TABITHA'S SECRET, Chapter 2
On the street, a passing car hummed by. After that, no other sound was heard. Not at first, but as the minutes got swallowed by the past, it became a black hole of silence from which no whisper could escape. A stillness, not of peace, or hush of expectation, not of calm, but of waiting. Tabitha was uncomfortable hanging up there in the air. It was an extraordinary silence, deep as a tomb with restless spirits. If asked, she would have said even the air had died. Unfortunate thought. Quickly she backpedalled her mind into less frightening places, but the nothingness could not be denied. They heard nothing out there at all. Even the fridge in the kitchen was still. Struggling now to escape her fright, Tab forced her attention into more ordinary life. She would write a poem about this, she decided. Yes, Miss Longshanks always praised her poems and this topic was a natural. What would she say? That we don't listen to all the little noises, Tab thought, but we miss them when they're not there! It didn't work. The spooky silence continued, and in spite of everything she listened. So pervasive was it that in the act of listening in vain for what could not be, the absence of sound became all there was. Greg was caught in it too. Something floated up there and it looked exactly like his sister; it moved, it breathed even, but was silent. Tabby was not a silent person. Could it be the GHOST of his sister up there? Goosebumps walked up and down his arms. Every spooky movie he had ever seen about the "living dead" told him to get out of there, and fast! Yet-- In her struggle to avoid panic Tab watched Greggy very closely. He wasn't saying anything, or asking questions. She saw his white face, wide blue eyes dark upon her.... He looked spooked! Oh, wow! Did he think maybe she had DIED? Yes, or by now, he'd have said something stupid.Her stomach crowded her heart. I don't FEEL dead, she thought. But how does death feel? Is THIS how it is? We don't know, do we? Those who have died do not tell us how it is...there are stories of Heaven, but what is it like before that? Grandpa's last illness had times when he was awake, but strangely "away" ...had he been floating above them like this, but because they hadn't expected to see him there, they hadn't looked up? Did Grandpa see everyone as he floated, and hear too, after he died? At the funeral, all those people gossiping? How awful! The consequences of death suddenly hit her. To be dead.... Wouldn't she and Maria ever giggle about boys again, and school? And Mother-- Oh! She felt her loss. Even Muffet, their amber- eyed dustmop of a Persian cat, who slept over her ankles every night and purred so loudly the neighbours could hear... Lost forever. Greggy heard the shuddering sob, and saw more sobs shake her as her legs pulled close to her chest. Then she wept.
That doesn't sound like a ghost, Gregory thought. Ghosts moan and rattle chains, don't they? And no hologram ever cried like that. It just HAD to be Tab up there! Impossible. Straight impossible. What insane force was holding her there in the air? Spooky stuff like that just doesn't happen except on TV where computers do it. Maybe they were both dreaming? He had never heard of people being in each other's dreams, where each would see the other. No, never. Okay, scratch that, he thought. What else? There simply was no way to explain where Tabby was. Okay, when real possibilities run out, try impossibilities. What if there really was such a thing as Tabby disease? Then, if he caught it, he'd float too, wouldn't he? Astound all his friends, confound all his enemies... Rolf and the bullies would never be able to catch him... he could rise above all that... Greg didn't know, but a sudden grin had broken the stillness of his face, or that with alarm, Tabitha saw it as malice. It reminded her of all the nasty tricks they had played on each other, and that if he kept count, Greggy owed her a doozer. She had set it up so that Greggy got all the blame for a catastrophe that he had "accidentally" spilt all over the kitchen floor, broken crockery and all. Just had to open the fridge door. Their mother, always fast on the trigger now because of job worries, had given him what-ho for hours while "innocent" Tabitha snickered upstairs unseen. The majesty of its engineering really tickled her, because poor Greg had no real way of knowing her part in leaning the bowls against the door as she carefully closed it. He'd have a pretty good hunch.... Oh yes, he owed her one. Maybe if they worked together, if he helped her, they might figure it out. Find out how to... Yeah... That was IT! Tab needed him! Funny how the thought made him smile all over. No one had ever needed him before. Worth trying, anyhow, he thought. And that was how Gregory found himself reaching up his hand to his sister.
Tab wiped her face on the backs of her hands. Was Greggy offering to HELP her? Yes! If she was dead, he wouldn't, would he? After her fear, Greggy's offer was so sweet! Vindicated, she laughed out loud in her relief. ALIVE! Joy, like morning sunshine! She stretched her arms toward him and kicked her legs while her grin grew wider. "So why don't you HELP me, Dummy?" she asked. It wasn't quite what she had meant to say, but they were the words that came out. Greg didn't notice, because that's what she usually called him. "How'd you get up there anyhow?" he asked. "Aww!" she protested as she rose higher, out of reach, just short of the ceiling. "Drat!" she said. "Double-drat!" Greg watched her struggles. "I want to help," he said. After years of battles, Tab wondered why. Hah! Last time she had fallen for one of his offers he had tricked her. She was not about to be stupid twice. The silence lengthened. Gregory stared up at his sister, puzzled at her reaction, unaware that Tab lived among all the mean things they had ever done to each other. She shrugged. Her eyes went to the ceiling light fixture close beside her. "Well, it's one way to find out," she said, "that the lights need dusting." Gregory sighed. "Sisters!" he said. Cobwebs around the lightbulbs! So, now that she wasn't crying anymore, there was no hurry to get her down, was there? "Okay," he said, "How'd you get there?" He saw Tab shrug and look away. So that's the way she wants it, he thought, and scowled. Who cares? Still, it had definitely been a nice feeling when he tried to help.... "Sisters!" he said again, and saw Tab toss her head. He didn't leave her alone, as earlier he might have done. He stood there beneath her and pondered the scientific aspects of antigravity.
