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“I’m sorry I wasn’t much help in there,” Kelly said, a sympathetic look in her eyes.
“On the contrary, you were invaluable,” Meg assured her. “I never would’ve had the courage to say what I did if it weren’t for you speaking your mind first.”
“I’m afraid I just riled things up,” Kelly muttered.
“Not at all.”
“Do I even want to know?” Charlie asked, looking from one lady to the other.
“No,” they both said at the same time. Then, Meg added, “I shall let you know shortly.”
“Are we having a party tomorrow?” Ruth asked.
“Grownups are having a party tomorrow,” Kelly corrected. “Little girls are having a sleep over at Mrs. Wagner’s house down the hall from our place.”
“Awww!” Ruth moaned, her shoulders falling.
“When you’re a bit bigger, y
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A few moments later, they heard a distinct throat clearing at the end of the hallway and realized Jonathan was waiting for them. Pulling themselves apart, Meg brushed the tear streaks from her face, and Charlie looped his arm through hers and led her down the hall, as if they were walking to the firing squad instead of a group of alleged friends.Once they reached the end of the hallway where Jonathan stood, the liegeman whispered sharply, “Your sister is about to have a conniption thinking you’ve snuck off somewhere.”“We are just slow walkers,” Charlie assured him, amused.“I’ll let you explain yourself to her. She assumed you were right behind her.”“We were. Right behind her—far, far behind her.” Charlie looked at Meg, a twinkle in his eyes.“I believe you will need the ring back if you’re to give her the ring in front of everyone,” Jonathan reminded them.
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Most of the crowd was so absorbed in staring at the bright, colorful lights overhead, they likely didn’t even notice their host and his bride-to-be had been transported to another time. It wasn’t until Meg and Jonathan began to guide Charlie back toward the house that some of them seemed to see something was the matter as the trio had to pass through many of the guests in order to get inside. As she approached the door, her arm around Charlie’s midsection as Jonathan held him from behind, Meg realized she’d collected Kelly and Daniel who looked just as frightened as Meg felt.Once inside, Meg kept right on walking, headed toward the parlor where she thought guests might leave them be and the firecrackers might not be so loud, though the popping sound followed them through the house, and each time another burst, all of them jumped to some degree or another.Meg led Charlie over to the sofa and forced him to sit as he began to stammer out some sor
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Meg sat next to Charlie on the settee in his room, listening to Carrie snore on his bed. It was nearly midnight, and she knew she should go back to her room, but she didn’t want to. Mauretania was due to arrive in Southampton in the morning, and thoughts of what that would mean kept creeping into her mind, along with a host of ghouls from the box. The battle of pushing them back in was exhausting.“Do you think my sister and mother are enjoying planning the wedding?” Charlie asked, clearly trying to lighten the mood.She looked up at him with one eyebrow raised. “I’m sure they are, though if it goes anything like the engagement announcement, we shall have to purchase stock in heart medication.”Charlie chuckled. “At least Grace apologized. That’s something, I suppose.”They hadn’t really talked about the events of the engagement party since that night, the fireworks having marred the ent
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The motor coach Jonathan had somehow procured pulled to a stop just short of her front door, and Meg was glad to have a bit of a walk to gather her nerves. She could see the front stoop from here, the window to her bedroom that looked down on the front garden where she’d spied on Charlie the day he’d visited and decided she didn’t deserve him. Jonathan got out of the driver’s seat to come around to her side, but his hand fell short of the handle, and she was certain he would give her all the time she needed.Another auto parked behind them, and Meg used the mirror at the front of the vehicle to see two police officers climb from inside. One was a plainclothes detective, the sort that might investigate murders and other horrible acts; the other was in a uniform. Again, she wasn’t sure how Jonathan had managed to have the authorities meet them there, but she was glad for it.Meg licked her lips and took a deep breath. She looked at Charlie b
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Ghosts of Southampton Heartless
“What’s past is past?” Meg asked, struggling to keep her voice down. “No, what’s past is present, Mother. It continues to follow me around everywhere I go. Every time I close my eyes. Every time I lay my head down to sleep. You can’t honestly think that, can you? That I should simply forget what’s happened to me here?”As Meg’s eyes bore holes through her uncle, without looking up, he quietly said, “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”She couldn’t quite believe her ears. She looked at Charlie and saw his jaw set in such a way she knew he was doing his best not to fly out of his seat and knock her uncle into the next room. “Don’t you dare!” Meg said, her tone menacing. “Don’t you dare sit there and make it seem like an accident. Like you didn’t mean to come into my room night after night to torture me, to make me feel helpless, to invade my personal space, my own bo
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