Wilmington, NC 03 - Murder On The Ghost Walk

Melanie never pretended. She had shouldered the burden of caring for Mama while I'd been away at school. I had no right to criticize. Melanie had done the best she could.
    It didn't seem to bother her when she had to correct our mother, as if Mama were the child and Melanie the mother. "That's enough, Mama," she said firmly, taking the spoon from her hand.
    Mama peeked at Melanie through strands of unruly hair. She lifted the iced tea defiantly and drank it down quickly, all the while fixing Melanie with a guarded stare, as if she expected Melanie to take the glass out of her hand too.
    "Be nice to her," I whispered. "Mama, do you want another glass of tea?" I lifted the pitcher but she didn't respond.
    Nellie was a blessing. When I arrived home in the summer, Melanie had sat me down for a serious talk. "Thank goodness, you're finally home because I can't handle her alone any longer. I've gone through four housekeepers in the past year. None of them last. They all say the same thing: s he needs a nurs ing hom e. And she does. Dr. Wilmot says it's time to consider a memory care facility. "
    "No!" I exclaimed.
    "Ashley, get real. She's a danger to herself. I'm afraid she's going to fall off the pier. She's always sneaking down there, says she's going fishing with Daddy. I'm so thrilled with Nellie, she's been a godsend. Don't you ever do anything to make her unhappy."
    "I won't," I promised. "And I'll spend more time with Mama."
    To my amazement right after lunch, Mama became quite her old self. I'd seen this happen before, as if the cobwebs in her brain had been swept away so she became clear and lucid. "Come up to my room with me, girls," she said with a take-charge tone . "We have urgent business to attend to."
    Melanie and I exchanged puzzled glances. It was seldom we heard Mama speak with her former authority.
    Mama opened drawers and pulled out jewelry cases. Springing lids, she removed bracelets and necklaces and arranged them on the bedspread where they glittered in shafts of sunlight from the windows. Perched on the edge of the old rosewood bed that had belonged to Grandmere and Grandpere Chastain, she fondled the jewels. Settling beside her, I slipped my arm around her tiny waist. She felt like a bird. Now that she knew me, I hoped she'd say something memorable, something I could hold in my heart to retrieve on the bad days.
    "I've decided to give you girls my jewelry while I'm still alive," she said. "No need to wait for me to die."
    "Mama! Don't say that."
    "Hush now, Ashley. We're going to divide it fairly, and I want you girls to take it home with you today. I don't want to hear any arguments. I know what's happening to me. But I'm having a good spell now, and I promised myself I'd do this the next time my mind cleared."
    She knew what was happening to her and was facing it. Tears flooded my eyes.
    "Wipe away those foolish tears, Ashley Wilkes. Here, move a little closer and we'll go through this jewelry, piece by piece. You too, Melanie."
    This was how she used to be. Maybe her hair was wild and her clothes in disarray , but as she identified family heirlooms she'd inherited, she was our mother again.
    " Ruby got the house,” she said, “and I got the jewels. Now, Melanie, I want you to have my mama's pearls. They suit you. They're creamy like your skin. Mind you wear them often. The warmth and oils from your skin imparts their patina. There are many grades of pearls, but these are the finest."
    Leading Melanie to the dressing table, Mama drew back her hair and fastened a double strand of matched pearls around her long, slender neck. She stood back to admire Melanie in the mirror. My sister is so beautiful. Mama clipped pearl earrings to Melanie's earlobes. M y parents' wedding picture sat atop a bureau . In those days Mama was as beautiful as Melanie is now.
    "Ashley, for you I thought Great-Aunt Lily's rubies. They go with your white skin and dark hair. You are so much like your daddy with your sweet little heart-shaped face and eyes so dark gray and serious. Such a handsome man he was. Oh, if only you could have seen him when we first met." She clapped her hands together and giggled like a school girl.
    The cool rubies and platinum felt heavy on my neck and I was riddled with guilt. "Mama, you don't have to do this now. There's plenty of time."
    "Yes, Ashley, I do. I trust you girls will do right by me when the time comes. I can't make decisions for myself, but I'd like to stay here in my home for