Pleas of the Poltergeist

The flames grew quickly, so I quickly split the herbs into two equal bundles.

William’s eyes followed my every move as I carefully distributed herbs on his remains. Not saying anything, William observed as I then spread them over the fire.

When I hesitated, Wes urged, “Just do it.”

William also pleaded with me to hurry.

Our ghost was more than ready to move on. So I closed my eyes and tossed the bundles in, hoping that this would become the moment of release for William.

Here goes nothing.

11

“It’s burning,” William’s howling scream rent through the air. “It’s burning me.”

“We have to extinguish the fire,” I yelled at Wes. “It’s hurting William. Hurry. Put it out.”

“With what?”

“I don’t know!” I started kicking dirt over the flames.

William continued to howl.

Wes darted away and returned a moment later with a half-empty bottle of water. He opened the lid, but before he could dump it out, Janice appeared.

“What are you doing? Why am I on fire?” she yelled. “I’m burning.”

William’s screeching became a whimper, and he looked at Janice and then at me. “Who is this?” he demanded.

Mildly freaked out by causing two ghosts pain, I scanned them both for signs that something was wrong. William’s face seemed remarkably clear now. Though, Janice still winced with each pop of the fire.

“Wait, you just said it hurt?” I accused William.

“Sorry, I was just playing with you.” He looked a little sheepish. “But who is she?”

“Can you put that out? I really don’t want to be barbequed today,” Janice requested with a little more urgency. “It hurts.”

“What is going on?” Wes asked, confused, as he could only hear my side of the conversation.

“William started screaming that we were burning him, and it hurt. Turns out he was trying to be funny. However, the new ghost, Janice, joined us to tell me we’re burning her bones.”

“There’s a new ghost?” Wes was confused.

“Yes, her name is Janice.” I turned to her. “Why do we have your bones?”

“My husband, I told you about him. Put the fire out, please,” she repeated.

I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. “This isn’t working anyway. It’s the wrong bones. Dump out the water.” I continued kicking soil over the burning logs. The blaze diminished, and the added water nearly put it out completely.

“I’ve got things to do if you’re done here.” Janice pouted.

I crossed my arms over my chest.“No, we aren’t done here.”

Janice frowned at me, her look murderous and mutinous. The fire flickered out.

“Who are you?” I demanded. “Why were you buried where William’s body was supposed to be?”

“I didn’t get to pick where I was buried.” Janice snorted. “My husband picked it when I threatened to expose his secrets because I wasn’t going to continue living with a murderer. I have to leave now and make sure that the keys I’ve hidden stay that way.” She disappeared.

“Well, that didn’t work,” William huffed. “And she’s kind of rude.”

I simply nodded in agreement.

After retelling and explaining everything to Wes, I was at a loss as to what to do next. We hadn’t even burned William. The bones belonged to Janice. At least some of them. It might explain why they were so small.

Wes straightened after checking to make sure the fire had been completely put out. “Those weren’t even William’s bones, and I touched them.”

“It does seem to be true,” I commented.

His expression was hilarious considering we had other, more pressing matters, and he was upset that he’d touched bones that weren’t related to him. Not to mention, he was a vet. Wouldn’t he be used to squeamish things?

In all honestly, it was kind of cute.

I pointed at him. “You still have that shovel?”

He gave me a dubious look. “Why?”

“We’re going to need to dig deeper and find William’s bones.”

“Oh, God.” Wes’ face blanched. “We have another body to dig up.”

“What’s this about digging up another body?” Don flung open the gate to the yard. “What are you two doing out here?”

“Burning bones like I told you we were going to do,” I answered, a bit short-tempered; I was getting a little tired of all the interruptions. William needed to go. I was more than ready to be down to one ghost.

“You do know there is a burn ban in the city limits?” Don chuckled. “You want to get caught with those bones, don’t you? With all that smoke, I thought someone had set fire to Linda’s house again. You’re lucky I didn’t call the fire chief.”

“You told Don about the bones?” Wes seemed to be upset with me.

“Yes, I told him about everything.”

Wes thought a moment, then he shrugged. “Well, burning the bones didn’t work. We had the wrong bones. Don, you got any unsolved missing person cases we could match these to?” Don studied Wes as if trying to think of anything that would help.

I turned to Don. “Oh, also, the plot thickens. Janice is the one connected to the bones we found. That’s her tie to me. They were in our tunnel.”

“I can look up any missing persons from whatever time she’s from,” Don offered.

“She says her husband killed her. Can we find any reports from that time frame?” I suggested, as a starting place. “The fifties?”

“If she lived here then, her records disappeared with the hospital. That would have been about the same time that it was torn down.” Don shook his head, “I’ll pull any cold cases from that time frame, if we have any. There aren’t a lot of missing persons in our county, much less murdered ones.”

“Can you do that while we dig up the right body this time?” Wes questioned.

“We’ve digitized everything, so I can do it in the squad car on my computer. I’ll do that while you go dig up more bones,” Don agreed with a grin.

“All right. Let’s get to it.” I sighed.

Don stopped us as we started toward the tunnel. “Is it safe down there?”

“Probably not, but let’s not focus on that right now.” I walked over to stand next to Wes. “Let’s go.”

Don climbed back into his squad car, and we made our way toward the tunnels. “You sure you don’t know anything about a Janice?” I quizzed William.

“No, I never saw anyone. I just tried to keep the journal safe in that corner under the rocks until I could get you to look at it. I don’t remember any guests coming into the tunnels.”

“Do you think we’ll find another body down there?” Wes asked.

“I sure hope not.” I wasn’t sure I could take a third ghost in my life.

12

Once again, Wes and I found ourselves in the gloomy tunnels. Thankfully, I still had my flashlight in my car, and he’d still had his shovel in his. Kneeling in front of the overturned earth, we started digging. We had to go down much deeper this time until finally, we found another set of bones. They were larger than the first set we’d found.

“Are we even sure that those are mine?” William eyed them warily.

I relayed his words to Wes.

Wes studied them a moment. Then he said, “I’m not a doctor, but based on the fact that these are much bigger with two of each thing, I believe so.” Wes looked around at the shadows of the tunnel. “What are we going to do? What if messing with more bones just brings another ghost to haunt you?”

I shrugged. “Well, I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. We can’t just leave him stuck here, unable to cross over.” I didn’t tell Wes how much I hoped I didn’t get another nasally visitor the next morning.

“All right. I’m game to try whatever you want to try. I just didn’t want to bring more ghostly haunted things to you. You’ve already got enough on your plate as it is.”

“Eh.” I made a face. “What’s one more ghost to add to the crew? Maybe they can tell us why Janice was in the tunnel since she won’t give us an answer.”

Carefully, we collected the bones in another pillowcase-like bag Wes had grabbed from his vehicle along with the shovel. Then we walked back into the fenced part of Aunt Linda’s yard and out to the driveway, where Don sat in his car busy checking on cold cases for us. As we approached him, Don rolled down his window.

“Any luck?” I asked as we came to a stop beside the patrol car.

“Nope, I’ll have to look at the older, historical files in the department file room. They don’t have the whole online system backed up yet. It isn’t accessible online for things that far back; we have to check the system manually.”

“It was worth a try,” Wes offered.

Don continued. “I can also try to run her name through the system and see what a search of her name brings up. Do we have a last name for her yet?” Don glanced at me since I was the one that had been communicating with the ghost.

“I don’t. We’ll need to figure that out so you can look her up.”

“Can’t you just call for her and ask?”

“No, it doesn’t work like that.” I smiled sadly.

“You could light her on fire again. That got her attention the first time,” William suggested with a sly smile.

I glared at him. “She shows up every morning. I’ll ask her then,” I promised. It was almost like there was some light competition between William and the new ghost.

“What should we do with William’s bones until we figure out what we’re going to do?” Wes looked to where he thought William was. “Can you stay the night with Mags if the bones are with her?”

William nodded back to Wes even though Wes couldn’t see him. “That should be okay. I can still come see him, but I’ll be able to tell you if anything is wrong.”

I turned to Wes. “William says that will work. If you’ll just put them in my trunk for me, I’ll take him along.”

“That’s just rude.” William shot me a look this time. “I’ll not be placed in the boot of a vehicle.”

I put my hands on my hips. “Well, what am I supposed to do? Do you want me to put your bones on the front seat? Can you not ride in the front seat even if the bones are in the back? How does that work?”

“Well, the law already knows you have them. What can it hurt?” William pointed out logically. “I do like to ride in style in any conveyance I am in.”

“Gracious sakes,” I sighed. “Put the bones on my passenger seat, please.”

Wes frowned at me, but he walked over to do as I asked. It felt like he was more relieved that William would stay with me tonight, instead of haunting him.

Don laughed from the driver’s seat of his squad car. “I can’t hear the other side of the conversation, so I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to you talking to a ghost, much less arguing with one.”

I made a face. “Hopefully, it won’t be for much longer. Then everyone can have a sense of peace and quiet. William, Wes, me, you, and Janice.” I climbed into my car with William’s bones on the seat next to me, and Shadow riding on the dashboard. What a sight we made.

Wes placed his shovel in his vehicle, waved to both of us, and left. Don didn’t pull out of the driveway until after I did. Several blocks later, he took a right while I took a left toward my place. When I arrived home, I pulled in to see Aunt Linda’s car there with one of the smaller fire trucks tucked in behind it.

I rushed inside, worried we had another fire at the shop only to find the fire chief sitting on the couch with Aunt Linda. They both looked shocked to see me.

“What’s wrong?” Aunt Linda asked, swiping her hand out of Chief Oswald’s.

I glanced from one to the other, suddenly feeling like the third wheel. “Well, after all the fires, you scared me there for a minute.” I gave them a shaky smile and gestured toward the chief’s vehicle. “Fire truck and all.”

Aunt Linda’s eyes widened. “Oh, no, nothing like that.”

Chief Oswald shrugged. “No fire.”

“Right. Then I’ll just get my things from the car and head upstairs, so I’m out of your hair.”

“Do you want a cup of coffee?” Aunt Linda asked. “We don’t want to run you out of your own house.”

I put my hands up. “Oh, no, you two stay right there. It’s really no problem.”

“Are you sure?” Aunt Linda asked. “I mean, I could—”

“No, it’s fine. You stay.” As awkward as it might be, it would only become more so if I had to explain to Chief Oswald why I had a bag of bones in the front seat of my car. I rushed back out before Aunt Linda could argue anymore.

William was standing patiently waiting for me beside the car.

“Sorry, I thought since the fire truck was here that there was another fire. I don’t know how long it’ll take me to get over that reaction.”

William didn’t speak while I stood there contemplating what to do with William’s bones. I couldn’t just carry them inside without attracting notice. Finally, I walked around the house and tied the bag to the tree closest to my bedroom window.

“You can’t leave me out here all night,” William protested with a whine.

“I’m not. Aunt Linda is on some kind of date in there, and I can’t just waltz past the fire chief with a bag of bones,” I countered. “I’ll come back out and get you after Oswald leaves.”

William nodded at my words.

I strolled back around to the front door and gave a little wave as I climbed the stairs up to my room.

Moments later, William appeared in my room, and I opened up my window and studied the bag at ground level. I couldn’t reach it from my second-story window, so it really would have to wait.

“How did my life become about sneaking bones into my bedroom?” I asked him, but it was more of a rhetorical question.

He only shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m going to go check on Wes,” he declared before poofing away.

I groaned. What was with these ghosts and all their poofing? “Why did I just drag you all around and get you into my room if you were just going to run away to visit Wes?”

13

I opened my eyes to hear Janice and William talking in my bedroom. Chief Oswald had stayed until almost midnight the night before. But I’d managed to slip out afterward and bring William’s remains into my room. Which was not something I would have ever pictured happening in my lifetime. At least I hadn’t woken up to the two ghosts I knew arguing.

“Who knew ghosts could be so cute together?” I rasped at them.

Janice laughed her baying, high-pitched laugh.

William said nothing.

A glance at my phone showed there was still fifteen minutes until my alarm was supposed to go off. Absently, I wished that the incessant beep had woken me instead of another morning of Janice’s nasally voice bleeding through my sleep. William needed to move on and so did Janice. They kept conversing.

Yet the pillow I placed over my head didn’t really quiet the two of them talking. Instead of getting to know one another, it would have been more helpful if they had let me get that extra five minutes before waking me up.

“Good morning, sunshine. Glad you could join the living.” Janice laughed again. Sunshine was the last thing on my mind.

“Janice, you aren’t a living person, so you’re not even a part of the land of the living.”

William chuckled at that.

When I climbed out of bed, I tripped on William's bones. I’d dropped the bag on the floor outside my closet before collapsing into bed. I couldn’t stop the cringy expression from crossing my face.

In the light of day, putting them inside seemed like the wiser decision, and when I opened it up to move them, I saw the paper I had gotten from Wes with the destruction notice on it.

“Do you remember who the governor was when you were alive?” I held the paper up for Janice to see. “By any chance, do you remember this man?” I pointed to the name at the bottom of the destruction notice. “Do you know if he had any ties or connections to the tunnels?”

“That man became Governor after killing me?” Janice seemed pissed off at the news. “Over my dead body! I would have never let him do that if I could’ve helped it. He probably used my disappearance as a way to get more votes.”

A gasp escaped me as I realized what she meant.

“You were married to him. The Governor was your husband. Your last name is Hough, also. That means you’re Kim’s grandmother.” I began to put all the pieces together. My eyes widened. Was Kim the granddaughter in jail?

Janice sniffed at my words. “That is the name of my grandchild.”

William leaned away from Janice, his expression probably as shocked as mine.

“I need to call everyone and tell them about this,” I said. It at least showed the connection between everything.

“Well, since you’re going to be busy anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Janice announced. I looked up, but she had poofed away.

“Ugh!” My frustration became a muted scream, and I shoved my pillow over my face to quiet it even more so that I wouldn't panic Aunt Linda and bring her running to my room.

“It’s quiet and peaceful when she's gone,” William commented.

I could only nod in agreement as I tossed the pillow back onto my bed.

“I’ll go join Wes while you get dressed and ready,” he announced before leaving me to have a moment of privacy.

I immediately called Don and proceeded to fill him in on everything I learned this morning from Janice. He congratulated me on piecing it together.

“All right. Now we have a last name and somewhere to look for an unsolved crime.” He paused. “Janice Hough. It should help us at least get a starting place.”

“Yes, and I have the paperwork if you need to see it. I showed it to Janice, but as usual, she wasn’t very helpful beyond the bit she gave. If she knew anything about the hospital, she didn’t act like it. Though, I’m sure she knows more about Kim’s family than Kim does.” I knew I was talking a mile a minute, but the fact Kim was related to all the ghosts who had shown up seemed unreal.

“Okay, slow down. Were you able to ask her anything else?” Don asked.

“Nothing. She poofed away to haunt others before I could.” I started the coffee and began to get ready for work.

“That explains the bones being there in the tunnel, anyway. She is clearly tied to your family,” Don acknowledged. “Multiple people were using that area of the tunnels to cover up their murders. A burial ground with at least two bodies, but no actual evidence to convict them with because it’s been so long. All the forensics that would have pointed a finger at them would be hard to uncover at this point.”