Authors: Mlyn Hurn
Kerry couldn’t help it. The woman’s soft sobs wrenched her
heart. This was Jenny, most likely. From what she had read upstairs, it was
obvious she and Broderick had loved one another. She could only guess at their
connection, or actual relationship, because she had not seen any “Jenny’s”
documented in that old Bible she’d found. Almost unaware of it, she spoke her
name out loud.
“Jenny?”
The woman didn’t stop writing, or crying. Kerry frowned,
moving closer towards the ephemeral figure. Less than two feet from the desk,
she tried again.
“Jenny? Are you Broderick’s Jenny?”
The ghostly figure continued to write, and cry. Frustrated,
Kerry spoke again. “I’ve met your Broderick, and I think the two of you have
some unfinished business between you. After all, isn’t that why any ghost
appears?”
“I must agree with you, wholeheartedly.”
Kerry swung around at hearing a voice behind her—Broderick’s
voice that is. But there was a mist there, not a man. Slowly though, the mist
began to circle and swirl, coming together more solidly until once again,
colonial Broderick was standing there.
“Is that your Jenny?” Kerry asked him quickly, and a little
impatiently. This ghost business was beginning to wear on her nerves. “Maybe
she will talk to you so we could sort this out and everyone can go rest in
peace. Some people may like ghosts flitting about, but my Broderick doesn’t see
it in real positive turns since this is going to be a bed and breakfast.”
The ghostly Broderick was now fully materialized, only this
time he was dressed in the uniform many Revolutionary War officers had worn.
There was also a large bloodstain, at what appeared to be directly over his
heart. Kerry realized that it was quite possible he had died so instantaneously
that he had almost been unaware of it. As she watched him staring at the woman,
tears appeared in his eyes.
“Yes, this is my Jenny. The woman I loved, but never
married. Dear God, Jenny! I am so sorry for not marrying you before the
fighting started. I was a fool to think there would always be time for us.”
Kerry stepped back as Broderick walked toward the misty
figure. She wished silently that she had read even more about ghosts and the
forms they took, and especially information dealing with ghosts who still had
issues to deal with! A moment later, she couldn’t stop the tears that were now
rolling down her cheeks. Broderick had gone down on one knee beside the woman.
Kerry had to lean forward and strain to hear his words. She did pause for half
a second, considering this could be considered eavesdropping, since he had
obviously lowered his voice. Scoffing at herself, she shook her head. If a
ghost started appearing, the privacy issue, in her opinion, became moot.
“Jenny, my love, if only I had known that I would never
return. What became of you, my sweet wife? You were already my wife in my heart
and my mind. I should have just damned all the gossips and married you the day
I met you because that is the day I first loved you. I would give anything to
just hold you in my arms once more, to share one more sweet kiss.”
Hastily Kerry rubbed her tears away, noticing that
Broderick’s spectral image was once again becoming less clear, and mistier.
Suddenly she had an idea.
“I hate to interrupt, but you are starting to fade.”
Broderick stood slowly, looking down at his hands. He turned
to look at Kerry. “At least you found the way to my Jenny.”
Kerry shook her head at the sadness in his voice. “I think
you played a trick on me that first night. I am guessing that you sort of took
over my Broderick’s body, in the bed. You enticed me into his bedroom with your
smoky spirit, and I think he wasn’t completely himself.”
She watched as the ghost straightened his spine, holding
himself stiffly erect. Kerry narrowed her eyelids, not accepting his affronted
image. She spoke quickly though, as she saw he was fading more quickly. “It
doesn’t matter now. I am going to walk over to Jenny and see if she will do the
same with me, or at least partly. Meanwhile, you need to go and find my
Broderick.” Kerry paused as she realized how easily she kept calling the modern
Broderick “hers.”
She stopped beside Jenny. “Is there a quicker way back out
of here?”
Broderick nodded. “In the hall, ten paces more to your
right. Push hard on the right side of the wall.” The last word was so faint
Kerry barely heard it. Once again, she was alone with Jenny.
Kerry decided to jump in, feet first, so she pulled the
chair a little bit farther out, away from the desk. Right before she sat down
on the seat, right on top of the misty ghost, she pulled the gold ring from her
pocket, clutching it in her closed fist. She didn’t feel any different as she
spoke softly. “This is your chance, Jenny. If you want to tell the man you
loved how pissed off you were at him dying and leaving you alone,
now
is
the time!”
Coldness seemed to begin seeping into her body, the same as
it had the evening she’d found the indentations in the wall. Looking down at
her hands, Kerry thought she could see mist begin to swirl around them. The
sense of chill continued until she was nearly shivering from it. Lifting her
hands, she began rubbing them up and down her arms, over the sleeves of her
shirt. That’s when Kerry realized she wasn’t rubbing cotton any longer. It was
silk, the same color as Jenny’s dress, but it was becoming a much brighter,
stronger color. The chill was fading as she stood.
As she walked toward the open doorway, Kerry realized her
feet were now in silken shoes, her sneakers having faded away. It was strange
as she walked the ten paces toward the wall…her hands reaching out, knowing
exactly where on the wall to push—
* * * * *
Broderick was still listening on the phone, staring at the
far wall of books. Less than ten seconds after hanging up from the business
call, the phone had rang again. Picking it up impatiently, he heard his
friend’s voice on the line.
“Hello, John.”
Fifteen minutes later he was still listening as John
prattled on about something. Broderick had surprised himself as he thought that
perhaps he wouldn’t open the bed and breakfast after all. His law practice here
was doing much better than he had expected, and he could easily expand it to
full time. It would be nice to have the house all to themselves for a while.
And one or two kids would be pretty cool as well, if Kerry liked the idea too.
Still, he had reasoned, perhaps he could have John run the
place for a split of profits, and eventually partial ownership. That way Kerry
and he could look into purchasing a house beyond the tourist area and, he
couldn’t help but add, away from the ghosts.
His feet were propped on his desk, not really listening to
John at all, when he saw the bookcase start to move. There was no mistaking the
appearance of a hand coming around the end of it. Broderick shot to his feet.
He hurriedly considered two plausible reasons: first, someone was breaking into
the house; or second, and more likely, Kerry had not waited upstairs for him.
“I’ll call you back, John!” he shouted into the phone, and
hung up.
He was partway across the room when he stepped into a swirling
mist. The next step he felt chilled all over, and by the third, he was dressed
in colonial finery. His hand was reaching out, but it didn’t seem like it was
his—
A woman had just stepped out from behind the bookcase. She
looked somewhat like Kerry except she was dressed in a pink dress. The style
was more than two centuries old, but the dress looked new. The stunned look on
her face as she saw him for the first time was unmistakable.
Chapter Eleven
Broderick couldn’t believe that he was alive once again. The
best part was that the oddly dressed woman’s plan must have worked, because
before him stood
his
Jenny.
“Jenny, my love! Can you ever forgive me?”
Jenny was still reeling under what was happening. She was
part of someone else, not her body, but her thoughts and feelings. She spoke
quickly. “What is going on here?”
Broderick reached toward Jenny’s hand, but she jerked it
back after just a second of warmth. He paused, seeing her confusion. That’s how
he had felt just…a few days he guessed must have passed. Or at least that is
what he had gathered from the woman who looked quite a bit like Jenny. He did
admit that seeing all that leg exposed beneath those odd clothes could have
quite an effect on a man, ghost or not.
“It’s all right, my love. I wanted to hold you once again,
and tell you how much I loved you. I need you to know that I should have
married you before I left. I was a fool to ask you to wait.”
Jenny nodded slowly. “You never came back. It was half a
year before we learned that you had.” Her voice choked on the words, the pain
as new as it had been more than two centuries ago. “That you had been struck
down, with all your men. General Washington came to the house though,
commending you and your men’s bravery. H-he was most kind in his condolences.”
“I am so very sorry, my love. I didn’t really know I’d been
struck, it was so fast.”
Jenny smiled a little, rubbing her tears away. “It’s just so
sad that you never knew—” Her voice broke as she told the man she loved with
all of her heart the truth. “You had a son, Broderick. He was born six months
after you had left. Hearing that you were gone…” tears overflowed her eyes, “I
gave birth the day after the General visited. I hesitated telling you because I
didn’t want you to worry about me…us.”
Broderick reached out and pulled Jenny into his arms,
hugging her so tightly she had to gasp to breathe. Relaxing his hold, he held
her close to his body. As they both realized what they had lost, tears slipped
slowly down both of their faces. Jenny sobbed softly, remembering how lonely
she had been in the beginning.
“You never got to hold your son in your arms, and for that I
beg your forgiveness, my husband.”
Broderick threaded his fingers through her hair, tilting her
face upward. “It is I who begs for your forgiveness. Let us forget all that,
and forgive each other. I want you to rest peacefully, with me.”
Jenny nodded her head, beginning to feel weak. “I forgive
you, and I love you with all my being. Your son would have made you proud, my
love.” She slowly leaned back and showed him the ring in her hand. “I found
this among your things, in that silly little puzzle box of yours.”
Broderick picked the ring up and slid it onto her finger. He
could see the change starting, her skin seeming paler. “I have so much to say,
my love.” He kissed her quickly, and deeply, wanting to share again, even if
for a moment only, the passion and fire they had once known together. As their
lips slowly parted, he could feel himself weakening.
“We are fading, my love. Hold me tightly, and we will leave
this world together, as we were meant to do.”
“Oh, Broderick,” Jenny whispered softly. The weakness was
growing and she felt colder with each passing moment. “I love you, now and
forever!”
Broderick’s voice was equally faint as he replied. “I will
always, and eternally, be yours.”
* * * * *
Kerry realized she was standing in Broderick’s arms. Opening
her eyes, she saw him staring down at her. Then she saw the faint swirling of
misty fog beginning to drift away from the clasped bodies. She saw the stain of
tears on Broderick’s face and she knew instantly it had worked. Together, she
and Broderick had given two other lovers a last chance to be with one another.
The feeling of sadness and joy swept over her, and she started to cry once again.
She pressed her face close to Broderick’s heart, covered thinly by his shirt.
“I love you,” she whispered without thinking.
Broderick tugged on her hair until she lifted her face to
his. “I love you too, but you are going to have to explain a few things to me.
One of them will have to be about waiting—”
Kerry grinned and nodded. “Gladly. I should have told you
what was happening, but I was afraid we didn’t have time. I just felt such
overwhelming urgency, but even now I can’t explain it. I just knew it was now,
or never.”
Broderick nodded, accepting her words. “Very well. For
tonight, I think we should close things up. We can decide later on what we want
to do about this secret passage.”
“We?”
“Yeah. I want you to hang around after the conference ends.”
Kerry frowned at him. “Hmm. Hang around? For how long?”
Broderick lowered his head toward her, whispering as his
mouth covered her parted lips. “Fifty years, but considering I’m forty, we’ll
shoot for forty years to start.”
Kerry’s heart soared at his words, even though she didn’t
get the chance until much later that night to tell him he had a deal.
Epilogue
The sun was hot today, Kerry realized as she knelt on the
ground, pulling up the stray weeds that had crept into the small area,
sectioned off by stones. Broderick was still inside going over unnecessary last
minute items with John before they made the last trip to their new home a few
miles away. As planned, John was working at the bed and breakfast full time
now.
Kerry had grown to love so many of the antique pieces about
the house that it was going to be hard to leave them. Well, it would be
difficult, as she had explained to her husband for the hundredth time, not
seeing them every day. But they had agreed it would be best to be completely
settled in the new house before the baby arrived.
Kerry shifted from her knees to her bottom with some
difficulty. She didn’t care about the grass that was clinging to her jeans.
Sitting cross-legged, she was grateful for the stretch waist. She paused in her
weed picking to rub her hand over her swollen belly. They had about seven weeks
to go and she was getting impatient. Reaching over, she pulled the last
stubborn bit of wild grass that had grown up around the stone marker she had
placed here more than a year ago.
Her golden wedding band glinted from the sunlight that
dabbled through the nearby trees. Broderick had suggested that they use the
ring purchased more than two hundred years ago, but Kerry had been too fearful
of losing it. After it was duplicated, including the inscription, they had
returned the ring to the puzzle box. Luckily Broderick had figured it out
without too much difficulty.
Kerry had had a special case constructed after their
wedding, and inside the glass display were the box, the Bible and lace hankie.
The old wooden container had been carefully cleaned and restored. On top of it
rested Jenny’s journal, which was closed, and the book of love poems, open to
one she had found that Jenny had marked carefully as her favorite.
While she weeded the garden, Kerry couldn’t help but recall
all that happened over the months following the end of the convention. In
almost no time at all she had written a story about colonial Broderick and his
Jenny. While she waited for the story’s acceptance, the contract, and then
subsequent rewrites, she had called Miznari and Natalie and left messages for
them, hoping they had returned. Both had vanished soon after the start of the
convention and their disappearances had stumped the local authorities. Kerry
couldn’t help but worry about them…until the message from Miz and the dream
about Natalie.
Kerry paused as she tugged on a particularly troublesome
ragweed, and thought about the message and the dream. The e-mail from Miz had
seemed quite strange, but Kerry had no doubt it was from her friend. In trying
to understand what had happened to Miz, she’d memorized the note:
Hey girl,
Sorry for the vanishing act, Ker. You’d never believe
what has happened since Halloween night if I told you, so I’m not even gonna
try. Don’t worry your pretty ass about me. I’m having a hell of a time, and
damn but I wish you could see me now! Tell Nat to stay loose.
Who knows, maybe one of these days the three of us will
have a chance to grab some Italian food again and gab. I’ll miss you both like
hell.
Miz
P.S. Did you finally get laid? You sure needed it,
girlfriend.
It puzzled Kerry, yet reassured her at the same time. Only
Miz could have sent that e-mail, no doubt about it. She’d tried to respond, but
the reply came back that there was no such address.
A rivulet of sweat trickled down the small of Kerry’s back
as she recalled the most amazing dream she’d had about Natalie, just days after
she’d received the e-mail from Miz. The dream had been so real, and so vivid,
Kerry was positive it had been a message from Nat.
In the dream, a world of unbelievable beauty surrounded
Natalie. The air was so clean and so fresh that everything was brighter and
more vivid than anything Kerry could have imagined on Earth. A powerful man
with black hair and tattoos beneath each eye approached Natalie. He wrapped his
arms around her and kissed her so tenderly that Kerry had felt the incredible
love between the two of them. In fact, the love had seemed to surround them
like a beautiful aura. While sensing Nat’s sadness at being unable to visit her
earthbound adoptive family, she had the overwhelming awareness that Nat was
completely happy and content.
Natalie had gone home…to the world in which she’d been born.
As the dream faded, Kerry had thought she’d seen a faerie
flitting by in the background. And the man Natalie was in love with, his
ears…had they been pointed?
Despite the bizarreness of the dream, Kerry somehow knew
that she could rest assured that Natalie was fine, and happier than she’d ever
been.
Kerry surveyed her garden as her thoughts moved away from
her friends and to her own incredible life and the past few months.
Once the royalty check for the story about colonial
Broderick and his Jenny arrived, Kerry immediately purchased a grave marker
with colonial Broderick’s and Jenny’s engraved names upon it. She had his birth
and death dates, but she could only find a reference to Jenny’s passing, so
under her name was the year only. It had seemed the right thing to do—a
remembrance of their love and devotion, cut short by war. Below the names and
dates, she had added “Together forever.”
As usual, she started to cry. Combined with her thoughts
about her friends, whom she missed, despite knowing they were happy, and the
feelings that always bubbled up when she remembered her “colonial ghost” and
his lost love. She was happy she could help them, yet sad that they had never
been a family. To her it was natural that she would cry—usually a bucket or two
according to Broderick.
“Hey! Beautiful weed picker! Are you ready to hit the road?”
Kerry turned, rubbing at her cheeks. “All done, but I need
help getting up this time.”
Broderick walked over to where she was seated and saw her
tears. Pulling her to her feet, he leaned down and kissed the tears from each
cheek. “You did a good thing, sweetheart. I have no doubt that they are
together, and happy.”
Kerry laughed, nodding her head. “I know. And
we
did
it together. I couldn’t have done it alone, remember? It’s just the regret that
they never got the chance for all we have.”
Broderick wrapped his arm around her shoulders, steering her
towards the drive where one car was parked, filled with “stuff,” and his
motorcycle. “I understand, honey. Look at it this way, my love. You have told
their story and set this marker for generations to come.” He paused and made a
sweeping gesture with his hand towards the roses, which grew behind the stone.
“Thanks to you and your research, we now have the correct version of how the
name ‘Fair Rose’ came about.”
Kerry laughed and nodded her head. “Yes, poor John. The
truth about one of your ancestors cultivating a hybrid rose wasn’t nearly as
exciting as his tale about a dashing rogue, romancing all the fair maidens in
the county, and leaving them roses.”
Broderick laughed, adding with a grin. “I imagine John will
still tell the guests his story. Now, the big decision is at hand!”
Kerry looked up at her husband, frowning at his tone. The
sweeping gesture of his hand told its own tale. “I can’t ride on that! I won’t
fit!”
“Sure you will, Kerry. The doctor said it was still safe for
you to ride, and John will drive the car over for us.” He curled his mouth
down, and Kerry saw a distinct pout before he added, “Probably the last chance
we’ll get to ride for sometime.”
Kerry looked from the cycle to the car, where John was now
standing, his arms folded as he waited patiently. Finally, she nodded her head,
but added quite seriously. “You’ll have to help me get on this black beast
first.”
Broderick grinned and helped his wife get comfortable before
seating himself. After making sure Kerry had her helmet secured, he felt her
hands come around his stomach as far as they could and then clutch at his
shirt. Powering the cycle up, he rode the short distance to the car, ignoring
Kerry’s shout of surprise. Grinning at his friend, he shouted.
“Take your time, John. We’ll be taking the long way home.”
Kerry squealed his name as the tires spun a little before
they roared towards their new home together.