Black Saturday

In one morning, two things made the front page of the Allentown Morning Call: Me, and a horrible fire.

Chris sent me both. I opened my messages, and he'd sent me an interview that someone had done with me a couple of weeks ago---Questions about how to do the research on a haunted house. I hadn't realized it had been picked up by my hometown newspaper, though I had seen it on NCPA.

There was also a report of a huge fire starting on Blue Mountain. I read through that one on my laptop until Michelle came into the room.

"Big fire out near Dad's farm," I said. "Trees on Blue Mountain caught fire."

"How did it happen?"

"They don't seem to know yet. There was a fire like this when I was about fourteen. Just before I moved to Lock Haven, I hiked the mountain with some friends. There was still a couple of feet of ash all over that mountain."

"Is the farm okay?"

"Yeah, the fire would have to burn all the way across Slatington to hit Dad's farm. Amy says she can see the smoke from the valley, though."

"Well, I have to get off to work," she said. 

"Have a good day, honey."
Michelle left. I got Paul out of bed and sent him off to school, then drank coffee until it was time for work. I went in to the print shop, and was printing off envelopes when something occurred to me.

I brought up a map of Slatington on the computer, and looked it over. Then I went out to the main office and said,"I just had a wild thought."

Kelli and Emily looked up. "This ought to be good," said Kelli.

"There's a fire near my dad's farm. Forest fires drive wild animals out of the forest; they tend to run from the flames. This would include a Sasquatch."

Emily grinned. "So you'll have to tell your dad to keep an eye out."

"Better yet," I said. "We always go to get our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving. I'll actually get a chance soon to go out there and check."

"Can you see it?" Michelle asked as we rode past Palmerton. I was peering out the side window at Blue Mountain, and I shook my head.

"No sign of it. I wonder if I'm looking in the right place. Look, guys, there's the Marshall House, that haunted house on top of the hill."

Paul and Rylan looked briefly up from their screens at the Marshall House, which, to be fair, they'd seen before.

We always stop at the Hundred Steps when we go to Slatington. The Hundred Steps is a big concrete staircase that used to lead up to a factory. But that was torn down, so now they lead from one street to another street.

"When you count them, you never get the same number twice," I said as we walked over. "According to the legend, if you ever reach a hundred, you disappear. Let's try it."

We walked down the steps, Paul and Rylan counting aloud and being silly, me counting silently. It takes a minute; there's a lot of steps. When we got to the bottom, I glanced at the kids.

"Ninety-nine," said Paul.

"A hundred and six," said Rylan.

I grinned. "Ninety-three. Somehow, it always works that way."

We drove through Slatington and to the farm. Half an hour after arriving, I dragged a tree up and dropped it at the corner of the barn.

"You want it drilled?" my brother asked.

I nodded. "Shaken, drilled, baled. The works. Where was the fire on the mountain recently? I was looking for the spot, but...."

"Yeah, you just can't see it," said Jon. "It didn't leave much of a mark."

"It was all underbrush," said his assistant Scott. "It looked really bad, but it only burned the stuff underfoot. Unless you're right up there, you can't tell."

"Wow," I said. "I saw the pictures, and it looked terrible. You remember that one about 1985? That one left ash on the side of the mountain for years."

"I remember that one," commented my brother.

They put the tree through the baler, and then dropped it off over by the jeep. I spent half an hour tying it securely on top of the vehicle, because tying things on top always falls to the dad, an my masculinity was at stake.

I went an paid for the tree, and picked up some jars of jam to bring home for my new co-workers.

Another car pulled in. My other brother, David, got out with his family. I called over,"Hey, Paul! Looks who's here!"

"Nicholas!" Paul came running over to hug his younger cousin. My nephew Nicholas looks almost exactly like my brother had at that same age. Paul had been asking about seeing his cousins recently---It had been since COVID.

After a few minutes, they developed a baseball game, with my sister-in-law Victoria pitching. Michelle asked me,"You going to get in on this?"

"Think I'll walk around a little, actually," I said. I figured Paul could run around the farm unsupervised for a while. It hadn't killed me as a kid, and I'd really been trying.

"Where to?"

"Down in the woods."

I stopped back at the jeep to grab the cryptid kit. The cryptid kit is a green pouch that hangs over my shoulder, and contains everything I need to investigate the various kinds of cryptids. This can be a challenge, as there are various kinds, but I've tried to make it as thorough as possible while still wearable. I slung the thing over my shoulder and headed down to the forest.

I was wearing my new heavy-duty black coat, specifically for the cold weather. I had a removable hood on. Under the coat, I had my black puffy vest for winter investigations. Under that, I had my "Bigfoot Saw Me But Nobody Believes Him" sweatshirt.

I walked down the path between the springhouse and the barn, into the deeper forest. If anything had come from the north, it would have had to bypass the road and the house, which meant it would have had to come overland on the mountain and down into the deeper woods, where it was less likely to be seen. At the end of the path, I turned right and walked down the muddy dirt road to the creek.

There was a muddy spot along the creek, with a lot of deer tracks, but no Bigfoot that I could see. I was pleased to know that animals were coming in to drink from the creek, though---That was a good sign.

I continued down further into the woods. I stopped and considered where would be a good place to check, and then the spring occurred to me.

When I was a kid, we used to stop and drink from a small spring by the road. It was down along the shoulder, in a reasonably hidden spot. Worth checking. I walked up to the far end of the field and followed it down along the side until I found the old spring, then followed the water stream back down to where it met the creek, looking along the way for any sort of sign.

I kind of missed Resurrection Casey.

I stopped at the creek. Across, I could see something---Several white, round balls on the ground. What the hell? Worth checking out. I could either walk all the way back up to the path, or try to get across the creek. I looked it over, and there was a fallen tree spanning from one side to the other.

I stepped on it, and it flexed a bit. I was not a hundred percent comfortable trying to just walk over it. Maybe if it had been warmer than twenty-seven degrees out, I would have tried, but I really, really didn't want to fall into the creek right now. I looked around for other options.

I found a long branch up the way and retrieved it. This was the kind of stunt I'd have tried as a kid, and just like back then, it was either going to work, or get me badly hurt. 

I stepped onto the fallen tree. I place one end of the branch against the ground, using it as a walking stick to balance on the tree. I took a couple of steps forward, then moved the branch, bracing it against the ground. It worked---I stayed on the tree.

I moved forward, over the creek. I moved the branch a few feet, placing it in the creek. I was at the delicate part of this thing now. I pushed myself along, every few steps pulling the branch forward with me. With the branch bracing me, I made it across, finally letting go of it and jumping the last few feet to land, dry and unhurt and rather pleased with myself.

The round things were puffballs, a kind of edible fungus. I'd thought they might be. I'd seen a lot of them growing up, and even tried eating one once, but hadn't liked it much.  I knelt down and examined them.

A couple had small holes in them, or dents. One of them had what appeared to be deep claw marks. I tried to think of some sort of animal that would leave claw marks like that, and failed. Deer? No claws. Coyotes? No---meat eaters. Raccoons? Too small.

Something had been eating the puffball. I fished my camera out of the cryptid kit and snapped a photo of it. Then I pulled out my survival knife and sliced into it.

I was immediately treated to what looked like green smoke billowing out from the puffball. Spores. I drew back a bit; those could be poisonous. This thing was way past its prime; anything eating it would have had to have been here a couple of weeks ago.

Actually, around the time of the fire.

I took a few more photos, and then stood up and walked back up toward the house.

Tree tied to the car. All of our stuff gathered up. I went to find my brother, who was up in the pavilion.

I gave him a hug. "We're headed out. Got to make it home in time to put up the tree."

"Hey. You've been out here more often lately. Let's keep that up, okay?"

I grinned. "Yeah, I need to visit more. I'll find some more excuses to come back."

Out on the driveway, Paul was giving Nicholas a hug and saying goodbye. I stopped by Victoria and gave her a hug.

"Do you guys have any apps or anything, any way to keep Paul and Nicholas in touch? Paul would love that."

"We try to keep him away from screens," said Victoria. "How about just good old pen-pals?"

"That sounds great," I agreed. "Send me your address. I'll have Paul write some letters."

I walked up to the jeep, where everyone else was waiting. I climbed in.

"That was a pretty good trip," I said to Paul. "You got to go visit the farm, and play with your cousin for the first time in a while. He seemed to be having a good time with you, too."

"Yeah," he said. "Tomorrow can we decorate the tree?"

"I'd pretty much planned on that," I said. "How about Taco Bell for dinner tonight?"

Paul grinned.

"Yeah," he said.

"Sounds good," I said. "Let's get on the road."

Potter County: Odds Country

With an EMF detector in one hand and a laser thermometer in the other, I walked across the long, dusty basement. I got at EMF reading to my right, and focused in on it---Just an outlet that looked like it had been installed in 1955. A drop in temperature to the left turned out to be a small vent that ran to the sidewalk outside.

I moved forward. I passed a door to an alcove containing paper products and old equipment on the left. On my right, there was a crumbling alcove with old decorations inside it. Then I passed another door on the right that led to a storage alcove, and the EMF detector lit up. This time, there was no easy explanation, and I switched the thermometer for a camera.

I clicked several photos, then moved forward. Got a reading up ahead, on the left, and shot photos of that, too, as I reached the end of the basement.

Up above, I could hear my co-workers talking through the floor. The basement of the print shop ran the whole length of the building, and I'd discovered that, as two people had been murdered down here in 1962, I could use the place as a sort of haunted Hogan's Alley if I felt I needed a warm-up.

I walked up the steps to the main floor, where I found Emily waiting. She said,"What were you doing in the basement?"

"I was....Looking for more...."

She grinned. "You were checking for ghosts, weren't you?"

"Well. I gotta keep in practice. Tim and his family invited me to go to lunch in a haunted hotel with them this weekend."

"Weren't you guys going to go check a cemetery for a banshee a couple of weeks ago?"

"Yeah, the banshee had to be cancelled due to weather."

"I hate it when that happens."

"So we're going to the Germania Hotel in Potter County. This place was built in 1856, and is said to be haunted by at least three ghosts. I figure we're going to sneak in for lunch and use it as an excuse to do some investigating."

Emily laughed. 

I said,"Been known to sneak some investigations before. One time at my wife's holiday party in Northumberland County, I snuck out to investigate a water monster. When I got back, a drunk guy drank my water sample and I had to go back for more."

She laughed again. "You never told me you went looking for water monsters."

I like having new co-workers.

"Yeah, it was called the Susquehanna Mystery Thing."

"You do tend to attract the crazies, don't you?"

"It's kind of a professional hazard. You get that a lot when you're known for paranormal investigation."

We started toward the front office. Emily glanced at my sweatshirt.

"Loch Ness Monster's the Hide and Seek Champion, huh?"

I grinned. "I gotta be me."

It's gotten so I get mildly annoyed on my days off. I usually check my messages and drink coffee while I send Paul off to school, do a little writing, and then figure out what I want to do with the rest of my day. I'm easily bored.

I was sitting on the couch with the dogs when there was a knock at the door. When I went to answer it, sort of expecting someone to try and sell me new windows or something, I was pleased to see it was Tim and his family member Devaughn.

I smiled. "Guys! Hi!"

"We brought you something," said Tim. He handed me a bag. When I looked in, it contained T-shirts, hats, notebooks, and business cards for his team, Schwartz Paranormal Investigations.

"Oh my god! Thanks!" I said. 

"There's one for you, and one for Paul. Will he be coming with us Saturday?"

"Unfortunately, his little bestie has a birthday party. He'll come along next time."

"Haven't gotten to meet Paul yet," commented Devaughn.

"That's right, you haven't have you? We'll bring him on an adventure soon. Hey, Tim, I got a copy of Linn's History and the Jerry Church journal for you. I'll run and get them."

"Thanks," he said. "Looking forward to Saturday."

The sign at the county line said,"Welcome To Potter County: God's Country." We blew past it in the SUV as we left Clinton County.

I was up front with Vince, Tim's husband. Behind me was Millie and Petey, Tim's adopted kid, and in the back, Tim and Devaughn. Vince said,"Did we pass it?"

"No, I think we're on the right track," I said. "The hotel is supposed to be just past a turnoff up here somewhere."

We came to a crossroads, and he turned left. "There it is!"

We pulled into the parking lot. It was chilly, and still wet from the rain the night before. I was wearing my black ghost sweatshirt, black jeans, my warm puffy vest, and my leg rig. The hotel was  a small place in a small community, but it looked busy. We walked in to the tune of "Friends In Low Places" on the jukebox.

A bunch of guys were lined up at the bar, drinking beers and whiskeys. They turned to look at us as we walked in, looking us over. Then one of them lit up. "Hey! Paranormal investigators! Come on in!"

We walked into the dining room area as a bunch of them gathered around. "Find anything yet?" someone asked.

"Well, we just got here," I said. "We're hoping to find something."

"We wanted to ask the owner about scheduling an investigation," said Tim.

The bartender waved her hand. "Sure, go on upstairs."

"Really?"

"Sure. We have a little girl haunting room thirteen."

Well. That was easier than expected.

We walked to the stairs. I said,"Look at this, Tim. These steps, these doors....My dad's house has doors like this. They're clearly from the eighteen hundreds. These locks....They haven't made locks like this in well over a century."

"This place definitely has the potential for ghosts," he said.

I walked into Room Thirteen with my EMF detector. The entire upstairs was old, and badly in need of repair. There was a bed and a small shelf in the room, and water stains on the ceiling. As I walked around the side of the bed, my detector went up to orange.

"Got a reading in here," I said.

Tim and Millie came in. Millie had her EMF detector and Tim was carrying his cell phone with a FLIR detector attached. Millie said,"I'm getting a few readings."

"Heat signature in that corner," said Tim. 

I checked around the empty socket dangling from the ceiling on a chain. "No reason to think this has electricity running in it. I think the power's shut off to most of the second floor."

"We got something in here," said Tim.

I walked out to the hallway and looked around. There was a stairway at the far end, curling upward to a boarded-off attic. Down at the other end, there was a door. I looked out the window; it opened out to a sloped metal roof.

Devaughn joined me at the end of the hall. I said,"This place seems to have been built in stages. Look, there had to have been a balcony here once. No way this door originally led to that roof."

He looked out. "I can see that. You think that part wasn't there originally?"
"There's no way this door was meant to do that," I said. "The place was built in 1856; it's likely there have been a few additions and changes over the years."

Tim came down the hall and walked into Room Nineteen at the end. We followed him in. He was clicking photos with his FLIR.

"Bit of a reading in here, too," I said. "Funny how we're getting all the activity on the north side of the building, in the odd rooms."

"That is odd," he said.

"I see what you did there."

Tim got a photo, and said,"Oh my god. Look at this."

I looked over his shoulder. I could see the window on his FLIR photo, and clearly see a humanoid set of legs walking beside it.

"Checking," I said, and did a search with my EMF detector in one hand and my thermometer in the other. "Getting a bit of an EMF rise in that corner. That photo couldn't be either of us, we were standing behind you."

"No," he said. "There was nothing there."

'We can all vouch for that," said Devaughn.

"Send that to me when you get a chance," I said. "That's one of the best pieces of evidence I've seen yet."

We sat around the table downstairs, all of us, eating our food. The food at the Germania Hotel was really good, and I could see why they had a crowd in there. I'd ordered the horseradish burger, which had a slice of cheese on it the size of Linn's History.

"Next time we're here, we'll hit Ole Bull State Park and the local cemetery," Tim said. "It's getting dark now."

"Hey, we got a good investigation in," I said. "I'm not gonna throw a fit over the state park. I know you wanted to talk things over with the management and set a time, but considering how open they are about us investigating, we'd have been idiots not to."

"I'm thinking an overnight sometime," he said. "What do you think?"

I grinned. "Why not? I'm in."