The Other World

By littlejoefan

The wind whipped up the sand into a frenzied dust that swirled everywhere around us. I watched the girl in front of me as she laughed and pranced.

“You loco or something?” I laughed.

I had to yell over the demon scream of the storm.

“I’ve always done this!”

“You are loco!”

Her long hair billowed out in waves from her head and her dress was battered as the wind threatened to tear it from her body.

Eventually she grew bored and threw herself onto the sandy grass beside me. She nestled into me and I embraced her. “Don’t you feel it?” she asked, kissing me.

“Feel what?”

“Come on, Joe! Don’t you feel it?!”

I clicked my tongue. “Feel WHAT?”

“On today of all days!”

“Ah, Hallowe’en.” I heard Pa’s voice in my ears. “All Hallows’ Eve. Anyway, that’s not til tomorrow.”

“Yes. Ma used to tell me stories when I was little. Spooky stories. Spirits rising from their graves. It’s just…it’s just…when the weather’s like this, it’s like the very earth is trying to do violence to us.”

My laughter grew. “And that makes you happy?”

“No. It’s just that I feel oddly exhilarated. It’s like when you’re round a fire listening to those stories.  Or you’re in the warm, listening to the thunder or the rain. You feel safe, but you feel scared at the same time.”

I understood perfectly, but I pretended I didn’t. She sometimes went on very young for her eighteen years. She had an excitement in her, an innocence. “You really are crazy.”

“Does that mean you don’t love me?”

“Never. Come on, let’s get in. We’re going to be blown to Japan at this rate. I’ll be tasting sand for a week.”

Bent double against the wind, we walked the short distance to the outpost. We could barely open the door. The other coach passengers glared at us if we were lunatics. I couldn’t have cared less. I was so happy. I was nineteen and had met the girl I loved. It was exactly two weeks since I had killed her husband.

*

“We’ll be starting out at six tomorrow,” the driver growled. He nodded at the windows and door behind which the storm pounded and shrieked. “Weather permitting.”

Grace sat beside me and finished her dinner. She was slight but sometimes she seemed to eat more than Hoss. Eventually she sighed and pushed away her plate.

“Had enough?”

She blushed. “You’re always teasing me about my appetite!”

“No, I’m pleased my girl eats so healthily!”

She gave me a little punch on the arm as I laughed. “Am I really, Joe? Your girl?”

“Haven’t I proved it?”

“I’m still worried about meeting your family.”

“They’ll love you.”

“I don’t know. You go away for business, then you get mixed up – “

“You can say it.”

Tears came to her eyes and she dropped her voice to a whisper. “You kill a man…”

“Who was going to kill you.” She began to cry and some of the others began to look at us from their tables. I encircled her in my arms and hushed her. “I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about it.”

“I’m sorry, Joe.” She fished out a handkerchief and blew her nose. “After all that man put me through, you wouldn’t think I’d waste any tears on him.”

“You were forced to marry him. He was cruel to you and tried to kill you. Don’t you think I feel it as well? It’s a big thing, taking a man’s life. I didn’t choose to do it. I had no option.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” She exerted a supreme effort and tried to pull herself together. “What I mean is, look at it from your family’s point of view. Your father’s. You go away on business, instead you kill a man – you were forced to – and then you come back with his widow.”

“I couldn’t leave you there. You had no money, no family, no-one to look after you. Pa will know what to do.  It did complicate things a bit, me falling in love.”

“Us falling in love,” she said, putting her hand tenderly on my cheek. 

“Us falling in love.”

Her touch thrilled me. I so wanted to kiss her passionately, my senses were driving me crazy. I felt the heat of excitement spread through my body. She saw the look on my face and chuckled.

“Something tells me you fall in love rather a lot, Joe Cartwright.”

“What falsehood! Why, I’ve never even looked at a girl before. I’ve lived like a monk for the past nineteen years.”

“Likely story. So your Pa will tell me the same, will he? And your brothers, Adam and Hoss?”

I cleared my throat loudly and she cackled. “Perhaps not.” She smiled. “But don’t worry. My family will love you.”

We had an early start so we parted ways to our separate bedrooms soon afterwards. The storm died out during the night and I slept like the dead.

*

We had stopped not far from Ponderosa land, about ten miles from Virginia City. We should be there by noon. After that, I would meet my family who would wait for the stage. Despite my reassurances, I knew I would have a lot of questions to answer. Of course, they knew what had happened. Telegrams and letters had hurried between us. But I was sure they would love her. How could they not? What’s more, I would be home in time for Halloween and Pa set great store by that.

They could not have been more gracious to her. They tipped their hats as she shyly emerged from the stage. Only I knew how frightened she was. She was so nervous she was almost shaking.

“Mrs Harwell, how nice to meet you,” Pa intoned. “Joseph’s told me all about you.”

“Th-thank you, Mr Cartwright.”

Pa saw her shivering despite the warm sunshine. He smiled and led her to the buggy. “Come, my dear, we’ve been so looking forward to meeting you.”

My brothers were so kind that by the time we got home Grace was much more at ease. The first thing I noticed when I got home was the new mirror.

 “What’s this?”

“Oh, that! Adam saw it in the Mercantile and insisted we buy it. Can’t say I care for it myself.”

I had to say I agreed. It was an ugly thing. The slightly misted glass sat in a wooden frame with metallic piping running from the bottom of it. I frowned and gazed at my reflection. There was something unearthly about it.

“It gives me the creeps,” I said eventually.

“I know what you mean but you know what your brother’s like.”

*

It was as if the mirror was weaving a spell on me. It did not seem to have the same effect on the others despite the fact nobody but Adam liked it. I kept finding myself in front of it and gazing into its depths. I started noticing things. The odd detail was different, an inflection on my face or the surroundings. At first it was subtle but the effect grew more noticeable. I tried to ignore it but it was as if something were pulling me towards it. I put my hand on it and it happened. Just for a moment. My reflected hand was skeletal, discolored, with long, sinister fingers. I gave a cry and quickly withdrew it.

“What’s the matter, Little Joe?” Hoss exclaimed.

“I must be crazy,” I panted. “I – I thought I saw something.”

“What?”

“This…talon.”

“Talon? What are you talking about?”

“I put my hand up…” I demonstrated and stared at its reflection. “And my hand changed. It was like a corpse’s hand. Like a skeleton’s.”

Hoss murmured something. “You dreamed it.”

“How could I have?” I snapped. “I was standing right here!”

“Day-dreaming. After all, it is Halloween.”

“I saw it, Hoss!”

“Well, stop looking at it. You seem obsessed with the thing. Quit looking in it!”

But it kept pulling at me. Although I tried to occupy myself with various chores, I could not keep away. After a few more words with both Hoss and Pa, I started to make sure I was alone.

I saw the hand again, just for a moment, and I had not moved my arm. It was not a reflection, it was real! I resisted the urge to vomit with fear, my heart thudded and my head span.  Each time I visited, the glass became mistier and the changes grew more pronounced. I gave a howl of fear as I felt the fingers on my shoulder.

“Well, it is Halloween,” she laughed, echoing Hoss’s words. “I guess we’re all entitled to one good fright.”

“Don’t DO that, Grace!”

“Sorry!”

I looked at her hurt, rather angry face over my shoulder. “It didn’t show me.”

“What didn’t show what?”

“It didn’t show your approach. The mirror.”

“You just didn’t notice.”

“I was staring right into it, Grace. I’d have seen you approach. I wouldn’t have jumped out of my skin.”

“You know that’s impossible, right.”

“You’d think.”

“What is it with you and that mirror?”

“I don’t know, just something about it.”

I told her about the hand. She stared at me as if I was mad. “Did you catch the sun? Have you had enough sleep?”

“I know what you think. Heck, I even think it myself. Don’t you think I realize how crazy I sound? I’ve seen it, more than once. It’s like…it’s like a hand coming up from the grave.”

*

I felt drained, as if the energy was being sapped out of me. As the day went on and the sunlight fled from the sky, I felt a dread rise from my very soul. And I kept my vigil by the mirror.

“Come away from there,” Pa said eventually. “Get ready. Don’t forget we’re going out tonight.”

Our annual outing. Ever since I could remember, we would trek a few miles into the woods and take the kids for stories and games by a campfire. I couldn’t face it.

“No, Pa. I can’t go.”

“What do you mean, you can’t go?”

“I don’t feel well.”

“Nonsense. You’ll feel fine once you get moving.”

“Pa,” I said, trying not to make my tone too sharp, “I’m not a kid. I know when I’m feeling well or unwell. I feel sick.”

“Well…what about Grace? Makes it a little awkward, doesn’t it?”

“Why? She can go with you.”

“She won’t want to go without you. And it’s a bit…inappropriate her being here alone with you.”

I tried not to laugh. “Pa, I’m sorry. I know it means a lot to you. But I really don’t feel well. Grace will be perfectly alright with you and Adam and Hoss. I probably just need a rest. I’ll be as right as rain tomorrow.”

I did not tell him the truth. I wanted to be alone. Ever since I had set eyes on the mirror it had had a hold on me. I felt both appalled and fascinated by the hand. Pa was reluctantly worried about me and I had to hide my impatience to get him gone.

*

I tried. I tried to keep away but it did not work. Even when the hand started to beckon to me, I could not tear myself away. I knew it wanted me to take hold of it. I fought the temptation. I would go away, outside, into the barn, but it was proving stronger than me. It was like an addiction, a compulsion. Time and time again I found myself in front of the mirror and now the house was empty, the pull was stronger. The glass misted out my reflection, focusing my attention on the hand. As the hours went on, the hand grew bigger and bigger, and I began to smell something. A rotting, putrid stench as if of a dead body in a grave. 

And then it made a grab at me. I collapsed backwards with a screech. It was growing impatient.

*

I knew I would lose the battle.  It was only a matter of time. As I stared into the murky depths of that infernal mirror it was as if the soul was being sucked out of me. A glacial feeling would creep over my heart and I would feel dizzy. And then the hand would appear, swirling and beckoning. It did not grab at me again; it did not have to. 

Midnight ticked nearer. Cursing, I tried to leave but my own volition had left me. One minute, I was marching towards the barn, the next, I was back. That was impossible! I had not walked back! What….How??

“Come!” cried a voice. The hand beckoned. “Come!”

The clock struck twelve. 

I did not raise my hand. It was raised by an unseen force. I fought against it, I pressed against my forearm hard with my other hand, but still it happened.  It was stronger than me.  At the moment of the touch, my body was engulfed in agony.

*

The walls of the living room disappeared. I was in the dark and I could smell countryside around me. The only illumination came from the clouded moon.

“You killed me.”

It was the same voice.

“Who-who are you?”

There was a laugh which descended into a cackle. “Just how many people have you killed, Cartwright?”

I was shaking with fear but I refused to be intimidated. “You know who I am. Why don’t you show yourself, you coward?”

I heard a movement in front of me. The clouds parted for a moment and I saw him. Jeff Harwell, carrying the stench of the grave. I recoiled. His face was marble white and his eyes were yellow and demonic. 

“You stole her.”

“I didn’t steal her!”

“You killed me, then you stole her. Now you must pay.”

He started towards me.

“GRACE!”

*

It was dark and cold. The pain in my chest was so terrible I was screaming but I knew I was making no sound. I was aware time had passed. I had been choking on my own blood which had dribbled down my chin and now dried into a red paste.

Dark hair tickled my face and lips kissed me again and again. “Joe! Joe! Don’t be dead! Please! Oh, God!”

The girl was shrieking and sobbing as if her heart would break. I tried to move but the pain was too bad.

“You! You  killed him!”

“I knew you would come.”

Her voice had receded and there was a sound of a struggle. “You monster! You killed him!”

“You whore! My body was barely cold when you went with him!”

“My father forced me to marry you! I never loved you. You must have known that. Joe Cartwright showed me kindness and love you were incapable of!”

“He gunned me down. I returned the favor. I’ve been biding my time until I could get even with the pair of you. I had to wait until tonight to do it.”

The struggle became more violent and Grace began screaming. I was only half conscious but I could hear everything. I tried to murmur her name. 

“Now you will have no choice but to follow me!”

“Never! I’d rather be dead!”

There was a demonic laugh. “That was the idea! As for your lover – ” 

A gunshot rang out and a huge weight fell on top of me. I must have gasped. Footsteps sloped away.

She had thrown herself in front of me as Harwell had tried to shoot my prone body. Groaning, she climbed up my injured chest. “Joe? Joe? Are…are you alive?…Joe!”

I tried to speak but my voice came out in a whisper. 

“Joe? Joe! Joe, my darling! Please! Don’t leave me, don’t!”

Unconsciousness tried to hold me, but summoning every last ounce of strength, I opened my eyes. 

“Joe! You’re alive! I knew it! Oh, Joe, how I grieved!” Her face was above me and her lips were on mine. “I came as soon as I could. Your father…oh!…”

She collapsed by the side of me. Our blood mixed together. Adrenalin pumped through me, diminishing the pain, and very slowly I turned and managed to get on my knees. “Grace? Grace!”

“I’m alright! Agghh!….”

The rifle shot had ripped open her stomach and despite my efforts, I could not staunch the blood. “Grace! Don’t you dare die on me!”

Her face was like chalk and her features became relaxed. 

“GRACE!”

Her eyes flickered. “Your father…”

“What about Pa, sweetheart?”

“He…was telling a story. To the children. The hero died because the witch had cast…a spell…but…”

“But what?” I whispered.

“The good fairy said…oh!….She said that the kiss of a true maid would save him…”

She was nearly dead. Desperately I pressed at the gaping hole but my hand was sliding. I gagged. “Oh, please, Grace, hold on!”

She tried to raise her hand. “That’s a little like us, don’t you think?”

“Let me get hold of you,” I sobbed, trying to stagger to my feet.

“Joe, I love you so. Just hold me! I love you!”

As I was leaning over her, she went limp in my arms. But I managed to tell her I loved her before she slipped away.

*

I was not strong enough to carry her body. I stayed with her for the longest time, my tears mixing with her blood as I laid my head on her chest. I only moved when I heard Hoss’s voice calling my name over and over again.

I staggered over the ground the way I had come. In the darkness, I could see a patch of slightly lighter shadows. I reached out only to have my hand seized and pulled violently. I came through with a thump onto the living-room floor and promptly passed out.

*

They did not really believe me, but Hoss had seen the hand and Grace’s disappearance, so he listened to me. As the hours passed into All Saints’ Day and I was fussed over by my family and the doctor, they took my story as a madman’s ramblings. In my lucid moments I thought I had dreamed the whole thing but Grace’s disappearance could not be explained. I tried to tell them I had left her in the other world, the murky universe behind the mirror. I was horrified that Grace might be forced to follow her erstwhile husband in that demonic world, but Hoss reassured me that we would pray for her. God would surely extend mercy to her. But the guilt stayed with me. I had failed to bring her back.

Hoss told me that Pa had been telling the kids the same story that Grace had spoken of. Adam had been fingering his fob watch and jokingly said it had just reached midnight when Grace had jumped to her feet with a shriek. She had become incoherent and run to her horse, shouting that I was in trouble and had called to her. Hoss naturally followed her home and watched her in wonderment as she went straight to the mirror. She had disappeared through in front of his very eyes. Despite his desperate attempts to do the same, the mirror had become just a mirror. After calling our names and pounding on the glass for an age, only I came back.

“She really loved me, you know,” I wept. “She saved my life.”

“Just like Pa’s story.”

“Oh, Hoss, what shall I do without her?”

“She saved your life, Joe, so you must live. We will help you through. Time will heal.”

I did not think so. All I could remember were her lips on mine and her dead body in my arms.

THE END