Homecoming

by Alexie Aaron

  PEEPs Lite 3.2

  Homecoming

  A Hauntings novella by Alexie Aaron

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ~

  Bought by Maraya21

  kickass.so / 1337x.to / h33t.to / htepiratebay.se

  Copyright 2012 – Diane L. Fitch writing as Alexie Aaron

  Revised 2013

  ALSO BY ALEXIE AARON

  HAUNTED SERIES

  The Hauntings of Cold Creek Hollow

  Ghostly Attachments

  Sand Trap

  Darker than Dark

  The Garden

  PEEPS LITE

  Eternal Maze 3.1

  Homecoming 3.2

  CIN FIN-LATHEN MYSTERIES

  Decomposing

  Death by Saxophone

  Discord

  To my mother-in-law Dell Fitch.

  She grew up in a town in southern Illinois very similar to Lund in this novella. No one was a greater reader or more compassionate keeper of the printed word.

  You are missed.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Darker than Dark

  Alexie Aaron

  Chapter One

  The feeling was back, the weight on his chest, the compression of his ribcage. He struggled to breathe. He felt the cold hand on his mouth and heard the reedy demand, “Don’t scream. Listen. The well, beware of the well…” The weight lifted off, the hand slid away, and he could breathe again. Mike rolled over and curled into a ball and started to cry. After all this time, it was back. Whatever had first plagued his sleeping nights for the first nine years of his life had found him again. “Listen…”

  Glenda Dupree held the old rotary phone handset in one hand, a pancake flipper in the other. She had an early morning call from her elder sister. They were resuming a conversation they had started a few nights before but had to stop because Dancing with the Stars had begun. “What would he want to do a damn fool thing like that for?”

  Mike walked into the kitchen, kissed his mother on the cheek and headed for the coffee pot.

  “The men in our family have no G damn sense!” she bellowed into the phone.

  Mike wondered what had riled the old lady up today. He ran the list of his recent activities through his brain, and with the exception of breaking the lawnmower again, he was in the clear.

  “Lund’s a ghost town,” his mother declared to the caller on the line. “Haven’t been back there since… ninety-seven,” she calculated.

  Mike groaned and wondered who died. The only time he had been to Lund in recent years was to go to a funeral. The Lunds liked to be buried together. He assumed they’d figured out if they were grouped together, they could argue for an eternity. His mother’s folks had been raised in the town their grandfather had settled. Johan Lund worked his way west to the area now known as Illinois. He took his savings and bought some land with good soil. He promptly planted a grove of trees, as was tradition in his family, to block the prairie winds from taking all his soil, and began to farm. His relatives from Sweden joined him by and by. After dozens of years the Lunds owned most of the land in the area. They chose to live close together, instead of out on each parcel of land, and built a town around them. They called it Lund. It suited them fine.

  The town held its own and managed to attract a Sinclair gas station at one point. The railroad opted not to build a spur in Lund because of the lack of business there. The Lunds trucked their harvests long distances to get the best deal, so they didn’t foresee the problem of what not having access to the railroad would mean to the future of their community. Besides, trains were messy and noisy. Outsiders that had settled there were tolerated but only as breeding stock. They had a school at one point, as the Lunds were a prolific lot, but that was gone now. Farming didn’t pay once the corporate farms moved in. The Lunds that had remained in town commuted two hours to Joliet and Chicago to work in the factories.

  Mike had spent part of his young life there. His father was an enlisted man in the army. When he was called overseas, his mother brought him home to Lund. Glenda wanted to be with family. To sit and argue while shelling peas on the back porch, this made her happy.

  “Eddy finally gets a break and he… No sense,” his mother sighed. “I suppose I better get to it and make arrangements. Sure, sure, I’ll let you know what I decide. Thanks for the heads up, Mary. Talk to you soon,” she said and hung up the phone. Glenda looked over at her handsome son and smiled. “You’ll never guess.”

  Mike didn’t like the guessing game, but since she still hadn’t produced his breakfast, he thought he’d better play. “What?”

  “Your cousin Eddy.”

  “The pig farmer?”

  “Not anymore. Ever since he hit the Powerball he hasn’t touched a pig.”

  “He won the lottery?” Mike asked, uncomfortable with the thought of his smelly cousin rising income brackets faster than he was.

  “Big. He won big. Fifty million.” His mother raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. “Guess what the moron’s doing with the money?”

  “Trip to Vegas?”

  “No, not that stupid.”

  “Getting married?”

  “No, that’s would have made sense. Come on boy, think dumb.”

  Mike laughed at his mother’s comment of think dumb. He thought the act of thinking no longer made you dumb, but there you go, Ma had her own language. “He’s buying a farm?”

  “Now you’re on the right track.”

  “I heard Lund mentioned. Is he buying George Albert’s farm?”

  Glenda wrinkled up her face and nodded. “That’s not all he’s buying.”

  Mike waited dutifully for his mother to build up the suspense.

  “He’s buying the whole damn town!”

  “Lund? But it’s a ghost town, no one lives there.”

  “I know! Who’d want to? No stores, no church, no schools,” she listed.

  “What’s he going to do with it?”

  “Going to refurbish the whole town, make it a… a… Oh, damn… Got it! A destination town. Antiques, B&Bs, restaurants, and little stores. Got the idea from that movie star, what’s his name on that reality show? You know the guy who played that guy… ah hell, nevermind.”

  “What a way to piss away a couple of million dollars,” Mike commented.

  “We got to get over there and empty Grandpa’s house.”

  His mother’s words hit him like a sledge hammer to the temple. He winced and croaked, “Why?”

  “Because Eddy’s going to start with Grandpa’s house first. He’s offered me a fair price, and I’m taking it.”

  “I didn’t know you owned the place.”

  “Been renting it out for a few years to your aunt Sybil, but her kin put her in a home. It’s just been collecting dust since. I never bothered to sell it as the taxes were dirt cheap. George Albert’s been looking after it for me.”

  “When do you want to go over there?” Mike asked as his mother put a large plate of pancakes in front of him. He added up the calories and the gym time he would have to put in, but he felt the taste far outweighed the damage he would do to his diet.

  “
I’d like to tackle it before the snow comes. Today.”

  Mike choked on his food. Glenda was there ready to do the Heimlich maneuver. He waved her off. “Today?”

  “No time like the present. Are you doing an investigation presently?”

  “No.”

  “I’d really like to get this taken care of and off my mind.”

  “What about Thanksgiving?”

  “We could have it there.” His mother’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t you invite that little Chicago girl you’re always fighting with?”

  “Mia?”

  “Yes, that’s the one. Maybe you two could get to know each other better and stop squabbling all the time.”

  Mike gave her a sideways look. His mother loved to argue, listening to squabbles, starting most of them herself. He thought she was up to something.

  “She’s a handywoman, right? I’ll hire her to help us. I bet she could use some money coming into Christmas time.”

  “She’s got people and a boyfriend,” Mike pointed out. “I’m sure she wants to spend the holidays with them.”

  “Couldn’t hurt to ask.” Glenda walked over to the wall phone and picked up the handset. “What’s her number?”

  Everything was moving way too fast for Mike. He hadn’t a chance to think up an excuse for why he wouldn’t be going to Lund, let alone why Mia wouldn’t be interested. He pulled out his cell and read her number out from his PEEPs contact list.

  ~

  Mia stood in front of the frozen food section at the Jewel grocery store. She pondered the offerings of turkey dinners. Somehow they didn’t have the same appeal as sitting down to a family meal with Ralph and Bernard or, for that matter, with Whit’s family. This year, neither was an option. Her godfathers were in New York City. Ralph was designing a new theater set, and they decided to stay in the city instead of dealing with the crowded airlines to be at home.

  This was Whit’s first major holiday without Sherry, and his parents insisted he spend the holiday with them in their home back east. He invited her, but Mia declined. She pointed out that she didn’t travel well and felt that it was too soon for Whit to be bringing her home to the folks. After all, they hadn’t been together that long, and face it, Whit should still be in mourning for his wife. He accepted her rejection, and truth be known, Mia felt he was rather relieved. Their relationship was complicated.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket, saving her from the contemplation of frozen cornbread stuffing versus frozen multigrain. She didn’t recognize the number but chose to answer it anyway, “Hello?”

  “Mia, this is Glenda Dupree, Mike’s mother.”

  “Is he alright?” Mia asked, her heart pounding at the thought of losing a friend.

  “Him? Yes. Physically anyway,” Glenda said and laughed at her own joke. “What I’m calling you about is a job.”

  “Investigative job? Surely Burt…”

  “No, no, not any of that ghost business,” she clarified. “I understand you do odd jobs.”

  Mia smiled and closed the freezer door. She figured she was in for a long conversation. “Yes, it’s how I make ends meet.”

  “I have a proposition for you…”

  Mia listened as Glenda gave her a play by play starting with, “That fool Eddie,” and ending with a Thanksgiving meal thrown in. The remuneration mentioned was fair considering that room and board was included.

  “How much do you think you will be taking back to Kansas with you?” Mia asked.

  “I don’t really know. I suppose I can hire one of them contract trucks.”

  “I know a guy that owes me a favor. I may be able to get a covered trailer to pull behind my truck for free.”

  “Do that,” Glenda decided.

  “When do you need me?” Mia asked.

  “It’s a bit of a drive for us. We have to cross Missouri. Mr. Hollywood will want to stay in St. Louie tonight at one of them fancy hotels. Can you meet us in Lund tomorrow midday?”

  “Will do. Um, I’ve never heard of Lund, I’ll have to map it out.”

  “Oh, it’s not on the map, dearie. I’ll have Mike call you with directions,” Glenda said before hanging up.

  Mia looked down at the few items she had in her cart and smiled. She would be having actual meals for a while. Mia cruised around the store extracting perishable items while adding road trip snacks and drinks. When she reached the checkout stand, she stood making mental lists of things she would need to do before leaving. Number one on her list was a tricky matter. She had to stop at April’s farm and lecture Murphy about not terrorizing April’s guests. The young woman was having her family’s Thanksgiving meal at her home this year. The last thing she needed was an extra guest.

  ~

  Stephen Murphy moved in and out the parked cars. He read license plates from Pennsylvania to Illinois. April’s family was making their way across America. With each graduation, another child moved out of the family home and on to places west. April’s dad, Stan Johnston, pointed out if they would have had more children, he and his wife could leapfrog across the United states without paying for a night’s lodging.

  The older children brought spouses and children. It was the latter that was giving Murphy a nervous breakdown. The children were a reckless breed. Earlier he panicked as a few tots took a tumble off of the porch and then the picnic table. Each time he signaled April with a CRACK of his axe, unfortunately scaring the little demons into a crying jag.

  Today he was following a pair of older children who were heading towards his mausoleum. A noise on the country lane distracted him. He smiled as he identified the sound. It was Mia’s vehicle. Murphy moved quickly in her direction. He was surprised to find that she was pulling a large enclosed trailer behind her truck. Murphy watched as she expertly backed the trailer in. He marveled at how such a little person could manage with the large equipment of her chosen profession.

  Mia put on her Bluetooth headset and pretended to take a call. She was well aware of the children watching her from the woods.

  “Mia Cooper, calling for Stephen Murphy.” She felt a tingle on her arm and looked sideways at the deceased axe-carrying farmer. “April tells me you’re scaring the kids.”

  Murphy shook his head and waved his arms protesting his innocence. He did his best to mime that the children were running wild. His eyes flashed, and his face pleaded for Mia to make them all go away.

  “Actually, I’m going away for a while, and I need to know that you’ll behave yourself. We have a good set up with April. She doesn’t call the priest to exorcise you as long as you play by her rules.”

  Murphy threw up his hands and pointed over to where the little monsters were climbing on his grave.

  Mia put her fingers in her mouth and whistled shrilly. “What did I tell you kids about playing over there? Poison ivy, poison oak and snakes,” she listed.

  “I’m telling Aunty April,” the oldest of the bunch said and ran off towards the house.

  Mia closed her eyes a moment and took a few deep breaths. She looked at Murphy and asked. “You want to come with me and abuse Mike for a while?”

  His eyes lit up and he nodded so hard, Mia worried his head was going to fall off.

  “Okay, okay, let me grab your axe head before the monsters come back with April.” Mia rushed over to the grave and opened the secret chamber. She turned off the alarm and extracted the canvas bag and tucked it down the back of her jeans. She closed up the chamber and pretended to be paying her respects to the occupant when April’s father stomped over.

  “What the hell is going on, missy?”

  Mia looked over and gritted her teeth, determined to remain civil. “The children were crawling all over this grave, disrespecting the dead. I pointed out the poison oak, ivy, and mentioned the plethora of snakes that like to sun themselves atop the marble.”

  “It’s just a damn fool’s grave,” Stan Johnston pointed out.

  CRACK!

  “What the hell was that?” he said holding hi
s heart.

  “With all due respect, sir. This is my property, and I would appreciate if you would talk to the children regarding respecting the sanctity of this gravesite.”

  “You’re parked in my daughter’s driveway, so I’ll call it even.”

  Mia sighed. It never ceased to amaze her, the idiocy of some people. But she wanted to keep the peace so she nodded. “I have to point out that technically her drive goes over my property. I could insist that she cut a new drive to the farm a hundred feet west through that swampy area. But I’ve been more than cordial in allowing her to use my property’s right of way,” Mia pointed out.

  Stan Johnston’s wind went out of his sails. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that.”

  Mia nodded and turned to leave.

  “This grave means that much to you?”

  “Oh, yes, the occupant of this grave means more to me than you’ll ever know.”

  CRACK!

  Stan Johnston jumped. “What is causing that sound?”

  “Maybe there is a reason that you and your grandchildren should avoid this area of the woods,” Mia offered. She pointed up. “There are plenty of old trees, and with the winds of autumn upon us, some of them shed their limbs.”

  The man looked up and walked away, keeping his eye on the trees.

  Murphy looked over at her and shook his head.

  “You know, and I know, I’m talking bullshit, but he doesn’t know and that’s all that is important right now.” Mia started walking to her truck. April met her there.

  “I’m sorry, my father is well…”

  “He’s your father, and I respect that. I’m taking Murphy with me so you won’t have to worry about him spoiling your visit.”

  April looked relieved. But not as relieved as Murphy did when Mia pulled out of the drive and they headed south.

  Chapter Two

  The land was flat with only windmills and silos breaking up the starkness of harvested fields and blue cloudless sky. Mia, after a long radio battle with Murphy, had found a local station that gave its listeners weather, crop prices and gossip, on the hour, the half hour, and in the fifteen minute intervals between, Mary Beth’s cooking show. MB was schooling her listeners on pumpkin pies as Mia drove south towards Lund.