Chapter 17
A lthough I wanted to close that door behind me and join my friends, hearing her real name triggered the part of me that needed to help people. Nancy. She’d been a real person. A human being. Sure, if it wasn’t for her I would have enjoyed this weekend, blissfully unaware of Greg’s true nature, but I knew in reality that wasn’t preferable. She was right. She had done me a favour, as much as I hated to admit it.
‘Nancy is your real name?’ I asked, sitting on the bed.
‘Yep. Named after my grandmother. Who I’m yet to meet over here, not until I… you know… cross over, or whatever it’s called.’
‘What do you need help with?’
‘I need you to get a message to my husband.’
‘You have a husband?’
She nodded. ‘Well, had . I tried to get through to him, but every time I got close all this pain would come hurtling back at me and it was too overwhelming. Besides, he’s never really believed in an afterlife. I can’t do it alone. I need you to come with me, to go to him.’
‘Where does he live? ’
‘Wattle Falls, it’s only twenty minutes or so from here.’
I picked up my phone and opened a web browser. I wasn’t looking up Wattle Falls, there was something else I had to find.
I typed ‘Nancy Silverton died’ into Google. A few results came up that looked like the right ones, and I clicked on the first link, a news website.
I gasped at her photo on the screen. It was her all right. My eyes tried to read as fast as they could, needing to know what happened to her. I got halfway through the article and gasped again. My gaze slowly met hers. ‘Suicide?’
She stood and shook her head violently from side to side, her hands covering her ears. ‘No, no, no.’
‘Red — Nancy — you took your own life?’
‘No!’ she yelled, and I flinched. ‘They’ve got it all wrong. It wasn’t suicide. I swear.’ She rubbed her forehead, clearly distressed.
I returned to the article to read the rest, and my heart plummeted. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you had a baby?’
She looked about ready to burst into tears. ‘I had to help you first, before I could tell you about me. And…’ She pulled at her red curls. ‘Oh, it hurts so much! Knowing I’ll never get to hold her again, that she’ll never know me. And worse, that she’ll grow up thinking I left her on purpose. I didn’t! ’
The article had reported that twenty-eight-year-old Nancy Silverton had taken her life by jumping off a hotel balcony. I rarely watched the news, so I hadn’t seen this report, and I doubt Greg had either since he’d been away when it happened. I could understand why they’d concluded it was suicide:
Nancy’s husband, Chris, and Nancy’s doctor both confirmed that she had been suffering from postnatal depression since the birth of her daughter, Ruby, ten months ago. She seemed to finally be recovering, and was staying at the five-star hotel by herself as a present from Chris. “I wanted her to have a break from her responsibilities, catch up on sleep, have some pampering, but I never considered she’d be suicidal. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have let her out of my sight,” he said in an interview yesterday.
‘He blames himself now. And I worry how he’ll cope on his own with Ruby. I need you to tell him the truth, please?’
I put my phone down and moved closer to Nancy. ‘What is the truth? What happened?’
She closed her eyes for a minute and took a deep breath. ‘I was about to go to bed, and had been thinking about the state of my life. I went out on the balcony to feel the night air on my face. I never told Chris this, but I had been considering leaving him. I didn’t think I could cope anymore and had an urge to run and hide, to save them from my depression. But during my stay at the hotel I realised that was stupid. I convinced myself that I was strong, that I could get through this, and as I stood on the balcony and thought about my marriage, I fiddled with my wedding ring. It reminded me of what I’d committed to, and I cried, as memories of our wedding day came to my mind. All the happy things had been invisible to me because of the depression. I couldn’t see through the fog, but that night, I finally did. I held the ring up to the moonlight and watched it sparkle, and knew that when I got home things would be different. I wasn’t going to give up: on myself, on Ruby, or my marriage.’
I listened intently and hoped none of my friends would come in and disturb us. I was finally seeing Red, Nancy , as a person and not just a ghost.
‘And then I sneezed. One stupid sneeze and I dropped the ring!’ She shook her head. ‘It fell and landed between two narrow slits of metal on some sort of pipe or guttering below. It wasn’t far, but I wished it had at least fallen onto the ground below so I could have gone downstairs to get it before someone else did. I should have called the hotel reception and asked for help, but silly me thought I could retrieve it myself. I always was a bit stubborn like that.’ She managed a brief smile. ‘I leaned over the balcony and reached for it, I almost had it, but it had rained earlier that day and the railing must have been a bit slippery. Before I could get my balance my legs were in the air and I was falling. I don’t remember much more, only that…’ her voice croaked and she cleared he r throat, ‘only that in an instant I knew that was it. I knew I was going to die.’
Tears worked their way to my eyes as she spoke, and I wanted to hug her, to hold her close and say how sorry I was, but when I put my hand on hers it went straight through.
‘I have a vague memory of my funeral, but the next thing I knew I was in your house, looking at that photo of you and Greg. I don’t know how I knew, but I just knew what I was there to do. I also knew it wouldn’t be pleasant, so I distracted myself with fun things. I felt so free, and all the depression was lifted from my heart. I wanted to experience that joy while I had the chance.’
‘Hence the spinning incident in the dryer and on the clothesline?’ I offered a lopsided smile.
‘Exactly. And I have to admit, I was a bit jealous. Even though I knew Greg was cheating behind your back, I was jealous of you and the whole life you had ahead of you. I guess I wanted to have a bit of fun at your expense. Sorry.’ She shrugged.
‘You’re forgiven,’ I said, wiping a tear from my eye. I didn’t care anymore, my suffering was nothing compared to her and her family’s. I would do whatever I had to do to help her husband discover the truth.
‘What’s the address?’ I picked up my phone and opened the notes app .
‘It’s 15 Bentley Street, Wattle Falls.’ An expression of hope brightened Nancy’s pale face.
‘I’ll do my best, I promise.’ I gave her a reassuring smile, then remembered my friends. ‘A car. I need a car. What am I going to tell Lorena? I’ve already disappeared once in her vehicle. Should I tell them about you and explain everything?’
Nancy looked worried. ‘Mel will believe you, I think, but I have a feeling Lorena might take a bit of convincing. It could take a while.’
‘Hmm, and I don’t want to give her any shocks, with the baby and all. Maybe I could just tell her I need some time alone, go for a drive to clear my head?’
Nancy twisted her lips to one side. ‘I have a better idea. While you were out with your friends I was working on a backup plan, in case you refused to help.’ She raised her finger. ‘Wait here. Give me a few minutes, but get yourself ready to go.’
I did as she said and put on my shoes, changed into a different top and jacket, and freshened up in the bathroom.
Nancy returned soon after with a smile on her face. ‘I brought the backup plan.’
I furrowed my brow, not understanding what she meant. Then the doorbell rang.