Writing All Wrongs by Ellery Adams

reading glasses Olivia recognized from the opening ceremony as the librarian, Marjorie Tucker, dimmed the lights. The audience fell quiet. Emmett introduced himself and began a slide-show presentation featuring the haunted landmarks of the North Carolina coast. The talk encompassed several antebellum homes, two cemeteries, a stretch of forest, an area of swampland, a theater, and a library.
    “One of the most famous hauntings occurs on Palmetto Island,” Emmett went on to say. The audience, Harris andOlivia included, was already engrossed. But now, they sat up a little straighter, eager to hear what the professor knew about the local ghost.
    The projector flickered and an oil painting of a young woman appeared on screen. She had creamy white skin, dark hair pulled into a tight bun, and large, golden-brown eyes. Her rosebud lips and the delicate fringe of curls around her face were dainty, but her Roman nose and jaw were too pronounced, making her handsome rather than beautiful. Olivia liked the self-possession she saw in the young woman’s face.
    “She looks like Silas Black’s girlfriend dressed as a Jane Austen character,” Harris said under his breath.
    Olivia nodded in amazement. Leigh Whitlow was a dead ringer for the woman on the screen.
    “This is Theodosia Burr Alston, daughter of Aaron Burr. Some of you might recall that Aaron Burr was arrested in 1807 for treason. He was later acquitted and spent several years in Europe.” Emmett pushed a button and an image of an early nineteenth-century schooner replaced Theodosia’s portrait. “Theodosia took care of her father’s affairs while he was abroad. A very well educated and accomplished young woman, she managed to secure safe passage to New York for her father. He asked her to meet him there for a reunion. However, she was delayed by an unfortunate circumstance.”
    “Didn’t her son die?” someone sitting close to Emmett asked.
    “That’s right. Her son, who was named after his grandfather, died of a fever in June. Grief-stricken, Theodosia wasn’t well enough to travel until December of that same year.”
    Emmett brought up the next image. This one was a photograph of a woman in a pale green dress walking on a beach. It had been taken at twilight from a distance, so the image of the woman was blurry and almost translucent. “Theodosia boarded a schooner called
Patriot
, which sailed from Georgetown, South Carolina. Legend has it that theship foundered on the Frying Pan Shoals and sank. Another version of the tale blames the ship’s disappearance on pirates. Either way, all hands were lost.” He indicated the photograph on-screen. “Since then, more than a dozen witnesses claim to have seen a woman of Theodosia’s description walking along the beach near Cape Fear. Some think she is looking for her father. Others believe she is searching for her husband or her son. There have been no sightings since the Cape Fear Lighthouse was demolished in 1958. Perhaps the spirit of Theodosia Burr followed that light to shore, and once its beacon was no longer visible, no longer had anything to hold her to this place.”
    Emmett concluded by encouraging people to visit the maritime museum and was about to take questions when Jan Powell burst into the room. Her eyes raked the crowd until her gaze landed on Amy. Barreling her way down the row, heedless of shouts of protest as people’s feet were trampled, Jan grabbed Amy by the shoulders and shook her.
    “That son of a bitch bought the land!” Jan shrieked. “He and the seller closed last night while the rest of us were traumatized by the death of the white deer. Did he do it? Did he kill that deer as a distraction?
Tell me!
You tell me so I can—”
    Two men pulled Jan off Amy. Jan fought them for a moment and then collapsed into an empty chair and began to sob. “We
are
cursed!
All of us!
This whole
ruined
island.” Her voice carried such despair that Olivia felt a rush of pity for the woman. “A