But … sorrow. Overwhelming sorrow.
Eve closed her eyes. “Okay, I guess I forgot for a moment that you’re the victim here. You’re so strong, little girl, that it’s easy to forget. I got upset when I thought you were trying to control me. It brought back memories of that time I told you about when I had to fight off that monster whose skull I was working on.”
Pain.
“Am I … a monster?”
She seemed to be constantly hurting this child, Eve thought in frustration. But at least Jenny was talking to her again.
“No,” Eve said quickly. “I didn’t say that. I just said it reminded me of— I was very defensive during that time.” She grimaced. “And evidently I still have lingering aftereffects that make me—” She stopped and then said, “And I’m finding it awkward talking to you. I don’t know whether I’m speaking to this skull or if you’re a spirit floating around somewhere.”
“I don’t really feel any connection to that skull. But I’m not floating around, either. I’m … just here.”
“But you didn’t contact me until I took that skull out of the box.”
“But I knew I was coming … to someone who was important. I knew that you were waiting for me.” She paused. “And I was waiting for you.”
“Because you knew that I could help that sheriff find out who you are?”
“I guess that was why. It’s all coming back to me in bits and pieces. I only know what I have to do. But I … don’t really know what your part is going to be.”
“That’s not very helpful. And what do you have to do, Jenny?”
She didn’t answer.
“Okay. I may not need to know your motives. You told me your name was Jenny. What’s your last name?”
“I don’t remember. Only … Jenny.”
“But you remember that you want to know more. That it’s important to you that I finish this reconstruction.”
“Yes. I have to know. I have to stop him. Because it’s going to go on. When the sheriff pulled me out of that grave, I could feel him watching me.”
“Him? Who?”
“I don’t know. I just know … he was watching. And he was angry.”
“The man who killed you?”
Silence.
“Surely you remember that, Jenny.”
“I don’t,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, Eve. It’s all a blur until I came to you. I think it’s supposed to come to me slowly. I remember being angry and telling myself that I mustn’t show him I was afraid. He likes me to be afraid. I remember thinking that it had been a long time, and maybe I wasn’t ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“What was coming. But nothing good can come until it’s finished.”
“Double talk. Until what’s finished?”
Silence.
“Okay, I’m being impatient. Let’s go through this slowly and logically. I’ll ask you questions, you try to answer. You think your name is Jenny but you don’t know the last name?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember your mother or father?”
“No.”
“Brothers? Sisters?”
“No.”
“A place, a house?”
“No.”
She hesitated. “You do know that you’re not … as you were? That you’re not the Jenny who was born in … You’re a spirit, Jenny.”
“Yes, what they call a ghost. I’ve known that for a long time.” She paused. “But it confused me. Because I couldn’t understand why. I was just there, in that place, and I was alone. All I understood was that I had to be patient. I had to wait.”
“To find the person who took your life?”
“That was a part of it.”
“I would think it would be a big part.” She stopped, hesitating again. She didn’t want to go down this path. She was getting the impression that Jenny was being truthful but that the girl was lost and bewildered, and Eve didn’t want to add pain to the mix. “You don’t remember how you were killed?”