by D. S. Butler
Yvonne hovered in front of me, her ghostly form shimmering in the dark and then she nodded.
“All right, Harper. I won’t let you down.”
When Yvonne left, I was alone in the dark and freezing cold.
Surely Grandma Grant and Jess would realize I was missing soon. I’d told them I would bring Smudge to Grandma Grant’s house tonight, so they had to realize something was wrong.
But would anyone get here in time to save me? The tide was rising rapidly, and I squealed with terror as I felt something brush my foot.
Don’t panic, I ordered myself. It’s only seaweed, that’s all. You’re going to get out of this. You just have to keep calm.
The water was cold, and I couldn’t stop shivering. My lower body felt numb. I didn’t know if I was trembling with fear or whether the freezing cold water was stealing all the heat from my body. It was probably a combination of both.
The waterline had already risen to my neck. I lifted my chin to avoid getting a mouthful of briny seawater.
All of a sudden there was a horrendously loud bang.
I tilted my head, and from where I was, I could just see a glow that lit up the night sky.
Someone had set off a flare. Was that a coincidence? Or was it Yvonne trying to attract attention?
I heard a faint meow. That’s it, I was now delirious. I was so cold and afraid, I’d begun to imagine things. I looked up, and through the gap in the pier’s wooden boards, I could see a small black cat.
Smudge! How on earth had the cat made it down to the pier? Had Smudge followed me from home without me noticing?
My lower lip wobbled as I realized, as nice as it was to see Smudge again, I didn’t have much chance of getting out of this with only a cat and a ghost helping me.
The first tear had started to trickle down my cheek when I heard the creak of the boards above me. What was that? Had Carol come back?
All of a sudden, Grandma Grant and Jess’s faces appeared upside down above me.
I shook my head, thinking now I really was hallucinating.
“Hang on, Harper. Help is coming,” Grandma Grant shouted.
Jess launched herself from the pier, landing with a splash in the water.
Her wet clothes stuck to her body as she reached down to try to untie me.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
“That new cat of yours clearly thinks it’s Lassie,” Grandma Grant said. She eased herself closer to the edge of the pier so she could look down and see me clearly. “It turned up at the house, and she and Athena started meowing. I’d never heard a noise like it. It was unbearable. I put cotton wool in my ears, but they wouldn’t stop and followed me everywhere. Eventually, I got the message they wanted me to follow them, and every time I stopped, they started up that infernal meowing again. I realized something was wrong, so I called Jess, and we both made it down here, following Smudge. I nearly had a heart attack when somebody set off a flare on the harbor wall. I don’t suppose that was you, was it?”
I shot Grandma Grant a disbelieving look. “Funnily enough, no. I’ve been a little tied up.”
Jess shook her head beside me. “The knots are too tight.” Her teeth chattered as she spoke. “We will have to try and force the rope upwards to give us a little more time. You’re going to have to work with me, Harper, okay?”
I nodded as a small wave filled my mouth with seawater. It was a good job they’d arrived when they had. A few more minutes, and it would have been too late.
Between us we managed to move the ropes upwards an inch or two, giving me a little more time.
“Betty, from the Lobster Shack, called the police department after the flare went off. Help will be here in no time. Just hang on, Harper,” Grandma Grant said.
Why did she keep saying that? It wasn’t as if I was going to stop hanging on.
Just as I tried to reply, I caught another shallow wave straight in my face, and I spluttered out the salty seawater.
Jess’s gaze fixed on mine. “Who did this?”
“It was Carol. It was Carol all along. She killed Yvonne and then she murdered Louise. She hit me over the head, and when I woke up, I was tied to the pier.”
“Wait… Louise is dead?”
I nodded. “I went to check on Louise after the little incident with the potion earlier. I felt guilty and wanted to see if she was okay. When I got to the guesthouse, I could see her on the terrace, but Carol said she was asleep. She wasn’t. She’d been stabbed.”
“Where is Carol now?” Jess asked. She was still working away at the knots, but she wasn’t having much luck.
“She has gone back to the guesthouse to wait for Brian.”
Jess closed her eyes and began to mutter under her breath. I guessed brute force hadn’t worked so now she was turning to magic.
The ropes felt a little loser, and I regained the feeling in my hands, but I still couldn’t get free.
Grandma Grant joined in the muttering, and the water began to whirlpool around me. I yelped in surprised, but I soon realized what she was doing. The water dipped in the center of the whirlpool around my head — which meant I had more breathing room. The water warmed up a little, too.
“Just a little longer,” Jess promised and resumed her muttering.
The ropes were getting looser and looser.
Then we heard a commotion coming from the other end of the pier. I could hear Joe’s voice along with Chief Wickham’s and Betty’s from the Lobster Shack.
There was a large splash as Joe landed beside us in the water.
“Hang on, Harper.”
I muttered, “Why does everyone keep telling me to hang on?”
Then I saw the glint of a steel blade in Joe’s hand and was struck dumb.
He lowered it through the water, cutting through the rope, and an instant later, I was free.
When I stood up, my legs were so cold and shaky I could barely move. Joe put his arm around me and scooped me up. I flushed with embarrassment as I saw the crowd gathered at the end of the pier. It looked like the whole of Abbott Cove had turned up. How did news spread so quickly?
Yvonne was waiting at the end of the pier, dancing with happiness. She was very pleased with herself. “It was me?” Yvonne said. “I managed to set off the flare! It took me a long time, and I had to concentrate really hard, but I managed it, and Betty came out. When she saw that the flare box was opened, she called the police department.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. I had a rule about not talking to ghosts in public, but right now, I was so grateful, I let my rule slide.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome,” Joe said, thinking I was addressing him.
He set me down when I insisted I was perfectly capable of walking. I was starting to really shiver now. I didn’t know whether it was because I was so cold after being in the water for so long or whether it was delayed shock.
Betty wrapped a blanket around my shoulders, and then Grandma Grant hurried me along, prodding me from behind and telling me to get inside the Lobster Shack.
As we walked, Chief Wickham asked me questions about Carol, and I told him she had gone back to The Oceanview Guesthouse.
After shouting out a warning to everyone to stay away from the guesthouse, Chief Wickham and Deputy McGrady ran off to apprehend Carol.
When we all gathered inside the Lobster Shack, I began to feel a little better. It was good to be out of the cold, night air and as I dried off I began to relax. Betty handed me a pile of old clothes and told me I could change out back.
Chapter 25
I took the clothes Betty had given me to the small room just off the kitchen so I could strip off my wet jeans and T-shirt in private. The boisterous noise coming from the front of the restaurant sounded like most of Abbott Cove had turned up for a party.
It was only a tiny room and contained a small table and an easy chair that Betty used during her breaks when she was working a shift.
Now I
was finally alone after everything that had happened, it hit me how close I had come to drowning. I put a hand on the table and took a couple of deep breaths. It had been a close call.
I felt a little unsteady on my feet as I struggled to pull off my jeans and pulled on the pair of pink yoga pants Betty had lent me. They were a little large because Betty was a plus size lady, but they would do for now. Thanks to the stretchy material they didn’t fall down to my ankles.
I reached for the plaid shirt, and I was tugging it on over my head when I noticed somebody standing in the doorway. My heart skipped a beat.
At first, I thought I had to be imagining things.
This could not be happening. It wasn’t possible.
I shook my head in disbelief as I stared at Carol in the doorway.
In one hand she held a pistol, and the other was tightly gripping Brian’s shoulder. The pistol was pressed tightly against Brian’s ribs.
The look of terror on Brian’s face told me that this was all too real. I wasn’t imagining things.
“You told them I was at the guesthouse,” Carol said. “How could you?” She spat the words at me as though I was a traitor who’d let her down.
I couldn’t believe it. She had just tried to kill me, and she thought I owed her some kind of loyalty…
“How did you get past Chief Wickham?” I asked her as I made eye contact with Brian, trying to look reassuring and get him to calm down.
I didn’t want him making any sudden movements and getting us both killed. I’d managed to avoid death once tonight, and I was determined to do it again.
I pushed my wet hair back from my face. “You may as well give up, Carol. Chief Wickham will soon realize you’re not at the guesthouse, and he and Deputy McGrady will come back here and catch you with the gun.”
Carol’s eyes darted around the room anxiously. She gave Brian a little shove, so he stepped inside, stumbling against the easy chair. Carol then closed the door behind her, so all three of us were shut in the room.
Brian took his chance to get away. He scurried away from her and hid behind me.
There was nothing like a strong man in a crisis, and Brian was nothing like a strong man.
Carol raised the gun and pointed it at Brian. “You ungrateful man! I did this all for you. I did it so we could be together.”
“She’s mad,” Brian whispered in my ear. “She killed Louise and Yvonne.”
I nodded. “I know. She tried to kill me, too. She left me tied underneath the pier, waiting for the tide to come in.”
Brian’s eyes widened as he stared at Carol. “What are we going to do?”
“Stop it!” Carol said. “Stop muttering between yourselves. I’m the one with the gun. You should be paying attention to me.”
Carol’s arms were shaking, and I could tell she was close to the edge. It wouldn’t take much for her to pull the trigger.
She swung the gun around to face me. “Get away from him,” she ordered.
I did as I was told. I didn’t particularly want to be standing next to Brian anyway.
“What are you doing in there, Harper?” Grandma Grant called from outside the door. “Doc Morrison is here. He wants to check you out and make sure there’s no permanent damage.”
I hesitated for a beat before replying, “I’ll be out in just a minute.”
I hoped I would be. I could hardly tell Grandma Grant that I wasn’t going anywhere right now because Carol had a gun pointed at me.
If I’d told her Carol was here, I had no doubt that Grandma Grant would barge her way in and someone could end up getting shot.
“Don’t take too long,” Grandma Grant added.
“Okay.”
The moment I spoke, Yvonne floated through the door. “Look who I found, Harper,” she said and hovered to one side, revealing the ghost of Louise behind her.
I put a hand to my mouth.
Louise looked bewildered as she floated between us.
Of course, neither Carol nor Brian could see the ghosts, so I didn’t dare say anything. I nodded in Carol’s direction, and Yvonne floated around in a circle and finally noticed her sister was pointing a gun at me.
Yvonne huffed out of breath. “Oh, for goodness sake. And people said I was the drama queen.” She turned around and smiled at Louise. “Watch this, Louise. I’ve been practicing.”
And with that, Yvonne reached out and snatched the gun from Carol’s hands.
Brian let out a girlish scream as Yvonne carried the gun away from Carol.
Carol and Brian stared at the gun in horror. I’m sure it appeared to float by itself in front of their eyes.
Yvonne turned and grinned at me. “I’m getting quite good at handling objects now, aren’t I, Harper?”
I nodded.
The people outside gathered in the Lobster Shack must’ve heard Brian’s scream because the door burst open. Yvonne quickly put the gun down on the small table, but hovered beside it, making sure Carol didn’t make a lunge for the weapon.
“Did you see that?” Brian said, looking at me with terrified eyes as he cowered on the floor. “The gun floated!”
As Joe McGrady grabbed hold of Carol and put her in a pair of cuffs, I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Brian. Have you been drinking?”
It was only a few seconds before Grandma Grant and Jess were both at my side, looking on in horror as Joe led Carol out of the room.
Betty appeared in the doorway. “Are you okay, Harper?”
“Of course, she’s okay,” Grandma Grant said. “Harper is made of tough stuff.”
* * *
The next half an hour passed in a blur. Grandma Grant tried to get me out into the main dining area of the Lobster Shack where everyone else had gathered, but I resisted, sticking to the kitchen. I told her I needed a little space right now to get my head straight.
That was only an excuse, though. I really just wanted some time with Yvonne.
Now that Carol had been arrested I thought Yvonne would be moving on pretty soon, and I wanted to be around when it happened.
Yvonne and Louise hovered beside me in the kitchen, and I spoke to them in whispers.
“Did I really deserve that, Harper?” Yvonne asked. “I was killed by my own sister. Was it my fault?”
“I don’t think anybody deserves to die like that, Yvonne. I think your sister was a very disturbed individual. She was prepared to kill anyone who stood in her way.”
Louise shook her head. “I didn’t do anything to Carol. I didn’t even suspect she had killed Yvonne. I told her I was going to the police station to report Brian for blackmail. I thought she would be on my side. I didn’t have a chance to react before she stuck the knife in my stomach.”
“Do you think we’ll go now?” Yvonne asked me, looking around nervously. “I don’t feel any different.”
“I think you’ll move on soon. So will Louise. I’m not sure exactly when, though.”
Yvonne reached out to hold Louise’s hand. “We had a talk, and I apologized to Louise. I’m so sorry about what Carol did to you.”
Louise blinked and looked like she might cry. “I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.”
I nodded. “It must be scary.”
Yvonne smiled. “I’ll look out for her. We will help each other through whatever is to come.” Yvonne turned to me. “Thank you for trying so hard, Harper.”
I shrugged. “I wasn’t really much help. I wish I could have done more.”
Yvonne shook her head. “You helped me tremendously. I’m sorry that I was such a difficult ghost.”
I smiled as I remembered that day in the diner when I’d described Yvonne to my sister as difficult. I discovered that she was much nicer as a ghost than she ever was as a person.
“Now, I can see why you were so determined to get to the bottom of who had killed Yvonne,” Louise said shaking her head. “I can’t believe it. I thought you were the town gossip. So are you the only one who can see us?”
>
I nodded. “As far as I know. There are other people who can see ghosts, but I think it’s pretty rare. I’m sure I’m the only one in Abbott Cove.”
Louise nodded slowly, and I could tell she was struggling to digest the information.
I would have liked to spend longer in the kitchen talking to Yvonne and Louise. But Grandma Grant marched into the kitchen and thrust a mug of steaming hot chocolate in my hand. “Come on, Harper, you have to keep your strength up, and everyone wants to hear your side of the story. Half the town is gathered in the Lobster Shack,”
I took a sip of the hot chocolate she’d given me and then smiled at Louise and Yvonne before following Grandma Grant into the dining area of the Lobster Shack.
People were furiously debating what had happened.
Betty stood up front by the counter and said, “I heard Harper tackled Carol and wrenched the gun out of her hands.”
I raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t how it happened, but before I could refute Betty’s statement, Grandma Grant took center stage.
“Of course, she did. She’s a Grant girl,” Grandma Grant said proudly, smacking me on the back.
“If she is so smart, how did she manage to get herself tied to the pier?”
Those words came from Graham, Mayor Briggs’s chauffeur. He didn’t like us much. Grandma Grant had caused him no end of trouble, by lying on the road in front of his vehicle. She wasn’t too fond of him either. I was pretty sure he blamed me for losing his job.
Grandma Grant gave him a death glare. “She was smashed over the head with a jug when her back was turned. Even Harper doesn’t have eyes in the back of her head.”
Betty nodded. “It wasn’t very sporting.”
I shook my head and looked for my sister. Sporting? We weren’t discussing a boxing match governed by the Queensbury rules. There was nothing sporting about it. Carol had just wanted me dead.
The one person I thought would sympathize with my plight was Jess, but she was far too busy talking to the man she’d gone out with a few nights ago, Pete, the one who liked historical re-enactments. I sighed. Even he was here tonight. Was there anyone in Abbott Cove who hadn’t turned up?
