The Ghostess and Mister Muir

by J. L. Salter

  Lucy gingerly sat but remained on the edge of her cushion.

  “I understand why you do not allow yourself to relax around me. But for each of us to help the other, you must trust me. Or try to.”

  “But we hardly know each other. In fact, I’m still overwhelmed that I’m speaking with a spirit.”

  Danielle nodded slowly. “Tonight’s topic being our mutual friend’s confusing situation.”

  “Yes. And Levi’s really broken up that you’ve stopped visiting him.”

  “It was necessary. And I cannot place the total blame on Mr. Muir, because I went along with the directions he pushed things.”

  “Why?” Lucy frowned. “He didn’t know any better, but you should have.”

  “Correct. There were a few aspects of your Mr. Muir which reminded me of my Neddy, and I allowed myself to lower some barriers.”

  “Levi thinks he’s in love with you.”

  “I understand.” The ghostess nodded. “I had not foreseen that possibility, but our relationship has caused very warm feelings in me also.”

  “But do you love him?”

  “I never allowed my mind to contemplate that question,” replied Danielle, “partly because my heart still yearns for Neddy, but also because I knew from the outset it was not possible for a relationship with Mr. Muir to, shall we say, culminate.”

  “Well, unless Levi was exaggerating, you two already went off the charts for what I would’ve thought possible.”

  The hostess spirit looked very sad. “Yes. Again, it was my responsibility not only to define the established limits but to enforce them. Somehow, I let his pleading interfere with my better judgment.”

  “Danielle, did you ever have any real feelings for Levi? Do you now?”

  “Let me say that as things progressed, I also found them pleasurable and I had to fight the impulse to behave as recklessly as he wanted to.”

  “You’re struggling not to admit that you love him too.”

  Tears formed in Danielle’s eyes. “When I looked into his face, I often saw my Neddy.”

  Crying is sometimes contagious, but Lucy stiffened. “I didn’t know spirits could cry.”

  “I, also, have had several recent surprises.” The ghostess dabbed the tears with her kerchief. “There is much you and your group members do not know.”

  Lucy stared at the tear-stained linen. “How can we misunderstand so much about what is possible?”

  “With Mr. Muir, there was not only his skepticism and what I will call his fearlessness. But he had such an open heart.”

  “Closed mind, but open heart.”

  “Yes, open and warm and innocent,” added Danielle. “So it was possible for him to learn much more than someone with instruments, clipboards, and other equipment.”

  “I always thought my objectivity and scientific curiosity would count for something.”

  “I cannot speak for every spirit, but to me those felt very cold.”

  Lucy slid back slightly in her seat. “Well, now that we have a bit more understanding of each other, let’s focus on Levi. I’m sure he doesn’t realize you’re still in love with Neddy, so Levi evidently thinks this is considerably about you and him. He’s devastated.”

  “I understand. It has been difficult for me too.”

  “He still wants to help you to, uh…”

  “Move on?” The ghostess made a lazy motion with one hand.

  “Well, that’s a big part of the problem. I believe Levi thinks of this process as bringing you over to his side of things. From the beginning, I’ve tried to explain if your spirit was ever cleared of whatever held you there — or here — that you would move on, but to somewhere else. Not here. He kept thinking he could pull you into his world with willpower and charm. Or something.”

  “Thank you for explaining. I could tell Mr. Muir was quite confused, but did not completely realize how distorted was his grasp of this situation. I can see I did the correct thing by departing from him, even though it was much later than I should have.”

  Lucy shook her head sadly. “I’ve had other rivals for a man’s affections, but never thought it would be with a ghostess.”

  “Truly, I am not your rival, Miss Tierney. I need Mr. Muir’s assistance and I found his company far more pleasurable than I imagined possible. It was never meant to go this far. He was not supposed to fall in love with me.”

  “I asked this before, are you in love with Levi?” Still, Danielle did not reply, which provided the answer — she was.

  The ghostess read her mind. “You misunderstand my silence, Miss Tierney. I am extremely fond of Mr. Muir and certainly could grow to love him, but my heart still pines for Neddy.” She paused to settle the emotion in her voice. “In any case, however, it could not work. Mr. Muir and I are in two different worlds, and only in certain places and times are the curtains even parted sufficiently for one to sense, or see. But no spirit can return.”

  “And no human can reach your realm unless he dies.”

  “And it is not Mr. Muir’s time.”

  “So what can we do? I can’t believe I’ve finally met a ghost and we’re strategizing about this schlub with a broken heart.”

  “I sense he has deep feelings for you, Miss Tierney, even though I interfered… for which I apologize. And I am certain you feel strongly about him. How serious has your relationship become?”

  “Colleagues who became friends, friends who became close friends. We were headed closer before your mind control gambit, so that’s as far as it’s gotten from his participation.”

  “And yours, Miss Tierney?”

  “I thought I was ready to start moving from close friend toward becoming lovers. But I question whether that’s even possible now.”

  “Because of me?”

  Fighting tears, Lucy nodded. “You may love Neddy much more than Levi, but he hardly realizes Neddy is still in the picture. Levi evidently thinks you and he have a future.”

  “I have not reappeared to him in four days.”

  “Levi told me. I think he knows the number of hours.”

  “Is his melancholy that severe?”

  Lucy nodded.

  “Well, after tonight, I shall not haunt either of you any longer.” Danielle seemed as though she were about to depart.

  “I have a thousand questions to ask you. How you appear, where you stay, how you select who you appear to? And 997 more.”

  “Some I cannot answer. Many I do not know. There is significant involvement with energy.”

  “My group believes it’s largely about electromagnetic fields.”

  Danielle took a moment to consider. “I do not fully comprehend your term, but it seems to connote energy of a sort. Perhaps they overlap.” She folded her graceful hands. “But to become a successful encounter, it has to be with someone whose heart is receptive.”

  Lucy scooted forward in her seat. “Mine has been for four years.”

  “No, that was your mind, Miss Tierney. Your heart has been receptive only in the past few days.”

  “When it broke, seeing Levi’s pain.”

  “Correct. Now, to marshal my energy for tonight, I must depart.”

  “Will you come back here… to him?”

  The ghostess nodded. “This open wound with Mr. Muir must be healed.”

  “How?”

  “It partly involves you, Miss Tierney.”

  “Me? Except for a few isolated moments, Levi has recently looked right through me. I may as well be a ghost.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  Danielle did not reply.

  After an uncomfortable silence, Lucy asked, “How could I possibly help you heal Levi’s emotional wounds?”

  “The only way I can hope to undo the hurt I have caused him is to eliminate all traces of myself from his memory.”

  “But that would kill him, Danielle! You’re most of what he lives for now.”

  “If it does kill him, then he will be somewhere on my side of the divi
de.”

  Tears flooded Lucy’s eyes. “And if it doesn’t?”

  “Then Mr. Muir will have some periods of confusion, which might seem like déjà vu or something stronger. But he should not be able to connect it directly with me.”

  “Are you kidding? He’s got your portrait hanging on his wall,” she pointed, “plus his desk and table and briefcase are filled with material about you. What’s he supposed to think all that’s about?”

  “It shall be up to you to help him understand this was all just a research project, perhaps for a historical article to correct the gross misrepresentation of my death long ago.”

  “Or a book?” Lucy nodded as she quickly caught on. “Every English teacher wants to publish a book.”

  Danielle smiled thinly. “Perhaps. That remains up to you.”

  “Well, suppose this memory zap doesn’t kill Levi and he still feels about me like he said the other day…”

  “That he would probably be in love with you already if not for my haunting him.”

  “Yes. Suppose he does fall in love with me and I can convince him all that documentation about you was for a revisionist research project.”

  “That would be the desired outcome.” Danielle turned briefly to look through the east window.

  “But will I still remember you? I mean, that you were really here and we actually communicated.”

  “I predict you might retain hazy bits and pieces, but not recall everything.”

  “Then Levi and I can presumably have a future, and let things go where they may.”

  “The desired outcome.”

  “But what about you, Danielle? What’s to become of you?”

  “I sense I am to remain as a spirit in this realm until the situation is resolved which has kept me here these hundred years.”

  “Are trapped spirits aware of the realm where they’re stuck?”

  “Some are in the dark, as it were, but many are painfully aware of their confinement.”

  “How do y’all describe that realm you’re in?”

  Danielle pursed her delicate lips. “Allow me to hear your terms for it.”

  “Well, our group thinks it may be a simultaneous or parallel existence, possibly alongside us living humans. It might be a realm, dimension, or plane… but could even be a time warp.”

  “Time is definitely a component, Miss Tierney, but I believe your notion of parallel existence is reasonably accurate. We are often present whether or not humans can sense it.”

  “Uh, I’m not trying to pry, but can you explain — or do you even know — what your eventual destination is?”

  The ghostess faced the window again and spoke softly. “Rest, peace, a pleasant end to the yearning.”

  “Most of my friends assume it’s related to Heaven.”

  “There is a degree of uncertainty about our eventual destination, Miss Tierney, but Heaven is our hope.”

  “Have you ever figured out exactly what it is that holds you here? And why you haven’t moved on?”

  “I thought it related to my heart. To the experience of truly falling in love, as opposed to the horrid contractual arrangement Father made with Mr. Fairley.” Danielle’s gaze returned to her own portrait on the far wall. “Now, I must prepare. Miss Tierney, do you understand the significance of today’s date?”

  “Um, August twenty-ninth. No.”

  “One hundred years ago, exactly.”

  “Oh, the train incident. Levi told me it wasn’t suicide.”

  “It was a complete accident. I was reckless and desperate, but did not realize the danger of what I was doing. I was only trying to cross the track. Then, seeing the train, I thought I had time. But my hem became snared.”

  “Levi also said your fiancé saw the whole thing.”

  “Not only did Mr. Fairley see that I was caught, but the horrid man made no effort to assist me! None whatsoever. He just backed away so he would not be splattered by my blood.”

  “That’s so cold… how horrible! I’m terribly sorry.”

  “Had my Neddy been there, he would have perished trying to save me.”

  Lucy quivered. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “As I have told Mr. Muir, I wish people would not think ill of me about the alleged suicide. If there is any way you and he could correct that century of misunderstanding…”

  “Well, I can’t exactly broadcast that I got it straight from the spirit herself.” Lucy realized it sounded callous. “Sorry.”

  “It is all right.”

  “So if you actually do this mind erasure process on Levi, how will that work? Should I be there too?”

  “It must be between myself and him. In one final appearance, I shall try to ease his pain and then erase his memory of me forever.”

  “Where? How? When?”

  “You must convey Mr. Muir to the south end of the railroad trestle at midnight tonight.”

  “Tonight?”

  Danielle nodded. “Midnight.”

  “That’s not much time. Can I ask why?”

  “I cannot explain to you because Mr. Muir must not realize what is at stake. His actions and reactions must be as innocent and natural as they were when he and I first met.”

  “But I wouldn’t tell him anything.”

  “Yes you would. Even if you could refrain from verbalizing it, he would read it in your face. Your responsibility is to get him there. The rest must come from within him.”

  “Not even a hint?”

  With a wry smile, the ghostess said, “You should wear a slicker, as there will be a light drizzle tonight.”

  “I meant about what’s going to happen.”

  Danielle shook her head sadly. “I must go now. One hundred years ago, tonight. Remember that event, but do not interfere. I will communicate directly through your thoughts. Midnight.”

  “Okay. But after all this is over — whatever’s going to happen — and you’ve erased his memory of you, will you still remember him?”

  For a long moment, Danielle gazed out the east window. “Oh yes, and fondly… for all eternity.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Lucy had continued asking questions of Danielle until she realized — on smelling the aroma of expensive antique perfume — that she’d been talking to herself. The ghostess had already departed.

  She also realized her respiration and heart rate were both high enough for her to have just finished a 5k power walk. Normally, Lucy would move about and stretch to cool down, but at present she found herself shivering.

  Moving through the darkened icy room to the illuminated portrait, Lucy studied the beautiful face and looked directly into the spirit’s eyes. “I can’t say I understand most of it, Danielle, but I think I’m getting an inkling of its importance — to all three of us. So I’ll do my part, I’ll get Levi to those train tracks by midnight.” She reached toward the hundred year old canvas. “But if you double cross me and take Levi with you, be advised that I will hunt you down and nail your spirit skin — or whatever piece of your soul that I can snatch — to the front door of this hotel.” When she touched the delicate face in the portrait, Lucy felt a jolt of electricity and jerked back her hand. “Okay, okay… just wanted to be positive we understood each other.”

  Lucy sat in the dark kitchen and took several minutes to compose herself. It would not do to rejoin Levi looking like she’d just been scared stiff. As she left the darkened suite, by habit her hand touched the wall switch, which was already in the on position. Without thinking why, she flipped it down and back up and, sure enough, the lights worked just fine. “You’re a sly one, Danielle. You had to set the mood completely, didn’t you?” Then she flipped the lights back off, closed the door, and hurriedly departed.

  By the time Lucy had descended the elegant staircase and exited the hotel’s front doors, her vital signs felt on their way back to normal. As she emerged to the sidewalk along Magnolia Avenue, the August heat and humidity smacked her like someone had suddenly wrappe
d her in damp towels. Must have been a forty degree difference from the suite’s temperature during their encounter.

  About two blocks away in the General Lee, she found Levi at a corner table talking with an old geezer who looked vaguely familiar, though Lucy could not place him. Figuring Levi would get up and join her, Lucy remained near the doorway, but the rumpled companion waved her over.

  “Me?” she mouthed, after checking whether anyone was behind her.

  Then Muir hurried over and grabbed her arm. “I want you to meet somebody.”

  “Levi, we don’t have much time, we’ve got to…”

  “Just for a second. He thought I was making you up.” Muir tugged again.

  Lucy groaned. Two bizarre encounters in the space of thirty minutes.

  “Tacket, this is Lucy, my… um, friend and colleague at school.” Then, with an archaic wave of the arm, he announced, “Lucy, meet Mr. Tacket.”

  “Actually I think I recognize you from somewhere,” she said as she extended her hand. “Have we met before?”

  “If we had, I would’ve remembered you, for sure.” Tacket held her hand a few seconds longer than necessary as he scanned her visually. “Muir, she’s every bit as beautiful as you said.” Then he released her hand and motioned for both to sit.

  “Oh, I can’t stay. I’ve… I mean, we’ve got to be…”

  “Just for a minute, Lucy. Tacket has some interesting information about Danielle’s train death.”

  “Okay, but we need to hurry.” She started to sit at that position, but Tacket waved her to the next chair.

  “That one’s busted. I’ve told…”

  “Skip ahead to the train stuff, Tacket. I think we have another engagement.” He made sure Lucy was seated and then took his own chair again.

  “Let’s see. I was telling Muir here that I worked with train freight, just for a year or two, a long time ago. There was this old buzzard who used to tell stories about the antique steam locomotives and hobos riding empty boxcars and such.” Tacket paused for a sip of brew. “Of course, he also had tales of train wrecks and even a few stories about ghost trains that people still see sometimes.”