“I was thinking about our acrophobic ghost and that swinging gondola. Oh great, the wind has picked up.”
“He’ll just float up the hill, Minnie Mouse.”
“I hope so. It’s really beautiful here. Though not as many trees as I would like.”
“I guess they get in the way of skiers.”
“I’ve never been skiing,” Mia admitted.
“I’ve been on a snowboard, but that was years ago,” Ted said.
“That must have been fun.”
“It was. Cid’s a skier. His mom and dad took him to Utah one winter.”
“Lucky kid.”
“He didn’t think so. He said, once he put on all his equipment, he looked like a marshmallow with skis.”
“Still an opportunity to learn something new.”
“Like you and that sword. I noticed you brought it.”
“I don’t know what we’re facing up there. I left the shotgun home. I didn’t want to destroy any of those newly wallpapered hallways.”
“Good thinking. Burt will sleep easier knowing you’re not Annie Oakley-ing around.”
“Interesting word, Oakley-ing. You think that up yourself?”
“Yes, now don’t you start. Cid’s a pain enough.”
The doors opened, and Ted and Mia worked feverishly loading the equipment. They managed to leave a space large enough for two people, if they stood really close to each other. The Martins took full advantage of that.
~
Murphy looked down at the plain marker and sighed. Chastity Murphy Wife was all that was carved there along with the year of her birth and death. The graveyard was cared for by a young priest. The iron fence was free of cobwebs, and the grass around the graves was trimmed and neat. Cid was talking to the young man while Murphy paid his respects. He didn’t sense Chastity there, but he talked to her anyway. One never knew.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you the children or the life you desired. I hope one day you can forgive me.”
“It is I, husband, who should ask for your forgiveness,” a voice he hadn’t heard in a very long while wafted over from the single mausoleum.
Murphy turned to see Chastity move over towards him. She was dressed in her company dress, one she had worked so hard on, under the light of candles, after the day’s chores were completed. Her feet hung limply as she floated over to him. The hard-worn boots were clean, and the leather had been shined.
“I thought you would have moved on. Are you still in torment?” he asked.
“I have some thinking to do. The young man who tends my grave and I have been working on me forgiving myself. I have already forgiven you and your mother. He says that I was a victim of madness brought on by an evil entity. In truth, I brought it upon myself. In time, I will see the light, and I will move on to be with my parents and sister. Why haven’t you gone on, Stephen? Not that I expected to see you waiting for me, but I do know you would be welcomed in God’s arms.”
“I’m happy on the farm, caring for my trees.”
“The same trees that killed you?”
“Their kin.”
“There must be more.”
“I have found people who have given me purpose. To help the lost and defend the innocent. I have been on adventures, Chastity. I have been across the sea.”
She smiled and clapped her hands together. “You always wanted to cross the water to see Ireland. Have you been there?”
“No, not yet. I’ve been to Italy and an island called Haiti.”
“My oh my, your mother would be amazed by what you have accomplished.”
“I’m sorry for how she treated you after my death.”
“You couldn’t exactly control that, Stephen. Can you forgive me for all the harm I caused?”
“Yes, Chastity, I do. I have learned by studying the people who live on our property that life isn’t as simple as right and wrong. That sometimes the heart decides what is best for the body. Sometimes it’s wrong. We are human and flawed. But we also need to be kind to ourselves and forgive all the harm we have done. There is a poet that lived after us - she has since moved on - her name was Maya Angelou. She said, ‘You did then what you knew how to do, and when you knew better, you did better.’”
“She sounds like a wise woman.”
“The young man who came with me told me that she admits to having learned her wisdom from having made the wrong choices.”
“Sounds like me.”
“Chastity, if you had lived in this time, you would have been happier.”
“I wasn’t always sad, husband.”
“I forgive you, Chastity,” Murphy said, taking her hand. “Forgive me for not loving you enough, not giving you enough, not being the man you needed me to be. I was a coward and a mama’s boy. Hardly man enough to hold on to such a vivacious, beautiful woman.”
Chastity blushed at the compliment and squinted her eyes. She raised her hand to her forehead. “Husband, I see the light. It has finally come for me. Tell the young man I thank him for his counsel. I’m ready to begin my next great adventure. Are you coming, Stephen?”
“No, the light is not for me. Go and be at peace, Chastity.”
Murphy watched as Chastity’s feet no longer hung limply. She walked with the grace of a young woman into the light without looking back. It would be a while before Murphy would realize he didn’t tell her that he’d loved her, nor she him. They had found an accord and had forgiven the other, and that was enough for the heavens to open up and accept Chastity Murphy.
~
Burt walked over to the gondola and waited. He had been radioed that Ted, Mia and the equipment were on their way up. He was exited to begin investigating the old hotel. Audrey had already amassed an incredible amount of information for them to look through, to find what was relevant and what was just history. Mike was looking over the rooms that were allotted to them. They were in
