Jamie stood at the entrance of the graveyard, looking up at the iron 'Memento Mori' sign. To the west was the pond, a place where he and his friends hung out often and where Jack was made a Guardian. Though it was also where he had drowned, there were enough happy memories made there to cover the bad ones. But Jamie was not one to easily forget about the past.
He walked along a narrow route which separated the cemetery in half, gazing at the gravestones as he passed them. Some were so old they were falling apart and their inscriptions were already fading. He tried to make out the dates on each one, as they played a part in his search. He had to be back before dark, so it was best to speed up the process. Several minutes passed before Jamie finally arrived at the grave he had been looking for. He knelt and merely gazed at the fading inscription, which was, fortunately, still legible.
"Jack," Jamie whispered, to no one in particular.
Jamie had mulled over several facts of his story and had wondered if, since Jack had died at the pond, he would be buried at the cemetery near it. Curiosity had overwhelmed the brunette and he couldn't resist a trip to the graveyard. There was a whole lot of other things he was confused about, but didn't feel like asking Jack about them, as in a way, it would be like accusing the winter spirit of getting his facts and dates mixed up and anyway, the guardian wasn't around.
Jamie left a small bunch of flowers by the gravestone bearing Jack's name and the dates of his birth and death, which were no longer legible. Jamie felt a pang of annoyance. They would have been pretty useful.
The boy turned and hurried out of the cemetery, but not before noticing the other gravestones around Jack's. There were his parents' and of course, his sister. Once Jamie was out of the place, he hurried towards the park, and to the statue. And for the first time since he was born in Burgess, he actually read the words inscribed on the plaque.
"THADDEUS BURGESS"
THIS RIVER TOWN WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1795, NAMED AFTER THADDEUS BURGESS, WHO BUILT THE FIRST LOG CABIN HERE WITH HIS FAMILY BEFORE THE BITTER WINTER OF 1795.
PIONEERS AND FREIGHT WAGONS FOLLOWING POST ROADS TO THE SOUTHERN MINES CROSSED THE RIVER NEAR BY AT NANCY'S FERRY, AND AS A TERMINAL FOR RIVERBOATS, THE TOWN PLAYED AN IMPORTANT IN DEVELOPMENT OF WESTSIDE GRAIN FARMING AND CATTLE RAISING.
Jamie had never been the best in class for history, but at that moment, he was hungry for a little bit of history of his own town. They hardly learn anything about Burgess, as it didn't really have much of a history, save for what Jamie had just read. The brunette hurried off to the library, hoping it would have what he was looking for.
He scanned the shelves, pulling out relevant books, maps and old newspapers, though he couldn't find any from the 17th century, before settling down at a table to look through them. The books were of no use to him, they were merely stories and more irrelevant history about places around, and not Burgess. Jack had mentioned he lived around the 1600s. Was Burgess even here yet, back then?
Jamie decided to forget about the books and maps and resorted to the Internet. When the search engine came up onscreen, the 17- year old paused momentarily before typing in 'History of Burgess, Pennsylvania'.
"'Centennial history of the Pennsylvania Railroad'?" Jamie muttered. "That's not really helping.
The brunette gazed out across the pond, at a forest beyond. He had abandoned his search and decided to hang out on his own. The pond's waters sparkled in the sunlight and the summer breeze blew softly, playing with Jamie's hair. There was no one around, as it was summer and not many stayed in Burgess. His mother was also planning to bring them somewhere, but had not decided. Sophie was being visited by Bunny more than it was good for her and she had been hoping they would take a trip to Australia.
"Jamie Bennett?"
For a moment, Jamie stiffened, expecting Jack, before remembering that Jack didn't normally call him by his full name, 'Jamie Bennett'. He turned to see Cupcake standing behind him, her arms crossed. Jamie could make out a unicorn on her t-shirt.
"Cupcake? Fancy seeing you here. Aren't you away on vacation or something?"
The older girl sat down by the pond beside him and tossed bread crumbs at several ducks sailing by. "We decided not to go this summer. What about you? I saw a really cool car by your house earlier. Got a relative over?"
Jamie turned to her with a surprised expression. "No, none that I know of," he said, before turning back to the pond. "Hey, do you know anything about the history of Burgess?"
"Me? History? Since when did I ever take an interest in history?" Cupcake responded, lazily. "It's just stuff about dead people anyway. And my mom always said, don't harp on the past." She turned back to her childhood friend. "I heard you're writing a book."
Jamie let out a snort of laughter. "I'm getting used to that," he stated, smiling slightly. "Who has been telling all of you? Sophie, Emily or my mom?"
"Sophie," Cupcake said. "What is it about? Can I have a look?"
"The manuscript's not with me right now," Jamie replied. "But the story is one you're pretty familiar with. Remember seven years ago?"
"The guardians?"
"Yeah, them. I'm just rewriting the story with Jack's help."
"Sounds nice, but I'm hoping you won't claim it was based on a true story."
"Yeah, pretty illogical, don't you think? I think you're the only one who still believes, besides myself and Sophie. I even had to persuade Sophie to believe again, so she won't keep thinking I'm crazy."
Cupcake shook her head. "I don't know why they stopped believing, unless they have amnesia or something. Everything's still so vivid! And of course, I can't forget that nightmare Pitch gave me by... polluting the Dreamsand. It still haunts me till today."
They sat in silence for a few moments before Jamie spoke again. "If you can still remember everything, every detail vividly, mind going through the story? I'd prefer if everything was as what happened, without anything more or less."
"Sure. But it isn't with you now, is it?"
Jamie got to his feet. "Nope, but let's head back to my house."
#
Jamie recognised the car parked by his house only too well. Mrs. Warren had came over. Mrs. Bennett did mention that the lady was to pay them a visit during the summer, but she didn't say it was that day. And didn't Mrs. Warren mention she was on holiday in some exotic, foreign land?
"I see you're back, Jamie Bennett," said the lady as soon as he entered the living room with Cupcake. "And you've brought back a friend, too. How nice! Come darlings, have a seat." She patted the space on the couch beside her.
"She's inviting you to sit down in your own home?" Cupcake whispered as they walked towards the couch and cautiously sat down. Jamie glanced at his mother who was pouring out cups of tea. Their lives were quite stable and things were already returning to normal, though Jamie doubt everything can be perfectly normal again with his father gone.
"Where's Sophie?" Jamie asked, determined that his sister didn't escape the clutches of their aunt.
"She came down earlier," Mrs. Bennett replied, a small smile creeping onto her face. "Said she wasn't feeling well, so I sent her to bed."
"Sure she wasn't feeling well," Jamie said, nodding slightly, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Cupcake grinned. Jamie turned to his aunt and addressed her. It was best if he started the conversation first. "Um, so, I thought you were on holiday somewhere foreign and exotic?"
"Yes, I was in Italy. But I came back earlier than I should. It was too Italian over there." She clutched at her heart.
"What's wrong with Italian?" Jamie inquired, trying to steer clear of subjects that would completely change the mood, such as Estella.
"Oh well, Estella loved all things Italian."
Boom.
"Er... sure she did. Anyway, allow me to introduce my friend, Cupcake!" Jamie gestured at the older girl, who merely smiled and shook hands with the lady.
"Cupcake. What an odd name. Is it a nickname or your real name?"
While Mrs. Warren engaged herself in a deep conversation with Cupcake, Jamie helped himself to some of the cookies Mrs. Bennett had put out. "She will be staying with us for a few days," his mother told him, in a low voice.
"Is that something bad?" Jamie asked, though for him, it was very bad.
"Not at all!" Mrs. Bennett looked surprised. "It's good to have some relatives over once in a while, you know."
They sat in silence, as Mrs. Warren and Cupcake went on conversing. "So, where have you been?" Mrs. Bennett asked her son.
"Just the graveyard, the park and then the library, mom. And the pond. That's where I met Cupcake. Oh yeah, she wanted to read my manuscript."
"Later, Jamie," Mrs. Bennett said, glancing at Mrs. Warren's cheerful countenance, a result of conversing with Cupcake for the past five minutes. "What were you doing at the graveyard, anyway?"
"Visiting someone's grave?"
"Whose?"
"Jackson Overland."
"You mean, his grave is still here?"
"Of course. And so is his sister's."
Silence hung over them once more, before Cupcake finally ended her conversation with Mrs. Warren and turned to Jamie. "Jamie, the manuscript?"
"Manuscript?" Mrs. Warren asked, surprised. "Surely you do not learn music, Jamie!"
"Uh, not at all," replied Jamie, hurriedly, getting to his feet. "It's, uh, something else." He shot a pleading look at his mother.
"Just some weird summer school project, sister," Mrs. Bennett said.
Jamie and Cupcake hurried to his bedroom where he got out the tin cookie box and produced his manuscript. "The intro was rewritten by Emily, that new girl from school. You see, the thing got wet and..."
"No need to explain, I heard about the bullies and the mysterious happenings in our school," Cupcake said, smiling slightly as she flipped through the manuscript. "Of course, I knew instantly what really happened, but everyone else is still wondering about it."
"You're awesome," Jamie said, grinning, playfully punching the older girl on the arm. She didn't react, merely kept reading. "Please, never stop believing."
Cupcake didn't respond immediately, absorbed in the story. Jamie left her alone and looked out of his window, remembering the first time he had believed in Jack Frost. He smiled at the thought of the frost bunny. If Jack hadn't shown up on time, he probably wouldn't be where he was at that moment, and had lost all belief.
"Jamie Bennett."
Jamie turned. Cupcake was on her feet, manuscript in hand. She tossed it at him. "That. Send it out into the world now. Now!" She was frowning, almost like the Cupcake of old, when she was the older, mean girl. Then her face eased into a smile. "It's good. And it brought back a whole lot of memories."
"Well, sending it out into the world is something I've been trying to do," Jamie said, settling down on the window seat. "But I'm not sure. What if people don't like it? I know it's based on a true story and all, but not all true stories are great."
"Oh, you mean this isn't great?" Cupcake asked, pointing at the manuscript. "Well, you got one thing right. It isn't."
Jamie turned to her, surprised. "It isn't? Are you just being sarcastic or..."
"It's not great, it's epic!" Cupcake yelled, before clamping her hands over her mouth and glancing at the door. "Sorry for acting like a kid."
"We're all kids at heart," Jamie said, flopping down onto his bed and producing the copy of the yearbook Emily had handed to him. "I made a list of possible publishers and agents and stuff..."
Just then, the door creaked open and Sophie peered in. "Hey, Emily's been throwing stones at my window. I think she wants to see you, but she probably forgot which window was yours." She seemed to notice the girl. "Oh, hi Cupcake."
Jamie hurried to the window and looked out. Sure enough, Emily stood at his doorstep, looking up at the windows. "Does she think she's Romeo or something, chucking stones at people's windows?" Cupcake said. "And why is she here?"
"Well, she knows something about this whole publishing thing, so we're getting help from her," Jamie responded. He pushed open his window and Emily turned, noticing him.
"OI! Come on up!" he yelled down, completely oblivious to the fact that his aunt was in the house.
So sorry about the other chapter! It was just a little confusion. Thanks for pointing it out, SkyHighFan, and thanks, everyone else, for reading, reviewing, favouriting and following! *hugs* Anyway, the sign in Burgess... I'm not very sure about the dates, as they weren't clear, so I'm just taking a guess (1795).
Please review. I seriously hope this chapter was not a letdown.