Out of the Shadows (Bellingwood Book 12) (11 page)

"How often do people see her?" a very entranced Rebecca asked.

"We don't see much of her in the fall until the anniversary of her death approaches. She likes springtime and stands in the windows of the solarium as the sun rises. But when the mornings get darker and later, she isn't around as much. We like to believe that she's building up the energy to show herself to the world again, to remind us what terrible things happen when you give up hope. Poor thing."

"Did you know her when she was alive?" Polly asked.

He nodded. "I was just a lad. It was a sad day in Bellingwood. It was even sadder when her young man came home and discovered what had happened. But when she forced him and his young family out of the house, we were glad to see that old place boarded up."

Polly glanced at the house again. "I can't believe no one ever tried to purchase it and fix it up. It's such a beautiful building."

"There’s a very good reason for that," the old man said. He lowered his voice. "Young Mister Springer was so upset that he'd been forced out, he didn't want anyone to encounter his wife. He was so angry that he wanted her to be alone for a long time. No one was allowed to buy that house or the property for seventy years after her death. By then he'd be long gone and wouldn't have to read or hear about her harming anyone else."

"That's this year," Rebecca said quietly. "Someone can buy it this year."

“By golly it is," the man said. "Who knows, maybe someone with some sense can finally get into that place, put the poor girl to rest and fix it up. It would be nice not to have that dark specter looming over the homes in this neighborhood. The folks who live here are hardy people. They’ve had to be. When Mrs. Springer gets in a snit, sometimes they lose their electrical and if she's really upset, the water turns off.

"That's ridiculous," Polly said. "I have never heard about any of that happening in Bellingwood."

He tsked her with a forefinger. "You haven't lived in town long enough to know the stories. While it hasn't happened in the last ten years, people remember the days when she'd go on a tear. The power would go down for a block all around this house and there wasn't anything anybody could do until she calmed down."

Rebecca looked from him and then to Polly. Behind those sunglasses, there had to be some very wide eyes.

"Brutus and I should be about our business," he said, putting the dog back on the ground.

"I'm Polly Giller and this is my daughter, Rebecca," Polly said.

"I know who you are, miss," he said. "Be careful." He walked away without introducing himself.

Polly pressed the button to roll the window back up and said, "That was weird."

"He knows about the ghost," Rebecca said. "He's seen her."

"He never said that he saw her," Polly said. "He told you the story, but he never claimed to have seen her."

"What about when the ghost got angry and turned off the power?"

Polly turned the truck back on and checked the street before driving off. "I suspect that if we were to ask the right people, we'd find that Bellingwood was in the middle of putting in new power lines. You notice they haven't had any trouble in the last ten years? You'd think that if there was a ghost, she'd have an inkling about the rumors regarding the length of time she was going to be alone and might step up the activity now."

"But what if ghosts don't have any idea of the passage of time?" Rebecca asked. "How would she know? Maybe today is the same as the day after she died. And I did see her. When I get home I'm going to draw a picture. Then you'll have to believe me."

"That's a good idea," Polly said. "I'd like to see what you saw. Now what would you like to eat for lunch?"

Rebecca leaned against the door of the truck. "My head kind of hurts. Can we go get a hot chocolate at the coffee shop? And maybe a croissant or something that Sylvie baked?"

"That sounds great. It's warm in there and filled with normal people. It will be the perfect remedy for chilly ghost stories."

"It’s not just a story, Polly," Rebecca said. "I think there's something to it."

Polly nodded. "I know you do. And I'm not discounting anything that you’ve seen. But I believe there is a rational explanation behind all that you've seen and all that has happened."

Rebecca grinned and echoed Polly's earlier words, "You never know."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

After work, Henry was stopping to pick up pizza for dinner. It would only be the three of them. Heath had called to tell Polly he was staying in Boone for the football game and would be home before eleven.

The gloom hadn't lifted from the day and Polly and Rebecca were wrapped up in blankets on the media room sofa when Henry walked in.

"Did you save me a blanket?" he asked. "It's cold out there."

"We used them all up," Rebecca said, pulling another off the back of the sofa to wrap around her legs. "See. There's nothing left for you."

He turned to walk back into his office.

"Wait," she said.

Henry looked over his shoulder.

"Leave the pizza. We're hungry and we've had a rough day." Rebecca put her arms up for the pizza box.

"Rough day?" Henry asked. "What could the two of you have been doing that was rough? Did you sleep late and then live in your pajamas until you could take a nap? If you left the house did you go up to the coffee shop? What could possibly have been so rough?"

Rebecca patted the bruise on her cheek. "I've been in terrible pain all day long. It's the worst thing I've ever experienced."

He looked at Polly and she shrugged. "Whatever she says. She's the one who was wounded."

"I think I'm being played," Henry said, putting the pizza box on the coffee table in front of them. "But since Rebecca looks so bad, I’ll be the good guy." He pointed to their glasses. "Do you need refills on anything?"

"No, but maybe Cheetos from the pantry?" Rebecca asked, continuing to use a whine in her voice. "Please?"

"Polly?" he asked.

"I'm good. We brought napkins and plates out." He left the room and Polly looked at Rebecca. "You're rotten."

Rebecca giggled. "I know, but he's so funny. He didn't buy it, did he?"

"Maybe a little bit," Polly said. "You do look sad and he's got a huge heart."

"I'll apologize," Rebecca said, hanging her head in mock shame. "But he is funny."

Henry came back in, dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans, got what he needed from the kitchen and came back. "So really, no blankets for me?"

"You can have this one," Rebecca said, pulling off the top layer and handing it to him. "I was just teasing. I'm okay. Really."

He sat down in a chair, drew the blanket across his lap and stuck his lower lip out. "Just see if I wait on you hand and foot this weekend. Just you wait and see." He flipped the top of the pizza box open and put his hand out for the plates in front of Polly.

She reached down and passed them to him, their hands brushing for a moment. It made her heart leap. How was it that this man still did that to her? Polly glanced at him to see if he'd reacted the same way and discovered him staring at her.

"Oh please," Rebecca said with disdain. "Save it for later. I'm starving."

"Sorry," Polly said. She opened the bag of Cheetos and put them in Rebecca's lap. Han tried to jump up between them and Polly pushed him back down. "No, you beggar. No food for you tonight. You know better."

"Come on, little guy," Henry said, patting the seat of his chair. "Sit with me. The girls aren’t in a very generous mood tonight."

"We did have a strange encounter today," Polly said.

"Where?" he asked. "Did you actually leave the house?"

"We went up to the Springer House," Rebecca said. "And I saw the ghost, but Polly didn't. And there was an old guy who told us even more about her."

"He was odd," Polly interrupted. "Maybe you know him. He lives near there and walks his Chihuahua through the neighborhood. He has to be in his eighties."

Henry chuckled. "That's old Jim Bridger. He's a kook and the self-proclaimed archivist of all things Springer House. Whenever he sees someone in that neighborhood, he stops to tell them about the hauntings. He's tried for years to get the city to make a big deal out of that house and turn it into a tourist attraction. He hasn't been happy with those who proclaim that it's all hooey."

"He said that she used to turn the electricity and water off to the neighborhood when she was mad," Rebecca said.

"I'm sure he did. I'd forgotten about that rumor. It's interesting that he's the only person who ever tied those events to the ghost. Most people accepted them as normal power outages when the electric company was working on lines in town."

"He also said that the house was never on the market because the husband didn't want anyone else to live there and be hurt by his dead wife. And apparently, that clause will be up after Halloween this year," Polly said quietly.

"That's right," Henry nodded. "I don't know what the family’s reasoning for it was, but I did some checking this week. The trust releases it for sale on November second this year."

"I wonder if there are many interested buyers," Polly mused.

"Who knows?" Henry said. "It will be interesting to see how much they'll ask for it."

They held each other's eyes for a moment, then Polly nodded and took another bite of her pizza.

"Let's back up," Henry said. "Did you see the ghost, Rebecca?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes I did. And when I got home this afternoon, I drew her picture. Do you want to see it?" She'd thrown off her blankets and was off the couch before he had time to answer.

"I'd love to," he said quietly, grinning at Polly. "She's a riot."

"She's definitely a force," Polly agreed.

"Did she really see the ghost?"

Polly shrugged her shoulder. "She insists that she did and I've never known her to lie or to make things like this up. I don't know what to think."

Rebecca returned from her bedroom, carrying a sketch pad. She flipped through several pages and handed it to Henry. "That's her. I saw her floating in that room upstairs. What did you call it, Polly?"

"Solarium," Polly replied.

"The solarium. And there were more boards taken down today than when we were there on Saturday. It's like she wants us to see her. Mr. Bridger says that she shows up more often when it gets close to her death date. And supposedly the best time to see her is at dawn." Rebecca turned to Polly. "I wonder if she wanted us to see her today and that's why she showed up."

"Maybe," Polly said. She pointed at the nearly empty pizza box. "Anybody want more?" When there was no positive response, she stood, took plates from Rebecca and Henry, put them on top of the box, and took it to the kitchen. "Does anybody need anything while I'm out here?" she called back.

"We're good," Henry said.

Polly re-packaged the pizza and put it in the refrigerator, then poured popcorn she had purchased earlier in the week into a bowl and returned to the sofa. "Are we ready for a movie? You know we're only a week away from Halloween. Shall we watch something scary?"

"Like what?" Henry looked pointedly at Rebecca.

She caught his glance and laughed. "I like scary movies better than Polly does," Rebecca said, rolling her eyes. "My mom loved them. She said I was too young to watch them, but as long as I knew they weren't real, I'd be fine." She reached over and patted Polly's knee. "You know they aren't real, right?"

"Brat." Polly's phone rang and she grabbed it up. "It's Lydia, I'll be right back."

She swiped it open as she stood back up and walked into Henry's office. "Hi there, what's up?"

The background noise was deafening. "Hi there, dear," Lydia shouted. "How's your Friday night?"

"Where in the world are you? Why is it so loud?"

"Aaron and I were invited to come down to Boone for the football game. We like to do this every once in a while to remind ourselves why we don't do it very often."

Polly laughed. "So what's up?"

"Just a minute. It might be quieter over here," Lydia said. The noise lessened and she continued. "I had to call and tell you what I saw tonight. It's the sweetest thing."

"Okay," Polly said. "I’ll bite. What's that?"

"It's your Heath. Polly, he's a lothario."

"A what?"

"We have seen him with no less than five young girls swarming around. Wherever he goes, at least one of them is there. I watched two walk away and come back with food for him. Another girl brought a blanket with her so she could sit next to him and keep them warm. Dear, it's adorable! And I know he'll never tell you about this, but that boy is popular with the girls."

"I had no idea," Polly said. "Five?"

"And they aren't competing with each other, either. He's keeping them all happy. Back when I was in high school, we had a boy like this. He was very popular with everyone, but the girls loved him because he was safe. We always accused him of having a harem. I think your Heath is growing his harem."

"Lydia, you have no idea what this does to my heart," Polly said with a sigh. "Thank you for telling me. He's had such a rough time of it and it's wonderful that he is attracting girls. He's a good looking, nice boy."

"These are very pretty girls and they seem to be popular with a large group of people. They're all having fun."

"Thank you," Polly said again.

"I thought you could use good news. Now I should go back to those wonderfully comfortable bleachers. Those things aren't made for anybody over the age of eighteen. But here we are. Have a good evening, dear."

Polly smiled. "You too, Lydia. Stay warm."

"Oh, I have my big ole snuggly man to keep me warm."

"Stop it," Polly said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Good night."

Polly stood in the quiet of the office for a moment. This was good news. Then she chuckled. Of course. That's why Jason doesn’t like him. He was jealous. That dirty little rat. They were going to have to work this out on their own.

~~~

"That's Heath," Henry whispered to Polly, jostling her awake.

Rebecca had gone to bed early, taking the cats with her. It would take time for the swelling to go down and Polly knew from experience that it was sometimes exhausting trying to keep your eyes open when you hurt that badly. Polly and Henry had curled up on the sofa together with the dogs to watch another movie.

"Do you remember your parents waiting up for you?" Polly whispered back. "I feel like such an adult."

They both looked up when Heath entered the room.

"I'm not too late, am I?" he asked.

"You're good," Henry said and pointed to the chair. "Tell us about your evening. Did we win?"

Heath shook his head. "No, but I had a good time anyway. Thanks for letting me go."

"Of course," Polly said. "There's nothing better than football in the fall, right?"

"I guess." Heath leaned forward. "I need to talk to you guys about something."

Polly swung her legs around to sit up, disturbing both dogs.

Han jumped to the floor and sauntered over to Heath for attention, while Obiwan jumped back to where she'd left a warm spot on the sofa and snuggled in beside her.

Henry pushed the blankets at Polly and said, "What's up?"

Heath took a big breath. "I appreciate you guys letting me work at the barn, but..." he paused and looked back and forth between Polly and Henry, then looked down at Han and rubbed his head.

Polly wanted nothing more than to jump in, but she remembered Grey's comment and thought it best to let Heath tell his story. So she waited.

"I hate that job," he blurted out. "I mean, Eliseo is great and all, but I hate it. I’m ready to do something else now."

"What do you want to do?" Henry asked.

"I don't care. But anything that doesn't involve cleaning up animal crap."

Polly chuckled. "So maybe not working at Doc Ogden's vet clinic."

Heath looked at her in shock. "Don't tell me he's got a job available." He shuddered and gave his head a quick shake. "No. I’d hate it. I need something else. I'll walk all over town tomorrow and see what's available if that's okay. I just need out of the barn."

"Working with animals isn't for everyone," Henry said. "I get it. I was very grateful when Polly hired Eliseo. If I'd married her before he came on board, she'd have had me down there shoveling crap and hauling hay bales. Those are beautiful animals, but I like my horses to be able to rev and hang out under the hood of a car."