Pleas of the Poltergeist

“Sure.”

I jogged to the front and flipped the sign around. But I didn’t have a moment to look at the contents of the envelope, because there were people lining up in the shop from the moment we turned the sign to open.

Aunt Linda manned the sales floor, greeting the folks she knew and introducing herself to others. “How did you hear about us?” she asked.

A fresh-faced face young woman grinned. “On TikTok.”

Aunt Linda caught my eye, and I winked. One day soon, maybe she would eventually think my pour videos were worth it. I made a mental note to go live soon and thank our viewers for their support.

Before the first group of customers made their way to the register, I deposited the papers in the safe in the back room. I wasn’t about to have them walk off before I’d gotten a chance to look over them. The crowds from our re-launch had arrived with only marginally smaller numbers. As more people kept coming in, we barely had time to eat a bite of lunch.

It wasn’t until we were closing up that I had a chance to discuss it with Aunt Linda. She wiped the counter, cleaning dust and bits of wax from the sales counter. “What were those papers you needed? I couldn’t make heads or tails of them.”

I frowned. “These papers appeared shortly after Janice left. I’d like to tell Don about them, but he doesn’t know about the ghosts either. So I’m not sure how to broach the subject.”

She checked the trash cans and emptied one of them. “Didn’t you say Wes already knew about your visitors? He took it well.”

“He kind of had to when we were down in the tunnels. Plus, William sort of started as his relative rather than my guest.”

“Mmm-hmm,” she said, absently.

But I’d already lost her, probably to thoughts of her beau. Instead of adding anything else, we both worked to clean up and prep for the next business day. She disappeared in the back and returned with an armful of candles.

I walked around, making sure there wasn’t anything unusual or out of place in the shop. “What if it’s ghost stuff and someone dropped them off to help us out? How do I tell him about all this?”

Aunt Linda just beamed at me like there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary with my current gifting. “Call him and tell him about the letters. If the ghost stuff comes up, then tell him. If not, then save it for another day.” She blew me a kiss. “I’m going to see Chief Oswald tonight. He’s cooking dinner.”

“You think he’ll understand? Don, I mean, not Chief Oswald.”

“He’ll be okay with it. I’m sure of it.” She started humming as she moved on to clean other surfaces in the shop.

I shook my head. Only a smitten Aunt Linda would suggest a little thing like talking to the already dead wouldn’t be an issue. But she had a point. Wes knew, and maybe Don would take it as well as Wes had. I settled the cash register and prepped the deposit for the night drop at the bank. We’d done well.

“Need anything else?” Aunt Linda asked about twenty minutes later.

“No, I think we’re pretty well caught up. I’ll take the money by the bank on my way home.”

She grinned. “Sounds good.” She tossed the dirty washcloth in a bin behind the counter. “I’m off to see Oswald.”

“Tell him I said hello.”

The door chimed as she left. When I was alone, I stared at my cell phone, trying to decide what to do next. Finally, taking her advice, I dialed Don’s number.

“Hey there, pretty lady,” his warm drawl brought color to my cheeks. “I’m about to get off shift. Want me to swing by and give you a personal escort to your vehicle?”

I pressed the phone closer to my face, glad he’d made it easy to share. “I think that’s a great idea. I need some help with something, and I’d love your thoughts on it.”

“Oh, really. Well, tell me while I head over,” he invited.

“Well, someone left an envelope with some papers in it this morning. They did a ding dong ditch, so I’d know the envelope was sitting there.”

His sigh echoed through the phone. “You need a doorbell camera, Maggie. Don’t argue with me,” he added before I could get a word in. “If you won’t get one, then I will, and I’ll install it myself.”

My shoulders drooped slightly, feeling somewhat chastised. “No, I’ll go get one.”

It wasn’t what I wanted to do, but it was the smart thing to do. With everything going on, it was probably something I should have done long before now.

“How about you pick one up, and I’ll grab dinner? Should I get anything for your aunt?”

“No, she’s eating with Chief Oswald tonight.”

“Good. Then I can install the camera after we eat.”

“Thanks for being so willing to help.” I couldn’t help the smile covering my face.

“Anything to keep you safe. See you soon.” Then he ended the call.

I slipped my phone into my pocket, grabbed the papers, and made my way toward the door. At least the ghosts hadn’t come up. I still didn’t know how he’d take it when they did, but I decided to save that worry for another time.

5

The doorbell installation went better than well because Deputy Don kept me in stitches the entire time. I couldn’t help laughing at his antics, and it was enough to keep me from worrying about the person who had left the envelope earlier that morning.

Shadow followed Don everywhere, purring anytime he looked at her.

“I think you’ve found a new fan.” I giggled as he raised an eyebrow and glanced at the cat.

“Him?”

“Her,” I corrected. “Her name is Shadow.”

“I get the feeling she doesn’t miss much.”

“I think you’re right.”

He pushed his hand through his longish, dark hair. “She has interesting eyes. I’m not sure I’ve seen many cats like that.”

Once the doorbell was installed, we turned our attention to the Thai takeout Don had brought. Over dinner, I pulled out the documents for us to look over. The papers crinkled as I placed them on the table between us.

“Why would someone send you something like this?” Don wiped his hand on a napkin and then pulled one of the papers over to get a better look.

“It might have something to do with my family being spies back in the Revolutionary War days. This could be about that, but I’m still unsure how it connects to things now.”

“Well, the hospital the papers mention in the heading was torn down, and eventually the vet’s office was built because the local politicians felt it would help our town to have a more updated and sophisticated hospital/medical center.” He told the story, but I’d lived here as long as he had, so I knew most of the information he shared. It was cute he was telling me the history as if I didn’t know it, and I liked to hear him talk.

He took another bite of his Thai food. “There was a kerfuffle when the new place was finished because the old records never got transferred to the new place. In fact, they disappeared completely. All of the birth and death records from the county were just gone.” He scratched his head. “It was quite a mystery.”

“That’s more interesting because I have a birth certificate right here with this hospital listed on it.” I pulled it out of the pile and handed it to him.

“Maybe someone thought you needed to know who was born there. It might be a connection to your family.” He had a point. “I doubt this document exists anywhere else. Not after the records were all lost.” He studied it a moment more. “The exact date on the birth certificate is smudged.” He frowned. “Like it got wet and then wiped.”

“Really?”

He held it out to me. “A single drop. A tear, maybe?”

“Wow.” I took it back from him and examined it closer. The date had been smudged exactly as he’d said. Finally, I shook my head. “Nope, I don’t know anyone with that name.”

“But you do. We both know that last name. It’s Kim’s last name, Kim Hough.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “Who would have brought you this paper anyway?”

It was time to tell him about Maggie. He deserved to know about Shadow and the other ghosts. I began to tell him as he listened in silence, with only a few questions to keep things straight.

His expression didn’t change. If anything, maybe it hardened, but I didn’t want to lose my nerve, so I forged ahead. Maybe it would be the end of Deputy Don in my life.

I took a breath. “That’s how Aunt Linda was able to tell you Wes and I were in danger in the tunnels. William found her and then you saved us. It’s how Wes is tied into all of this.”

“You still have two ghosts here?” Suddenly, he looked overwhelmed and glanced around the room as if the ghosts were going to just appear out of thin air. “Are they here now?”

“No. William is stuck to Wes. If he gets too far away from Wes or his own bones, then he gets weaker.”

Don’s gaze narrowed, but he nodded once. Then he closed his take-out container without finishing his meal. I couldn’t blame him. It was a lot to take in for the newly initiated. “What else?”

“Janice appeared yesterday, and she has no idea why she’s been coming here to see me, but it’s random. Well, only in the mornings so far, but it’s like she doesn’t want to be here.” I shrugged because I was clueless about Janice as well.

“All right.” He took a deep breath. “Say I believe you, how do you get them to cross over?” He acted like he was perfectly fine with the idea of ghosts and would be willing to help out if necessary. “Is it something you’ve done for a long time?”

I shook my head. “Maggie was first. Then William. Now Janice. Those are the only ones I’ve encountered, really.”

“Then how do I help?” he reiterated.

“You’ve already done so much for me. You don’t need to take this on, too.” I laid a hand over his. “You’ve saved Aunt Linda and me several times. Every time we turn around, you’ve got our backs. It was important to me you know what was going on.”

“Well, hopefully I won’t have to do any saving again anytime soon.” He joked as he brought my hand to his lips for a gentle kiss.

My breath caught at his show of tenderness. “I didn’t think you’d take it so well.”

“My history might surprise you.”

I considered him. Curiosity nearly pushed me to ask what he meant, but it sounded like a story he wanted to save another time.

“Are you going to be okay tonight?” His concerned tone warmed my heart.

“Oh, yes, I’ll be fine.” I picked up my cell phone and showed him the live feed from the front door. “Plus, I’ll set the alarm when you leave.”

He frowned and gave me his serious cop face. “Promise?”

“Yes, I promise.” It was probably the only way I could get him to leave without him coming back to sit in the driveway in his patrol car all night. Cute as it was.

After supper, Don helped me clean up, and then he lingered in the living room. “I should probably go,” he murmured. “Call me if you need anything.”

I nodded, uncertain how else to answer.

“I’ll check in tomorrow. Night.”

“Goodnight.”

With one last glance around the room, he let himself out.

I watched him on the live feed from the doorbell camera and then programmed the alarm to arm a few minutes later. Feeling more secure after setting it, I decided reading for a bit might help me clear my head enough to get some better sleep. Shadow curled up at my feet, and I cracked open the book I’d started reading what seemed like ages ago.

Tomorrow, I was going to have to send out a message to all of the book club crew for a get-together. With all of the chaos, we’d been neglecting our meetings.

I jerked awake to find Janice standing by my bed again. Sunlight streamed in around her, and my phone alarm blared beside me.

“Is this going to be a regular thing?” I groaned, wanting to pull the pillow over my head. Why did she show up every morning?

“Did you know that the Integration law was passed?” Janice looked out the window with a far-off gaze. “My son used the restroom with a nice black man yesterday. It was just wild. I never thought they’d pass that law. Can you believe it?”

“Wait.” I sat up and tried to pay attention to what Janice was saying. Maybe it was the lack of coffee, but something was off. “You followed your son into a restroom yesterday?” I questioned her, slightly appalled.

“Of course, I tried to make him pee himself by locking the door so he couldn’t get in, but the nice man used his key and let my son into the bathroom.” She let out a barking laugh that was simply awful. “He got out of wetting himself.”

With a nod to show that I was listening, I climbed out of bed, not able to shake the feeling Janice hadn’t been a nice lady when she was alive. Why would she want to make her son unable to reach the bathroom? Coffee or not, maybe the papers that had been left were starting to make more sense as I listened to her.

“I have something to show you.” I hurried downstairs to get the papers to show her, but she’d already gone by the time I returned. Poof!

I wandered back downstairs, checking the house. “Janice, I’m down here,” I called. “Where did you go?”

Though I called for her several times, she didn’t show up again. Janice was quickly becoming the oddest haunting I'd had to date. She showed up every morning, but she didn’t want to be there, and I had serious doubts about what kind of person she’d been when she’d been alive.

Placing the papers back in the fire safe box, I hesitated to let them go, but I needed to get ready for work. Somehow, Janice was connected to the papers, and I needed to figure out how.

I guessed she’d pop in again when she was ready to tell me more or ask another random question. Though, I wondered just what I needed to do to help a woman like her move on.

6

A live TikTok sounded just like the perfect thing to end another very hectic day. I packed up a few online orders and placed them in my car to be mailed the next morning, and I checked my watch. Just enough time for a short live before I had to leave for our impromptu book crew meeting, too.

Throughout the day, business had remained steady, and the customers continued to come in until closing time. Brisk sales were beginning to put a dent in our built-up stock. I’d need to make more candles soon. But I didn’t find it daunting. One of my favorite things was trying out new scents and seeing what new combinations I could come up with.

I propped my phone on the sales counter. “Hello, my Wax Wonders! What scents should I try mixing next?”

It was a safe question to get things started. As the comments rolled in, I answered each one. Someone asked about Aunt Linda’s old house and asked if we’d been back to the tunnels since we’d found them before. Carefully, I answered the query, making a mental note that it might be time to re-visit the old place.

Aunt Linda locked up this time, but she took the time to wave to my viewers on her way out for the night. Several notifications of “Bye, Aunt Linda” showed up, and the door chimed as it closed behind her. The automatic lock clicked.

There were more questions from earlier in the week, and I took a few minutes to answer those before moving on to the reason for my live.

“Our week has been off to a great start because of you guys. We are back in business, and I hope to meet more of you when you are deciding your travel destinations for your next vacation. Some of you have already been in, and it’s been amazing to put people to their handles.” I gave two thumbs up.

“Susie wants to know more about the cop who brought me lunch on opening day.” I smiled at my viewers. “He’s a really good guy and was super thoughtful to bring lunch on a day we might not have had a chance to eat if he hadn’t taken care of us.”

“While I’d love to answer more questions about my dating life…no, really, I would. I need to get to my book club meeting. See everyone next time.” I signed off, partly relieved not to have to answer specific questions about Don and partly anxious to see everyone again at book club.

Scales and Fur were hosting the book club today, and I was greeted with enthusiasm from everyone as I burst in through the front door, only three minutes late.

“Hey,” I said. “It feels like it’s been a minute.”

They all agreed.

Shadow was already there, curled up in Kira the librarian’s lap.

Otto came in behind me, carrying sandwiches for all of us.

It was a good book club meeting, and we discussed all the recent happenings around town, too.

“The candle shop has certainly brought business to town with its reopening. We’ve all had an uptick in business.” Jeremy, the bookstore owner, beamed happily.

“I could show you how to TikTok?” I ventured.

None of them took me up on my offer.

Kira scratched Shadow’s ears and then met my gaze. “I’ve heard something about Chief Oswald liking a particular aunt of yours.”

I chuckled. “You know that’s not my story to tell.”

She nodded, but her knowing look said I’d already confirmed the rumor. “Sure, sure.”

Each following day was more of the same. Restock the shelves for the next day, make more videos, and work at the candle shop until closing. Aunt Linda spent more and more nights away.

And Janice was always there to wake me up in the mornings and complain about the alarm on my phone or my flat hair or whatever else struck her fancy.

It wasn’t as annoying now that I’d gotten used to her nasally voice, but it wasn’t the way I’d like to wake up each morning.

As time wore on, she still didn’t tell me anything helpful about who she was or what she might need from me. I had a feeling that somehow she was connected to everything that had been going on lately, but she didn’t want to talk about it, and I was too busy to press her for details. Of course, by the time I woke up enough to form more than one sensible question, she’d be gone again.

From her arrival, to finding those letters, I still wasn’t sure who Janice was, but I wanted some answers. I hadn’t learned much to go on. Google hadn’t been any more forthcoming than Janice had been about who she had actually been when she was alive.

It didn’t matter how many times I’d ask her a question; she wouldn’t give me a straight answer. She’d ignore me and ask how some modern item worked instead or she did her usual disappearing act. The delay didn’t completely bother me since Colonial Candles was having one of the best weeks it had ever had.