by Bobbi Holmes
Adam let out a sigh and looked over at the property. “Fine, let’s get this over with.”
“We should get something to eat first, and then come back later, when it’s dark,” Melony suggested.
“No. Let’s just do this. Think about the old stories. Those things rarely took place at night. They supposedly happened in the middle of the day, like when Bill’s dad broke his leg,” Adam reminded her.
“Okay.” Melony unbuckled her seatbelt.
Adam groaned and reluctantly unbuckled his seatbelt. “I don’t know why I always let you talk me into doing stuff I don’t want to do. You realize, you have been doing this since we were kids.”
Melony laughed. “And you want to marry me.”
Adam shrugged. “Hey, I’m a sucker for punishment. Let’s get this over with.” As Adam opened the car door, he grumbled under his breath, “I sure as hell hope you’re right.”
A moment later, Adam stood by the front of the car, Melony by his side, while he silently glanced around. If the place wasn’t haunted, there were some definite positives. Every time he had driven through this neighborhood—which admittedly was not often—traffic seemed nonexistent. The homes were all well maintained, and from what he knew, none were in any of the rental programs. While that was not a plus for Adam, who profited from the rental program, it was a plus for the neighborhood, as rowdy weekenders weren’t coming and going, disrupting the neighbors more than a full-time resident might.
“Are you just going to stand there?” Melony prodded.
“Hold on. I’m trying to get the general feel of the area. This seems to be a nice, quiet neighborhood. Well maintained. The only blight is the fenced-up piece of property,” Adam noted.
“And when Ian’s father takes the fence down and builds a new custom house it will improve the entire neighborhood.”
“Let’s get this over with. What do you want us to do?” Adam asked.
“Let’s walk over to the gate. That’s a start,” Melony suggested.
Reluctantly, Adam started toward the fence surrounding the property. When they got there, Melony pointed to where the padlock had been on its gate, and said, “It’s unlocked.”
“Yeah, Ray sent out an email saying he was unlocking the gate. He told the agents to go in, check out the property, walk around.”
Melony reached for the gate. “Let’s go in.” Adam waited as Melony opened the gate and walked into the fenced area. He reluctantly followed her in. The moment they stepped on the property, the air temperature dropped a good twenty degrees. They both noticed.
“I’d ask where that chilly breeze came from, but the air’s still,” Adam noted.
“That was weird,” Melony muttered.
“Maybe this place comes with its own air-conditioning,” Adam quipped.
Melony chuckled. “Must have been a pocket of cold air that came in from the ocean, got stuck somehow,” Melony suggested.
“Yeah, right,” Adam muttered under his breath.
No longer concerned over the change in air temperature, Melony walked farther onto the property, her back to Adam as she checked out the surroundings. “You know, I’ve never been back here before,” Melony called to Adam. “It’s been locked up for as long as I can remember. It would be a beautiful site to build a house.”
Adam watched as Melony looked around while he remained standing just a few feet inside the gate.
“Come on, Adam, stop acting like a baby,” Adam muttered to himself. “Look at Mel, she’s not a big chicken like you.”
Adam was just about to call out to Melony to wait up when motion to her right caught his attention. At first, he thought she’d disturbed a bird hiding in the bushes. But whatever flew out of the bushes was no bird, nor an animal. Unable to fathom what he saw, Adam’s eyes widened as he focused on the object. It now hovered just behind Melony, out of her sight.
The instant he identified the object, he called out her name and rushed toward her. When she turned to his voice, Adam’s body hit her full force, sending her to the ground. He held onto her, and together they rolled to the right. Melony’s eyes looked up in time to see a piece of rusted pipe falling at high speed toward her head. Adam rolled her body away just before the pipe crashed down, barely missing her forehead. They continued to roll away, and each time the pipe rose back up in the air before crashing down again, barely missing Melony’s head.
Together they scrambled to their feet, making a dash toward the open gate, while the pipe continued to take swings like a baseball bat. Yet fortunately for Melony and Adam, whoever swung the bat had poor aim.
The moment they exited the gate, the pipe stopped swinging and fell to the ground. Melony and Adam did not wait around to see what was going to happen next. Instead, they flew into the car and raced off without either one fastening their seatbelts.
Carla had just cleared away the dirty dishes from their table and left for the kitchen without saying a word.
Danielle watched Carla walk away. “Poor thing. I think when you saved that plate from falling, you stole her voice.”
“She seems in shock. But I have to give her credit, she’s doing her job, but without talking to the customers. Which for Carla might be an improvement.” Walt chuckled.
“I hope she snaps out of it,” Danielle said.
“I just hope she remembers to bring us the dessert we ordered.”
Danielle laughed at Walt’s comment.
“Hey, look who’s here,” Danielle said, pointing to the door.
Walt glanced toward the door and saw Adam and Melony.
“Wow, I think they’re wearing Carla’s expression,” Danielle said. “Wonder what’s wrong.”
“I imagine they just noticed all the tables are full and realize they have a long wait,” Walt said.
“They can sit with us,” Danielle said, now waving her hand to catch Adam and Melony’s attention.
When the pair noticed Danielle’s wave, they walked to her table. As they did, Danielle moved to the chair next to Walt, freeing the two chairs across from them.
“You guys can join us,” Danielle said when Adam and Melony got to their table. “The place has been crazy all night. We’ve already eaten, but we’re getting dessert.”
The moment Adam and Melony sat down, Adam blurted, “Do you believe in ghosts?”
Six
“Ghosts?” Danielle squeaked. She and Walt exchanged quick glances.
“Remember my toilet paper story?” Melony asked Danielle.
“You mean when you were a teenager and went to toilet paper the Barr house?” Danielle asked.
“And the toilet paper rolls flew from all of our hands at the same time, ending up in the barn, and they hadn’t even unwound,” Mel finished for her.
“Yeah.” Danielle frowned.
“This was a hundred times worse!” Melony exclaimed.
Before Danielle could respond, Carla walked up to the table, carrying two plates of pie and ice cream. The server didn’t seem to notice the two new arrivals until she reached the table. When she did, she froze a moment, plates of pie in her hands, and scowled down at Adam and Melony.
“Did you want to eat something?” Carla snapped.
Startled at Carla’s unfriendly question, Adam asked, “Wow, having a bad night, Carla?”
Carla slapped the two plates of pie on the table, setting one in front of Walt and the other in front of Melony, which was where Danielle had been sitting before Adam and Melony had arrived.
“Well, do you want to eat?” Carla demanded.
Adam arched his brows and said, “Sure, as long as you promise not to put arsenic in our food.”
“Fine. I need to get you menus,” Carla grumbled, turning abruptly from the table.
“Wow, what’s with Carla tonight?” Adam asked, watching her walk away.
Melony glanced down at the pie in front of her, smiled, picked up the plate, and handed it to Danielle.
“Thanks,” Danielle said, accepting the plate
.
“She’s had a rough evening,” Walt explained. “It’s been slammed all night, and she almost dropped all the plates she was carrying to a table. She needs a vacation.”
“I guess,” Adam muttered.
Before they could get back to their discussion on ghosts, Carla stomped back to their table and slapped two menus down in front of Adam. She abruptly turned and marched to the kitchen.
“So, what is this about ghosts?” Danielle asked before taking her first taste of pie.
“You know the Marymoor site?” Adam asked.
“Sure. Heather told me it’s for sale,” Danielle said.
Adam paused a moment and looked at Melony, as if wondering how to proceed. She reached over, patted his hand, and then looked at Walt and Danielle.
“Adam has a buyer for the property,” Melony began. “And the buyer wants confidentiality. So he can’t tell anyone who he is.”
Danielle shrugged. “I imagine a lot of buyers want confidentiality when purchasing real estate.”
“The thing is, I’m not comfortable with the sale,” Adam said.
“Can’t you tell the guy you don’t want to represent him?” Danielle asked.
“It’s not that. I would be happy to help him buy real estate in town. Just not that property.”
“I assume it’s because of the ghost stories. But if you don’t feel good about selling it to him, perhaps you should just walk away. Tell him you can’t help him,” Danielle suggested.
Adam groaned. “If it were just that simple.”
“It’s about the confidentiality issue. Adam is friends with one of the buyer’s family members. Adam believes the friend would not be thrilled with him if he sells the property to the family member without giving him a chance to discuss it, considering the property’s background. And if Adam just walks away from the sale and says nothing, and he buys it from someone else, the friend would probably still be annoyed at Adam for not giving him the heads-up,” Melony explained.
“Mel had this brilliant idea to go over to the Marymoor site, look around, you know, put all those old stories from my childhood to rest, so I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable representing my client—and I wouldn’t feel compelled to violate my client’s confidentiality. After all, the buyer is an adult, free to buy whatever property he or she wants.”
“Did you go over there?” Danielle asked.
“Didn’t you hear what Mel said? It was worse than what happened to her at the Barr place!” Adam snapped. He took a deep breath, told himself to calm down, and then told Walt and Danielle what had happened to them minutes earlier.
When Adam finished the telling, the four sat in silence for a few minutes, the plates of apple pie forgotten. Finally, Adam said, “You think we’re nuts, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t,” Danielle said.
Walt looked at Adam and smiled. “Adam, this is not the first time something like this has happened to you.”
Adam frowned at Walt. “What do you mean?”
“I heard a story about a croquet set attacking you in the attic of Marlow House,” Walt teased.
“That didn’t really happen,” Mel said. “That was too much beer.”
Adam stared at Walt a minute and then said dully, “Yes, it did, Mel. Just like that pipe attacked us.” He slumped back in his chair and closed his eyes.
Furrowing her brows, Melony turned a questioning frown at Adam.
The four sat at the table, considering all that had just been said. Quietly, Walt and Danielle picked up their forks and began eating their pie and ice cream.
Danielle had just finished her pie and set the fork on the table when Melony said, “I don’t understand. What happened tonight? Not to mention that time at the Barrs’, or what Adam says happened to him.”
“The way you say that, it’s like you think I made it up,” Adam grumbled.
“No, but…” Melony muttered.
“I think I can explain,” Danielle offered.
The left corner of Walt’s mouth twitched upward. He wondered what his wife was going to come up with, while Adam and Melony grew quiet and focused their attention on her.
“I think there is a lot in this world we don’t understand.” Danielle looked at Melony. “Mel, you are a very smart woman. You have an impressive career and have advanced in your profession, but you know there is much of this world you don’t understand. I think that is true for all of us, even the most intelligent.”
“I believe, the more intelligent someone is, the more they realize there is much about this world they don’t understand,” Walt added.
“Then I must be a freaking genus. Because I know I don’t know crap,” Adam grumbled.
Danielle chuckled and then said in a serious tone, “Let’s look at what happened to you today—what happened to you both the other times. Science tells us we’re made up of energy. And when we die, that energy doesn’t die. There have been countless reports of paranormal activity around the world. Sure, a lot of those paranormal stories are made up. Fake stories, often perpetrated by con men. But I don’t believe they are all fabricated. You have proof of that.”
“You’re saying that’s what we experienced today?” Adam asked.
“If energy doesn’t die, where does it go? And what happens to us after we die? If you believe spirits—or souls—live on, then perhaps they can harness some of that energy. Put energy in the hands of a conflicted soul, then who knows what might happen.”
“Today it tried to play baseball with a pipe, and it wanted to use Mel’s head as the ball,” Adam said.
“I almost got myself killed trying to convince Adam he had nothing to worry about,” Melony said with a groan.
“The good news, it didn’t hit you,” Danielle said. “I suspect a spirit who manipulates energy is limited in what they can do. After all, when was the last time you heard about someone getting killed by an inanimate object that suddenly came to life on its own?”
“If there was ever a place for bad energy from spirits to gather, it would probably be Marymoor,” Melony said. She looked at Adam. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “You were just trying to help. And frankly, I thought all my childhood fears were silly. I just couldn’t shake them. And now… not sure what to do. If I tell the buyer what happened, he’ll think I’m nuts. And as much as I want to tell my friend so he can try to persuade his family member not to buy, I can’t do it.”
“So, which of the old residents of Marymoor swung that pipe, do you think?” Walt asked.
Adam looked at Walt and grinned. “For some reason, I’m not really surprised you and Danielle are taking this all in stride. Hey, if it were reversed, I would have fun teasing your wife.”
Walt returned Adam’s grin. “It’s probably living in a haunted house that changes one’s perspective.”
“Not sure who was swinging that pipe, but I’m fairly certain if a spirit pitched that croquet set at me, it was probably the original Walt Marlow’s spirit. So, I have to wonder, you and Danielle have your bedroom up there in that attic. Have you noticed anything flying around the room?” Adam asked.
Walt chuckled. “I suspect the ghost of Walt Marlow has moved on.”
“If it was a spirit—or a ghost—swinging that pipe at me, it was probably the same one who killed the nurse,” Melony said. “After he killed her, they shut the place down.”
“First, we’re talking about energy from lingering spirits, now ghosts,” Adam scoffed.
Ignoring Adam’s comment, Walt asked, “What ever happened to him?”
“I remember the story,” Melony said. “The nurse’s name was Molly.”
Danielle looked to Melony. Molly was the name of the ghost she had once met at the Marymoor site. A ghost dressed in a bloodstained nurse’s uniform.
“I don’t recall her last name,” Melony said. “Dad told me the story. She was stabbed. The head of the sanatorium walked in right after it happened, and her attacker fled. The killer’s name was Waylon.
I remember his name because when my father told me the story, I asked, Like Waylon Jennings? And Dad said, Not sure, never heard if he could sing or not.” Melony rolled her eyes and chuckled at her father’s attempt at humor.
“What happened to this Waylon?” Danielle asked.
“He ran off. But they eventually found him. Not sure what happened to the guy, or where he was found. But they closed the sanatorium not long after that, and I suspect they just transferred Waylon to an institution for the criminally insane.”
“If that was the case, I doubt Waylon was your batter,” Walt said.
Melony looked at Walt. “Why do you say that?”
“If they transported Waylon to another institution, once he died, I doubt he’d return to Marymoor. I’d expect a confused spirit, bent on haunting, to stay where he was,” Walt suggested.
“You know how these things work, do you?” Adam asked dryly.
“Waylon, you shouldn’t have done that,” Molly chastised. Waylon sat dejected under the large oak tree, his chin resting on his bent knees.
“I’m sorry, Molly. But she was talking about building a house here.”
Molly sat down next to Waylon. “You can’t go around hurting people.”
“I didn’t even touch her,” Waylon reminded her.
“True. But you could have hit her. That would get you in more trouble when Randal returns. You don’t want to be in trouble again, do you?”
Waylon shook his head.
“You need to calm down. Everyone is waiting,” Molly said.
“You go without me. I don’t want to see them,” Waylon said with a pout.
“It’s important we stick together. We need to come up with a plan before Randal returns. That’s why you must come with me.”
“They’ll just go away like Sean Sullivan did and leave me here.”
“It was time for Sean to go. Now please, get up and stop sulking. Everyone is waiting.” Molly stood up. She reached her hand out to Waylon. Reluctantly, he took it, stood up, and they both disappeared.
Seven
