The Walls Have Secrets (Part 3)

[sidhe_faerie]

Part 3
"Mama….." Polly came from behind an old privacy screen. "Mama, you came back!"

Alice stared at the spirit of the little girl. "Do you see….?"

"Oh yeah." I glared at the woman. I turned to Polly and spoke to her gently. "Polly, this isn't your mama but she is your family."

"My great grandfather was your baby brother." Alice told the spirit. "He was born right before your mother left this house with Henry Baxter."

Polly looked at me. "I remember him. They loved him. I was just a girl. They didnt love me. Girls aren't as important as boys. They forgot all about me. They left me here to rot."

My heart broke for her. I turned to Alice. "We need to go now. We will come back later."

Alice nodded and headed up the stairs.

"Be back soon, Polly." I said as I followed Alice up the stairs.

"How…?" Alice asked as I locked the basement door.

"Aunt Hattie did the wrong spell. She bound her to her body, not the house. Seriously, she should have been allowed to pass through the veil and not made to sit there with her rotting corpse. How cruel can you get? What did that child ever do to them? They kill her, put her body in a trunk, seal her in the basement, and leave her bound to her body for eternity." I was angry and I didnt care if Alice knew it.

I went to the kitchen to grab my phone then to the front door where I kicked off my kitty slippers and put on my sneakers. "Let's go. You can help me get the things for the spell."

Alice followed me out to my car and got in. "This wasn't the story I was told. I was told ste died of a fever. Not…."

"They lied." I started the car. "Henry killed her. I think he may have molested her and when she threatened to tell her mother, he killed her. Not the happy rosy story you thought it was, is it?"

"No." Alice wiped a tear from her cheek. "Are you sure you can help her?"

"My Granny's spellbook and I will do our best." I pulled out of the driveway and headed to the market district of town.

The owner of the Occult store where I get supplies gave me a curious look when I put the spell items on the counter but it was nothing like the look on the butcher's face when I asked for a half pint of pig's blood. He looked absolutely petrified with fear. He must not get many people asking for pig's blood.

Alice and I put the bags and the blood on the kitchen table next to the old pewter bowl.

Alice picked up the pewter bowl. "That's my family crest. See." She showed me her locket. "Aunt Hattie…. That had to be Harriet Daniel. Polly's mother was Dreama Daniel Michaels. She's buried in the cemetery just outside of town with her son, Daniel and her husband, Jacob."

"Not with Henry?" I asked as I opened a fresh package of sage sticks. The spell needed all the help it could get. I grabbed an extra box of salt, just in case.

"No, he died at sea. He was a merchant marine." Alice looked at me. "Will it be possible to bury Polly with her family?"

"After I let the police see her body, one of us will have to claim her remains then she can have a proper burial. Where her body rests isn't as important as giving her spirit rest right now." I looked at the table to make sure I had everything. "I need to get my Granny's spellbook. The incantation for the spell is in it. I'll be right back."

I left Alice there and went upstairs. I pulled a chest from under my bed and opened it. On top was an old well worn leather journal, Granny's spellbook. I grabbed the book then I closed the chest and shoved it back under the bed.

Alice was where I left her when I returned. She looked nervous. "Is that the spellbook?"

"Yes." I opened the book and found the spell. "Got it. We should do this down in the basement next to the body." I pulled a wooden tray from the shelf and put everything on it including the pewter bowl then handed the blood to Alice. "Let's go."

Polly was waiting for us when we reached the basement. "Are you going to free me now?"

"Yes Polly. You need to be free." I pulled a small table over to the trunk then poured a circle of salt around the trunk, Alice and myself. I lit the candles I had brought down with the snap of my fingers.

"Will it hurt?" Polly asked. She looked worried.

"No. You wont feel a thing." I laid out the spell ingredients in order on the tray then started to put things in the bowl. I handed Alice a lit sage stick then lit the ingredients in the bowl on fire. When the blaze died down I put in the pig's blood. "Give me your hand. You're of her blood. It will make the spell stronger."

Alice gave me her hand and held on tight as I said the incantation.

"I don't see her. Where did she go?" Alice looked around.

"I don't know." I looked around. "Polly?"

Just then a giggle came from upstairs.

"Looks like it worked." I sighed in relief. "I'll put the bowl under the steps until the police take her body."

I opened up the salt circle and picked up the bowl. I stashed it under the bottom step behind a hat box. "There. Let's see what she's up to." I started up the stairs.

Alice picked up Polly's book and followed me upstairs.

Polly was standing next to the bare wall. "You took Mama's flowers off the wall. Good! They were ugly. I didn't like them. They looked sad."

Alice sat on the sofa and opened Polly's book. "What do you want me to read to you?"

"Read the story about the cow, Alice." Polly came over and sat on the floor by Alice's feet.