“We face threats every day on the coast. Global warming. Tsunamis. Attacks from terrorists in our harbors. But this is very different.”
“What do you suggest we do?” Lulu took a sip from her glass of red wine.
“Wait.”
“And?”
“And do what we do best; keep the white light around us and pray.”
“Why did you ask me to come and help you, Bernard?”
Bernard leaned over the table. Lulu’s heart began to pound as the ghost’s image came closer. Then he took her hand, sending strange charges of electricity through her body.
“I’ve asked you because you need to face your demon, Lucille.”
* * *
“So who’s going to fix the hole in your roof?” Iris Grayson asked her cousin, Tilly, as the women ate their lunches. They’d been shocked to learn that Tilly’s roof had suddenly collapsed. And here the work had just been completed a year ago. Luckily, no one had been hurt in the accident.
“I’m not sure,” Tilly Jacobs responded. She pierced a chunk of chicken with her fork. “I’m looking for a handyman.”
Three sets of eyes turned quickly towards Tilly. The women’s jaws dropped open.
“No, no, no. It’s not what you’re thinking. I just want to get my roof fixed. That’s it. Nothing else.” Tilly remarked eagerly to the others.
It was no secret that Tilly Jacobs had an affair with her previous handyman, Brad Bailey. But all that had changed now. She and her husband Richard were doing just fine.
“Does anyone know what’s happening in this town?” Molly Spencer inquired.
“I only know that something strange is going on,” said Iris. “One of my Chinese dianthuses died last week. I don’t remember the last time I lost a plant in my garden.”
Tilly nodded. “There’s a restlessness. I hear about it everyday at the realtor’s office. People are worried.”
Molly took a sip from her glass of wine. “Bernard has called in the troops, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“The motel. It’s packed with ghost trackers from all over to try to help him catch some evil force. He’s having lunch with one of them across the way,” Molly appeared worried as she gestured at the other side of the restaurant.
The four women peered at the table where Bernard and a heavy-set woman sat.
Janet, Molly’s mother, asked with apprehension, “And how will he do that?”
“Damned if I know,” Tilly said, “but if cousin Bernard is in charge you can expect anything to happen.”
The Stranger
Early the next morning, a man walked into the lobby of The Gull Cottage Motel. He was middle-aged and nicely dressed. He gave Molly a nervous smile as he approached the desk.
Molly smiled back. “May I help you?”
“I just arrived in town. I need a room for a few nights,” he said, his eyes searching Molly’s face.
“I’m sorry. We don’t have any vacancies.”
He looked disappointed. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“I could come back later and check.”
“Well, actually, the motel will be full for some time.” Molly told him.
The man stood and stared at her. An anxious look crossed his face.
“What am I going to do?” he muttered, touching his head with a quivering hand. “What am I going to do?”
“I’m sorry,” Molly said to him. “I’d be happy to call another motel for you.”
“No. No. That won’t do. I really want to stay here.”
“Maybe the City Center or the Ocean Front might have a room.”
Perspiration now dotted his brow. The man took a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his face.
“Are you all right, sir?”
“Could you check your books once more? Are you sure you don’t have a vacancy?”
Molly stared at him. Why was he so persistent? Why was it so urgent that he stay here?
In the back room, Hope Amelia woke up from her afternoon nap and began to cry.
Immediately changing focus, the man’s attention turned towards the sound.
“You have a child.”
Molly’s heart started to pound. She became frightened as she remembered another incident months before ... when Leno Stevens had stalked her. The threatening phone calls in the night. His face peering in through her windows. Who was this man and what did he want?
Molly waited. She continued to let Hope Amelia cry. She wasn’t going to bring her into the lobby while this man was standing here!
The stranger pulled a business card from his pocket and scribbled some numbers on it.
“Please,” he begged again. “call me if you get a vacancy.” He gave her one last look before leaving the office.
Molly eyed the man’s card. “Christopher Albright” and a phone number. Shrugging, she dropped it into a drawer.
Meditation
Lulu needed a secluded place to do her morning and evening meditations. At her home in Cincinnati, the place of choice was a small upstairs bedroom. She’d furnished it with deep, comfortable sofas, soft lighting, her collection of incense, Indian meditative books, and bags of chocolate within easy reach. A large portrait of Spirit hung on the wall beside that of her Guru. It was all she needed to get into the Zone of self-awareness.
But now in Seaside, Lulu was determined to do this meditation thing right. She needed to be clear for the job ahead. No distractions. No noise. No glimpses of candy sitting on the table to lure her. Lulu had to concentrate, say her mantra on the Chakra beads slowly and carefully to bring peace to her mind. And the only room where she could be alone without a view into the kitchen or sound from outside was the small, white-tiled bathroom. Here she could sit and strengthen her resolve. The guru Master would be proud.
Spirit followed her into the bathroom and jumped up onto the edge of the tub. Taking a seat on the “throne”, Lulu stretched her neck and shoulders in an attempt to relax and placed her hands in her lap. She took a long, slow breath, trying to conjure up peaceful images. She slipped a finger through the loop of her chakra bead, cradling the bead in her hand. Then closing her eyes, she began to chant aloud.
“I am. I am. I am.”
She whispered. “I am. I am. I am.”
She held her breath and waited. Lulu was finding it difficult to concentrate. Thoughts of Halley Bee Rice were creeping into her mind. What a strange kid. Was it true that the girl didn’t sleep at night? That she didn’t know about that freak summer storm? That she had the Gift? And what was the deal with all that purple?
Lulu attempted to shake it off. She was certain that in time she would know much more about the girl. Until then, Halley would remain a mystery.
She slipped her finger through another loop and tried once more to concentrate. Again her mind began to wander. Lulu thought of her lunch with Bernard. It blew her mind that she had actually sat across from him. Sharing a conversation like two functioning, breathing, living people! She hadn’t seen the apparition for nearly five years. Not since her trip to South America with a tour group visiting