The Gemini Bridge (The York Street Series Book 1)
Page 30
“They have such big teeth,” she exclaimed, giggling nervously. “I think I’ll start with a smaller animal.” The horses snorted and whinnied at her as if they thought she was hilarious.
“Should we make friends with the goats? I hear they’re really playful and mostly safe,” Ricky said sarcasm dripping from her voice.
Beth Ann poked her in the shoulder. “Even though you’re the Gemini Bridge, you’re still my housemate, and I retain poking rights when you’re being snarky.”
Ricky giggled and poked her back gently in the ribs.
“Now, now ladies,” George said in a deep, fatherly voice.
As they pet the baby goats, which were jumping around like they had springs in their legs, Ricky’s face showed a worried expression. “What’s the problem, Rick?” George asked. “Are you worried about the project and going into an energy war with the Stealer?”
“Not really Dad, strange as it may seem. I was worrying about how much all this is costing the Trust. I wouldn’t want to see all of Moon’s hard work going up in hotel bills. We could have rented a private house, or stayed in a Motel 8. This place has to be expensive.”
Beth Ann laughed. “That’s just what Moon said you’d say when she and the guides scooped me up off the plane. She said ‘Ricky worries about money. Tell her to cut it out. I have been building the funding on this for the last two years. The Trust is a multi-million dollar organization, and was established for this very reason. The goal is ending the Soul Stealer threat’.”
“Really?” Ricky said, eyes wide and hand extended to her father. “Why didn’t you tell me what kind of money we were talking about? I knew the Trust had enough to pay staff and meet our needs, but that much? How can psychic work generate that much income?”
“Years of classes, seminars, book sales, client fees, and Moon being an awesome judge of good investment opportunities. We also give out free training scholarships, have a charitable arm that supports homeless children and teens, and back-to-work programs for welfare moms,” Beth Ann said. “Moon was on retainer for her services for police departments all over the US and Canada, if she was frugal, she could have lived on just that income.”
They had started toward the chicken coops as they talked and Ricky stopped in her tracks. “How come no one told me?”
“We figured with all the changes going on, Stan and myself and our accountant Hal Grimes, and our publishing agent Jennifer Stanley would keep on calling the shots until you sorted your way through all the spiritual path stuff,” George replied. “Moon never did much with the finances, except for the money market account and the new stock portfolio she told us about in her will.”
“I knew about those,” Beth Ann said. “She didn’t tell me why she wanted to keep them a secret but I think she was worried about Chester finagling his way in.”
“Remember that stack of papers I had you sign before we went to Chicago?” George asked.
Ricky nodded.
“They officially changed all the funds Moon left you to your name, and deeded the house to you and Beth Ann, with rights of survivorship. Stan is working on further amendments for when you and David marry. We also voided Chester’s part of the will and all of the income from the spirit communication course goes to you. You can decide how you want to teach those courses and what other people will qualify as well, after we solve our current dilemma,” George added.
“I agree. Chester didn’t keep his end of the bargain. Good to have him out of the network but would prefer if he’d stay in the psych ward rather than jumping all over space and time and causing problems,” Ricky answered.
“We have to have a meeting of the Trust when the dust settles. I want to get to know all these folks we employee to keep this going. To be part of leadership in an organization that has that much influence and know nothing about it, seems strange. How do we pay Hal, Stan, and Jennifer?”
“They are salaried, and believe me, they’re constantly busy,” Beth Ann answered. Yearly, we have an outside auditing firm go over the books and check all transactions, business and charitable.”
“Does Jennifer get ten percent on our book sales?”
“No, we incorporated as our own publishing company and Jennifer is the CEO. She is amazing and understands foreign marketing on a level that will blow you away.”
“Wow, I guess I can put those worries aside and just trust the Trust to keep moving in a positive direction. I’m glad I only have to worry about a maniac who thinks all living people should be controlled by disincarnates who dance to his tune,” Ricky said with a smirk.
The trio walked to a point that was just about the middle of the fifteen acres, in a clearing a few hundred feet from the barn. From there, they could see the Inn with its giant gazebo behind it, and the animal enclosures as well as the surrounding fields and trees. Ricky took out an etheric emerald, raised her vibrational frequency and made an intention to see the shielding as she sent a beam of green light into the air. There was a crackling sound and all of them saw a grid work of green, like a fine mesh of sparkling stars, which formed a dome over the property. It covered all the acreage and was denser around the house and gazebo, with a sparkling sheet of energy covering the doors and windows of both.
“That is neat!” George said with a chortle. “We can’t feel a thing but I’m sure any of the Stealer’s folks, ghost or incarnated, would be stopped in their tracks.”
“I want to try one more thing,” Ricky said as she pointed the etheric emerald at the ground. Another mesh of red became evident all across the ground for as far as they could see.
“Good, that’s what I was looking for. I was concerned someone might tunnel from outside the property line or get to the house from some long-deserted passageway left over from the Civil War. But look, Moon and Byron thought of that. The shield goes down deep under the grass. Glad they were the ones to do this. My experience with shielding leaves much to be desired. I’ll have to have Shri do a tutorial for me when we have time.”
George glanced at his watch. “Its 8:45, we better get back, since you’re in charge of the meeting.”
“You’re right. I thought I’d have time for an update on the home front,” Ricky looked to Beth Ann. “Can we do that when we take our lunchtime break?”
“Sure, not a whole lot to tell but we did come across some interesting stuff when we worked on unlinking ghosts at random in Minneapolis,” Beth Ann replied, as they moved quickly toward the house.
“We’ll make time for the whole group to hear about it,” Ricky said, giving Beth Ann a hug. Moon whispered in Ricky’s ear. And you thought you’d never be able to forgive Beth Ann, and now you’re roomies. She’s a whole lot smarter than she appears.
Ricky was just about to go from the grass path to the main entrance road when movement in the sky caught her eye. It resembled a flock of white birds, swarming in a tight spiral configuration about a hundred feet above them. She squinted but couldn’t get a good view of the phenomenon. Moon whispered. Use the etheric emerald and look again. Ricky pointed the stone in the direction of the “flock” and the details of the swarm came into view.
Beth Ann and George saw it too. “What is that, Rick? I’ve never seen anything like it before,” George asked.
“Want to guess, Beth Ann?” Ricky asked.
“I saw something like this in Minneapolis when we were unlinking ghosts. I think it’s a very large cloud of spirit web,” Beth Ann answered, a look of fear evident in her eyes.
“That’s exactly what it is. The Stealer is sending a whole batch of disincarnates to keep us company, but Moon and Byron know how to shield well. We’d be fighting them off in the house if the grounds weren’t protected.”
“It’s good visual proof for everyone,” George said. “Let’s invite the rest out for a look.”
Just then, Shri came out looked up, and went back in to bring the others. Everyone stood and looked as Ricky explained what they were seeing. Even the Reynolds brothers could see it, but
to them it looked like a strange cloud configuration.
Ricky glanced toward the house and saw Cynda Lu standing in the window looking into the sky with a fascinated look on her face. “Hum. Lots of interest there,” Ricky said. “Something is shifting.”
They went back inside and headed toward the parlor and closed the doors before they started talking.
“For any who haven’t seen it before, that was what Moon calls “spirit web”. It’s the connecting material that is present when the Stealer links ghosts to incarnates. That represented a whole tribe of candidates for the experience, and we could be their targets. This is why we have to stay on the property unless we’re carrying etheric emeralds, or stones charged by them, with us.”
“What about the staff?” Bob asked. “Won’t they get linked and then bring ghosts back when they leave the property?”
“I think I can help with that,” Shri Kria Baba answered. “I had an interesting conversation while you all were occupied with other endeavors. I was going through the house, with particular focus on the cellars, to see if we missed ghosts hiding in cupboards or elsewhere. I did, in fact, find a very old ghost from the time of the original owner. It was a personal attendant for the master of the house. He was waiting in the room where a new furnace and air conditioning unit had been installed when this property turned into an inn. The construction confused him and was distracting him from his task of bringing up wine from the master’s supply for a party. His vision of a wine storage chamber had begun to disappear with the instillation, and he was weeping miserably, thinking he’d be punished. Obviously, his body had failed him during the early 1800s and he had died in the wine chamber. He had nothing to do with the current linking project of the Stealer.
“So I did what we do in releasing the astral body of these beings, so they can go on with their evolution. He was upset at first to learn of the death of everyone he’d known, but said it was becoming lonelier all the time, with only the woman to talk to, and her being too busy to chat. I asked who the woman might be, thinking there was another ghost to release. He described Cynda Lu, the manager in great detail. After this conversation, I dispersed him to the light, not needing the help of the emerald.
“No other ghosts inhabited the cellar so I came up the stairs and met Cynda Lu going down. Her words were, ‘You finally convinced him to go on, thank you. I have been trying to tell Matthias that he had passed on, but he didn’t believe me.’”
“That remark started a dialogue between us. Cynda Lu knew exactly what we did when we first arrived yesterday. It turns out she is a medium as well as a Wiccan.
“She and many of the others in the local Wiccan community have noticed the increase of ghosts in the area. They had cleared a large ghostly population from this building, all but Matthias. Athens has always been full of spectral beings, but never those linked to people. She has sensed them while going about the businesses in town, but was unable to undue the linkage. This is true for others in her coven. She told me all the staff members are part of her Wiccan group, except for the stable boys, Brent and Charles who are college students.”
“How many Wiccan’s are we talking about?” David asked.
“Cynda Lu is the head of the group. When she became manager, she hired the rest. You have met Maggie from the kitchen, Erna who helps her, Jeff who is the man who keeps things in repair, but you have yet to meet Mary Joy and Liam who do the cleaning, and Vicky who does the laundry and various other tasks. They are all extremely interested in what we are doing,” Shri concluded.
“Did you meet them all?” Ricky asked.
Shri nodded. “I saw no evidence of duplicity in their energy fields and no signs of linked ghosts. They were obviously upset by the linked ghosts invading town, and have a low opinion of Sam Reading and his organization.
“They also know about Moon Angel and her death. Cynda Lu showed me this by a well-read stack of Moon’s books, and she’d figured out that Moon’s Trust was paying for our stay. They might be a valuable asset.”
“Just a moment, let me check with Moon,” Ricky answered.
So did you know about all these Wiccans running this place? Moon’s answer was immediate. I did know. Why did you think we suggested this inn? I thought I’d wait and see if they were interested in participating in the effort. This is a tricky operation and it’s a big job keeping your group comfortable. In a few days, a whole other contingent will arrive from Chicago, so more mouths to feed.
Ricky was surprised. As far as I know, only three more are coming. Who else are you expecting?
Just talked to Avery and Katera, they felt the urge to drop in on Mel Shank before the weekend and did some excellent work. They’ll fill you in on the details. Mel is coming with them, as well as four of his students. Avery is bringing Katera, Trix and Job, all first rate communicators. There may be more as well. Some of the students you trained at his workshop are trying to get organized enough to come along. There should be another ten or so, if my read of the situation is correct.
Ricky’s eyes widened. Is there enough room here? What will Cynda Lu think of the influx?
Best you let her know when you fill her in on the operation. You all might want to take turns and pitch in with keeping the place functional. Train all that are here now and they can train the new comers. All of them are experienced anyway.
So bring in the Wiccans, starting with Cynda Lu? Is she going to be overwhelmed or excited that we asked?
Ricky could almost feel Moon shrug. You’ll find out soon enough. She’s knocking on the door.
Ricky went to the door just as the knocking started, and there, as advertised, was Cynda Lu with an eager look on her face. “My guide told me Moon wants us to help; y’all getting the same message?”
“None of us are surprised it seems. Let me fill you in,” Ricky said.
“Not a whole lot that we don’t know about your plan. We are the core group from the Athens Coven. We’ve been askin’ our guides and Teachers for help with this linkin’ problem for years. About a month ago, they told us we’d be hearin’ from Stan Jacobs, who would call on behalf of Moon Angel Network. They described y’all and told us you’d probably let us help. Can’t imagine they were tellin’ us tales,” Cynda Lu answered.
“First off,” George interjected, “will the owner permit this? The liability for all of us could be a factor.”
Cynda Lu grinned. “I’m both manager and owner. I inherited the house, left my job as a Wall Street trader with a sterlin’ investment portfolio, and put everything I had into retro-fittin’ the house into an inn. It’s done remarkably well. But money is secondary, I was a closet-Wiccan in New York; here, my true callin’ is my spiritual path. I wouldn’t consider turnin’ down an opportunity like this.”
“Are all your staff in as well?” Ricky asked.
“Tell ya what,” Cynda Lu replied. “Do you have time to explain what you’re doing to them? I told um what Shri told me, but I’m sure they’d like to hear it from y’all.”
“If they can decide right now, they are welcome to be part of the training, but we need to get started.”
Cynda Lu went to the door and signaled to the rest of the Wiccans on the staff who were waiting in the dining room.
Cynda Lu, who was the High Priestess in their coven, introduced those that had yet to interact with the group. Ricky then went over what they had been dealing with and what Moon’s plan was for decreasing the numbers of linked ghosts so it would be easier to uncover who was in charge.
All but Maggie, the cook, decided to be part of the project. “I’d love to be involved,” she said, with a nervous smile, “but I’m in charge of the kitchen and that’s a big responsibility, especially if the rest of them are going to be in with y’all training.”
Cynda Lu nodded. “We will need some help keepin’ up the place, with new guests comin’ soon as well, and the animals will need to be fed and looked after. Okay if I hire some new folks and we put it on the bill?”
The original group who came for the project was told of the plan and volunteered to help with house-keeping. Erna and Cynda Lu would make up a schedule with everyone’s input. There would be less time to relax but more trained people to work with the unlinking project.
After all the new recruits were settled in the room, the group leaders spoke to everyone.
“I will be leading the Boston Avenue group, which will consist of Jessica, Shelia, Bob, Cynda Lu, George, Dylan and Mary Joy. We will form a circle in the left corner of the room. Please bring your chairs to that location after we are done speaking,” Shri said.
“In my Vincent Avenue group will be, David, Beth Ann, Jim, Erna, Liam, Jeff and Vicky,” Ricky said next. “We will meet in the right corner of the room.
“We will have ten or more people arriving Friday. They will be divided into the existing groups. Since we most likely won’t start working with them until Saturday, there is a possibility some of you might catch on so quickly that you will be able to clear ghosts with the holograms on your own before the end of the day. Those will be the people who will be assigned a new arrival to work with, but all of you will report to your group leader with any challenging situations that come up.
“Our task is to decrease the ghosts to make the viewing of the holograms more distinct so I will be able to identify the Soul Stealer. Right now, we think he or she is hiding in the midst of the spirit web which obstructs our viewing at the suspected sites. I may end up popping into the settings to track down anomalies that you identify. So, let’s get started.”
Ricky passed the hologram files to Shri as Moon had passed them to her the night before, imbedding them in his third eye. Shri then passed the Boston hologram to the people in his group, instructing them to review it later on their own. For the present, he would project the file so they could see what he was doing.