#Wattys2015 The Ghost of James Fitzpatrick

Chapter 26

"Hello?" said the voice on the other end of the phone. Sarah's math study guide sat on her desk beneath her pencil. She had doodled on it "Little Rock" and drawn a cloud around the word and then a shadow on the cloud and a little lightning bolt, which she was shading in when the woman answered.

"Hi, my name is Sarah Netherby. I am looking for Mrs. Mary Fitzpatrick."

"You are calling in reference to...?" the lady asked.

Sarah sat up straighter, the voice on the other end of the line, was that of an elderly woman, and the prospect usually piqued Sarah's attention.

"I'm looking for a particular Mary Fitzpatrick. May I ask if you ever lived in Arden, Mrs. Fitzpatrick?

"Yes, I certainly did. It was a long time ago. What is this about? How can I help you?"

Sarah felt her heartbeat from her chest and up into her ears.

"I live in Arden right now Mrs. Fitzpatrick, but I want to make certain I am speaking to the correct Mary Fitzpatrick. Is your maiden name Hoban?"

Mary Fitzpatrick didn't answer, but finally said "Honestly, Sarah, I don't feel comfortable answering these type questions over the phone."

Suddenly a male's voice was on the phone.

"Hi," he said politely, "who's this?"

"My name is Sarah Netherby. I live in Arden. I've been looking for your mom."

"Well, this is her son. May I ask why you've been looking for my mother?"

"Are you Tom?" asked Sarah.

"Yes, I am," said the man.

Sarah could hear the voices of little kids in the background. She heard a woman ask Mary Fitzpatrick who was on the phone.

Sarah felt her nose as it began to tingle and her eyes welled up with tears as she looked down at the letter James had sealed in the plain white business envelope. He had written "Mom" on the envelope with a blue ball point pen and underlined it. Sarah kept her voice steady.

"I live in your old house at 421 Lilac Street, and I have something that belongs to your mother."

:z/