Chapter Twenty-Eight

A startled gasp commanded the men’s attention. They both saw Kirstin staring down into the grave. "My ring," she cried, dropping to her knees. She reached into the grave to touch her skeleton, but her hand passed through. "Where is my wedding ring? I vowed never to remove it." She turned to the men. "Please; you have to find it," she begged. "I must have it back."

"You have to let me go," Richie said. "We did what you said; we found you, we will bury you properly. Let me go to Angel Rose!" His hands were clenched by his sides, rage humming through him.

"Rich," a soft voice called from the edge of the clearing. He and Marty spun at the sound.

"Oh thank God," Richie said, and ran to Angel Rose, scooping her into his arms. When she leaned heavily on him, he sunk to the ground with her cradled in his lap, and he peppered her face with kisses. He held her close, rocking her.

Angel Rose clung to Richie with all her diminished strength. She had woken to find herself sprawled on the ground, unable to move. She could hear Kirstin and the men talking, but could not raise her own voice above a whisper. She felt as if she were being pressed into the ground by a board, pinning her to the earth. When she heard Kirstin wail about her ring, she felt a surge of strength that brought her to her feet, and allowed her to stagger to the safety and comfort of Richie’s arms.

"Did you find her?" Angel Rose asked.

Richie nodded. "We did. I’m so sorry, Angel Rose," he said. "Kirstin kept me from coming to you. I don’t know what the hell she did…"

"She is very powerful," Ang answered softly. "More powerful than I thought she would be, but I was stronger. Rich, I made her let me go."

"And I’m so glad you did," Richie said, kissing her soundly.

Marty cleared his throat. "Uh there is the small matter of calling the Sheriff."

"Will he believe me when I tell him what went on here?" Richie was concerned. He knew he couldn’t possibly be blamed for this woman’s murder – he’d seen enough television programs to know that forensic study of the bones would prove their age. He did, however, worry about being labeled as losing his faculties with the story about the ghost.

Marty laughed for what seemed like an hour. "Boy, you are in the South. No self-respecting Southerner, lawman or not, would dismiss what happened here out of hand." He wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. "The Sheriff will understand."

When Marty had gone back to the house, Richie pushed Angel Rose back enough to examine her face. "Are you sure you’re okay?" he asked.

"I will be," she answered. She stood with Richie’s help, and spied Kirstin still kneeling by the hole in the ground, rocking back and forth and crying. "She’s upset," Angel Rose said.

Richie nodded. "I know," he said. "She’s crying over her wedding ring."

Ang was surprised. "You can see her?"

"Yep, and talk to her. Freaky as shit, let me tell you."

Angel Rose laughed. "God, you don’t even know the half of it."

She took off the locket and handed it to Richie. "Hold this for me?" she asked. At his nod, and with shaky steps she moved toward Kirstin.

Angel Rose settled onto the ground next to Kirstin. "I’m sorry," she said to the ghost-woman. "I’m sorry for your pain and for your loss. But now we can lay you to rest with your beloved Geoffrey. Now you can finally be at peace."

Kirstin looked at Angel Rose with watery eyes. "Thank you," she said. "I know that after what feels like an eternity of waiting, I should be very happy, and I am, but still..." she trailed off looking down into the hole at the naked bone of her left-hand ring finger.

"Your ring," Ang answered. "They’ll be coming soon, the Sheriff and his men," she continued. "When they, uh, exhume you, we will search the grave for your ring. I swear it."

Kirstin nodded and got quiet for a moment. "I am sorry for taking you like that."

Ang nodded. "I understand. I forgive you, Kirstin." She felt a pain stab through her forehead, and winced as she rubbed. Other than with Mathilda when she was a child, Angel Rose had not had a sustained, conscious exposure to a spirit. It was proving to be more stressful than she had imagined. "Richie," she called.

He was by her side in an instant, casting a wary eye on Kirstin. He helped Ang up and away from the grieving Kirstin.

"What’s the matter, Angel Rose?"

"She’s grieving all over again," Ang answered. "The emotions are making her very strong, and I can’t – it’s just – this pain through my head."

She trailed off and Richie nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

"Tell her that we’ll search her grave, but I think Jeremiah took her ring."

Richie looked surprised. "What? How do you know that?" Ang just gave him a sardonic look, and Richie grinned sheepishly. "Never mind," he said. "I’ll go tell her."

He approached Kirstin tentatively, keeping the open chasm of the grave between them. Angel Rose watched Richie with her. He crouched down and spoke softly to her, relaying the message. While he was talking, Marty returned, and sat next to Ang. "I called Sheriff Beauchaine," he said quietly. "He will be along presently." He nodded his chin at Richie. "What’s he doing?"

Angel Rose explained about the ring, and her vision that showed Jeremiah taking it from Kirstin’s hand. She explained about the headache that was coming on, and Richie going to talk to Kirstin.

"Girl, it sounds like this is getting dangerous for you. Are you sure you want to keep pursuing this?" Marty frowned at her.

Ang sighed. "Marty, I have to see this through. She won’t truly rest, no matter where her remains may be. This is the only way to really send her on her way."

The older man shook his head. "I don’t like this," he said.

"I don’t either," Richie said, returning. "When’s the Sheriff getting here?"

"Should be any minute now," Marty said. "I told him it was urgent, that there was a long-dead body buried here that needed taking care of."

Richie nodded. "Angel Rose, where do you think the ring is?"

Ang sighed again. This was becoming a habit. "I don’t’ know. I just feel that Jeremiah took it. We have to find it."

Richie groaned. "Here we go again. How do we know that there won’t be something ELSE she needs you to do. Maybe she’s just too used to being tied to this place, and doesn’t really want to leave. Can’t we MAKE her leave? Isn’t there some sort of mojo or juju you can throw at her and make her go away?"

Marty gave him a smile. "There are things you can try, son, but if they don’t work, the backlash is something terrible. I sure don’t want to be on the wrong end of the karma flow if something goes sideways." He shivered. "No, it’s better to do this her way," he said, indicating Kirstin.

Richie frowned. "Her way is no good," he muttered.

"Hey," Angel Rose said. "Isn’t that my decision?"

Richie kept speaking as if he didn’t hear her. "I mean, you saw what the last contact did to Angel Rose, and that was fairly brief. What if getting the vision to show itself takes more time? There’s no telling how long Kirstin would," he waved a hand in the air, "inhabit her body."

"HEY!" Angel Rose shouted. "It is not your choice. It is mine."

"But Ang, sweetheart…"

"Don’t ‘Ang, sweetheart’ me, Rich. I will not have you railroad over me. This is my choice to make or not make." She stood and threw her shoulders back.

Whatever else she was going to say was lost with the ringing of Marty’s cell phone. "It’s the Sheriff," he said, checking the display. "We should go get him, son," he said to Richie.

The younger man shook his head. "No. I’m not leaving Angel Rose here alone with HER."

"Oh for heaven’s sake," Angel Rose said, and grabbed the phone from Marty. She pressed the ‘talk’ button on the bulky device as she walked back toward the clearing. "Sheriff Beauchaine! We’re out by the lake!"

A slow, southern drawl answered her. "We’re on the way!"

A few minutes later, the Sheriff, along with a deputy, the county coroner, and the coroner’s assistant, came from the direction of the house. Angel Rose led them back to the partially dug up grave and looked around. Kirstin was standing just along the shrub line. The officers gave no indication that they saw her, and she said nothing. She stood back as the coroner climbed down into the hole. A sixty-ish man with a halo of white hair around the crown of his head and a graying goatee looked up at them.

"Who dug out this here grave?" he asked, his accent thick.

"We did," Marty said, indicating himself and Richie. "We stopped when we saw just what was down there."

"Uh-huh," the ME answered. "And just how did ya’ll come to be digging in this spot?"

Marty and Richie exchanged glances with Angel Rose. She rose and extended her hand to the coroner. "I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. Angel Rose Summerlin," she said.

"Summerlin?" the man answered, taking her hand. "Well, that explains it, then. Tobias Matheson, at your service, Miss Summerlin. Who do we have here?"

"Kirstin Maddox," Angel Rose answered quietly, casting a furtive glance behind the Sheriff.

The look wasn’t lost on Tobias, though. "You seeing her right now?" he asked, raising a bushy white eyebrow. Ang just nodded. "Welll," he continued, raising his voice. "Let’s see if we can’t get Mrs. Maddox out of this terrible hole and into someplace more comfortable." He sent his assistant and the deputy back to the van for the gurney while he used a small brush and shovel to shift the earth away from Kirstin’s remains. It took him close to an hour before he had the skeleton unearthed.

Very carefully, one grayed bone at a time, the coroner transferred the skeleton to the body bag on the gurney. He made sure everything was laid gently in place, and when he was done, he swept the grave again, to make sure he didn’t miss anything.

"Is there a ring?" Kirstin asked.

Richie, Marty, and Angel Rose all turned to look at her, but the others did not here.

"What’s wrong?" Tobias asked. "What’s over there?"

Angel Rose shook her head. "Did you find anything else in that grave?"

"Like what?" Tobias asked, puzzled.

"Like jewelry? Her wedding ring, perhaps?" At Tobias’ strange look, she hastened to add, "all the Maddox family lore says that she never took it off; swore to Geoffrey that she would wear it for all eternity. It would be nice to bury her with it is all." It sounded lame, even to her, but Tobias didn’t call her on it.

"No, there’s nothing else here. I’ll take her back to the morgue. Who will come to collect her when I call?"

Richie stepped forward. "Angel Rose and I will." He looked at Ang. "We’ll make arrangements to have her interred with her husband."

Tobias nodded. "Very good," he said, and led his assistant and the deputy from the clearing.

Once the men were out of earshot, Sheriff Beauchaine asked, "Why did you really ask about the ring, Ms. Summerlin?"

Angel Rose blushed. "Kirstin is standing over there, and she asked me to ask." She extended an arm toward the far side of the clearing.

The lawman turned, but saw nothing. "You all see her?" he asked, looking pointedly at Marty.

"Yessir, Warren," Marty answered. "We all see her plain as day. Unsettling to say the least."

"Huh," Warren answered. He wandered over to where Kirstin was standing, and felt a slight dip in temperature. "Missus Maddox," he said, "we will have you settled right quick."

"We have to find her ring," Angel Rose said, "before we can bury her."

Warren nodded. "Understood. Anything I can do to help?"

"Not that I can think of, Sheriff," Angel Rose said, "but if I think of anything, I’ll be sure to let you know." She considered the lawman. "Why do you believe me?"

Warren smiled. "My grand-mama had the sight. Skipped my mama altogether, and I have no sisters, so I don’t know if it’s died out or not. I learned a long time ago to have the proper respect for the gift." He started back along the path, heading back to his deputy and his car. "Please call me if I can help you." He tipped his hat at where Kirstin was standing. "Ma’am," he said, and left the clearing.

"Well, that was certainly strange," Richie said.

"Not really," Marty answered. "I told you we have a healthy respect for our spooks and specters, no offense Missus Maddox."

Richie shook his head. "Okay, whatever. What’s our next step?"