Ghost of a Shadow Read online

  “You’re excellent with the girls,” Aunt Sue often told me. I felt proud to hear her say that.

  Gramma Rose came in through the back door. She wore a neon-pink tank top with teal shorts and a pair of jeweled sandals—flats, of course, since Gramma was tall. Not your typical grandmother fashion, but she rocked it. She waited with outstretched arms.

  “Gramma!” I hurried over to her, and we gave each other a big squeeze. I felt protected in her arms. “Oh, Gramma, I love you so much.”

  I loved my mom and dad, but there was something different and special about Gramma. I could tell her anything, no matter what it was. She never made me feel bad or ashamed. That, and she offered the best advice…and cookies.

  “Thank you, my sweet Sadie. I love you too.”

  “Hi, Mom,” I heard from behind me. “How’s it going today?”

  “I’m fantastic. How are you today, Tess?”

  “Doing great. Thanks for asking.” Mom and Gramma shared a hug then started a conversation as my mind wandered. Gramma was a beauty in her day—and every day as far as I was concerned. I had seen three or four photos of her as a young woman. Her hair was strawberry blond, and her eyes were hazel, just like mine. Since photos of her from those days were in short supply, I’d studied them carefully. My overall expression was similar to Gramma’s, but I was waiting for the “beautiful” to kick in. Any day now, I hoped.

  These days, Gramma remained tall and athletic, swimming every other day. Her shoulder-length hair gradually had taken on a stunning silver and flipped up a bit at the ends. The last time we were together, Gramma had taken me to play paintball. She had taught me well even though she still won every time…so far.

  Coming out of my reverie, I realized the conversation had stopped, and Gramma and Mom were both looking at me with twinkling eyes.

  Such a wonderful day, I thought. My world is perfect.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Dream Crasher

  “Sadie…”

  “Gramma, you sound funny.”

  “Sadie…”

  “What is that noise?”

  “Sadie!”

  Sadie turned over in bed, backing away from her mother. “Wuh-huh…? What’s going on?” Sadie asked, rubbing her eyes.

  “Come on, Sadie. Get up. We’re going to be late for the doctor.” Sadie’s mom gave her arm a gentle shake.

  Sadie yawned. “Wait…We aren’t going to Aunt Sue’s?”

  “What are you talking about? Aunt Sue lives across the country now, remember? So her parents could help out with the twins? Come on, Sadie. Get up.”

  “Where…where’s Ruby? Where’s Gramma?”

  “Oh, Sadie.” Her mom’s tone softened, as she sat on the bed next to her. “You know Gramma and Ruby both passed away last year.”

  Sadie snapped out of her fog, and the present came rushing back. “Oh, that’s right. We’re in Florida, and Aunt Sue is…gone. Just like Ruby and Gramma.” She sniffled. As she woke up a little more, the memory of her dream left her heart in knots. She threw off her lilac blanket and sat up.

  “Come on now,” her mom snapped, trying but failing to be patient. “You overslept, and we have to leave for your checkup at Dr. Goldman’s office in twenty minutes. Come on! Get up now and get dressed!” Her mom stood and left the bedroom.

  What a way to wake up. I want my dream back, please. I want to stay there, back with Gramma and Aunt Sue. Back to the way things used to be, when Mom and Dad were nice.

  Exasperated, Sadie grumped out of bed. She dragged her feet toward the bathroom, surrendering to another day. Still groggy from her dreams, she wiped the sleepers from her eyes and splashed water on her face. Way too cold, of course. She brushed her teeth and ran a comb through her uncooperative hair. There was the usual part down the middle, and then came the hair ties.

  “Why am I still wearing pigtails when I’m almost fifteen? Oh, well.” Do I really care? It’s not like there’s anything else to do with this messy hair. Or anybody to impress with it!

  Twenty minutes…We have to leave in twenty minutes. Twenty minutes, kept repeating in her head. Aghhh, why does Mom treat me this way? Maybe she should have woken me up earlier? But no, now it’s my fault. Geez.

  Sadie spoke to her reflection as if it would answer. “What’s wrong with me? How did this end up being my life?”

  The mirror gave Sadie the third degree: “Tell me, when did you last smile? And what’s up with your mom and dad? I can’t remember the last time they were happy.”

  “Are you up for an experiment?” asked Sadie. “I heard if I stare at you without blinking, strange things will happen.”

  After what felt like fourteen hours, Sadie’s reflection grew wavy around the edges. Huh? This actually works? She blinked, and her image went back to normal. Darn it! Try again, Sadie. Something definitely happened.

  “I hope you’re getting ready, Sadie Ann Myers! You only have ten minutes left!” her mom’s voice shrilled down the hall and into the bathroom.

  “Okay. I’m coming!” Not! Concentrating harder this time, she squinted her eyes without blinking. Her reflection got fuzzy around the edges and wavy throughout. Holding the stare, she didn’t move.

  It was still her yet somehow different. She looked almost…happy. Happy and older somehow? The only time she felt joy anymore was in her dreams. Her mirror image turned and spoke to someone, but Sadie couldn’t see who it was.

  Sweet Sadie, she heard whispered behind her. Caught off guard, she spun around, but no one was there. She could have sworn she’d heard Gramma’s voice.

  She’d been hearing the whispers more and more. They seemed so real, but she wasn’t sure. It could have been her vivid imagination.

  Gramma’s unexpected passing had hit Sadie hard. It must have been horrible for Sadie’s mom too, who had found her on the kitchen floor, a shattered teacup by her side. Sadie knew her parents didn’t want to upset her any more than she already was, but some details had come out as they all wept together.

  She looked back at the mirror. “No, let me see more!” Sadie returned to her trance-like stare, but nothing unusual happened this time, and her eyes ached from the strain. All that was left was her disappointed image glaring back at her.

  She wondered how much time had passed. For some reason, blue scarves flooded her brain. Why blue scarves? Gramma wore those. Pale blue and silky, souvenirs from her travels. They were Gramma’s favorite.

  Blue scarves floated from the bathroom ceiling. They fell slowly, gently touching Sadie’s hair, her face, her arms. Blue scarves piled up around her.

  Then she heard it. Whoosh, shwoo, whoosh. She recognized the calming sounds of ocean waves hitting the shore. A light breeze warmed her face. She smelled the crisp salt air and felt the ocean mist.

  The scarves rose up her legs, where they transformed into water. The bathroom disappeared. She stood in the ocean up to her knees. Fear crept in.

  Sadie pinched her cheek, just hard enough to tell it wasn’t a dream.

  She noticed people standing on the shoreline. They look familiar, she thought. Wait a minute…There’s Mom and Dad. Aunt Sue’s there too. They had their heads down and arms around one another. Sadie scanned the shoreline and spotted herself standing alone. There were no other sounds but the waves and the cry of a lone seagull.

  She realized what was happening. Why they were all there. They had come for Gramma’s memorial and had spread her ashes over the water.

  Sadie still couldn’t look at the ocean the same way, knowing Gramma’s ashes were there, changing the tone of their favorite place.

  “Gramma!” Sadie called out, but as expected, there was no reply. The day of Gramma’s memorial had been the worst day ever.

  Tears streamed from her eyes. “No,” Sadie protested. “Not again. I don’t want to see this again.” She shut her eyes, squeezing them tight. “No, no!” Her eyes opened, and she found herself back in her bathroom. No more ocean. No more blue scarves. No more Gramma Rose.
<
br />   “Sadie? Are you all right in there? We have to leave now.”

  Sadie wiped the tears from her eyes, splashed more cold water on her face, and found her voice. “I’m okay. I’m coming…”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Wake up, Amnesiac!

  Using his fingers, the boy pulled his eyelids apart, as others might gently peel off a bandage so it would hurt the least amount possible. Objects gradually came into focus. Black shadows grew into white surfaces. What were they? The word wall appeared in his mind.

  Eyes tearing, he looked down and saw that he was lying on a soft platform of some sort. This foreign space enclosed him like a box, and his breathing intensified. Trapped. His fight-or-flight response activated his body’s fiery nerves.

  He stood up, spotting a face he didn’t recognize in a piece of glass high up on the wall. He jumped, and his breathing sped up even more. His mind raced.

  The boy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His courage returning, he inched forward and studied the unknown face.

  It looked vaguely familiar. Perhaps he’d seen it in a dream? Pale skin, nearly white, adorned dark circles above and below, not quite like blackened eyes.

  He concluded this was his own face, long and narrow. His straight hair reached below his shoulders. It was dark brown, and so were his eyes. He looked down to see ribs that rose like mountain ranges on his lanky frame. He was wearing a white T-shirt and slightly loose aviation-themed pajama bottoms.

  A flash of white caught his eye, and he looked out the window. As tiny white shreds of clouds fell to the earth, small bumps formed on his skin. Before he could panic, whether from the cold or the surprise, the words and meanings came to him: Goose bumps. They’re okay. And so are these…snowflakes.

  The door opened. He looked at the lady who entered. She was at least two heads shorter than him. Her frizzy hair had some pink here and there. She wore thick glasses that sat low on her nose. Her striped dress was partially hidden by a bland sweater.

  No recognition sprang to mind. He took a step forward and noticed that she took an immediate step backward. He was the superior animal here. He felt it in his bones.

  “Hello, Finn. I’m Miss Beverly,” she revealed with the slightest tremor. “I’ve fixed some tea for you downstairs. I thought I’d see if you were ready.”

  “Finn? Who’s Finn? Where am I? What have you done with my memories?”

  “Finn is your name, honey. Finn Montgomery. You’re in Colorado, in the home of your new foster parents. You’ve been here since last night. As to your other question, you have amnesia. We haven’t been able to locate any of your family members.”

  “Finn Montgomery…” He chewed on the sounds for a few moments, not feeling any connection. “Amnesia?” Distress settled in. I don’t belong inside this body.

  “It’s a condition that strips away your memories. Usually it’s temporary. You’ll have a comfortable bedroom in which to bring them back, along with hot meals every day. Mr. Felix brought you to us last night after making all the arrangements. He came back to check on you.”

  He noticed how silly this all was: her acting serious, him being nervous. Somehow he knew he had to stifle back the laughter growing in his throat. She droned on and didn’t appear to notice the humor he found in all this.

  “How old am I?” he asked.

  Miss Beverly paused for a moment, though too long for Finn’s growing lack of patience.

  “Well, are you going to tell me?”

  “We’re pretty sure you’re thirteen. We don’t know the exact day you were born. We only know what Mr. Felix told us. Maybe your birth date will be one of the first things you remember, honey.”

  Finn grew nervous again. How did this happen to me? He didn’t trust this Miss Beverly person talking to him. And who was Mr. Felix? He didn’t recognize his own name, yet the name “Felix” fluttered through his memory on transparent dragonfly wings.

  “Would you like to meet your new foster parents and Mr. Felix before he returns home?”

  Without his even realizing it, his head nodded vigorously.

  “Yes. Take me now.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Place beyond Saponi Straime

  Thelonious rested on the velvet moss. He loved this hilltop, which was alive with the sweetest-tasting air. It was peaceful, and he could see most everything from this vantage point. In the valley below, Saponi Straime wound along its semicircular way, its waters glinting with errant rays of light.

  As the breeze changed direction, he sensed the presence of his most trusted ally.

  “The sky is magnificent today. There are so many arbanious cloffuls, would you not say, old friend?”

  “Yes, I have to agree with you, Thelonious. Mesmerizing as always but many more cloffuls than usual.”

  They didn’t always agree with each other but did more often than not. They had experienced many challenges over the eons, so they remained alert despite the recent years of calm.

  The cloffuls parted to bright sunshine. The light revealed the glimmering essence of Thelonious’s old friend, though his body remained across the straime.

  They enjoyed the view of the silken cloffuls and their forever-changing shapes and colors. Directly above, a brilliant blue-and-green clofful rippled into the shape of a human. Yes, it was definitely forming a young one they had seen on earth, the place beyond Saponi Straime.

  “Interesting,” Thelonious observed. “Now that I recognize the child, it makes sense. Our last opportunity was so long ago. This could mean it is time again.”

  “If that is true, we may have another chance, except this time it must work.”

  “Wait. Hold on.” Thelonious pointed toward a darker one on the horizon. The fiery red-and-orange clofful headed their way.

  “I see it, Thelonious. It looks like it is turning into…but you know that cannot be.”

  “Of all the things we have seen in our lifetimes? Even that is possible.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Through the Muck and the Myers

  Sadie thought of little else besides those dreams, the sleeping ones and the waking one in the bathroom. What’s going on? she wondered. Usually she forgot her dreams, but these had come alive, staying with her long after waking.

  The doctor’s appointment and Mom’s errands couldn’t wrestle Sadie away from her inner world. For one second in the doctor’s office, she considered sharing her recent odd experiences and getting his opinion. Immediately, however, she realized how it would sound and changed her mind.

  Hours later, it became necessary to recharge in the sanctuary of her room with her books, her window seat, and most important, her door.

  It was getting harder to tell the difference between dreams and reality and even harder for her to pretend everything was okay around Mom and Dad.

  Not that they’re paying much attention to me anyway, unless Mom needs something done…like every other minute.

  She picked up her current read, Death Moon, a dark mystery novel set in Atlantis, and sat on her window seat.

  “Sadie!” called Mom from the kitchen. “Come help me with dinner!”

  “I just started reading. Can’t it wait a half hour?”

  “Sadie Ann Myers, get in here right now!”

  “Okay, okay. I’m coming.”

  Sadie scanned the last paragraph on the page and sighed. What she wouldn’t give to spend the entire day lost inside a story so far from her own. Why Mom thinks we need two hours to get dinner ready is beyond me. She put her book on the bed and left her room.

  Mom was barely visible, halfway in the refrigerator. Most of the salad ingredients were on the counter, but when she emerged she handed Sadie a bag of carrots.

  “You know how your father is when he gets home from work, Sadie, and if dinner isn’t ready, he’ll be annoyed.”

  More than usual? Sadie didn’t dare say that out loud. Dad was hardly around, and when he was, she didn’t want him to be. He’s always so cranky!
<
br />   “Your father breaks his back at work every day for us. Do you think advertising at McCruder and Doyles is easy? It’s a longer drive for him now that his office is all the way in Clarkson City. His stress keeps him up most nights, so don’t upset him with your nonsense when he comes home.”

  “I won’t,” Sadie said quietly. Then there wouldn’t be room for your nonsense.

  She sat at the table and peeled carrots. Her mother continued talking, but Sadie only caught every few words.

  “Have you heard from Christopher lately?”

  Even though Sadie half listened, that name came through loud and clear. It squeezed her heart.

  “No. Not lately.”

  “Hmm, I’m surprised.”

  You’re surprised? “Not as surprised as me,” she muttered. Sadie’s mind flew back to one of the first times Christopher had come to her house.

  The doorbell had rung. Mom had gone to answer it while Sadie hid at the end of the hallway. She didn’t want to seem too eager, so she had waited out of his sight.

  “Hi, Mrs. Myers. How are you today?”

  “Very well. Thank you. And how are you, Christopher?”

  “Oh, I’m always happy when I see Sadie.”

  She saw Mom smile at that.

  “Sadie, Christopher’s here,” her mother called out.

  “Coming.” She couldn’t get to the door fast enough. “Bye, Mom. See you later.”

  “Don’t be home too late, Sadie. Couple of hours tops. We have things to do.”

  “Okay, Mom. See ya.”

  Beaming, Sadie held on to Christopher’s hand as if she were afraid she would float away. She adored him. He had dark-blond hair and crystal-blue eyes. Eyes she thought could see right through her.

  They strolled to a secret place Sadie had found on one of her walks with Ruby. Hidden on the other side of the neighborhood, among the elms near the playground, it had a clear view of the sky. She and Christopher liked to lie on the grass and look at the clouds.

  “Hey, that one looks like Mrs. Tansner.”

  “Hahaha, you’re right, Sadie. Can’t mistake that huge head with that awful bun she wears every day. I think the hump gives her away the most, though.”