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“I finally have it, Thomas. I found it. I can come to you.” She lowered to her knees and placed her hands on the grass
My throat tightened, watching her reach out to her husband. This was the sad stuff; her pain was palatable. Not wanting to prolong her misery, I whispered, “How do you want me to do this?”
She continued to stare down at the grass below. “Push it into the grass in my grave, so that it’s always with me.”
Tears welled in my eyes for her and I exhaled as I knelt just off to the side of her grave. I pushed the pendant of the necklace as far into the ground as it would go with using my fingers alone.
After I tucked the chain into the hole with the pendant, a light shimmed next to me. As I turned, Victoria laid down on the ground above her husband’s grave. She never looked at me, nor did she say a word. She shut her eyes, her cheeks wet with her tears, as she whispered words I couldn’t hear.
I blinked away a tear and when my eyes cleared, she was gone. I exhaled, sitting back on my legs. Usually ghosts thanked me for my help and it was slightly odd not to have that talk before one crossed over. But it made the moment a little more special because it only proved how much Victoria had waited to be with her husband. How much it meant for her to go and join him. In the moment of her crossing, she didn’t think of me, but only of him.
I was okay with that.
In fact, I totally understood. Most times now, I only thought of Kipp. I raised my flashlight, glanced to my right, and spotted the largest headstone in the cem
etery.
William Glasgow
Husband and father
1852-1900
Victoria’s father, I assumed, because her maiden name had been Glasgow. As I stared at his name, a tingle registered in the back of my mind and I could only gawk at the headstone. The name hadn’t registered with Victoria, but now it did and I could’ve smacked myself; Glasgow was Nettie’s last name.
I scanned the cemetery, realizing I stood in the Glasgow family plot. As it appeared, by all the names on the headstones, all of Nettie’s family had been buried there. With my heart slowly pounding, I hurried through the few rows of tombstones and read each one as I passed until I finally reached the last gravestone. When my flashlight hit the name, my breath caught in my throat.
Nettie Glasgow
A daughter forever missed.
1895 –
I leaned in and looked at the bottom for the date she died, but it appeared to have been erased through time. Chunks of the stone were missing and I couldn’t read it, but in that moment, a thought struck me. “Nettie,” I called.
Silence greeted me.
Annoying me further, I had to wonder if I had just been speaking to Nettie’s sister or at least a close relative. I could’ve had the chance to ask her something about Nettie and I had let it slip through my fingers. But that only confirmed my suspicion that Nettie could still be around. If her sister or maybe cousin had been there, so could Nettie. “Nettie,” I called again.
Only darkness surrounded me.
A rustle in the trees snapped me out of my thoughts and an owl hooted in the distance, reminding me I stood in a cemetery alone. Using my flashlight, I took a quick look around me, but I only met darkness. With all that spooky business, I booked it out of the cemetery at full speed.
I didn’t look back.
I didn’t walk.
I ran.
Victoria hadn’t been wrong—the cemetery hadn’t been far away and running at full speed had me back at the front door lickety-split. I whisked the door open and hurried in. I kicked off my shoes, turned off my flashlight, and after I shut the door, I leaned over, hands on knees, and caught my breath.
When I wasn’t panting any longer, I straightened up and headed for the staircase. Before I reached the first step, Amelia strode out of the kitchen carrying a tray.
“Oh.” She froze, glanced at the front door, then started toward me again. “I was on my way to see you.” When she settled in front of me, her eyes brightened. “Did you go out and see my father?”
“No, I’m sorry,” I exhaled, continuing to settle the race of my heart. “Another ghost needed a quick favor.”
“Another ghost?” Her eyes widened before she shed the shock. “Guess it shouldn’t be so surprising someone else found you. Dane has told me quite a few ghosts reside at the house.”
