Shadow of a Life (15 page)

“
He really left,” Sophia
answered.

“
How could he do that? You
were in love. It was the perfect love story.” Camille had tears
streaming down her face.

Peter continued to pick at the grass
along the edge of the blanket, not daring to look any of us in the
eye. He was definitely the odd man out.

“
I wish I could answer the
question of why he left. It’s haunted me for more than a hundred
and twenty years.”

I was afraid to ask the next question,
but I had to. “Sophia, did you have to marry Michael
Mason?”

She nodded almost imperceptibly. “I
was like a zombie for the next two days. I couldn’t feel. I
couldn’t think. It was as if I was on auto pilot. The morning of
the wedding I thought about running away myself, but I had nothing
to run for. I’m ashamed to say it, but I even thought about taking
my own life.”

“
Oh, Sophia . . .” I didn’t
think the story could get much worse.

“
The ceremony was in the
evening. It was early November and the sun was quickly dropping
from the sky. I kept watching the road, hoping Nick would change
his mind and come back for me, but he never did. I reluctantly
exchanged vows with Michael. When he kissed me at the end, I was so
repulsed I had to turn away to keep from vomiting on him. Just the
sweaty smell of him made me sick. He leered at me every chance he
got that evening. We shared a meal with our parents and then
Jeremiah and Elsa left and Michael’s parents returned to their
nearby home. I was alone with Michael and I was so terrified I
couldn’t stop shaking.”

Sophia struggled with her story. She
still had her knees up with her arms tucked around them and rocked
back and forth as she spoke, not looking up at all.

“
When everyone was gone he
escorted me to his bedroom and started to remove his clothing. Then
he . . . he . . . he tried to remove
my
dress. I told him I was really
tired and asked if we could just turn in for the night. He told me
that I was his wife and I had to do what he said. I was there for
his pleasure. I was scared so I tried to move away from him, but he
was so much bigger and stronger than me. He grabbed me and began to
tear at my clothing. It was so humiliating. The man was old enough
to be my father. All I wanted was to get out of there and I tried
again to pull away from him, but he kept hold of me with one hand
while the other one tore at my clothes. He kept touching me all
over and it was awful. I wanted to die.”

Sophia was crying so hard she could
barely speak. Her words came out in stutters between her sobs. I
put my arm around her and she tensed at first, but then relaxed and
continued with her gruesome narrative.

“
By this time I was so sick
to my stomach that I . . . I . . . puked . . . all over the floor.
He was so angry. He slapped me and cursed at me. I fell to the
ground, but he picked me up and punched me in the face again and
again. I was bleeding, but he didn’t even care. I kept trying to
pull away and he kept trying to touch me. I hurt so bad from him
beating me that I could barely stand anymore. He finally shoved me
so hard that I completely lost my balance and fell back against the
fireplace. The poker that he used to stir the fire was propped up
against it and I fell on it. It went right through my chest. I died
instantly.”

When her story ended no one spoke. I
could hear Camille crying softly to herself and I wiped at the
silent tears that streamed down my own cheeks. Even Peter tried to
hide his emotions as he coughed, cleared his throat, and squirmed
around on the blanket.

“
Sophia, I’m so sorry you
had to go through that. No person should ever have to be subjected
to something like that. You had so much tragedy in your life. It
wasn’t fair.” My voice cracked.

“
It may not seem fair, but
that’s how it was. I’ve had a lot of years to come to terms with my
previous life and I’ve learned to live how I want to, without
anyone else telling me what to do. And now I’m ready to move on.”
She wiped the final tears from her eyes and smoothed her hair,
composing herself once more.

“
Please tell me Michael went
to prison for the rest of his life,” Camille said.

Sophia’s lips formed a
straight, emotionless line. “He claimed I tried to kill
him
with the fire poker.
He told my parents I died in self-defense. They didn’t push the
matter so the local authorities didn’t either.”

“
Could that have something
to do with your unfinished business? Maybe you need to find justice
for yourself,” I said.

“
Maybe, but I know that
Michael never came back as a ghost. When he died, he actually
died.”

Peter attempted to ease the mood by
changing the subject. I think we were all glad to have the heavy
pall lifted from our little group. “So, if you guys came here to
meet with other ghosts, what do we need to do to contact them?” he
asked.

Sophia looked up. “Nothing, really.
They’ve been watching us for hours now.”

CHAPTER 12

“
W
hat?” Camille screeched. “We’re being watched?”

“
Don’t worry. If they were
mischievous ghosts they would’ve done something by now. I think
they’ve been watching us because I’m with you. They’re probably
wondering why a ghost is hanging out with a bunch of living
teenagers—in a cemetery. I’m sure they think
I’m
the one who’s up to no good,”
Sophia explained.

“
Umm, how many are out
there?” I asked hesitantly.

“
I’m not sure. Some have
come and gone since it got dark, but there’s consistently been a
group of five watching from behind that mausoleum over there.”
Sophia pointed to a memorial about fifty yards away.

The three of us who were living looked
for the unseen spirits, turning our heads every way we could,
searching the shadows for signs of movement. The tingling feeling
in my spine returned and I began to shiver.

Peter, who was obviously a little
anxious himself, scooted closer to me and whispered, “Hey, are you
okay? Do you want to borrow my jacket?”

“
I’m fine. If I took your
jacket, what would you use?” I did my best to smile at
him.

“
I could stand up and do a
bunch of jumping jacks to stay warm,” he joked.

“
Why don’t you do that? I’m
sure we wouldn’t look suspicious at all.” Somehow it was easier
talking to him in the dark than it was in the light, when all my
weaknesses and flaws were exposed.

“
You guys wait here. I’m
going to go talk to them. Maybe one of them has been around long
enough to know if my brother is—or was ever—a ghost.”

Sophia didn’t wait for a
response. She stood and vanished in the blink of an eye. I felt a
slight change in the air and temperature around me when she did so,
as if something unseen had passed by. The three of us sat on the
blanket in silence. It wasn’t nearly as scary when Sophia was
there. After all, she
was
what we were afraid of. Without her there as a
guide, we were all a little lost.

I kept checking my watch—five minutes
passed, then ten, then fifteen. Finally, I sensed the air around us
change again and Sophia reappeared with an unknown man and woman in
tow. Camille gasped and grabbed my arm.

“
Guys, this is Simon Rowan
and Phyllis Hoffman. They’ve been hanging around here for a while,”
Sophia said.

I studied Simon and Phyllis. They
looked as normal as any human could, but I knew their secret. We
were nervous around the newcomers, but the funny thing was that I
could tell they were just as nervous talking to the three of us who
were still mortal. I wondered if they’d ever exposed themselves to
living people before.

Sophia was still talking. “Simon died
in 1926 and Phyllis died in 1935. Simon says he knew Arthur before
they both died, but neither of them have ever seen him here as a
ghost.”

I frowned. I’d thought that Arthur
might be left as a ghost because he would have the same unfinished
business as Sophia, but I guess I’d been wrong.

Simon cleared his throat and
spoke for the first time. He had a deep voice that echoed through
the gloomy cemetery. “I was ninety years old when I died,” he said
proudly. “Arthur was a good man and I enjoyed talking with him at
times around town when we were both alive. He always wondered why
he’d been left behind when everyone else in his family disappeared.
I was in my mid-thirties and remember well when the crew of
the
Mary Celeste
was lost to the sea. Rumors of what had transpired were
rampant. Everyone had a different opinion of what really occurred.
People were scared to sail with a member of the Briggs family on
board. They said the family had a curse.” At that point he realized
Sophia looked uncomfortable and he stopped talking abruptly,
obviously remembering that she
was
a member of the family of which he
spoke.

Phyllis perked up when Simon stopped
talking. “I never knew Arthur when we were alive. I wasn’t native
to Marion or even Massachusetts,” she said. “I was ailing for quite
some time before I died and I came to live with my daughter’s
family here in Marion. I had two bouts with pneumonia that almost
wiped me out, but I eventually got a little better. Then, wouldn’t
you know, I tripped over one of my grandchild’s toys and broke my
hip. I never could recover from that. The hospitals here are fine,
but had I been back in Philadelphia at least my friends and
neighbors could have come to visit. Rather than ship my body back
to Philadelphia, my daughter decided to have me buried here. It was
kind of selfish if you ask me. I would much rather be buried next
to my Harold in Pennsylvania. I lived in Pennsylvania my whole
life. Why wouldn’t I want to live there when I was dead? Of course,
the spirits in this cemetery are friendly enough and I fit in just
fine, but I don’t like leaving my body to go all the way back to
Philadelphia to visit Harold’s body. It makes me nervous. What if
something happened to my body while I was gone?”

I think Phyllis would have continued
with more useless information if Sophia hadn’t jumped in. “When I
was talking to you before, you mentioned that we weren’t the first
ghosts to ask about Arthur,” she prompted.

“
Yes. More than one,
actually. The first time was about fifty years ago. I think it was
around 1960 wasn’t it, Simon?” Phyllis asked.

“
I think that would be a
good time estimate. Two ghosts came asking about Arthur, just like
you, except they were curious if anyone else in his family was
around, too. They particularly asked about you, Sophia,” Simon
said.

“
They asked about
me?”

“
Yes, they asked if we knew
if Arthur’s sister had become a ghost and if she had been around at
all. I remember because I thought it was strange. You died, or at
least everyone thought you died, when you were two. Babies don’t
usually become ghosts,” Phyllis added.

“
What did these ghosts look
like? Maybe you knew them when you were alive, Sophia,” I said,
finally finding my voice.

“
I think they were
definitely a couple. They acted as if they were married. I would
guess that they were in their early seventies when they died. They
never gave names and I didn’t recognize them at all. Ghosts come
and go quite often, you know,” Simon said.

Phyllis jumped in again. “They looked
to be about the same age as me at death. I was seventy-two. The man
was robust and very grandfatherly. The woman was shorter, a little
plump, and had long gray hair that she kept pulled back in a bun.
I’m pretty sure I’ve caught sight of them in town every few years
ever since then, but they’ve never approached me, and it’s always
been just the two of them.”

“
Phyllis never misses a
thing around here,” Simon joked.

“
Sophia, does that
description match anyone you know?” Peter asked.

“
Not anyone that I can think
of or remember. Most people I knew were younger. I don’t think I
ever even met Jeremiah or Elsa’s parents, so I doubt it was
grandparents. Maybe it was long lost relatives I don’t remember
from when I was young—I mean
real
relatives. Phyllis, you mentioned that they
weren’t the only ones to come asking about Arthur. Who else
came?”

“
Well, it was probably a
year or two after the first couple came by. A man came and started
asking questions—only he didn’t really know what he was looking
for. He was actually asking about the other couple and if we’d seen
them. When we said that we had, he wanted to know what they’d been
doing here. He was a suspicious fellow, if you ask me,” Phyllis
added.

“
I don’t suppose he gave his
name?” Sophia asked.

“
Sorry, no.”

“
Thank you so much for your
help. Maybe I can find this couple somewhere. If you see them again
will you call me?”

Sophia scribbled her cell phone number
onto a slip of paper she pulled from her purse and handed it to
Phyllis. Then, she reached out to shake the hands of the two
accommodating cemetery ghosts. Phyllis decided to forego the
handshake and opted for a hug instead.