Laurel

Mandy slumped in the swing seat of the porch, scowling. Her grandmother Clara and her parents Jack and Yvonne were chatting amiably, drinking iced tea and enjoying Clara’s lemon pound cake, oblivious to the fact that Mandy was shunning them. Jack glanced at his watch.

“Come on, love,” he said to Yvonne. “We’d best get going. I’d rather not be on these mountain roads after dark.”

He stood up and held out his arms to Mandy who reluctantly shuffled over to give him a hug before embracing her mother.

“I’d better not hear a word of any misbehavior from you, miss,” Jack said as he walked towards the car.

“Now that’s enough, Jack,” said Clara, winking at Mandy. To Mandy’s surprise, Jack bit off whatever he was about to say. He seemed to have a healthy respect for the diminutive Clara. “Mandy and I will get along just fine.”

Clara turned to Mandy as the car disappeared into the distance.

“Tell me what’s been going on. I heard your parents’ version.”

Mandy pouted.

“It’s not fair. I just went to a party some of the kids were having in the woods. I’m fourteen now. It’s not like I’m a baby. We’d just got there when Dad came busting in like Rambo and shut everything down.”

“How did your father know about it?” said Clara. “Where did he think you were?”

“With my friend Helen, which isn’t a lie, ‘cos she came too. Jamie told him. He was mad because I called him Jammy in front of his stupid friends.”

“It’s probably not a good idea to embarrass your brother and lie to your parents. How old were the other kids?”

“My friends Rosie and Helen are the same age as me. Most of the guys were older, like sixteen or seventeen. Boys our age are so immature.”

“Was there alcohol available?”

Mandy fidgeted, avoiding Clara’s keen gaze.

“They brought some, but I didn’t drink any.”

“Really?”

“Well, I tried some wine, but it tasted gross, so I didn’t finish it. Dad didn’t even let me explain. He took my phone and now I’m here for the summer.”

Clara looked at her, brows raised.

“Is that so terrible?”

Mandy blushed.

“I’m sorry, Grandma. I didn’t mean that the way it sounds. It’s just that I…I mean…”

Clara chuckled.

“The phone wouldn’t have been much good to you anyway. There’s barely any reception up here. Now, let me show you something.”

Putting her finger to her lips, she tiptoed over to the porch rail and looked down. A little black cat appeared from underneath the house, took one look at Mandy and fled back into hiding.

“She’ll get used to you. She’s got four babies down there. I’m hoping to get her tame enough that I can eventually take her to the vet. Can you help me? You can start by thinking of a name for her.”

Mandy stared, entranced, all her grievances forgotten for the time being.

“I love cats, but Jamie’s allergic so we can’t have one at home.”

“Let’s get in the car and go to the store. I need a few things, including cat food,” said Clara, indicating a large, dilapidated station wagon. She patted the dashboard as she started the engine. “This is Flo. She never lets me down.”

Mandy buckled up and clung on for dear life, eyes closed, as Clara, barely able to see over the steering wheel, hurtled down the winding road, pointing out neighboring houses and reminiscing about Jack’s childhood.

At the general store in town, Clara stopped to chat to almost everyone they met, proudly introducing Mandy who smiled and shook hands, cringing with embarrassment. Clara eyed her with amusement as they loaded the groceries into Flo.

“Don’t worry, hon. None of your friends are ever going to know you were seen in public with your old grandma, unless I post pictures on Instagram, of course.”

“What?” said Mandy, recoiling in alarm.

“Oh, Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook…” said Clara, bursting out laughing at Mandy’s horrified expression. “Don’t be silly. I’m not such a dinosaur that I don’t know about social media. I’m just glad it wasn’t around in my day. There are a few things that might have come back to haunt me. But that’s a story for another time.”

Clara barreled along the twisty roads towards home. She shook her head as they saw a girl of about Mandy’s age trudging along the side of the road.

“It’s not safe walking with the way people drive around here,” she said without irony, pulling level and rolling down her window.

“Need a ride, hon?”

The girl turned and smiled.

“That would be great. Could you drop me off at the end of Bridge Road?”

“No problem. Hop in the back.”

The girl slid into the back seat, smiling at Mandy who nodded a greeting, bracing herself as Clara shot off again.

“This is my granddaughter Mandy,” Clara shouted back over her shoulder. “Here for the summer.”

“That’s nice,” said the girl. “I hope you enjoy your stay. Bridge Road’s about a mile yonder, just past the crossroads.”

“I can drop you off at your house if you tell me where it is,” said Clara.

“No, it’s okay, thanks,” said the girl. “I’m not supposed to be taking rides from nobody. Don’t want to get in trouble.”

As they approached the crossroads, Mandy glanced up into the rear view mirror and blanched.

“Gran, she’s gone. She’s not there,” she croaked. The car lurched as Clara bumped up onto the verge and stopped.

“What do you mean? How can she be gone?”

They both turned around and stared. The only sign that anyone had been there was a magazine lying on the seat. Mandy twisted around and grabbed it.

“Teen Talk. July 1989. Grandma, this is weird,” Mandy said, trembling.

“So, I finally met her,” said Clara her face ashen. “I’ll explain when we get home. Not another word for now.”

Mandy was still shaken when they returned home from a combination of her grandmother’s driving and the strange encounter with the girl. If it wasn’t for the magazine, she would have thought the whole episode was a figment of her imagination. She helped Clara unload the groceries and put some food out for the cat who watched suspiciously from a distance. Clara poured lemonade into tall glasses.

“Let’s sit on the porch a minute,” she said, lowering herself into a rocking chair. Mandy sat in the swing seat opposite. Clara took a deep breath.

“Believe it or not, your dad was a teenager once. One summer when school got out he and some of his buddies went to party in the woods not far from here. He must have been about your age. They were listening to music and drinking. It was fun at first, but then things started to get out of hand. Your dad and his best friend Steve and their girlfriends decided to leave. Steve was driving and ran the stop sign at that crossroads. A truck T boned them on the passenger side and Steve’s girlfriend Laurel was killed. The rest of them, including your dad, were hurt but survived.”

“That’s awful,” said Mandy.

“It gets worse,” said Clara. “Steve took his own life a few months later. Couldn’t live with the guilt.”

“Now I understand why Dad went off the deep end…” said Mandy as realization dawned. “But what does that have to do with the girl in the car?”

“Ever since, there have been stories about people giving a ride to a girl who disappears into thin air right near the crossroads where the accident happened. I always thought it was a load of malarkey until today.”

Mandy looked at the magazine.

“Gran, what year did the accident happen?”

“1989,” said Clara without hesitation. “I’ll never forget it.”

Mandy handed her the magazine and pointed to the date. As Clara took it and gingerly turned a page, the brittle paper crumbled to dust in her hand.

“Well, I never,” said Clara. “This is very strange. Maybe she’s trying to warn you."

"Or maybe she wants to prove to you that she exists," said Mandy.

"Either way, I think we'll keep this little episode to ourselves," said Clara. "We don't want people thinking we're candidates for the funny farm."

At that moment the little black cat jumped up onto the porch and rubbed against Mandy’s legs.

“ Gran, can we call her Laurel?” said Mandy, gently rubbing the cat’s ears.

“That would be nice,” said Clara. "Laurel was a sweet girl. She deserves to be remembered."

The cat jumped onto Mandy’s lap, emerald eyes gleaming, and began to purr.