The Massachusetts Ghost Road

File #74 of The Ashford Files and the subject of *Rules for Vanishing*. The case concerns the disappearance of nine teenagers in Briar Glen, Massachusetts in the Spring of 2017: Sara Donoghue, Anthony Beck, Melanie Whittaker, Trina and Kyle Jeffries, Nick Dessen, Vanessa Han, Jeremy Polk and Miranda Ryder. Interviews are conducted by Dr. Ashford and Abigail Ryder.

## The Legends

### The Legend of Lucy Gallows

> *"Little Lucy, dressed in white / Gave her mother such a fright. / Walked into the woods one day. / Where she went no one can say. / Down a road that no one found. / Or are her bones sunk in the ground? / How many steps did Lucy take? One, two, three, four..."* - Children's skipping rhyme, local to Briar Glen, Massachusetts
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Lucy Callow disappeared on April 19th, 1953, the day of her sister's wedding. The story goes that she argued with her mother and ran into the woods. When her brother Billy went after her, he found a road in the woods that should not have been there. He followed it and saw his sister talking with a stranger. They started down the road and he watched them disappear. To summon Lucy's ghost, children in Briar Glen pair up by a road rumored to be the point of her disappearance. They hold hands, close their eyes, and take thirteen steps.

Rebecca Donoghue began to research the legends with Zachary Kent after she began seeing Lucy in her dreams. When the pair vanished on April 19th, 2016, Sara took up her research in an attempt to understand her disappearance. They found that the game of thirteen steps and the stories of the ghost road predate the events of Lucy Callow's disappearance. The root of the ghost road is the legend of Ys.

### The City of Ys

> *"*the sea rushes in her lover rushes in her love is the sea she unlocks the gate he floods her salt her lips salt her thighs salt her tongue we are drowned the sea rushes in*"* - the words circling the rim of the well in old Briar Glen
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Ys is a mythical city on the coast of Brittany, protected by a gate which kept back the sea. According to legend, the princess Dahut left the gate open so that her lover could sneak in, but never closed it. The tide came in and drowned the whole city. The ghost road's existence is tied to this legend. Becca states that it was the mass death of the drowned city that created the road. Grace Winters says that the road itself is not dangerous, it is merely seeking travelers to give it back its purpose. If travelers can pass all seven gates and get to Ys, they can escape the road and are granted a wish.

When Sara leaves the road before the sixth gate, the drowned residents of Ys tell Sara that Dahut was a magician who was trying to open the world to an ancient and terrible power. The wise men of Ys opened the gate to the sea to stop her from succeeding. Dahut uses her power to draw people onto the road, trying to use them to escape and finish what she started. By using the road and dying on it, the travelers keep the road and Dahut alive.

The legend in the book is based on the story from Breton folklore. The basic outline of the story is the same, but there is no road in the original myth.

## The Road

### The Rules

Travelers on the road are less vulnerable if they adhere to its rules. Sara learns the rules from Becca's notebook:

> *Don’t leave the road*
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> *When it’s dark, don’t let go.*
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> *There are other roads. Don’t follow them.*
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Grace theorizes that the road provides a level of protection. When the rules are broken, the road is hurt and the dangers surrounding it are allowed in.

### The Gates

The road has seven gates. Each gate must be opened with a key. Beyond each gate is the darkness. To get through the darkness safely, you must have a partner, keep hold of their hand, and stay on the road.

The gates do not always have the same names, they may come in a different order, the details may shift to suit the travelers, but there are always seven. Each involves some sort of trial. The gates Sara encounters are as follows:

1. The Liar's Gate
2. The Sinner's Gate
3. The Blind Man's Gate
4. The Gate of Manny Doors
5. The Sailor's Gate
6. The Sixth Gate
7. The Last Gate

## References

1. ↑ Lewis Spence (1917). VII: Popular Legends of Brittany. *Legends & Romances of Brittany* 184.