way around tombstones. “Here, kitty, kitty! Here, boy!” The clouds parted, exposing a big, yellow moon. It lit up the graveyard like a spotlight, casting long shadows behind grave markers that stood like silent towers in the night. Claire shivered in the brisk air but kept going. She was nearly to her cat, who had paused before a large headstone and now turned to stare at her, his head held high. Claire reached forward and snatched him off the ground, drawing him to her chest. “Phantom! You crazy cat!” She held him tighter, her gaze skimming the marker in front of her. Then suddenly Claire’s blood ran cold.

  “What on earth are you doing…?” Elizabeth began. Her mom must have crossed the street and come up behind her, but Claire hadn’t heard her at all. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the tombstone straight ahead and the name written upon it: Melody Anne Richards.

  Claire’s heart pounded, and her throat felt like it was swelling shut.

  “Did you come up here chasing that…?” Elizabeth caught her breath with a gasp. “What on earth?”

  Claire’s gaze traveled to the headstone beside Melody’s and found it belonged to Belle. She swallowed hard.

  “This is crazy,” Elizabeth said. “Somebody must be playing a joke.”

  “Elizabeth!” It was Nathan’s voice. “Claire!”

  They turned to find him heading up the hill with his flashlight. His cruiser was parked at their house across the street. Phantom squirmed in Claire’s arms, and she set him down as Nathan came near.

  “Thank God,” Elizabeth breathed. He rushed to her, and she leapt into his arms. “Something horrible is going on.”

  Nathan pulled back from her hug to glance at Claire. “Are you all right?”

  But what could she say? It was like she couldn’t find the words. Even if she could, they wouldn’t come out. So Claire just pointed.

  Nathan followed her gaze, then pulled them to him, hugging one in each arm. “I want you to listen to me, both of you. Everything’s going to be okay.” He looked at them with reassurance “We’re going to be okay.”

  “But…how?” Elizabeth’s chin trembled. “How is that possible?”

  Nathan met her eyes and said softly, “I think you know.”

  “What?”

  “Elizabeth. Claire,” he said, “I want you to think back. Think hard. Was there ever a time… A time when you had a close call? A time when you thought you’d…?”

  She broke his embrace, stepping away.

  “That’s ridiculous,” Elizabeth said. “Do you hear what you’re saying?”

  Claire strode toward her mom. “I think we need to listen to him.”

  Elizabeth gaped at her daughter in disbelief.

  Claire spoke softly now. “What about that time in the—?”

  “No!” Elizabeth shouted. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  Nathan spoke softly from behind them. “I need to tell you something. Something I didn’t even know until just a few moments ago.”

  Twigs snapped in the distance, and they stared higher up the hill to the very last row of graves. There were two of them at the top, the new ones Elizabeth had seen going in the day they moved here.

  “It’s Phantom!” Claire cried. The cat wound his way around the headstones, casting them a backward glance over his shoulder.

  Nathan met Elizabeth’s eyes. “Remember when I told you about my camping trip? That blizzard where I was avalanched in for ten days?”

  Elizabeth stared at him, unable to speak.

  “You asked me how I survived it…”

  Somewhere in the distance, a hoot owl called.

  “Elizabeth,” he said. “I didn’t.”

  Ice tore through her veins, and she felt faint.

  “Just wha…what are you saying?”

  “I need you and Claire to think back. Try to remember.”

  Claire’s voice was a hoarse whisper. “The truck.”

  Nathan glanced at Elizabeth.

  “It can’t be. It’s not possible.”

  “Mom was dri
ving me home from my guitar lessons,” Claire told Nathan. “It was raining hard. There was a truck on the highway. Guy must have been drunk or fallen asleep.”

  “He crossed over the line,” Elizabeth said in a monotone.

  “He was coming straight at us,” Claire continued.

  “But no!” Elizabeth cried with panicked certainty. “I swerved! We swerved to avoid it.”

  Nathan studied her with sympathy, his heart breaking for her. “There wasn’t time.”

  Elizabeth’s face twisted with anguish. “No.”

  “Yes, Elizabeth,” he whispered gently. “I’m afraid so.”

  Claire’s mouth fell open, and Nathan motioned the girl to him. He pulled her into a hug and her mother too. “This can’t be right,” Elizabeth said, as tears leaked from her eyes. “What about my job? What about the paper?”

  Nathan spoke under his breath, his words carrying the weight of truth. “There is no paper. At least, not one beyond Blayton. You needed a reason to come here. A reason you could believe in.”

  “But if I didn’t come here for work, then…”

  Her cloudy expression cleared, and her face registered understanding. “I came here for you, didn’t I? We…” She glanced at Claire. “We were meant to find you.”

  There was acknowledgement in his eyes. “Everyone comes to Blayton for a reason. There are things we need to settle. Once we settle those scores, it’s time to move on.”

  “What about my old friends?” Claire asked him. “The ones back in Richmond? I talked to them yesterday.”