"Seven years later I had been working on a case which brought me back to that fine building. It was a minor thing really, just strange reports of spooked performers and patrons who had been hearing disembodied voices. Quite funny now actually as some of them claimed it was a phantom. It's to bad that hadn't been written yet." Helen shook her head at her own humor.
Will cut in. His calculating tone was back. "You are so making this up." He wasn't sure yet, but he had a feeling.
"Turns out…" Helen raised her voice against Wills little conjecture. "It was actually a genetically altered cricket. Very small compared to their cousins and create a whisper effect when they chirp. It wasn't hard to see why people were frightened. The sound was a bit eerie."
"Jiminy." All heads turned to looked at biggy, not sure if he realized the ridiculous joke he just made. When his distinct chuckle rippled over them they rolled their eyes in unison.
With a smile Helen continued. "I had been collecting samples throughout the building for quite some time and had grown tired of the buggers jumping out of reach or into my hair. I was in a storage room and turned to grab a candle when there she was. The woman from 1866. My heart jumped but I was stone still. I was always very aware of my surroundings but I hadn't heard anything, nor did I have any sense of warning. All my thoughts of her rushed back and I didn't want her running off this time. Despite being convinced she was mad, I wanted to know who she was and why she sought me out. At very least to get her some help. She intrigued me. The damnedest thing was, she hadn't changed a bit. I'd wager she was in the same dress, her hair slightly falling from it's pins, her eyes a little more wild. She held the candle I was after out to me and I took it. She said 'there now, mummy is here to help. It will all be better soon. Come dear, it's time to come home.' Her voice was very sweet and gentle. I had been trying to think of a way to get her to follow me out where I had a team waiting who could help me. However, I didn't move fast enough for her. She quickly grabbed my wrist, it was crushing. Her tone sharp now 'Mummy said it was time to go'. Frankly, she had startled me. I yanked my arm away and told her she was not my mother. Her face went from soft to pinched and she slapped me across the face."
Helen made herself flinch at the account and lifted her hand to her cheek. Kate and Henry had open mouths, Will looked ready to believe and was thinking about the relations between dementia and the loss of a child. Common for that era. Biggy looked like he was falling asleep. It was Nikola's turn to look skeptical. He had leaned forward at some point in the tale. One eyebrow raised but he sat quiet. She ignored him, sipped her cooling tea and went on.
"Being struck was a complete shock and the candle fell from my hand." This time Helen closed her eyes and pulled the blanket tighter around her. "The room was filled with old curtains, boxes, loose papers…it was all ablaze before I could blink. The woman shrieked and the heat was rising quickly pulling at my breath. I tried to grab her to pull her out, but she had lost herself completely and escaped my reach. She somehow made it out the small side door but I couldn't follow, I retreated out the way I had come in. I ran as fast as I could for help and could hear the flames roaring louder and louder as I went. I felt I was being chased by an inferno. I never saw the woman come out."
Nikola spoke to himself. "The fire of 1873." Both his eyebrows raised now and now on the edge of his seat. "That was you!?" The connection finally compete, but he sat back looking around remembering that he didn't believe her story. The Helen he new wouldn't tell a story that would bring forth this emotion, not unless it was important to do so.
Helen made to protest out of reaction to him but had no words. She held a shrug and looked away with a sad sort of gilt on her lips. "We did everything we could." Her words barely heard.
