Where Echoes Lie

The Legend of the Ghost Bride
as told by Alice Slocum

Every town has its legends, and ours is no exception. In fact, Corbin is unique, because we ve got two the moonbow and the ghost bride. How they came to be intertwined, well, that s a story all its own.

It happened long ago, on a night much like this. Clear skies, aglow with the light of a full strawberry moon. The scent of honeysuckle so thick you could bathe in it. The air warm and heavy with the possibility of rain and the promise of summer. Nothing holds more promise than early June in Kentucky.

I reckon that s why our bride picked it. She was young, so young. And beautiful. All brides are beautiful, but this girl, there was something special about her. Radiant, some said, glowing with the kind of light that comes from pure happiness.

And why shouldn t she be happy? It was her wedding night.

But that part was a secret. She hadn t told her family about him she was afraid they wouldn t approve. Which is a pity. If only someone had been there to help her. Or to warn her.

Really, it s a wonder no one guessed, what with the time she must have spent on that dress. Hand-stitched white lace, with a train long enough for its own caboose. She d designed it to match the jewel-encrusted hair clip, which had been a gift from her lover a sure sign his heart was pure. For a man doesn t give away a family heirloom if he doesn t have intentions. She wore it twisted into her hair just so, with a cluster of violets tucked in for luck. When she smiled, it put the sun to shame. How no one knew that girl was in love is one of life s great mysteries.

But she managed to keep her secret up until the wedding night. They were to be married, she and her lover, on the bluff overlooking the falls. They planned to meet at sunset, so they could say their vows as the sun slipped behind the mountains and the moonbow rose to bless their union.
Now, it wasn t as easy to get to the Leap back then. There was

Shannon Schuren (shannon.schuren.org) is the critically acclaimed author of The Virtue of Sin. She works as a children's librarian at a public library and writes from a cozy she-shed in her backyard. Her short stories have appeared in various journals such as Toasted Cheese Literary Journal, Big Pulp, and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Shannon lives in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, with her husband and three children. Follow her on Twitter @shannonschuren.