Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The lemonade was just as good as Oscar had hoped—though of course, nothing could really recapture the childhood memory of sugar and tartness, the red prize of a maraschino cherry gently staining the liquid around it.
He, Nigel, and Tina sat with Ms. Montague around the trailer’s miniscule table, while Chris filmed and Ethan served refreshments.
Dr. Lawson chose to lean against a door he assumed led to a small bathroom, maybe still a bit miffed with Montague for telling him so much.
But this wasn’t an ordinary investigation. They were here to do a specific job, and knowing more about the spirits would surely help with that.
Though he hadn’t sensed anything negative from Gloria when they interacted. Of course, that didn’t mean her mood couldn’t turn. Living children could swing from acting sweet as honey to being little sociopaths in an instant; surely ghost children would be the same.
“At Ruthie’s insistence, I didn’t mention that Gloria is here,” Ms. Montague began. Dr. Lawson frowned but was ignored. “As you surmised, she was Ullman’s daughter who died in a fall.”
The child died in a fall…and, at least according to Montague, might have killed Robin by pushing her from a height. Was she just recreating her own tragedy?
“Of course—did she die here?” Nigel asked. “I thought you said it was in the winter.”
“It was winter, and no, she did not pass here, but rather at the family mansion back in Winston-Salem. Long torn down now, I’m afraid, but judging by the pictures I’ve seen it was quite beautiful.
” Montague lifted her glass of lemonade, and the ice cubes clinked together as she drank.
“Seth Ullman was devastated by her loss. She was his youngest child, the apple of his eye. So when the Pack convened here in the summer of 1911, he suggested they turn their energies toward a pursuit other than fishing and boating. Specifically, he wanted to hold seances to communicate with his deceased child.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” Oscar said. “Which one of them was the medium, do you know?”
“I’ve never heard that any of them had a particular talent.” Montague shrugged. “Perhaps it was all of them together, bending their wills on a singular wish, night after night, that allowed them to contact her.”
Dr. Lawson stirred. “As you know from your own experience, some ghosts haunt places, and some haunt people.”
True enough. He’d been haunted by his grandmother throughout his childhood. Mamaw died at the Howlston Lunatic Asylum, but she’d passed on from there, only stopping by to check in on him at home over the years.
“But Gloria lingered here, even after Ullman’s suicide?” Nigel asked.
“So it would seem.” Montague shrugged.
Were they able to interact with one another? What a terrible thought, that both ghosts haunted the same building but had separate existences. It might explain why Ullman was so angry…though he seemed more concerned about their presence in the house than with reaching out to his daughter.
“Are those two the only known spirits?” Oscar looked from Montague to Lawson and back. “Except possibly for…”
“There have been sightings of the other six, the men who perished at sea,” Montague said. “Or rather, sightings of their vessel. A flaming ship supposedly appears off the island during storms. My hope is that it’s merely an echo, and my great-great uncle’s ghost isn’t trapped on board.”
“Let’s hope,” Oscar agreed, because he didn’t know how he’d persuade a flaming boat to move on to the other side. Doubly so if it only showed up in bad weather.
Nigel finished off his lemonade, slender throat working as he swallowed. “What room were the seances held in, do you know?”
“The top of the tower,” Lawson said. “The room where…”
Where Robin died.
Nigel looked alarmed. “We should be very careful investigating there, then.”
“We will.” Oscar glanced at the TV waiting in the corner. “Anything more? Or should we watch the tape now?”
Lawson seemed to sag a bit. “I should watch it with you. I feel like a coward…”
“Don’t.” Oscar stood up and put a hand on her arm. “You need to take care of your mental health. The tapes aren’t going anywhere; if someday you think it will be healing, you can watch them then.”
Some of the tension drained from her. “Thanks, Fox. I can see why Taylor fell for you.”