by Rose Pressey
The group approached. At least people had shown up tonight. There were three women and two men.
“Welcome to Devil’s Moon Haunted Tour.” I gestured toward the graveyard behind me.
All eyes were on me as I explained where we would go on the tour tonight. I stopped mid-sentence when I saw Candace. What was she doing here? I didn’t want any trouble. My group had paid for a tour and that was what they were getting. With no interruptions. Her stare was focused on me as she approached. I tried to continue talking, but I was definitely distracted.
She walked around the group and stood right next to me. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but this is urgent.”
I didn’t like that sound of that.
“What happened?” I asked.
The group looked confused. This was bad for business. Had someone else been murdered?
She waved her hand dismissively. “Nothing like that. I need to record the tour again.”
I frowned. “Why do you need to do that? Was something wrong with the first time?”
She glanced around at the faces staring at her. “Yes, the first time just wasn’t quite right.”
“Was it something I did?” I hated to have this discussion in front of the tour-goers.
“You were delightful.” She plastered a fake smile on her face.
“We’ve already started the tour. It will have to be a different night.” I wasn’t convinced that she actually needed to do it. And I was ready to back out of this project.
She frowned. It didn’t look as if she was going to take no for an answer. “Ripley, may I speak with you privately?”
“I really need to get back to the tour. These great people paid for the tour. We only have a limited time to finish.” I looked up at the sky. “Plus, it looks as if it will rain soon.”
She flashed that fake smile again as if that would charm me. “It’ll just take a moment.” She stepped away a little and motioned for me to follow.
“It’s okay if you need to talk with her,” one of the women said.
The others nodded.
I sighed and followed her over to the edge of the graveyard. The group was talking amongst themselves. Probably about what a terrible tour this was.
“I need to reshoot this. I need your cooperation.”
“I already said I can’t do it.” I fixed my stare on her.
She glared at me. I knew she was used to getting her way. “I hate to do this, but if I have to go to the library board and complain about you, I will.”
Her words hit me like a brick. “Is that a threat?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Whatever you think. I just need you to do this tonight. I can’t let the work that Alex did stay. It was all wrong. I put too much money in this to let it fail.”
“It looks as if I don’t have a choice,” I said.
I glanced over my shoulder. The group was getting restless.
“Fine. But don’t ever ask me for anything else,” I said.
We walked back over to the group and started the tour again. Clouds were really starting to roll in now so I’d have to hurry. The rain would be here soon. Why she couldn’t wait for this I had no idea.
Heath and Jeanette appeared from around the corner. Now I was really uncomfortable. They gave me some strange looks as they set up the camera. I guided the group to the usual first stops on the tour. Every time I looked over Candace had a scowl on her face. I wondered what I was doing wrong. Clearly, she wasn’t happy. I wasn’t at my best because she was making me nervous.
As we approached the antique shop a strange feeling surrounded me. It was the strongest I’d ever felt. I couldn’t figure out exactly where it was coming from. So far things had been uneventful as far as the usual haunting. But out of the corner of my eye, I spotted one of the shadows that had been following Candace, Heath, and Jeanette. The ghosts were almost playing a game with me. They were peeking around corners, as if taunting me.
When I’d looked in their direction, the spirits would dart away. It wasn’t because they didn’t want me to see them. It was more like they wanted to tease me. I would continue to ignore them in the hopes that they would leave me alone. It was hard not to look when they peeked out though.
“Why don’t we do a séance here in the shop?” Candace asked.
Did she have any idea what she was requesting? There was no telling how many ghosts were attached to the antiques in this place.
“Sorry, but I don’t do séances on my tour. It could cause too many problems.”
“We should do one without her at the graveyard,” Candace whispered to Heath.
I turned to Candace. “I can’t let you do that either.”
She flashed me an irritated look. “As if she owns the place,” she said under her breath.
It looked as if I was going to have a serious problem with her. Nevertheless, I had to finish the tour tonight. Maybe after that I wouldn’t have to deal with her again.
Now that we’d moved on to the boutique, I hoped that Candace was out of questions.
I’d barely finished explaining about someone seeing a ghostly woman in a blue dress when Candace asked, “Can we go upstairs in this building too?”
I was all for the tour-goers asking questions. But Candace, Heath, and Jeanette were asking odd questions. I’d never had other guests ask for escape routes. They were making me nervous, not to mention suspicious.
“I’d sorry but the owner hasn’t given us permission to go upstairs,” I said.
“Pity,” Candace said with a click of her tongue.
I hurried everyone outside of the building. It seemed as if the strange feeling was all around now. When I looked behind me, I spotted a dark shadow. Then another one appeared and then another. I was so stunned that I was speechless. Apparently, the others hadn’t seen the spirits. Nevertheless, the paranormal visitors kept appearing until I counted about ten.
“Is everything okay?” one of the women asked.
Since I was being recorded I didn’t want to share what was going on.
I shook my head. “No, I thought I saw something, but it was just a car’s headlights.”
They looked back as if they would see it too. I continued the tour, but the feeling of being watched stayed with me. When I glanced over my shoulder, I spotted even more ghosts. This was most concerning. Why were there so many ghosts now? And where had they come from? Did they want to harm us? I hoped that wasn’t the case. I hadn’t alerted the others to what was going on behind us. I knew they couldn’t see the ghosts. For the safety of the tour, I would keep the spirits behind us a secret.
The more I glanced back, the more I realized something. The ghosts were walking directly behind Candace, Jeanette, and Heath. Could the ghosts be following them? Why? There had to be a reason.
Not surprisingly there were ghosts in the bookstore too. They were playing that same game in this place too. Peeking out from around the bookshelves. No one else seemed to notice them. If they did they never mentioned it. I didn’t like that I was the only one they were doing this to. For a moment, I thought Candace was watching one of the spirits. She seemed calm as if she wasn’t surprised to see something like that at all. I wanted to confront her about it right then and there, but I knew I couldn’t in front of the other tour-goers.
With tension hanging in the air, I thought sure everyone was sensing something was wrong. I had to stop the tour, even though we were only halfway through. Candace wouldn’t be happy about that. But the ghosts seemed even more determined. I’d seen a lot of ghosts there before, but nothing like this. Gray clouds covered the sky, adding to the ominous feeling. I’d used the potential weather as an excuse that we should end the tour for the evening.
“If anyone would like a rain check I’d be happy to give it to you.”
Candace frowned and peered up at the sky. “It’s not raining.”
I looked up at the clouds. “I think it will soon.”
She glared at me. “We need to finish. Remember the lib
rary board.”
So she was now blackmailing me. The group was staring. I had to do something. The ghosts were back there, but they hadn’t come any closer yet. I supposed I would have to finish.
I started to guide the group to the next location, but Candace stopped me and pulled me to the side.
“I want to go to the funeral home. Isn’t that on the tour?”
My eyes widened. “That’s where Alex was found. I don’t think it’s such a good idea to keep it on the tour right now.”
“Listen, if you’ll just cooperate with me this can all be over. If you don’t do as I say I will have to make this extremely difficult for you. I will have the tour closed down and you will lose your job at the library.”
“So you think it’s okay to blackmail people?” I asked.
She shrugged. “If it’s what’s necessary, then that’s what I have to do. Now are we going?”
“Fine, but don’t ever come back to my tour or library again.” I stormed off toward the group, not waiting for her nasty response.
The group was getting antsy. Their chatter grew louder and they had a hard time standing still.
“Okay, we’re going to the old funeral home. You can follow me this way.”
I hoped they didn’t know what had recently happened there. Once on the porch of the funeral parlor I had flashbacks of finding Alex. I would hurry through and get everyone out as soon as possible. I opened the door and guided everyone through. I tried to avoid the room where I’d found Alex, but Candace kept motioning for me to go in. I didn’t like that she had taken over my tour and was telling me what to do. It was as if she wanted to feel disturbed and loved the macabre feeling of being where Alex had been found. That sounded like a something a murderer would want. I rushed through the room and then through the rest of the house.
When I brought the group around to the front door again, I caught Candace standing by the room where I’d found Alex. She was staring in at the room. Chills went down my spine. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
“We’re ready to leave now,” I called out to her.
She continued to stare blankly at the room. I took a deep breath and walked over to her.
“Candace, we’re ready to leave.”
She didn’t acknowledge me. I put my hand on her shoulder. She jumped and knocked my hand off her shoulder.
I stepped back.
“Sorry, I guess I was daydreaming,” Candace said.
About what? Murdering someone?
When we reached outside, the ghosts were still there waiting for us. Or should I say waiting for them? I finished the tour through town and then headed back to the graveyard. I still had to do the tour through there too. No one would believe me if I told them that the ghosts had come along for the tour as well.
We reached the graveyard and I hurried everyone through, weaving through the maze of headstones at a record speed. The hair prickled on the back of my neck. That was never a good sign. The group seemed happy at the end, but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed by the way things had turned out. When the tour-goers left I was stuck with just Candace, Jeanette, and Heath. All the murder suspects.
Now I wished I wasn’t alone with them. They stared at me and I thought about running. Maybe they were all in on this together.
Candace smiled. “Thanks for cooperating and not making this any harder than it has to be.”
Did she expect me to be nice after the way she’d acted? Now she was acting as if nothing was wrong.
“Well, the tour is over now and I have to go.”
They stared at me as I closed the gate and headed toward the alley.
“Yeah, I guess it is getting late.”
I hated that they were walking behind me. They all acted like nothing had happened. As if Candace hadn’t threatened me. As if Heath hadn’t taken the bag back from my apartment. I hurried my steps and finally reached the street. I wasn’t going to walk all the way home with the three of them following me. I would stop in the tavern. I’d call Brannon if I had to. They had the tour on video. There was no need to continue to follow me now.
I rushed into the tavern as if I was running from a killer. Maybe I was running from three. Thank goodness I spotted Tammy.
Chapter 17
In order to find out more about the asylum, I would have to go to the next town over. I wanted to confirm that Patrick owned it, since rumor had it that someone in Bloomfield actually owned the place. There was only one way to find out.
After the short drive, I arrived in the tiny town. It was even smaller than Devil’s Moon. After driving around the town’s square a couple times, I found a parking spot. The courthouse was just a short walk. I found the location for deeds and headed in to search for the information. The woman behind the counter was nice and took care of it for me. I was anxious to get my hands on the information. I scanned the page, looking for the name of the owner. When I saw it I was surprised, but then again not surprised at all. I knew there was more to this story. Unfortunately, this only worsened the mystery.
As I’d suspected, the old asylum wasn’t Patrick’s. It belonged to a Mrs. Gardner.
No wonder there was no furniture and none of his belongings. Apparently, he had taken on the place as his own though. Now I had to find out what his connection was to the real owner of the building. Maybe Mrs. Gardner had given him permission to be there. Then again, maybe she had no idea he had even been in her place. I wondered why she would leave the property empty. It happened more often than I would have thought though. I’d seen many buildings sit empty until they’d finally just crumbled to the ground from neglect. Now that I had Mrs. Gardner’s name I had to find her.
“Is there something I can help you with?” the woman behind the counter asked.
“Do you happen to know where I could find this person?” I showed her the name.
She took the page and scanned it. “Mrs. Gardner? Actually I do, but I doubt she’ll talk to you. She never talks to anyone.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean she’s a hermit.”
“I’ll have to take my chances. Thanks for the information.” After writing down the address, I headed for my car.
I hoped this woman was wrong. Maybe Mrs. Gardner would talk about the place.
Since I’d never been to this street before I had to enter the address in my GPS. I drove down the winding road. The trees on each side of the road gave a sense of foreboding to the street. It was a bit spooky. The driveway was hard to find and I almost passed it. There were actually three houses down that long driveway. The house was the one in the middle. A modest brick house, about thirty of them could have fit into the asylum. I pulled up in front of the house.
It looked as if no one was home. Nevertheless, I decided to go to the door. Once at the door, I rang the bell, but nothing happened. I knocked and waited. Unfortunately, I heard no movement from inside the house. Was someone really living here? Maybe they’d moved out. I knocked again, but there was still no answer. I was frustrated that it looked as if the woman at the counter was right. I guessed the trip hadn’t been completely wasted since I’d gotten the name, but I’d really hoped to talk with someone. I knocked one more time, but the outcome was the same.
As I stepped off the porch, someone from the house next door called out to me. “If you’re looking for Mrs. Gardener, then she won’t come out.”
I stepped over to the side of the yard. “How do you know she’s in there if she never talks to anyone?”
“Oh, she talks to some people. I see her coming and going. But she won’t talk to a stranger.”
“Will she talk to you?” I asked.
She continued to water the red roses. “I’m a stranger too.”
“But you live next door.”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. She won’t talk to me either. I figure after a couple more years she might actually look at me.”
“That sounds promising,” I said.
“Maybe
I can help you. What do you need?” she asked.
I looked over at the house. I doubted she would be able to help me with this, but I would ask anyway. “Do you know if Mrs. Gardner owns another place?”
She looked at me. “As a matter of fact, I’ve been told that she does. I’m not sure why she doesn’t do something with the place. I never saw the building in person, but I heard it’s big.”
I nodded. “Oh, it’s huge, and hauntingly beautiful.”
“Sounds amazing,” the woman said.
“How do you know she owns the place?” I asked.
“Her brother-in-law was over there one day. He actually talked to me. He’s a lot friendlier. As far as I know he’s the only living relative. He was her husband’s brother. He takes care of a lot of things for her.”
“Do you happen to know if his name is Patrick Greystone?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch his name.”
“Do you think he would talk to me?” I asked.
She turned off the water. “I don’t know. He was friendly, but I guess it depends on why you want to talk to him.”
“Like I said, I was at the place. I think someone was squatting there.”
“Oh, in that case I’m sure he would want to know. His name is Mitchell Robertson. He lives in Devil’s Moon,” she said.
“Really? That’s where I live,” I said.
“Oh, yeah? He owns the carriage in town. You know, the one that takes people on tours through town.”
“Right. I thought I recognized the name. I’ll definitely have to stop and see him.”
She looked over her shoulder. “Well, good luck.”
“Thanks for the information.” I headed back to my car.
I looked over at the house. There was still no sign of anyone. I couldn’t wait to get back to Devil’s Moon and talk with Mitchell. I hoped he could help me.
When I reached Devil’s Moon, I knew I would have to take a carriage ride if I wanted to talk with this man. There was a group of people waiting. I could always wait and come back when he wasn’t busy, but to be honest, I really didn’t want to wait that long. I wanted answers now. Actually, I needed the answers now. It was a matter of life or death. The faster I got answers the better.