Out of the Shadows (Bellingwood Book 12) (15 page)

When they turned onto Beech Street, several cars were already parked across the street from the Springer House.

"This is the place," Sandy said and pulled into an open space. "But we're late for the party."

Polly leaned forward and looked out the window and saw a small fire in front of the Springer House. "What in the world?" she gasped.

"Who knew there were this many paranormal ghosty types in Bellingwood?" Sal asked, laughing.

Camille, who was in the front passenger seat, said, "I don't think they're from Bellingwood. The license plate on the car in front of us is Pennsylvania."

"Don't they have enough ghosts in their own state?" Sandy asked. "They have to come to Iowa to bother ours?"

Three women were circling the fire, tossing something into it at regular intervals to make the flame spark and rise. They wore flowing white blouses over blue jeans. Six other people were seated on small stools, far enough behind them to be out of their way as they danced.

"Over there," Camille whispered, pointing further down the street.

Sure enough, there were two people with cameras, filming the entire event.

"Okay everybody," Sandy said. "Be quiet. I'm going to roll down the window."

Polly moved up to the front of the van so she was kneeling between the two captain's seats. She held her breath as she listened. They were chanting. Over and over the same thing:

Muriel Springer, to you we call.

Upon our face, let your visage fall.

We only wish to bring you peace

And from this plane, your soul's release.

She glanced at Camille and mouthed, "Seriously?"

The young woman smiled and shrugged.

With every third incantation, a young man on a stool would beat a drum, helping them maintain the rhythm of the chants.

Polly motioned to Sandy to raise the window and when it was back up, she said. "I wonder what the neighbors think of this?"

Sylvie leaned forward and tapped Polly's shoulder. "I wonder if Ken knows?"

"If they're filming for a television show or documentary, surely they had to get a permit," Polly said. She looked back at the houses on the opposite side of the street from the Springer House. The drapes in the large window of one of the houses had been pulled back and a small group of people were gathered, watching the action in front of them.

"Yeah, this is better entertainment than anything else they've got going on. And since they aren't being too loud, it isn't bothering anyone."

"Did you see it?" Sandy yelped, making Polly jump.

"What?"

"Something in the upstairs window. It looked like a woman in a long dress."

"You're kidding me," Polly said.

Sandy turned to her. "Yep, but every single one of you looked up, didn't you?"

"You're worse than any of us," Polly replied. "That was rotten."

"I have to take my giggles when I can get them. So how long do you want to stay?"

"I don't care," Polly said. "I've had my entertainment. Anybody else?" She turned to see what Sylvie, Sal and Joss had to say.

"It was an entertaining field trip," Sal said. "But I can stay out as late as you want."

Joss shrugged and Sylvie shook her head. "I hate to be the party pooper, but I have to get up early tomorrow morning. She reached up and touched Camille's shoulder. "Speak up. So do you."

"You're right," Camille said, "But I never get to have this much fun. Ghosts and weirdos and girlfriends. It doesn't get much better than this."

"Wine would help," Sal said. "Lots and lots of wine."

"Maybe we should go somewhere and cleanse ourselves with wine now," Sandy said. "I feel all weird about this. There are actually people trying to communicate with a ghost in the safest little town in Iowa." She turned and smirked at Polly. "And I'm with the person who finds dead bodies, so I feel even safer. If she hasn't found a body here, then it doesn't exist."

Polly swatted her arm. "We'll have none of that tonight. It's creepy enough with this going on just a few blocks from our homes."

"You should totally buy this house," Sylvie said quietly. "Fix it all up out here and make it into a bed and breakfast or something. That would put this haunting nonsense to rest."

"Maybe we should all buy it together," Sal said. "I'll bet it can't be that much. Things are in bad shape here."

Camille laughed. "That's just what I need in my life. A broken down, haunted house. I don't even have my own place to live yet. How can I afford that and be part of this?"

"You buy it," Sal said. "It would be great for your big family when they come visit."

"Yeah. No," Camille said. "I'm looking for a one-bedroom apartment, thank you very much. If I want to spend time with that big family, I'll go to Omaha."

"So are we done here?" Sandy asked.

Polly scooted back to her seat beside Joss and pulled the seatbelt back on. "Any time. I've had my quota of strange for the night."

Sandy pulled out and drove past the videographers before pulling her lights on. As she turned the corner, Joss said softly to Polly, "You were pretty quiet when they talked about buying this place."

"Uh huh," Polly said with a nod. "Let's leave it at that."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"I'm nervous," Rebecca said as Polly drove her to school Monday morning. "If people didn't know Bickle-Pickle suspended me, they'll see by my face that something is wrong." The poor girl's face was multiple shades of green, purple and red.

"It's a badge of honor," Polly said, patting Rebecca's arm. "And I don't want to hear you call your principal a name. We might not agree with what she did, but it was well within her rights and we have to live by it. The only way for you to not let this take you down is to rise above it. Treat her with respect, not because you like her, but because she's the principal. Got it?"

"It's not fair," Rebecca said under her breath.

They'd had this discussion several times over the weekend. With Rebecca, with Andrew and Kayla, with Heath. Polly wanted to scream. It wasn't fair. But that didn't matter. Rebecca had to move on.

"You did the right thing when you protected Bean from that older kid," Polly said. "If the kids want to poke fun at the way you look, just remember that in a few short weeks, you'll look normal again and they'll still be bullies. Okay?"

Rebecca finally smiled. "I never thought of it that way."

"It's hard to do it at your age," Polly said, "But always try to take the long view. Are you ready?"

"I am," Rebecca said, taking a deep breath.              

Polly watched her walk into the school and relaxed when she saw Kayla run to catch up. There, a friend to help Rebecca walk through the front door. Man, it wasn't easy letting her grow up on her own.

Now, coffee before heading back into the fray. Lydia and her crew spent several hours yesterday moving props and set pieces from the shed into the foyer of Sycamore House and today construction began. Polly couldn't believe how excited those women got when it came to creating a haunted house. Every year, one or two more people came on board to help set things up - almost as if they couldn't wait to see the surprise; they had to be in on the secrets.

The regular meetings that were held in Sycamore House either chose to move to the coffee shop this week or agreed to meet even with the constant noise of hammers and saws.

Polly opened the door to Sweet Beans and stood for a moment to enjoy the amazing scents brushing across her nose. Camille had hung orange lights from the ceiling - Polly couldn't imagine how she'd managed to get them up there - and bright oranges, golds, deep reds and browns were found throughout the shop. From arrangements in the bookshelves, to gourds and pumpkins on the tables, the coffee shop had discovered autumn.

Skylar Morris waved at her from behind the counter and smiled as she approached him. "Do you want pumpkin spice in your latte this morning?" he asked.

Polly chuckled. "Nope. I'm not a fan. Are you selling a lot of it?"

"You won't even believe it," he said. "Pumpkin everything flies out of here. Sylvie can't keep the larder stocked."

"Larder?" Polly asked with a chuckle. "How old are you?"

He threw his head back and stood up straight. "Old enough to have a grandma who used those words. So there."

"Why aren't you in class this morning?"

"It's Monday. I don't have a class until tonight. So, does anything entice you?" He gestured toward the bakery rack with a sweep of his hand.

Polly thought about the crew back at Sycamore House and said, "Mix up a dozen of whatever. I'm taking it with me. And I want a mocha caramel latte with whipped cream. Lots of whipped cream this morning." She pointed to the hallway. "Is Sylvie back there?"

He nodded with his head. "She was grumbling about something this morning, but yeah. She's there."

"Happy workplace today?" Polly asked with a grin.

"It's good. I'll never complain."

"I'll be back in a few minutes. Thanks." Polly followed her nose to the bakery in the back. Sylvie pulled a tray of bread loaves from the oven and slid it into a rack before looking up to see Polly.

"Hello there, you rotten human," Sylvie said. She turned to the young man working with her. "When you're finished frosting those cupcakes, the muffins in Harold should be ready to come out."

"Harold?" Polly asked.

"We had to delineate, so we have Harold and Maude."

"Like the movie? That's weird."

Sylvie laughed. "One is old, the other is brand new. I couldn't help myself."

"So why am I a rotten human?"

"I didn't sleep last night and it's all your fault."

"My fault?" Polly asked with a laugh. "What did I do?"

"You took me to a real live haunted house and made me watch people dance around a fire. I dreamed about ghosts and all sorts of bad things. When I came in this morning, Camille said that she'd had bad dreams too." Sylvie swatted at Polly. "You're a bad influence."

"Whoops," Polly said. "I slept like a baby."

"Of course you did. The rest of us were a mess and you were just fine." Sylvie put her hand on Polly's arm. "How was your girl this morning? Andrew was nervous for her. He said she was pretty scared going back."

"She did it." Polly shrugged. "I wish it could have been different, but it wasn't and she had to face it."

"That poor girl has had an awful lot to face this last year."

"I know, but honestly, it's no more than most of us deal with. Hers came all at once," Polly said. "I'm just glad she has friends like Andrew and Kayla."

"And you and Henry. How is she doing with Heath in the house?"

"She adores him," Polly said. "And he wanted nothing more than to go to school and stand guard over her."

Sylvie smiled and flinched as something metal hit the floor.

"Sorry," the young man said. "Just a bowl. It was empty." He turned a mixer on and added ingredients.

"Do I know him?" Polly whispered.

"No," Sylvie whispered back. "Don't bother."

"Oh. I see."

"Uh huh."

Polly felt a tap on her elbow and turned to see Skylar there with a steaming to-go cup. "Thought you could use your caffeine in the dragon's den." He winked at Sylvie, handed the cup to Polly and ran back down the hallway to the front of the shop.

Sylvie laughed. "He's a hoot. We love him."

"And he's adorable," Polly said. "How do you even stand it?"

Sylvie looked at Polly over her glasses. "Are you kidding me? I'm old. Way too old for that."

"But not too old to look and pant a little," Polly said. "If not him, then when are you going to let Eliseo or Grey ask you out on a date?"

"I have no time for that," Sylvie said. She brushed back a non-existent tendril of hair. "And besides, neither of them has ever asked me. I don't have the energy to make the effort to be a modern woman these days."

Polly had leaned against the door sill, but stood back up. "Wait. You mean you'd accept a date if one of them would ask?"

"Maybe." Sylvie lifted her left shoulder.

"Well aren't you little Miss Coy," Polly said. "Who knew! You've been ignoring men like nobody's business and now out of the blue, it's their fault for not asking you out?"

"It's nobody's fault," Sylvie said quietly. "But maybe I'm getting ready to do something other than work and sleep. Jason and Andrew are busy with their own things. They don't need me. So ... maybe."

Polly reached in and gave her friend a quick hug. "Ahhh," she said. "Life's about to get interesting."

"Don't you dare do anything," Sylvie said, shaking her finger at Polly. "I will pulverize you. Just let things take their natural course."

"Uh huh. On it."

"I'm serious, Polly Giller," Sylvie said. "Don't you dare say a word."

Polly was already walking away. She lifted her hand and waved. "Have a good day, Sylvie. Have a good day!"

When she got into her truck, Polly heard her phone buzz and laughed at the text Sylvie sent.

"If you do anything about what I told you, I will behead you on Halloween. You won't be able to play the Grim Reaper, you'll be reaped yourself."

Polly sent back a smiley face and grinned.

By the time she got back to Sycamore House, Lydia and crew were in full swing. Polly took the treats to the kitchen and put them out on a platter, arranging napkins and paper plates. The kitchen was dark and Rachel was nowhere to be seen. Since that rarely happened these days, she wondered what was going on. The building was always busy during the day with Rachel and Sylvie serving meetings or prepping meals they were catering.

"Did I see you come in with treats?" Jeff asked.

Polly pointed to the platter. "Where's Rachel?"

"She's working in the kitchen over at Secret Woods. Some of our meetings are there while we're in chaos and she's training one of their cooks."

"You aren't worried about them stealing her from us?" Polly asked. "Or even worse, stealing our customers?"

He smiled at her. "That would be foolish on their part. They get our overflow business and can borrow Rachel whenever they need her." He smiled. "And besides, they're good guys. I've helped them enough with the business side of what they're doing that we have a good relationship."

"Okay," Polly said. "I wasn't too worried, but you know."

"Grey called this morning. Do you want to talk to Aaron or should I?"

Polly tilted her head. "About what?"

"That kid's room. His things are still there. It's not a huge deal, but Grey was wondering if he should pack it into boxes or if the sheriff wanted to send someone up..." Jeff paused. "Or are we keeping the room for them until they've find who killed him."

"I'll call Aaron," Polly said. "Do we need the room?"

He shook his head. "No. We were just curious. Have you heard anything more about the boy? People in town are talking."

"About him looking for ghosts?"

Jeff grinned. "Yeah. He'd been asking a lot of questions."

"Who knew we had a famous ghost? Have you been up to the Springer House?"

"I drove by it once. Got assaulted by some old guy when I stopped to look."

"Bridger or something?"

"Yeah. The resident expert on Muriel Springer."

Polly thought for a moment and said, "I wonder why I didn't see him there last night."

"Who?"

"Old Mr. Bridger. There was a film crew and people dancing around a fire. I would have expected him to be in the middle of it."

Jeff leaned forward. "Dancing around a fire?"

She chuckled. "I should ask Andy if there have been any strange happenings in the cemetery. It's right behind the house, too, you know."

"If I lived next to a cemetery, I definitely would not be looking out at it when it was dark. That's just creepy," Jeff said.

Polly shook her head at him. "Because zombies are real."

"Leave me alone. You never know." He took a last drink of his coffee before refilling the cup. "The only reason I don't like Halloween is because my imagination does too many strange things and people tell creepy stories that make me want to double lock all my doors and put salt across the entrances."

"Salt?" Polly asked.

"You know, to ward off vampires or witches or zombies or demons. All of those scary things."

"Do you read too many paranormal mysteries?"

Jeff picked up a muffin and took a bite, then mumbled something at her and turned to leave.

"That's a yes, right?"

He shoved another bite in behind the first and wrinkled his nose.

"Hello dears," Lydia said, coming around the corner. "Beryl thought she saw you bring some of Sylvie's goodies in. She'll be glad to know she was right. Would it be okay to bother Eliseo for a while this morning? We need ladders."

Polly walked into the kitchen and picked up the phone. "What do you need?" she asked.

"Two of his step ladders would be great. I don't know where they are or we wouldn't bother him at all."

"Just a second." Polly pressed the intercom button for the barn. "Eliseo, are you down there?"

"Good morning, Polly," he said. "What do you need?"