Delia's Shadow (7 page)

“I won’t laugh at you, either.” He smiled, rueful and appearing a little embarrassed. “If we’re going to exchange ghost stories perhaps you should call me Gabe.”

“I’d like that.” I didn’t know anything about Gabe Ryan, other than he was Jack’s best friend. But if Sadie was determined to throw us together, first names would be easier. “Call me Delia.”

Gabe sat back and listened to my tale of how Shadow came to be with me six months before and why I’d journeyed home. He nodded when I hesitated, but otherwise let me tell the story my own way. Jack listened intently, but didn’t ask any questions. They took me seriously, that much was obvious, but what they thought of the story still made me nervous. A good detective took all witnesses seriously; at least to their face.

Before I’d gotten to my nightmare, the cab was at the front of a queue of horse-cabs and motorcars waiting to drop people at the fair entrance. No one spoke until we’d all climbed out. I was just as glad not to be the center of attention, at least for the moment.

Jack squeezed Sadie’s hand. “Wait here with Gabe and Delia. I’ll pay the cabbie and see if I can get him to come back for us later.”

Sadie wore another fashionable broad-brimmed hat of blue silk to match her outfit. Peacock feathers bobbed on top and her perfect curls just peeked out round her face. She tipped her head to one side and blew Jack a kiss, flirting playfully. “I promise not to run off with strangers. Hurry, darling. I’m famished.”

I expected him to melt at her feet. Instead, Jack exchanged looks with Gabe, his smile suddenly strained, and hurried toward the driver.

We moved back from the curb to wait, Shadow hovering behind my shoulder as always. I tried my best to ignore the feel of eyes on the back of my neck and enjoy the sights. The crowd was larger than I’d imagined for a weekday evening. Men, women, and youngsters streamed through the entrance, all smiling in anticipation of an evening of wonders. I’d read in the papers that people from all over the world had come to San Francisco for the Panama-Pacific Exposition. That was an easy thing to believe.

Conversations around us were held in a variety of languages, French blending with German and Japanese, or even what I guessed might be Italian. Faces and costumes were just as varied, kimonos and saris as prevalent as skirts and evening wraps.

Spotlights played over the tallest building just inside the entrance. Multicolored glass gems hung on all the walls and tiered columns, and continued to the top of the central tower. Mounted on a mirrored backing made to sway freely in the breeze, each jewel sent sparks of light in all directions. Aptly named the Tower of Jewels, the effect was dazzling. Other buildings, each in a unique style, could be glimpsed through the entrance.

The excitement in the air was contagious. Like the wide-eyed children all around us, I didn’t know where to look first. I’d never been abroad to tour the Continent or ventured to the Near East. But if I closed my eyes and listened to the voices of the crowd, the music carried on the wind from The Zone and other attractions, I could well imagine I was in an exotic country rather than San Francisco.

I threaded my arm through Sadie’s. “This is marvelous; I’ve never seen anything like it. You were right to drag me out for an evening. What shall we do first?”

Jack rejoined us and Sadie took his arm, abandoning me with an apologetic smile. “Supper first, I really am starving. Then we can find Madame Bobet. Didn’t you say her tent was in The Zone, Jack?”

“That’s what Officer Finlay told me. She’s supposed to be in a red tent with gold banners.” He patted Sadie’s hand. “We’ll find her after supper. I have a café all picked out in the Court of Flowers. The Zone is a bit of a walk from there, but that will give us a chance to see more on the way.”

Once we got through the press near the entrance, the crowds thinned. People headed off in all directions, some rushing straight for The Zone on the far end of the fair, while other groups strolled leisurely or made their way toward one of the main exhibits.

Jack and Sadie led the way, Gabe and I a few yards behind. She always brimmed with good cheer and stood ready to take on any adventure, but in Jack’s presence Sadie positively glowed.

“They get on well.” Gabe strolled with hands stuck deep in his pockets, looking relaxed for the first time. “I’d given up hope Jack would find someone he could be himself with. I’m glad to be wrong.”

I studied my friend and her beau, head-to-head and pointing out the sights to each other. In the presence of strangers and those she didn’t know well, Sadie wore charm like armor, but she’d no need for protections or defenses with Jack. The two of them were comfortable in each other’s company. I smothered a spark of jealousy, ashamed I’d allowed the feeling to sneak in. “Sadie’s never lacked for suitors, but they all expected her to change for them. I knew right off Jack was different. She gets this besotted smile on her face at the mention of his name. I’ve never seen her so content.”

“Jack’s over the moon for her, too.” He looked away, chewing his lip. “I hope nothing happens to change that for either of them. They deserve to be happy.”

A shimmer of movement caught my eye, resolving itself into the ghost of a young woman. Her ghost was tied firmly to this world and appeared near as solid and lifelike as Shadow. She was no more than nineteen or twenty with long, dark hair loose around her shoulders. Her round face wasn’t overly pretty, but open and good natured, with large hazel eyes. Barefoot and dressed in a nightgown, she was visibly pregnant. She followed Gabe. The way she watched him and the longing in her face almost brought me to tears.

Telling Gabe would be cruel. He had no idea she followed.

Only someone he’d loved deeply and lost suddenly would haunt him that closely. Shadow appeared at the girl’s shoulder, her face a picture of sadness. I stared into Shadow’s eyes and the certainty I’d guessed right settled on me. Gabe’s wife and child had died in the quake, along with my parents.

His reticence to socialize in the face of Jack and Sadie’s happiness came into focus. Gabe wished our friends well, but their joy was a painful reminder of all he’d lost. He still grieved. I understood that all too well.

Shadow touched the young woman’s face. The ghost looked away from Gabe, startled and confused until Shadow took her hand. Light flared and they were gone.

My ghost continued to remind me how little I knew about spirits or how they moved through the world. Shadow was like the puzzle box my father kept in his study, all the secrets locked inside until you found the key piece. Talking to Madame Bobet might give me the key I needed and begin to answer some of my questions. Guessing only frustrated me.

Gabe peered at faces in the crowd, looking hard at the people we passed and unaware of ghosts, or that I blinked back tears. He noticed me watching and blushed, embarrassed at being caught out. “Sorry. Jack’s always telling me I need to learn how to be a civilian.”

“Don’t apologize. I’m curious about what you’re looking for.” The crowd was a sea of men, women, and their children to me, a few with the faint wisp of a ghost hovering near. I gestured at a couple on a bench. They sat shoulder to shoulder, but neither looked at the other. “That man and young woman sitting under the streetlamp. What does a policeman see that I don’t?”

Gabe stared for a moment and went so far as to take my arm to walk closer, stopping right in front of them. He pointed at the building behind them. “Nod and pretend I’m telling you all about the architecture.”

I did as he said, amused and wondering at the bit of playacting. We didn’t stand there long before Sadie noticed we’d stopped and called to me. “Delia, whatever are you doing? Hurry or all the tables will be spoken for.”

Gabe took my arm again, smiling and tipping his hat to the woman on the bench before we hurried to catch up with Jack and Sadie. I managed not to laugh until we were out of earshot. “Well, what did you see? Don’t keep me in suspense.”

We closed the gap with Jack and Sadie before he told me. “They’re married. I saw matching wedding bands, but no engagement ring. I’d guess they’ve quarreled and that’s why they aren’t looking at each other. Judging from his boots and her hat, I’d say they might be from someplace out of the country.” Gabe grinned. “Tourists in other words, and lucky you pointed them out to me. A pickpocket was sizing them up. I stood there that long to make sure Harry knew I was on to him. Once he got a good look and realized who was watching, he ran off.”

“Harry is the pickpocket?” I looked over my shoulder. Shadow was back and followed me, but the bench and the couple were out of sight. “I didn’t see anyone.”

“You’re not trained to notice those things.” He took my arm again briefly, putting himself between me and the crowd around a knot of musicians. “With a little practice you’d learn. Besides, I know Harry from my foot patrol days. I thought he’d retired, but I guess this crowd is too rich for him to pass up.”

Gabe was right; the temptation for a retired pickpocket would be enormous. Crowds became larger the deeper we went into the fair grounds, and it became obvious that many of the men and women around us were people of means. I could well believe that half of San Francisco society had decided to visit the exposition on the same evening. The organizers had chosen the location not only to draw in visitors from all over the world, but to entice the citizens of San Francisco to come see the sights.

Chestnut Street marked the southern edge of the fairgrounds, a wide avenue that allowed a steady stream of cabs and motorcars. San Francisco Bay bordered the northern side and on clear days gave visitors a spectacular view of sailboats skipping before the wind, or majestic steamers bound for Oakland to unload cargo from all over the world. The Presidio nestled tight against the fences to the west. Monterey cypress and redwood trees graced the slopes of the military cemetery overlooking the fairgrounds, both a beautiful and sobering sight. I’d read in the papers that they’d considered holding the Pan Pacific in Golden Gate Park, but settled on filling in the mud flats on the northern end of the city instead. Three years had gone into constructing the grounds and the buildings, a major undertaking that did San Francisco proud.

After dark, the fair appeared truly magical. Everywhere I looked was full of movement and color. Thousands of hidden, colored spotlights made the buildings glow in soft blues, reds, and greens. A barge the newspapers named the Scintillator floated on the Bay, holding an array of spotlights in seven different colors that the operators shone into the sky after sunset. Another floating platform held a locomotive that generated steam to reflect the lights from when the skies were clear. On nights fog crept in from the sea, it served the same purpose, glowing and swirling with colors.

Some reporters called the exposition the Domed City and it was easy to see why. Domes on the Palace of Fine Arts, the Liberal Arts Palace, and other buildings I didn’t yet know names for gleamed under colored spotlights. Elaborate archways led from the main buildings into the courts between, all of which were full of fountains and flowers, and the most beautiful statues.

We’d reached the café and Jack held the door open for Sadie and me. The attendant led us to a table by the window in the back corner. Candles flickered on blue saucers in the center of each white tablecloth, yellow flames swaying as we passed. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, small round electric bulbs inside crystal tulips providing soft light. The excitement I’d felt outside carried over to the diners. Couples traded bites of food they’d never tried before, smiling at the new tastes, and children grinned over dishes of ice cream.

Statues and fountains in the adjoining courtyard were lit by spotlights, cascading water catching the light and transformed into a spray of diamonds. The gardens were in full bloom, roses a soft blur of yellow and pink at the edge of the shadows. Blue and white pansies filled the window boxes near to hand, sweet alyssum billowing between the plants and hiding the soil under a carpet of tiny, white flowers. Normally I’d have thought the view peaceful and lovely.

But the courtyard was full of ghosts. Not ghosts as I normally saw them, looking as they had in life and reenacting some remembered day. These ghosts shambled, dazed and confused, covered in blood and ash. Dozens of them crowded the space near the window, wounded and dying, and looking me in the eye.

One by one the ghosts changed as I watched, turned to dust swirling on the wind or became grains of sand that streamed away, vanishing into the hourglass of years since the quake.

“Delia?” Gabe held a chair for me, a perplexed expression on his face. Sadie was already seated and pulling off her gloves, but Jack stood behind his chair, waiting for me to sit. They all watched me. “Will this seat do or would you rather sit across from Sadie?”

The ghosts were gone, the courtyard empty. Even if my companions weren’t questioning my sanity, I was.

“No, this is fine. Thank you.” I took a breath and sat across from Jack. Gabe pushed the chair in and I smiled, too embarrassed and shaken to try to put a good face on things. “You must think me quite strange. I’m not usually this distracted. Normally there’s no need to repeat things for me.”

Sadie leaned across the narrow table, hands folded at her breast and earnest as any ingénue playing Juliet on her balcony. “No one thinks you strange. Truly we don’t.”

Jack rested an arm along the back of Sadie’s chair. He regarded me just as seriously. “For what it’s worth, I believe your story about Shadow and the other ghosts. I’ve told Sadie stories about things I’ve seen late at night, especially near the docks and around Chinatown. I don’t know how to explain them, except as ghosts.” He traded looks with Gabe before turning back to me. “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a beat cop in the city who doesn’t believe in spirits.”

Shadow stood at the end of the table, hands pressed to her stomach, watching and aware of the conversation. She gave Jack special attention. For an instant I wondered if she’d grown tired of me and perhaps she’d haunt him instead. My ghost turned her head to stare at me again, as focused on making me understand as ever. Thinking she might leave was a foolish notion, one born of fear.