The Cathville Haunting (Jack Raven Ghost Mystery Book 2)

by Robin G. Austin

  “Stop doing that,” I yell, and move away. “Seriously, stop doing that. I don’t want that messing up my mind.”

  “Your mind’s too noisy. That’s why she won’t come to you, why she sent for me.”

  “Fine, but it’s not your decision to dope me up to calm me down. Let me do it my own way. Stop acting so weird too. That’ll help some.”

  He laughs, turns around, and walks back towards the trees. “You talk too much,” he says.

  Mojo is trailing behind him, leaving me to watch them both before I follow. Several yards into the woods, Silas stops and points to a log.

  “I’ll stand for now,” I say.

  “Sit,” he says, and I do without thinking. He fills his pipe again and walks around, blowing the smoke in a wide circle. The wind, which I didn’t feel before, is blowing it back at me. The cudweed starts putting on a show. I can see eyes in every direction, even ones on the trees, which have gotten too close together as if forming a mob intent on coming my way.

  “She says it’s time to be done with this, but on her terms.”

  I hear myself laughing, but I’m sure I’m not. Mojo pokes me, so maybe I am.

  Silas is gathering branches and building a fire. He moves like his feet don’t touch the ground. When the branches are piled high, he tosses something from his pouch on them. It sparks like gasoline, sending wispy blue smoke to the heavens that lights up the woods and smells like maple syrup. More cudweed, I imagine, but where did the flame come from?

  I sense I’m not getting out of here with the same mind I came in with. Still, I can’t deny I’m seeing things clearer than they usually appear.

  Silas kneels at my feet and drives three rusty spikes into the ground in the shape of a triangle. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Not Christian so much as folk magic for protection or to keep the devil haints away, according to one of the websites I read.

  As he stands, Silas brushes his hand on my hair and I see he has a clump about six inches long. He retrieves a poppet doll from his pouch and stuffs the hair inside the doll. I’m not okay with this, and not because I just lost some of my hair.

  “Don’t plan on putting a hex on me, do you, Silas?”

  He tells me to empty my mind of evil thoughts or he’ll have to use more cudweed on me. My attitude’s a problem, he says. I think this is what happened because the thoughts are in my head, even though I’m not sure I heard a single word spoken.

  I want to run, but need to stay, and I don’t think I can get up anyway. I say another prayer to the Great Spirit, one like I’ve never said so intently.

  Silas is sitting across from me now. His black eyes are shiny and I force myself to look away, to look at the trees with their beady eyes. When I look back, Silas seems to be in trance. He’s swaying or my vision of him is swaying, either way it’s making me feel like I’m floating.

  I close my eyes and call to the Great Spirit, to my Navajo ancestors, to Maybelle, to God. I hear drumming and my eyes pop open. I think I’m trying to stand, but I’m not. Silas is staring past me, blowing more smoke.

  “Be still. Stop fighting if you want her to come. Ain’t nothing to harm you here. Ask him,” Silas says, thrusting his bony jaw at the wolfdog.

  “I’m losing my senses,” I say. My voice is airy and it echoes in my ears. I start to laugh.

  Ask him why he never came. This feels like it’s whispered in my ear from behind me. I’m too unsteady to turn around to see if someone is there.

  “She’ll come back when you let go. Trust your own power to let her.” This I’m sure is from Silas who’s busy poking the fire with a stick and holding onto my poppet. I’m afraid he’s going to throw it into the fire and I’ll burst into flames.

  I don’t feel like I have any power at all. I close my eyes and return to saying my protection prayer. As soon as I do, the drumming gets louder. Believe, comes from the wind. I feel it on my face. The drumming is faster and a hundred voices fill the woods and my head. They pound on the inside of my ears and my mouth fills with thick, sticky pine that I can’t swallow.

  I open my eyes to see Silas standing across from me, his hands are raised in the air as he releases the poppet to fall into the fire. I expect to feel pain or burning, even death. I feel nothing at all. The drumming and voices stop; the fog dissolves and the woods are silent.

  Silas is gone. Morowa is standing in front of me, and I’m more still than stone.

  Chapter Thirty Six

  §

  Levi’s voice wakes me. It’s still dark, but I can tell it’s morning. The birds are singing like it’s a warm summer day. The fire, which should be out, is snapping and popping and sending sparks into the air. Mojo is sleeping beside me, twitching in his dream world. As soon as I move, he gets up, looks around, and acts as confused as I feel. Cudweed.

  Levi’s voice sounds far away. I can’t raise my own voice enough to answer yet. The trees are back to normal; back in their usual places without eyes watching me. I scoop dirt and toss it on the fire until it’s out.

  “Come on,” I whisper, just to test my voice. The wolfdog goes ahead of me, and soon I hear his name called as Levi gets closer.

  I can’t bear to leave this place; not until I remember what happened. I close my eyes and see her face again. Morowa came not as a mist, but as a beautiful woman with black skin draped in colorful fabrics from head to toe.

  She reached out and took my hand. I can hear her words as clearly as I did just hours ago.

  Let them know this is my land and always will be. If they forget, I will not rest or leave them in peace. Let my bones lie so they know I am here. Let them say my name so they never forget me.

  I don’t recall if I asked how exactly I’m supposed to honor her request, but I know she didn’t tell me, and I know I don’t yet have the solution.

  I brush myself off and poke the smoldering branches with a stick to make sure the fire is out completely. My poppet doll is gone, burned to less than ashes. Unless Silas took it with him, which is creepy and worrisome.

  I hear Levi calling me again. Before I can go, I need Morowa to tell me what I can do to ensure her eternal rest and peace for the living.

  “Morowa, give me a vision.” With my eyes closed, I let go and see it clearly, and laugh. Blame it on the cudweed, which I stirred from the ashes.

  As soon as I step into the clearing, Levi yells, “Why didn’t you answer me? You slept out here again? Say something. You’re acting weirder than normal.”

  When I get close to him, he tells me I look possessed. “Thanks. I think I might have been, but I’m not anymore. I’m hungry though. Let’s go into town and get breakfast.”

  “What happened to your hair? You’re missing a chunk, and you smell bad too. Like a skunk. You’re going to need the hose before you go anywhere with me.”

  “You can pack our stuff while I get ready. Once I talk to Dexter, we can go home.”

  Levi stops behind me. “It’s over? You sent Morowa to the afterworld? Up or down?”

  “I’m not sure what world Morowa’s in, but she made me a promise. Now I just have to convince Dexter to make me one.”

  An hour later, we walk into the Waffle Griddle. Levi’s already talked to Emma about Dexter’s hearing this morning. He promised we’d be there. Emma said Roland was cleared because cell tower records confirmed he wasn’t anywhere near the supermall property the day Kylee was killed. Levi appeared to be on the verge of tears when he disconnected the call.

  “Emma’s worried,” he finally says, after his brain quiets down. “I was sure Roland was the murderer. Now what? The judge is never going to release Dexter, and I’m going home without a dime in my pocket.”

  The waitress brings coffee and fried stuff. I load up my fork then ask, “Why are you so sure?”

  “She said the police got the lab results back. They confirm the hair in Kylee’s hand belongs to Dexter. Looks like the last thing she did was show the world who killed her.”

  “He’s not guilty
,” I say.

  Levi looks up from stirring sugar into his coffee. “If you know who is, this would sure be the time to mention it.”

  “If I did know, I’d tell you. The woman isn’t talking. This is your case. The answer’s inside you. Trust yourself to hear it.”

  I eat more than I want and double what I need. Levi is silent, either thinking or moping about his failed earnings. It’s hard to tell which, and I’m trying even harder not to listen.

  We still have two hours before the hearing, so we go to the park by the river. Levi throws sticks for Mojo then takes off by himself.

  Twenty minutes later, I’m ready to go look for the man, fearing that he’s walked into the river to drown more than his financial sorrows. As I’m walking towards the water, he comes running up the bank, dry from head to toe, and yelling for me to get in the jeep.

  “What’s going on?” I ask. “You’re acting crazy. Where are we going in such a hurry? You’re acting crazier than normal.”

  “You’re rubbing off on me,” he says. “Come on, we’re going to the beauty salon.”

  “Beauty salon? You look fine.” I wrap my fingers around the short clump of hair Silas left me then rush to the jeep since the engine is already running.

  Levi parks in front of the Hair Ain’t All Salon and goes inside with me barely keeping up. He’s waiting at the counter, jiggling his keys, and tapping his foot. It sounds like he’s drumming.

  “Hey, Levi.” A middle aged woman with big red hair and thick eyelashes is heading towards us with a friendly grin. “Need a haircut today?”

  “No, Nettle. I need to know if you gave a handful of Dexter Joubert’s hair to Kylee Price.”

  The woman stops in her tracks, drops her jaw, and darts her eyes around the lobby. Her aura is doing some spiking and her synapses are trying hard to fire. “Why would I do that?” she says. Her hollow voice betrays her tight lipped grin.

  “My guess is that you gave it to her so she could give it to Silas Turley. My bet is you told her about how the man makes potions– including love potions. How about you gave it to her because you and your best friend Gail wanted her to go out to the property so she could get herself shot in the back, and frame Dex—

  “Okay, okay,” Nettle says, as she pushes him to the door and down the sidewalk. I’m following with my mouth open.

  “Listen here. I didn’t do anything to cause that woman’s death. I liked Kylee, just not what she was doing with Gail’s husband. I gave her what I swept up from a few of the man’s haircuts. That’s all I did.”

  “Sounds like you were in on Gail’s plan all along, and that makes you an accomplice to murder.”

  Nettle’s legs go weak and her face turns ash white as she backs up against the building. She gets blotchy red just before she starts whimpering. Levi looks at me like a kid at Christmas. My stomach fills with butterflies despite my commonsense telling me to knock it off.

  “She… Gail said she wanted to catch Kylee trying to get herself some black magic; a potion to use to steal her husband. I never told that crazy hillfolk man to meet her out there. Gail said she planned on recording the conversation she had with Kylee so she could use it to run her out of town.”

  Nettle retrieves a wad of tissues from her pocket and blows her nose. Levi winks at me.

  “Gail said it wasn’t the first woman she’d gotten rid of that way. This is Dexter’s fault as much as it is hers. I love Gail like a sister. Dexter finally drove her crazy with all his lying and cheating. Nobody can blame me for what happened.”

  Levi’s all but high-fiving the woman who’s busy wiping her tears. “That might be true enough, but it won’t save you from being charged with aiding and abetting. Sounds like Gail set you up so she could kill the woman and send Dexter to prison too. It’s time to come clean before the police come for you,” he says

  Nettle crunches her face and I sense her fast forwarding through all the stages of grieving about her own guilt. With a watery-eyed nod, she agrees to let us take her to Emma’s office. Levi’s on the phone with the burly lawyer while I wait for Nettle to collect her things.

  When we get to Emma’s office, I’m excluded from the meeting for confidentiality reasons, which is fine by me. If I had to live my entire life amongst the living, I’d end up being more like them than I could ever stand. Plus, I have a delayed cudweed headache coming on.

  Humans are just a puzzle of contradictions. The one thing that is capable of bringing us all together is too often the thing that tears us apart. Kylee loved Dexter, Nettle loves Gail, Dexter’s loved a bunch of women. Even Morowa fell victim to her love of the land. And me? I’m spared that insightful revelation when Emma’s door opens and they all come barreling into the lobby.

  Nettle rides to the police station with Emma while an officer is dispatched to pick up Gail. Levi and I go to the jail and bribe the guard with fried pie so we can see Dexter before his hearing. Fried works better than cash in this town.

  Levi takes the first five minutes to break the news of Gail’s guilt to Dexter. All the while, he’s trying hard not to sound thrilled that his fully validated investigator’s mind has solved the case. I figure I have fourteen hours to listen to that mind congratulate itself all the way back to New Mexico.

  Dexter’s sad and happy too. I sense he also feels a little guilty, but not nearly as much as he should. I also sense that feeling won’t last as long as it should either.

  I tell him some about my meeting with Morowa and of her willingness to leave people on the property alone under one condition. He nods and asks what that condition is.

  “The land you’re building on is hers, but no one ever accepted that and they never made it legally binding. She wants everyone to know it’s hers. She wants her name attached to it for as long as you’re using the property.”

  “Attached how? She want the dang deed changed or something?”

  “Or something,” I say.

  “Oh, no. Not my supermall.”

  Chapter Thirty Seven

  §

  After the court hearing, we drive back to the property: the future home of the Morowa Mall. Dexter wasn’t thrilled with the name, but he wasn’t taking Morowa’s ultimatum lightly, and wisely so.

  He’d walked out of the courtroom a free man and wrote me a check on the dashboard of his baby blue Lexus. A pretty, young woman smiled from the driver’s seat. Dexter patted Levi on the back then walked over to the jail to tell Gail he’d stand by her side– at least that’s what he claimed he was going to do.

  When we get to the property, a new construction crew is already at work. Herb Harris is directing the removal of the tin palace. He shakes my hand for a job well done then tells us Matt Noger left town a few nights ago. Tommy was arrested for growing doper weed on the property.

  “City slickers,” he says. “Thought they’d pull one over on Dexter. They did until Emma Weaver looked at their contract and had a few words with the boys.” He laughs and goes back to work.

  Our plan was to hit the road as soon as the hearing was over. But when Nettle said it was never intended that Silas meet Kylee that day, I remembered the voice in the woods. The one that told me to ask him why he never came.

  It wasn’t a message from Morowa like I’d assumed, or even the cudweed. It was Kylee wanting to know why Silas didn’t come to take Dexter’s hair to make the love potion that would win his heart. Even dead, she’s still clinging to the promise she thinks Silas made. She came to me not seeking justice or revenge, but a simple answer. I can’t leave her spirit with that question for all eternity.

  Levi stays in the jeep as me and the wolfdog make our way to the police tape, which I see someone has removed. No one would ever know by looking at the spot that something happened which changed the lives of so many.

  The police returned my rock salt with an apology. I sprinkle some around me, light a smudge stick, and say a prayer for all of us, including Morowa’s land.

  After explaining to Kylee all that
happened, I feel a cold breeze on my face and watch a small patch of leaves spin in a tiny vortex. I tell her to forgive the living, reminding her that all of us are imperfect and prone to follow our hearts when our heads would better serve us.

  After listening to the silence for a few minutes, I gather my things to leave. Mojo walks to the hill and I follow. “Thank you, Silas,” I say, in the likely event he’s watching. He doesn’t answer, and I start to go back to the jeep when a copperhead slithers out of the brush. It lifts its head as if it plans on striking. I stare into its black eyes before it disappears over the hill leaving the sweet smell of cinnamon bread behind.

  “She gone?” Levi asks, as I get in the jeep.

  “She is.”

  We ride in silence to the highway. Levi’s been deep in thought since we left the courthouse. I’m doing my best to stay out of those thoughts and not run the risk of starting him on his boasting.

  He hasn’t even asked what his one-third amounts to. It’s not enough for everything he’s planning, but enough to get him started, and I’m happy about that.

  When we stop for the night, curiosity gets the best of me. “What’s going on with you?”

  “Just trying to make up my mind is all,” he says. “The PI game isn’t really my thing. It was fun, but I don’t figure getting in the middle of other people’s problems is the best way to solve my own.”

  “Sounds reasonable.”

  “Still going to open my own business though. Cyber security,” he says, and flashes me that wide grin of his. “It’s more my style. I like figuring things out, fixing them, making lots of money. I’ve been emailing one of Adam’s old business contacts. He offered me a job. Just temporary until I get on my feet and learn the ropes.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Guess that sounds kind of boring to you.”

  “Well, it does sound a little too high tech for me, but it doesn’t matter what I think.”

  “I wish you thought it did, Jack. What I did used to matter to you, but I can see it doesn’t anymore.”