Walnut Grove House

by Alexie Aaron

  Varden stepped up and handed Sally a bouquet of paper daisies. “I’m Varden Martin, and this is my family.”

  “I’m Sally, and I’m in love with your uncle Cid.”

  Varden smiled and jumped up and down.

  “Whose idea was this?” Cid demanded.

  “Mine,” Murphy said from behind him. “Faye helped.”

  “I said they should be with us standing side by side like the American Gothic painting, but Murph’s a stick in the mud,” Mia said.

  Varden took Sally’s hand.

  Sally looked at Cid. “I want one of these, and one of those,” she said pointing at Brian. “Two of those darling little girls and…”

  “We aren’t shopping,” Cid said. “Those girls are very expensive. I think we can get Brian cheap because he’s mouthy.”

  “Hey!” Brian objected.

  The family broke up, and Sally was properly introduced to everyone. Mia remained on the floor, glaring up at Murphy.

  Nanny picked up one of the babies and handed her to Sally. “This is Genevieve. She’s the oldest, and this one is Maeve, the baby of the family.”

  “Mia’s the baby of the family,” Lazar teased. “Get off the floor, you’re embarrassing all of us.”

  “My legs are asleep. I crossed them, and now they can’t be uncrossed.”

  Ted walked over and lifted Mia up under the arms. She still had her legs crossed. She put one leg down. “Who do I remind you of, cousin?”

  Lazar burst out laughing.

  That’s when Sally saw he was wearing a prosthesis. There was a lot of love in this house, and she wanted in.

  Dieter approached her. “Your aura is green. You are a protector of the earth.”

  “Thank you, I didn’t know.”

  “I’m adopted.”

  “Thank you for telling me, I would never had guessed,” Sally said. “I’m an orphan too.”

  Cid, who was dragged into the kitchen by the food bags, called, “Sally, if you don’t come and get something to eat, it will all be gone.”

  Mia put her other leg down. “Don’t worry, we ordered pizza. Ethan will be bringing it at any minute.”

  “That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing,” Sally said.

  “It’s my date-night dress,” Mia said proudly. “I picked it out myself.”

  “You said that as if it’s an issue,” Sally noticed.

  “When you’re short, people are constantly picking you up and trying to dress you.”

  Genevieve burbled as if to agree with her mother.

  “She likes you,” Mia said. “Well, then it’s decided, we’ll keep you. Cid can find another Sally.”

  “Cid will never find another Sally,” Ted said. He took Genevieve out of Sally’s arms. “Come on, Cid needs a cheerleader.”

  “Go on, you know you want to cartwheel your way in,” Mia said, still trying to wake up her legs.

  “You’re scary and most likely a mind reader,” Sally guessed.

  Mia smiled. “Nah, I just sense a kindred spirit. Speaking of spirits, I wonder where Faye and Murph went to?”

  “He was very kind and visited me at the Leighton Facility.”

  “I think he was checking you out,” Mia said. “I got in trouble for it. I did not send him.”

  “I know.”

  Sally linked arms with Mia. “Don’t worry, Cid doesn’t know me well enough to trust that if I fell in love with him, that I would also love everyone he loves.”

  “It will take time. He’s a thinker.”

  ~

  The adults were sitting around the living room. Nanny was telling them about how she was followed around for two days by the ghost of a Roman centurion. “He seemed to think I was an old girlfriend. I’m old but not that old. I do resemble my aunt Casandra. Perhaps it was she.”

  Cid’s eyes opened. He looked over at Mia, worried. She looked back and smiled. She opened and closed her hand, asking to enter his mind. He nodded.

  “You have nothing to worry about. Sally probably thinks it’s a joke on Nanny’s Aunt Casandra. Unless Brian sprouts wings, I think that we just appear eccentric to her. She is a beautiful kind woman. You’re very lucky to have found each other.”

  Cid smiled and touched his heart. He stood up. “I’m sorry but I’m going to take Sally away from you. I’d like to show her my home before she has to return. I promise to bring her back.”

  Sally got up. “Thank you. I loved meeting all of you.”

  She took Cid’s hand, and they found their jackets and walked outside. Cid guided her down the walk and pointed out the old foundations of the destroyed farmhouse. “It took a while, but we managed to rebuild. Jesse was the lead contractor for the carriage house/office/mad scientist lab.”

  “You’ve not been here long, but already, there is so much history,” Sally said.

  Cid stopped in front of a small quaint building. “This is my house. I’m building it in stages. Since I was single I… Well, I’ll show you.”

  Sally took a moment to appreciate everything Cid had built and then took longer to appreciate Cid.

  ***

  Glossary

  Main Characters:

  Garrett, Cid (Clark): Finishing contractor, investigator, cameraman, and technician.

  Faye: Female ghost who attached herself to the renovation team. She is trying to figure out who she is and who killed her.

  Holden, Jesse (Scrub): Roofing and structure specialist.

  Pickles, Kiki: Managing contractor of renovation group, specializing in old buildings.

  Shipley, Wayne (Walrus): Contractor, plumbing, tile, renovation work for American civil war buildings.

  Recurring Characters:

  Carl (Gut): Heating and cooling contractor working for Kiki Pickles. Introduced in Cid.

  Gary (Holy Shit): Contractor working for Kiki Pickles. Introduced in Cid.

  Pete (What the Fuck): Contactor working for Kiki Pickles. Introduced in Cid.

  Espina, Belinda: Latina ex-con who manages former gang members in an all-female roofing company with her sister Dita.

  Espina, Dita: Latina ex-con who manages former gang members in an all-female roofing company with her sister Belinda.

  Franks, Calvin: Owner of High Court.

  Kitteridge, Marla: Former homeless woman, first appearing in Tiny Houses. She’s now a partner of Audrey Stavros.

  Crossover characters:

  PEEPS: Paranormal Entity Exposure Partners.

  Dupree, Mike: Founding partner of PEEPs and on-camera personality.

  Hicks, Burt: Founding partner of PEEPs, lead investigator, and cameraman.

  Jake: Ghost, research and computers.

  Jefferies, Alan: Lawyer for PEEPs and the Martins. Kiki Pickles’s boyfriend.

  Martin, Mia Cooper: Sensitive, lead investigator, and security. Ted’s wife and Brian, Varden, Genevieve, Maeve, and Dieter Martin’s mother. Healer of angels.

  Martin, Ted: Lead technician, computers, and communications. Mia’s husband and Brian, Varden, Genevieve, Maeve, and Dieter Martin’s father. Technical genius.

  Stavros, Audrey: Researcher and investigator, married to Orion Stavros, mother of Luke and Brede Stavros.

  Stavros, Luke: Orion’s and Audrey’s son (first angel born on earth)

  Stavros, Orion: Birdman historian, Mia’s natural grandfather, married to Audrey.

  Murphy, Stephen: Ghost, translator, and security.

  Other crossover characters:

  Aldridge, Ethan: Teenage paintball-gang member who was sentenced to a juvenile detention facility for his part in coercing Rory Kline and the deaths of Jason Jones and Keith Summerfield. Aided in bringing Blair Summerfield to justice. First seen in Something Old.

  Bealuieu, Becky (Yum-Yum): Medium first seen in the Haunted Series NOLA. Specialty is to pull things out of thin air.

  Braverman, Tom: Acting sheriff, school friend of Mia. Murphy brought him back to
life, inadvertently giving him the sight.

  Braverman, Susan: Good friend and babysitter for the Martins. Is a mega Bears fan and is well liked in Big Bear Lake.

  Leighton, Mark: Teenager who can see angels. Son of a veteran with Locked-in Syndrome.

  Leighton, Sarah: Wife of veteran with Locked-in Syndrome that owns and runs a VA rehabilitation facility in Big Bear Lake.

  Martin, Brian: The Chosen One. Son of Mia and Ted Martin.

  Martin, Dieter: Teenage attrpeur-âme (a catcher of souls) from Nigeria, adopted son of Mia and Ted Martin.

  Martin, Varden: Son of Mia and Ted Martin. Carries the soul of dead birdman Varden, Victor’s brother.

  Norwood, Sabine: Sensitive, clairvoyant, and medium, associate of Father Santos, widow, adopted cousin of Mia, and mother of triplets.

  Popov, Lazar: One-legged veteran hired on as a farm manager for the Martins.

  Santos, Father (Paolo): Roman Catholic priest, exorcist, mind reader, and leader of a professional group of paranormal investigators.

  Simon, Father: (Berhanu Thato) Priest of the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, exorcist and associate of Father Santos.

  Templeton, Rand (Old lady Templeton): Cid’s former girlfriend and dynamic high school teacher and organic farmer.

  Wells, Brenda: Alan Jefferies’s very capable law secretary.

  Terms:

  Dark World: An unescapable prison for spirits who interfere physically with the living. They wander alone for an eternity, never coming in contact with anything else.

  EMF: Electromagnetic field.

  Hellhounds: Supernatural dogs who typically serve demons and Others.

  Mind Palace/Mind House: A way your mind stores memories. The consciousness invents a place that you’re familiar with. It’s basically how it separates thoughts and stores memories. Each person’s is different.

  Reapers: Large spectral hands who capture errant spirits and take them to the Dark World. They always travel in groups of three.

  Red shirt: Last PEEP hired. In homage to Star Trek’s red-shirted crewmen and women who were the first sacrificed.

  Alexie Aaron

  After traveling the world, Alexie Aaron, a Midwestern native, returned to her roots where she’s been haunting for years. She now lives at the top of the mitt with her husband and family.

  Her popular Haunted Series was born from her memories of fleeting shapes rushing around doorways, an heirloom chair that rocked itself, cold feelings of mysterious dread, and warm feelings from the traces of loved ones long gone. From the Haunted Series, another series was born. The Cid Garrett P.I. series, which takes the reader on a more conventional paranormal adventure.

  Alexie also writes the Cin Fin-Lathen Mysteries. These mysteries, set in England and south Florida, combine action and intrigue with a liberal dose of humor.

  Want more information? Visit www.alexieaaron.com for updates, blog posts, podcasts, and much, much more.