Shadow of a Life (17 page)

“
Alternative ways?” I
prodded.

“
You know, things that might
not be the most honest.”

I raised my eyebrows and gave Sophia a
questioning look.

“
Jamie, please don’t judge
me. I wouldn’t do it if I had any other choice. When I don’t have
money I have to live an invisible life and that pretty much sucks.
I get so bored. When I have money I can come and go as I please and
interact with living people.” She was so defensive.

“
I’m not going to judge you,
Sophia. In the last week or so my definition of reality has been
turned upside down. I might as well reevaluate the definition of
right and wrong while I’m at it.”

“
Jack might have an honest
job right now, but we’ve had moments we’re not very proud of, too,”
Rita said quietly. “It’s pretty easy for a ghost to shoplift and
pickpocket, you know. We’ve never felt good about it, but sometimes
it has to be done if we want to live in a world where we can be
seen. We were pretty creative for a while. We discovered that if we
tried really hard we could see through lottery tickets at the
convenience stores. One of us would go to the register in our human
form while the other one would remain invisible and prompt us on
which tickets to buy. When that worked out so well we got even more
creative. Sometimes we would go to those bingo halls that are
usually only frequented by senior citizens and rig the outcome in
our favor. We convinced ourselves that most of the people there had
social security checks and retirement accounts and didn’t
really
need
the
prize money.” She stopped talking and looked right at me, gauging
my reaction.

“
That
is
pretty creative,” I said
slowly.

“
I’ve been known to dress up
in rags and beg on the street corners. You’d be surprised at what
people are willing to give you if you have the right words written
on your cardboard sign,” Sophia said. “I’m ashamed to say it, but
back in the 20s I was at a low point. I had long given up on
haunting Jeremiah and Elsa and I’d been wandering the world trying
to find a purpose. I discovered that men were willing to buy
anything for a pretty face if they were drunk enough.”

“
Sophia
. Did you . . .
prostitute
yourself?” We all turned our heads to the doorway
where Camille stood with a horrified expression on her face. I
wondered how long she’d been standing there listening.

Sophia’s face fell as if she were
hurt. “No. Of course not. I mean, I would flirt and pretend to be
interested, maybe let them kiss me once or twice so that they would
buy me things, but I would never stoop to that level, Camille. I
promise. I’ve honestly never cared about anyone since Nick left me.
Besides, this was the roaring 20s. Women were starting to be a
little looser and guys were taking advantage of it. Have you ever
heard of a speakeasy?”

“
Isn’t that where they would
sell illegal alcohol during prohibition?” Camille asked as she sat
down next to me.

“
Yes.”

I laughed out loud.

“
Why is that so funny?”
Sophia asked.

“
I’m just picturing you in a
flapper dress on the arm of Al Capone.”

“
Al Capone was overweight
and he totally wasn’t my type.”

I wasn’t sure if she was being serious
or not, so I didn’t respond.

“
I never drank at those
establishments. Actually, I’ve never drank anywhere. I watched my
parents—I mean Jeremiah and Elsa—drink enough when I was alive.
I’ve never liked the way people act when they’re drunk. It makes
them too vulnerable. I’m sure it wouldn’t affect me now that I’m a
ghost, but it’s just never seemed like the right thing to do.
Anyway, when the men were drunk they were pretty willing to give me
a wad of cash and tell me to go buy myself something
pretty.”

“
For someone who isn’t
actually living, you’ve led a pretty full life,” I said.

Sophia smiled. “I know. I’ve had some
pretty neat experiences that I wouldn’t trade for anything, but now
I feel like it’s time for it all to be done. That’s why I’m trying
so hard to finish my business and be extricated. I’ve done
everything I can here and I’m ready to know what comes
next.”

Rita reached over and squeezed
Sophia’s hand. “I’m sure you’ll know soon, honey.”

After Camille and I had eaten enough
to feed a small army, we thanked Rita for her hospitality and
announced that we’d better go home.

We started to walk out the door, but
as an afterthought, Sophia turned around and asked Rita if she’d
ever seen any ghosts around Marion that fit the description of the
couple in their seventies that Phyllis had told us
about.

She thought about it for a second and
then perked up. “Yeah. I think I know who you’re talking about.
Jack and I met a ghost couple when we were out taking a walk one
evening a couple of years ago. They would probably fit that
description. They introduced themselves as John and Elizabeth
Godfrey.”

Sophia dropped the car keys she’d been
holding and grabbed for the doorframe to keep herself from falling.
She was as pale as a—for lack of a better word—ghost.

I grabbed her arm to help steady her.
“Sophia, what’s wrong?”

She took a moment to compose herself
and then in a very soft voice whispered, “John and Elizabeth
Godfrey are the names Jeremiah and Elsa used when they were conning
people.”

CHAPTER 13

“
O
h my gosh. Are you serious?” Camille blurted out.

The four of us stood in Rita’s doorway
staring at each other, not moving.

“
For obvious reasons the
Goodwins couldn’t use their real names, so they went by John and
Elizabeth Godfrey. Sometimes they would force me to be part of the
con. A decently dressed couple with a young child in tow was always
believable. They made me call myself Suzanne Godfrey,” Sophia
explained. “The last time I haunted them they were in their
fifties. I never actually saw them die so I didn’t know when it
happened. Apparently they found each other in death.”

“
Sophia, it terrifies me
that they’ve been to town multiple times looking for you and your
family,” I said.

“
It scares me, too. If
they’re anything like they were when they were alive, they aren’t
the type of ghost you want to be around.”

“
What do we do now?” Camille
asked.

“
I guess we just keep doing
what we’ve been doing and keep our eyes open. I sure wish it was
possible to make
myself
invisible from ghosts. You two shouldn’t have to
worry, they won’t know who you are or that you’re trying to help
me. We’ll have to limit how much I’m seen with you in
public.”

We said our goodbyes to Rita, who
promised to keep watch for us, and climbed into Sophia’s car. She
was unusually quiet on the drive to our side of town. I thought
about Sophia’s situation and couldn’t help but wonder if Jeremiah
and Elsa were supposed to be part of her extrication process. I
kept my thoughts to myself as we dropped Camille in her driveway
and headed for my house. I said goodbye to Sophia and promised to
call her later—after I’d showered and changed my clothes. I found
my dad sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop in front of
him. He was concentrating and did little more than greet me as I
walked through the room and headed for the stairs and a warm bath.
While I waited for the tub to fill with water, I texted Peter and
let him know about the latest development. I was sitting on the
counter in my bathroom and I jumped when my phone started playing
the song that was my latest ringtone.

“
Hello?”

“
Jamie?”

“
Peter?”

“
How was your night? Where’d
you guys go after you dropped me off?”

“
It was fine. Sophia’s been
staying with a couple of friends on the other side of town and we
spent the night on their couches. They were really friendly. I
think you’d like them.” It felt weird to be talking to the boy I’d
been in love with for years while I sat on my bathroom counter
waiting to get into the tub. I grabbed a towel from the rack and
wrapped it around me, as if he could actually see through the
phone.

“
Do you really think that
the mystery couple might be Sophia’s kidnapping pirate
parents?”

I laughed at his description. “Yeah,
we’re pretty sure it is. It would make sense.”

“
What are you going to
do?”

“
I think we’re just going to
continue what we’re already doing and try to avoid them if they
come back to town.”

“
Okay. Keep me posted. And
Jamie, I really had fun last night. It was nice to hang out with
you.”

“
You, too.”

There was an awkward silence
for a few seconds before Peter said goodbye and we hung up. I was
utterly happy. Part of me hoped that Sophia would never finish her
business so that I wouldn’t have to say goodbye to her
and
I would continue to
have an excuse to spend time with Peter.

I stayed in the bathtub until my whole
body was as wrinkled as a prune and my dad knocked on the bathroom
door, interrupting my thoughts.

“
Are you okay in there?” he
asked.

“
I’m fine. I was just about
to get out,” I called back through the door.

“
I have to pick up some
papers at my office. Are you interested in coming with
me?”

I thought about it for a
second. I’d been wondering what happened to the
Mary Celeste
after the Dei Gratia
towed it to Italy for salvage rights
all
those years ago
.
The information I searched on the internet was vague on the
subject. Newton University, where my dad worked, had an excellent
research library. I needed an excuse to look through their
material.

“
Sure. Just give me a little
time to get ready.”

I quickly dried off and
dressed in clean clothes. The one feature I did like about myself
was my legs. It was easier to show them off in the summer when you
could wear shorts every day. I pulled on a pair of red walking
shorts with a white t-shirt. The shirt wasn’t fancy, but it was
gathered in the sleeves and had a feminine neckline. I thought I
looked pretty good in the outfit. I used the blow dryer on my hair
and pulled it up on the sides with two silver butterfly barrettes.
I applied a little eye makeup and examined myself in the mirror one
last time.
If only Peter could see me this
way instead of bundled up in a dark cemetery . . .

The drive to Dad’s office in New
Bedford was relaxing. Instead of taking the I-195 like he usually
did, he took the slightly longer route past the cemetery and
through the town of Mattapoisett. Technically, our high school was
across the border in Mattapoisett, but we still claimed it. I liked
that route better because you could see more life than you could
while driving on a busy interstate. I especially liked the part
where the road crossed over the Acushnet River and I could look out
over Buzzards Bay with water as far as I could see. I’d always felt
like the sea held mystery. After meeting Sophia, I had become part
of that mystique.

We pulled into Dad’s reserved parking
space in front of the administration building and got out of the
car. The campus was well-maintained and had many tree-lined
sidewalks around the buildings. I’d enjoyed visiting campus with
Dad ever since I was little. I figured there were only three more
years until I would be a student there. I informed Dad that I
wanted to look something up in the library and would meet him at
his office soon. He agreed and we parted ways.

I walked across a large
common area to the two-story library and entered through the front
door. Only a few students milled about outside, and the library
itself was almost completely void of life. I guess I shouldn’t have
been surprised. After all, it was a Sunday afternoon
and
it was Memorial Day
weekend. I sat down at a reference computer and typed in the
name
Mary Celeste.
A few options came up, but most of the books were the same
ones I’d found at our little library in Marion. I continued to
scroll down the screen until I saw a reference number for a
maritime research journal that I hadn’t seen anywhere else before.
I scribbled down the number on a piece of paper I found next to the
computer and walked up and down the aisles until I found the
journal. The magazine was wrapped in a plastic protective cover,
its pages tight and crisp as if it had never been opened. I scanned
the library for a place to sit and chose a table near a large
window in the back. I hurriedly skimmed the table of contents,
flipped to the pages about the
Mary
Celeste,
and soon found myself completely
engrossed in the article.

When the
Mary Celeste
was brought back to
America after it was found adrift, the owner sold it and the ship
changed hands many times over the next thirteen years or so. The
final Captain was a man by the name of G. C. Parker. He was in over
his head and decided to purposely sink the
Mary Celeste
so that he could collect
insurance money from her. He ran the ship into a reef off the
western coast of Haiti in 1885, but the ship
still
failed to sink completely and
he was found out. Captain Parker went to trial for fraud and the
ship was eventually burned down to the waterline, its remains
slowly sinking down into the ocean.
But
, in 2001 it was rediscovered off
the coast of Port-au-Prince by some sort of research
team.