by D C Young
‘For native New Orleanians, the activities at the end of the year begin with the two feast days of October 31st and November 1st. Once All Hallow’s Eve and the Feast of All Saints have passed, the city seems to melt back into its old resolve, a shroud of calm nonchalant respite, which her faithful residents enjoy so immensely, and patiently waits for December.
‘Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, swiftly followed by New Years Day end a rather busy season and the pace slows almost to a halt except for those who will be marching in the street come Fat Tuesday. After all, once the year has begun, the only thing on everyone’s minds will be Easter, and preceding it glorious Mardi Gras.
‘No matter the time of year, the city always seems to have something to offer everyone, but we who live here know much better than that. If you ask Madame Moliniere, at the local herb and magic shop near the Rue St. Anne, she would tell you that New Orleans is very much like an onion.
“It seems like a simple enough thing on the surface, but the more you peel it, the more layers you expose and the deeper you dig, the more likely it is that the city will reduce you to tears.”’
As soon as I had put the booklet down on the nightstand, there was a soft knock on the door. I knew it was Sam. It was almost midnight; regular business hours for her kind and her line of work.
Chapter Sixteen
Sam
The Benoirs and the Yemaya.
“I’m heading to Benoir House to meet with the Blackwell sisters. I shouldn’t be long,” I told Mary Lou. “Listen out for Tammy and Anthony for me, please.”
“Sure thing, Sam. Good luck.”
My destination was only a few blocks away and as I stepped out onto St. Ann Street, I decided to take Royal Street across to Toulouse then turn North West and walked towards Dauphine Street. When I got to the corner that was dominated on both sides by Benoir House, I knew I was at the right place.
The top floors wrapped around the corner flawlessly each with a balcony that ran around the entire length of the building. Black wrought iron columns and balustrades contrasted beautifully against the cornflower blue walls trimmed in white and navy blue. Baskets of colorful petunias and dianthus hung at regular intervals and set back against the walls were terracotta pots with dwarf palms in them.
At the courtyard gate, there was a doorbell. I rang it once and waited. A few moments and soon a young woman in a flowing white dress came walking towards the gate.
“Miss Moon?” she asked.
“Yes,” I replied, “I’m here to see Erika and Jade Blackwell.”
“I’m Jade Benoir Blackwell,” she replied as she opened the lock on the gate and held it open for me to pass through. “Erika and I have been expecting you. Come in.”
When I stepped into the foyer, Jade led the way through to a formal sitting room. Her sister, Erika, was waiting for us.
“Good evening, Miss Moon,” Erika said, extending her hand to shake mine. As usual, I was hesitant, but Erika insisted, clasping it firmly. “Rest assured, you are not the first and neither will you be the last vampire whom I’ve touched, Samantha Moon.”
“It’s a force of habit,” I attempted to explained. “It’s nice to finally meet you both.”
“Yes, I assume you might have heard as much about us as we have about you.” An expression of confusion spread across my face. “Our mutual friends…”
“Oh! Julia and Bridget?”
“They had a lot to say about you while they were with us.”
“Huh! Have they left already? I was under the impression from Rennie Telfair that several key persons were coming together to decide what to do in the wake of Yemaya. I assumed Julia and Bridget were included considering Bridget raised the alarm.”
“Your assumption was quite correct but seeing as our mutual friends are… umm, of your special nature, we thought it best that they go ahead of us to our ancestral home at Raccourci while we remained behind to await your arrival.”
“We thought it best to meet there where everyone’s privacy and security can be guaranteed. It is all well guarded by very old and deep rooted spells.”
So, the others… the factions, will they all be present at the meeting?”
“Everyone of them,” Erika confirmed. “And anyone absent will be deemed to be in allegiance with the Sea Goddess in this attempt to destroy New Orleans.”
“Fair enough. When is the meeting set for?”
“Tomorrow at midnight.”
“What about my family? I’m not comfortable leaving them on their own in the city with so much going on and danger on our doorstep.”
“We thought it would be unwise as well,” Jade replied. “I’ve made reservations for you all to spend the day touring the magnificent Parlange Plantation after which you will retire to the Magnuson Hotel. A car will pick you up at 11 pm to bring you to Raccourci.”
“Sounds like its all been well planned out,” I said as I stood up to take my leave. “I’ll see you tomorrow night then.”
“See you tomorrow, Sam,” Erika said as she walked Sam out towards the courtyard.
The walk back to hotel on St. Ann Street was short but lonely. But it wasn’t long before I was putting the keycard into the lock on my hotel room door and pushing it open.
Chapter Seventeen
Tammy
Louisiana…even more haunted than Savannah.
The drive out to Parlange Plantation on our second day in New Orleans was boring. I saw some strange things but after getting tired of trying to figure out what I was seeing and why; I just put my earphones in and closed my eyes.
We were on our way to Point Coupee parish to do some sightseeing while my mom met up with some important people for a case. She works so hard. I don’t hold it against her anymore though cause I’ve seen how much my brother can eat.
I wish she could just relax though… turn fully off. But then maybe she’d turn into just another boring soccer mom and we aren’t having any of that!
When we got to the plantation, I saw my mom’s friends seated on the huge verandah of the main house. I smiled when I felt the auras coming off the two women. One was a witch, the other a vampire like mom; but much, much older.
We said our hellos and followed Aunt Mary through the house to the ground floor bathroom. Then we joined another small group on a kind of tractor-pulled wagon for a guided tour of the property. Mom stayed behind to talk with her friends.
From the moment I’d gotten out of the SUV, I’d been seeing ghosts. They were everywhere at Parlange. Some were slaves and some were probably the former owners. They all seemed too busy going about their business that they didn’t notice us at all. Twice, I saw a ghost step out of the way of a wandering tourist who, of course, hadn’t seen the ghost coming.
By the end of the day, I was exhausted from the sun, the endless babbling about the plantation’s history and most of all from overhearing the ceaseless conversations of the ghosts of Parlange.
Chapter Eighteen
Parlange Plantation
By the time our refreshments were done, I could see Jade and Bridget were eager to get our discussion started. I sent the group off for a guided tour of the plantation then sat down with the two to discuss the proposed agenda for the midnight meeting.
I was looking out across the front yard of the house when suddenly, I had to sit up and take note of what was going on. I looked across the porch and watched carefully, following the specters I saw walking across the pristine lawn towards the side of the house. I knew that my expression changed several times before I was finally able to settle down again.
Unable to explain what I’d seen, I turned to Jade and asked, “Why are there so many spirits wandering around here? It’s the same in the city too. I saw so many in New Orleans, and so frequently, that I was hard pressed at times to tell if they were just people mingling with the crowds or actual ghosts.”
Jade smiled, then asked, “How many ghosts have you seen since you arrived at Parlange this morning?”
“Maybe twe
nty, I’ve lost count. Right now, there are four with us right here on the porch. Three men and a woman, all dressed very opulently in a sort of eighteenth-century style. They seem to be deep in discussion, almost arguing about something. They repeatedly pause to point out towards the land. I see I’ve seen a lot of workers milling around us too, in the garden; weeding and planting, some carrying tools and poles with bags attached to them. There are maids too coming in and out of the house.”
“In its day Louisiana was home to many plantations and agricultural families from Europe. Like any place whose industry was critical for its citizens to survive, there are many spirits that continue to work just as hard in death as they did in life. It was all they knew then and it’s all they know now. They are incapable of leaving this place; the essentially don’t know how.”
“Is that why haven’t they crossed over?”
“There are many reasons why they haven’t moved on; each spirit has its own.”
“And you don’t feel any need to help them with that when you encounter them roaming around?”
“I don’t meddle in the affairs of people or spirits, Sam. It’s dangerous. They’re happy right where they are. However, if a spirit is tormented, then witches and psychic people are obligated to offer guidance to put that spirit at rest. Are there any disgruntled spirits around here?”
“Not that I can tell. They just seem to be going about their business.”
“Exactly,” Jade said sipping her iced tea.
“But there are so many of them here.”
“Parlange was an indigo plantation. Are you familiar with the process of refining indigo?”
“Not at all. I really have no idea.”
“The harvested leaves of the indigo plant were placed in vats of water to ferment. Historians recorded that the stench of the fermented liquid was so bad indigo was never refined near any of the dwelling on the plantation. So the slaves who did this work had to walk a great distance to the fields and refining house to do their jobs. They would agitate the liquid in the vats to introduce oxygen which would develop the color of the indigo and then cause the solid dye to settle at the bottom of the vats, and then they would scrape the sludge out into cotton bags to dry, press the product into cakes and prepare the dye for export.” Jade paused to sip her drink again. “Between the labor intensive process and the noxious fumes, an indigo workers lifespan was only about seven years. That’s why there are a lot of dead indigo workers at Parlange and everyday they get up and go back out to those indigo fields to do their jobs.”
“What about these four on the porch with us?”
“The owners; Vincent de Ternant, his son and daughter-in-law Charles and Virginie de Ternant and the other gentleman is Virginie’s second husband, Colonel Charles Parlange. They’re harmless. Every day they come out here to squabble over the plantations future, just as they did several times in history. They won’t leave this land until this house no longer exists for them to occupy and they won’t allow that to happen.”
“That persistence the French colonists had seems to be very much a part of Louisiana’s people today.”
“You’re quite right, everyone here came from somewhere else, the difference between Louisianians and everyone else is that we all remember where we came from and we cherish those memories from our past just as much as we cherish the lives we lead at present. One should never forget where they came from or you won’t have a clue where you’re going.”
“I see.”
“And that’s why Yemaya will find that New Orleans will not be an easy target for her to destroy. We won’t roll over and play dead, we will fight. This place is ours and we will die before we see it destroyed. Much like the Ternant- Parlange family over there, we can’t allow that to happen.”
Chapter Nineteen
Sam
I’m off to see the wizard.
Two days later, I was in a cab with the rest of the family headed to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans airport. We got checked in for our flights and made our way through to the departure lounge.
I didn’t want to see them go, but I didn’t feel I had a choice. If the worst came to the worst, New Orleans was not the place I wanted them to be.
When the call came for the flight to Los Angeles, I scurried around making sure Tammy and Anthony had picked up all their belongings. I hugged them tightly and told them to listen to their Aunt Mary and Uncle Rick. I hugged Mary Lou and Rick in turn, and then squeezed their kids in a huge huddle.
It was the hardest thing for me to watch them all walking down the dock towards their plane, but it was the best way to ensure their safety.
I waited until the attendants closed the gate and the plane was backing away from the building before finally turning around to go find my own departure gate. I was about to catch a flight to Barbados where the entire Louisiana Council, Bridget Bishop and Julia Agrippina would be joining forces to capture Yemaya.
Ironically, they were going to be doing that with a bottle.
Chapter Twenty
Rennie Telfair
Samantha Moon… my friend.
“Mister Telfair,” Collins called out to me one evening when I was alone in the study at Seagull Point several days after Sam and her family had departed.
“Mister Collins,” I responded. I was pretty sure of what it was that was on his mind, but it is always respectful to allow the spirit to say their piece without making assumptions or interrupting them. It was a lesson that every psychic has to learn either the easy way or the hard way. “I trust that my kinfolk have made you welcome among them.”
“They have made me welcome, but it is time for me to move on,” Collins replied.
“I wondered if it wasn’t time,” I replied. Though I’d never noticed that my sense of humor had any effect on the spirits, I gave it a shot anyway. “You might take a few of my kinfolk along with you when you go.”
“I wanted to thank you for what you’ve done,” Collins continued, not responding to my comment or even seeming to consider it. Were things so serious in the spirit world?
“I’ve only passed along critical information to those who can use it to protect the people of New Orleans,” I responded.
“Perhaps, but in so doing and in making certain that Ambrose was cleared of the charge of murder, you’ve allowed for my freedom and given rest to my soul.”
Though I hadn’t yet heard from any of those in New Orleans who had gone out into the Caribbean to battle with Yemaya and planned to capture her, that bit of information from Collins was enough to let me know that whatever had been done by the Guardian of Louisiana and those who had gone to sea with her had been successful.
“Things are set right, then?” I replied, already feeling that deep contentment that always comes over me after successfully completing a particular task for one of the paranormal world.
“Things are set right,” he answered. He didn’t linger after that. Why would he? A spirit set free is intent on moving on into that other dimension and away from the anguish and pain of the one that we inhabit.
I poured two fingers of bourbon and mixed in three fingers of Coke. It wasn’t tea time, but I was ready for my own special blend of tea. I’d settled back into my chair and was relishing both the drink and the satisfaction of sending Collins on his way when I received a telephone call from Julia, the Elder Watcher.
“I thought you might like to know that I just got word from the Guardian that Yemaya has been taken care of,” Julia announced in her official sounding tone. It was an odd quirk of the Greek that never ceased to amaze me. And they call me eccentric.
“I assumed that it had been taken care of,” I responded. “Mister Collins left me only moments before your call.”
“Your bit of information and the way that you presented it to Samantha was an enormous contribution for which we are thankful.”
“I have no doubt that our young Miss Moon distinguished herself in New Orleans.” It was something of a question and a statemen
t of confidence all mixed together. In the two meetings that I had enjoyed with Sam, I had been extremely impressed with what I saw in her.
“Miss Moon continues to distinguish herself just as she always has.” Julia paused a moment before continuing on. “It seems, unless I miss my guess, that she has made quite an impression on you. Has she not?”
“She has made an impression on me,” I replied. “She has, indeed. She stirred things up here among the kinfolks while she was here and I don’t think I’ve laughed as heartily as I did in her company in years.”
“She is a delight,” Julia replied. “I’m glad that you two made that special connection. It would be good if you cultivated it, don’t you think? Her daughter Tammy is just becoming aware of her own psychic skills. There might be an opportunity for mentoring at some point in the future.”
“Cultivating a friendship with Sam is something that I intend to do anyway,” I responded.
“Sam, is it?” I could hear the broad smile in her voice.
“Don’t go jumping to conclusions,” I warned.
Julia laughed. “Please, let’s have tea next time you’re on the West Coast, shall we?”
“Indeed,” I replied.
We disconnected, I got up from the comfortable chair, carried my “tea” over to the desk, set it down on the corner of the desk mat and pulled my chair up under the desk. Reaching into the top drawer on the left side, I pulled out a box of mint green stationery and a fountain pen that I favored. I was about to begin the note when I received another call.
“Mister Telfair,” Erika Blackwell’s voice said.
“Miss Blackwell, it’s good to hear from you,” I responded.
“I can’t talk long,” she replied. “But I wanted to let you know that Yemaya has been captured and that we have you, in part, to thank.”
“I merely passed along critical information to Miss Moon,” I replied.
