This is not good, Jack thought. This is definitely
not in the plan. If I can’t figure this
out, Derek Rayne is not only gonna hold me responsible, he is also gonna hate
me for the rest of my life and his life,
and he’ll probably come back an’ haunt me.
I’ll never have an undisturbed night’s sleep again.
“Bartholomew ..? That’s your name, right?”
“It is,” Alex said.
“Okay. I’m Jack, in case you’d forgotten. And the lady whose body you’re in is called Alex. That’s the introductions done. Um .. I have to ask, okay? Is this permanent?”
“What if it is?”
“Well .. for one thing, there’s the
whole gender issue,” Jack replied.
“You’re a guy and Alex isn’t.
And .. she has a life of her own.
Then, well, let’s be honest here.
I am gonna get blamed for this.
This will be my fault.” I can’t
believe I’m going to do this, Jack thought.
“If you wanna use someone’s body, use mine.”
“For now, I will remain here.”
Damn … I make an offer like that – which is something I do not do every day – an’ he turns me down
flat. This is like the good ol’ bad ol’
days when I was a nobody.
“All right, but the offer is still
open. You remember that, okay?”
“I will remember. I remember everything.”
Jack nodded slowly. “Is that good?”
“No,” Alex said. “It hurts.”
“I can see this is going to be a long
night. Do you wanna talk here? Or shall we go back to the cabin, get
something to eat, have a beer, get comfortable?”
“Yes.
It’s been some time since I did any of those things.”
“Then let’s go.”
Jack took a few steps along the path
and waited. Alex followed, her
movements rather stiff, as if she wasn’t familiar with walking.
What do I do? What do I do, Jack thought, his mind running
on circular tracks. How do I get him
out? How do I get Alex back? If I tell Derek and the others that I lost
her .. Nick Boyle is going to get very
personal with me. Well, Jack, I suggest
you do what you’re good at doing. Talk
to him. If nothing else, he may leave
just to get away from the sound of your voice.
“Why’d you choose Alex an’ not me?”
Alex stumbled and halted. Walking and talking at the same time didn’t
appear to be easy.
“She is receptive. She has been trained to provide this
service. She made herself a willing
vessel.”
“But it is only temporary, right?”
“For now, yes.”
“Okay. Look, um, I’ll talk, you walk, or we’ll be out here all night.”
“Very well.”
“You want a hand?”
“I already have two.”
“Ah, funny guy,” Jack muttered and set
off again. “You been waiting for people
like us a long time? No, don’t answer
that. You remember everything so ..
just store up the questions an’ answer them in one hit. Something else I’d like to know is .. why
give me three memories from someone else?
An’ why those three? Did you
choose ’em at random? I’m a psychic too
.. well, obviously, cos we’re having this conversation. I suffer from ghosts a lot. You do realize you’re a ghost, don’t
you? Not all of ’em do, y’know. It comes sometimes as a startling revelation
.. an’ maybe I should’ve said that you are with a touch more gentleness.”
He glanced back but Alex was doggedly
marching stiffly along the trail.
“I’ll take that as a yes, you do
know. You’re one of the founders. I just wanted to say that .. Gretna’s a
lovely place. You did a great job. It healed me of my memory loss .. or maybe
you did that. As you’re the memory
expert, it most likely was you. Noah
says to tell you that he misses you, your company, the conversations you used
to have with him. He also said that he
doesn’t care why you didn’t go on. He
does care that you’re in pain, an’ he wants to help you but, if you wanna stick
around a while longer, that’s fine with him.
Hey, here we are in the garden.
Not far to go now. Bartholomew, Alex
is my friend. I have to ask that you
take care of her. Don’t go making her
do stuff which’ll hurt her, okay? That
is very important. If she gets hurt,
her friends will hurt me. I’m not
kidding here. They’ve already
threatened me with that an’ the guy who said it is more than capable of doing what he said.”
Jack thought about those words. “Don’t misunderstand. I don’t care that I’d get beaten to a
pulp. I care why it would happen. Alex …
I don’t deserve to have her as a friend but she is and .. I don’t want
to lose that. She keeps me on the
straight an’ narrow. I’ve done bad
things in the past but meeting Alex turned me around. It was a long, slow turn, true, but it happened and .. if she
wasn’t there, I’d have no reason not to go back. Each day, each choice I make .. at the back of it all there’s
this little voice saying ‘will Alex be disappointed?’ If I lose her, that little voice will die away.”
He pushed open the door to the
lounge. “Come on in an’ make yourself
at home. Beer, right? An’ something to eat … I have to tell you, I am not the world’s
greatest cook but I guess, after you’ve been dead for a few years, just about
anything’s gonna taste good.”
Alex sat on the sofa. “To answer your questions – ”
“Let me get that beer for you.” Jack vanished into the kitchen and closed
his eyes. He took several deep breaths
to calm his racing heart.
I have no idea what I’m doing. Alex knows this stuff better than me. Should I call someone? Derek ..?
No. No, not Derek. He’ll only tell Nick an’ then they’ll come
up here. Not a good plan. Peri. I could .. no. I don’t have her number.
And she’d probably only send the scary one.
He took two bottles from the icebox
and popped the tops.
Who else ..? Noah. He’s expecting a
call. He has no more idea than I do but
that’s okay. Between us, we’ll feed
each other’s confidence. Ask the right
questions.
Jack returned to the lounge.
“Beer.” He didn’t give a toast.
‘Good health’ wasn’t really an appropriate thing to say to a ghost. Neither was ‘here’s mud in your eye’.
“To answer your questions,” Alex
repeated. “I haven’t been waiting
long. A few years, no more. I gave you those memories because I wanted
to draw attention to the fact I’m here.
Those three memories specifically were not chosen at random. I thought you might appreciate them. I do realize I’m a ghost, yes. I remember my death. I will not hurt your friend. I am .. making use of her.”
“On a temporary basis.”
Alex tilted her head. “You appear to be persistent on that
subject.”
“Yes.
I am, because Alex would want me to be persistent on that subject.”
She nodded. “It’s temporary.”
“That
is a load off my mind. Let me get
supper on the go. Is there anything
you’d like?”
She smiled. “When you’ve been dead, anything tastes good .. so long as it
isn’t raw or burned.”
“Gotcha. I’ll be right back.
Oh! Is there any objection to me
calling Noah an’ asking him to swing by – ”
“Yes.
Tonight, I will speak with you.
Tomorrow .. is another day.”
Jack nodded. “So .. this temporary thing is a little extended.”
“Yes, but still not permanent.”
“Fine. Just so we both understand.”
He went back to the kitchen and
started opening cupboards.
“I would like to take a shower.”
Jack froze. “I’m not sure if Alex would want you to do that.”
“I am taking care of her, Jack. I will not harm her.”
He wasn’t sure what to say. “Can you do it with your eyes closed?”
“I will not abuse this privilege.”
“Okay.” I just hope she understands …
He put water on to boil for pasta,
then began to slice tomatoes and mushrooms to go in a sauce. There was jar of something he could warm
over. Not cordon bleu but it would be
edible, or so he hoped.
Actually, I’m not on my own here. Alex and I discussed what to do. She may not be here in spirit but .. she is
here in person. Just looking at her
… Okay, I can do this.
While he worked, Jack thought over all
the questions he should ask. He had to
phone Noah as well.
Do that first. Let the guy get some sleep. One of us might as well have a decent night.
He found Alex’s cell phone and punched
out Noah’s number. It rang twice before
a breathless voice said, “Yes?”
“Noah, it’s Jack,” Jack said, and
realized he didn’t know what to say.
“Did you see him again?”
“No, I didn’t. But he was there, and I spoke with him. I passed on your message.”
“Did he say anything?”
Jack pursed his lips. “I didn’t hear his voice,” he replied. “Noah, these things take time, okay? I’m making progress.”
“Is Alex there?”
“In the shower,” Jack said. “I wanted to call so you wouldn’t sit up all
night. I’ll call again in the morning,
I promise.”
“Okay,” Noah sighed. “Thanks, Jack.”
The line went dead.
Wow, that was easier than I
expected. There is something to be said
for total honesty after all.
When Alex returned to the lounge, in
pajamas and robe, Jack had supper done.
“Hope you like it,” he said.
“Bartholomew .. I have some questions I need you to answer. We’ll do it while we eat an’ then I think we
could both use a good night’s sleep.”
“I agree.”
“Good! That’s great. Okay, Alex
said that .. she connected with you and she sensed your emotions. She said .. you’re in a lotta pain. Is that a residue of .. when you first came
here?”
“No.
It is because I lived here.”
“In Gretna. But you told me Gretna has the power to heal. How can it hurt as well?”
“This is good food,” Alex
remarked. “Gretna and I were in
balance. If I had lived elsewhere, the
pain would’ve overwhelmed me. As it is,
or was, living here caused me deep anguish which the valley kept from
incapacitating me.”
Jack nodded, not understanding a
word. “So .. do you think the reason
you haven’t gone on is because you need more time in the valley? Do you think you died too soon?”
“I’m not aware of thinking that but it
may be true about needing more time.”
“Then there isn’t really a
problem. You have plenty of time. You could even go live with Noah.”
“No.
I only have a few days at most.”
“Why?” Jack frowned.
“Because, after that, you’ll leave.”
“An’ you’ll have to give up Alex’s
body.”
“Yes.
And it is your vacation. I am
aware that .. I’ve usurped it. I’m
sorry. If there hadn’t been an
important reason, I wouldn’t have done it.”
“It’s okay. We’re making good progress here.” Jack chewed for a few moments.
“Why did you come back?”
Alex took a mouthful of beer and
swallowed it with relish. “I think it
is because I have things to say.
Without .. this, this vessel to speak for me, I am a voice crying in the
wilderness.”
“Unfinished business?” Jack suggested.
“Not exactly. More .. ongoing business.”
“Not with me or Alex.”
“With the people of this community.”
Jack leaned forward. “How can we help?” he inquired.
“Alex is already helping. You can help by calling a meeting in the
community hall. I will address them.”
“All right. I’ve only been here a few days.
Will they listen to me?”
“They must,” Alex replied.
*****
Jack went to bed a confused but
satisfied man. A lot was rolling around
his head and he thought he’d lay awake for hours trying to make sense of it all
but he slept quickly. He didn’t expect
to dream but he did. He dreamed he was
standing by the pond. It was
daytime. The sun sparkled on the
water. The air was still and warm.
“It’s all right, Jack,” Alex
said. “I’m fine. It has to be this way.”
She sat on the ground, leaning against
a tree trunk.
“But .. I don’t want to lose you,
Alex.”
“You won’t. You haven’t. I’m just
resting for a while. It’s like sleeping
but not.”
“Are you aware of what’s going on?” he
frowned, turning toward her.
“Distantly. Vaguely. It’s like a
dream to me. This is more real.”
“Will you come back?”
“When the time’s right.”
“Can I wait here with you? Just for a while. I miss you. I don’t know if
what I’m doing or saying is right. I
could be making everything worse.”
She smiled at him. “Your heart is your best guide. It’ll tell you if something is right, or
wrong. Sit with me. Let yourself be healed.”
“I’m not sick,” he said but he sat down
anyway.
“Gretna has a power. It’s in the soil, the air, in everything
which grows here. It’ll heal you, if
you let it.”
“But .. I don’t need .. to be healed.”
“Close your eyes. Rest.”
He leaned back against the tree. “Alex .. I do love you, you know.”
“I know, Jack.”
“I had to tell you. I can say it here cos this is a dream. It’s the one thing I can never say when I’m
awake. Never.”
“I know.”
He closed his eyes. “It hurts that I can’t tell you that.”
“But you have told me so now it doesn’t
hurt any more.”
“No .. it doesn’t,” he said with a
smile.
*****
Jack woke to birdsong and the smell of
bacon frying. He smiled broadly. Alex was back! He rose quickly, pulled on a robe and ran into the lounge.
“Alex!”
She turned to look at him with dull,
blank eyes. “It is not her,” she said.
“But .. you’re cooking,” Jack pointed
out.
“I cooked when I lived. I have not forgotten how.”
“You might’ve mentioned that last
night.”
“This is my way of saying I’m sorry,
and thank you.”
Jack sat down, his mouth watering
despite every attempt to stop it. “How
do I go about calling this meeting?”
There was a knock on the front
door. Sighing, Jack got up again and
went to get it. It was Jason.
“Jack, good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah, I did. Thank you.
Is that the list of demands?”
Jason flushed. “You’ve spoken with Noah. They aren’t demands. They’re questions, albeit possibly phrased a
little harshly. We’re not experienced
in this kind of thing. We’d like your
help.”
“Sure,” Jack agreed brightly. “Come on in. I’m just about to eat breakfast.”
“This late?”
“What can I say? The fresh air .. knocks me out.”
Jason nodded. “I forget that effect. When I first came here .. yeah, same thing
did happen to me. After that wore off,
I used to lay awake for hours because it was so quiet. Well, it wasn’t, not really. It’s more that I was used to traffic noise
and, suddenly, it was the wind in the trees, the screech of an owl. And it was so dark. Alien sounds, alien world. Quite scary.”
He went with Jack into the
kitchen. Jack watched Alex
carefully. To him, the change stood out
a mile.
“Hi, Alex. I hope all this domesticity isn’t blunting your edge,” Jason
remarked, apparently ignorant to the fact that Alex wasn’t herself.
“It’s okay. I don’t get much chance to cook where I usually live.”
Nice answer, Jack considered as he
resumed his place and picked up his fork.
“Here’s the list,” Jason said and
passed the paper across the table.
“What list?” Alex asked.
“The list of questions we want
Bartholomew to answer,” he replied.
“You and Jack are the only people in town who can interact with
ghosts. We’ve never had this situation
before. When our residents pass on,
they don’t come back. Or maybe they do
but we just don’t know it. It means
we’re a little at a disadvantage on how to cope with this. Noah, Dominic and I talked it over yesterday
and didn’t really get anywhere.”
Jack read down the list – it didn’t
take very long. “Yeah, I can see
that. This is a list of demands,
Jason. You don’t demand answers from
ghosts. You ask questions. You have to be gentle in your approach.”
“Those are questions.”
“May I?” Alex took the sheet of paper.
“Why have you come back? What do
you want from us? What more do you
need?” She glanced at Jason. “I could answer these.”
“I don’t doubt your specialist
knowledge, Alex, but we need to know from Bartholomew.”
“We spoke with him last night,” Jack
explained. “I asked .. kinda the same
questions.”
“What did he say?” Jason inquired.
“He wants a meeting called in the town
hall, or whatever. He’ll talk to
everyone.”
“When?”
“As soon as possible. This afternoon,” Alex said.
Jason shook his head. “This is high season for us. We can’t close down in the middle of the day. We got buses arriving for lunchtime. I could maybe get people to close early, say
.. four thirty?”
“The meeting will begin at five,
sharp,” Alex declared.
“How do you know?” Jason
wondered. “Will you .. summon him?”
“He’ll be there,” Jack responded. “We don’t need to summon him, he’s already
on this side. And .. as he asked for
the meeting, I suspect he’ll know why people are all going to the town hall. People don’t become stupid after they
die. They’re only stupid if they were
stupid in life.” He leaned back. “Life an’ death are .. two sides of the same
coin. There’s a .. outer corporeal
casing and an inner eternal spark. A
spirit. Death only happens to the outer
part. The spirit is free to .. move on,
if it wants to. Some don’t. In my experience,” Jack opined profoundly,
“the saddest ghosts are those whose outer bodies died when they were
asleep. Don’t we say it’s the best way
to go? Maybe, for the shell, it
is. But, the thing is, the spirit often
isn’t aware that its shell is dead.
They go on for years doing the same routine every day because they just
don’t realize they’re free.”
Jason nodded. “Is Bartholomew one of these?”
“No,” Jack admitted. “He told me he remembers his death. He knows he’s a ghost.”
“Why did he come back?” Jason frowned.
“He said .. he has ongoing business.”
“Such as?”
“I expect he’ll tell you at the
meeting,” Jack replied, and Alex nodded.
*****
“Sure, I can close up early,” Dominic
agreed. “Business gets pretty slow
after four anyway. What’s the reason
for the meeting?”
“Bartholomew,” Jason replied.
“We’re gonna tell everyone an’ then
decide what to do.”
“No, he’s going to talk to us.”
“What about?” Dominic frowned.
“I don’t know,” Jason said and Dominic
could hear the shrug in his voice. “I
have a lot of calls to make. I have to
go.”
“Okay.” He hung up and went back to preparing lunch. Noah leaned against the counter. “Jason,” Dominic told him at the raised
eyebrows. “Town meeting, today at
five. Bartholomew’s gonna talk with
us. He doesn’t know what about.”
“Oh,” Noah remarked. “I’m not sure if this is good news or bad,
Nic.”
“Could be nothing. Shooting the breeze. I mean .. since he died, we haven’t let the
place go to wrack an’ ruin. Yeah, he
was a founder but he wasn’t our leader.
He didn’t ever tell us what to do.
When he died .. we went on with life.
Yes, we missed him. I’m not
heartless nor am I insensitive. To be
straight with you, I could have done with him outliving me. He knew what he was doing, Noah. I wasn’t sure, not at first, an’ I was never
as good as he was. I don’t think we
have anything to worry about.”
Noah hunched his shoulders. “We voted to change. We stopped using the secret weapon. We opened up Gretna an’ invited the world to
come visit.”
“Yes, we did. I was against it, as you know, but it was
the right choice to make. I wouldn’t go
back to how it was before. We were scared
every time a stranger came here. It’s
better now.”
“Sure, I agree. But Bartholomew may not see it our way. Maybe Gretna doesn’t see it that way
either. Maybe that’s why he came back.”
Dominic checked the time. “We could second guess all day but the facts
are that I have a busload of visitors arriving in less than an hour and that
we’ll find out later this afternoon why Bart came back. My priority right now is lunch. You gonna help or are you gonna prop up the
counter an’ just get in my way?”
Noah smiled. “I’ll help.”
*****
Jack found himself being a mixture of
guide and guest during the early afternoon period. Some of Gretna was newly built and Bartholomew didn’t know
it. Fortunately, they were the parts
Jack knew well.
“Visitor accommodation,” Alex mused,
pausing to study the cabins. “Why so
far from the center of town?”
“I’m not sure about that,” Jack
answered, his knowledge only a few days old.
“I can guess that the town’s residents didn’t completely trust the
visitors so kept them a little distant.
Maybe people wanting to stay in the valley was unusual. Maybe they came here on a day trip, liked
the place, an’ decided to come back for a while. All I know is that .. it’s different now. Alex an’ I came here from California an’
Nevada, respectively, for a week’s vacation during which we were going to try
new things. Stretch ourselves. Alex tried channeling. And I tried to cope with my past being given
back to me.”
He glanced round. “Did you do that? Did you .. give me roses in December?”
Alex frowned. “I don’t know that saying.”
“Some writer, I think, once said we
have memories so we can have roses in December,” Jack explained. “In a .. horticultural sense, roses don’t
bloom in the winter so it’s nice to remember them. I suppose what he meant was .. when we’re old, we have a lifetime
to look back on. We can take pleasure,
find joy in what we did in the days of our summer.”
“Oh.”
“Of course, my past wasn’t a rose
garden. It was a patch of weeds. Poison ivy.
Poison sumac. Colony of fire
ants in there as well,” Jack went on.
“Still .. it is my patch of
weeds. I’d rather have that than .. a
bunch of artificial roses. I know who I
am now.”
Alex nodded slowly.
“What about you? Was your life a rose garden?”
She hesitated. “More yes than no, but roses have
thorns. For every good thing I
remember, there is a bad thing. I did
have roses in December but the thorns scarred me.”
“This part of town right here – ” Jack
began.
“I know this area. Residents’ housing. I wanted to open up some land out to the
east, between the valley and the road, not for housing but for food
production. I think I have a farmer’s
blood in my veins. We decided at the
start that Gretna would be self-sufficient, as much as it could. We also wanted it to grow, to expand. A limited population could sustain
itself. If it were to expand as we
hoped, we would need more. And it was
likely that, at some point in the future, Gretna would be home to special and
regular people, living side by side.
Children would be born here who did not inherit the gift of one or both
parents. To cope with that level of
population, we would need a farm, a market garden. But I died before I could begin.
People should experience working the land, Jack. It’s very satisfying, even with the climate
control we have here.”
Jack nodded politely. He couldn’t persuade a window box to produce
a single flower. His yard at his house
in Vegas was pool, deck, and concrete sun trap. His agent had given him some green thing in a container for
Christmas one year. It had been dead by
the following Easter. But Jack appreciated
what Bartholomew was saying and he admired those who could grow things.
“You think maybe the farm idea could
be your unfinished business?” he suggested.
Alex shook her head. “It’s a regret, nothing more. As much as we might want to, we can’t do
everything in the span of one life.
Some things, by necessity, must be regrets at life’s end.”
“You could remind them of the idea,”
Jack pointed out. “Have them call it
the Bartholomew Memorial Farm, or something.”
“Yes, I could. Thank you.”
By now, they were approaching the
northern end of Main Street.
“How much has changed here?” Jack
asked.
“Things look brighter. Fresher.
Apart from that .. not much. The
gallery is still popular, and so it should be.
Noah is a talented artist in his own right. The emporium too is a magnet.
The computers in Nathan’s store look smaller than I remember but that is
modern technology for you. Time passes
and things shrink. It is true for
machines just as much as it is for people.”
Jack grinned, liking his sense of
humor. “We got time to kill. You want coffee?”
“Yes.
A seat by the window so I can watch the world go by.”
They crossed the street and continued
to stroll. The day was lovely again;
calm, not a breath of wind, not too hot.
Jack found it difficult to recall Vegas. The traffic, the noise, the people, the casinos, the constant
coming and going. Here, life ran at a
very different pace. He realized that
he had not seen one resident in a hurry since he’d arrived.
“Where did you used to live?” he
asked.
Alex thought about it. “Not in town. I had a cabin in the woods, over on the west side. It’s more exposed in winter so not many live
that way. As much as I loved this
place, I couldn’t live among people, Jack.
I needed solitude. Space. Room to be myself. All my life, I was never alone in my own head. I was born in a city, in the United
States. At first, I considered becoming
a monk, not because I was particularly religious but because I needed the
silence. Then I thought about being a
modern day hermit. Eventually, I just
kept walking, leaving civilization behind, hoping the wilderness would claim
me. And I found Gretna. It was calling to me. All I did was answer.”
“And it began to heal you.”
“I guess so. Life became easier. I suppose
that was Gretna’s influence. I found
friends and they helped me a lot. I’d
never had friends before.”
Jack nodded, understanding
completely. “At first, I couldn’t trust
them. I thought they wanted me for
something they wanted. I couldn’t accept that they were trying to
help me. Sometimes, you do have to be
cruel to be kind. I was on the road to
self-destruction .. and they pulled me over, read me my rights, gave me a
warning an’ let me go. I think it was
then that I started the long haul back.”
Alex regarded him. “You speak of yourself or of me?”
“That was me,” Jack admitted. “I don’t know that much of your life here to
be able to comment.”
“Then I will. We have a lot in common, Jack. You could easily find a home here.”
“It’s been growing on me, I must
admit.”
They ambled on to the diner.
“What would you do here? How would you contribute?” Alex asked.
“That’s the thing. I don’t have any practical skills.”
She smiled. “You wouldn’t have survived this long without them. What did you do before?”
Jack pushed open the door and
the bell tinkled merrily. “I was a con
man. I was a fake psychic. I used to trick people into thinking they
were being haunted when they weren’t, an’ then they’d pay me to get rid of the
ghost they didn’t have.”
“And you did all this by simple
persuasion?”
“Oh no. I had a very sophisticated smoke an’ lights show. Projector.
Photo of some old Civil War soldier or someone’s great grandmother. I’d make up a story about them. I have to say, it looked pretty genuine.”
“Did you build this machine?”
“Not all of it. Some, sure.”
“Then you understand components. Electricity. You could be an electrician.
Or, what might be better for a former showman, you could run a movie
theater for us. Not every night. One or two nights a week.”
“I … ” Jack’s mouth closed then opened again. “Yeah, I could do that.
Easily, I could do that.”
“What can I get you guys?” Dominic
asked.
“Two coffees, two of your pecan
pastries. An’ a pad an’ pen,” Jack
said.
*****
“Financing.”
Alex shook her head. “Gretna doesn’t run on cash. Yes, the stores make money but that is
translated into goods we cannot make or grow for ourselves. Fuel for the generators, for instance.”
“Maybe I can invest some of my own
money an’ I could approach some friends.
It is for a good cause.”
“Would they need to visit?” Alex
frowned.
“They already have,” Jack grinned.
“I’m gonna have to throw you out now,”
Dominic remarked. “We’re closing early
today. Big meeting.”
“Is that the time?” Jack exclaimed as
Alex rose. “Wow, I never realized it
was so late.”
“Time flies when you’re enjoying
yourself,” Alex commented, stepping into the sun-filled street.
“I can’t believe this,” Jack murmured,
staring at the page of scrawled notes. “I
just sat down.”
“It was over two hours ago. Believe me.”
“No way.”
“Jack, you’re used to the pace of city
life. Everything rushes by but time
stands still. There is always too much
to be done and everything needs attention all at once. Here .. there is time to concentrate on one
thing. It seems to me you need a
change. You were having fun, exploring
a new challenge. Time only drags when
you find life tedious.”
“And .. I could have a house an’
friends an’ all I have to do .. is this?” he queried, raising his notes.
Alex smiled. “It wouldn’t be that easy.
You’d have to arrange for a theater to be built. There isn’t one. You’d have to find a suitable spot for it, discuss it with the
other residents, get everything agreed, negotiate for their help in the
construction.”
“I could do that?”
“Here, you can do just about
anything.”
“Except make it a drive in,” Jack
commented with a grin. He halted. “You’d better go on over there.”
“You aren’t coming?” Alex frowned.
“Your business isn’t really my
business. You have Alex to be your
go-between.”
“It’s a meeting for residents,” she
responded.
“An’ I’m a visitor,” Jack pointed out.
“Only for now.”
He hesitated. “Maybe .. I could sit at the back.”
“Maybe you could,” Alex agreed.
She crossed the street and paused to
read the notices on the board while people moved past her and filed
inside. Then, at four fifty five, Main
Street was like a ghost town. Nothing
moved. It was as if they’d all just ..
vanished away.
“It’s time for us to go in,” she said.
Alex pulled on the door and entered a
lamp lit gloom and the soft mutter of many private conversations. Jack slid onto a chair and leaned forward,
his hands clasped loosely between his knees, determined to listen and not take
part. He didn’t have the right. Alex walked the length of the central aisle
and mounted the steps to the low stage.
Jason got to his feet and faced the
crowd. “Everyone, it’s five o’clock,
this meeting of the residents of Gretna is now in session. Good evening. Welcome.”
Heads nodded, greetings were returned.
“Most of you already recognize
Alex. For those who don’t, Alex is a
member of an organization called the Luna Foundation which is based in San
Francisco,” Jason went on. “They investigate
the paranormal in just about every aspect.
They’re extraordinarily qualified to do that because .. well, they could
live here. They came to investigate
Gretna and we made a friend. Alex is
here at the moment on vacation .. at least, that’s how it started. It seems to have been sidelined by a recent
discovery. Bartholomew, a former
resident who died several years ago, has returned and is haunting us. He has requested us to meet here today so he
can talk with us.” Jason glanced back
over his shoulder. “Alex will be acting
as the medium.”
“No, she won’t,” Alex replied. “Alex is acting as a vessel for my
spirit. I am Bartholomew.”
Noah got up as Jason sat down. “Bart .. is that really you in there?”
“Shall I repeat the first words you
said when you saw me the day I arrived?
It had to do with the pickax in your hand and a battered thumb.”
Noah grinned. “I remember, an’ it wouldn’t be nice to say
that again in front of so many people.”
“It’s good to speak with you again,
Noah. I can’t say I missed you, not at
first, but I did when I came back. I
saw you often.” Alex’s eyes tracked
along the front row of faces, nodding at some.
“Jason. I could’ve answered your
questions this morning. Nic .. you’ve
hardly changed at all.”
“If appearances are any measure, you
certainly have,” Dominic commented with a chuckle.
“Why do you want to talk to us,
Bartholomew?” Jason inquired. “Jack
said something about you having ongoing business.”
“I don’t give a damn about that,” Noah
interrupted testily. “Bart .. why are
you in so much pain?”
Alex regarded him. “I came here looking for silence, hoping to
find death yet, instead, I found life.
An abundance of life, everywhere I looked. And, for those first few years, when our community slowly began to
grow and we all worked to make homes for ourselves, grow food enough so we
wouldn’t starve, struggle to stay warm in the depths of winter, I felt I was in
some earth-bound paradise. This was
what I had searched for my whole life.
But then .. then it all went wrong.
You all have gifts, gifts you use daily to benefit the town. I wanted, more than anything, to live the
ideal behind Gretna – to be a normal person despite my gift. I wanted my gift to be left untouched,
unused. Let it wither and die. Then I could finally be alone in my own
head. The things I remembered would
belong only to me.”
Noah sat down suddenly. “And we told you to use it. Oh God, Bart .. I’m sorry.”
“You could’ve said no,” Dominic
pointed out.
“It was for the benefit of Gretna. You said it was necessary,” Alex
replied. “None of you refused to use
your gifts when it was for the town.
Why would I single myself out?
And so I did it and I lived with the pain. But now it must stop.”
“It has. We stopped a couple of years ago,” Jason said. “We realized it was wrong.”
“That’s good .. but it was not what I
meant. The pain must stop. And there is only one way for that to
happen.”
Dominic swallowed. “We all have to die ..?”
“You must all be what you aspire to be
– normal people. You must lose your
psychic gifts.”
Jason shook his head. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Here, just about anything is
possible,” Alex replied. “You’d know
that if you really knew Gretna.”
She looked up and the door at the far
end of the hall locked with an audible click.
“Now wait just a damned minute,” said
a voice into the abruptly strained silence.
Jack Chivikian got to his feet.
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