by Terri Reid
“Look, I can appreciate your need for a good show, but I don’t…” she paused and sighed when she saw the ghost materialize through the wall of her office. She was a black woman in her forties, but she was dressed in clothing that would have been current in the eighties. The ghost glided across the floor and made her way to the man sitting across from her, then placed her hand on his shoulder.
Dee shivered and looked over his shoulder. “This place is drafty, right?” he asked.
Mary smiled and nodded. “Sometimes,” she said. “And sometimes more than others.”
Chapter Four
“You’re going to do what?” Bradley asked incredulously.
“I’m going to be a guest on Ghost Discoverers,” she replied, trying to sound happy about the ordeal.
“Iffen I’m not mistaken, aren’t those the fellas what scream at ghosts to manifest themselves,” Stanley asked, “and then scream like little girls iffen the ghosts do what they want?”
Mary nodded. “Yes, those are the ones,” she admitted. “They’re not really what I would call…” She paused to think of the right word.
“Sane?” Bradley suggested.
“Smart?” Stanley inserted.
“Ugly?” Rosie suggested, and when all their eyes turned questioningly to her, she stammered, “Well, have you seen them? Very good looking men.”
“Ain’t nothing but girlie men,” Stanley muttered. “Screaming at the sight of a ghost.”
“Well, Stanley,” Rosie said, patting his arm. “Not everyone has the insight we have because of Mary. For some people, ghosts can actually be frightening.”
“Iffen you’re afraid of them, then you shouldn’t be making it your business to hunt ‘em down,” he said. “And you sure shouldn’t be recording it so everyone and their brother can see you making a gall-darn fool of yourself on television.”
“Be that as it may,” Mary said, “I’m going to be on the show. So hopefully I don’t make a gall-darn fool of myself.”
Stanley chuckled and shook his head. “No, Missy, there’s no worry about that,” he said. “But standing next to you, those fellas are gonna look stupider than they’ve ever looked afore.”
Bradley folded his arms over his chest and met Mary’s eyes. “And now you’re going to tell us the real reason you’re doing this?” he asked.
She smiled at him. “Well, when Dee Westin, their camera man, was in my office, a ghost appeared and came over to him,” she said. “They were obviously connected. So…”
“So you need to work with him in order to help her,” Bradley said.
“Pretty much,” Mary replied.
“Um, dear,” Rosie said tentatively. “I don’t want to seem rude or anything, but don’t you think you ought to change into something more…”
“Uncomfortable?” Mary suggested with a grin.
“Presentable,” Rosie said with a slight wince. She reached over and placed her hand on Mary’s arm. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”
Mary’s smile widened. “Rosie, you didn’t hurt my feelings at all,” she said. “I’m going to change now before I meet with them again.”
“What do you mean ‘I’?” Stanley asked. “Iffen you’re gonna to be a star, we’re all gonna be stars. We’re a team.”
“Yeah, I’ll just step away from the team for now,” Bradley said, winking at Mary and taking a small step away from the group. “I’ll be the security detail.”
Mary shook her head at him. “My hero,” she quipped.
Bradley nodded, his grin spreading. “Anything for you.”
She looked over at Stanley and Rosie, staring expectantly at her. “Well, they’re going to be here in about an hour,” she said. “So, both of you had better go get changed so you can be on television.”
“Really?” Rosie asked, her eyes sparkling.
“Of course,” Mary replied. “We’re a team.”
Stanley sucked in a deep breath and puffed out his chest. “We’ll show ‘em what real ghost investigators do to handle a job,” he said. “Girlie men.”
“Stanley, you need to be nice to them,” Rosie said. “If you’re not, we might end up on the cutting room floor.” She smiled at Mary, obviously pleased with herself. “That’s television talk you know.”
Mary chuckled. “Thank you, Rosie,” she said. “Now hurry, change and get back here. I don’t want you to miss anything.”
They hurried each other out of the house, chatting excitedly the whole time. Finally, the door closed behind them, and the house was filled with silence. Mary turned to Bradley and shook her head. “Well come on, hero,” she said. “You can help me pick out something to wear that’s slimming.”
She started towards the stairs with Bradley following.
“You know what they say about being on television,” he said matter-of-factly. “That it adds ten pounds.”
She stopped halfway up the stairs and turned back to him. “That wasn’t being helpful,” she replied. “Not helpful at all.”
Chapter Five
“Sure. I heard of Midnight Mary,” Stanley said, sitting back in his chair and puffing out his chest importantly. “Matter of fact, I’ve seen her myself.”
“What? You’ve actually seen her?” the young, blonde man, Sven Mendelsohn, the star and lead investigator of Ghost Discoverers, leaned forward in his chair. “You’ve actually seen a ghost?”
Nodding, Stanley leaned towards Sven and lowered his voice. “I got about three feet away from her,” he said, and then he paused dramatically. “And then she disappeared.”
“Right in front of your eyes?” Sven asked excitedly.
“Right in front of my own two eyes,” Stanley assured him. “Course, it was a few years back now.”
“And he might have been out drinking with the boys,” Rosie whispered to Mary.
“But I saw her as clear as day,” Stanley said. Then he stopped to think. “Of course, it was night, so it wasn’t as clear as day, because it was night. But it was clear. Real clear.”
“As clear as mud,” Rosie whispered again.
Mary bit back a chuckle and then turned to Dee. “What’s the story about Midnight Mary?” she asked.
“Well, supposedly she is the mother of a World War II soldier who died overseas,” he explained. “She never believed he had died, so for the rest of her life she would always meet the train when it came into town, always believing her son would step off and they would be reunited. The people in town just thought she was a little crazy. But then, after she died, there were numerous reports of people seeing her at night, dressed in her black coat and hat, waiting at the train depot.”
“That’s so sad,” Mary said.
Sven turned to her. “It’s not sad,” he said. “It’s creepy. She’s a ghost. It’s creepy.”
Mary shook her head. “No, she’s a mother with a broken heart,” she replied. “A devoted mother who couldn’t bear a life without her son.”
Sven didn’t try to disguise his impatience with Mary’s comment. “She’s a ghost,” he said sharply. “Not a human. She is specter, a ghoul, a phantom. Humans need to fear ghosts, not feel sorry for them.”
“Um, where do you think ghosts come from?” Mary asked.
He just stared at her for a moment, confused by the question. “I don’t know, ghost world?” he said sarcastically. “All I care about is tracking them down and capturing them on video.”
“Kind of like an after-life safari,” Bradley inserted. “But instead of shooting animals, you’re going for ghosts.”
Sven smiled and nodded. “Yeah, exactly,” he said. “I like that description. I’m like a hunter in Africa, searching for and capturing elusive spirits.”
“And, if you don’t mind me asking,” Mary inserted, “how many of these elusive spirits have you captured?”
Sven leaned back in his chair and sent Mary a self-satisfied smile. “Well, it’s actually a well-guarded, trade secret,” he boasted. “But, to-date, we have captured more images than a
ny of the other ghost shows. And, although I don’t like to brag, I believe our success is due to my sixth sense.” He lowered his voice. “I can feel them when they’re around.”
Suddenly the ghost that had appeared in her office earlier that day, materialized behind Sven’s chair. She rolled her eyes and turned to Mary. “Don’t believe a word he says,” she laughed. “He wouldn’t know a ghost if it hit him upside his head.” And then she whacked Sven on the side of his head with her hand. The ghostly hand moved through his head and continued out the other side. “Sixth sense my ass.”
Mary looked back to Sven who was oblivious to the ghost and her actions. “A psychic sixth sense,” she repeated, swallowing her laughter. “That is impressive.”
Sven shrugged. “Well, you know, I was born with it.”
Chuckling, the ghost moved away from Sven and floated from the living room towards the kitchen.
“Excuse me,” Mary said, pushing herself up and following the ghost into the kitchen. “I’ll be right back.” She followed the ghost into the kitchen, and once she was hidden from view, turned to the spirit. “Hello,” she whispered. “I’m Mary.”
“Can you help me?” the ghost asked. “I mean really help me, not play games like those fools do.”
“I can try,” Mary replied. “What do you want me to do?”
“I need you to find out who’s trying to murder my son,” she said.
“What?” Mary asked.
“Someone’s trying to murder, Dee,” she said. “And you’ve got to stop them.”
“But how do you know?” Mary asked.
“I’m Gwen Westin, his mother,” she stated firmly as she started to fade away. “A mother knows these things.”
Chapter Six
“Hey, are you okay?” Bradley asked from behind Mary.
She jumped and spun around, her hand on her heart. “Oh, you scared the heck out of me.”
He stepped over and put his arms around her. “Sorry,” he said, holding her close for a moment. “I’ll walk louder next time.”
She smiled and punched his chest lightly. “See that you do,” she replied.
He leaned back and looked down on her. “So, what’s up?”
“Well, someone’s trying to murder Dee,” she replied flatly, her face a study of concentration. “But I don’t get it.”
Dee was a nice guy, Mary thought, and he seemed like he had a basic, if not unusual job. And, he was from California, not Freeport. Why would he be threatened all the way across the country?
Bradley watched her concentrate as she tried to puzzle it through. He tried to wait patiently, but after a few moments, he decided he really needed to be brought up to speed on a potential murder case. “How about we start at the beginning,” he said. “How do you know someone’s trying to murder Dee?”
She shook her head distractedly, still caught up in her thoughts. “Oh. His mom told me,” she said absently.
“Did she call you?” Bradley asked after another silent moment had passed.
Pulling herself fully back, she realized that Bradley was still waiting for an answer, and she smiled up at him. “Sorry, no, I guess I was kind of lost in my own musings,” she replied. “Dee’s mother is the ghost that appeared to me when he was in my office. She just appeared here and told me that she needed my help protecting her son.”
“Well, that’s a different take on things,” Bradley said. “A ghost hiring you to protect a human.”
She nodded. “I know,” she said. “And there are so many questions. Does Dee know he’s in trouble? Have there already been attempts? Do the other people in the crew know about it?”
Bradley smiled. “I can see why you were lost in your thoughts,” he said. “Why don’t we go back in the living room and see if we can subtly get some answers.”
She smiled. “I like subtle,” she replied.
They walked back in and sat next to each other on the couch, listening to Sven tell another story about his amazing relationship with the spirit world. As Sven paused to take a breath, Bradley took the opportunity to jump into the conversation.
“I just need to ask a question here,” he said, his brow slightly furrowed as he looked at Sven and Dee. “Is there any danger associated with what you are planning to do?” He put his arm around Mary’s shoulders and smiled down at her for a moment, then turned back to the men. “As you can imagine, I want to make sure nothing is happening that could put Mary into any kind of compromising situation.”
“I don’t get it,” Svan said. “How could there be danger?”
“Well, if you are tracking the ghost of someone that was murdered and you found out who the murderer was, it could present a danger,” Mary suggested.
Eyes wide, Sven turned to Dee. “How would we do that?” he asked.
Stanley stared at the two ghost hunters. “Well, iffen you communicate with the ghost…” he began.
“Ghosts don’t communicate like that,” Sven said, interrupting. “They communicate through electronic means. It’s not like they could talk to us.”
Stanley looked at Mary and then back at the men. He started to say something, but this time Mary interrupted him.
“You’ve never had an incident that placed any of you or your crew in danger?” she asked.
Dee shrugged. “No, not really,” he said. “We’re rated as a family show, so we’ve got to keep the intrigue and fright factor at about a PG or PG-13 level. When I’m editing, I always keep that in mind.”
“So, nothing dangerous or threatening,” Bradley repeated.
“Hey, if you’re that worried about your lady, you can be on set with us,” Sven offered.
Bradley met Sven’s eyes and nodded slowly. “Thanks, I’m going to take you up on that,” he replied.
Dee laughed. “Yeah, and then you can see for yourself how tedious ghost hunting can really be,” he said. “Nothing dangerous about this job. Nothing at all.”
Mary sighed softly. They weren’t going to get any further going down this line of questioning. “Okay,” she said, slapping her hands together. “When do we start?”
“The rest of the crew get into Freeport tomorrow,” Dee answered. “So we were hoping to get some footage at the train depot tomorrow night.”
Mary nodded. “Do you want the rest of us to meet you there?” she asked.
“The rest of you?” Dee asked.
“Iffen you can’t see we’re all part of a highly coordinated, well-oiled machine of a team, you ain’t been looking,” Stanley inserted.
Dee looked from Stanley to Mary and then finally to Rosie who wagged her fingers at him in a cute wave. He turned to Mary. “A team?” he asked.
Mary grinned. “Well-oiled,” she replied.
He smiled back and nodded. “Okay, well, if it works for you, I’d like to get some footage of just Mary in her office,” he said. “And then the rest of you can join us at the depot at six-thirty tomorrow night.”
“Is there gonna be food?” Stanley asked.
“Food?” Dee questioned.
“Yeah,” Stanley said. “You know, those tables filled with food on movie sets. The catering folks. Any real shoot has food.”
Perplexed, Dee looked from Stanley to Mary and then shrugged. “I can order pizzas,” he finally suggested.
“That works just fine, young man,” Stanley agreed with a smile. “Works just fine.”
Chapter Seven
“Thanks for letting me meet with you,” Dee said as he set up the camera equipment in Mary’s office. He glanced around the room, empty except for the two of them and grinned. “Especially for letting me meet with you alone.”
Mary smiled back. “Well, Stanley can be a bit…,” she paused and chewed on her lower lip as she tried to think of the right word.
“Overwhelming?” Dee suggested with a chuckle.
Nodding, Mary smiled. “Yes, that’s a good word,” she said. “But he has a heart of gold and would do anything for you.”
Dee stopp
ed adjusting the camera and turned to face Mary. “That’s really nice,” he said. “It’s nice to have people like that around you. Family.”
Now’s my chance, Mary thought.
“So, do you have any family?” she asked.
Dee shrugged. “Not really,” he said. “My dad died when I was young, and my mom…” He paused and took a deep breath, reining in his emotions. “My mom died a year ago.”
“You miss her?”
“Yeah, every day,” he said, nodding. “She totally believed in me.” He paused for a moment. “She actually believed in me more than I believed in me.”
“Yeah, moms are great that way,” she said.
“She was,” he said. “It’s weird, and I’m so not claiming to have Sven’s sixth sense or anything, but sometimes I can almost feel like she’s nearby.”
Mary watched as Dee’s mother, Gwen, appeared next to him and smiled.
“Maybe not so weird,” Mary said. “Why wouldn’t the people who loved us all of our lives want to check in and make sure we’re okay. Especially a mom.”
“So, you really believe in all of this life after death stuff?” he asked.
“I have to,” she said.
“What? Why?” he asked.
“I was dead once,” she replied.
She told him the story about her near-death experience after she’d been shot.
“So, you chose to come back,” he replied, shaking his head. “How come?”
“Because of family,” she replied simply. “They still needed me.”
“So, what changed?” he asked. “What’s the change that happened?”
Mary was silent for a moment, studying Dee and wondering just how he would take her next statement. Well, if he does this for a living, he has to at least be open to the idea.
“I can now see and communicate with ghosts,” she said, watching his reaction.
Now it was his turn to study her, and he did so for a few moments. Then he nodded. “Yeah, okay then,” he said and turned back to the work of setting up the cameras.
