by Agatha Ball
Granny was talking to a woman named Sandy who dropped by Bitter Beans from time to time. Granny had thought of putting together a gift basket raffle to benefit the new historical museum, and Sandy was filling out an entry form in between wrangling her two kids.
"I just love that you're doing this," the mom said, and then turned to shout. "Oliver! That pumpkin is for trick-or-treating, not hitting your sister!"
A cute little nine-year-old dressed like an old professor skidded to a halt guiltily as his sister, a fairy princess, stuck out her tongue at him and flicked the fake crow sitting on his tweed jacket, setting off the battle royale again.
The mom rolled her eyes. "TOO much sugar..."
"I've got it, Sandy." Granny waved the kids over. She held out two coupons like they were great prizes. "Now, you are the winners of a very special prize. But you must listen to your mother. These are two free tickets to the new museum we are going to build. You come when it is all put together, okay?"
The two little kids took the tickets solemnly and nodded. Their mom smiled. "It will be so nice to have a place to take them on a rainy day. And get to learn a little history."
"I love history!" Oliver said, adjusting his fake glasses and brushing back the bangs of his sandy bowl cut.
"That's because you're a NERD!" his sister shouted before shoving him and running off.
He narrowed his eyes, but Granny was on it.
"And what kind of history do you like?" she asked, bringing his attention back to her.
He shrugged. "I like learning about the presidents. I can name them all! And the states! And the capitols!"
Granny's eyes got huge as she blinked at him. "Oh my. Well. I will make sure we have all sorts of things just for you."
"Really?" he asked, his voice full of hope.
"Absolutely!" Granny replied.
Oliver scrunched his little forehead thoughtfully. "Where will it be?"
"You know Ralph's hardware store?" Granny asked.
A couple of teenagers paused, reading the sign for the raffle. They pooled together their spare change to buy the $1 ticket.
"We go there to get seeds that grow into flowers," Oliver informed Granny.
"Well, we're going to make it into a new museum!"
Oliver's face brightened. "I heard about it!"
"This museum is the buzz of the town!" Sandy said to Granny as she moved on to another form. "It is going to be so much fun!"
But before they could continue their conversation, Nina cried, "CHASE ME!" And then she ran up and pushed Oliver. Even the promise of free tickets weren't enough to distract from that sisterly assault.
"Gotta keep moving. Thanks, Cindy..." the mom said as she handed in her forms and shuffled off to the next booth. "NINA! Stop hitting Oliver!"
Granny laughed as she watched the kids dodge and weave through the crowd. "So much fun at their age." While we had been talking to Sandy, Richard had taken care of the teenagers. Seeing there was nothing left to do, Granny turned to me. "All set up!" she pronounced. "Ready for you and Nate to take over! We'll be back this evening so you can go on your tour."
Suddenly, Johnny bounced up to the booth. "Hey, Granny! Hey, Mr. Granny!" he waved at Granny and Richard. "Nate! Paige!"
"Now, don't go distracting my finest worker, Johnny," Granny cautioned as she scooted out around the table.
Richard took her hand to help her balance. "Because I have called dibs on distracting her boss," he said.
Johnny gave them a little salute of understanding as Granny giggled and grabbed her bag.
"Have her back by 8 o'clock!" I shouted after them as they walked away. "And no funny business!"
It really made me get all warm and fuzzy to see their joy together. And there's something about the lights of the midway and the happy sounds of the music and the rattle of the rides. Watching them stroll arm-in-arm, Richard stopping to buy Granny a balloon, was like watching something out of a movie.
"They're like... really good together," Johnny said.
"They are," I replied, and then remembered I was supposed to be working the table. I climbed around back and slipped a Bitter Beans apron over my head. As I tied it, I asked, "Didn't expect to see you here tonight, Johnny. Business slow at the surf shack?"
"Just handing out flyers at the Halloween festival for my awesome evening ghost tours." He struck a lunge pose and whipped out a flyer like a fencer delivering a blow.
"How's it going?" I asked.
He relaxed and shrugged. "Echo is devoted to his craft and I, for one, respect someone who is that dedicated to the search for truth."
"Trevor's tours kicking you in the tush?" I asked.
Johnny laughed, his eyes getting huge. "You have NO idea. Like, seriously, what is with that dude?" He leaned in. "Do you think he is using supernatural powers to bring in people?"
I shrugged. "Well, Nate and I can find out for you."
"Yeah?"
"We're going to check it out tonight and see what he's up to."
"Ooo! A little corporate spying! A little reconnaissance." Johnny leaned in close. "Do you need disguises?"
"No!" I laughed. "Trevor asked if we would come. We're on the official invite list."
"Cool! Maybe I should go, too..." Johnny mused.
"I think that could be a lot of fun," Nate replied, folding his arms good-naturedly as if challenging me to point out what a terrible idea this would be.
But I wasn't rising to that bait. "I think it would be a hoot, too. All us friends, reunited and getting into the holiday spirit. What could be better?"
"AND I get to see what he's doing and you don't have to bring along hidden cameras or anything!"
"Think of all the money we'll save on our spy gear!" Nate exclaimed.
"I do what I can, cuz," Johnny replied, slapping Nate on the back.
I noticed a couple come up to the booth and get in line behind Nate and Johnny, not realizing they weren't customers. I waved my finger at all the rides. "You two are blocking my table! Stop scaring away the customers and go do something useful. Ride some rides until you puke or something!"
Nate laughed and leaned over the table, grabbing me by the apron strings to draw me in for a kiss. "You sure know how to sweet talk a guy."
"See you back here at eight?" I asked.
"See you at eight!"
"I won't be late!" Johnny shouted, and then danced off to the tune of the tilt-a-whirl to hand out his flyers as Nate tagged along.
I sure did love those boys.
Chapter Eleven
Granny and Richard returned, as promised, for the shift change. From her slightly mussed bouffant, I'd guess they had taken a ride or two through the Tunnel of Love.
Meanwhile, Johnny and Nate grabbed some hot dogs for the walk down to Trevor's place.
"Thanks," I said, taking one gratefully.
We had a grand old time heading down to the saloon. The guys filled me in on all their adventures. From the haunted mazes to hay rides, it sounded like they had practically seen it all.
But as we rounded the corner, I was shocked.
"DUDE! Look at all the people!" Johnny exclaimed. "That's, like, a LOT a lot."
A huge crowd had gathered. Madison saw us coming and wrinkled her nose. "Okay. So I have two of you on my guest list, but he needs to pay," she pronounced, pointing at Johnny.
"Sure thing, hoss!" he replied, reaching into his jeans pocket and pulling out a sock that he was using as a wallet.
"EW! Why don't you have a wallet?" she asked.
"Not big enough to hold my wad of cash," he said, pulling out a stack.
She rolled her eyes as she accepted it, but I could see she was going to want to spray it with disinfectant the moment she had a chance.
"So, just wait here for the tour?" I asked.
"Yeah. Try not to get into any trouble," she replied, giving Johnny the stink eye.
Suddenly, another familiar voice piped up. "Hey, everyone! What are you doing here?"
We sh
ifted to see who it was. Lottie gave a friendly wave as she walked towards us.
Nate seemed surprised. "We're going on the tour. What are you doing here?"
"Madison reached out and asked me to do a rundown of her tour and how it is the place to be this Halloween season," she said as she waved her handheld recorder and camera. She smiled at Nate and then dictated into the mic, "I see all the cool kids are here, even one of the founders."
Nate groaned. "Is this why Trevor wanted us here tonight? To pad out his numbers for the reporter?"
Johnny seemed blown away. "They are so smart. I mean... That's really smart."
But before we could say any more, Tango stepped out into our group. He was dressed in a cape and ghoulish makeup. The undercurrent of chatter quieted as everyone gave him their attention. There was a nervous giggle from the back.
He held out his arms like he was channeling Bela Lugosi. "Ladies and gentlemen. Tonight, you are here for a tour of Seaside, a town fraught with danger and murder."
Nate rolled his eyes.
I mean, technically, Tango wasn't exactly wrong. But the scenery chewing seemed a bit over the top.
"I, Tango, will be taking you on a tour of the haunted forest, and introducing you to the gruesome secrets of this innocent island."
Johnny was totally sucked in. He turned to me, amazed. "Did you know we had gruesome secrets? I should see if Echo can put some of this in his tour."
I bit my tongue, knowing how well that would go over.
"Now, if you will follow me..."
Madison handed out flashlights to all of us. "If you break it, you buy it," she haughtily informed everyone in the group.
As Johnny took the flashlight, he muttered to me, "Did you know if Madison and Tango started dating, we could give them a couple's name and call them 'Mango'?"
Taken off guard, Lottie snorted. She grinned at Johnny, delighted by the way his brain worked, and said, "I may steal that for one of my articles someday."
Johnny held up his hand for a high five. "Go for it!"
And unlike other people who left Johnny hanging, Lottie reached up and slapped his palm. Johnny was stoked.
The crowed began moving and Tango walked us out to the outskirts of town. We came to the field where Trevor was hiding. Horrified, Tango pretended like he had just stumbled upon Trevor's bloody corpse, but then as we walked away, Trevor jumped up and scared everyone. Running, Tango led us into the forest.
So, I'm not the brightest bulb, but wandering around a dark forest at night with nothing but flashlights seems like a dumb idea. The crowd around us was laughing and loving all of the spookiness, but I could see Nate adding up all the opportunities for people to twist an ankle or fall in the dark. He reached out and grabbed me as I stepped wrong on a tree root and almost took a tumble, myself.
"I sure hope Trevor has a lot of accident insurance," he muttered under his breath as he righted me.
But the very real dangers seemed to be beneath Tango's notice. Instead, he raised his arms once again and proclaimed, "Here we are in the haunted forest! Beware the ghosts who live among the trees."
I saw a flash of a pirate skirt between the trunks and braced myself for whatever cue Tango had given Madison.
There was spooky music. I guess part of the show was using atmospheric sound to make it seem scary, and the people around us were getting into it. I grabbed Nate's hand, preparing myself for a jump-scare. Trevor had warned us that there were ghost decorations that were supposed to come flying out at us.
Except, instead of ghosts, there was the sound of something coming down a zip line overhead.
It was a friendly, plastic, inflatable unicorn.
Tango stopped, completely thrown, as everyone around us started laughing. And then suddenly a confetti cannon went off, with glitter and sparkle.
"DUDE!" said Johnny, holding up the palms of his hands like he was catching snowflakes. "This is RAD!"
Lottie fired off pictures right and left, smiling as she took notes. I had a feeling this was going to make the front page.
"Echo..." Tango swore.
Chapter Twelve
"Do you think I should add glitter and blow-up ponies to my tour?" Johnny asked excitedly as we swiftly walked towards civilization.
Tango, completely thrown, had gone through the motions of the rest of his tour, sans other special effects, and now was force-marching us back to Trevor's saloon.
"Because, I gotta say, it was sort of the highlight of the entire tour," Johnny continued.
Lottie leaned over with a wicked grin. She tucked the curls of her long, black mane behind her ears. "That's just what I was thinking myself."
Nate exchanged a look with me. As much as we didn't like Trevor or Madison, or heck, even Tango, the last thing the island needed was bad press.
"Go easy on him, Lottie," Nate gently encouraged. "Everyone is new and figuring all this out."
She placed her hand over her heart with mock horror like she was shocked by his suggestion. "Are you asking me to compromise on my journalistic integrity?"
Nate tried to keep it light. "No... just... don't rake him over the coals for something that was clearly not his fault."
"Do you think Echo did that?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder toward the woods. "I heard there was a rivalry between those two."
"And if Echo did that, why didn't he do it for his own tour?" Johnny exclaimed. "Because did you see the confetti cannons?!" His eyes became distant. "I can almost still see them."
There was a loud boom and then shimmering colors of light in the sky.
"That's just fireworks," Nate replied.
We all stopped for a moment to enjoy the show. I snuggled into Nate's side to keep warm, but couldn't help but notice it didn't escape Lottie's attention. She didn't say anything, but her face fell just a little and she pulled her hands inside her stretched out sweater arms like she wanted to disappear beneath the oversized knit.
"Um... I should be going," she spurted out, suddenly turning away from us.
"DUDE! But the fireworks!" Johnny exclaimed, pointing at the sky.
She gave him a smile, but there was a tension I recognized in the corners of her mouth. "Yeah... I'm cold. I'm going to go warm up at Trevor's place and... do those interviews I'm supposed to do about the tour," she said, searching for an excuse.
Johnny nodded with solemn understanding. "Journalistic integrity is something missing in today's news industry and I, for one, salute you." And then, he actually saluted her.
It was enough to make Lottie smile a real smile and roll her eyes, breaking the shadow of melancholy I think she had hoped we hadn't noticed.
"You're such a dork," she said.
"Captain Dork to you," Johnny corrected her, eliciting an actual laugh.
Lottie waved at all of us, and then half-jogged to Trevor's saloon. I gave Nate another little squeeze and he placed a kiss on top of my head.
Poor Lottie. I knew how hard it was to really like a guy, and then find out he wasn't that into you. But to add insult to injury, I think Lottie was sort of moving on to crushing on Trevor, except he was so brainwashed by Madison, he couldn't even see there was someone better right there in front of him. Or maybe Lottie just had a thing for unrequited love.
I gazed up at Nate as he continued to enjoy the fireworks. When Trevor had broken up with me, I thought I'd never be happy again. But now I could see that end made room for me to meet Nate.
I didn't particularly like Trevor, he was a total weasel, but I didn't want him condemned to a life of misery. I watched Lottie's hair bounce on her retreating form. If Trevor ever decided to be brave enough to walk away from Madison, it felt like Lottie would be really good for him.
I detangled myself from the moment. "Okay, you slackers, I gotta get down to Bitter Beans."
"But the fireworks!" Johnny protested.
"The caffeine starved will start tearing down the door to Bitter Beans like a zombie horde," I warned him.
&
nbsp; "Fair enough."
We hustled down there, and Echo's somber group was waiting outside, probably desperate to wake up after the tour they had just endured.
I chided myself for not coming immediately over after Tango's tour as I fumbled with the key to the lock. I know that Granny and I were wanting to take advantage of all of the opportunities here on the island, but even I could see we were spreading things a little too thin. If Lottie hadn't headed over to Trevor's saloon, I probably would have offered her a job on the spot.
Nate, sensing the grouchiness, stepped forward and said, "A free drink for everyone! On me!"
The mood noticeably shifted as they made their way to the counter and I washed up.
Johnny slapped Nate on the shoulder. "That's awesome of you, cuz. Any chance I could put that down as a regular bonus benefit for the after-tour?"
"Not a chance," Nate replied.
Soon, my espresso machine was hissing and the smell of roasted beans and hot cider filled the store. The quiet was replaced by laughter and chatter. I even managed to tell a few of Granny's stories. As everyone was milling around, though, the bell over the door tinkled. It was Tango.
He stormed into Bitter Beans like a house on fire, looking for someone.
And then he saw him.
Oh poor, unsuspecting Echo.
Echo was standing by the bookshelf of local history, completely absorbed in the pages when Tango marched over. I seriously wondered if he was going to punch the guy. Echo widened his stance, I think wondering the same thing.
Tango thrust his finger into Echo's face, his attitude as dark as his trench coat. "How dare you! How dare you come into my territory and undermine my business."
"How dare I? How dare YOU!" Echo said, motioning to the people who had taken his tour. "I am trying to give my customers an authentic experience and you come in here with your cheap parlor tricks, undermining the very code of ghost hunters with your razzle dazzle. Why don't you just stick some werewolves and vampires into your tour and really cash in on the cheap thrills."
Johnny leaned over to me, asking under his breath, "Do you think Echo might be open to adding some werewolves or vampires? Because that sounds awesome."