Ghost Granny

by Carol Colbert

  Catherine was glad when Cody grabbed for her hand and they walked into the mouth of the clown together. You heard screaming every time someone entered, but when you actually walked through it, you knew it was just screaming on speakers, not actually the people who walked in ahead of you that were screaming.

  A couple of teenage boys in the angel of death costumes led each person who walked through the mouth of the clown to a specific table they were to sit at. When all of the people were inside and seated, the lights went out and everyone was in total darkness. Despite herself, Catherine let out a little yelp.

  It took just a minute or two for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and when she could begin to make out forms again she saw blue lights shooting out with blue smoke from several angles. The effect reminded her of a rock concert, although she had never actually been to one. The blue light beams crisscrossed and the smoke became thicker until finally all you saw before you was blue smoke. It did not burn the eyes, nor make you sneeze, but it was thick. Then, the lights went out again.

  When they came back on, the lights on the stage centered on a spot in the middle of the stage. A hole opened and slowly a figure started to rise from the floor. There stood Luna. Everyone clapped. Luna thanked everyone for being there and made special mention of the ones who worked so hard to make the day a success. She pointed out the table where Sebastian’s giant pumpkin had been placed and had Sebastian stand up to loud clapping.

  She told the crowd that this was a night of magic.

  The lights flickered and then rested on a table to the left of the stage where the almost life sized chocolate Luna stood. Luna praised Isabel and everyone clapped when Isabel stood and waved. To everyone’s amazement the chocolate Luna lifted from the table and swirled around in a cloud of blue smoke, then when the smoke was gone, the chocolate Luna was also gone.

  “Do not worry, each of you will receive a piece of chocolate Luna when you arrive back home tonight. Enjoy your evening. Happy Halloween!

  She then called up all the little boys and girls from age one to age eight.

  The little ones walked around in a circle on the stage to show their costumes and Luna had a microphone and asked each child what they were dressed as and if they had any special Halloween wish. One of the little girls said that she had lost her teddy bear and missed him. As if by magic, a teddy bear appeared and Luna handed it to the little girl.

  “Wow, Luna is good.” Catherine whispered to Sebastian. “I wonder how she got that tiny little girl to say that.”

  Next up were the nine to thirteen year olds. Max was slow to stand. Cody had to almost push him to get him onto the stage. The wolves howled again and the blue smoke seemed to be everywhere. Catherine lost sight of Cody for just a moment and felt her heart lurch. If she was sitting there afraid, she knew Cody must be very afraid.

  When Luna asked Max if he had any special wish, he looked at her and walked off of the stage. Sebastian immediately jumped up and led him back to their table. Offering comfort to the boy, but not asking him why he left the stage.

  After the teenagers were called up and left the stage, Luna called for the adults. Loud sounds of screeching cats filled the air. Catherine felt silly, but walked up on the stage at Cody’s insistence and with Sebastian, Isabel and Nick. There were several other people there, some that Catherine recognized, but most were strangers to her.

  “What do you wish for?” Luna asked them as a group. All of the adults stood there looking slightly embarrassed, not knowing if they were supposed to actually answer her or not.

  Behind them Count Dracula flew up. The children in the audience started to laugh and some pointed, but Luna had instructed the adults not to turn around. Then Thelma floated in behind them and did a little dance, which made the children laugh even harder. Catherine wanted to turn around when she saw how hard Cody and Max were laughing, but didn’t want to spoil the fun.

  Luna told the adults to close their eyes. Luna counted to ten and when they opened their eyes again there were apples on long strings hanging from the flood lights and overhead beams. Catherine vaguely remembered something Sebastian had told her about the apple game, but she could not remember now exactly what he had told her. A person dressed as a ghost came out onto the stage and handed each of the adults a pair of blind folds.

  Luna told them to position themselves, two by two, so that each apple had an adult on either side of it. Then she told them to put their blindfolds on and put their hands behind their backs.

  Count Dracula appeared again after the blindfolds were on and told them that he was going to give each apple a little swing and their job was to eat the apple. They could not use their hands, but one could somehow secure the apple between their neck and face or however they wanted to do it, while the other took bites out of it. He also said they might want to both try and get the apple into their mouth and chew that way. He told them the ropes the apples were attached to were strong, but that he was going to give them a little swing from time to time so that they would have to search for them while blindfolded. The first couple who had their apples entirely eaten, would win.

  Luna started to say loudly “On the count of one – two – three – GO!” But on the count of three Thelma appeared to be floating above the adults and with one point of her finger, all of the apples and strings flew up into her hands. What was left was a stage full of blindfolded adults with their mouths working like fish, trying to find the allusive apples. The children roared with laughter.

  Halloween music started to play and eventually Luna told them all to take off their blind folds. Everyone had another good laugh when they realized how foolish they must have looked.

  When the adults went back to their tables, each table had an assortment of salads, chicken, potatoes, candies, cakes and chocolates on them. While everyone was enjoying their meal, a video screen appeared on the stage and a movie of the adults on stage trying to find the no longer there apples appeared. Now it was the adults turn to roar with laughter. However, Thelma and Hugo the Vampire were not on the film.

  Luna, Hugo and Thelma appeared on the stage and told everyone to come up and dance. The music was very loud and the blue lights and glitter made Catherine light headed, as if she had drank Champaign, when in fact, although there had been several beverages to choose from to drink that night, no alcohol had been served.

  She and Cody danced and she and Sebastian laughed and danced as well. Isabel and Nick seemed to be having a very good time and even Max seemed to have recovered from his embarrassment or whatever it was that had upset him while on the stage.

  Right before midnight when everyone had left the stage and gone back to their tables to get their sweaters or whatever they had brought with them, the lights again went out. There on the stage was what looked like a large blue tornado and in the middle of it was Luna, Hugo and Thelma. They waved, the entire building went black again and when the lights came on, Luna, Hugo and Thelma were gone.

  Catherine asked Isabel who the man and woman with Luna were, but Isabel told her that she did not know. Catherine then remembered something Luna had told her a few days ago in the Chocolate Shop. “Luna said something about her husband once to me. Maybe that man was her husband.”

  Cody looked like he was about to fall asleep right then and there. “It has certainly been an action packed weekend so far.” Catherine said. “I am so glad tomorrow is Sunday and there is no school or work.” She then looked around and thought about what she said. “Oh, I guess we will be doing a lot of clean up tomorrow come to think of it.”

  “I guess so, but let’s not think about that right now. We need to get these little fellows back home.” Sebastian said.

  “You guys go ahead, Nick and I are going to take a walk down by the lake.” Isabel told them. Sebastian looked at his sister and then at his friend. The look to Nick clearly saying be a gentlemen or you will have to answer to me.” Catherine told Nick and Isabel goodnight and walked out into the cool midnight air with Seb
astian and the boys.

  When they got outside they noticed a woman sitting on a picnic table looking at all of the people walking by, as if she were lost. Catherine walked up to her and asked if she needed help or a ride home. The lady looked at her and at Cody and said that she was looking for her son.

  “I don’t think there is anyone else in the Rec Center right now, everyone has left. Could your son had left with someone else?” Catherine offered, knowing how panicked she got losing sight of Cody for even a moment.

  The lady stood up and looked at Sebastian and Max walking out of the Rec Center. “Max!” She screamed. “Max!” and she ran up to Sebastian and Max.

  Chapter 14

  Sebastian’s reaction was to instantly put his arm around Max and was prepared to protect him at all costs. But when Max heard his name and looked up, he ran to the woman. “Mommy! Mommy, where have you been all this time?”

  Catherine had a lump in her throat. She was happy that Max and his mother had found each other, but was also sad because she knew how much Sebastian had grown to love Max.

  Sebastian and Catherine stood there while mother and son reunited. After a few minutes Sebastian introduced himself and asked Max’s mother what her name was and said that they needed to talk.

  The woman said that her name was Ashley and that she and Max had gotten into an accident last winter on the expressway. She claimed to have been looking for him since she was released from the hospital.

  Catherine told Sebastian that she was going to take Cody home and then looked at him, trying to gain insight on just exactly what he wanted her to do. If Cody hadn’t been almost asleep at this point she would certainly stay and try to be of help, but this was between this woman, Max and Sebastian, so she and Cody started to walk to the top of the hill.

  When she saw the wagon at the bottom of the hill with Caramel ready to take them back to the house, she was glad that they did not have to walk back to the house. Caramel stopped in front of the main house and then trotted back to the hill once Catherine and Cody were safely on the porch.

  Catherine settled Cody into his bed and then she took a shower and put on jeans and a sweater, made herself some hot chocolate, picked up Twinkle, who looked annoyed at being disturbed, and went to wait for Sebastian on the front porch.

  There had been a giant sized basket on the front porch that was filled to the top with chocolates and cookies, apples and other goodies. The basket was tied with a big blue glitter bow. There was also a nice fire in the fireplace that Catherine didn’t even think to wonder who lit it. She had so much on her mind.

  A half hour later Catherine saw another wagon coming down the trail. It was Isabel. Catherine went in to pour Isabel a mug of hot chocolate and then stood on the porch to greet her friend. She first asked Isabel if she had a nice walk and when Isabel smiled and said yes, Catherine then told her about Max’s mother.

  “Where has she been all this time?” Isabel asked. Catherine told her that apparently the mother had been in the hospital, but that she did not know anything else because she wanted to give them their privacy and it was not her place to hang around to find out, although she had wanted to.

  “Well, I would have given that woman a piece of my mind!” Isabel said. Catherine told her that the lady really did look frantic and extremely happy to find Max, and that Max was very happy to have his mother back, but it did little to soften Isabel.

  “You don’t understand. Sebastian had always said that he would never want children. We had, well, we didn’t have the best childhood and neither of us really wanted to raise a child of our own. We were not exactly equipped with the knowledge or emotional maturity to put any kid through that.” Isabel explained.

  “But, I have noticed Sebastian with Max. He has been very protective and you yourself have been kind towards him.”

  “Well, yeah, now. Since we didn’t have a choice. I mean, look, Max is a good kid, but I think we were able to help him and come to care for him because we always knew he wasn’t really our responsibility. Not really. There was only so much we could mess up with him since he wasn’t a baby. But now his mother comes back and takes him away from us just as we were becoming a little family, you know? It is just not fair!” Isabel began to cry.

  Catherine put her arms around Isabel. “Look at it this way. Because of Max, you and your brother now know that it is possible to love a child and be good to one. That you can make sure the child is loved and protected from whatever negative events you two had to go through as children. Now you can each find your own mate. You will always have each other, but it’s not you and Sebastian against the world anymore. Forgive me if I am out of line here. I know you don’t really know me.”

  Isabel looked at Catherine for a long moment. “You are right. In a way, Max has healed Sebastian and me. My heart hurts that Max is being taken away from Sebastian, but I know that Max needs to be with his own mother. Our own mother died when we were younger than Cody and Max are now. We know that pain. Is Sebastian home yet? Where are Max and his mother?”

  “I don’t know. I left them in front of the Rec Center. Isabel, I never told you this, but I lost my husband. He died in Iran when Cody was just two years old. Even at that point I had no family left, just one uncle, who tried his best to help us. It was hard, very hard, raising Cody all alone. If I had known that I was going to be a widow that young, well, I don’t know for sure if I would have wanted to put myself and a child through that. But you find a way and it is so worth it. I cannot imagine my life now without Cody in it.” Catherine said.

  “But that is what worries me about Sebastian, what if he can’t deal with no longer having Sebastian in his? I know it’s only been about nine months that we have had him with us, but we have both grown to love him.”

  The night air got colder so Catherine and Isabel came into the house and sat on the couch covering up with a throw blanket in front of the fire. They talked for a while longer and wanted to stay up until Sebastian came home, but they fell asleep.

  Catherine woke up when she heard the front door shut at the exact same time that Twinkle decided to pounce on her. She jerked and fell off of the couch and on to the floor.

  Sebastian walked over to her and helped her up. “Are you O.K?”

  “Yeah, fine, what is going on? Where are Max and his mother?”

  Hearing their voices, Isabel woke up and gave her brother a big hug.

  Catherine made a pot of coffee and took three muffins out of the giant basket and she and the siblings sat down in the kitchen.

  “She is Max’s mother alright. Max is over the moon happy to see her. But I couldn’t just hand him over to her, you know? I mean, I know Max is her kid and all, but what if she is unstable? We went back to the hotel where she was staying at and I got a room there and had Max sleep in the room I got. Then his mother, her name is Ashley by the way, me and Ashley had a good long talk.”

  “I am convinced now that she does love him and she had searched for him. Apparently she was hurt in an accident and could not remember exactly where she was when she last saw Max. There is no father figure, apparently she and Max’s father never married. He also does not have any brothers or sisters.”

  “Did you and Ashley talk all night?” Isabel asked.

  “Actually, once I was convinced of her identity, and by that I mean that I asked to see her driver’s license and other papers she had with her. After I was convinced she was whom she claimed to be, I asked her to sleep in the room I had gotten. I came back here to get all of Max’s clothes and stuff. Couldn’t let the poor kid leave in a dragon costume. When I got back, Max was awake and I had him and his mother eat a big breakfast and then they were back on the road. Oh, there was a big basket, much like this one, outside of the hotel room door.” Sebastian said, pointing to the basket Catherine had found on the porch when she got home last night.

  “I know what you are thinking, Isabel, and I am sorry. There was no time for Max to come back here to tell you goodbye. H
is mother has a mother who will watch Max while Ashley goes to work and she was supposed to be back at work later today and apparently they have a long drive ahead of them. Max did tell me to tell you, Catherine and Cody goodbye for him though, and he also said to tell you thank you, Isabel. The mother also was very grateful for us taking such good care of him. I didn’t want to let him go, but once I was sure that was his mother and that he did want to leave with her, what else could I do?”

  Chapter 15

  After the Halloween party, things went back to the norm. Monday morning came and Cody went back to school and Catherine headed back to Thelma’s Chocolate Shop.

  It had been a week since the party now and Catherine hadn’t done much except come to the Chocolate Shop and do chores inside the house. She did not understand why, but Catherine felt antsy and standing there in the shop, even with the steady stream of customers that came in, she was feeling down.

  She felt sad for her son for losing his best friend, but Cody surprised her by telling her that he was happy that Max had found his mother again and that he would be back where he belonged. Catherine started to question if here is where she and Cody belonged.

  They now had good friends and a beautiful place to live. At least for one year she told herself. That was the deal, house and cat sit for one year. She had never asked, but now wondered what kind of deal Sebastian and Isabel had with Thelma or Luna, as far as how long they were going to stay.

  Cody was doing well in school and loved it here. Catherine did not know why she felt as if there was something she was waiting for. She was happy for her friend Isabel. Since the night of the Halloween party she and zombie Nick had become a couple and were very happy together.