Haunted Tales (20 page)

Viv pulled the SUV into the dark and deserted parking lot of
Oakdale Nature Preserves and followed the tree-lined path back behind the old
dormitories into the woods. Mary took an unsteady breath.
 
This was not a good place to be.

“It’s going to be okay,” Mike said. “We’ve been in tougher
fixes than this.”

“Yes,” Mary whispered. “But this time, I don’t know if I can
get through to her.”

 
“Who are you talking
to?” Viv asked.

“The reason Andrew asked me to help him find out the truth
behind Kristen’s death was because I can see and communicate with ghosts,” Mary
said to Viv. “I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but the ghost of Vic is
sitting next to you in your car.”

Viv shook her head and blinked rapidly. “No, that’s
impossible,” she said. “I’m Vic. I didn’t die.”

“Well, okay,” Mary said. “He must be an imposter. But he
sure looks like Vic. Is there anything I can ask him to prove he’s not who he
says he is?”

Viv jumped out of the car and came around to the back
seat.
 
She opened the door, grabbed the
rope around Mary’s hands and pulled her backwards.
 
Mary tripped out of the car and landed hard
on the leaf-covered ground.

“You think you’re so smart, just like those psychologists
they used to send us to when we were kids. Well, I don’t believe you,” Viv
said, brandishing her knife. “And now you are going to die.”

“Listen to yourself, Viv. You sound like Mom,” Vic cried.
“You sound like Mom when she was crazy.”

Mary took a shaky breath. “He just said you sound like your
mom,” she repeated.
“When she was crazy.”

Viv’s breath was labored, coming out in gasping sobs. “No,”
she said. “It’s a trick.”

“Remember how you used to hide me when Mom was on the war
path?” he asked. “She’d beat you, but you’d never tell.”

“You’d let your mom beat you,” Mary said
,.
“
so
Vic would be safe.”

Viv lifted the knife over her head. “No, I don’t believe
it!” she screamed. “You’re lying. You’re all lying. And now you’re going to
die.”

Mary rolled onto her back and kicked Viv in the stomach with
all of her might, connecting and sending her rolling backwards down the
embankment.
 

“Get up,” Mike called, standing next to her. “She’s coming
back.”

Mary rolled onto her side and struggled to get into a
sitting position without the use of her hands. It just wasn’t working. “I
can’t,” she breathed. “I can’t get up.”

“You bitch!” Viv screamed, grabbing small tree trunks and pulling
herself up the embankment. “You can’t escape me.”

“Remember when you killed mom?” Vic screamed. “Remember when
we promised we’d never tell anyone else. You did it to save my life.”

“You killed your mother to save Vic’s life,” Mary breathed.
“You saved him.”

Reaching the top of the embankment, her knife clutched in
her fist, Viv froze. “How did you know that?” she asked Mary.

“Vic told me,” Mary pleaded. “He’s here. He’s been here all
along, trying to help you.”

“She found out about me,” Vic said. “She was punching me and
calling me a queer.
 
She said she’d beat
it out of me.”

“He said that your mother was beating him because she found
out he was gay,” Mary repeated.

Shaking her head, Viv dropped to her knees. “I’m not gay,”
she cried roughly. “I’m straight, and I loved Kristen.”

Vic walked over to his sister and knelt by her side. “I
thought you understood,” he said.

“He thought you understood,” Mary said.

Viv ripped her hat off her head, allowing her hair to spill
down. “Being gay is what killed him,” she cried, sobbing harshly. Her voice
sounded feminine again as she stammered her words. “He went on a suicide
mission because of it.
 
He gave his life
for Mitch because he loved him.”

“I loved Mitch,” Vic said remorsefully, “but he didn’t love
me. We actually talked about it.” He laughed sadly. “Mitch was pretty surprised
to find out how I felt. But we were honest with each other. It’s ironic really;
the person he loved was the only other person I ever really loved. Mitch loved
you.”

 
Mary closed her eyes
and drew in a deep breath.
 
Okay, that is not my story to tell,
she
thought.

“Viv,” she breathed. “Vic didn’t commit suicide. He was a
soldier, and he did what he thought was right. It had nothing to do with his
sexual preferences and everything to do with him being brave and noble. Don’t
take that away from him.”

Viv looked up. “I don’t believe you,” she said, her voice
low and raspy once again. She picked up her hat and stuffed her hair back
inside of it. “This is a trick, and you’re lying to me. Vic isn’t dead. I’m
Vic.”

Standing, she lifted her knife. “And now you’re going to
pay,” she cried, dashing forward towards Mary.

The crack of the bullet echoed in the woods, and the knife Viv
was holding tore out of her hand and back into the underbrush.
 
Then Bradley walked out of the woods, his gun
drawn and pointed at Viv. “I want you to put your hands on your head and drop
down to your knees,” he ordered.
“Now!”

“Who are you?” Viv screamed.

“I’m Master Sergeant Bradley Alden, 75th Regiment,” Bradley
said. “And Private, I need you to cooperate with me.”

Viv immediately put her hands on her head and knelt down.
“Sir.
Yes, sir,” she shouted back.

Bradley walked forward and quickly cuffed Viv’s hands behind
her back.
 
He helped her stand and
started to move her toward the road.

Thinking only Bradley had arrived, Mary was surprised when
she felt a tug behind her as the ropes around her wrists fell away and then
strong hands helped her to a sitting position.
 
She turned around to find Ian squatting next to her. “Ian?” she said,
“What are you doing here?”

He smiled at her and wrapped his arm around her waist to
help her to her feet. “Well, darling, it’s Halloween,” he said. “Where else
would I be but with the O’Reillys?”

“Ian, would you mind?” Bradley asked, motioning to Viv.

Ian nodded towards Bradley and then looked at Mary. “Can you
stand on your own, darling?” he asked. “I can promise you it’ll only be for a
wee moment.”

“Yes,” she said with a nod. “Yes, I can.”

Hurrying over, Ian took possession of a handcuffed Viv and
nodded. “I’ll take her back towards the car,” he said. “Give you two a moment.”

Bradley hurried over and wrapped his arms around Mary, just
holding her for a moment. “I’m so sorry I didn’t answer my phone,” he
whispered. “I’m never going to forgive myself…”

She looked up at him, placed her fingers on his lips and met
his eyes. “Good shooting,
Tex
,” she said. “And good
timing.”

He pulled her tightly against him again. “Are you okay?” he
asked. “Are you really okay?”

“I’m fine, only…” she paused.

“What is it sweetheart? Anything you want.”

“Could you please help me find a restroom?” she asked. “It’s
been a really long night.”

Chuckling, he guided her to the bathrooms that were located
on the other side of the dormitory building. “One of my officers will pick Viv
up, and then we’ll go back home,” he said.

“Oh, good,” Mary said. “I am so looking forward to a little
peace and quiet.”

Bradley helped Mary out of the car and, with his arm wrapped
around her waist, guided her up the stairs into their home. “I can walk,
really,” she said to him.

“You’re just lucky I’m not carrying you,” he growled softly.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to let you out of my sight again.”

“I really did try to contact you,” she said.

“I know,” he replied, kissing the side of her face. “I was
distracted with too many things. But that will never happen again, I promise.”

“Distracted?” she asked. “Distracted with what?”

Before he could answer, the front door of their house burst
open, and a chorus of voices filled the yard.
 
Mary looked around. Her entire family, the Brennan clan, Rosie and
Stanley were all coming out to meet her.
 
When Ian walked up from behind them and joined the group, she was nearly
overwhelmed.
 
She turned to Bradley in
total confusion. “What?” she began.

“Happy Baby Shower,” Bradley whispered.

“A baby shower?” she squeaked, tears filling her eyes.

“Kate and Rosie, along with your mom, have been planning it
for weeks,” he said. And then leaning closer, he whispered, “those witches.”

“Oh,” she said, clapping her hands over her mouth. “They
were buying…”

“Baby shower stuff,” he said. “Surprised?”

“To say the least,” she replied, her voice thick with
emotion. “Thank you.”

An instant later she was caught up in a flurry of hugs and
well wishes.

“Mary, my sweet girl,
are
you
okay?” her mother asked.

“Fine, Ma, really,” Mary said. “I’m
more
hungry
than anything else.”

“Well then, why didn’t you say so?” her mother replied. “I’ll
run in and start making you a plate.”

“My own Mary-Mary,” Timothy said, wrapping her up in a big
embrace. “Please forgive me for sending you out like that and not listening to
you.”

“Da, how were you to know that would happen?” she asked.
“You were just trying to give me the surprise of my life. And I love you for
it.”

“I would have died twice over if anything had happened to
you,” he said.

“I’m fine, Da,” she said.
“Really.”

Sean was the next one to greet her, shaking his head.
“Always getting
yourself
in trouble,” he said, giving
her a gentle hug.

“Yeah, you should talk,” she replied, returning the hug.

“We O’Reillys
are
sure badasses,
aren’t we?” he asked.

She chuckled. “Yes. Yes we are.”

It took another ten minutes for everyone to wish her well
and then be shooed back into the house for refreshments.
 
Bradley walked with Mary up onto the porch
and guided her to the swing at the far end. “I thought I’d give you a moment to
catch your breath before you went in,” he said.

She leaned back against the wooden slats and breathed in the
cool autumn air. “Thank you,” she said. “It’s just what I needed.”

The door creaked open, and Clarissa peeked her head out.

“Clarissa, sweetheart,” Mary said, her arms outstretched.
“Come and sit with us on the swing.”

Clarissa ran across the porch and threw her arms around
Mary. “I was so worried about you,” she said. “Especially when Andrew told me
the soldier had a knife.”

“You spoke to Andrew?” Mary asked.

Clarissa nodded. “Maggie showed me how to see ghosts when I
touch her,” she said. “And when Maggie saw the ghosts at the house, I touched
her hand, and then I talked to them.”

“Clarissa and Maggie were the ones who told us who’d taken
you,” Bradley said. “They are the heroes tonight.”

Mary laid her head on Clarissa’s head. “Thank you so much,”
she said.

“The ghosts looked scary,” Clarissa said. “Do they always
look scary?”

“Not always,” Mary said. “Especially…”

She paused as she looked over and saw Andrew and Kristen
gliding onto the porch. “Bradley,” Mary said. “Do you think you could sneak
Maggie out here? There’s something that I’d like the girls to see.”

Within a few moments, Maggie and Bradley were out on the
porch with Clarissa and Mary. “Maggie, you and Clarissa hold hands,” Mary said.
“And Bradley, you hold on to me. Now, can you all see Kristen and Andrew?”

“What are we?
Show and Tell?”
Kristen asked.

“Well, actually, yes,” Mary replied. “I hope you don’t mind
too much.”

“But what are we supposed to do?” Andrew asked.

“You’re supposed to go home,” Mary replied “Because you’ve
completed what you needed to down here, now you get to return to other side.”

“But how?”
Kristen asked.

“Just look around for a light,” Mary said.

Suddenly, both Kristen and Andrew were engulfed with light,
and the scary features from death that had marred their bodies slowly
disappeared as they were made whole.
 

“I see the light,” Andrew said with a wide smile. “Thank
you, Mary.”

He turned and started to walk away from them until his body
faded from view.

“Thank you, Mary,” Kristen said, and then she looked at
Maggie and Clarissa. “And you two, you make sure you study hard so you can grow
up to be whatever it is you want to be.”

She looked up at Mary, tears in her eyes, and nodded.
“Whatever you do, don’t name your dog Kristen.”

Mary laughed, tears in her voice. “I promise I won’t,” she
said.

“And you,” Kristen said finally, looking at Bradley. “Don’t
get fat.”

Bradley nodded in her direction and smiled. “Thanks, I
won’t.”

Kristen turned around and walked slowly away until
she
, too, faded into the light.

“That was the best thing ever,” Clarissa said.

“Yes, it’s pretty cool,” Mary agreed.

“They’re not scary when they’re ready to go to heaven, are
they?” Maggie said.

“No, they’re not,” Mary agreed. “They’re all cleaned up and
ready to go home.”

Mary entered her home and nearly didn’t recognize it.
 
Blue balloons, streamers and confetti were
everywhere.
 
A beautiful floral
arrangement with blue, white and yellow flowers stood in the middle of her
table surrounded by an incredible amount of food.
 
A large folding table was filled with
packages wrapped in an assortment of blue wrapping paper, and next to the table
stood an antique-looking rocking chair with a bright blue bow attached to it.

Mary’s smile was a little watery as she looked around the
room at her friends and family. “You’d think someone was having a baby boy,”
she teased as she wiped a few stray tears from her cheeks. “Thank you so much.
I am completely overwhelmed.”

“Well, sit yourself down so the party can begin,” Stanley
said. “That there rocking chair looks like the perfect place
fer
you to be.”

“Stanley and Rosie’s gift to you is the rocking chair,”
Bradley whispered.

Mary walked over and stroked the beautiful, golden oak chair
with oak leaf and acorn carvings on the back and the sides. “This is just
gorgeous,” she said, turning and hugging Rosie and Stanley. “I have never seen
anything so beautiful.”

Stanley sniffled and smiled at Mary. “Well, try it on
fer
size, girlie,” he said. “Take it out
fer
a spin.”

Mary sat on the chair and relaxed. Pushing off, she rocked
back and forth several times. “Oh, it’s just perfect,” she said.

Margaret appeared at her side carrying a plate of food. “Now
that we finally have you sitting down,” she said, “I thought I’d try and get
some food inside of you.”

Mary looked at the plate that was filled with a
mini-sandwich, some vegetable sticks and dip, a little bit of fruit salad and
three large slices of cheesecake. “What kind are these?” Mary asked, pointing
her fork at the cheesecake.

“Pumpkin, salted caramel and dark chocolate,” Margaret said.
“Rosie made the pumpkin, I made the salted caramel, and Kate made the dark
chocolate.”

“You’re joking!” Mary exclaimed
,
taking a forkful of the dark chocolate and closing her eyes in ecstasy as the
flavors melted on her tongue. “This is amazing. Kate, I didn’t know you knew
how to make cheesecake.”

“I didn’t,” Kate replied with a smile, “until Master Chef
Rosie took me under her wing.
 
Do you
really like it?”

Mary put another forkful in her mouth. “Are you kidding me?”
she said. “Um, these cheesecakes are all for the pregnant lady, right?”

She took a bite of each of the other cheesecakes and sighed
happily. “I just love you guys,” she said.

Margaret grinned. “Well, I knew what to put on her plate,”
she said. “She was always the one with the sweet tooth.”

“But she needs to open the presents,” Clarissa said.

“Of course I do,” Mary replied and smiled gratefully at
Bradley when he placed a TV tray next to the rocking chair for her plate.
“Clarissa, could you bring the gifts to me?”

“Oh, and I’ll write down who gave you what,” Rosie said,
holding up a pen and notepad.

“Thanks, Rosie,” Mary replied.

She took the first gift from Clarissa, a large box that was
fairly heavy.

“That’s from our family,” Maggie said.

Mary looked up and smiled. “Well then I can’t wait to see
what it is.”

She opened the box, and once again, her eyes filled with
tears as she pulled out a handmade baby quilt in pastel blue colors. “Oh, it’s
beautiful,” she said, and then she rubbed it against her cheek.
“And so soft.”

“We went with mom to the fabric store and made sure all the
material was soft,” Maggie said.

“And mom made all of us help quilt so it could be from the
whole family,” Andy said. “But she pretty much got all the blood stains out of
it.”

Mary chuckled and turned to Kate. “Thank you,” she
said,
her heart in her eyes. “I truly love it.”

Clarissa handed Mary the next box, a shirt-sized gift box.
Mary opened the card and smiled up at Ian. “You know you didn’t have to,” she
said.

“As an honorary uncle, it was both my duty and my pleasure,”
he replied.

She opened the box and started to laugh before she pulled
out a tiny, baby-sized kilt, matching booties, and a tiny leather sporran.

“It’s the MacDougal tartan, my family tartan,” he explained.

“I love it,” Mary said. “And I know he’ll be proud to wear
it.”

The next box was from her brothers, and Mary opened it with
a little bit of trepidation. But when she looked inside, she laughed
again.
 
First she pulled out a baby-sized
Cubs baseball uniform, and then she pulled out a tiny Bears football jersey, a
Bulls basketball onesie, and finally a Blackhawks hockey sleeper.

“Those are our family tartans,” Sean said. “We need to start
him early on the right teams to follow.”

Mary handed them to Bradley. “What do you think?” she asked.

He was amazed at how tiny the sleeper was. “Will he fit in
them?” he asked.

Nodding, Mary sighed. “They’ll probably be too big at
first.”

“Now, it’s time for your gift from Ma and me,” Timothy
said.
 
He slipped into the kitchen and
came back out carrying a wicker bassinet. “This is the bassinet you used when
you were a baby,” he said. “We’ve kept it up in the attic, waiting until the
day you could use it for your own child.”

His eyes filled with tears, and his voice cracked. He waited
for a moment before he tried to speak. “I’m so proud of you,” he said softly.
“You’ve already become a wonderful mother. And I can’t wait to meet little
Timmy.”

Margaret punched him softly on his arm. “That’s Michael
Timothy, you big galoot,” she said, wiping tears from her own eyes.

“Ah, but he’ll always be little Timmy to me,” Timothy
replied, winking at Mary.

Mary was just about to pick up her plate when the doorbell
rang.

“I’ll get it,” Bradley said, and he hurried over to the
door.

Because of the adventures earlier in the evening, everyone
was quiet and tense, waiting to see who was at the door.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” a woman’s voice floated into the room.
“Are we too late?
 
I didn’t even know if
we should have come.”

“No, of course you should have come,” Bradley said. “Please
come in.”

Bradley opened the door wide, and an older couple walked in
carrying a large, wrapped box.
 
The woman
walked over to Mary. “I don’t know if you remember me,” she said. “We’ve only
met a couple of times. I’m Mike’s mother.”

“Oh, good, they came,” Margaret whispered to Rosie.

Unable to speak at first, with tears rolling down her
cheeks, Mary nodded. “Yes, of course I remember you,” she finally said. “Thank
you so much for coming.”

“It’s all a little strange,” Mike’s mother said. “But
somehow I had this strong impression that Mike would want you to have this.”

Mike appeared next to her and smiled down at Mary. “She got
the impression after I whispered it into her ear several dozen times,” he said.

Mary took the gift and reverently
unwrapped
it. In the midst of fresh, light blue tissue paper lay a well-used baseball
mitt and an autographed baseball.
 
Mary
lightly stroked the mitt, its leather worn and soft. “It’s perfect,” she said.
“I know he will love it.”

“They were my greatest treasures when I was a boy,” Mike
explained. “I wanted to pass them on.”

“Do you really like it?” Mike’s mother asked.

“Oh, I love it,” Mary said.

Mike’s mother turned to her husband, who’d come up behind
her. “See, I told you she’d understand,” she said.

He smiled down at Mary, looking so much like an older
version of his son that her heart nearly broke. “Well, just in case, we brought
you another gift, too,” he said, handing her another box.

“Oh, you didn’t need to,” Mary said. “This is wonderful.”

“Yeah, well, we thought he’d probably like this, too,” he
said.

Mary opened the box and pulled out a toy fire truck. “In
case he ever wonders who he was named for,” Mike’s father said.

Bradley handed Mary a tissue to help stem the flow of tears,
and she shook her head. “He will never wonder who he was named for,” she
promised. “He will always know.”