The Visitor(68)

“Ah. So she was related to you, then.”

“She was Papa’s mother. She died a long time ago by her own hand, according to Nelda and Louvenia.”

“She committed suicide?” He shook his head. “What a tragic ending to her story.”

“I don’t think it was the end of her story at all. There’s so much more I have to tell you, Dr. Shaw.”

“Take your time,” he said. “We’re safe enough here. We can see anyone approaching for miles.”

I nodded and took another sip of tea. “There’s a small room underneath the stairs in her house. I believe Rose used it as her sanctuary. I found some of her stereograms on the floor and brought them with me, but I’m not sure that I should have. It seems wrong taking those cards from her house when they’ve been there for decades.”

“You can always return them,” he said reasonably. “Have you had a chance to look at them?”

“Only by flashlight and without a viewer. But that room... It’s a very strange place.”

“In what way?”

I clutched the cup tighter. “Hundreds of keys hang from the ceiling and the walls are covered with numbers.”

“Keys and numbers,” he said thoughtfully. “Like the headstone engravings.”

“Exactly. They mean something. They’re pieces of the larger puzzle. But that’s not all I found.” I turned to him, lifting a hand to the skeleton key necklace at my throat. “There was something else inside Rose’s house. In that room. A presence that seemed to know me.”

He looked alarmed. “What do you mean?”

“It used a scent from my past to mask its putrid odor.”

“It?”

“A ghost, an entity...” I trailed off helplessly. “You were right about caulbearers. We do have a special sight. At least Papa and I do. We see ghosts. I don’t talk about it because most people wouldn’t believe me.”

“But I’m not most people,” he said gently.

“No. I should have told you a long time ago, but old habits are hard to break. I suspect you’ve known all along anyway.”

“I’ve always known you were special and I can’t say that I’m surprised by your revelation.” I saw a gleam of excitement in his faded eyes. “Naturally, I’m curious about your experiences. Anyone in my position would be. But none of that matters at the moment. I keep going back to the look on your face when you came out of the woods. You were terrified, so I assume the presence you felt in Rose’s house wasn’t a ghost.”

“I don’t know what it was. The entity may be what Papa calls a malcontent. A wraith that lingers to create chaos. Have you ever heard of such a thing?”

“I’ve never heard it called by that name. The kind of presence you’re talking about is usually described as demonic.”

A shiver went through me as I closed my fist around the necklace. “Earlier, on my way to the cemetery, I experienced the strangest sensation. It was as if I was caught in the middle of something. As though I was being tugged back and forth between two opposing forces. I think the ghosts of Kroll Cemetery want me here. For whatever reason, they need me to solve Rose’s puzzle. But this thing, this malcontent wants to drive me away.”

“That’s not so hard to understand,” he said. “You said its purpose for lingering in the living world is to create chaos. Perhaps it derives some, if not all, of its energy from the pent-up rage and frustration of all those trapped souls.”

“I had the sense that it had been there for a long time. I think Rose somehow managed to trap it beneath her house, but it found a way into her sanctuary.”

Dr. Shaw sat quietly for a very long time. “I was afraid of something like this,” he finally said. “Do you remember what I told you the other night on the phone?”

“Yes. You warned me about a collective rage. About being used as a conduit. But I don’t think that’s why I’ve been brought here. I don’t think the ghosts want to use me. I think they need me to find a way to free them. They can’t move on until the puzzle is solved.”

“Perhaps we need to take into account the human equation, as well,” he said. “I don’t just mean you. It seems as if Louvenia’s grandson may somehow be connected to all this.”

“Maybe the entity, this malcontent, is using him. Owen Dowling told me that Micah has been troubled since childhood. He’s been in and out of institutions for most of his life. It seems to me he would be easy prey. Although there could be another, less esoteric reason he’d want to thwart the restoration. Devlin said the cemetery could cause problems if the land were put on the market. It would be easier and far cheaper to make the graves go away than to try to relocate them.”

“That makes sense, I suppose. Although I don’t think Louvenia would agree to such a plan.”

“Nor do I. But if she were to meet with an accident or be declared incompetent, it would certainly open the door for her beneficiaries.”

“That’s a very serious accusation, my dear.”

“I know. But it would explain a lot, wouldn’t it?”

I lowered my window to allow in a cool breeze. It was still early afternoon, but it seemed an eternity since I’d left the Durant farm for the cemetery. Amazing how so much could happen in such a short amount of time. Frightening how quickly one’s whole world could change forever.