Page 54 of The Lady on Esplanade
I paused to face him, thinking he’d just handed me the perfect opener to ask him about the phantom woman.Beau’s words about me being the poster child for avoiding unpleasant things still stung.“Speaking of full disclosure—”
The sound of small, quick footsteps clattering down the stairs stopped me.We turned in unison to see nothing at all, but I felt a waft of air followed by a chilly breeze as the footsteps ran past us and then faded away.
Our eyes met.“Did you…” I began.
“Hear steps and feel a cold breeze?Yeah.They took me by surprisebut definitely weren’t scary.I can live with that and the perfume, if that’s what you were worried about.”
“I wish.”I slid off my backpack and pulled out the framed photograph.Handing it to Cooper, I said, “There’s at least one more spirit you need to be aware of.”
He took the frame and studied the photograph.“It looks like a recent photo of the house.I don’t…Oh, wait.I see them now.The woman and the boy in the front window.”
“Yeah, the sources of the perfume and the running steps.That’s not who I’m worried about.Look closer.”
He squinted, bringing the photograph right up to his face.I knew the moment he’d spotted the third spirit.His eyes widened and he gave a sudden involuntary jerk, dropping the frame.“I’m so sorry,” he said, bending down to retrieve it.He turned it over, revealing a small scratch in the silver at the top of the frame.“I don’t know what happened.It was almost like someone shoved me.”
“We don’t know who that is, but we’re fairly certain that the little boy is a great-uncle of the previous owners and died in the influenza epidemic in the early part of the last century.The woman is most likely Sybil, who was murdered in the house.As to the identity of the creepy guy?”I shrugged.“I don’t have a clue, and neither does Beau.”
Cooper was still studying the picture.“That guy is really terrifying,” he said, tapping the spot where I could sense the male specter glowering from the picture.“Does Beau have any idea why the, um, spirits are here?I’m not sure what to call them while having a normal conversation.”
“I get it.Luckily, with Melanie as my stepmother, ‘ghost’ is just a part of my daily vocabulary.But to answer your question: I’m guessing that Sybil would like to move toward the light, but either she can’t because the dark spirit is holding her here, or she’s staying to protect the boy because he can’t find the light yet.I’ve been wondering about that myself, and I think that, since Lynda was a child when she lived here, maybe the boy considered her his companion.”
“They do say that children have more open minds and can see what we adults can’t.”
“True.And animals, too.I’m thinking that this little boy—Patrick—is looking for Lynda.Maybe he just wants to know that she’s safe.”
Cooper nodded.“It’s hard to think about children as ghosts, but it’s especially hard to think that they’re earthbound because of unfinished business.That should be an adults-only thing.”
“Agreed.And speaking of unfinished business—”
“Do you smell that?”Cooper’s nose wrinkled as the stench of something rotting and putrid seemed to smother us in an invisible cloud.
I put my hands over my nose, desperately sniffing the soap smell lingering on my skin.“Yeah.It smells like…” I was about to say “death” but was interrupted by a deep voice above us.
“Are y’all coming up, or do I need to come down there?”Thibaut’s towering frame loomed over the upstairs railing.
The foul odor disappeared as if an invisible vacuum had sucked it out of the air.“We’re coming right up,” I said, giving myself points for at least attempting to talk with Cooper about the woman and ignoring the sweep of relief the reprieve brought me.It wasn’t the subject of the woman haunting him that I was anxious about.It was the fact that he hadn’t mentioned her to me.Not that I was avoiding anything.I’d tried.I’d attempt to ask him again.Later.
I led the way upstairs, climbing to the top of the steps, to the camelback room.The stairs were narrow and steep and had to be climbed one foot at a time.The room had last been used as a bedroom, occupied most recently by the murdered woman, Sybil.
Cooper and I found Thibaut at a wall where a large rectangular hole had been made in the plaster.He wore clean coveralls and a white T-shirt that strained around his heavily muscled and tattooed biceps.His full tool belt lay on the floor with a handsaw, and his bald head was hidden inside the wall, where he was apparently inspecting the mechanicals.
He removed his head from the wall and turned to greet us.Despite his imposing size and bulging muscles, I knew he was a teddy bear at heart.He’d gone to jail for the manslaughter of his wife, and her family wouldn’t allow him to contact his only child, a son named Gregory, whom he referred to as “Greggie.”
“Hey, boss,” he said to me.“I was hoping to see you today.Saves me a trip to ask Beau to relay a message.”
“I hope it’s good news.”Thibaut was the only person I knew who didn’t believe in owning a cell phone.Considering how many text interruptions I had in a day, I wouldn’t say I disagreed with his philosophy.
Cooper approached with an outstretched hand.“Good to see you again, Mr.Kobylt.”They’d met when my family had come down to visit for fall break, and I mentally gave Cooper ten extra bonus points for not only remembering Thibaut’s last name but also for knowing that my contractor deserved the show of respect of adding “Mr.”to his name.
“Likewise.”Thibaut reached out for Cooper’s hand, and I might have winced when I saw them shake.
Cooper grimaced as Thibaut squeezed his hand, but he was stoic and didn’t pull away.“Nola keeps telling me that you’re the best contractor in New Orleans.I figure you’d have to be for her to allow you within a mile of her house with a hammer or saw.Glad to have you on board, working on my house.”
“It’s not yours yet,” Thibaut said as he continued squeezing Cooper’s hand.
“No, sir.Not yet.”
“Thibaut,” I said, looking down at their hands; I could see the tips of Cooper’s fingers turning a pale pink from lack of blood flow.“I don’t…”
