Gypsy Spirits

by Marianne Spitzer

  ***

  The logging road was a bumpy ride when dry and a muddy mess after a rainstorm. Three-quarters of a mile from the edge of Acorn Park sat the Logan log cabin. The cabin was a simple square oak structure measuring twenty by twenty feet. The inside was as plain as the outside. One large room held two oak bunk beds, a roughhewn oblong table with long benches on either side, a shelf to hold canned food, an archaic sink with a hand pump, and a stone fireplace. Anything that couldn’t be heated in a pot hung in the fireplace would be cooked outside on the stone grill. Three small square windows let in sunshine or moonlight.

  No one in their right mind approached the cabin uninvited. There was always too much alcohol, and too many guns to be safe. A short walk and hidden behind several oaks was an old outhouse. Although functional, it was always a concern it might collapse or blow down in a storm. No one cared enough to replace it. The guys preferred the trees.

  ***

  When Annamarie returned home from her errands, she found Daniel stuffing things into his large knapsack. She knew what that meant before she asked.

  “Will you be back from the cabin in time to have lunch with your parents tomorrow? Remember, you promised your mom two weeks ago you wouldn’t miss another Sunday lunch.”

  “Yeah, but you’re going to have to go to church alone. I don’t think I’ll make it back in time for that.”

  Annamarie wasn’t surprised. Daniel would come up with any excuse not to go to church.

  “I’ll go alone again,” she said, “but it’s not fair. We’ve been married such a short time. People will wonder why you’re never with me.”

  “Listen,” Daniel scowled. “It’s bad enough I took all those religion classes. Don’t expect me to follow you to church each Sunday like a trained puppy. I need to see what the spirits are doing. That’s most important.”

  Annamarie’s face twisted in pain when she heard Daniel bring up spirits again. She feared for his sanity if his behavior didn’t change. She walked up to him and tried to hold his hand. He pulled away.

  “I’m tired of staying home while you use spirits as an excuse to drink with your friends.”

  She tried to hug him and show him she loved him. Wrenching free, he walked away without a word.

  Throwing her keys on the table, her voice rose, “I’m getting tired of how you’re acting. Oh, by the way, your mom and dad stopped by grandpa’s house today and told me you never saw them. Where were you, and why did you lie?”

  “I have a life. If I want to see my friends I will, and I don’t need your permission.”

  “We’re supposed to have a life together.”

  “Maybe, if it wasn’t so boring.”

  “Boring?” She shouted. She hit the table with her hand. “Why did you marry me if you thought it would be so boring?”

  “Ask my mother. It was her idea. Did you think I wanted to have a wife at twenty-one?” He hollered loud enough for neighbors to hear.

  “Go, and I hope you get lost.” Annamarie sank onto the love seat, dissolving into tears.

  “Yeah okay, just hope the spirits are quiet tonight. I saw the trees moving again,” he grunted and slammed the back door behind him.

  ***

  No goodbye, no kiss to try and make up, nothing, typical Daniel. It was better than continuing the argument. Her heart breaking, his words about their marriage cut deep. What could she do now? He was off for a night of getting drunk and playing cards. He and his three friends had been tight since high school. She had no idea what he might do if she pushed him too far about staying home. When he worried about spirits, he could be uncontrollable.

  If the night were typical, before it was over, they would all see something strange in the woods. They would either come home drunk or barricade themselves in the cabin and pass out.

  He and Ben Hanson, his best friend, got each other in and out of trouble since they met in kindergarten. Ben worked at the dairy with his father. Daniel, of course, was forced to take the insurance classes his father insisted on so he could get his license. Surprisingly, he did incredibly well.

  Edwin Sanstun aka “Bulk” had picked up the nickname in high school when he played football. He planned on turning pro, but tore up his knee toward the end of senior year. That ended his career hopes. Without much talent and a lot of strength, he became the town handyman. Building storage sheds, adding siding, roofing, snow plowing, or lawn care Bulk was your man. His parents died in an auto accident a year after graduation, and Bulk refused to move to Oaklin to live with his brother. He moved in with Garret Frant.

  Garret rounded out the foursome and was a local mechanic. He could fix anything on two or four wheels. Even George trusted Garret with his cars. Annamarie knew the four would be together, and only heaven knew what they might do.

  The four guys had been in and out of all sorts of juvenile trouble since grade school. One of these days, they would drag Daniel into some problem too serious for his father and his powerful lawyer to resolve.

  ***

  She picked up the phone and called her best friend Bonnie. Annamarie was a free woman for the next eighteen hours. She could always count on Bonnie for a fun idea.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi.”

  “Annamarie, I was thinking about calling you, but worried Daniel might answer.”

  She never liked Daniel either. Annamarie wondered if anyone besides his family, friends and her cared for him.

  “The guys went up to the cabin for the night, and I’m free.”

  The thought set Bonnie off on a tangent of wild ideas. It was 1967, and they lived in a small town. There wasn’t much to do close to home.

  “You want to try and sneak into the Tangledbranch Saloon again?”

  Annamarie gasped, “Don’t you remember the last time we tried?”

  “I forgot about the Bradley brothers.”

  “We were lucky to get home in one piece.”

  “The drive-in movie theater will be full of screaming teens. It’s Saturday night,” Bonnie said.

  “We’re still teens. We could scream, too.”

  They settled on the five and dime/bookstore and a pizza at Mario’s. Bonnie was a nursing student at the community college. She was transferring to a four-year school next month to finish her studies, and Annamarie was going to miss her terribly.

  They’ve been best friends since they sat next to each other the first day of junior high. Annamarie smiled and Bonnie smiled back. The rest is history.

  They were like two peas in a pod. At least until Annamarie started working at the dairy and Bonnie began college. Their lives took different paths, but they still stayed close.

  If there were three peas in a pod, they would have had to make room for Deb. She was their voice of reason when Bonnie and Annamarie would get one of their crazy ideas. They all thought she would be a pillar of society when she grew up, and their parents loved her for her common sense. That is until high-school graduation.

  It was on Saturday evening, the tenth of June. Deb turned eighteen the next day, and her parents threw a big party to celebrate graduation and her birthday. On Monday morning, she told her parents the graduating class was meeting for a “thank goodness we’re free” party at the park. That was the first big lie she ever told her parents. A few minutes past ten, Steve picked her up. They headed for the adjoining county and eloped. The single redeeming quality, that kept her dad from killing Steve when they came home, was he was the new deputy sheriff. At least she had married an upstanding citizen. Maybe she would become a pillar of the community after all.

  Annamarie called Deb to see if she wanted to go with them. Deb was unable to go out with Annamarie and Bonnie and warned her to be careful and not get into trouble. “Yes, Ma’am,” Annamarie giggled, “We’ll be good.”

  ***

  Daniel and his friends arrived at the cabin a little after six o’clock. Leaving their sleeping bags and other necessities in the two vehicles they grabbed the beer, liquor and snacks.
Too busy horsing around and laughing, they didn’t see the eyes watching from the trees. If they had, they would have gone home or reported the incident. They didn’t see the eyes, but the eyes saw them clearly.

  Even Daniel with his sense for danger didn’t realize he was being watched. His thoughts were on drinking and fun. The usual anxiety that kept him alert was pushed to the back of his mind. The guys were ready for a wild night.

  ***

  Bonnie and Annamarie had a great time. Most people thought Timmus Woods was too small to have an enjoyable evening, but for Annamarie it was perfect. They wandered around the five and dime looking at almost everything for sale.

  Bonnie complained, “I can’t find any book I don’t already own. Let’s eat.”

  They sat down at Mario’s and began their normal disagreement over pizza toppings.

  “Annamarie, at least try anchovies, you might like them.”

  “They taste salty, and I hate fish. We’re not having those on our pizza.”

  “Okay, we’ll just have them on half.”

  “Don’t try that again. The one time we did, the entire pizza tasted like them, and I had to order another one.”

  “How are you ever going to find wonderful new tastes, if you refuse to try any?”

  “If it’s a fish, I’m sure I’ll never miss it.”

  “Okay, what should we order?”

  “What we always do, sausage and pepperoni.”

  Both girls enjoyed a nice laugh over their little disagreement and decided they would always be the same. Annamarie prayed that would be true. Oblivious of the horror about to take place ten minutes away, they continued on with their evening.

  Their pizza was delicious and their conversation lively. When Annamarie drove Bonnie home, they made a promise to do this again, at least once, before she left for college.

  It was shortly after midnight when Annamarie returned home. The house was dark and quiet. On nights like that, she always wished they had a dog to greet her, but this was Timmus Woods and nothing much ever happened. She turned on the radio for sound and began to get ready for bed.

  ***

  Annamarie wasn’t exactly sure of the time when she heard the back door open and water running in the kitchen sink, but she knew it was the middle of the night. She wondered whether to call the sheriff or hide. Then she heard Daniel’s frantic voice.

  “Annamarie, please come here.”

  Entering the kitchen she saw her husband standing by the sink covered in blood. The entire front of his white t-shirt and part of his jeans had blood on them.

  “Oh my God, what happened? Are you all right?” Forgetting how his earlier words stung, she hurried to help him.

  Daniel, pale and shaking, stared at her and said, “Ben’s dead.”

  “Dead, are you sure?” She gripped the counter to remain on her feet.

  “Yes. This is his blood,” Daniel moaned as he sunk to the floor, and began to cry.

  “I’m going to call the sheriff, you need help. Where are the other guys?”

  He reached up to grab her arm. “We all ran. Don’t call the sheriff. He can’t help. It was the spirits.”

  At this point, she was afraid for her husband’s sanity and her safety.

  She knelt down beside him. “I can call your father.”

  “No.”

  “But Daniel…”

  “I’m going to take a shower and burn my clothes.”

  “Burn your clothes, why? Did you kill Ben?” Annamarie trembled.

  “No,” he screamed. “The spirits did, and we have to get rid of the blood before they come here. They follow blood.”

  “Dear Lord,” she prayed, “Help my husband, please.”

  Not knowing what else to do, she took Daniel’s clothes outside while he showered. He joined her and lit a fire in the leaf barrel.

  “If you don’t want to call the sheriff, why don’t you call Steve?”

  “No.”

  “You and Steve Dunley have been friends for years. Even though, he’s a deputy now doesn’t mean he wouldn’t help you.”

  “I said, no!” Daniel was emphatic. She dropped the subject.

  Daniel threw his clothes into the barrel, and they watched them burn. She was thankful it was the middle of the night. She doubted anyone was awake. Someone might wonder what was going on, but then no one would ask a Logan what they were doing regardless of the time of day. They went back into the house without speaking another word.

  ***

  Daniel’s tossing and turning kept her awake much of the night, although she doubted she would have slept much in any case.

  Her mind kept whirling in different directions. Confused as to what possessed Daniel not to tell anyone what happened, she hoped Ben’s death was an accident. Annamarie knew Daniel was terrified that he would be blamed. Garret and Bulk were not exactly the trustworthy type. Given the chance, they would turn in their grandmothers to keep from getting into trouble, and going to jail.

  Still, Daniel could’ve counted on his father to be sure the authorities treated him fairly. She also knew Daniel wouldn’t hurt Ben intentionally. At least, she didn’t think he was capable of a violent act. If he had anything to do with Ben’s death and dreamed up the spirit story, there had to be a reasonable explanation. They were best friends and would have done anything for each other. They would’ve stood up for each other in any fight, and die for the other if needed.

  Ben was dead. Daniel didn’t have a scratch on him. Daniel would never hurt Ben. Annamarie hoped and prayed she was right and for the first time since she had met Daniel, she was a bit afraid of him and for him.

  Chapter Five: Spirits?

  It was sunrise when Annamarie decided she couldn’t stay in bed any longer. The sunlight was peeking around the edges of the window shades beckoning her to go outside and greet it. She tried to get out of bed quietly and not disturb Daniel, but he was already awake.

  “Baby,” he whispered, “I know you think I’m crazy, but it had to be the spirits because nothing else could do that to Ben.”

  “Do what?” she asked not wanting an answer.

  “If I tell you, you have to promise to keep this a secret forever,” Daniel pleaded.

  She agreed to keep his secret. After all, they were married and had taken vows for better or worse. She had a feeling this was going to test her promise of “or worse” in ways she never imagined. Annamarie wished she was wrong. However, not only was she right, but it was going to test her sanity as well.

  “Before I tell you, I have to find something,” Daniel said, “I’ll be right back.”

  He disappeared down the hall and into their spare bedroom used for storage. He came back carrying four library books.

  “When did you get those?”

  “My senior year of high school.”

  Daniel began to explain why he had library books more than three years overdue. He said, “If you don’t check them out they can’t be overdue.” He continued to tell her about his experience with his mom and the librarian. When his mom had the doctors in Oaklin examine him, they didn’t feel he was emotionally ill, suggesting instead George and Maureen divert his interest from spirits to other subjects.

  “For two years, my parents encouraged me to get involved in sports, hobbies and reading anything that didn’t have to do with spirits,” Daniel moaned. “I still wanted to know more about spirits. That’s when the trouble in the library started.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I needed more information on the town and the subject of spirits, and looked for books in the library. I found two on the town’s history, and two about spirits. One was general information and the other about the possibility of spirits in Oaklin County.”

  “I didn’t know there were books about Oaklin County.”

  “Me either, but when I took them to the check-out desk, the librarian said I couldn’t check them out. It was near the end of my senior year, and I was eighteen. I couldn’t understand the p
roblem. I was arguing with the librarian when the head librarian wandered over to see why I was making a commotion.”

  “They should’ve been used to you after four years.”

  “This was different. The two librarians spoke, and I could hear they were discussing my mom and the order she’d given regarding books on the supernatural or town history. She managed to ban my access to those books.”

  “Wow, I knew your mom could get her way, but I never thought she could bully that head librarian. She was a terror,” Annamarie shuddered at the memory.

  “I pretended not to hear what they said. The head librarian explained I had to be a high school graduate to check out these books. I acted disappointed, but said thanks and went back to my table.”

  “Knowing you, that wasn’t the end of it.”

  “Garret was at the table and together we hatched our first real crime. I had the list of books I wanted and a week later, Garret managed to steal them. He hid them in his locker until after classes were over. At home, I removed the book jackets and the page stamped “property of Timmus Woods Public Library,” and set them on fire in my parent’s leaf barrel.”

  “How did you pull that one off?”

  “Remember the day Bulk had the huge argument with Carolyn in the library, and punched the fire alarm setting it off? Everyone panicked, running and screaming, providing Garret the opportunity to throw the books in his locker on his way out of the building. Evidently no one noticed or cared the books disappeared without being checked out. Now they’re mine.”

  “My husband the criminal,” Annamarie rolled her eyes as she lay down on the sofa to hear the rest of the story.

  He held up two books about the town’s general history.

  “These are useless. So is the book about spirit history in Oaklin County because it only covers some old sightings miles from here where a farmer went mad and killed his family. There’s no mention of other spirits hovering near the cemeteries.”

  “I could have told you that. Our local cemetery is a great place for kids to make out. It’s dark, quiet, and no one else goes there at night.”