A shadow suddenly shot over the ground beside them, then quickly disappeared. An eerie silence filled the cemetery, even the persistent birds seemed to have dispersed.
“I tell you someone is here!” May-Jewel whispered, moving closer to Katherine.
“Maybe you’re right.” She took her sister’s hand and pulled her to hide behind the nearby bushes. From there they could see the entire area without themselves being seen. They waited several minutes, but no one appeared.
Katherine sighed. “See how nervous we are. All because of Molly’s warnings. There’s no one here but us. It was probably only bickering birds fighting over berries in the bushes.”
“That shadow wasn’t made by a flock, and I don’t hear any birds.” May-Jewel insisted, unable to halt the quiver in her voice. “There’s something spooky about cemeteries. I’m returning to the carriage, and I hope it’s still where we left it. Are you coming?” Her eyes swept apprehensively past Katherine as she spoke. “I’d rather be sitting in front of the house of the living than here with the dead.”
“I’ll be along shortly. I just want to find the family vault.”
“For heaven’s sake, why?” May-Jewel asked as she glanced again around her, her eyes fearfully darting into the shadows nearby as if to see a specter or a ghoul.
“I want to see where Garth is buried.”
“Garth? And then what?” May-Jewel frowned. “Will you open his coffin to see if it’s occupied?”
“Of course not! Come on, then I promise we’ll go.” She took her sister’s hand.
“No, thank you.” May-Jewel pulled free. “I’ll wait for you in the carriage.”
“Suit yourself.” Katherine walked with May-Jewel toward the gate, then taking a different path away from her, she headed toward the largest crypt in the cemetery, what certainly had to be the Craig tomb. From there she could still see the carriage top’s black bonnet glistening in the sun. How simple of May-Jewel to be frightened by a shadow and some noisy birds. I bet she was fun to spook during All Hallow’s Eve. But as much as Katherine tried to bolster her own courage by poking fun of her sister, she couldn’t get rid of the eerie feeling of being watched.
Even in the sunlight, the burial chamber appeared dark and dismal. As she neared the large imposing structure, Katherine hesitated. Her task now became a daunting one. Taking a deep breath to gain courage, she climbed the few steps of the mausoleum. The bolt on the iron door slid easily from its sleeve. It should, she reasoned, it was just opened a short time ago for the placement of Sir Robert’s remains. She pulled on its handle. For such a heavy door, it opened with ease. A sigh escaped the airless vault. She looked into the darkness and, afraid of getting locked in should the wind blow the door closed, she sought and found a good size rock which she used in front of the door.
Inside, the stone beams that supported the low ceiling were covered with deeply chiseled runic characters. Katherine reached up as if to run her hands over them as she moved past to the back of the burial chamber. But they were too far above her. Marble sarcophagi lined the walls, each marked with a name plate. Reading each one, she finally found the one marked ‘Garth William Craig 1831-1857’, and she stood before it for a moment. She felt a sudden stirring of sadness within and realized that she didn’t want him to be dead.
“Though there’s a coffin for him, it doesn’t prove that there’s a body inside,” she whispered as she ran her fingers over the lettering of his name.
A loud screeching squeak caused Katherine to spin around, and she watched in horror as the door to the crypt suddenly slammed shut. Her heart pushed hard against her ribs as she now stood in total darkness. Blindly retracing her steps, she groped for the door and pushed against it with all her strength. But her meager attempts did nothing to budge it.
She tried to recall the image of the vault, but fear made all but darkness flee her mind. Taking several deep breaths, she finally calmed down enough to remember what the layout looked like and despair grew, for she knew that there wasn’t any other way out. She recalled seeing the candles that stood in the sconces on each side of the door, but there wasn’t any way with which to light them.
How could I have been so stupid? She berated herself. She had consistently ignored the evil she had felt since her arrival at there. Her heart’s desire of finally being at Wistmere spoke stronger than the cautious whispers that tried, in vain, to be heard. Now she knew that she would suffocate before anyone could find her.
Imaginary fingers crept into her mind strangling all rational thought. She clutched the bar on the door and tried to calm the hysteria that was choking her. Tears blurred her vision. Fear clawed at her throat, making it hard for her to breathe. Although there was plenty of air within, her fear of suffocating made her hyperventilate, and, becoming lightheaded, she began to envision ghostly images, seeing forms that really weren’t there.
Then from the back of the vault there came a rumbling that shook the ground beneath Katherine, knocking her to her knees. She stared in disbelief as the sconces suddenly flared up to life, filling the crypt with an eerie light. Her eyes traveled from the lights to the source of the deafening sound… all the lids of the sarcophagi began to move as if their occupants were awaking. She knew that this wasn’t really happening, yet fear was in control. She covered her ears to block the deafening sounds of the coffins opening. She knew then that the dead were rising and watched as
