The Ghosts of Hall Manor

"It was Halloween night, and they were on their very first date." Mesa twisted her voice in a deliberately unsettling manner and spoke in a hushed tone to exacerbate her ghost story. "Tommy, the football team captain, and Debbie, the head cheerleader, made a match in 1950s heaven. Tommy had just picked Debbie up here, and they were headed to the local malt shop a few miles away, but a car stalled ahead of them. He tried to stop, but had to swerve to avoid the car. In a flash, they were gone, but the story goes they lived happily ever after as the ghost of Hall Manor." Mesa flourished her hands around the house as she finished her tale.

Silence blanketed our group for a slight moment as we took in the story. We had heard it for years. The story of Tommy Day and Debbie Hall was as entrenched in Camden tradition as the annual lobster festival.

"Boo," a young stranger said behind us, causing our group to jump from our lingering distraction of the story.

Like most of the guys, he dressed in a vintage letterman's sweater. My poodle skirt swished across my calves at my fright. It was part of the fun; everyone always dressed as the town's favorite ghostly couple. It gave everyone hope that somehow a slice of happiness came from such a tragedy. It also made every Halloween party more like a sock hop. Mesa loved to feed the tradition with songs from the period and many retellings of the tale as she hosted the annual Hall Manor Halloween party.

"Is he old enough to be here?" I griped about the stranger that had scared us.

Mesa shrugged. "Everyone looks so young in these get-ups," she noted.

"True," I absently spoke as I let my eyes follow the stranger.

He had escaped to a corner with yet another Debbie Hall. They looked so young, but part of my mind pulled to how in love they looked.

"It is me, or do couples in love always look younger?" I mumbled to myself.

"That's a thing," Mesa confidently agreed. "Love looks good on everyone."

"Mmhmm," but my focus was far from Mesa's agreement. My eyes clung to the couple huddled in the corner, giggling over the fright he had given our group. "Who are they?"

"Not a clue," Mesa passively said. "Probably a friend of a friend. Everyone wants to be at Hall Manor on Halloween in case Tommy and Debbie decide to return." Mesa once again slipped into a Boris Karloff voice as she spoke. "Well, as fun as it is to hover with you while you stare at a couple of party crashers, I'm off to mingle. I'm still looking for my very own Tommy Day," she added with a wink.

I nodded as more of a knee-jerk response as opposed to accepting her teasing of my fixation. Mesa was right, though; the two in the corner captivated me. My eyes trailed them as they crossed the room and dipped out of view. My feet instinctively followed.

They chatted in the study. Eavesdropping on these young loves was stealing, but I couldn't resist the draw to them.

"Dance with me. This is our song," the young man's voice filled with a lively tone of warm humor.

"Oh, Tommy, you think every song is our song." The girl teased back with a swat to his chest.

I watched them twist and swing around the room. The moment the young woman ventured almost out of reach of the young man, he would turn her back deep into his chest while they giggled.

"We have a guest," Tommy noted as he beamed at his girl.

"Mmhmm, right on time," Debbie agreed.

"She's shyer than I expected," he noted.

"Go on, Tommy, no one can resist you," she gave him another playful tap on his chest.

"You can come in, Josephine," Tommy called over Debbie's head.

My real first name bore into me. No one called me Josephine because I hated it. I loved that I shared a connection with my beloved great aunt, but I hated how old the name sounded. My friends called me Jo or Joey.

"Tommy, you know she doesn't like that," Debbie chided. "It's Joey, right?" She met my gaze.

"Have we met?" I asked as I stumbled into the room.

Debbie giggle. "Oh yes, we're old family friends."

"Old family friends?" I stammered. They were clearly younger than me.

"You look just like her," Debbie admired.

"Just like who?" Confusion clouded my words.

"Do you know the story of the house?" Tommy asked.

"Of course, the ghosts of Hall Manor. Tommy and Debbie, the town's favorite couple that found love after death," I explained, but still didn't understand.

"Mmhmm, we were a very lucky couple." As Tommy spoke, he lifted his hand to Debbie's face and let the backs of his fingers glide over her velvety-soft skin. As much love as they shared, a pain crossed their faces. "But there was another couple." His voice turned somber, and both his and his love's skin paled at the shared thought between them.

"What?"

"It was our first date," Debbie began. "We couldn't go alone; that would be too scandalous. Our friends agreed to join us."

"Josephine lived right next to me; of course, I picked her up first," Tommy explained without lifting his gaze from Debbie. "If I hadn't..." his voice dropped out.

"It wasn't your fault," Debbie soothed. "She sat behind me," Debbie continued to the story. "We were on our way to pick up Peter, but that car was just there."

"I tried to stop, but the rain made the road slick. I had to swerve to the right: those sounds, the screeching tires, the busting glass, and the scream. I remember Debbie's hand. She never let go, but Josephine's scream will haunt me for all my..." His voice dropped out at the thought of what forever meant.

"We were lucky," Debbie continued after a moment. "We had each other forever, here, in the warmth of my family's home. But poor Josephine and Peter, it ripped them apart from each other."

"I watched over Peter so many nights as he promised to be his best so he'd see his sweet Josephine again, but Josephine wasn't here with us. Without Peter, her place must have been somewhere else," Tommy sighed.

"But tonight," Debbie smiled up at Tommy before her eyes darted to the desk clock. "Oh my, you're late!" She squealed.

"Late?" The new chapter to the ghost story entranced me; I didn't register what she was saying.

"Yes, you must go, quickly!" She demanded as she rushed towards me. But when her hands would have given me a gentle push, I felt nothing more than the slightest chill.

"You're... you're... you're them," I stammered.

"Of course we are, Josephine," Tommy said as he wrapped his arms around Debbie.

"But tonight isn't our night anymore, not for you. Tonight is for you and your dear great aunt," Debbie prodded.

"And Pete!" Tommy excitedly added.

"Who is Pete?" My mind swirled, unable to connect to the words.

"Pete is our past," Tommy explained.

"And your future, but, oh dear, you must go right now. This moment!"

Debbie rushed me at such a pace that I stumbled back out the door and fell into the broad chest of an unsuspecting man.

"Easy there," the man chuckled to himself. "A ghost chasing you?" He teased.

I looked up to find the most handsome man I had ever seen. "Sorry," I managed.

"I'm glad to be in the right place at the right time. My name is Pete; Peter Jones." He nodded at me while his strong hands helped to settle me.

"Pete?" I croaked up to him.

"Have we met? You're so familiar." His brow furrowed as he looked over my face.

"I don't think so. I'm Joey; Josephine Miller. Are you from here?" I reluctantly pulled myself away from his steading hands.

"Yes, and no. My family is from here, but we moved away a few generations back. A terrible accident made my grand-pop want to skip town. He always spoke so fondly of the place, though. He passed last year, but I wanted to come back; see what all the nostalgia was about," Peter explained. "For him," he added with a shrug. "When I got here, it was home."

"Mmhmm, home," I murmured up at him.

"Say, would you want to grab a drink or something? This is going to sound weird, but I can shake this feeling about you."

"Yes," the word fell out of my mouth with no thought. All of me pulled to this man, like coming in from a storm. "Let me tell my friends where I'm headed," I smiled up at him before turning back to the study.

There, twisting and twirling to the music, were two couples. Tommy and Debbie now smiled and giggled with Peter and Josephine. I smiled to myself but didn't disturb them.

"Hey," I said as I rejoined Pete. "Was your grandfather's name Peter?"

"Yeah, my dad named me after him." Pete slid an arm around me as we headed back to the party.

"I think he knew my great aunt Josephine. My mom named me after her," I smiled.

"Huh, what a coincidence?"

"Maybe," I agreed, but I knew it was so much more than a coincidence.