Challenge 19: Person, Place, Thing (Spooky Edition)
Title: Saved By A Ghost
Fandom or Original: original
Rating/Warnings: PG
Word Count: 960-ish
Prompts:
Person - Spirit/Ghost
Place - Roadside
Thing - Clothes
Saved by a Ghost
"This is stupid," Madeleine grumbled. When her companion didn't react, she huffed. "Walking is stupid."
"Well, it's walking or freezing to death by the side of the road," Jane finally replied. "And it's your own fault! You goes on a trip without checking that there's enough gas in the tank?!"
Madeleine rolled her eyes. "I said I was sorry!"
"Yet you keep complaining like it's everybody's fault but yours!"
"Okay, you know what?"
A pair of headlights appeared behind them and Madeleine stopped. "Do you think we should try and flag them down?"
Jane shrugged. "There's two of us." She didn't say that there might be more than one person in the car, too.
The car slowed as it approached them and finally came to a stop next to them. It was an old-fashioned car, big and painted a soft pink. Jane had never seen one like it outside of the movies.
The driver turned out to be a woman in her thirties, wearing a polka dot dress and a headscarf in a matching pattern. Clearly she was going for a theme, with the bright red lipstick, the clothes and the car.
"Heya, girls! What are you doing out here so late?"
"Our car died a ways back and we were hoping to reach the next town."
"Oh, it's far too dangerous to be out here at night. Jump on in, I'll take you up to my place. It's at the edge of town."
Madelein and Jane exchanged a look.
"Okay," Jane said. "Thank you."
She and Madeleine sat in the back, either girl uncomfortable to sit in front even if the woman did seem harmless.
The woman chuckled a little. "Don't worry girls, I know what it's like. I'm a stranger, it's dark. I'm just trying to help, I promise. Do you want the radio on? Only the signal is bad in these parts. But I could tell you about me, if that would help."
"Sure."
The woman - Carol Bingley, they soon learned - was from a nearby town and had married young. "High school sweethearts, Carl and me. Married right out of high school and had a beautiful daughter and two strong sons." She talked about her husband, Carl, who was a travelling salesman, and her kids Maryanne, Carl Jr. and Thomas. They were all away at school and it was just Carl and her.
Jane listened politely, but she was still uneasy. Beside her, Madeleine started to droop, the long day catching up on her.
Eventually, Carol slowed down and turned the car into a driveway. "This is as far as I go. It's about three quarters of a mile into town, but it's so late that nothing will be open. You girls are welcome to stay the night."
Jane winced, not sure how to decline without sounding like she was accusing Carol of being a potential axe murderer.
Carol, however, gave her a knowing look. "I understand. But if you don't want to come into the house, you can always kip in the barn. There's a hayloft that my kids spent a lot of time in. And there's no lock on the doors. It's yours if you want it, girls. No pressure."
Madeleine and Jane waited until Carol had entered the dark house before they had a short discussion. Their exhaustion decided: they would sleep in the barn and head into town in the morning.
With their cell phone flash lights, they navigated their way to the hayloft and fell into a fitful sleep.
The next morning, Jane was happy to wake up safe and sound, with Madeleine at her side. "Maddie, come on, it's morning."
Madeleine batted her hand away, but sat up, yawning widely.
They clambered down the ladder into the barn proper and, still plucking stray hay from their clothes and hair, went out into the yard.
An old man was just coming out of the house. He stopped, surprised, and stared at the girls for a moment before slowly approaching.
"Oh, hi! Are you… Mrs Bingley's dad?"
The old man's face fell. "What?"
"Mrs Bingley," Jane repeated, a little louder. "Carol Bingley. She gave us a ride last night and offered us the hayloft as a place to sleep so that we could make our way into town this morning."
Suddenly, the old man stumbled and fell to his knees. Alarmed, Jane and Madeleine ran over and helped him back to his feet.
"Are you all right?"
"You saw Carol? Last night?"
Confused, Jane nodded. "Yes. She drove one of those big old cars, in pink. She has reddish hair and wore a blue and white polka dot dress. That's her, isn't it?"
The old man nodded. "It is… but." He nodded over to the side of the barn where a car just like Carol's sat. It was painted the same pale pink, but the color had faded and bleached in the sun. The car beside the barn was dirty, with grass growing high around the tires. Severak of the windows were broken and there were weeds growing out from inside the car. It had clearly not been moved in decades.
"Hey, that looks just like…" Jane trailed off as she noticed the red plush heart dangling from the rearview mirror. It was exactly the same as the one she'd seen last night on Carol's car, just more faded.
The old man continued to stare at the car. "Carol was my wife. She and our chidren were murdered by a hitchhiker thirty-four years ago, to the day. I wasn't home; I was in Tucson. They caught the guy two counties over. Carol had offered him a ride and he repaid her by killing her and our children. How…?"
Jane swallowed hard. It couldn't be… could it?