Jessie's Ghosts by Penny Garnsworthy

CHAPTER 1
     
    ‘But I don’t want to go!’ Jessie’s insides were churning as her eyes pleaded for her sister’s
understanding.
    ‘Oh, come on Jess,
it’s not that bad going to Nanna’s,’ Sarah said as she opened drawers and
pulled out jeans and jumpers.
    ‘She’s so…’
    ‘So what?’
Sarah folded Jessie’s shirts and packed them neatly into a bright pink duffle
bag.
    ‘Well, she’s
so old ,’ Jessie said as she rocked back and forth on the bed.
    ‘She’s our
Nanna so of course she’s old. But she’s also a wonderful person and she
loves us both heaps.’
    ‘Yeah, I know.
It’s just …’
    ‘Just what?’
Sarah persisted as she zipped up Jessie’s bag and dropped it on the floor.
    ‘ Everything’s old. And there’s nothing to do at Nanna’s. She sleeps most of the time.
And she’s really deaf - she wears those hearing aids that squeal all the
time.’
    Sarah laughed.
‘Well, we’ll just stop at the Library on the way down so you can pick out a few
books to take with you.’
    ‘Yeah, I
guess,’ Jessie said, looking away into the distance.
    ‘C’mon Jess,
cheer up,’ Sarah said as she gave Jessie an affectionate punch. ‘You know I
can’t do anything about it; it’s the agreement. And besides, it’s only for a
week.’
    ‘A week ,’
Jessie moaned.
    She knew she
was lucky to have Sarah, and that Sarah was happy to look after her. When their
parents had died in the car accident last year Jessie worried that she and
Sarah would be separated, and that Jessie would be sent to live with Nanna,
permanently.
    But Sarah, who
at 21 was ten years older than Jessie, had been allowed to remain in the family
home and be Jessie’s guardian, on the condition Jessie went to Nanna’s for all
school holidays.
    And things had
worked out pretty well, considering.
    The problem
was that Nanna lived on a farm, miles from anywhere and she didn’t even own a
car. There were no shops within walking distance, in fact, there wasn’t
anything within walking distance and the television only had two channels.
Jessie knew that once she arrived she would be a prisoner, again.
    ‘Hey! Sarah
calling Jess!’
    Jessie snapped back to the present, ‘I was just thinking.’
    ‘Well you can
think all you want in the car, kiddo. I have to drive you down to Nanna’s this
morning and be back this afternoon for my flight. Let’s go.’
    Jessie took
one last longing look around her bedroom, grabbed her duffle bag and followed
Sarah out to the car.
     
    Nanna’s
crumbling old timber house sat at the bottom of a long, winding dirt drive.
Jessie remembered the last time she had been here Nanna was waiting for her new
kitchen to be installed. Perhaps now Jessie wouldn’t have to push through
cobwebs every time she took a plate out of the cupboard.
    Sarah drove
carefully down the drive, steering to avoid hundreds of tiny potholes. Nanna
was standing on the verandah smiling and waving at them as Sarah parked the
car.
    ‘I don’t know why she doesn’t have a proper driveway put in,’
Sarah remarked as they both got out of the car, ‘I know it doesn’t get used
much but if there’s ever an emergency …’ Sarah sighed. ‘Well, anyway, let’s
just go in.’
    Nanna walked briskly to the car and hugged them both. She
looked much the same, her grey hair pulled back in a bun, dressed in jeans, a
long sleeved red checked shirt and boots. Over her clothes she wore a long dark
blue apron.
    ‘Oh, it’s so good to see you girls,’ she yelled, ‘just in time for lunch, too.’
    Jessie winced.
Why did Nanna always have to yell?
    A fragrant mixture
of beef, vegies and herbs was gurgling away on the stove as Jessie took her bag
inside. ‘The kitchen looks nice, Nanna,’ she said as she walked over to sniff
at the pot.
    ‘Yes, it’s
certainly an improvement – do you like my new benchtops?’
    Jessie dragged
her eyes away from Nanna’s casserole and looked at the dark laminate bench tops
that looked remarkably similar