The Guests on South Battery (Tradd Street #5)(45)

“Don’t!” the voice screamed. “You. Don’t. Want. To. Know. The. Truth.” Spit foamed on my mother’s lips, flecks of dirt appearing on her chin.

Veronica stood so fast her chair toppled backward onto the floor with a bang.

I reached over and grabbed the chain from Ginette’s hand, and a small fizz of air left her lungs as her head slumped to the table. I stood, breathing heavily as if I’d been the one communicating with whoever or whatever that had been. “You should go,” I said to Veronica. “We can’t help you.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, picking up her chair and sliding the chain and pendant into her pocket. “I’m so sorry.”

I heard her footsteps heading toward the foyer and then the front door opening and closing as I bent to my mother to check her breathing. Her pulse was steady, but she felt clammy to the touch. I helped her stand, then led her to the couch to lie down. Her eyes remained closed as I sat next to her, listening to her breathe, her hand in mine.

“She needs us,” she said finally.

“Her sister has been dead for twenty years and we can’t bring her back. And if you do that again, it just might kill you.”

We heard my father come in and I quickly helped my mother to a sitting position. He stuck his head in the room. “I thought you were going for your walk.”

“I think Mother might be a little under the weather,” I began.

“We were just leaving,” she said with a smile as she pulled herself up from the couch.

“Really, Mother, I think you should stay home if you’re not well.”

“Not at all. I think a walk in this beautiful weather is just what I need right now.”

She gave my father a slow kiss on the lips, making me look away, then headed toward the foyer, where she paused in front of the contraption I’d spotted earlier. “Sophie said you should have one of these—she uses one to run with Blue Skye and loves it. So I bought one for you as a sort of early birthday gift.”

“I don’t run,” I said, eager to return to our previous conversation.

“I know, but it might be something you’ll enjoy doing with the children. Especially during the nice spring weather before it gets too hot.”

I frowned dubiously at the contraption on wheels. “I really don’t think I need—”

She threw open the front door and stepped outside, and I followed. She breathed in deeply and I was grateful to see the color returning to her cheeks. “Nothing like fresh air to clear the mind.”

“Mother,” I started, but she had begun walking down Legare. She moved at a slower pace than usual, but she quickly found her strength and began pumping with her arms, making it hard for me to keep up. We walked in the middle of one-way streets to avoid twisting ankles on the uneven and ancient sidewalks, facing traffic so we’d know when to get out of the way.

“You said you needed my help with something,” she said with no apparent effort to force out the words.

I was puffing beside her and had to run a little to catch up. “It’s the weirdest thing, really. There’s a presence in Jayne’s house—probably two. Did you ever feel something when you visited Button?”

She shook her head. “No. Just the usual vague sense that we weren’t alone, but no more than in any other old house in Charleston.”

I frowned. “Well, the thing is, I can feel two strong presences, and both have tried to communicate with me, but every time I’m there, something blocks me from seeing anything.”

“Blocks you?”

I nodded, glad for the extra moment to suck air into my lungs. “Like a blackout curtain. I’ve never had that happen before. I was thinking that maybe it was the pregnancy and childbirth, and that I’d lost my abilities along with my entire wardrobe and shoes.”

She sent me a sidelong glance. “Mrs. Houlihan is still shrinking your clothes?”

I kept my chin pointed forward. “It’s still under investigation. Anyway, despite that disaster in your drawing room, I found it almost reassuring that I could see Veronica’s sister.”

Ginette stopped. “You saw Adrienne?”

I nodded, and tried to catch my breath. “Yes. I felt her, and smelled her perfume. And then I saw her reflection in the mirror. She had her hand on Veronica’s shoulder.” I put my hands on my knees for a moment and looked up at my mother. “That means I can still see dead people, right?”

She nodded. “It would seem so. Have there been any other times when you couldn’t see anything but felt the presence of spirits?”

I thought for a moment. “Yes—in Nola’s room. Veronica’s daughter, Lindsey, brought over a Ouija board and they were playing with it.”

Her eyebrows shot up in horror.

“Don’t worry—we told them it wasn’t a game and not to play with it anymore. But something happened before I got there, and there was definitely something in the room—something that might have come from the cistern in the backyard. I knew it was there, but couldn’t see a thing.”

“That is odd,” she said. We resumed walking. “But you saw Adrienne clearly, with nothing blocking you?”

I nodded. “It’s not that I ever asked for this ‘gift,’ but I kind of miss it when it’s not there.” I felt my mother send me another sidelong glance but I ignored her. “Anyway, that’s why I need your help. These two spirits seem to be pretty strong—one pushed her down the stairs and the other caught her.”