by Rose Pressey
I blew the hair out of my eyes.
“Do I need to help you pack your things?” Tammy asked with a look of sympathy.
Leslie snickered, which I didn’t appreciate at all.
“Surprisingly, I still have a job here.”
“You do?” Leslie screeched. She barely ever spoke to me, but this was when she decided to say something.
I frowned at her. “Yes, I do.”
“I wish I could change Leslie’s chapstick with a glue stick.” Tammy clapped her hands together. “We should celebrate with a drink.”
Given the turn of events, I had better turn the struggling library around fast or I’d be out before I could say card catalog. If I didn’t find the killer, my life would be kaput… including my career and all my dreams for the future. Plus, the killer needed to be brought to justice.
“I can meet you at the tavern after my tour,” I said.
“That sounds like a plan,” Tammy said.
Just then Leslie marched past, flipping her blonde hair from her shoulder as she went. “I’m finished for the night. Is it okay if I leave?” She asked the question, but her tone was anything but pleasant.
“Sure, that’s fine,” I said.
She barely waited for me to answer before she stomped toward the door.
“Maybe it’s just me, but I get the feeling that she doesn’t care for me much.” I frowned.
Tammy laughed. “No, I think she loves you.”
I walked over to the door and locked it so that no one else could come in before we had a chance to leave. Tammy picked up a chocolate chip cookie from the tray that had been sitting there all day. She shoved it toward my face. “Here, have a cookie. It will make you feel better.”
I took the cookie from her outstretched hand. After taking a bite and chewing, I said, “You know, I have got to change things around here if I want to keep this job.”
“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.” Tammy watched as crumbs fell to the floor.
I finished off the cookie. “No, pressure is good. It’ll force me to get my act together. Otherwise I would just let things happen and not change anything.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked as she stroked the cat.
I stared at Tammy for a bit.
“What? Do I have something on my face?” she asked as she brushed at her cheek.
I waved my hand. “No, nothing like that.” I shuffled the stack of papers on the counter next to me and then stacked them neatly. Clearly, I was stalling. “It’s just that I need to tell you something.”
“This sounds serious. Should I sit down?” she asked.
I nodded. “Maybe you should take a seat.” It was time for me to tell her about the ghost.
Tammy sat on the stool behind her. “Okay. Let me have it. I can take it. You’re quitting, aren’t you?”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “No, I’m not quitting. Do you think I’d give up that easily?”
“Well, no, but after the visit from Mrs. Agnew I figured that was the last straw. So what is the news?”
“The library is haunted.”
She laughed. “That is the big news?”
“You’ve really never experienced the haunting here?”
She picked up a cookie, took a bite, and then said, “No. I guess I didn’t look for anything specific though, but there have always been little weird things happening around here.”
“You seem kind of calm about it.”
Tammy waved her hand. “I figure it’s no big deal. It’s not like I’ve seen an evil ghost or anything.” I stared at her. “What? You’ve seen a ghost?”
I nodded. “Yes, I have seen a ghost.” I looked around to see if Annie was near, but she still hadn’t appeared.
“Are you sure?” Tammy pointed. “Here? In the library?”
“You sound as if you don’t believe me,” I said.
“No, it’s not that I don’t believe you, but you do have to find ghosts for your tour.”
“I am not just making this up.”
“I know, I’m just saying… oh, I don’t know what I’m saying. I think I’m just putting my foot in my mouth.”
“Don’t worry about it. I know what you meant.”
Tammy dumped the rest of the stale cookies in the trash. “So what kind of ghost is this?”
“Annie Gibson.”
Tammy coughed. “The one who is buried in the front of the building?”
I nodded. “Why do you think she’s haunting the place?”
“She didn’t have far to go. Okay, enough talk about ghosts.” Tammy jumped up and grabbed my arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
I looked over my shoulder. “Why, did you see the ghost?”
“No, you will be late for the tour and then you owe me a drink.”
I made sure Jane had her food and water for the evening, then headed for the door. Looking back one last time, I expected to see Annie, but she still hadn’t appeared. Was she gone for good?
Chapter Eighteen
I wanted to keep my job for obvious reasons, but a deeper motivation was to prove myself to others. I wasn’t some dumb nitwit. I was a librarian, for heaven’s sake, and librarians were smart cookies. I could be the hero and save the day. Never mind that I had never solved a murder before; I had good research skills.
I had to get the library back on track so I didn’t lose funding too. Even if I was cleared of the murder, I could be considered a failure before I barely even started the job.
I was surprised to see such a big turnout for tonight’s tour. Then again, it was getting close to Halloween and the groups would grow larger as that time neared. There were three women who appeared to be in their twenties and two other older couples. I gave my usual introduction and then handed out the flashlights. I already felt the charge in the air tonight. I wondered if the ghost of the man would appear again.
“Do you think we will see a ghost tonight?” one of the young women asked.
“It’s certainly possible,” I said as I looked over her shoulder for the ghostly man.
“Have you seen a ghost?” a dark-haired woman asked.
I pondered the question for a moment and then said, “More than one and on more than one occasion.”
That seemed to be the answer they were looking for, because everyone smiled. I was interested to see if anything would happen at the bookstore again tonight. It was startling to have a book fly off the shelf like that, but that was what the customers wanted. They came on the tour to get a ghostly experience and that just might be what they’d get at the bookstore.
We headed past the tavern on the usual path. When I looked in the window I spotted Tammy at the bar. She glanced up and waved. It looked as if she was having a drink without me.
I guided the group toward the first building. The evening was a little chilly, setting the perfect tone for a spooky tour. As I walked I kept looking over my shoulder to see if the ghost was lurking around. No one seemed to notice that I was a little preoccupied. Both of my jobs seemed to be suffering right now. With one ghost at the library and another following me on the tour, I just couldn’t put all the pieces together.
We reached the stone building and so far no ghost. I wanted to see him though, even if he did creep me out. We were huddled together in the small space of the entrance of the store. All eyes were on me, waiting for me to convey the spooky tale.
I recited the story from heart, but it never got old. I’d seen the faces of the people who had witnessed paranormal activity and I wanted to make sure I told their stories as accurately as possible. We walked through the second and third floors. Each time I passed a window I looked out to see if the ghost was outside waiting for us. So far I still hadn’t seen him, but the night wasn’t over yet.
As we moved down the stairs toward the exit, one of the women called out, “Do you see that?”
I rushed over to see what she was pointing out. A shadowy silhouette moved across the room at the bottom
of the steps. It was dark and you couldn’t see anything through the figure; it was completely solid. I didn’t want to scare them, but something like that usually was associated with a bad spirit. I had never seen anything like that in this building, but I’d had a few people tell me they had seen such a thing. Now I could add this to my list of spirits that I’d witnessed.
“What was that?” the dark-haired woman asked from over my shoulder.
We stood on the staircase for a moment, everyone holding their breath. It wasn’t that I was scared—okay, maybe I was scared a little, because after all it was a dark shadow—I was just wondering if the thing would reappear. My phone was out and ready to capture it on video this time. It seemed like I was never prepared to get these things on video when I saw them.
“It was a shadow person,” I said.
“What is that?” the other woman asked with a little panic in her words. “Should we be worried?” She clutched her date’s arm.
“No, we’re totally fine,” I said, trying to sound confident.
I moved forward, motioning for the rest of them to follow me. “We should check out the rest of this floor.” I looked at my guests, but they seemed a little hesitant to stay after what we’d seen. I couldn’t say that I blamed them. It wasn’t every day that you saw a ghost. Well, except for me. Lately, I had seen a ghost every day. Thank goodness it hadn’t been a dark shadow though. I would be fine if I never saw one of those again. But at least I wasn’t the only one who had seen the ghost this time.
“Okay, maybe we should move on to the next location.” I guided the group back out onto the sidewalk.
Everyone was still silent, trying to absorb what they had witnessed.
“What are shadow people?” one of the women asked.
I had hoped that I would get off without having to answer that question. How would I explain it without causing them to leave the tour early?
“I heard that they are associated with bad spirits or demons,” the guy at the back of the group said.
Well, so much for not scaring everyone. He had taken care of that for me.
“People say that, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true.”
“But it could be?” one of the women asked.
This was getting away from me quickly. “Well, yes, I suppose it could be, but no one had ever mentioned anything like that from this building.”
Which made me think why now? Did this have anything to do with the other spirit? Everything was getting much more active around town. Maybe the spirits knew that Halloween was near or maybe I was just becoming more receptive to it. Either way, I wanted to know what was really happening.
“We should head for the next building.” I motioned for them to follow.
Surprisingly, they all followed me. When we reached the front of the bookstore, I paused. I decided to tell them about the experience last night. After what they’d just seen, I didn’t want them to be surprised if something else happened at this store too.
“This is the best haunted tour ever,” one of the women said.
That made me smile, although the ghostly activities had everything to do with the success of the tour. I was just relaying the stories.
“Just to warn everyone, something might fly off the shelves in this store. Just be careful.”
It was a good thing I’d had everyone sign waivers that I wasn’t responsible for injuries.
Their eyes widened, but no one backed out.
“Is everyone ready?” I asked.
They nodded, so I proceeded inside the store. The owner was upstairs as usual when I brought the tour through. I explained the events that had happened in the store over the past few years and then I went through the events that had taken place yesterday. So far, nothing had happened tonight. It looked as if everyone was a little disappointed that nothing had flown off the shelves. But after the dark shadow sighting, I figured that was enough excitement for the evening. After the stories were finished and nothing else had happened, I figured it was time for us to get to the graveyard. It was almost completely dark.
“Shall we go to the graveyard now?” I motioned toward the front door.
“Can you tell us what happened last night again?” one of the women asked.
The entire group nodded in unison. So they really did want to see more. I guessed they hadn’t been as scared of the shadow person as I’d thought.
I told the story again. “The book just flew across the air…”
The woman seemed as if she was a bit skeptical of that and I couldn’t say that I blamed her. But I had seen it happen with my own eyes. This wasn’t a story that I’d told after hearing it from someone else. Finally we filed out of the store and back onto the sidewalk.
As we walked toward the graveyard, everyone was chatting about what had happened. I was lost in thought about everything that taken place—the ghost in the library, the one that seemed to be following me around the tour, and now the one at the other store. All of them were different, but still the same. I had no idea if these events were connected or simply a coincidence. I wasn’t sure how much I believed in coincidences.
My cell phone sent an alert and my stomach jumped. I quickly pulled it from my pocket. The message was blank.
When we reached the entrance of the graveyard, I paused. That strange fog had settled over the land. Other spots didn’t have the same weather phenomenon.
“What is with the fog?” the man at the back of the group asked.
“I guess it’s just the trees causing it to be that way.”
He looked at me skeptically, but didn’t say anything else. Sure, I was just making up stuff as I went along, but I had to do something. My job depended on it. I didn’t want to be a failure at the two things I loved the most.
“We should get started.” I motioned for them to follow me.
We walked through the graveyard. In the fog and with the chilly weather, it was like the movies. I pointed out the mass grave and then we moved to some of the other graves that were claimed to be haunted. None of them matched the description of the male ghost that I had seen. I would have to see if there were any ghost stories that I had missed.
I felt eyes on me, so I immediately looked over toward Mrs. Clatterbuck’s house. Surprisingly, she wasn’t watching me. Well, not where I could see her at least.
We were all standing in front of the grave of Donna Grant when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked to my right and saw the mist that I’d seen last night. Just then, the others looked too.
“That is creepy,” one of the women said.
We watched in silence as the mist moved and swirled until it finally disappeared into one of the tree tops.
“Has that ever happened before?” the man asked.
Well, it had happened last night… “That was the first time I’ve ever seen it,” I said.
“Interesting. Do you think it’s just the weather?” He sounded skeptical of my earlier comment.
“I just don’t know,” I said.
I moved to my right and pointed out another grave of a restless soul. “There are many stories of seeing this former resident of town. She lived here in the 1800s until her untimely death in 1889,” I said.
The group watched me with widened eyes. I glanced around for the mist, but so far it hadn’t reappeared. I never knew what was going to pop up as of late. As the group studied the gravestone, I flashed my light to the right. For a moment, I thought I saw someone sitting on the stone next to us. Nothing was there now.
While the group looked at the gravestone, I moved over to the one next to it. I’d thought for sure I’d seen someone sitting on the stone, but maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. After all, I was on high alert now. The stone was marked George Wise. He had died in 1929. Relatively recently compared to the other graves in this cemetery. The group noticed me looking at the stone and stepped over.
“Is there a story about this person too?” one of the women asked.
I shook my head. “No, not that I know of.”
They looked at me strangely, but didn’t ask any more questions. Small drops of rain started to sprinkle from the sky.
“Okay, well, it is starting to rain and that is the end of the tour.” I motioned for everyone to follow me back to the entrance of the cemetery.
Once we were back at the entrance they thanked me for the tour.
“I have been on tours in other cities, but this was the best of them all.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I hope you all will return.”
I took the flashlights from them and waved as they walked away. Now it was just me alone in the graveyard. Not a place that most people would want to be. My gaze wandered over to Mrs. Clatterbuck’s house. There was something odd about her. It wasn’t just that she hated my haunted tour. Actually, I wasn’t sure what it was, but the feeling persisted and I felt the need to find out more about her.
I decided to go over to her house. Walking around the graveyard’s entrance, I crossed the small road and headed up to the front path of her home. The little yellow cottage sat among other similar homes, but this one was slightly different. It looked lonely, almost abandoned. There were no lights on in the house, so I figured she was already in bed. I just hoped that she didn’t look out the window and see me. I definitely wasn’t going to ring the bell or actually talk to her, so I wasn’t sure why I’d even come over.
I inched over to the front windows and peeked in. If someone saw me, I’d be in big trouble. It was dark in the room, but it almost looked as if it was empty. Didn’t she have furniture? I needed to ask around about her. Maybe Mrs. Clatterbuck just needed a friend. Then again, maybe she didn’t want a friend. The owl hooted from the nearby treetop and I figured that was my warning to get out of there. I crossed the street again, glancing back a couple times.
As I neared the graveyard again I kept thinking about George Wise’s tombstone and if I had really seen someone sitting on it. I had only caught a glimpse, but it seemed as if there had been a man there watching me. Could it have been the ghost of the man I’d seen around town? I guessed anything was possible.
Curiosity got the better of me. I had to go back and look. The night sky was cloaked with clouds and the wind howled around me. The only light was the small glow coming from my flashlight. The old iron gate at the graveyard’s entrance banged against the fence and I spun around, shining my flashlight on it. The wind must have made it do that. The creepiness factor was definitely on high tonight at the graveyard. As I moved around the stones, I stumbled. I righted myself by placing a hand on one of the stones. A sliver of moon peeked out from one of the clouds and shone against the headstone as if it was a spotlight. I had to be purely coincidence that the name on the stone was Clatterbuck. What was Mrs. Clatterbuck’s first name?