Frank and Megan sat in one porch swing, his arm encircling her shoulders. Vanessa, her ankle propped on a cushioned stool, was in a chair, with Joe perched on the top porch step, close beside her. Matt sprawled lazily in a chaise lounge, and Fenton and Laura occupied the other porch swing, hands clasped between them.

Glancing at Matt, Joe thought to himself with satisfaction that despite all the untoward events he’d had to live through lately, he looked a lot better than he had upon his arrival in Bayport. A week of Laura Hardy’s cooking had filled in the hollow cheeks, and Matt’s hazel-green eyes sparkled with their old familiar curiosity and fire once more. Nothing like a little danger and mayhem to combat depression, Joe thought to himself with a silent snicker. Right now Matt’s too grateful to be alive to be depressed!

"It’s like this," Frank said. "Way back when, in the 1880’s, Emily’s father, Gunnar Bergstrom, was the first keeper of Stone Point lighthouse. He and his wife, Jenny, had a daughter, Emily. Now Gunnar was a hard worker, very conscientious, but as you know, being a light keeper didn’t pay a great deal. From what I understand, he at first accepted the advances of the man Elliott Pembroke for his daughter’s hand, for he felt that it would be a wise move. Elliott was a wealthy man, relatively speaking, and Gunnar naturally wanted his daughter to have the very best. And he thought that Elliott would make a good match for Emily, as well. But then he discovered that Emily was already in love with Erik Halverson."

"As a result," Joe took up the tale, "he decided to let Emily be with the boy she wanted to be with. He and Jenny had married for love, and the practice of arranging marriages for your children was going out of style anyway. Most people tended to let kids marry who they wanted to – at least in more country settings, like Bayport was back then. Pembroke obviously took it badly. He, from what I understand from Emily, wasn’t about to let her go. She was the only one ‘worthy to be with him,’ and he was going places. He was ambitious, and he needed to have his – well, we’d call it a trophy wife, now – wanted to have her with him."

"So when she didn’t agree to marry him," Frank continued again, "Elliott killed her boyfriend Erik. He caught them trying to elope, one night. He told Emily that no one was going to stand between them, and he made her watch as he had Erik murdered. Right in front of her eyes. I can’t imagine why he thought she’d agree to go with him after that, but apparently he did. When Emily continued to rebuff him, he stabbed her, as well. He hid her body in the back bedroom of the cottage, then arranged to have the fireplace added, for the Bergstroms – as a present to them for the ‘loss’ of their daughter, whom he was sure they loved. Gunnar and Jenny, of course, assumed that Emily and Erik had run away together, and were happily living somewhere else. Elliott wrapped Emily’s body and put it in the trunk – and then he actually took part in building the fireplace!"

"How did you find all this out?" Fenton asked his sons curiously.

"Well, part of it is guesswork," Joe admitted, "but part of it is fact. There’s an account in one of the articles in the paper about how Pembroke paid to have the bedroom fireplace built in the keeper’s cottage at Stone Point, and how he even built some of it himself – you know, one of those ‘oh the great humanitarian’ pieces!" he finished with a disdainful sniff.

"Yeah," Frank said. "So we’re guessing that’s what he did. I don’t really know for sure about the trunk, except…well, Emily’s very attached to that clothes trunk. I haven’t asked her, but—"

"You really believe in this ghost, then?" Fenton inquired gently.

"Dad…I know how weird it sounds, but – I don’t just believe in her. I KNOW she’s real. I have the bruises and the headache to prove it!"

"And it’s not like Frank’s the only one that saw her," Joe put in. "Matt and I did too. AND Mallory Rutledge!" he added, grinning spitefully.

Fenton frowned, but said nothing more. Frank wasn’t sure whether or not his father believed them, but he wasn’t going to argue it any more.

"She’d gotten his coin when he killed her," Joe took up the story again, to break the tension. "and it stayed with her until Frank and Megan found her bones in the fireplace, and Frank picked it up. That caused Emily to fixate on Frank – and the fact that he looks very much like Elliott Pembroke did, made her think that he was Pembroke – at least for a while. Next thing you knew, she was trying to kill him – more than once!"

"And in some very strange ways," Frank put in, recalling how Emily had appeared in his dreams, in the airplane, had pushed him down the lighthouse steps…."But all’s well that ends well," he went on, smiling. "Emily knows I didn’t do it, she saved our lives in the cave, we kept her from killing Mallory Rutledge. Hopefully, she can rest now."

"That’s a noble thing you boys are doing," Laura said softly, "laying Erik and Emily to rest together."

Frank nodded, and turned his head to look at Megan. "Well, it’s what I would want, if I was in their shoes. They were separated, even in death….I want them to be together again." Megan smiled back and softly patted his knee.

"And that reward for finding the jewels is nothing to sneeze at," Joe grinned. "I think I’ll get a really nice car now. One that’s NOT cursed!"

"It’ll take some time for everything to get sorted out, son," Fenton reminded his youngest. "But I’ll loan you the extra money in the meantime, whatever you need above the insurance settlement."

"Cool!" Joe grinned.

"And I really appreciate the camera replacement funds," Matt put in, smiling happily. "The insurance covered a lot of the cost, at least of the one, but now I can get one I’ve wanted for a long time but couldn’t afford. And I got some of the most incredibly awesome photos, too!"

"You’re going to do all right when you sell those exclusive photos you took of Mallory’s arrest, too," Joe told him. "Talk about being in the right place at the right time, my man! You can market those things on wire services all over the world; she was wanted internationally, after all."

"True, dude." Matt’s smile was complacently smug. Another beatific smile creased his narrow features. "And there’s definitely a trip to London scheduled for the near future. Maybe two. Just think, Christmas in London…." His voice trailed off into a blissful murmur.

"I think it’s nice that the Historical Society gets to keep the treasure," Vanessa observed. "Since the original owner in France is long dead and the sailor who found them is dead – and that light keeper Johannsen, too; and since the Historical Society owns the land the lighthouse is on and is charged with the upkeep. They’ll probably sell two or three of the gems to put in the general fund – and put the rest on display somewhere."

"They can keep ‘em," Joe said lazily. "WE got the reward for the capture of Mallory Rutledge and her gang of thugs, plus that hefty finder’s fee for the jewels. We have enough. I can afford to be generous."

Vanessa shook her head in mock reproof. "You’re an awful mercenary, Joe Hardy."

Frank laughed, and cuddled Megan more tightly in his arm. Laura and Fenton exchanged a look, then both got to their feet, excusing themselves and going in the house.

Matt rose too. "I need to get hold of Phil. And I should finish packing, dudes. I’m leaving right after the funeral tomorrow, and I have no intention of getting up early to do it! Night, Megan – g’night, Vanessa. See you tomorrow."

Ignoring Joe and Vanessa – who were ignoring him as well – Frank leaned over to kiss Megan. "Love you, babe…and thank you again for the present." He held out his left arm to admire the beautiful ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ wristwatch, engraved with his initials, which now adorned it. "I think you were wildly extravagant, but it’s wonderful, and I love it." He kissed her again…this time a little more lingeringly.

One corner of his mind was still thinking about birthday presents. The suede sports coat from his parents – that was going to come in handy the next time he and Megan went somewhere nice. Two CD’s he’d been wanting, from Joe, rather than socks! A box of homemade cookies from Vanessa, who had been unable to get out and purchase anything. And the promise of the pick of Matt’s photos of the lighthouse and Barmet Bay, once they were all developed. Enlarged and framed, Matt had assured him.

All in all, it was a pretty good birthday. And a beautiful night.

*****

A light rain began to fall as the six mourners gathered at the small gravesite near the Stone Point Lighthouse, where permission had been granted by the Historical Society to inter the remains of Erik Halverson and Emily Bergstrom. Frank and Megan stood on one side, Joe and Vanessa on the other. At one end, Matt stood beside Cherise LeGault, who was seated in a wheelchair. She still looked pale and a little fragile, but she had not wanted to be left out of this occasion.

Pastor Nichols, from Bayport’s Holy Redeemer Lutheran church, had arrived a few minutes before. Unsure what religion Erik or Emily might have subscribed to, the Hardys had gone with a ‘best guess;’ if they were Swedish or Norwegian, the best bet was probably Lutheran. Now the friendly pastor read appropriate Biblical passages and they watched, smiling, as the casket containing the two sets of bones was lowered into the earth and covered.

After the pastor had taken his leave, the six of them remained a little longer, watching the sun as it broke briefly through the clouds and sparkled over the waves of Barmet Bay.

"Thank you, all of you." The voice was masculine this time, with an even more pronounced lilting accent than Emily’s. It was a warm voice, filled with light, salt and sand-scented winds, and the soft kiss of sunshine. "For saving my Emily, for bringing us together."

Looking where the voice came from, Frank smiled at the blonde, gray-eyed young man – young ghost – and nodded. Erik appeared to be much the same age as he and Joe – but they had the promise of bright futures ahead – a promise never fulfilled in Erik. Frank wondered if he was the only one who could see him – and Emily, who stood next to him – and then his question was answered.

"We couldn’t do anything less," Megan spoke softly. "We’re glad you’re together." Her turquoise eyes were wide as she beheld for the first time what Frank, Joe and Matt had been seeing for days. Vanessa smiled fondly; Cherise’s mouth was slightly open in wonderment.

"Frank—" Emily spoke now, her voice more gentle than he had ever heard it. "I am very sorry I tried to kill you. I’m…most glad that you…are well."

Frank smiled and rubbed the back of his head, answering with matching formality. "I am, Emily. I am most well."

Emily turned towards Matt. "For you – Matthew, is it not? I have something I wish to give you. To remember us fondly." She smiled. "Frank has the chain and the coin, after all, as a remembrance."

"ME?" Matt squeaked. "You want me to have something?"

Emily nodded. "I do. It’s in the trunk."

The trunk was sitting on the grass beside the graveside, placed there in honor of the lost lives. It would be put upstairs in the keeper’s cottage with the rest of the memorabilia, now.

Matt looked inquiringly at Cherise, who nodded shaky permission – as if she was likely to countermand anything Emily said! He opened the trunk, and dug into it.

Hesitantly, Matt pulled out an old daguerreotype picture. He held it in reverent hands, gazing at a smiling, pictured Emily – and smiled in return.

"Now you have a picture of me," Emily murmured, her smile matching the pictured one. "I know you wanted one. I wish for you to keep this."

Matt bit his lip and blinked hard – and then beamed with delight as he showed his new possession to the others. Then he carefully tucked it into his jacket pocket, to take home. "Thank you, Emily," he said softly. "It means a great deal to me."

"And now, my friends," Erik said, "we will go. And thank you again, for all you have done to bring us together. Do not mourn that nothing can be done for the one who killed us. For now, for us to be together, is revenge enough. He didn’t succeed in what he wanted."

Smiling and holding each others’ hands, he and Emily exchanged a kiss – and then disappeared into nothingness.

~The End~