AN: I did a little bit of digging and found out that the Puritans were some of the first people not only to teach their women and children, but also their servants to read and write. After all, if you couldn't read and write, you couldn't study your Bible diligently like they wanted you to… SO, using A=B=C=A logic, if the Puritans were a literate society, and Jack is reputed to be a Puritan, then Jack must be literate. I have no idea if this is going to come into play in this story or not, but I just thought I'd share the knowledge since most fics have Jack being illiterate. Oddly enough the drive to educate their servants didn't extend to the Africans or Native American servants that lived in their communities. Ah, the fickleness of man… Anyway, that was the thought for the day. As always, I own nothing! Also slight warning, major spoiler if you haven't seen ROTG. I mean, like word for word spoiler. Enjoy my lovelies!

Melinda sat attentively perched on the stool by her cash register, her fingers dancing on the laptop's keyboard in front of her. She was so focused on the screen she barely registered the sound of the shop bell jingling cheerily as the door opened. A quick glance made her smile as the tall man approached. "Hey you!" She greeted, not taking her attention away from the computer.

"Uh-oh." He smiled good-naturedly. "I know that look. Another one?"

"Yeah." She nodded, her smile dimming slightly with sorrow. "Take a look." She invited, turning the screen to face her husband.

He frowned at the image filling the browser window. Though the woman's hair was tied back and covered, and her dark clothing was somber, the painting still managed to somehow be bright and soft in an old style. "What am I looking at?" He asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Ellen Sophia Marie Overland." Melinda announced proudly. "Delia brought me a locket today and she was the first owner. It took me all afternoon to find her." She held out the locket for Jim's inspection. "You can see her wearing it in the painting." She said pointing out the small piece of jewelry.

"So have you been talking to Ellen Sophia Marie Overland?" Jim asked playfully.

"I don't know." The young woman sighed. "I haven't 'seen' her yet."

Her husband's grin lost its humor as his face filled with concern. "Then what makes you think this is your ghost?"

"I'm not sure it is her." Melinda confessed. "I've only heard her once just after Delia dropped of the locket. She's worried about someone called Jamie."

He looked down at her and sighed. "Dare I ask who Jamie is?"

This time she smiled. "I think Jamie is her grandson, James. He died when he and his brother were eight. They're the twins on the left." She said helpfully pointing them out in the locket. "There's no way of knowing which one is which yet."

"So the one on the right is the surviving brother?" Jim guessed.

"Could be." She shrugged. "But I think it's their uncle, Jackson. He was supposed to have looked just like the twins, but I can't find any known paintings of him. He died in 1702, so that's not unusual."

He winced slightly. "You're working with a three hundred year old ghost?" He frowned. "How are you going to help her?"

Melinda shrugged, choosing to ignore the question she couldn't answer. "Actually, I think it is Jackson." She said, returning to the subject of the dead youth. "He died when he was seventeen; it would make sense that Ellen would have a locket of her dead son, and when she passed it on to her daughter she would have added the paintings of her children."

"How'd they die?" Jim asked slowly.

"Ellen died of old age. Jackson just went missing. There's some speculation that he fell through an icy pond and drowned, but they never recovered the body. His sister, Hannah died at the age of twenty-seven, three years after her son James died at the age of eight. Best guess is that James died of a childhood disease, though they recorded it as an unexplained death, and Hannah followed him." She explained sadly. "But the story does have a bit of a happy ending. Jackson, the older twin lived a long life, had tons of kids and died in his sleep at the age of seventy-three. I found the family gravesites!" She ended cheerfully.

"And where are they?" He asked cautiously, well aware of the eager tone in his wife's voice.

She smiled up at him. "Not too far from here, really. The family lived and is buried just up in Burgess. I was thinking about driving up there this weekend to do some digging. Wanna come?"

He laughed at his wife's turn of phrase. "Hopefully not the illegal type of digging." He teased. "As much as I'd love to go ghostbusting with you, I'm on call this weekend."

She laughed. "That's okay. You can come next time." She said giving him a quick kiss.

Maria watched curiously at the window as the young couple prepared for bed. The woman's satiny nightgown shimmered in the light of the bedside lamp as she stood over her husband, chatting aimlessly about the day's discoveries, smiling down at him. The wind watched as the two teased each other before she joined him in the bed and the lamp was switched off.

Still the little spirit watched, unsure why she was drawn to this house, this woman. The woman was already home and in no need of Maria's mournful cries to draw her mind and her memories back…

Then she felt a third presence in the small room. The sorrow and longing were palpable, drawing the remembered voices to her lips. At first, she was shocked by the sound of the voice that filled her, but as the window seemed to open on it's own, she couldn't help but release the whispered memories.

"…You're gonna be alright…" Her dear friend's voice seemed to echo in the still, dark room. "…You're not gonna fall in. We're gonna have a little fun instead…" She watched as the woman on the bed began to toss and turn in the grip of the memories from a time before she was even born. "…We're gonna play hopscotch. Like we do everyday." Maria frowned as the woman's face twisted in fear, but the memory wasn't done yet. "…Now it's you're turn. One… Two… Three!"

The woman woke with a scream sending Maria flitting away shyly.

For the rest of the night the little wind spirit moved restlessly through the small town, crying softly to herself, watching the golden sand of the Sandman's dreams as it gently brushed aside her lonesome cries.

Suddenly, Maria stopped, staring at the sweetly flowing golden river. Jack needed to be here, and she knew just how to get his attention. With deliberate intent she thrust both hands deeply into the golden dreams, her mournful voice turning them into dreams of longing and memory. They would still be sweet, but now the dreamers would wake with bittersweet tears instead of hopeful smiles. That would get the Sandman's attention… And he could get Jack's.

She was young, no older than eight or nine. The simple brown homespun dress was as strange as it was familiar, as were the small bladed boots tied securely to her feet. Giggling she pulled her older brother out onto the surface of the small pond just outside their village. "C'mon Jack!" She exclaimed, knowing her fun-loving sibling wouldn't need much encouragement. 'But I don't have a brother.' The thought was fleeting and soon forgotten as the two of them skimmed over the virgin ice.

"Betchya can't catch me Hannah-Bo-Bannah!" Jack laughed, lightly tugging a small lock of hair as he glided past her. 'But my name is Melinda.'

Again the thought was forgotten as she sped off in chase. Neither one noticed the thick groaning crackle of the ice that was drown out by their good cheer, until she paused to catch her breath. Their laughter died suddenly as a sharp crack split the air, and the ice beneath her skates. She stared in dawning horror at the spider's web of cracks that had come from seemingly nowhere.

"Hannah, don't move." Jack said, the sudden seriousness frightening on his normally playful face.

"Jack?" Her voice was thin and shaky as she watched him quickly drop to his knees and yank off his own skates. He flinched slightly as his bare feet hit the cold ice; otherwise, his gentle face was a frozen mask of sobriety. The look only served to frighten her more. "Jack…" She cried.

He swallowed and watched her with wide cautious eyes. "It's okay." He said as he slowly regained his feet. "It's okay, just don't look down. Look at me."

Melinda/Hannah struggled to keep her eyes on him, but failed. Her gaze shifted downward to the thin cracks before the tore it back up to her older brother. "Jack, I'm scared." She whimpered.

"I know, I know." He soothed as the cracks began to spread under her slight weight. Slowly he took a cautious step towards her, mindful of the groaning ice beneath his own cold toes. "But you're gonna be alright." His bright eyes were calm and eager as his hands wove in gentle motions that had chased away every childhood fear until now. "You're not gonna fall in." He said with forced cheer, thinking quickly. "We're gonna have a little fun instead!"

"No we're not!" She wailed as the spider's web spread loudly beneath her.

"Would I trick you?" He asked slyly as he inched sideways over the deadly ice.

Melinda/Hannah sobbed. "Yes! You always play tricks!"

"Oh, alright." He conceded. "Well, not this time. I promise, I promise. You're gonna be… You're gonna be fine." She risked a glance down then, swallowing her fear, looked back to the lanky teen she was starting to believe. "You have to believe in me." He said, his words mirroring her thoughts.

With a deep, frightened breath she focused on her brother. "You wanna play a game?" He asked suddenly, his eyes lighting up the way they did when he was up to something. "We're gonna play hopscotch. Like we play everyday." Her nut-brown eyes followed him in confusion. "It's as easy as one…" He took a step forward, quickly hiding a wince as the ice snapped ominously beneath him. "Woah!" He teased, his arms pin-wheeling wildly as he pretended to struggle for balance, startling a giggle out of his little sister. "Two…" His second step was true, back onto firm solid ice. "Three!" The quick hop had him safely by the crook he so often used to coral both the village's goats and children.

"Alright, now it's your turn." He encouraged, gripping the crook that she knew would pull her to safety as it had a thousand times before. Her eyes lit with hope as he started to count. "One." She took a tentative step and gasped as the cracks spread beneath her feet. "That's it! That's it!" He murmured reassuringly. "Two." Her eyes followed him as he leaned closer, balancing easily on his toes as he often did when he was excited or anxious. "Three!" He yelled as she glanced fearfully down. Even as he spoke, the crook darted out and snagged her waist, flipping her to safety.

Melinda/Hannah barely registered as her weight threw her brother off balance and he stumbled and fell back, barely catching himself on his knees. For a single heartbeat they stared at each other, grinning in triumph at the near miss. Then with a sudden loud crack the ice gave and Jack was gone. "Jack!" She shrieked, to frightened to go near the frozen gaping maw that had swallowed her brother. "Jack!" The shrill cry echoed in the empty woods around her as she stood trembling on the ice beside Jack's abandoned skates. "JACK!"

Melinda shot up from the nightmare, the dead teen's name still echoing in their bedroom. Jim jerked awake beside her, sitting up quickly in bed. "Are you alright?" He asked, wrapping strong arms gently around her.

"Yeah." She answered automatically, her mind wrapping just as tightly around the dream. "Hannah." She said suddenly.

"Hannah?" Jim frowned, missing the leap in logic.

"The ghost is Hannah!" She explained quickly. "In the dream I was Hannah?"

He sighed tiredly, his mind struggling from the sudden waking. "Who's Hannah?"

"Ellen's daughter, Jackson's sister." She reminded him. "I think she was there when Jackson died."

"What makes you think that?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"Because that's what she showed me."

So, how many of you thought Hannah was Jack's mom and how many of you guessed she was Jack's sister? Just because I'm curious. Lol. This fic seems to be moving a a pretty good clip, and I don't' expect it to be one of my ridiculously long ones, so we'll see how it goes! Hopefully I can keep up the pace!