Ghost Memory by Maer Wilson Read Free Book Online Page A

currently crinkled in anxiety as he looked up at a very tall,
stocky woman in her mid-thirties.
    She shook her head and asked,
“Fiona? Are you Fiona Bartlett?”
    I thought for a second. Then I
realized that yes, I was Fiona, so I gave a small nod.
    She gave a small sigh of relief.
“I’m Officer Green, and this is Officer Brown.” She paused.
“Fiona,” she continued, “we need you to come with us. We’re going
to take you somewhere warm and dry while we wait for your
grandmother.”
    I looked around and saw their car
parked in the drop-off drive. I remembered my instructions. “May I
see your ID, please?” My voice cracked as if I hadn’t spoken in
years.
    Green immediately showed me her ID.
I looked at it carefully, comparing the picture to her face. She
had medium brown hair, hazel eyes, a rather large nose and a light
scattering of freckles. I decided that she was indeed Officer Marna
Green.
    Officer Brown presented his ID, and
I repeated the process, discovering that he was Kevin Brown. He had
dark blonde hair and brown eyes. His sweetness came through even in
the picture. I nodded to them that I was satisfied.
    Officer Green reached an arm toward
me, but I stepped back. She immediately dropped her arm and stood
still. I simply looked at her. I didn’t want to leave the school.
It was a place I knew.
    Officer Brown said soothingly,
“You’ve got to come with us, Fiona. You can’t stay here all
night.”
    I looked from one officer to the
other, picked up my bag from the walkway and trudged to their car,
careful to step around them. I didn’t want to be touched; I was
afraid I’d break into a million pieces.
    Behind me I heard Brown say in
confusion, “She didn’t even ask why we’re here or where her parents
are.”
    “Don’t ask me how, but I think she
already knows,” was the soft, low response from Green. I heard
their footsteps as they followed along behind me.
    When we came into the station
through the front door, we met a crowd of people. Some were crying,
some just sat and stared. The noise and pain levels were almost
physical.
    My escorts led me to a door, where
we were buzzed through. Brown moved off in one direction, while
Green led me in a zigzag past desks and even more people. I didn’t
want to look at them too closely, so I kept my head down, watching
the back of Officer Green’s khakis and shoes.
    I was shown into a room with a
table and a few chairs, and the door was shut behind us. I was
glad. The pain in that other room was too much to bear when added
to my own. I sat quietly in that small room. Officers Brown and
Green took turns staying with me, but it seemed that Green was
there the most. I answered when asked a question, but I didn’t ask
any of my own.
    I sat in that room for several
hours. They offered sodas, sandwiches, cookies and candy, but I
only accepted the soda. They also offered to take me somewhere I
could sleep. I mumbled, “No, thank you,” in that scratchy croak
that had become my voice.
    Eventually, after one of his longer
absences, Brown came back in with my grandmother. Nana wore her
travel outfit - jeans with a butter-soft leather jacket over a
T-shirt. She carried a large bag over her shoulder.
    She came over to me immediately and
pulled me into a tight hug. I closed my eyes and just melted into
her. I heard the scrape of a chair as it was pulled close, and she
moved slightly away to sit down. She immediately pulled me close
again, smoothing my hair and kissing the top of my head.
    Nana was awesome personified.
People often said I looked like her. While there was some
resemblance, I wasn’t a carbon copy. She was an elegant lady,
striking rather than pretty. In her early fifties, her hair still
had the red from her younger pictures. She kept it stylishly short.
It had faded a bit, though, and I suspected she hit the highlights
because it seemed blonder than the last time I’d seen her. She had
bright green eyes that just seemed to look right into your