by Rose Pressey
“I know she was there before,” I said around a sigh.
“I believe you,” Brannon said.
“Me too,” Tammy said.
Why would she be in that car? As much as I wanted to come up with an explanation, in reality, I had no idea. Too bad I hadn’t thought to get the license plate number. I’d been so worked up over seeing the ghost and then not seeing her that I hadn’t even thought about the license plate number.
“I guess we’re just lucky that she wasn’t in the car with us,” I said.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Tammy said. “I wouldn’t want that at all. Wait a minute. You think she could get in the car with us?”
I stared at Tammy.
“Oh, no. You do think that. Oh, great,” Tammy said. “Of course she could get in the car with us. What was I thinking?”
I hated to remind her that yes, if the ghost could pop up at my house then she could definitely pop up in the car. After all, she’d been in that other car I’d just seen.
“Well, she’s not here and we’re almost at the museum, so let’s get going and not worry about that. She will probably never come around again,” I said.
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Tammy said.
Of course I was just saying it to make her feel better. But that was neither here nor there. Brannon pulled away from the curb and we made it the remaining few blocks with no other signs of the car that had been following us or the ghost riding along.
Brannon pulled up at the curb in front of the house. “This is it.”
“Just like I remember it,” Tammy said.
“It is a gorgeous place, isn’t it?” I said, beaming with pride.
“And we’re the proud owners,” Brannon said, squeezing my hand.
“Yes, that’s us,” I said around a sigh.
“Don’t worry, Rip, things will be great,” Brannon said.
I stared at the place. His words echoed in my mind. Things would be great, I reminded myself. If I repeated that often enough maybe it would be true.
A few moments later Brannon turned off the car and we all got out. No more putting this off. Just walking up to the place gave me chills. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was scared of what might happen or just scared about taking on a business like this. Especially since we didn’t even live in the area. We would have to rely on someone to help us all the time. And that was scary all by itself.
Brannon got the keys out of his pocket and shoved them into the lock. Tammy was practically clinging onto my shirt standing behind me.
“Nothing to worry about,” I said.
“Sure, nothing to worry about,” she repeated as if by saying that it would make it all true.
Whatever made her feel better. That was the same tactic I used.
Brannon unlocked the door and pushed it open, gesturing with his hand. “Ladies first.”
I looked back at Tammy.
She shook her head. “Don’t look at me. I’m not going first.”
I inhaled and let out a deep breath. “I’ll go first.”
Once inside I realized it seemed so dark that it was as if night had fallen. All the windows were covered with dark heavy draperies—I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps we needed to change that. Then again, I guessed the dark added to the mystery and scariness of the place. That was probably another reason why people wanted to come here, because they wanted it to look scary. It was kind of like going to a haunted house. You wouldn’t want it to be full of sunshine and pretty flowers—nothing scary about all that.
I stood in the foyer and waited for the other two to join me. We looked around to the left and to the right at the double parlors on each side. The rooms were full of pedestals topped with glass display cases. The haunted items were inside.
“There are so many things,” Tammy said. “I had no idea there would be so many.”
“There is a lot of stuff,” I said in agreement.
“Haunted stuff,” Tammy said.
Yes, haunted stuff. Lots and lots of haunted stuff. The place was full of energy too. You could sense it as soon as you walked through the door.
“So what do we do now?” Tammy asked.
“Well, I suppose we can just check everything out and make sure everything is fine. And then we’ll go through the process of looking through the former owner’s papers and files to get everything inventoried.”
“Wait, this sounds like a lot of work. I thought this was just going to be fun,” Tammy said.
I laughed. “What gave you that idea?”
Tammy waved her arms. “The fact that we were going to Nashville and looking at a haunted spooky place.”
“Since when is that your idea of fun?” I asked.
“Okay, never, but I just thought we were taking a road trip.”
“Oh, you’re used to doing inventory, so we’ll have it done in no time,” I said.
“That’s true,” she said. “You know I’m only joking. I’d love to help. Kind of.”
“I can always count on you,” I said.
“Okay, you two, we need to get to work,” Brannon said.
Chapter 13
“I’m going to check out the back of the house,” Brannon said.
“Tammy and I will take a look around this room.” I pointed to the left.
No way Tammy would go alone anywhere in this house. Wherever I went she would be right there beside me like my shadow. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked her to come along. Though she would have been upset if I hadn’t invited her. My mother had politely declined the invitation.
As I stepped into the room, Tammy held onto my shirt. “Don’t leave me.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t leave. It’s just fine. Nothing will come get us.” I patted her arm.
“Oh, sure,” she said. “Why did I agree to this? The things you get me into.”
Tammy and I stepped into the room with the most display cases. They were full of weird and random items. A sliver of sunlight beamed through the crack in the drapery across the room. Dust motes floated through the air.
“Oh, that doll is staring at me,” Tammy said as she held me tighter.
“You’ve been watching that movie, haven’t you? About that Annabelle doll?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” she said.
“I told you not to watch that scary stuff.”
“Are you saying that it’s all make-believe? That none of this stuff is really haunted?”
I just stared at her.
“See, that’s my point. You know it can happen.” Tammy pointed.
“Okay, so it can happen.”
“And that movie was based on a real-life event too.”
“Yes, I heard that,” I said as I practically dragged Tammy across the room with me.
Tammy continued to clutch my shirt as I moved around the room, inspecting all the items. Nothing had changed since I had been here last. But that was a good sign. That meant that none of the ghostly activity was moving things. If something moved now while Tammy was standing here, she would freak out. She’d probably faint on the spot.
“Maybe we should go check on Brannon now,” I said.
“Sounds like a good idea,” she said. “I want to get away from that creepy doll.”
I had just turned to go back over to the entry when the sound of footsteps came from upstairs. I hadn’t seen Brannon go through the hallway that led to the staircase. So how had he got up there? There wasn’t a back staircase, at least not that I was aware of. Unless it was hidden. The squeaking of the upstairs floor sounded again.
“Oh, what was that?” Tammy asked.
“I guess Brannon went upstairs.”
“I didn’t see him go upstairs,” she said breathlessly.
“Maybe he went up while we were focused on looking at all these things. He probably slipped by and didn’t say anything,” I said.
Tammy and I stood in the foyer now. We stared up the staircase. There was no sign of Brannon. I thought I would hear him wa
lking around up there, but there was nothing. Unless he was in one spot looking at something. He’d probably make a sound in a moment. Suddenly a door slammed. At least that was what it sounded like. Tammy jumped and clutched onto my back.
Just then Brannon called out. “What are you all doing?”
I spun around. He was in the other room downstairs.
“It sounds like we have some ghostly activity upstairs.” I pointed.
“That’s it. I’m out of here.” Tammy tossed up her hands.
I grabbed her arm. “No, don’t leave. It’s fine. Nothing to be worried about, just a little friendly ghost welcoming us.”
“Yeah, welcoming us to the other dimension after they kill us and drag us over to the other side. I’m not ready to go yet. I have a lot of books to read,” Tammy said.
“We have to go up there and look around,” I said.
“Why do we have to do that?” Tammy asked.
“It could be a burglar up there.” I looked to Brannon for confirmation.
“Oh, that’s even better,” Tammy said sarcastically.
“You two stay put down here. I’ll go check it out,” Brannon said, stepping around us.
I knew it was probably better that I let him go because he was trained specifically for that kind of thing, being that he was a detective and all. He probably knew special kinds of choke holds and stuff in case there was a murderer up there. He could take them down in an instant. However, I was the type who always liked to do things myself. I really needed to learn how to let other people take control sometimes.
“All right, we’ll stay here, but if you need anything just call out and we’ll be right there,” I said.
“Gotcha,” he said.
“Yeah, we’ll be there even if I am terrified,” Tammy said as she stood a little straighter, trying to be brave.
Tammy and I stared up at the staircase, watching as Brannon made it to the top and then rounded the corner until we could no longer see him. His footsteps sounded against the floor above us. Slowly he was going from room to room. Thank goodness he was doing a thorough search. Soon we would find out that it was just noise from a friendly ghost and then we could go up there and finish our projects.
I knew Tammy was in a hurry to get out of here and I didn’t want to spend all day here either. I definitely wanted to get out before nighttime. Maybe some time I would have to stay here at night, but I wouldn’t have to do that tonight. Brannon had moved to the other side of the house now. I could tell because his footsteps sounded as if they were farther away.
A thunderous crash sounded from upstairs.
“Brannon, are you all right?” I yelled.
There was no answer. Tammy and I exchanged a frantic look. Then I took off up the stairs. She was right behind me as we raced to the second floor. I came around the corner so fast that I almost tumbled forward and Tammy almost toppled over behind me.
“Brannon,” I called out again.
Still there was no answer. I was freaking out. Where was he? Now I would have to check every room until I found him. I glanced to the right into that room. The door was open, but there was no sign of Brannon. The other four doors along the hallway were closed. I raced across the hallway to the next door and opened it up.
“Brannon,” I called out.
He wasn’t there.
“Why isn’t he answering me?” I yelled in a panic.
Tammy raced over to the next door and opened it up. “No sign of him.”
I pointed at the other door as I rushed over there, and she hurried along too.
When I opened the door, I spotted Brannon. He looked over at us with a pained expression. He was halfway between the second and the first floor. He had fallen through.
“Oh, my God. How did that happen?” Tammy yelled out.
Tammy and I raced over to Brannon.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“I’m fine, just a bit shocked, I guess. I heard you calling out, but I was in a daze and couldn’t say anything,” Brannon said.
Brannon weighed about two hundred pounds. Tammy was maybe one-fifteen and I was a little over one hundred. If the wind blew strong there was always a chance we’d be carried away. Combined, I hoped that we would be able to pull him out of there. If not, we’d have to call the fire department.
“Okay, you get one arm and I’ll get the other,” I said.
“Please don’t pretend like I’m one of those stretchy bendy toys and try to stretch my arms out,” he said.
“I can’t believe this happened. It’s not safe up here obviously,” I said as I pulled.
“We should get out of here until we get this place secured.” Tammy yanked on the other arm.
“First we have to get you out of here,” I said.
A few seconds more of pulling on him and we managed to get him out of the hole and away from the danger. That was unless other parts of the floor fell in. Had we just bought a money pit? I was beginning to get a bit anxious about that prospect.
“Where does it hurt, Brannon?” Tammy asked in a panic.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” I felt his arms, legs, and then his head.
“I’m absolutely fine,” he said. “No worries. The floor, on the other hand, not so good.”
“We should get back downstairs before something else happens,” Tammy said.
“I want to have somebody come in and look at all the floors before we do anything else, especially before we open to the public. It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen, and I don’t want anyone injured.” Brannon brushed off his clothing.
“All right, let’s get out of here,” I said.
Brannon was one hundred percent right, we had to get this place secured before anything else happened.
“I’m all for that,” Tammy said.
Tammy and I headed down the stairs with Brannon right behind us. I kept glancing back at him to make sure he was okay. Was there something sinister at work here? No, I told myself it was just an old house and it needed work. There was nothing to be worried about. But then in my mind the thought of the ghost popped up. I wasn’t sure why. There was nothing about her related to this house. I supposed I was just nervous and worried about everything.
“How about we get some pizza?” I asked.
“I could definitely use pizza,” Tammy said.
Chapter 14
We survived the museum and got out of there safely. Brannon had a few scratches and a bruise the next morning, but otherwise, he was safe. He was going to call someone today and get them over there to inspect the house. Thank goodness.
I had already arrived at the library. I hadn’t slept well so I’d decided to get up early and just come over here and get a few things done. Right now, I was the only one in the place. Well, except for Annie and Jane Austen. At least if the other ghost was there, I wasn’t aware of it.
Haley hadn’t appeared at my house last night, nor this morning. I supposed that was why I hadn’t slept well, because I kept waiting for her. Maybe she had figured out what happened to her. What if she showed up again and wanted answers? What else could I tell her other than to tell her it was an accident? There might be evidence that it was deliberate, for all I knew.
I tried my best to push thoughts of ghosts out of my mind and just get busy with work. We had a book club meeting coming up this week, plus several events for children and a book signing as well. So it was a busy week on top of all the other normal activities. I stood at the reference desk behind the computer, typing away.
My thoughts wandered though. I was still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I had managed to hold on to my job in the wake of all the craziness that seemed to surround my life. This was a librarian’s dream. Well, minus the evil spirits and stuff. Other than that, it was perfect.
I continued typing when all of a sudden it was as if the keys had a mind of their own. They were typing something other than what I wanted to type.
Good morning, Ripley. Sorry to inter
rupt your work, but I just wanted to talk to you. Doing so on the computer is much easier than the text messages. I don’t think that little screen is good for your eyes. Not that the big one is good either, but that’s neither here nor there.
“Good morning, Annie,” I said, looking around for her.
She still hadn’t appeared. I assumed she would pop up at any moment. Jane Austen was beside me on the desk licking her paws and then rubbing her face. It was her morning bath.
“Is something wrong, Annie?” I asked.
Someone was looking in the library window this morning.
“Peeking in the window?” I asked. “Who was it?”
I’m not sure who she was, but I popped up when she was looking in the window and she ran away. It was quite funny, actually. She looked back a couple times as she ran down the sidewalk and I waved at her.
I giggled. “Maybe she was just trying to find out if the library was open. She may come back. At least I hope she does if she’s a patron.”
Maybe so, but I thought she was acting strange, and you know how possessive I am over the books.
Yes, Annie was even more possessive than me, I thought.
“Maybe she’ll come back and let me know why she was watching in the windows,” I said.
Well, if she was up to no good, I hope she doesn’t come back.
I glanced over. Annie had appeared beside one of the mystery stacks. She wore her usual ivory dress with a high collar and lace detail. Her hair was pulled up into a bun with gray ringlets caressing her delicate features. Just then a couple of the assistants walked into the library.
After waving at them, I glanced over Annie. She had disappeared. I would have to talk to her more later about the strange woman. Right now, I had to get back to work. Tammy would be in soon.
A short time later, we were all busy working when one of the assistant librarians approached me.
