Finding the Way Back (22 page)

“There’s no way I’m fitting into any of the
shoes,” Connie said grimacing as she tried to force one on her
foot. “Grandmother must have been Cinderella.”

“Nice suit,” I told her.

“Thanks, you know you should actually keep
that dress. It’s really sexy on you.”

Curtsying, I flashed her my best ‘come
hither’ look. “You don’t think it’s too much?”

“No, but you gotta work on the look.”

“Thanks, I’m a bit out of practice. I haven’t
had to use my charms in quite a while.”

We started back down the stairs to show our
moms. Four steps down I froze, the hair on my neck stood up and I
got chills down my body. My breath caught in my throat and I
started sweating.

From behind me Connie grabbed my arm. “What’s
wrong, Laney?”

My world was spinning and it seemed like the
walls were closing in. I thought I was going to fall, then abruptly
the sensation went away. Still feeling faint, I sat down on the
steps. Connie still had a hold of my arm and she moved to stand in
front of me. “Hey, are you okay? You’re as white as a sheet. And
it’s cold right here. Do you feel that?”

“I’m all right now. Give me a second. I just
felt a little dizzy. But it does feel cold.” Regaining my feet, I
slowly walked down the rest of the stairs. By the time I got to the
bottom of the stairway my mother and aunt were standing there,
looking concerned.

“Come sit down, child,” my mother said,
gently leading me to the sofa. I always knew my mother was
concerned for me when she used such endearments. “What
happened?”

“I don’t know, I just suddenly got really
scared and couldn’t move.” Having difficulty sitting down, I hoped
the threads in the dress were still strong or it might rip out at
the seam.

“Don’t you think you ought to rethink staying
here?” she asked, putting her hand on my arm.

“No,” I answered, glancing at her from the
corner of my eyes. “Nothing really happened. I didn’t see anyone or
anything. No one pushed me. Something just didn’t feel right. Maybe
I’m just not getting enough sleep.” My feet were starting to ache
so I slipped the high heels off.

My mother sighed, but was taken in by the
dress. “My mother always said that was her favorite dress. I never
actually saw her wear it, but it was one I would take out and look
at all the time. I suppose there probably wasn’t much cause to wear
velvet. You should keep it, it’s the perfect color for you.”

“In that dress I would almost swear you were
our mother,” Aunt Shelly said as she came to stand near us. “Of
course, we don’t have many photos of her at your age and the ones
we have are black and white. If memory serves, your hair and eyes
are the same color, except for the pink, of course. Her smile could
light up a room.”

“Let’s all go upstairs and check out what
else her closet has in it,” my mom added, rising to her feet.

I could tell all three of them were keeping a
close watch on me as I went up the steps, and they all insisted I
go in front of them. It was nice to know they cared about me, so I
didn’t let it bother me. It never occurred to me that I looked like
my grandmother, but thinking back to pictures of her, I realized it
was true. I was beginning to feel a real kinship with Teoline. I
wished I’d known her.

Returning to the bedroom, Connie and I
slipped back into our own clothes. The closet was so small we
decided to bring the clothes out into the bedroom rather than all
of us squeezing into the little closet.

We brought out house dresses, delicate
peignoir sets, blouses, long, slim fitting skirts, full dresses and
even two pairs of pants. Setting them on the bed, our mothers
reminisced about the pieces, remembering their mother as well as
themselves in the clothes. She had very few shoes compared to our
present day stockpiles. Four pairs of pumps, a pair of sandals and
some everyday slippers completed her collection.

There was a shelf above the hanging clothes
that was full of round hat boxes, and we excitedly brought them
down to look in them. Each box contained a number of hats,
depending on the shape and size. I pulled out a pink velvet hat
with netting that hung down over the wearer’s eyes and tried it on.
I looked at myself in the mirror over the dresser and coquettishly
batted my eyelashes.

“I wish we could wear hats now,” I said.
“Hats and gloves.”

“You wouldn’t be so happy with it if you
had
to wear them, especially in the summer heat. It could be
quite oppressive,” Aunt Shelly said, coming up to look at me in the
mirror. “You do look good in hats, though. Not everyone can pull
off the look. And the netting was perfect for flirting.”

“Maybe you should leave it on then, Laney.
Emmett will be over soon,” Connie teased.

“Now why would that matter? But you can
borrow the hat for Dean,” I countered.

“What’s this all about then?” my mom
demanded. “Do we have some juicy details to discuss?”

“No, of course not,” I said abruptly, walking
back into the closet.

Connie began to discuss how wonderful Emmett
and I would be together so I decided to avoid them. Looking on the
floor near the back of the closet I saw a small wooden trunk. It
was only about a foot and a half wide and about ten inches tall. It
was obviously an antique. It looked like the large trunk in the
hallway but was so tiny and adorable with its sloping top and
intricate carving. I pulled it towards me and sat on the floor to
look in it. The lock looked like it had been broken off long
ago.

I gently lifted the lid. It was lined with
shattered silk material that had once been a pretty blue with an
interwoven black design. On the top was an old 78 rpm record,
broken in many pieces. Why would someone save a broken record?
Finding the piece with the label on it I read the name Vera Lynn.
That name was familiar. The name of the song on the A side was
‘We’ll Meet Again’. I brought the record out to the bedroom and
interrupted their discussion. “Do any of you remember the Vera Lynn
song
We’ll Meet Again
?”

My mother came over to take the piece out of
my hand. “Oh my goodness, I remember our mother playing this over
and over and singing along with it at times when our father was
out, which was most nights. I would hear it as I went to sleep. Mom
had such a lovely voice, soft and lilting.”

“I don’t think I remember the song but I do
remember her singing,” Aunt Shelly said.

“It must have meant something special to her
that she kept the record even after it broke,” Connie said. An
unexpected knock on the front door made us all jump and we laughed
nervously.

“That must be Emmett and crew. I’ll go let
them in,” Connie said, walking out the door.

“You all can go down, I’ll quickly hang
everything back up,” I replied. They all walked out as I started
hanging up my grandmother’s clothes. I thought about Emmett
downstairs and started getting nervous. I didn’t know what was
wrong with me—I never felt this way about anyone before. Did Simon
used to make me feel like this? I couldn’t remember but I didn’t
think so. The small closet began to feel hot and closed in, and as
I got excited I became a little breathless. I took a few deep
breaths to fight off a feeling of dizziness. I couldn’t seem to
make myself not feel the excitement that rose in me just thinking
about him. He was just an ordinary guy—what was wrong with me? No
getting involved, I promised myself, unsure if it was a promise I
could keep.

Chapter
Twenty-Four

Hearing everyone downstairs setting up, I
rushed into the bathroom to make myself more presentable. A little
makeup and lip gloss, take out the braid and fluff my hair and I
was ready.

I carefully went down the stairs. I would be
calm and collected. Taking another deep breath I tried to steady my
heartbeat. My stomach felt like it was in knots. I waited for the
strange feeling to come again on the steps and was relieved when it
didn’t.

The living room was packed when I entered. My
stomach hit the floor. Standing next to Emmett were two
raven-haired beauties. Oh God, Melanie Thomas and her sister
Judith. Melanie was looking up at Emmett like he was the last Oreo
in the pack.

Seeing Connie in the kitchen I turned and
marched up to her. “What is she doing here?” I asked, bristling
up.

“I didn’t know she was coming. It was
supposed to be just Judith.” Connie continued wiping down the
countertops.

“Why would Judith come along?” I asked
putting my hands on my hips.

“I asked her to come. She’s Glen’s
girlfriend. She’s the one who works with energy,” Connie said as if
that answered all questions.

“What do you mean she works with energy?
She’s with the electric company?”

“No, like everyone and everything is made of
energy. She’s like some kind of spiritual healer or whatever they
call it. She’s into all that new age stuff like crystals, yoga, tai
chi, all that stuff. She sometimes smudges houses when people move
into a new home, well not a new home, an old home that’s new to
them.” I knew she was trying to throw me off with her rambling but
I wouldn’t be set off track.

“Smudges? What kind of hocus-pocus is
that?”

“Now remember, you didn’t believe in ghosts
at first either. Let’s give her a chance. She clears bad energy out
of houses. Think about it, Laney. We’re in unknown territory here.
We can use all the help we can get,” Connie pleaded. “I asked
Emmett about it and he was fine with it.”

“Fine, but why did she have to bring
Melanie?”

“You know how it is. I’m sure Melanie heard
what she was doing and didn’t want to miss anything. Plus, she
probably heard Emmett was going to be here and she’s been trying to
land that fish for ages.”

“Melanie and Emmett? I thought she was after
some professor.” This was the last thing I needed.

“I think she’s into sheer number of
conquests. Once she has them, she loses interest. As far as I know,
he isn’t interested, but you know Melanie. She always gets what she
wants and she wants Emmett.”

Maybe I didn’t actually see red but there was
pink around the edges of my vision as I saw Melanie sucking up to
Emmett. Worse yet, Emmett didn’t seem to mind.
Men
, I
harrumphed to myself.

Stalking out to the living room, I was
determined to be the epitome of grace and sweetness. Melanie was
dressed in spray-on jeans and a shirt cut so low I could almost
pick the lint out of her belly button. I had to admit I was envious
of the amount of cleavage she could flash.

“Hi guys, Melanie, Judith,” I greeted the
group.

“Laney. So good to see you again so soon,”
Melanie said sweetly, in a sick sort of way.

“Hi Laney,” Judith said. Her greeting seemed
more sincere as she reached out and hugged me. “I heard you were
back. I was hoping to see you and Connie.”

Judith had always been friendly and kind. I
could never understand how she and Melanie got to be so different.
She was as beautiful as her sister, but she was always more
understated and elegant. You could tell she didn’t think she had
anything to prove.

“So you are here to chase away our ghost?” I
asked, somewhat facetiously, not wanting to sound too serious.

“I’m here to help you cleanse the spirits and
light the house, increasing the positive energy flow and removing
the negative,” she answered softly. “I know most people think this
is witchcraft or some kind of quackery, but Native Americans have
practiced these rituals for a very long time. To them it is a very
real and natural process for healing, growth and spiritual
awakening.”

“Well, at this point, I’m willing to try
anything,” I answered, smiling and welcomed her into the living
room. My recent encounters had made me aware that I shouldn’t
discount anything out of hand.

Just then, my mother and aunt clomped down
the stairs and entered the room, squabbling about something.
“That’s just not true, Glen Campbell was never with the Beach
Boys,” my mom was saying.

“It was only a short while, but it is true.
You just don’t like to be wrong about anything,” my aunt
answered.

“Hello everyone, we’re here,” my mom
announced. Making an effort not to roll my eyes, I checked out the
two women’s outfits. Both wore green camouflage fatigue pants,
which I recognized as belonging to my father, black turtlenecks and
adorable, little combat boots.

“You went and changed? Nice outfit, Mom.
Where’d you get the boots?” I asked.

“We brought a change of clothes with us for
tonight’s activity,” Mom answered. There’s an Army-Navy surplus
store in Maplewood. You wouldn’t believe the things they have
there.”

“I can believe. You didn’t bring any live
ammo, did you?”

“I’d have to check, you know there are a lot
of pockets in these pants.”

Everyone was feeling pretty upbeat; it was
getting to be quite the party atmosphere. I doubted that any ghosts
would want to be a part of this revelry.

While the guys finished setting up their
equipment for later in the evening, the rest of us sat down in the
living room. Emmett excused himself from us to go help Dean and
Glen with the gear.

“So how do you go about doing the smudging?”
I asked Judith after we were all comfortable.

“I’m sorry, but can you tell me where your
restroom is?” Melanie interrupted.

I was sure she was just going to embark on a
trek to find Emmett, but I couldn’t be outright rude without
looking jealous, so I indicated the bathroom off the kitchen and
kind of hoped a ghost would jump her.

“Well, we start with a prayer,” Judith began,
placing her hands in an almost universal sign of prayer, with her
fingers pointing to the ceiling. “It’s important that we keep an
open, positive heart. We need to show reverence and respect for
those we are attempting to contact, and for the ritual itself.” Her
voice was soothing and melodic. “We burn the sage, and then we take
the smoke in our hands and pass it over our bodies. Then we walk
from room to room, pushing the smoke into corners and focusing more
effort on any areas where you’ve had unpleasant experiences. After
that step is complete, we each take a candle and bring the light to
each dark corner—promoting goodness and positive energy to every
room.” As she spoke, Judith reached into several tote bags she
brought along and pulled out bundles of dried sage, several
handfuls of crystals, some large feathers and a gray stone bowl. We
watched as she first placed a clear crystal in each corner of the
room and one in the center. She put the sage and the bowl on the
coffee table in front of the couch and looked up at my mom and Aunt
Shelly in uncertainty. “Is something wrong?”