These Haunts Are Made For Walking (Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Book 1) (21 page)

“It looks as if you are very unpopular,” Leslie said in a mocking tone.

I wanted to snap at her. I wanted to lash out and tell her where to stick it, but I was the boss and that would have been unprofessional.

“Have you finished your work this morning?” I asked in my best professional tone.

Leslie frowned and then turned around and stomped off.

“I’ll take that as a no,” I said in her wake.

At least that was one way to make her shut up. She wasn’t giving me any breaks, so I wasn’t going to give her any either. From this point on it would be all business with her. I’d tried to be nice, but I realized now that it was impossible with Leslie.

When I looked up from my paperwork, I spotted Tammy walking my way. She was smiling, but when she looked at me her smile instantly turned to a frown.

“I’m so glad I bring out the best in everyone,” I said when she approached.

“Looks like you’re having a bad day,” she said.

I told her about what had happened.

“I hate to remind you about this, but tomorrow is the festival.”

I had forgotten all about it. The last thing I wanted was to be around more hostile Devil’s Moon residents. Now even more people would see me tomorrow at the annual Pumpkin Days Festival.

My phone alerted me and I looked over my shoulder. Annie was standing behind me.

Tammy said, “Is the ghost behind you now?”

I nodded. Surprisingly, Tammy didn’t run out of the building. I looked at my phone.

Don’t let these people get you down. You are a great librarian and a good ghost guide too.

Aw, that was very sweet. I smiled. “Thanks, Annie.”

“Who are you talking to?” Tammy asked.

Could I really tell her about the texts?

I placed my phone down and looked Tammy straight in the eyes. “It’s the ghost.”

Tammy stared for second, then glanced around the library. “You’re talking to ghosts now?”

“Well…yes, actually I am talking to the ghost. She is texting me.”

Tammy’s eyes widened. “A ghost is sending you text messages? What? Ghosts have iPhones?”

I chuckled. I didn’t believe it at first either. I don’t know how she dies it. Somehow she manipulates energy and can write messages via electronic devices.”

“I guess I have heard of ghosts writing messages on mirrors and paper before.”

“I’m just glad I could finally tell you.”

“What do you mean? You can always tell me anything.”

“I know, but this one was pretty far-fetched.”  I picked up the phone to show Tammy the text, but it had disappeared. “We’d better go. I have the tour and you have the tavern.” I figured I’d change the subject before Tammy asked to see the text messages and then had me committed to the nearest mental facility when I couldn’t produce them.

***

After grabbing dinner at home, I rushed back to the tavern so that I wouldn’t be late for the tour. When I saw the women who had lined up for my tour tonight my mouth probably dropped open.

“Hello, ladies, what a pleasant surprise.”

Sue, Dana, Katherine were the only three people going on my tour this evening.

“We thought we’d see what kind of haunted tales were around Devil’s Moon,” Katherine said, and then took a drink from her cup of coffee.

The women had dressed for the occasion in jeans and layered sweaters. They stared at me expectantly.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place.” I tried to sound as professional as possible, even though I felt there was something odd about this whole scenario. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what exactly was bothering me. I suppose because the women had been acting strangely since Marion’s murder. And there was the little detail that one of them could be the killer. Yeah, that would cause anyone to feel a little uneasy.

I started the tour by taking them to the first building.

After I shared the first story, Sue asked, “So are there any leads about Marion’s murderer?”

So that was why they were here. Did they think I had the inside scoop? Sadly, I did not.

“I really don’t know,” I said, continuing my story.

Katherine interrupted me. “Well, we’ve seen you around town getting cozy with the new cop. Surely he has told you something.

They were making me uncomfortable. I wanted to get out of this building. I was definitely cutting the tour short tonight.

“I am not cozy with Officer Landon. Shall we go to the graveyard, ladies?” I didn’t wait for an answer as I made my way to the exit.

They followed me out the door and down the sidewalk. Thank goodness that hadn’t asked any more questions.

Once inside the gates of the graveyard the women gathered behind me. The owl hooted from the treetop again and Dana jumped, letting out a scream, which caused a train reaction with the other women.

“I nearly peed my pants,” Sue said.

“Don’t worry, ladies, nothing here can hurt us,” I said, my voice not sounding overly confident.

As we weaved around the gravestones and I shared the spooky stories, a whirl of wind blasted by us. It was as if something supernatural had been inside the gust. The wind whistled through the branches and around the graves. There was a whisper of words across the night air, but I couldn’t make out what the message was. I knew that it was time for me to get away from the graveyard for the night. Something was about to happen and I didn’t want to be a part of it.

The sense of being surrounded by spirits was overwhelming. The weight of the ghosts hung over Devil’s Moon like a paranormal blanket. I had to push through that heavy fog though. I would act as if nothing was wrong or out of place so that the women wouldn’t panic.

I guided the group around town the path back toward the graveyard’s entrance, but I was preoccupied by the strange sensation. I tried not to rush the women, but they probably noticed that something was wrong. We headed toward the entrance. The iron gates stood open as usual, but this time it was as if they called out to me, telling me to stay and not leave the land of the spirits. Devil’s Moon Cemetery wanted me there.

Walking through the graveyard was when I really felt the sensation increase. None of the tour women seemed to notice the presence, but I knew it was there. It wasn’t just my imagination. The longer I walked the group across the graveyard the closer the presence came. I knew without seeing them that spirits were walking among us. I hurried and guided everyone out of the graveyard.

“You’ll let us know if you find out anything?” Dana asked as I nudged the women away from the cemetery.

“I will let you know,” I waved, letting them know the tour was officially over.

When the women had disappeared around the corner, I turned back to look out over the cemetery.

That was when I spotted them. The spirits surrounded me. It was as if they were forming a barrier so that I couldn’t escape. My heart pounded in my chest. The man who I believed to be Marion’s grandfather, George Wise, was one of them. He was the one who had been following me around town. There were other spirits—some young and others old, men and women with varying styles of dress from different decades. I hadn’t expected to see Mrs. Clatterbuck standing in the middle of all of them.

She looked right at me. “I told you the spirits don’t like to be disturbed.”

I didn’t know how to respond. I wanted away from all of them. The ghosts seemed more solid the longer I stared at them, as if the more interaction I had with them, the more energy they got that enabled them to appear to me. Mrs. Clatterbuck’s dress was more visible than ever under the moon’s glow. I could make out the tiny little pearl buttons on the front of her dress and the pearl earrings dangling from her earlobes. I still didn’t understand why she was with the ghosts? Could she talk to them? Was that why she'd told me they didn't want to be disturbed? I searched the ghost’s faces, but I didn’t recognize anyone. Mostly they wore suits and dresses. I suppose the clothing they had been buried in. They didn’t take their eyes off me though, and that was most disconcerting.

My phone alerted me to a message. Now was not the time. I turned and ran out of the graveyard and back around to the sidewalk. At least there were streetlights so that I didn’t feel like I was in the dark with all of them. 

After looking over my shoulder to make sure they hadn’t followed me, I pulled out my phone.

Killer in the library.

Why couldn’t the spirit give me the name?

  After rushing all the way home, I was never happier to be in the warmth and safety of my apartment. I’d been in such a hurry I hadn’t even noticed if I’d passed anyone on my way. I’d been in a zone with one mission: being inside my apartment. After making a cup of tea, I curled up on my bed with a book. As good as the novel was, I couldn’t take my mind off what I’d seen.

As I flipped the page, the floor out in the hallway creaked. I paused, holding my breath as if that would allow me to hear better. I set the book down and tiptoed over to my bedroom door. My place was in an old house, but I’d never thought it to be haunted. Now I wondered if I had brought something home with me. If all the ghosts from the graveyard were in my living room I would run out the front door, leaving a gaping hole in the shape of my body in the wood.

A loud bang sounded from the other room and I jumped. It had sounded as if a door had been slammed shut. I eased the door open and inched out into the hallway. Looking to my left and right I didn’t see any ghosts. My bathroom door was still open. That was the only door other than the closets and they were closed too. I would blame the neighbors, but I never heard them downstairs. Plus, they’d gone away for the week. That meant I was alone in the house. All three stories of the big place was occupied by only me. Suddenly I felt very small in a big world.

Inching through the rest of the apartment, I didn’t spot anything out of the ordinary. I was ready to blame my imagination when I stepped over to the living room and peered out the window. A streetlight blanketed the sidewalk with a soft yellow glow. Standing on the sidewalk was Mrs. Clatterbuck. She was staring up at my window. I pushed the curtains closed again and hoped that she hadn’t seen me looking down at her. What was she doing all the way over her at my place? When I peeked out the curtain again, she was gone. I would have to speak with her and find out why she so intent on chasing me out of Devil’s Moon Cemetery.

The next morning, I hurried and dressed and walked to my old high school. That was where the festival was being held. It was strange to be back in town and at all the old places. Not much had changed about it since I’d been gone. At least I had some good memories of the place.

Bilson Library had a booth set up toward the back of the area near the old parking lot. Other booths and attractions were sprinkled around the campus. We had books that we were selling for charity. It was a cool fall day, but the sun was out and warmed the air enough to make it quite pleasant.

Tammy and I were the only two managing the library’s charity book sale booth at the Devil’s Moon Pumpkin Days Festival. Leslie wasn’t able to attend today. Was it wrong of me to be glad that she couldn’t make it? Not after the way she’d acted since I’d gotten back in Devil’s Moon.

Not a lot of people had arrived yet, but it was still early. That was kind of a good thing because I wanted to take a look around at the other booths before we got too busy and I hadn’t had a chance to get breakfast. At least I hoped we got busy today. I wanted to raise a lot of money for the library.

Tammy was daydreaming as she sat on the metal folding chair beside me, but then she turned to me. “So what about all these ghosts that Mrs. Clatterbuck claimed you stirred up?”

“What about it?” I asked.

“What do you think she was talking about?” Tammy’s blue eyes were wide as if she’d just realized that ghosts could be all around us.

I shrugged. “She probably just means that I am talking about the ghosts too much.”

“Well, ghosts have started appearing to you now. Do you think other people are seeing the ghosts more now?”

Tammy had a good point.

“I guess it’s possible, but how could I have anything to do with that?”

Tammy shook her head but didn’t answer. She didn’t know and neither did I.

“Hey, why don’t you check out the booths and I’ll man the table,” I said.

Tammy waved her hand. “You go first. I know you haven’t eaten breakfast yet.”

I pushed to my feet. “I won’t argue with you about that. I think I’ll have a cupcake.” It hadn’t taken me long to get over my fear of cupcakes.

She smiled. “Cupcakes are always good for breakfast.”

I didn’t have them often, but lately it seemed like a good idea. I headed out along the path to look around at the other booths. There were crafts, food, and games for the kids. I passed a face-painting booth and handmade jewelry on my way to the cupcakes.

As I neared the cupcake booth, I spotted Brannon. His back was facing me, but I recognized him right away. He was talking to someone, but I couldn’t see who that person was. As I neared I realized he was talking to a woman. Then when I got even closer I realized that he was speaking with his ex. She was smiling and touched his shoulder. Why was she back in town? Needless to say I was surprised to see her. I didn’t want either of them to see me. I backed away and stepped over to a booth pretending to look at the homemade candy.