by Alexie Aaron
Mia repeated the incident for Cid. “His face lacked eyes and mouth. Kind of looked like that costume from Scary Movie. He was so distraught. Not much energy.”
“It came through a crack in the floor. Do you think it’s buried under there?” Cid asked.
“That used to be a part of the barn, but the developers filled it in when they converted it into a garage for April. I don’t remember there being a crack in the floor,” Mia said honestly. “I think Murphy would know something about a body. He’s been roaming here for a very long time. I suspect it’s coming from the woods south of us. Perhaps moving through the ground is easier for it,” she suggested. “Can I hear it one more time?”
“Sure.”
Cid replayed the recording. Mia, who had sat down, began drawing. When the recording finished, she handed the paper to Cid explaining, “This is the image I saw. It’s also the image that I’m picking up as I hear the voice. I don’t know if you know much about manifestation?”
“Just what Murphy has explained.”
“He’s the best source we have,” Mia said thoughtfully. “My father has come across many skeletal remains in his line of work. I used to go with him in the summertime. To keep sane, I learned not to pay attention to these manifestations. I was too young to understand, too young to help them. I did learn something though. When a ghost can’t bring about a full image of his or her face, it means that they can’t remember it. It can also mean that no one visited their graves and thought of them. You see, it’s the minds of the loved ones that project the image to the entities usually. This soul, according to his own words, was lost when he died. He most likely died of exposure or drowned in a bog. Even murdered, I don’t know. All I know is, something has disturbed the ground in which this soul rested. All we have to do is find the disruption, and we’ll find the bones.”
“What happens when we find the bones?” Cid asked.
“I really don’t know. We’ll have to make it up as we go along,” Mia said and winked at him.
“I’ll clean this up some more and present it to the group.”
“What group?” Mia asked.
“PEEPs.”
“I take it, you’re taking back your resignation.”
“I can’t quit when something out there needs my help,” Cid said.
Mia smiled wide and full. “That’s something you and I have in common, besides our good looks, big brains and adoration for one Theodore Martin.”
Cid laughed and added, “And he for us.”
“Damn straight.”
Chapter Six
“Yes, I know I’m not on the maternity floor. And I’m telling you for the last time, I’m not in labor!”
Audrey heard the raised voice coming from the hall and almost peed herself laughing. A very irate Mia entered her room. She was dressed in a bump-hugging, charcoal cashmere dress. Audrey was certain this costly present was from Mia’s over-indulgent godfather Ralph. The long, dark, penguin print socks that made up the distance between her hemline and boot tops had to be Mia’s doing.
Mia pulled off the matching knit cap and tossed it in the chair along with her coat. She rushed to Audrey’s bedside. “You poor dear! I’m so sorry. Would you like me to call Judy? I’m certain she can take the sting out at least.”
“Oh, I’m letting Mr. Morphine do that,” Audrey said, nodding at the controlled drip above her.
“Me and that man never got along,” Mia said, wrinkling her nose. “He gave me nightmares. Speaking of which, the Dawson investigation is in the bag.”
“I heard. Mike stopped by on his way back to Lincoln Park. Bravo for you and Ted.”
“No, bravo for PEEPs. Do you know, the odds of settling down a poltergeist infestation without totally ruining the home are one in a hundred. The last group to do that are all snug in their graves.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“They were a trio of maiden aunts who worked in Boston just after the American Revolution. Just ask Glenda; I’m sure she went to school with them.”
“Mia! You are so bad. Did you come alone?”
“No, Ted’s parking the car. The valet took one look at my truck and went on break. His loss, I only have a twenty on me.”
“What are you going to do when the baby comes along? You can’t fit all of you in the truck.”
“Three of us…”
“Come on, you and I know that Murphy and Cid make five.”
“Oh yes, Mia’s boys. Hey, we have another boy at the house.”
“Mike told me Dave moved out of Burt’s.”
“Yes. Dave’s a bit hard to take, unless you have your own private supply of Mr. Morphine.”
“You’re doing the right thing,” Audrey said.
“Do you think so? Because I’m starting to doubt myself.”
“Come here and get a one-armed mushy hug,” Audrey ordered as she stuck out her unhampered arm.
Mia leaned in and let the researcher comfort her for a change.
Ted walked in to see a two-headed, three-armed beast wriggling in the bed. “I don’t know whether I should get my holy water or get a box of popcorn.”
Mia broke away from morphine-high Audrey.
“Aw, where are you going?” Audrey complained.
“To get you this,” Mia said, taking the gift bag from Ted.
Audrey’s eyes lit up.
Ted leaned down and whispered, “She’s higher than a kite, right?”
“Higher than the HIMAWARI 8.”
“I’m so impressed, Mrs. Science,” Ted said, following Mia to Audrey’s bedside.
“Whats a HIMAWARI 8?” Audrey asked.
“A Japanese weather satellite,” Ted answered.
“Okay, is that what’s in that bag?” she asked.
Mia couldn’t help giggling at the doped-up researcher. “No, something better.” Mia laid the gift bag on the bed.
Audrey noticed it had some weight to it, but instead of diving in with one hand, she plucked the envelope out first. Mia helped the one-armed woman extract the card and handed it to her. Audrey stared at the framed still of her catching the Tiffany lamp. “Ouch,” she said before she started laughing. “Did you make this?” she asked Ted.
“Jake helped. He searched for the right moment. Right before you started screaming I believe,” Ted said.
“You guys have a unique sense of humor. Okay, now my gift.” Audrey reached into the bag and drew out one of the two John Lotton glass paperweights.
“When Rosemary Dawson saw the footage, she insisted I give this to you.”
“I’m touched, but this is so expensive,” Audrey whispered.
“I’ll have your mother take it home tonight,” Mia whispered back. “She’s in the hall waiting.”
“Why are we whispering?” Audrey asked.
“I don’t know, you started it,” Mia said returning to a normal voice level.
“I was supposed to be able to come home tonight, but they want to get more money out of the insurance company,” Audrey said.
“I’m sure it’s more than that,” Mia said, looking at the bruised and swollen woman. “I’d enjoy the presence of Mr. Morphine a little longer, because when you leave, it doesn’t go with you.”
“Damn.”
“Cid’s supposed to drop by later today to go over what he needs to do when he finishes my assessment for me.”
“He said he’d be here just before you eat. Matt said you would be out of your haze by then.”
“Cid and Matt, what a pair of bookends. They both have such a nice s…”
“Excuse me, ladies,” Ted interrupted. “I can see where this conversation is going. I’ll send your mom in. I expect she has her own views of the male anatomy that she’d like to share.” Ted backed out of the room.
Audrey looked at Mia. “I was just going to say sense of humor. Touchy male.”
Mia laughed.
“What are you two laughing at?” Erin McCarthy inquired as she entered the room.
“The frailties of men,” Mia said.
“That’s quite a lengthy discussion. Mia, you look radiant.”
“Thank you, it’s caused from overheating in this outfit. It’s hot when you have two people under one skin.”
“That it is, dear,” Erin said.
“Mom, look what they brought.”
Erin walked over to the bed, and her eyes roamed from the priceless paperweight to the handmade card. She picked it up and asked, “Is this how it happened?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm, I think you should have brought it in like a football instead of fielding it like a baseball.”
Mia looked at the duo of tomboy mother and daughter. Mia had assumed incorrectly that Audrey got her sports advice from her dad.
“Mia, do you think we could have a copy of this for our Christmas letter?”
“I’ll ask, but I’m sure it will be alright.”
“Mom, lookie lookie, I caught two of these at once,” Audrey said lifting the colorful piece of art to the light. “Oooh, it’s so beautiful.”
“Where were you when this impromptu antique toss was going on?” Erin asked Mia.
“I wasn’t allowed to come. I spent my night reading baby furniture catalogs and stealing baked goods. You know, normal boring stuff.”
“It’s hard being sidelined.”
“I offered to ride the bench, but Simon Legree had other ideas.”
“Simon… Oh, you mean Burt. Audrey’s been telling me tales of the once-favored knight. Seems to me, his suit of armor has tarnished.”
“Seems so. I think he needs help.”
“Harrumph!”
“Did that just come out of my sweet daughter’s mouth,” Erin scolded. “I’m going to have to tell the nurse to turn down your drip.”
“No, mommy, don’t.”
Erin turned her face away from Audrey a moment to stop the laughter that wanted to bubble out. She turned back and said sternly, “Then have some respect.”
Mia was amazed. She loved to watch the interaction between people that cared for each other. Erin truly found Audrey funny but refused to show it. Could this also be true of Mia’s mother? Why did mothers hide their amusement? Was she supposed to do that? She would ask Glenda about it when they next met.
“You were saying?” Erin prodded Mia.
“I think he may have suffered some kind of trauma that is affecting his personality. Mike thinks he’s possessed, but I didn’t sense anything else inside him. Although, I have been wrong before. I think we should get Father Santos in on this.”
“Mia, may I give you some advice?” Erin asked.
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Don’t bombard Burt with priests and doctors without letting him agree to having them involved. If Burt takes action, then he owns that there is a problem. This way, he may be more successful in dealing with it.”
Mia nodded. “That’s very wise.”
“My mommy’s the best,” Audrey blurted out. She started singing, “My mommy can beat your mommy…”
“I definitely will have the pump turned down,” Erin whispered.
~
Dave and Murphy arrived back to find that Cid had left Dave a hot meal warming in the oven along with a thermos of hot chocolate. Murphy nodded his approval.
“I think this is positive reinforcement,” Dave said, searching out a set of hot pads to extract his hot plate.
“Tough guy,” Murphy said gruffly.
“I have to keep my rep, dude. Look at you with your axe. No one’s going to mess with you. I’m five foot five in a six foot world; I have to keep my guard up.”
Murphy pointed to Dave’s chin and said dryly, “Evidently.”
“Shut up,” Dave countered and poured himself a mug of the hot chocolate. “I’ll be with you in the barn after I warm up a bit.”
Murphy tipped his hat and disappeared.
Dave stared at the plate before him and saw that it wasn’t just some slop mounded in the middle of the plate. Instead, a breaded pork chop was nestled in the middle of mashed potatoes and two green vegetables. A smattering of apple crisp hugged the plate. This was a lot of hard work for Cid to go through for him. Dave felt bad about his constant needling of Saint Cid. But if Cid acted like this, how was Dave going to possibly keep up? He didn’t want to come up short.
Something flashed by the kitchen window. He excused it as a bird, but when two other white masses followed the first, then Dave knew something paranormal was going on. He set his plate back in the oven and grabbed his coat as he ran out the front door and around the farmhouse to get behind whatever was moving about the property. He saw a trio of what Mia would call “healthy” spirits.
“They’re healthy or have a lot of energy,” she had stated as they sat on top of a large mausoleum in the Big Bear Lake Cemetery. Mia had brought him there to give him some training.
“How do you know?”
“Look at the weight of them. I’m not explaining this right. They look three dimensional like a person but opaque. When they fully manifest, it will be hard to tell the difference between them and the living, so you need to look for these three things. One: they move faster than a human. This is the distortion you see in cheap Hollywood movies. They’ve captured it quite well. I wonder if they have sighted individuals on payroll. Two: they don’t breathe or blink. Some people will tell you that they have dead eyes, but the real powerful ones, like our pal Murphy, have a twinkle or gleam in them. Three: I’m told their fashions are out of style. This is where I get into trouble.”
Dave wasn’t an expert on fashion either, but the three male spirits that had their backs to Dave exhibited the first two tells. An inexperienced sensitive would go boldly up to the three and ask what they were doing, but Dave knew from his experience at Lucky’s that ghosts were dangerous. He hung back and watched the trio as they took turns looking through the back wall of the barn.
He needed to warn Murphy. Could he simply walk by these creatures? He could if they didn’t sense that he could see them. Dave started whistling as he stomped through the two inches of freshly fallen snow on his way to the barn. He deliberately did not make eye contact with the three, and for window dressing, he stopped at one point and looked around as if he thought he heard something. He shook his head, which was some doing as a big ugly ghost was six inches from his face. Dave continued on towards the entrance to the barn where he and Murphy had parked the sled full of evergreen trimmings. Murphy looked up, surprised to see the investigator so soon. Dave sang, “Three cracks in the fountain…”
Murphy, at first puzzled by the exchange of the word crack for coin, quickly understood. The cracks were the sound his axe made, and three of them meant danger.
Dave pretended to ignore Murphy as he passed him, adding to his unusual song, “Paul Bunyan was a man, a big man. He was three big men and….”
Murphy looked around and saw the ghosts moving in on him.
Dave looked around him for a weapon large enough to take on one or all of the ghosts. He scanned the barn area first and was going to move on to the workshop when he spied something.
Murphy moved out of the barn to give him enough ground to maneuver in. He raised his axe before speaking. “What do you want?”
“You,” the largest of the entities said.
He nodded to the others who started to flank Murphy on either side.
“Oh round and round the Christmas tree…” Dave sang at the top of his lungs as he barreled out of the barn pushing a fully-laden salt spreader. He opened it up full and ran through the nearest ghost, who screamed and withered as the salt spray hit him. Dave didn’t wait to see the thing dissipate but pushed the spreader wildly, encircling Murphy in a large thick ring of salt.
Murphy winced as a few crystals bounced over into him. He hung on.
Dave enclosed the circle and jumped inside. He drew Mia’s sawed-off shotgun out from the back of his pants and aimed at the largest of the two and fired both barrels into
the thing. Siren-timbre screams came from the ghost, who was visibly weakened, but the large man hung on. His cohort kept running and throwing himself at the invisible barrier, courtesy of the salt ring. Dave knew that if the ghost was strong enough, the barrier would eventually be breached.
~
Burt cursed at the slickness of the road. His economy car was too light to traverse the unplowed back road with any confidence. He gave a sigh of relief when he reached the farm’s drive. He slid at first, but as he centered the car into the grooves left by another vehicle, he managed to gain some speed. He turned into the lot and was shocked by the tableau in front of him.
Dave was reloading Mia’s shotgun with rock salt pellets. He aimed at something Burt couldn’t see and fired both barrels.
Burt rolled down his window as he approached.
“Two large fuckers attacking Murphy!” Dave screamed.
Burt increased his speed and ran the car into the barn. He cut the engine, pushed quickly out the door and over to where Ted kept the iron he had collected and chose two large bars.
He tossed one to Dave, shouting, “Direct me!”
“Six feet to your left!” he called. Dave opened the back of the ring up for Murphy to escape, before running at the smaller of the two ghosts with the menacing bar over his head.
Burt worked his way towards the distortion in the falling snow. He swung the bar again and again, hoping that he might get lucky and hit the ghost.
Murphy passed Dave who was holding his own by spinning and striking the ghost before him. Howls of pain erupted from the weakening entity. He moved behind the large ghost who managed to survive the four shotgun blasts. Burt held his attention as he jabbed the large rusted iron bar at the ghost, just missing him. Murphy ran and launched himself into the air and brought down his axe, cleaving the ghost in two. As his axe sunk into the ground in front of him, the two halves of the surprised ghost fell to the ground to either side. He waited a beat to see if the ghost would reform, but the separation by the spectral cast-iron axe was too much even for this strong of ghost. The two halves slithered away and disappeared under the snow.