Page 52 of The Missing Pages
Why couldn’t the skeptics just keep their judgment to themselves for a moment, and let the grieved explore such a possibility in peace?
But Violet didn’t feel like defending herself to Lara just now. “I don’t need Health Services,” she said flatly. “I was just doing some research for my seminar.”
“With a Ouija board? Come on, Vi!” Lara shook her head; her disbelief and disapproval were palpable.
“Well, if you really need to know, I’ve changed the topic of my thesis. I’m now writing about the Ghost Club at Trinity College in the nineteenth century. Have you heard of it?”
“No,” Lara answered. “I can’t say that I have.”
“It was founded in 1862 to investigate ghosts and psychic phenomena. To see if the spirit could still exist after death. Charles Dickens was a founding member. Arthur Conan Doyle belonged, too.”
“Ahhh,” Lara said. “And did they lock themselves in their rooms and start whispering to Ouija boards? Or is that just part of your field research?”
“What’s the good of research if you approach it with a closed mind? That doesn’t make any sense.”
Lara’s face softened. “I suppose you’re right, Vi. But you can understand why I was concerned when I heard some weird murmurings coming from your room.”
“Yes, but trust me. I’m not losing my mind. I’m just trying to open it.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
IT PAINED ME TO HEARVIOLET REACH OUT, BUT NOT BEable to respond to her directly. How could she know that ghosts have only limited powers? That there are restrictions placed upon us that begin from the moment we enter the spiritual realm.
It’s a learning curve we have to navigate through trial and error. The newly dead aren’t given any sort of manual, teaching us what we can and cannot do.
In the early weeks after my death, I learned quickly that my abilities were not infinite. Being a ghost feels like living outside a snow globe. I am like a curious child who can observe a beautiful world through glass but is unable to reach out and completely touch it. There will always be a barrier between me and my loved ones. Every now and then I can give that world a little shake, like when I soothe the grieving with the help of Mother Nature the way I managed to coax the birds for my mother or rustle the autumn leaves for Violet.
But the good news is that each ghost is given one place where they do have extended freedom. It can take weeks for some ghosts to navigate where they have the most power to communicate. For some it takes months. For others, it can take years. But regardless how long it takes to discover their energy source, it must always be a place where their soul can benourished and it must always be specific to them. In my case, that was being close to my books. The tomb my mother had built for me. My library at Harvard.
When Violet asked me those questions while she was in her dorm room, I heard her, but I could not spell out my answer. I had to wait for her to return to Widener. So I did what any book lover must do: allow the story to unfold.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
A few days later, after her classes were finished for the day and she’d eaten an early dinner at the dining hall, Violet entered the library carrying her Ouija board in a tote bag. She had hoped to donate it to the Salvation Army that evening, only to discover the store had closed at six o’clock. Now, she was heading to the Widener stacks to take out some more books on the Ghost Club at Trinity.
As she walked up the marble stairs and headed toward the card catalog room, she ran into Theo.
“Hey, Vi,” he said. “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”
“Good one,” she said and laughed. “What are you up to?”
“Heading to the stacks for some books for my history class. What about you?”
“Looking for a few research books,” she said. “I just need to get the call numbers before I go down there.”
Theo followed Violet into the catalog room.
“Where are yours located?” Theo asked. They each looked up the numbers of the books they were searching for on small index cards.
“Level C,” Violet replied, glancing at her card. “And yours?”
“Same. Need a chaperone?”
Violet laughed. The Widener stacks were a labyrinth and it was easy to get lost in them. The library had six levels of books above the first floor and another four levels underground. Fifty miles of shelving for over three million books. But as a page, Violet knew thestacks inside and out, so she could easily estimate how long it would take for them to walk from the east entrance to the west, level A to level C.
“I work here, remember? So I certainly don’t need a chaperone, Theo. But I’m happy to head down there with you.”
Theo shoved his index card in his pocket and followed Violet as they began to descend the stairs.
