Finding the Way Back (16 page)

Silence. “Connie? Come back up.” Still
silence. “Connie!” I yelled into the silence.

I started running down the steps and then she
walked back into my sight. “What?” she asked innocently, then
laughed.

“You suck. Really, stop scaring me. I really,
really hate it down here.”

We both started back up the steps. “I’m
sorry, Laney. Sometimes it’s hard to resist picking on you. I don’t
smell anything though. We’ll have the guys check it out more when
they come over later.”

“Add that to the long list of weird,” I
answered, still annoyed at Connie, myself, and whatever caused the
terrible smell.

Chapter
Seventeen

Later, after an afternoon of cleaning up the
study and a quick supper, I was upstairs in my room when Emmett and
his crew arrived. Connie answered the door and I heard them
bringing equipment into the kitchen so they could show us what
they’d captured. I put on a minimal amount of make-up and braided
my hair. I was postponing the inevitable, but I was going to have
to face Emmett sometime.

“Laney, they’re ready,” Connie called up the
stairs. “Before we get started in the kitchen we’re going to check
out the basement first.”

Grabbing the flashlight I always carried in
my toiletries bag I walked downstairs. “Hi guys, how’s everyone
tonight?”

“There she is, the lovely Ms. MacKenzie. How
does it feel to be back in the single pool again?” Dean teased. He
had a way of taking the edge off.

“It’s daunting,” I answered. “I hope I don’t
drown.”

“So Connie has been telling us about your
afternoon adventures,” Emmett said. As compared with my morning
ones, I thought, getting angry all over again. Silly, ridiculous
Laney.

I couldn’t meet his eyes. “I’m sure I
overreacted but I don’t like the dark in the first place and I
really don’t like the basement.”

“That’s all right. We’ll check it out,” he
said reassuringly, and it was starting to feel like I finally had
some friends I could count on. When I was with Simon, he alienated
all my friends, making me totally dependent on him. And then he
betrayed me. Actually, I realized, I allowed him to do that. I
wasn’t just a victim.

Filing down the stairs, I made sure I was in
the middle of the pack, with Emmett and Connie in front of me and
Dean and Glen bringing up the rear. Everyone fanned out, searching
for the scent. I took the opportunity to throw the wet clothes in
the dryer and fold the towels. I couldn’t ask someone to come down
with me every time I had to do laundry or take a shower, but I sure
was going to take advantage of anytime I wasn’t alone to get a few
things done.

I set the dial on the dryer and started it,
then went to sit at the base of the stairs and watch while the
others moved some things around and looked in the dark corners.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything down here
right now, Laney, and we don’t smell anything either,” Emmett said
as he walked around the furnace looking at the different
components. “But there were high EMF readings here last night which
can give you the feeling of being watched, and can even cause
hallucinations sometimes.”

I turned and stomped up the stairway. It was
not a hallucination. It was easy to blame things on his EMF, but
sometimes things were just real. Arriving back in the kitchen, I
stood at the sink wiping some dishes that had been left to dry. It
wasn’t long before the thumping on the stairs indicated everyone
had given up the search.

Dean came up and put his hand on my shoulder,
“Hey, it’s okay. We didn’t find anything but that doesn’t mean
nothing was there. A lot of weird things are happening around here
and we can’t discount it.”

Grateful for the comforting, I smiled and
hugged him. At least one man wasn’t going to treat me like I was
crazy.

Emmett walked over to the table looking
uncomfortable and asked, “Should we get started?” We all crowded
around the computer screen he had set up. “So first we went through
the video. We only caught one interesting thing which was when we
were coming down the stairs and Laney was pushed. Watch this.” He
pushed play on his recorder and we all watched the three of us
coming down the stairs. When I was on the fourth step from the
bottom I went flying forward. “Now watch it again and look right
behind you. It looks like a shadow and it doesn’t move with you. I
think we caught some kind of entity.” He played it again and we
watched it more closely. It did look like the outline of someone
right behind me. A shadow of darkness.

“I don’t know,” I started hesitantly. “I
think that might be my shadow.”

“No, Laney, watch it again. It just doesn’t
line up right,” Dean protested. We watched it again, all of us
leaning into the monitor to see better.

“I wish this was larger,” Connie added.

“I looked at your old TV but there’s no way
to hook up to that,” Emmett said. “I have a newer flat panel and I
could bring that over so we can see it more clearly. I really think
it’s the entity.”

“I concur,” Glen agreed. “I watched this over
and over when I found it. I think it’s the entity also, but then
I’m not positive.” Since Glen rarely spoke we all seemed to regard
his opinion the most. He wasn’t one to use hyperbole. “We do have
other proof, though, so let’s show them that.”

Emmett pulled up the audio files. “Now these
are interesting. This first one is from when we were upstairs in
the hall. You remember we first heard footsteps. Unfortunately, we
didn’t catch those. You can hear something on the videotape but it
doesn’t sound like much so I haven’t played it yet, but can later.
Now remember, I walked out into the hall and asked a question, and
then we heard something that sounded like music. Listen to
this.”

I sat still in my chair, straining to catch
every nuance. On the recording, Emmett was asking, “Is there
something you’d like to tell us?” Then silence. “We’re here to help
you. Can you tell us your name?” Still silence. “We’re not here to
hurt you.” We heard something that might have been music, but
seemed discordant.

The hair stood up on my arms. “That was very
distinctly something different. Do you think it’s somebody trying
to send a message? Why music? What does it mean? What would it
represent?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think we can
conjecture on the meaning. I’ve never actually heard music before.
While it’s hard to distinguish it on the recording now, at the
time, all three of us heard it as music. It does seem as if you
have an intelligent haunt, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s
interacting directly in response to something you do or say,”
Emmett explained.

“I don’t buy that,” I announced, shrugging.
“I don’t. If this ‘entity’ is targeting me, why couldn’t it also be
directly interacting with things we are doing? Our mothers said
there were some strange things going on when they were growing up,
but I doubt it was at this level. Otherwise they would have made a
bigger deal of it.”

I heard the front door opening, and then I
heard my mother’s voice. “Laney, are you all right?” she called. “I
heard you fell down the stairs.”

“Uh-oh,” Connie said behind me.

I turned to look at her, and guilt was
written all over her face. “Connie, what did you do? You didn’t
tell our mothers everything that happened last night, did you?
We’ll never get any peace if we tell them everything.”

“I ran into my mom when I was out picking up
supplies at the store. It’s not like I hide from her. She started
asking pointed questions, and then there was nothing else I could
do. I wasn’t going to tell, but you know the family rules, ‘Don’t
tell Connie anything you don’t want everyone to know.’”

Into the already packed kitchen strode Tess
and Shelly. “I know we’re late but Shelly just had to change her
shoes one more time before coming over,” my mom said as she took
off her coat. “What did we miss?”

I gave my mom a hug and glared at Connie over
her shoulder.

Aunt Shelly noticed my look. “Laney, don’t
blame her. We ran into Connie when she stopped at the store.
Neither one of you has ever been able to keep secrets so hush your
fussing.”

I let it drop. Our mothers would have found
out eventually.

“Manners, Laney. We haven’t all met,” my
mother reminded me.

Sighing deeply, I introduced Dean and Glen.
“Nice to meet you, Glen,” my mother said. “You, I remember,” she
said to Dean, tweaking his cheek as if he were five years old. I
rolled my eyes.

Emmett sat our mothers down to show them the
evidence he had collected. When we got to the part where I was
pushed down the stairs, I could see my mother was getting alarmed.
“Kitten, I’m not sure you should stay here. It seems to be a little
dangerous.”

Okay, it was time for damage control. “Mom,
please listen. The only thing that was dangerous was the push. We
promise we will be careful but I don’t want to leave. I’d like to
see this thing through.”

She still seemed distressed but she smiled at
me. “We’ll see.”

“No, Mom. We won’t see. I’m not a little girl
anymore. I am staying. Besides, we all know we cannot sell the
house with these things happening. We have to get to the bottom of
this. There have been cases where the homeowner was sued because
they sold a home known to be haunted and the buyer didn’t know.” I
was surprised at my reaction but overjoyed that I had stood up for
myself.

Emmett spoke up. “I was worried last night as
well. But I promise you, I won’t let them deal with this alone.
Glen, Dean and I have discussed this before we came and we are all
determined to get to the bottom of this if we can.”

“You know, I think I can handle this myself,
thanks,” I snapped at him. I knew I was being unreasonable, but I
just couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t allow another man to take
over and solve this for me. He could help, but I had to be the one
who took ownership of it.

My mother cleared her throat, “I think we
should allow Laney to make this decision for herself.” The room got
quiet and everyone turned to look at me.

I was touched, and looked at my mother in
surprise. She was actually following my lead and giving me my
freedom. I wondered if she realized just how much her support meant
to me right now. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled
her to me, leaning my forehead into hers. “Thanks, Mom. I’m
staying.” I looked at Connie.

“I’m not going anywhere. We’re in this
together.”

“All right, then.” I looked at Emmett.
“Should we finish up with the review of last night?”

“You got it. There’s only one more item that
was interesting,” Emmett answered. He reached over and opened
another audio file. My voice came out of the computer, “Look, a
stamp from nineteen fifty-three.” Very faintly after this was a
distinct female voice.

“What was that?” Connie asked
incredulously.

“Listen again,” Glen answered. “You tell us
what it’s saying.” He looped the voice several times.

“It sounds like ‘Yes’. That’s very clear.
‘Yes,’” I answered. “Now what is that in response to? The
stamp?”

“The year,” Aunt Shelly answered. “What year
did you say?”

“Nineteen fifty-three. So what happened in
nineteen fifty-three?” I asked.

“My parents were married and moved into this
house, and I was born,” my mother stated simply.

“That can’t be a coincidence,” I insisted. “I
just don’t believe it. I think everything that is going on here has
to do with something that happened in nineteen fifty-three.”

“Or possibly, that’s when the spirit came and
the haunting started,” Connie said.

“General Patton was on the stamp,” I said.
“Could it have anything to do with him?”

“You may be jumping to big conclusions,” Dean
replied. “Let’s not assume too much. There’s no evidence pointing
to any one event.”

“It’s a starting point though,” I answered,
getting excited. “Their marriage, moving into the house, Mom being
born. We can start with those events and follow the trail. Hansel
and Gretel and all that.”

“Let’s hope nothing eats the crumbs and we
can’t find our way back,” Emmett said.

It had been a long day so I invited everyone
to leave; tactfully, I hoped, but I was beyond caring. I’d had
enough and just wanted to have a bath and go to bed with a book.
The crew filed out, leaving the house quiet again. Connie offered
the bathtub to me first and I gratefully accepted while she
retreated to her room for some quiet time.

What a day—could I be any more tired? If I
allowed myself to think too much about it, I was still a little
unnerved by the finality of the divorce. I knew it was the right
thing to do, but it didn’t make it any easier. That was why I tried
not to think about it. It was easier to consider the reality of
ghosts out to get me, pushing me down the stairs and saying things
we could hear on a recording. I had no idea what that was all
about, but for some reason I was convinced that the date on the
stamp had meaning. But no more thinking about that, or divorces or
ghost hunters or anything else right now.

Grabbing my pajamas, I went into the upstairs
bathroom and started the water in the bathtub. Thankfully Connie
got my Epsom salts for me. Making the water as hot as I could stand
it, I climbed in and dropped in three cups then lay back and closed
my eyes until the tub was full. I turned off the water then
realized with great annoyance that I forgot my book. Could I do
nothing right? Well, I wasn’t going to go get it now. I picked up
the salts bag and started to read the recommended uses. ‘Reduces
stress’—yep, needed that. ‘Revitalizes tired, achy muscles’—I sure
hope so. ‘Minimize swelling’—I could probably use that too. And
‘refresh skin’s appearance’—definitely. Interesting, it can also be
‘ingested as a saline laxative’. Uh, no thanks. I didn’t think I
needed salt water shooting out of my backside. Does anybody really
use it that way?