The Ribbajack

A Smile and a Wave

SMILES AND WAVES ARE GIVEN FREE.

They take but a moment or so,

from me to you, from you to me,

either good-bye or hello.

So bear with me, my little friend,

this story you may know,

but if perchance you’ve guessed the end,

just smile, and wave, and go....

It was not as if Maggie liked the coat. One or two of her friends had remarked, when she first wore it to school, “Nice.” This was even worse than saying it was awful. Nice? Nobody had said it was cool, or awe-some. What can you do about a coat that your dad paid for and your mother chose? Maggie resolved to lose the offending garment, the sooner the better! So she did. Well, she hadn’t actually lost the coat, just conveniently forgotten it. Now she was hoping against hope that her mother would forget it, too.

There was not much to do on a dull November Saturday afternoon. Maggie slumped on her bed, doing furious battle with her PlayStation to reach level three. Covering both ears with headphones, she caught up with the current chart vibes.

The first realisation she had of her mother’s presence in the bedroom was the headphones being snatched from her ears. Mrs. Carroll stood with hands on hips. Maggie looked up at her. She knew from the body language that her mother was in her “I want a word with you, young lady” mood. Maggie’s mother was not one to mince words.

“I want a word with you, young lady. Didn’t you hear me calling from downstairs? Have you gone deaf?”

Maggie stared at her wall posters, explaining patiently, “I was wearing headphones. You’re always going on at me to turn the music down or put the headphones on. I put them on so the noise wouldn’t disturb you.”

Mrs. Carroll continued as if her daughter had not spoken. “Noise, that’s all it is, you couldn’t call that music! But that’s not what I’m here for. Where’s your new coat? It’s not on the hall rack.”

Maggie made a vague gesture. “Prob’ly in the wardrobe, how should I know?”

Closing her eyes, she listened to the wardrobe doors sliding open. There was an irate clatter of hangers, followed by her mother’s next demand.

“When did you last hang anything up properly in here? I’m left to do all the running and tidying around after you. Well, the coat’s not in here, so where is it? I want the truth!”

Opening her eyes, Maggie sat up slowly, turning the music and the PlayStation off as she played for time. But the issue was not about to be delayed. Her mother met her eye to eye.

“None of your stories now, where is that coat?”

Maggie knew exactly where the coat was. Avoiding her mother’s stare, she gnawed at the skin alongside her fingernail and tried muttering casually, “Must be somewhere, I suppose.”

That did it. Mrs. Carroll took off shrilly.

“Somewhere, you suppose! What, may I ask, is that supposed to mean, eh? I paid good money for that coat. Money your father had to work hard to earn. I’d have given anything for a coat like that when I was your age. It’s a lovely winter coat, and you’ll be needing it when the weather gets colder. Right, you’re grounded until I see that coat again, d’you understand, Margaret?”

Whenever Maggie got her full title, she knew it was pointless trying to argue with her mother. Still, she gave it a try. “But what about the ice rink? Everyone’ll be there tonight.”

Mrs. Carroll strode from her daughter’s bedroom. “Hah! I don’t care who’ll be at the ice rink, because you won’t if that coat doesn’t turn up, so make your mind up to that, Margaret Carroll!”

The final word had been spoken, so Maggie was forced to surrender or face imprisonment. Pursuing her mother downstairs, she acted for effect, slapping a hand to her forehead as if just recalling where the coat was. “Oh, that’s it! I left it in school yesterday. I remember now, I hung it over the back of my chair in the library at last period. Julie’s dad was picking us both up, and he was in a hurry. So I must’ve dashed out to the car without the coat. Sorry, I’ll get it first thing on Monday morning, honest I will.”

She recoiled from her mother’s prodding finger. “Sorry doesn’t get it done, miss, you’ll go right back to school now and get the coat, d’you hear me?”

Maggie could not credit the stupidity of her mother. “But it’s Saturday afternoon, the school will be locked up tight. There won’t be a soul anywhere about!”

The condescending tone in her daughter’s voice made Mrs. Carroll even more determined. “I said right now, Margaret, no arguments. There’s always somebody there, caretakers, workmen, cleaners, or whatever. And don’t you dare take that tone with me. Now go!”

Maggie stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. Picking up her old denim jacket, she tried one last attempt against her mother’s stubborn insistence. “I’ve been there before on a Saturday afternoon—the school’s locked up tight, it always is!”

Turning her back dismissively, Mrs. Carroll left the room, calling back to her daughter, “That’s your problem, miss. No coat, no ice rink tonight!”

It was less than fifteen minutes’ brisk walk to L.E.T. (Leah Edwina Tranter) School. Maggie hunched her shoulders as she slouched along. Feeling very badly done to, she ruminated on life’s injustices.

Only an idiot didn’t know school was closed on weekends, and she had an idiot for a mother! Late afternoon was starting to fade into November twilight. Maggie began imagining fictitious scenes. A young girl (herself) run down by a car whilst crossing the road. She pictured her grieving mother.

“I should’ve listened to dear Maggie and left it ’til Monday. But no, I made her go. Now I’ve lost my only daughter, and all because of a coat she didn’t even like. Oh, I’ll never forgive myself!”

Hah, that’d teach her a lesson. Maggie was not too keen on being killed by the car. Maybe it would just be an injury. She pictured both distraught parents waiting in a hospital corridor. Her father, grim and tight-lipped.

“Will she be alright, Doctor, will Maggie live?”

The doctor, shaking his head. “We’ll just have to pray, and wait for the results of the scan. There’s a fifty-fifty chance Maggie may recover. Mrs. Carroll, I hope you’ll think twice in the future before treating your daughter so harshly.”

Maggie crossed the road moodily. There was not a car in sight.

L.E.T. loomed large in the dwindling daylight. It was an old greystone school, built in the 1820s. She noticed for the first time how gloomy and hostile it appeared. Still, no need to worry—it was probably shut.

Maggie’s fertile imagination was working on another scheme. What if she caught a cold or a severe chill through being sent on a fool’s errand? She would willingly give up a visit to the ice rink just to get even with her mother. A week off school, wrapped snugly in bed, looking pale and interesting. Toying listlessly with her PlayStation and listening to a CD whilst picking at her food.

Mentally she could hear her dad speaking downstairs. “Good grief, Annie, what were you thinking of, sending the girl out with only an old denim jacket on?”

Maggie pushed the front gates of the school driveway. To her surprise, the heavy iron-barred structure creaked open. She paused. Maybe the caretaker had forgotten to lock them. There was no sign of activity from the building, and nobody in sight. Even before she reached the entrance door, Maggie could see it was ajar. She stopped on the steps, looking hopefully about. Behind her, the gravel path with its border of withered brown bushes stood silent and forlorn. Ahead of her she glimpsed the gloomy corridor through the partially open door. Maggie was left with a choice. Either she could return home and lie that the school was closed, or she could go inside and retrieve the coat, then go to the ice rink that evening. She blew a long sigh and shrugged. Might as well go and get the coat, now she had come this far.

How different the old school looked inside! Maggie had only ever been there when it was packed with students and staff. But here it was, dead as a mausoleum, with no heating or light switched on, devoid of everybody. Except herself. The only sound in the entire building was the thud of her own footsteps, echoing away down the passage. That and the beating of her heart, which had suddenly become abnormally loud in her ears. An uneasy feeling took hold of Maggie. She pulled to one side of the corridor. Walking close to the wall, she felt less exposed than if she were occupying the centre of the floor. Crossing a side passage, which led off to the lecture hall, something caught Maggie’s eye. A movement. She froze, keeping her face straight ahead, but straining her eyes sideways. Down the passage, in the last weak rays of daylight, something, or someone, was definitely moving. Also, there was a faint rattling sound.

Moving swiftly on, she collided with the corner of the wall. Maggie was not really hurt, but the impact caused her to turn slightly. She was forced to face the unknown terror. There it was, a high window with a pale shaft of light reflecting on the opposite wall. From outside, the overhanging branch of a tree was rattling its leafless twigs in the wind, causing them to tap against the glass, casting a moving shadow pattern on the far wall. She stifled a sob of relief, glad that nobody was there to witness her senseless panic. Taking a firm grip of herself, Maggie moved on fast.

It was a mistake. From the end of the corridor a figure was visible, standing by the end wall, right next to the library door. Maggie retreated immediately, ducking into the side passage. This was no shadow she had seen, it was a real person who had been coming toward her. Wide-eyed, and with the hair prickling on the nape of her neck, she heard her own voice calling out squeakily, “Who’s there?”

Whoever it was must be almost close to reaching the passage where she stood. Telling herself that she could run down to the lecture hall and lock herself in, Maggie summoned up all her courage and peeped around the corner. There was nobody in sight—the corridor was empty. Peering down into the gloom, she could make out a small movement. Then something occurred to her. Shoving out her arm, she waved, and dimly made out the other arm waving back at her.

It was the big mirror on the end wall by the library.

Maggie stepped out into the corridor and laughed. Fancy almost frightening yourself to death in an empty building because of a shadow of some twigs and a wall mirror. It was ridiculous. Boldly she strode down to the library, even taking time to stop in front of the mirror and make faces at herself. Opening the library door, she walked in, the door swishing close behind her. Maggie shrugged. All the doors in the school did that, due to some type of hydraulic device built over them.

At least there was some daylight in here; one wall had large windows facing out onto the lawn and the road beyond. Between that there was a big old sycamore tree with a bench built around its base, where the students sat in the warm weather to read their books. The windows had only single glazing. Maggie rubbed her hands together. It was quite chilly in the room.

Even in the twilight she could see her coat, draped carelessly over the arm of a chair in the far corner. Stupid coat, she hated the thing more than ever. Sensible, warm and totally out of fashion. She should have put her foot down flatly in the shop and refused to wear it. But as usual, her mother had won the argument. Maggie sniffed the still air. What was that smell?

Flowers, maybe, it smelt like flowers. Roses, but not freshly picked. It was not a pleasant odour—musty, cloyingly sweet. A picture of a cemetery vase filled with long-dead roses came to mind.

Trying to ignore the noxious smell, Maggie made her way across to the coat, avoiding a stepladder with a pile of old books resting on its top step. The smell increased until it filled the air with its thick repugnance. She grabbed the coat and muffled her mouth and nostrils with it. Maggie stood facing the corner, feeling rather light-headed. It was like being trapped in a dream, wanting to run from the room but unable to arouse her torpid limbs into movement.

The knowledge that she was not alone in the library stole gradually over her senses. Someone was standing in the darkening room, close behind her. Panicked thoughts jumbled about in Maggie’s mind. Whether she liked it or not, she could not stand endlessly there, staring at the wall and the bookshelves. To get out of the library, she would have to turn and confront the nameless person who was standing within touching distance of her back. She bit hard on her lower lip, forcing her feet, legs, her body and head to turn in small, jerky movements. Terror rose in her throat like bile, causing her to taste the dreadful smell which permeated the entire room.

Maggie was not sure at first whether the girl she was staring at was a living being or an apparition. She was about Maggie’s age, clad from neck to ankle in a long embroidered dress of fawn muslin. Her hair was a cloud of wispy blonde ringlets reaching almost to her waist. The strange girl wore gloves of white silk, elbow length. She held a single-stemmed rose, the colour of dark blood, in her left hand. Maggie took in all of this in one fascinated glance. But it was the girl’s face which frightened her. The skin shone like a porcelain doll in a museum, ivory hued and alabaster smooth. Her eyes, intensely blue, stared unblinkingly at Maggie, who was riveted to the spot, like a bird mesmerised by a snake. An awful realisation numbed Maggie’s brain. The girl was blocking her way to the door—she had her cornered.

The girl seemed to read her thoughts. She smiled at Maggie. Her thin lips opened, revealing decayed, irregular teeth. Then her mouth creased in a wide grin as the bright blue eyes glittered insanely. It was a smile of pure evil. Her right hand rose in a gesture beckoning Maggie toward her. The girl’s chilling smile, and the overpowering scent exuding from her mouth, enveloped Maggie. She felt herself going faint, the blood in her veins turning to ice water, which broke out in a cold sweat through her skin. Fear gripped Maggie’s heart in its horrific claws, then, like a dam bursting, a wild, terrified scream issued from her.

“Eeeeeyaaaargh!”

Triggered by the sound of her own fear, Maggie bolted and ran. Avoiding the girl, she fled, knocking aside the stepladder in her path, sending books spilling across the floor. For an awful second, which seemed to last an eternity, Maggie fumbled with the door handle. Then she was out of the library and tearing headlong down the corridor. The building boomed to the sound of her feet pounding the floor. Maggie’s legs went like pistons as she hit the main door, sending it slamming back on its hinges as she shot out onto the gravelled path. Unreasoning horror lent wings to her feet, while her breath rasped out in sobbing gasps. Out onto the sidewalk she sped, as if the hounds of hell were on her heels. A truck rumbled by on the road, its engine noise bringing her back to the world of normality.

Maggie stumbled to a halt, teeth chattering, legs wobbling, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. But somehow or other, she was still holding tight to the coat. Maggie grasped the bars of the school railings, staring back at the building, scarcely able to believe what she saw.

Across the lawn, beyond the big leafless sycamore, behind the library windows, the ghastly girl was staring back at her. Bathed in a pool of pale spectral light, still holding the rose, still waving with that beckoning gesture . . . and still smiling that smile which encompassed deep, limitless evil.

Maggie turned and hurried swiftly away, her face buried in the coat. The beautiful coat her mother had bought for her—it smelled like home, comfort and all the everyday things of life. No scent was ever sweeter.

It was late Saturday evening when the security patrol informed the caretaker that his school was left unlocked. He came out to secure it. However, he did a quick check of all the rooms to make sure nothing was amiss.

It was not the first time the old building had managed to unlock itself, though the caretaker blamed shrinking woodwork and the wind. He made a note to inform the school governors.

Only the library looked as if anybody had been there. Mr. Ryan, the caretaker, noticed the open door. Switching the lighting on, he went to investigate. Fallen stepladder, some old books scattered about, no harm done really, probably a strong gust of wind from down the corridor. The books were big, ancient, dusty volumes from the top shelf, where reference archives were kept. He gathered them up and stacked them on a table. The last book lay open, the way it had fallen. Mr. Ryan picked it up, sat down at the table and began reading from the open pages:

The present school is built on the site of Frederick Edward Tranter’s family mansion. His magnificent library was preserved and forms part of the Leah Edwina Tranter School. Leah, the Tranters’ only child, died in mysterious circumstances when she was only fourteen. Many of the locals were convinced that she poisoned herself. Not much is known of Leah, save that she was a solitary girl. She was never popular with the local children, many said that she frightened them.

Leah had a private governess who was responsible for her education. She left within six months of taking up the post; no other ladies ever came to replace her. Leah spent a short but lonely life, as her parents, Frederick and Marguerite, were prominent socialites and travellers.

On returning from a tour of Europe one November, Frederick Tranter discovered his daughter’s body in the library. She had been dead several days, and lay concealed behind a bookcase, holding a red rose in one hand. The servants, cook, gardener, butler and footmaid swore they had not seen her for some time. They assumed she had gone off to stay with relatives. Frederick Tranter was so affected by the death of his only child that he became a recluse.

His wife left him and went to live in Georgia, the state of her birth. None of the servants would stay in the big house with Frederick, who took to drinking heavily and staying alone in the library for days upon end. After his death it was found that he had left a will and the remainder of his money. His wish was that a school would be built on the site of his home. It would provide educational facilities for the local children. He stipulated that the building be named the Leah Edwina Tranter School, as a memoriam to his daughter.