CHAPTER SEVEN: THE PORTRAIT
Jamie exited the elevator and looked around. He had only gone up one floor as far as he could tell. But this new floor wasn't familiar. This was not a well-furnished hallway to the left and right.
But the ball of light did not turn; it went through the door straight in front of him. "Really?" he murmured. "Okay then." He opened the door and was greeted with the sight of a staircase. The light ascended and Jamie followed the stairs praying to see the familiar hall which led to his room at the top of them.
But instead he alighted to a large room; an attic. There were many things stored up here and for a moment Jamie followed the wispy ball through the maze of things in order not to get lost. He hoped he'd made the right decision to follow this mysterious apparition but so far he didn't see what good it did him to be in the attic amongst all these antique things; boxes, trunks and even furniture, large candle sconces, a harp and a chandelier.
Jamie was fascinated though as he retreated further into the piles of storage. He wondered vaguely how much all this stuff would be worth. 'The Antiques Roadshow' people would have a field day if they saw all this Jamie thought to himself. Most people's attics contained "junk" but all of these things up here, though incredibly dusty and cobwebbed, looked like authentic antiques worth a pretty penny. Jamie would have to talk to Mr. Gracie about these things; they couldn't be left in the house for the new owner to dispose of carelessly.
Jamie turned to continue following the ghostly ball but found it to be nowhere in sight. His stomach dropped. Now what was he going to do?
But he suddenly heard a voice speaking behind him coming closer and closer. "What are you doing up here! You're not supposed to be up here! You're trespassing!"
Jamie stared at the man who'd come waddling up behind him shaking an accusatory finger. He wore a suit made of thick material; deep gray, with a waistcoat and tie of deep olive and brown colours. His chocolate brown hair was parted down the side and his hazel eyes flashed dangerously. He was young; Jamie decided he couldn't have been more than thirty or so years old. His thin face was pale and he was developing dark circles under his eyes as though he didn't get a proper sleep every night. And it was no wonder –he appeared to be a servant still working although why he was up in the attic Jamie was curious to know.
"You have to leave!" he declared anxiously.
"I'm so sorry! Listen I have been lost in this house for quite a while; I got lost in a secret passage from the library and I've just been trying to find my way back to my room. I honestly didn't mean to trespass."
"Of course you didn't," a female voice agreed.
Jamie was not sure where the young maid had come from but it had startled him. She came up behind the young man and smiled at Jamie. Her dark reddish-hair was pulled up into a Victorian-styled bun and her dress and apron also reminded Jamie of a lost time. The Gracie household was very old-fashioned he decided.
"Honest. I just want to find my room so I can get my things and go home."
"Home? But you can't leave!" the maid argued. "What about…? What about –"
"Hush!" the young servant ordered her, "Yes, I'll direct you back to your room then sir right this way."
"Ezra! Don't be rude!" she scolded. "Besides, Mr. Evers never told us how he got up here. All the doors are locked and he just said he was in a secret passageway. We should really find out which one."
"It was back there somewhere… Honestly I really don't know how to retrace my steps from here. I took an elevator –if that means anything to you."
"Yes it most certainly does. Well no harm done Mr. Evers; the passages are quite the maze if you don't know which door leads where. Just glad that you made it here safe and sound. Now Emma let's take Mr. Evers back to his room so he can settle down. Enough excitement he's had for one night I'm sure."
"Yes, thank you," Jamie expressed, feeling relieved that he could finally get back to some place "normal" and familiar. He began to follow Ezra through the attic. "With all due respect I just want to collect my things and Sarah and go."
"But you have a problem!" Emma expressed, her brown eyes widening.
"Problem? What, the rain? We'll just get a little wet and-"
"No, Sarah. She can't leave here tonight." Ezra had continued walking and now turned back towards Jamie as he spoke.
"And why not?" Jamie asked skeptically, turning towards Emma but when he turned back to look at Ezra, the man was gone.
"If I could tell you I would but I can't," Ezra declared from behind Jamie. He now stood beside Emma looking apprehensive.
"What the? How did you-? You know what, never mind I've been having hallucinations all night…"
"It's not a hallucination; we're ghosts," Emma told him.
"Na-ah. You're not ghosts. I'm just having hallucinations from that dinner we ate. It was that chicken –it didn't taste right!"
"HEY! It's not the chicken!" Emma retorted angrily as she suddenly materialized in front of him; vanishing and reappearing like smoke.
"Okay, okay it's not the chicken!" Jamie backed down, feeling afraid. "But we're still getting out of here!" he argued feebly, trying to sound firm even though he was scared and confused.
"You can leave but Miss Allways cannot," Ezra insisted.
"What are you talking about?" Jamie asked with a frown.
"The curse," Emma put forward and Ezra cast her a look of shock for trying to explain. "Please stay Mr. Evers! You have to help us break the curse."
"Why's everyone talking about a curse?" Jamie complained, "Wait a minute; have you been talking to that green gypsy in the giant paperweight?"
"He's been talking to the gypsy! He found her? We have to go to her," Emma proclaimed.
"NO! Hell no. I was strapped down to a chair against my will, flown around the room and had a bunch of instruments chasing me! Forget it Casper! I just want to go home. This isn't any of my business I'm just here to sell the house."
"The man's talking sense. Everyone should just keep their noses in their own business. This is none of his concern," Ezra declared firmly.
"But it is his concern he's involved!" Emma exclaimed anxiously.
"Do you understand the ramifications of this?" Ezra asked her, "We need to keep quiet. We have to stay in line!"
"Ezra we have to break this curse," she began as she looked at him pleadingly, "Maybe Mr. Evers can help us."
"No, The Master already has a plan. We should stick to that darling. Everything will go just fine."
Suddenly, they heard a sound of displaced air from somewhere in the far corner of the attic as though someone had materialized into the room as Emma and Ezra had previously done in front of Jamie.
Ezra and Emma looked at each other wide-eyed and then at Jamie. "Hide!"
Jamie was grabbed and directed a few feet away where they urged him to hide underneath a large wooden desk which had several huge boxes in front of it; hiding it from view.
Thunder rolled overhead and Jamie heard a familiar voice coming towards them. "The young business partner is not in his room. Have you seen him?" Ramsley asked the servants in his raspy tone.
"Business partner? What business partner?" Emma feigned.
"Her business partner; the one she was not supposed to bring. The brainless idiot who is not supposed to be here. If I had to listen to another word from that insufferable fool I think I would have burst."
"Yes sir! What a fool!" Ezra agreed.
"Did I not tell her to come alone? Is it too much to ask for a little cooperation? A little order?" Ramsley inquired haughtily.
"Of course not sir!" Ezra replied.
"Everything is ready. The final arrangements have been made. Nothing further shall interfere with The Master's plan. If you find that nosy guest of ours, bring him to me," Ramsley ordered, turning on his heel and leaving the room; vanishing around the corner behind several stacked trunks.
"Of course sir; certainly sir," Ezra answered before the butler disappeared.
"I knew he didn't like me but gee…" Jamie complained as he crawled out of his hiding spot on the floor. "Thanks for hiding me. Honestly I didn't want to go with him before but now I'm definitely avoiding that butler… Anyways now can you please tell me what the heck is going on?!"
"Ezra please," Emma begged him, "It's been so long. Even if he doesn't have a part in breaking the curse, he deserves to know what's going on. She's his betrothed. They became engaged tonight."
"How did you know that?" Jamie asked softly.
"I ran into her tonight. I thought it was someone else when she asked me if I'd seen her fiancé."
"Fine," Ezra sighed. "I suppose if I was in his position and it was you I'd want to know…"
"Oh thank you Ezra!" Emma exclaimed and kissed his cheek.
"Ok so what's going on then?" Jamie asked slowly as he looked between the two of them.
"We're ghosts Jamie."
"At this point I think I'm willing to believe about anything so go on…"
"The curse fell upon the house over a century ago. We haven't been able to leave this place or age or do anything but wait. You have to help us."
"But I can't help the dead, I mean that's just the nature of being dead; you're beyond help."
Jamie's wry humor was lost on the two and Ezra shook his head.
"But Sarah's in trouble!" Emma announced anxiously.
"What kind of trouble?" Jamie asked with a frown.
The two servants led him through the attic where he passed a beautiful wedding dress hanging on a dressmaker's mannequin. His attention turned to it for a moment but he was pulled from his thoughts as they beckoned him forward,
"Mr. Evers?"
He turned to follow them and they moved aside to reveal a large painting; a portrait of a young woman that Ezra had uncovered a moment ago from underneath a large thick fabric draped overtop it.
Jamie stopped dead in his tracks. The portrait was of Sarah.
Author's Note: I've decided to break Jamie's story into separate chapters and with the way things go and with the timeline of events, I've decided that Sarah's next chapter will occur in a bit here; the alternating back and forth between the two won't exactly work anymore. So hopefully you're enjoying Jamie's adventures of sorts thus far. Please leave any comments, questions, critiques, concerns or praise for anything you've read in this chapter or any others! Thanks for your continued readership!
