A LIFE SO CHANGED
Chapter Thirteen
Sarah realized that Rose’s
birthday was only a little over a week away. She couldn’t go out and buy her a
new hairpin or necklace, although she knew what Rose liked. She thought silver
would look more beautiful against her skin tone than gold. Sarah had debated
going to a jewelry store and getting her something, but Rose would never be
able to accept it.
What could really be meaningful,
then? Yes, she could make her something handmade, but it was too cliché, saying
"I made this for you" like when she was four and she made Cal a
drawing in the nursery. But she was sure Rose would like it more than having
her spend money on something she would only wear on occasion.
Sarah played with a thin pink
string sticking out from her blanket. She closed her eyes. She was tired. She
knew she needed sleep. For whatever reason, she was just incapable of falling
asleep the past week. She blamed it on adjusting to not having someone
constantly watching over her–which wasn’t a bad thing. No, now it was great not
having Cal watching her every move. She felt truly happy and free for the first
time in her life.
What could Rose never otherwise
have that Sarah could give her? She couldn’t give her a house for three more
years. She wouldn’t want anything too expensive, but something that had thought
in it. Jack. He was something that Rose could never have.
A light bulb went off in her
head. Jack. That was perfect! True, she could never bring him back to life, but
she could do a séance. Rose hadn’t been able to see him since the day the
Titanic sank. And she had always wanted to do that for her, too. Even though
Sarah had no idea exactly how to perform a séance, she would have to figure it
out, and fast.
*****
"A séance?" Joey asked
Sarah, a bewildered look on his face.
Sarah nodded. "What do you
think?"
"What do I think? Well, it’s
an idea. That’s what I think," Joey said.
Her eyes trailed over to the
brick building just a few feet away. It seemed too cold to be outside. She
could see the breath coming out of her mouth in white puffs. It seemed too cold
for early October. Rose said that winter was supposed to be coming early this
year.
"Is it a good idea,
though?" Sarah asked. "Do you think she would like it?"
"It would scare her if you haven’t
told her yet," he said, obviously neutral.
"You’re not a big
help," she said, leaning into him. She felt him wrap his arms around her.
"Who would the séance be
with, Sarah?" Joey asked slowly.
"Jack."
"Jack? As in Jack Dawson, my
brother?"
"Yes. And just so you know,
you’re invited, too."
Silence.
"You haven’t done this
before, have you?" Joey stated it more as a fact than as a question.
"No. No, I haven’t."
"So, what? You’re going on a
total whim?"
Sarah paused. "Sort of. I’m
hoping it’ll work, though." She paused. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course. I know you can
do it, Sarah. Just as long as I get to see Jack..."
*****
Sarah sat at the kitchen table
that night. The moon was nearly full. It gave an eerie glow to everything. She
had told Rose that night not to make plans for her birthday, since she and Joey
were planning on spending it with her.
Next Saturday would prove to be,
to put it lightly, interesting. That was, if Sarah could just figure out how to
do it. Would she just call out his name? No. She had tried that before as a
test and it hadn’t worked.
She could get people to cross
over, yes. She could talk to dead people that were still on earth. Could it
really be that much harder to speak to one who had crossed over?
Without even talking to Rose, she
knew that this was what she wanted. Just to actually see Jack one last time
would make her happy. Wasn’t that what anyone who had lost a loved one wanted?
Just to talk to them one last time? Yes. That was what Sarah had thought
herself when she had found out that Cal had died. But this was Jack, a good,
honest man, who had loved Rose truly.
I’ll find a way, Rose, she thought.
Sarah stood up. The cold tiles of
the kitchen floor sent chills up her spine. She tiptoed quickly across the
floor and up the stairs to her room, where she turned on the light and opened
her closet door. Inside was a Ouija board that she had bought last year--without
Cal’s knowledge, of course. Maybe this was what could bring Jack back, if only
for a while.