Patricia Rockwell - Essie Cobb 04 - Ghosted

by Patricia Rockwell

  “Uh, yes, Felix,” she replied. “These are my daughters and my two grandsons.” Introductions were made.

  “Your Essie,” said Felix Federico, “is a star here at Happy Haven, you know. We are very proud of her.”

  “We are too,” said Pru.

  “The best grandma in the country!” added Ned. Felix Federico smiled warmly at Essie’s relatives and continued on his rounds of all the Halloween merrymakers. Essie could see him now in the middle of the lobby sampling some of Edward Troy’s amazing decorated cake.

  “Mom!” cried Claudia. “He’s the new director?”

  “Yes,” replied Essie with a shrug and a smile. “Word has it that he was a minor movie star in Italy before he came here.” The sisters looked at each other and at the vanishing figure of Felix Federico.

  “I wouldn’t need a hallucinogenic drug to put me in the hospital with him around!” noted Pru to her sister.

  “Indeed,” said Claudia. “If that man kissed my hand, like he did yours, Mom, call the ambulance!”

  “Mom!” said Bo, sitting on the floor next to the sofa, his hair flopping so far in his face, Essie could barely see his eyes. It was the first actual word Essie had heard the teenager make since he arrived. “Yuck!” A second word. Maybe a record.

  “That’s not all,” said Marjorie, piping up from down at the end of the sofa. “Essie’s been detecting again.”

  “What?” said Claudia. “Mom! You promised you’d be careful!”

  “Now what did she do?” Pru asked Marjorie.

  “She’s been tracking potential spies,” offered Opal, sitting on the other end of the sofa. Claudia now directed her attention to the opposite direction.

  “What?” she asked Opal.

  “Opal,” snorted Essie. “Please! Really, Marjorie!”

  “A bomb plot!” Marjorie tossed out, giving Essie a smile and a stuck out tongue.

  “Mom!” cried Pru.

  “That’s for not sharing your suspicions with us,” added Marjorie.

  “And your adventures!” said Opal. Essie was trying to follow her friends’ comments from one end of the sofa to the other like a spectator at a tennis match.

  “It really has been quite an adventure lately,” agreed Essie. “And, girls, Marjorie and Opal are making much more of it than it’s worth. I made much more of it than it was worth.”

  “Than what, Mom?” asked Claudia.

  “Oh, I thought I was about ready to uncover a spy ring,” said Essie casually, “but it turned out to be a cake decorating ring instead!” Marjorie, Opal, and Fay laughed knowingly and Essie’s family chuckled.

  “Please be careful, Mom,” admonished Pru. “I don’t want another episode with you in the hospital!”

  “Me either!” added Claudia.

  “But there is one good thing that came out of all this!” announced Essie brightly.

  “What?” asked her daughters.

  “I learned bladder control!” said Essie. “If I can hold my pee when a strange man grabs me from behind, when I think he’s building a bomb, when I start losing track of time, when the room is spinning, when giant squirrels are popping up in my bathtub, and when my late husband is showing up virtually everywhere, I guess I can hold it anywhere.”

  “You shouldn’t be dressed as a witch today, Gram,” noted Ned from the floor. “You should be a ghost! After all, you’ve seen quite a few lately!”

  “That I have,” agreed Essie. “I’ve been ghosted!”

  With that, everyone on the couch laughed heartily and then eventually rose to get a piece of the Halloween decorated cake before it completely disappeared. Essie’s daughters took her back to her room and had her try on all her new clothes and Essie threw her witch’s outfit in the trash. Next year she would be a ghost—or maybe Sherlock Holmes.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Patricia Rockwell is the author of two mystery series. Her Pamela Barnes acoustic mysteries include SOUNDS OF MURDER, FM FOR MURDER, VOICE MAIL MURDER, STUMP SPEECH MURDER, and MURDER IN THE ROUND. Her Essie Cobb senior sleuth mysteries include BINGOED, PAPOOSED, and VALENTINED. She is the founder and publisher of Cozy Cat Press, which specializes in producing cozy (or gentle) mysteries.

  Patricia has spent most of her life teaching. Her Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees are from the University of Nebraska in Speech, and her Ph.D. is from the University of Arizona in Communication. She was on the faculty at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for thirteen years, retiring in 2007.

  Dr. Rockwell is presently living in Aurora, Illinois, with her husband Milt, also a retired educator.

  For information about other Cozy Cat Press mysteries, visit our website at: www.cozycatpress.com