"My name is Melinda Gordon." "I'm married." "I live in a small town and I own an antique shop." "I might be just like you." "Except from the time that I was a little girl," "I knew that I could talk to the dead." "It's all right, honey." "Earthbound spirits, my grandmother called them." "They're stuck here because they have unfinished business with the living." "And they come to me for help." "In order to tell you my story, I have to tell you theirs." "So..." "This is really, really, great, out in nature, no one but us for miles." "Who knew that camping could be so much fun?" "What'd I tell you?" "Clean air, the smell, there's nothing like it." "Yeah." "I'm getting that feeling." "I'm just glad you came this time." "Besides, I thought when you said we were going to the woods, you meant The Woods." "What?" "That place Delia always wants to take you to?" "Yeah." "Salt scrubs, seaweed wraps, massages." "That would be the one." "Besides, we got all the luxury right here." "And these hands, they've got more magic in them than any seafood wrap." " Seaweed." " All right." "That, too." "Yup." "This place hasn't changed a bit." "You used to come out here with your father?" "Yeah." "Me, my brother and my old man." " No Mom?" " Nope." "She loved camping about as much as you do." "Hey..." "Oh, no." "Sorry." "The wood probably was just green." "All right." "Strange." "Why don't you..." "I'll go..." "Is this that crisp air you were talking about?" "Did I forget to mention we might get a little weather?" "Just zip it." "Zip it." "Hey." "Do you hear that?" " Crickets." " Not that." "That." "Hello?" "Is somebody out there?" "Okay." "Can you see us?" "Come out, come out, wherever you are." "Hello?" "Crap." "Where is it?" "Where is it?" "Hey." "Hey." "No, no, no." "It's okay." "It's okay, it's okay." "You all right?" "I'm so glad it's you." "I'm glad I saw your light, because when I woke up and you weren't in bed," "I almost freaked out." "Sorry." "I heard something, a woman's voice." "And I found this." "That's been there for a while." "Yeah." "Look at this." " The mouldy sippy cup?" " No." "No, there was a..." " There was a creepy baby doll." " A baby doll?" "The woman's voice, it sounded desperate, and..." "I don't know." "I just feel like maybe I should stay, in case she comes back." "Mel." "I think she knows where you're staying." "We're the only ones up here for miles." "Okay." "You're right." "If she needs me, she'll find me." "Yeah." "Come on." "Let's go in and get some sleep." "I got some plans for..." "Lanie." "Come out, come out, wherever you are." "Hello?" "Don't be afraid." "I wanna help you." "Lanie!" "Morning, sunshine." "It's disgusting how cheerful you are in the morning." "Well, you sleep much deeper out here in the fine air." "Speak for yourself." "Breakfast smells so good." "I'm starving." "Yeah, breakfast was about four hours ago." "This would be lunch." " Just tell me there's coffee." " All right." "Do I sense a less than perfect night's sleep?" "Well, between the ghosts, the stinking air..." "Air mattress," "I didn't sleep all night." "She came back?" "Why didn't you wake me up?" "'Cause I didn't have any dynamite." "You know, it's weird." "She made the doll appear in the fire." " That's creepy." "What's the message?" " I don't know." "Stay away?" "She's done everything she can to get rid of us, even that weird windstorm." "You know, I'm sorry." "I hope that I haven't tainted this place for you." "No." "I feel sorry for your ghost." "Yeah." "And that hide and seek song she keeps singing makes me think that she's looking for a child." "That would explain why she's so territorial." "She's trying to say something else." "I just don't know what." "Yummy." "I'm starving." " You're going to need it." " Oh?" "I was thinking that we would go on a little hike." "A hike sounds nice." "Might have to make a small detour." "Oh, come on." "You gotta admit, this is kind of exciting." "I don't know." "To me, a swimming hole's exciting." "Haunted, rusty cars, not so exciting." "It doesn't look like there was an accident." "Maybe they just ran off the road." " But there is no road here." " There used to be." "The main road used to run through the pass until the forest service took over and made all this a reserve." "Look at you, little detective." " Maybe this was a side road." " Well, how long ago was that?" "I don't know." "My dad and I first started coming out here about 20 years ago." "Car's been here at least that long." "I think I found a registration." " The only thing I can make out is Anna." " Well, it's a first name anyway." "Hey, do you think you can trace this licence when you get back to work?" "I can do better than that." "I can request a history of all 911 calls made out of the region." "I can do that if we get out of here now, because I'd really like to make it to the falls by dark." "Last one there gets pushed in!" "Oh, there's some really great vintage baby rattles over there." " Thanks." "I'm just waiting on a friend." " Okay." "These alabaster lamps are really hard to find." "You've got a good eye." "No." "Absolutely not." "That skateboard park is an accident waiting to happen." "Are you sure Grant's mom is gonna be there?" "Is my receipt in the bag?" "Can you just put her on the phone?" "What?" "What do you mean she's not gonna be there?" "Here's your receipt." "No solvents, just soap and water, and something for your next purchase." " Thank you." " Thank you." "Okay, fine, but if I find out that you didn't wear a helmet, you are dead." "Yes." "I love you, too." "I am so sorry." "That woman is never coming back again, is she?" "Oh, I think she will, I gave her a 20% off coupon." "You never miss a trick." "Thanks for covering for me." " Anytime." "Was that Ned?" " Yeah." "I always thought that I'd worry about him less as he grew up, but I worry about him more." "You know, at this rate, I won't stop worrying about him until I'm dead." " Oh, if you're lucky." " Chances are," " I'll still be worrying from my grave." " Lanie!" "It sounds like I chose a bad time" " to leave you..." " Come out, come out," " wherever you are!" "...with the store." "Oh, no." "Just the opposite." "It was great to take my mind off the little daredevil." "So, was camping as dreadful as you thought it would be?" "Actually, it was kind of exciting." "It was good for Jim and I to have some time alone." "Fess up." "Do I detect a little biological alarm clock going off?" "No, nothing like that." "Come on." "You can tell me." "I know I gripe, but motherhood rocks." " You are going to love it." " I'm sure I will." "Can you just excuse me for a second?" " What are you doing?" " I'm sorry." "I just wanted to see your adorable baby, and, oh, my God, she's so cute." "Thanks." "It's like she's testing me, trying to see if she can trust me." "Wait." "You think this ghost is a worried mom looking for her kid?" "Yeah, but I didn't realise until today how intense that feeling is." "Wait a minute." "What happened today?" "I just had a couple of anxious moms at the store." "Delia being one." "Please tell me that this is not the same stove that you used with your dad." "Yes, Miss Change the Subject, that is the same stove I used with my father, and it works like new." "I got a little something for you." "That's the trace, with an address for one Anna Fowler." " You traced the licence already?" " Yep." "That's how I roll." "It expired in '86." "That's probably around when she died." "Well, we'll know that for sure when the 911 trace comes back, which will probably take a couple of weeks because anything more than 10 years old is in the main archives." "You're my hero." "This is Brookside." "It's close." "Don't get too excited." "Anybody who lives in that house probably never heard of Anna Fowler." "Well, I have a secret weapon." "Delia can trace real estate transactions for me." "You know, one of these days, she is going to get suspicious." "Yeah, and one of these days, I'm gonna have to do something about it." "Come out, come out, wherever you are." "You know what?" "I'll be right back." "Can you throw this thing in the trash for me?" "Yeah, sure." "Anna?" "Anna, I can't help you if you won't talk to me." "Are you looking for someone?" " I have to find her." " Who do you have to find?" "My baby girl." "She's lost." "Can you tell me what happened?" "I was cold." "Mel, where'd you put the..." " I scared her away, didn't I?" " Yeah." "But she left us something." "Lanie." "Lanie was her baby." "She must have died, too." "I really shouldn't be doing this." "You said you wanted to keep a foot in real estate." "Yes, to make money, but not to snoop on other people's records." "Well, it's for a good cause." "A little girl's missing her doll." "Well, she wouldn't be a little girl any more if we're looking at records this far back." "Okay." "Here it is." "The house was sold in 1991, and the owner's name was Brad Fowler." "Does it say anything else about him?" "Like what, he's a Gemini and likes long walks on the beach?" "I mean, like his occupation." "He was a therapist." "Hey, maybe you could kill two birds with one stone." "You're hilarious." "Thank you." "Sure." "I just thought you'd like to know that the car was found." "This is strange." " All those years..." " I'm guessing it belonged to your wife?" "My wife is dead." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to..." "It's just, I found something in the car that I thought may have belonged to a child." "Lanie." "This was my little girl's." "It was really very, very thoughtful of you to go to all this trouble." "It was no trouble." "My wife, we were separated at the time." "She died up in those woods, in a snowstorm." " Just a bit of a shock seeing all this." " I understand." "I'd rather not have this." "Maybe you can give it to a hospital or something." "Brings up some pretty tough memories." "I don't mean to pry, but did something happen to your daughter also?" "Worse thing that can happen to a little girl." "I'm so sorry." " She was abandoned by her mother." " You mean she didn't die in the storm?" "No." "She wasn't even in the car." "She was at home with me." "Where's my baby?" " I don't know yet." " Are you hiding her?" "No." "I'm trying to help you, but I need to know what you remember." "Nothing." "I don't remember anything." "Okay." "I know that this is hard, but you have to try." "It will come if you're not afraid of remembering." "But I am afraid." "Look at the doll." "That's what you were protecting." "I was scared." "It was bad out." "I knew it was stupid to be on the road, but I felt like I couldn't stop, like I shouldn't stop." "I don't know why." "I panicked." "Where was my baby?" "I couldn't remember." "Anna, I..." " I found your husband." " What?" "Lane was with him that night." "She wasn't in the car with you." " What?" " She's alive." "I can't believe it." " Can I see her?" " No, I haven't found her yet." "But there's something else." "Your husband said that you left him and Lane, that he raised her alone." "No." "No." "No, I would never do that." "She's my life." "She's all I have." "Yeah, I'm sure that that's true, but Brad said..." "No!" "I didn't abandon my baby!" "Okay." "Maybe I should talk to her alone first, see how she feels." "Brad said that she lives nearby, so..." " I have to see her." " You will." "I swear." "Just let me do this first." "My baby's alive." "Hi." "I'm Melinda Gordon." "I own the antique shop in town." "I found something that I think you might want." "I talked to your dad..." "Oh, my God." "My muffins." "Come in." "Come in." "I'm coming, I'm coming." "Please don't burn." "Hot, hot, hot!" "Oh, oh!" "God." "You'd never guess I do this for a living." "Chocolate peanut butter cup." "My new greatest invention." "Those aren't the ones that they sell at Village Java, are they?" " The very same." " I love those." "I'm totally addicted." "It's part of my evil plan." "I do birthdays, too." "So you were saying that my father sent you, but if what you found is a wedding dress," " you can forget about it." " A dress?" "I know he means well, and I'm sure your vintage pieces are very sweet, but I've told him a gazillion times, it's a Hawaiian luau." "I mean, I love the guy to bits, but it's my wedding, right?" "I'm..." "You know, actually..." "Lanie!" "Lanie!" "I'm such a klutz." "Don't scare me like that." "I thought you were at the library studying." "Well, I couldn't stay away from you so long." "Okay, enough with the flowers." "I get it." "You're sorry, but we are running out of vases." "Oh, God." "I'm so rude." "Todd, this is Melinda." "She owns that cute antique store downtown." "Oh, yeah." "Nice to meet you." "Hey, babe, I'm gonna squeeze in a couple more hours before dinner." "Great." "As if getting married wasn't enough, he's studying for the bar." " Why all the flowers?" " He feels bad." "It was a nothing argument, really." "It's my fault, but who's complaining, right?" "Right." "Actually, I didn't come here about a dress." "I wanted to return something to you." "No." "That's not mine." "Why would you think it is?" "Because I found it in your mom's car." "Lanie." " That's you, isn't it?" " What?" "We should go outside and talk." " Okay." " Take care." "My mom left when I was three, but it still gets to me." " So you remember her?" " Some." "How she used to sing along to the radio, the way she smelt when she kissed me good night." " The rest I just learned from my dad." " Did your dad tell you why she left?" "Look, you're really easy to talk to, but why are you asking me this?" "Your mother..." "Her spirit is still here." "I've seen her, spoken to her." "You're telling me you've seen my mother's ghost?" "I know." "Believe me, I know that it sounds crazy, but it's my gift." "She's the one who gave me this doll, and she wanted to find you very badly." "She loves you very much." "What are you doing?" " Why are you doing this to me?" " What?" " Nothing." "I'm just telling you the truth." " My mother was mentally ill." "My father said she had delusional paranoia." "She left us." "She left me, and then she died, so I couldn't even know..." " What the hell?" " Todd!" "Todd!" " What happened?" " I don't know." "It just exploded." "Anna." " What are you doing?" " I'm sorry." "I think Anna is doing this." "I'm just not really sure why." "Look, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I want you out of here, okay?" "Now." " You okay?" " Yeah." "This is crazy." " I'm so sorry." " That's okay." " Let me get that." " I got it." " What happened in there?" " I had to see her." "She needs me." "She's a big girl now." "She grew up really well." "You don't have to worry about her any more." "Yes, I do!" "Look, if your marriage ended badly, I'm really sorry about that, but you can't take it out on Lane and Todd." "Believe me, the best thing that you can do for your daughter is just to move on." "No." "As long as my baby needs me, I'm never leaving." "Stop!" "Please!" "What are you?" " Todd?" " No!" " Stop!" " What's going on in there?" "Please stop!" " Oh, God!" " Todd?" "Help!" "Please!" "Stop!" " Hello?" " Melinda?" "You have to get over here, quick." "I think I need you." " The door's jammed." " Don't worry." "Jim will get us in." "It's her." "It was like she's trying to kill him." "I heard glass shattering." " Help!" " Todd, where are you, man?" "Oh, my God!" "Baby!" "All right, all right." "Come over here." " Oh, my God." "He's bleeding." " Go away!" "He's gonna need stitches." "I'm gonna go grab my kit." "Pressure." "What?" "It wasn't enough that she abandoned me?" "She's gotta come back from the grave to haunt me?" "I don't know why she's not moving on, but I'll try to fix it, okay?" "I promise." " I have no idea how to fix this." " Oh, yeah?" "Maybe this'll help." "911 report." "We just got it faxed to us." ""Anna Fowler." "Female." "Caucasian." "Cause of death, hypothermia." ""Page one of three." Where's the rest of it?" "Hey, hey, hey." "That was before we went computerised." "We're lucky to have got anything at all." "I'm sorry I'm so grumpy." "Grumpy?" "You got a crazy ghost making you crazy." "Oh, I married a comedian." "Hey, the guy who wrote this report, do you know him?" "Yeah." "I know Andy." "Sure, I remember that night." "Changed me forever." "I got a call that morning from the woman's sister." "She was worried because she hadn't shown up the night before." "Andy, you led the rescue team up, right?" "Not right away." "That storm was something fierce." "Worst I'd seen up till then." "Had to wait till it was practically dark for it to subside." "It couldn't have been easy finding her with all that snowfall." "No kidding." "There was no sign of her along the main road, so we split up." "The footprints were pretty well covered already, but I knew they had to be hers, so I followed them for quite a ways." "I knew right away that she didn't make it." "I went to check her pulse, and that's when I realised..." "What?" "What did you realise?" "The little girl" "was alive." "It was a miracle, a true miracle." "Her mother used the warmth of her own body to keep her kid alive." "Lane was with her mother that night." "Anna died trying to save her baby." "Why would her husband lie about that?" "Why would Brad lie about that?" "I don't know, but I think that you do and..." "I hope bringing you back here will help you remember." "She was with me." " She was with me." " Yes." "She was." "Anna..." "No." "You don't understand." "It all makes sense now." "Mommy!" "Mommy, my dolly!" "Mommy!" "I knew I should stay in the car, but it was like a refrigerator." "Mommy, I'm scared." "I thought if I just kept moving..." "Come on, sweetie." "I was scared." "I was trying to get away." "I just couldn't let him find me." "Who?" "Who were you running from?" " My husband." " Brad?" " Yeah." " Why?" "He hit me." "Again." " Anna..." " I always thought it was my fault." "If I could just be a better wife..." "Until that night." "Come back here!" "We're not done!" " Open the door!" " We had another one of our fights." "Anna!" "Open the door!" " I thought she was asleep..." " You better get out here." " ... but our fighting woke her up." " Anna, let me in." " Oh, baby." " Anna, this is crazy." " Oh, baby." " Anna, let me in!" "Anna!" "Mommy, don't let him in." "Please don't let him in." " Anna, I need to talk." "Open up!" " I saw how scared she was." " And I knew we had to get out." " But if you were being abused, why didn't your friends or anyone help you?" "I was too ashamed to tell them." "I would wear long sleeves to cover the bruises, and if anyone did notice, I'd just laugh it off." "Clumsy me." "Everyone thought we were the perfect couple." "And we were, when we weren't fighting." "Brad would feel so bad after one of our fights." "He'd spoil me like crazy, presents, big bouquets of flowers, the works." "Is that why you attacked Todd?" "Because you saw him give Lane the bouquet of flowers?" "When I saw him with that bouquet, something just snapped inside of me." "She has to know what you went through, what you did for her." " Please tell me she's not here." " It's just me." "She gone for good?" "No, but she said she'd stay away until you're ready to see her." "That would be never." "Anna didn't abandon you." "What?" "I talked to the paramedic who rescued you." "You were with her when she died." " I was with her when she left my dad?" " She took you with her." "But..." "Why would my dad lie about that?" " Maybe he feels ashamed." " Ashamed of what?" "My dad was the greatest dad anyone could ask for." "Did some pretty bad things to your mom." "Look, my dad would never hurt anyone, okay?" "If she said he did, it's because she's crazy." "I don't know." "Maybe she hates men." "You saw what she did to Todd." "That's because of the flowers." "Your dad always gave her flowers after they had a fight." "It was a gut reaction when she saw Todd give you the bouquet." "Okay." "Stop." "You've gone too far." "I don't need you meddling in my life." "It's complicated enough right now." "Your mom died trying to keep you safe." "She wanted to protect you." "And now she needs to know that you're okay, so she can move on." "Would it kill you to just at least talk to her?" "That ship's already sailed." "At least I know I can trust my instincts." "Anna isn't crazy." "But Lane didn't believe you?" "When I told her, her mom was abused, she just shut down." "Well, it's a pretty big bomb you dropped on her." "Kind of blows away everything she grew up believing." "Yeah, but her father is a therapist." "I mean, you'd think he would have it all figured out." " I guess you never really know." " Yeah." "Well, I wouldn't mind meeting that guy in a dark alley." "You are a bigger softie than me." "It was a nothing argument." "My fault really." "I always thought it was my fault." " It's happening." " It's happening?" "Oh, my God!" "Just shut up!" "Use your head, why don't you?" " I said I was sorry!" " Stop crying!" "Lane!" "Lane, it's Melinda!" "Are you okay?" "I'm fine." "Now isn't a good time." "Do you want me to get you out of here?" "Are you crazy?" " You've done enough damage." " Lanie, get in here!" "Lane!" "I left so this would stop, but it didn't." "It never will." " We have to do something." " She won't listen to me, or to you." "Not now." " What?" "Is this some twisted joke?" " I'm sorry." "I would normally do this slowly, explain gently that I have a gift." "I can see spirits, I can cross them over, yada, yada." "Frankly, I don't have the patience or the time." " Lane needs you." " What do you mean?" "I think she's being abused, just like you abused her mother." "What..." "What makes you say that?" "Look, Brad, you don't have to believe that I can see ghosts, but please believe what I'm telling you about your daughter." "Okay." "Okay." "I'll admit I had doubts about Todd." "I always thought it was just my own paranoia, projecting my own demons onto him, but I know he loves her." "You loved me, too." "Said you couldn't live without me." "You always said your heart beat only for me." "You said your heart beat only for her." "Is she really here?" "Can you tell her..." "Tell her that I'm not the same person any more, that I've gotten help, and now I'm helping others." "I know that look of his, so full of guilt and remorse." "She can hear you." "Anna..." "I'm so sorry for what I did." "I just hope you can forgive me." "All those times you begged me to forgive you, and I did because I loved you," "because I believed you could change." "And it looks like you have, but I can't forgive you." "I forgave you too many times when I was alive." "She wishes she could, but it's too late." "Right." "Of course." "Brad, the reason that Anna is earthbound is not because of what you did to her." "It's Lane." "You have one chance to redeem yourself, to help your daughter." "Please tell her the truth about you, so that she can know the truth about Todd." "I didn't want you to know." "That's why I lied." "I know it was wrong." "I hated myself for what I did to her." "I couldn't live if you hated me, too." "My mom didn't abandon me?" "No." "She didn't." "So you let me believe that my mother left me?" "That she didn't love me?" "Lanie, the only reason I'm bringing this up now is because I don't want you to make the same mistake your mother did." " What do you mean?" " Anna thinks Todd is hurting you." "Lanie." "They say that little girls marry their fathers." "Just stop it, okay?" "Todd and I are happy." "We're getting married, he's gonna pass the bar, and everything is gonna be great." " Just stop this." " Lanie, please." "No." "My head is spinning." "I can't even think about this right now." "So you think she's waiting to see if Lane's okay?" "Sure." "And believe me, she'll know." "She's got the mommy-radar." "You know, I always wondered how my mom knew" "I spiked the punch at junior prom." "Go ahead, make fun of me, but, you know what, it's powerful stuff." "See, I think Anna was in limbo." "Earthbound, but unaware." "Her daughter got engaged, and it sent a ripple effect through the universe that woke her up." "To be continued." "Is my mother here?" "I always told myself it would get better... when he passed the bar," "when we got married, when we moved into a bigger house." "He wasn't gonna change." " You did the right thing." " My mother did the right thing." "Is that why she stayed here?" "To stop me from staying with him?" "Can I..." "Can I thank her?" "You just did." "She's here?" "She's so beautiful." "I can't believe this is the tiny little girl I held in my arms." "Mom?" "She wants you to know how proud she is of you." "No, Mom." "It was you." "I can't believe how strong you were to do what you did." "How tough you were." "You protected me." "You saved me." "We saved ourselves." "I'm so scared, Mom." "I don't know what I'm gonna do now." "Yes, you do." "It's inside you." "Remember how strong you are." "And just think of me, and I'll be with you." "I'll be watching you from wherever I am." "She wants you to remember how strong you are." "She will always be watching over you." "I love you, Mom." " I feel like I never got to say that to her." " You don't have to say it." "We both know it." "Thank you for everything." " She's gone?" " Yeah." "But she's happy." "At peace." "I can't thank you enough." "I don't know what else to say."