Ghost Hunt: Chilling Tales of the Unknown (14 page)

“TAPS team, we have a problem.”

Everyone turned toward Jason in surprise.

“What kind of a problem, Jay?” Grant asked.

Jason sighed.

“That was Mrs. Anderson on the phone.”

“Anderson… Anderson…” Mike said out loud as he tried to remember. He snapped his fingers. “I know. I’ve got it. The lady in Connecticut with the two daughters, right?”

“That’s right,” Jason said. “Good memory, Mike.”

“Actually,” Mike confessed. “It wasn’t all that hard. That house really reminded me of the one where Mark and I grew up. I think it was even built at about the same time.”

“1860,” Mark agreed. “I remember from my research. Right before the start of the Civil War. It reminded me of our house too. Some rooms big and bright. Others tiny and dark. Sort of like whoever built it couldn’t make up his mind.”

“Why did Mrs. Anderson call, Jason?” Jen asked.

“Don’t tell me the sounds are back,” Mike said, before Jason could reply.

Jason nodded. “Yeah, they are. Why don’t you tell Jen about the case, Mike? I think she was on vacation when we worked that one.”

“Mrs. Anderson first called us almost two months ago,” Mike explained. “She and her daughters were being frightened by odd sounds. Banging, knocking, and pounding all through the house. Sometimes it only lasted a couple of minutes. But other nights it went on for hours. There was no way to tell ahead of time.

“We pretty much did standard operating procedure. Cameras and sound recorders throughout the house. We spent about a month, all told. Though, of course, we weren’t there every single
night. The cameras never did pick up anything. But we came back with a
lot
of sound. I could even play some for you, if you like. I’m sure I’ve got the CDs around here someplace.”

“That’s a good idea,” Jason said.

“Give me half a sec,” Mike said.

“What kind of conclusions did you guys reach?” Jen asked as Mike flipped quickly through his CDs.

“We debunked every single sound,” Jason replied. “It’s an old house, like Mike said. I can’t remember every detail. But it was things like loose shutters and pipes. We gave our findings to Mrs. Anderson. She made a to-do list and got some repairs done. After that the sounds stopped.”

“Until now,” Jen said.

“Yeah,” Jason answered. “Until now.”

“Got it!” Mike announced. “Let me just cue it up.” He slid the CD into his laptop. “You know,” he went on. “It’s kind of interesting that Mrs. Anderson called. I always wondered if there was something we missed.”

“What happened this time?” Lyssa wanted to know.

“The two girls went up into the attic,” Jason said. “They heard this super-loud banging sound right above their heads. It shook the whole house. It was even strong enough to swing the door closed. For a couple of minutes the girls got trapped in the attic with their mom on the wrong side of the door.”

“Wow,” Jen commented. “Talk about a freak-out.”

“You’re right,” Jason said. “It was. For everyone.”

“Maybe it was some kind of animal,” Lyssa suggested. “You know, like a raccoon. They’re big and heavy.”

“There’s no way to know,” Jason said. “That’s just the problem.”

“Okay,” Mike said. “Here we go. Everybody ready?”

“Go ahead,” Grant said.

“This is the upstairs attic shutter,” Mike said.

Jen leaned forward as the sound came on.

Clack clack clack clack

Clack clack clack

Clack clack clack clack

Clack clack clack

There was a pause. Then the noise repeated. Jen thought it even had the same rhythm.

“Thanks, Mike,” she said. “I think I’ve heard enough. It sounds like a shutter. But maybe I only think that because I knew what it was ahead of time.”

Mike pressed a button and the sound fell silent.

“So,” Jen asked. “What now?”

“Mrs. Anderson would like us to come back,” Jason answered. “But I don’t know. Our caseload is pretty heavy.”

The month ahead was super-busy. Jason and Grant were going away for several weeks to investigate a site in California. That left just Jen, Lyssa, and the Hammond twins behind in Rhode Island.

“What did you tell her?” Lyssa asked.

“I suggested a ‘wait and see’ approach,” Jason said. “If this turns out to be a onetime thing—”

“Then it probably
was
something like raccoons, like Lyssa suggested,” Jen finished up.

“Right.” Jason nodded.

“But if something else happens, you want us to go and check it out,” Mike said.

“I do,” Jason said. “I agree with you, Mike. I know we debunked every single sound, but I always had the sense there was something going on in the Anderson house. Something we couldn’t quite put our fingers on.”

“Sounds like the TAPS spider-sense at work,” Mark teased.

“I’ll go back over all the audio recordings. Just in case,” Mike offered.

“Thanks,” Jason said. “I was hoping you’d say that. Maybe
your
spider-sense can find something we missed the first time around.”

“Come on, Jen. Just one more story!”

“I already read you three stories each!” Jen said with a laugh. “That’s enough for tonight, you little monsters. Go brush your teeth and hop into bed. I’m going to check on the baby. Then I’ll come tuck you in.”

She stood up and shooed the next-door neighbor kids off the
couch. Tony and Skye were seven and five. Jen babysat for them sometimes so their parents could go out.

Quietly, she tiptoed into the baby’s room. Baby Julie was just six months old. She was sprawled on her back, sleeping with her mouth open. The sight made Jen smile.

She leaned over the crib. When she straightened up, she brushed against the mobile hanging above the crib. Moons and stars swayed and danced. Jen picked out the mobile herself. It was attached to a music box that played “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

All of a sudden, she felt a small hand in hers. Jen looked down. Tony and Skye smiled up at her. They came into the room so quietly Jen didn’t even know they were there until Tony took her by the hand. Skye was standing at her older brother’s side.

“Shhh.” Jen put a finger to her lips.

Tony mimicked the action. Then he gave her hand a tug. Jen leaned down.

“Jen,” he breathed into her ear. “I want to play the song about the star.”

“Okay,” Jen said. The sound was gentle and quiet. She didn’t think it would wake up the baby. “I’ll boost you up.”

She lifted Tony in her arms so he could wind the music box. A moment later, the song began to play.

Twinkle, twinkle,

little star.

How I wonder

what you are.

Jen settled Tony onto her hip and hummed along. Her fingers tapped out the rhythm on the crib railing.

Tap tap tap tap

Tap tap tap

Tap tap tap tap

Tap tap TAP

All of a sudden, Jen stopped. Her fingers halted in midair. Her whole body seemed to tingle with electric shock.

Take it easy, Jen,
she thought.

She did it again.

Twinkle, twinkle,
Tap tap tap tap

little star.
Tap tap tap

How I wonder
Tap tap tap tap

what you are.
Tap tap tap

That’s it. That’s really it,
Jen thought. More than anything she wanted to run for the phone. But she didn’t want to freak the kids.

“Okay, guys,” she whispered. “Let’s go out to the living room. I need to make a phone call.”

“Wait a minute,” Mike said a couple of minutes later. “Slow down, Jen. It’s
what
?”

“ ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,’ ” Jen said into her cell. “That’s what the sounds at the Anderson house are doing. They’re playing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.’ ”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Mike said. “I’ve been listening to the audio for hours and I never picked up on that.”

“Listen to them again,” Jen said. “Now that you know. I’m babysitting so I can’t get to the office right away. I’ll come as soon as the kids’ parents get home.”

“I’ll call Mark and Lyssa,” Mike said. “Get them over here too. Jen, I’ve gotta ask this. How on earth did you figure it out?”

“I had help,” Jen said, “from a seven-year-old.”

“Okay, I just have to say this,” Lyssa said. “Wow!”

It was a couple of hours later. The team, minus Jason and Grant, were in the TAPS office. Mike just finished playing back the audio.

There was no question about it. Every single knock, thump, and bang in the Anderson house was to the beat of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

“Wow is right,” Jen agreed. “So what do we do now?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Mike said. “Did you ever see
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
?”

“Oh, no!” Jen groaned. “Please tell me this is from another ancient sci-fi movie.”

“It’s not ancient,” Mike protested. “Just from 1977.”

“Which would be before we were born.”

“It’s in color,” Mark piped up. “Does that help?”

“Hey—wait a minute,” Lyssa broke in. “I’ve seen that movie. It’s great. I remember this guy builds a mountain out of his mashed potatoes.”

“We’re going to build a mountain out of mashed potatoes?” Jen exclaimed.

“Of course not,” Mike said. “The part I’m talking about—”

“Although it
would
be really cool,” Mark interrupted. “I’ve kind of always wanted to.”

“Stop!” Mike cried. Silence. Mike waited until he was sure nobody else was going to interrupt.

“Forget the mashed potatoes,” he went on. “There’s this really cool part where humans and aliens make contact for the first time. The alien spaceship plays a series of musical notes. The humans play them back. Then the aliens respond. In other words, they
communicate
.”