Ghost Hunt 2: MORE Chilling Tales of the Unknown (25 page)

“Please tell me that we got some of what happened in the backyard,” Grant said several hours later. The TAPS team was
gathered in a motel room. They wanted to review the evidence right away.

“I’ve been going over the video from outside,” Mike said. “Take a look.” He tapped on the keyboard and the laptop screen went dark. A moment later, three flashlight beams appeared.

“Okay, that’s us,” Grant said.

The TAPS team watched in silence for several moments. Jen realized she was holding her breath.

“There!” Mike suddenly said. He pointed at the screen. “Right there. You can see the eyes. They’re as spooky on-screen as they were in person.”

Jen kept her attention on the center flashlight beam.
That’s me,
she thought. She watched as the light moved closer and closer to the fence and to those gleaming red eyes.

Totally without warning, the eyes seemed to rise in the air. They sailed over the fence, then came down on the other side.

“Wow,” Jason said. “That’s incredible.”

“How tall is that fence, would you say?” Mark asked.

“At least five feet,” Grant replied.

Mark scratched his head. “What kind of an animal can jump a fence that high?”

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Jason said. “A mountain lion or a bobcat could do it. And maybe a wolf. Bears can climb trees.”

“But it wasn’t a normal animal,” Jen said. “It was some kind of paranormal being.”

Things were happening very fast on the playback now. Jen watched herself make a sudden movement, then come to a screeching halt. And those eyes…

“You’re sure it was paranormal?” Jason asked.

“I’m positive,” Jen said. “The eyes were practically staring into my face. They looked like headlights, they were so bright. I could feel its breath. But when I tried to touch it—there was nothing there. The next second, it was as if the eyes went right through me. That creature wasn’t normal, Jason. It was definitely some kind of ghost or spirit.”

Mike hit a key and the laptop screen went dark.

The next morning, the TAPS team returned to the Coopers’ house. But they didn’t go inside. Instead, they headed for the woods behind the fence.

“What do you think is going on?” Jen asked Grant as they walked through the bare trees.

The path near the Coopers’ yard went straight for a while. Then it branched off. The TAPS team divided up into the same groups as the night before: Jen, Grant, and Mike in one, Jason, Lyssa, and Mark in the other.

“Have you ever investigated an animal haunting?” Jen went on when Grant didn’t reply. “Whatever was out there—I
know
it didn’t have a body. So where does that leave us?”

“With a ghost,” Mike replied. “There are lots of stories about animal spirits and ghosts. They’ve been around forever.”

Jen stepped carefully to avoid a big tree root that stretched across the path.

“Grant still hasn’t said anything,” she commented. “He’s hoping I won’t notice.”

Grant smiled. “I don’t know any more than you guys do,” he reminded her. “But I think your conclusions are right. I think we’ve pretty well debunked the idea that this is a living animal.”

Grant’s walkie-talkie suddenly came to life. “This is Jason to Grant. Come back. Over.”

“Grant here. What’s up, Jay? Over.”

“Double back and follow the second path to our location,” Jen heard Jason’s voice say. “I think we’ve found something.”

“Wow, check it out,” Mike said about twenty minutes later.

He and Jen and Grant were staring at a small, wooden building in a clearing. Its tar paper roof had holes in it. A few boards were missing from the front door.

“It’s an old cabin of some kind,” Jen said. “It’s practically falling apart.”

“Hey,” Grant said as Lyssa, Jason, and Mark stepped into the clearing. “What did you guys find?”

“We’re not sure,” Jason admitted. “That’s why I wanted all of us to look at it together. Lyssa’s already taken some pictures. We’ll let you guys go in first. We’ve got some strange readings here. I think something’s here, inside the cabin.”

Jason pushed open the door. It sagged on old, rusty hinges that made a sound like something screaming in pain.

Jen stepped inside first. The cabin’s floor was made of dirt. On the far side, across from the door, there was a window. Jen could see jagged pieces of glass sticking up like broken teeth. There wasn’t any furniture, only a rusted metal tube that looked like a stovepipe from an old wood-burning stove.

Jen stepped all the way in, pausing for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the dim light. The cabin felt small and cramped. Had someone actually lived here? There was barely enough room for a table, a chair, and maybe a bed. And the smell—

The air had a strange smell. Like rotted leaves… and something more. As if something got trapped here and never got out.

Jen had a bad feeling about this place. Something had died here, she was sure of it. She wanted to run outside, back into the sunlight.

But she couldn’t move. She just stared at the floor. There was
a big pile of bones just a few steps from where she stood. Jen felt as if a piece of ice just slid down her back. Was this the creature whose spirit had come after her last night?

“Grant,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm. “I think you’re going to want to see this.”

Jen stepped out of the way so Grant could get a closer look. After a couple of minutes, Jason and the others crowded in, too. The TAPS team filled the small, dusty space.

“Do you know what it is?” Jen asked.

“Whatever it was, it was big,” Jason answered.

No kidding,
Jen thought. Bones of a huge rib cage curved up into the air. The skull was long, the teeth enormous. And there were large bones that were clearly legs.

“I don’t think it’s a mountain lion,” Grant observed. He pointed to the head. “See, the head is too long. I think a cat’s skull would be shorter and flatter.”

“Could it be a wolf?” Lyssa asked.

“I suppose it could be,” Grant said. “We wondered about that last night. But why would a wolf come inside a cabin to die?”

“To get out of the cold?” Mike asked, his tone only half joking.

Grant shook his head. “Wolves are too wild for that. There’s got to be a connection between this place and the animal.”

“Maybe it was injured,” Lyssa suggested. “With just the bones, there’s no way to tell.”

“I wonder how long it’s been here,” Jen said.

Grant frowned. “There’s no way to tell that, either. Not by just looking at the skeleton, anyway. We would have to send the bones to a lab.”

Jason turned on his flashlight. “Let’s make sure there’s nothing else in here.”

For the next half hour the team searched the cabin, inside and out. But aside from the bones and the old stovepipe, there was nothing to find.

“All we know is that a big animal died here,” Jason said at last.

“And,” Jen added, “we’ve got a pretty good idea that its spirit is still around.”

“An old cabin?” Holly Cooper echoed an hour or so later.

The TAPS team had gone straight from the woods to the Coopers’ house. They told them what they found.

“Oh, I know,” she said. “It must be the old Maguire place. People always called it a hunting lodge.”

“Do any of the Maguires still live around here?” Grant asked.

Holly shook her head. “No. They moved away years ago. Right after…” Holly sat up a little straighter, as if she had been poked by a pin. “Wait a minute. Oh my gosh. You don’t suppose…”

“What?” Jen asked.

Holly turned to Grant. A frown creased her brow. “You’re absolutely certain those bones aren’t human?” she asked.

“Mom,”
Cynthia and Amanda said at the same time.

“The four legs rule out human,” Grant replied. “We’re just not sure what kind of animal it was. From what we saw, I’d say we found the remains of a wolf, or maybe a very large dog.”

All of a sudden, the frown on Holly’s face smoothed away.

“Of course,” she said. “Edgar Maguire’s dog.

“Edgar Maguire was my grandfather’s age,” Holly went on. “He was kind of a local legend. Always prowling around in the woods, even in the wintertime. One year, he went out during a storm—the worst storm of the year—and never came back. Everyone around here searched and searched. But they never found him. To this day, I don’t think anybody knows what really happened.”

“And…” Cynthia prompted. “Come on. Don’t be so mysterious. Jeez, Mom.”

“I don’t mean to be,” Holly answered with a smile. “If somebody I know would stop interrupting…”

Amanda gave a snort of laughter.

“I could get to the part where Mr. Maguire had a dog. I think its name was King. He went everywhere with Mr. Maguire. I remember King seemed absolutely huge, big as a wolf. But then, I wasn’t very old at the time. Everyone thought that dog was
with Mr. Maguire when he disappeared. No one ever saw either of them again.”

“Maybe the dog survived the storm,” Jen said softly. “And it came back to the cabin, looking for its master.”

“You think the skeleton in the cabin might be King?” Cynthia asked.

“I’m still not sure what I think,” Grant admitted. “Is there a vet in town?”

“Of course,” Holly said. “I can give you the address.” She got up.

“But if you found bones, shouldn’t we bury them?” Cynthia asked. “I mean, even if it isn’t Mr. Maguire’s dog. I’d want somebody to do that if I lost an animal.”

Amanda nodded. “Maybe that’s why the ghost came to us. He was trying to let someone know that he needed help.”

“I think burying the bones is a great idea,” Jen said. “If a human body isn’t buried properly, sometimes the spirit will wander. I don’t see why it should be any different for a dog.”

“Where do you think the dog should be buried?” Grant asked.

“Right outside the cabin,” Cynthia said at once. “That was his home. I think King’s ghost was roaming around, looking for his master.”

“The cabin is where they stayed when Mr. Maguire went
hunting,” Amanda added. “That’s where the dog waited for him. I think that’s where King would be at peace.”

Holly came back into the room. She handed Grant a slip of paper. “That’s the number for the vet,” she said. She put an arm around each of her daughters. “I heard what you girls suggested. I think that sounds like the right thing to do. Then maybe King’s ghost will be able to rest.”