The Old House (Haunted Series Book 16) (5 page)

“Good.  I worry about you.”

“You worry about me?”

“Why does Sariel keep bothering you?” Murphy asked.

“I think it’s because there is going to be a battle, a war of some kind that involves the angels, birdmen, demons and superhumans.  I don’t know when or why it is, but Sariel wants me to fight beside him.  Angelo wants the same thing, but I have told both wingnuts that I have only one battle partner, and that is you, Stephen Murphy.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.  I think we dance quite well together, you old poop.”

“Mia, I’m not much older than Burt.”

“You’re a hundred and twenty years older than Burt, Murph.”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“Yup.  I’m all itchy inside.  The only time I feel at ease is when…” Mia stopped, looked at her friend a moment, and amended the crude language she was about to use, “When I’m doing married stuff with Ted.”

“Oh,” Murphy said uncomfortably.

“The first time Sariel laid his hand on my shoulder, he tattooed his strength onto my ribcage.  No arrow or sword can pierce my heart.  He made a mistake, Murph.  He sealed your handprint in.  The Gray Ladies could not remove it.  You’re always going to be part of me, whether you like it or not.”

Mia thought she caught a faint look of satisfaction on the farmer’s face.  He set his axe down and requested, “Tell me about the second time he touched you?”

“He put his hand on my chest, not in a skeevy way.”

“Skeevy?”

“Sleazy. He didn’t cop a feel. He just did this.”  Mia reached over and took Murphy’s hand and placed it just below her collarbone.

“And you kneed him for that?” Murphy asked, removing his hand quickly.

“That combined with something untoward he said.”

“What did he say?”

Mia mumbled something with her head down.

Murphy pulled her chin up.  “Say it again.”

“He said that he could give me the pleasure I seek.”

“I’ll kill him.  You’re a married lady,” Murphy professed.

“I made myself clear,” Mia said and told him about the rocks.

He chuckled.  “Didn’t anyone ever teach you it’s not okay to throw rocks at birds?”

This caused Mia to laugh.  “I think the ef… I mean, the cad, did something else to me.  Or else I’m hormonal.  What if Mike is right, and I am pregnant?”

“Then you’ll have another baby,” he said simply.

Mia rolled her eyes.  “Things are so black and white with you, Murph.”

“I don’t see it as a problem, unless it’s not Ted’s baby.”

“Now you’re calling my honor into question, axeman,” Mia said, her eyes flashing.

“Have you?”

“Have I what?”

“Laid with another being besides your husband.”

“I have not,” Mia said firmly and added, “I will not.”

“Then, if it’s a baby, it’s Ted’s, so don’t worry.”  Murphy was quiet a moment and seemed to be thinking something through.  “What if Sariel was preparing you for him?  This may be why you’re so focused on your nether regions.”

Mia wanted to laugh at Murphy’s use of
nether regions,
but she knew, as uncomfortable as it made him, he was trying to help her.

“Ask him to turn it off,” Murphy said.

“I can’t.  That means talking to him.  Our conversation didn’t end well.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“Oh, I don’t think that will help.  Maybe there is a limit to the time I’m under this spell or whatever.  It will wear off.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“I’ll call Sariel.”

“Good.  Now get back in there and torture Mike some more.”

“You saw that huh?”

“I was putting pepper in his glass while you were staring him down,” Murphy confessed.

It was Mia’s turn to be impressed.  “Way to take advantage of the situation.”  Mia reached forward and fist-bumped Murphy.

~

Mia bounced Brian on her knee while listening to Susan’s latest gossip.  Susan’s type of gossip had nothing to do with townsfolk; it had all to do with the Chicago Bears.  They had so many new players that Mia had lost count.  Susan was trying to describe where the drafted players would be put to work and why.

“I sure hope it works,” Mia said.  “Are you sure that it’s alright to have Brian here over the weekend?  I could take him to his Aunt Sabine’s.”

“Nonsense, Brian and I have a routine.  First thing in the morning, we watch a few old videotapes of the ’86 Bears.  And then we do our colors.  He can already identify Blue and Orange.”

“I bet he can,” Mia said.

“I do worry though. He is awfully fond of Red and Gold.”

“I think that’s his father’s doing.”

“Anyway, Brian has been such a good addition to our family.”

“Brian hasn’t, you know…”

“Done any paranormal stuff?” Susan finished.  “No.  He’s pretty advanced verbally, and he and Tom can see things that I can’t.  Both of them were staring at something last time we were in the library.”

“That would be Old Man Taylor.  He’s very protective of the historical document room,” Mia told her.  She was pleased as punch that Susan took Brian around as if he were her grandchild.

“I have Miss Sabine’s number in case he does exhibit any behavior I can’t deal with.  She is such a kind person.  I was telling Tom just the other day…”

Mia listened to Susan go on and on about how Tom should ask Sabine out.  “Susan, if he’s interested, he’ll get around to it in his own time.  Sabine’s probably not sending him any sign that she’d like to start dating.  Her husband was the sun and the moon to her.”

Susan nodded.  “It’s too bad you and Tom…”

“We’re fated to be friends,” Mia said quickly.  “Tom will find the perfect daughter-in-law for you.”

“In the meanwhile, I have Brian to keep me company,” Susan said.  “So don’t you worry about this weekend.  Tom will make sure Maggie is fed and exercised, and I’ll entertain
our
little chatterbox.  Make sure you bring him something home.  It doesn’t have to be expensive.  It says that you thought of him while you were away,” Susan counseled.

Mia nodded.  She made a mental note to bring Susan something back too.

Mark walked down the dark hallway.  He hadn’t remembered the place being so dark before.  His footsteps echoed off the plaster walls.  “Gran,” he called timidly.  He didn’t want to wake his grandfather, but he needed the reassuring words of his grandmother.  “I can’t sleep,” he said quietly when the figure emerged from the room at the end of the hall.

“I sleep all the time,” the gravelly voice told him.

“You’re not my gran,” Mark said, backing away.

“I sleep with my eyes open. I sleep with them shut.  I hear the scratching of the bugs and the singing of the mice.  They crawl over me, and I can’t move to protect myself.”

The figure continued to advance on Mark.  He made it to his room and shut the door between him and it.  He leaned against the door.

“Do you know who is responsible for my pain?” the figure whispered through the door.

“No,” Mark said, sliding down, putting his hands over his ears.  “Go away.”

“The angels have condemned me to this hell!” the voice screamed.  “Horrid creatures, sick, vile creatures, horrid… horrid.”

Mark heard it move away.  He dove for his bed and pulled the covers over his head.

“Mah ark,” a young boy called.  “Mah ark,” was chorused with another boy’s voice.  “Come to the house.  Mah ark…”

“Please, leave me alone,” he said, trying to breathe.  He couldn’t stay under there too much longer.  He prayed for help.  He didn’t know how long it had been, but he had to chance it.  He lifted the covers and saw only moonlight in his room.  He gulped down the fresh air as if he had been underwater for too long.  He had to go to the bathroom, but he didn’t want to chance the hallway.  He looked around frantically as the urge to go was becoming too much.  He grabbed the Mason jar on his desk and emptied out the collection of shells.  He relieved himself and left it as far from his bed as possible.  He sat back down and lifted his legs, and even though the air was hot, he pulled up the extra cover.

“Mah ark,” the boys called.

Mark started crying. He turned his face to the wall.

“Come to the house.  Mah ark…”

~

Mia and Ted stood there, staring open-mouthed.  They were informed that this was classified as a hill, but to flatlanders, it seemed like a mountain.  The resort had installed large gondolas in the hope that families would find them a safe and convenient way to travel to the hotel.  Ted had condensed the equipment so there would be less to transport up and down the pseudo-mountain.  He was surprised by how much Mia could carry.  Her workouts with Ed had made her stronger.  Since she’d returned, Mia would start her day training on the hillside with Brian watching her from his stroller.

Cid and Murphy had yet to arrive.  Cid had texted that they were still half an hour away.

Mia and Ted would have the majority of the equipment transported by the time they arrived.  They had everything ready to load into the next available gondola and were standing on the platform killing time.  Mia was happy to have Ted to herself, even though he was on the other end of a large, black storage container.  Burt, Mike and Audrey were already at the hotel, and contracts had been handled by Alan prior to the team arriving.

Mia looked at the returning gondola and thought of Murphy who was scared of heights.  She would offer to walk up the mountain with him if he refused to use the gondola.  She didn’t mind; he would do it for her had the circumstances been reversed.

“A gold-pressed latinum slip for your thoughts?” Ted said.

“I was thinking about our acrophobic ghost and that swinging gondola. Oh great, the wind has picked up.”

“He’ll just float up the hill, Minnie Mouse.”

“I hope so.  It’s really beautiful here.  Though not as many trees as I would like.”

“I guess they get in the way of skiers.”

“I’ve never been skiing,” Mia admitted.

“I’ve been on a snowboard, but that was years ago,” Ted said.

“That must have been fun.”

“It was.  Cid’s a skier.  His mom and dad took him to Utah one winter.”

“Lucky kid.”

“He didn’t think so.  He said, once he put on all his equipment, he looked like a marshmallow with skis.”

“Still an opportunity to learn something new.”

“Like you and that sword.  I noticed you brought it.”

“I don’t know what we’re facing up there.  I left the shotgun home.  I didn’t want to destroy any of those newly wallpapered hallways.”

“Good thinking.  Burt will sleep easier knowing you’re not Annie Oakley-ing around.”

“Interesting word, Oakley-ing. You think that up yourself?”

“Yes, now don’t you start.  Cid’s a pain enough.”

The doors opened, and Ted and Mia worked feverishly loading the equipment.  They managed to leave a space large enough for two people, if they stood really close to each other.  The Martins took full advantage of that.

~

Murphy looked down at the plain marker and sighed. 
Chastity Murphy Wife
was all that was carved there along with the year of her birth and death.  The graveyard was cared for by a young priest.  The iron fence was free of cobwebs, and the grass around the graves was trimmed and neat.  Cid was talking to the young man while Murphy paid his respects.  He didn’t sense Chastity there, but he talked to her anyway.  One never knew.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you the children or the life you desired.  I hope one day you can forgive me.”

“It is I, husband, who should ask for your forgiveness,” a voice he hadn’t heard in a very long while wafted over from the single mausoleum.

Murphy turned to see Chastity move over towards him.  She was dressed in her company dress, one she had worked so hard on, under the light of candles, after the day’s chores were completed.  Her feet hung limply as she floated over to him.  The hard-worn boots were clean, and the leather had been shined.

“I thought you would have moved on. Are you still in torment?” he asked.

“I have some thinking to do.  The young man who tends my grave and I have been working on me forgiving myself.  I have already forgiven you and your mother.  He says that I was a victim of madness brought on by an evil entity.  In truth, I brought it upon myself.  In time, I will see the light, and I will move on to be with my parents and sister.  Why haven’t you gone on, Stephen?  Not that I expected to see you waiting for me, but I do know you would be welcomed in God’s arms.”

“I’m happy on the farm, caring for my trees.”

“The same trees that killed you?”

“Their kin.”

“There must be more.”

“I have found people who have given me purpose.  To help the lost and defend the innocent.  I have been on adventures, Chastity. I have been across the sea.”

She smiled and clapped her hands together.  “You always wanted to cross the water to see Ireland. Have you been there?”

“No, not yet.  I’ve been to Italy and an island called Haiti.”

“My oh my, your mother would be amazed by what you have accomplished.”

“I’m sorry for how she treated you after my death.”

“You couldn’t exactly control that, Stephen.  Can you forgive me for all the harm I caused?”

“Yes, Chastity, I do.  I have learned by studying the people who live on our property that life isn’t as simple as right and wrong.  That sometimes the heart decides what is best for the body.  Sometimes it’s wrong.  We are human and flawed.  But we also need to be kind to ourselves and forgive all the harm we have done.  There is a poet that lived after us - she has since moved on - her name was Maya Angelou. She said, ‘You did then what you knew how to do, and when you knew better, you did better.’”

“She sounds like a wise woman.”

“The young man who came with me told me that she admits to having learned her wisdom from having made the wrong choices.”

“Sounds like me.”

“Chastity, if you had lived in this time, you would have been happier.”

“I wasn’t always sad, husband.”

“I forgive you, Chastity,” Murphy said, taking her hand.  “Forgive me for not loving you enough, not giving you enough, not being the man you needed me to be.  I was a coward and a mama’s boy.  Hardly man enough to hold on to such a vivacious, beautiful woman.”

Chastity blushed at the compliment and squinted her eyes.  She raised her hand to her forehead.  “Husband, I see the light.  It has finally come for me.  Tell the young man I thank him for his counsel.  I’m ready to begin my next great adventure.  Are you coming, Stephen?”

“No, the light is not for me.  Go and be at peace, Chastity.”

Murphy watched as Chastity’s feet no longer hung limply.  She walked with the grace of a young woman into the light without looking back.  It would be a while before Murphy would realize he didn’t tell her that he’d loved her, nor she him.  They had found an accord and had forgiven the other, and that was enough for the heavens to open up and accept Chastity Murphy.

~

Burt walked over to the gondola and waited.  He had been radioed that Ted, Mia and the equipment were on their way up.  He was exited to begin investigating the old hotel.  Audrey had already amassed an incredible amount of information for them to look through, to find what was relevant and what was just history.  Mike was looking over the rooms that were allotted to them.  They were in a new wing, which would please Mia.  No one had died in these rooms as far as they knew.

Price Hills Resort was an ambitious undertaking.  The owners wanted to create a winter fun land for families.  It was located between two major cities in the hilly landscape of southern Wisconsin.  The Wisconsin Dells were a goldmine in the summertime, and Price Hills Resort would hopefully become as successful during the winter.  The slopes would never rival anything the west had to offer, but it did provide more sedate runs for youngsters to learn to ski under the careful watch of their parents and the future staff of the hotel.  Large indoor pools were being planned.  All would depend on whether PEEPs could convince the rough and tumble ghosts to leave Price Hills Resort, where they had been scaring workers and staff alike with their violent activities.

The doors opened, and Burt began to pull out the large black containers with Ted.  Mia was glad to give up her job as mover.  She walked over and stared at what should have been a welcoming façade.  Mia saw otherwise.  The ground seemed to reject the stones that were placed on it.  The landscape, although cleverly done, could not disguise that something evil lurked inside.  She jumped as a hand fell on her shoulder.

“Sorry, you were so deep in thought that I don’t think you heard me tell you that Cid has pulled up. He’s concerned about Murphy,” Burt told her.

“I’ll go back down and help,” Mia said, turning away from the hotel.  “Burt, that’s an evil place.”

“If it weren’t, they wouldn’t be paying us so much money to clear it,” he reasoned.  “Mike has us situated in the new wing.  Perhaps the evil has yet to permeate the new construction.”

“Permeate.  My, your vocabulary has changed,” Mia observed.  “I wish it didn’t raise goose bumps,” she confessed.

“I’ve been working on my script,” Burt admitted.  “I thought this investigation needed a little more effort than, ‘We’re PEEPs. We’ve come to help.’”

Mia laughed.  “We’ve come a long way since then,” she said. Mia turned around and stared once more at the hotel.  “So they’re calling it Price Hills Resort Hotel? I don’t get it.  To me, it just looks like another old house.”

Ted pulled the last box out, and Mia got back in the gondola and headed downward.  This time she saw the magnificent view.  She wondered if this was what it would feel like to fly.

“Flying is better,” Sariel said from behind her.

“How?”

“I have my ways.”

Mia looked into the visage of Sariel and was drawn into his blue on blue eyes for a moment.  “Your eyes are so different.”

“They were made this way so I could see in all dimensions.  My kin were here before the earth had form.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I don’t exactly know how to answer that…”

“I’m sorry, how long have you been here, right now, at Price Hills Resort?”

“I arrived seconds ago.”

“Should I be worried?”

He laughed.  “It depends, are you going to throw rocks…  Oh look, no rocks in here.”  He laughed heartily.  “Mia, I’ve come to apologize.  I have no excuse.  Please forgive my forwardness.”

“Will you take off this thing you’ve done to me?”

He looked at her oddly.

Mia turned beet red.  “It’s not you then?  Oh my word, I’m so embarrassed.”

“Can you explain?” he asked.

“I would be mortified.  I can’t believe I discussed it with Murphy.  Okay, let me turn around and say it quick.”

Sariel was very amused by Mia’s actions yet intrigued.  “Go ahead.”