Vanquishing Ghosts (Tess Schafer-Medium) Read online

  "Fear is the root of all evil, Tess."

  And she told me to fear not. So, control my fear, control the power of the Big Bad. Great. Got it. But I already pretty much knew that. Heaving a sigh, I headed in after Kade.

  Once passing through the thick line of trees bordering the road, the inner part of the woods was not quite so thick. Tall pines, fir, oak and elm trees provided a thick enough cover that smaller vegetation and new tree growth didn't get enough light to survive. Although ferns were pretty prevalent, they were only about thigh high at most so there was nothing to hinder my view of the surrounding area. Kade and Alex were a short distance ahead and about half way up a rise that rose at a much sharper angle just a few feet beyond them.

  Kade was leaning down and examining something on the ground and Alex stood next to him, his ears back and his tail tucked under his legs. I made my way to them and ignored the continuous shiver running like an excited hive of bees across my back. Whatever lingered in this area, it wasn't anything good. Could the Big Bad be here too? Did it haunt the entire property? The thought was unsettling and I immediately put my protective light in place and sent up a few prayers while I was at it. Although I felt pretty confident at the moment, I knew if anything bad was to occur, it would challenge my ability to stay that way. If only telling ourselves to not be afraid actually worked! But fear was an emotion that often has a mind of its own and it sure as heck didn't work much in our favor.

  As I neared Kade and Alex, I looked at the long, crumbling rock wall nearby. It stretched straight for a ways then veered off in a gradual curve towards the direction of the lake. The other end headed off towards my house.

  Touching Kade's shoulder, I leaned over and looked at the ground he was studying so intently. "What are you looking at?"

  Kade stood and waved a hand for me to look a little closer. "The rocks here are too proportionally set to be an unintentional circumstance.” He motioned with his finger to outline what he was talking about. "See how it forms the shape of a rectangle?"

  Kade was right. The rocks had to have been placed there on purpose. No way could it have just happened like that by random fall. The ground around the rocks was thick with pine needles, leaves and springy green moss. "Do you think something is buried here?"

  "Not sure. But someone took the time to put these rocks here for a reason.”

  I straightened up and nodded behind him. “I didn't realize I had a rock wall on my property."

  "You'll find rock walls all over the state. They were widely used at one time to mark property lines."

  "Yes, I've seen them in New York as well. It doesn't properly mark my property though because mine ends over there on that second rise. You can just make out the orange surveyor tape hanging from one of the trees."

  "These rock walls were probably put in place several property owners ago, Tess. Obviously, whoever owned your property had acquired the land beyond this initial border."

  I waved at the rock formation on the ground before us. "What should we do? Dig it up?"

  Kade met my eyes and we stared at each other for a long time. Finally, he heaved a sigh and took a step back. "Not sure yet. What do you think?"

  "I think we leave it for now."

  "Okay." He held out his hand to me and I clasped it gratefully. Just his touch was reassuring, steady.

  "So, are you ready to get out of here?"

  "I know Alex is." At the sound of his name, Alex whined then turned to lick at the air around Kade's leg. "It's okay, boy. We'll get out of here. How's that?"

  Alex led the way back to where we initially entered the woods and then we continued our walk toward the main road. As soon as the trees began to thin out, the shivers crawling through my skin went away. Relieved, I heaved a sigh at the same time as Kade. We looked at each other and laughed. Kade leaned down to give me a kiss and then waved a hand at the road just ahead of us. "So which direction do we go?"

  "Well there are a couple houses up near that graveyard we went to when trying to locate Mary's ancestral burial sites."

  "The one where you encountered the intriguing Tomb Lady?"

  "Yes that one."

  He gave a nod, thinking. "Well, the closest house in the other direction is really a lot further than I think that fat cat would enjoy traveling so let's go toward the graveyard. Who knows, maybe we'll encounter the Tomb Lady again."

  Alex trotted happily along with us until we got near another road that turned off to the right and looked like it circled around the perimeter of the graveyard. The closer we got, the more Alex hung back until suddenly he was yanking against his leash and resisting our attempts to move forward.

  His face grim, Kade looked at me. "I'm willing to bet whoever had him lives down that road somewhere."

  "Oh, Kade. I don't want them to see we have him. What if they demand we give him back? I'm not handing him over to someone who was clearly abusing him."

  We stopped just short of the road and scoped it out. Several houses were in view and it was quite likely the cat's owners lived in one of them. Hands on hips, Kade gave it some serious consideration before he made up his mind. "Look, why don't you take Alex and go hang out by that tomb. I'll go down this road and check with the residences about our gray menace."

  "You won't mention anything about Alex?"

  Kade looked somewhat annoyed that I even asked that question and realizing how it sounded, I was at once contrite. "I'm sorry, Kade. I know you won't do anything to jeopardize Alex's safety." And then, "Are you sure you don't want me to go knock on doors with you?"

  "No. If Alex's owners are in fact down that road, then it's best we keep him out of sight."

  He had a good point. "Okay then. We'll head for the tomb and wait for you there. Besides, maybe Alex will like the water and want to play in it."

  "Just remember, a wet dog often means a wet owner." He pressed a kiss to my mouth. "I imagine the first couple of houses will know if that cat belongs to anyone in the neighborhood and finding Alex's former owners isn't something I plan on pursuing, so it shouldn't take me too long."

  Alex and I watched as Kade took off in long, quick strides and began walking ourselves when he made his way up to the first house. I didn't want to be standing there on the road staring at him when the occupants opened the door.

  The tomb was located at the base of the cemetery which rose in a sloping hill behind it. A graveled semi-circular drive led in to it from the road and out again. When I asked her, Barbara wasn't sure if the tomb was still in use but at one time it was a temporary holding area for bodies waiting to be placed in the cemetery. The door was padlocked shut and very rusty. If it was still in use, it wasn’t used often.

  During my first visit to Bucksport I encountered a woman here who turned out to be a ghost. Kade and I call her the Tomb Lady and I couldn't help but wonder if she'd show up today or not. I hoped so. I had a lot of questions to ask her. Starting with her name.

  Alex looked eager to explore and I had a long internal debate on whether I should trust him not to run off if I let him off his leash. We hadn't yet establish a bond with him and I worried that he would dash away from me if I let him go. My biggest fear was that he would run into the road and get hit by a passing car.

  A path through the trees leading toward the lake caught my notice and I headed for it. When we reached the water, Alex took a drink then looked at me with a lolling tongue, his expression telling me he was quite excited with our little adventure. A narrow footpath continued along the shoreline and I decided to follow it for a ways. Once we were quite a distance from the road and Alex was more interested in going forward than backwards, I let him off his leash.

  Without hesitation, Alex bounded into the water. He kept close to shore, though, and took long sloppy drinks before running back onto the path and continuing his explorations. I followed behind at a much slower pace for the path wasn't a smooth one by any means. Tree roots, rocks and uneven ground made the going slow. At least for me, Alex wasn't hin
dered in the least. The lake was calm today and as the sun was shining from a clear blue sky, its reflection danced on the rippling surface like shimmering diamonds. It was truly lovely and peaceful and I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

  We eventually came to a spacious mossy area and just beyond that the path ended thanks to the obstruction of a large boulder which sat half in and half out of the water. It was flat along the top and the perfect place to sit and reflect so that's exactly what I did.

  Once I became more relaxed and focused on my surroundings, I noticed that the woods around me was alive with noise. Birds chirped gaily and every now and then I heard the chatter of squirrels. Alex kept himself busy sniffing around the boulder's wide girth and since it was pretty obvious he had no intention of darting off, I stopped worrying about it and turned my attention to the lake. There were no boats on the water that I could see and I wondered about that. Surely if I had a boat, I'd be on the water as much as possible. Especially on nice days like this one.

  Feeling drowsy from the sun's warmth and the relaxed atmosphere, I leaned back until I was resting on my forearms and lifted my face to the sun's warm rays. Here I felt at peace. And then I became aware of a disturbance in my thoughts.

  Someone was trying to reach me. Sitting up straight, I focused on the voice filtering through me from Lord only knew where. It's hard to describe the feeling of having a foreign voice in your head. When talking to spirits, I allow them to come through my thoughts and the sound is quite foreign to my own internal voice. I know it's not me doing the talking because I feel no sense of attachment to it at all. Typically, to really tune in and get a clear reading, I have to focus on making contact. This time, however, it happened without my trying. It was like this voice was "out there" in the universe calling for help and somehow or other, my brainwaves locked in on it.

  It sounded like a male but the connection was distant and erratic. Now that my attention was caught, I did my part to "tune in" and although it often takes intense concentration sometimes to make a clear connection, that was not the case this time. As my connection with the voice increased, a chill descended upon me and then quite suddenly the sun went out. Literally.

  I opened my eyes to a dark night. The moon was full and bright and the lake black and choppy. A persistent breeze blew over me and I wrapped my arms around myself to ward off the cold. The nape of my neck prickled with awareness and I knew without having to look that someone stood behind me.

  Recognizing that I was in the throes of a vision, I relaxed as best as one can in these circumstances and let the scene play out.

  Whoever stood behind me, he was talking quite a bit. His voice sounded vaguely familiar which was a cringe-worthy thought because it wasn't pleasant by any means. I couldn't quite make out what he was saying because the body I now found myself sharing was acting strange. Something was wrong with him.

  The boulder on which we sat in an awkward slump felt like it was spinning, the motion increasing with each passing second. Although I tried to focus on the voice and make out what was being said, nothing made sense. My strength drained to nothing and my bones to mush and like a limp ragdoll, we slunk down in a flop of nothing.

  Sharp, unfriendly laughter sounded above us, grating on my nerves and making me cringe in distaste. If we could have raised our hands to cover our ears, we would have done so. Fear, regret and worry all mingled together in our thoughts and the vision of a woman with long dark hair and very dark eyes filtered into our mind. Feelings for her crawled into our heart and we moaned in pain for what we knew would become of her. If only we could go and warn her!

  Every muscle in our body continued to weaken and we wondered if eventually our internal organs would lock up and bring about the death that was obviously imminent. The answer to that was not long in coming. The voice drew near, whispering in an ear that no longer functioned properly. We heard the tone, the sneer and the sinister laugh but we couldn't make out the words he spoke. And then he gave us a shove and we rolled down the rock and into the cold dark water.

  We could do nothing to save ourselves and his thoughts screamed in fear as the water closed over our head, filling our nose and cocooning us in its cold, suffocating embrace. Oddly, it was a peaceful passing. There was no struggle because we couldn't struggle and once the initial fear passed, it was all very calm. His soul left quickly, rising above his body which continued to sink to the bottom of the lake, leaving nothing on its rippling surface to indicate where he now lay.

  We hovered in nothingness and then he remembered what he needed to do and tried to go to her. Only he didn't get far. Though I wasn’t sure why, his spirit was tied to his lifeless body, leaving him little room in which to move about. So there we hovered just above the water's surface, looking to where she lived and would soon die.

  Alex's bark pulled me from the vision and I was ever so glad about it. Feeling a desperate need for air, I drew in a deep breath and wondered if for a moment I had stopped breathing. I felt so relaxed, too relaxed, and quickly sat up to dispel the feeling. Alex sat with his head tilted to the side, his eyes intent upon me. When I sat up, he barked again and licked my face. Smiling, I ruffled his ears and buried my face in his curly, wet fur. Obviously he'd gone for a little swim.

  "Thanks, Alex, for bringing me back." Alex butted his head against my shoulder then suddenly raised his head in alert. His floppy ears lifted and then he started barking excitedly. I scrambled to my feet and listened.

  "Tess? Tess where are you?"

  Kade. "I'm here!"

  Alex took off at a run and after taking a few moments to gather my energy, I felt strong enough to follow. Although I still felt slightly disoriented, I was regaining my full faculties with each passing moment. To help the process along, I touched every tree I could get my hands on, trying as best as I could to ground myself into my own reality. By the time I reached Kade, I was nearly back to normal. Which was a good thing because he looked agitated.

  "Something wrong?"

  "I think I had a run in with Alex's previous owners. They were not very pleasant, let me tell you and I'm very glad I didn't let you go knocking on doors with me."

  "What happened?" I entwined my arm through his and began walking with him back along the path toward the tomb. Though I wanted to maintain contact with him, we couldn't stay side by side for very long because of all the obstructions and narrowness of the path.

  "There wasn't anyone home at the first house. The second place belonged to a nice elderly couple. They didn't recollect seeing a gray cat and said they have lived in that house for nearly forty years."

  "Hmm. But if they are elderly, they probably don't go outside much so maybe that's why they haven't seen it."

  "That would be a good explanation except they are both big into gardening. I was taken out back to see their newest hybrid of roses."

  "And they've never seen a big gray cat?"

  "Never. They've seen a black cat, an orange tabby and Tinkerbelle, but no gray cat."

  "Tinkerbelle?"

  "A white Persian that occasionally escapes from the first house where no one was home. I asked them about their other neighbors and they said the people on the other side of them had a dog and the orange tabby. They thought the black cat might belong to the guys at the end of the lane but they weren't sure and then they warned me that it was probably best not to go there for they were nothing but trouble."

  "So of course you went there."

  Grinning at my astuteness, Kade went on with his story. "Since I already knew the next house had just a dog and the orange cat, I went on down to the last house on that road. It's a dead end street and the place is rather trashed. Lots of old cars and junk lying about. The man who answered the door didn't look too pleased by my disturbance of his nap. There were several dogs there and none of them looked very happy or healthy. One of them looked similar to Alex. Could be his mother possibly. I didn't recognize the breeds of the other dogs but one of them looked similar to a Rottweiler though
I know that isn't right."

  "The poor things. Do you think they are being abused?"

  "I don't know that they are beating them or anything but I'd be willing to bet they haven't had their shots and are not being fed as well as they should."

  "Hmmm, maybe they should be reported. I think it's a law that they must be kept current on their shots and of course they must be licensed."

  "It might be best not to antagonize the situation, Tess. It could actually backfire. They might feel compelled to get rid of the dogs and I don't mean by placing them in caring homes."

  Nodding reluctantly though sorry for the animals in question, I waved a hand for him to continue. "So what did he say about the cat?"

  "I asked him if he was missing a cat. He said he didn't fu...know and nor did he care. Honestly, Tess, that fat monster back at your house couldn't have come from there. No way would he have been fed that well."

  "Unless he's been eating a lot of rats and field mice."

  "Possibly, but not from that house. Although I can imagine the place being overrun by the rodents, I can't imagine that cat tolerating those people. And even so, I could not in good conscience take him back there. Since they don't care one way or the other, maybe it would be best to take it to the Humane Society and let them find him a good home."

  "Absolutely not. He found us. If he's going to a new home, it will be with us."

  "Tess, you can't rescue every animal that comes your way."

  "Why not?" We'd reached the last bit of path leading to the tomb area but I turned to face the lake one last time. Memories of the vision flashed through my mind and I cast out a psychic feeler to see if his spirit lingered. I didn't get anything and yet ... he was there. Somewhere. Who was he and did he have any relevance to what was going on in my house?

  "What?" Kade stopped next to me and looked out over the water. "We should bring my boat down here one of these days and take a spin around the lake."