Vengeance in the Castle

Chapter 4

Later that morning, after Lizabeth's father left for work, Claire took the tiny eight year old into the drawing room to watch her while she cleaned. "Why don't you stay here and read something while I clean, hm?" the young maid requested.

Lizzy smiled and nodded her head. "Or I can talk to Great Grandma Gloria!" she exclaimed before walking over to a chair and sitting down, waiting for the spirit of the dead relative to show herself.

Claire smiled. She believed in ghosts and spirits, and thought it was nice that Lizzy could talk to her late grandmother and keep her company, even if it was a tad bit weird and creepy. "Okay, Little Lizzy!" Claire smiled before searching for something. "Shoot, forgot to grab the cleaner from the closet! And Its all the way across the castle!" the maid frowned. "How stupid of myself. Lizzy, I will be right back, okay? Don't go anywhere!" she said as she hurried out of the room.

"I wont!" Lizabeth called after her favorite maid before the woman could completely lave earshot. The little girl sat quietly in her seat for a bit before a white, translucent figure of an old woman appeared out of thin air. She wore a long dress with an apron tied around her waist and a woolen shawl was draped around her shoulders. Her long, thinning hair was tied up in a bun while a few loose strands hung down, framing her wrinkly face. She appeared to have been trying to dust, but her duster seemed to do nothing to battle against the dirt and dust that coated the room.

"Darn thing! It doesn't even clean anymore! I need to get a new one." the figure mumbled to herself.

"Great Grandma Gloria!" Lizabeth smiled as she jumped off her seat and scurried over to the old woman's ghost. The spirit, Gloria, turned around to look for the source of the young sounding voice that called out to her. Upon seeing her great granddaughter, the old woman smiled.

"Lizabeth, dear! How many times do I have to tell you, call me Grammy!" Gloria chuckled with a warm and loving smile. She then set down her duster, which suddenly disappeared the moment it was let go, and opened her arms to hug the young child. Lizabeth giggled and shook her head.

"Sorry, Grammy," Lizzy giggled, "and you know I can't hug you! I'd go right through you!"

Gloria laughed as she shook her head and brought her arms back in towards her ghostly figure. "That's right, I keep forgetting!" she said. "Now, how are you dear? Eating enough food? Drinking enough milk? Got t.o make sure you are so you can grow up and get taller. You are so small for your age you look like a four year old!"

Lizzy smiled and nodded her head. "Yup! Don't worry, Grammy! And don't worry about cleaning this room, either. Ms. Claire is going to come back and clean it!" she said. Gloria smiled and clasped her hands together happily upon hearing this.

"Wonderful! This place will finally be spic and span! I can't wait!" she cheered. Gloria always had a thing with cleaning the drawing room. Every time Lizabeth would come and visit her grandmother, she would always be trying to clean the place up. "It was my favorite room in the castle! Books on the shelf to read, a nice warm fire, and people always visited, so I had people to talk with constantly!" the old ghost said to Lizabeth once when the young girl asked why she was always cleaning.

Lizabeth giggled. She then remembered something she wanted to question her great grandmother about. "Hey, Grammy?"

Gloria looked down at Lizabeth adoringly. "Yes, Dear?"

"Um, did you know a man named George Lee?" Lizzy asked. She looked down at the ground as the words escaped her lips, wondering if her grandmother would even remember the other spirit haunting her home.

"Know him? Dear, I loved that man!" Gloria said after a few seconds of silence. "I loved him with all my heart...." A single tear fell from the old spirits eyes and down her cheek. "But that was a long long time ago, before he was taken from me."