Lena (Gypsy Spirits Book 3)

by Marianne Spitzer

  “Get back on the radio and tell Greta to get the coroner out here. Maybe he can figure this out.”

  Steve nodded and ran to his Jeep.

  Sheriff Richardson rang the doorbell again. “I refuse to open the door with him on the porch.”

  “Okay, I’ll walk around to the back door. Turn on the light.”

  Mrs. Graysbe met the sheriff at the back door and explained what happened. The sheriff told her to relax, the coroner was coming, and they would remove the body soon.

  She glared at him, shook her head, and slammed the door. He walked back around to the front of the house.

  Steve spotted the sheriff and said, “Look, there’s a piece of paper in Mr. Rondell’s pocket. I left it until you got back.”

  The sheriff bent over and removed the paper, “It says ‘Annamarie Logan did this.’”

  “This is a joke. No one calls Annamarie a Logan. She hasn’t been one for what twelve or thirteen years?”

  “Yeah, I’m curious about that. Someone is playing games,” said the sheriff.

  The sheriff slipped the note into an evidence bag and handed it to Steve. “I think Annamarie and Sam will open up to you more than me, I’ll wait for the coroner. You go talk to them.”

  “Okay,” said Steve. He wondered what was going on as he ran to his Jeep.

  “Guess you goofed,” Garret whispered. “Annamarie got married. Why didn’t you know that?”

  “I did,” snapped Daniel. “I wasn’t thinking when I wrote the note and I don’t know her new last name. It won’t matter. This is only the beginning.”

  Steve rang the doorbell at Sam and Annamarie’s. Lena opened the door. “Hi, Uncle Steve. C’mon in. Mom, Dad, Uncle Steve’s here.”

  Sam walked into the parlor. “Hi, Steve. I hope this isn’t an official visit?”

  “I’m afraid it is.” Steve removed his hat and sat down with Sam.

  Annamarie joined them. Steve said, “This is going to sound crazy, but I saw it with my own eyes.” He explained the incident at Mrs. Graysbe’s. “To make matters worse, this note was in his pocket.” He showed the evidence bag to Sam and Annamarie.

  “It’s Daniel’s doing. Anyone else would have called me Wescott,” said Annamarie.

  “I figured that,” Steve said. “That’s why I’m here. Anyway, I didn’t want to deal with Mrs. Graysbe and the coroner.”

  Sam scratched his head, “How did Daniel and Garret get the body to Mrs. Graysbe’s?”

  Steve explained about the orderly.

  Annamarie said, “He might have driven the body there, but how did it talk? Lena told me that Daniel was able to possess a body. He possessed George’s and I think he did another at the grocery store, but a dead person? If that’s true, they’ll terrorize the town. Looks like they want to blame me. Maureen did, too before she left town. It has to be part of Daniel’s plan.” Her fists balled up and she punched the sofa.

  “What do we do?” Sam asked.

  “I’ll tell the sheriff you have no idea about the note and I’ll mention the Logan instead of Wescott fact. He might think its kids. I’ll try and convince him, but I think Daniel and Garret have more plans. We need to stop them.”

  “I’ll do my best to find out,” said Annamarie.

  “So will I, Uncle Steve,” said Lena who had been sitting across the room listening. “I can hear what Daniel is thinking, if he’s close enough. The twins can hear him better, but they get confused by some of his thoughts.”

  “Okay, I’m going back to the office now. I’ll warn Deb about this walking dead issue, too. At least there are only two of them. You don’t think they can possess more than one person?”

  “No, Uncle Steve, I know each can only possess one body at a time so it will be easier for you to find and fight them.” Lena smiled.

  “I hope you’re right. I better go. Stay safe.” Steve closed the door behind him.

  Sam looked at Annamarie. “What now?”

  “I don’t know. Let’s hope we all dream some answers. I think we’re going to need them and some extra help. This is getting creepy.”

  “It’s the witch,” said Lena. “She gave them extra powers and they are trying them out.”

  “Wonderful,” Annamarie sighed. “Well, at least you and the twins can see and feel a lot of what Daniel is planning. Magdalena and Josef will help us in our dreams. Listen to them carefully and ask them questions.”

  “Will do, Mom. I’m tired so I’m off to bed. Sleep well; I’ll see you in the morning.” Lena blew a kiss as she ran up the stairs.

  Sheriff Richardson sat on Mrs. Graysbe’s porch waiting for the coroner. He wasn’t fond of the idea of sitting next to Mr. Rondell and he scowled. The scowl turned to a relieved smile when he saw the coroner’s van pull up. The coroner’s assistant popped out of the driver’s seat.

  “Hey, Sheriff Richardson, I hear you have a case of the walking dead here?”

  “Shut up and get this body back to the hospital. Maybe they can figure out what happened.”

  He watched the body picked up, placed in the van, and the van’s tail lights disappear down the street. He saw Mrs. Graysbe peeking out from behind her curtains as he pulled away headed back to the station.

  The sheriff parked next to Steve’s Jeep and strode into the station. Greta greeted him with a smile and asked, “Did Mrs. Graysbe really see a walking dead man?”

  Sheriff Richardson rubbed his forehead trying to ward off a headache. “There are no such things as the walking dead. Where’s Steve?”

  “In the back.”

  The sheriff left the front office with Greta frowning at him.

  “Steve?”

  “In here,” Steve walked out of the supply closet. “Did you learn anything from Mrs. Graysbe?”

  The sheriff shook his head, “It’s been thirteen years since the summer we had all the horrendous storms and Mrs. Graysbe claims we were attacked by Martians. She claimed she saw red lightening, remember.”

  Steve nodded knowing full well she had seen it, but he was one of the few that knew about the battle of the spirits that took place that summer.

  “Last week her grand-nieces took her to the drive-in to watch a zombie movie. Now, she thinks the Martians are back and all the dead bodies have been taken over. She said we’re in for a zombie attack. Who in their right mind takes a seventy-eight year old woman to see a horror movie?” He dropped into a chair and popped two aspirin in his mouth.

  “I don’t understand it sheriff. I hope the rest of the night is quiet.”

  Greta called back to say the hospital was on line two.

  The sheriff grabbed the phone. “Hello.” He listened for a few minutes, shook his head, and hung up.

  Looking up at Steve, “The orderly is fine. They can’t find a reason why he ended up out on the road with his car. They don’t think he took any drugs. They think he could have fallen asleep and drove out there, but that doesn’t explain Mr. Rondell. The orderly swears he didn’t dress the man or move him.”

  “Maybe kids snuck down to the morgue, drugged the orderly somehow, then dressed and stole the body.”

  “It does sound like a kids trick, but what about the note. None of the kids who would do this would call her a Logan. They’d write Wescott. Any ideas?”

  Steve shook his head, but he had plenty and Daniel topped the list. This summer was going to be far worse than the last time Daniel’s spirit was around. He hoped Mrs. Graysbe could hold onto her sanity and her life this time.

  Chapter Eight

  Bonnie had a Saturday morning shift and Carl needed to fix the bathroom sink. Emmy and Lizzy were more than happy to spend their morning with grandma and grandpa.

  The girls leaped out of the car and ran toward the house as soon as Bonnie parked the car.

  “Grandma, Grandpa,” both girls yelled while running toward them.

  They waved at their mom and ran to the backyard to play on the swing. Paula said, “I need to do grocery shopping. Sneaking out bef
ore the twins see me will save us a small fortune and my nerves.” She laughed, kissed Theo, and left.

  Daniel said, “Garret, we’re leaving. C’mon, I’ll tell you on the way.”

  They flew to Theo and Paula’s and landed on a lilac bush in the backyard. “This is going to be fun. Watch me.”

  In a second, Daniel possessed Theo’s body.

  Theo said, “Girls, I have to go to the hardware store. We could stop for ice cream on the way home.”

  “Yippee,” they both said and giggled as they jumped up and down. They hurried and got into the back seat of Theo’s car.

  “I have another stop to make first, is that okay?”

  “Sure,” they said in unison.

  Theo headed toward the large oak grove next to the Hanson Dairy. He pulled in and drove about a block down an old logging trail. “This is the surprise. C’mon, let’s go.”

  The girls followed and Theo said, “We’re going to play hide and seek. Close your eyes and count to ten.”

  As they began to count, Theo raced to the car, pulled out of the oak grove and headed home. He settled into his favorite lawn chair and took a nap. Daniel left his body as soon as he knew Theo was sound asleep.

  Emmy and Lizzy opened their eyes and tried to find their grandpa. They held hands, looked into each other’s eyes, and said, “Grandpa left, we’re lost.”

  Paula arrived back home and called for Theo to help her with the groceries. She found him asleep in the back yard without any sign of the girls. She shook him hard, “Theo, wake up, where are the girls?”

  “What? They’re right here. I wasn’t asleep.” He scratched his head and looked around the yard. “They were just here with me. Didn’t you go shopping?”

  “I’ve been gone for over an hour. What’s wrong with you?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t remember anything.”

  Paula gasped, ran into the house, and called the sheriff’s office. She explained the situation and Greta said the sheriff was on his way. Paula also called Carl and then Annamarie. She was terrified Daniel could be to blame.

  The sheriff arrived with lights and siren blaring. Missing children didn’t happen in Timmus Woods. Annamarie pulled up next with Carl right behind her. They all heard the story from Theo at the same time, but he had no explanation.

  Theo was pacing the back yard and telling the story over and over. Paula was afraid he’d have a heart attack. She finally got him to sit down.

  The sheriff took a quick report and said he would notify Steve and Greta. They would get the word out. Lizzy and Emmy were the only twins in town. Everyone knew them, they couldn’t get far he assured them. It didn’t help.

  Greta thought the fastest way to let people know to look for the girls near their homes was to call the prayer chain at St. Therese. Her contact said she’d handle it from there. She then called Good Shepherd Lutheran and asked the pastor if he could contact their prayer chain. That would cover much of the town. Phones began to ring all over Timmus Woods.

  Meanwhile, Emmy and Lizzy sat on the grass. “Why would grandpa leave us here?” Lizzy grabbed Emmy’s hand when she thought she heard a wolf growl.

  “I don’t know. Are there wolves in the woods?”

  The girls hugged each other tight and sat listening to all the strange noises around them. Each strange noise brought more fear to the girl’s hearts and thoughts.

  Most of the residents of Timmus woods were aware of the girl’s disappearance. People were walking the parameters of their yards and their neighbor’s yards if they weren’t home. Lizzy and Emmy’s names echoed across the town.

  An hour later, no one had found the girls. Paula and Theo were frantic. Annamarie searched their yard while Carl raced home to check his own. Lena walked the grounds of the Logan estate positive this was Daniel’s doing. Word had gotten around the hospital and Bonnie arrived in her uniform calling the girl’s names before she found the others in the backyard.

  “Where are my girls? She yelled.”

  “We don’t know,” Theo answered dropping his head into his hands.

  “You were supposed to watch them.”

  Annamarie said, “We think its Daniel’s doing. He’s trying to frighten us. The girls are protected from harm, they’re just lost.”

  “Just lost, what’s that mean? They could be anywhere. What if they are lost in the woods or fall in the river.” Bonnie collapsed on the picnic table bench and sobbed.

  Annamarie placed her hand on her shoulder and Bonnie pulled away, “This is your fault. Yours, Daniel’s and Lena’s! All this spirit talk and my babies are gone. Find them.”

  Sheriff Richardson had contacted John Hanson at the dairy. Most of the men in town worked there. He asked them to form a search party and search the woods around the dairy. Some of the area was very dense. John immediately asked for volunteers. Every man agreed.

  Emmy said, “I think I hear the wolf, too. They looked and a large black wolf stood near the grassy area they were sitting on. Both girls screamed.

  The stood, still holding hands. The wolf made a step toward them. “We need Grandma Magdalena,” said Lizzy. Both girls nodded, closed their eyes, and called to her.

  Daniel felt dragged back to the forest and out of the wolf shape. He flew back to the cabin to hide with Garret.

  Lizzy and Emmy opened their eyes and saw a white mist floating several feet in front of them.

  “It’s Grandma Magdalena, let’s go.”

  They ran after the misty figure and it led them to a small path. They could see the dairy parking lot and ran screaming all the way. John Hanson heard the screams and saw them as they emerged from the woods.

  John brought them into the dairy office and settled them on the sofa. He gave each a carton of chocolate milk, a straw, and called the sheriff’s office. Greta answered, listened, and sighed.

  “I’ll call the sheriff,” she said through tears. After informing the sheriff, she phoned Paula’s to let them know the girls were safe and at the dairy.

  Daniel and Garret hid in their sanctuary at the cabin. Daniel fumed that his plan didn’t work. He mumbled that something was protecting those girls since he couldn’t get close enough to them.

  “What do you think it is?”

  “Magdalena of course, but there is something more I don’t understand. I feel they have a power, but one I have never encountered.”

  “You can’t get into Annamarie’s, but couldn’t you eavesdrop on Paula and Theo? They might talk about the girls.”

  “Not since Annamarie told her mom to put those white candles in front of the mirrors. I can’t hear a thing in their house.”

  “What about Carl and Bonnie’s house. Maybe you could spy on them.”

  “That might work. I’ll try later when they get home.”

  Bonnie rushed up the dairy stairs and into the office. She hugged both girls at the same time. With tears in her eyes she kissed them both. “What happened? Did you wander off?”

  “No, Grandpa took us to the woods to play hide and seek and forgot us,” they said in unison.

  Sheriff Richardson walked in as the girls explained that Theo abandoned them. He shook his head. Something was going on.

  Lizzy said, “It was scary when we saw the big, black wolf, but we held hands and talked to Grandma Magdalena.”

  “She came,” Emmy said. “We saw her like a ghost and followed her to the parking lot where Mr. Hanson found us. Look, he gave us chocolate milk.”

  Bonnie began to cry harder.

  “Don’t cry, Mommy. We’re okay, and Daniel couldn’t get us. He can never hurt us. I think he was the wolf,” Emmy said.

  “Daniel?” the sheriff said out loud.

  “Yup,” said Lizzy. “He’s a spirit like a ghost now and tried to scare us by being a wolf, but we’re strong and he didn’t scare us. Well, he did a little.”

  Bonnie hiding her panic that the sheriff would learn the family’s secret took a deep breath and said, “Sheriff, they’re six a
nd were lost in the woods. Seeing a big, bad wolf wouldn’t surprise me. Maybe they saw goblins, too. Their imaginations run wild. I’m going to take them home now.” She stood, took the girls by the hand and marched past the sheriff.

  “Thank you, John,” Bonnie said on the way out.

  The sheriff looked at John. He shrugged. “Kids will be kids. They probably heard a dog and maybe Lena talked about Daniel. They might think he was a ghost. Like Bonnie said, they’re six. I believed in ghosts when I was six.”

  “Me, too,” mumbled the sheriff, “but how did they get way over here?”

  Carl kicked back in his recliner and sighed, “I checked and they are both sound asleep.”

  “I thought they would be. They had a long day and nearly fell asleep in the bath,” answered Bonnie.

  “Annamarie thinks Daniel’s spirit may have possessed my dad’s body today and took the girl’s to play hide and seek. It’s the only explanation I can come up with. My dad would never fall asleep while watching them.” He slipped his fingers together and cracked his knuckles.

  “I know he wouldn’t fall asleep. The girls said he drove them to the woods. He doesn’t remember. Who can we trust if Daniel can possess anyone?” Tears ran down her cheeks.

  “My mom. Daniel can’t enter her house for some reason. We take the girls over there and they stay inside during the day?”

  “Who will stop him from possessing us and hurting the girls? Daniel seems to want them for his purposes.” Her tears turned to sobs again.

  Daniel was chuckling to himself as he watched from the decorative mirror sitting on the mantle. He hoped they would continue to discuss the twins and he would find out why he can’t get to them. Engrossed in their conversation, they didn’t see the black fog swirl in the mirror.

  “I can call my mom and ask her what to do. Lena has a lot of the answers. I thought she was a silly teenager, but she has abilities I don’t understand. The girls are close to her and have learned from her about their abilities.”