by Rose Pressey
“Maybe she got a ride and then got out of the car,” Brannon said.
“I guess that’s possible,” I said.
“I’ll see if I can find out the name for you. We’ll be looking at surveillance cameras to see what happened, since the person who hit her took off,” he said. “Someone found her on the road.”
While Brannon was on his phone, Tammy leaned closer. “What else did he say? I couldn’t hear well with the noise around us to get every word.”
“You were right. A woman was hit,” I said.
“Is she dead?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“How awful,” Tammy said.
“The car drove away too,” I said.
“Do they know who it was?”
“Brannon’s finding out the name. He described her to me. The odd thing is, I talked to someone with that description at the cemetery.”
Tammy’s eyes widened. “You spoke with her before she was killed?”
“I don’t think it’s the same woman. I don’t think she had time to get down there where she was hit.”
“That is strange,” Tammy said.
About a minute later Brannon stepped back over to us.
“What did you find out?” I asked.
“The woman’s name was Haley.” He looked almost as if he hadn’t wanted to tell me.
I shook my head. “How is that possible? I guess she just ran, but I would have thought she would have gotten further if she ran.”
“Maybe she ran at first, but then stopped somewhere along the way,” Brannon said. “Maybe to talk to someone?”
“I guess, but the only thing open was the tavern. Did you see her in the tavern, Tammy?”
“There are a lot of women fitting that description in the tavern. Jeans and a yellow and white sweater?”
“That’s the one,” I said.
“Didn’t see her,” Tammy said.
“I guess we’ll never know what happened,” I said.
Chapter 11
People had gone back into the buildings now and the police had cleared the scene. It looked as if nothing had ever happened. It was back to the same old Devil’s Moon. Of course, I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened. I supposed it was still fresh on everyone’s minds at the moment. Another reason I couldn’t stop thinking about it was because I knew I’d seen that woman. I wasn’t sure why she had come to me, but nevertheless, she had been standing right there at the cemetery talking with me.
We were back at the tavern now. Business had slowed down now because of what had happened. Tammy sat with Brannon and me at a table by the door. I had my usual Diet Coke while Tammy and Brannon had water. I needed something with fizzy carbonated goodness.
“I still can’t believe that the ghost appeared to me at the cemetery,” I said before taking a drink.
“Well, it’s no surprise to me because you see them everywhere. She probably knew that and that’s why she found you,” Tammy said.
“I wonder if she wanted something specific or if she was just there to talk,” I said.
“She was probably confused,” Brannon said.
“It’s just terrible,” I said. “I wish there is something we could have done.”
“Now we have to make sure that the person who drove off is caught,” Brannon said.
“They can’t just take off like that and not help her,” Tammy said.
“We’ll do everything we can to find that person,” Brannon said.
“Let me know if you need my help,” I said.
He smiled. “Oh, no, the amateur sleuth is at it again.”
Tammy laughed.
I pointed. “Make fun if you want. But you have to admit my track record’s pretty good.”
Tammy opened her mouth to speak.
I held my hand up. “And don’t say I got lucky.”
“So what about our trip this weekend?” Tammy asked, changing the subject.
We had planned to visit Nashville to finalize the purchase of a museum full of items from all around the country that were haunted. Brannon and I had decided to take the plunge and buy the place. I had no idea why we’d done it. People probably thought we were crazy. Nonetheless, we’d decided to go for it. We already had someone else who would help take care of the place since we didn’t live in Nashville, but we’d also make the trip often to give some of the tours ourselves, plus take care of the overall running of the business. It was an exciting time.
“Everything’s still on,” I said.
“I can’t believe you all bought the place,” Tammy said.
“Some things are meant to be. It’s almost as if fate stepped in and wanted us to buy the place,” Brannon said with a wink.
“I suppose so,” Tammy said.
Brannon was telling Tammy about some of the items in the museum and I was sipping on my Diet Coke when I noticed movement at the front of the tavern. The movement came from outside the big window. It was the woman from the cemetery. The one who had spoken with me. The ghost.
The woman who had been hit by a car just a short time ago was standing at the window and she wasn’t alone. The ghost that I’d seen earlier at the tavern was beside her. They both stared into the window at me. I sat there in shock, not sure what to say. Thank goodness I hadn’t dropped my drink. Apparently, no one else had spotted the two. Maybe they couldn’t see them. Was I the only one who could see them? Finally, I managed to point toward the window. Still, I couldn’t speak. The ghosts still stared at me.
“What is it?” Tammy asked.
“The ghosts,” I said, still pointing.
Although now the ghosts had disappeared right before my eyes.
“You see more ghosts?” she asked with a bit of panic in her voice.
“Well, I don’t see them now.” I looked at Brannon. “Did you see them?”
“Sorry, Rip, I didn’t see them, but I wasn’t paying attention. Who was it? Do you know?”
“The woman who was hit,” I said.
“Again?” Tammy said.
“Yes, again. I think she wants my attention.”
“Who was the other ghost?” Brannon asked.
“I’m not sure. It was the man I saw here earlier. He was in the other room.”
“Oh, no,” Tammy said. “Now I’m going to have to deal with ghosts here as well as the library.”
“Well, the ghosts have always been here. I guess they’ll just be more active now,” I said.
“Perfect,” she said sarcastically. “That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I wish I had better news for you.”
“I think it’s time that I got out of here anyway,” Tammy said. “It’s slow and they can handle it without me.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” I said. “I’m ready to go home too.”
“I can drive you both,” Brannon offered.
Usually I walked home because most of the time Brannon had to work, but tonight I really didn’t want to do that. I was glad that he had offered the ride. After waiting by the door for Tammy to get her stuff, we headed outside and toward Brannon’s car. I was on the lookout for the ghosts, but so far there was no sign of them. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t pop up at any moment now. Ghosts had a way of doing that kind of stuff. I wished they had some sort of announcement they could make to warn me first.
After dropping Tammy off at her house, Brannon pulled up in front of my place. Yes, I knew that was spooky. It was such a pretty place though and I’d wanted to bring it back to life. It was just such a piece of history, I hated to see it fall apart like that. Little by little I was fixing it up. I thought I’d made pretty good progress with the help of Brannon, my parents, and other friends. I’d even had people from the library come by to help me paint.
Yes, it was definitely haunted, but then so was every other place in my life. It wasn’t too bad though, just the usual footsteps, banging and slamming doors. I’d seen ghosts here and there, but for the most part
, they left me alone. I was thankful for that. I could never quite let my guard down though. I was always prepared to see a ghost at any moment. But I’d learned to deal with them pretty well.
Brannon shut off the car and jumped out to open the door for me. That was so sweet. He was one of the most caring people I knew.
“Come inside and I’ll make us something to eat. I know you have to be starving because I am too,” I said as I got out of the car.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Brannon said.
After dinner, Brannon and I watched a little bit of TV. He had to finish up some work, so he had gone back to his place. Now I was in bed. Wearing my cozy pajamas, I was all tucked in and exhausted after the long day. I had finally drifted off to sleep when I felt something tug on my foot. I thought maybe I was dreaming. Maybe I was back at home with my parents as a teenager again with the cat playing with my foot like he used to do. But then I realized I wasn’t at my parents. I was at my house and I didn’t have a cat. Not here at least. Jane Austen was back at the library. I was almost positive. No, I knew for sure I hadn’t brought her home with me. I opened my eyes.
Haley stood at the foot of the bed. I knew she had reached out and tugged on my foot. Now she watched me. I jumped back in the bed, pulling the covers up close to me.
“What do you want?” I asked.
She didn’t say anything. Instead, she just turned and ran right out the door. My heart beat faster as I contemplated just hiding under the covers. But then I knew I had to confront her. I had to know what she wanted, why she had followed me home. There had to be a reason why she was trying to contact me. Maybe she wanted me to find out who’d done this to her? I jumped out of bed and raced over to the bedroom door.
I paused before stepping out of the room. What if she was waiting in the hallway for me? Oh, I hoped she didn’t grab me. She had seemed nice, but maybe she wasn’t nice. Maybe that had been an act. She could trick me. With my heart still beating fast, I peeked around the edge of the door. Whew. She wasn’t there. I feared she might be hiding somewhere though. I tiptoed out of the room. One of the floorboards squeaked and I stopped. Now I needed to remind myself why I’d bought such a spooky house.
I decided to check downstairs first. I wasn’t quite sure why, but I got the suspicion that she had moved down the stairs. I supposed I sensed that she had gone that way. Inch by inch I moved down the stairs with my heart beating faster with each step. I should be used to seeing ghosts, but it never got easier. I never knew when one might turn on me.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I paused and peered to my right. I had a clear view right into the living room. Haley sat on the sofa just staring straight ahead. I had no idea if she realized I was watching her. She was just sitting there as if I had invited her in for a chitchat. Maybe she really was waiting to talk to me. Should I try to speak to her? I could again ask her why she was here.
She had run away before when I asked, so maybe I had scared her. Who could blame me for being a bit panicked though? She had scared me too. I eased over toward the living room. Did I want to scare her away or did I want her to stick around long enough to get answers from her? I had to decide soon.
I tiptoed across the hallway from the bottom of the staircase over to the door to the living room. She was still looking straight ahead. This was so creepy. What would I say to her? Hello? How are you? Why are you in my house? Did she know she was a ghost? Brannon was probably right: she was just confused.
I stood at the doorway staring at her for several seconds. I was just about to speak when she turned and looked at me. I gasped a little, but luckily, I didn’t scream out. Any movement might set her in motion.
Finally, I got up enough nerve and asked, “Who are you? Why are you here?”
Of course, she didn’t answer. Instead, she just kept staring. This was really creeping me out.
“You have to leave my house. You have to go.” I gestured toward the front door.
Why had I gestured? It wasn’t like she’d actually walk through the front door in the first place. I held out little hope that she would leave just because I’d told her to go.
She stood from the sofa. I moved backward to put distance between us. Was she coming after me? Should I run out of the house now? Maybe then she’d just run after me. I wasn’t exactly the fastest runner either. Maybe I could jump in the car and drive away. Where were my keys? Ugh. I’d left them in the kitchen. Oh, well. If she could pop up in my house, then she could pop up in my car too.
As she walked toward me, I kept moving back. Slowly, step by step, she kept advancing toward me. My back was pressed against the wall now. I had nowhere else to go unless I bolted up the stairs or out the front door. My heart beat loudly in my ears. My breathing was labored now. I might faint before she even reached me. She was only a couple steps away now. I screamed and closed my eyes.
What would she do to me? Seconds passed and nothing happened. She hadn’t attacked me. I opened my eyes. She was nowhere in sight. Gone. I released a deep breath. I’d escaped this time, but was she just waiting nearby for me? I peeked over just a bit into the room to the left of the foyer. I scanned the room. No sign of her there. I eased across the foyer and peered into the living room. She wasn’t there either. Whew. Maybe she was gone for now. I had a feeling she would return soon though.
Now that my nerves had settled down some, I decided to check the rest of the house. I just had to look in the kitchen and upstairs bedrooms. After searching each room, she was nowhere around. Now what would I do? I headed back to my bedroom, glancing over my shoulder every few steps to see if she had returned. Still no sign of her.
All was quiet in the house and it seemed as if things had settled down, so I supposed I would just go back to bed. How would I sleep though? I had a little night light in my room. Sometimes I turned it on to keep me from being scared in the dark like I was a small child. Under the circumstances, I felt that light was totally necessary right now.
I settled under the covers again. I didn’t close my eyes though. I checked the time on my phone. Two in the morning. I supposed I shouldn’t call Brannon and wake him up just to tell him I’d seen a ghost. That was nothing new.
*
Sunlight splashed across the room. I opened my eyes. The ghost wasn’t at the foot of my bed. I wasn’t sure how long it had taken for me to fall asleep again. Thank goodness I’d managed to get a few more hours though. No more sightings of the ghost. The sun streaming through the window had woken me this time and not the ghost.
I checked the time. Eight a.m. Oh, no. I was going to be late. I jumped out of bed and almost tripped on my way to the closet. I glanced back to see what had almost caused my fall. A book was in the middle of the floor. I knew for sure that I hadn’t put it there. It hadn’t been there when I went to bed last night. How had it got there? I reached down and picked up the book. A book about ghosts? This sent a chill down my spine. Who had been in my room?
Chapter 12
Brannon, Tammy, and I made the road trip to Nashville. We had just rolled into town and headed over to the new place. A few days ago, we had signed the papers and now we were ready to start operations for the museum. The place was in an old Federal-style house built in 1851. We had purchased the place with all the haunted items included. There was everything from haunted dolls to haunted clothing and anything in between. I believed somewhere in all of this was a haunted toilet seat cover. I had no idea the story behind that, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
Nevertheless, we were excited about this new adventure. I had no idea where it would take us or how it would work out, but I was excited to find out. What could possibly go wrong with a haunted museum, right?
“I’m still scared about this,” Tammy said. “Are we really going into a building that has all kinds of haunted items? That’s just asking for trouble, right? And other people are going to pay for this?”
“That’s the plan. Some people love seeing spooky stuff,” I sa
id. “Things are locked away so I don’t think any ghosts can get to you.”
“You don’t think?” she asked in a loud voice.
I looked over at Brannon. He grimaced because he knew that we couldn’t give Tammy any guarantees. That was why people had to agree to a disclaimer when they came into the museum. There was no guarantee that the ghosts wouldn’t follow them home and nothing would happen while they were in the museum. This was scary stuff. Yet Brannon and I were doing it.
We grew closer to the house. Just a couple more blocks and we’d be there. Butterflies danced in my stomach.
“That car is following awfully close,” Brannon said.
I glanced in the rearview mirror and spotted the car right behind us. There was a man behind the wheel. He wasn’t alone in the car. I couldn’t believe my eyes, The woman in the passenger seat… I knew her. I would recognize her anywhere. Even though they were in the car behind us I still could see her face in my dreams. The ghost.
“The ghost is back there,” I said.
“What do you mean?” Brannon said.
Tammy looked to the left and to the right as if I meant the ghost was sitting beside her in the back seat.
“No, the ghost is in the car behind us,” I said.
Brannon looked in the rearview mirror. “I don’t see anything.”
“Well, apparently, the driver doesn’t know he has a ghost along for the ride.”
Tammy turned around in the seat. “He is following close but just like Brannon, I don’t see a ghost.”
“Well, trust me, the ghost is there,” I said.
“I’m going to pull over and see if this guy stops too. At the very least I’ll let him go by so that he stops tailgating,” Brannon said.
Brannon pulled over to the side of the road. We all watched as the car drove on by. The guy behind the wheel looked over at us. He had dark hair and close-set eyes. He appeared to have a thin build, but that was about all I could make out about his appearance since he was in the car. The ghost was not there this time. Now I was wondering if I had really seen her at all or if my mind was just playing tricks. I had been stressed lately, I supposed, with buying this new place and all. Maybe I needed to take a spa day and relax. There had been no time to relax with all of this stuff on my calendar.
