Vanquishing Ghosts (Tess Schafer-Medium)

by Deborah J. Hughes

  Before we even made it to the front door, Alex came bounding down the stairs. He looked happy and excited to be with us again and Kade pulled him close for a few affectionate scratches when he jumped up in greeting. Dennis moseyed down the stairs at a much slower pace looking disdainful of the dog's eagerness and trying to appear as if he wasn't the least bit ruffled by what had sent him scurrying to the attic for safety.

  Once we were all gathered on the front porch, we said our goodbyes and made promises to keep in touch. The sun was shining bright and warm and it felt so good after the coolness of the house.

  "I think you'll find the house safe at this point, my dear. It wouldn't hurt, though, to maybe do a little extra protecting to ensure it doesn't find another in," Grace said as she gave me a warm, firm hug.

  "I'll just dig up my grimoire and see what I can come up with."

  Grace laughed. "You do that, my dear. Please keep in touch. If you need us again, call."

  Mark gave me a hug and reiterated Grace's sentiments. "Please do keep us informed on how you are doing here. If you need our help again, we'll come, no hesitation."

  "Thank you, Mark, I will certainly keep you updated," I squeezed his arm in a gentle show of appreciation. "Thank you."

  He met my eyes and smiled. The message in them quite clear. Kade and I had a solid friend.

  While Kade was giving out his own hugs and exchanging goodbyes, I turned to Don. He was the quietest of the group and yet I had a feeling he was the most observant. When he stepped close to give me a hug, he whispered in my ear. "He's still close. The woods I think. Be careful."

  Don's words made my heart start thumping just a bit harder. I glanced toward the area Alex alerted on during our walk and experienced a fissure of unease travel through me. Like it or not, we were going to have to expand our search, find that evil man and send him off to wherever evil doers went. Hell? Who knew? I didn't really believe in hell. Not in the sense of eternity and fire and brimstone. But certainly those who conducted evil had to answer for their deeds in some way. Karma and all that.

  We were walking to Mark's car when Don pointed to the area we sectioned off earlier. "What's going on there?

  "We think a building used to be located there. A garage or something," I told him.

  "A cottage actually," said Kade decisively.

  Surprised, I turned to look at him. "A cottage? When did you decide that?"

  "I'll show you in a few minutes. Let's let our guests get out of here. Grace is wilting." He gave her a wink as he helped her into the car and she patted his chest in mock censure.

  "People like me don't wilt, Kade, we just regenerate our spirits."

  "Well then ... you must go home and regenerate." Kade grasped her hand and pressed a kiss to it. "You keep in touch with us."

  "Let us know when you are having another art show, Kade, so that we may come in support and maybe score one of your pieces," Mark told him. After giving us one more wave goodbye, he and Don got into the car and then a few short seconds later, we were alone.

  As soon as their car disappeared from sight, I turned to Kade. "I hope they make it out to the road without any problems."

  "They survived the house, Tess, I think they can survive a fifteen second drive through the woods." Kade pulled me into a hug and held me tight. "I was so worried when you passed out. You literally just fainted dead away."

  I buried my face against his chest and took comfort in his embrace. He smelled so good ... fresh and clean and male. I drew in his scent and felt my energies balance out. We were good for each other he and I. Then, remembering what he said, I lifted my head to look at him. "What's this about a cottage?"

  Smiling in a manner of one holding a very cool secret, Kade pressed a kiss to my mouth and though I think he intended it to be a quick one, he barely lifted his lips from mine before he was coming back for more. My eager response probably had something to do with it. But my gosh I liked kissing him.

  Though our bodies heated with that familiar rush of sensual pleasure and a desire for more, Kade lifted his head and dragged in some air. "Okay, we'll continue this later. I think I should share my surprise with you right now." He gave a nod toward the woods. "Something out there might try to come back and we need to make sure that doesn't happen."

  We were climbing the steps to the back porch when Kade paused to look at me, his brow lifted in question and melting my insides. I did so like it when he did that. "What is a grimoire? I've heard the name and yet..."

  "A witch's personal book of their craft. And no, before you ask, I do not have one. I was merely being facetious."

  "So, do you have any ideas on how we are supposed to add extra protection to the house in order to keep the Big Bad out?"

  “Yes. I'll call Robin. She'll know just what we need I think. But," I gave him a gentle poke in the chest. "Before we do anything else, I want to see your painting."

  I wasn't quite prepared for what he showed me.

  The cottage was quite enchanting actually, even though it was a nighttime scene so much of the detail was obscured. Even so, a glow of firelight lit up the windows on either side of a door that was curved at the top and had a crescent moon carved into it for a small window. The windows bore wooden shutters with the same design. On the window to the left of the door, one shutter was nearly closed but the others stood open to the night. Light colored smoke curled up from the chimney catching the moonlight's silvery glow. The marsh sat in silhouette behind the cabin, the moon full and bright above it. The roof was thatched. Thatched! Who did that anymore? It was like some sort of fairytale cottage plopped down right here on my property. Trees grew thick on each side of the cottage but looked ordered, as if planted there in a specific pattern. And curiously, there was the outline of an owl sitting on one of the tree branches.

  "Kade!" I could only breathe his name in reverence. How had he captured so well Naylee's cottage?

  "Don't ask me where the inspiration came from. It just happened without my giving it much thought at all. I could see it so clearly in my mind's eye. It happened while I was outside capturing the outline of your house against the backdrop of the full moon. But it was like your house didn't even exist. There was just this cottage and I had to draw it." Kade studied the painting with as much avid curiosity as I did. "The only thing in that drawing that actually was there when I drew it are the moon and the marsh."

  I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. "I love it, Kade. It's awesome. Please say I can keep it. We should hang it in here on that spot between the two windows facing the area where the cottage used to be."

  Kade returned my kiss and delivered another of his own. Grinning at my enthusiasm, he gave a nod and turned to look at the spot I indicated. "That is the perfect location for it and of course you can keep it. I painted it for you."

  "It was her cottage that was there, Kade. Although I only saw it from the inside, I know you've accurately captured it. I wonder what happened to it."

  We both stared at the painting as if we expected it to offer up more answers. And perhaps it would with more reflection, but Kade was already heading for the door. "Let's start digging, see if we can find any answers."

  "No shovels, remember?"

  "Right." He did an about face and headed for the hallway. "Let's clean up the mess in the living room then go visit Robin. Hopefully her store is still open when we get there."

  "I don't think she carries shovels."

  "For that protection we need around the house, goose. We'll stop at the hardware store on our way back."

  It didn't take long to straighten up the living room. The cross we hung over the fireplace was still missing and I had a feeling we'd never find it. A curious thing that. Where did stuff go when it disappeared without explanation?

  Since a chill was setting in and clouds were gathering, I ran up to my room to grab a sweatshirt and that's when I eyed the folded piece of paper on an end table next to the closet door. It was the number to the moving guy's
sister. I had forgotten all about that. He said she might know something about my property. How could something that important slip my mind? It was like my brain was selectively forgetting stuff. I pulled on a Brooklyn Nets sweatshirt, one of the few items I kept from my days with Mike for he had been an avid basketball fan, and grabbed the slip of paper on my way out.

  Although we felt comfortable leaving Alex in the house, the fact remained that the Big Bad was still around somewhere so we decided to bring him with us. Dennis lay stretched out on the porch steps when we backed out of the driveway and he watched us with half closed eyes, giving the appearance of languorous unconcern. His ears, though, were perked in alert and his tail swished every now and then as if sending out a message that he was quite aware of what was going on around him.

  Although the sun was shining not a half hour earlier, clouds were now gathering into a dense cover, blocking out the sunshine and promising rain. As we entered the forested part of the drive, it became quite dark and the fog began to swirl in thick and fast around us. My heart immediately began to pound as a rush of adrenalin shot through my blood, heightening my sense of alert. Oh he was here alright and determined that we know it.

  Kade's grip tightened on the steering wheel and I reached across to clutch his leg, needing contact with him. He covered my hand with one of his and stepped on the accelerator. But the car slowed to a crawl and began to sputter. We were now about halfway to the main road and yet I was pretty sure we weren't going to make it. So of course, we didn't. The engine gave a little rev like a last hurrah and then died.

  Grim faced, Kade looked at me. "Guess he doesn't want us going anywhere."

  The idea of getting out of the car and walking through the woods back to the house did not appeal to me at all. I was gripping my cell phone in my free hand and now I looked down at it and tried to think who I could call. Mark was too far away and besides, I couldn't ask him to come back already. Surely he'd had enough of my house for one day. Barbara? But she'd be scared to death.

  "Let me just take a look. Maybe a battery cable came loose or something." Kade popped the hood and got out of the car. He was about to lean in and look at the engine when I opened the door and screamed at him to stop. Startled, Kade jumped back and just as he did so the hood slammed down so hard it rattled the car. If Kade had been leaning under it at the time it would have injured him badly. How I knew it was going to happen I don't know. Maybe Sheila was helping us out. All I know is I had a sudden urgent need to scream his name, sensing imminent danger, and reacted accordingly. Thank God!

  My cell phone started buzzing and I glanced down at the caller ID. It was Mary! Though my heart was pounding a mile a minute, I pushed the talk button and managed to croak out a greeting.

  "Tess? You sound strange. Is everything okay?"

  "Well, for the most part. Kade and I are stranded on the private road leading to our house and an evil spirit is after us and now it most likely wants to do battle ... again. But other than that ... it's not too bad. Where are you?"

  Mary was silent so long I thought we might have lost our connection and I pulled the phone away to check. Still connected. "Mary?"

  "Umm ... I'm just not sure how to respond to that. Should I be concerned?"

  Laughter bubbled up inside me and I didn't doubt it was a little bit of hysteria mixed in with genuine amusement, but it did help relieve some tension. Kade had my door open at this point and was leaning on it while waiting for me to complete my call. I met his eyes and both of us simultaneously winked at the other. That made me laugh even more.

  "Tess? You are worrying me a bit here."

  "No, Mary, really. It will be fine. Soon as we can figure out this guy's name, out he goes. I wonder if it's Rumplestiltskin?" That made me laugh harder and now I knew I was losing it. Kade put a steadying hand on my shoulder and that helped ground me enough to get control of myself. "Where are you? Are you home yet?"

  "No, we've stopped for the night. I'm not feeling well but it's nothing to be concerned about. By the way, we got your necklace done! Mom has worked on it more than me but it was a collaborative effort and I think you will be very pleased."

  Oh that was good news. Ever since Mary promised to make a necklace out of the authentic Indian beads I found and was allowed to keep, I was doing my best to maintain patience while they figured out a way to create it. I knew they would keep close to the design of the original necklace which, I was sure, belonged to a very powerful shaman. A relation of Isidora’s in fact! The design was shown to me in a vision when the beads spilled onto the floor. As if that wasn't amazing enough, Kade then drew the exact same necklace design on a very strong Indian spirit he was inspired to include in one of his paintings. Much the same way he just drew the cottage. A flash of divine inspiration. A message from spirit.

  "When will you be home? I can't wait to see it. And you of course! And I can't wait to meet your husband and sons."

  "We should be there in a couple days. We are stopping tomorrow night in Connecticut to see Daniel's brother and his family. I'll call as soon as we are in town. Have you been over by the house? Have you seen all the digging they've done?"

  "No I haven't had a chance to go by. Besides, I was waiting for you to get home so you could fill me in on everything."

  "Well then, I'll be sure to keep a day open just for us. But back to the stranded part..." Although Mary's voice conveyed her fatigue, she sounded happy. As well she should. Things were going quite good for her these days. And thank God for that. Now to bring some of her luck to my situation and we'd all be happy. Not that I was unhappy. But things could be better. That much was for sure.

  "Really, we are just a two minute walk from the house. The battery is probably drained. Don't worry. We'll be fine."

  "But I am worried. I can hear it in your voice that something isn't right and I'm not talking about your possible dead battery."

  Mary could be tenacious, that was for sure. "As we suspected, there is a pretty bad spirit here. We managed, I hope, to get him out of the house but now we need to figure out how to remove him from my property. In fact, I'm hoping we can send his spirit ass to hell. Or wherever it is bad spirits like him go."

  "He can't hurt you can he?"

  "Well if he can, he has chosen not to and my bet is this ... if he could hurt us, he would have done so by now."

  "So what's the plan?"

  I could see that Kade was getting impatient for me to get off the phone and was about to end the call when I spotted the piece of paper with the phone number on it and picked it up. "Mary, do you know anyone by the name of Janet Soper?"

  "Hmmm, the name sounds familiar, why?"

  "Well one of the moving men that brought my furniture here gave me her number and told me to call her. She's his sister. He said she knew some stuff about the house."

  "Janet Soper." Mary murmured the name softly then gave a sigh. "Is Soper a married name?"

  "I'm not sure. I don't remember seeing the last name of Soper on the paperwork from the moving company so I'm going to guess it's a married name."

  "Well, give her a call. Ask her if she knows me and then let me know. Okay?"

  Kade gave me a look that clearly said his patience was just about done. "Look, Mary, I need to go. Call me when you get home so I know you all made it okay. I'll fill you in some more on what's going on. Say hi to your mom for me and tell her I'm really excited to see that necklace."

  If only I had it right now! I had a really strong feeling it might help me somehow. Otherwise, why did it get passed down from generation to generation in a family strong with supernatural gifts? And then, after being lost for hundreds of years ... I found it. Me. Everything happened for a reason. This one had to be a good one.

  "Okay, Tess. Say hi to Kade. And good luck to you. Be careful."

  "I will. Bye." I looked at Kade and gave an apologetic shrug. "I know we are in a slight fix here but it felt so normal to talk to her. Besides, I haven't heard from her in several days an
d I've been wondering how she's doing."

  "So where are they and when will they be home?"

  "Gosh, she didn't say where they were. They stopped for the night because she isn't feeling well and tomorrow night they are stopping in Connecticut to see her brother-in-law." I slipped out of the car, nudged past Kade then stood looking around. The cloud cover was now quite heavy and dark but more disturbing to me was the fog. I'd seen two versions of a movie called The Fog and neither one went well. A shiver chased through me at the thought and I visibly shook it off. "Let's get to the house. Your car will be fine until tomorrow. I'm not going to worry about it when it's getting dark and about to rain."

  "Not to mention this creepy assed fog. My God, it's thick."

  I moved closer to Kade and enjoyed the security his body heat gave me. "Is this normal?"

  "Oh yes, fog in Maine is pretty normal. Especially near water." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Let's get back to the house before it gets much darker." He opened the back door to let Alex out and the poor dog didn't budge. Despite our prompting for him to join us, Alex cowered on the floor behind the driver's seat, his tail tucked between his legs, his ears flat and his head down. Not a good sign.

  I crawled into the car and lay across the back seat so I could get close to Alex and offer him comfort and security. He licked my face and wagged his tail a couple times but still he didn't budge. I gave him a hug, buried my face in his fur and wrapped my imaginary light around us both. Kade and I would keep him safe.

  "Come with us, Alex. You're okay." Alex looked up at me with soulful eyes and gave a soft whine. I smiled at him and continued to speak in an encouraging tone and eventually he sat up and jumped onto the seat with me. I slid backwards out of the car and Alex followed. As soon as he jumped to the ground, he pressed close to Kade's leg and looked about in every direction. He was searching for the Big Bad and this, I thought, would be our advantage. Dogs could be very acute to the spirit world and obviously Alex could see what we could not. We'd use him as our spirit detector during our walk back to the house. The Big Bad might be able to hide from me but he couldn't hide from Alex.