Ghost Story
Oct. 13th, 2006 04:15 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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hobbit_holidaysAuthor: ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
surgicalsteel
Title: The Lady in the Grey Dress
Rating: PG-13 to be safe.
Pairing/Characters: Pippin, Merry, Serindë (OFC)
Warnings: Ghost story type spookiness
Summary: Pippin and Merry hear a ghost story
Author's Notes: Inspired by a story I heard as a child told by the 'Ghost Lady' of Brazoria County.
Post-Quest, Post Frodo’s departure. Pippin and Merry, visiting Minas Tirith, hear a ghost story. Will be posted tosurgsteelfic at some point.
The Lady in the Grey Dress
“All Hallows Eve,” Pippin said. “At home…”
Merry snorted. “We’re not at home, Pip.”
“Oh, I know no one will be dressing up or those sorts of things – but perhaps someone would at least be willing to share a few scary stories?” Pippin said.
“I don’t know…”
“I’ll bet Serindë does – she lived in Bree all those years, right on the borders of the Barrow Downs,” Pippin said.
Merry shrugged, willing to go along. At worst, she’d probably offer them ginger biscuits and tea, and that would be a small taste of home.
She’d seemed genuinely delighted to see them, sat them down in front of the fire in her small house with sandwiches and tea and ginger biscuits – and raised her eyebrows when Pippin made his request. “Ghost stories? Is there a particular reason you’re asking me?”
Merry knew why she asked the question. Even more than four years later, it was well-known she visited Halbarad’s grave regularly. He’d heard some of the apprentice healers and younger soldiers gossiping that if she became any thinner she’d become a ghost herself and wouldn’t need to visit the Hallows any longer.
She’d live there permanently.
“Well – you seem to know all sorts of other stories,” Pippin said.
She shrugged. “Well – I saw a ghost myself – when I was much younger.” Serindë paused, sipping her tea.
“I was about seven, I think. My father’s family – my father, at the time, actually owned it… They own an old stone house that’s been there since before the city was called Dol Amroth, it was just the Free Port of Belfalas. My cousin Aldarion had just been born… I heard a noise from the nursery late one night, and I was more curious than scared, so I went to investigate. A lady I’d never seen before, wearing this long, grey dress, was standing over his cradle, wringing her hands and weeping.
“I wasn’t quite sure what was going on – I went to find my Mama or my Daddy…”
“Why only one of them?” Merry asked.
“They didn’t share a bed after I was born,” Serindë said. “I found my Mama first, anyway – asked her who the lady was. Mama told me to stop imagining things and go back to bed.
“Well, you can imagine I didn’t quite like that answer, being almost as inquisitive as the hobbit family that adopted me,” she said, winking at Pippin. “But back to bed I went, and thought no more of it – until the next night. I heard that noise again, and there she was again. The night after that, I snuck into the nursery and waited – and didn’t she appear at the doorway? But she didn’t come into the room this time: she just stood in the doorway, and then backed away… Well, I was curious, as I said – so I followed her. I made it down the stairs before I ran into my Daddy – not sure where he’d been, Pip, so don’t bother asking. He asked what I was doing up, and I asked him who the lady in the grey dress was?
“Well, he at least believed I’d seen something, but we scoured the house and couldn’t find a sign of her. But the next night, he stayed with me in the nursery – and we followed her down, down – out behind the house, where there was this old cistern. She stopped there – and she seemed to be trying to speak to us – and when the moonlight hit her…” Serindë stopped for a moment.
“What?” Pippin asked eagerly.
“Her throat had been cut.”
Both hobbits gasped.
“It wasn’t visible until the moonlight hit her, that her throat had been cut from ear to ear and there was blood all down the front of that grey dress. And she kept gesturing to the cistern… Well, Daddy and I waited for daylight…
“He had me help him look through the family records, which I was terribly proud to do, being only seven. Seems an ancestress of ours – well, she disappeared about two months after her only child was born. No trace of her was ever found, no note explaining that she’d gone. No explanation for her disappearance. So we had some men come and drain that cistern – and what do you think we found?”
Merry and Pippin looked at each other again. “A body?” Pippin asked.
“Skeleton was all that was left – a woman’s skeleton…” Serindë began.
“How could you tell?” Merry asked.
“Shape of the pelvis – I didn’t know it at the time, but Daddy had a healer look at what we found, and he knew. A woman’s marriage ring – and a knife.”
Merry gasped.
“So nearly as we can tell, someone had murdered the poor woman, taken her away from her child. I think she’d go to the nursery hoping to find her babe… Was it her husband, some other family member? Can’t be sure, it was hundreds of years ago, but it seems her husband did re-marry rather quickly after her death,” Serindë said.
“Did you…?” Pippin began.
Serindë seemed to know what he was asking. “Buried her next to where her son had been buried when he died at a ripe old age. Daddy swore he hadn’t seen anything – but I thought I saw her there, right after we buried her, waving. Never saw her again.” She took another sip of her tea. “I’d like to think she was thanking us for finally putting her to rest properly, for reuniting her with her son…”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Serindë watched both hobbits shiver as she finished her tale, grateful that the only reason they’d asked was idle curiosity. She’d heard the rumors about herself as well – almost a ghost… and goodness knew the apprentices already thought her crazy enough without adding more fuel to anyone’s fire. But more than once, when she’d visited Halbarad’s grave, she’d thought she felt his hand on her hair. More than once, she’d thought she’d heard his voice calling her name.
And more than once, when she’d fallen asleep at her desk in the Houses of Healing, she’d awakened to find Halbarad’s cloak tucked around her – despite the fact that it was locked in a wardrobe in her house, a quarter of a mile away.
surgicalsteelTitle: The Lady in the Grey Dress
Rating: PG-13 to be safe.
Pairing/Characters: Pippin, Merry, Serindë (OFC)
Warnings: Ghost story type spookiness
Summary: Pippin and Merry hear a ghost story
Author's Notes: Inspired by a story I heard as a child told by the 'Ghost Lady' of Brazoria County.
Post-Quest, Post Frodo’s departure. Pippin and Merry, visiting Minas Tirith, hear a ghost story. Will be posted to
surgsteelfic at some point.The Lady in the Grey Dress
“All Hallows Eve,” Pippin said. “At home…”
Merry snorted. “We’re not at home, Pip.”
“Oh, I know no one will be dressing up or those sorts of things – but perhaps someone would at least be willing to share a few scary stories?” Pippin said.
“I don’t know…”
“I’ll bet Serindë does – she lived in Bree all those years, right on the borders of the Barrow Downs,” Pippin said.
Merry shrugged, willing to go along. At worst, she’d probably offer them ginger biscuits and tea, and that would be a small taste of home.
She’d seemed genuinely delighted to see them, sat them down in front of the fire in her small house with sandwiches and tea and ginger biscuits – and raised her eyebrows when Pippin made his request. “Ghost stories? Is there a particular reason you’re asking me?”
Merry knew why she asked the question. Even more than four years later, it was well-known she visited Halbarad’s grave regularly. He’d heard some of the apprentice healers and younger soldiers gossiping that if she became any thinner she’d become a ghost herself and wouldn’t need to visit the Hallows any longer.
She’d live there permanently.
“Well – you seem to know all sorts of other stories,” Pippin said.
She shrugged. “Well – I saw a ghost myself – when I was much younger.” Serindë paused, sipping her tea.
“I was about seven, I think. My father’s family – my father, at the time, actually owned it… They own an old stone house that’s been there since before the city was called Dol Amroth, it was just the Free Port of Belfalas. My cousin Aldarion had just been born… I heard a noise from the nursery late one night, and I was more curious than scared, so I went to investigate. A lady I’d never seen before, wearing this long, grey dress, was standing over his cradle, wringing her hands and weeping.
“I wasn’t quite sure what was going on – I went to find my Mama or my Daddy…”
“Why only one of them?” Merry asked.
“They didn’t share a bed after I was born,” Serindë said. “I found my Mama first, anyway – asked her who the lady was. Mama told me to stop imagining things and go back to bed.
“Well, you can imagine I didn’t quite like that answer, being almost as inquisitive as the hobbit family that adopted me,” she said, winking at Pippin. “But back to bed I went, and thought no more of it – until the next night. I heard that noise again, and there she was again. The night after that, I snuck into the nursery and waited – and didn’t she appear at the doorway? But she didn’t come into the room this time: she just stood in the doorway, and then backed away… Well, I was curious, as I said – so I followed her. I made it down the stairs before I ran into my Daddy – not sure where he’d been, Pip, so don’t bother asking. He asked what I was doing up, and I asked him who the lady in the grey dress was?
“Well, he at least believed I’d seen something, but we scoured the house and couldn’t find a sign of her. But the next night, he stayed with me in the nursery – and we followed her down, down – out behind the house, where there was this old cistern. She stopped there – and she seemed to be trying to speak to us – and when the moonlight hit her…” Serindë stopped for a moment.
“What?” Pippin asked eagerly.
“Her throat had been cut.”
Both hobbits gasped.
“It wasn’t visible until the moonlight hit her, that her throat had been cut from ear to ear and there was blood all down the front of that grey dress. And she kept gesturing to the cistern… Well, Daddy and I waited for daylight…
“He had me help him look through the family records, which I was terribly proud to do, being only seven. Seems an ancestress of ours – well, she disappeared about two months after her only child was born. No trace of her was ever found, no note explaining that she’d gone. No explanation for her disappearance. So we had some men come and drain that cistern – and what do you think we found?”
Merry and Pippin looked at each other again. “A body?” Pippin asked.
“Skeleton was all that was left – a woman’s skeleton…” Serindë began.
“How could you tell?” Merry asked.
“Shape of the pelvis – I didn’t know it at the time, but Daddy had a healer look at what we found, and he knew. A woman’s marriage ring – and a knife.”
Merry gasped.
“So nearly as we can tell, someone had murdered the poor woman, taken her away from her child. I think she’d go to the nursery hoping to find her babe… Was it her husband, some other family member? Can’t be sure, it was hundreds of years ago, but it seems her husband did re-marry rather quickly after her death,” Serindë said.
“Did you…?” Pippin began.
Serindë seemed to know what he was asking. “Buried her next to where her son had been buried when he died at a ripe old age. Daddy swore he hadn’t seen anything – but I thought I saw her there, right after we buried her, waving. Never saw her again.” She took another sip of her tea. “I’d like to think she was thanking us for finally putting her to rest properly, for reuniting her with her son…”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Serindë watched both hobbits shiver as she finished her tale, grateful that the only reason they’d asked was idle curiosity. She’d heard the rumors about herself as well – almost a ghost… and goodness knew the apprentices already thought her crazy enough without adding more fuel to anyone’s fire. But more than once, when she’d visited Halbarad’s grave, she’d thought she felt his hand on her hair. More than once, she’d thought she’d heard his voice calling her name.
And more than once, when she’d fallen asleep at her desk in the Houses of Healing, she’d awakened to find Halbarad’s cloak tucked around her – despite the fact that it was locked in a wardrobe in her house, a quarter of a mile away.
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Date: 2006-10-13 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2006-10-13 08:23 pm (UTC)Very effective story for the hobbits, but even better story for Serinde. *shivers happily*
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Date: 2006-10-13 08:23 pm (UTC)♥
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