Town Haunts

by Cathy Spencer

“Hi, Anna,” a thin voice piped from across the room. She turned to see Steve lying on the couch, a white bandage covering part of his head and his face looking pale and drawn. Smoke rose from a brass incense burner on the table beside him, while soothing classical music played in the background.

  “I didn’t know you’d be here, too,” Anna said, taking two steps toward him, but Tiernay cut in front of her and sank down onto the carpet beside him.

  “Makes it easier for Tiernay to look after us both,” Greg said, attempting to rise, but pausing half-way to clutch the arm of his chair. “Just a little dizzy spell. It will pass in a second. Let me get you a chair.”

  “No, don’t get up,” Anna said, hastening to him. “I’m a floor person anyway.” She picked up the blanket that had fallen from his lap and tucked it back over him before sitting on the carpet at his feet.

  Greg smiled and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Isn’t this nice, all of us here together? To what do we owe the pleasure?”

  Anna hesitated, but she wanted to get her unpleasant business out of the way. “Well, there are two reasons for my visit.” She turned to include Steve and Tiernay in the conversation. “First, I didn’t get a chance to apologize for breaking the circle last night. I feel like it’s my fault that you and Steve got hurt.”

  “It was. Why did you do such a dangerous thing when I specifically told everyone to stay put?” Tiernay asked in a strident voice. “I didn’t get a chance to do anything with Evelyn, either.”

  “Now Tiernay, don’t start again,” Greg said. “That spectre was truly appalling. Did you see how it stared at Anna? I was scared, and it wasn’t even looking at me.”

  Anna was grateful for Greg’s support, but his words didn’t remove the scowl from Tiernay’s face. “Second,” she said, “I wanted to ask what happened to you last night. Since Steve is here, I can ask you both. What did Evelyn’s ghost do to you?”

  “I’ve been trying to explain it to Tiernay,” Greg replied. “It was the damnedest thing. One minute Steve was chasing Evelyn’s ghost, and the next, he was down. I had my flashlight pointing at Evelyn at the time, so I could see her face when it happened. She was laughing at us. And it wasn’t happy laughter, either. I could see that she hated us. I’ve never seen such a look of pure evil on anyone’s face before. Ugh, it gives me the willies just thinking about it.” Anna felt him shudder, and his words brought back her own terrifying memories.

  “Then Evelyn raised her arm and pointed at me. I wanted to get out of the way, but I couldn’t move fast enough. This thing that I can only describe as a bolt of pure energy hit me. It felt like cold fire zapping through my body, and then my muscles locked and I was paralyzed. That’s when I hit the ground and blacked out. I don’t remember anything after that, until I heard Tiernay’s voice calling to me, begging me to wake up. Poor dear, you sounded frantic,” Greg said, looking at his sister. She grimaced. “It bothered me to hear how upset you were, so I struggled to find my way back to you. I’m fine now, but I still feel as if I’ve been to hell and back.”

  Anna was appalled by his words. “I’m so sorry, Greg. I feel like I brought this upon you,” she said.

  He shrugged. “It’s over, and I’m fine. The doctor said there’s nothing wrong with me.” He reached for her hand. “Try not to let it bother you, darling.”

  She smiled, grateful for his comforting words, before looking at Steve. “What about you, Steve? Is that what happened to you?”

  “I don’t remember anything after I left the circle to chase after you.”

  “Nothing?”

  He shook his head.

  “The doctor said he had a concussion,” Tiernay said, her eyes still angry as she glared at Anna. “It’s probably the reason for his memory loss.” She turned back to Steve, and her eyes softened. “You look tired, honey. Is your headache still bad?” He nodded. “Why don’t I make you some more of that tea while you go up to bed? You look exhausted.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I think I will. Sorry, Anna, but I’m all done in.”

  Tiernay rose from the floor while Steve sat up. Climbing to his feet, he paused to grab hold of the back of the couch and closed his eyes.

  “Dizzy?” Tiernay asked, taking his arm.

  He opened his eyes and shook off her hand. “I’m okay. Night Anna. Night Greg.”

  “Steve, I’m so sorry,” Anna said, clambering to her feet. She stood awkwardly by while Steve shuffled from the room with Tiernay at his elbow. She listened to them mount the stairs before turning back to Greg.

  “I feel terrible,” she said.

  “Don’t. Evelyn’s to blame, not you.”

  “But what are we going to do?” she asked. He reached for her and pulled her back to the chair when she took his hand. She knelt so that their heads were on the same level.

  “It’s going to be okay. I promise,” he said, kissing her hand.

  “What do you mean? How is everything going to be okay?”

  He put an arm around her waist. “Tiernay e-mailed her old coven while Steve and I were in the hospital. The group is run by a powerful witch, someone who’s been practising magic all her life. Tiernay explained what’s been happening here, and now she’s just waiting for the witch to reply. I’m sure that the two of them will get Evelyn sorted out between them. Meanwhile, you stick close to home and don’t go for any long walks with your dog, right? Are you still wearing the stone Tiernay gave you?”

  Anna nodded, fingering the stone in her jacket pocket. She had stuffed it in there on the night of the séance and hadn’t removed it since.

  “Good. That will protect you.” He smiled and tapped her nose. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I still want to sketch you, remember?” Anna nodded and smiled.

  “That’s better. You have such a pretty smile.” Releasing her waist, he cupped the back of her head and kissed her. His mouth was warm and tender against hers, and Anna lingered there for a second before turning her face. Greg sighed, his breath warming her ear.

  She pulled away and rested her hands on his shoulders. “Look, Greg, I think you’ve got the wrong impression. You’re a great guy, and you’re very attractive, but I’m in love with Charlie.”

  “So you keep saying,” he said, drawing his finger across her lips. “I’m starting to feel discouraged.”

  Anna snorted. “Well you should,” she said, climbing to her feet. He rose beside her, dropping the blanket onto the floor and stepping over it.

  “Go on. Go home. We all need our rest,” he said, turning her around and pushing her gently toward the hallway. “I’ll watch to make sure that you get safely to your car.”

  “Thanks Greg. You’re a dear,” Anna said over her shoulder on her way to the door.

  After opening it, she glanced quickly around the porch, ensuring that no one was waiting in the shadows. Better safe than sorry. The porch was empty, so she scooted down the stairs and was in her car with the door locked and the engine started seconds later. Her headlights flashed on, and Greg waved before she pulled away from the curb.

  Anna felt a little better as she drove the few blocks to Main Street and turned onto it. Greg seemed fine, and Steve was on the mend. At least the nutcase behind all these pranks hadn’t done any permanent damage. And Tiernay was getting help from a more experienced witch. Did two witches outrank a ghost? She smiled and shook her head; what a ridiculous thought. She had witchcraft and ghosts on the brain.

  Three blocks later, she turned left. Halfway down the street, her headlights picked out a man striding down the sidewalk, his pony tail swinging like a pendulum over his back and his thick arms pumping like pistons. She caught a glint of metal in his hand and squinted. It was Frank, and he was carrying a tire iron. She pulled up beside him and rolled down the passenger-side window.

  “Frank, what are you doing?” she called to him. He paused, and turned to look at Anna.

  “I’m hunting a ghost.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  An hour a
nd a half earlier

  Judy hurried into the garage, smacking the door opener on the wall and climbing into the car. It was ten to seven, and she only had ten minutes to make it to church before the Catholic Women’s League meeting began. She started the engine and waited for the door to finish lifting.

  The second Thursday night of the month was always such a rush, dashing home from her secretarial job with the Foothills Premium Real Estate Agency and hurrying to get to the church on time. Thank heaven Frank always had supper waiting on the table so that they could spend half an hour together before she had to run out again. She smiled; Frank was such a sweetheart. Her ex-husband had always grumbled when supper had been late getting on the table. There were benefits to living with a chef.

  When the door finished opening, she turned to look over the seat, and began backing out of the garage. Judy frowned; who was that coming up from the bottom of the driveway? The red glow from her brake lights illuminated a woman in a long cloak with a hood pulled low over her face. The woman paused halfway up the drive and pulled the hood down. A mess of blond hair tumbled onto her shoulders. Judy recognized the woman, her eyes starting from her head. It was Evelyn Mason. Her neck was broken and twisted, just the way she must have looked after her fall down the town office stairs.

  Judy shrieked. Evelyn just stood there staring at her with cold, dead eyes. Out of nowhere, Evelyn pulled an axe from behind her cloak, swung it over her head, and started for the garage. Judy screamed, hit the remote to close the garage door, and jumped out of the car with the motor still running. In her panic, she tripped over a rake leaning against the wall and collided into the car. Gasping, Judy looked over her shoulder and saw that Evelyn was about to duck under the door before it could close. She screamed again, shoved the rake out of the way, and raced for the door into the house. Terrified that Evelyn was in the garage behind her, Judy flung the door open and screamed Frank’s name. He met her half-way down the hallway, where she threw herself, sobbing and shaking, into his arms.

  “Judy, what’s wrong?” he asked, trying to peer into her face, but she was staring over her shoulder.

  “It’s Evelyn! She’s coming after me with an axe. Did she get inside?” she asked, turning fear-crazed eyes at Frank.

  “What are you talking about?” he demanded. Instead of replying, she broke out of his arms to hit the hallway light switch. The fluorescent tubes blinked twice before staying on, revealing the empty corridor behind them.

  “Let me see,” he said, taking a step toward the garage, but Judy grabbed his shoulder and dug in her heels.

  “No, Frank! Don’t go in there. She’ll kill you!”

  “Now calm down, honey,” he said, holding the hysterical woman in his arms. He sniffed. “I smell gas. Did you leave the engine running?”

  “No, Frank!” Judy shrieked as he pulled away.

  He strode the last few steps to the door and opened it gingerly, peeking into the garage. The fumes belching from the car made him gag. Covering his mouth with one hand, he smacked the door opener and ran into the garage, jumping into the car to turn off the motor. Twisting in the seat, he watched the door rumble upward. It cleared the first two feet from the floor before clanking to a stop, the machinery clicking twice before failing. Frank climbed out of the car, the cool, fresh air blowing around his legs, and turned to investigate what was wrong. His mouth gaped open. Three feet from the top, an axe blade pierced the garage door.

  Anna convinced Frank to climb into the front seat beside her. He closed the door, and she saw the tire iron in his right hand.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked. “What ghost?” He swivelled to look at her, and Anna saw that his face was white with anger.

  “Someone scared the hell out of Judy tonight.”

  “What happened?”

  Frank told her.

  “Oh my lord,” Anna said. “How’s Judy?”

  “She’s terrified. I couldn’t leave her alone, so I dropped her at Erna’s before I came out again.” Anna shook her head in sympathy. “Anyway, after I found the axe stuck in the door, I got Judy calmed down enough to tell me what happened. She didn’t even remember screaming.”

  “Oh Frank, how horrible. Poor Judy.”

  He nodded. “It was like a freaking horror movie. Judy couldn’t let go of me, so we went to the front door together to have a look outside. The porch light was on, and we could see that there was no one out there. Once we stepped out on the porch, though, we could see the axe handle sticking out of the garage door, and Judy started screaming again. It took me a long time to get her calmed down enough to walk over to Erna’s. My car’s still stuck in the garage.”

  “Did you call the police?”

  “Not yet. I want to have a look on my own first. There’s a lunatic running around town, and I want to find him before the police do.”

  “Him?”

  “Yeah. When you ladies started talking about a ghost on May’s stairs, I thought that it was Henry. It was just the fruitcake kind of thing he would do. Then someone scared you, and there was all that trouble in the cemetery last night with Steve and Greg. Only, John came by last night to tell us that Henry is under arrest in Calgary, so it couldn’t have been him. But Sherman Mason is missing, and he’s four quarters short of a dollar. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but it’s time someone found out who’s behind it and stopped him. Me.” He opened the door to climb out, but Anna grabbed his arm.

  “Don’t, Frank. Leave it alone”

  Frank glanced at her impatiently. “Don’t worry, I can look after myself.”

  “Sure you can, but I think you should stay out of it. Whoever’s behind this, he’s got some way of hurting people. Look at what he did to Steve and Greg. Let the police take the risk. That’s what they’re paid for.”

  Frank tugged his arm out from under her hand. “Go home, Anna. I’ll see you later.” He got out of the car and slammed the door behind him.

  “Frank!” Anna shouted, but he jogged down a driveway and disappeared between two houses. She watched for a moment in case he re-appeared, then put her car in gear and drove straight to Erna’s house.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Anna parked on the street and rushed to ring Erna’s doorbell. She jittered back and forth on her feet, shivering with nerves in the chilly night air.

  “Anna,” Erna said in surprise when she opened the door.

  “I just saw Frank. He told me what happened. Where’s Judy?”

  “In the living room,” Erna said, stepping back to let her inside. Anna hurried to the living room, where Judy, wrapped in a blanket with a mug clasped between her hands, was sitting in the middle of the couch. May was on the recliner next to her, both women looking up in surprise.

  “You’ve got to stop Frank, Judy. He doesn’t know what he’s up against,” Anna said.

  “I can’t,” Judy wailed, breaking into sobs. Anna sat down beside her, hugging her close as Judy’s shoulders shook, while Erna circled the couch and sat down on the other side.

  “We’ve got to call the police,” Anna said. “If we tell them that Frank’s out looking for the person responsible for leaving an axe in his garage door, they’ll take us seriously. They’ll find him before he gets hurt.”

  Judy stopped crying, her eyes widening. “You want to get Frank into trouble?”

  “Of course not, but it’s better than letting him tangle with someone crazy enough to come after you with an axe.”

  Judy stared in disbelief from one friend to another. May slowly nodded her agreement, while Erna frowned.

  “You don’t think it was Evelyn’s ghost?” Judy asked.

  “You bet,” May said, while Anna said, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “This is getting out of hand,” Erna said, rising to her feet. “Anna’s right. I’m calling the police.”

  The night did not end well for Frank. A half hour after speaking with Anna, he was peering into Sherman’s front windows when a police car pulle
d up on the street and flashed its lights at him. Frank dropped his tire iron in the bushes and sprinted for the side of the house, but the constable chasing him was twenty-four, athletic, and tackled him with ease. He took Frank to the station for questioning, where John Fox Child gave him a good talking to and told him to go home. When the constable dropped him off at Erna’s house, Frank was limping.

  “Come on,” he said to Judy when Erna fetched her, “let’s get out of here.” Anna and May were watching from the living room entrance, May on crutches.

  “I’m sorry, Frank, but it was for your own good,” Erna said. Anna didn’t dare say anything.

  Frank shot Erna an angry look, but kept his mouth shut. He took Judy’s hand, and they walked out the door without saying a word. Erna closed it behind them and turned to look at her friends.

  “I haven’t made myself popular with either one of them tonight,” she said.

  “At least Frank’s safe. You did the right thing,” Anna said, bending to kiss Erna’s powdery cheek. “But it’s almost midnight, and I have to go to work tomorrow. I’m going home.” She shrugged her arms into the jacket she was carrying and patted her pockets for the car keys.

  “So, we’re agreed, right?” May said. “Tiernay’s going to take care of this ghost business with her witch friend, and we’re going to keep our noses out of it from now on. Unless they need our help.”

  “Or the police do,” Anna said. “Things are getting too dangerous, and we don’t want anyone else getting hurt ‒ or killed.”

  “Agreed,” Erna said. “Good night and try to sleep, Anna. I’ll call you at work tomorrow if we hear anything.”

  The next day was Friday, and when Anna got home from work, her son was waiting for her. Ben set the table and fed Wendy while Anna heated some defrosted turkey soup made from Thanksgiving leftovers and set out a loaf of crusty bread. She had already told Ben about the séance at Sherman’s house and May’s fall, and brought him up to speed on what had happened since last Friday. He frowned when Anna described the ghostly visitor on her front lawn, shook his head when she talked about being chased in the cemetery, and stared at her wide-eyed as she described Judy’s scare and the axe in Frank’s garage door.