Old Bones (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  “You see. I am not here? Why?”

  Charles studied the sandstone and the pictures depicted there. He had seen it before in slides at conferences. Amanda recently purchased a book by an old colleague of theirs. Inside were this and the picture cave in Missouri. Charles held his tongue about the other, fearing the traveler would drag him down there, another week’s walk by his estimate. This shallow cave wasn’t open to visitors, but warnings and fences didn’t mean much to the traveler. Charles, if caught on this active site, would have some explaining to do.

  “See how the little man is challenging Red Horn’s sons. I should be there standing beside them, but I am left out.”

  Charles noted that the mural was contained within the prepared area of the sandstone. He hoped to have found remnants of the traveler’s image on the wall. But on close inspection, nothing was ever there. He examined the mural extensively before speaking to the traveler, “This is a story. A story about man and these gods. The artist had only room for one story. For example, murals of Jesus Christ don’t have Buddah in them.”

  “They aren’t gods. They died. I am here.”

  “They are to those that believed in them. I think either we haven’t found where your history has been recorded yet, or it could have been destroyed when the white men settled the west.” Charles looked at the traveler to see if he was buying what he was saying. Sensing doubt, Charles quickly added, “Perhaps something happened to your people before they could immortalize you in stone? What do you remember of your passing?”

  “I didn’t pass, I am.”

  “Sorry, I’m not being clear. When you go back and exist in your own time, what do you remember of that, for lack of a better word, life?”

  “I remember the games. Playing chunky. My people cheering.”

  Charles was vaguely familiar with the game that involved rolling a disk-shaped stone and throwing sharpened sticks at it. They gambled on these games, betting on their possessions, slaves, wives, and sometimes their lives. “Do you remember if you won the last game you played?”

  “I remember the plaza lined with people, the arrogant chief staring down at the players, issuing orders, calling foul when there was none. The others saw he was lying but could do nothing. He had no honor. He wasn’t like the one before. He had honor. He upheld the chunky rules.”

  Charles, surprised by this, asked, “You had been there before, to Cahokia?”

  “Many times for the games. To trade our pots and furs. Cahokia is big and needs what we have. We trade for what we need and leave. My tribe is from the west. The place you took my image.”

  Charles patted his pockets and found his notebook. After flipping through the pages, he opened it to reveal the sketch he had made of the traveler the day before his abduction. “This image?”

  “No, the one your woman put in her pocket. It was made of stone.”

  He was confused. Did Amanda take something from the dig? She knew better. All things needed to be recorded. A simple pot shard had more value to the team researching than it did as an ornament. “Did I see the image? Was it painted on a pot or carved in stone?”

  The traveler stared at him. “You do not know of this image?”

  “No. Was I there when she took it?”

  “Yes. I saw you there. You and the young dirt diggers. She’s your woman, how could she not share the stone with you?”

  Charles sat down on the ground. He closed his eyes and tried to remember Amanda visiting the site. They were exhuming bones from a grave mound. There was much excitement as a student came upon what looked to be another level of burials. She came out from the trailer where she had been recording his notes into the computer. Amanda had a question. He asked her to wait. Was it then?

  “We were excavating a grave mound. Was this your grave?”

  “How can I have a grave when I am a god?”

  “Was the tablet in the grave? We found a Birdman tablet from Cahokia there almost on the onset of our exploration.”

  “My people, my picture,” he said simply.

  Charles felt he needed to explain further. He gathered his thoughts and started, “You see, we had found a Birdman tablet that we, Amanda and I, are convinced came from Cahokia. But we needed to find something there of your people to connect the two sites. Amanda had this theory, ah, idea that your people were originally from Cahokia…”

  “No. She is wrong.”

  Charles felt deflated. If Amanda was right and he could prove it, she would be regarded once again at the top of their peer group. He wanted this for her. Age was creeping in, and soon they would not be considered suitable to manage active digs. They would be left to the sidelines, writing up other people’s discoveries.

  “Can you draw your image for me? It would help me to find you and show that you were not forgotten. I’m sorry I didn’t see the stone Amanda took. She is flighty and does odd things.”

  “Crazy?”

  “I wouldn’t go that far. We have a word, we call it focused. She gets fixed on an idea and doesn’t see or hear anything else until the idea is written down. She may not even know she has the tablet. She gave birth and didn’t bother to acknowledge she had done so. She was that focused on what she was writing.”

  The traveler looked at him with sympathy. He drew him away to where the ground was firm. He took out a stone knife and scratched into the ground. When he was finished he said, “This is how my people see me.”

  Charles looked down and was amazed. He expected the traveler to draw the Birdman image. Before him, drawn in the dirt was a man facing wavy lines. Charles could see the tattoo upon his chest, the earrings that were thought to depict He-who-wears-human heads-for-earrings, the horn or braid of hair falling from the side of the man’s head, massive shoulders, trim waist and long legs. One leg was behind, one leg was forward. The man was walking towards a series of three wavy lines.

  Charles pointed to the lines asking, “These lines, we normally think represent water, a river. What are they?”

  “That is the future.”

  Charles opened his mouth in amazement. Could they have been so wrong? Taking other cultures’ depiction of water to mean water here? Is this not a man but a god who squatted next to him?

  “I ask you again, dirt digger, why am I not remembered?”

  “I think in order to answer that question, He-who-walks-through-time, I must see the past more clearly. Something happened that erased your image, your people and you.”

  “Then to the past we go,” the traveler said and got up. Come, we have to return to Cahokia.

  “Why?”

  “I can take you to my time from there.”

  “That’s impossible, I can’t go back in time.”

  “You can with me,” he said. “After all, I am a god.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Mia excused herself as soon as they entered Ted’s farmhouse. “I need a shower. I have sand, well, everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised to pee sand.”

  “Dear, that falls under too much information. Audrey, can I make you a coffee?” Ted led her to the kitchen.

  Audrey set the brass tube on the table and pulled the notebook out of her pocket before sitting down. “I’d love some coffee, black and strong please.”

  Ted smiled ear to ear. “You’re going to fit in quite nicely. Why don’t you move in with us? We can have a compound of ghost hunters.”

  “I’m sure the last thing you need around here is another person.”

  “Nope, the place is big, and until we fill it with little OOBers, we have the room.”

  “I think I’ll hang on to my place and my sanity a while longer, thank you.”

  “The offer’s there. I don’t know how you can live in the city.”

  “Actually, I don’t. My parents live in one of the neighborhoods, but I live in the suburbs. I have an apartment that’s walking distance from just about everything. I would have to do too much planning to live out here in the boonies, no offence.”

&nbs
p; Ted handed her a mug of coffee. “None taken. To each their own. I fell in love with this house when we were investigating it. At that time it was furnished a bit froufrou, but I could see it had good bones.” He patted the wall. “Murphy built this place with his bare hands.”

  “Really? I knew he was killed here, but I didn’t think… amazing. How do you sleep with him roaming about?”

  “Oh he rarely comes inside. His love is the land, the woods and the barn. I regret that the renovators filled in the cellar under the place. I bet he had some gems stored down there.”

  “Gems?”

  “Tools. Can you image the labor it took to smooth the timbers in those days?”

  “A lot of hard work.”

  “Made them old before their time. Murphy was probably thirty-five when he died, but he looks much older.”

  “How is it that you can see him?” Audrey asked.

  “Mia says it’s because Murphy allows it. I’ve tried to figure out the science behind it but haven’t been able to get the math right. All I know is when I saw him for the first time in Lund…”

  “That’s where you guys found the first editions for Mike’s mom?”

  “That’s the place. I remember I was just leaving the attic when I turned around, and there he was. Now I’ve seen ghosts manifest before, mind you. I’ve seen them in person and on film. But Murphy was solid. I connected with those smiling eyes and felt that I’d been given something very special.”

  “Lucky you.”

  They heard the pounding of Mia’s feet on the stairs. She soon appeared in the kitchen dressed in a PEEPs t-shirt and Ted’s Batman boxer shorts. Audrey thought she could not be more beautiful had she on an elegant gown. Her hair was towel dried but had yet to have a comb pulled through it.

  “I smell coffee!” Mia said and accepted the mug Ted poured for her. “Do we have any cookies left?”

  Ted grabbed the R2D2 cookie jar and looked inside. “We’re in luck.” He placed it on the table.

  Mia stuck her hand in and came out with a fistful. She looked at Audrey. “Want some?”

  Audrey nodded.

  Mia slid the jar her way and sat down.

  Audrey reached in, grabbed a few cookies and looked around for something to put them on.

  Ted grinned and tossed her a napkin.

  Once they had eaten and drank their coffee, Audrey handed the tube to Ted. “See if you can open this.”

  He looked at the cylinder and fussed at the caps on either end. He jumped up and walked out of the house.

  “I made him put his tools in the barn. I didn’t think oily wrenches were too sanitary in amongst the silverware,” Mia explained.

  “Are you living here now?” Audrey asked her.

  “No. Not until we’re married. I do spend a lot of time here though. I never thought I would feel so comfortable outside of my sanctuary, but I do. Truth be known, I find my house lonely now.”

  “I hear you. Having my own apartment is nice, but I do miss the sounds and smells of my childhood home. Family is nice.”

  Ted came back in and handed her the tube, explaining, “I loosened it, but I didn’t open it yet. You found it, you should open it.”

  “Thank you, I can’t wait,” Audrey said. She stood up and twisted the top off. A faint coppery odor left the interior. Audrey reached in with two fingers and drew out a time-yellowed cloth. She unraveled it and found brown stains all over it. She smoothed it out with her hands. “It’s a child’s nightgown.”

  “And that’s a child’s blood,” Mia said.

  “Esta’s,” they both said together.

  “There’s one way to know for sure,” Mia said quietly.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Ted asked tenderly.

  “It’s not that I want to touch it, but I think I should. We can assume it’s hers, but then how did it get this way. Why was it hidden? And a hundred other questions would still need to be answered. Call this a short cut.”

  “We have time, Mia, don’t torture yourself,” Audrey said.

  “Just don’t let me fall off the chair,” she said before picking up the gown.

  The kitchen faded away and was replaced with a child’s room. Looking around, Mia saw dolls and toys befitting a young girl of Esta’s time. Mia raised her hands and her fingers were very white. There were freckles on her arms. She got out of bed and looked in the mirror. She wasn’t Esta; there was no Italian blood flowing through her veins. The young girl had red hair done up in scraps of cloth to curl it while she slept. Mia was pulling out of the vision when a movement at the window caught her eye.

  A young man crawled through. Mia, caught up in the child’s mind, found herself backing away from the dark-haired boy. She screamed, and he was upon her. Her little hands beat against him, but he was too strong. He dragged her over to the window and pulled her outside with him. He carried her down a rickety set of steps and ran down the alley. The child must have looked up because Mia could see the light from her bedroom. A woman screamed out of the window, “Police! My baby! Police!”

  She tried to scream, but the hand around her mouth tightened, and she passed out.

  Mia gasped, fighting for breath. Ted’s arms were around her, lifting her into his lap. “Breathe, baby, breathe,” he cooed.

  “What’s happening?” Audrey’s frightened voice asked, her face looming over them.

  Mia took a deep breath. She pushed the nightgown away from her and curled up in Ted’s arms and cried.

  Audrey got up and ran a clean dishtowel under the cool water of the faucet. She walked over and handed it to Ted who nodded a thank you. He placed it on Mia’s hot forehead.

  Mia stopped crying and looked over at Audrey. She saw the concern in the woman’s face. “Don’t worry, this will pass,” Mia managed. “It’s not Esta’s.”

  Audrey and Ted sat in silence, giving Mia time. Mia took the moist towel and dabbed her eyes with it. She grabbed a napkin and blew her nose, oblivious to the cookie crumbs resting on the paper.

  Audrey smiled as Mia next picked the crumbs off her face and ate them.

  “Would you like some coffee with your face?” Ted asked wryly.

  Mia giggled. “Um, sorry. That was weird. First, I was viewing, and then I was the child. This belonged to a little red-haired girl about four or five years old. She was taken from her room by a dark-haired man. He was young but strong. She screamed and tried to run to the door, but he caught her. She was dragged through the window and down a wooden stairway, perhaps a fire escape. He ran down the alley, carrying the child as the girl’s mother screamed for the police. He put his hand over her mouth and nose to stop her screaming. She must have passed out. That’s how I was able to escape the vision,” she explained. “I could try again later…”

  “NO!” Audrey and Ted said at the same time.

  “You weren’t breathing, Minnie Mouse,” Ted explained. “It’s too dangerous.”

  Audrey carefully rolled the gown back up and reinserted it in the tube. “Aside from my and Mia’s DNA, there might be evidence on this…”

  “Whomever took her is long dead, Audrey,” Mia said sadly.

  “What if they never found her body? What if she is stuck, like Esta?”

  “If so, we’ll find her. I’m getting an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach that these girls weren’t the only ones…” Mia started to say.

  “Ladies, let’s not let our imaginations run away with us. Let’s read the notebook. Giuseppe had to have some reason for hiding the nightgown in the newel post. I’m sure it will tell us.”

  Audrey unwrapped the book and gently turned the pages. She frowned and set the book down. “Unless one of you reads Italian, then the notebook will have to wait. Aside from some drawings and measurements, I can’t make out what it says.”

  “Bummer,” Mia said and then her face lit up. “Ralph reads Italian!”

  “I guess we should head back into town then,” Ted said. “Audrey, if you need to use the faciliti
es, be my guest. I’ll throw some water on my face. Let’s stop on the way for some…”

  “Pulled pork and cucumber salad,” Mia filled in. “I know just the place.”

  “You are getting dressed first,” Ted ordered in an asking kind of voice.

  “Yes, I’ll beat the sand off my pants and be ready in five.” Mia scooted by him in the hall and ran up the stairs.

  Audrey gathered the book and the tube. She walked outside and waited for the others on the porch. The sun had set, and the yard was filled with fireflies. She was mesmerized by the tiny lights.

  Mia stepped out and put an arm around Audrey. “Look at all those lights. And listen to the crickets. Do you know that until quite recently there were no insects here. No birds singing, no wildlife. That all changed when PEEPs came.”

  “You’re happy they did, aren’t you?”

  “More than I could express,” Mia said. “Come on, let’s get in the van. Ted will be along soon. Burt called, and he’s giving him a full report.”

  “Shit, it slipped my mind in all the excitement,” Audrey said. “So much to remember…”

  “Don’t sweat it, we didn’t call him either. Ted has a way of explaining things. We’ll soon be out of the doghouse. Maybe you should call your parents though.”

  “Crap on toast! I forgot.”

  Mia snickered and explained, “Crap on toast is what Burt called my breakfasts when we were first together. ‘Hey, Mia, are we going to Denny’s, or are we having crap on toast?’”

  “Most girls would have been put off by that,” Audrey observed.

  “Nah, it was true. I’m getting better now. A little char on pork sausages is one thing, serving what resembles a finger dug up from Pompeii is another. I can now actually eat what I’ve cooked without peril. Cid’s taught me a lot.”

  Audrey pulled out her phone and excused herself. While she waited for her dad to pick up, she pondered why she felt jealous when Mia mentioned her and Burt.

  ~

  Cid was waiting for them at the gate. They pulled the van carefully over the curb and across the parish house’s side yard. Once he had secured the gate, he helped Mia carry over the large, hot foil containers and bags.