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“I trust you have brought proper clothing?” Bill barked at her as he hastily gobbled his chicken.

“I have a down coat and some waterproof boots, and gloves of course,” Susanna answered.

“Good.”

“Winter seems to be coming a bit early this year,” Emma remarked, “usually this cold holds off a little longer.”

“I’m sure
she’ll be warm enough over there. I’ve got the fireplace all set up for her,” Bill said as he reached for a roll, “You know there is no computer stuff there,” he turned to Susanna, “You know the internet stuff.”

“So there’s no
wifi to be able to connect to the internet?” Susanna asked, looking back and forth between Bill and Emma.

“No d
ear, there’s not,” Emma replied, “But some people use their hotspot service there.  Not that I have the slightest clue what that is.”

“Is there power?”
Susanna blurted out without thinking.

Emma laughed and Bill just shook his head, “Yes dear, there’s power.
” 

“And don’t drink the water.  It’s fine for everything else, but don’t drink it,” Bill never even looked up from his plate.

“Is the water dangerous?”

“Try to avoid drinking the water,” Emma shook her head at Bill, “Don’t scare her!”

“I’ve put some bottled water for you in the fridge.  I’ll check on you halfway through the week and bring you more supplies.”

“And of course, if there’s an emergency you can call us
. Your cell phone will work on the island, so it’s not completely barbaric,” Emma grinned.

Susanna took a minute to look out the front window towards the island which was currently shrouded in darkness.

“The lighthouse light doesn’t work?” Susanna asked.

“Not
all
the time,” Emma answered.

Bill snorted
loudly, “It has a mind of its own.”

“What do you mean?” Susanna pressed.

“Bill has worked on it for years, and so have others. We’ve even called people that specialize in this sort of thing and they can’t find the cause.  It stays dark the majority of the time and then suddenly, without warning the light will go on and it will make one rotation and then it dims again.”

“Stupid lamp
,” Bill mumbled.

“
Oh but when it does shine … it’s the most beautiful sight.  It lights up the entire Cape.  It’s breathtaking and everyone stops wherever they are to watch it.”

“Does it happen at the same time?”

“It would make more damn sense if it did,” Bill answered, “No blasted explanation for it. I’ve said it for years.”

“Oh, there’s an explanation for it, but you don’t want to hear it.”

“Pipe down woman, you will drive her away!”

“What,
” Susanna looked back and forth between the couple, “What is the explanation?”

“There is a
n old story about the lighthouse, about a man who died there over a hundred years ago.  People say he died of a broken heart.”

“Hogwash!”
Bill howled, “He died of hypothermia!  People don’t die of broken hearts except in picture shows and books!”

“You just don’t believe,” Emma dismissed him.

“So there is a ghost there?” Susanna asked.

Bill
banged his fist on the table, “No such thing as ghosts either!”

“I’m not trying to scare you Susanna.  We’ve had
hundreds of people stay there and not one person has ever come back with any kind of ghost story or strange happening.”

“Well that’
s a relief,” Susanna shrugged. 

“We’ll leave just after breakfast in the morning
. I’ll have to take some time to show you around out there, make sure you have all that you need,” Bill rose from the table, “Enjoy your stay.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bailey,”
Susanna smiled and bid him goodnight.

“Here, I’ll help you with
those,” Susanna said as she reached for the empty dishes on the table. 

“I hope I didn’t scare you with all that talk at the table,” Emma said as she washed the pretty little china
dishes in the porcelain sink.

“No, I’m tougher than that,” Susanna grinned, “But the light only flashing at certain times is interesting.”

“It’s been that way for as long as we’ve been here.”

“Strange,” Susanna mused, “but it will add some mystery to my story which always intrigues our readers.”

Susanna carefully dried the dishes as Emma handed them to her, “So, Bill’s gone to bed?”

“He’s down for the night.  He gets up a lot earlier than I do so he’s always in bed early, sometimes when the sun’s still out.  This was a late night for him.”

“So, do you think you could give me a reading?” Susanna asked hesitantly.

Emma smiled, her gray eyes gleaming, “I would love to!”

Chapter 3

Emma and Susanna sat at the desk in the corner of the study with the dim light from a candle glowing in the room.  Emma closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths as she held the cards.  She then gave them to Susanna to hold and asked that she shut her eyes as well and take a moment to breathe deep and relax.  Susanna did as she was told, keeping her eyes closed as Emma laid out the cards before her. 

When Susanna finally opened her eyes she surveyed the cards on the table.
She had never had a tarot reading before so she had no idea what all the cards meant, but when her eyes focused on the unmistakable death card she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“Don’t mind the death card
, dear. They don’t always mean what you think they mean.  Let’s start with this,” Emma pointed to the Ace of Cups, “The Ace of Cups can often mean the start of a relationship or something meaningful and full of promise.  But the Ace shows potential, not the final result. You’re always in total control of your destiny.”  Emma then moved toward another card, “The Moon card.  The Moon appearing typically indicates that something is not what it appears to be and that vigilance and perception will be necessary in order to find a meaning before it’s too late.”

Susanna
remained silent, mulling over Emma’s words.

“The Death card is usually a symbol of resurrection or re-birth.  It can mean big changes are headed your way, it can be changes in lifestyle or perspectives, something you may need to let go of in order to find a new way.  It’s also an indication of a forced sacrifice
. Something you might not be willing to give up, but if you do it would be for your own good.  It’s a wake-up call, so to speak.”

“Well
, that’s certainly better than what I thought it meant,” Susanna relaxed a little in her seat.

“Ah … the Lovers card,” Emma grinned
. “This is a card of emotions and it often portrays love that is ordained by a higher power, or even God himself.  If you look at the picture you see an illustration of a man looking at a woman and the woman is looking upwards at a divine figure which hovers above both of them.  The man cannot see the figure, or angel as it may be, and he must trust the woman to see it for him.  The woman therefore must be the bridge between the physical and spiritual planes.”

“And lastly, the Ace of Swords.
  It shows the beginning of a situation which has the potential to be a double edged sword.  It’s a spiritual card, one that often represents an insight or breakthrough in the world of the spirit.  Once you understand the meaning of what’s happening to you and its importance, your goals will suddenly become clearer.  You must clear away the fog that has kept you from seeing things … a kind of an inner truth and cut away the bonds that hold you back.  The card is telling you that the time is now, don’t delay.”

Susanna
looked puzzled, “What does all this mean?”

“Only you can know that, my dear.  The cards
perhaps hold the key to you seeing it more clearly.”

Susanna smiled, “Thank you.  I won’t tell Bill.”

“I’m not worried about Bill,” Emma scoffed, “he knows who he married.”

Susanna was settled back into her room upstairs for the night after having enjoyed a long hot shower.  She reasoned it was more enjoyable because she knew she wouldn’t get another one for at least a week.  She set her laptop up on the small desk in her room and connected to the internet in order to check her mail. She answered one from Katie that came with a picture of Jordan and another man with a note that said,
How about this one?  He’s single?
  Susanna rolled her eyes, already regretting telling Katie she could set her up with a friend of Jordan’s.  She skipped down a few more and saw one from her mom,
call me
, it simply said.  Her mother had yet to learn the ins and outs of the texting world.  She had an iPhone, her father had insisted that she get one, but she had no earthly idea how to use it.  Yes, Veronica Shaw was as technically challenged as they come.  Susanna picked up her cell and quickly found her mother’s smiling face and dialed the number. 

“Hi mom
.”

“Susanna!  I’m so glad you called.  Are you in Maine?”

“Yes, got here earlier today.  I’m staying at a cute little bed and breakfast tonight before my assignment starts tomorrow.”

“That’s why I called.  I was going over your last letter with your father and he reminded me of something …”

Susanna silently laughed at her mother’s reference to a letter, knowing that she meant the last e-mail she had sent her about her upcoming trip.

“Oh yea, what
’s that?”

“He reminded me that we
’ve been there before. All of us went when you were younger.”

Susanna paused, her brows
drawing together, “Here?  To Cape Elizabeth?  When?”

“Oh my, it was ages ago.  He thinks you were probably six or so.”

“Are you sure, Mom?  I don’t remember that at all.”

“He’s positive.  You know your father, he doesn’t forget anything.  He said we took a New England trip to see the
colors change and we made it all the way to Maine, to Cape Elizabeth in fact.”

“Really?”
Susanna was dumbfounded.  She remembered several family vacations with her parents as a child and yet she couldn’t recall this trip at all.

“When I told him that you were staying over at the Lighthouse he mentioned that
we had all been there before.”

“We went to the lighthouse?”

“Yes.  And once we spoke about it, I remembered it too.”

“That is too funny.  I don’t remember anything about it,” Susanna shook her head and looked out
into the darkness in the direction where the lighthouse lingered in the dark night.

“We took a tour of the lighthouse
. It was really the only thing to do in the entire town.  It was beautiful, but your father recalled that we left a little early because you started acting a little strange.  You kept saying that you saw a man there and you told us you were talking to him.  You became agitated and impatient so we thought you were overly tired and we left.”

Susanna took a minute to process this information, “What man?”

“We don’t know, we never saw him,” her mother answered, “We thought he might have been another tourist in the area but there were only five people there that day and none of them matched the description of the man you told us about.”

Susanna was baffled,
“Why don’t I remember this?”

“You were six darling, you were just a little thing.  We had driven all over New England and you were so ready to go home.  You were tired
and just wanted to go home and play with your friends.  We thought you were just exhausted and making things up.”

“What did I say?”
Susanna urged her mother to continue.

“I hardly remember
exactly,” her mother answered, “You just kept mentioning there was a man and that you thought he needed help.  You drug us into this room but there was no one there.”

Susanna was overwhelmed and sat on the edge of the bed, “That’s
really weird mom.”

“It was a long time ago.  Anyway, I just wanted to remind you that you
’ve been there before. Maybe it would help with your story and all.”

“Sure,” Susanna mumbled, “Thanks.”

“Okay darling.  Well get some rest and dress warm.  It’s freezing up there this time of year.”

“Mom,
to you everywhere is freezing, you live in Palm Beach.”

“Sunny and 78 here!”
Veronica answered enthusiastically.

“I’ll check in with you when I’m back in Atlanta,” Susanna ran her fingers through her
wet hair. 

“Kisses!” her mom said
cheerfully before hanging up.

Susanna pressed end and
watched her mom’s picture fade away on the screen before sliding the phone on the nightstand.  How could she not remember anything about this?  She remembered parts of the New England trip and other things from her childhood, but this … nothing!  She knew her mother wasn’t making it up, and her father always remembered everything, even the smallest detail. 

She stood up and went to the window as the light faded from her phone.  The room was dark
with only the faintest light coming in from under the door.  She stood there staring off into the dark night towards the lighthouse she couldn’t see but knew was in the distance.  She chewed her lip and reached for the curtains to draw them closed.  As she did, something caught her attention and suddenly the lamp from the lighthouse lit up everything before her.  The light was brilliantly white as it spread across the sky.  Susanna’s mouth fell open in disbelief as she watched it slowly make a rotation, lighting up everything in its path.  She inhaled at the sight, an unfamiliar and strange feeling washing over her.  And then, just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.  The night was once again enveloped in darkness.  She pressed her hand against the cold glass as if she could summon it again.  She blinked a few times, struggling to see the building in the night.  She took a few steps backwards until she felt the bed and then she sat silently staring out the open window.  She decided to leave the curtains open in case the bright light decided to shine again. 

After a few minutes she settled into bed and drew the covers around her.  For a split second she asked herself if she really wanted to go and do this.  She
suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of uncertainty that wasn’t there before.  A small part of her wished she wouldn’t have called her mother back, wondering if the story she told was now making her questions this assignment altogether. 

“
Don’t be ridiculous Susanna,” she chided herself in the darkness, “You’re acting like a six year old.”

Sleep did not come easy that nigh
t.  She found herself staring out the open window into the darkness, waiting to see the bright light appear again.  But it never came.