Page 29 of Kindred Lies
Chapter 16
Amethyst couldn’t stop shaking. The legend was true. Easton Hill really did haunt Ghost Peak Island… She had never really believed in ghosts. They were a figment of the imagination. Something people used to explain odd shadows or weird images in pictures. She shook her head lightly trying to make the apparition before her go away. Amethyst closed her eyes and then opened them again. The ghost was still there.
She took a step toward him. Cooper wound his arms around her waist and held her in place. “I don’t think you should get any closer.” His voice sounded as shaky as Amethyst felt.
The ghost raised his hand and pointed at Amethyst. He didn’t say anything or attempt to anyway. He just stood there in eerie silence with his index finger targeting her in some way. Amethyst slunk back into Cooper. Her heart raced heavily inside of her chest. The thundering outside had stopped and deposited the sound in her eardrums. No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t the thunder outside. It was her heartbeat eradicating any other sound and making her deaf to her surroundings. She swallowed hard and pushed Cooper’s hand away. Something told her that she could trust the spirit. Easton Hill didn’t seem to want to harm them and she wasn’t even sure he could if he wanted to. As she approached him he lowered his hand and pointed to the bag she had wrapped around her shoulder. The journal was inside it. Did he want her to open it? Read it? She flipped open the flap and pulled the book out. “Is this what you want.”
Easton Hill nodded, and then opened and folded his hand in a motion that resembled the movement a book made as it was flipped open and closed. “You want me to read it?” Why would the ghost want that? “All right. I can read more.”
Amethyst moved away from Cooper and the ghost. She sat near the fire and rested her back against the wall. After she was comfortable she sat down to read the journal. She flipped the pages until she reached the page she had left off in.
February 14, 1955
I have news for Easton. He’s going to be so happy or at least I hope he will be. After our son died a piece of me had been ripped out of my soul. It took me a long time to let go of my grief. I’ll forever miss him, but I have no choice but to accept I’ll never hold my son in my arms again. Now that we’re past that loss we can move on. Have the life we always imagined, and more children to fill our home.
I’m pregnant again. The doctor estimates I’m about three months along. I’ve been so selfish and lost in my misery I hadn’t noticed. Terror seized my soul and my heart froze in disbelief once I realized… What if we lose this child too? I cannot go through that again. Losing my son nearly destroyed me. I pray this child can be the glue both of us need to hold on to life. I fear what will happen to us otherwise.
Did Marianne have the second child? What happened to her after this entry? She continued reading flipping through the pages at a rapid rate. Then she gasped loudly and reread the lines on the page
February 19, 1955
We buried Easton today... I’m numb and if not for the child growing inside of me I’d gladly give up on life. My love… What am I going to do without you? How can I raise our child on my own? What have I done to receive such a cruel fate? God help me. I’m going to need it… I’m cursed and I wonder if my whole family is. I’m not the first female in as many generations that has lost the love of her life. I doubt I’ll be the last. I pray this child isn’t a girl. If it is I fear she’ll suffer from this curse too…
She lifted her head and stared at the ghost. How had he died? She could look it up and maybe find something in an old newspaper. “Is this what you wanted me to read?” That had been the last page. Anything else would be in the journal at the inn. Marianne thought her family was cursed. That was ridiculous. Wasn’t it?
Cooper came to sit beside her. The spirit of Easton Hill disappeared and didn’t give her any further insight. If she wanted to discover any more information she’d have to retrieve the second journal. “I need to go back to the inn.”
“The storm…”
“It sounds as if the rain is dying down.” There hadn’t been any thunder in a while. “It’s probably safe to head back. I’m willing to bet if there is any rain at all it’s nothing more than a drizzle or a mist.”
Cooper didn’t respond to her assumption. Instead he moved toward the mouth of the cave and glanced outside. “You’re right. The storm has passed over us. Let’s head back to the cabin and grab the picnic basket. I’m starving and could use something in my stomach as we take the boat back to the mainland.”
Her stomach grumbled. The granola bar hadn’t done much to appease her appetite. “That’s an excellent idea.”
They walked down the path in silence. She’d never forget their time in the cave. Easton Hill’s ghost… What had he been trying to tell her? What had he hoped she’d find in that journal? The curse was probably the imagination of a grieving woman. Amethyst didn’t blame Marianne. If she lost the man she loved mere months after her child had died… She’d believe in curses too.
They reached the cabin. Cooper went inside and retrieved the basket, then they strolled back to the boat. Once they had it moving she opened it up and took out a sandwich, then handed it to Cooper. He snacked on it as he steered the boat. Amethyst retrieved a sandwich for herself and ate it in silence. She couldn’t wait to get back to the inn and the journal. Answers awaited her there or at least she hoped so.
* * *
They walked toward the inn.The power seemed to be back on and all the lights in the front part of the house were shining bright. Cooper frowned. The whole thing on the island… The ghost had been real. He hadn’t imagined it. It still boggled his mind that Amethyst had talked to the ghost. Interacted with it… How could she have been so brave? He’d never been so terrified in his entire life.
“Do you think your mom is here?”
Amethyst shrugged. “Probably but we won’t know until we go inside.” She rubbed her hand over her face. Wariness clouded over her eyes. “I forgot she was supposed to arrive. In all the excitement on the island…”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “I think that’s expected. It is not every day one encounter’s a ghost.”
She chuckled lightly. “That’s an understatement.”
Amethyst stepped out of his arms and they walked toward the inn holding hands. They had a crazy day, but he was glad about one thing. They were getting closer and closer. When he had first met her he’d fallen for her at first sight. It was crazy and he’d never believed he’d be the sap to do it, but he had. He loved her.
When they reached the entrance he turned the knob and pushed the door open. Amethyst stepped inside before him and froze. A woman was on the floor near the front desk. She had long blonde hair that was spread around her. Nicolas Drake knelt beside her with her hand in his.
“What did you do to my mother?” Amethyst stomped forward and went toward the woman.
Nicholas stood and held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I promise that I didn’t lay a hand on her. Well…I mean…” He stared down at Amethyst’s mother on the floor. “I did check to make sure she was all right but I didn’t touch her before that.”
