Jackie pulled out a mushy, flattened, and very unappealing banana. “For some reason, I lost my appetite.”
“Come on,” I said.
We tossed the bananas on the ground for the animals. Immediately, I headed for the biggest building on the grounds. After a few moments I realized that Jackie wasn’t with me. “Jackie, come on,” I said turning around.
“Uh,” answered Jackie, “there’s a lot of mud around here.”
“So?”
She lifted up one of her feet and for the first time I realized she wore her flats instead of hiking boots. “You wore those for a day in the woods?”
“Well, you didn’t exactly specify that there would be mud around.”
“I thought the fact that we were exploring a piece of abandoned property conveyed that.”
“It was five in the morning!”
Luckily, I kept a pair of spare boots in my car. Yeah, I know. I carry a lot of stuff in the trunk of my car. I even have a sleeping bag back there. I took the boots and handed them to Jackie. We wore the same size so I knew they would fit. “Put these on.”
Jackie did so tossing her shoes in the back seat.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Yep!”
I started for the building, which was missing part of the roof. It certainly looked like the picture of inns from the 1600s. The original stable still stood as well, even though one of the walls crumbled away a bit at the bottom. Somehow, this place managed to escape being completely destroyed by time and teenagers.
Jackie grabbed my arm. “We’re not going in there?”
“Well that was the plan. Why?”
“Remember the Pen Mills Estate and the creepy ghost with the axe?”
“Yeah, but this place is different,” I said.
Jackie gave me one of her “I don’t think so” looks. “It is an old building. It’s dark and creepy in there. I am not going in there.”
“Then I’ll go by myself.”
“Oh no you don’t!”
“Well we have to explore the house at some point,” I said.
“There is a lot of acreage to this place, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, why don’t we explore the grounds first and save the house for last. Like when we have a few guys with us,” said Jackie.
Relenting, I allowed Jackie to have her way. Besides, the house could wait. “Then, let’s start over there,” I said pointing at a grove with vines and some overgrowth.
Jackie seemed to like that idea. We headed over to it. Despite being an abandoned piece of property, the grove seemed to be well cared for. Green vines with blue and white flowers dotted the entire area. I momentarily watched as bees hummed from flower to flower in the morning sunlight oblivious to our presence. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that this section had a caretaker. I checked a rose bush next to a trellis. The thorns had been clipped off and the bush pruned so that the flowers thrived instead of crowding one another out.
“What is it?” asked Jackie.
I showed her the flowers. “Don’t you think it’s a bit odd that these flowers and this small garden look well-tended?”
“Most people do tend gardens,” said Jackie.
“Except that no one has lived here for a couple hundred years. And this is the only spot that seems to be bursting with life. Look at the rest of the place. It’s all run down.”
Jackie glanced around. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the entire area. “That is strange.”
I continued on through the little walkway formed by the ivy. Patches of sunlight marked our footsteps. We reached the end of the ivy and grapevines. Before us stretched a garden. I guessed that it might have been a vegetable garden in the days when people lived on the property. The strange thing about this garden was that the soil looked tended and plants grew out of the ground.
“What is all this?” I asked. “This place looks like it has been tilled and planted.”
“Well this just puts the strange in strange,” said Jackie.
A bit of movement caught my eye. Whirling around, I saw a man humming merrily to himself as he pruned a bush. He danced around on his feet waving his scissors around while he sang. Usually this wouldn’t have seemed odd except that the man was slightly see-throughish and this was supposed to be a place with no people. He also wore some strange clothes that no one in modern times would ever don.
“Excuse me,” I called.
He stopped. The man took one look at me and Jackie, dropped his scissors, and jumped on his horse. He galloped away without a word.
“Hey,” I yelled, chasing after him. “Hey, stop!”
Nothing. The man had disappeared.
“That was odd,” said Jackie.
“I think we just saw Smiley’s Ghost,” I said.
“Smiley’s Ghost!” Jackie snatched my arm forcing me to face her. “Now we’re gonna die!”
“Jackie, stop,” I tore her hands off of me.
“I know the legend,” said Jackie. “Those who see Smiley’s Ghost end up dead.”
“Not everyone. I did some reading up on the legend too. Some people do survive an encounter with the ghost.”
“Oh yeah? How many?”
“About 25% I guess.”
Jackie crossed her arms. “Somehow I don’t think the odds are in our favor.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it, Jackie. Besides, he could have been another ghost entirely.”
“Now you’re just trying to cheer me up.”
“Is it working?”
“No.”
“Come on. I want to check out the area near those trees.”
Reluctantly, Jackie followed. “Whoever heard of a ghost gardening,” she muttered to herself.
The soggy ground latched on to our boots with each step we took. Despite the lack of rain, there seemed to be a lot of mud around. My steps made repeated clop, clop sounds. The morning sun already caused me to sweat from the heat. It was definitely going to be another scorcher.
We reached the trees in a few minutes. Tall oaks with some ash mixed in. I had to admit that their big green leaves were quite beautiful and provided some relief from the hot sun. “We’re going in there,” I said pointing at the trees.
“Into the creepy, dark woods!”
“What is with you today?”
“Sorry,” said Jackie, “it’s just that every time we go exploring something it usually involves a ghost and some kind of haunted property.”
“And you watched the Texas Chainsaw Massacre last night.”
A guilty expression crept across Jackie’s face. I don’t know why she watched such movies. They always scared her and then she had nightmares for days afterward.
“I’m sure nothing will happen in there,” I reassured her.
“Well, if some guy in a hockey mask attacks us, I blame you.”
“That’s Jason.”
“Who cares?”
I pulled her into the bit of forested area. Birds chirped joyfully not caring about our presence. Nothing out of the ordinary stuck out to me. I half expected to see something unusual, but it looked like a normal wooded area.
“Why are we going this way anyway?” asked Jackie.
“Because the ghost came this way.”
“I should have known.”
“Well there is something to this ghost story, but I think there is something more going on here. Mr. Kellmore was very frightened when he talked to me, but that ghost seemed to be scared of us.”
“True. Certainly doesn’t fit the legend,” said Jackie.
“I just want to know what’s really going on and why Mr. Kellmore felt he needed my help.”
“You know curiosity killed the cat.”
“I’m not a cat.”
“You could be.”
“Meow,” I said.
A patch of bushes got my attention. I motioned for Jackie to follow as I trekked over. Instantly, I realized that these plants didn’t belong here.
�
�Marijuana plants?” said Jackie, “What are they doing here?”
“Not completely sure.”
“Do you think Mr. Kellmore stumbled upon a marijuana farm?”
I thought about it, but this small patch didn’t fit the picture of a drug farm. “Not likely. If this were a marijuana farm the entire area should be covered and we never would have gotten past the gate. This small patch looks like someone planted it for personal use.”
“Why plant it here?”
“Well,” I said, “if it’s here the guy can’t get in trouble for growing it himself.”
“Unless, of course, a bird planted it.”
“Ha-ha.”
My stomach growled. One look at Jackie told me that hers had growled too.
“I’m starving,” she said, “Too bad you didn’t think to pack a lunch.”
“Well, I had brought a couple of bananas.”
“That you squished with your tools.”
“Sorry. You’re probably right though. We should go and come back later.”
I walked back to the open field in the direction of the car. Jackie followed close behind doing her best to not get her jeans dirty. She really should not have worn that frilly blouse of hers. I turned to scold her for being such a sissy when I saw it. A man wearing a dark cloak and three point hat sat on a black horse charging straight for us.
“Jackie, run!”
Jackie looked where I pointed. She bolted. Together we raced through the field leaping over the tall grass and bushes in our effort to get away. My heart pounded in my ears. I knew we would never outrun a horse.
“This way!” I yelled, veering to the left.
Jackie followed. I hoped we would make it to the covered grove. The horse could not follow us there. The clomping of the hooves drew closer as Jackie and I vainly tried to get away.
“Mel!”
I whirled around. The black rider was almost upon her. “Jackie, look out!”
I charged for Jackie. Helplessly, I watched as she tripped and fell face first into a mud puddle just as the horse reached her, its hooves missing her by inches. Angered, I snatched a rock. Taking careful aim, I threw it at the rider. The way he slumped over a bit told me I had struck gold. He yanked on the reins of his horse and galloped away disappearing into another set of trees.
Quickly, I ran to Jackie. “Are you all right?”
Jackie sat up spitting out a mouthful of mud. “I’m all dirty! And what the hell was that?”
I scanned the tree line, but saw no sign of movement. “I’m not sure.”
“You know what I think? I think that ghost was getting even for us scaring him.”
“I don’t think so,” I said as I helped her to her feet.
“What makes you so certain?” demanded Jackie.
“That other ghost looked genuinely startled when we happened upon him. But this guy—well he seemed to be aiming for us. Like he wanted to scare us off.”
“Getting even I bet.” Jackie flailed her arms about in a vain attempt to get the mud off of her. Drops of liquid goo fell from her hair.
“They wore different clothes and ghosts don’t go around changing their wardrobe. Besides, this guy looked to be too solid. Wish Rachel were here. She’d chase after him.”
“Yeah, well she’s not,” said Jackie, “And I got mud all over my hair!”
“You said just last week that you wanted a mud bath.”
“At the spa!”
“What’s the difference?”
Jackie threw up her hands as she grunted, giving me a “what do you know” look.
“I guess this means you don’t want to go out for breakfast.”
If looks could kill, Jackie’s glare would have sent me straight to the grave.
We hiked back to my car. Jackie had given up trying to keep clean since she was now coated in black mud. Before I allowed her to sit, I placed the blanket from my trunk on the seat. She plopped her butt down with a huff. I chuckled inwardly. I knew she was putting on more of a show than anything else.
Before I went home, I stopped at the mechanic shop Tiny and his gang ran. I did not feel comfortable driving on a spare and wanted a new tire put on. Poor Jackie would just have to wait for a shower. Not that she appreciated it.
“Hey, Mel!” Tiny ran over and gave me a big hug. “What brings you over here?”
“My tire got a flat. I had to put on the spare, but would love a new one.”
“A flat? We checked them last week. They were perfectly fine.”
I opened the trunk and he lifted out the tire. He turned it over and inspected it. “What’d you run over?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“It looks like someone took an axe to your tire.”
“Well there weren’t any axes on the road,” said Jackie stepping out of the car.
“Whoa! What happened to you?” chortled Tiny after taking one look at Jackie.
“Mel, decided to go hiking at that Smiley place or whatever and some guy on a horse knocked me in a mud puddle.”
“You what?” Tiny gawked at me. “No one goes up there. A ghost haunts that place and any who sees it dies.”
“Actually, I think there are two. I’ll explain everything while you change my tire. In the meantime, is there a place where Jackie can clean up?”
“Yeah, sure,” said Tiny, “Elise’s got some things that should fit ya.”
Elise walked over to Jackie. “Come on, honey. I’ll get you cleaned up.”
Relieved, Jackie followed.
While Jackie was busy cleaning the mud off of her and changing her clothes I explained the morning’s events to Tiny. He listened with rapt attention and I could tell that inwardly he was scolding me. “I had to go there,” I finished, “Mr. Kellmore was adamant that a ghost was trying to kill him. And when he died right in front of me I had to check it out for myself.”
“You can’t go back up there,” said Tiny.
“Now wait a minute,” I began.
“I mean it. You can’t go back up there.”
I crossed my arms and looked down. “Fine,” I muttered, though I knew this was a promise I would never keep. It’s not like he had to know that I would be going back.
My stomach gurgled.
“You haven’t eaten again,” blurted out Tiny. “You know, packing a lunch when you go on a hiking trip is usually a good idea.”
Someday I might actually remember to eat. Then I wouldn’t get scolded.
“Sombrero, we need some grub,” said Tiny.
“Uh, can you include a salad in that order?” I asked. I really did need to eat more vegetables and all of the hamburgers and pizzas were beginning to go to my waistline.
“Salad?” said Tiny with a disgusted look on his face, “What do you want to eat green food for?”
“It’s healthy,” I replied. “You can add some hot wings to the salad.”
That seemed to placate Tiny. “Well, that’s something at least. All right you heard her.”
“And don’t forget Jackie,” I added quickly as some of the boys rode off.
By the time Jackie had finished cleaning up—and she looked perfect as usual—Tiny’s boys had returned with the food. We decided to just eat lunch there. Both Jackie and I were famished. I had never seen her dig into a plate of hot wings like that before with the sauce all over her face. Of course, it only took her a minute to clean up and make herself flawless once more.
By the time we had finished eating my car had a new tire. Sticky walked up to me wiping the grease off his hands on a towel. “Your car is as good as new.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Oh and you might want these,” Sticky held up my car keys.
Immediately, I checked my pockets. Smiling, I took the keys from him. “You have got to stop doing that.”
“Old habits,” chuckled Sticky.
Jackie and I got in my car and I started the engine.
“Now I mean it, Mel,” said Tiny, “I usually don’t agree with
cops, but this time I must admit that Detective Shorts is right. Stay away from that place.”
I wrestled with opening my mouth or not. I really didn’t want to promise Tiny anything, but he leaned on the driver’s side of my car waiting for an answer. “I’ll try,” I said.
Tiny’s expression told me he didn’t believe me. I mean, come on. These guys knew me better than anything else. Have I ever stayed away from a mystery? Though, I wasn’t in a hurry to go back to that abandoned inn. But the guy on the horse had me intrigued. Who was he?
Chapter 3
Jackie and I arrived back at our place within twenty minutes. Relieved to be home, she jumped out of the car and went inside without waiting for me. I couldn’t blame her. It was partly my fault that her morning was a bit more interesting than normal.
When we approached our door, Mrs. Dayton waited for us. She was our neighbor who lived a floor below us. About a year ago her dog died and Jackie had baked a cake for her. Actually, Jackie was friendly with everyone in the building, especially Mrs. Dayton. The poor lady lived alone and had no family. She rarely went anywhere.
“Mrs. Dayton,” greeted Jackie, warmly. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, well I bought you two a present.”
“Oh?” said Jackie.
“I didn’t bring it with me. I didn’t know if you two would be home.”
“That’s okay,” I said, “We can just pop down in your place.”
“Oh, you’re such a dear.” Mrs. Dayton walked down the hall to the stairs while Jackie and I trailed after her. Entering her apartment was almost like going back in time. She had a sewing machine in the corner that dated back to 1945. She had the typical couch with decorative pillows and crocheted doilies on the tables. I scanned the massive amount of framed photos that hung on the wall. Most of them were black and white with the same young woman in them. I assumed it was Mrs. Dayton when she was younger. She was a very beautiful woman in her youth.
A tea kettle whistled on the stove. Quickly, Mrs. Dayton ran to it pulling it off the burner. “Oh, I forgot I had this on. Tea?”
“Yes, please,” said Jackie as she examined an old television set that seemed to serve more as a table than anything else.
“I only have chamomile,” said Mrs. Dayton as she pulled cups out of the cabinet. “I’m afraid I can’t do anything that’s caffeinated anymore. Pacemaker you know.”
Janet McNulty - Mellow Summers 07 - Two Ghosts Haunt a Grove Page 2
