Days in Mary Hill and The Parent Ghost

This is a delightful little tale about a ghost in a small village in the mountains of Jamaica, who wants to lend the children a helping hand, and can think of no better way to do it than to appear to them in the guise of a friend or neighbour, and impart the knowledge that they need at any particular time. We find, for instance, that the youngsters suddenly have a thorough knowledge of hurricane wind speeds and ocean currents, and along the way we are given a glimpse of village life and interactions between people.

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DAYS IN Mary Hill AND THE Parent GhostBy Stacy-Ann VousdenTrafford PublishingCopyright © 2013 Stacy - Ann VousdenAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4669-9018-0 CHAPTER 1Those were the golden days, free as a bird, withadventures at every corner, and revelling inthe beautiful scenery. The mountain rangeenveloped the village in its wings and the shrubs thatlined the borders of the terraces gave the impressionof a boundless sea. These alone could have confirmedthe proud standing of the village, but due to a spateof recent construction, the natural beauty andpicture-perfect scenery had been somewhat stained.However, the houses were laid out spaciously on theterraced hillside, peaceful and dreamy.The years living in Mary Hill were so much fun,with the boys riding their skating karts through thearea, blazing fast enough to dazzle the naked eye.Our chores included pushing our go-karts up the hillbefore dawn to fetch drinking water from the springpumping up from the earth, and then collecting woodfrom the nearby bushes. We would pack the branchesinto piles and Grandma Bandy would use them tostart the fire in the mornings and evenings. The cowshad to be put out to graze at first light, and we hadto tie Bully and Joy in Mackie Land before the moonsettled behind the mountains. Mackie Land had lotsof grass so most farmers called it 'The Nursery', andany under-nourished animal who went there to spendeven a day would look so good afterwards it could gostraight to the slaughterhouse.Mackie Land was a good distance away, but even so,we had just enough time to get there in the morningsand be back home in time to leave for school. TheMary Hill children would wake up with the dawn, andcomplete all their chores by six o'clock, when it wastime to get ready, and we had to pay strict attention tothe seven o'clock plane as we were dressing. Ma Bandywas always in the old kitchen, with the zinc roof andthe faithful, dirt floor; then at six-fifty when it passedover, she would shout "Pickney! Pickney! Grab yourshoes in your hand and go.... the seven o'clock planegone." Sometimes we were all prepared, but to teaseher we shuffled and tossed around inside the house,pretending we weren't ready at all.One day at Mackie Land we heard an unfamiliarsound in the bushes, a voice saying 'A who ..., awho ...' I assumed it was asking a question and Ishouted a puzzled reply, "Is Stacy and Shanique fromRichmond Grass, we trespassing". Shanique ran off,shouting "Come Stacy, Grandma Bandy don't haveany land at Mackie Land, come Stacy, leave what wedon't put down".The voice was garbled and we had to unscramblethe words to interpret what it was saying. When we gotto the house Shanique said we might have been rich, ifwe had stayed to find out what it was, but we didn't goback, because Shanique was afraid. We told Junior andRichard about it, and they thought it might be a wildchicken, the kind that people love to eat, especiallythose kept in residential areas. They told Miss Enidabout it and she said they were patoos, and we shouldleave them alone.We had two cows, Joy and Bully; Joy gave usmilk, which we sold to the community, while Bullywas there for the sole purpose of producing calves,although he was getting really big and we were havingtrouble managing him. Mas Dee Man, our grandfather,couldn't manage him either. We wanted to sell him butcouldn't because it would stop Joy's production.Early in the morning our go-karts were the meansof transportation for distributing cow's milk to thecommunity. Sherece, Shanique and I would sit in thego-kart, and Richard and Junior, our neighbours,would push us through the valley floor and over thesteep hills. They were both obsessed with Sherece,but she didn't appreciate it when they fought witheach other to do things for her. I stayed close to herwhenever they were around. In the early morningsour parents would stay in bed a bit late while we triedto complete the milk routes. They ironed our clotheson Sundays with the coal-heated iron, as GrandmaBandy didn't do that often for us. She was always ina hurry, and couldn't iron without burning something,and when we wore the damaged clothes the studentswould laugh us to scorn, and invite the others to look;so when Mommy couldn't afford to do it for us, wepleased ourselves.When we got back from the milk market we wouldgive the money we earned to Grandma Bandy, whowould then give us an additional five dollars if thesale was good. Very rarely would the sale please her,and every morning she complained that we were notbringing home enough money. This eventually becameour song. The extra allowance didn't matter much toShanique and me, because we had already deductedtwo and a half ounces of milk from each customer'sshare until it reached a quart, and that portion wasour pocket money. We always shared it equally, butnot with Sherece; she worked hard to get GrandmaBandy's approval, and also, the boys' eyes were alwayson her. Both boys were in love with Sherece; theydidn't like me that way.Then we used to tumble through the gully in ourslam-patters to the waterfall to take a shower, afterwhich we hastily dressed and raced down the hill toschool as quickly as horsemen, because we didn't wantto be late. If we were a minute late reaching the gate,we would be feeling Mr. Hutchinson's cane across ourbottoms, or on the palms of our hands.Miss Enid, the boys' grandmother, would givethem whatever they wanted, just so they werecomfortable. To be honest, they were clever, and mostof all, they were determined to do well. Junior wassmaller in body and light-skinned, while Richard wasmuscular but neat, and his voice was as charming asthe calm summer sea. Junior always tried to get aheadof his brother and would do anything to outsmarthim. Richard dreamed of getting an English gig forChristmas, because no one owned one yet in thedistrict. It was very expensive and Miss Enid couldn'tafford one, so he prayed for it, and the responsewas that he should go outside at midnight, searchfor a falling star and wish on it. It sounded strangeat first, but he remembered hearing stories aboutpeople making wishes at midnight when a falling starpassed across the sky. So he didn't hesitate; he madehis plan and said nothing to his brother. That nighthe remembered sitting up until eleven-fifty, and thenext thing he knew, it was four-thirty in the morning.He was mad with himself and couldn't believe hehad made a special wish pass him by. In the morningGrandma Bandy came to him and said she would givehim whatever it was that he desired. "You will get thegame you want; when I wake you tonight just come upon the veranda and make your wish".That night he saw Grandma Bandy in his dreams,and heard her telling him it was time to make hiswish. This time he was very happy, knowing thatnothing would prevent him from achieving his goal.He sprang up excitedly and went outside. He wantedan English gig and would not push himself into MissEnid's pocket. Everything the voice advised him to dohe did, until he received his English gig. That morninghe woke up, and there beside him on his bed was thebrand new game. It was very hard for him to acceptthis reality—going to bed wanting an English gig andwaking up with it. He had already got it so it didn'tmatter where it came from, but he was certain thatGrandma Bandy was the one who had helped him.That morning his face was beaming, and his mouthwas filled with irony."Look what Ma Bandy gave me", said Richard. "Isthat an English gig?" Junior asked. "You are a sensibleboy and I am sure you are not blind", Richard replied."Grandma Bandy gave it to me; she made me wish forit", he continued in a haughty tone. Junior couldn'tbelieve it, remembering all the time he had spentaround Grandma Bandy's grand-children, and hearingthem talk about how they wanted an English gig. Thiswas more than an ordinary gig; it would 'sleep' for along time.Richard pushed away the indolent feeling thatnormally overtook him on weekends, and did a littleexercise, eager to start the day with his new game. Thatmorning both boys rode up and told Miss Enid aboutthe episode with Grandma Bandy, and the controversyover where the game had come from. If Miss Enidfound Richard lying she would knock it out of him,so he had prepared his story before facing her, and hedidn't really have much to say, except that Ma Bandyhad given him the game. Junior listened attentively,ready for him to make a mistake, so that Miss Enidwould know he was lying. "What are you saying tome? I don't believe Ma Bandy gave this game thing toyou. Come, let's go, or I will show you the punishmentunruly children get", Miss Enid exclaimed. Richardwasn't put out, and walked comfortably behind her."Miss Bandy, hello, hello, and good morning"said Miss Enid. "Is who dead now? Give thanksbecause obviously we were lucky; you are only a fewyards away, and I don't see you this long time" saidMa Bandy. "Well, don't confuse blessings with luck;anyway, I don't want to hear about that," Miss Enidsaid. "What then ... and why are you here" Ma Bandyasked. "Well this game thing here ... and Richard,what do you know about it and why did you ..." MissEnid didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, as afamiliar voice hollered to Ma Bandy from the top ofthe hill and you could tell something was wrong. "Thecow is dying, come quick; his legs aren't holding himup", the voice exclaimed, and Ma Bandy ran off tosave her faithful cow.Suddenly, her image came back and explainedto Miss Enid about the game and she understood.Miss Enid thought something was not right, but itjust wasn't clear. That day she became very alert andobservant, and every object that passed made herjittery. The fact was that Ma Bandy had rushed offinto the bush at high speed, and suddenly there shewas back, breathing normally and talking to her, andshe wore a contented smile, admitting that she hadgiven the game to Richard.Later on, at midday, Ma Bandy shouted over toMiss Enid explaining that because of the cow she hadbeen forced to cut the conversation short, and that thestory about what happened to Bully had turned outnot to be true. 'It wasn't true?' Miss Enid asked herselfand said exaggeratedly "Ah boy, take the case and giveme the pillow; struggles are not mine"."Something about this is strange, and she evencame back to explain to me the whole controversyover the game thing" said Miss Enid. The day drewto a close, and no one had really found out anything.Richard was boasting to his friends about his newgame, exclaiming that Ma Bandy helped him wish forit. But when we heard this we were very angry with MaBandy, knowing that we had been good grandchildrento her for years. We had opened our hearts to herabout the wishing and the falling star, and all she didwas stifle our interest, and now, of all things, she hadgiven someone who was practically a stranger the thingwe had always wished for—an English gig.All of us grandchildren were determined tohear from the horse's mouth who it was that hadgiven Richard the game. Sherece was peppery andno matter the age of her enemy, she would defendherself. In fact, they were afraid of her in the district,and whatever business Ma Bandy conducted, Sherececould fill the gap if necessary, and do very well. Shewas very curious, and couldn't figure out how he cameto have the English gig; we knew that Ma Bandy hatedto see people waiting for the falling star at night tomake wishes, so using Ma Bandy's name as an excusewas pathetic and useless. And then the story began tounfold.Sherece went up to Richard, all out of breath,"What is it about this game? Ma Bandy belongs to usand not to you, you are Miss Enid's children, so explainto me the concept, and how can she give you a game,when her grandchildren needed it? Or was it that MissEnid set you up to steal it from some rich kid?" MissEnid heard the shrillness in her voice outside, andcame out to look. "What is going on up there?" sheasked. "The game that Grandma gave your grandson"Sherece replied. Ma Bandy heard the quarrel and ranto nip it in the bud, knowing that from the momentSherece was involved, it would not end easily. But atthe very moment when Ma Bandy was asking Sherecewhat the noise was about, a strange voice came fromher house and she turned abruptly and left them.Suddenly, the ghost came up close to the crowd inMa Bandy's image, telling Sherece that there are thingsthat we don't talk about, and the good we do to otherpeople's children will return to us, and she shouldlet Richard keep the game. They didn't realize thatit wasn't really Ma Bandy. So Sherece apologized toRichard, their relationship went back to normal, andSherece was going to promise that she would nevertalk about the game again. But it was very hard forher to do this, and when it came to the point whereshe had to actually say it, she bit her chubby lip andwalked away. Ma Bandy was serious, and what she saidwas the law, even though it wasn't she herself.Richard was still afraid to see Sherece; he didn't goto the milk market for a month, nor did he come tohelp with Bully and Joy. Ma Bandy realized somethingwas up, and decided to question Sherece, thinking shewould get a straight answer. At the end of the milkmarket she said "What about Richard, I haven't seenhim these days". No one said a word. "Ma Bandy,remember at Miss Enid's gate you told me that thereare things that we don't talk about"."But you always use modern complicated answersto reply to a civilized question—why is that?" MaBandy exclaimed with anger rising in her eyes.Then Junior spoke up "Well if no one else wants toremember, Ma Bandy, then maybe I will". Richardwas his brother but he didn't like him much. "Whatis it you want to say to me?" said Ma Bandy, lookingstrange, because if someone tried to fool with herdaughter she would....Junior started telling her about what happened,and repeated what she said. "What? Where is that littleboy name Richard? I am going to kill him" Ma Bandyyelled. Afterwards Miss Enid came by, and told themher version, and then they realized that it was a ghostappearing in other people's images. Richard decided tokeep the game, and swore he would never let anythingdamage it, because it was a gift. They were very sureof this because people had started talking about it. MaBandy was now getting afraid, and five o'clock in theevening wouldn't catch her on the veranda, or out ofthe children's sight. She had a serious fear of ghosts.CHAPTER 2The ghost in the district could form itself intoanyone's image, and even talk like them. Itwould appear like a parent to some of thechildren, and sometimes, when it couldn't correct aparticular child's attitude, it would go to the parent andmake a complaint. The children were always puzzled,and sometimes the ghost showed up in other people'simages, when the children were not expecting themto be there. But the children were always safe, and theghost would not harm them.On the road to school Richard and Junior wouldplay bicycle racing with their friends and end the dayat the sea. They would hide the bicycles their motherhad bought them for Christmas in the bushes, inthe early morning before she woke up, complete alltheir chores and prepare their best khaki uniformsfor school. They were as attractive as the plants inbloom, and as brilliant as the rising stars. Whereverthey went they gave people something to talk about.They prepared themselves well and their intelligencewas obvious in whatever greeting they gave, so thatwhoever they met up with was very impressed. Theywere a welcome voice to many individuals. However,Miss Enid never allowed them to take the bicyclesout on the open street, in spite of their audaciousnessand the relationships they shared with the people theyencountered. At first Richard wasn't so pleased, butwhen Junior told him about the advantages, he perkedup and became interested.At the sea they were real quick. The boys all learnedfrom Richard and Junior. They told them all the factsand figures involving the sea and the rivers, but not thedisadvantages. They said that what really causes thesaltiness of the water is the river water that absorbstiny particles of salt from the earth, and then carriesthe water out to sea. "This may cause the sea waterto be salty, but clean and healthy". Land absorbs heatfaster than water, and loses heat more quickly thanwater. These differences set up air currents, and windsnormally blow in from the sea to replace the rising air. (Continues...)Excerpted from DAYS IN Mary Hill AND THE Parent Ghost by Stacy-Ann Vousden. Copyright © 2013 Stacy - Ann Vousden. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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