The charming students in Arnold’s Cove

Sunrise over Conception Bay

Yesterday I packed up my ghost costume, my books and a lunch for the two-hour drive to Arnold’s Cove and Tricentia Academy. My first ghost presentation of the year! I drove along to the Isthmus, that stretch of land between the Avalon Peninsula and the rest of Newfoundland. A friend told me it is often wreathed in fog, just like the misty portal to the mythical Avalon.

Sure enough, there was fog as my car climbed up and down the hills. I drove in and out of it, and soon reached Arnold’s Cove.  Seventy-five students from grades 3 to 6 were waiting for me.

The Silky ghost was especially happy to get back to dusting children’s and entertaining them with her tales. She told of a little girl named Sally who lived in … Whitbourne, just down the road. Sally was a dreadfully messy child who never cleaned up after herself and whose mother was always nagging her to clean her room. When Sally finally did clean it up, the Silky came overnight and messed it up again, just for fun.  This is a popular story wherever I go, and the students at Tricentia were no exception.  I always try to make it local, but this time maybe I went too far?

“Sally who?” they called out. “What’s her last name?” I tried to explain that I would get in big trouble by revealing her identity, but they weren’t having it. “Tell me her father’s name,” said a boy as I left. “I’m sure I know her.” I didn’t tell him but I’m a little worried now.

If there is a little girl named Sally in Whitbourne, she may soon get a reputation she may not deserve.

Thank you to the students and teachers at Tricentia, for entertaining me in turn and making me so welcome.

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