MOON FALL (17 page)

"Murder?"

''Who knows? The only other ghost is the one Miss Tynan
spoke of, the one roaming the dormitory. Its origins are
unknown, but it's quite popular among the students. Frankly,
Sheriff, I think it was created for fun."

"What do you mean, 'fun'?"

''Older girls love to frighten the younger ones. Longtime
residents do the same to the newly arrived. Children can be
quite cruel, as I'm sure you're aware."

"Yes." John started to rise. "Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate
the time you've spent with me." His discomfort had grown
under Dashwood's unwavering gaze, and now he glanced at
his watch, eager to get away from the physician and St. Gruesome's.
"If I can get that copy, I really need to head back into
town."

''Of course."

"Doctor?" John asked, as he followed Dashwood into his
outer office.

''Yes?" Dashwood had removed the clip from the papers on
Jennifer Blaine and was feeding them into the Xerox machine.

He really wanted to ask about Sara Hawthorne, but stopped
himself before the words escaped. ''I appreciate your cooperation."
He had a dozen more questions, but he didn't dare ask
them, not until he spoke to Sara again. Though he told himself
it was silly to wait, that the new teacher was probably not
credible, he decided to follow his instincts and question her
further first.

"You're welcome. If there's anything else I can help you
with, please don't hesitate to ask." He handed John the copies.

"I'll be in touch," he replied, shaking Dashwood's extended
hand
.
Though it was a good, firm handshake, he shivered involuntarily
at the doctor's touch.

The rapping on her door awakened Sara slowly. She had a
headache and her mouth tasted of sleep.

"Miss Hawthorne!"

"Yes?" she called, her voice raspy and thick.
What happened?
Her mind was in a fog, but the youthful voice sounded
familiar. ''Come in."

The door opened, and Kelly Reed slipped in, closing the
door quietly behind her. Her shoulder-length red hair hid her
face as she bent over her. ''Are you all right?" she whispered.

Sara sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. "I-I was having
a nightmare." She tried to smile, but it turned into a wince.
She rubbed her temples. "I'm glad you woke me up, Kelly."

The girl smiled at the sound of her name, then perched on
the edge of the bed and pushed her hair from her eyes. ''I heard
Sister Regina tell Sister Bibi you passed out in the doctor's
office. Are you sick?"

"My God, the exam," she said, her memory returning. Sister
Regina trussing her up like a chicken, Dr. Dashwood releasing
her, talking, examining. He had done a biopsy. That was all
she could remember.

''What?"

''I guess I
did
pass out." She looked down at herself, saw she
was dressed in her flannel nightgown, and vaguely remembered
Regina helping her undress and get into bed. Kelly rose and
stood back as Sara swung her legs off the bed and slowly,
shakily, stood.

Kelly took her elbow when her knees started to buckle.
''Maybe you should sit down."

"Maybe I should."

With Kelly's help, she crossed to the easy chair and collapsed
into it. She'd had a nightmare, or maybe not; maybe it was a
pleasant dream? Suddenly, she was more confused than ever.

"There are some Pepsis in the refrigerator. Why don't you get
us each one?"

Kelly looked surprised. ''Really?"

''Of course."

"The sisters don't let us have soda. If they find out, they'll
punish me
-
and you."

"Well, we won't tell them, then, will we?" Sara's smile was
genuine now. The girl, whom Mother Lucy had depicted as a
troublemaker, was shy, awkward, and lanky, reminding Sara
of a fawn. She was obviously a late bloomer and would one
day, in the not-too-distant future,
turn
into a beautiful woman.

She watched as Kelly brought back the Pepsis. ''Thanks,"
she said, taking the cold can and rolling it against her forehead
before opening it.

''I'm not supposed to be here," Kelly said, sitting on a dinette
chair and opening her can. ''If they find me, I'm in big trouble."
She held the can to her nose and sniffed, smiling with pleasure,
before taking a tentative sip.

"
T
hen we'll keep that a secret, too." Sara took a long pull
on her can, swallowed, stifled a burp. "Mmmm."

Kelly's nose crinkled as she giggled "Thank you for not
telling on me before. You aren't like the other teachers."

"Because I'm not a nun?"

Kelly smiled. ''Yeah, but I mean that you seem nice."

"Thank you for trusting me," Sara said carefully. "Is that
why you're here?''

She nodded. "When you didn't show up at dinnertime, I
sneaked out some food" She rose, crossed to the door, picked
up a lumpy black sweater, carried it back to the table, then
unwrapped it "I couldn't bring much this way. Nothing that
would spill."

''This is great." Sara smiled at Kelly. She'd brought an apple,
an orange, and a banana, some slices of cheese, and several
dark wheat bread rolls. Revived by the caffeine, she stood and
crossed to the table, sat down on the other dinette chair.

"May I ask you a question, Kelly?" she asked, peeling the
banana
.

"Sure."

"Were you trying to run away?"

"I think about it." Kelly looked at her hands
.
"I hate it
here."

Sara nodded ''I understand."

''How could you?"

"I ran away, too, when I was a student here."

Kelly's eyes widened
.
"And you came back? On
purpose?"

Sara nodded, her mouth full. She hadn't realized how hungry
she was.

''Why?"

''Curiosity, I guess. Kelly, why do you hate this place?''

''The other girls, the nuns. I told you about the locket, and
solitary." There were tears in her eyes, but a hardness, too, as
s
he spoke
.

"And you really feel that my warning the girls to leave you
alone or talking to Mother Lucy would do you more harm than
good?"

"Please! Never tell!" She calmed herself with obvious effort.

"They hate me. I know that sounds dumb, but it's true. Mother
Lucy never believes me about anything. She always takes Marcia's
side, and she'd love another reason to punish me."

Sara nodded, then peeled the orange and offered Kelly half.
As she held the fruit out, she saw fear in the girl's eyes, then
uncertainty
.
Finally, she reached tentatively for the orange,
hesitating as if she expected Sara to snatch back the gift
.
Who
did this to you?
she wondered, her own emotions a mixture of
anger and pity. Though she knew it was possible that the girl
might be exaggerating her misery, Sara didn't think so; she'd
been too unhappy herself to make such a judgment.

"Kelly?" she asked, when the girl had finished chewing a
segment of orange
.
''I'd like to ask you about something."

''What?"

''I heard Marcia call you 'Ghost Girl.' Can you tell me
why?"

Kelly flinched visibly and her fingers dug into the remaining
piece of
orange, squirting juice. "I
-I'm sorry," she stammered, trying to wipe the table with her hand.

''It's okay," Sara said, reaching out and covering her hand
with her own. Kelly stared at it, rigid at first, then relaxing as
Sara added, "If you don
'
t want to talk about it, that's okay,
too
.
"

''I have
.
.. nightmares sometimes.
"
The girl spoke haltingly.
"And I wake up thinking there's a ghost in my room. I get so
scared that I make noise and Marcia hears. It's happened a
couple times
.
I know how stupid that sounds."

"Not at all," Sara said, the memory of her encounter in the
showers coming back full force. She felt her hand trembling
and removed it from Kelly's, embarrassed. Should she reassure
the girl, or should she tell her about her own experience?

"It's dumb," Kelly said. "I'm dumb."

The comment made Sara's decision easier
.
"You're not
dumb, Kelly. And you must keep thi
s
a se
c
ret, but I think I
might have seen one last ni
g
ht, too."

Kelly's eyes widened "Really?"

Sara nodded. "In the shower room. I heard
s
omeone say my
name, but no one else was there, and then I
s
aw a white figure
in the steam from the water. I recognized the face. It was my
roommate who died here." She decided it would be foolish to
alarm K
e
lly with tales of water spigots turning themselves on
and the ghost's face becoming demonic. "I keep telling myself
it was my imagination, but
-
"

''Was your roommate Jenny Blaine?" Kelly interrupted, her
eyes bright.

Sara nodded, a chill in her belly. ''How do you know about
Jenny?"

''Everybody knows she killed herself in my room, and that's
who the ghost is. I looked her up in an old yearbook. Wow.
You were really her roommate?"

Trembling harder, Sara nodded, unwilling to think that she
was sharing more than imagination with Kelly. ''Maybe we
both imagined her because we both knew about her," she said
lamely
.

Kelly shook her head. "I didn't tell you everything. I hear
her when I'm asleep. That's how I wake up. And that's when
I
really
hear her, Miss Hawthorne. After I'm awake."

Dear God.
Sara nodded slowly, knowing that if she tried to
talk Kelly out of her belief, she'd not only retreat, but would
know she was lying to her. "Jenny was my best friend," she
said at last. "She was the best friend I ever had, and I know
she'd never do anything to hurt you." She looked Kelly in the
eye
.
"Jenny's probably just lonely. I'm sure she wouldn't want
to frighten you."
Except what I saw-if I really saw it
-
wasn't
Jenny. It was something pretending to be Jenny.
She shivered,
tried to hide it
.

''I guess I know that," Kelly told her
.
''Can I ask you
something?"

'
'Of course."

''Why did she kill herself?"

Sara stared at Kelly, -unwilling to tell her the truth.

Kelly seemed to sense her discomfort. "Did you come back
here because of her? Because of how she died?"

"I wasn't there for her," Sara said, reciting the tale she'd
concocted for Mother Lucy
and the sisters. ''I should have
helped her with her problems and maybe she wouldn't have
committed suicide.
"

"Please tell me the truth," Kelly said solemnly. Distance
grew in her eyes
.

"What makes you think I'm not?"

"I can tell. I can always tell. Nobody tells me the truth. You
did, a little, but now you're not."

Sara gazed at the girl. Despite her youth, the look in her
eyes was old and very wise. Or maybe she was just imagining
it. Either way, she was losing her and knew that she didn't
want that to happen. ''Kelly, do you promise
.
not to repeat
anything I say to you?"

''Who would I tell?" she asked, then paused. ''Yes, of course
.
I promise. On my mother's grave." Her eyes glistened with
tears as she spoke those last words
.

"Kelly, I came back because Jenny Blaine was murdered.
She did
n
'
t kill herself."

"Did you see it happen," she asked intently, "or do you just
know?"

"I just know
.
"

Kelly nodded. "That's what I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, exactly, but I believe you
.
Who killed her?"

"I don't know." Sara sighed. "That's why I'm here, but that
has to be our secret."

"Jenny Blaine died in my room," Kelly said thoughtfully.
''And Miss
Ty
nan tried to die in yours. It's kind of weird to
think about, huh?"

''Yeah. Kind of weird."