Town Haunts (19 page)

“Do you think
that’s wise?” Erna asked.

“Don’t let what
John said bother you,” May said. “Sure, we may look like fools for
believing in ghosts, but what do we care? Better safe than sorry.
You’d better stay here with us.”

“May’s right.
You’re too vulnerable at your house, whether there’s a ghost behind
all this or not,” Erna added.

“Look, I really
don’t think that there’s a ghost,” Anna said. “And who’s to say
where it’s safe or not. Don’t worry, I’ll lock my doors and windows
and sleep in Ben’s room, in case anyone tries to wake me up with
more fun and games on the front lawn.” May frowned as Anna turned
to Erna. “I really appreciate you letting me stay here the past
couple of days, but it’s time I went home.”

Erna laid her
hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Are you leaving because you’re
embarrassed about what happened in the cemetery tonight?” she
asked.

Anna forced
herself to meet Erna’s gaze. “If I had stayed in the circle like
Tiernay told us, that ‘thing’ wouldn’t have chased me, and Steve
and Greg wouldn’t be in the hospital. It’s time I started reacting
more logically, wouldn’t you say?”

“There was no
shame in running, dear. You were deliberately singled out for
special attention by the apparition. Anyone in your situation would
have run.”

“It sure scared
me,” May said from her chair. “If I hadn’t already been sitting
down, I would have collapsed.”

Anna smiled.
“Thanks for trying to make me feel better, you two. And maybe
you’re right. But if someone tries to scare me a third time, I just
won’t let it happen.” They looked at her doubtfully. “Don’t worry,
if I see another ghost, I won’t go near it. I saw what it did to
Steve and Greg tonight.”

Erna frowned.
“Yes, I wish that we had an explanation for what happened to them.
That worries me most of all.”

Anna glanced at
her watch. “Wow, it’s going on eleven! I’ve got work in the
morning.” She kissed Erna’s cheek and hurried over to hug May.
“Oops, almost forgot my overnight bag,” she said, snatching it up
from where it rested beside the couch. She smiled at her friends.
“Don’t look so worried. I’ll be just fine.”

“Call us if
anything happens,” Erna said as Anna left the room.

“Will do,” Anna
called from the front door. “Come on, Wendy, let’s go home!” The
dog sprang up from the living room floor and trotted after her.

When the door
shut behind them, May said, “Better start praying.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

When Anna
pulled into her driveway, she let the car idle for a few moments,
using her headlights to scan the front of the house. Everything
seemed fine, so she turned off the engine and nudged the car door
open. Wendy jumped over her lap to relieve herself on the lawn,
while Anna gathered up their things and jogged to the front door.
She unlocked it quickly, glancing over her shoulder as she did, and
pushed the door open before calling for Wendy to come. The dog
galloped up the yard and into the house, with Anna slamming and
bolting the door behind them. After putting away the dog’s things,
she walked reluctantly to her room. The bed was still unmade from
Sunday night, but Steve had locked the window for her. Taking a
moment to throw two days’ worth of dirty laundry into the clothes
hamper, Anna grabbed a clean nightshirt from her bureau and changed
out of her clothes in record time. Performing the sparest of
evening ablutions, she left the bathroom light on to go next door
to Ben’s room.

The room looked
as if Ben still lived there. His books were in the bookcase, his
concert posters were tacked on the bulletin board over the desk,
and a shabby teddy bear that had accompanied him on all their
cross-country moves leaned against the headboard. Fortunately, the
bed was made up with fresh linens, and Anna had only to set the
alarm on the clock radio before crawling inside. Wendy sat in the
doorway, confused by the change in sleeping arrangements.

“Here, Wendy,”
Anna said, patting the quilt beside her. “You always sleep on the
bed when Ben’s home, anyway.” The dog loped into the room and
sprang onto the bed beside her, turning around once before
hunkering down. Anna switched off the bedside light, nestled under
the covers, and stared into the darkness. She lay still for all of
ten seconds before groping for the clock radio. It was too quiet,
and she could hear the creepy music box tune in her head. If
someone or something started playing it for real outside, she
didn’t want to hear it. She hit the snooze button, and late night
jazz from a Calgary FM station drifted out of the speaker. Anna
sighed and settled down to sleep.

She slept
soundly and smiled when the alarm woke her in the morning. Nothing
had disturbed her after all. She climbed out of bed and attended to
the usual morning chores before saying goodbye to Wendy and leaving
the house with time to spare. The clouds were tinted a soft gold
and pink as she enjoyed a leisurely drive through the countryside.
Traffic was sparse when she reached the city limits, and the lights
were green all the way to the university. It was shaping up to be a
wonderful day. At noon, she called Erna for news of the invalids in
the hospital.

“Steven went
home this morning, and Gregory’s conscious and doing fine. They ran
additional tests, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with him,
so he’s being released this afternoon.”

“I’m so glad to
hear it. I was afraid that whatever had happened to him had damaged
his brain.”

“No. Just a
minute, Anna.” There was talking in the background. “May wants to
know if the ghost showed up last night.”

“No, everything
was fine. Didn’t see or hear a trace of it.”

“I’m glad,
dear. I had trouble sleeping last night for worrying about
you.”

“I’m sorry that
you were worried about me, but nothing happened.”

“She says she’s
fine, May.”

“By the way,
I’m thinking about dropping by the Raes’ to talk to Greg after
supper. I want to hear what happened to him in the cemetery.”

“Good idea. If
I weren’t looking after May, I’d come with you. Give me a call when
you get home and let us know what he says.”

“Will do. Give
May my best.”

“Goodbye.”

It was eight
o’clock when Anna climbed into her car to drive over to the Raes’
house. The sky was clear, and the air was cool and fresh. Anna was
cheered by the sight of light spilling from Jeff and Betty’s
windows as she drove by their house. Many of the other houses she
passed on the way through town also had on lights, as if everyone
had decided to stay home that night. Even Greg and Tiernay’s barren
front lawn looked cozy under a blanket of dry leaves that crunched
as she made her way to the door. The drapes were drawn, but she
could hear the murmur of conversation within, and only had to wait
a few seconds before someone responded to her knock.

“Anna,” Tiernay
said, her face flinty as she gripped the door, “I had a feeling
that we’d see you tonight. Come in.”

“Thanks,” Anna
said, skirting around her. “I wanted to see how Greg was doing.”
The scent of sandalwood smoke drifted down the dark hallway as she
followed Tiernay to the living room.

“Anna’s here,”
Tiernay announced, standing aside to let her guest enter. Anna
blinked in the lights.

“Anna!” Greg
said. “Just the tonic I needed. Come and sit beside me, lovely
lady.” He waved at her from his rocking chair next to the hearth,
where a cozy fire burned. Dressed in a robe and pyjamas, he even
had a blanket on his lap. “Tiernay’s playing nurse tonight.”

“I’m not
surprised. You just got home from the hospital.”

“Hi, Anna,” a
thin voice piped from across the room. She turned to see Steve
lying on the couch, a white bandage covering part of his head and
his face looking pale and drawn. Smoke rose from a brass incense
burner on the table beside him, while soothing classical music
played in the background.

“I didn’t know
you’d be here, too,” Anna said, taking two steps toward him, but
Tiernay cut in front of her and sank down onto the carpet beside
him.

“Makes it
easier for Tiernay to look after us both,” Greg said, attempting to
rise, but pausing half-way to clutch the arm of his chair. “Just a
little dizzy spell. It will pass in a second. Let me get you a
chair.”

“No, don’t get
up,” Anna said, hastening to him. “I’m a floor person anyway.” She
picked up the blanket that had fallen from his lap and tucked it
back over him before sitting on the carpet at his feet.

Greg smiled and
rested his hand on her shoulder. “Isn’t this nice, all of us here
together? To what do we owe the pleasure?”

Anna hesitated,
but she wanted to get her unpleasant business out of the way.
“Well, there are two reasons for my visit.” She turned to include
Steve and Tiernay in the conversation. “First, I didn’t get a
chance to apologize for breaking the circle last night. I feel like
it’s my fault that you and Steve got hurt.”

“It was. Why
did you do such a dangerous thing when I specifically told everyone
to stay put?” Tiernay asked in a strident voice. “I didn’t get a
chance to do anything with Evelyn, either.”

“Now Tiernay,
don’t start again,” Greg said. “That spectre was truly appalling.
Did you see how it stared at Anna? I was scared, and it wasn’t even
looking at me.”

Anna was
grateful for Greg’s support, but his words didn’t remove the scowl
from Tiernay’s face. “Second,” she said, “I wanted to ask what
happened to you last night. Since Steve is here, I can ask you
both. What did Evelyn’s ghost do to you?”

“I’ve been
trying to explain it to Tiernay,” Greg replied. “It was the
damnedest thing. One minute Steve was chasing Evelyn’s ghost, and
the next, he was down. I had my flashlight pointing at Evelyn at
the time, so I could see her face when it happened. She was
laughing at us. And it wasn’t happy laughter, either. I could see
that she hated us. I’ve never seen such a look of pure evil on
anyone’s face before. Ugh, it gives me the willies just thinking
about it.” Anna felt him shudder, and his words brought back her
own terrifying memories.

“Then Evelyn
raised her arm and pointed at me. I wanted to get out of the way,
but I couldn’t move fast enough. This thing that I can only
describe as a bolt of pure energy hit me. It felt like cold fire
zapping through my body, and then my muscles locked and I was
paralyzed. That’s when I hit the ground and blacked out. I don’t
remember anything after that, until I heard Tiernay’s voice calling
to me, begging me to wake up. Poor dear, you sounded frantic,” Greg
said, looking at his sister. She grimaced. “It bothered me to hear
how upset you were, so I struggled to find my way back to you. I’m
fine now, but I still feel as if I’ve been to hell and back.”

Anna was
appalled by his words. “I’m so sorry, Greg. I feel like I brought
this upon you,” she said.

He shrugged.
“It’s over, and I’m fine. The doctor said there’s nothing wrong
with me.” He reached for her hand. “Try not to let it bother you,
darling.”

She smiled,
grateful for his comforting words, before looking at Steve. “What
about you, Steve? Is that what happened to you?”

“I don’t
remember anything after I left the circle to chase after you.”

“Nothing?”

He shook his
head.

“The doctor
said he had a concussion,” Tiernay said, her eyes still angry as
she glared at Anna. “It’s probably the reason for his memory loss.”
She turned back to Steve, and her eyes softened. “You look tired,
honey. Is your headache still bad?” He nodded. “Why don’t I make
you some more of that tea while you go up to bed? You look
exhausted.”

“Yeah,” he
said. “I think I will. Sorry, Anna, but I’m all done in.”

Tiernay rose
from the floor while Steve sat up. Climbing to his feet, he paused
to grab hold of the back of the couch and closed his eyes.

“Dizzy?”
Tiernay asked, taking his arm.

He opened his
eyes and shook off her hand. “I’m okay. Night Anna. Night
Greg.”

“Steve, I’m so
sorry,” Anna said, clambering to her feet. She stood awkwardly by
while Steve shuffled from the room with Tiernay at his elbow. She
listened to them mount the stairs before turning back to Greg.

“I feel
terrible,” she said.

“Don’t.
Evelyn’s to blame, not you.”

“But what are
we going to do?” she asked. He reached for her and pulled her back
to the chair when she took his hand. She knelt so that their heads
were on the same level.

“It’s going to
be okay. I promise,” he said, kissing her hand.

“What do you
mean? How is everything going to be okay?”

He put an arm
around her waist. “Tiernay e-mailed her old coven while Steve and I
were in the hospital. The group is run by a powerful witch, someone
who’s been practising magic all her life. Tiernay explained what’s
been happening here, and now she’s just waiting for the witch to
reply. I’m sure that the two of them will get Evelyn sorted out
between them. Meanwhile, you stick close to home and don’t go for
any long walks with your dog, right? Are you still wearing the
stone Tiernay gave you?”

Anna nodded,
fingering the stone in her jacket pocket. She had stuffed it in
there on the night of the séance and hadn’t removed it since.

“Good. That
will protect you.” He smiled and tapped her nose. “I don’t want
anything to happen to you. I still want to sketch you, remember?”
Anna nodded and smiled.

“That’s better.
You have such a pretty smile.” Releasing her waist, he cupped the
back of her head and kissed her. His mouth was warm and tender
against hers, and Anna lingered there for a second before turning
her face. Greg sighed, his breath warming her ear.