American Heroes Series - 03 - Purgatory (54 page)

“Hear the spirit bottles?” she asked
softly. “Eudora Welty, the great Mississippi writer, wrote a short story about
a spirit in a bottle. It’s said that if spirit bottles are hung from trees with
a little water in them, they prevent spirits from going into the house. Maybe
that is what’s kept Sophie from coming into the house all of these years and
making contact with her children.”

Elliot listened seriously. “Should we
cut the spirit bottles down?”

“Not unless you want more ghosts coming
inside your house.”

Elliot shook her head. “I don’t think
so.” She looked at the men in the trench. “The boxes look fine. Hurry up and
come out of there.”

Nash deftly climbed up out of the
trench, helping Shane out as Alec crawled out himself. As they all headed back
for the house, Alec kept turning around and looking at the trench behind them.
Elliot, burrowed against Nash as he walked her towards the house, noticing her
son’s distraction.

“What are you looking at?” she asked
him.

Alec shrugged, casting a lingering look
at the three boxes in the trench.

“This is kind of weird,” he looked at
his mother. “Are you sure she’ll come?”

Elliot wriggled her eyebrows. “I hope
so,” she said honestly. “That’s why we did this.”

“But it’s like… like ghost bait.”

“Not ghost bait,” Elliot countered.
“Nash and I have seen the ghost of what we think is Sophie MacGregor during a
full moon.  She always comes from the direction of the stables and disappears
as soon as she reaches the trench. And ever since we opened the crypt, the
little ghost comes out….”

Alec lifted a hand to cut her off; he’d
heard the story many times. “I know,” he said. “You think the little ghost is
one of Sophie’s children, looking for his mom.”

“You don’t sound like you believe it.”

Alec threw up his hands in a shrugging
gesture. “I believe it,” he insisted. “I’ve seen the little ghost. I’m just
scared of it.”

Elliot laughed softly, reaching out to
put her arm around her son as they reached the porch.

“I just think it’s so sad that Sophie’s
ghost wanders around, looking for her children, just as her children are inside
looking for her,” she sighed sadly. “We had to wait until all of the bodies
were excavated before we could do this, but those three boxes contain the bones
of Joseph, Felicity and Saturnine. Maybe if Sophie comes tonight, she’ll find
what she’s been looking for all this time. She never goes any further than that
trench, so that’s why we put the bones in the trench.”

Alec knew that. He paused on the porch,
looking out over the yard, seeing the fireflies, the grayish cast from the full
moon.  He turned quickly and headed for the kitchen door.

“I’m still scared,” he said.

“Then go back inside. You don’t have to
stay out here and watch.”

Alec was glad to go back into the warm
house and away from the ghost bait. Shane followed him inside as Dr. Clarke,
Nash and Elliot remained on the porch for a moment. It was quite nippy outside
and Nash wrapped his big arms around Elliot as they gazed up at the full moon.
Beside them, Dr. Clarke spoke softly.

“Nowhere in America is the history of
the land so rich with lore and magic,” she said quietly, her gaze moving over
the yard. “I studied the culture of Louisiana because I wanted to understand
it, but what I came to realize is that I’ll never fully understand it. 
Tonight, perhaps I’ll understand even less.”

Nash and Elliot looked over at her. “Why
do you say that?” Elliot asked.

Dr. Clarke smiled at her. “Because the realm
of spirits isn’t meant to be understood.  If Sophie MacGregor still walks this
earth searching for her murdered children, what torment she must face.”

Elliot could only imagine. The wind blew
again and the spirit bottles tinkled in the trees again. Elliot looked off in
the direction of the trees.

“Those bottles were here when I bought
the place,” she said quietly. “They’re in the front of the house, the back of
the house… now I wonder if they were put up because a previous owner, or maybe
many previous owners, saw Sophie wandering around, too.”

Dr. Clarke could only wonder right along
with her. They sat outside in the cold and darkness, talking about ghosts and
legends. Eventually, Nash tried to get them to come inside but they refused,
instead, sitting on a pair of cushioned wicker chairs that were on the porch
just outside of the ballroom. 

Nash went inside and emerged with a
blanket for both ladies, who accepted their blankets gratefully. Nash pulled
Elliot over to the matching wicker couch and shared her blanket, watching the
yard, waiting for whatever was to happen.

All of the lights on the north side of
the house were off so that no artificial light was cast upon this portion of
the yard. Fireflies danced in the darkness as the moon crept higher into the
sky. 

“It’s really too bad we never found
Sophie’s coffin,” Elliot whispered, listening to the nightbirds call. “I had
really hoped we might find it somewhere.”

Nash was snuggled up against her, his
face in the top of her head as he watched the ghostly landscape.

“It’s like we discussed once before,” he
said softly. “She’s either alligator food or she’s on unholy ground somewhere.
Maybe we’ll never know.”

Elliot sighed thoughtfully. “Maybe,” she
agreed. “But I was thinking… she always comes from the stable area.  Maybe her
body is buried over there somewhere.”

As Nash nodded, Dr. Clarke spoke. “Dr.
Whitney and I have examined that entire area but we haven’t come across any
burials yet. For all of the artifacts we’ve found and the foundations we’ve excavated,
I’m fairly certain the entire area was a bustling support community for
Purgatory.”

Nash pulled Elliot closer as the
temperature seemed to drop. “When I was a kid, there were still a couple of
shacks standing out there,” he said. “We weren’t allowed to go near them, but I
do remember that they were there.”

Dr. Clarke nodded. “Purgatory has been
hugely rich in history and relics. We’re learning so much from it on a daily
basis. It’s been a treasure trove in every sense of the word.”

The three of them fell silent again as
the nightbirds sang and the fireflies danced.  It was a little spooky over the
bayou with the soft wind and full moon, waiting for a ghost to make an
appearance. They sat and waited until Elliot fell asleep.

Nash made her move back inside because
it was getting so cold, but she wouldn’t leave the ballroom because it faced
out over the trench section of the yard.

With the new HVAC system blowing warm
air throughout the house, Elliot lay on a couch as Nash and Dr. Clarke stood by
one of the massive windows that overlooked the entire yard. Weary, and very
pregnant, Elliot fell asleep again.  She was slumbering deep and dreamlessly
when someone shook her awake.

“Ellie,” it was Nash, whispering her
name. “Hurry, honey. She’s back.”

Groggy but awake, Elliot sat up with a
good deal of help from Nash. He helped her to her feet as she staggered over to
the window, rubbing her eyes. Dr. Clarke was there, pointing into the yard.

“Do you see her?” Dr. Clarke whispered
excitedly. “She’s over by the stable. See the gray mist? It’s been there for
about a minute. It hasn’t moved.”

Elliot blinked her eyes, struggling to
focus. She could indeed see the faint gray mist through the trees, just as she
had seen it a few times before. Instantly, she was wide awake and excited.

“I hope this works,” she breathed. “That
poor woman has been through so much. I really hope this works.”

Nash wrapped his arms around her and the
three of them stood in the window, watching the gray mist form in the trees. It
seemed to mix with the strands of moonbeams piercing the canopy, eventually
taking shape and moving towards the house. 

Sophie’s long dress waved as if being
blown by an unseen breeze.  It danced and undulated as she moved through the
shadows, the strands of her long hair gently blowing as well. She would
disappear almost completely in the shadows and then come out full force once
she hit the brilliant beams of the full moon. 

Elliot, Nash and Dr. Clarke watched,
spellbound, as Sophie emerged from the trees and approached the trench. She
seemed to ripple as she walked, like the ripples of water across a lake, an
intangible visual illusion of moonlight and magic. Everyone watched, wrought
with anticipation, as she finally came upon the trench. When she finally touched
the rocky edge, she suddenly fizzled away and disappeared.

The three of them stood there, waiting
for something more to happen, but the yard remained still and silent. For
several long moments, nothing happened. Nash finally sighed, looking to Dr.
Clarke, who merely stood there and sadly shook her head. 

In Nash’s arms, Elliot was wiping away
the tears on her face.  Nash could see that she was weeping and he hugged her
gently.

“What’s the matter, honey?” he kissed
the side of her head.

Elliot was genuinely sad. “I really
thought… oh, I don’t know,” she sniffled and wiped her face. “I really thought
she’d find her children.  I wanted her to, so much. It’s so sad that they’re
searching for each other and can never find one another. So we brought her
babies to her and she still can’t find them? That’s just tragic.”

Dr. Clarke turned to look at her. “There
are two types of hauntings, Ellie,” she said. “There’s a residual haunting in
which the spirit is merely repeating motions he or she did in life, like a tape
recorder being played over and over, and then there are intelligent hauntings
where the spirit will actually try to make contact with you.  Since Sophie did
the same thing, night after night, it’s just possible that it’s a residual
haunting and she’s just doing the same thing over and over. Maybe she wasn’t
looking for anything at all.”

Elliot shrugged, disappointed. “Maybe,”
she said. “It’s still sad, though.  Maybe they’re all just a residual haunting
and I was just making a big deal out of….”

She suddenly froze, her eyes widening as
she beheld something out in the yard.  Both Dr. Clarke and Nash looked to see
what had her so riveted and in doing so, both of them appeared shocked as
well.  Emerging from the trench, as if a doorway from another world had suddenly
opened and spilled them forth, were people.

A woman in a long and elaborate dress,
with luscious dark hair and a beautiful face, emerged from thin air, turning to
smile at two teenaged children who suddenly emerged behind her.  There was a
tall, good looking young man in eighteenth century clothing and a young lady
wearing a lovely yellow gown. As the older woman reached out her hand, two more
children emerged from the unseen doorway.

The younger children were under ten
years of age, both boys, both in short pants and jackets with frilly cuffs on
the sleeves.  They were dark-haired and handsome, one of them taking the older
woman’s hand very happily.

 As Dr. Clarke, Nash and Elliot watched
with shock, these people, as solid and real as living beings, happily walked
off towards the trees, gradually turning from color to grayscale, and from
grayscale to mist.  The older woman picked up the youngest child, hugging him
as they both evaporated into the night. One by one, they disappeared near the
old stables, vanishing in to air as if they had never existed at all.

All but one. The second youngest child
was the last one to go.  He paused as the others faded away, turning to the
house and seemingly looking right at the window where Elliot and Dr. Clarke and
Nash were watching them. He was such a handsome lad in his fancy clothes, his
dark hair in stark contrast to his very pale skin.  He stood there a moment,
watching them as they were watching him, before raising a hand. 

It was a wave, or a sign of thanks, or
perhaps an acknowledgement. It was just a lifted hand, in their direction,
before the child turned around and ran after the others who had disappeared in
the trees. Soon, he too was gone, vanished like a puff of smoke, and for a full
minute after he was gone, no one said a word. They just stood there and stared.

Elliot was the first one to break the
spell.  She went up to the window and put her hands on it as if to touch the
spirits who had just passed on into the next world. 

Awed, she swallowed hard as she groped
for the words to describe what she had just witnessed.

“Did… did you guys see that?” she
finally whispered.

While Nash just nodded, Dr. Clarke
actually spoke. “I did,” she murmured.

“Really?”

“Really.”

Elliot shook her head, slowly, as if she
still couldn’t believe it. “What a privilege,” she said, turning to Nash and
Dr. Clarke. “What a privilege it was to witness that. I… I can’t think of any
other way to describe it. But was I the only one to notice that there were four
children with her and not just three?”

Nash was dumbstuck but he managed to
understand her question. “Paul-Michel was with her,” he said. “We didn’t even
put his bones in the trench because of what he did, but I’ll be damned if he
wasn’t with her. She found him. I wonder why?”