Walking with a Ghost

"Through here you will see the room where Jenny Wade was killed. We frequently get reports of unusual happenings, sometimes people will feel chills, the chains marking the walking paths will rattle, impossible shadows will appear or individuals have been known to come back and show us pictures they had taken that feature orb shapes that weren't present when the picture was taken. Orbs are considered the most reliable evidence that ghosts are among us. If you are taking pictures today we encourage you to send us any that have orbs present to be featured on the wall in the gift shop as you will see at the end of our tour today. Now, if you'll follow me through this hallway." Alyssa led the uneasy group of old women up one of the narrow staircases that plagued the house. The joints of the ladies and the stairs made the same sound as they ascended, the last one trailing from taking too many pictures. The musty smell of the house and the pressed in walls made Alyssa feel just as at home as her own ever had.

She gave the group the smile that showed all of her teeth and said, “This next room belonged to Jenny Wade’s sister. We don’t know much about her beyond that she had a love for rose scented perfumes, we’ve had reports that individuals can still smell it from time to time.” Alyssa was well versed in the language of ghost tours; mention something about the ghost’s activities in the house and let the group’s imaginations do the rest. A few shots of rose scented water spritzed in a room before they entered didn’t hurt either.

Alyssa had been giving tours for years now, since before she had graduated high school and knew all the tricks of the trade; people walking across the upstairs floor where no one is supposed to be, whispered tape recordings in the walls, small fans to blow the occasional woman’s hair, Alyssa had rigged and tripped them all. The one taking pictures demanded a group shot at the end, Alyssa included. Alyssa licked a hand and pressed it to the top of her head and pulled it down over her bangs. When the old lady said cheese she made sure not to smile. This tour of old women was her last tour of the evening, and then she could punch out and go home to bed and sleep before beginning another day filled with pot-bellied tourists and little hellions on fieldtrips.

Alyssa gripped the steering wheel with two white knuckled fists positioned at the ten and two. The vacuum of space inside her sensible blue sedan made Alyssa the only person left living in the world. This late at night there were no crossing pedestrians to be aware of and stop for, no children playing in the gutters, getting grimy and collection germs. The town was deserted. Alyssa flexed her fingers before tightening her hold on the wheel.

Alyssa pulled into the driveway of the house she had grown up in. The porch light hadn’t been left on again; the entire place was black as pitch. Alyssa had expected her daughter’s light to still be on, but even that one was out. Her short traipse through the darkened restored farmhouse was enough to give Alyssa the chills.

Since Davis left her six months ago, no one had been staying awake, waiting to greet her when she came back from work. Her daughter was usually in bed sleeping by the time she pulled up. The house had tripled in size since he’d gone, any sound made echoed through bloated rooms. Alyssa spent hours banging pans, singing songs and talking aloud to assure herself that she wasn’t going deaf.

The jangle of metal dog tags followed her as she ascended the warped stairs. She lit the hall light before checking her daughter Leah’s room. Her own king-sized bed laid waiting for her across the hall. She pushed down hard on the hall light switch as she passed it and got ready for bed. Alyssa hugged a pillow to her chest, squeezing so tight that she thought it might burst in a whirlwind of feathers and down, and imagined that it was capable of hugging her back.

By early afternoon the next day Alyssa had gotten out of bed and made her way down to the kitchen. The glare of fluorescent lighting caused a migraine to form behind Alyssa’s temples as she fixed herself a cup of tea, the kind that her daughter had gotten her last Christmas. It wasn't her favorite flavor, she preferred the green kind to be honest, but she didn't want to make Leah feel like she didn't get a good enough gift. The girl was extremely sensitive to things like that. She wouldn’t be surprised if Leah checked the remaining amount of tea on a weekly basis in fact. Luckily, Alyssa was close to finishing the box. Maybe if she left some hints to Leah, such as leaving her green tea on the counter when she went to work, Leah would get the message and Alyssa wouldn’t have to suffer through the bitter aftertaste another year.

The sound of a dog's toenails clicking like typewriter keys against the linoleum floor followed Alyssa as she made her way into the living room to watch her afternoon stories. The noise of the nails against the floor made her headache worsen. Her shift at the Jenny Wade house didn't begin until three, giving her time to wake up properly, get rid of her head’s pains and put the house in some semblance of order before going to work and selling people delusions once more. The idea of facing work and her coworkers another day, made Alyssa’s toes curl. With no other choices and another mouth to feed, Alyssa looked over her current tour list for the day. Mostly tourists, so-called civil war buffs and the like who made their kids straddle cannons while they took pictures, which meant big crowds and big tips. No calling off today.

The small shops lining the streets usually made the drive through town pleasant enough, but the streets were clogged with tourists and their vehicles. Would walking would be any faster? How many of the people lining the streets actually gave a shit about what they were learning or the history they were surrounded by? Why come here if all they wanted were cheesy souvenirs that represent something that used to have meaning?

The parking lot was sure to be crammed to overflowing with them. If she had any luck Alyssa would be able to dodge getting a spot between a minivan and an SUV. The tight spaces left her unable to leave her car without having to also leave a note with her insurance information on the windshield.

She passed a poster of General Longstreet on her way into the building. Alyssa wanted to salute him, but with so many people around she thought it best not to draw attention to herself. She instead made herself at home by the gift counter next to Patricia.

“How are you holding up, darling?” Patricia had been working as the receptionist for the Gettysburg ghost tours for longer than Alyssa could remember. She suspected they kept her because she looked like a ghost herself. The skin covering her weedy frame was paler than a band-aid caught in a public pool filter and the wrinkles in her face only added to her ethereal appearance.

“I’m alright Patricia. Just trying to get a handle on things yet.”

"Do you need help getting back into the dating game anytime soon? It's been what, six months since you and Davis split? Because you know I've got that nephew of mine over towards Lancaster way and I think that the two of you would hit it off." Patricia was also good for gossip. Nothing happened in Gettysburg without Patricia having all of the details first. Her pointy face was always in everyone’s business, which was entertaining enough until it was your own business that she was poking around in.

"Is he nice?" Alyssa had no real desire to date Patricia's nephew. She had met him, once, when a 4th of July tourist rush had gotten particularly out of hand and they had to call in any reinforcements available to get all the tours through before closing, even those who weren’t real employees, like him. His name was Greg or Gary or Guy. Something short, nondescript, and guttural. It fit him perfectly.

"Don't you remember him? Well, he's just the sweetest thing on God's green Earth, you remind me of him in that way." Alyssa remained unconvinced. Patricia, however, was very persuasive. By the time she was done singing her nephew's praises Alyssa was blinking slowly and less of her eyeball was showing with each minute. If it were done as a favor for Patricia, she supposed it couldn’t hurt to consider it. Alyssa didn’t think it could be worse than wandering around her house for a night trying not to disturb Leah while she was sleeping.

After another night clutching her pillow, Alyssa was grasping the tea kettle by the rubber reinforced handle. She had found it on the wrong burner again, a concept that Leah had never seemed to understand, no matter how many times Alyssa explained that the smaller burner was more energy efficient. Alyssa was finally out of the caffeine saturated Assam tea.

The spider plant on the shelf above the sink was wilted. That would be a dock in allowance for Leah, Alyssa thought. Watering the plants has always been a part of her daily chores. Alyssa wasn’t sure when Leah had become so lazy, but it was not a welcome change, she had been slacking off and making more of a mess lately, between knocking pillows onto the floor and leaving the orange juice on the counter, Alyssa pursed her lips. Maybe no allowance for a week. A slight woof from the living room agreed with her.

Alyssa wasn’t going to spend all of her day off on the couch, especially with no one home, so she took the familiar route to the Hall of Presidents, nodding at the doorman as he waved her through. She stopped at Lincoln, her favorite of the waxed entities and listened to his automated voice deliver the Gettysburg address, her lips moving in time with the words. Now there was a man you could depend on, Alyssa thought. You could come here every day for the next thirty years and he'll still be saying those same words no matter who is listening. How would Lincoln would get over Mary Todd leaving him? Alyssa pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. Gus, 555-867-5309 it read. Patricia’s handwriting was nearly intelligible. Don't call me; I'll call you, Alyssa thought, even as she pulled her phone from her pocket to make arrangements for dinner.

She arrived home from the museum later then she had planned. Leah’s room was empty of people, but there was a golden retriever sprawled across her duvet. Must have gone out tonight, Alyssa thought. Poor girl just doesn’t get out enough.

The next day at work Alyssa had a school tour. The snotty kids crowded her at every stopping point, yelling over one another to be the first heard, as if Alyssa was even interested in listening. She imagined that they had probably been stuck in silent museums all day, which would only increase their rowdiness. Alyssa wished that they would schedule the ghost tour first. She pinched the bridge of her nose until the skin stuck out even when she wasn’t touching it. It wasn’t nearly as effective at staving off headaches as aspirin.

The ceilings sagged lower than normal. She was ready for the day to be over; even the frayed edges of the wallpaper seemed to be making a bid for freedom. Alyssa watched them buy symbols for things they didn’t understand. Hats with confederate flags, the Gettysburg Address printed on tiny scrolls, miniature constructs of historic cannons. The sheer profit-mindedness of the whole ordeal always hit a sore spot. She was glad her shift was ending.

"See any ghosts today?" Travis called across the deserted parking lot.

"A chain rattled. The kids seemed to enjoy it. I had a class of 35 today. The classes seem to get bigger every year, bigger and more disrespectful. Patricia forgot to spray the rose perfume again. Alters the atmosphere if you've delivered it properly." Alyssa was very proud of her timing and execution. Travis waved before climbing into his broken down two-seater. Alyssa wondered if she had ever been that spry. Everything seemed to ache these days. With a hand pressed against the back of her hip, Alyssa unlocked her car and got ready for the drive home by doing some stretches.

Alyssa never considered her evening commute to be anything special. A loop around a traffic circle was the only part of interest, and even that got boring after making the journey so many times. She never looked at the battlefield as she passed. Never wondered where the few stragglers around town were going, only worried about them stepping out into traffic. Alyssa focused only on the dashed yellow lines and any tail lights that happened to be in front of her, other people only seemed to highlight the empty seat next to her.

Once home, Alyssa rushed to get ready for her

"So Gus, Patricia tells me that you're involved in agriculture?" Alyssa couldn't tear her eyes from the rings of moisture that were growing from Gus's armpits. She wished that she had paid more attention in math class, so that she could figure out the rate of growth since they had sat down. Two hundred percent? Two fifty? Alyssa watched his lips as he told her how interesting the Amish were. He told her about their cell phones and their buggies, their children and their clothing. She asked why they never come to ghost tours.

"You aren't supposed to believe in ghosts if you're religious." He looked down the bridge of his nose at her. Alyssa looked over the menu repeatedly as he continued to talk. The young blonde waitress with her top three buttons unclasped distracted Gus from his monologue.

"Aunt Patricia said that you've been working at ghost tours for a long time now. Almost as long as she has been, right?" He must have been too distracted to pick up where he had left off. In the few moments that the waitress had been paying attention to him, Gus's forehead had acquired a distinctive sheen.

"Since I was a senior in high school, yea. I don't know how long your aunt has been there for, but she was there when I was hired." Alyssa tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and then clasped her hands on the table. "Ghost tours started as a fun summer job. I liked it so much and it fit so well with our schedule I never left." Gus fiddled with the corner of his napkin.

"Whose schedule?"

"Well, it allowed Davis and me to be home with our daughter Leah when she was off of school. I’m sure your aunt filled you in on him, but she's old enough now that it doesn't matter if I'm there when she gets home or not, she can take care of herself, mostly." Alyssa rubbed her elbow with her right hand. "I mean, she's practically grown now."

"Has she started looking at colleges?" Gus was staring at something over her left shoulder.

"No, not yet. She might take a year off and work from home first; we’re still talking over her options." Gus’ eyes widened. Had he been looking for an opening? He launched into sordid tales of his own college experiences; the parties he went to, the girls he scored, stopping only to eye up the waitress when the food arrived. The waitress wrinkled her nose, waved a free hand over her face, and then grinned at Alyssa from behind Gus’ back. It was the first time Alyssa smiled that night. As Alyssa shut the door to her silent house after she was dropped off, it was with a sigh and praises to God that it was over. It was good to be home.

At work the next day, it was all Alyssa could do to avoid Patricia and her hawkish nose. Anytime she led a group to the gift shop she avoided the eyes that were so desperately trying to connect with hers. Her luck could only hold so long before Patricia barreled down on her after her last tour.

"How was the date last night?" Alyssa wondered how much she already knew. The way she waved a hand at Alyssa's 'fine' was evidence enough for her.

"Was he not the perfect gentleman? When would you like to meet with him for dinner again?" Alyssa thought about explaining that she couldn't afford to keep going Dutch at places like the one they had eaten at the night before, but couldn't muster the strength to argue over his less than gentlemanly attitude.

"I gave him my number; he and I will talk it over later." Alyssa had no intention of answering the phone.

"Splendid, absolutely splendid. I’m so glad you two hit it off. One quick thing though. Gus mentioned that it sounded like Leah was staying with you, what’s she in town for? Is she staying long? I can’t believe Davis finally let her come visit. Do you want to get some dinner or something tomorrow? My treat, I’d love to see her." Alyssa looked away from Patricia’s inquiring face, swallowed, and looked at a spot left on the counter next to the register. Was it ectoplasm?

"Yea, maybe. My shift is over. I'll see you tomorrow Patricia."

Alyssa's shoes echoed off the linoleum in her kitchen as she passed through. The plant she hadn't watered in months sat above the sink. The teapot was on the wrong burner. She had put it there after pouring a cup that afternoon before work. The empty and dry dog food dish was collecting dust in the corner. She walked up into Leah’s room and opened the topmost drawer. It was empty except for a tuft of dried golden fur. Alyssa squeezed her eyes shut and sat heavily on the bed. Everything was as she had left it earlier that day. Nothing had changed.