Chapter 12

MYSTERY OF THE SINGING GHOST

Ana Riley

CHAPTER 12

My mom is a naturopath. She studied homeopathy and became an herbalist, so she’s completely immersed into natural healing and all the things that are associated with that, like organic foods. I completely agree with her on a few things, especially organic foods. When we eat the carrots out of our garden, they taste different than the ones in the store. It’s the same with our potatoes. I don’t particularly like potatoes, but the ones from our garden are awesome.

My mom is also wise. When I talk things over with her, she really listens to what I’m saying and she cares about what concerns me. My friends actually say they don’t like their mothers, but I really like mine. They say they can’t talk to their mothers about personal stuff. I tell mine everything, well almost everything. Sometimes I want to tell her things like how sensational it is when Ethan kisses me, but that’s hard to put into words and therefore, it feels awkward talking about that kind of thing.

I do know that it’s not safe to tell my friends, even Jenny, about personal things because girls can change their minds in a flash, depending on their moods or the weather, or what they ate or who they talked to last, and if they happen to change their minds when the secrets you told them are fresh in their memories and if they are suddenly upset with you over some petty issue, then they talk about you behind your back and make life as miserable as they can.

Some girls get very emotional about things like losing a volleyball game, or they throw a hissy fit if their boyfriend ever talks to another girl, even if the other two are discussing math. Add this emotion to their altered mood and girls that I thought were friends are abruptly enemies, for a short while anyway.

I thought these things might be different in a rural community, especially about the boy-girl relationships, but they’re not. Sometimes, I think it’s worse. My mom says one reason it could be worse in a rural town is because many of the girls marry the guys they date in high school, so they take these relationships seriously, whereas in the city, most of my friends think university and career are more important than marriage, so dating is secondary.

One thing I miss about the city is that we would go as a group, guys and girls, to do things, like watch our school team play football or hang out on weekends when volleyball or basketball tournaments were on. Here in Yorkton, being seen with your boyfriend is more important than going out in groups. Some girls go in girls-only groups. I miss mixed-group gatherings.

There’s no doubt about it, the kids at school leave me alone since I’m dating someone like Ethan. The fact that he’s in university is also a real status symbol.

Anyway, telling my mom about Jenny’s sister and the Lutz’s helps to put problems into perspective. My mom is going to visit Jenny’s sister in the hospital this week. Canmore, where my aunt who just had the baby lives, isn’t that far from Calgary, so mom will drive in one day and see how Jenny and her family are doing.

My aunt is glad that mom’s there to help. The new baby is colicky, which is keeping everyone awake at nights. My aunt doesn’t believe in holistic medicine, so won’t allow my mom to give the baby some natural remedies, but my mom’s used to that sort of closed mindedness, so she helps out in her quiet way.

My dad really misses my mom. I don’t hear their actual conversations, but the tone of his voice tells me a lot about how he’s feeling, and he sounds lonely.

I also heard the singing ghost in our garden again last night. Or, maybe it was early this morning. I was so tired I didn’t think to look at my clock. Anyway, it was louder than ever. Marti says he’s been tape-recording the sounds. I hope he got this one, because it was so clear.

Listening to the ghost sing doesn’t frighten me. I look out the window and think I’m going to see some sort of white-sheet-covered figure skulking around the squash patch, but I see nothing – just a little movement. I try to focus my eyes on the movement, but it’s always low to the ground and since I’m on the second floor of the house looking down, I can’t even tell how tall the ghost might be. One thing about the singing is that it is urgent and definitely soprano or maybe a high tenor. Another thing is that it doesn’t disturb Shakespeare. This surprises me. If dogs are unusually aware creatures, then why is he not alerted by the sounds? The only thing he does is in the morning, when we let him outside to do his business, is to sniff around the garden. He can smell the ghost, which I find interesting also. How would a ghost smell? I wonder if the man from the university has written about that kind of thing. Maybe I’ll email him and ask.

Today, I’m reading the ghost books from the library. I’ve also been reading about UFO sightings near Langenburg, which isn’t too far from Yorkton. One of the books I like best is, MORE GHOST STORIES OF SASKATCHEWAN, written by Jo-Anne Christensen. If you can find a copy of this book, I recommend you read it. It’s filled with terrific stories about different ghosts. I’d like to write a book like this someday.

“Gia, telephone. It’s H – I – M – mmmmmm!” Marti is such a jerk. Can’t he even take a simple phone call?

“Hi, Ethan.”

“Hey, Gia. How are you this morning?”

“Fine. I spoke to my mom last night. She’s going to Calgary to see Jenny and her sister. Mom will let me know how they are and then I’ll have a better idea if I should go myself to be with Jen. I miss my mom and I’d also like to see the new baby, but the baby is colicky and the family is tired and grumpy and my cousins are monsters when they don’t have the complete attention of their parents. I don’t know how my mom is putting up with all of it. Anything else horrible happen to farmers last night?”

“Not that I heard of, but the day’s just begun. Did you still want to go to Weldon and check out the nurse’s ghost?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’ll drop by after lunch and we can get things organized.”

“Perfect! See you then. Bye.”

I have just enough time to call Jenny and do my email.

“Hey, Jen. How’s it going?”

“Hi, Gia! I was just thinking about you! I’m so glad you called. I’m doing okay. Better. My sister had the first round of surgery on her knee yesterday. The doctor’s say she won’t be walking for a few months but with therapy, she may be on her feet by Christmas. There doesn’t seem to be any internal injuries, aside from a concussion.”

“You sound exhausted.”

“I can’t sleep. I think about her all the time. She looks so awful but she says the pain is tolerable with the pain killers they give her.”

“How are your parents?”

“Okay. They are doing better since Jane was moved out of Intensive Care. This ordeal has aged them both. My mom has gray hair sprouting all over. My dad has bags the size of suitcases under his eyes.”

“My mom is going to try to get to the hospital today to see Jane.”

“That’ll be nice. I’m there all the time, so I’ll watch for her…Gia …ah … I don’t think I’m going to be able to come to your place this summer…sorry…but … I need to help Jane as much as I can before school begins next month. I hope you understand.”

“Absolutely! Jen, don’t worry about a thing. We all want Jane to be well and ghost hunting can wait until whenever!”

“Are you still hearing her sing in the garden?”

“Yup. I’m wondering if it is a ‘her’. Maybe it’s a ‘him’.”

“A male ghost. Yummy!”

It’s nice to hear Jenny find some of her old sense of humor in spite of the difficulties her family is facing right now. She’s amazing. I wish I could be there. I want to see her.”

“Jenny, when things settle down a little with Jane and all, I’d really like to see you. My dad said he’d get me a plane ticket. I could be there maybe as soon as Labour Day weekend. I’d stay with my aunt, so I wouldn’t impose on your family. Does any of this sound like it might work?”

“That would be great! Maybe Jane will be out of the hospital by then and the three of us could check out some of the ghosts in Alberta. Did you know that the Banff Springs Hotel is said to have had a ghost named Samuel McCauley. Apparently he arrived there in the 1930’s and he said that if he ever died, he’d return to haunt the place. Spooky, huh? We’ve stayed at the hotel and never knew about this.”

“I saw a book on Alberta ghosts. I’ll do some reading and then I’ll be ready for ghost sleuthing.”

“Dad’s already searching for a van with a wheel chair lift. We should have one by then. You know, Gia, this is the first time since the accident that I feel alive, not to mention awake. Thanks!”

“For what? I didn’t do anything.”

“Thanks for getting my mind onto something else. Besides, Jane is going to be bored sick of hospital life, though when she’s awake long enough to check out the intern that has been monitoring her case, she may decide to get some sort of infection so she can stay in longer. He’s divine … hot to the max!”

“Point him out to my mom, will ya? Then she can tell me all about him. Besides, after dirty diapers and noisy kids, she might find the view interesting.”

“I’ll call you after she’s here. Take care, my dearest friend! Thanks for phoning. I’m going to check into this Banff hotel ghost and start planning an outing. Wouldn’t a weekend at the Springs Hotel be incredible? Jane could have a massage at the Spa. We could all have massages at the Spa! I am so looking forward to this. I can hardly wait. Thanks again, Gia. Love ya!”

“Love you too. Bye, Jen.”

“For someone who’s got a friend with a major problem, you sound excited.”

“Were you listening in on my conversation? Marti, you’re such a jerk!”

“I didn’t have to listen in, not that I’d ever want to listen to girls clucking on the phone. You were so loud — don’t need to be a detective to figure out what was going on.”

“You’re detestable! Mind your own business, will ya?” Marti can be so smug.

“Harley arrives in two days. Thought you’d like to know so you can get rid of Ethan and check out the new version of your old flame.” Marti has a way of mocking me in his tone of voice. He is so disgusting.

“Thanks for the warning. You’re kinder than I ever thought possible. Now I can plan to disappear. You can have your motorcycle namesake all to yourself.”

Sometimes I hide out in the washroom. It’s the only place where I actually have complete privacy. Besides, I need to freshen up a little before Ethan arrives. My face is looking a bit drawn. Hmmm, a little blush perhaps …What’s that? Writing … on the wall … looks almost ancient!

“Marti! Marti, come quick! Where’s dad? There’s writing on the wall – in here – in the bathroom!”

“What writing … whoa! Check it out. Hey, Gia, bet it’s the ghost. Look, the letter ‘H’, and look at that ‘V’ with the ‘X’ attached at the bottom. I remember something like that from my ‘Symbols’ unit in school last year. I’m going online to find out – the "V" symbol is definitely real!”

“Dad! Come here, quick! We have writing on the wall in the bathroom!”

“Now, that does sound curious. Are you sure it isn’t just from the shower condensation dripping down … I must say, the lines are too clearly made for water dripping.”

“And water doesn’t drip sideways, dad. Look at this letter ‘H’ and these clear ‘X’s’. I’ve never heard of water droplets defying gravity. It’s the ghost, Dad.”

“Don’t get too excited about all this for a moment or two. It could also just be bugs crawling through soot from the wood stove that settled in here from last spring. Remember how the kitchen cupboards were covered with sooty smoke residue and we didn’t notice it until we started scrubbing everything down.”

“Where are you going, dad? Don’t you think this is worth further investigation? Dad?”