Swan's Way (24 page)

“I have a feeling we need to go back one more time. I know you don’t want to, but I had this dream last night. I have to find out what happened to Channing and Virginia. I’ll never know any peace until I find out. Go back with me, darling, just once,” she begged. “Then we’ll get on with our own life together and forget about the past.”

Ginna held her breath, waiting for Neal’s answer. She knew she was asking a lot. She would understand if he refused.

Neal smoothed the hair back from her face. “Ginna, look at me.”

She did as he asked, damning herself for the tears gathering in her eyes.

“This really means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

She nodded, afraid to trust her voice.

“Well, I guess, if you think we must, then we must. I don’t understand any of this. I wish we’d never gotten involved with Channing and Virginia.”

“But don’t you see, Neal, they brought us together. Without them, we might never have found each other.”

“And, supposing you’re right, why would they do that?”

“Because they need us. Because nothing will ever be right between them unless we help make it right.”

“But things are right between
us
, Ginna. Isn’t that all that matters?”

“I’m not sure, Neal. I can’t explain it. It’s just a feeling I have. You have to trust me. That’s all I can tell you.”

He hugged her and wiped away her tears. “Okay, darlin’. Once the doc lets me up out of this bed, we’ll do whatever you want. But we need to do it right away. I don’t want to have to wait long to get married.”

“Neither do I, Neal.” She smiled with a brilliance that lit the room. “You couldn’t be more eager than I am. I’ve been waiting all my life to marry you.”

Just then, Dr. Kirkwood knocked and called from the door, “Neal, you have visitors.”

He rolled his eyes. “Not the interrogation committee again, I hope.”

Ginna laughed. “I imagine they’ve been banned from this room, for good.”

“Who is it?” Neal called.

Dr. Kirkwood opened the door a crack. “Mr. Henderson and little Christine. Do you feel up to seeing them, Neal? They’ve driven a long way, but I can tell them to come back another time, if that would be better.”

Neal grimaced. “No time would be good. I guess I might as well get this over with.”

“Are you sure, Neal?” Ginna was worried.

He gripped her hand. “It’ll be all right, honey, if you’ll stay here with me.”

“Of course,” she answered, unsmiling.

“Tell them to come on in, Doc.”

The man who entered looked more like three-year-old Christine’s grandfather than her father. His hair was as gray, as was his face. His dark eyes seemed sunken deep into his head. The smile creases around his mouth showed that once he had been full of life and fun. But those lines were not in use today. He held his little daughter’s hand and walked slowly toward the bed, staring at Neal.

“Thank you for seeing us, Mr. Frazier.” His voice quivered with emotion. “I know this is an imposition, especially since you aren’t feeling well.”

Neal sat up straighter in the bed. He was squeezing Ginna’s hand so tightly that it almost hurt. Neal looked every bit as somber as Donald Henderson. It took a bright smile from Christine to cut the tension in the room—a smile she showered on the man who had saved her life.

Without a word, she ran over to the low bed, climbed up, and wrapped her arms around Neal’s neck. “Thank you, Mr. Frazier,” she said softly. “Daddy said to tell you that.”

Ginna watched Neal’s eyes redden when he looked at the pretty blond child. Someday, she mused happily, he would make a wonderful father to their children.

“That’s a pretty dress for a pretty girl,” Neal answered, in a choked voice. “Blue’s my favorite color.”

She laughed brightly. “It’s mine too! And my mommy loved blue.”

Dr. Kirkwood had been standing by the door, observing. He knew that Donald Henderson wanted to talk to Neal alone, without the child in the room.

“Christine?” he said. “Would you like to walk down to the pond and see the swans? I have a lady here who will take you. And she has sugar cookies from the kitchen and a glass of lemonade.”

Christine turned pleading eyes on her father.

For the first time, Mr. Henderson smiled. “You run along, honey. Have a good time.”

Silence fell over the room, as Christine climbed down from the bed and ran to the door, where one of the nurses was waiting just outside with the promised cookies and lemonade. After she left, Kirkwood closed the door.

“I hope you don’t mind if I stay,” he said to Christine’s father. “Neal had an accident last night, and I don’t want him to get upset.”

Henderson nodded to the doctor, then turned back to Neal and said, “I’m sorry. I hope it was nothing serious.”

Neal half-raised his arm to show the bandage. “No more than a scratch. The doc’s just overcautious.”

“Is this your wife?” Henderson asked, nodding toward Ginna.

Neal smiled up at her. “Not yet, but soon. Once I’m back on my feet, we plan to be married right away.”

No one noticed the frown that those words brought to Leonard Kirkwood’s face. No one but Ginna, that is.

“Ma’am,” Henderson said, with a slight bow, “I wish you a long life and all the happiness in the world. There’s nothing like being married and sharing your life with the one person in the world who can make it complete.”

Henderson’s voice broke on the last few words. It was clear to all of them that he was thinking of his wife and her tragic death. Again, tension filled the room.

“I’m sorry,” Neal murmured.

“At least I still have Christine, thanks to you, Mr. Frazier. That’s more than I could have hoped for. That’s what her mother would have wanted. She worshiped our baby. And Christine is the image of her mother. I’ll have that. All our other children look like my side of the family. I’m not going to take up much of your time. I just had to see you and thank you in person. Because of you, I’ll get to see my little girl start school, graduate, get married, and give me grandchildren, I hope. Your actions were totally unselfish, risking your own life to save my baby. I know there’s no way I can ever thank you adequately, Mr. Frazier, but I wanted to tell you that if there’s anything—
anything
—I can ever do for you, you have only to ask. And I want you to know, too, that my wife, Sally, is up in heaven right now, smiling down on you, watching over you. She’ll always be there.”

Ginna noticed that Neal was shifting uncomfortably on the bed. She exchanged glances with Dr. Kirkwood. It was clear that Neal hoped Mr. Henderson would finish and leave soon. He couldn’t take much more of this. Both Ginna and Kirkwood knew how guilty Neal felt about not being able to save Sally Henderson. Her husband’s words were only rubbing salt into Neal’s emotional wounds. This couldn’t be good for him, no matter that Donald Henderson meant his words to the very depth of his scarred soul.

“I think my patient needs to rest now,” Dr. Kirkwood said, in his most authoritative voice.

“Yes, well, I’ll be going, then. But I had to see you,” Henderson said. “Sally would have wanted me to thank you for our child’s life.”

Neal lurched up in bed suddenly. “Don’t thank me! I’m the sorry sonuvabitch who let your wife die. If I’d had the guts, I would have gone back into that plane and brought her out, too. I don’t want your thanks, Henderson. I don’t
deserve
any thanks! You shouldn’t be thanking me. You should be blaming me.
I
let your wife die! I’m the no-good bastard who made you a widower and left all your kids motherless.”

He was actually yelling at the man. Henderson’s complexion went from gray to pasty-white.

Dr. Kirkwood took Mr. Henderson by the arm and led him into the hall.

“I’m sorry,” Henderson said. “I didn’t mean to get him upset.”

“I know. It’s not your fault. He just wasn’t ready to see you, yet. I should have known that. I’d better get back in there now and see what I can do to calm him down.”

Donald Henderson was still muttering about how sorry he was, as he ambled off down the hallway.

Inside the room, Ginna had her hands full. For a few seconds after Dr. Kirkwood ushered Neal’s visitor out, he continued yelling and thrashing about in the bed. Ginna tried to hold him still, so that his arm wouldn’t start bleeding. It was no use. He was much too strong for her and too distraught. Then, suddenly, Neal went limp. He fell back against the pillows and didn’t move. He hardly seemed to be breathing.

“Neal? Neal, can you hear me?” Ginna was hovering close, trying to get some response from him, when Dr. Kirkwood came back in.

“What’s happened?” he demanded.

She stared up at him, frantic. “I don’t know. He was raging on and on about the crash, and then he suddenly just fell back and went still. I can’t get him to speak to me or even open his eyes. It’s like he’s not here in this room any longer.”

“Neal!” Dr. Kirkwood said, sternly. “Open your eyes!”

“Neal, can you hear me? Speak to me,” Ginna begged.

Neal did not open his eyes, but he did speak. In a voice harsh with anxiety he said, “It’s going to be all right, Mrs. Henderson. Just an air pocket. We’ll be on the ground soon. You’re not scared, are you, Christine?”

Ginna and Dr. Kirkwood looked at each other. It was all too clear what was happening to Neal. He was back in that airplane, flight 1862. And the plane was about to crash …
again
.

“What’s happening, Dr. Kirkwood? Ginna was frantic. “What can we do?”

Neal was still talking in a strange monotone, still back on board that ill-fated plane. He was trying to soothe Sally Henderson’s tears, trying to make Christine laugh.

“I could sedate him, but I’d rather try to talk him through this without medication.”

“But wouldn’t a shot be faster?” Ginna gripped Neal’s hand, as if by hanging on tightly, she might draw him back to the present.

“That might be faster, but not entirely safe. If I put him to sleep, what he’s reliving might simply continue in the form of a dream. That could do him great harm.”

Dr. Kirkwood came to the side of the bed and stared down into Neal’s face.
“Neal!”
he called loudly. “Neal Frazier, you can hear me. I know you can. I want you to listen very carefully to what I’m saying. You are
not
on an airplane. You are at Swan’s Quarter. Ginna is here, and she’s very worried about you. We both want you to wake up right now. Neal? Are you listening to me?”

Kirkwood paused to see if his words had any affect. Neal continued mumbling, talking to Sally and Christine. His voice had lost its calm. He was becoming more and more agitated.

“Neal, listen to me! Forget Sally and Christine. They don’t need you any longer. Ginna needs you now. She wants you to wake up. She needs to talk to you.”

“Don’t panic! Stop screaming!”
Neal himself screamed. “We’ll be okay. Just hang on. Put your face down in this pillow.
Everybody, stop screaming!”
Then in a whisper, like a prayer, he said, “God, help us! We’re going to crash.”

“No, Neal!” Ginna yelled. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him as hard as she could, tears streaming down her face. “No, you are
not
going to crash! You’re coming back to me. I need you! Virginia needs you! You can’t leave us like this. I won’t have it!”

Dr. Kirkwood grabbed Ginna’s arm to try to pull her away from Neal, but her grip was like a steel vise. She refused to let go of Neal.

“Ginna, don’t. It’s not helping.”

Ignoring Kirkwood’s pleas, Ginna repeated, “We need you, Neal. Both Virginia and I do.”

Suddenly, Neal’s eyes opened. He was staring right into Ginna’s face. His own face looked ashen. Perspiration beaded his brow. “Ginna?” he whispered.

“Oh, Neal!” She leaned close, hugging him, kissing him. “I was so afraid you were gone for good. You scared me so! Don’t
ever
leave me like that again!”

“I could have saved her. I should have.”

“It’s all over, Neal. What’s done is done and was meant to be.” Dr. Kirkwood kept his voice level and calm. “Let it go.”

Neal didn’t reply. He held Ginna close and took a deep, shaky breath. “I know it’s over, Doc. Whether or not I can let it go remains to be seen.”

“It will take time, but, believe me, you
will
get over this.”

Suddenly Neal frowned and glanced about the room. “Where’s Virginia?”

Ginna leaned down and whispered, “Sh-h-h. I’ll tell you later.” Then she rolled her eyes significantly toward the doctor. “When we’re alone, Neal.”

But Kirkwood had heard. “Who are you talking about? Who’s Virginia?”

Neal said nothing. Ginna passed off the doctor’s question with a shrug. “Probably someone else he met on the plane.”

“That’s not true!” Kirkwood snapped. “If so, Neal would have mentioned her to me during our sessions. This has nothing to do with the crash.
Ginna?”
he said, in a warning tone.

Neal seemed oblivious to their conversation. He was still wide awake, but he seemed to be thinking of something or someone else. Ginna knew. He was thinking of Virginia.

“It’s nothing, Dr. Kirkwood. Believe me. Neal’s talking about Virginia Swan, a woman who used to live here.” Thinking quickly, she fabricated, “Neal and I have been researching some of the Swan family’s history. Virginia was Melora Swan’s daughter. We’ve been trying to find out what happened to her. There don’t seem to be any records. She’s become something of an obsession with us.” In a quieter voice, she added, “I think it’s a good sign that Neal’s thinking about her, instead of the crash. We were talking about Virginia, just before he slipped away.”

“
That Elspeth!
” He sounded disgusted. “You’ve been listening to her tall tales, haven’t you? It may be true that one of her ancestors was a slave at Swan’s Quarter, but I think she’s made up half her stories just to entertain Pansy and Sister and anyone else who’ll listen to her. If she knows so much, she would have told you that Virginia Swan had a child out of wedlock, a child who was raised here at Swan’s Quarter by her grandmother, Melora Swan, after the rest of the family was gone.”

Ginna’s heart raced. “How do you know that?”

“The Swan family Bible. All the births, marriages, and deaths are recorded there.”

“You never told me this Bible existed.”

“You never asked.”

“Is Virginia’s date of death listed?”

He paused for a moment, thinking. “No. I don’t believe so. Nor her marriage. Only the birth of her daughter. That’s the only time the child is listed, either, except for a notiation of her baptism and the fact that her grandmother was the only relative present on that day.”

“Virginia’s daughter—what was her name?” Ginna was so excited she could hardly speak.

Kirkwood thought for a long time. “Something unusual. Oh, what was it?” Then he brightened. “I know! It was Channelle.”

“Named for Channing,” Ginna murmured aloud, but speaking only to herself.

“I didn’t know you were interested in the history of this place and the Swan family. Neal either, for that matter. When did all this come about?”

“After we met, and I realized that Neal bore a striking resemblance to Channing McNeal, the man Virginia Swan was supposed to marry.” She started to mention the glass plate in the greenhouse, but decided against it. Instead, she said, “There’s a miniature of McNeal in my bedroom. The likeness is uncanny. It could be Neal himself.”

“Seems like it must have been a mighty tragic family situation. Unwed mothers weren’t looked upon highly, back in those days. I’m not sure Neal should be delving into all this.”

“But isn’t it better for him to think about the Swan history than to dwell on the crash?”

“Not if he’s getting so caught up in that history that he believes he’s been shot by a Confederate ghost.”

Neal had closed his eyes again. However, now he seemed to be napping peacefully. The other two talked in low whispers, so as not to disturb him.

“Neal didn’t say he’d been shot by a ghost. That was what
you
told him, wasn’t it?”

Dr. Kirkwood was visibly agitated now. “I never told him any such thing, because I don’t believe that’s what happened. It was Big George who put this fool notion into his head. And Elspeth has done her best to make everyone believe it. She’s been seeing Confederate ghosts in those woods for years. I’ve always just passed it off as one more of her fantasies. Now she’s got everyone on the place believing that the woods are haunted. As if I didn’t have enough problems around here!”

“Then why didn’t you call an ambulance for Neal last night?”

“He obviously didn’t need one. I got the bullet out with no complications.”

“But you told me that any patient at Swan’s Quarter who had any kind of accident had to be sent to the hospital. You made
me
go, and all I did was have a little fainting spell.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call what you had a ‘little fainting spell.’ Neal’s different. He’s strong and healthy.”

“But rules are rules, Doctor. That’s what you told me. Besides, I thought all gunshot wounds had to be reported to the police, by law.”

He nodded, frowning. “You’re right about that. The thing is … how do I fill out this report? I’ll be the laughing stock of the county, if I put down that he was shot by the ghost of a Confederate soldier.”

“You don’t believe that, so why put that in the report? It could have been an accident, a hunter shooting at what he took to be wild game.”

“We don’t have any hunters around here that use Minie balls, and I’ll have to turn over the bullet with my report. But, you’re right, Ginna, I do have to call the police, so they can investigate. I’ll just put down ‘shooter unknown.’” But just the same, this place will be in an uproar for days, with them investigating and asking everybody questions. Elspeth’s sure to volunteer her ‘eye witness’ report. I dread thinking about it. I guess I’d better go make the call right now—get it over with. Call me when Neal wakes up.”

Ginna nodded. “I will.”

She was glad to be alone with Neal, after Dr. Kirkwood left. If he meant to call the police now, then there wasn’t much time. And now that she knew Virginia had given birth to Channing’s daughter, she was more anxious than ever to go back in time and find out the rest of the story.

“Neal,” she whispered. “Neal, wake up. We’re going to find Virginia. She needs us.”

Neal roused slowly, smiling. “Virginia, my darlin’,” he said, in Channing’s deep Southern accent.

“We have to hurry.” Ginna helped him up from the bed and handed him his trousers. It wouldn’t do for Neal to be seen, up and about, wearing only his hospital gown, nor, once they got back to the previous century, would Channing be pleased to find himself dressed in such a shocking fashion.

“Where are we going?” Neal still seemed drowsy and confused.

“To the greenhouse. It’s almost time.”

“Time? Time for what?”

She let that question go unanswered and quickly led Neal out of the room.

Luckily, they met no one, as they tiptoed through the hallway and out the back. It was almost lunchtime, and most of the residents were waiting in the game room to be called for their noon meal. Elspeth had clued Ginna in on the senior citizens’ obsession with being on time, or early, for the opening of the dining room doors. “You get to be as old as us and any meal could be your last ’Wouldn’t want to miss one, you know.”

Neal was leaning heavily on Ginna. He still seemed very weak.

“It’s not much farther,” she encouraged. “Can you make it?”

“I’m fine,” he said, just as they reached the greenhouse door. “But this is the last time, Ginna. Remember? You said you’d marry me as soon as we get back from checking on Virginia and Channing.”

She smiled brightly and went up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. He really was fine. He remembered now what they had been talking about, before Mr. Henderson and Christine came. And, yes, she would marry him after this one last visit back in time.

One person had spied Ginna leading Neal out the back way. Elspeth was leaving her room, headed for the dining room, when she heard Ginna’s voice. The old woman watched from the shadows, as the pair disappeared out the back way. She nodded and smiled, approving of their actions. She alone knew exactly where they were going and why; she knew the rest of Virginia and Channing’s story and the fact that it had yet to end.

“High time!” she muttered. “High time, indeed, that those two got together, once and for all.”

As tempted as Elspeth was to follow Ginna and Neal, so that she could make the trip with them, she decided against such action. Her presence might disturb the flow and cause them to wind up in the wrong place or time.

“Best leave those young folks be, for the now,” she whispered. “Time’s running out and shouldn’t nothing go wrong, this late in the game.”

When she reached the game room, she found all the others still waiting there, anxious and fretting, most of them, because the dinner bell had yet to ring.

“Oh, Elspeth, here you are at last,” Pansy whined. She patted the couch beside her, inviting the other woman to sit down.

“Dinner’s late today!” Marcellus Lynch grouched.

“’Tis not!” Elspeth countered. “Why, it’s only quarter to twelve. It just seems late to all you early birds who got up with the crack of dawn to eat breakfast.”

Suspecting that Elspeth was having a bad day, and not wanting to be around the grouchy old woman, Lynch got up and walked to the far side of the room to join another group.

“Where’s Sister, Pansy?”

“Gone to powder her nose. You just missed her.”

“Good! That’ll give me and you a chance to talk, private.”

“About what?” Pansy’s eyes went wide. No one ever wanted to share secrets with her, least of all Elspeth. She felt a measure of excitement flow through her.

“About Ginna and Neal. And keep your voice down. I don’t want everybody hearing what we have to say.” She leaned close and whispered, “They’re in the
greenhouse!”

Pansy made a large, silent
0
with her mouth, and her eyes grew even wider.

“They’re fixing to go back, I just know it, even though I warned Ginna that it might not be safe.” Elspeth grinned. “I figured that would do the trick, get them to go back again. So, Pansy, things might work out, yet.”

“Even after the ghosts shot him? I’d think he’d be scared.”

“Neal’s a brave boy. Besides, I’m sure this is Ginna’s idea. She knows the secrets—almost all of them.”

“But she doesn’t know about
me
, does she?” Pansy wiped perspiration from her face with her lace hanky.

“Not yet, I don’t think. But she’s bound to find out.”

Pansy whimpered softly.

“Now don’t you start that.”

“She’ll think bad of me, once she knows. I’d hate that. I love Ginna like my own daughter.”

“Then you ought to have enough faith in her to believe she’ll understand. You weren’t to blame, any more than poor Virginia was at fault for what happened to her. But, don’t you see? Once they go back in time, they can put things to rights.”

“You really believe they can change what happened to Virginia and Channing and their baby, so long ago.”

Elspeth gave a stern nod. “Not only that—I think that by changing the past, it’ll change all that’s happened since. I don’t want to get your hopes up, but, mark my words, stranger things have happened.”

“We can’t tell Sister.”

“Certainly not! She’d laugh in our faces. She doesn’t know about the fourth dimension. She wouldn’t know it if she stepped in it.”