If we know hes locked up, Griffin said.
First thing I checkedcouldnt help myself, Barnes said.
How long has Mrs. Ballantine been missing? Jackson asked.
Her meeting was at noon. She wasnt there when George arrived home at 3:30 p.m., Barnes told them.
Thats not a very long time, Jackson said.
It was barely four-something, Griffin thought. In any other circumstances, the situation wouldnt cause much alarm. Yet. There were a dozen explanations. Mrs. Ballantines phone might not be working. Shed stopped to see a friend and hadnt even realized her ringer wasnt on. Shed had a flat tire and a friendly driver had stopped and called roadside assistance for herand she was still waiting. The police wouldnt have even taken a report.
Ballantine. The family targeted again?
Its him, Griffin said quietly. Its the Undertaker. We need to get over to the Ballantine house as quickly as possible. Get ahold of the media; find out about a notea clue.
Jackson studied him and nodded.
Detective Barnes? Jackson said.
Barnes didnt argue. Ill get my car.
No need. Its a short sprint from here, Griffin said.
You remember the house? Barnes asked him.
I remember it well, Griffin said.
* * *
Step light, my friend, for here I lie
Just steps away from a place to die
Boston Neck, and about the neck,
A rope I was forced to wear,
Years later was I found and cleared
By children bright and oh so dear
So now I rest in hallowed ground,
My story to be found.
No witch was I, no cause to die.
Vickie Preston read the words from the monument aloud to her group of older teens, glad her dramaticsand simple, sad historyseemed to have them enthralled.
She had a group of ten with her: teens who had nearly been lost in the system. She had case files on all of themif they hadnt been neglected or abused by their own parents, they had fallen prey to the evil vices of others.
Most had bounced about in foster care. They would all turn eighteen soon and enter the world on their own, where statistically they didnt seem to have much of a chance. Vickie had come home to Boston after college to work with a private charity called Grown Ups that was trying very hard to give such young people a better chance at survival in the real world as adults.
It had also just been a good move on her part. Shed split ways with her boyfriend, Jared Norton, several months ago; hed liked to surprise her by waiting on the doorstep of her brownstone apartment in New York, convinced that she wanted him back in her life.
It wasnt going to happen, and he needed to move on.
It was still nice to have a home with an address he didnt knowand where he wouldnt show up.
Miss Preston!
Yes, she said quickly.
I thought they only killed witches in Salem! One of the boys, Hardy Richardson, said, shaking his head in disbelief. He was a handsome kid, dark-haired, tall and broad-shouldered, with a quick and boyish smile. It was nice that he had maintained his smile; without it, he appeared to be years older than his true chronological age.
Ah, no. The craze, as we consider it, happened in Salem. Salem was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. And, sadly, while the Puritans came to the New World in search of religious freedom, they were the least tolerant people one could imagine. Quakers and members of other religious groups were banished or punished severelyseveral were hanged at Boston Neck. Also, there were a number of people who lived here who were hanged for witchcrafteven before the horrific events began in Salem, Vickie said. A woman named Anne Hibbins was hanged in 1656long before the trials began in Salem. We dont know the name of the woman buried here, honored by this tombstone. Thats because she wasnt legally buried here.
Right. So, how can she be buried here? Hardy asked. I thought they dumped the bodies right by the hanging tree or in some marshy plot nearby?
Sometimes, a brave and intrepid family member went out and found the body. If you study this stone, youll see there is a date carved into the stone1733. She was probably found and buried here secretly by the familyand they marked her grave when they dared, Vickie said. But that doesnt mean shes down thereprogress and decades and then centuries mean that stones get moved around sometimes. Still, I love this memorial.
Vicious people, Cheryl Taylor, a petitebut very pretty and well-builtbrunette murmured, before looking over at Vickie. Do you think thats why we have such a bad reputation now? she asked Vickie. I mean, Bostonians, we do have a reputation for being snobby. Think that dates back to the Puritans?
Vickie grinned. Maybewho knows? It was an extremely repressive society. In fact, when King James II ordered that an Anglican chapel be built in Boston, he had a hard time getting land. The cemetery was here firsthe took part of the cemetery to build the chapel. Were standing in the oldest cemetery in the city. You can actually learn a tremendous amount about people and society by visiting graveyards. Of course, remember, a lot of original old grave markers would have been woodlong gone now. Time and the elements take their toll. But you can see on some of the oldest stones that the art is severea skeletal head with wings, rather scary-looking. The stones, for such a serious people, could be expensive to buy and carve. Over time, the appearance becomes more that of a cherub or angellife itself becoming more valuable, the terrors of death less extreme.
Whoa, those Puritans! Cheryl said, shaking her head. Still I dont get itwhen did they begin to die out? I mean, if everyone was banished or hanged for not being a Puritan...
All legal machinations, as well as religious. Charters came and went. James II of England was forced to abdicate his throne; William and Mary became King and Queen of England. They opened the colonies to others. Actually, its complicated, butas in many casesit had to do with politics and government, Vickie said. But in my mind, William and Mary made the greatest changes when they came to the throne of England in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution.
The Salem witch trials were 1692! So, William and Mary let that happen.
Vickie nodded. True. A large part of the world believed in the evil of witchcraft back then. Communications were very slow. William and Mary turned it over to their royal governor, William Phips. Phips set up the trials of oyer and terminerwhich meant to see and to hear. When the dregs of society were being accused, William Stoughton, a tough old buzzard who wholeheartedly believed in Satan and witchcraft, allowed spectral evidence. Then suddenly everyone was being accusedincluding the governors wife. So, in a way, public opinion turned the tide. And Phipswhen his wife was accused. Rather than going out with a bang, it rather all ended with a whimper. In the years following, there were many changes in the entire colony, by law, by religion and by people. Like most things, change came about slowly. And the land for Kings Chapel was actually taken during the rule of James II. Like I said, it had a lot to do with charters and laws and who was running what when. Whats actually good here is that execution for witchcraft was far less frequent in the colonies than in Europe. And, when we did create our American Constitution, we set forth a separation of church and state. That guaranteed freedom of religion when we became our own country.
Right. Now we just have weirdo cults! Hardy said.
True, but they dont run the country, Vickie said.
Thank God, have you seen some of the stuff on some cults? Scary! Cheryl said.
Really scary, Hardy said. If spectral evidence was allowed in court and the dregs of society were killed first, wed be goners, he said. I mean, heck, the right person just had to accuse you and your ass was in jail.
Pretty muchbut youre not the dregs of society. Youre about to be adults and choose your own course, Vickie said. There will always be room to improve, but laws do protect us now.
Speaking of us as a country, though, is Paul Revere here?
The question was voiced by Art Groton. Like Hardy, he was nearly eighteen. He was tall, blond and wiry strong. In Vickies mind, he was just beginning to come out of his shell.
Art still seldom spoke. He had a truly sad personal history. Both parents had died in a blaze theyd created themselves while freebasing heroin. The uncle who had taken him in had beaten him; his psychiatrist suspected sexual abuse as well, but Art wouldnt say. According to Arts records, the uncle was also long dead due to drug abuse. Art seemed to have bounced around the system through several counties, but he now lived with the kindest couple Vickie knew working with foster children. And she was glad when they told her Arts excursions with her were something that seemed to awaken him. He talked about them constantly; he said he wanted to make his way through college and work with the system as well.
Who better to understand an abused and neglected kid than an abused and neglected kid?
Paul Revere, Vickie told them, is buried in the Granary cemetery along with Samuel Adams and John Hancock and many other notable people. Not far, of course. Boston is a small cityan old city! The three oldest burial grounds are Kings Chapel, where we are now, Copps Hill, and the Granary. All are on the Freedom Trail.
Yah, Boston! Hardy said. And we have the oldest college, right? Harvard?
Yes, Harvard is the oldest university, Vickie agreed, 1636.
And then Yale, right? Hardy asked.
Vickie shook her head and smiled. Nope. Harvard was followed by the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, St. Johns College, Annapolisand then Yale, 1701.
Cheryl laughed and said, Man, you are a walking encyclopedia, Miss Preston!
I just like history, Vickie told her. She glanced at her watch, knowing it was time to break for the day. Her students returned to their various foster homes on their own after their meetings. It was part of their agreements with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She was careful, always, to make sure she finished up in time for them to make their way home.
Next week, she told them, were touring the Paul Revere house, and Ive arranged for dinner after at a great restaurant in Little Italy. Courtesy of an anonymous benefactor, Ill have you know. Maybe someone who made it well in lifeafter having a rough start like many of you.
Cool! Art called.
Go! See you next weekmeet right in front of the Paul Revere house.
Her charges scattered, waving. Vickie watched them go. She liked each and every one of them, and deeply hoped she could make a positive change for their future.
As she made her own way to the street, she tried to keep focused on the entrance ahead.
There were days when the old cemetery was quietvery quiet.
There were also days when she saw the dead walking. Mostly they just eyed her curiouslyand suspiciously. Sometimes, someone would smile. She would smile in return, but hurry on. She wasnt fond of seeing the deadat least, not so many dead.
Dylan Ballantineor the ghost of Dylan Ballantinesuddenly fell into step beside her. She glanced at him, arched a brow, shook her head, and hurried on.
Hey! That was great, he told her.
I hope so. The plan is that I get them really interested in history or something useful, she murmured.
An old couple, following the Freedom Trail, most probably, paused and looked at her, frowning. Of course. It appeared to them that she was talking to herself.
Please, Dylan, let me get out of here, huh? she asked.
Of course, of course, he said.
But he wasnt going away.
It wasnt that she wasnt accustomed to seeing Dylan now.
They were old friends.
Theyd established rules.
Hed terrified her when he continued to appear to her years beforeeven when she realized that she and little Noah might well have been murdered if it hadnt been for Dylans spiritual presence. Hed saved them; hed gotten her and the baby out of the house when a serial killer had been watching them, biding his time, playing with them as he waited, amused, before showing himself to torture and kill themas he had other victims before.
She could still feel a cold shiver of fear grip her heart when she thought back to that night.
But shed had to put that behind her. Despite Dylan appearing here and therestartling and scaring her terribly at first, then begging for her recognition and friendship, and then actually seeming to take up residence with her when shed headed down to NYUshed gotten dual degrees in history and literature. Shed published her first book on the tombstones of New England and was happily writing one on the decline of Puritanism in New England. She was making herself be very fairshe tended to hate the codes by which they had lived and their absolute lack of tolerance for others.
They were, on the one side, her ancestors. Her mothers grandmother had come over from Ireland, and her great-grandfather had been a fresh-off-the boat Norwegian actor. But her fathers family could trace roots back to the mid-1600s; theyd arrived on a ship just a few decades after the arrival of the Mayflower. Dylan loved to tease her about that.
His family had actually been New Yorkers. Sane.
Dont you have someone better to haunt? she asked him.
He shook his head gravely. Not today. Followed you to the cemetery, thinking I might find someone to chat up. Other ghosts, you know. People who lived in different decades and centuries can be really interesting. But whoa! Those people. Straight-laced to the core. They dont seem to want to talk to strangers.
Dont go blaming it all on the Puritans, Vickie told him. This cemetery also houses those who died well after the Puritan days.
Yeah, well, its no fun to hang around a cemetery anyway. Unless youre you, of course, looking up the lives of all those who came before!
Im ignoring you! Vickie said, hurrying on ahead.
Naturally, he caught up to her.
On the street, she looked around, and then turned to him, speaking firmly. Hey! Im going to my parents place. If you come, you behave. You understand.
He grinned. Dylan was still not quite eighteen. Charming, boyish and handsome. If she was going to have a continual hauntor a crazed personalityshe could have been plagued by a far worse ghost, she was certain. But some days, he was truly and mischievously out to make her appear to have gone daft.
Sure, he said.
A cop car went by, sirens blazing. And then another. Dylan looked after the cop cars.
Hey, something is going downover by the Granary cemetery. Want to check it out?