The Traveller Returns

6 — The Traveller Returns

At Jessica’s house, she sleeps soundly until a dream carries her back to the old mill house in the 1800s. She watches the stranger arrive and sees the events recorded in the notebook unfold: the accident, the soldiers’ arrival and Mr. Johnson walking towards the shed with a bag of coins. Some details play out differently. The dream jumps from one period to another, and the furnishings in the house become finer and more plentiful. Then several small bags of gold coins appear on the table just as the sheriff rides up. The father goes outside to greet the sheriff and tells his wife to hide the coins. A few moments later, the two men enter the house. The mother is standing by the stove, boiling water.

“Hello, Sheriff. Would you like a cup of tea?”

“I’d love one.” The sheriff glances at the father. “And a little something stronger on the side wouldn’t be bad.”

The father rises and takes a bottle of whiskey from the sideboard. He brings two glasses to the table and pours a measure for the sheriff and another for himself.

“To your family’s health.” The sheriff raises his glass.

“And to yours as well.” The father raises his own.

They drink their whiskey and set down their glasses. The mother pours two cups of tea and places them on the table while the sheriff continues speaking. “As I was saying, rumours about the stolen gold coins being hidden around these parts are becoming more common. Keep an eye out for suspicious strangers snooping around your property—or your neighbours’.”

“Don’t worry, Sheriff. If I see anyone, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.”

The men talk a little longer about the gold, the weather and whatever else comes to mind. After finishing his tea and another glass of whiskey, the sheriff bids the Johnsons goodnight.

As the sheriff rides away, the father approaches his wife and asks where she has hidden the coins. She is just beginning to answer when Jessica’s phone wakes her.

Jessica grabs the phone and finds a message from William with an attachment. Too frustrated to read it, she puts the phone down and tries to fall asleep again. Perhaps she can return to the dream and hear where the coins are hidden. But the next thing she knows, morning has arrived, and she remembers nothing beyond the moment the phone woke her.

She rolls over and pounds her pillows with her fists. “I am going to get you for this, William.” Then she sits up and gets ready for school.

Downstairs, Jessica eats the breakfast her mother has made. She is halfway through when her mother brings up the same subject they have discussed for months. “Why don’t you join a group at school, like the cheerleaders or something?”

Without lifting her head from her plate, Jessica answers, “Why can’t you let me be happy with the friends I have? You always try to make me do what you couldn’t do in school. Not everyone dreams of being on the cheerleading squad. Everyone is different. I tell you that every time we have this conversation.”

“But, honey, how can chasing things that don’t exist with a bunch of kids really make you happy?”

Jessica turns towards her mother. “I am happy with what I do and who I do it with, period. Just because you’re too closed-minded to accept something as real doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I have to get going or I’ll be late.”

She leaves the table and finishes getting ready. As she picks up her books from the counter, she turns back. “I’m sorry I snapped, Mom. I just wish you’d let me live my life the way I want. We aren’t doing anything wrong or hurting anyone.”

“I know, honey. I’m sorry too. Sometimes I forget you’re a young lady now, and I shouldn’t try to change who you are. You know I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom. I’ll see you after school.”

Most of the others have already arrived at school. They stand beside a large tree, discussing what they have discovered about the Anderson house on the edge of town. Matthew points out how little tangible evidence they have found. William and the girls disagree; they have had too many personal experiences to write off the investigation as a waste of time.

As Jessica approaches, she spots William talking with Matthew, Sarah and Alexis. William greets her with a cheerful “Good morning,” and she punches him in the arm.

“What was that for?” William asks.

“Last night, I dreamed about the old house in the 1800s. In the dream, the wife hid the gold somewhere in the house. Just before she could tell her husband where it was, my phone beeped and woke me up—with a text.”

The others laugh. Matthew cannot resist. “It was just a dream, Jessica. There’s no gold in that house. What’s next—a vault full of cash in a hidden room behind the pantry?”

William shakes his head at Matthew before turning back to Jessica. “Did you even look at the message?”

“No. I was too angry that it woke me up.”

“Then perhaps you should. It’s a cleaned-up image of what we saw in the house.”

Jessica takes out her phone and opens William’s message, titled “Check this out.” The moment she sees the attachment, her face turns white. “Oh my God! It’s the traveller!”

The others fall silent. William stares at her. “What do you mean, it’s the traveller?”

“The traveller from my dream. He’s the man who stole the money from the train, was injured at the mill and was taken away and killed by the soldiers. I’d recognize his moustache anywhere.”

“But how could you know what he looked like?” Sarah asks. “There were no photographs of him.”

“It’s just a coincidence,” Matthew argues. “There’s no way you could know what he really looked like. And I’m not convinced that’s a picture of anyone.”

Alexis looks at Jessica. “You don’t think there’s really still gold in that house, do you?”

“That would explain why the ghost is still hanging around,” William suggests. “Maybe he’s trying to get what he believes is rightfully his.”

Matthew throws up his hands. “Are you guys listening to yourselves? You’re treating her dream like a newsreel she watched on television last night.”

The school bell rings just as Jacob reaches them, and everyone hurries towards class. “You look like you haven’t slept all night, little buddy,” Matthew calls to Jacob. “Better hurry or you’ll be late.” Jacob looks up at him and breaks into a run.

William and Jessica share their next class. When they enter, the teacher’s desk is empty. They sit down, and Jessica turns towards William to discuss where the gold might be hidden. But William is staring across the room, his mouth slightly open. Following his gaze, Jessica sees an attractive woman walk to the teacher’s desk, set down her purse and write her name on the whiteboard.

“Good morning, class. I’m your substitute for today, Miss Waters, but you can call me Brenda.”

Jessica turns back to William. “Close your mouth. What are you trying to do, catch flies?”

William gives her a sheepish grin.

As Brenda takes attendance, she studies the students, matching faces to names. When Jessica answers “Here,” a curious expression crosses Brenda’s face. After a moment, she continues down the list.

It is Brenda’s first day at the school, and she knows students rarely pay much attention to substitute teachers. She gives them a study period on the condition that they keep the noise down.

Throughout the class, Brenda repeatedly glances towards Jessica and William. Twice, Jessica looks up just as Brenda turns away, as though she does not want to be caught staring. Jessica mentions it to William, but he dismisses the idea. “You’re imagining it. Why would she be looking at us?”

At the end of the period, Brenda gives the class a ten-minute break before their next lesson. The students welcome the early break.

As they file out, some of the girls complain about the boys staring at the substitute. “She’s almost old enough to be your mother,” one remarks. “We know,” a boy answers, “but most teachers don’t look like that.” Even the girls admit that Brenda looks more like a model than the substitute teachers they are used to seeing.

When the students return, they find four columns on the whiteboard labelled Normal, Special, Strange and Fear. Brenda waits until everyone is seated. “You can see the words at the top of each column. Tell me what comes to mind when I say ‘Normal.’”

“Not finishing homework!” a student calls out.

The class bursts into laughter, and Brenda joins in. “Very funny. But I want serious answers. What do you consider normal?”

Answers come from around the room: “Surfing the web,” “boring,” “safe,” “hanging with friends,” “average,” “sane,” “routine,” “common,” “average” and “natural.”

“Those are good,” Brenda says, “but I’m putting ‘hanging with friends’ under Special. Now, what comes to mind when I say ‘special’?”

The students call out again: “Love,” “family,” “pizza”—which draws a few laughs—“sunshine,” “a day at the beach,” “movie night,” “different,” “rare,” “secret” and “distinguished.”

“And what about ‘strange’?” Brenda asks.

“Unfamiliar,” “bizarre,” “odd,” “different,” “eccentric” and “uncommon,” the students reply.

“And what about ‘fear’?” Brenda asks.

The answers come quickly: “Horror,” “concern,” “anxiety,” “apprehension,” “panic,” “terror,” “suspicious,” “scared” and “worry.”

Brenda surveys the board. “Some of your answers are technical, others emotional, and a few are comical. The point of this exercise is to show how diverse and unique you are. Some people think technically, while others respond more emotionally. Even when people see the world in similar ways, they don’t necessarily spend time together. Close groups often have different kinds of people who bring their own strengths to the group.”

Whispers spread through the room. “That’s just weird!” one student calls. “Yeah, strange!” another adds.

Brenda smiles. “I’ve studied psychology, physiology, sociology and parapsychology.” A student interrupts: “Isn’t that the study of ghosts?”

“Yes, though ghosts are only a small part of it. I studied parapsychology to satisfy my curiosity. My other studies have taught me a great deal about human behaviour, which is why I knew this exercise would work. It’s a good way to break the ice.”

The lunch bell rings, and the students leave. Jessica and William remain at their desks, talking quietly until the room is empty. Then they approach Brenda.

“So you studied parapsychology,” Jessica begins. “Do you believe ghosts are real?”

“I know they are. I’ve seen far too much over the years not to believe in them. I learned about them in college, but I’ve also had personal experiences.”

“We saw one the other day at—” William stops when Jessica bumps his arm and shakes her head.

Brenda looks from William to Jessica. “Why don’t you want him to tell me what you saw?”

“Every time we talk about what we’ve seen or heard, people act as though we’re crazy or imagined it.”

“I doubt I’d think you were crazy. But you do need to look for rational explanations before accepting anything as paranormal.”

“That’s what we do,” Jessica explains. “There are seven of us in our little club. We investigate supernatural or unexplained events and put our heads together to find rational explanations.”

“That sounds interesting. I’ve been told I’ll be substituting here for at least the rest of the week. Perhaps I could meet your group after school one day and give you a few pointers?”

Jessica looks at William. “I think that would be great. Don’t you?”

William smiles and nods.

They leave the classroom and catch up with the others outside, beside the large tree.

“Guys, you won’t believe the substitute we had this morning,” William announces.

“She’s an actual parapsychologist,” Jessica adds. “She studied it in college.”

“You mean she studied ghosts and stuff?” Jacob asks.

“Yeah,” William says. “And she wants to meet us to discuss the case we’re working on.”

Matthew looks incredulous. “Are you nuts? All we have is stuff people think they saw and no proof of anything. Why would you tell an adult what we’re doing? She probably thinks you’re both nuts and is telling the other teachers about the two kooks in her class.”

“Dude, why do you have to be such a jerk?” William snaps. “Just because you didn’t see what we saw doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”

“Then where’s the proof? Show me the picture.”

“We showed it to you this morning,” Jessica reminds him.

“I saw a picture that could have been a reflection from a flash or sunlight bouncing off a mirror or window. Then it was manipulated until it showed the outline of a face.”

William stiffens. “Do you really think I would do that? Edit an image to make it look like something I wanted to see?”

“Not intentionally. But you’re so sure you saw a ghost that I think you’ve stopped being objective. You aren’t looking for rational explanations anymore.”

“You think I’m not being objective, and I think you’re being too closed-minded.”

William takes out printouts of the cleaned-up image and hands one to each member of the group. Everyone studies the photograph in amazement. Even Matthew stares at his copy in disbelief.

“Are you sure you didn’t doctor this?” Jacob asks.

“You used software to touch it up, right?” Samantha adds.

“No, I swear. All I tried to do was sharpen the image. When that didn’t work, I tried different viewing effects—sepia, pencil, watercolour. But when I selected the negative, the image jumped out of what had mostly looked like a haze of light.”

Matthew studies the printout again. “If this is real, I apologize. The picture on your phone was so small that I couldn’t see any of this detail. I guess you really did see something. So who do we think it is?”

“Based on the vivid dream I had, I’d say it’s the traveller,” Jessica answers.

“You can say that based on a dream?” Alexis asks.

“It feels more like a memory of a real event than a dream.”

Sarah frowns thoughtfully. “That must be unsettling. You know it’s a dream because it couldn’t have happened to you, but you remember it as though it really did. That would be confusing.”

“It is strange,” Jessica admits. “And the way it happens is even stranger. It’s as though I’m standing there watching everything, but no one can see me. Like I’m watching a movie.”

“I should give Miss Waters a copy,” William suggests. “I bet she’d find it interesting. She might even know why it shows up so clearly as a negative.”

“Someone who has studied this scientifically could teach us a lot,” Jessica agrees. “But maybe we should wait and show her the picture when we meet after school.”

“An adult who doesn’t think we’re nuts when we mention ghosts would be different,” Jacob says. “So what day works for everyone?”

They compare their schedules and settle on Thursday. They also agree to review their evidence and take another close look at William’s unusual image before the meeting.

William and Jessica head back to class early to ask Brenda whether Thursday suits her.

When they enter, Brenda is studying a notebook. Without looking up, she asks, “What time on Thursday works best for you?”

William and Jessica exchange stunned glances. “Excuse me?” Jessica says.

Brenda looks up. “What time after school on Thursday would you and your friends like to meet?”

“How did you know we chose Thursday? We only just discussed it outside. There’s no way you could have overheard us.”

“I’ve always tried to use my psychic abilities to answer questions,” Brenda explains. “I use a meditation technique I learned years ago and then ask my question. The trick is learning to listen to the answer and accept it, even when your mind disagrees.”

“Could you teach us to do that?” William asks.

“We can go over the basics on Thursday.”

William and Jessica return to their desks as the other students come back from lunch. When everyone is seated, Brenda addresses the class. “We had some fun this morning, but now it’s time to get on with your lessons. I’ve been told I’ll be here at least until the end of the week, and I don’t want you to fall behind.”

A collective groan rises from the students.

“I’ll see if I can find some entertaining ways to lighten the rest of the week,” Brenda promises. “For now, please continue with the science lesson you were given last week.”

After school, the seven friends gather beside the large tree.

“So, did you talk to the substitute?” Matthew asks.

“She said Thursday works for her,” William replies.

“But she said it before we could tell her which day we’d chosen!” Jessica adds.

“What?” several of the others exclaim together.

“We walked into the classroom, and she was looking through a notebook,” Jessica explains. “She didn’t even look up before asking what time on Thursday would work for us.”

“Is she a witch or something?” Alexis asks.

“She says she uses her psychic abilities to help answer her questions.”

“And she’s going to teach us the meditation technique she uses,” William adds.

Matthew considers this. “That would be pretty cool—if it actually works.”

The seven leave the schoolyard and head home. They agree to meet again at William’s house to review their current case.