Ghost of a Chance Book 1 in Above the Grave Trilogy (14 page)

When Drew arrived at the coffee shop the plump old
man was sitting outside at an umbrella table reading the day’s
newspaper with a cigar in one hand and the paper in the other.
The reading glasses that he wore barely fit his large face and
were taped in the middle reminding her of one of the guys off
of “Revenge of the Nerds”.

“Good morning, Mr. Johnson.” Drew said sitting
down.

 

“And good morning to you right back, Miss Taylor.”
He said after taking a huge puff of cigar.

 

Hmmm, she wondered, maybe he could double
as the fat smoking caterpillar and the white rabbit.

“What is it that you want to know about the old place,
young lady?” He said putting the newspaper down on the
table.

“Well, I was given some information about the original
owners. I was just curious as to how much of it was actually
true. What can you tell me about them?”

“Not much.” He said. “Are they bothering you?” His
eyes widened. She couldn’t tell if it was out of interest or if it
was fear that gave him that look.

“You could say that.” Drew said thinking about
Brendan and how the thought of him made her stomach fill
with butterflies, a feeling that she had never felt before and
didn’t like the fact that a ghost was the cause of it now.

“Did they do that to your hand?” He said looking
down at her bandaged hand.

 

“One of them did. One in the cemetery, though I’m
not really sure which one.” She said.

He just nodded then, “Well, only thing I know is that
whoever is in that house doesn’t want anybody in there with
them. I’m sorry if you are having bad feelings about the
purchase. I needed to get rid of the place you see.
I have no
use for it myself and there are no refunds.”

“I’m perfectly fine with the purchase, sir. That isn’t
why I am here. I would just like to know a little bit more about
whom I am sharing it with.” She said in return.

“I see. Well,” He said through a puff of cigar smoke,
“the people that owned the house before me were my parents,
the ones that owned it before them were my grandparents and
so on and so forth. I believe it goes back to my great-greatmaybe even greater grandfather who hung himself over some
dame.”

“You mean Brendan?” She asked in awe.

“Yeah, I believe that’s his name. You see, everyone
tried to keep the old place in the family yet none of them
wanted to actually live there. I never really understood why
until I tried it myself.
I am a business man, you see, and I
can't see anything but a money pit when I look at that place. I
put a bunch of money into it and couldn’t even live there and
no one, until you, would even consider buying it. I came out
completely upside down on that deal. If you don’t mind the
ghosts honey you got yourself a great bargain. It’s a beautiful
home.”

“Sure, I appreciate it. Is there anything else that you
can tell me about your ancestors or the womanMr. O’Keefe
hung himself for?”

“Hmm,” He thought, “Nothing else that I can think of.”
He seemed to fidget a little bit with that and she doubted his
ability to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
She knew that she wasn’t getting anything else out of him right
then so she figured she would drop it.

“Ok, well, I need to get going. Thanks for your time.”
Drew got up to leave then and he grabbed her hand.

“I wouldn’t go worrying my pretty littl
e head off about
the past. What’s done is done. Just leave it at that. Just live
your own life. You’ll be much happier that way.” She noticed
the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead then.
Weird she thought. What a weird little man.

“Thank
you for your concern, but since I have moved
into that house it has become my life. It’s sort of part of me
now.” She started to walk away then remembered that she had
one more question, “Mr. Johnson? I was just wondering, when
you did all of that remodeling, did you do anything to the
upstairs?”

“Never been up there, hon.” he said, “They definitely
didn’t want anyone up there.” She walked away
then,
wondering exactly what he was hiding.

So, Brendan had children. Why hadn’t he mentioned
that? They would have had to of been conceived after Lezetta
died. So, who was their mother? What had happened to them
was obvious, they went on to breed and make little pain in the
asses like Mr. Johnson, but where had they come from? Maybe
she had more questions for Mr. Brendan O’Keefe after all.

Just as she started to get on her bike she saw the girl
from the library walking into a shop down the street. She took
her helmet back off and decided to follow her. When she got
closer she saw that the shop was Wiccan. Somehow this did
not surprise Drew one bit.

When she walked in the door the girl was holding a
crystal ball and talking to the sales lady. She spotted Drew and
immediately her mouth fell open and she dropped the ball. The
crystal ball shattered all over the floor.

“Well, I guess if it worked you would have seen me
coming.” Drew said to the girl with a smile. “Don’t worry, I
will pay for the ball,” She said to the sales lady who was
looking quite annoyed, “after I have a word with little Miss
Librarian.”

She grabbed the girls arm and led her to a corner away
from the sales lady who headed back behind the counter to grab
a broom; Drew couldn’t help but wonder if it doubled as her
means for transportation.

“I think you have a little bit more to tell me.”
Drew
said once she had the girl cornered.

“I…I…don’t know what you are talking about.” The
girl stuttered as she rubbed her arm where Drew had grabbed
her quite hard.

“Is everything alright?” The sales lady who had started
sweeping up the mess asked.
Drew wondered what kind of
trouble she was getting herself into by walking into a witch
craft shop and rough housing a girl who was probably a witch
herself.

“Everything is fine.” Drew called back still staring
down the young girl.

 

“What is your name?” Drew asked.

 

“Sarah.” The girl said.

 

“Sarah, what?” Drew asked becoming even more
impatient.

 

“Sarah LeBlanc.” The girl said looking down at her
toes now.

 

Drew sighed heavily then shook her head.

“You are a descendant of Lezetta’s?”
“She was my great-greatgreat aunt on my father’s
side. I grew up hearing the story of her all of my life. I was so
intrigued with her that I started studying witch craft. I was just
here looking at some stuff. What do you want from me?”
Sarah said looking back up at Drew.

“Are you the one burning the candles in the cemetery
then?” Drew asked a little calmer this time.

“Some of them,” She said, “I’m not the only one
though. There is a group, a sister hood that worships her still.
I’m not in it though. I have to prove myself first. I just haven’t
decided if I want to do that or not.”

“What exactly do you have to do to prove yourself,
Sarah?” Drew asked suspiciously.

“I’m not sure.” She said shakily. “I swear I haven’t
been told that much yet. I still have a lot to learn about her
craft before I can even ask to join. They are very secretive.
You should be very careful going around asking questions.
Everything that they do they take very seriously.”

“What do you mean by her craft? Wiccan you mean?”

“Not exactly, M
iss Lezetta sort of invented her own
craft really. The Wiccan religion didn’t actually start until the
20th century. Miss Lezetta’s craft started with witchcraft
which has been around forever, but she sort of turned it into
something darker than what theWiccan’s practice today.”

“If it isn’t Wiccan or Voodoo and it isn’t anything
good, why are you so interested in becoming a part of it?”
Drew asked.

“I am more interested in learning about it than I am in
practicing it.” She said honestly. “She was a relative, a distant
relative, but I want to know who she was and what she was
capable of.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that Brendan and Lezetta had
children?” Drew asked.

 

“What?” Sarah replied.

“I was told that the man who sold me the house was
the great something grandson of Brendan O’Keefe. Since he
was with Lezetta I am assuming that they had to have had a
child together. I need the truth, Sarah; do you know anything
about that?”

Sarah looked sincerely confused. “No. Lezetta never
had any children. She had a brother, Cyrus, who married and
they had children.
That is the family that I come from. After
Lezetta died, Cyrus was the only one to carry on their father’s
name.”

“One more question and I will pay for that stupid ball
and let you be on your way.” Drew said when she saw the
sales lady speaking with another woman behind the counter
and looking at the two of them very suspiciously.

“Why would anyone want to worship a no name witch
from one hundred and fifty years ago?”

Sarah’s face turned pale when
she saw the two women
watching them. She turned back to Drew and whispered, “I
can’t discuss any more with you here. I have to go.”

Drew watched Sarah practically sprint out of the front
door. The woman who had come into the picture later started
afterher, “I’m paying for the crystal ball so there is no need to
go after her. I’m sure she will be back later to purchase
whatever items she was interested in.”

The woman glared at her. “What’s the damage?”
Drew said cheerfully. She didn’t want any trouble.

The woman started to walk back toward the counter
then and said, “Three hundred and fifty dollars.” The sound of
her voice chilled Drew to the bone.

Drew looked down then and saw a box of tarot cards
that were lined with gold print and sparkled with glitter. They
were beautiful. She didn’t know why but she had to have
them. Hers were broken after all.

“I will take these as well.” Drew grabbed the box and
headed towards the counter. She noticed the little room off to
the side. It had an altar lined with candles. Hanging over the
altar was a picture of probably the most beautiful girl she had
ever seen. She had long black wavy hair and the bluest eyes.
Her skin was a beautiful dark tawny color. She squinted to
read the label under the picture itread “Sister Lezetta LeBlanc”
She already knew that before she even read the words. She had
unconsciously painted a picture of her after all.

“If that is all, it will be four hundred dollars total.”
The woman said to Drew still glaring at her.

Drew handed the woman her debit card.
She never
wanted to be out of a store so bad in her life. When she was
finished with the purchase she thanked her and apologized for
the trouble and headed towards the door. When she started to
walk by the display of crystal balls she noticed the large sale
sign of one hundred dollars each.

“Bitch.” Drew said under her breath. Whatever Drew
had done or said in the little shop, it was obviously not
appreciated. She had a really bad feeling that she wasn’t done
paying for it either.

It was time for Drew to call in
back up. She didn’t
really want to drag anyone else in to her mess, but she figured
since Liza was a school teacher she may be able to get the 411
on some of the history around her area. Before she got back on
her bike she called Liza and left her a message to find out what
she could about the LeBlanc’s and the O’Keefe’s. In the mean
time she thought she had better visit the doctor’s office about
her hand.

After waiting thirty minutes in the doctor’s room,
staring at a paisley wall with pictures of lighthouses and
sunsets, a very handsome young doctor walked into the room
with a very sweet smile. He informed her after looking at her
nasty cut that she was going to need a tetanus shot and
prescribed her some antibiotics just in case. He scolded her for
not coming in sooner as it probably could have used stitches
the day before. Instead he butterfly bandaged it and wrapped it
up really tight and told her to wear gloves and pay more
attention when she mowed.

“Just one more thing before you go, Dr. O’Connor?”
Drew asked hesitantly.

 

“Sure, I would be happy to go to dinner with you
tonight.” He said with a dazzling smile.

Drew laughed, “As flattered as I am, I have other
commitments. I was actually wondering if you had ever heard
of the O’Keefe family from around here. I noticed that your
name is Irish.”

Dr. O’Connor laughed back and said, “As much as I
would love to help you out I only moved here a year ago and
the last place I heard that name was a kid in elementary school
back in California. I do have an Irish name, but I was born and
raised in America and not in New Orleans. Sorry I couldn’t be
of more help.”

After trying to convince her one more time that going
out to dinner with him would be much more beneficial to her
than whatever
other
plans she could
possibly
have, Dr.
O’Connor finally parted her room and went to hassle a seventy
year old woman in the next room. He was a cutie, she thought,
but as usual, he did nothing for her.

Just
as Drew was
leaving the
pharmacy with her
antibiotics her phone rang.

 

“Liza! I’m so glad that you called me back! Have you
found anything out yet?”

“Honey, I just got your message. It has been such a
hectic day. What is this all about anyway?” Liza said
curiously.

“Just abo
ut the people who used to live in my house,
I’m curious that’s all.” She added when she heard the heavy
sigh on the other end of the line. “Why don’t you find out what
you can and come up Friday night for girl’s night? I have some
great really old wine and you could bring a chick flick. It has
been a while since I’ve watched a good movie, or any TV for
that matter.”