Common Ground: Ghost Detective Short Stories, #4 by R.W. Wallace

Author:R.W. Wallace [Wallace, R.W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: R.W. Wallace
Published: 2022-10-12T00:00:00+00:00

Five

Three days later, Lise’s mother comes to visit.

She’s a tall, regal black woman, wearing a pair of black slacks and sneakers and a multicolored loose blouse. She brings a pot of violets that she clutches in her hands as she walks slowly toward her daughter’s grave.

We’ve been waiting by the entrance for some time, while Clothilde has explained to her new friends everything we can and can’t do as ghosts and making them practice a few things.

“Lise, time to work your magic,” Clothilde says as she pulls the other woman along behind Lise’s mother.

Lise trips over her own feet a few times, but she follows. Her expression is one I haven’t seen before, but I’m not sure if she’s sad, or angry, or scared. Or maybe a little bit of everything.

“This isn’t right,” she whispers as we catch up to her mother and walk by her side. “You’re not supposed to see what your mother looks like when she’s lost you.” She lifts a hand to caress her mother’s cheek. “She looks so sad.”

A tear springs free from her mother’s eye and quickly darts down her cheek and into her blouse.

“Of course she’s sad,” Clothilde says. “She lost her kid. Discovering you didn’t do it to yourself and catching the culprit will probably help, you know.”

Her teeth biting into her lower lip, Lise squares her shoulders and follows her mother when she kneels down in the dirt.

“I brought you flowers,” the mother says. She doesn’t seem to know what to do with the flower pot. There’s no pretty tombstone yet, only a mound of fresh dirt and a cross with Lise’s name penciled in. “I thought you’d like a real one better than the ones in plastic.”

“I do,” Lise says. “They’re lovely, Mom.”

Her mother’s breath hitches.

After a nod from Clothilde, Lise starts talking to her mother. Telling her she’s sorry she’s not there anymore. Telling her about her meeting in that hotel room. About the apparent link with the Regional Council.

I think she’s getting through to her mother. Tears are falling freely down her cheeks and sobs wrack through her.

“Mom?”

At first, I think there’s some kind of echo in the cemetery, making Lise’s voice come from both in front of me and from behind my back.

“Is that your mom?” Clothilde asks, but she’s not talking to Lise.

Manon.

I whip around and see a tiny blonde woman making her way across the cemetery, toward Manon’s last resting place.

I grab Manon’s arm, shaking her out of her current funk. “Is that your mom?”

She nods.

“Go talk to her! Do what Lise is doing! Now!” I turn to Clothilde. “Go with her?”

“On it.” She takes Manon’s hand and gently pulls the other woman after her.

Lise still sits with her arms around her crying mom, but her eyes are on me. “What do I do?”

My mind is whirring, calculating possibilities. “Keep going,” I tell her. “Don’t give her a reason to leave yet.”

I study the woman kneeling on her daughter’s grave, the potted plant still clutched in her hands.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.