Old Bones (Haunted Series) Page 5

  He looked at the unfinished work she left in the study and sensed the woman would be back. And when she did come back, he would be waiting for her.

  ~

  Burt looked at his phone and frowned at the message Audrey sent him. Did it mean she had changed her mind? “Audrey wants us to wait for her, she’s coming over,” Burt told Mike.

  Mike didn’t seem worried. He just got up and alerted the hostess that they were expecting a guest. He returned with a couple of menus to peruse while they waited.

  “I looked into the history of the Rosemont Terrace. It seems that every amateur and professional ghost hunting group in this area has been contacted by the manager. He gave them the same story as he gave you. My instincts are to let this one pass us by.”

  “We could use it as a training ground for Cid and Audrey, Dave too if Mia thinks he’s ready,” Burt suggested.

  “Do you really think Cid needs training?” Mike asked.

  “Not in the tech department, but as an investigator, he’s pretty raw.”

  “True, calling, ‘here little ghosties,’ down the hall is a bit lame. But I thought he didn’t have any aspirations for being in front of the camera?”

  “He doesn’t. I just think all of us should be able to do each other’s jobs in a pinch. So far we’ve been pretty lucky being able to cover for each other. We are, however, weak in the investigative area. Mia and you have a natural affinity for it, but the rest of us, myself included, need a refresher course.”

  “Gee, buddy, I didn’t think you would admit that, let alone think that you’re not a force to be reckoned with.”

  “Behind the camera I’ve got it down, but to be able to move comfortably in front of the damn thing is another matter.” Burt took a moment and looked at Mike’s face, trying to read his thoughts. “I’m not trying to replace you, or Mia for that matter, just get more legs on the floors, multiple investigations going on at the same time. Ted can handle the extra feeds and activity. Other groups do it.”

  “Ah, you’ve been watching cable again. We don’t have to do the same things as the other groups, we have our own style. If you start down that road, we’re going to get lost in the crowd,” Mike warned.

  “Who’s lost in what crowd?” Audrey asked, sliding in the booth next to Burt. She looked at the waitress and ordered a gin and tonic. “Phew, it’s hot out there.”

  Once she was settled, Mike explained, “Burt thinks we should do the Rosemont investigation to train you, Cid and possibly Dave.”

  “It’s okay by me, but hasn’t everyone done that place?” she asked.

  Mike nodded. Burt frowned.

  “I’m sorry to bust in here, but I could use both of your advice,” she said. “Burt, remember the clock? Well, the removal guys found this tacked under it.”

  She pulled the envelope out, removed the paper and handed it to Burt, and he in turn, handed it to Mike.

  “Giuseppe Basso… Where do I know that name from?” Mike closed his eyes and thought. “Something to do with…”

  “He’s the carver of the bird staircase out at the hollow,” Burt filled in.

  “No, that’s not it. I can see his name but… Hang on a minute.” He took out his phone and dialed. “Ted, put Mia on the phone. No, I don’t care that my old girlfriend… Which one? Oh her. She’s coming to the picnic? I didn’t think she knew you… My mother? What the fuck is Ma doing with her? You’ve got to be shitting me. Yes, I still want to talk to Mia.”

  Mike looked across the table at Burt and Audrey and held up his finger. “Mia! How’s it going? Good. Don’t worry, they’ll love you. I have a question for you. How would I have come across the name Giuseppe Basso? Yeah, that’s where. Thanks, hon, I’ll be seeing you at the picnic. Bye.” Mike set his phone down. “Giuseppe Basso is buried in the Cold Creek Hollow graveyard, two graves down from Daisy Sprigs.”

  Chapter Six

  Mia awoke enveloped in a cocoon of happiness. Memories of the past few days flooded her mind. She felt accepted and liked by Ted’s parents. She viewed his dynamic with his family and appreciated how special they were. They teased but understood him. They were never lost for words and spoke frankly about most subjects. Ted’s aunts were a trial at times, but his cousin Mindy was an interesting character. Mia had yet to meet his sisters. The engagement party picnic was this afternoon. Ted and Mia would head over to meet Connie and her husband, Kirk, beforehand.

  “Whatcha doing, Minnie Mouse?” a sleepy Ted asked her as he nuzzled the back of her neck.

  “Thinking,” she replied, enjoying the feel of him behind her.

  “Good thinking or bad thinking?” he asked seriously.

  “Good thoughts,” she said as she twisted towards him. “Thoughts about you and your parents. You come from a loving family, Teddy Bear. I envy you.”

  Ted looked down at the rumpled but beautiful woman who was bravely facing the Martin and Monroe family for him. He kissed her nose and smiled down at her. “You haven’t met the three witches yet, Dorothy.”

  “Witches?” Mia questioned.

  “Hallie, Connie and Raedell. They appear on the outside to be three nice women, but underneath lurk the souls of plotting females hell-bent on destroying my things.”

  Mia scrunched her face a moment. “I think maybe you’re over-exaggerating…”

  “What would you call those raptors? One engages me in conversation while the other two steal my best t-shirts, Halloween candy and books.”

  “Sisters, I’d call them sisters,” Mia said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “I have no experience, mind you, but what I’ve witnessed in the families we have worked with is that sisters and brothers have unique ways of showing their love for each other. I’m anxious to meet them and see for myself how horrible they are.”

  “Promise me you won’t let them scare you off. Especially Raedell. Listen to nothing they say, it will be all lies. Watch out for Hallie and her brood. Her husband, St. David, has to put up with a lot with that one, I can tell you.”

  Mia laughed. “Tell me about Hallie’s brood. How many kids?”

  “Well, there are my two delightful nieces, Tammy and Zoe. They are adorable, giggly charmers. And then there are the boys, Condom and Condom.”

  “I beg your pardon, did you just say Condom and Condom?”

  “Two horrible little boys.”

  “Condom can’t be their names,” Mia argued.

  “It’s what I think of when I’m exposed to them. ‘Ted,’ I tell myself, ‘Remember to put on a condom or look what you’ll get.’”

  Mia burst out laughing.

  “Eric was born first, evil from the first wail. He spent a lot of time behind the bars of his playpen, I assure you, thinking of ways to get into my stuff. Hallie to a tee. Then she had two beautiful princesses. That was just the calm before the storm. Along came little Stevie, the destroyer of worlds. Between the two of them chaos reigns. They are always hatching plots, getting into trouble and causing this good-natured uncle, we’ll call me St. Theodore, to run for the hills each time they are released from the confines of the minivan.”

  “From what your mother says, you weren’t exactly St. Theodore when you’re around them. She says you encourage them.”

  “Lies, all lies.”

  “I think I’ll reserve judgment until I see them myself,” Mia said. She reached for him and kissed him long and hard. “Speaking of condoms…”

  Ted growled and then purred.

  ~

  Charles woke up from a bad dream and into a nightmare. In front of him was the vicious grin of the man who proclaimed himself to be a god. Charles studied the tattoos on his face and cataloged them before searching his mental files for a match. There was none. The line down his nose emphasized the unusual narrowness of the facial feature. On his cheeks were sunbursts made up of double-pointed arrows that radiated out of yellow circles. Where the artist found yellow to infuse into the man’s skin in 1050 was a mystery to Charles. He was certain that time had
erased a few of the colors on the rock walls and cliffs. Maybe yellow was possible but not lasting. How many other colors had faded as the wind and rains came?

  “You stare, dirt man, but do not speak,” his abductor observed, sitting back on his heels.

  “My throat is parched, and my head hurts. Where am I? What time is it? Why am I bound?” Charles asked, pulling against his restraints.

  “You are my captive. You are not far from where you found me. Time? This is difficult for me. A new sun has risen since I have taken you.”

  “I’ve been out of it for a day! Amanda must be frantic. Let me go. My wife…”

  The man laughed. “No, you’ll stay with me until I have no use for you. Then I’ll kill you or let you go. Death or life depends on your service to me.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You’ve been following me and my tribe for many of your months. You carry with you my image in your pocket. You hunt me. Why?”

  Charles relaxed. He put aside the wonderment of how this ancient entity could speak English and answered him, “My wife and I - my name is Charles, by the way, not dirt man - we found a small tablet a thousand miles, ah many moons, from here in the setting sky. We had seen the artistry, ah, carvings, before, here in Cahokia. We knew it would tie your tribe to Cahokia, but why were you here? Were you pilgrims that were drawn to worship here or Cahokians that moved on to populate the west? Many questions.”

  The entity wavered before Charles. It may have been a trick of the meager light or something Charles had yet to understand, but the man was looking at him and yet looking behind him at the same time. A body moving within another but yet the same body. “I see the past and your present. I see you do not tell falsehoods. Explain how you can see me and the others of this time cannot?”

  “I was born with the ability to see ghosts, spirits of the dead. Mostly images of people whose bodies no longer draw breath. I learn from these images and teach others.”

  “You’re a seer?”

  “No, I can’t see into the future, just the past.”

  “You take our bones, our beads, our tools. You are a thief,” the entity claimed.

  “Only to study, to understand. With your bones I can tell what you ate, what killed you, whether you were highborn or a slave.” Charles stopped and thought a moment, forgetting that he was a captive sitting in a cellar somewhere and spoke from his heart, “I can’t tell what your dreams were, whether you were happy or sad, just that you lived and died, with the only clues laid beside you when you were buried. Yes, I am a thief.”

  “Why do you care? Why learn about my people?”

  “They built a city and lived for centuries here. They were powerful, and then they were gone. The sun rose many times, and they ceased to be known. The city never rose again. Your rise and fall could teach us what not to do. We can learn from your successes and your failures.”

  “You have not found me. My image yes, but no one talks about me. You know He-who-wears-human heads-for-earrings but not He-who-walks-through-time.”

  Charles took in what he was saying, and the words I am a jealous God came to him. “We only know of Red Horn and his sons because their stories were passed down from father to son, mother to daughter. Your people did not write… ah, leave lasting imprints to tell your story. We barely know anything about this great city, and we’ve been studying it for years.”

  “There are pictures…”

  “Yes, a few but not complete. I suspect a lot of the work did not survive the time.”

  “I survived. I am here and there. I am a god.”

  “You are the first of your kind I have ever come across. How can you be flesh and blood and exist this long?”

  “I am a god. I am immortal,” insisted the time walker.

  “Well, I am not,” Charles spat forgetting his situation. “If you don’t let me loose so I can find water, I’ll die.”

  The time walker angled his head and got to his feet. He looked at Charles. Anger crossed his face quickly to be replaced with calculation. “Stay. I will bring you water.” He disappeared into the gloom.

  Charles could not shift the binding around him. He, however, could shift his body so he could look around him. He determined that he was in a basement of some kind. There was a wall of crumbling brick behind him. The floor was hard-packed earth, the ceiling was high, and he could just make out roughhewn timbers. Tiny slits of light told him that wood flooring of some kind was laid overhead. No factory would have been built in this manner, not even in the 1800s. He must be in an old house. The traveler had lied to him. Charles’s assessment of the area in which he had found the pilgrims contained no houses, derelict or whole. Not far from where you found me, is what he had said.

  The realization came to Charles. He wasn’t in St. Louis. He was either near the state park where Monks Mound still dominated the sky or in one of the outlying farms. Which one? How had the traveler moved him with no one casting a glance of his abduction? The traveler may be invisible to the surrounding populace, but Charles Cooper wasn’t.

  ~

  “Tell me about your parents, Mia,” one of Ted’s numerous aunts asked.

  Mia had forgotten most of their names, and she foolishly left her cheat sheet in the B&B. They could be a Monroe from Ted’s mother’s side, but then if they were married, they would be something else. The same held true for the Martin women. The men readily gave Mia their names, pressing her hand firmly in theirs as they shook it. Ted had given Mia all the information beforehand, but she had no place to keep it. Wearing the sundress Ralph prescribed had the advantage of keeping her cool out of doors and stylish to the eye of the judgmental relatives, but it lacked pockets. Mia needed pockets. The cheat sheet, salt, and a place to hide shaking hands, that’s what pockets would house at this moment.

  “My parents have doctorates in archeology and anthropology. My father does the legwork, and my mother writes the papers. They are academics through and through,” Mia replied with the carefully rehearsed words. She didn’t want Ted’s family to know the total truth that she had emancipated herself from the people whom she shared a last name with but little else when she was a young teenager. It would have confused this group who held the importance of family above all else.

  “Where are they working now?”

  “I’m not really sure. Honestly, I’ve been a little out of touch in recent months. No news is good news, is how the Coopers handle these separations.”

  The aunt seemed to buy it. Mia excused herself and went in search of a bathroom to hide in. Ted was nowhere to be seen, and the yard was quickly filling up with more and more Martins and Monroes. Where were the guys? Burt, Mike and Cid said they would be here. It was early yet, but Mia felt lost and alone in a sea of people who came for one purpose only, to see what kind of woman was wedding their Theodore.

  A bony hand seized her arm from behind, startling Mia. She spun out of the grasp and faced her attacker.

  “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, dear,” Glenda Dupree teased.

  Mia fell into her arms and enjoyed the warm hug Mike’s mother gave her.

  “I’m so glad to see you,” Mia whispered.

  Glenda patted her back and hissed, “Come on, Mia, you’ve faced demons for cripes sake, what are a few aunts?”

  Mia was released from the hug and stepped back and nodded. She appraised the woman in front of her. She took in the expensive summer suit and the new hairstyle. She was a far cry from the farmwife Mia had first met. Here stood a confident lady of leisure. All bought from the proceeds of the first editions Mia and Ted found in the attic of Glenda’s childhood home.

  “You look wonderful.”

  “You’re not pig shit yourself. Your godfather’s work?”

  “Oh yes,” Mia admitted. “Hours of dragging me up and down Michigan Avenue. Lecturing me with every step on how I’m to behave in public.”

  “Well, it’s done you good. Although, I prefer the gutter rat in a hoodie and cargos,
but this will do for the meeting of the Kansas hens.”

  Mia laughed and felt the tension start to ease from her shoulders. “Did you come alone?”

  “Oh no, he’s around here somewhere.” Glenda waved over a handsome older gentleman carrying two glasses of lemonade. “That’s the latest. Retired Army General Henry, call me Hank, Beady. His daughter Plum is around here somewhere. She and Mike used to be an item in high school.”

  Mia spied a flashy brunette with a trim figure emerge from the crowd and take a glass from the general’s hand, exchanging it for a bottle of beer.

  “You brought one of Mike’s old girlfriends to my engagement party? I could kiss you.”

  “Thought maybe you could use a distraction, and besides, it’s been a while since I’ve seen my Mikey with a girl on his arm,” Glenda said with a twinkle of mischief in her eye. “Speaking of, where is he?”

  “Not here yet, but the grounds are big and the house has many rooms…”

  “You sound like Downton fucking Abby… Mia, are you alright?”

  Mia shook herself. “Actually, I don’t know. I have been watching a bit too much PBS lately.”

  A young girl skipped over to Mia. Her hair was done in pigtails, and she had on a pretty floral dress. She smiled at Mia and handed her a rolled up piece of paper.

  Mia unrolled the paper and read:

  My name is Zoe. Come with me if you want to live.

  “Hello, Zoe, one moment. Glenda, if you will please excuse me a moment, I am being summoned.”

  “Go ahead, dear, but keep an eye out for my son would you?”

  Mia assured her that she would. Zoe held out her hand, Mia took it and let the girl lead her through the throng of people into the house. She took her past the sisters conspiring while refilling bowls of munchies in the kitchen. Mia smiled as she was tugged from the room.