Long Hall glimmered in the darkening night as they returned to the plantation. Vesta and Pluto came out to greet them, and Charline swept them in the front door tut-tutting at the cold weather. “Come inside and have something warm to drink before dinner,” she said. “Samuel is making some Irish coffees.” She leaned closer to Tabitha. “All is in readiness for the séance.”
“Thank you.” Tabitha took the bags filled with colored pencils, paper, chalk and other drawing supplies to the dining room and left them on the table. “When we need these, they’ll be ready.”
Tabitha was intensely aware of the ticking of the grandfather clock in the foyer as she sipped her coffee and studied the other people in the room. Samuel and Charline, she’d grown fond of. Antoine studied those around him with quick glances, never a direct, confrontational stare. Tabitha couldn’t account for it, but there was an air of introspection about him. Whenever the spotlight hit him, he responded as a greedy gadfly, but in moments when he thought he was unobserved, he seemed almost…reluctant to be there.
Hannah was busy playing the victim or the flirt. Yet she kept one eye on her son, and his scowl seemed to tone her down. She ignored Charline and Samuel, which was probably for the best. Roger, well, he was a force of energy, a man’s man but one with tenderness. He kept a watchful eye on her, and she was surprised at how much comfort it gave her. She would get through the evening, and she would accomplish her given task of bringing up a dead beau from Hannah’s past.
The dinner hour arrived, and they moved to the dining room for the meal, which was a delicious dish of quail gumbo. “The cats were extremely happy with their dinner,” Charline said as she supervised the serving of the meal. Nancy had brought in two young helpers to serve the wine and decadent amaretto cheesecake dessert. The minutes sped by, counted by the old grandfather clock. There was something to the timepiece. Tabitha didn’t know how she knew it, but somehow the clock would play into the events of the evening.
When the meal was cleared and the candles lit in the dining room, Tabitha laid out the ground rules for the séance.
“If someone or something, like a pet, comes through for you, please don’t break the circle. There’s nothing to be afraid of. There are several spirits here who wish to be heard. Suellen is here, for Samuel and Roger. And there’s a young woman here.” She hesitated. She hadn’t planned on saying that, but she did have the strongest sense that a young woman was eager to connect with someone in the Long family. She smiled. “Suellen loves this room. And the morning room. The younger spirit is more…adrift. I have the sense she’s not certain she’s dead. There’s confusion all around her.”
Roger stiffened, but he said nothing. He cast a look at Tabitha as if he questioned what she was about. She only smiled and looked into a far corner of the room.
“And there’s a gentleman here, though he isn’t too pleased with the term gentleman. He’s wilder, more free, and he’s proud of his independence. He is indeed a very handsome young man, and he says…” She laughed out loud. “It doesn’t make any sense, but he says, ‘Hang ten.’ I have no idea what that means, but he is balancing, arms out…” She imitated the stance of someone surfing. “Exhilarating!”
Hannah had gone completely pale, and she staggered so that Antoine caught her.
“What foolishness is this?” Antoine asked. “Hang ten. What could that possibly mean?”
“You’ve never caught a wave, have you, Antoine?” Roger said. “It’s a surfing term.” He looked hard at his mother. “You remember that summer at Big Sur? I’ve never seen you so happy before or since. I miss that, Mother.”
“The past is done, Roger.” She hesitated and Tabitha thought she saw a crack in her veneer. “The good and the bad. It’s all gone. I’ve finally come to accept that and to try to let go of the anger.”
“That was a lovely summer,” Charline threw in. “Samuel and I took Roger to the northern California coast. He was just a tot but he was determined to surf. You met Micah that summer.”
“Let’s not drag up the distant past,” Hannah said, but she lacked the vigor of her usual pronouncements and her pallor was evident to all.
Tabitha meant to move on, but the ticking of the grandfather clock seemed to paralyze her. And then she heard Micah’s voice. “Tell her to be careful. She’s playing a dangerous game.” Tabitha’s gut twisted as the sense of danger flooded over her, passing as quickly as it had come.
Roger was watching her, but he continued to talk to the group. “Micah finally let me surf,” Roger said. “He said you were his perfect Gidget, Mother.”
“Yes, and then he smashed his brains out on a rock.” Hannah had recovered her balance. “Thanks for the memories, Tabitha, but you can move on. I’m not about to fall prey to a little goading from the past. Did Charline or Roger put you up to this?”
Tabitha shook her head. “No one can control the spirits that show up—or don’t show up. Not even me. I simply relay messages, and Micah says he’s never far and will always love you. He warns you that you’re involved in something perilous. Something secret.” She did see the young man clearly, amazingly so. If she took a minute to consider what was happening to her—to everyone in the room—she might be freaked out herself. Beneath all that she saw and felt was the ticking of the grandfather clock. “Time is fluid in the land of death,” Tabitha said. The words came to her, unbidden. “Micah says he expects great things from you, Hannah. Something about a law degree. And I’m seeing lush, green fields.”
Hannah jumped to her feet. The glass of wine slipped from her hand and crashed against the fireplace hearth. “Enough. This is over.”
“He’s fading away,” Tabitha said. “He says to live up to your potential, Hannah. He…He put his hand on his heart and then pointed at you. And he wants you to remove the layers. That’s what he’s saying. He says to reveal yourself. That others will be…amazed.”
Roger spoke. “He did that all the time.” He looked at Tabitha. “How did you know that?”
Tabitha felt a cold chill pass over her, and her teeth began to chatter. She wasn’t practiced at hosting séances, but the ones she’d attended—or the few she’d performed—had never left her feeling this way. It was almost as if someone whispered in her ear and the words came out of her mouth without effort. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t. I’m just saying the things that come to me, the images, the messages.” She tried to tamp down the fear that assailed her. She was no medium and certainly no psychic. She’d never really seen a ghost in her life, but right now, she clearly saw Micah Malone, a tanned beach boy with a shock of sandy white hair and a ten million kilowatt smile. “I love her,” he said before he disappeared. “Make her believe in herself. If she ever really did, she would allow herself to believe in others.”
As he faded away, the clock struck ten.
Tabitha was exhausted, but determined to relay the message. “He says he loves you, Hannah. He wants you to believe in yourself.” She slumped in her chair, exhausted.
“What foolishness is this?” Antoine demanded. “Hannah has nothing to reveal. Nor do I. Messages from a dead lover don’t mean a thing to me or to her.”
Looking at Hannah, Tabitha thought differently. The message from Micah meant a great deal to Hannah. Micah Malone’s visit had smote Hannah in a place Tabitha didn’t believe existed—her heart. She inhaled deeply and continued, hoping she might pick up something from Suellen for Charline and Samuel. If not, she’d make up something that gave them hope and comfort.
“I’d like to try some automatic writing,” Tabitha said. “It’s a technique I’ve seen used a lot. You have to understand that I’m not practiced at it, but I have a sense it will be helpful.”
“You’re going to put yourself into a trance and then let a spirit take over your hand to write on those blank pages?” Hannah had recovered from the shock of Micah Malone’s message.
“I’ve had enough of this foolishness.” Antoine stood up. “If you’ll excuse me and Hannah.” He reached for her hand but she pulled back.
“I’m staying. This is the best free entertainment around.”
“If you insist.” Antoine took his seat but remained worried and aloof. Tabitha wondered if he was frightened of something she might reveal.
“Please, dim the lights and let’s light the remaining candles. I need to concentrate on emptying myself, so it would be helpful if you all focused on the candle in the center of the table. Try to allow yourself to see and feel whatever sensations or emotions come over you. Those of you who are sensitive will pick up on the spirits who are here to give us a message, and there are plenty here. Yes, Suellen, I will tell them.” Tabitha inhaled slowly. “Suellen wants you all to know she is happy to have everyone gathered here at Long Hall. It was a dream for her to see the family united.”
“Hogwash,” Hannah muttered. “She’d be happier to see me on the far side of the planet. And the same goes for Roger.”
When Roger started to respond, Tabitha lightly stepped on his foot under the table. “Empty your minds and open yourself to feelings and emotions.”
She tilted her head back and went through the process Mama Bettite had taught her. She focused on exhaling all negative energy and allowing only white light to enter through her crown chakra. Calling upon the spirits around her, she mentally urged them to connect and communicate. Her fingers found one of the pencils Roger had sharpened for her and she put her hand on the page he held and began to let her hand circle. When the lead in the pencil snapped, Roger put another one in her hand. She filled the page with large, looping circles. Roger removed it, and she continued on a clean page.
The only sound in the room was that of the pencil on the page, a light scratching. Tabitha forgot herself. She forgot the room and the people in it. She was lost in a floating sensation.
Beside her Roger stiffened, but she ignored it. Tension built in the room around her, but she felt it only as if from a great distance. She was aware that she was making a strange sound, a seal-like bark under her breath. Her hand was moving across the page and she had no idea what symbols or words she was creating.
She heard Roger gasp and then she was aware of the young woman who stood in the corner of the room. Cold seeped over Tabitha, and her breath condensed as she exhaled. Not even in the séances led by professionals had she felt such a strong presence. A person manifested in front of her. Lisa East. She knew her, was aware of the bullet hole in her forehead.
“Lisa?” She didn’t know if she’d spoken aloud or only in her mind, but the spirit came forward, gliding on the air.
The only sound was the lead of her pencil across the page—and then Tabitha was fully awake and conscious of everything around her. The spirit was gone. Lisa East had vanished. When Tabitha looked down at the pages of writing, she inhaled sharply. In a strange hand were the words, “Danger. Beware. Help her.” The symbol she’d found on Trudy’s calendar and on the dash of the car was beside the words. In several other pages were the initials T&S and a plus sign.
“Did I write that?” she asked Roger.
He nodded, holding the pages up for others to see.
“The messages are from Lisa East.” Tabitha made the pronouncement in a firm voice. When she looked up, Lisa was back in a corner of the dim room, not completely manifested but a shade of herself. She nodded, and in a moment she was replaced by a beautiful older woman in a lavender dress who wore the scent of magnolias. Suellen was in the room now and she came forward, a calming presence filled with peace.
Suellen is speaking. She says, “Watch over Samuel and Charline,” Suellen said. “They never want to believe the worst of those they love. Hannah needs to be watched. Danger! Beware of—”
Antoine pushed back from the table. “You may all buy into this chicanery, but I will not. I’ve had a bellyful of talkative ghosts and spirits. I don’t know what you Longs hope to accomplish, but it’s not going to work. Hannah is going to claim her birthright and I am going to help her.”
The sudden interruption made Tabitha feel unbalanced. She swayed in her seat, but Roger put out a strong hand to hold her.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
She nodded and faced Antoine. “What happened at T&S Financials?” Tabitha asked softly. “Suellen says there is a story there to be heard.”
“You think you’re very sly.” Antoine leaned down into Tabitha’s face. “Accusation by innuendo. Prove it, if you can.”
Roger grasped the man by the neck of his shirt and held him in a tight grip as he slowly stood up and pushed him back away from the table. “Easy on, there, Antoine. My aunt and uncle don’t much care for fighting in the house, but I’ll drag you into the yard if I need to. It’s one of my character flaws that I don’t let men push women around.”
“I don’t fall for a set-up when I can smell it from a mile away.” Antoine shook free of Roger’s grasp. “You’ll do whatever you have to do to retain control of Hannah’s inheritance. Fair warning here, we’ll be married shortly, and when that happens, as her husband, I intend to step into a role in this family business. As her representative, I will fully engage in the decisions to make sure her interests are best served.”
Samuel started to stand up from the table, but he stumbled and sat down heavily. The color had drained from his face and his breathing was ragged. Tabitha went to him. He was cold and clammy. The confrontation playing out before him was affecting his heart. “Stop it.” She spoke to Roger and Antoine. “Stop it now.”
“I have a right to my share of the family business,” Antoine said.
“You are not a member of the Long family,” Roger pointed out. Both men were too angry to heed Tabitha’s warnings.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tabitha saw Trouble jump to the top of a hunt board. The grandfather clock in the foyer began to chime relentlessly. With one delicate nudge, Trouble sent a candelabra tumbling. The hot wax spread across the decorative cloth that had adorned the furniture—and burst into flames.
“Fire!” Charline stood so quickly her chair fell backward. The racket finally penetrated the anger of the two men. Roger leapt into action and used his napkin to beat out the flames. In a moment, it was all over. Trouble leaped gracefully to the floor and went to rub against Charline’s shins.
“The cat did that on purpose,” Hannah said. She eyed Trouble with a speculative look. “Perhaps he’s possessed by the spirit of Suellen. She always hated family brawls.”
“I hate to do this,” Charline said, “but Hannah, you and Antoine need to leave Long Hall. I don’t want you here, upsetting Samuel and everyone else.”
“You think you can put me out on the street?” Hannah asked.
Trouble walked over to her, jumped on the table, and hissed in her face. A low growl warned that he was capable of much more than hissing.
“Even the cat hates you,” Roger said, adjusting his tie. “I’ll carry your bags out, Mother.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Hannah took another swallow of her drink. “I find that I like it here at Long Hall.” Before she’d even finished her sentence, she leaped up from the table. Pluto was clinging to her calf with all four paws. He rode her as she jumped away from the table and hopped around the room. Finally he sprang free.
“It seems the cats have a different take on the situation,” Samuel said. He’d regained some color and a straight back. “Leave or I’ll call the sheriff to assist you out the door.”
“You’re going to regret this,” Antoine said as he followed Hannah up the stairs to collect their things.
Tabitha couldn’t be certain, but she thought she caught a self-satisfied smile flicker across Antoine’s face.