Jessie's Ghosts Read Free

quite ready this time. Remember last time you
were here I baked a pecan pie for you?’
    ‘Yep, it was
great. Sometimes we go to the bakery and Sarah has pecan pie, but she says it’s
never as good as yours.’
    ‘Must be the
nuts,’ Nanna said as they reached the house. Jessie saw she was smiling.
    ‘Can I look at
those photos now Nanna?’ Jessie asked as she hauled the basket of oranges and
grapefruits up onto the kitchen bench.
    ‘Of course you
can. But let’s have a hot drink first - would you like a cup of tea, or a hot
chocolate?’
    ‘Hot
chocolate,’ Jessie replied, hoping it wouldn’t be too hot. She was eager to get
into the photo albums.
    Jessie
finished her hot chocolate and looked expectedly at Nanna. ‘They’re just up
there in the loft, Jessie,’ Nanna said as she pointed to a square hole in the
ceiling. ‘I pulled the albums out of the chest and left them just on the edge.
How about I just pass them down to you?’
    Nanna brought
a ladder in from outside, opened it up and placed it directly underneath the
square hole. As she did, Jessie peered up into the darkness, wondering how
Nanna had managed to get up there at all .
    ‘It’s only a
small loft, really just for storage,’ Nanna said as she put her foot on the
first rung.
    ‘It’s okay
Nanna, I’ll go,’ Jessie said.
    Nanna
hesitated but Jessie thought she actually looked relieved. ‘Well, they’re very
heavy Jessie. Just pass them down to me one at a time. And do be careful
sweetie, this ladder is very steep.’
    ‘Sure Nanna.’
    ‘And take this
torch. We don’t want you putting your hands anywhere you shouldn’t.’
    Nanna held on
to the ladder as Jessie started up, slowly taking one rung at a time. Nanna was
right, it was very steep and by the time Jessie’s head was sticking up through
the hole in the ceiling her knees were quivering from the climb.
    She reached in
with her arms and placed her elbows on the floor of the loft. Then she turned
on the torch. As Nanna had said, the albums were right there, and just as well,
Jessie thought. Even though the floor was clean, hundreds of patterned spider
webs covered the timber beams inside the roof.
    Jessie handed
each of the six photograph albums down to Nanna.
    ‘Can you pull
the hatch cover over while you’re up there love? Hopefully we won’t need to go
up again.’
    Jessie passed
down the torch and stepped back down a couple of rungs, pulling the hatch
closed behind her. Backing down to the floor she saw that Nanna had already
loaded up the kitchen table with the albums and was opening the first.
    A fine grey
mist rose from the pages and Nanna started to cough.
    ‘They’re a bit
dusty, Jessie,’ she croaked and then cleared her throat. ‘After all, they’ve
been up there a very long time. Here,’ Nanna said, as she grabbed a tea towel,
‘why don’t you wipe them over as you go.’
    Each
photograph had a caption below it with the names of the people in the photo and
the date it had been taken. Jessie studied the faces of pop and his brother
Harold and saw how closely they resembled the portrait in the hallway.
    ‘They’re just
like in the portrait, Nanna.’
    ‘Yes, it’s
amazing isn’t it,’ she said as she picked up her knitting. ‘I really admire
artists that can paint such likenesses.’
    Amongst the
albums were photos of Nanna as a young girl, Nanna engaged to pop, and then
pictures of their wedding. But after a while Jessie started to lose interest
and was ready to do something different. She closed the last album as Nanna put
down her knitting and said, ‘Now I have a surprise for you, Jessie.’
    ‘Really?’
Jessie said without any real enthusiasm. What surprise could Nanna possibly
have for her – all the way out here?
    ‘I have a new
neighbour. Her name is Fleur and she only moved in a few weeks ago. She’s your
mum’s age and we’ve had coffee a couple of times. When I told her you were
coming to stay she invited us both over for afternoon