Jumby Bay

Chapter 6

June 1999 - The Spirit Under the Stairs

heron.jpg (4902 bytes) Great Blue Heron. Ardea herodias. The Great Blue stands four feet tall and has a wingspan of seven feet. It is often seen standing perfectly still in shallow water, where it waits for fish or frogs to come within range of its long, sharp-pointed bill.

The party is going full blast. Pasta bars, salad bars, dessert bars, hell there were even lobster-tail bars along with the two bands and open bar. Who could ask for more? Roger looks down at his watch and suddenly remembers that he was supposed to meet a waitress at the Estate House. The night before, at dinner, he asked her to get a copy of the newspaper account of the taxicab incident. He turns to the security guard nearby.

"Edwards, are they still serving dinner up on the hill?"

"Yes sir, I think so."

"Can you give me a ride up there."

"Sure, get in."

The ride up the hill was a welcome change leaving the music and laughter of the beach pavilion behind. Edwards parked the cart. Roger looked at him and wondered why he looked so timid all of a sudden. "Do you want to wait here while I go in?"

"Yes," said Edwards, looking relieved.

Roger goes through the open doors into the house and notices that the dining room is set up for dinner just like it was the night before.

Meanwhile, back at the beach pavilion, a visiting professor from Princeton is giving an impromptu lecture on the supernatural to the captive audience at his table. Professor O’Donnell asks: "How many people here believe in ghosts?" Six guests raise their hands.

"Well that's a good start. Out of those of you who believe in ghosts, do any of you think you've ever seen a ghost?" Three guests, having heard about Big Sam, raise their hands.

"That's really good. I'm really glad you take this seriously. Has anyone here ever talked to a ghost?" Two guests have been to a seance and raise their hands.

"That's a great response. Has anyone here ever touched a ghost?" One guest raises his hand.

"That's fantastic. But let me ask you one question further... Have you ever made love to a ghost?"

Before the man could answer a woman in the back, dressed in a see-through robe and high heels, raises her hand. The professor is astonished. He takes off his glasses, takes a step back, and says, "Lady, in all the years I've been giving this lecture, no one has ever claimed to have slept with a ghost. You've got to come up here and tell us about your experience."

The glassy-eyed female replies with a nod and begins to make her way up to the podium.

The professor says, "Well, tell us what it's like to have sex with a Ghost."

The perplexed woman replies, "Ghost?!? I thought you said goats."

Roger walked into the dining room, remembering how it was filled with laughter and dancing the night before. One woman insisted that her husband never dances with her, yet he danced all night like he was John Travolta. Roger is startled out of his thoughts by a noise in the butler’s pantry.

"Sandra?"

Suddenly there’s the sound of glass breaking. His skin begins to crawl and the hair on the back of his neck stands on end. What if it's not glass, but the sound of breaking chains? He doesn’t want to stay here another second. He races outside, quickly reaching the golf cart. He was never more happy to see someone in his life. Edwards had left the lights on, the crackle of his walkie-talkie was a welcome sound. Jumping on the golf cart with Edwards, Roger was shaking like a leaf.

"What’s goin’ on boss?"

Roger was silent, the cold sweat on his brow spoke volumes. Edwards puts the cart in gear and drives back down the hill to the party in silence, turning only once to Roger to say: "You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

Back at the party, he runs into Jodi and Tom and tells them about his experience. He finds Hammond and tells him. Hammond tells him a story about a food and beverage manager who lived upstairs in the Estate House where there was now a bar. The man was pulled from his bed twice while his wife slept soundly. He quit his job and moved to Barbados. Roger doesn’t need to hear much more, but the soon he learns that other guests have also heard strange noises.

Tom and Jodi told him that they inquired among the staff at the Estate House where they learned that the island is haunted. To make matters worse, their cottages are built on an old slave cemetery. Evidently, the ghost of Big Sam inhabits the Estate House. They heard many tales of workers who quit because of it. Tom and Jodi had an additional distraction. Their cottage looked out upon the "hanging tree." The resort had installed lighting for the tree because of complaints that it changed shape and strange sounds emanated from it at night. Needless to say, it was an adventure sleeping alone with the ceiling fans and sea breeze rustling through the open louvers on the doors and windows. There were no locks on the doors at this ultraposh resort. Roger wondered what was going to happen next.

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