Haunted Spring

"So you think the white lady Sapphire saw is Lucy?" I said.

"Yeah," Rikki said. "I think she saw Lucy, just like we did."

"But your grandma wouldn't admit to seeing her," I said.

"No," Rikki replied.

"You know, it's a little funny that of the three of us, only you and I have seen any real, um, apparitions. Bobby hasn't seen anything, only blobs or blurs of white," I said.

At the time I was having this conversation, I was standing in the hall talking in hushed tones. I didn't want my parents to overhear. Right about that time, my mother walked past muttering something like, "Why has this house suddenly gotten so cold?"

And then I felt it too. A coldness seeping into my body, along with a vague feeling of fear.

"Roy? Are you still there?" Rikki asked.

"Yeah. Hey, I've got to go check something out," I said.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not sure," I said. "Let's talk on Monday at school and try to figure out what to do next."

"Okay," she said, sounding annoyed, "'bye."

I said goodbye and hung up, then went to my room. The coldness had increased. It was freezing in there. I went to my window and looked out but couldn't see anything because the light was on. I turned off the light and looked out again and there he was, standing not thirty feet away, in my back yard. Everett Caldicott.

Despite my fear, despite the cold, I looked at him. He glowed with a faint greenish light. I could clearly see his youthful but sad face. He looked right at me. His eyes were locked on mine and burned with a plea for help. His clothes were less distinct, but seemed in disarray. As I watched, he opened his mouth and said something, but I couldn't make it out at first. He helped me by saying it several times, and gradually it grew louder. He was saying, "Lucy."

Then he started walking toward me.

I shut my drapes and turned my room light back on. I sat there in my room, cowering, frozen in fear, while the room got colder and colder, and finally, warmer. I breathed a sigh of relief. This can't go on much longer, I thought to myself.

Outside my door, I could hear my parents discussing the temperature of the house.

"What are you talking about?" my father asked. "The house is fine."

"I'm telling you, this house is freezing," my mother replied, a little peevishly.

"Well, it's a little late in the year to still be running the furnace," my father said. "Just wrap up in a sweater."

"You're such a cheapskate Ted," my mother said.

Eventually, the temperature seemed to return to normal. I turned off the light in my room and hesitantly looked out my window through the crack in the curtains. No one was there.

That night I slept uneasily. It seemed that Everett Caldicott was becoming bolder. He was moving closer to my house with every appearance. How long before he was just outside my window? And then, maybe, even in my room with me? While he didn't seem particularly menacing, I certainly didn't want haunting my home.

There was another thing, too. So far, only Rikki and I (and cousin Sapphire) had seen actual apparitions, no one else had. Bobby had not seen anything that night in the yard, and my mother had felt the cold, but not seen anything. The old lady had heard things, but they must have been pretty tame. My father had never seen, heard, or felt anything, as far as I knew. That meant that Rikki and I must be sensitive to the energy of the spirits we were encountering. But not just that. Not only could we see them, but they could see us as well. And they seemed to become more active when we were around. It was like we could see them and feel them, and they in turn fed off our energy. Rikki and I were the catalysts making this thing happen. "We've got to do something or they'll never leave us alone," I said into the darkness before falling into a troubled sleep.

The next morning at school, I caught Rikki just before homeroom.

"Can you meet me and Bobby outside for a few minutes this afternoon after school?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said. "I've got something to tell you."

"Hey, you don't look good. Are you sleeping all right" I asked.

"Thanks," she said with a wry grin. "You don't look so good yourself. And no, I haven't been sleeping."

It was true. Her hair was a little messy. There were dark smudges under her eyes, and her clothes were wrinkled. I wondered if she was having the same problems with Lucy as I was having with Everett.

The tardy bell rang, and Rikki darted inside, but not before saying, "This afternoon."

"Okay," I said, and went into my homeroom.

Bobby and I usually had lunch together. I told him what was happening, and about the plan to meet Rikki after school.

"Barrett," he said, "I don't know, man. I'll admit there's something going on, but two ghosts that were once boyfriend and girlfriend? It seems a little out there to me."

"Well, you haven't seen or felt the same things Rikki and I have," I said defensively.

"How do you know these are the same people as in the letters? I mean, they could just be random spirits."

"I know because I just know. Anyway, are you in this thing until we finish it?"

"I guess," he said. "What are you and Rikki gonna do?"

"I don't know, exactly," I replied. "We're going to talk about it this afternoon after school."

"Well, count me in, I guess. Someone's got to be around to pull you out of trouble," he said.

"Thanks, man," I said. I was relieved. I wasn't sure we wouldn't need Bobby's size and strength at some point.

That afternoon I waited after school for Rikki. I hoped she would come soon, because my mom would be there soon. For once I hoped she would run a little late.

I had been waiting a couple of minutes when Rikki and Bobby came walking up together. Rikki looked better. Not exactly more rested, but her blonde hair was back in a neat pony tail and the dark smudges were gone from her eyes. I thought she looked great.

"Hi guys," I said as they walked up.

Rikki said, "Hey, I've got some stuff to tell you guys."

"Me too," I said. "You go first."

"Well, ever since you guys came over Friday night, Lucy has been very active. I can hear her pacing around downstairs, and a couple of time I swear I could sense her outside my door. I didn't open the door, but there was a light through the crack at the bottom. And the room got really cold. She was muttering something, too, but I couldn't tell what it was. She's really restless now."

"Same here," I said. "Everett has been getting closer and closer to my house. The other night, I know he was standing just outside my window. Pretty soon, he'll be in my room with me."

"We've got to do something," Rikki said.

"But what? What can we do? We've stirred these spirits up and now they won't leave us alone. I don't want to be haunted for the rest of my life," I said.

Bobby was looking at each of us. "Do you guys know how crazy this sounds? Stirring up ghosts? Haunting you two? I'll admit something's happening, but this is really far-fetched, at least to me."

"Bobby, listen," Rikki said, exasperated. "What Roy and I are going through is real, even if you're not feeling the same thing. You don't have to believe us, but try to respect what's happening to us."

He looked at her for just a moment and said, "Sure. Why not? I might as well go crazy with you two."

"Good. I hoped you'd say that," Rikki said.

About that time my mom pulled up and honked the horn. Rikki looked at me and said, "Call me tonight. I have an idea."

"Okay," I said, and trotted off toward the car.

As we pulled away, I saw Rikki and Bobby start off down the street. I wondered what her idea was.

At eight that night I called her. She picked up on the third ring.

"Hi," I said.

"Oh hey," Rikki replied.

"So what was your idea?"

"Well," she said, "what we know, what we've learned, is that Lucy and Everett loved each other and wanted to be together, but her father disapproved of their relationship."

"Like Romeo and Juliet," I said.

"Not exactly," Rikki replied, "but not far off, either. I'm thinking that they would have run away and gotten married by themselves, if the war hadn't prevented them."

"So what do you propose?" I asked.

"I say let's marry them," Rikki said.

"How are we going to do that?" I asked.

"Well, I went up into the attic again this afternoon," Rikki said, "and I went through the old chest where I found the letter."

"Okay," I said, not sure where she was going.

"And I don't know how I missed it the first time," Rikki said. "I know it wasn't there."

"What?" I asked, a little exasperated.

"Roy, I believe I found Lucy's wedding dress," Rikki said quietly.

"How do you know?" I asked. "I mean, is it a wedding dress for real?"

"No. It's a plain white dress, not too fancy, of very good quality, wrapped in paper. I'm sure it's never been worn."

"Couldn't it just be one of her nicer dresses?" I asked.

"I don't think so," Rikki said, a little testily, "for two reasons."

"Okay, what?"

"Well, in the first place, I'm getting a feeling from the dress, that this is the one," Rikki said earnestly.

"Okay, I'll buy that. What's the second reason?" I said.

"Well," she said, "I found two wedding bands sewn into a piece of material in the dress."

"Really?" I said. "You found their wedding bands?"

"Yes," Rikki said. "I don't think they're gold. They may be copper. They were probably all he could afford, at least right then. Maybe he was going to buy her a real gold one later."

"Well I'll be darned," I said. "So what do you think we should do?"

"I believe we should put the two letters and the rings together in the box you found, wrap the box up in the dress, and put it back in the tree. Maybe she can somehow follow her dress, the rings, and the letters back to where he died. Maybe then they could find each other again after all these years and finally be together. Wouldn't that be romantic?"

"Yeah, I guess," I said. I didn't want to say too much. The fact was that I liked, and I mean liked, Rikki. But I didn't want to go all mushy on her.

"So the next step is to convince our parents to let us have a sleepover," Rikki said.

"Yeah, and it will have to be at my house," I said. "My dad and mom will have a few questions about it," I said. "They'll want to make sure there's no 'hanky-panky'."

"No chance of that," Rikki said quickly. (I was a little disappointed.)

"No, of course not," I said quickly as well. "What about your grandma?"

"I don't think it will be a problem. She barely keeps up with me. She trusts me."

"Okay, I'll get with Bobby tomorrow," I said.

"Are you sure he has to come along?" Rikki asked.

"Sure, why not?" I asked.

"Well," she said, "I mean, I like him and all, but he's not, you know, the same as us. He's not sensitive like you and me."

I thought for a moment. Given the way that I felt about Rikki, it was certainly tempting to exclude Bobby from our adventure. I almost gave in, but then thought better of it. Bobby had been there when I first saw the ghost of Everett. He deserved to be there when we resolved this thing.

"I think Bobby should be there, too," I said.

"Okay," Rikki said.

"So the plan is to get everything together and put them back into the tree, then hope it's enough to bring Lucy and Everett together," I said.

"Yeah. That's the plan. I hope it works," she said.

"Me, too," I said.

We hung up after agreeing to talk again on Thursday night to finalize plans for the sleepover. When I talked to Bobby the next day, he said he didn't see any problem getting away on Friday night. His mom would probably run him and Rikki out to my house. If not, I could probably convince my mom to go get them.

My parents were a little harder to convince. "What do you mean a sleepover?" my mother said. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

"It's nothing like that, Mom," I said. "We're just friends. And Bobby's going to be here, too. We're just going to hang out in my room, and then watch a horror move on TV when you and Dad go to bed. Look, Bobby and I will sleep in the living room and Rikki can sleep in my room."

"Though still doubtful, my mom agreed. When she did, so did Dad, although he grumbled a bit.

On Thursday night, I called Rikki and told her that everything was set. She said that her grandma had agreed to let her spend the night. I had talked to Bobby that day. His mom was going to pick Rikki up at her house and bring them both out to mine. Rikki was going to bring the rings, the dress, and Lucy's letter. I would have Everett's letter.

It was then, after I'd hung up the phone that I began to get scared. It didn't help that I felt the strange coldness in my room. I closed the door behind me and walked to my window. I pulled back my curtains and, standing not ten feet away from my window, was Everett Caldicott. He stood there, bathed in eerie greenish light, wavering slightly. We was trying to say something, mouthing the words, but I couldn't make them out. And then I looked at his eyes, his sad eyes. As I looked, his words came to me.

"Please help me," he said.

It wasn't like I was hearing them. It was more like they were in my head. And then, my fear subsided a little, and I said to him, "I know. We are working on it. Now go away, Everett. Tomorrow night, we'll bring Lucy to you. Go away now."

He seemed to understand. He nodded, turned, and walked back up to the corner of my yard. Before entering the woods, he turned to me one last time, and disappeared.

I hardly slept at all that night.

The next day at school, I saw Bobby and Rikki. Everything was still a go. When my mother picked me up, she asked, "Will Bobby and Rikki be in time for supper?"

"I think so," I said.

At five-thirty, Mrs. Craddock drove into our driveway with Bobby and Rikki. The sun was already fairly low in the sky, but it would be up for a while yet. Daylight savings time had started the previous Saturday night. I introduced Rikki to my mom and dad.

"I hope you don't mind sleeping in Roy's bedroom tonight," Mom said. "I cleaned it and changed the sheets on his bed."

"Thanks, Mrs. Barrett," Rikki said. "I'm sure it will be fine."

If Saturday night was pot roast, and Sunday was chicken, Friday night was usually either chili or hamburgers. Tonight it was burgers. As we ate, I kept looking at the window. The sun was steadily setting behind the woods behind my house. My mother and Rikki were having a wonderful time talking girl talk, but I caught Rikki's eye and cut my eyes to the window. She took the hint and quickly finished her meal.

We excused ourselves and went up to my room.

"Well, let's see the dress," I said.

Rikki reached into her backpack and brought out a bundle wrapped in tissue paper. She carefully unfolded the paper and lifted the dress up for us to see.

I was disappointed. What she held up was a rather plain white muslin dress. To be sure, it was nicely appointed with a bit of lace at the neck and a row of pearl buttons, but it was not the elaborate garment I expected to see. The dress was slightly yellowed with age, but it was apparent that it had never been worn.

"Not a very fancy dress, is it?" Bobby remarked.

"Well, it's not like they were going to have a big expensive wedding, you jerk," Rikki said. "They were probably going to marry in private, or even run away. She couldn't be seen buying a real wedding dress. On the other hand, she could buy a white dress like this and spruce it up a little."

"I didn't mean anything by it," Bobby said contritely.

"It's all right, Bobby. You're just thinking like a man. I think the whole idea of Lucy and Everett running away together is quite romantic. They were probably going to be married by a justice of the peace, or maybe a preacher from another town."

"Let's see the rings," I said.

Rikki reached into her backpack and brought out a little cloth drawstring bag. She opened it and poured two rings into my hand. They were plain bands, probably made of copper because of the greenish patina. I handed them to Bobby, who looked at them and handed them back to Rikki.

I looked out the window. It was nearly dark. "We'd better get this over with," I said.

"You're right," Rikki said. "Let's get this done."

"I hope we don't live to regret this," Bobby said.

"Well, it's either do something, or have to live with the ghosts of Everett and Lucy for the rest of our lives. Let's just hope this is the right thing," I said.

We gathered both letters and the rings and put them into the original tin box I had retrieved from the tree. Then we wrapped the box in the dress, covered it back in the tissue paper, and put a couple of rubber bands on it to hold it together. Then we each got our flashlights and headed downstairs.

My parents were in the living room watching TV. Much of the news was still about either the Apollo 13 debacle or Paul McCartney splitting from the Beatles. I went into the living room.

"Mom and Dad? Hey, I think we're gonna go out on an owl prowl." I said. (I was tired of lying to my parents. It was taking its toll on me. On the other hand, I couldn't tell them the truth. And we had to go out in the woods that night.)

"A what?" my dad said.

"An owl prowl. It's where you go out and look for owls."

"Owls?" Mom said. "Why would you want to do that?"

"I dunno. It's just something to do until the late movie comes on. We won't be long."

"I don't know," Mom said.

"Let'em go, Blanche," my dad said. "You kids watch out for snakes. You got flashlights?"

"Yes, sir," I said. "We'll be careful."

"Don't go far, son," my mom said.

"We won't," I said, and left.

Bobby and Rikki were waiting by the back door. It was nearly eight o'clock, and nearly completely dark. Bobby and I each had our flashlights, and Rikki had her flashlight and the bundle. Before we left, we stood in a circle for a moment.

"Okay guys, we're doing this thing, right?" I said.

They both nodded yes.

"The most important thing is to stay together," Rikki said. "We don't know what we're going to see tonight, but we have to keep each other in sight. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Bobby and I said.

"Okay, let's get this thing over with," Bobby said.

We headed into the woods.

***

We walked to the corner of my yard and turned down the path to the clearing. As soon as we did, something changed. It's difficult to describe, but suddenly the air seemed changed. There was a kind of energy about. We stopped.

"Do you feel that?" I asked Rikki.

"Feel what?" Bobby asked. "I don't feel nothing."

"Yeah. I feel it," Rikki said. "There's something happening. I'm feeling something from the dress, like a low vibration."

"Let's keep going," I said.

We began walking again. As we moved deeper into the woods, I noticed something. It was getting light. We could see the path clearly without our flashlights. We looked up into the sky. The stars were still there, but much dimmer than before.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Rikki said.

"Yes," I said, my voice a little shaky.

"Whoa," Bobby said. "Is it me, or is it less dark than before?"

"It's less dark," I said.

"What do you think is happening?" Rikki asked.

I was about to answer when a gray-clad soldier carrying a rifle marched past me on the path, followed by several others in a ragged line.

I looked at Rikki. She could obviously see them as well. The line of men moved past us, their rifles at shoulder arms. And then we heard hoof beats. A man, also in gray, sword in hand, rode up beside the line of marching men. He slapped his thigh with his sword and said, 'Close it up, boys. Keep it moving. We need to get to the clearing before the Yankees do. We'll be ready for them, by heaven!" The men gave a weak cheer.

"Holy crap guys! Do you see what I'm seein'?" Bobby croaked.