“Hear what?”
“The cane, moving. It sounds like-” he heard it again, crystal clear “-someone singing, maybe?” Then, as the sound intensified, Dax made out a few of the words. “Something about the leaves in the fall, fluttering to the ground.”
Nanette moved from the table to stand beside him. “I don’t hear anything. Are you sure it’s the cane, or are you hearing a spirit?”
Dax closed his eyes and definitely heard a song, and a little girl singing it. “You’re right. It’s a little girl.” He opened his eyes. “I’ve got another ghost coming.” He typically heard ghosts for a day or so before their arrival, which meant that by tomorrow or the day after, he’d likely have another little girl spirit that would need his help crossing. And maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t come alone.
9
ON THURSDAY, three days after he’d found the letters in the attic and had first heard the little ghost singing, Dax steered his car along the darkened curves of River Road in an effort to get to the plantation, and to the assignment that he felt certain was waiting for him in the sitting room. Although he’d been anxious for the spirit to arrive, since he assumed her coming meant he might see Celeste again, he hadn’t minded that it took her a few days to find her way to the Vicknair plantation. In the past three days, he’d crammed in a visit to each and every doctor’s office on his route, even though that had meant sixteen-hour workdays, in order to justify taking some time off if Celeste reappeared.
And he truly believed if there was any way she could make it back through with his new assignment, she would, particularly if Grandma Adeline was willing to help.
He turned the Beemer into the driveway and the little girl’s song grew so loud within his head that he had to concentrate to navigate the gravel road ahead. He’d left the house while it was still dark this morning, and it was dark again now, but he’d accomplished his task, clearing his schedule to allow several days to help the young spirit, and to, hopefully, spend time with Celeste.
The big, bold branches of the magnolia trees lining the driveway swayed slightly with the breeze from the levee, and the song in Dax’s mind seemed to mimic their movement, chiming in about the colorful leaves of autumn. Her voice, a lyrical tinkling, echoed from the trees, and Dax wondered how the young spirit had died.
He’d expected to see her sooner. It didn’t usually take this long between the time he heard the spirits and they arrived needing help. However, on occasions when a child was on his or her deathbed, he had heard the songs, or laughter, or tears of the final days. He assumed that to be the case now, and he prayed the young girl hadn’t suffered as she died.
Where the driveway circled around a majestic oak, he noticed that in the past few days, the big tree had lost the majority of its leaves. Though still towering and formidable, it looked different with the missing foliage, no longer the picture of life, but of barrenness, of the way it felt to be alone.
The way Dax felt without Celeste.
“Let her come back with this ghost.”
Moonlight spilled freely through the bare branches of the tree and cast snakelike shadows on the ground. The powers that be often sent signs before a spirit’s visit, a hint of what was to come with a medium’s assignment. He hoped the eerie vision produced by the massive oak wasn’t a sign that this assignment wouldn’t go the way he wanted.
He grabbed his briefcase and had barely made it out of the car when he heard Nanette’s voice, calling from the porch.
“It just got here,” she said.
“What?” The wind peppered him with leaves as he walked toward her.
“Your assignment. I was in the sitting room rereading some of the letters from the attic when it showed up on the tea service a few minutes ago. I tried calling your cell but didn’t get an answer.”
“I was probably already on River Road,” he said. “Not much of a reception by the levee.”
“Well, it worked out good then, didn’t it? You were almost home.” She took his bag when he reached the top of the porch. “Here, I’ll put that up so you can go get your assignment. You hear your ghost?”
“Yeah, she’s been singing all day,” he sighed, pressing his fingertips against his temple; the song was even louder now than before.
“And? Have you heard Celeste too?”
“No, but I didn’t hear her last time either. She just showed up with Prissy.”
“Maybe she’ll show up again,” Nanette said hopefully. “And maybe she’ll bring us more information on where to find the answers for saving the house.”
“You still don’t want to use the letters?” He entered the foyer, then started up the stairs toward the second floor with her following in his wake.
“No,” she said, her dismay evident in the single word.
“What if Grandma Adeline expected you to? You have to believe that she meant for you to use them, particularly with the battles noted, the dates, the names. It’s everything we need.”
“Yep, everything we need, and then some.” She laughed softly. “I’m considering it, but right now, I’m leaning toward adding those letters to every other secret we keep in this house.”
Dax shook his head. “Your call, but I really think that she told us about them because she meant for us to use them.”
“She also said that the attic held what you were looking for too, though, didn’t she?” Nan reminded him. “And you haven’t found anything that helps you with Celeste, have you?”
“Haven’t had much of a chance to look, since I’ve been trying to do a week’s worth of sales calls in three days.”
“Well, I haven’t found anything that would help you either,” she admitted. “And I have kept an eye out as I read the letters.”
“Thanks.” He entered the sitting room, where, sure enough, a lavender-tinted envelope graced the center of the ornate tea service. “Guess it’s time to see if I get one ghost, or two.”
“I’ll leave you to it.” Nanette scooped up a box of letters from a side chair in the sitting room, then turned to go. “Let me know about your new ghost, and let me know if Celeste shows too.”
“I will.” Wincing at the little girl’s song, now escalating to a near fever pitch, Dax sat on the red settee and reached for the letter, eager to get started on his assignment and to, hopefully, see Celeste again.
The door snapped shut with Nanette’s departure, and Dax opened the envelope. The little girl’s song immediately ceased, and he sensed that overwhelming peaceful presence, the sign that a ghost knew he was going to take care of her needs.
As usual, the letter smelled of magnolias and reminded him of Adeline Vicknair, the way her scent had always cloaked him when she hugged him, and how she used to sit on the front porch of the plantation when the big trees lining the driveway were covered in her favorite blooms.
He withdrew the three sheets of paper composing his assignment and quickly read the top one, his grandmother’s letter on her trademark scalloped stationery.
Dax scanned the information and learned that the young girl’s name was Angelle Millet and that the reason for death was cancer. That explained Dax hearing her for several days. More than likely, she had been on the brink of death, and her spirit was already trying to soar, even before the body had stopped breathing.
Requirement for Passage-Attending her funeral, checking on her parents, and viewing her elementary school’s fall program being performed in her honor.
Dax nodded and smiled. No wonder she had been singing about the season; she was practicing the songs for the show.
He quickly scanned the sheet of rules and read the final sheet, the official document directing his grandmother to assign Angelle to one of her grandchildren.
He picked up the pages and returned them to the envelope, placed it back on the tea service and watched it disappear. Then he turned, scanned the room and waited for Angelle to appear with a golden-haired beauty by her side.