by Patricia Fry
He looked up at the belfry. “Well, they could fly in through those open windows.” He shook his head. “Must be a mess in there—I mean, with rain water coming in and birds flying around...”
“Not that we’ve seen,” Margaret said. She pointed toward the belfry. “But we haven’t been up there yet.”
“Auntie, just where do you think people would be living in there? Why would you think that? I mean, we’ve been through that whole place and we haven’t seen even a stick of furniture—no belongings, food, nothing.”
Margaret took a deep breath and faced her niece. “Well, someone’s taking care of those cats.” She glanced around the property. “I just wish I knew who it was.”
“But we haven’t even seen evidence of that,” Savannah said, “except for the fact that the cats are in good shape. I mean, did you see any food or water bowls for them in there? I sure didn’t.”
Luke gazed out toward the new tract and the tract under construction. “Maybe someone’s coming from over there and feeding the cats.”
“Then why wouldn’t they be feeding the outside cats?” Margaret challenged. “And, like Vannie said, where are their bowls?”
He removed his baseball cap and slid it back onto his head. “Maybe they don’t know about these cats out here. They do tend to keep hidden.”
Margaret and Savannah thought about what Luke had suggested, then Savannah said, “That’s hard to believe. We see cats every time we come out here. And why would someone come here to take care of the cats inside rather than take them home or to a shelter. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
“And if it don’t make sense, it probably isn’t true,” Margaret recited.
Luke stared at the building. “So you’re feeding them?” he asked.
Margaret nodded. “Trying to, but they aren’t eating much.”
“Which is another reason we think someone is taking care of them,” Savannah said.
Luke looked at Savannah, then Margaret, and asked, “Can I go inside?”
“As long as you’re not afraid of ghosts and ghouls,” Margaret teased.
“It’s haunted?” he asked. He smiled. “Yeah, I like things like that, actually. Come on, show me around.”
“Okay,” Margaret said reluctantly. She turned to Savannah. “Bring Rags.”
“Sure, if you’ll help me. Which one do you want, the baby or the cat?”
Without delay, Margaret said, “The princess, of course.”
“So no lock, huh?” Luke noticed when Savannah pushed open the door under the bell tower. He looked up. “Hmmm, no access from here?”
“To where?” Savannah asked.
“That tower up there.” Luke looked around. “How old is this place, anyway?”
“I think it was built before 1900, probably,” Margaret surmised. “And it was abandoned around the 1970s or so.”
“Interesting,” he muttered while walking through the place with a flashlight Margaret had handed him.
“How are the kittens in the manger?” Savannah asked, moving toward where they’d seen the black kittens.
“Kitty!” Lily shouted. “See kitty, Auntie?”
Margaret smiled at Savannah. “Isn’t that cute? She’s stringing her words together quite nicely.”
“Yes,” Savannah agreed. “So where’s the kitty she sees? Oh, wait, I think Rags sees it too.” She pointed. “There it is just inside the kitchen. It’s one of the babies. I guess they have the run of the place now.” She looked around. “Where’s the momma?”
“Is she black?” Luke asked. “Is that her?” he pointed.
“Probably,” Margaret said. “All of the cats we’ve seen in here are black.”
Luke stopped and looked at her. “You’ve seen only black cats in here?”
“Yes, why?” Savannah asked. “You look stunned.”
“Well…” He hesitated before saying, “I know of a group that uses black cats.”
Margaret frowned. “Uses them?”
“Well, not in any bad way,” he said. “They’re just sort of around to help—you know, attract the spirits.”
Margaret cocked her head. “Luke, I had no idea you were into that kind of stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” he asked.
“Witchcraft, the occult—things like that.”
“Oh, I don’t think it’s witchcraft or that they’re a cult. It’s just a spirit-driven group. I attended their gatherings a couple of times when I was—you know, homeless.”
Savannah chuckled. “You had a home, Luke. You just didn’t want to be there.”
He grinned shyly. “I know.”
“So you went to a séance or something?” Margaret quizzed.
He thought for a moment before answering, “Yeah, sorta, I guess. I wasn’t too savvy about what was going on. I’m not sure anyone else was, either. But it was interesting.” He widened his eyes. “The gal talked to my grandpa—you know, from the other side. He had a message for me. He said I should get a good education.” He smiled. “And I’m doing that now.”
Margaret looked skeptical. “That was kind of a generic message, Luke.”
“Well, it sure sounded like something he’d say.”
“What did the witch tell the others?”
He turned abruptly in Margaret’s direction. “She wasn’t a witch.” He explained, “One gal was looking for a ruby pendant that got lost when they were going through things after her mother died. The leader told her it’s no longer in her mother’s house. She said someone has it and it’s safe.”
Savannah stared at Luke for a moment, then said, “Shine your light over here, will you, Luke? I want to take a closer look at this kitten. Oh, there’s another one. You know, they look healthy. So does the mother cat.”
“And the other adults we saw in here too,” Margaret reminded her. “Yes, I do believe someone’s living here or visiting regularly and they’re taking care of these black cats.”
“I still wonder why they’re not feeding those outside.” Savannah said.
“I don’t know,” Margaret said. “Maybe because there are so many.” She faced Savannah. “Some people believe that cats can survive just dandy on their own.” She grimaced. “Don’t they know that once the rodents are gone, they could starve to death?”
“Can we go upstairs?” Luke asked.
“Sure. Just be careful; part of the railing broke the other day.”
Luke motioned to Savannah. “Why don’t you go ahead? I’ll shine the light for you.” Once they’d reached the second story landing, he said, “Not much going on up here, is there?”
Margaret shook her head. Then, sounding a little mysterious, she said, “We found a secret room, didn’t we, Vannie?”
“Sure did. Want to see it?”
“Yeah,” Luke said.
Margaret held back. “Um, what if that person’s in there?”
“Oh yeah, you mean that thing we saw this morning?”
Luke laughed nervously. “Are you trying to freak me out?”
“No,” Margaret said wide-eyed. “We saw someone in the bell tower.”
“Oh, what did they look like?”
“I don’t know…um…basically all we saw was a piece of cloth like someone was wearing a big scarf or something and it blew in the breeze.” As the trio reached the end of the hallway, Margaret said, “Here’s where we found that secret room, right, Vannie?”
“Yes.”
Luke looked around. “Where? I don’t see any doors.”
“Well, I sort of fell against the wall over there and we ended up in another room.” Before she could approach the area where they’d found the secret door, Rags began pulling on his leash, and Savannah yelped while trying to keep up with him, “Hold on, Rags! Auntie, he’s interested in something behind that wall too. Look at him.”
The three of them watched as Rags approached the wall, sat down, and cocked his head as if he were listening. After a few moments, he touched the wall with one paw and looked b
ack at Savannah.
“Vannie, I think he wants you to open it. He senses that something’s in there.”
“Do you really want to see what’s in there?” Savannah asked.
“What do you mean? We’ve already been in that room once.”
“But that was before we saw…” Savannah whispered.
“Saw what?” Luke asked.
“Whatever that was in the bell tower.”
Luke looked from one to the other of the women before saying, “Well, let’s go check it out.”
Margaret smiled at him. “You really do like this woo-woo stuff.”
He grinned. “Kinda, yeah.”
All of a sudden they heard a strange grinding sound and turned in time to see a portion of the wall give way and Rags disappear into the shadows.
“Rags,” Savannah hissed, holding tightly to the end of his leash. When he pulled her off balance, she stumbled into the room after him and, to her dismay, she heard the door close behind her. Oh no, she thought. Now what? What’s going on? It’s dark. “Rags,” she called quietly. She pulled on the leash and moved slowly in his direction until she was able to put her hands on him. She grasped his harness and held onto him while she tried to figure out what to do next. Suddenly, she became aware of an aroma. A candle. Someone was burning a candle in here within the last few minutes. “Hello,” she said hesitantly. “Is anyone here?”
At the same time she felt Rags pulling off to the right. “Rags, stop it,” she hissed. “Settle down.” Again she called out, “I know someone’s here. Where are you? Speak up, will you?”
Just then she saw a light shining into the room and she heard a familiar voice. “Vannie, where are you?”
It was Margaret. They’d found a way into the secret room.
“Cats!” Savannah said. “I just saw some of those black cats in the light.” She spoke more quietly. “But cats can’t light candles.” She glanced around, then approached her aunt. “Give Lily to me. We’re out of here.”
“Where are you going?” Margaret asked. “Come on, let’s look around.”
“I’ve seen enough,” Savannah groused.
“What did you see?” Margaret hissed.
“Actually nothing. It was dark. But that’s all I care to see. We’ll wait for you two out here in the hall.”
“Oh, okay,” Margaret said, handing the toddler over to her. “We’ll be right there. I want to see if we can find that spiral staircase.”
Savannah had been waiting outside the secret room with her daughter and her cat for several minutes when she heard something. She looked up in time to see what she thought was a woman carrying a bird cage swiftly down the wide hallway toward the staircase. She blinked a couple of times and silently wondered, Is my imagination playing tricks on me? She squinted into the dimness again, only to see nothing. It was like one of those figures you see at Disneyland, she thought, sort of filmy and fleeting. But it is fairly dark in here. “Rags, quit pulling,” she scolded in a whisper, trying her best to hold him back.
She then decided, you know what, Rags wants to follow something. I think I’ll let him. “Come on, Rags. Let’s go.”
Savannah noticed that there was just enough light for her to see her way down the staircase. I’m not sure I can make it with both Lily and Rags, though. I think I’ll just let him go. Surely he’ll wait for me at the bottom of the stairs. “Rags, you be a good boy now. Stay close,” she murmured. However, when she reached the lower level, he was nowhere in sight. “Rags,” she called softly. “Rags.” That’s when she heard the sound of a door closing. Rags! she thought. Darn. Did he go outside, but who closed the door? Maybe the wind blew it shut. Savannah quickly made her way through the reception area and toward the front door, when she noticed something. Oh my gosh, it’s Rags’s leash. It’s stuck under the door. She placed Lily on the floor, took her little hand, and sprinted with her toward the door, arriving in time to step on the leash just before it disappeared. She quickly grabbed it, then leading Lily by the hand she opened the door and stepped outside, where she found Rags sitting on the porch staring ahead with interest. She peered into the distance. “What are you looking at, Rags?” Nothing. I don’t see anything. As she stepped closer to the cat, though, she noticed something. Tire marks, like from a bicycle.
Just then, Savannah’s attention was summoned from behind her. “Whatcha doing?”
When she turned, she saw her aunt and Luke standing in the doorway. “Oh, just following Rags around.”
“Well, look at this,” Margaret said. “A black feather. We found it in that room.”
As if she hadn’t heard her aunt, Savannah continued to stare into the distance. “I think I saw her or him,” she said. “It looked kind of like one of those illusions you see in the haunted house at Disneyland. I think she rode off on a bicycle.”
“What?” Margaret asked, scrunching up her face.
“Yeah,” Luke said, chuckling, “a ghost on a bicycle? Are you sure you’re not confusing her with the witch in The Wizard of Oz?”
“Sounds like it, huh?” Savannah said. “All I have to go on is the filmy figure I saw moving quickly down the hallway past me in the darkness carrying a bird cage. Then there are these bicycle tracks.”
“What tracks?” Luke asked.
Savannah pointed.
“Yeah, they look fresh. Could have been a vagrant or someone from one of those tracts taking their dog for a walk.”
“Could be,” Savannah said. She then asked, “So did you two find the staircase?”
Margaret shook her head. “No luck with that. We tapped and rapped and pushed on every inch of the wall up there—nothing.”
Luke looked up at the bell tower, then at the traps. “Let’s get these guys to a better place, shall we? Where are they going?”
Margaret thought for a moment, then said, “I’ll take the mother cat and kittens. Can you take the rest of them to June’s?”
“Yup,” Luke said. “Let’s load ’em up and move ’em out.”
****
Later that day while Lily was napping, Savannah checked her phone and found a message from Rochelle. She returned the call. “Hi, Rochelle. Sorry it took me a while to respond. I had my phone turned off. How are you? Are you still planning to come stay with us?”
“Sure am. When Peter heard about our plans, he decided to join me, if that’s okay.”
“Absolutely,” Savannah said enthusiastically. “We’d love to see you both.”
“Great. We’ll arrive sometime next Friday. I’ll need to leave early Saturday for the show. I have a lot of set-up to do, and since this is all new to me, it’ll probably take me a little longer at first.” She then asked, “Hey, want to go with me?”
“Oh, that sounds fun. Would I be able to help you?”
“I was hoping you would.” She spoke more quietly. “Peter is a dear and he’s a genius with his art exhibits, but he’s a bumbler when it comes to displaying my jewelry. I’d love a woman’s touch.”
“Great! I’ll let Michael know he and Peter are on Lily-duty Saturday and I’ll be your assistant.”
“That’ll be fun. Hey, Savannah, the reason I’m calling is that I’ve learned something that may be of interest to you and Maggie.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, I’ve been doing some research among some of the psychic and medium circles I’m aware of and I discovered something very interesting. There’s evidently a cult or sect that seems to have originated in Hammond. Get this, Savannah, they meet at what they call a mystic haunt. The way it’s described, I thought it might be your seminary.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I signed us up to go there next Friday night.”
“You did what?” Savannah shrieked.
“Yeah, I gave a fake name for you and Maggie, in case whoever’s in charge happens to know who you are.” She paused. “You want to know what’s going on out there, don’t you?”
Savannah hesitated, then said more q
uietly, “Rochelle, someone died out there earlier this week.”
“Died? How?”
“Actually, they think it was probably accidental, but still…”
Rochelle thought about her friend’s comments, then said, “If you don’t want to go, I certainly understand. But I thought it would be a good opportunity. You gals want some answers, don’t you?”
“Yes.” Savannah was silent for a moment, then said, “Actually, it sounds rather like an adventure and I feel sort of adventurous.” She giggled. “Maybe it’s because I’m carrying a boy.”
Rochelle laughed along with her. “Could be.” She then asked, “So we’re on for next Friday night?”
“I guess so.”
“Okay then, we meet behind the old refuse-disposal plant at nine. I’m sure you know where that is. We’ll be shuttled to a secret place. They don’t want anyone driving to the site on their own.”
“Interesting,” Savannah said. “Okay, count me in. I’ll tell my aunt about it. Hey, what are our names?”
“What?”
“What are the fictitious names you gave them when you signed us up? And what are we to expect, anyway? What’s the program, do you know? Or is that a secret too?”
“Well, we’re supposed to come with money, of course. We pay up front in the parking lot, if you can imagine—fifty-dollars each. And we should have a question about or for someone who has crossed over. We write that on a piece of paper and hand it to them when they pick us up in the shuttle.”
“Oh, I see, so whoever does this…um…program channels spirits?”
“That’s what she professes. Oh, and your name is Beverly Lyon and Maggie’s is LeeAnn Rogers.”
Savannah chuckled. “Okay. I’ll let Auntie know. See you next Friday, then.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Once Savannah had ended the call, she listened for Lily. Hearing nothing, she placed a call to her aunt. “Got the kitties all settled?” she asked. “Sorry I couldn’t stay and help. Lily was past ready for a nap and…”
“I know, Vannie. You looked pretty tired yourself. Have you had a chance to rest?”