The Ghosts of Summerleigh Collection

by M. L. Bullock

  It was in that moment that my baby girl, my beautiful, perfect daughter, saw me. She didn’t smile or frown. “Marisol…”

  With a sad expression, she shook her head and spoke to me, but her mouth didn’t move. “You can’t come with me, Mommy. Not yet. Go back, okay? I’m okay, see? I’m with Jeopardy and Harper. Go back, Mommy.”

  I collapsed on the floor and cried my eyes out. After a few moments, I heard tiny footsteps approach me. My daughter put her arms around my neck, and I smelled her sweetness. I knew the feel of her skin, the smell of her hair. “My Marisol. I love you, Marisol. Mommy is so sorry.”

  And then she was gone. Those sweet arms around my neck vanished. It was a strange sensation to feel someone vanish beneath your fingers.

  The next thing I knew, Jesse was there. The worried look on his handsome face caused me to worry. I smiled at him, in spite of the pain. “Marisol was here, Jesse. I saw her. She’s here.” And then I was out again.

  When I woke up again, I was in a hospital room.

  Chapter Fourteen—Jerica

  “Hey, Jerica. You finally decided to wake up?”

  I glanced over to see Jesse in the chair beside my bed and gave him a wry smile. “I’m awake now. Don’t these people know you aren’t supposed to sleep if you have a concussion? What kind of hospital is this?”

  “The closest. And for the record, you were told not to go to sleep. You snore, by the way.”

  “Good to know.” I squinted at the light. “What happened? The details are a bit fuzzy.” My mouth felt dry, and I had one hell of a headache.

  Jesse pulled his chair close to my bed. “As near as I can tell, you fell off the ladder and smacked your head on the counter. But maybe there’s something I’m missing.”

  And then it all came rushing back to me. The breeze, falling, seeing Jeopardy and Marisol. I swallowed and said, “I saw them, Jesse. I saw Jeopardy and Marisol. They were in the castle room.” I saw my baby! Grief overwhelmed me again. It always seemed to creep up on me. I missed her every minute of every day, but sometimes the pain just heaped up and swept over me like an ocean tide. This was one of those moments. I couldn’t help but cry. “Sorry to be such a mess.”

  “Hey, don’t apologize.”

  I covered my eyes with my hands and forced myself to breathe. “I saw her, Jesse, as plain as day. She wasn’t a ghost, not like the boy. She was beautiful and happy, but she wouldn’t look at me. Not until the end. They were playing a game together, her and Jeopardy. A board game.”

  He squeezed my hand. We didn’t get far into the conversation before the nurse stepped into the room. Without missing a beat, she said, “Great to see you awake. How do you feel? Any nausea? How is your vision?”

  “I’m not sick at all, and I see perfectly. I’d like to go home now,” I said as I tossed the covers off me.

  “Whoa, Nellie. One step at a time, Mrs. Poole.”

  “It’s Jerica.”

  “Okay, Jerica. Let’s let the doctor check you out first. He’ll be right over.”

  I slung my legs over the bed and steadied myself. I had to get back to Summerleigh. I had to find that game. It wasn’t just a dream. It couldn’t be. “You have five minutes,” I answered as I waved goodbye to her. She didn’t like my answer, but I didn’t care. I had bigger fish to fry.

  Jesse chuckled and stood ready to help me. “I have always heard that doctors make the worst patients, but I think nurses might give them a run for their money. What’s the rush, Jerica?”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “About half a day. You hit your head pretty hard. I think they want to keep you for observation. I’m no medical professional and wouldn’t know what to do if you had a seizure or something. Shouldn’t you stay?”

  “I’m not asking you to take care of me, Jesse Clarke. I just want my clothes.”

  He handed me a bag from the closet and said, “And I’m just concerned about you. I don’t understand why you want to leave so badly.”

  “I have to go to Summerleigh, Jesse.”

  “Why?”

  “Let me get dressed first, okay? I feel a little strange talking to you in my underwear.”

  He laughed at that. The tension of the moment dissipated, and he stepped out so I could put my clothes on. My head felt like it was on a swivel, but I was determined to leave. What if Marisol was still at Summerleigh? Seeing her only made me want to see her again. I wanted to hold her, comfort her. Whatever I could do to be with her. But I didn’t say that to Jesse.

  Thirty minutes later, we were headed back to what used to be Desire, Mississippi. Mobile was a pretty place with lots of fine homes, but it wasn’t my home. Somewhere along the way, Summerleigh had become home. I loved every inch of the green grass, even the stubborn weeds and the wild woods that grew beside her. I loved the mud hole, the potting shed and every nook and cranny. It had been Harper and Jeopardy’s home, and it was now mine. The doctor was polite and reminded me to take it easy and look out for the typical symptoms that can accompany a concussion. He suggested that I stay, but of course I did not. I couldn’t. And quite honestly, I didn’t understand the urgency, but I felt it deep in my bones.

  I had to do what I was going to do now. It couldn’t wait. Jeopardy Belle had been waiting too long.

  When we arrived at Summerleigh, we sat in the truck a minute. I felt like Jesse had something he wanted to say to me, so I waited. Maybe he was waiting for me to say thank you? I probably should. I forgot about things like that sometimes. I didn’t usually have anyone to thank except Anita. I missed my friend.

  “Hey, thanks for checking up on me. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably still be lying on the floor.”

  Jesse smiled good-naturedly. Gosh, he was such a nice guy. He kind of felt too good to be true. “You’re welcome, Jerica. You can thank Ben, I suppose. He was adamant that I get back here. He’s really afraid for you to be here. I don’t understand it, but that’s how he feels.”

  “Where has he gone?”

  “He says he’s going back home, but I don’t know if I believe him. I think he needs medical help. He’s almost obsessive about you and this place. It’s concerning. Like I said, I don’t know much about diseases, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Ben wasn’t getting good blood flow to his brain. For a few minutes, he was talking out of his head. Acting like you were Harper. He even called you that once or twice.”

  “It happens when you get old. Harper used to call me Jeopardy all the time.”

  “Still, be careful. I know you have a big heart and you want to help him, but…just use caution.”

  I leaned close to him. It was a bold move, but I was making it. “I promise to be careful. Now let me thank you properly.” I pressed my lips to his and kissed him with my hands in his. He felt warm and alive. Soon our tender kiss became more fervent. He was the first to break contact.

  “Wow,” he said. “That’s some thank-you.”

  “Too much?” I asked with an embarrassed smile. “If so, I blame it on the concussion.”

  “It’s not too much.” He kissed me again, and I snuggled up next to him. “We should probably go inside. What is this you want to show me? Something about a game?”

  “Yeah, I saw Jeopardy hide it under the stairs.” I slid out of the truck and closed the door behind me. Summerleigh looked like such an innocent place, but it was all an illusion. “You think Ben was right? That this place had activity before Summerleigh was built? That this property was haunted from the beginning?”

  “I don’t know how much stock I’d put in any of Ben’s stories. I know he loved Harper and she trusted him for some reason, but he’s not quite all there. I have heard about the other house, but like I said, the names of those people are lost at this point.”

  We walked into the house, and for the hundredth time, I surveyed the place. Even though there wasn’t a stick of furniture in the Great Room, the smell of new wood encouraged me and reminded me that we were making progress. We were mak
ing a difference. One day, Summerleigh would be beautiful again, and she would be my own.

  “Over here, Jesse. I didn’t even notice this section of wall before. I mean, I looked at it but never noticed it. See how the panel is hidden in the grooves?” I waved him to the staircase and squatted down to get a good look at the hidden panel. Sure enough, it was right there.

  “I never saw it either. But Summerleigh is huge, and I was so focused on the stairs and floor that I didn’t think to look for a hidey hole.” He squatted down beside me. “You say Jeopardy hid something in there?”

  “Hidey hole?” I laughed. “I’ve never heard of that before.”

  “Must be a local thing. All good southern homes have hidey holes. It’s where you keep the real important stuff.”

  “Like the family jewels?”

  “No, like the moonshine. Or your mother-in-law’s body. I’ll have to tell you about that sometime. So what is it you think is in there? A game?”

  My head throbbed, but I stayed focused. “Yes, a board game. Jeopardy and Marisol were playing with it. Jeopardy tucked a book inside of it. She showed it to me.”

  Jesse pushed on the panel, which came off surprisingly easily. He grinned at me, and I couldn’t hide my enthusiasm. “Hey, do you have your phone?” I asked. He eased the panel to the side and dug his phone out of his pocket. Hitting the flashlight app, he illuminated the small space.

  “I see a stack of games, and there’s some other stuff too, a metal box and something else. Is that an old hat box? Can you hold the phone?” I did as he asked, and soon Jesse handed me a small stack of old games including Monopoly, Life and a box of playing cards.

  They were covered in a layer of dust, but I didn’t let that deter me. I opened the Life game and sorted through the pieces. There was no sign of the book. I dumped the box out, and the book fell into my lap. Jeopardy had tucked it under the insert.

  Jesse was amazed at our discovery. “Hey, this book looks familiar. Like it belongs with the other one. See the cover? It’s similar to the one you found in the potting shed.”

  I flipped it open, and my eyes fell on a familiar name, Jameson McIntyre. “Oh my gosh! Look at this, Jesse.” I handed the book to him. He strained to read the text without his glasses since it was getting darker by the minute in here. I didn’t hear the usual footsteps, but you never felt alone at Summerleigh. “Why don’t we take all this stuff to the cottage and go through it there?”

  “Okay. You got that stack?” We hurried back out of the house and headed to the cottage. Jesse grabbed his glasses from the truck, and then we went inside to examine our find. “No way was that a coincidence. You really did see Jeopardy Belle, Jerica.”

  “I told you I did. Don’t tell me you didn’t believe me,” I said as I reached for a cloth to wipe the dust off the games. Once again we were huddled together around the kitchen table.

  “I’m not saying that…” He opened the metal box but then paused and said, “Maybe that is what I meant. All this is new to me. I have always loved history, but to have it come to life…I’m not good at processing all this. There’s no denying that Summerleigh is haunted. But to have a ghost tell you where something is hidden and have it be true isn’t something you hear about every day. Look, I believe you, Jerica, but I have a scientist’s mind. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. No matter how attractive you are.”

  If he thought an offhand compliment would melt my heart, he had another thing coming. I thought he was attractive too, but I wasn’t the girl next door. I was a strong woman with my nursing degree, which I’d used to build a successful career. I wasn’t some fawning teenager. I didn’t say anything else for a minute or two. I picked up the book and opened it, carefully flipping through the pages. “I know you love Summerleigh. You have loved it for a long time, haven’t you?”

  He put the box down and examined the lock, which seemed to be rusted shut. “You know I wrote a book about the history of the house, about the Belle and McIntyre families. I hope you don’t believe I’m here looking for material to write a new book. I think I’m done with writing books for a while. I have a few extras if you’d like one,” he joked, but then his voice got serious again. “I mean it. I enjoy working in the house. It makes me feel connected to the people there. You have to admit they were interesting people. And bringing Jeopardy home, that meant something to me.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “I like you, Jerica Poole. I’m glad you’re here.”

  “I like you, too. I’m glad you are here.” I studied the book, still confused by the unfamiliar notations. At least I didn’t have to strain to read them, even if I didn’t understand them. The book had been well preserved in Jeopardy’s hiding place.

  “What in the world is this?” Jesse dumped out a bundle of strange braids and stacks of leather-bound books. He flipped open one of the books and whispered, “These are the lost books. These used to belong to John Jeffrey Belle. They’re all about the McIntyre family. I knew it was true!”

  “Get out of here! Really?”

  “Yes, look. Here’s his name. And this, this is all his research. Remember when I told you how obsessed he’d become with this place? Man, the answers we need about the boy might all be right here.”

  Looking at it with wide eyes, I added, “And Jeopardy wanted us to find this. She needed us to know. I think…I think she needs our help, Jesse. We have to help the ghosts of Summerleigh find peace with one another. This boy has to go. At least I know Jeopardy is staying close to Marisol. But where are John Jeffrey Belle and Harper?”

  “They’re at peace now, Jerica. They accomplished what they needed to do. Why would they be here?”

  “But that means Jeopardy isn’t at peace. She hasn’t moved on. What have we missed?”

  Jesse’s face said it all. He knew the answer, and so did I. Jeopardy had been reunited with her father, that’s true, but she didn’t move on with him. Not yet. She wasn’t resting with him. She had someone to look out for, someone to protect. Someone to watch over.

  Marisol! Jeopardy was protecting Marisol!

  Jeopardy Belle hadn’t left Summerleigh because Marisol was here and the boy, the one with the black eyes, was too strong for my daughter. He would keep her away from me forever if he could.

  “Jeopardy!” I gasped as the thoughts came together like puzzle pieces in my mind. “Jeopardy is here for Marisol.” I started to shake. “Oh, Jesse. We have to find out who he is. We have to get the paranormal team back here.”

  Jesse was on his feet as quick as lightning. “We’ll do it, Jerica. We’ll do it, I swear. Let me get you your blanket. Your teeth are chattering.” He raced out of the room to fetch my favorite throw blanket with the pink roses on it.

  And then I saw the boy, reflected in the glass of the china cabinet. I turned around, but he wasn’t there. No, he wasn’t there anymore, but he had been. And he knew what we were trying to do.

  Oh, Marisol. Sweetheart! Stay close to Jeopardy! Mommy is coming soon. I promise.

  Chapter Fifteen—Harper

  As I expected, Addison wouldn’t wake up. “Get up, Addie. It’s going to be light out soon, and we want to get to the river before sunup.”

  “It’s too early, and my stomach hurts.”

  “Your stomach hurts because you need to eat something. You never eat anymore. Please, Addie. I have a basket of food. I baked us some blueberry muffins last night while Momma was at the Ladies Auxiliary. Come with me. Spending time in the sunshine would do you good, Addison. You’ll feel better. I’ll bait all your hooks for you. Don’t make me go by myself, please.”

  It wasn’t that I was afraid to go alone. Ben was nothing to be afraid of, but I didn’t want to be alone with anyone, not if I thought they liked me. And I was pretty sure he did. I didn’t like him like Jeopardy liked Troy. I wasn’t opposed to having a friend who was a boy, but I would rather there be no confusion about my feelings. I had no intention of giving my heart away so easily, and certainly not to a boy
who was younger than me.

  “No, Harper. Now let me sleep.”

  I sighed in exasperation. I hated leaving her here by herself. What if Momma’s mood took a turn? There would be no one to help Addison fend her off. But there wasn’t anything I could do about it, and a promise was a promise. I had told Ben I would go fishing, and I tried to keep my word. He was my friend, after all.

  To avoid any misunderstanding, I left a note for Momma on the kitchen table explaining where I was going and who I would be with. If she wanted to, she could ride down to Dog River and find me. We planned on fishing off the bank near the road. I’d be able to see her coming because there were no trees there.

  I’d managed to rig Daddy’s old fishing pole, and I did a pretty good job if I did say so myself. I’d left it by the potting shed along with the tackle box. I’d been willing to share all my goodies with Addison, but since she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty this morning, she’d just miss out on the fun. I snapped my fingers when I remembered I’d left my fishing hat in my bedroom. It was one of Daddy’s that I’d found in a chest in Jeopardy’s castle room. I’d raced up there yesterday to get it and saw nary a ghost. I couldn’t believe my luck. I tiptoed back down the hall to my bedroom.

  I heard Momma giggling and then a man’s voice. There was a man in Momma’s room, and he would be coming out soon. I could hear them both laughing, and he was saying things no man should say to a respectable lady. I pulled my hat down on my head to cover my ears and hurried out of the house. I was tempted to linger outside to see who Momma was entertaining, but I needn’t have bothered. Dewey Landry had never been that smart. His parked truck was halfway hidden in the wild woods next to our house.

  She was disgusting! Right here in our own house? What would Mr. Daughdrill say about that? I had a mind to tell Aunt Dot right this minute if I could get her on the phone. Maybe I’d steal Dewey’s truck and drive it over to her house.