Watch for the Dead (Relatively Dead Book 4) (6 page)

“Did you notice if there was an outdoor grill at the house?” Abby asked.

“Yes, in the back—the side toward the road. Outside the kitchen.”

“Okay, then we can grill. Maybe there’s a farmers’ market somewhere nearby, where we could get corn and stuff. We can look it up and find out when it’s open.”

“Okay. We done yet?”

“Just about. What do you want to drink?” Abby hoped Ellie wouldn’t name some sugary soda, because she had no idea what Leslie thought about that, but she was relieved when Ellie said, “Juice. Cranberry—there are all kinds now.”

“Then pick out a couple and we can check out.”

It was after five when they returned to the house. When they had first arrived, Abby hadn’t realized that the water side of the house faced almost due west, so they could enjoy the glories of the sunsets. Nice. She and Ellie unloaded the car and carried their bags into the kitchen, then distributed the groceries wherever they seemed to fit. “Do you like to cook, Ellie?”

“Maybe. Mommy and Daddy do most of it. I can do simple things. What’s for dinner?”

“I was thinking hamburgers, maybe on the grill?”

“What do you have to do with it?”

“Just make up the patties, with a little seasoning, then turn on the grill, or start the fire, or however that thing works, then put the burgers on it and wait. Sound easy enough?”

“Okay. Did we get cookies?”

“Some. Not enough to last long, I bet,” Abby said. Ellie just grinned.

Abby found that the grill worked with propane and the small tank seemed to be full. They put together a simple dinner and ate it in the dining room overlooking the water. It didn’t take long, and after they’d cleaned up their few dishes, it was still light enough to sit on the porch and admire the sunset.

“This is nice,” Ellie said, sinking into the cushions of the wicker chair and looking out over the water.

“It is,” Abby agreed. They sat silently for a while, content.

Then Ellie said, “Can we talk about earlier? What I was feeling here?”

Abby was both glad and dismayed that Ellie had brought it up—she’d been reluctant to do it herself. “Of course. Can you describe it?”

“Well, it was a little bit like when I saw Hannah at the cemetery back home, but I haven’t been back there because Mommy doesn’t want me to go. But Hannah wasn’t always there, or not all at once. Does that sound weird?”

“Do you mean it took her a while to appear?”

“Maybe. It’s not like there was a switch—she wasn’t there and then, boom, she was. Sometimes I could feel her coming, sort of. Like maybe a tingling? But that’s not quite right.”

Which was pretty much how Abby would have described what she had felt in this house. There was, maybe, possibly, someone here, or someone who had once been here, someone they might or might not be able to see, now or later. That didn’t help much at all. “Ellie, so far the people we’ve seen in other places have been related to us, up our family tree. Right?”

“Uh-huh. That’s how we figured out you and me were related. We both saw Hannah, at the same time.”

“Right. So now we’re feeling the same thing at the same time here. The thing is, I don’t know anybody around here from my family. Of course, I’ve just started looking at my family history, and some people spend years doing it, so there are lots of ancestors I don’t know about. But I certainly wasn’t looking for anyone here. Are you uncomfortable with . . . whoever it might be?”

Ellie shook her head. “No, because they can’t hurt me. They’re dead. I think they’re lonely, sometimes. It’s not like we can talk to each other, exactly, but they know I see them. Hannah did.”

Abby hadn’t told Ellie about the woman she had met at the historical society in Littleton, mainly because she was trying to figure out exactly what had happened there. She had most definitely had a conversation with that woman, who as it turned out had died several months earlier. Now was not the right moment to bring that up, not when she couldn’t explain it herself.

Finally she said, “I agree with you. I don’t know what you’ve read or seen or heard, but I don’t believe these spirits, or whatever we decide to call them, can do anything physical to us. The fact that we’re seeing them at all might be scary. You and I understand it, just a bit, but other people would think we’re crazy.”

“Mom’s not too happy about it, that’s for sure. And I don’t tell other people. Even if they did see them, they’d just be scared, because they don’t understand.”

“It’s hard for your mother to understand, although I know she wants to. Try to imagine that you can see a color that nobody else sees. There are colors—infrared, ultraviolet—that some animals and insects do see, but we can’t, because we’re not tuned to that wavelength.”

“And there are sounds that dogs can hear that we don’t,” Ellie replied eagerly.

“Exactly. You and I, and some other people, happen to see on a different wavelength, kind of.”

“How many more people like us are there?” Ellie asked.

“Ellie, I have no idea. I’m still trying to figure out what it is, and until I do that, I can’t go around asking other people if they see dead people. They’d probably lock me up.”

“What about Ned?” Ellie said, her eyes on the sun as it slipped past the horizon.

“What about him?”

“He sees them. Right?”

“Yes, he does. That’s how we found each other, kind of. He didn’t tell me he could for a long time, because he wanted to see how I handled it, and if it was real. For a long time he didn’t believe what he was seeing, and I was the first person he’d met who could do what he did. We’ve been helping each other since then. He spent a long time trying to squash whatever it was, and it wasn’t working. I think he was relieved when he could finally talk to me about it.”

Abby realized she was getting into murky water. There were so many questions that Ellie must want to ask that Abby was afraid to answer. They were all so new to this phenomenon, feeling their way along, lurching from event to event, each one of which added a little more information. But neither she nor Ned could claim to understand what was happening to them, and they hadn’t expected to have to explain it to a child. “Do you feel anything now, here? Do you think it’s a person?”

Ellie went still, as if listening, then she slumped. “Not right now. Are people stuck in one place, or attached to one thing, do you think?”

“Sometimes. But I’ve seen the same person in more than one place, at different times of their life. It’s like they leave an imprint at certain places where something important happened to them. Almost like a photograph, a snapshot.”

“Think I could take a picture of them?” Ellie asked.

“I have no idea. But it’s an interesting idea. Maybe if we see a cemetery you can try.” The sun was gone, and shadows were gathering. Other people must have come home while they were out, because they could hear the clinking of glasses and china through open windows, and other windows glowed like gold in the dusk. And a few mosquitoes had come out to hunt. “I think it’s time to go inside—and remind me to get bug spray tomorrow.”

Chapter 6

It was fully dark when Abby led the way upstairs. The beds were made up, and Abby helped Ellie navigate the unfamiliar bathroom, then took her to her bedroom. “Do you want me to close the curtains?”

“No, I like to hear the water. This isn’t the ocean, is it?”

“No, it’s a harbor, but it does have tides, so the water keeps moving. Light on or off?”

“Can I read for a while? I’ll turn off the light when I’m finished.”

“Okay, but not for too long. I’ll leave the door to the hall open a crack, and the light on in the bathroom, if you have to find it in the middle of the night. And if you need me, I’m right across the hall. I think I’ll read for a while too.”
After I call Ned
.

“Okay. What are we going to do tomorrow?”

“Well, we could go to the beach, or to Woods Hole, or find something else if you want. Let’s check the Internet in the morning and see what sounds good.”

“Good.” Ellie hesitated just a moment. “Hug?”

“Of course.” Abby sat on the bed and gathered the girl’s slight body against her. Was Ellie really so brave, or was she trying to put on a good front? This was an unfamiliar place, and she knew her father was sick and her mother was worried—Ellie had every right to be upset. Abby planned to check on her before she went to sleep, and she would definitely leave her own door open in case Ellie called out in the night.

She went across the hall to the other bedroom and flopped on the bed, pulling her cell phone out of her purse, which she had brought up earlier. She made a mental note to keep the phone—and its charger—nearby in case Leslie or Ned needed to reach her. She called Ned’s own cell and he answered quickly. “Everything okay?”

“Of course it is. Stop worrying. We’re on vacation at a nationally renowned resort area along with thousands of other people. We spent the day wandering around Falmouth, and bought food and made dinner. Ellie’s in her bed reading a book.”

“It sounds very domestic. I’m a bit worried about the weather forecast, though.”

“What do I need to know? I haven’t even plugged in my laptop or listened to the radio.”

“The storm is kind of wandering around slowly, but it looks like it might clip your area on the way by. Lots of wind and rain, if nothing else. If it looks bad, will you clear out?”

Abby sighed inwardly. Ned seemed unusually worried, so she should keep an eye on the forecasts. But what was “bad”? And how was she supposed to decide? If anything, she thought trying to cross the bridge would be riskier than hunkering down where they were now. She promised herself to check the weather reports in the morning, when she booted up her computer.

“We’ll see. Any word from Leslie?” she asked.

“No, and no phone messages. She probably has her hands full. How are you and Ellie getting along?”

“Fine. She’s a good kid. Where was that beach you mentioned? Because we’re not exactly on the water here.”

“Old Silver Beach, back up the main road. You probably passed a sign for it on your way there. It’s not far. It’s a public beach, but I think you need a permit to park there. I’d bet the agency provided one for you in whatever information they gave you. Or you could go the other way, to Chatham, where there’s a beach with a lighthouse. And if I recall, a really nice market in the town.”

“We’re going to make our plans in the morning. No rush, right?”

“Nope. Unless the weather changes.”

“If it rains, we’ll stay inside and play games. Hmm, I’ll have to check if there are any in the house here—don’t summer renters usually have something like that tucked away?”

“Probably. Or decks of cards.”

“Oh, good, I can teach Ellie how to play poker,” Abby said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Do
you
know how to play?”

“Well enough to teach Ellie, anyway. Anything else I need to know?”

“I love you. I miss you.”

“Me too. But you’ll be here in a few days, right?”

“Promise. G’night, Abby.” And then he was gone.

Abby changed into a nightgown and brushed her teeth, then peeked into Ellie’s room, where the light was off, before returning to her own room and burrowing into her bed with a book. She gave up trying to read after a few minutes, when her tired brain couldn’t make sense of the sentences, and turned off her own light and lay in the dark, listening. For what? The lapping of wavelets against the bulkhead, the creak of the house as small gusts of wind hit it. And a person from the past? What sound would he or she make, if any? She fell asleep quickly and slept through until morning.

• • •

When Abby opened her eyes early in the morning, she lay still for a while. From what she could see, the sun was shining, but the light was kind of milky. Should she be worried about a storm that was still a couple of hundred miles away? Weather forecasters had gotten a lot better at their jobs than they used to be—or maybe the technology had improved and was doing all their work for them—so there were seldom major surprises. But storms could be unpredictable, because there were so many factors to consider. She had promised Ned to keep an eye on the weather, and if things looked bad she should be responsible and leave the Cape while she still could. With only two narrow bridges, traffic could be backed up for miles even under good conditions. If everybody panicked and fled, it could be a nightmare.

On the other hand, people had paid serious money for their rentals on the Cape for a week or two, and they wouldn’t give up easily. On the third hand, out-of-towners might not be familiar with the severity of coastal storms and could underestimate the dangers. If it had been only her, she might choose to wait it out, but now she had Ellie to consider.

Speaking of whom, Abby heard the creak of a door and the padding of bare feet down the hall to the bathroom. Time to get the day started. She threw back the covers—needed during the cool night—and pulled on some clothes, then went downstairs. Ellie was already in the kitchen, poking around. “Good morning. What are you looking for?”

“I dunno. Cereal? Bread? It’s weird, not knowing where things are.”

“Well, I know we bought breakfast stuff yesterday, so it must be here somewhere.”

Eventually they found what they wanted and carried bowls of cereal into the dining room. Abby made coffee for herself and went back to retrieve a mug. Once they were seated, Abby said, “I talked to Ned last night. Nothing new from your mother, but that doesn’t mean bad news, just that she’s busy. Ned says there’s a storm headed this way, but it will probably miss us. We might get a lot of rain and wind, though. I thought maybe we should check and see if there are any board games or puzzles or something like that in this house, in case we can’t go out.”
And maybe more flashlights or oil lamps in case the power went out,
Abby added to herself. “And if we don’t find any, we can go into town and look for some. But maybe if the weather is okay today, we should do whatever sightseeing we can, in case the weather gets worse.”

Ellie, spooning up cereal, seemed unconcerned. “Sure. What is there to see?”