Tours De Force

I walked out of the house in my black ghost shirt and my waterproof blue overcoat. Paul followed me as far as the porch steps.

"Back later tonight, little man," I said. "Gonna see how my new bike works, and give a haunted tour. Make some money for the library."

"Yeah!" he cheered. "Haunted tour!"

"Yeah!" I cheered back.

"Yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"YEAH!"

"YEAH!"

Michelle and Tif came out onto the porch. I said,"Hopefully I'll be back before bedtime."

"This is gonna be every night for a while, isn't it?" asked Tif.

I nodded. "Due to COVID, I'm only allowed ten people per tour. So I had to split them into two weeks' worth of tours, pre-paid. Tonight's the first---I get out among the ghosts. I admit I'm a little jumpy. It's been a long time since I did a tour."

"Good luck, Dad."

"Let's hope it works," I said. "You wanna haunt this town? Then tonight, you work for me."

Monday, October 19

"Thank you for coming," I said to the young couple. "Thanks for braving the rain to support the Ross Library. Have either of you ever been on one of my tours before?"

The woman raised her hand. I said,"Okay, well, this one has some new stories and some old stories. My name is Lou, and I'm field leader of the Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers. It's important to note that I can prove everything I say---All of this is researched. I take pride in that---If I say someone died in a house, I can show you a document that proves it. Our first story is right here, the Ross Library, haunted by our founder, Annie Halenbake Ross. You guys ready to have some fun?"

Tuesday, October 20

"Hundreds of years ago, the Native Americans called the Susquehanna River Valley 'Otzinachson'," I said to the crowd, which included three children. "It meant 'The Demon's Den,' and they believed the area to be haunted. Much later, when Lock Haven was settled, a lot of it was built over their burial grounds. One of the sites was the Catholic school, right over there."

I pointed, and the kids got all excited. The little girl said,"That's our school! We go there every day!"

"I'm gonna tell all my friends!" said one of the boys.

"If you'll follow me, we'll talk about some more haunted sites in Lock Haven," I said. And I walked to the sidewalk, everyone following. 

An hour later, I got to the final stop on the tour. "This church, in 1905, was the site of a haunting, when the ghost of the murdered Vincent James Sesto appeared at his own funeral to accuse his killer."

The kids got all excited again. "That's our church! We go there every Thursday!"

"I wonder if Father Orr knows!" said the little girl.

I forced a smile as I continued the story, and murmured,"I'm gonna get hate mail from the Catholics again."

Thursday, October 22

I walked into the back room, where Zach and Tracey were working. "As of tonight," I announced,"I broke my old record."
"That's great!" said Tracey, who somehow manages to still sound appreciative when I get like this.

"Back in 2016, I set a record of four hundred and fifteen dollars," I said. "With the money coming in from all the tour bookings, I'm now over five hundred, and still going. I might even break six hundred by the time it's all done."

"That's not bad," said Zach. "A pretty good profit."

"Especially considering nobody, including me, has to work all that hard for it," I said. "All I gotta do is walk around and talk about ghosts, and honestly I'd do that for free. This is gonna be a hard one to beat, though, but that's next year's problem."

Friday, October 23

"....And if you're wondering if the Fallon Hotel is on the haunted tour, don't be silly," I said. "Of course it is." I stopped on Water Street, turning to face the crowd, the old hotel behind me. "Built in 1854 for the Queen of Spain, the Fallon has had plenty of people die within its walls. Some of them have been unidentified, and buried in potter's fields in the county. Now, it's important to note that the queen never stayed here, but several famous people did. In the 1870s, one of those was Mark Twain, and---"

Several people in the crowd gasped, looking up. I glanced back. "What's up? We having some activity?"

One woman pointed. "The curtains on the second floor just moved."

"No kidding? Looks like we may have some company tonight." I smiled. "Could be a draft. But it could also be we have a visitor on the tout---Maybe the fact that I'm talking about the place every night has made them active. Keep your eyes open, okay?"

I unlocked the staff door to the library and walked inside, counting the money. I had thirty-five dollars to add to what I'd already taken in. I walked up the steps and into the main library.

I looked up. At the end of the hall I saw a light---The elevator was rising by itself. I was alone in the building, but something had started the elevator.

I smiled.

"Hi, Annie."

Saturday, October 24

"Another in the category of 'obviously on the haunted tour,'" I said as I stopped in front of the building. "The Simpson House."

The house behind me rose three stories, towering above the street. It looked genuinely haunted, as if it belonged in an old black-and-white movie where the young couple's car breaks down out front. I said,"What you're looking at is two buildings in one. This started out as the Jackman House, a small, square, plain-looking brick building. D.K. Jackman sold it to Wlliam Simpson, who took some teasing from his so-called friends for being a lumber guy and having a brick house. So he had wood panels carved, and built up around the Jackman House. He didn't damage the structure at all, just basically wrapped it up. Now, I understand we have two women with us tonight who lived in this building, and I'd be an idiot to pass up this chance. I'm going to give them the chance to talk about what happened to them here. This is called 'Getting the public to do my job for me'."

Monday, October 26

"Thank you for coming out and supporting the Ross Library," I said to the crowd. "I hope everyone's ready to hear some ghost stories tonight. Now, I'm making a little change to the tour from here on in---I'm bringing along some of my equipment. As I give the tour, I'll be doing a little investigating." I held up the laser thermometer. There was a homeless guy on the patio behind me.

Everyone gasped, a small round of applause rippled through the crowd. I said,"We had a little activity at two of the sites the other night. I think the ghosts are getting a little more active. So I'm going to do a few tests, and see if we can catch any evidence."

Tuesday, October 27

"What time you need me tomorrow?" Tif asked. "Noon, or one?"

"One, tomorrow," I said, walking beside her on the sidewalk. "Gotta give a tour after work. I have a \n author coming on my tour---The guy who wrote the Pennsylvania Fireside Tales series."

"Well, that's cool," she said. 

"It feels weird," I said. "I mean, he's a really nice guy. But the famous ghost writer is coming on my tour? Who the hell am I?"

Tif laughed. "You know people feel that way about you, right?"

"Yeah, that feels weird, too."

Thursday, October 29

"Hi, I overheard a guy the other night saying someone died in the building? I wondered if I could hear more about that?"

"You want History," Zach said. "Guy at the desk back there."

The homeless guy from the other evening came around the corner. "Hi," he said. "I overheard you the other night....You were giving a tour or something? Said someone died in the building?"

"Well, died while still living here," I said. "Annie Halenbake Ross and Mary Elizabeth Crocker both died while still living in the building. Annie's funeral was held about here, at my desk."

"I was playing with an app on my phone at the time," he said. "It reviews radio frequencies. And at the time, a voice came through. A female voice that said,'I'm aware you're here.'"

"Oh, yeah?" I grinned---Not that you could see it behind the mask. "That's pretty cool. We've been getting some activity lately; I think my constant talking about the ghosts has riled them up."

"I thought you'd like to hear that," he said.

"Yes," I said. "Thanks for letting me know."

Friday, October 30

I stood in the library's restroom, drying my mask off under the hand dryer. It's incredible how damp those things get after you wear them all day. When I was done, I shoved it in my pocket and walked to my desk. 

I could hear the elevator going up and down, all by itself. Again. I smiled, and checked the weather. Gonna be a cold night.

Pulling on my coat, I went outside.

To my delight, SaraLee was waiting outside when I got there for the final tour. I gave her a hug.

"I know we're supposed to be socially distancing, but...."

"I know," she said. "Screw COVID."

I turned to the crowd. "We have a special guest with us tonight. My partner SaraLee, from the Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers, came along tonight to join us. Now, I'm hoping for more activity tonight---We've had plenty this week. I just saw the elevator moving on its own inside the building." I smiled at the crowd. "Thank you for coming out to support the Ross Library. I'm a member of LHPS. My name is Lou."

Exhausted, I unlocked the back door and walked into my house. Duke and Gwen were curled up, asleep on their dog beds. I dropped my pack in the corner and dumped my coat on the chair.

I walked up the stairs, quietly, and changed my shirt and my sneakers. I glanced into Paul's room.

My son was asleep, sprawled out in his bed. I leaned over and gave him a kiss while he slept. He stirred just a little bit, and then settled.

I looked at my son for a moment, my little growing boy, sleeping in his room.

Home.