by Rose Pressey
“The barn?”
“We’re going there,” Jenny said.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I said so. Maybe he’s there.”
In my opinion this was a bad idea, but nevertheless, we headed up the hill. Rain started to fall harder. My foot slipped on the soaked grass, but I managed to remain upright. I worried that another thunderstorm would hit soon. Lightning was another obstacle I didn’t need right now. We reached the barn and stepped inside. The horses made noise when they saw us. The owner would probably hear them and come soon, wondering what the commotion was about.
“Okay, he’s not here. We should probably leave now,” I said.
“I don’t want to leave now. Not until I find Jonathan. I know the spirit told me to come here and I want to find him.”
“He’s obviously not here,” I said.
“If you don’t shut up then I’m going to have to kill you.” Jenny pointed the gun at me.
“Please don’t say anything else,” Jessie said.
I had to talk some sense into Jenny. I had to try to get us out of here, otherwise I knew she would get rid of us no matter what.
“This is not the way to find Jonathan, and Anthony will tell you that.” My voice sounded different again.
“There you go with that weird talk again. And your face again. Stop doing that,” Jenny screamed.
“I don’t think she’s doing it on purpose,” Jessie said. “It’s the ghost. It’s not even her face. I’ve seen it before. She looks completely different.”
I heard what they were saying, but it was as if I was struggling for control of my own thoughts. The other ghosts had shown up now. They were standing a good distance away, but they were behind Jenny. She had no idea they were back there. After a few seconds she caught on that we were watching something over her shoulder.
When she turned around and saw them, she stumbled backward, almost dropping the gun. That would’ve been my time to grab it. Not that I would have, because the spirit taking over my body had frozen on the spot. My other thoughts were that I wanted to run to the ghosts and join them. This was crazy.
Now that Jenny was distracted the least I could do was try to get out of here. I took off toward the other side of the barn.
“Where are you going?” Jessie yelled. “Don’t leave me.”
“We have to run.” I couldn’t grab Jessie and carry her out of there.
I really had no idea what I was doing. Soon I spotted Jessie beside me.
“Oh, thank goodness you came,” I said.
“Well, you were just going to leave me back there.”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Jenny was coming out of the barn. She was looking around, but I didn’t think she had spotted us yet.
I grabbed Jessie’s hand. “Come on, we have to hide from her. She’s coming after us.”
“I can’t breathe,” Jessie said.
“You have to breathe in and out. Come on.”
“Where are we going?” Jessie asked.
“I’ll try to get us back to the wooded area. I have the keys to her car.”
“Oh, good thinking,” she said.
“I don’t know if we’ll make it, but we have to try,” I said.
There was another small shed building. Jessie and I ran behind it. I peeked over the edge and saw Jenny coming closer to us.
“Where are you?” Jenny yelled in a singsong voice.
Right now she was hunting us. She was coming closer and we had to get away from there soon before she found us. Where were the ghosts when I needed them to distract her? Thank goodness the other ghost hadn’t taken over my body yet, but it might happen any second.
My phone dinged, alerting me to a text message. That was when I remembered I had my phone in my pocket. I could call for help now. Before I could grab the phone from my pocket noise came from our left.
Jessie peeked over the side. “She’s coming.”
I grabbed her hand and we took off around the corner. We ran back to the barn. I was hoping we could make it all the way back into the wooded area, but that probably wouldn’t happen. I pulled out my phone and tried to touch my screen but with the uneven ground and our running it was extremely difficult. I would have to stop in order to make a call.
My hands kept bouncing around and I wasn’t touching the right part of the screen. Muddy grass was incredibly hard to run in. I’d never thought it would be this difficult. It was hard for us to even stand upright, much less make a call. I saw the text messages though.
The text was confessing to killing Lucy Marcus because Lucy had been dating Jonathan. Jenny thought Jonathan had taken off just to get away from her because she had tried to kill him too. The messages were from Jenny. Why was she doing this? I glanced over my shoulder and realized that Jenny was headed our way. The only option we had was to go back into the barn and try to hide there.
“Where are we going?” Jessie asked.
“We’ll go back into the barn,” I said.
“She’ll find us there for sure.”
“I don’t think we have any other option,” I said.
“We’re going to die here in the barn,” Jessie said.
We raced back into the barn. Of course, the horses made noise. This would surely alert Jenny that we were there.
Chapter 23
When I spotted an empty horse stall, I grabbed Jessie’s arm and pulled her with me into the stall. We hunkered down onto the hay and waited. My heart beat fast and I tried to steady my breathing so that we wouldn’t be too loud. I was trying to keep Jessie quiet because she was practically whimpering. How would we get out of here? I knew Jenny would come back to the barn and look for us eventually. It wasn’t as if we could wait in here until morning.
I pulled my phone out from my pocket. Jessie let out another tiny whimper, as if she was thankful that I had thought of it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t talk on the phone because Jenny might hear us. Should I text 911 or should I text Brannon? I supposed it didn’t matter as long as someone came to help us, although Brannon was busy. If he didn’t check his phone it might be disastrous for us.
We’re in the barn at Mr. Spencer’s farm. Jenny has a gun and she’s threatening to kill us. Help.
Well, how was that for a terrifying text? I showed it to Jessie. She gave a thumbs up. I’d never seen that fear in her eyes. I hoped that Brannon found us soon. Before it was too late. The strange feeling came over me again and I couldn’t quite fend it off this time. I’d been trying all night.
I spotted a horse in the stall next to us. Could I ride it out of here? But then that would mean leaving Jessie. Can I convince her to get on the horse with me? What was I thinking? I wasn’t sure I could convince myself to get on the horse. I had no idea how to ride a horse. I’d been on one once, but that didn’t exactly make me an expert. And the horse had been old. It barely moved. This horse looked like it would go fast.
Do it. Get on the horse. The voice in my head told me to get on the horse. I had assumed the ghost was telling me this. I couldn’t do that. However, it was as if she was in control now. I grabbed Jessie by the hand. She looked confused. I moved over to the stall with the horse. I opened it up and snuck inside.
“What are you doing?” Jessie whispered.
“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing,” I said.
My voice hadn’t spoken the words. I had no idea what I was doing but I was going through the motions. It was as if I knew exactly what I was doing.
“Get on the horse with me,” I said after I jumped up.
“I can’t do that,” Jessie said.
“You have to.” I held my hand out.
After some struggles, Jessie was up on the horse with me. I guided the horse out of the stall and across the barn toward the door. I took off in a gallop out of the barn and across the way toward the wooded area. I hoped the horse’s owner didn’t think I was doing this to take the horse. I was only borrowing it.
“Are you doing all
right?” I asked.
“I’m all right,” Jessie said.
She couldn’t hide the fear in her voice. I glanced back and saw Jenny standing at the barn’s door. We had just missed her. Soon we reached the wooded area. Thank goodness I knew there was no way Jenny would be able to get to us before I reached the car. But what would I do with the horse? I’d have to tie the horse up and leave him there. Then I’d make sure that he was taken back to the barn once the police arrived. Yes, that was the only thing I could do.
Thank goodness there was a cleared-out path in the middle of the wooded area so that we could take the horse through without a problem. Though he clearly didn’t want me on his back. The more I asked him to go the slower he seemed to move. I still couldn’t believe I was doing this, but it was as if my hands weren’t the ones guiding the horse.
The hum of a motor sounded somewhere nearby. Maybe it was Brannon coming to come get us. I galloped a few steps more and then the vehicle stopped in front of me. Jenny apparently had stolen all-terrain vehicle. Darn it. I hadn’t expected that. She jumped off and pointed the gun. I stopped the horse immediately.
“Did you really think you were getting away from me?” Jenny stood there with the gun aimed right at me.
“Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh.” Jessie held me tightly.
“Get down off that horse,” Jenny demanded.
I got off the horse. This would dissolve our chances of getting away, but staying on the horse would probably be pointless too. I wouldn’t be able to get away fast enough. I wouldn’t be able to dodge the bullet.
“Don’t try anything stupid,” Jenny said.
Ultimately Jessie and I got off the horse. We stood there with our hands up hoping that Jenny wouldn’t shoot.
Noise sounded from behind Jenny. When she whipped around she saw that the ghosts had arrived. She stumbled backwards, and the gun went off. Jessie screamed and I ducked. The horse took off, running in the same direction that we had come. I hoped that it was going back to the barn. The ghosts seemed unfazed by what happened. I was just thankful that the bullet had gone in the opposite direction from us.
Jenny scrambled and grabbed the gun again. She aimed at the ghosts and then aimed it at me. She moved the gun back and forth. Clearly she was unsure who to point the gun at. She was obviously becoming more agitated by the minute, which was probably not a good thing for us. She would do something drastic in that state of mind. I needed to take this chance and pounce as soon as she was distracted by the ghosts. The next time she looked over that way I would lunge at her.
Jenny looked at the ghosts and I took that as my chance. I lunged for her. I tumbled on top of her and to my relief the gun flew from her hands.
“Freeze!” Brannon’s voice echoed through the wooded area.
I held my hands up.
“Not you, Rip,” he said.
Jenny did as she was told and held her hands in the air. I managed to get to my feet and stepped back over to Jessie. She looked absolutely petrified. The ghosts had disappeared when Brannon had arrived. Brannon moved over to Jenny and pulled her to her feet. I couldn’t believe that I’d actually jumped on her like that. What had I been thinking? I supposed I’d just been so ready for this to be over that I hadn’t thought things through. It could’ve ended badly but thank goodness everything had worked out. Brannon had arrived and I could finally breathe.
“Rip, are you all right?” Brannon asked as he placed the handcuffs on Jenny.
“We’re okay,” I said. “You have no idea how glad I am that you showed up.”
“Well, it looks like you had everything under control,” he said.
“I had no idea what I was doing,” I said.
Jessie and I walked with Brannon as he guided Jenny across the wooded area. Police sirens echoed in the distance. The other officers were on their way.
“I’m so glad you got my text message,” I said.
“Needless to say, I was panicking. I’m not sure if I even want to know all the details. Maybe it will just freak me out too much,” he said.
We arrived at his car and he placed Jenny in the back seat. She glared at me from the window. I turned my attention away because I didn’t want to see her any longer.
“Thank heavens you arrested Jenny,” Jessie said.
My phone alerted me to a text message. I no longer had the feeling that I was being overtaken. That had vanished.
You’re safe now, the message read.
Who is this from? I sent the text back.
The name is Neil, Ralph, and Agatha.
The ghosts had sent me a text? I guessed I shouldn’t be surprised because Annie sent me messages all the time. So they’d been there to help all along? They might want to ease up on the mean expressions. I showed Brannon the message.
“And it’s from the ghosts?” he asked.
“Apparently so.”
“I’ve got to figure out how they do that,” Brannon said.
“I don’t think we’ll ever know,” I said. “They just use the energy.”
As we stood there I sensed someone watching. When I peeked over toward the wooded area, I saw Patrick and Elizabeth standing beside one of the trees.
I touched Brannon’s arm. “It’s Elizabeth and Patrick. I think they may have had something to do with this. Why else would they be here now? They were here for the tour when Jonathan went missing. I think they might know something about this.”
“Hold on. I’ll get them,” Brannon said as he took off running after the pair.
Some of the other officers noticed and took off in chase as well. A short time later the police officers showed back up with Patrick and Elizabeth, escorting them to the police cars. Thank goodness I was standing close enough so that I could hear the conversation. Brannon was asking why they were in the woods.
“Okay, we helped Jenny,” Patrick said.
I leaned closer to get the whole story.
“But we didn’t know what was going on. I guess we should’ve suspected when Jenny knocked Ripley and that other woman out and then drove them back to her house. We helped her bring them into the house,” Patrick said.
“We didn’t mean any harm,” Elizabeth said.
Well, that explained how Jessie and I had gotten into the house. I couldn’t believe they’d done that. And they hadn’t called the police. But then again, I supposed if they were in on the plan to get Jonathan then they wouldn’t hesitate to help Jenny with us as well. I was angry and wanted to give them a piece of my mind but I figured it was best if I just kept my distance.
Brannon looked over at me a couple of times. He probably knew what I was thinking. I would just be happy if he arrested them. He was going to arrest them, right? The thought had barely left my mind when Brannon and the other officers instructed them to turn around and place their hands behind their backs. Yes! Thank goodness they were arresting them. And now they would put them in the back of the police cars just like Jenny.
Jenny stared as her friends were stuffed into another car. Her focus turned to me and she glared. There was nothing she could do now. It was all her fault. I just hoped that they found Jonathan soon. I was worried that she had really done something to him.
After placing the pair into the police car, Brannon came back over to me. “I guess you heard all of that.”
“Yes, I did, and thank goodness you arrested them. I wonder how they got us into the house. That explains it all,” I said.
“I’m just glad that you’re all right.” Brannon hugged me and kissed me.
Jessie huddled nearby with a blanket that the police had given her wrapped around her shoulders. The fear hadn’t yet faded from her eyes.
“Jessie, there was one question I wanted to ask. Were you with Mrs. Mae that day when she confessed to switching Alexandria Emerson’s pie?”
“Yes, I was in the house.”
“I thought maybe that was you,” I said.
“Oh, she was really upset with you, so when you came to tell h
er that she won the contest, I snuck out the back door. I just couldn’t listen to it anymore.”
“Why was she telling you all this?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t have anyone else to complain to. I’m just glad you told her that she won so that I could get out of there. She was forcing me to eat pie.”
“That is rather odd.”
“Well, I guess she’s nice, but just cranky, that’s all,” Jessie said.
“Nevertheless, what she did with the switching of the pies was kind of mean. It had everyone thinking that Alexandria Emerson had killed Lucy Marcus because of the pie switch.”
“I have to admit I thought maybe you suspected me of murdering Lucy Marcus,” Jessie said.
“Well, I have to admit you were on my list. I’m sorry about that.”
“How could you think I would do something like that?” Jessie asked.
“I thought maybe you and Dana were plotting something together. I saw you talking in the coffee shop.”
“Plotting something as in the murder?” Jessie’s eyes widened.
“Shamefully, yes, the thought had crossed my mind.”
“There was a reason Dana and I were talking.” She giggled. “Well, we wanted it to be a surprise, but under the circumstances I suppose I have to tell you. We’ve been planning a party for you.”
“A party for me?” I asked. “I don’t think anyone has ever thrown a party for me.”
Except for on my eighth birthday and nobody had showed up. My mother had mistakenly sent the invitations for the wrong day and unfortunately, when that day came around we’d had to cancel the party anyway.
“Yes, you’ve done so much for the library and we all thought that you deserved the party. Tammy was involved, of course. That’s why I asked if we could still use the library for the book club meeting.”
“I thought you were acting suspicious. And nobody said anything to me?”
“Well, it was a surprise. But now I guess that’s ruined because I had to tell you.”
“I promise to act surprised.”
She laughed. “Thank you. I don’t want to get into trouble.”
“To be honest, there were a lot of people on my list. In my defense, I just wanted to solve the case,” I said. “But I hope we can put that all behind us now. Are you still going to come to the library for the book club?”
