Ghost House Revenge (6 page)

“That’s the boy,” Derek said, punching Gary’s shoulder.

This time Derek showed Gary how to firmly plant the crutches and to lean forward in
such a way that the chair remained stationary. After thirty or more frustrating attempts,
Gary was finally able to stand up.

“Now, that’s not so hard, is it?” Derek asked.

“What do I do now?” Gary could feel dull pain running up his legs through muscles
that hadn’t been in this position for months.

“Nothing. You’ve got a few more days to practice getting up before you try to walk.
How do you feel?”

“Achy,” Gary said. “But it’s a good feeling. You know, like after you’ve played a
hard game of ball?”

Suddenly a delighted yelp and a “Wonderful!” sounded from downstairs. Both Gary and
Derek looked at the door, then at each other. Seconds later, Melanie burst into the
room. There was a wide grin on her face, but she didn’t say anything. She had stopped
short to stare at Gary.

“You’re standing up!” she cried. “Isn’t it wonderful?”

“Isn’t what wonderful?” Gary asked as Derek helped him back into the chair. “I’m not
walking yet. And what’s all the noise about?”

“Oh, Gary,” Melanie said, hurrying to put her arms around her husband. “I just got
the most wonderful news. My agent booked me into a very prestigious art gallery for
the whole month of June—a one-woman show.”

“Melanie, I’m so proud of you,” Gary said. Melanie leaned down and kissed him. “What
do you think of my talented wife, Derek?”

Derek wasn’t in the room. He had stepped out, knowing Gary and Melanie might want
to be alone at such an important moment. “What do you say we celebrate?” Melanie asked
in a soft voice.

Gary smiled. “What’ve you got in mind?”

“Come into the bedroom and I’ll show you,” Melanie said.

Though the rough workout that morning made his legs ache from toe to hip, Gary wouldn’t
let that hinder him. The joyous happenings of that morning made him want Melanie so
much that he could ignore the pain. Melanie was the dominant one in their lovemaking
now, but today, Gary used his strong arms to embrace her and fondle her more passionately
than he had in months. His movements were forced into slowness by his crippled legs,
yet Melanie seemed to revel in it.

A while later, when they were leaning against the headboard in a warm embrace, Melanie
said, “This is the best of all. Everything is so wonderful.”

“What is?”

“Being with you,” Melanie said. “More than my art show,
more than the fact you’re learning to walk again. I have everything I want, right
here and now. I’ve never been happier in my life.”

Gary kissed her. “That doesn’t sound like the woman who insisted a ghost led her into
the kitchen last night.”

“I don’t know,” Melanie said. “I suppose everything that happened today pushed it
out of my mind. I don’t feel as apprehensive as I did.”

“Have you decided it was all a dream?” Gary asked hopefully.

Melanie shrugged. “I suppose so. But even if it was a dream, I wonder who that woman
was?”

“Don’t even think about it,” Gary said. “Everything is just perfect for us now, Melanie.
Well never be afraid again.”

His embrace tightened. “I promise you that.”

As Derek drove along Houston Street on the way to the racquetball club, he thought
of Gary and Melanie and the love they shared. It had been six years since Elaine’s
death, and in that time he had never let another woman into his heart. Now he felt
an emptiness deep within himself. He really needed to love again. A nice, smart, beautiful
woman like Elaine.

“No one’s like Elaine,” Derek whispered.

But he did meet someone that very day. It happened when he was practicing his Z-shot.
He was so mesmerized that he didn’t pay attention to anyone else around him, and as
he dove for the ball, he slammed into a woman, knocking her to the floor.

“I’m sorry!” he cried, turning quickly to look down at her. “I wasn’t—”

He stopped talking for just a moment to look at her. She was a vision, a beautiful
woman with high cheekbones and almond eyes. She was dressed in a pale green jogging
suit, her long legs sprawled out in front of her. Looking at Derek through strands
of dark brown hair that had fallen over her face, she held up her hand. Immediately,
he broke from his spell and helped her to her feet.

“You have eyes just like Ava Gardner,” he heard himself say.

“What?” the woman shrieked with an embarrassed grin.

Derek shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have said that. Are you okay?
Did I hurt you?”

“I’m a lot stronger than I look,” the woman said, “although I’ve probably got a nice
bruise on my backside.”

“I was working on my Z-shot,” Derek explained. ‘I wasn’t paying attention. Is my court
time over?”

“Well, no. I was watching you, and I guess I became so caught up that I didn’t realize
I was walking in here. It was my fault.”

“I hope you liked what you saw,” Derek said, “for the price you paid.”

The woman smiled, showing brilliant white teeth. ‘I’ve been trying to get that damned
Z-shot for weeks, but I can’t seem to do it. You make it look so easy.”

“Well, I could show you,” Derek offered. “Here, stand like this. . . . By the way,
what’s your name?”

“Liza Crewe.”

“I’m Derek Miller. Now, you hold the racket this way, and . . .”

He showed her a perfect shot. Liza tried to copy him, in vain. Laughing, she tried
again and again. While she practiced, she and Derek talked. Liza seemed very interested
in Derek’s work as a therapist. In turn, she told Derek she was a dance student.

Liza missed the shot for the tenth time, and sighing in frustration, she took a step
backward.

“See what I mean?” she cried, waving the racket a little. “I just can’t get it”

“You’re aiming too low,” Derek said. “Here, like this.”

“Well,” Liza said as she tried again, “I may not be the world’s best racquet ball
player, but I know I can dance. You’re looking at the next Fonteyn.”

“You’ll be better than Fonteyn,” Derek said, though he wasn’t quite sure who Fonteyn
was.

Liza practiced the Z-shot a while longer, until she did it right a dozen times in
a row. She squealed with delight and turned to flash a grin at Derek. She was positively
the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. For a moment he forgot about Elaine.

“Do you live here in town?”

“I have an apartment over a house,” Liza said. “I’d like to live in the city, but
there’re just too many worries there. Belle Bay is so peaceful. It’s a nice place
to come home to after a long day.”

“You don’t seem like a worrier,” Derek said as they walked off the court.

“Oh, I worry a lot,” Liza admitted. “I worry that twenty-eight is too old to take
ballet lessons. And stage fright is my pet phobia, believe it or don’t.”

“I don’t,” Derek said. “And I think it’s great you’re studying something you enjoy.
Just one question?—why did you wait so long?”

Liza sighed. “My father has been sick for many years, and I felt guilty about leaving
him down in Florida. That, and the fact I couldn’t afford it. But dad’s better now,
and he even paid half my tuition.”

“I’m glad he did,” Derek said.

They went off to their respective locker rooms. Thirty minutes later Liza reappeared
wearing a lavender dress that showed off her figure beautifully.

“Will I see you here again, I hope?” Derek asked.

“Sure, when will you be here?”

“Saturday morning?”

Frowning, Liza shook her head. “Sorry, I have rehearsal. How about next Thursday?”

“I’ll be here,” Derek promised.

He grinned ear to ear all the way home, too caught up in his thoughts of Liza to notice
the blond-haired woman watching him from the roadside.

Derek wasn’t the only one falling in love that day. In the cafeteria of Saint Anne’s
school, Alicen was sitting with red-haired Jamie Hutchinson, much to her chagrin.
Too shy to let the boy be her friend, she had tried to ignore him. But Jamie, who
was naturally friendly, had followed her to the lunchroom every day to sit across
from her. He tried to win her over with bags of cookies and potato chips, but Alicen
always refused. She would stare down at her food, barely glancing up at him every
once in a while.

“You’re too weird, Alicen,” Jamie said one day. He took something out of his lunch
bag—a huge chocolate bar—and pushed it across the linoleum table. “That’s for you.
And don’t tell me you don’t like chocolate.”

“I love chocolate,” Alicen said, gingerly touching the
candy. She had never received a present from a boy before and didn’t know how to react.
Her “thank you” was barely audible.

“Don’t mention it,” said Jamie. “And listen, don’t leave it in your desk. It’ll melt.”

Alicen nodded. Then suddenly she found her tongue. “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Being so nice to me,” Alicen said.

Jamie clicked his tongue. “Because I like you, silly. Can’t you take a hint?”

“Why?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Because I’m fat and—”

“You’re not
that
fat,” Jamie said.

Alicen started to protest, but he stopped her.

“You really want to know why I like you?” he asked. “ ’Cause I knew from the minute
you walked into our classroom that you weren’t a phony. You weren’t wearing designer
jewelry, like all the other girls. I think those things are dumb.”

“So do I,” Alicen said. She was surprised to find herself smiling.

“Gee, you look pretty when you smile,” Jamie said.

He was so charming that Alicen felt herself begin to relax. She learned in their conversation
that his father owned a butcher shop in town, and when Jamie asked why she had come
to Belle Bay, she told him that her father was a therapist. He became very excited
when he learned she was living in the big white house on Starbine Court Road.

“But I already told you that,” Alicen said.

“No, you didn’t,” Jamie said. “You just told me you were living with some girl named
Gina.”

“Her father’s my father’s patient,” Alicen explained.

“Wow!” Jamie cried. “You live in that spooky old mansion? Did you know it was haunted?”

“That’s silly,” Alicen said, taking a bite of her sandwich.

“I heard stories,” Jamie said. “See, it was built a zillion years ago, and everytime
anyone moved into it they either left in a hurry, or”—his eyes became very round,
and he spoke slowly, teasing Alicen—“they died.”

“You’re crazy!” Alicen cried.

“Quiet down there!” the cafeteria monitor yelled.

Jamie was snickering. Alicen frowned at him.

“It is not haunted,” she said in a softer voice.

“A bunch of people died there last year,” Jamie said, “And if you don’t believe me,
it was in the papers.”

“Liar!” Alicen hissed. “I’m not going to make a jerk out of myself by looking up a
story that never happened.”

She was glad when the lunch bell rang. She moved quickly away from him, but he caught
up with her.

“Hey, I’m really sorry I scared you,” Jamie said. “But it is true.”

“Well, I’ll ask Mrs. VanBuren tonight,” Alicen said. “And I still think you’re lying.”

But somehow, she was unable to ask Melanie. Dinner came, and still she hesitated.
She was terrified that they’d make fun of her or that her father would become angry
that she’d fall for such a story. Murders? In this beautiful old house?

Still, she wasn’t quite so sure. . . .

“Alicen, pass me the bread?” Kyle asked.

Alicen started, jumping out of her thoughts.

“What’s up?” Melanie asked. “Daydreaming?”

“No,” Alicen said. She handed Kyle the bread basket.

“I’ll bet she’s thinking about that Jamie Hutchinson,” Kyle teased.

Alicen looked at him.

“Kyle—” Gary said in a warning tone.

“Who’s Jamie Hutchinson?” Derek asked.

“Just a boy in my class,” Alicen said, embarrassed.

“Well, I hope he’s just a friend,” Derek said. “You’re much too young for boys.”

“How do you know about him, Kyle?” Melanie asked. “Do you eat lunch at the same time
as Alicen?”

“No,” Kyle said. “Jamie’s brother Mikey is in my class. He told me Jamie talks about
Alicen all the time.”

Alicen sank lower into her chair.

“That’s so neat,” Gina said. “I wish a boy would talk about me.”

“Somebody will, honey,” Gary said. “When that day comes.”

Nancy, who had been concentrating on her dinner, held out her empty plate. “Mommy,
I want more spaghetti!”

Melanie took the plate from her daughter and went to the kitchen to refill it. She
was surprised when she turned and saw Alicen behind her. Alicen shook her head when
asked if she wanted more, too.

“Uh, Mrs. VanBuren?”

“What is it, Alicen?”

“I just wanted to know if, uhm—”

She shifted back and forth, staring down at her feet. “Oh, never mind!” she cried,
hurrying back into the dining room.

“Now, what was that all about?” Melanie wondered out loud as she watched the door
swing shut.

Alicen probably wanted to ask her something about boys but was too embarrassed. Considering
she didn’t have a mother, she probably didn’t know what boys were all about. Derek
didn’t seem the type to sit down with his daughter and talk about the facts of life.

“The poor kid,” Melanie said, picking up Nancy’s dish. “It must be tough growing up
without a mother.”

Later, when Gina and Alicen were helping her with the dishes, she leaned over and
whispered, “If you ever want to talk, I’m here. I can keep a secret.”

“Okay,” Alicen said. She appreciated that, but still couldn’t bring herself to ask
Melanie if the house was haunted. The more she thought, the more Alicen decided it
was just a silly story.

Until that night, when she heard the laughter again. . . .

As before, she was in bed when the laughter started. She turned on her stomach and
buried her head under her pillow. The laughter rose to a high pitch, filling her room.
Finally, she couldn’t stand it any more—she had to convince herself that it was only
a draft blowing through the grating in the floor. She climbed out of her bed.