“Like I said before, you’d have to ask her that question because I’m not all that sure. I just know she hired me and I’ve been working here since 1984. I was thirty at the time,” he laughed.
“I see. And now you’re how old?” Eleanor asked.
“Now, Eleanor. No need to be rude.”
“I wasn’t being rude. I was just wondering and doing the math. He must have begun working at a hotel at the age of eighteen and came here at age thirty, so that only makes you sixty?”
“Yup,” he rubbed a hand over his head. “The harsh climate of Nevada sure has taken a toll on me and made me look way beyond my years.”
“I’m sure Eleanor didn’t mean that. Did you?”
Eleanor’s eyes widened. “No! I was just trying to figure out how many times this hotel really exchanged hands. I also wonder why the hotel would have been opened back in 1984.”
“When you meet Francine, you’ll know. See, most folks do things for the money, but that’s not how I see the owner. She’s a remarkable woman. Be sure to head out to her ranch when the storm lets up. It will be worth your trip.”
I smiled kindly. “Thanks again, Redd.”
Redd smiled. “You can ask me anything. Lois has gone home for the day.”
“You mean she doesn’t stay here?”
“Oh, no. She’s a little skittish, if you want to know. It seems she’s afraid of the ghosts that lurk in the hotel.”
“Ghosts, eh?” Andrew asked. “That’s all you need to do—fill Agnes’s head full of more ghost stories—she already leans that way as it is.”
“The way I see it is that some folks are either skeptics or believers. I’m sure Agnes has a good reason to believe that ghosts are real.”
“I do. Actually, one is attached to me. Her name is Caroline.”
“Well, then. Hello, Caroline, wherever you are,” Redd said as he glanced around as if she’d appear at any moment.
Caroline giggled with a hand over her mouth.
“Please, don’t encourage her,” Andrew said, obviously irritated.
“Don’t pay any attention to him, Redd, but in all honesty, I had a few more questions for you.”
“Shoot.”
Guns were drawn, and I smiled now that I knew it was all a joke.
“Actually, I had heard about a few missing tourists. What can you tell me about that?”
“You know, sometimes folks check in and forget to check out, is all. That’s what happens with the supernatural goings on around here.”
“How about a family with a five-year-old child, a blonde?”
“I think I remember a family that fits that description, but from what I can recall, they were looking to strike it rich.”
“Leister’s gold,” a tall man said from the bar. “Plenty of folks still believe in that myth.”
“What is Leister’s gold?” I asked Redd.
Redd rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Well, there was a prospector, a Peyton Leister, or so the stories go. He was reputed to have found a huge amount of gold, but instead of bringing it into town he had it melted down into gold bars, which he had hidden in one of the canyons around Silver. But shoot, it might just be in some mineshaft, for all we know. You’ll have to check in over at the Willington General Store after the dust storm subsides. The owner, Glenda O’Shay, has the full skinny on the story. All I’m going by are stories that make the rounds. I guess it comes with the territory since this is a ghost town and all.”
“My, now that sure is interesting.”
“But how did you know about the missing family, Agnes? I mean, that they had a five-year-old daughter and all? That sure seems pretty specific.”
I bit my bottom lip now. How on earth could I ever try and explain that I dreamed about the girl when I don’t even know for a fact if she’s real or not?
“Oh, well. I-I—”
“Agnes doesn’t want to get any of the other staff into trouble for telling us something they shouldn’t have,” Eleanor said as she batted her eyelashes.
“I see. Probably for the best, since if Lois found out she’d have a cow.”
“I suspect she has had a herd by now,” I said with a wink.
I turned to ask the tall man that was at the bar about Leister’s gold, but he now was nowhere to be seen. Figures. Hopefully, we’d be able to get that out of Francine when we meet her, which from the looks of how the dust was blowing outside, wouldn’t be today for sure.
Redd stood up and stretched. “Sure nice talking, Agnes, but I best do my rounds to make sure there isn’t any dust making its way into the hotel.”
I thanked Redd again and yawned. “What now? I really want to talk to Francine, but I guess it can wait until tomorrow.”
Andrew had his arms folded over his chest. “At least you have some sense. I half expected you to demand we make our way there during the dust storm.”
“I’m not completely crazy.”
“No? Well, you sure seem hell-bent on checking out a story based on a dream, of all things. I miss the days when you were just poking into murder investigations,” Andrew said.
Eleanor leaned across the table. “You do realize that Redd never did answer your question about if he had or hadn’t been in Room 109 before?”
“That’s right. I guess I was so interested in hearing the history of the place that I completely forgot that. Lucky for us, we can always ask him at another time. From the looks of the remains, it appears that it’s been in that room for quite a spell, like before Redd was even born, for all we know.”
“It’s not like we’ll be able to figure out just whose body that is. I’m sure the sheriff won’t be supplying us with that bit of information,” Eleanor said.
“No, and that’s not my main concern now. I feel like Rebecca is out there somewhere and it’s up to us to find her.”
“If she is,” Andrew began, “I’m sure she has perished from the elements by now, or will have in this dust storm.”
I nodded, but I wasn’t about to give up on this just yet. I didn’t exactly know why I had that dream, but some of the pieces were falling into place. That is, if Francine looked anything like the woman that worked the counter of the hotel in my dream. Sure, I also knew that I also dreamed of men in 1800s clothing, but gosh darn it, this was all I had to go on.
Chapter Six
Dust storms rank right up there with the most boring reasons to be stuck indoors, ever. Most of the day, we played cards since there wasn’t much else to do and went to bed early, at eight o’clock, but from the way it looked outside, it could have been midnight.
I must admit, there was something about seeing a dust storm firsthand that was unnerving. The wind blew so hard that I half expected the roof to blow away. At least with the creaks and groans of the room, any other sort of noise was drowned out.
Eleanor joined me in the bathroom. “I hafta pee. Are you done in here, yet?”
“Sure am.”
Before I had a chance to leave the bathroom, Eleanor popped a squat. “Eleanor!” I gasped, racing out the door. I stood there against the door as Caroline floated up to where I was.
“Where have you been off to?”
Caroline fanned her face. “Oh, I met me a fella. He’s rather nice, too.”
“Are we talking an actual alive human, or spirit?”
“Spirit, of course. Most people can’t see me and I think I’ll keep it that way. Your man doesn’t like me much.”
“He’s just taking time to adjust to the fact that I can see a ghost now, or I should say ghosts since I keep seeing new ones all the time.”
“This hotel has many spirits,” she shuttered. “I keep hearing about this ornery one, called The Cutter.”
“The Cutter?” That sure didn’t sound good at all.
“He hangs out in the library. It’s near the main staircase. He attacks whoever enters with a butcher knife, or so crazy Mary says.”
“Crazy Mary? Is that the name of the ghost in the attic?”
“That’s her. Mary and Niles were once romantically involved when they were alive, but they had a little misunderstanding, and now she hangs out in the attic.”
I guess it wasn’t Elizabeth haunting the attic like Redd suggested. “So, your fella is Niles?”
“He’s not my fella, Agnes. He’s just a spirit to talk to while you’re busy investigating.”
“I thought you’d be more involved than you are.”
“I try, but it’s not like you can talk to me around anyone. Not unless you want everyone to think you’re off your rocker.”
Eleanor surfaced from the bathroom and I explained to Eleanor about the ghosts that haunted the hotel. She rolled her eyes. “Cutter, indeed,” she said as she stomped away.
“I thought if Eleanor could see me it would be easier, but she’s so stubborn, that one.”
“I don’t know what to say. She’s really never been like this. She knows perfectly well that ghosts exist, but it seems like she’s gone into denial now.”
“Maybe that’s her way of dealing with seeing ghosts.”
“The thing is, she doesn’t seem to see nearly the amount I do and I just don’t understand why.”
“You have a gift now and you need to come to terms with it.”
“Sometimes I wish I didn’t have it. I like you and all, but the other spirits are a bit unnerving at times. The big thing is this dream I had. I’m positive that I need follow up on it and find that little girl. She’s lost and it’s up to me to find her.”
“I’m just not so sure, Agnes, but if that’s what you want to do, you should do it no matter what anyone thinks.”
Caroline faded away before I could ask her any more questions about Crazy Mary. Why was it that all these people around here in the west had titles to their names? When Andrew said my name, I knew why Caroline vanished.
“Yes, Andrew.”
“I’m not sure what you said to Eleanor, but she said something about going to the library to get a book.”
My eyes widened. “Oh, my. Was that some cause of concern?”
He pushed his palm through his hair. “Well yes, since she was muttering about Caroline and she’d show her that she wasn’t afraid of ghosts.”
I strode toward the elevator, and instead of waiting on it, I took to the stairs. By the time I was halfway down the second flight, I wished I had waited for the elevator.
When I was finally on the first floor, I had to lean on the arm rail and try to catch my breath, as I was panting like a dog that had run for miles. Getting old sure sucked when you couldn’t do the things you once could.
Andrew met me and said, “Agnes Barton, are you trying to kill yourself?”
“Not exactly, but I need to stop Eleanor from going into that library.”
“Whatever for? And don’t you dare tell me another story about any more ghosts.”
I straightened and searched for Eleanor, who was in the process of opening doors and looking inside.
I made my way over to Eleanor and scolded her. “Wh-What on earth are you doing, Eleanor?”
“Why are you panting like that, Agnes?”
“Because I took the stairs to try and catch up to you.”
“Are you nuts? You’re not in any shape to do that.”
“I know, but I was trying to catch up to you, and—”
“Found the library,” Eleanor said as she opened the door, making her way inside. “I’m going to prove to you that Caroline is filling your head with tall tales.”
I followed Eleanor inside and we both were tiptoeing at this point, each of us looking around. Eleanor laughed. “I told you there’s no Cutter in here.”
Books flew off the shelf and a ghostly apparition of a man surfaced out of a bookshelf with a long, jagged knife in his hand. “Leave me alone. I’m trying to read!” he shouted as he shook a book in his opposite hand.
I backed up. “Well, go right ahead, then.”
Eleanor now had her arms around my neck. “Run!” I screamed.
We raced for the door and a startled Andrew dodged out of the way just as the Cutter slashed at him. We narrowly escaped with our lives, or so I thought, slamming the library door closed behind us.
Lois waltzed toward us. “Really? What is all this commotion about?”
“I-I,” Eleanor began.
“Th-There’s a m-man,” I said.
“With a knife trying to kill us,” Andrew said with bated breath. “What kind of hotel are you running with crazy men running around trying to stab your guests?”
“There’s no man with a knife in the library, I assure you. It’s simply a wild figment of your imaginations.”
“No? You go in there and check it out, then,” I said as I cocked my brow.
“I’ll do no such a thing. I’m busy.”
Lois whirled away and Eleanor said, “She’s too chicken to go in there, is my thought.”
“Don’t blame her there. I need to sit down,” Andrew said.
He sat in a chair nearby, trying to calm himself, from the looks of it.
“Sorry, Andrew. I had hoped you’d be spared from seeing a ghost while we’re here.”
“Is that what that was? He sure is an angry one.”
“Caroline called him The Cutter.”
“So you already knew he was in there and you went in anyway?”
“Actually, I just tried to stop Eleanor from going in there, remember?”
“I wanted to prove to you that I’m not afraid of ghosts, is all. How was I to know there’d be a real angry spirit that would be brandishing a knife?”
I walked into the dining room and came back with coffee in Styrofoam cups. “Here, take a drink, dear,” I said.
“Actually, I’d rather go to the saloon where I can get a real drink. Besides, I want to check on Mr. Wilson. He said there’s a poker tournament in there today. I want to make sure he doesn’t get conned out of all of his money.”
We waltzed to the saloon, where Mr. Wilson sat at a table with Badass Bart and two other men who looked like serious card players, with the saloon girl dealing.
“Do you have room for one more?” Andrew asked.
“Sure do,” the saloon girl said.
“Thanks, Patty,” Andrew said.
“Patty?”
“Oh, yes. We chit-chatted yesterday, remember?”
I really didn’t, seeing as how yesterday was a blur of playing cards. Now that I thought about it, I sort of remembered that Andrew and Patty were talking, although I didn’t know her name at the time. Since I’m not the jealous type, I didn’t mind it all that much.
“Can I get the key fob so I can get out to Francine Pullman’s place?”
“You’ll be lucky if your vehicle even starts today,” Badass Bart said. “Dust storms have a way of clogging up your tailpipes.”
I almost sighed, but Redd waltzed into the room, waving a piece of paper. “I drew you a map so you can find the Pullman place. I knew you’d want to head right out there today.”
“But what about the Jeep? Bart said that the dust storm might have clogged up all the pipes.”
“Not to worry. Before I returned the key fob, I made sure to park your vehicle in one of the barns out back. I’d hate for tourists to get stranded out here.”
“Could you come with us?” I asked. “Like you said, I’d hate to get stranded since our men folk are too busy playing cards now.”
“I’ll have to clear it with Lois first, but I’ll go ask.”
Eleanor and I gave our men a peck on their cheeks and we made our way out to wait by the door until Redd strode our way. “Let’s go, ladies.”
“Lois must be in a better mood now.”
“Not really, but since she didn’t want to lose another paying patron, she agreed that it was a good idea that I accompany you ladies. Women just shouldn’t be traipsing all over by themselves in unfamiliar territory.”
“Is that some kind of crack?” I asked with a sly smile.
“No, ma’am. I know better than to do such a thing.”
Redd led the way out to a barn, opening the door, and noticed that the Jeep had only a minimal amount of dirt on it. I hopped into the driver’s seat and pushed the ignition button and out I drove. On the way out of town, all along the main drag, people were in front of businesses sweeping the sidewalks and the front of their places to remove the dirt. The street still had its fair share of dirt on it, but not deep enough to cause issues driving through it.
Once we were out of town, we were back in the wide-open spaces with the mountains in the distance. We were all quiet for some reason, until I asked, “So how well acquainted are you with Francine?”
“Well as a man can be with a woman for a boss,” he chuckled. “Personally, I avoid her at all costs.”
“Why is that?”
“Let’s just say she’s been lonely for far too many years now and I’ve always had the impression that she’d like to become better acquainted with me that I’d care to be.”
“Is there something wrong with that?” Eleanor asked.
“I suppose not, but I like my life just the way it is, without complications.”
I smiled to myself and knew a confirmed bachelor when I met one. “Have you ever been married?”
“No. I’m just not interested in getting married, or raising a family.”
“Surely, you had to have some female companionship,” Eleanor said.
Redd pulled at the collar of his shirt. “Can we change the subject?”
“Sure we can, or we don’t have to talk about anything if you don’t want to, but I was curious about something that happened in the library before we left. There was a man in there wielding a knife, and he almost stabbed us.”
Redd smiled. “Oh, so you met The Cutter, did you? He’s never actually harmed anyone, but he sure knows how to scare the daylights out of folks.”
“That’s sounds about right, but Lois acted like she didn’t know what we were even talking about.”
“Oh, but I reckon she never went in the library to check it out, either, now did she?”
“You got that one right,” Eleanor said.
“Lois doesn’t care for ghosts all that much and I think the feeling is mutual. That’s why she stays close to the desk most of the time. They never go near there.”
Madison Johns - Agnes Barton Paranormal 02 - Ghostly Hijinks Page 6