Carridelle: Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One: Recovery

Carrie sleep was disturbed this time, not by a dream, but rather from a soft weeping in the corner of her room. She looked around and discerned a shadow in the darkness. It was Susannah; she knew her as well as she knew herself. Susannah was still there. The mystery was not yet solved.

“Susannah why are you weeping? What is it? What have I not yet learned or done for you?”

The silhouette in the corner stared vacantly at her. Carrie thought she heard a voice or was it just her imagination.  “Tell him, that it was an accident. Tell him I love him.” And the whispering stopped. Sleep claimed her again and this time it was a nightmare.

Susannah’s Passing

Their second child was due any day. Stephen was getting bigger. He was eight already and she could hardly believe it.  She was happy but guarded. The winds had spoken to her last night. The breeze told her to beware. The same urgency that she felt when a storm was nigh, and Stephen was at sea. That was how she felt now. And it was more then this child growing inside of her.

Stephen had known. Somewhere deep in his heart he had always known that there was a secret. His eldest son looked so much like his uncle. He had never thought twice about it. Stephen resembled his mother’s side. It was not uncommon. But then there was this. William passed today. He left Stephen Murray III all his money. The people were laughing at him. Men at the bar had been astute enough to see what he had missed. Stephen was not his son. He was the son of William and his wife, William’s sister. It was sick. It was horrid. It was a wonder the boy was not deranged. How could she bed down with her own brother and then pretend to love him all these years! He was angry, nay he was furious. He would throw the harlot out of his life… forever. But first he would know the reason that she hurt him. And then he would raise his two children on his own. The one she was carrying and Stephen III. She would know them not. It was a fate worse than death.

He walked into the manse, the one his mother had built for them as a wedding present. He ascended the stairs and found her in the bedroom, the harlot, the treacherous whore. “Where is the boy?” he asked, his anger radiating from him.

“Why Stephen dear what is the matter? He is at school of course.” Susannah replied, maintaining calm and yet she knew that he had somehow found out.

“Explain this!” he said as he threw the newspaper down in front of her.

She read the headline.  So, he had screwed her in death as he had in life. His last act would lead to her destruction. He had left his son his vast estate. “I can explain.” She looked at him and saw the pain and the anger. He would not forgive. “It was not meant to happen; it was not meant to be. He took without asking Stephen. He demanded I come to him.”

“And could you nay have said no? Good God woman could you not have exposed the man for what he was, rather than lie to me all these years?”

“You would have killed him and then what good would that have done? You would have been executed yourself. I could not tell you or you would have learned.” She stopped herself she said too much.

But he caught it. Stephen caught the last part. “Learned? Learned what?”

She told him the whole miserable truth, hoping that he could somehow forgive her the sin she had hidden. She had laid with William before she knew what love was. He had manipulated her and stolen her innocence. The memory laid repressed for so long until William used it to threaten her happiness.

“Our whole relationship was built on lies then? Did you ever truly love me? Get out of my sight you disgust me!” But in his heart, he did not mean it. Stephen was blinded by jealousy and overtaken by shame. He should have held her, comforted her, stood beside her – but all he felt now was betrayal.

“Stephen, please,” she begged him the tears were already spilling over her cheeks.

“I said GET OUT!” He shouted and he raised his hand. He would never have struck her it was just a threat. But she ran, she feared him and his anger, and she ran. The stairs loomed before her and she fell down, down and down and further still and in the end, there was total darkness.

Stephen came to her. He screamed and cried what had he done? There was blood everywhere, and the baby, the baby was coming. Stephen delivered him but by the time the doctor came Susannah was gone. She had never awakened. The baby would live, his son. But she was gone from him forever.

Carrie was tired but she woke out of her troubled sleep. She knew now why the house was haunted. She knew the story; the whole frightening and horrible tragedy and she knew that once the truth was out there, the haunting would stop. They needed her; they needed the truth to be told. They needed it so that they could reunite their love again. And she would do what they wanted her to.

Carrie could hear someone milling about and too weak to find out who it was, she called out and was delighted when she saw Leah respond. She hugged Leah and held her close.

“It is good to see you again. I’ve missed you.” Carrie told her.

“It is good to see you up and about again dearest. You had me scared there for a while.” 

“I have such a story to tell you,” Carrie said “and I need to get it down. Can you get me my laptop?”

“Uh uh no can do! You need to rest no work until you are better. I don’t want that man of yours taking my head off.”

Carrie racked her brains. “But Lea, Jon and I broke up. I remember that’s how I got sick.”

“Well to tell you the truth I am thankful you did. I can’t stand him. He was arrogant. I know all about you and Jon. That was coming for a while. You just felt too honor bound to let yourself see it. I was talking about Charlie. He is delicious.  I want all the details.”

And the two girls sat there and gabbed like teenagers about men and their comings and goings. Carrie wanted to tell Leah the whole ghostly story, but she needed to get it down on paper first and she had a long recovery ahead of her the doc said. There would be time when she had rested.