The Siege Read online

  Dave resumed glaring at Mia. She didn’t have to read his mind to know what series of curse words were being used to describe her, her mother, and an activity that was nonexistent to her until after the kid was born.

  “I’m going over to the Bravermans today. Tom was released from the hospital, and his mother couldn’t get out of work. I’m going to babysit our famous deputy,” Mia said, tapping the newspaper column she had cut out and fixed to the refrigerator door.

  “I don’t know why he got a write up. It wasn’t like he stopped the vandals.”

  “He tried and, for his pleasure, spent the night trapped in a sinking bell jar.”

  “Microwave dish,” Dave corrected. “Cid and I discussed that at length during work yesterday.”

  Mia was amused. Dave followed Cid around an abandoned factory taking notes - it wasn’t exactly at work - but he did seem to have a sense of pride over the endeavor so Mia refrained from correcting him.

  “How did it go at the factory?”

  “It’s hard to believe that they can find any use for those abandoned buildings. Aside from a collection of beer bottles, condoms and needles, I didn’t see anything that said, ‘Future Home of the Veterans Rehabilitation Association,’ about it.”

  Mia ignored the coldhearted dig. “From what I gather, it’s space and a firm foundation they’re looking for. The rest will be rehabbed.”

  “That’s what Audrey and Cid explained. I don’t understand why they just don’t tear it down and build over it?”

  “They may, but wouldn’t it be nice to save some of that prewar construction?”

  Dave gave her a look of disgust.

  Mia was saved from trying another nonstarter conversation with Dave by Ted’s arrival.

  “The truck’s warmed up and out front. Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

  “Nah, it’ll just bore you. My job is to keep Tom entertained and in the house until his mother comes home.”

  “The guy’s almost as old as you are, and he lives with his parents. What a loser,” Dave said.

  “You live with your mother,” Ted pointed out. “Tom isn’t a loser, just a slow starter.”

  “Says the man who left home only two years ago,” Dave sniped.

  “Boys,” Mia warned, picking up the basket of baked goods she spent all day yesterday preparing. “We all know that times have changed. It’s too expensive to move out.”

  “When did you leave home?” Dave asked.

  “Home left me at fourteen,” Mia retorted and relinquished her hold on the basket so Ted could carry it out for her. “Forcibly-emancipated minors have a healthy respect for parents that actually open their home and hearts to their adult children.”

  “So your mom and pop aren’t nurturing?”

  “Keep that in mind when you’re interning for them,” Mia said over her shoulder. “You’re so going to miss us.”

  ~

  Burt got in his car only to find that the battery had died again overnight. It was a new battery. This was unacceptable. He searched his pockets and realized Mia must have picked up the receipt. He also suspected she had paid for the battery. He picked up the garage extension and began dialing her when he felt a presence behind him.

  He turned around slowly and saw a distortion on the far end of the garage. He reached down to where Mia still had a healthy supply of road salt, and pocketed a handful before approaching the distortion. “Hello, my name is Burt. Can I help you?”

  The words were almost lost in the breeze that swept through the open garage, but Burt caught, “Lost, so lost.”

  “I bet you’re lost. You’re the spirit from the farm. How did you…” Burt’s mind, no longer hampered by the flitch, was quick, and he figured it out before the ghost could repeat its lament. “I parked over the crack. You found yourself in my car and fed off of the battery. Smart thinking. Can you manifest or do you need more power?”

  The distortion thickened and wavered, but Burt got the impression of a younger man standing before him. His uniform was Confederate gray; he carried the sword of an officer; and there was a gaping hole in his chest. Spirits don’t often show you their death scars. They instead manifest according to the last picture or reflection they remember seeing of themselves. This explains why many specters caught on film look like they are posing.

  Burt wheeled out Mia’s portable compressor and pointed to the battery. “Feed off of this.”

  The ghost shook his head and managed to lift and arm and pointed to the barrel of salt next to it.

  “Oh crap. How silly of me.” Burt tilted the machine back on its rollers and moved the battery away from the salt and towards the ghost slowly. “Raise your hand when I should…”

  The spirit’s hand twitched. Burt stopped and took a few steps backward. He wished he had a camera on him. He had left his smart phone on the kitchen counter, having deemed it useless with the fallen cell tower.

  He watched as the ghost manifested with the energy he drained from the large battery. His body took on more color, and Burt could actually see a glint of light where there had only been dark voids before. Gone was the open maw. Instead, thin firm lips pressed together over a chiseled jaw. After the ghost had finished manifesting, Burt thought that, aside from the bloody hole in the young man’s chest, the spirit was quite attractive.

  “Do you know your name?”

  “No, lost, so lost.”

  “I can tell by your uniform that you’re not from around here. You’re in Illinois, quite close to the Wisconsin border. The year is 2014.”

  The soldier was visibly stunned.

  “I can help you. Wait here while I get a camera. Maybe from your photo we can find your family.”

  “Brick and mortar, tree and root, so much death, lost, so lost.”

  Burt stopped in his tracks and listened.

  “Pain, so much pain. Lost, so lost.”

  The phone rang behind him. The noise caused Burt to jump and the soldier to disappear.

  “Damn it, this better be good,” Burt shouted into the phone.

  “Whoa, old feller, calm down or you’re going to pop a hemorrhoid,” Dave jeered.

  “You have no idea what you just interrupted.”

  “If it’s a woman, I apologize.”

  Burt quickly apprised Dave of the situation. “I’m afraid of leaving the garage lest he takes off, and we never find him again.”

  “Salt the front of the garage. I’ll be right over. I’ll pocket some of Ted’s energon cubes and bring a camera. We’ll get this guy sorted out.”

  “Where’s Mia?”

  “On her way to Deputy Tom’s to babysit. I have the number. Want me to call?”

  “No, I think that we two can handle this. Ask if Ted or Cid is available to film?”

  “Hold on. I’ve got to run to the barn.”

  While he was gone, Burt salted a line across the front of the garage. In his mind, he wasn’t trapping the ghost, but stopping him from wandering away from where he could be helped.

  “Dude! The guys are loading the truck. Murph’s been called. PEEPs to the rescue!”

  Burt smiled. “I’ll be waiting.”

  ~

  Mia was met at the door by an over-caffeinated Tom.

  “Your hands are shaking. Have you had anything to eat?”

  “Nope, I slept through Mom’s breakfast hour.”

  Mia handed him the hamper. “Maybe there’s something in there to soak up some of that joy juice.”

  “Ted called. He said that you could reach him at the peninsula if you need him. Evidently, some ghost that was hanging around your place took a joyride in Burt’s car and is now sucking up batteries in the garage.”

  “I can say, that is only the second ghost who has been in that garage.” Mia took off her coat and tossed it over the back of Mrs. Braverman’s sofa.

  “Don’t you want to go?”

  “No, I’m here for the day. No use trying to get rid of me. Dave can handle all the s
ensitive shit. Tom, I’m ordering you off your feet. We are going to do the couch potato today.”

  “Doing the couch potato…” Tom sang, opening the hamper. “Good god, woman, you’re going to put ten pounds on me.”

  Mia laughed. “Enjoy it while it lasts. So what shall we marathon today?”

  “Ghost Hunters?”

  Mia did a double take.

  “Two hundred episodes. I hear Grant comes back.”

  “Sure, why not. Maybe we can see something they can’t,” she said smugly.

  They settled in on the couch.

  “Before you turn on the set, would you like to tell me what the hell you were thinking going out to the cell tower alone?” Mia asked.

  Tom bit into a muffin and chewed it awhile, thinking. After he swallowed, he said, “Part of me was hoping it was just drunk teenagers not vandals and not ghost vandals.”

  “Whoa, you have to run that by me again. Ghosts?”

  Tom told her the story and described the voices above him and their conversation with each other.

  “Sounds like you’re a victim of Dickensian ghosts.”

  “Oh my god. I wonder. Wait until you see what I received at work. I brought it home for Mom. Where the devil…” Tom got up and rifled through the holiday cards on the mantel over the fireplace.

  Mia was surprised by how many there were. She and Ted were seriously late in sending theirs out.

  “Here it is,” Tom crowed. He handed it to Mia.

  She laughed seeing the cover of the holiday card. Mia pondered if Tonia had used real spirits to pose in front of the Christmas tree. Mia opened the card and read:

  Having a problem with Spirits this year? Call Tonia Toh and Lorna Grainger.

  “Is this a coincidence or…”

  “Ted says there are no coincidences. You may want to give Tonia a call. Maybe they have been tracking similar ghosties.”

  “I’ll do it when I get back to work. Perhaps Sheriff Ryan has some consultant money left over in this year’s budget. I have a strong feeling that if they are seeking out three Dickensian ghosts, I may have a lead on at least two of them.”

  Mia nodded.

  “Now the important question is,” Tom asked, “Do we start at the beginning of the series or jump to Dude run!”

  “Ted used to have a tee with that phrase on it. How ironic,” Mia said.

  “The beginning it is,” Tom said, making the decision for both of them.

  ~

  Dave saw the soldier the moment he walked into the garage. The contrast between the boys in blue that Dave had dealt with down south at the school and this lad in gray was interesting. He wore an artillery uniform with corporal chevrons on his sleeves. There was a sheathed sword hung from his belt. This ghost was scared. It wrung its hands when it wasn’t examining the hole in its chest.

  “We aren’t here to hurt you,” Dave said calmly. “We’re just going to try to gather as much information as we can to identify you. I have a friend named Stephen Murphy who is a ghost like you. Maybe it would be less exhausting to converse with one of your own?”

  The Confederate looked dubiously at the axe-carrying farmer. Murphy made no move to advance on the young man. He set his axe down on the ground and motioned for the ghost to come to him. The lad put his hands in the air and walked forward slowly. Murphy looked ill at ease but continued to encourage the soul closer.

  “I’m not here to arrest you,” Murphy said.

  The soldier pointed to the large camera Cid had on his shoulder.

  “That is a picture box.” Murphy motioned for Cid to turn the camera around.

  Cid complied, and the ghost moved closer and gazed at the view screen. He looked from it to where Murphy was and shook his head. Cid gently adjusted the angle to include more targetable subjects. Dave waved at the camera. The soldier smiled.

  “I’m lost,” he admitted.

  “We get that,” Dave said sarcastically. Burt slid his finger across his neck, glaring at Dave.

  “Can you remember your name?” Murphy asked.

  The ghost shook his head sadly.

  Murphy looked at the others.

  Ted mimed digging.

  Murphy asked, “Do you remember where you are buried?”

  “Not here. Woods, dark, very dark. Tree roots.”

  Murphy’s face lit up. He turned to Ted. “There are old oaks that fell in the windstorm. Roots are exposed.”

  “That could have exposed the grave. Let’s scout it out, and if we do find bones, then we’ll call in Charles,” Burt planned. “Ted, let’s see if Audrey can locate any records of Confederate soldiers going missing in northern Illinois. If she needs help, can we transport Jake to her area? She’s got cell coverage.”

  “He’s transferred himself into the PEEPs command center computer before, but he did have an internet tether to the home base. I’m thinking a laptop would be better for Audrey, considering she’s going to be using it one-armed. Audrey gets along well with Jake, but initially, it will be up to him. He’s very suspicious any time we ask him to move,” Ted acknowledged.

  “That’s on me,” Burt admitted. “He just drives me insane at times. He’s like that little brother that pushes all the right buttons, all the time.”

  “Amen to that,” Dave chimed in. “He hates me.”

  “Jake is sensitive to attitude,” Cid pointed out. “Yours sucks.”

  Dave was ready to hurl some abuse Cid’s way but stopped as the Confederate soldier started to waver. “Can we feed the thing? He’s losing cohesion.”

  Ted asked Murphy, “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

  Murphy tilted his head giving Ted a questioning look.

  “What I mean is, do you think Rebel Yell here is dangerous to you or to us?” Ted asked.

  “Half. I’ll take the first half and show him how to draw the rest,” Murphy said, not wanting to condemn or favor the lost soul.

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Ted agreed. He drew out an energon cube and activated it before setting it down and letting Murphy do the rest.

  ~

  The phone rang, and Mia excused herself, walked into the kitchen and answered it, “Braverman house.”

  “Have you deserted the Martins already?” Ted asked.

  “The Bravermans have cable. I’m only playing over at Tommy’s house for today,” Mia teased. “He’s got better toys.”

  “Woman, those are fighting words. Besides, everyone knows Angelo has the best toys.”

  “True, but it’s not the size of the toys but…”

  “Okay, now that you’ve emasculated me, I’m not going to tell you what we found at Burt’s.”

  “That sounds reasonable, bye.”

  “Hold on there. What’s the hurry?”

  “We’re marathoning Ghost Hunters, and we’re almost at the lighthouse episode.”

  “Oh my god. I leave you alone for one day, and you’ve gone over to the enemy.”

  “I’m fickle like that,” Mia confessed.

  “Well, back in the real world, we have a lead on where our visiting spirit may have come from.” Ted went on to explain their findings.

  “Could be, but I have another idea if that doesn’t pan out,” Mia said. “Perhaps I’ll take Tom on a field trip to check it out; he looks like he’s developing cabin fever.”

  “It’s just from watching all that television. If you do head out, be careful.”

  “I will. You too.” Mia hung up the phone and turned around to see Tom was fully dressed for an outside adventure and was holding her coat. “You heard.”

  “Oh yes. I’m itching to get back out there. Just because the Sheriff’s Department has rules on duty after microwave entrapment, doesn’t mean I’m not fit for duty,” Tom said.

  “We’ll have to lie to your mother,” Mia conspired. “I’ll call and tell her we’re going to the pharmacy.”

  “We can go to the pharmacy first. That way we’re not lying,” Tom suggested.

  “Oh
, I see you’ve been down this road before.”

  “How do you think I was able to hang out with Whit when I was two years younger than the others in the group. My mother would have had a fit.”

  “Speaking of Whitney, any updates?”

  “No, he seems to have forgotten all about us here in Rubesville now that he’s a big city fed.”

  “He just has problems with…” Mia stopped, thought a while and ended up saying, “I got nothing. You?”

  “He’s a self-centered asshole.”

  “You know most assholes are centered,” Mia joked. “The talent for centering your own, as Whit does, is wasted time.”

  Tom looked at Mia and shook his head. “You, sister, have a screwed up brain.”

  “Thank you, Tom, I’ve worked hard to get it. Now, come on, there’s a race to find the rotting bones of a Confederate soldier. The PEEPers are looking in the wrong spot.”

  “Explain.”

  Mia did and watched Tom’s face to see he’d come to the same realization that she had.

  “They aren’t from around here,” Tom said.

  “Yup, definitely at a disadvantage. You’d think Murphy would know better.”

  “Ah, but he’s got tree-vision,” Tom said. “Those poor suckers are going to be tramping through the woods when all they had to do was head for the tunnels.”

  “Any Big Bearian knows that, if you’re looking for a good place to hide a body.”

  “Someplace filled with tree roots,” Ted said.

  “Then you go to the old shoe factory at the edge of the woods.”

  “Amen to that, sister. What if we’re wrong?”

  “Then we’ve had a good day out. Ted will rub it in for thirty-two weeks, and Murphy will never lose that smug-bastard look he’s been sporting lately.”

  “You’ve seen that too,” Tom said. “I wonder how much longer I’m going to be seeing it.”

  “Don’t know. You and I have one thing in common...” Mia started.

  “You mean besides our devastating looks?”

  Mia guffawed and barely got out, “We have Stephen Murphy’s handprint on our hearts.”

  “That we do. Kind of makes us related.”