by Rose Pressey
Nevertheless, I still wanted to get my hands on his discarded trash so that the police could check for fingerprints. If there were prints on the other one and they matched, we’d have found the killer. For all I knew, the cops were already on this, although they hadn’t found that bottle. How would I get Danny’s bottle without him noticing me poking around?
I supposed I could wait until later when it was dark out. I hated the thought of having to go near him again. There was no telling what he would do if he saw me around. Nevertheless, now I had a late-night mission. At least, it should be a fairly easy one, and I could get it over with quickly, I hoped without being caught or running into Danny.
CHAPTER 17
Remember to have an emergency kit. An emergency can easily catch you off guard. You’ll want to be prepared in case you skin your knee, cut your finger, or get a headache from trying to solve a murder.
Later that day, when I stepped out of my trailer, Danny was walking past. This sent a shiver down my spine. I didn’t like the idea of him being anywhere near my trailer. Right away, I noticed he was drinking another one of those root beers. He must be obsessed with them. With his stone-cold glare, he soaked in my appearance.
A few seconds went by, and a devilish smile crossed his face. Fear spiked through my body. I couldn’t let him know that I was afraid. Thank goodness, he kept walking, though. I watched as he strolled down the path and got into his car. He pulled away, and a breath of relief released from my lips. At least, I felt safer now that he’d gone. He would come back soon enough, though.
“Is he gone?” Ama asked from over my shoulder.
I clutched my chest. “Oh, you scared me.”
“Sorry,” Ama said.
“Yes, he’s gone now,” I said. “I think we’ll have a bit of time before he comes back, and maybe things will feel safer. He just gives me the creeps.” I rubbed my arms as if fighting off the chill he had brought.
“Now that he’s gone, maybe you could go back to the river. It wouldn’t be so scary. You have to paint more and maybe find clues,” she said.
“Do you think clues will come to me? I have serious doubts.” I rolled over the thought for a couple of seconds. “Okay, I’ll go, but we have to hurry.”
Ama clapped her hands. “This is exciting. I wonder what the painting will be this time.”
“I guess we’ll find out,” I said as I grabbed the canvas and my paints.
Van was in the trailer, taking a nap, so I headed out across the way toward the little path that led down to the river. If Caleb saw me, he would stop me in my tracks. Thank goodness, he was nowhere around.
Since the coast seemed clear, I headed down that little pathway with the trees surrounding me. Sunshine broke through the branches, casting a yellow glow around the area. I couldn’t imagine coming here at night. It was scary enough during the day. Things grew silent quickly. All the sound from the craft fair was blocked out, by all the trees, I supposed.
I thought the sounds would carry all the way down by the river, but the rushing sound of the water blocked out most of the noise. The only sounds were from birds and insects. I continued down the way until the river came into view. I would sit right there on the bank and do my painting.
Once there, I placed my items out on the ground and sat down by the water. I closed my eyes, trying to collect energy and envision what I wanted to paint. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes, realizing that maybe closing them right now wasn’t such a good idea. What if the killer came around? I picked up the brush and dipped it in the green paint. I swiped it across the canvas. Increasingly, the image appeared.
Ama groaned when she saw it.
“What? It’s not good?” I asked.
“No, it’s not good,” she said.
I didn’t realize that she was such an art critic.
“I think it’s good. He’s so lifelike.” I pointed.
“It’s not your painting. It’s the person you’re painting,” she said. “I don’t want him around. Why did you paint him again?”
I raised an eyebrow. “I can’t help what I paint. Grandpa seems nice enough. His scowl isn’t as noticeable this time.”
“Grandpa?” Ama raised an eyebrow.
“I decided I’d call him just Grandpa.”
Ama shrugged. “Grandpa should stop popping up in your paintings. He’s just trying to irritate me. I had a feeling he would try to poke his way into the living world. He’s coming for me.”
“Just because I’m painting him doesn’t mean that he’ll show up here.” I added a few more strokes to the portrait.
“Why not? I did,” she said.
She had a point.
“Can you get rid of the painting right away so that he can’t come through?” Ama reached for the painting as if she could actually pick it up.
“It’s too late for that,” a rough, gravelly male voice said.
When I whipped around, I spotted a tall, muscular man standing nearby. He was older, maybe in his seventies, but he was still physically fit. His hair was not even completely gray, and it touched just below his shoulders. He wore the same outfit I had painted before, with feathers in his headband, a fringed tunic, and moccasins. What would I to say to him?
After searching for the right words, I managed to ask, “Who are you?”
As if I didn’t already know. To me he was already Grandpa. He appeared exactly the same as I’d painted him on the canvas, with high cheekbones and beautiful, dark brown eyes. A line creased between his eyes, as he hadn’t lost his scowl.
“That’s my grandfather,” Ama said.
Still stunned, I wasn’t quite sure I believed that this had happened again. Though it shouldn’t have surprised me. I supposed I wanted to ask why he was here, but according to Ama, he had come to get her.
“It’s time for us to go back.” He motioned for her to follow him.
“I’m not ready to go back. Can’t you see I’m busy? I have things to do here. Now you go away and leave me to it,” Ama said, waving her hands.
Uh oh. Anger flashed in his eyes. Obviously, that wasn’t the answer he had wanted. I didn’t want to be in the middle of this argument. Ama continued shooing him away. He didn’t budge.
“You have to come back right now,” he said in a booming voice.
Ama crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I’m not going.”
Oh no. Maybe I needed to step in and calm them both down.
“Mr. . . . ,” I said, not knowing his name. “Your granddaughter is helping me. And I’m sure as soon as she’s finished with that, she’ll go back.”
I smiled, hoping this would ease his anger. But it only seemed to make him worse, as the frown lines on his face deepened. Of course, anxiety spiked through me.
“She doesn’t need to help you. What she needs is to come with me,” he said.
“I do need to help her,” Ama said with a pout.
All right. This wasn’t going as I had planned.
“Perhaps we could come to some sort of compromise,” I said.
“There is no compromising with him.” She pointed.
“Don’t talk to your grandfather that way,” he said.
There had to be some kind of compromise with these two.
“Perhaps you can tell me why you don’t want your granddaughter here,” I said.
“This is not where she belongs now. She has to stay with her family on the other side.”
“Well, why can’t she go back and forth,” I said.
The smirk on his face told me that he thought I was either stupid or just naïve.
“Because that causes too much confusion, traveling back and forth between two worlds. What if she gets lost and can’t find her way back to us?”
“I don’t think that can happen,” I said.
“Have you traveled between two worlds?” he asked.
“Well, no, I suppose I haven’t,” I said.
He looked satisfied that he had proved me wrong.
“I’m not going back, and there’s no way you can make me.” Ama spun around and headed down the path toward the fair area.
That was when her grandfather took off after her. They left me alone, standing there, confused.
“Hello? Wait a minute.” I grabbed my canvas and tote bag full of paint and took off after the ghosts.
They argued as they raced down the path. If anyone saw me running down the path talking, they’d think I was talking to myself. In other words, they would truly think I’d lost it. To their eyes, I would be out here by myself. Was the killer also still out here for me to worry about? And on top of worrying about that, I had to be the referee between two ghosts.
“Will you all wait for me?” I yelled.
It was as if they had forgotten all about me. When we reached the fair area, I wondered if they were going back to my trailer too? They didn’t think they’d go inside there and fight, did they?
We spilled out into the craft area. I was right. Ama and her grandfather were headed straight for my trailer. I quickened my step, hoping to block them from going inside. Yeah, right, as if they wouldn’t just walk right through me. When I reached my booth, I stood in front of the trailer door.
I placed my hands on my hips. “Stop right there.”
Ama and her grandfather stopped moving but continued bickering. Still they paid no attention to me. At least, they didn’t go in and scare Van. They stayed right in front me as they continued arguing as if I wasn’t even around. Did they do this all the time?
I marched over to them and waved my hand. “Hello? Did you forget about me? Will you all please stop arguing? You are giving me a headache.”
Of course, they didn’t listen. They just kept doing what they obviously did best. Again, I attempted to talk sense into them.
“There has to be a better way than yelling and arguing. Can’t we just talk this out?” I tossed my hands up.
“Are you all right, Celeste?” Caleb asked.
I spun around and saw that he was standing there staring at me. I realized that other people were watching too. How easily I’d forgotten that I was talking to ghosts. Other people were around, and there I was, waving my arms and yelling like a lunatic.
Heat rushed to my cheeks. I knew I had to explain myself to him, but I couldn’t even think correctly with their yelling.
I pulled Caleb to the side. “Here’s the deal. I have the ghost attached to me, and another one just showed up. They’re arguing, and it’s giving me a headache.”
His eyes widened as he peered over to the spot where I had just pointed.
“Why are they arguing?” he whispered, as if they would somehow hear him.
He didn’t know that it wouldn’t matter if they had heard him.
“Well, one is the grandfather, and he wants Ama to go back to the spirit world because he doesn’t want her away from her family, I guess. He’s afraid she’ll get stuck here and won’t want to go back with him.”
“All valid concerns,” Caleb said.
Was he mocking me, or did he really believe any of this? Was he just humoring me? For all I knew, he might be thinking of calling for a mental inquest.
“What are you going to do with them?” he asked.
I released a deep breath. “I don’t know what I want to do with them. I suppose I just want them to quit arguing, and, well, it would probably be easier if they did move back to their other dimension.”
“The grandfather’s only here because the granddaughter’s here. So maybe she just needs to go back,” Caleb said.
“But she thinks she’s here to help me, so until she does, I don’t think she’s going anywhere.”
“Help you with what?” Caleb asked.
“Solving the murder, of course.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “I can’t believe this. Not only do I have you trying to solve the murder, but now a ghost as well? Everyone wants to be a detective.”
“I wouldn’t say I want to be a detective, but it’s necessary, yes.”
“Well, I have to disagree with you on that.”
I segued into my next question. “Speaking of the murder, have there been any new developments?”
“Nothing worth mentioning,” he said.
I wasn’t sure if I believed him. Was Pierce not telling Caleb everything? That was a distinct possibility. It was also possible that the two men were keeping details from me.
Caleb focused on the ghosts again. “Is there anything I can do to help you get rid of the ghosts?”
“I don’t think so, but maybe if I took them to the psychic, she would have a way to persuade them to leave.”
“That’s a good idea. Plus, I said I’d go with you. Maybe we can go after we have that burger,” Caleb said.
“I suppose, but we’ll have guests along with us.”
I raised an eyebrow. “The ghosts?”
“Exactly. I’ll just have a talk with them and tell them to calm down until I can resolve this.” I released a deep breath as a customer approached. “I guess right now I have work to do, though.”
“Good luck, and you know where to find me if you need me.” Caleb winked. “I’ll check on you soon.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Maybe Caleb believed me, after all. He seemed concerned and willing to help.
CHAPTER 18
Stay hydrated. The weather can get to you and make you feel drained. That leads to not being able to stay alert and focused. You don’t want to miss a customer—or a ghost.
By the time the fair had ended for the day, it was getting late, and I had a headache from the ghosts’ fighting. I spotted Caleb headed toward me. Gum Shoe walked along beside Caleb. He had no idea that I’d been listening to the ghosts all day.
Caleb and Gum Shoe stepped up to the trailer. “How’s it going?”
“About the same,” I said.
“They’re still fighting?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Yes. I told them if they don’t behave, they’re not going out for burgers.”
Caleb laughed. “Kind of like kids.”
“Yes, actually like children,” I said. “Or my brothers and father.”
Caleb laughed again. Putting the dogs inside the trailer, I made sure Gum Shoe and Van had everything they needed before Caleb and I headed toward his truck. I didn’t bother to tell the ghosts where I was going, hoping that they wouldn’t follow me. No such luck, though. They were right behind us. At least they weren’t arguing. They were just pouting.
I had no idea how this would end, because one of these ghosts was just as stubborn as the other. Ama wasn’t going back, and her grandfather wouldn’t leave without her. I might have the ghosts around for quite some time. As I climbed into the truck with Caleb, the ghosts got on the back. I peered through the back window at them.
“Is everything all right?” Caleb asked.
“They’re on the back of the truck,” I said.
“Are you serious? I wish I could see them,” he said as he started the ignition.
“Be thankful that you can’t,” I said. “Plus, you don’t want to hear them either.”
We headed out toward my aunt’s diner. It was probably Caleb’s favorite place to eat. Which made my aunt happy because, one, she loved the business, but two, she really liked Caleb. Every once in awhile, I checked on the ghosts to see what they were doing. More fighting. At least I couldn’t hear them from back there. The expressions on their faces said it all.
Caleb whipped the truck into the parking lot. The ghosts bounced around on the back. I supposed they weren’t used to automobiles. Caleb found a spot right up front by the door. It wasn’t too crowded since it was just after the dinner hour.
Once he shut off the engine, Caleb got out and came around to me. I opened my door first and climbed out, moving toward the back of the truck. The ghosts hadn’t even realized that we had stopped. Caleb stood beside me now.
“I think we should just leave them there,” I said.
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br /> “Good idea,” Caleb said.
Inching away from the truck, Caleb and I hurried toward the restaurant, and I hoped that the ghosts wouldn’t notice. However, we’d barely gotten to our booth when the ghosts popped up. They stood by the front door, searching for us. A long counter stretched out along the length of the diner, with stools in front where customers could sit and enjoy their food. In the middle was the cash register, and beside that a glass display case of my aunt’s best desserts. I had my eye on her famous cherry chocolate cake. I needed to get that recipe from her, but I digress.
After a few seconds, the ghosts spotted us and headed over. Now they were standing behind Caleb. He had no idea. I wasn’t about to scoot over so they could sit down. Aunt Patty spotted us and waved a spatula through the air.
As soon as Aunt Patty reached the booth, a line formed between her eyes. “What’s going on here? I feel a lot of heavy energy coming from you two. Have you been arguing?”
Her voice dropped as if this would be the worst thing imaginable.
“No, we’re not arguing. They are.” I pointed behind Caleb.
She scrunched her brow together. “What do you mean? Is someone else with you?”
“Yes, you could say that. We have a couple of ghosts with us.”
Her eyes widened. “Do you mean they’re haunting the restaurant?”
“Not the restaurant—me,” I said.
I’d told my aunt about my recent ghost experiences. Thank goodness, I felt I could tell her anything. The rest of my family thought I was a bit wacky. However, my grandmother and my aunt always understood. Or at least they pretended to understand, even if they didn’t. I appreciated that. My mother was too busy taking care of my father and my brothers to even think about anything else.
“Oh,” Aunt Patty said through pursed lips. “I guess you can tell me all about that later. Are we in danger?”
“No danger. They’re just mad at each other,” I said.
“Okay,” she said. “The usual for you all?”
