Chapter Eight

Madame Colette Meets Suzette

It had been several months since Madame Colette had seen the ghost's eyes at her window and there was no doubt in her mind that the neighboring house was haunted and by a very curious spirit indeed. At night she saw smoke rising from the chimney and lights in the windows. During the day she heard music of a supernatural quality coming from an upstairs window. Even more strangely, the ghost did not seem interested in letting his house fall into disrepair. The lawn was always neat and trimmed, although no one was ever seen trimming it, the garden was in perfect health, although no one ever seemed to tend it, and one spring morning, Madame Colette awoke and looked out her window at the haunted house and nearly fell over in surprise for someone had given it a fresh coat of paint during the night. Madame was not the type to spy on neighbors, even if they were ghosts, but every now and then, the corner of her eye caught a shadow at an upstairs window or a bone white hand darting holding the door to let in a little gray cat.

The ghost seemed to offer her no malice and in fact, was quite considerate at times. For example, one morning she came out to tend her vegetable garden and discovered a lovely wire fence had been constructed to keep the little rabbits out. Another day, she went around the side of her house and found that a shutter, which had only a few days ago been hanging by one hinge, was secured tightly in place. Madame Colette tried desperately to catch the ghost in these acts, but she never saw him.

On one cool day, Madame sat in her flowerbed, pulling weeds and having a hard time of it. The work was hard on her stiff joints and the cold made the situation even worse. Suddenly she felt a presence and looked up to see a child with fair hair and plain frock who was much too old to be going about bare foot as she was.

"Do your hands hurt?" she asked concerned, "Do you want my help?" Madame was hesitant at first for she didn't like to cast her burdens on others, but something about the little waif made her except the kind offer. The girl knelt beside her and began tugging at weeds with more strength then one would expect of a girl her age.

"Mind you don't disturb any of the shoots," Madame cautioned and watched her fondly. She was amused by her boyishness for before she had pulled a small pile of weeds, she was whistling like a sailor. She would have been a pretty girl if she were dressed properly and standing up straight. She had soft golden curls and fine shining eyes. Her face showed almost no emotion, even as she whistled and Madame wondered if she were a bit simple. After a while, she changed to singing and sang a merry tune from a Mozart opera. Madame was surprised that such a humble little creature would know such a tune and began asking questions.

"That's lovely, where did you hear it?"

"It's in one of my songbooks."

"But how did you learn the notes?"

"I told you it's in one of my songbooks."

"Then you can read music? Who taught you?"

"Erik did." Madame was taken aback. She doubted that any parents who didn't mind allowing their nearly grown daughter to run about shoeless and whistle like a boy would be able to afford music lessons. She chose her next question carefully.

"Do your parents live in the village?"

"No. They live in heaven."

"Then this Erik is your guardian now?"

"Yes."

"And what does he do?"

"Mostly builds things and writes music."

"I see, and what do you do? I've never seen you around before. Has he sent you away to school?"

"No. I don't go to school. He gives me lessons everyday."

"What does he teach you?" Madame listened in wonder as the girl modestly listed her academic and artistic accomplishments. This playful orphan of a girl was no more a simpleton than she was an African tribesman. In fact, she had the education of a young man of the aristocracy.

"What is your name?" Suzette asked her, startling her from her thoughts.

"I am Madame Colette, and you?"

"I'm called Suzette."

Suzette finished pulling the weeds and Madame thought about her situation as they enjoyed a nice lunch. It was apparent, after the death of her parents, this child had somehow been inherited by a scholarly and somewhat eccentric man. Though she was quite bright and pretty, she was going to ruin with her uncivilized manner and lack of dress and etiquette. Even in the short time that they'd known one another, Madame had grow quite attacked to this little gamine and was determined to help her in anyway possible. She devised a plan to see this man, Erik, and insist that he allow her to instruct her in refined ways. She was quite sure that if she could see Suzette for an hour everyday, she could make a lady of here yet. But first she would have to find out where to find him.

"Suzette, I should like to speak with your guardian, Monsieur Erik. When would be a good time to call?" Suzette seemed disturbed.

"You could write him a note," she suggested, "He doesn't like to talk to people."

"No, I want to speak with him directly."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because I would like to ask his permission to have you come over each day so that I might teach you to be a little lady." Suzette giggled.

"Well, you needn't worry about that! He already said that I could."

"He did?" Madame asked confused, "How could he know that I would want to instruct you, when I didn't even know myself?"

"He told me to come here today. He said that he hoped that you would keep me from climbing trees and would somehow be able to nail my shoes to my feet." Madame Colette was astounded. What sort of man was this? Suddenly, the silence was broken by the sound of an organ, floating its way down from the window of the ghost's house. Suzette leaped from her seat when she heard it.

"Just listen! He's started my lesson without me. Thank you Madame Colette, I must go home now." Madame Colette swallowed and asked her slowly, "Do you mean to say that you live in the ghost's house?" Suzette looked from her and back to the open upstairs window.

"Promise not to tell," she whispered, "Please don't tell anyone about us. It's very important." Madame was too stunned to speak, but she nodded slowly.

"Thank you again, Madame. I will see you tomorrow after lunch." And with that she hurried back to the ghost's house. From that day forward, Suzette came to Madame Colette's house everyday to be instructed in manners and the like and she often stayed for hours talking to her about things and playing with the other children who came to see her. The kind old lady never told a soul what she knew about the ghost but the town grew more and more weary of the house, and Madame took it upon herself to keep her young charge out of suspicion.