Paranormal Summer (Indigo Moon Rising) (26 page)

Ryan's phone rang and he jumped. The girls laughed. He stood up and said hello. He was nodding a lot and then left the room, standing out in the hall; he spoke softly so the girls couldn't eavesdrop.

Turning her attention elsewhere, Sonya asked, "What do you think we are having for dinner?"

"I don't know, but I bet it will be delicious! You know how them country girls cook," Jillian said with a southern accent. "Some golden brown fried chicken, mashed taters and brown gravy, some fresh green beans from the garden, homemade buttermilk biscuits with sweet cream butter, a few ears of corn on the cob, and cherry pie with a dollop of fresh whipped cream for dessert." She watched Sonya's face as she read tonight's menu in thin air. She looked like she was in heaven!

"That sounds so delicious! I don't care to cook because I have to help Grandma Hilde. When we don't have to feed the guests, we pretty much just fend for ourselves. I will go get groceries from her list for meals, and she and I have our favorites. I unload most of the food at the B&B, and then I take the rest to my house. So I have to cook for myself part of the time. I have to help serve the guests, too, bring them the courses, and clean up after them. Doreen and Thomas aren't like that, though. They like to go into the kitchen and prepare their own meals and snacks, and they clean up after themselves. Elise and Seelie don't eat much. They keep a lot of healthy snacks with them, eating, I don't know, maybe six or eight times throughout the day. Sometimes I get inspired and when I go to the store I will get things I normally wouldn't buy. And when I get back to my kitchen I will actually cook. Like measuring and stuff, peeling potatoes, I don't know. Now that I think about it, it seems quite crazy. Usually I like Ramen noodles, or a salad, or a box of ice cream sandwiches for dinner, but I never thought about how I knew how to make some of those heartier dishes. It's like I don't even mind all the work. Now that I think about it, Mrs. Baker must be helping me," she said seriously.

"Aunt Jana is so cool about eating. They will always make sure there is enough for me, but I don't always like what they eat because it's so healthy. So I made a list of my favorites, and she has kept everything stocked up. I honestly couldn't ask for any better arrangement than that. Probably won't happen when I get back home, though," Jillian said sitting at the desk. She was noticing that this phone call was taking a long time.

"Maybe we should go see if Lois needs our help in the kitchen?" Sonya asked as she got up off the floor.

Ryan walked into the room. "Good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"Bad, then the good," Sonya said.

"Just good, skip the bad," Jillian said.

"Why did I even ask?" Ryan said, shaking his head. "That was Eli. Do you know who he is?"

Jillian said no and Sonya said, "I know he's a ghost hunter from around here, and he is going to teach a class at the shop. That's about all.”

"He has an internet show called The Paranormal Properties. It's good! The meaning of properties is dual. He will investigate and try to debunk everything that would normally be considered paranormal. He will also highlight actual properties that he feels he has enough evidence to give it the label of haunted, if that is what the owners want.”

“This summer he wants to look at two different locations within the same show. In the first segment, he will debunk the investigation that was live from the previous week. The second segment will be a live investigation. He asked if he could use our video/audio next week to debunk, and he would also have a live investigation somewhere else the same night with another team. First question is, do we want to flag the video that most likely Deryk posted because he did not have our permission? Have it removed for infringement rights? Eli said it could take two days to two months for it to go through the proper channels and get shut down. Or, he can post a comment on it saying that it will be featured on The Paranormal Sensation, so those viewing it will check out his show. So far it has had over 3,400 hits in the last 11 hours. He would also like permission to put it on his YouTube channel and his website.”

“Secondly, would we be interested in being one of the teams that he uses for investigations this summer? Those shows would air on his internet channel. But this fall he has a contract to produce the show for the Gatlinburg TV station doing the investigations live on TV! A lot more exposure. He has three other teams right now. We could be a fourth. Who knows? It could be picked up nationally," he said, sounding as if he liked the idea.

Sonya was holding Emmy's book. "I will have to think about it. I don't know how I would ask Grandma Hilde. And this fall, I don't know if it would interfere with the B&B, school and the shop. That almost sounds like it would be an awful lot to handle. Now if I didn't have to go to school, that would make my life so much easier!"

"Yeah, and I will be going home at the end of summer and going back to school. So you guys do whatever you want to do, but I would love to help as long as I am here," Jillian said, sounding disappointed.

"Well, I guess I can explain all of that to him. Jorge and I have watched about 15 of his shows, and he's real. Nothing faked, and he is concerned for both the homeowner and the spirits," Ryan said as he opened his laptop on the desk. "You know, maybe your Granma could get some free advertising for the B&B if people knew it had a ghost in it."

Sonya rolled her eyes. "Well, Jillian has the ghost of her aunt where she lives. Yeah, I have often wondered how many of them are around us all the time and we don't notice them."

"I notice enough live people, thank you, I try my best to shut the doors on them when I have to," Ryan said as he searched for the video. He made it full screen and hit the white arrow for 'PLAY'.

They watched, not believing it was them. They were so focused; nothing could have torn them away from the screen. After it was over all three were in tears. Crossing Emmy was such a beautiful experience. Even though they couldn't see all of it happening on screen, the audio painted some of the picture for them. They could fill in the blanks with their memories. Because they witnessed a part of what happened to Emmy in her lifetime, and helped her resolve unfinished business in her death, they all, too, felt closure.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Sonya said, trying to pat the tears from her face, not wanting to smear her makeup. She dug in her pocket and pulled out two small pouches and handed one each to Jillian and Ryan. They opened them, and inside were beautiful pendants on silver chains. “I made these at the shop the other day. We each have one," she said, pulling hers out of her shirt. "I just kinda held my hands over the stones like Doreen showed me and chose the ones that felt right. I used tiger iron, black tourmaline and ametrine for all of ours. I even wired them together with the silver wire she has there."

"How beautiful!” Jillian said. “Isn't it interesting that they will look good on us girls, and even you, too, Ryan!" she said, joking.

“I think they look cool," Ryan said, slipping his over his head.

"Hey, wait a minute," Sonya said, picking up Emmys book. "Do you think there is anything in here that will help make them stronger?" Sonya asked, starting to thumb through the pages. She kept looking and looking.

"I'm sure there is, but I didn't get to finish translating it,” Ryan said.

“Jillian, does this look familiar?” Sonya asked, pointing to a drawing in the book.

“Oh my God, that's it. That's the locket!” Jillian said, staring at it and touching the paper. “That's it, and inside is a locket of hair from each of the baby girls. Are there two lockets? One for Miranda and Emmy and one for Gianna and Elizabeth? Or is there just one? I'm confused,” Jillian said, putting her hands up to her face and trying to 'see' what was going on in her head.

“Well, let’s give it some time,” Ryan said, patting her on the shoulder. He felt that it wasn't terribly necessary right now and that she was causing herself too much stress.

Well, how about if we did like GG does for prayer with our pendants?" Sonya said. "Like this. Put the pendants on so they are next to your heart. Now let’s hold hands, bow our heads, and say what our intentions are for them. Protection, strength, clear sight, honesty." They held hands, bowed their heads, and silently intended what they wanted the stones to do. And they began to actually feel the energy pulsating between their palms and moving up their arms, to their shoulders and down their chests. At precisely the same moment, all three lifted their heads and opened their eyes.

"Dinner’s ready," Lois said, watching them from the doorway. She smiled and turned around and headed down the stairs.

"Did you feel that?" Jillian said excitedly.

"Yeah, that's kinda how it feels when I work on Grandma Hilde. I ask to help her release the pain. Then I put my hands above her hip, or elbow or wherever, and I start to feel the vibration, and it gets warmer, and I hear like a tone, and I keep raising the tone myself. And Grandma’s tone soon catches up, and we keep doing that till I feel like I am done," Sonya said, like it was a matter of fact. Ryan and Jillian just smiled. Yes, that was certainly one of her gifts!

"Did you see that? Lois didn't even flinch at what we were doing." She smiled. "That's two grandmas that are okay with this. Maybe they know more than we think," Sonya said, walking out of Ryan's bedroom and heading down the stairs. She was hungry.  She could smell the delicious food, and her stomach was gnawing on itself and growling.

As the three took their seats at the table, Jillian's mouth dropped.

A roaster pan full of golden brown fried chicken, a huge bowl of mashed taters and brown gravy, fresh green beans, homemade buttermilk biscuits with sweet cream butter, and corn on the cob adorned the table.

Lois said, "When you’re done eating, you can let your food digest a bit, and then I will serve you up a big piece of..."

"Cherry pie, with a big dollop of fresh whipped cream for dessert," the girls said in unison and started laughing.

After dinner and dessert, the three went out on the front porch and sat in the large pastel rocking chairs GG had made. They we so darned comfortable and you barely had to move to get them to start rocking and keep rocking. It was getting to be about dusk, and the girls mentioned that they thought they should be heading home soon. GG had offered to drive them since he had some deliveries to make in town. But, it was so relaxing, the warm summer breeze on their skin. It reminded Jillian of what she had experienced with Illianna.
I don't know any more if I am dreaming, if maybe I am astral projecting out of my body, because Amanda got pictures of what I saw. Oh yeah, she saw them too, but was she dreaming?...Geez, I honestly don't know about reality at all. The veil...the veil is getting thinner, that explains everything, right?.....I have no clue.

And as she was rocking, a cold chill started from around her feet and began to slowly swirl upward, encompassing her whole body. She opened her eyes to see what was going on. She looked at Ryan and Sonya. Ryan looked panicked, too. Sonya was just dazing off into the horizon. They couldn't see anything on the porch, but something was happening on the porch, and it was happening to them.

"You feel that? I don't think it's a good sign, do you?" Jillian asked Ryan.

"No, not good, Sonya..., are you okay?" Ryan asked, looking at her, knowing something wasn't right.