The Grey Ghost

A dark romance

Alton Cummings was a young man from one of the most well established families of the new territories.  Alton’s father, Norman, had made his fortune as a wealthy farmer and had done well enough for himself to provide a comfortable living for himself and his family.  Alton was smart and motivated and was expected to take the Cummings name and further it on into prosperity.  He was a tall young man with light brown hair, sharp green eyes, and a physique that he had earned helping out his father’s farm hands as a young boy.  He appreciated the value of hard work and made it known that he didn’t want anything handed to him by his father; he wanted to earn everything himself.  In the last year before Alton was to go to university, he crossed paths in town with a young lady named Alice Mullins.  Alice was just a year younger than Alton but the two hit if off immediately.  He was transfixed by her laughter and wanted to be near her all the time.  Her disposition was light and airy and she quickly became the center of Alton’s world.  She was beautiful with soft blonde hair, and everyone in town always spoke well of her.  She always asked others how they were and what they were up to in their own lives but she rarely talked about herself; she was concerned with her heritage coming from a poorer area of town.  Even though Alton assured her he had no interest of her past, she rarely spoke of her family or where she had come from. 

Alton and Alice could be found together in town laughing with each other or taking walks together through the sprawling countryside.  One of Alton’s favorite activities was to bring a picnic basket full of food and wine where they could find a sunny spot under a tree, eat lunch, and then he would read to her.  Alice would just lay her head on his shoulder and listen to Alton’s voice as he told her stories of great heroes and deep romances.  Alice’s favorite thing to do with Alton was a regular horse ride over the hills of Appleton.  She loved the way the leaves of the trees would change into colors of amber, yellow, and red leaving cascading hills of color for as far as the eye could see.  She said that it was more beautiful knowing that the leaves would only be on the trees for a short while until they fell.  It was the leaves’ ultimate fate that added to their beauty.

Alton’s mother, Nancy, was very cautious about Alice.  All she saw was Alton’s future after he finished school and she was worried that his attention on Alice would keep him from moving forward with his life as he had planned.  He would soon be off to college in a few months and would not have time to spend afternoons picnicking under trees.  After a few months of seeing each other, Alton told his parents of his intention to ask for Alice’s hand in marriage.  He had weighed his options carefully and wanted her at his side as his wife while he was in school.  He saw her as his support through life and did not want to move on without her.  Alton’s news was not received by his parents as warmly as he had hoped and a heated discussion about his future soon followed.  Alton and his parents eventually agreed to wait until Alice could be there to talk with them so they could hear her viewpoint as well.  They made plans to all have dinner at the Cummings estate in a few days to discuss the pending nuptials. 

Unbeknownst to the rest of her family, Nancy Cummings made a trip into town to talk with Alice herself before the family dinner.  She made her way to Alice’s Aunt’s home, where Alice stayed.  Alice’s parents had sent Alice to live with her aunt, Matilda Brown, when she was a young girl.  Matilda loved Alice very much and she had raised her as her own daughter.  Nancy arrived at Matilda’s house shortly before sundown and knocked on the door.  When she tapped the door knocker, the front door swayed open slightly.  Nancy listened intently into the house for any sign of someone to greet her, but there was nothing but silence.  She slowly pushed the front door open and gently called inside.  Again, there was no answer.  At this time of day, it would be unusual for ladies to be about town anywhere for fear of trying to travel at night, and it was unlikely that Alice or Matilda would have been called away at someone else’s house.  Their social status in town would have made it extremely odd for them to be invited guests and they had no real friends inside of town.  Nancy slowly moved into the house looking for any sign of someone at home.  She found a candle at a table by the front door, lit it, and began to call out for Alice.  She turned the corner to move into the kitchen when she walked upon a man dressed in black standing over the fallen, bloody body of Matilda Brown with a knife in his hand.  The man was dressed head to toe in black with some kind of scarf or shawl covering his face. 

Nancy screamed and turned to run back to the front door.  Just as she crossed the threshold going outside, the man in black grabbed hold of her shoulders and threw her back inside the house.  Nancy crawled away from the man until she hit a wall and could retreat no more.  The attacker leveled his knife at Nancy who was frozen with fear and demanded that she tell him where Alice was.  Nancy pleaded that she didn’t know anything and begged for him to let her go, but the man in black refused.  He crept toward her as he moved the handle of the blade so he could make a final killing stroke.  Just as he reached upward to bring death to Nancy Cummings, there was a quick flash of movement from the staircase behind him, and he was tackled by someone wearing a dark grey cloak.  Nancy curled up and closed her eyes, the only thing she could think to do.  She heard the dark assassin and whoever the other person was struggle back and forth through the living room until there was suddenly a heavy drop as the loser fell to the floor.

Slowly Nancy withdrew her trembling hands to see who had survived the fight, and she looked up on none other than Alice Mullins dressed in grey.  Alice rushed to Nancy to make sure she was not injured.  After being reassured that she was not hurt, Alice quickly moved the fallen intruder to the back of the house with her dead Aunt Matilda.  Nancy could not believe what she was seeing.  Alice moved around the house cleaning up dead bodies as if it was a typical day at the house; she even started brewing a pot of tea.  Still afraid for her life Nancy found her way to a chair in the living room and didn’t dare move.  All she could do was watch as Alice worked to restore the house and remove any trace of the attack. 

The teapot whistled as the water came to a boil and Alice brought a fresh cup over to Nancy.  Alice urged her to drink the tea to help settle her nerves.  Alice apologized for the excitement for she had hoped that she would be able to keep this part of her past away from her new life.  She sat down across from Nancy and reassured her that everything she had done with Alton was genuine.  She loved him with all her heart and wanted nothing more than to start a new life with him, but with dark, evil people still after her, she could see now that the life she had hoped for herself was not possible.  Nancy took a couple of sips of her tea and eventually the tension left her body.  Nancy asked what past that Alice had been trying to run away from and that she didn’t understand what had happened here.

Alice explained that she was trained ever since she was a young girl to be an assassin.  Her parents had died when she was very young and she was taken in by this group.  She was taught how to fight and to become someone unassuming so she could get closer to her targets.  When she became older she wanted to break away from the group that spread death with their actions and she ran away.  She found an old aunt in another country that she thought she could start a new life with, but the assassins who had brought her up as a girl had found her again. 

Alice urged Nancy to finish her tea and go back home, telling Alton and her husband nothing of what had happened.  She would dispose of the bodies and leave town on her own to keep any further harm from endangering her family.  She also asked Nancy to ask Alton not to go looking for her and Nancy agreed.  Knowing Alton like she did, she knew that he would cross oceans for the woman he loved; it was just part of his determined character.  Alice wrote a letter for Nancy to give to Alton saying she had left with her aunt never to return to Appleton and she was starting a new part of her life without him.  Alice hoped that his false letter along with Nancy’s support would drive Alton away and on to college.

Nancy returned home but did not sleep.  It was as almost what had happened over at Alice’s Aunt Matilda’s house wasn’t real.  It would all be some bad dream and she would find everything back as it should be tomorrow and this horrible encounter could then be forgotten.  She would not be so lucky.  Word came quickly that Matilda had disappeared with Alice during the night and no one knew where they had gone to.  There was no notice left with a neighbor or correspondence in the house to explain the sudden disappearance.  When Alton read Alice’s letter to him and learned that his love had gone from him his heart broke.  Nancy tried her best to console her grieving son but he stayed alone in his room and barely came out or spoke to anyone.  True to her word, Alice had left them alone.  Nancy tried as much as she could to get back to life as she knew it.  The running of the house kept her busy during the day and she devoted herself to helping Alton plan his transfer to school over the next few weeks.

Alton moved on to school and he pushed himself into his work.  He had spent the last few weeks grieving a lost love and so he began his school term by surrounding himself with academics and a new circle of friends which helped move his spirits.  He developed an affinity for science and excelled in his school work.  He could be found spending many late nights staying in his lab testing his hypothesis on one experiment or another.  From time to time though, his thoughts would still drift to Alice.  Alton would catch himself drifting off on some romantic daydream where he was still with his beloved under a tree basking in the sun.  Soon he could see Alice wherever he went on campus.  It was almost as if the ghost of her was always with him.  He would make his way on to class across campus and he could swear that she was watching him.  He would see her one moment and then look again to find that she had gone.  No one else in his class had seen her or anyone else matching Alice’s description anywhere on the grounds.  Alice had become a ghost that haunted him.

Alton wrote to his mother that his heart still longed for Alice and no amount of school work or experiments could drive her from his mind.  Nancy knew that even if she were to tell Alton the incredible story of what happened at Matilda’s house that night he would never believe her; she barely believed it herself.  She felt in her bones that it was no ghost that her son was seeing at school but actually Alice herself.  If someone with her mysterious past and skills were still alive this could very well be the real Alice, and so Nancy resolved to see if she could help settle the matter once and for all; she would see if this was all in her son’s head or if Alice had actually returned to their lives.

In an effort to cheer her son, Nancy Cummings arranged a surprise visit to see him at school.  Alton was elated at the arrival of his mother and took her on a tour of the school.  When he spoke of his friends and his work he seemed to come alive again and not be burdened with heartache.  He told his mother of the work he had begun on electro magnets and the prospects that his work held.  If his work was correct, the electromagnets he was developing would give small machines great power unlike anything that was being made before and allow farmers or other manufacturing plants to increase their output and productivity.  New vehicles could be created to take men farther and faster than they had ever been before. 

After hearing about school and the work that Alton was doing, Nancy brought up these ghosts of Alice that her son had seen.  At first he didn’t want to discuss them, but eventually he relented.  Her disappearance had disturbed him to the core of his being and he had hoped that his new work would take him into another chapter of his life, but he felt like he was going mad.  He still could see her around school but no one else seemed to share in what he saw.  He had been racked if it was just the loss of his love that was causing this or if he was really losing his mind. 

The day had grown long and fog began rolling in and so Alton started escorting his mother back to her accommodations when their path became impeded by three men in dark clothing.  They were in fine suits and sharp top hats, but the way the stood told Alton that they were dangerous men.   Each man held a walking cane in his hand and they stood their ground to block Alton and Nancy.  Alton bade them move aside but the three men just laughed at him.  Alton shielded his mother from the men who blocked their path and started to escort her by another path, but one of the three moved to block him again.  Alton demanded that they allow them to pass before he called out for the authorities, but the leader of the three said that Alton would be long dead before any help arrived.  The leader demanded that Alton give over the prototype electromagnet that was in his lab or he would risk the death of his mother.

Before Alton could respond the vagabond to the left of the leader called out in pain and then collapsed to the ground revealing a knife imbedded in his back.  Everyone turned to look in shock as they saw a person flash towards them in a dark grey cloak.  The grey ghost landed a kick to the other assailant that sent him reeling to the round and then turned to engage the leader.  Alton moved his mother back safely from the fight but kept a steady eye on the two fighting in front of him.  The vagrant revealed his cane to actually be a sword as he pulled the sheath away but the grey ghost met his blade with one of their own and sounds of metal furiously clashed through the night.  The two seemed to be evenly matched as each one scored blows against the other, but the grey ghost gave a quick feint caught the assailant off guard.  The ghost thrust forward with the end of their blade and found it’s home in the side of man in black.  The man in black fought for his footing as he struggled to breathe but finally fell in defeat on the cobblestone streets.

The grey ghost fell to their knees now that the fight was over and Alton rushed forward to their aid.  He reached out to pick up his savior but found his long lost love, Alice, in his arms instead.  With tears in her eyes she apologized for keeping her secret from Alton but she was not all who she said she was. 

She told him of her past growing up and why she had to leave him that day back in Appleton.  In hopes to free herself from the assassins once and for all she tried to see what she could do to destroy the group for good.  The assassins were looking into a new power source technology that would power tools and weapons for them to use and make them even more dangerous.  She looked into who was making the new technology and was distraught to find that it was her love.  No matter how much she tried to stay away for his safety she would not be able to keep the promise she had made to herself.   Knowing that he was now the focus of their attention she had to make sure he was safe.  She had spent the last few weeks watching him at school but trying to stay out of his view.  Her own longing to talk to him was making her slow and sloppy and she found that he would notice her around from time to time. 

Alton told her that he didn’t care where she had been.  All that he cared about was that she was here now.  He would take care of her and she would never need to leave him again.  Alton noticed that Alice was bleeding from her own injuries from the fight with the man in black and told her to remain still while he fetched help.  Nancy came over to stay with Alice as Alton went in search of a doctor.  Alice thanked her for keeping her secret and wanted to know she tried everything to keep her son safe.  Nancy embraced the girl she had once doubted for her son saying that if it wasn’t for her intervention and protection, a far worse fate would have come to Alton, and for that she would forever be grateful.  Alice tore a piece of her cloak and wrapped her wounds quickly.  Standing up she bade Nancy farewell.  She still had one more obstacle to remove from this evil cabal before Alton could be safe and if she stayed here she would not make it to where she needed to be in time; all their sacrifices would have been for nothing.  Until the threat was removed, she must stay the grey ghost before she can come home.  Alice embraced Nancy again and ran off into the dark foggy streets. 

As the school year went on Alton continued his work.  He was no longer brought down by a haunting visage of his lost love, but was now fueled by an unwavering purpose to complete his experiments.  His face carried an infectious smile and he became beloved by anyone who met him.  Alton Cummings went on to great success with his work on the electromagnet and he did as he set out to do in furthering the respect of his family name.  A long time passed without Alton ever seeing Alice again, but he never grew despondent.  His mother urged him to move on with his life and start a family of his own.  After several years he eventually met a lovely lady who was a governess for one of his friends at college and he married her and had several children of his own. Alton was truly happy with his life and before long any talk of Alice stopped as he moved from a prospering college student into a respected man, husband, and father. 

There was one story, however, that Alton passed on to his children.  It was a legend that he told at bedtime of a fantastic guardian who protected his family ever since he was a boy.  It was because of this silent guardian that his children could sleep soundly at night when storms came around or the darkness felt a little too dark.  The children would remember the story of the Grey Ghost, the protector of the Cummings family and how they never failed to protect their charge.  With this unfaltering spirit around to guide them, nothing would be able to hurt them.