Ghost Boy of Mackenzie House (2 page)

Chloe didn't want to get out of the car. She knew she had to, but she was putting it off as long as possible. She kept her eyes down on her lap, on her fingers that twisted the slender silver bracelet around and around. The interior of the car was that mixture of hot from the sun and weird cold from air conditioning. She had a headache from it. Aunt Larry got out. The strange air in the car whooshed out the driver's door as she left. It got hotter than was comfortable, but Chloe didn't care. Getting out of the car, setting foot on Prince Edward Island for the first time, meant that it was all real and she was never going home again.

Her door opened on its own. Aunt Larry loomed, blocking the sun far to the west. Chloe caught the scent of her aunt's lilac perfume and thought of her mother.

“We're here, honey,” Aunt Larry said. “Time to unpack.”

Chloe nodded instead of speaking. Aunt Larry left her, but didn't close the door. Chloe could feel a soft breeze ruffle her brown bob. Sophie loved her hair. So much like her father's. Sophie's was black and curly and she was always fighting with it. Chloe wished for it herself, as well as her mom's soft mocha skin and chocolate-brown eyes.

Aunt Larry was talking to someone. Chloe let her eyes drift from the pebbled carpet beneath her feet to the view of the ground outside her door. Green grass waved at her. She could hear a humming sound, now that she was paying attention. It came and went in slow motion. Despite herself, Chloe looked up.

The sky was deep blue and very clear, starting to turn pink and red and gold along the edges of the west. The grass was vivid green, the driveway they sat on a deep, rich reddish brown like in the pictures Aunt Larry had shown her. A huge white house stood on the edge of nowhere, looking out over the blue ocean.

Chloe undid her seat belt and spun sideways. She dangled her pink flip-flops over the grass, debating. A soft yellow butterfly drifted toward her, settled on her big toe for a moment, then drifted off. Chloe let out her breath. She slid the silver chain around her wrist one last time and got out.

The grass was soft under her sandals. She took a step forward. The fresh air was nice after the confines of the car. Her headache was going away, even. Aunt Larry was speaking with one of the movers. Behind him was a younger man who winked at Chloe and tipped his ball cap to her, his back against the side of the white moving van. Chloe hugged herself and looked at the house. It had been freshly painted at some point, the white almost glowing against the deep black of the shutters. The front door was a lovely shade of green very close to the colour of the grass. Flowers bordered the small wide step that led to it. Just to its right was another set of stairs, these more modern, leading up to a deck that filled in the front corner of the house. The house was otherwise square, except for the third floor that was half a storey.

Chloe smelled lilacs again and spotted the bushes at the side of the house. Her mom's favourite. They had a bunch back home in Ottawa. Chloe shied from the memory of their split-level on their quiet street.

Off to the left, Chloe saw a farmhouse and a cluster of barns on the other side of a field. Turning slowly, she looked back the way they had come, as though she could see all the way home. Instead, she saw a big old barn, grey and weathered, and the winding red lane that went from the house on and on into the trees that bordered Larry's property before it disappeared on its way to the road.

Chloe continued her rotation. A freshly planted field of
rich red earth ran along the trees across the upper corner
of the property, beyond which was another field, overgrown with old weeds waving in the breeze. Further to her left, she spotted what looked like a decrepit cottage, just barely visible through the tall, swaying grass.

Aunt Larry was standing next to her when she finished with her circle. Chloe tried to smile, but it was hard.

“What do you think?” Chloe knew Aunt Larry was trying, had been trying since arriving in a hurry two weeks ago. She hadn't done much trying herself, but Aunt Larry understood.

“It's nice,” she managed, voice soft. “I like your lilacs.”

“Did you want to take a look around first?” Aunt Larry asked. “I have to tell the movers where to put your things.”

“Okay,” Chloe said.

Aunt Larry turned and pointed at the edge of the world that led to the water. “Just watch the cliff,” she said.

Chloe wandered away from the car, hesitant at first. Not that she wasn't used to grass and fresh air, but it was different here. In Ottawa there were giant trees everywhere and lots of buildings. Neighbours were close by and you had to drive for hours to get to a lake to swim in. Chloe had never seen so much open space, felt such quiet. There were trees, but they were at the far edge of the expansive property. A row of big maples stood close to the house on the right, but otherwise the land was cleared. The lawn was huge and nicely cut.

She made her way along the left side of the house, drawn to the cliff and the water. Chloe ignored the lilac bushes with purpose and kept moving. She looked up as she passed the back part of the house, the big windows too high for her to see much inside. Chloe thought of her mom again. Sophie would love it here. She adored old stuff like this. Chloe bit her bottom lip hard to keep from crying.

The sea drew her onwards. The closer she got, the louder the humming became until it was a dull booming sound. The smell was amazing, fresh and tangy. It made her feel good. Chloe slowed as she drew close and crept forward as far as she dared. On the edge, she looked down.

The ocean was so loud! There were rocks below her, the waves throwing themselves against the shore. This was the source of the sound she had heard. She hadn't expected water to make so much noise. She had thought the surface was calm when she had seen it from a distance. Now she could see the whitecaps that gathered as the waves neared the shore. It was a marvelous sound. She could almost feel it through her feet as the waves hit the cliff. Chloe immediately loved the ocean.

The sun had begun its final descent. The sky in the west was a warm red and pink, and when she looked back toward the water, she saw that the deep red cliffs were glowing from it.

Cool, Chloe thought. Dad would love this.

She shuddered at the thought. Patrick's camera would be out, clicking and clicking as he captured every moment of it. She could almost see him beside her, laughing, eyes smiling. Chloe drew a wavering breath and looked away. When she did, her eyes caught movement below. She hadn't realized that there were kids on the rocks.

Chloe remembered Aunt Larry had said there were other kids around. She had expected to spend the summer alone. One of them looked up and saw her. He started waving. Without thinking, Chloe waved back. He scrambled away from the others and started up a rickety wooden staircase she hadn't noticed until that moment.

Chloe felt panic rise inside her. She wasn't ready to make friends or meet anyone. She wanted to go back to the car and close the door and have Aunt Larry drive her back to Ottawa and her old house and old friends. Chloe almost ran, but it was too late. By the time she was able to get her mind to connect to her feet, the boy was already there.

He was a little taller than her and very skinny, his hands and feet filthy, stained red by the dirt. He was dressed in dark blue swim trunks, narrow chest heaving from the climb. He had so many freckles on his whole body that they almost covered him. Where he wasn't freckled, he was either very pale or bright red and peeling. His greenish-hazel eyes were fringed with red lashes, his hair the same bright orangey shade that reminded her of carrots. Chloe had never seen that colour hair before.

“Hi!” He bent at the waist, hands on his knees as he panted through his grin. “You're Chloe!”

She didn't move or speak. Turned out, she didn't have to. He went right on going.

“I'm Marshal MacKenzie, but everybody calls me Marsh. We live next door.” He pointed across a field to the white house she'd seen earlier, surrounded by small barns and buildings. “Those are my brothers and sisters.” He tossed his head over his shoulder at the other kids below. “I know about you because our mom and Larry are friends.” He grinned with easy good nature, chattering on. “She told us you were coming here to live. Must be a big change from Ontario. Mom got us to look up where you're from on the Internet. She's been promising Niagara Falls ever since.” He made a “yeah, right” kind of face as though used to disappointment. “I'm really happy you're here. There's nobody else around my age. Everybody is either older or younger. We're in the same grade!” His mind seemed to jump from thought to thought. Chloe felt overwhelmed by him but was grateful he was so talkative so she didn't have to say anything. “That's great! We can go on the bus together. I hate the bus, but it will be better if we're together.” He seemed to be assuming they would be friends. He paused, head cocked to the side, shining red curls hanging over his eyes. She realized with a start he was expecting some sort of answer.

“Okay,” she said.

That seemed to satisfy him. “Great! This is so cool, you coming in time for summer! It's the best time on the Island.” He had the strangest accent. She almost missed some of his words because he talked so fast, but also because he ran them together in a bit of a slurred mumble. Chloe tried to keep up. “Not that you should be happy to be here. I mean, you should, but not for the reason you are.” He flushed to the roots of his very red hair. “Darn. Mom said not to talk about it. Sorry about your parents.”

Chloe didn't have time to feel sad. She found herself liking Marsh in spite of herself.

“That's okay,” she said. “It was a car accident. There wasn't anything anybody could do.” She had said it so many times in the last little while that it was beginning to sound like the truth. That part of her that knew she was lying still tried to get her attention, but Chloe found it easier to push it away. “It was two weeks ago.” She found herself thinking it felt like a lot longer and yet as if it was that morning. “Aunt Larry was my dad's sister. Since my gram is ill… well, nobody else could take me.”

“She's awesome,” Marsh said with great enthusiasm. “Everybody loves her. Did you know she's been, like, everywhere in the world? Yeah, of course you do, she's your aunt. She tells the best stories about Africa and Asia and South America and helping people. I want to be a doctor like her and work in countries where people need help. Even the ladies at Women's Institute like her, Mom said, even though she's a CFA.”

“What's a CFA?” Chloe asked.

“Come from away,” Marsh grinned. “It's a thing, you know? If you're not born here, you're a CFA. You can never be an Islander, no matter what.”

Chloe tried not to be offended. Who wanted to join
their stupid club anyway? Marsh rambled on, oblivious.

“She bought the old homestead from my dad,” he said. “About five years ago. We all get along great. Do dinners and stuff together all the time. Guess you'll be coming, too, now.”

Chloe shrugged. Before she could answer, they heard
shouting. She joined Marsh in peering over the edge of the cliff. A tall teenager with Marsh's red hair was waving from below. He was shouting something, but
Chloe couldn't make him out. Marsh, however, got the message.

“Gotta go,” he said. “We're not supposed to be in the water after dark. Nice to meet you!” He was shivering in his wet bathing suit. Chloe noticed the temperature
change as the sun went down. He started out across
the lawn to his house. Chloe wasn't surprised when he turned back.

“I'll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” she answered.

She watched him run and hop through the field, thinking how odd he was and wondering if everyone on Prince Edward Island was like him.

The mosquitoes were out now. At least their whining buzz was familiar. Chloe turned and headed back to the house. She decided to finish her circle of the place, walking past the massive door facing the water and around the corner. A huge garden planted among the row of maples filled the side yard. She followed the tidy stone path through the banks of well-tended flowers, passing a small neat shed painted the same as the house. Chloe stepped up on the fresh wooden deck, the one she had seen from the front, which filled in the crook of the fat “L” shape of the house. The moment she did, she felt a shiver run through her.

Someone was watching her. Chloe looked around, but didn't see anyone. She looked into the house, but all she saw through the window was Aunt Larry talking on the phone in the kitchen. Larry saw her and waved for her to come inside. Chloe tried to shrug off the feeling, but it wouldn't go away. She took a slow step. As she did,
the last of the sun caught the window above her, the
only one on the smaller part of the house. Chloe looked up. The window was very small, the glass reflecting the sunset. She studied it for a moment. As she did, she was certain, even through the glare, that she saw a hazy face looking back at her.

Startled, she looked away. She had imagined it, she
was sure. Still, it gave her the creeps.

Chloe stood there, frozen by the willies until Aunt Larry's voice calling her from indoors shook her out of her fear. With one last look at the window, Chloe went inside.