Perkins' Ghost

CHAPTER SIX

AS THE LIGHTS came up on the final act, Act III, the date, '09 May 1812', shone brightly on the back wall of the set. A coffin stood in the center of the stage and a number of chairs had been crowded around it. Perkins' diaries were no longer lying open on his desk. They had been packed away and Perkins' desk was once again repositioned inside the counting room and under the window. That door was left open. The children's game-board and books were placed neatly on the shelf. Elizabeth sat alone near the fire, in the same chair that the actor playing Perkins had frequently used during the first and second act. She was dressed in black. The date on the back wall faded away and on cue she began sobbing, gently rocking back and forth.

One by one, and two by two, grieving actors filed onto the stage. They sat on the sofas and chairs while others remained standing. Children quietly entered and stayed for a time before leaving the stage. Some of the adults clung to the children and wept. The actors spoke in hushed tones and in singles and pairs gave their condolences to Elizabeth before leaving the stage. Juba and Samson entered together, with arms full of firewood. They filled the fireplace and the small wood box next to it. The backstage hand was busier than ever removing the logs from the back as they were added to the front, and the flame rose higher.

Simeon Perkins Sr. was dead, his pain and suffering was no longer felt. The coffin was tilted slightly, allowing the audience a clear view of the interior of the crudely made coffin.

Even from where Scarlett sat, at the back of the theatre, she could see that Freddie's handy-work on the mannequin was amazing. She smiled in satisfaction and made a mental note to congratulate him. She wished she had taken the time to admire the mannequin earlier because it was certainly one of his best. It was so lifelike, or rather, death-like.

All of the actors had left the stage, apart from actors who were playing Roger Perkins, the son, and Elizabeth, the grieving wife. She wept quietly.

The actor playing Roger said in his archaic way, "He declined gradually due to age and decay of nature. We can be comforted to know that he's in God's hands now, without pain. The lamp of light just went out." He gave Elizabeth's hand a reassuring squeeze before leaving the stage. The actor managed real tears that rolled down his cheeks and Elizabeth too wept convincingly. A preacher entered the room and said a prayer for Elizabeth's sake and left. Elizabeth was once again alone on stage.

She moved a chair nearer to the coffin. "I had no idea," she said aloud to the coffin. "I should have taken it as a sign when you lost those teeth. And I never should have allowed Doc Winters to bleed you. It made you even weaker than before."

'Oh, she's giving a great performance,' thought Scarlett. The entire audience was in tears and some were unreservedly weeping. Darren, the stage manager, had moved from where he had been standing, behind the sound booth, to be next to Scarlett. He felt that something was wrong, yet for the life of him he could not place it. He was about to share that feeling with Scarlett when Elizabeth stood to stand next to the coffin. He too was so captivated by the performance that he, like all the rest of the audience, simply could not take his eyes from the stage.

Elizabeth placed her hands on the edge of the pine box and put her forehead against the back of her hands in prayer. She spoke a quiet prayer and at her 'Amen' she took Perkins' hand in hers. Her hand came away wet with what appeared to be bright red blood. She screamed and fainted.

Scarlett jumped out of her chair, "No...no, that's all wrong. Lights," she yelled to Bruce, pushing past Darren as she raced to the stage. The audience remained silent, not certain as to what they were seeing. They had no reason to question Alexis' cry of horror before she had collapsed, not knowing that, in the script, Perkins' sons were supposed to enter the stage together as she held her dead husband's hand. They were to stand next to Elizabeth, by the coffin, to share their final goodbyes. Elizabeth's fainting was not part of the script.