by M J Waverly
"Hello." The lady’s voice quaked. “My name is Teresa Duncan. I am the park ranger at Thunder Mountain Park.”
Thunder Mountain Park was a five-thousand-acre park that included the mountain, Lake Elliot, and Asher River, a favorite with whitewater kayakers,
“We have a ghost. And we need help,” Teresa Duncan, park ranger said.
Seemed like I had a lead on the location of the new ghost in town.
I made arrangements to meet Teresa Duncan at Thunder Mountain Park Visitor’s Center at one o’clock. If Jason didn’t get away from the counter and customers, then I would interview the park ranger on my own.
A woman’s shrill voice rang all the way upstairs. I jumped. Somebody wasn’t happy about the repairs on their car.
Jason wouldn’t be free for a while. Looked like I would handle the initial interview with Teresa Duncan, and then I would report back.
I gathered a camera from the shelf and a notepad from the desk to interview Teresa Duncan. Heavy footfalls rushed up the stairs. I glanced up.
Cyrus rushed into the office, panting as if the effort had pushed his physical endurance. Cyrus and his boyfriend, Todd helped out with Third Eye Investigations. Recently, their photography and videotaping business had kept them busy.
“Good Morning,” I said as I placed the camera and yellow legal notepad into my messenger bag. “Want to go to Thunder Mountain Park?”
He leaned back against the door. He shook his head. “We can’t go downstairs.”
“Why not?”
Cyrus took a deep breath. "She's here."
"Who’s here?" I asked.
"It's Mandy." His eyes darkened. “Whenever and wherever she shows up, it's always bad. There's always drama."
My stomach tightened. Mandy Patterson had been Jason’s fiancé.
I plastered a smile on my face. Cyrus had a tendency to be negative. “Hey, we solve decades-old murders and help send lost spirits to the Light.” However, I understood. Cyrus didn’t know the details of my family. My Dad created emotional drama, especially since he announced he planned to move back to Cloverville with his pregnant wife to raise their child.
"Ghosts are nothing compared to Mandy. She comes with her own stage, red velvet theater curtain, and costume changes. That's the kind of drama she brings."
I walked around my desk with my messenger bag hitched on my shoulder. “I’m curious.”
Cyrus laughed. "She's won’t like you because you're the first girl Jason has shown interest in since their breakup."
"Nothing between us.” I drew my head back and tried to act as if this bit of news that Jason’s former fiancé, Mandy didn’t bother me. “We work together. It's a business relationship,” I said.
“Tell yourself that now, but I feel this thing growing between you two. I see the way you look at each other when you think the other one isn’t watching.” Cyrus smirked.
I leveled my gaze. "Weren't you the one that warned me not to have a relationship with Jason?” I sometimes didn’t get Cyrus. He always offered his opinion, even when it wasn’t wanted.
"Yeah, but maybe I was wrong.” He pivoted on his foot, opened the door, and raced downstairs as if afraid of my reaction.
My mouth dropped open. Did I scare Cyrus? Guys confused me, and I didn’t have the best track record with them. Take, for example, my relationship with my pond-scum-ex-boyfriend, Camden.
I needed to get to Thunder Mountain Park and investigate this latest ghost sighting. It could be the dark entity that Rudolph warned me about.
Downstairs in the automotive shop, everyone had disappeared. No sign of Jason, but a tense conversation drifted from the waiting room.
“Enough is enough,” Jason said.
A female voice whined.
Maybe he needed rescuing from the situation with Mandy.
I peeked around the corner into the waiting room. Jason sat next to a tall, leggy blonde. This must be Mandy. Her hair perfectly styled with salon curls. I patted my loosely-wrapped bun. The blonde definitely worked out. I sucked in my stomach and made a mental note to do sit-ups tonight. She was gorgeous, but not very smart if you ask me. How she could cheat on Jason when he was such a nice guy? Jason was nothing like Camden.
“Mandy, stop, right there. It’s over,” Jason’s voice sounded angry, but under control.
“Jason, I freaked out about the engagement. I wanted you to choose me over the Third Eye and this crazy ghost-hunting hobby.” Mandy pleaded in a whiny tone.
Jason’s face had turned beet red, and when he flicked his finger on the armrest, a small light burst emitted from the fingertip. Mandy’s purse toppled onto the ground, and the contents spilled out onto the floor.
He’d used his magic intentionally. His telekinesis was growing stronger--just like mine.
My phone dinged. Jason and Mandy turned at the same time to look at me.
I glanced down at my phone. Teresa Duncan.
When will you get here? We’re desperate.
I texted back. Leaving now.
I gazed up at Jason. “We need to go.”
His shoulders relaxed, and he turned to Mandy. "I have a meeting to attend. Like I said before, you made your choice. It’s over. ”
Mandy shot me an I-will-kill-you-glower. "Who are you?"
From her disgusted expression, she thought I wasn’t worth the dirt beneath her expensive high heels. I’d seen the same expression from receptionists when I made the screenplay agent rounds in Los Angeles. “I work here.” I pointed out to the parking lot. "Jason, I'll meet you at my truck."
Five minutes later, a flushed Mandy stormed out of the front doors of Hunsinger Automotive.
A few seconds after that, Jason yanked open the passenger side door of my truck, jumped in, and pounded the dash. "Why doesn’t she get it? It’s over.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
“No,” He growled.
“Fine.”
“Where are we going?” He shouted.
“We’re on our way to Thunder Mountain Park. A park ranger, Teresa Duncan called. They have a ghost.” I updated Jason on my dream and what Rudolph had said.
“You think this is the new evil entity?” Jason asked.
“Don’t know. Time to investigate,” I answered in a cheerful tone.
When we arrived at Thunder Mountain Park, a huge banner hung from the park’s entrance about the upcoming Thunder Mountain Harvest Festival Sponsored by Iceberg, the famous cooler company. It was in less than a week.
If an angry ghost haunted the park, then a huge festival was a bad idea.
I parked at the visitor’s center made of huge river rock and timber logs.
We walked inside and up to the information desk. “Can I help you?” A park ranger around my age asked. Sophie Aspen Lane was written on her name tag. Good name for a park ranger. I’d have to use it for a future character in one of my screenplays I’d like to set in a national park.
“We’re here to meet with Teresa Duncan,” I said.
Jason studied an animal exhibit that included owls, coyotes, and foxes. A three-dimensional topography map hung along one wall. Photographs of Thunder Mountain during the four seasons covered another wood wall.
“I will contact her.” The ranger made a call and then hung up. “She will be here in a few minutes
“Thank you. I'll be right over there.” I pointed near the canoe-shaped bookcases containing coffee mugs and nature books for sale to park visitors.
Jason stood behind me, and I caught a whiff of his herbal soap. Only inches apart, I leaned back, and my shoulder accidentally touched his arm. He steadied me. I thrilled at his touch and swallowed. “Oops, sorry,” I said.
His lips quirked up. “No problem.”
“What do you think?” I asked.
Jason glanced in the direction of the animal exhibit. “There’s so much fear . . .” His eyes clouded
“Hello.” Someone called.
We turned at the same time
. A woman around my grandmother's age in a ranger’s uniform headed toward us. Her silver hair was cut in a short bob. “You must be Sidney. I’m Teresa Duncan.” She held out her hand.
I accepted. “I’m Sidney Latimer.”
She stared directly at me. “I can see your grandmother in your eyes.” “You knew Nana?”
Ranger Duncan’s grew sad. “Yes. We were very good friends. I’m sorry for your loss.”
I rocked back on my heels in an attempt to let the wave of grief wash through me as I attempted to regain my composure. “Thank you. I miss Nana very much.”
She faced Jason. “You must be Mr. Hunsinger. I’m very impressed with your videos, and that’s why I’m hoping you can help me.”
He smiled. “We're here to help.”
“Let’s go outside, and I will explain the situation.” Ranger Duncan escorted us down a spiral staircase that led to another exhibit, and out onto a stone patio that had several paths that led in different directions. We followed her until we were on Bear Falls Trail.
“We can talk here.” Teresa Duncan took in a deep breath. “I don’t feel his presence.”
“Are you like us?” I asked in a low voice.
Teresa nodded. “Your grandmother helped me maintain the balance in the park.”
Shock hit me as if a wooden plank had smacked me upside my head. Nana had not only maintained balance with the ghosts and spirits but maintained balance at Thunder Mountain Park. I wanted to ask Ranger Duncan a thousand questions.
“What is the problem?” Jason interjected.
“In the past few days, we’ve had increasing problems with a ghost bothering hikers on the trails. Campers have reported they see a ghost flying above the trees late at night. Some have seen him hovering above their campfires. His actions grow bolder with each passing day.” Teresa wrung her hands. “I'm afraid people will be hurt. In a few days, we have the Thunder Mountain Harvest Festival. There will be hundreds of people here.”
“Can’t you cancel the festival?” I asked.
“No, I’ve been to the commissioners, and they refuse to stop it. The park listens to the Cloverville City Commission. Commissioner Smith said our community needs this after the murders at the college.
Commissioner Ralph Smith recently lost his wife, Dr. Ingrid Smith, former college administrator and my former boss. She’d been murdered by Martha Williams. Dr. Ingrid Smith hadn’t opted to depart for the Bright Side, but remain on Earth. I think she had plans to haunt her husband and his new girlfriend, Natasha Thornton, a realtor with Chapman Realty. Rumors around town claim Commissioner Ralph Smith had been having an affair with Natasha Thornton before Dr. Smith’s death.
“Anything else about the ghost, we should know about?” I removed my yellow notepad and pen from my messenger bag.
“He always appears to hikers, and he likes to push them off the trail. He’s targeting couples, especially the more romantic they act. Hikers report hearing a man laugh, or sometimes before he pushes someone, he’ll whisper, ‘honey.’”
“Honey?” I arched my eyebrow and scribbled down the information.
“He’s getting bolder. Large tree branches crash around hikers. We’ve had reports of people being hit with rocks, and some people have seen squirrels being hurled out of trees. And we’ve had more snakes in the park than ever before.” Teresa removed her hat and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. “Sometimes he takes on the shape of a bear or a man in a polar bear mascot costume in a blue velour jogging suit.”
“A bear suit?” I held my pen in mid-air.
“You know like the Iceberg Bear cooler logo.” Teresa held my gaze.
“Squirrels? Bear? Could it be a fairy? Jason asked.
“Fairy?” I stepped back. “What do you know about fairies?”
Teresa shook her head. “It’s not a fairy.”
“Elemental. Fairy. They are called by many different names,” Jason said.
Fairies. A vampire. My supernatural acquaintance list grew larger. What and who else resided in Cloverville?
Teresa nodded. “We do have fairies that live in the valley below the mountain.”
“Do you think the fairies could be behind the ghost’s reappearance?” I asked. I’d definitely talk to Jason later about the fairies. How did he know about them, and I didn’t?
With a reverent expression, Teresa flicked her gaze downwards to the valley, and the cascading Asher River. “No, they’re peaceful beings. They protect the animals, the trees, and the mountain from the darkness.”
“Do you have any idea of the hiker ghost’s identity?” Jason asked.
“I think our ghost is a gentleman who died ten years ago when he fell down into the valley,” Teresa bit her lip. “His name was George Abernathy
“I remember something about that,” Jason said.
“We’re having a full moon hike tomorrow night. Very popular with couples, and he’s bound to show up,” Teresa said. Her cell phone rang. “Excuse me, I have to take this.” She wandered a few feet away out of earshot.
Jason and I hiked a few yards down the trail, still within eyesight of Teresa.
“What do you think? I asked. “Want to hike the trail?”
“It’s two miles down.” Jason frowned. “And we have to hike back up.”
I lifted my boots. “Not exactly hiking material.”
He shook his head.
Teresa returned. “I have to return to the Visitor’s Center. I would rather keep this situation with the ghost, quiet. Why don’t you take the full moon hike, tomorrow night and see what you can do to make him stop.”
Jason and I agreed.
Back in the truck, as I drove out of the park entrance. I leaned forward and stared. I could’ve sworn I saw a squirrel riding on the back of a crow as it coasted ahead of us.
“See something?” Jason flicked a quick glance at me, and then back down at his phone, fingers flying as he texted.
I shook my head.
Tomorrow night, Jason and I would be hiking under the full moon as ghost bait. Who knows maybe I’d meet a fairy?
Chapter Three
Back at the office, Cyrus and Todd had returned from their photography session.
They unloaded cameras onto their desks and talked in whispers. I tried to ignore them as I searched the internet for information on George Abernathy’s death at Thunder Mountain Park. Jason did the same at his desk. We ignored one another.
“How did it go with Mandy?” Cyrus asked.
I cringed inwardly. Point out the one thing that shouldn’t be discussed. Cyrus needed a filter on his mouth.
“Cyrus. We weren’t going to ask,” Todd admonished.
Jason’s eyes grew hard. “She knows not to come back to the store or talk to me. End of subject.”
“Why was she here in the first place?” Cyrus pretended to write something down, not making eye contact with a glaring Jason.
“She wants to get back together.” A red-faced Jason stared at the monitor as the tension in the room grew stronger.
“Let’s talk about our current case.” I grabbed pen and paper. Writing always helped me figure out a new direction, and the conversation needed to change course. Immediately.
“You make it sound like we’re ghost detectives,” Todd said. “I guess in a way we are.”
Jason’s cell phone buzzed. He checked it “I’ve got to run downstairs. Sidney fill them in on the latest.”He departed the room, and his footfalls echoed on the stairs.
I removed my note page from my yellow legal pad, and then cleared my throat to gain Cyrus and Jason’s attention. They turned and stared at me like two lost boys from Neverland, waiting for their orders from Wendy.
“Okay. Our current client is Thunder Mountain Park, where we were contacted by the head park ranger, Teresa Duncan. She says visitors at the park have experienced various paranormal activity via a ghost in a bear suit. He changes his look, depending on his mood.”
Todd and Cyrus both laughed. “Ghost
in a bear suit?”
He’s pushing people, he’s calling them,” honey,’ and now he’s physically causing tree limbs to drop in and around hikers. Campers report rocks being thrown by a ghost. Squirrels are being hurled out of trees.”
“He’s getting more physical and violent,” Todd said.
Cyrus frowned. “Why hurl squirrels out of a tree?”
“When he lived, he was George Abernathy, an outdoor enthusiast, and inventor and manufacturer of the Iceberg Cooler. He died on his honeymoon. Currently, his wife, Barbara a.k.a. Babs Abernathy runs the business, Iceberg Coolers. I think we should interview her to make sure George hasn’t stopped by to renew their relationship
“That’s a good idea,” Cyrus said. “What about the park? Isn’t there a big festival planned in a few days.”
“My Dad has an Iceberg Cooler and loves it,” Todd said.
“Sorry, but they do make great coolers.”
“Yes, there is a festival, and that’ is why Teresa is so worried. She’s afraid George will do something to hurt someone. Jason and I attend a full moon hike offered by the park tomorrow night. I think George will make an appearance, and I can talk to him, then.”
Todd glanced down at his watch. “We’ll be there. Right now, we have to head out to the Civic Center and take photos of the commissioners rededicating a park. They want formal portraits to hang in the park and recreation building and the chamber of commerce.”
Would Commissioner Smith be there? If so, his wife, Ingrid might be hanging around to make trouble.
“Your photography business has taken off,” I said.
“It’s the YouTube channel. It’s helped with our exposure.” Todd laughed.
“Ha. Ha.” I cracked a smile.
After they left, Jason remained and worked downstairs in the automotive store, and I worked on answering comments on the YouTube channel. The afternoon passed, and I had just enough time to grab something to eat from my sister’s food truck parked at the farmer’s market on the town square.
At five o’clock, I waved goodbye to Jason. He and his father were deep in conversation, probably about car parts. The phone rang, and Jason answered.
