by Rose Pressey
“That’s exactly what I’ll do,” she said. “You’re not going to tell me what to do.”
Didn’t I know that. Mrs. Clatterbuck was exceptionally sassy tonight.
Two men and two women walked toward me. It looked like Abigail hadn’t made the tour tonight. Maybe I was a bit excited about that. Okay, I was a lot excited about that. when I glanced over my shoulder I realized Mrs. Clatterbuck had disappeared. She liked to tell me to get lost, but for the most part she left the tour-goers alone. I wouldn’t mind if she popped up and scared Abigail. Although now it looked as if that didn’t matter since Abigail had apparently decided not to show up.
Wait. I’d spoken too soon. Abigail emerged walking behind the couples. She waved at me excitedly. Okay, maybe she was nice. She certainly had been nothing but friendly. Maybe I was starting to like her after all. At the very least I should give her a chance.
Before the group had time to approach, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and glanced at the number. Why was Brannon calling? He knew that the tour was starting. This must be important. Waving the group over, I answered the phone.
“Are you starting the tour now?” he asked.
“Yes, is everything all right?”
“Actually, no,” he said.
“What happened? Is it Mr. Byrd after all?”
“It’s not Mr. Byrd.”
“Oh, thank heavens,” I said.
“Are you doing okay, Rip?” Brannon asked.
“I’m fine,” I said with a wave of my hand. “It’s Mr. Byrd I’m worried about. Why are you asking about me?”
The sound of him releasing a deep breath came through the phone. “We looked at the surveillance video from the antique shop and there was video of you going into the shop and down the aisle right as the woman died.”
“What does that even mean?” I asked.
“Like I said, we checked the footage and you walked in. You went over to that aisle and about a minute later walked right back out.”
“That’s impossible,” I said with anxiety in my voice. “I was at the library all day.”
“And you never left?” he asked.
The group had joined me now. They stood in front of me looking at me expectantly. It was completely rude of me to be on the phone. Though this was kind of an important call.
I smiled and held my finger up. “Just one moment, sorry.”
They nodded.
“I went to lunch. That was around noon. That was nowhere near the time that you were called to the antique shop.”
“I know, Rip, but I don’t know what to think.”
“I have to start the tour. People are here waiting,” I said.
“All right, Rip, I’ll see you at the tavern when the tour is over.”
He sounded serious. Now I was worried. How would I explain this? The police must be mistaken. Then it hit me. I looked at Abigail. Her stare was on me. She’d sworn that she’d seen someone who looked just like me at the library. That couldn’t be a coincidence, right? I needed to see the video as soon as possible.
The person on the video must just resemble me. It definitely wasn’t me. I was surprised that Brannon wouldn’t know the difference though. I would reserve judgment until I saw for myself. If I got a chance after the tour I would ask Abigail for more information about the person she thought looked like me.
I tucked the phone back into my pocket and smiled at the group. We’d definitely gotten off to a bad start. Now my mind would be preoccupied with thoughts of that video. Obviously, there was someone else around town who looked like me.
“Welcome to Devil’s Moon Haunted Tour,” I said with a smile, trying to sound as professional as possible. “Tonight, I will guide you through the haunted streets and buildings of town.”
“This is exciting,” Abigail said. “I’ve always wanted to go on a haunted tour.”
I handed out the flashlights. “We’ll need these. Some of the locations are rather dark.”
The group turned on the flashlights.
“First we’ll start right here at Devil’s Moon Cemetery.” I gestured over my shoulder.
One of the guys shone his light over my shoulder. “I thought I just saw something.”
I spun around and used my flashlight to highlight the area he had pointed out. Headstones in varying heights were all I saw. That didn’t mean that Mrs. Clatterbuck hadn’t been lurking around and watching the happenings.
“What do you think you saw?” I asked.
“It looked like a woman,” he said. “She looked kind of like you.”
Okay, this was freaking me out now.
“What’s going on?” I spun around again, trying to use my flashlight to illuminate the entire graveyard.
I slowly moved the light inch by inch around the graveyard. Still there was no sign of a single soul, living or dead.
“That is so odd. I thought I saw someone who looked like you too. Remember?” Abigail said.
“How can I forget?”
No matter what the man said, there was no sign of a person in the graveyard now. Regardless, I had to push forward with the tour.
“Are we still going into the cemetery?” the guy asked.
“Oh, right, yes. We are going inside,” I said.
I was completely off my game tonight. I wasn’t even sure if I would remember the stories that I told every time I gave the tour. The gate groaned as I slowly pushed it. The group followed behind me as we stepped inside the fenced area.
“Stories of a woman in blue have always been prevalent here at the graveyard. She roams from grave to grave, checking on everyone.”
I knew that most often Mrs. Clatterbuck was the one checking on things. But I didn’t dare mention her. Mrs. Clatterbuck would be way too mad if I mentioned her name.
“Have you seen the ghostly woman?” the brunette asked.
“I’ve seen her a few times, yes,” I said.
“Maybe that’s who you saw, Frank,” the brunette said.
He shook his head. “No, this woman looked exactly like our tour guide.”
I wasn’t sure he could say she looked exactly like me since he hadn’t gotten a good look at her. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t point out that detail right now. What were the odds of seeing someone who looked like me here, the antique shop, and Abigail’s sighting too?
We made it farther into the graveyard now.
“This was the spot where I saw her,” he said, shining his light on a grave. “Then she turned and kind of looked our way before walking away.”
“Well, that’s odd. She was actually in the graveyard?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m sure of it.”
“And how would she get out of here if the gate is up there?” the other woman asked.
“That’s a great question,” I said.
“She probably just jumped over the fence,” Abigail said. “It’s not very high.”
“It is possible, I suppose,” the other woman said.
Chapter 4
Since the sighting had totally freaked me out, I decided it was time to move the tour along to another location. We headed out of the graveyard and down the alleyway.
“Next I’ll take you to the tavern,” I said.
“The Travel Channel lists this as one of the most haunted places in America.” I gestured toward the old stone building.
With widened eyes, my audience followed the direction of my pointing finger.
“The walls of the building are thirty inches thick and black iron bars covers the windows. The wooden stockade out front is where they used to keep prisoners. This is the old city jail, which is rumored to be haunted by the former jailer from the early 1800s. Apparitions, whispers, footsteps and cold spots have been reported throughout the building,” I said.
“That’s where we bought the tickets,” Abigail said as if everyone didn’t remember that.
I smiled. “Yes, where you got the tickets.”
When we stepped into the tave
rn Tammy waved. No signs of ghosts so far. I’d seen ghosts sitting at the bar before. On an active night there was no telling what would happen. I recounted the stories of things that happened around the tavern. Shadows, footsteps, and even glasses moving on their own.
At the back of my mind though I was still worried about this person who supposedly looked like me. I even checked the tavern to see if maybe this person was inside. But no one looked like me, I thought. Sure, there were people with dark hair, but not enough for someone to think we looked alike. I just couldn’t wait to tell Tammy about Brannon’s call. Plus, what the tour-goer had seen in the cemetery.
This tour had started off completely unprofessionally but nevertheless I had to do this. “If you all will excuse me just a moment. Please talk amongst yourselves. I’ll be right back.”
They agreed, but I still felt bad for doing it. I stepped up to the counter.
“Is everything all right?” Tammy asked.
She knew I never did this kind of thing.
“You’re not going to believe this. I got a call from Brannon. He said that they have video of me going into the antique shop and over to the area where the woman’s body was found. Within minutes I supposedly left.”
Tammy frowned. “Are you playing a joke on me?”
“I wish I were,” I said. “I haven’t seen the video yet, but it gets even weirder.”
“How could he get weirder than that?” Tammy asked.
“Remember I told you about Abigail? That’s her over there.” I pointed.
“She is gorgeous,” Tammy said.
“I know, right? Anyway, she said she saw someone who looked just like me outside the library. Then one of the tour-goers said the same thing. That he had seen someone who looked like me at the graveyard. Isn’t that weird?”
“That is weird,” Tammy said, grabbing a glass and pouring whiskey into it. “Are you coming back here after the tour?”
“Yeah, I’m meeting Brannon here after the tour and I guess I’ll find out more about that video. I’ll let you know.”
“Just be safe out there. Some weird things are going on as usual in Devil’s Moon.”
“I’ll see you soon.” I headed back over to the group.
They looked as if they were growing impatient waiting for me.
“Sorry about that,” I said. “I just needed to tell my friend something quickly.”
“I was entertaining them,” Abigail said, flashing her perfect smile.
“Like I was saying, the tavern has reported many paranormal experiences. Just recently someone reported a burglar because they’d seen someone standing in the window after hours. When the police checked it out they found no one.”
Abigail held up her hand. “Oh, wait. I’m sensing a male ghost. Does he hang around the bar often?”
“Yes, that’s right,” I said.
“Wow. How did you do that?” the brunette asked.
Abigail smiled. “I guess it’s just a natural talent.”
“Yes, well, let’s continue on, shall we?” I gestured.
“I sense another male ghost too,” Abigail said from somewhere over my shoulder.
As far as I knew there was only one male ghost. In my opinion Abigail was just making up stuff. Without answering Abigail, I guided the group outside into the beautiful warm night. “Next we’ll go by the restaurant. It has been around for a long time, but the building has been there even longer. Recently I experienced something extraordinary there.”
The group could barely hear me over Abigail’s chatter. I didn’t want to tell her to shut up… but I wanted to tell her to shut up. Finally, we reached the restaurant. The smell of downhome cooking hung in the air. My favorite was the apple pie.
“Oh, we’re going in here?” Abigail asked. “Can we eat too?”
“Well, I’m not sure we have time for that right now,” I said.
“I am starving,” she said with a frown. “Maybe we could get a quick snack?”
This was the first time I’d ever had to stop a tour to get food. Nevertheless, the group and I stood at the corner of the room waiting for Abigail to place an order.
She walked back over to us. “My hamburger should be ready by the time we’re finished with the tour. Shall we continue?”
This was so bizarre. I’d never had anyone take over the tour. I felt as if I was losing control of it.
“We’ll use this staircase right here to go to the most haunted spot. It’s narrow so watch your step.”
They followed me up the narrow and winding staircase. The wood planks groaned with each step.
“Oh, I sense something already,” Abigail said before we’d reached the top.
I couldn’t believe she was still talking. Maybe she’d had too much caffeine. I wondered if she’d gone by the coffee shop like I had suggested. When we reached the small attic room I gathered everyone around the tiny window at the front of the space that overlooked the main street in town.
“I recently had an experience here with a ghost named Agatha,” I said.
“Oh, wait,” Abigail said, holding up her hand. “Let me guess. She was watching for her husband to come back from the Civil War.”
Okay, she’d probably heard the story already. I figured everyone in town had heard that one.
“Yes, that’s how the story goes,” I said drily.
She was really starting to get on my nerves.
After a couple more minutes, I said, “Well, we should see if your food is ready. You ordered a burger, right?”
“Yes, a burger. I just had a craving,” she said.
“Watch your step going back down,” I said, trying to hide the annoyance in my voice.
I wasn’t doing a good job of concealing my agitation. Remember to remain professional, Ripley, I reminded myself. We waited by the door as Abigail retrieved her order. When she strolled toward us with takeout bag in hand, I guided the group back outside and we headed back down the sidewalk for the next location. The rattle of a sack made a lot of noise behind us as Abigail fished out her cheeseburger and started chowing down.
“I should’ve gotten a soda,” she mumbled with a mouth full of food.
Oh, the last thing I needed was her slurping on a straw.
“Where are we headed next?” Abigail asked as she licked ketchup from her lips.
The slurpy noise sent a shiver down my spine worse than any ghost story ever would.
“I thought we would go by the haunted bookstore,” I said with a frown.
“Aren’t we were going to the antique shop?” she asked in a pouty voice.
“Well, we can’t go there tonight, I’m sorry.”
She groaned. “I really wanted to see it. I’ve heard so much about it.”
Would she fall to the ground and start kicking her legs and screaming like a two-year-old throwing a hissy fit for a new toy?
“Sorry, it’s not open for tours tonight,” I said.
“Why is that?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Again, I felt like I was talking to a toddler. Because I said so, was what I wanted to say. Did she really want me to go into all the details that someone had died there?
“Well, a customer had a health problem there today and the police will be attending to that, so therefore the shop is off limits tonight.”
Had I said too much? That should be sufficient for her. I hoped I didn’t have to repeat myself.
“What kind of health condition?” Abigail asked.
Was she kidding me right now? I don’t know, since I didn’t ask for the medical records. That was what I wanted to say.
But I was still being professional, and instead, I said, “I’m not sure about that.”
“You could just ask your boyfriend, the handsome detective,” she said, winking at the other women. “You should see him, he’s hot. I wouldn’t kick him out of my bed for eating crackers.”
“He doesn’t tell me that information,” I said through gritted teeth. “Oh, look, we’re at t
he bookstore.”
Could I change the subject now, please? We headed inside the bookstore and I hoped that the owner would be there. Maybe she could save me and take Abigail off my hands. She could distract her with books. After all, Abigail said she loved books.
Sadly, the owner wasn’t in the store. At least not that I saw. I’d only met the female employee behind the counter once. As I tried to recount the haunted stories, Abigail was taking over the entire conversation. Why was I even fighting it? I should just let her do all the talking and then the tour would be over. I’d never have to see Abigail again.
Oh, wait, except for the fact that Abigail was joining the book club. That would mean seeing her once a month. Dana wouldn’t enjoy having Abigail take over the whole book meeting and talk all the time. Dana wasn’t nearly as tactful as me and she would probably lose her temper quickly. Maybe I just needed to pull Abigail to the side and in a very nice and polite manner tell her that her talking was distracting to the other tour-goers. I was almost positive that was the case. They wanted to hear my stories, not Abigail filling in the blanks for me.
After quickly taking the group through the store, we stepped back out onto the sidewalk. At least it was a beautiful night for a tour with the stars and warm breeze. I would try to ignore Abigail from this point forward.
“I heard that you had someone come up missing on one of your tours,” Abigail said.
I stopped in my tracks. So much for ignoring her. It seemed as if she wanted to do nothing but cause problems.
“The man wasn’t missing. He decided to leave the tour early because someone was irritating him. You know, some people can be extremely irritating.” I stared right at her.
That was all I would say about that. Abigail finally had nothing to say. For now. I was sure that wouldn’t last long though.
“Well, I think the tour is pretty much wrapped up since we can’t go to the antique shop. We can go back to the tavern together if you’d like or I can collect the flashlights and we can end here.”
I was ready to get away from Abigail right now. The group quickly handed over their flashlights. Just as I suspected, they were eager to flee as well.
“Thank you all for coming. I hope you enjoyed the tour and please come again,” I said as they rushed away.
