Ghost
Cordia was looking forward to spending a nice fall day with Julia at the Adams Farm. It had been a rough September for her dear friend. Julia had not quite recovered from the effects of not knowing Will’s fate. She had spent a great deal of time in bed lately, coughing, choking, too weak to get up. Cordia had been extremely concerned for her. She had been to see her every day. Sometimes she just sat by and watched Julia in a restless sleep. Other times, she would read to her, or they would share stories about their childhoods. At one point, Julia’s fever was so high, Dr. Walters wouldn’t let Cordia, or anyone else besides Mrs. Adams, even go into her room. Finally, it had broken, after about three days.
Since that time, about a week prior, she had seemed to be doing much better. Since it had cooled off a little, she was even spending some time outdoors in the fresh air. Cordia had sent word to Will about his sister’s condition, but she had not heard from him since she left the hospital that day, over two months ago. He had sent a letter to Julia, however, in early September, letting her know that he was recovering. He did not speak of any plans at that point, so Cordia wasn’t even sure if he was still in Springfield, or if he had gone back to his unit. For all she knew, he could have died of pneumonia, or got back to fighting and gotten shot again. Once more, she was in a state of not knowing, which was almost intolerable.
As she made her way up the path to the Adams’s house, she was delighted to see Julia sitting on a swing underneath an oak tree reading a book. She looked up and saw her friend coming and waved. Cordia smiled and waved back. “Nice to see you outside already,” she said as she sat down beside her. “How are you feeling today?”
“Good,” Julia said, and Cordia could tell by her smile that she was telling the truth. She seemed to have a glow back to her cheeks today, something she had been missing for a long time. It was nice to see.
“What are you reading?” she asked.
Julia filled her in on the newest novel she had found stashed away in an old cabinet in the back of the house. It was an extremely exciting romance story that Julia said she could hardly put down. Once Cordia was up to speed on what had happened so far, Julia began to read the rest of the story to her.
After an hour or so of reading about pirates, treasures, and how Sir Camion would love Miss Sicilia to the end of time, Julia paused. “My throat is dry,” she said. She coughed a little, which alarmed Cordia.
She started to get up. “I’ll go in and get you some water,” she said.
Julia’s hand pressed her down. “It’s okay, Cordia. I can get it. Thank you.” Cordia took the book and let her go, but she was still concerned. It was going to be tough for her to let Julia start doing things on her own again. She knew that Julia had worked on a farm her whole life, knew she was a very strong young lady at times. But to Cordia, she was so fragile, she needed to be protected.
She stared down at the cover of the book. It was tattered and worn, either from use or from being cast aside. She glanced up momentarily, back at the book, and then paused. She raised her eyes again. Off in the distance, she thought she could see someone traveling up the lane by foot. She squinted her eyes and shielded them, as if the sun was tricking her. At first, she thought it looked like Will. But she knew that couldn’t be possible. Unless. . . what was it that Susannah had told her?
Dropping the book on the ground, she flew to the house, pulling open the door frantically. “Julia!” she screamed.
Julia, who was standing right in front of her, looked at her curiously. “I’m right here, Cordia. What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Cordia was so panicked, she didn’t know what to think. Had she seen a ghost? “Julia—I thought I saw… but that’s not possible.... Susannah said that when someone dies sometimes you think you see them... but how could I....”
Julia grabbed her by the shoulders. “Cordia—you’re not making much sense. Did you see Jaris?”
Cordia shook her head. How could she tell her dear, fragile friend that she thought she just saw the ghost of her brother? “No,” she finally stammered. “I thought I saw Will.”
But, to Cordia’s disbelief, Julia did not get upset. “Will?” she repeated. “You saw Will?” She started out the door.
“But Julia, that’s not possible,” Cordia was saying.
Julia wasn’t listening. She ran through the yard, her eyes peering out past the hitching post. Then, she started to scream.
“Julia?” Cordia said following slowly behind her.
Cordia didn’t think she had ever seen anyone run so fast in her life—sick and all--there she flew across the yard, out the gate, until she finally reached her destination, her brother’s arms.
Cordia, on the other hand, was still not quite sure what to think. How could he possibly be here? She continued in their direction, but much more slowly, much more cautiously. Not that she thought he was a ghost anymore; she just wasn’t sure why he had come.
When she finally reached them, she could plainly see that Julia had done herself no good running out across the field like that. She was still breathing heavily, coughing occasionally, yet trying to talk. Cordia didn’t catch all that she said, but she heard enough to know what she was saying. “I think she thought you were a ghost!”
There he was, standing in front of her, desperately needing a shave, a change of clothes, a bath. She just stared at him for a moment, not sure what to say. Finally, he spoke first. “Cordia Pike. Nice to see you.”
“Nice to see you, too, Will Tucker. Got to say, we weren’t expecting you.”
He nodded his head. “I know. I’m awful about writing.”
“It’s just fine,” Julia said, arm in arm with her brother as she led him back to the house. “We’re just so happy to have you home.”
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