Chapter 17: A Reunion 150 Years In the Making
(LET'S GET READY TO RRRUUUMMMMBBBLLLEEE!!!!!)
In the mouth of the tunnel, a green mist began to appear. It began to warp and contort into a humanoid shape. The fog then began to reveal features such as hands, legs, arms, and a head. At last, the mist dissipated and in its place stood a transparent, old man. Kevin and Sandy were amazed. The man's ancient clothes were as tattered and unkempt as his beard. The face of this ghost was identical to the portrait that hung right next to the picture of Joseph.
It was at this point that Eustace began to wake up. His eyes slowly opened and he lifted his head slightly. Eustace couldn't believe his eyes. That man...standing in the tunnel...
"Grandpappy Reggie?" whispered Eustace, and he passed out again.
"Hello again, Joseph," said Reginald Baggs in a gruff, ancient voice.
"Reginald. Long time no see," answered Joseph Williams, with zero enthusiasm.
Reginald Baggs walked to the spot where Courage was standing before. Reginald stood directly between Joseph and everyone else. His greenish glow was identical to the glow surrounding his former friend.
"You certainly took your time, didn't you, Joseph?" asked Reginald.
"I'd wait a century and a half more for this moment, but it looks like it's already here," grinned Joseph.
"You have no right to threaten our descendants!" shouted Reginald.
"Bah," scoffed Joseph. "It was your descendants who allowed my descendants into their house, remember?"
"They didn't know!" responded Reginald.
"It doesn't matter. That simple act was the last straw. I decided to end this entire ordeal right here and now. Look around you. I've already knocked out two of your own."
Reginald suddenly laid his eyes on Eustace, his grandson. He gasped. The last time he saw Eustace was when he was just a small lad. His attention then turned to Courage, who lay motionless on the ground.
"I have to admit, there's more to that dog than meets the eye. Or, at least, there WAS. Ha ha ha!"
The Hendersons and Muriel couldn't believe it. Was it possible that Courage didn't survive the impact against the wall?? Tears began to form in Sandy's eyes.
Reginald turned again to Joseph. "Leave these people alone! I'm the one you want!"
"I had a feeling you'd say that, Reggie," smiled Joseph. Then, without warning, Joseph created a sphere of fire in his palm and threw it at Reginald. The bewildered ghost jumped out of the way. Now the fire was heading straight towards the Hendersons! Reginald spun around and threw a bluish sphere of fire at Joseph's sphere. The fireballs exploded and dissipated mere feet away from the Hendersons. Joseph continued to throw fireballs at Reginald and Reginald kept avoiding them. Reginald threw some fireballs of his own, but Joseph simply brushed them aside.
"Your powers are weak, old man," said Joseph, whose ghostly figure loomed over Reginald like a giant statue. (A.N. Sorry, but I just HAD to put in a 'Star Wars' line in here SOMEWHERE!)
Reginald was unmoved by Joseph's accusation. "Your size and power is misleading. We are both equal in power!" The Hendersons and Muriel all watched this argument from a distance and were getting more and more afraid by the minute.
Joseph grunted. "This is getting us nowhere. Let's have it out. Right here, right now. I need to know...why you never gave me any money!!!" It was a question he'd been dying to ask for 150 years.
Reginald's answer was surprisingly simple. "Because you were Nowhere's former mayor! You already had money! In fact, you had more money than I did before I was elected Head of Finances!" pleaded Reginald, who had fallen to his knees.
"And then, just like that, you struck oil, and you had more money than I ever had as Mayor. Didn't you ever think about how I felt about that?!"
Reginald was sobbing now. "I...I never thought..."
"You never thought," mocked Joseph. "Well, if your head wasn't so filled with wealth and greed, you might've been thinking more clearly!"
"But I would've given you money if you'd only had asked! You never once asked me for money! Why? I wouldn't have turned you down! We were best friends!"
Joseph stopped. His weakness had finally been revealed. He thought he would get turned down by Reginald if he had asked. But after hearing Reginald's previous words, Joseph realized that the real reason Reginald never gave him any money was because he didn't have the courage to ask! He was afraid of Reginald's newly acquired wealth and power. And Reginald suddenly knew that too. His ghostly body began to grow and grow in size until he was the same size as Joseph. The two ghosts now towered over the Hendersons and Baggs'.
"Well? Why?" asked Reginald again, even though both of them knew the answer.
But Joseph couldn't find the words. "I...just...never thought..."
"You never thought," mocked Reginald. Now he had the upper hand. "Don't you see? It was money..."
"...that made us enemies!" finished Joseph, who finally understood the realization.
Kevin Henderson gasped. Money made them enemies? Kevin's hand dove into his pocket and pulled out the silver dollar. "NO!" cried Kevin. "Money made you two friends!" And he tossed the coin, which landed on the ground between the two ghosts.
Immediately, the two ghosts shrank to regular size. Both of them dove for the coin, but Joseph grabbed it first. "I don't believe it!" he cried. "My first silver dollar!"
"Yes," said Reginald. "I gave it to you, remember?"
Immediately, Joseph remembered it all. The boat. The glasses. The small boy named Reginald who found his glasses. The coin that symbolized their friendship.
"How could I forget?" whispered Joseph. If ghosts could cry, Joseph would definitely be doing so right now.
Nobody said anything for a minute. Then, Joseph grasped the silver dollar in his fist and walked up to the center of the elevated platform in the middle of the room.
"But...that's all in the past, Reginald. No one can change the past. We're stuck in limbo now. The halfway point between Above and Below. This gathering of families has signaled the end of our time in limbo. It's now time to go where we rightfully belong."
Reginald understood. Kevin, the only person who wasn't petrified by fright, understood as well.
"But Joseph..." began Reginald.
"No! It's too late!" shouted Joseph. He was utterly defeated by this point. "It's time for me to go!" he sobbed.
Almost as if on cue, which it was, the platform began to rumble. The funny writings along the side began to glow red. The platform suddenly began to sink into the ground. A dark red light began leaking up from the sides of the platform, as well as a hot, dry wind and screams of pain and torture. Instantly, hundreds of worm-like tentacles wriggled their way up from below and began wrapping themselves around Joseph's ghostly body. Joseph dropped the coin on the ground.
Joseph began to sob and shriek as Reginald looked on in horror. Carl, Kevin, and Diane tried their best to keep Sandy and Katie away from this hellish scene.
"I killed you, Reginald!" bellowed Joseph as he began to sink into the Underworld. "I get what I deserve! But...I just want to say..." Joseph spit a tentacle out of his mouth and took a deep breath. "...I'm am still your best friend, Reginald Baggs!!....and...I forgive you!!!"
"NOOO!!!" screamed Reginald. He immediately ran towards Joseph and savagely began to tear the tentacles away from his friend, but they were too strong. Some of them even began to grab onto Reginald!
Kevin screamed with anguish. It looked as though Reginald and Joseph were both going Down.
Kevin was just about to run and try to free the ghosts when suddenly an explosion occurred above everyone's head. A blinding white light appeared on the ceiling of the room. The tentacles immediately released their grip on the ghosts and slithered back into the fires below. The rift closed. No more red light or tentacles or screams.
The two ghosts were shocked when they saw the light. Everyone was. But their shock soon turned to awe as a voice arose from the light. It sounded a bit like Enya, only fuller and more heavenly: "Reginald Baggs? Joseph Williams? Arise." The two men immediately got to their feet.
"It is time to come with me," said the voice.
Kevin came up from behind and stood directly behind the ghosts. He was close to collapsing from fear, or excitement, or joy, or something. "Are you...an angel?" he asked.
"Yes," answered the voice.
"Wait!" interrupted Joseph, as Kevin stepped back to his cowering family. "Why spare me? I thought I was supposed to go to..."
"Your everlasting friendship towards Reginald Baggs makes your sins null and void," declared the angel. "True friendship is one of the greatest virtues one can ever possess. Your confession proves it."
Joseph was so overjoyed that he didn't know what to do. Finally, he turned and gave Reginald the biggest hug he'd ever received. Reginald hugged him back and comforted him as he sobbed on his shoulder. When Joseph pulled himself together, Reginald asked, "May we say farewell to our friends?"
"Very well," replied the angel.
Joseph and Reginald approached the Hendersons, who plastered themselves against the wall.
"Good-bye, my family," said Joseph, sadly. "I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me."
"Farewell, Carl and Diane Henderson," said Reginald. "May the love for your children live on forever."
Carl and Diane managed a weak smile. Between them, Katie extended her hand and gave the two ghosts a shy, little wave.
"Good-bye little Katie," smiled Joseph. "Never let that bear out of your sight, OK?" Katie clutched Mr. Furry tightly as a response.
Then, the ghosts looked at Sandy. "Good-bye, friendly canine. May you live a long and virtuous life," they said. Sandy was shaking all over, but she smiled nonetheless.
Then the two ghosts walked over to the unconscious Eustace. Reginald knelt down to him and patted him on the head. "Ahh, my beloved grandson. It's such a shame you turned out so similar to Joseph."
"You mean like I USED to be," added Joseph.
"Yes, sorry. I can sense the virtue from deep within him. I hope in your remaining years, Eustace, some of that virtue might leak out." With that, he stood up and walked over to Muriel. "Muriel Baggs," said Joseph. "I apologize for all of this. Can you forgive me?"
"Well, of course," replied Muriel, shakily. "But next time, try and be a little more friendly, okay?" Joseph nodded as Reginald waved good-bye to Muriel. Then the two ghosts turned around and came face to face with an astonished Kevin.
"Thank you, dear boy," whispered Reginald. "Without you, our friendship would never have surfaced."
Kevin didn't know what to say. He felt so honored after reuniting two friends beyond the grave. "Well...I appreciate your thanks..." stammered Kevin. "I probably wouldn't have been able to do so without a little faith and..." Kevin paused. His eyes finally looked upon the little pink dog who still lay motionless off to the side. "...Courage."
Immediately, Kevin sprinted towards Courage. The two ghosts followed. They were followed by Sandy, Muriel, and everybody else, except for Eustace. Everyone surrounded Courage as the two ghosts knelt by him. They carefully rolled his body over, which revealed an unresponsive face.
"Is he...alright?" Kevin asked.
Reginald and Joseph looked at each other with slightly distressed expressions. No breathing. No pulse. No heartbeat. Courage was dead, alright.
Fortunately, however, Courage's soul was still inside his body! It was in limbo, just like Joseph and Reginald, but his lifeless body kept it contained inside of himself.
Because they were ghosts, Reginald and Joseph came to this conclusion almost instantly. Sandy began to cry. She knew, too, because she was a dog. (Sixth sense, etc.)
All the humans, however, did not have these extra abilities and were still waiting for a response.
"Is Courage...OK?" asked Kevin again as Sandy broke down next to him.
The ghosts didn't want to upset anyone, so Joseph said, "We'll see what we can do."
"Yes," agreed the angel. No one other than Joseph and Reginald could hear the angel now. "It's not his time yet. I will help."
With that, the angel began to give secret instructions to the ghosts that only they could hear and understand. Everyone stepped back as Joseph and Reginald placed their ghostly hands on Courage's lifeless body. They closed their eyes and their ghostly glow began to intensify. Everyone was amazed when the glow surrounded Courage as well. A pleasant heat began to radiate off of the three of them. They remained this way for a minute or two until, suddenly, Courage's soul slowly began to return to his body. The glow abruptly faded away and the two ghosts sat on the ground. The procedure had zapped them of most of their energy.
Courage slowly opened his eyes. A fuzzy image slowly came into focus. Human, canine, and ghostly faces were staring down on him with bewildered expressions. Courage slowly sat up.
"Wha...what happened?" he asked.
Sandy immediately flung her arms around Courage and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Hey, Courage," whispered Kevin. "Welcome back."
Courage jumped up into Muriel's arms. He wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but he was glad that everyone acted as though he'd come back from the dead or something.
Suddenly, Courage's eyes landed on Joseph and Reginald, and he yelped in fright.
"Don't be afraid, Courage," replied Joseph. "I am very sorry for threatening everyone like that. You helped me realize that my hatred had covered up my true feelings for far too long. I thank you for that." Joseph bowed respectfully.
"He's right," added Reginald. "We have been resurrected, thanks to you. Your virtue and bravery is truly unparalleled. May you always be blessed with this gift, little dog." Joseph and Reginald each reached out a hand and touched one of Courage's cheeks. The dog felt a brief warmth throughout his body before they pulled back. (Don't worry. Courage didn't get any super powers or anything. Think of it as how a ghost hugs a living thing.)
"Time to go," replied the angel. Courage gasped as he suddenly observed the brilliant light hovering nearby. The soothing voice brought a tear to Courage's eye as Joseph and Reginald walked over to a spot directly below the angel.
"WAIT!" shouted Kevin. "How do we get out of here?!"
Reginald pointed to a vague outline of a door on the other side of the room from the tunnel. "Therein lies a staircase that will lead you to the surface." He then leaned over and picked up the silver dollar off the ground. He flipped the coin over to Kevin, which he caught. "Make sure you put this back where you found it," called out Reginald. Kevin nodded his head with watery eyes.
Suddenly, something amazing happened to Joseph and Reginald. First, their clothing turned a brilliant white. Then, a yellow halo of light appeared above both of their heads. Finally, two enormous, feathery wings appeared behind each of their backs.
"Farewell! Good-bye!" declared the two men as they began to float up towards the light. Everyone else said good-bye and waved back at them. When they reached the light, they faded away and the light slowly died out. Joseph Williams and Reginald Baggs had been accepted at last.
No one said anything for a while. The only light now was from that clump of bioluminescent moss next to Eustace. Eustace, by the way, was just beginning to wake up.
"Oh, my head," he moaned. "Whoa. I had the strangest dream..." He looked up and saw everyone looking at him. Then Eustace saw where he was. "Hey! Where the heck are we?"
(Whew...I never thought this moment would come, but here it is...THE FINAL CHAPTER!!!)