14.

The carriage ride seemed to be over almost before it started. As they turned into the long curved path that led to the plantation she sat up excitedly to stare ahead of her. She’d never seen a plantation before, she couldn’t wait. As they rode under the hanging Spanish moss the dappled driveway grew almost dim, the moss looking like webs of grey hanging over her head. It was almost as if the air grew cooler underneath the trees, so protected from the sun by the moss that clung like gossamer to each branch.

It was if something were alive on the pathway, a heaviness that weighed her spirit down. She shivered as the whisper of something slid over her shoulders, an almost eerie feeling of having been here before, but she hadn’t. She slipped closer to Richie, a trembling hand clasping his as she shivered. “That hanging stuff is spooky.” She glanced up at him, a slight blush on her cheeks.

He shifted his hat up and glanced down at Linds, her usually vibrant face shadowed by the over hanging moss and something that he couldn’t quite define. “yeah it does lend a certain ambiance to the place. “ He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her nose. “But don’t worry Darlin’ I’ll protect ya from the spooky.”

She managed a smile as she leaned against him, her eyes scanning the area as the late autumn heat wave made the afternoon shimmer. Casting her eyes back to the moss she almost swore it glimmered, but that had to be illusion, just the sun peeking through its heavy webbing.

And then the chilliness was gone, replaced with the sparkle of the afternoon brightness as the horses pulled up to the front door. Even the pervasive heaviness seemed to vanish. “Welcome to the St Joseph,” rang out as the horses stopped and liveried men rushed up to help the new arrivals. As they stepped from the carriage her hand slipped back into Richie’s as she looked over the wide porch with its majestic columns. It was almost like Tara from Gone with the Wind. Almost. She could almost see Scarlett on the porch surrounded by all her suitors.

They were ushered into the main foyer, a cool respite from the humid southern afternoon, as the Coordinator soft southern drawl began to wash over them. “Greetings, Welcome to habitats Civil War Recreation for Halloween. You’ll be taken to your suites shortly so you can rest up before the main tour. Of course, if you wish to wander around please feel at leisure to do so. There are horses for riding, and a tour of homes will start tomorrow. Dinner is at 7pm sharp, and yes they dress for dinner.”

Richie grumbled about the hoops yet again. Maybe he could convince her to miss dinner, it had been hours since he’d seen even the slightest bit of her skin and he was jonesing for his lady.

Lind’s snorted as they walked up the curved staircase, her gloved hand sliding over the silken banister appreciatively. Damned if she couldn’t picture herself being swept up ala Rhett Butler and carried up those stairs by Richie. Leaning into him she whispered, “If I wore red velvet….”

Richie grinned and leaned into her, stopping her mid way, “If you wore red velvet, frankly my dear you’d never make it up the stairs.”

She gave soft laugh and shook her head. “Is that all you think about?”

He shrugged, his brown eyes sparkling, “When I look at you, yeah.”

Within moments the attendants had shown them each their doors, but before they could enter Jon cleared his throat. “Dude, before you vanish never to return could I speak to you a moment?”

Richie groaned and turned, his brown eyes spearing through Jon, “Man, it better be good.” He stepped towards his friend, his brow arching, “Well?”

“Just wanna discuss the donation real quick, we’ll get that out of the way so we can enjoy the rest of the event.”

As Jon and Richie quietly discussed things, she wandered along the hall, her hand gently caressing furniture, appreciating its aged patina. Things here had been well taken care of. As she reached the far end of the hall the heaviness she’d felt earlier in the carriage returned, making it almost difficult to breathe. As she turned to go back, the glimmer of something caught her eye.

Turning she saw a woman just at the end of the hallway staring up at a portrait hanging there. She held herself proudly whoever she was, and her dress was gorgeous, with its little seedings of pearls that seemed to shimmer even in the candle light. Making her way towards the end of the hall Linds smiled, preparing to introduce her self. As she reached the halls end the woman turned and smiled, her bright blue eyes glimmering with humor and some undefined knowledge that had the hairs on Lind’s arm raising.

“Hello.” She watched the woman’s eyes brighten as she spoke. Gosh you’d think no one had ever spoken to her before.

She could see her? She, Heavenly father she was SPEAKING to her? She turned her eyes back to the portrait that even now made her heart heavy. Stephen and Francois, she missed them so.

Linds glanced up at the portrait then back to the woman, her eyes shifting back to the portrait suddenly. “You know they look a lot like the people I’m with.”

The woman turned to the girl her eyes widening. She was with someone who looked like her boys? Her head tilted quizzically as she smiled, her eyes widening to show her interest.

Linds turned to point to Jon and Rich who were still deeply engrossed in conversation. “I came with them. The tall dark headed one, well he’s special to me.”

The woman’s eyes widened as she studied the two men. It was Stephen and Francois! As the dark one turned to smile at Linds she noticed then he was much older than her son, but still so much like him. Sweet Mary he was almost a spitting image of what her Stephen would have been had he been older, but when the shorter man stopped talking and looked up she saw her Francois blue eyes staring her way. They were together? But that couldn’t be, they had died at …

Linds turned back to the woman only to encounter air. The woman had simply vanished. Turning around she saw no doors and there was no woman walking back the way she herself had walked. Giving the portrait one last cursory glance she turned and hurried back to Richie. Well that was the damnedest odd thing. Where did the woman go?