by Alexie Aaron
“Ahem! Cameraman, you still have a lot of reception to film,” Ralph said as he passed. “I’m not paying you to make time with the bridesmaids.”
“Yes, sir, right away,” he said, winking at Audrey.
She followed him to the dance floor where Mike was on his knees preparing to raise the garter along the Countess’s shapely leg.
~
As they sailed over the trees heading towards their destination, Mia took off her gloves and held Ted’s hands in hers. She looked at the ring on her finger and how the colors of the setting sun were reflected.
“It looks like our rings are on fire,” she commented.
“Since there are two of them, I’ll refrain from quoting Lord of the Rings,” Ted said.
“I never thought much about jewelry until we… Oh my god, I forgot!” Mia exclaimed, patting the pocket of her jacket. “I meant to give this to Tom or Cid to take back to the graveyard,” she explained as she drew out a small bag where she had contained Daisy’s necklace. Mia poured it out into her hand, not thinking.
The vision that accompanied the necklace took Mia by surprise. She looked up at Ted and said, “It all makes sense now.”
Chapter Forty
Cora Shelby heard the doorbell and was annoyed that her father called out from his den for her to answer the front door.
“It’s probably for you,” he said. “How many packages have you received already today?”
“It’s for the Halloween party. Mom said that we should make an attempt to decorate this year,” Cora explained. “After all, we have our own ghost now…” She had reached the door and tiptoed to reach the peephole. She fell back on her heels. “Dad, I think you better…” she said, as she pulled back a side curtain and shut it quickly. “You have to see this.”
“I’m coming. If you have dragged me out here on some…” he stopped speaking as Cora opened the door and displayed what awaited him on the front porch.
Standing there was a Victorian couple. Their expensive clothing and strange accessories were striking.
“I’m sorry, but you may have the wrong house. The Peterson’s Halloween party is three houses down,” he started to explain but couldn’t get over how familiar the woman looked.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Shelby, Cora, you may not remember us, but I’m Mia Coo… I was Mia Cooper, I got married today. This is my husband Ted Martin, we’re from PEEPS…”
“Oh, my god, yes. Come in,” he said standing back. “Cora, get your mother, she’s in the sewing room. Tell her we have guests.” He took in their costumes and commented, “The clothes took me back. I didn’t see your faces. It really hasn’t been that long since the internment.” He guided them into the front parlor and asked if he could get them a drink.
His wife came down the stairs, fixing her hair as she walked. “What a wonderful surprise. Congratulations, Cora said you just got married.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re here because…” she led.
“Actually, it’s kind of a long story, but the telling of it needs to have another person present,” Mia said.
“Cora!”
“I’m coming,” she said as she entered the room.
Clive came in with a festive looking tray holding glasses of sherry. His wife looked oddly at him. “I thought sherry went with their outfits,” he explained, offering them around.
“Your oldest daughter?” Mia asked.
“Amy? She’s in Valparaiso,” Clive explained. “This is all of us. Please tell us what this is about.”
“Have any of you seen Captain William perchance?” Mia asked.
“Yes, no, yes,” Clive said. “I mean to say, after the funeral we saw evidence of him at the house. Not we exactly, but Cora and Amy. Then nothing until this afternoon. I was sitting in the den and heard the rattle of the old bookcase’s glass door.”
“William likes to read,” Cora explained. “He likes one particular book of poetry. It was given to him by…”
“Daisy Sprigs?” Ted asked.
“Why yes, how did you know?” the fifteen year-old asked.
“We didn’t know until a little over an hour ago,” Mia explained. “Let me fill you in on what I know of Daisy Sprigs.” She proceeded to tell them all about Daisy, leaving out how and why she died. “I was given her necklace to wear as my something borrowed,” Mia said and drew out the priceless gemstone and handed it to Clive. “You see, when I touch some things, the memories attached to them become mine. Also, those attached to them are somehow pulled along with the items. In this case, it enabled Daisy to attend my wedding.”
“Is she here now?” Cora asked wide-eyed.
Mia looked around and smiled. Daisy stood timidly just inside the front door. “She’s standing in the foyer. Can she come in?”
“Any friend of William’s is a friend to the Shebys,” Clive said, getting up and offering Daisy his chair. He laid the necklace on the table beside the chair.
Mia smiled at his efforts to believe and didn’t correct him when he directed his gaze in the wrong direction.
His wife sat down with a thump. “I’m sorry, but this is a bit alarming,” she admitted.
“I know it must look like we are crazy people dressed like this, and crazier for the story we have told you,” Ted said.
“I blame myself,” Mia said. “I didn’t connect Captain William Shelby and Daisy Sprigs sooner. All I knew of William was his desire to come home to St. Charles. Daisy died prior to him going into service. I didn’t pay much attention to local history in school, and it’s kind of kicking my a… behind right now,” she explained.
“Hold on,” Cora said, skirting the Daisy-occupied chair like it was radioactive. She came back with the poetry book. “It’s inscribed, To my love William who I will always be true to. It’s signed Daisy Sprigs. The book turns to this page automatically when it’s opened.” She laid the worn copy of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese on the coffee table in front of Mia. True to her word it opened to XLII.
Cora recited: “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…” she continued with her recitation until she got to the last few lines. The enormity of the words overcame her and she stopped.
Daisy continued, her soft voice pushing through the ether, “Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.”
Clive moved to his wife’s side, offering her and his daughter a comforting hand. Mia’s face ran with tears.
Somewhere in the house a door opened. Booted feet were heard on upper floors until a creak of the weight of someone descending the stairs was heard. Mia got up and walked to the foyer and looked up the staircase. She smiled and said, “Captain Shelby, it’s so nice to see you again.”
His manners demanded his courtly response, but his heart wanted to set his heels afire and run over to where his long lost love sat waiting for him.
Mia stepped aside and followed him into the room.
William fell to his knees in front of Daisy. She put a soft comforting hand on his head which now rested in her lap.
The Shelby’s looked to Mia to describe what was happening. She put a finger to her lips and promised all would be told when the time was right.
Captain Shelby rose to his feet and offered a hand to Daisy. She put hers in his and rose. They walked over to Mia. Daisy whispered, “It’s time for me to go. I’m afraid my leaving will stir things up in the hollow.”
“Don’t worry about the hollow. I’ll take care of things there. Go and be with William. The two of you have waited so long.”
“Tell Stephen to be strong. Trust Father Alessandro, Mia, he is truly your friend on earth.”
Mia nodded.
Daisy turned to the Shelbys. She motioned for Mia to bring her necklace to her. “Give this to them and explain its use. Where we are going, there is no need for banns to be read or words to be promised.”
Mia nodded and watched as Captain William Shelby donned his hat.
Daisy took his arm again, and they looked at something up and to the right of them. They took a few steps and disappeared from Mia’s sight.
Ted got up and took Mia’s hands. He felt the loss she was experiencing and instinctively knew what she had just witnessed.
“They are gone now,” Mia managed to say. She turned to the Shelby family and handed Clive the precious necklace and explained its intention. She waved away his worry about the value of the piece.
“You could loan it to the Field Museum and take it out on wedding days,” Ted suggested as he dug one of Bernard’s cards out of his wallet.
Over sherry, Mia told them of the two lovers meeting and expressed that she didn’t think Captain William or his intended would be back to haunt their home. Where they were headed wasn’t in commuting distance of St. Charles.
“Speaking of commuting,” Ted started, “We have a plane waiting to take us on our honeymoon.”
The realization of what Mia and Ted had put off to see to Daisy’s and William’s happiness overwhelmed Cora. She grabbed Mia’s hand vowing, “I want to be just like you when I grow up.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Mia said, embarrassed by the compliment. “Time for us to go. If you hear from Ira, let him know what happened to the Captain. If he wants to know more, he knows where to find me.”
Clive, Cora and his wife walked the young couple out to the taxi that was waiting. They watched as Ted guided his new bride into the cab and helped her adjust her skirts before taking off his top hat and getting in.
“I really feel the need to throw rice,” Cora said.
“Me too,” her mother said watching the cab pull away.
“I’m glad you two romantics stopped yourself,” Clive said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “I can’t abide sentiment.”
Chapter Forty-one
They stood looking up at their honeymoon cottage. It was nestled in the largest tree Mia had ever seen. “Who knew a treehouse would be where we would end up?” Ted said. “After the last few weeks, I thought maybe we should rethink the whole thing,” he confessed.
Mia walked up and patted the side of the large western redcedar. “As Murphy would say, A damn fine tree.”
Ted walked over and scooped his wife up in his arms. He navigated the swinging bridge, climbed the series of staircases, and walked over the threshold into their private honeymoon cottage. He kissed her before setting her down on her feet. “Mia, you’ve got to stop eating all those donuts, you’re killing me.”
Mia just looked up at him and said, “…if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.”
He took in what she was saying. She was looking to spend eternity with him. Not just their living years. “Let’s see if you feel the same way after you’ve raised our brood. Martin kids can be a major stressor…”
Mia shook her head and looked over at the beautifully made up bed. “About those kids, shouldn’t we get started?”
Ted smiled and lifted her once again into his arms. He kicked the door shut with his foot.
As the sound of the closing door echoed through the forest, the denizens stopped and pondered the sound for a moment. With their curiosity sated, they resumed their lives, filling the woods with birdsong.
***
Alexie Aaron
After traveling the world, Alexie Aaron, a Midwestern native, returned to her roots where she’s been haunting for years. She now lives in a village outside of Chicago with her husband and family.
Her popular Haunted Series was born from her memories of fleeting shapes rushing around doorways, an heirloom chair that rocked itself, cold feelings of mysterious dread, and warm feelings from the traces of loved ones long gone.
Alexie also writes the Cin Fin-Lathen Mysteries. These cozies set in England and south Florida combine action and intrigue with a liberal dose of humor.
