Puzzle (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  “You need a Kleenex?” John asked him.

  “Nah, it’s allergies. What is that stench in here?” he said to divert attention away from him.

  Ted and Burt were looking down into a deep wooden box and then up at the chalkboard. There, surrounded by a series of seven numbers was written, Assemble: remember the toe bone is connected to…

  “The instructions are clear, but the numbers? Another cypher, but there are no books,” Burt complained looking around him.

  Ted looked at the numbers.

  370701

  370302

  370306

  370307

  370604

  0701501

  1130701 ->

  “These are written in a different hand. Let’s ignore them for a moment and deal with this,” Ted said, looking down in disgust.

  Richie and John walked over to see what was in the box. They peered down, and Richie reeled backwards as his eyes took in the brown bones piled inside. Sitting on top of the pile was a skull with an ominous hole in it.

  John picked up the skull and stuck his finger through the hole. “I guess we know how this poor sucker went. Kaplow.”

  “That’s not helping. How can you touch that? It’s remains…”

  “It remains to be seen, dude, if you can find the balls to help us assemble this,” John said, walking over to a long table and resting the skull on it.

  Richie picked up the pelvis and held it up. “I got more balls than this guy.”

  Burt shook his head and carried the box closer to the table and began to work. “I sure wish Mia was here. She knows bones.”

  “Living in a house full of them makes one familiar, I guess,” Ted said absentmindedly. His eyes were drawn to the board. The numbers intrigued him. He backed up so he could take the whole wall of blackboard into account. He glanced up at the time and saw the shield glass had a large crack in it. Ted pulled out the nub of a pencil - he had boosted it from the put-put golf course - and jotted the numbers down on the inside of the book in his pocket. He pulled himself away from the cypher and walked over to help with the assembly. “No, no, since when did your arm bone come out of your knee, dude?”

  “It looks like a leg bone,” John argued and then saw the discrepancy in the size. “Oh, well maybe he was a bit deformed.”

  They worked hard and after a few adjustments had all but four tiny bones in place.

  “These are either ankle or wrist bones…” Burt said.

  Ted didn’t hear him. His mind was working again on the cypher. “But there are no books?” he said aloud.

  “Dude, you have a book in your back pocket,” Richie pointed out.

  Ted’s eyes flashed to the clock, and he ripped the book out of his back pocket and held it up. “A Wrinkle in Time – the clock’s got a crack, a wrinkle, in it. How could I be so bloody stupid?”

  “Put it by the right foot, John,” Burt instructed.

  Ted opened the book to where he copied the cyphers and made sure he copied them correctly.

  “And this must go by the left hand,” Burt said, placing in the last bone. The door opposite where they’d come in opened. “We’ve done it!” Burt called. “Come on, Ted.”

  Ted shook himself out of it. He pocketed the book once more, puzzled that they didn’t need to decode the cypher to be set free. As he left the classroom he thought, “How did it know I would have the book with me?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  William had the other soldiers rounded up by the time Murphy returned with Mia in tow. He looked at the small woman dressed like a gutter rat suspiciously. She had a glowing red box in her hand.

  “This is a way for all of you to become stronger. I will leave it to Murphy to show you how. I hope that it will make you strong enough to enter that building. We think we have opened the barrier. Go in and raise Cain. Find the man who took you from your graves. I’d give him a good thumping if it was me, but I’m a bad example,” Mia said slyly. She walked into the middle of the group and set the cube down.

  Murphy walked up and touched his axe to it. He smiled, walked a few feet and with a mighty crack of his axe, downed another tree. The others pushed forward and touched the cube. Mia witnessed as the spirits became more substantial. She could almost see their eyes under the brims of their caps.

  William waited until the others were nourished before taking his due. “Lord in Heaven, that feels good. Kind of like drinking Mama’s berry wine,” he said and wiped his brow as if he were sweating.

  “Follow me to the door,” she instructed. Mia started with long strides and ended up running as the hoard of energized ghosts were at her heels. She felt the pull and tried to keep her distance lest they consume her energy too.

  Homer was waiting at the door. He had it open.

  Murphy walked tentatively to the opening. He reached out his axe and pushed beyond the threshold. He smiled and walked right in. The others followed in a rush. Homely propped the door open. “What’s next?”

  “The extraction.” Mia picked up her mic and called into it, “Ghosts are inside.”

  Cid answered, “Relaying information. Get to the front of the school, Mike’s not digging the climb.”

  “Gotcha.” Mia looked over at Homely. “Come on, let’s show that Kansan ass what us people from Lincoln’s home state can do.”

  Homely laughed and trotted alongside the girl. In the excitement, he didn’t feel his age, and his feet matched hers step for step. This was an adventure only the luckiest of men got to have, and he was going to make the best of it.

  Murphy moved through the halls. He didn’t let steel gates bother him. He moved right through them. He stopped and thought, “If my job is to make a commotion to attract the ghost inside… Well then…” He picked up his axe and gave the others a warning glance before letting loose with all his might. He cut through the hinges like butter. It fell with a crash that echoed through the halls.

  CRACK! CRASH!

  Ted smiled and nudged Burt. “Murphy’s come a callin.”

  “I wonder if our host will run to greet him with open arms?” Burt asked in a gentle southern accent.

  Patrick, armed with a crowbar and a small axe, scaled the façade and stood before the window. Mike was still only a few feet off the ground with his back pinned to the wall.

  “Get down before you wet yourself,” Mia said. She waited until he jumped down before running up the bricks as if she were a mountain goat. She slowed as she approached Patrick. “I can’t get in there, but I can hang on to you,” she told him. She reached over and opened his belt.

  “Um, that, thank you, could wait until later,” Patrick said nervously.

  “Don’t get any ideas. I’m just going to loop us together. If you fall, I fall. Get it? I don’t plan on falling.” She braced herself to balance Patrick.

  “Understood,” he said and began attacking the paneling with the axe.

  Mia put her hand to the middle of his back, reminding him that he was inches from a bad fall. He made a weight adjustment and soon began cutting through the paneling with vigor. After he cut a hole big enough for a handhold, he moved himself on to the sill of the widow and used his body weight to weaken the glue fixing the paneling to the wall. He stopped and unbuckled his belt from Mia. “Time for some rough stuff,” he said.

  Patrick threw all of his body’s weight into the space. The wood splintered away, and a large section of paneling gave way, sending Patrick to the floor of the classroom. He got up, mindless of a gash in his leg, reached for the crowbar, and pulled the rest of the wood away from the exit.

  “Patrick is in. The exit is open,” Mia reported. She tried to move into the room herself, but there still was a barrier the denied her entrance. “I still can’t get in,” she told Cid.

  “The goal is extraction,” Cid said. “Standby, I’ll try to raise the guys.”

  Burt moved the group to where he thought the middle classroom was. The door was locked. He put his ear to the door and heard a crash
.

  “Be advised, the exit is ready,” Cid’s voice came through the com.

  “We’ve found the room, but the door is locked,” Burt replied.

  “Standby.”

  Murphy turned the corner and saw a big brute of a man with a lolling head approach.

  The coach spied Murphy and beat one ham fist against the other to show the farmer what was his fate if he progressed any further.

  Murphy leaned against the lockers and whistled. The troop of soldiers filled the hallway and headed towards the coach menacingly. He watched lazily while the coach turned tail and started running. Murphy moved out of the building and headed for the front where he sensed danger was at hand.

  “Patrick, see if you can open that door,” Mia called after she heard from Cid.

  He walked over and put the crowbar in between the frame and door and pulled. The lock broke, and the door opened. “Hello, Gents, I hope you have a reservation,” Patrick said to a surprised Burt. “This way.” He took a courtly bow.

  Burt moved past him and spied Mia at the window.

  She called to him, “Get the lead out, Hicks, I can’t be hanging out here all day.”

  Burt stepped aside, and Ted breezed by him. He was out the window and had Mia in his arms within seconds. “Don’t you every let me do that again,” he said. “Whoa, not much room for canoodling,” he said.

  “Not the best time for it. Move on down the line, give the other punters a chance,” Patrick said from the window.

  Ted and Mia moved upward. Mia kept a hand ready to aid in Richie’s exit from the window. “Keep your back to the wall and go slow,” she cautioned.

  John was next. He had the bravery of youth on his side, and he walked down with ease. Burt looked out the window and paled. “Maybe I’ll wait for a ladder,” he said, taking his weight and girth into account.

  Patrick moved by him and coached, “Follow me. If this sorry-assed Irishman can do it so can you.”

  Burt sat on the sill and carefully put a leg down on the sloping bricks of the façade. He eased the other down, lost his balance and pitched forward.

  Mia reached for him and grabbed his arm. He panicked and flailed, setting Mia off balance. She fell backward, fighting for a handhold as she slid off the ledge. Ted reached for her and missed by an angel’s breath. She hit her chin on edge. Stars consumed her sight, and the pain shot through her like fire. Mia bore it but feared a whole new pain awaited her on the ground.

  The men watched helplessly as gravity brought Mia down fast. Richie put his hands over his eyes. John ran towards her. Ted watched as a blur of light moved her way.

  Mia stopped two and a half feet from the ground. She opened her eyes, expecting to be meeting her maker. Instead it was Murphy. “Hello, Murph, what brings you to these parts?” she asked sweetly.

  He just grunted and put her on the ground.

  John couldn’t believe his eyes. “What?”

  Mia winced as she touched her scraped chin. “Not a what but a who,” she corrected.

  “Stephen Murphy, may I introduce you to …”

  “John, John Larsson,” the gamer filled in. He extended his hand to the space by Mia. She grabbed it and directed it to Murphy. He felt a tingle around his hand and said, “Nice to meet you.”

  “Now that you have made a new friend,” she said, addressing Murphy, “you mind getting Burt out of the window for me?”

  John watched as Mia laughed at something her invisible rescuer did. He followed her eyes as she watched Murphy move away.

  “Handy guy to have around,” she said. “I’m Mia Cooper. You’ve been hanging with my fiancé Ted.” She shook John’s hand. “I think you have two hours to make it home before your mother calls the cops.”

  “Yes. Are you okay? That was quite a fall.”

  “But the landing was soft, except the axe handle. I fear it took a toll on my ribs, but don’t say anything to Murph; It’ll hurt his feelings.”

  John was puzzled but too happy to worry about it. He was free. He had come through, tired, inspired. But the lesson had been taught the hard way. There is no easy money.

  A pounding of feet heralded the coming of more concerned men. Homely arrived first but promptly stepped aside to reveal Ted who picked up Mia in his arms. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again!” He put her down and collapsed on the ground beside her.

  “Did you want me to let him fall?” Mia said, moving her jaw with her hand. She could already feel the gash under her chin closing. Ted ripped off a piece of his shirt and dabbed at the blood.

  “No, but I have to yell. It’s my turn to be hysterical. It’s on page 101 of the script.”

  Mia smiled and took the cloth from Ted and held it to her face. “I love you,” she said.

  “I know,” he said, pulling her into his arms. From their vantage point on the ground, they watched as Burt, aided by Murphy, crawled down the façade. It wasn’t graceful, it wasn’t manly, but the lead investigator made it safely to the ground.

  Patrick walked down last. He put an arm around Richie’s shoulders. “Come on, there’s a few assholes waiting for you and John.”

  Cid nodded a few times, listening to the activity. He turned to the expectant faces of Dave and Mason and reported, “They’re out. Extraction complete.”

  Dave helped Mason down, and the two of them walked to intercept their friends. They passed by Mike who was helping Burt to the command post. Homely gave the boys a thumbs up, walked past the lead investigators and headed towards his van.

  “Come on, old man, you didn’t embarrass yourself as much as I did. I wouldn’t climb the damn wall.”

  “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Burt growled. “Lucky thing Murphy showed up or we would be facing our maker as Ted killed us, before himself.”

  “You really think Ted could take all of us?” Mike thought about it. “Nevermind.”

  Murphy walked by Ted and Mia and tipped his hat as he headed back into the school to see how his friends were faring.

  “I owe you a big one, Murphy,” Ted called after the ghost.

  “I think he wants his own television,” Mia warned. “Can we afford it?”

  “He can have mine,” Ted said. He looked around and saw that they were alone. He drew her to him and kissed her, mindful of the injured chin. Mia responded, and they kissed and hugged for a while without speaking. “I thought I lost you. My whole world crumbled,” he said seriously.

  “But I’m fine, and I’m so grateful you’re free of that place. I’ve never felt more helpless in my life,” Mia said. “I’ve realized that you have the hardest job of all in PEEPs. You have to wait. I hate waiting.”

  Ted smiled. “Oh, I worry about you when you’re hunting, but I’m a patient guy. I waited for you since the moment you first ignored me, until you smartened up and said you’d be mine. All good things come to those who wait.” Ted leaned in and started kissing her again.

  “Ahem!” Cid’s voice announced in Ted’s ear and over Mia’s mic. “Do you two mind? Either turn off your mics and get a room, or I’ll have nightmares the rest of my life.”

  Mia started laughing.

  “Actually, heads up, Mike’s called a meeting. Audrey’s on the way, and she’s bringing food,” Cid announced.

  Ted and Mia stood up. Mia noticed something on the ground. She stopped and picked it up. “Ted, whenever did you find the time to read?” she asked, handing him the book.

  A look of realization crossed Ted’s face. “I’ve got to work on something. I think it’s important. Want to help me?”

  Mia nodded.

  He tore out the page where he had written the numbers, feeling the hellfire of a million librarians at the back of his neck. He explained to Mia how to call out the cypher as he handed her the paper. He searched his pockets and came up with the pencil. This too he gave to her. “Write down what I tell you.”

  Mia nodded and began, “Page thirty-seven, row seven, first word.”

  “I.�
��

  “Same page, same row, second word.”

  “Am.”

  “Same page, third row, sixth and seventh words.”

  “The boy.”

  Mia stopped a moment. “What boy?”

  “Let’s find out.”

  Mia resumed, “Same page, sixth row, forth word.”

  “In.”

  “Page seven, fifteenth row, first word.”

  “School. I am the boy in school,” Ted said. “Is that all?”

  “No. Page 113, row seven, starting with the first word and an arrow facing away from the numbers.”

  Ted flipped wildly to the page and moved his finger down and read, “Imprisoned, he didst painfully remain…” Ted muttered. “From Shakespeare, I believe.”

  “I am the boy in school imprisoned, he didst painfully remain,” Mia said. She turned towards the school and looked up at the open window. “Ted, we didn’t get everyone out.”

  He put his hand over hers and said, “Not yet, Mia, but we will.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Doc arrived just as the group assembled. Audrey was fussing around, making sure the teenagers had nourishment before they left. John returned with his car and offered Dave and Richie a ride home, which they accepted. Patrick and Mason hung around declaring they had nothing better to do. Mason would not be attending school in the morning; too many questions about his bruised and battered self would be awaiting him. Doc wrote him a note which he cautioned the youth not to alter before he gave it to him.

  The group was bone tired. Most of them had been awake for over thirty hours. Audrey’s donation of food and beverages were consumed in silence. Only Mia and Ted talked, and mostly to each other.

  Mike got up and walked over to Mia. “Do you think you could call Murphy? He should be in on this. He is a team member.”

  Mia was impressed. “He was headed into the school earlier. I can see if he is available,” she offered, getting up.