The Ghost and the Halloween Haunt

by Anna J. McIntyre

  “She and Evan are giving Evan’s grandmother a tour of the house.”

  Danielle set the empty glass on the counter and turned to Lily. “Evan’s grandmother is here?”

  “I guess it is really Evan’s great grandmother. She introduced herself as Katherine, but told me I could call her Kat.” Lily popped the last bite of her cookie into her mouth.

  “Very interesting,” Danielle stammered, abandoning the glass she was about to fill with water. She took a seat at the table with Walt and Lily.

  Walt looked quizzically at his wife. “What is it?”

  Danielle turned to Lily and stared at her a moment. In response, Lily frowned. “What is it, Dani?”

  “Don’t you remember? The chief’s grandma Kat passed away about three years ago.”

  Thirty-One

  “Are you saying I was just talking to a ghost?” Lily asked.

  “If it’s Evan’s great-grandma Kat.” Danielle glanced to the doorway leading to the hallway and then back to Lily and Walt. “Why don’t you two stay here and let me see what I can find out.”

  “I can come with you,” Walt suggested.

  Danielle shook her head. “No. I’d rather Kat stick around. Maybe she’ll tell me what’s going on. She might spook if we both approach her.”

  “Spook the spook? Really, Dani?” Lily giggled.

  Ignoring Lily’s quip, Danielle left the kitchen and went in search of the visiting ghost. Or was it ghosts? The jury was out on Ginny. She found them in the library, looking at Angela Marlow’s portrait. They didn’t hear Danielle enter the room.

  “She might have been a pretty thing, but rather a self-centered young woman,” Kat was telling Evan and Ginny.

  “I never liked her,” Ginny said. “She was always telling me to stay out of her part of the cemetery.”

  Danielle had her answer. Little Ginny, like Kat, was a ghost. But why was she here?

  “Hello,” Danielle greeted them. The three who had been studying the portrait turned to her. “I’m glad you came back, Ginny. Nice to see you again, Kat.”

  “This is my grandma Kat!” Evan told Danielle.

  “Yes, Evan. I’ve met her before. I was hoping Kat and I might have a private chat.”

  “Can Ginny and I go in the backyard and play with Sadie?” Evan asked.

  Danielle nodded. “But please stay in the side yard.”

  Ginny and Evan raced from the room. Kat watched them leave, a soft smile on her face. When alone with Danielle, Kat turned to her and said, “He’s one of the reasons I haven’t moved on.”

  “Evan?”

  Kat nodded. She walked to a chair and sat down and then pointed to the sofa. “Why don’t you sit down, dear. I imagine there are things you would like to ask me.”

  Danielle took a seat on the sofa and then said, “I thought you stuck around to make sure your grandson remarried?”

  Kat laughed. “Really, dear? Confined to the cemetery? Do you imagine I was waiting for some lovely grieving widow to stop by, and then I would try sending her Edward’s way?”

  “You did send me his way,” Danielle reminded her.

  “Yes, I did, didn’t I? But not for the reason it seemed at the time. I was something like you when I was alive. Oh, not as sensitive, but I would occasionally glimpse a spirit crossing over, or one lingering. But it didn’t take long to figure out some things were best not shared with others. If you know what I mean,” Kat said.

  Danielle nodded. “Yes, I do.”

  “I could see my husband after he passed—his spirit hadn’t moved on. The dear man wanted to wait for me. And I was happy for him to stay. After all, I knew my time here was limited. It wasn’t like I had many years left to start a new life without him. So I would visit the cemetery every day, often using the excuse they didn’t tend the grounds properly. When I died, I fully expected to move on with my husband, but then something unexpected happened at my funeral.”

  “Evan could see you?” Danielle said.

  “Exactly. It was quite startling to me because I realized his gift was much stronger than mine had been. He even managed to see several other spirits at the funeral. Of course, he didn’t realize they were spirits, and seeing me just confused him.” Kat sighed.

  “How did you think sticking around—especially if you were confined to the cemetery—would help Evan?”

  “What I wanted was for you to go to Edward, tell him what I had said, and then he would know. He would know the truth.”

  “The truth?” Danielle frowned.

  “Yes, of course. That people like you—like Evan—exist.”

  “I’m not sure I understand. How did you even know about me?”

  “Perhaps it is best I start at the beginning. It is always best to start at the beginning, isn’t it, dear?”

  “Umm…yes. I suppose it is.” Danielle studied Kat.

  “I hadn’t figured it all out at first. I just knew I couldn’t go. But then I met your great-aunt’s mother,” Kat explained.

  “Katherine O’Malley?” Danielle asked.

  “Yes. You know, I was never called Kat when I was alive. Only by dear Edward, and then his boys, who knew me as Grandma Kat. Once I took residence at the cemetery, I decided it best to use the nickname, to make it less confusing with the other spirits still lingering.”

  “So she was known as Katherine and you Kat?” Danielle asked.

  “Yes. She wasn’t here long after I arrived, but we became very good friends in that short time. I rather miss her. It will be nice to see her again when we move on.”

  “We?” Danielle asked.

  “My dear husband is still here. You haven’t met him. He is rather shy and prefers not to converse with mediums. Anyway…Katherine told me about you. She had been visiting her daughter in her dreams and had learned about her son-in-law’s great-niece who had the gift. Katherine managed to convince Brianna to leave you Marlow House, believing when you came, you could help Walt Marlow. And I thought if you could help Walt Marlow, perhaps you could help Evan.”

  “Help him how?” Danielle asked.

  “Help him to understand his gift. To help his father understand so he wouldn’t think there was something off about the dear boy. And my plan worked, didn’t it?”

  “I suppose it did.” Danielle smiled. “But you’re still here.”

  “I did rather expect you to bring Evan to the cemetery to see me and his grandfather so we could say goodbye one last time. But you are a medium, not a mind reader. And I suppose Edward would not be comfortable with you whisking his young son off to a cemetery where he might encounter any type of spirit. Of course, he is allowing him to help here on Halloween, and Marlow House does seem to be attracting its share of spirits this year.”

  “Ginny is a spirit too, isn’t she?”

  Kat smiled gently and glanced to the window leading to the side yard. She could see the two children running by, chasing Sadie.

  “Her real name is Virginia. I suspect she wanted to reinvent herself for Halloween, while passing herself off as a living child. To be honest, Virginia is another reason I am reluctant to move on,” Kat said with a sigh. “She needs me.”

  “Why hasn’t she moved on? What’s her story?”

  “The girl came from the most unfortunate circumstances. Not loved, as are Eddy and Evan. Children should be loved, don’t you think?” Kat asked.

  “Most certainly.”

  “Her mother was weak, addicted to opioids. Her father drank and took the adage ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ to extremes. During a drunken rage, he caused a fire that burned down his house. Virginia was the only one to escape. She went to live with her aunt and uncle, who, according to Virginia, wanted her no more than her parents had.”

  “The Michaelses? She was the niece of the Michaelses who used to own Pete Rogers’s house?” Danielle asked.

  Kat nodded. “Yes.”

  “According to Walt, when he returned from Europe, she was no longer living with them. He neve
r knew what had happened to her,” Danielle told Kat.

  “She never felt welcome, but one must remember she was also a troubled girl, and it is not easy for anyone to take in someone else’s child. Her aunt and uncle were very young, newlyweds, and had been renting a room when Virginia came into their care. According to Virginia, her father had taken out a life insurance policy on her mother. She found that out while overhearing a conversation after her parents’ death. I believe the man intended to kill his wife and collect on the policy, but he ended up killing himself too. The money went to purchase the house they all moved into. But Virginia hated her bedroom and insisted there were strange sounds late at night. One evening she snuck out of the house with her blanket and pillow and climbed into the back of her uncle’s car to sleep. She didn’t want to sleep in the house, something scared her, and her aunt and uncle didn’t take her fears seriously. She didn’t wake up the next morning. She was dead.”

  “Do you know why she died?” Danielle asked.

  “No. I don’t.”

  “Maybe she froze to death during the night?” Danielle suggested.

  “I doubt it. It was during the summer, and according to Virginia, she rolled up the car windows and was very warm inside the vehicle,” Kat explained.

  “Is that why she can’t move on? She needs to know why she died?” Danielle asked.

  “I don’t think so. Since spending time at a cemetery, I’ve learned most children who have a loving parent or grandparent on the other side, waiting, are anxious to move on.”

  “But Ginny has no one,” Danielle said.

  “Exactly. She has no desire to see her parents again. And she was never close to her aunt and uncle. I’ve asked her to move on with us when we go, but she seems determined to stay. I was actually surprised she decided to venture out this Halloween. From what I understand, it’s the first time she ever has. She, of course, has been at the cemetery much longer than I have.”

  “If she came here, maybe she’s seeking answers,” Danielle suggested.

  “I suppose that’s possible. But answers to what questions?”

  “Who are you talking to?” Joanne asked Danielle when she walked into the library a moment later. By the way she looked around the room, it was obvious Joanne could not see Kat, as Lily had.

  “Oh my, I suppose I used up my energy making myself seen to your friend Lily,” Kat murmured. “I confess I am rather a novice at all this. Like Virginia, this is my first Halloween away from the cemetery.”

  “I was talking on the phone,” Danielle lied.

  Joanne frowned, obviously wondering how that could be possible since Danielle wasn’t holding a phone to her ear.

  Danielle pulled her cellphone from her pocket and held it up. “Speakerphone.” Because of where Joanne stood, she couldn’t tell if Danielle had picked the phone off her lap or pulled it from a pocket.

  Joanne laughed. “I was wondering.”

  Danielle smiled and set her phone down. “I was just saying goodbye.”

  If Joanne questioned Danielle’s explanation, considering it didn’t sound as if she was ending a phone call, she said nothing. Instead, Joanne walked to the window and looked outside. Placing her hands on her hips, her back to Danielle and Kat, she shook her head. “I was watching Evan and Sadie from upstairs. That boy certainly has energy!”

  “Yes, he does,” Danielle said, flashing Kat a smile.

  “The way he and Sadie are running around those headstones, I think he’s pretending to play with someone.” Joanne laughed. “Maybe a ghost.”

  “A ghost?” Danielle asked.

  Joanne turned to Danielle. “Yes. It looks as if he’s talking to an imaginary friend, the way he keeps pointing and chattering on.”

  “He’s probably talking to Sadie,” Danielle suggested.

  Joanne shook her head. “No. Sadie ran off to the other end of the yard to catch a ball Evan had thrown, when the boy started up a conversation with his imaginary friend. Since it looks like a cemetery out there and he has been playing ghost here the last few days, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what he’s doing. The child has such an active imagination. Perhaps he’ll be a writer someday like Walt.”

  Danielle and Kat exchanged glances. “Perhaps he will,” Danielle murmured.

  Thirty-Two

  Kat vanished before Joanne left the library, not giving Danielle a chance to say goodbye—or ask additional questions. She wasn’t sure if the chief’s grandmother had returned to the cemetery or was still lingering somewhere in Marlow House. It sounded as if Kat and her husband were prepared to finally move on, yet Ginny was making Kat reluctant to go—death had not dampened her maternal instincts.

  Danielle went first to the kitchen to update Walt and Lily on what she had learned, and then she called the chief to let him know he could stop looking for Ginny. He wouldn’t find her. She was outside in her backyard, still playing with Evan and Sadie, and considering Joanne had not seen her, and Lily could no longer see her, she doubted Ginny had enough energy left to lift a sheet. Although it was entirely possible she would have enough come Halloween night if she didn’t spend it all making herself visible.

  Had the chief not been so busy, she would have asked him if there was anything in his old files about the death of Michaels’ niece. She tried doing a brief search online, but found nothing. Knowing she would be able to find Ginny at the cemetery after Halloween, she focused her energy on the haunted house, since there were only two nights left.

  Ginny stayed to visit with Evan during the Monday haunt, yet since no one could see her but the mediums, no one mentioned her presence to people like Melony. Kat didn’t show herself again on Monday, and by evening’s end, Danielle was fairly confident Kat had returned to the cemetery. Annabelle showed herself again to Walt, but to no one else.

  To the disappointment of that evening’s guests, there was no dead body on the second floor—and no glimpse of a hidden staircase. A number of guests, who had heard of the secret staircase, attempted to find it, but with the panel door locked, it looked like nothing but a solid wall.

  “I knew Carla was making it up,” one of the disappointed guests said after he stepped out of the closet. “There’s no secret passage.”

  Fortunately for the guests, the tea-serving ghost remained in the parlor, as did the flirtatious head in the jar, which didn’t just smile at those passing by, but had begun giving winks to the pretty girls.

  Heather had just finished her morning run. Wearing a black jogging suit, with orange ribbons securing her two long ebony braids, she sat alone in a booth at Pier Café, her feet up on the bench seat as she leaned back against one padded side of the booth, menu in hand. It had been a fun week helping at the haunted house, but she was ready for November to arrive, yet dreaded playing catch-up at the office. Since the haunted house had opened, both she and Chris had been putting in just a few hours each day at work. But Halloween had finally arrived, and tonight would be the last viewing of Marlow House.

  “Excuse me, but aren’t you the one I’ve seen over at our neighbor’s house?” a woman in the next booth asked Heather.

  Heather, who hadn’t realized someone had just sat down in the next booth over, removed her feet from the seat, set them on the floor, and sat up straighter so she could better see the woman now peering over the booth at her.

  “I suppose that would depend on who your neighbor is,” Heather said, still holding her menu open.

  The woman turned in Heather’s direction, sitting on her knees so she could get a better view, giggled and said, “I suppose you’re right. It’s that gorgeous guy with the most amazing blue eyes and abs you just want to touch, if you know what I mean.” The woman practically drooled.

  Heather groaned and closed her menu. “I suppose you’re talking about Chris Johnson?”

  “Yes, yes! That’s his name! Such a common name for such an uncommon specimen. Is he your boyfriend? If so, you are one lucky girl. I am absolutely green.”

&nbs
p; “No.” Heather set the menu on the table. “Chris is just a friend. He’s also my boss.”

  The woman arched her brows. “Really? Wow, with a boss who looks like that, workplace sexual harassment sounds rather appealing.”

  Heather frowned. “Not sure about that. You said you live next door to Chris?”

  “Oh, sorry.” The woman giggled and then extended a hand in greeting. “I’m Mia Crawford. My husband and I just moved into the house next door to your boss.”

  Husband, Heather thought. Wonder if your husband knows how you’re talking about your new neighbor. Reluctantly, Heather shook the woman’s hand.

  “Is Chris meeting you for breakfast?” Mia asked, looking around anxiously as she took back her hand.

  “No. I also live on Beach Drive. Just stopping to have breakfast after my morning jog.”

  “Oh, you are an ambitious thing,” Mia said. “Where do you live exactly?”

  “Do you know where Marlow House is?” Heather asked.

  “Don’t tell me you live there?”

  “No,” Heather said, “I live two doors down from Marlow House.”

  “My husband and I met the owner of Marlow House. She was looking for some missing girl. In fact, the police questioned me at work. Do you know anything about it? I wondered if they found the child.”

  “They did. She’s fine. There was just some sort of misunderstanding.”

  “Glad to hear that.”

  “Are you going to be visiting the haunted house?” Heather asked. “Tonight is the last night. It’s for a good cause.”

  “Normally, I would love to. But we have been so busy, moving and all. And then we had to go to Portland unexpectedly. My mother-in-law died last year, and it seems there is always something new coming up with her estate. Believe me when I say put your estate in a trust. If my mother-in-law would have just listened to her son, everything would have gone so much smoother! I really expected to be all settled in our new house by now, but it has been one thing after another.”