Dance The Night Away: To Haunt A Home

I grabbed my bag and carried it out to the jeep. Shoved it into the back with Paul's costumes and Michelle's luggage, I went back inside, turned off lights, and locked the doors. Then I petted the dogs and went out to the vehicle, where my family was waiting. 

I got into the jeep.

And then we headed off for Utica.

This is a different kind of story.

"There's supposed to be a ghost around here," I said, turning on my EMF detector. "Town of Owega, New York. A Native American singer named Sa-sa-na Loft was killed by a train, and they say she still sings some nights." I glanced at the detector. I wasn't getting any readings yet.

"Did you hear about the theater we're in, Dad?" Paul asked.

"I checked it out. Why, you look it up?"

"Emma did. There's a cold spot trying to push people out of their seats in the front row, backstage and stage haunted, and the ladies' room is haunted."
"I hadn't heard about the ladies' room. Rylan, you can check that out."

Rylan, Paul's little friend, grinned and nodded at me from the back seat.

"We're going to check that all out," I said. "The Stanley Theater is almost a hundred years old, and it's said to be very haunted. If I get a chance, there's also a haunted high school near where we're staying. It was built on top of a Colonial cemetery."

"You know you can't go in the high school, right, Dad?"

"I know. The last time I went into a high school at one of these things, security was all over me. But I can check outside, which is where the ghosts are likely to be anyway." I looked down at my detector. It had flickered up to a 1.7 for no explainable reason, which was a good start to the weekend.

"Emma texted me," Paul said. "She wanted to know if we can come to the theater when we get there, and look for ghosts."

"I brought your equipment, too. We can."

The Stanley Theater, in downtown Utica, turned out to be a huge, beautiful place, very elaborate. The security guard stopped Michelle on the way in, and searched her bag. He asked,"Is there any outside food in here?"

"No," said Michelle.

I pulled off my shoulder bag and reluctantly handed it over. At least I didn't carry any food in it.

He started looking through it. His partner looked me over and said,"You're an investigator? I thought that there was some sort of communicator."

"You're close. EMF detector."

"Ah, cool." He glanced at the other guy. "He's okay." The guard handed me my bag back, and I slung it over my shoulder. "You looking for anything specific?"

"Well, whatever I can find. I'm sure you know there's stories about this place."

"Yeah, we get custodians overnight who say they see stuff. Haven't seen anything myself, but I don't work nights. Hope you find something."

"Thanks. You're a lot cooler than the last security guard I met at one of these things."

At least nobody had mistaken me for an ICE agent this time.

I walked inside. Paul and Rylan had already linked up with the Emma, and they were exploring the lobby. I got out the EMF detector and started looking around.

"Anything?" asked Rylan.

"Not yet. Place seems to have real good wiring. Which, good news and bad news. The bad news is, no readings yet. The good news is that if I do get something, I know it's probably paranormal."

Paul and the girls went upstairs to get something to eat. A woman asked them to slow down and walk carefully on the stairs, and I continued walking around with the detector for a while. Then I walked over to the woman.

"So I assume you work here?"

"Oh, yes, I have for eight years," she said pleasantly. "You're looking for ghosts?"

"I mean, I'm here because my son is in the competition, but yes,"

"My granddaughter is in the competition," she said. "It's why I agreed to have it here. And, yes, the place is almost a hundred years old, and people say it's haunted."

"Have you ever seen anything?"

"No, but some people have. We've had volunteers say they saw something up on the balcony."

"It's a beautiful old theater."

"Did you know the stairs over there are modeled on the Titanic's?"

"I didn't, but now that you tell me that, I can see it. That's really cool."

I found Paul and the girls upstairs. Paul had ordered a Caesar salad. I asked him,"You see anything?"

He shook his head. "Not yet."

"Well, we just got here. You excited for tomorrow?"

He nodded with a mouthful of salad. "I need to be here by seven, so we should get up at six."

"About my plan, too, yeah."

"And we'll need to steam my outfit for tomorrow."

"We will. I mean, your mom will. Gonna be a good day, buddy."

The place Michelle had gotten us was a nice little apartment with two bedrooms. One had three beds, and the other had one. Paul wanted to have his sleepover with Rylan, and Michelle agreed to take the third bed, leaving me to have the other room to myself, on the other side of the apartment. I didn't tell anyone, but I felt that was preferable.

It was, technically, in New Hartford, a small suburb of Utica. I'd checked the maps, and discovered that not only was it right on the New Hartford town limits, but the entire house wasn't even inside the line. The corner that had my room extended over the line and out of the municipality, so while everyone else was staying in New Hartford, I was sleeping in Oneida County.

I woke up in the morning before everyone else, which was about right. I got out of bed in my Bigfoot pajamas, and started making coffee. I took a mug and sat down by the window, looking out at the sunrise. It was going to be a busy morning.

Paul and I walked into the theater, and he immediately veered off to find his team. I found some of the prop dads talking with a few other parents in the lobby, and joined them.

"Any ghosts yet?" asked Jason, the leader of the prop dads.

"A few flickers on the EMF detector," I said. "Nothing too conclusive yet, but I got all my stuff. I'll be checking today."

"Do ghosts really hang out in cemeteries?"
"Some, it seems. Probably not as may as people think, but some."

One of the balloons decorating the lobby popped. Everyone jumped, and then a couple of the moms turned to me. "Lou!"

"I know. Probably just a balloon, but I'll check it out." I got out the EMF detector and walked over to the balloons. The place was well-wired, so nothing at first. Then I got a little bit of a jump, and said,"Yeah, maybe something here."

I walked upstairs and found Paul sitting at the table with Lilli. He said,"Dad, can you get me something to eat?"

"They're doing breakfast right now. They have bagels."

"A bagel, please. Butter."

"You got it."

As I walked across the upper level, some of the girls were practicing. There are always kids doing their dance moves all over the place at these events; I've learned to get good at dodging them. A few of them said,"Lou! Are there ghosts in here?"

"That's what they say," I said. "There's supposed to be some onstage, and backstage. So I need you guys to be my eyes and ears. If you see anything, you let me know."

"Cool," said Tall Addie.

Juliet looked over at the balcony. "I'm a little afraid of heights," she told me. "I get nervous up here."

"Well, it's a good thing you're so short."

I got Paul his bagel and walked back to the table with it. He took a bite from the edge. I pulled a chair over and sat down; I enjoy these moments I get with my kid. He said,"I hate these body tights."
"You're offstage in less than an hour," I said. "Hang in there."
The EMF detector went off. Spiking to red, it went to 2.0 for five solid seconds. Paul and I both looked at it. Lilli asked,"Was that....?"
"Yeah," I said. "Might have been a ghost."

"Don't forget to check for wires and outlets, Dad," advised Paul.

They grow up so fast.

"There is a house....Built out of stone...."

I stood backstage wth the prop dads, watching the kids dance on stage. It really was amazing. In between shows, I sometimes started to forget just how talented and professional these kids were. Watching them, it always came back to me just how incredible this whole thing was.

The EMF detector beeped. Red light. I looked at it, then turned it off and put it in my pouch. The ghosts, for a change, could wait five minutes. They were all dead and not going anywhere. I wanted to watch my son.

"Cause I built....A home....For you....For me....."

The routine was really cool; they started with some furniture onstage, and danced around it, assembling it as they went into an entire living room. I'd helped get the furniture out there, but I was really unneccessary. It was about them, the kids.

 The kids came off into the wings. Paul ran straight to me and threw his arms around me. He was crying. I hugged him back, tight. Pain? Stress? I didn't know, and it didn't matter. My son needed me.

"You're doing great," I whispered. "It's okay. I love you. You're doing great."

He held on for a moment. I asked,"Do you want to talk later?"

He shook his head, and I hugged him. "I love you, buddy. Proud of you. You're doing great."

After a moment, he released me and rejoined the team. The girls all gathered around and hugged Paul. They'd all been through backstage breakdowns before. He dried his tears, and then a moment later, was back out on stage with the others, all of them dancing their hearts out. Everything feels better when you're with your team; I understand that. It was beautiful. For the rest of my life, I'll cry every time I think of it.

I'm crying now.

This is a different kind of story. It's the story of my son, how he's still growing, becoming the person he will one day be. How in some ways, he'll be like his father, and in other ways, he'll be his own person. And that's a good thing.

Last year, this story ended with Paul and I sharing a moment on the lobby floor of a hotel in Lancaster, sitting peaceably together. 

This year, it ended with my morning coffee. I woke up earlier than everyone else again, and I walked across the county line to get a shower and get started. There are advantages to not sleeping well. I got dressed and made a pot of coffee, and sat down to begin the final day in Utica.

I walked around, got everything packed up, The temperatures had dropped and, unbelievably, it was snowing outside. I sat down and read a book for a while.

Paul emerged from the bedroom. Paul is not exactly famous for waking up in the morning. I looked up at him as he stumbled through the room, bleary-eyed, on his way to the bathroom.

"Love you, buddy," I said.

Sometimes it's all I really want to say.

"Love you, too," he said.

Sometimes, it's all I really need to hear.

Dance The Night Away: Undead Emily

This is a different kind of story. There are ghosts and adventures, but it's not really my story. It's my son's. And that's why it's also got kids, and dancing, and when he tells it in the future, hopefully, a caring father who is proud of him.

The Lancaster hotel was just off Route 30, a pleasant little place with an Amish feel to it. I dropped my bag on the floor by the bed. Paul was on the phone with his friend, who was staying in the same hotel.

"I'm going to go find Emma," he announced.

There are like fifteen girls in his class named Emma. I'd pretty much considered them interchangeable, and begun referring to them that way. ("Paul's on the phone with an Emma.") I said,"Think I'll check for ghosts. Don't stray far."

"I won't," he assured me, and went off.

I was wearing my "paranormal investigator" sweatshirt and a green bandanna---Green is the color of Paul's dance studio. I dug in my pack and got out my travel pouch, a smaller version of the ghost-hunting bandolier. I slung it over my shoulder and walked out into the hallway.

When I'm staying somewhere, I always try to familiarize myself with the place. I also try to talk to locals if I can, and see what they can tell me. It doesn't always pay off---The week before, in Scranton, nobody knew nothing---But sometimes you find a prize.

OUr room was near the end of a long hallway that turned the corner into another long hallway, and led down to he lobby. I walked down, checking around with my EMF detector. When I got to the lobby, I poured myself a cup of free hotel coffee and looked around.

They'd tried to make it look as quaint and homey as they possibly could, playing up the Amish theme. It was Amish in the same way Star Trek conventions are in space, but it was a nice place. Two guys were on the desk, and I walked over.

One of the employees was white, and one was Asian. I leaned on the counter and said,"Okay, weird question. You guys know of any interesting haunted places around here? Ghost stories, old legends?"
Was a time I'd felt stupid saying things like that, but that was long in my past. I'd gotten used to it by now.

The white guy shook his head. "I don't really know any....Maybe down in Strasburg."

"Well, I haven't seen anything myself, but they say this place was built on top of a graveyard," said the Asian guy. "It was from the 1800s, I think."

"Really? Now, that's interesting," I said. Sometimes you hit pay dirt. "I'm going to look into that."

I topped off my coffee and wandered over to the little nook with the hotel computer in it. Usually you can trust a hungry wendigo more than you can trust a hotel computer, but I could get away with a little research. I searched up some old maps of Lancaster and found a good one from 1854. I looked it over---It can be tricky to work out where the current roads would have led on some of these old maps, but this one was easy enough. I found it---On the site of the hotel now, there was a small graveyard listed there back then.

My part in the dance competition had just gotten a lot more interesting.

I was sitting in the room reading a book when Paul walked back in from hanging around with the Emma. I said,"Been waiting up for you, kiddo. We should get some sleep now. Big day tomorrow."

I changed into my new Bigfoot pajamas and climbed into bed. Paul never had seen much difference between regular clothes and pajamas, and he just laid down in his sweatsuit, looking at his phone, on the other bed. He said,"Dad? Can we get me a soda tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Okay."

"Hey, kid, I found out something neat tonight. You want to hear it?"

"Sure."

"This hotel was built on top of an old graveyard."
"Oh. Cool. Did you check that out?"

"Yeah, it's on an old map. It's accurate."

"Cool."
"Get some sleep, little man. See you tomorrow."
"Okay."

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

Most of the time, when we stay in hotels, I'm the first one up. There are very few things that will wake up Paul and Michelle if they don't want to get up. I got a shower and got dressed, debated a moment, then pulled my travel bandolier back on, and walked down to the loby for breakfast.

The hotel had what is called a "continental breakfast." The word "continental" in this context means "probably not enough, but better than nothing." I got a bagel and some coffee, and sat down at one of the small tables.

I turned on my EMF detector and set it on the table while I ate my bagel. I saw it rise---Not a quick flicker, but a weird rise to red, hold for a moment, and then back again. I picked it up and moved it around a bit, held it up against the wall, looking for some reason for the activity.

Nothing came up. I couldn't replicate it. Then I looked over---There was a small refrigerator on the counter, in the corner, holding some milk and fruit. Nobody was near it. For no reason, I saw the door open a few inches, and then swing closed again.

I had some more coffee. Things were looking up.

"You got everything, buddy?" I asked as we walked into the big hotel.

"I have it under control, Dad," said Paul, and jetted off to the dressing room.

Studio policy is to have the dancers at the venue two hours before the dance. That way they can get into costume, do their makeup, and everything else. And it gave me time to walk around and look for ghosts or whatever.

I roamed the hotel a bit---Same hotel the competition had been in last year, when I'd looked into the Augusta Bitner grave. I found Tall Addie and her mom, Carrie, in the lobby.

"Hi, guys," I said. "How's it going?"

"Addie's having a rough day," said Carrie. "We accidentally hurt her ear getting her hair right."
"I'm still mad at you for that," said Addie.

"You're gonna do great, kiddo," I said. "Can I give you a hug?"

She smiled and hugged me. I said,"This will cheer you up. I found out last night that the hotel we're staying in is built on top of a graveyard. I'm checking it for ghosts."

Her eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yep. And the theater we're in next month, the Stanley in Utica, is said to be highly haunted. So I'm putting you guys to work. I need you to keep an eye open for ghosts, and I'll have my equipment with me the whole time."
She smiled and held up one thumb. I said,"Knew I could count on you."

"First things first....Start the scene in reverse...."

I stood in the back of the auditorium, watching the kids. Paul was up there dancing with Juliet, Tall Addie, Short Addie, Georgie, Lilly, Eloise, and all the others I can never remember. And they were a team. I loved that.

"If I could take us back....If I could just do that...."

I have my team. My son has his. The way I work with Ashlin, Chloe, Jay, and Lex, that's the way he works with these girls. I'd seen them together, and I loved watching how supportive they all were to each other. The way they all came together....I never got tired of seeing it.

I was in the hotel bar with some of the other dance dads when Michelle found me. She said,"Paul just won a scholarship."

"What?"

"And he wants to know if you can get his costume."
I left the beer and went backstage, where Paul was with his teachers and some of the kids, holding up a  certificate and grinning. I hugged him, and whispered,"I'm so proud of you, little man."

"He won it for showmanship on the stage," said Rachel, the owner of the dance studio. "We're all so proud of him."

"Me, too," I said. "I love you, buddy."

"Do you want a picture together?" Rachel asked.

"Yes."
I stood with my son, and we got a photo, holding his award.

I found Amanda, little Juliet's mom, in the lobby. She said,"Congratulations for Paul! We're all so happy for him!"

"I can't say enough how proud I am of him," I said. 

"This morning was a rough morning," she said. "Addie hurt her ear getting her hair together, Juliet forgot her shoes....Everyone was stressed....But now, everyone is happy and things are going well. Paul fixed everything."

"I'm going to the pool with Emma," announced Paul, gathering his towel and heading for the door.

"Allright, kiddo," I said. "Have fun. Think I might go check the hotel for ghosts again."

I put on my bandolier---The real one this time---And walked down the hotel, checking around with the EMF detector. I got a couple of flashes. There was a young woman working the desk when I reached the lobby.

"So," I said,"Working night shift?"
She nodded. "Yeah. It pays for college."

"What're you studying?"

"Graphic design."

"I work with a couple of graphic designers," I said. "My day job is in a small print shop."

"And your night job?..."

"Paranormal investigator."

She smiled. "And do you have one of those meter things?"

I held up the EMF detector. "Funny you should ask. My name is Lou."

"Emily."
"You ever encounter anything in here, Emily?"

"Occasionally weird things happen. Usually late at night. Things occasionally appear on the security cameras."

"I've found out the hotel was built on top of a graveyard."

"I'd heard that."

"I was able to verify it with some old maps. It's true."

"That's pretty cool.....Hey, look! There!"

I leaned over the counter. "What?"

"Do you see that, on the camera? There's a sort of misty shape by the pool. See it?"

I looked at the screen, and I could make out a moving, swirling sort of smoky shape in the room that I couldn't immediately identify. I said,"I see it. I'll be back."

Ans I turned and bolted down the hall.

The pool room was all the way on the other side of the hotel. I ran down the hall, turning the corner into the next hallway, and continued racing. Nobody was out in the hall, which made it easier. I slammed my way through the doors and into the pool room, waving around the EMF detector.

I didn't see the shape now---But the EMF detector went off. All the way to red for a moment, and then dropped back down to green.

As I stood and watched the detector, Paul looked up from the pool, where he was splashing around with the Emma. "Oh, hi, Dad," he said.

"Hi, buiddy," I said. "You having fun?"

"Mhmm. You find any ghosts?"

"I may have."

"You want to hang out and watch us swim?"

I sat down in a pool chair. "Yeah, kiddo. Yeah, I want to spend some time with you."

Dance The Night Away: Mister Electric Boo

This is a different kind of story. It's more Paul's story than mine. I'm with him doing the paranormal investigation, and I suppose parenting. But I wouldn't be there if it weren't for him, Paul and his dance class, supporting his little friends. 

"Can we go look for ghosts?"
I looked up at the kids. Paul and some of his little dance friends were standing there, during the fundraising Bingo game on the third floor of the Piper Museum. Lilly, Kendra, Tall Addie, Short Addie, Georgie, all wanting me to go and distract them.

Well, hell. It's better than Bingo.

"Let me bring my stuff," I said. I grabbed my small travel bag from my backpack and hung it over my shoulder. "Come on, let's go check out the west side of the building."
We walked across the hall and into the big meeting room. Lilly said,"What if we get caught in here?"

"Just play innocent. They can't be too uptight about it; they didn't even lock the door. Who wants to hold the EMF detector?"

Several hands went up. I handed it to Short Addie and said,"Everyone take turns."

They began taking readings with the detector. Kendra said,"Hey! There's candy on this desk over here!"

"Can we steal some?" asked Tall Addie.

"I should be a good example, but there's peanut butter cups. One each."

We ate someone else's candy. I said,"Wait until the competitions, guys. We're gonna be in Scranton, Lancaster, and Utica, and I've already got some of the good ghost stories researched out. In fact, the theater we'll be in up in Utica is said to be haunted."

"Can we help investigate?" asked Lilly.

"Of course you can," I said. "I'll bring extra equipment."

I watched the numbers tick down on my GPS, and said,"Coming up on the overpass, kiddo. That's the one just outside of Scranton where the Suscon Screamer is said to haunt. Oh, and there are Squonk sightings, too, so keep your eyes open."

"Bet that," said Paul, in the back of the jeep.

I'd bought the GPS from Chris, and programmed in the coordinates for the overpass. As we approached, I got out my camera and turned on the EMF detector. It showed nothing as we passed under the overpass, and I didn't see anything worth noting.

Michelle glanced over from the driver's seat. "How's it going?"

"Well, that was anticlimactic."

"That didn't look too hard."

"That's what she said. Of course, the Suscon Screamer may just be an urban legend anyway. There's still stuff to check out in Scranton. There's a UFO sighting near there, a UFO that was said to have crashed in Carbondale back in 1974. It landed in a pond, and people said they saw a green light for days afterward."

"How much longer until Scranton?" asked Paul.

"About ten minutes or so. We're almost there now, buddy. Did you know that Scranton had the first electric cable cars? That's why it's called the Electric City."
"Nope, didn't know that," said Paul, texting someone.

"So you guys will be dancing Mister Electric Blue in the Electric City."

"Cool. Can we stop at Dave's Hot Chicken?"

"Are you really a paranormal investigator?" asked the guy at the hotel desk.

I'd forgotten I was wearing the shirt that said that. "Funny you should ask. I really am."

"What's the scariest thing you've ever encountered?"

"That'd be my sister-in-law. You aware of any interesting ghost stories or old legends around here?"

He thought it over. "Not really. My stepsister thinks her dad is still haunting her."

I usually ask around a little, and try to talk to some locals. Sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it doesn't. This was looking like it was going to be that second one.

"Bigfoot, UFO sightings?"

"No, but we have a woman who works breakfast in the morning. She might know something."
"Okay, thanks." I carried the luggage up to the room.

Paul was practicing one of the dance routines in the bedroom. I said,"You make sure you get sleep tonight, little man. You're not on until Sunday, but we can go tomorrow and you can support your friends, if you like."

"Yeah," he said. "I want to."

I was standing at the breakfast counter, getting some more coffee. The woman working asked me,"Are you really a paranormal investigator?"

I was still wearing the same shirt from the night before. I said,"I am. Are you familiar with any interesting haunted places around here?"

"No, not really," she said. "I'm a spiritualist, but I don't know of anything too close."

Some days it be like that. I said,"Do you know of the Carbondale sighting? A UFO crashed into a pond in 1974?"

"No, I've never heard of that one. I'd believe it, though."

I walked outside and strolled around the hotel property. I walked past the Triple-A office next door, making a note to come back when it was open and check for maps. I walked down the hill to the Sam's Club parking lot, and checked around with the EMF detector. Nothing. The strip of forest land between the hotel and the highway was covered with litter, and therefore not likely to be any sort of a harbor for the local Bigfoot sightings. Scranton, so far, was turning out to be a bust, paranormal-wise.

I looked up the hill at the hotel, through the strip of trees. If I hiked up the hill, I could use it as a shortcut to get back. I walked up, and found a stone wall with a fence atop it blocking my way.

I stopped and calculated a bit. I could climb the wall easily enough. Then maybe I could make my way along the fence until it ended, and be back on hotel lawn in a moment. I grabbed a handhold and began climbing.

There were plenty of handholds, and I got to the top and found myself standing on a very thin strip of grass on top of a ten-foot drop. With branches and obstacles in the way. It occurred to me how easily this could go wrong, and how badly hurt I could be if it did.

I grabbed the fence and braced myself, and began carefully working my way along the top of the wall. I wouldn't have thought twice about all this when I was sixteen. Of course, I got injured a lot more often back then.

In a few minutes, I'd made it to the edge of the fence, and with some relief I stepped onto the safe grass. Already risked a serious injury once today, and it was just now ten AM.

I made my way back to the Triple-A office. They wound up light on local maps, though apparently if I wanted one of Ontario I could have my pick. I did find an interesting catalogue about Lackawanna County, and took that. I walked back to the hotel, sat down in the lobby area, and began paging through.

Now, this was worth it. Pages on Bigfoot and Squonks, haunted spots, UFOs. There was a full page on the Carbondale sighting. And I found a photo that looked awfully familiar.

I got out my cell phone and called my friend Dani. Dani is a performer who does acrobatics and stilts; I'd known her for thirteen years.

"Dani, it's Lou."

"Hey! How are you doing? How's your family?"

"We're all good! Paul is in a dance competition in Scranton. Butters is doing good; he needs a haircut." We'd gotten our dog from Dani. "Dani, have you ever performed up in Lackawanna County?"

"Quite a bit!"

"I think your photo appears in a local catalogue up here. You're wearing a fedora with feathers, holding up two hoops, and standing about four feet taller than everyone else."

"That would be me, alright."

"I'll send you a copy."
"Thanks! I keep a scrapbook."

Over the years I've met some interesting people.

I went back to the hotel and sat down on the stairs, taking a moment to text Chloe and let her know how thing were going. I barely text, but Chloe is one of my few exceptions. I'd gotten used to having her as my lifeline when I was away, and she was reporting back to the rest of the team.

I took the catalogue back to the hotel room. Paul was on the bed, watching his cell phone. He looked up at me. "Can we have Dave's Hot Chicken for lunch?"

"Maybe," I said,"Hey, little man, check this out."

I showed him the picture of the Squonk. He said,"Awwww."

We walked up to the Scranton High School together, the whole family. Until Paul saw the first friend of the afternoon, said."I'm good now, Dad," and peeled off.

"Well, we used to have a kid," I commented.

Michelle and I walked through the door, and there was a line going through security. They were scanning people with metal detectors. I swear, it's easier to get into the goddamned Pentagon than your average school. The security guard stopped me and said,"Do you have anything in your pockets, sir?"

I sighed. "I have a pocketknife."

"You can't bring that in here," he said. "You'll have to leave that in your car."

I held my hand out to Michelle. "Gimmie the keys. I'll meet you."

I walked back out to the car, dropped off my knife, and started walking back. Jason, the studio owner's husband, caught me and said,"Lou! If I bring the truck around, can you help me unload that window for the act and wheel it in?"

"Oh, sure, absolutely. I'll wait here for you."

Five minutes later, he was back with his big panel truck and we unloaded one of the set pieces. It was a big window on wheels; I'd helped paint it. I wheeled it into the door, where I encountered the same security guard.

"You didn't have that before," he commented.

"I figured," I said,"If I have anything else I shouldn't, I'll just throw it out the window."

To give him credit, he laughed pretty hard at that.

I rolled the window across the floor and turned it over to Miss Nikki, one of the teachers. I walked around the lobby for a while, and spotted Paul with a whole gaggle of his little teammates, gathered in their costumes.

Miss Rachel, the studio owner, joined me. "I'm glad you guys made it," she said. "The girls didn't want to get ready without Paul. They demanded to come out here and wait for him."

I smiled. "I love what a cohesive team they are. I have my team, and Paul has his. It's always nice to see what a great group they make."

With Paul secured and everything done for the moment, I walked around the lobby a while more. I wound up back near the door, and nodded at the security guard.

"You really a paranormal investigator?" he asked.

"I'm getting a lot of that this weekend," I said. "I really am. Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers, out in Clinton County."
"That's really cool, man. Have any good stories?"

"We just recently had a pretty active investigation at an abandoned funeral home."

"Cool."

"Been looking into the UFO crash landing in Carbondale. You happen to know anything about that?"

"Oh, sure, I worked the festival once," he said. "They have a big thing up there. There's one guy who says he caused it all, though---Threw a lantern into the pond as a teenager, and then just never said anything when everyone thought it was a UFO."
"I'd heard that," I said.

"I actually talked to the guy," he told me. "He sounded pretty convincing."

I knew how that went. I'd spoken to some people who have given me the real story on paranormal events over the years. I'd also seen how something simple, like a lantern thrown into a pond, could fly completely off the rails and become a huge legend.

"I suppose I can cross that one off my list," I said. "Every once in a while, I find something like that. I had a field day with Raystown Ray a couple of years ago."

I circulated some more, watching the kids. They were sitting by one wall, and they'd get up and practice for a while, three or four of them. They'd take some photos, and laugh together, and it wasn't the first time I'd thought of it....What an amazing team they'd all become. I had Jay, Lex, Chloe, and Ashlin. Paul had Team Edge and all the other dancers.

"He was a stranger....He walked in looking for danger...."

I stood backstage, watching Paul and his team dance. Mister Electric Blue. I was always amazed at how professional they looked, in their costumes, doing their thing on stage.

"And I said, oooh! Mister Electric Blue....I believe in you....."

I ended up in the audience, with Michelle, as they brought all the kids out to sit on the stage for the awards. The announcer came out and said,"Okay, before we start, we're going to need a couple of volunteers. We need some of the dads to come up here. We're going to have a dad dance-off."

The girls all called out. From the stage, Paul glanced at me.

I stood up.

"We have our first volunteer! Come on up! What dance studio do you represent?"

"Rachel's Dance Unlimited," I said.

Three other dads joined me on the stage. The music began to play. I haven't danced since I was seventeen. I wasn't all that good at it then, and being middle-aged hasn't helped that any. But I did a little of what I remembered, and incorporated a high kick, which I knew from karate.

The kids all cheered. Paul's friends were delighted. One of the other dads won the contest, but they gave me a pair of sunglasses for my kid.

I handed them to Paul. He grinned.

"You came in second, Dad!" he said. "Can we get Dave's Hot Chicken?"

Dance Dance Apparition: Part Three

"There it is," I said. "Up ahead, on the left. There's the bus."

Back in Lancaster. Paul had one more dance competition, and this was the big one. Michelle was driving, with Paul and his best friend Rylan in the back. She pulled into the driveway of the farmhouse, and past the barn, and three dogs came running out to greet us.

There was a big Irish setter, a mutt, and a tiny spaniel. Michelle said,"I hope they don't get in the way of the jeep."

"They're my new best friends," I said,"And I would die for them." And I got out of the jeep.

They ran over, and sniffed me, and I petted them all. Paul and Rylan followed a moment later, and petted them. The little one was the friendliest, and kept snuggling up to me for more attention. After a while, I was able to tear myself away from the dogs, and unload the luggage. I put it in the bus.

Michelle had booked us a refurbished bus to stay in. The old school bus had been made over into almost a cottage, with beds, sofas, and a little kitchen. I walked around the place a little bit, checking things out.

"Good. There's coffee." I held up the salt shaker. "Hey, Paul. Check this out."

Paul looked up. "Pink salt?" he said. "What is wrong with people?"

The kids were bouncing on the sofas when I got all the luggage unpacked, and I sat down at the desk.

"We have to get up at seven to get you to the hotel on time," I told Paul. "The hotel where you're dancing tomorrow was built basically with two historic buildings inside it. One of them was owned by Thaddeus Stevens, who helped amend the Constitution. It may have been on the Underground Railroad."

"Slay," said Paul.

"They're old buildings. I hear they might be haunted. You want to do some investigating, if we get a chance?"

"Sure," said Paul.

"Yes," said Rylan.

"I have some of the equipment with me," I said. "I'll bring it along in case you get a moment in between acts."

It was early morning when we got to the hotel, and raining. The hotel was gigantic. We walked in from the parking garage. I was wearing my Rachael's Dance Unlimited shirt, and my LHPS hoodie. I'd investigated in worse. The bus was close quarters and there wasn't much of a shower, so I'd skipped shaving, but it wasn't too noticeable yet. I have the facial hair of an eight-year-old girl. I'd brought my small sling pack, with a few pieces of equipment and my phone in it.

"There's my team," Paul said. "See you guys later!"

He took off to be with the other kids. Michelle said,"I'm going to find the stage and get some seats. You gonna look around?"

"Yeah,  figure so," I said. "Paul's already disappeared, so I guess I just have to trust him to get onstage when he needs to."
"He's done okay so far."

"I'm not exactly used to assuming the ten-year-old is on top of the situation."

I walked down into the lobby. Immediately, I stopped and gasped.

"My god...."

The lobby was big. It had a house in it.

The William Montgomery House had been there since 1804. The hotel had been built right there, basically incorporating the house. It rose up through three floors, across from the balconies, with a curved back wall and wonderful windows. My jaw dropped. A historic building, right inside the lobby of a modern hotel.

I sat down on the steps and took a moment to message Emily, back home.

Two historic buildings are part of this hotel, and it's so beautiful I could cry!

She responded a moment later.

Holy crap I really slept in today, maybe that's a good thing I needed it! That is literally the perfect spot for you Lou I'm excited to see the pictures!

I stood up and got out my EMF detector.

I walked around the Montgomery House for a little while, taking readings. There wasn't much, but it was early yet. I walked all the way down to the other end of the lobby, and down the stairs, and I found the Thaddeus Stevens House there.

That was under repair and locked off, but I walked around the area and took some EMF readings there, too. This house had been part of the Underground Railroad. It was a part of American history....And I was here.

I took some photos, checked the EMF detector, and switched it to temperature. There wasn't much point in trying an audio recording; interference from the dance competition and the kids running around would invalidate anything I found. I decided to go out and score some coffee. 

I walked out into the street. Lancaster. America's oldest inland city. It's always amazed me, how many places there are to be, how many opportunities there are to get to them.

I was leaving the coffee shop when I spotted Kira, from the Economic Partnership.

"Hey! Kira! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know. I have boys, so I have to come along with a friend and enjoy her daughter vicariously. How's everything going?"

"Pretty good. You see how they built the hotel to preserve two historic homes? I'm so jealous I could spit. I would love to see that sort of emphasis on preservation in Lock Haven."

"Yeah, me, too. Think they're haunted?"
"Don't think I didn't bring along some of my equipment."

Back in the lobby, I found Amanda and Carri sitting and talking. Their daughters were in Paul's class. Another woman was with them. I sat down and joined them.

"How's it going, you guys?"

"Exhausted," said Amanda. "We had to get up early and drive in this morning."

"That's right; I forgot you'd told me that. We slept in a bus last night."

Paul and Juliet, Amanda's daughter, came running over. They had handfuls of candy.

"We got some candy!" said Paul.

"Where'd you get that?"
"An old man gave it to us!"

"Jesus christ, child."

"He was handing it out at a booth," Paul said. "He works for the hotel."

"Well, you could have led with that."
Little Juliet was studying my hoodie. "Are you looking for ghosts?"

"Well, I'm trying."

"Could I do that? Could you come to the hotel tonight and show me?"
"I don't see why not," I agreed.

"Can Addie come, too?"

"If it's okay with her mom."

"Fine with me," said Carri.

"Can I get in on this?" asked the other woman.

"Why not? Will your kid be coming?"
"I'm Juliet's grandmother. Amanda's my kid."

"Oh, well, then, I guess she'll be there. How about seven-ish? We can check out the old parts of the place."

"Sounds good," said Amanda.

"Juliet," I said,"Welcome to the Ghost Gang."

"Yay!" said Juliet.

With a few hours in between Paul's performance and our return for an investigation, we went back to the bus. I walked outside---It was still chilly and rainy, but I wanted to see if the dogs were around, and maybe a ghost or two. 

Out by the road, I found the Irish setter running around with something in his mouth. He sat down on the grass and began happily chewing on it. He was followed, a moment later, by an old woman walking two ponies down the road and back to the property.

"That's something I don't see much back where I'm from," I said.

She smiled. "Ponies in the street where they shouldn't be?"
"Yeah, we don't get that much back in Lock Haven."

"The young one escapes sometimes. I'm putting them back in the barn."

I saw Paul come racing excitedly out of the bus, followed a moment later by Rylan. I said,"Oh, my son and his friend are coming. Would you mind....?"
"Of course not," she said. She handed me the reins to the little one. "Here, you can hold him."

Paul and Rylan ran up to the ponies. Paul said,"Ponies! They are so cool! I didn't think they were real!"

"Wait....Did you not know ponies exist?" My kid deals routinely with Sasquatches, water cryptids, and Squonks, but wasn't aware of ponies.

They petted the ponies. The woman said,"Would you like to give them some treats?"

"Yeah!"
She handed them some small pony treats. "Set them in your hand, and hold it our flat like this."

The kids followed her instructions, and fed the ponies several treats, to the delight of both the kids and the ponies. The woman said,"Would you like to brush them?"

Paul's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

She handed them two brushes. "Here, you can brush them while I clean their hooves."

The kids happily brushed the ponies, who were very patient about the whole thing. I said,"You having a good time, little man?"

"This is so cool," he said.

"We're here," I announced as we walked into the hotel's waiting area. "Finally found parking."

Amanda and Carri were waiting with a couple of drinks. I was tempted to join them, but I never drink on investigations. Juliet and Addie hugged Paul, who was right behind me with Rylan.

"Are we going to hunt ghosts now?" Juliet asked.

"We are," I said. "I brought some of my equipment. Let's go down to the other end; we'll have less interference down there and the whole place pretty much to ourselves."

As we walked down, Carri asked me,"So how long have you been doing this?"

"Long time. Almost twenty years, officially."

"What was the first haunting you ever really found?"

"First one I debunked was on our honeymoon. A sighting at a covered bridge turned out to be just the grain of the wood, which looked like a face. The first one I recall really finding was my own house; a young girl killed herself there back in 1905."

"And how do you figure out who the ghost might be?" She sipped at her drink.

"I look at the deeds and other documents, and then check the newspaper archives," I explained. "You can get a good sense of who lived in the house, and died there."

"What if it was someone who didn't live there? Say, a favorite niece, who had good memories of the place?"

"That happens. Usually you can figure that out through newspaper archives, too---The obits can give you an idea of family and friends, at least get you started."

We got down to the lower lobby, where the Thaddeus Stevens House was connected. I said,"Okay, we can't go in the old house because it's under repair. But that's a good thing; repairs tend to stir up ghosts. Now, this here is an EMF detector. It detects electricity and magnetism, but when there's no reason for those, it can also detect ghosts."

I passed the all-in-one to Juliet, and the little one to Addie. Paul and Rylan were very casual about the whole thing; they're used to this. I continued,"This here is a digital recorder. We use this to ask questions, and maybe get some sort of voice on tape. I've had that happen before. Everyone get comfortable---We're going to do an EVP session; electronic voice phenomena. We'll go around and say our names, then record ourselves asking questions to see if we can get any voices. We have some interference in the background, but sometimes you'll have that."

I turned on the recorder, and we did a few minutes of talking to potential ghosts. I was rather impressed with the kids; they paid attention for several minutes, which is longer than kids usually last during those things. Finally I clicked off the recorder and said,"Okay. I'll review that later. You guys check out the place with the EMF detectors and let's see if we can find anything."

They headed out, with Paul and Rylan supervising Juliet and Addie. I watched as they walked around the lobby area, using the EMF detectors correctly. Addie's went off, beeping and spiking to red for a moment.

I said,"There you go. Look, no outlets, no cords. Looks like you may have detected a ghost."

She smiled. "The ghost likes me."

I smiled back. "I bet he does."

"Small coffee, please."

I was in the hotel's Starbucks. There's always a Starbucks; they're easier to find than fake UFO sightings. I took my black coffee and stepped outside, looking out at the rising sun over Lancaster.

I never really saw moments like this coming when we'd adopted a baby. "Hunting ghosts with my son's dance team" was never on my radar. But of all the unpredictable weirdness that my life had somehow become, it was worth it.

It had been a hectic few weeks. We'd been busy, we'd been exhausted. We'd had some adventures, Paul and I. I was a bit relieved that it was almost over.....But I was also going to miss it.

I finished my coffee and went inside. 

I found Paul in the lobby, polishing off a plate of chicken tenders and fries. He was sitting up against the wall. I sat down next to him.

"How you doing, little man?"

"Fine."

"You need anything?"

"I needed chicken tenders. But Mom got them for me."

I nodded. "You guys did really good this weekend. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad."

We sat in companionable silence for a moment, my son and I. Then he said,"You know why I hate going to school every morning? Because I have to leave you. I miss you when I'm at school."

"You have to get an education, kiddo," I told him. "But I miss you, too. When I see you get on the bus to leave....That's the worst part of my day. And the best part is when you get back."

"Okay," he said.

"We have next weekend off," I said. "Let's do something together, you and me."

"Sounds good," said Paul.

Outside the windows, the sun was coming up over the skyline.

Dance Dance Apparition: Part Two

"There's Bigfoot!" commented Michelle.

I looked out the car window. "He's enormous."

Along Interstate 80, there was a giant Bigfoot cutout. It had to be thirty feet tall. I was in the back with Paul, and Michelle and Tif were up front, on the way to the second round of dance competitions.

"We'll be staying where there's Bigfoot sightings," I said. "Near the hotel in Mercer, there have been sightings of a tan Bigfoot every ten years. It was 2005, then 2015, so we're right on time. The hotel is near an overpass, and cryptids love overpasses, so I figure I'll go and look."

"What is it with you and cryptids and overpasses?" asked Tif.

"Well, the Virginia Bunnyman---"

"Nope. Never mind."

"Then when we get to New Castle, there's a haunted mansion very near the competition. Also New Castle is the birthplace of Jack Cole, who created Plastic Man, so that's cool."

"How long until we get there?" Paul asked.

I looked at my watch. "About another hour."

"Aargh."

"But we're coming up on the highest point on Eighty east of the Mississippi. Look, you don't want to miss that."

The hotel room was about typical. Two beds, a TV, a bathroom. I texted Emily while I sat at the desk, to let her know we'd arrived safe, and told her I was going to look for the light-colored Bigfoot.

Good luck, she sent back.

If I find him, I told her, I'll call him Blondie.

I'd  brought my cryptid vest, a packable fishing vest with all my equipment in it. I pulled it on and said,"Think I'll go out for a walk while it's still light out."

"Have fun," said Michelle.

I walked down the hall and through the lobby. I checked the rack; there were a couple of brochures available, but nothing too fascinating. There was a redheaded girl working the desk.

"Weird question," I said. "Do you know of any interesting haunted places around here, or Bigfoot sightings? Anything like that?"

I like to talk to locals when I can. Sometimes they give me a prize. Sometimes I know more about the area than they do. This turned out to be that second time.

She frowned. "No, nothing like that. This is a small place; there's just nothing like that around here."

"Okay. Thanks for trying."

I walked outside. It was a nice evening. I walked down to the overpass; Interstate 80 ran right over the highway, very near the hotel. No sign of Blondie Bigfoot, though. I walked back the other way, past the hotel and to a nearby swamp to the north.

I looked around. No prints or hair samples, but I noticed that everything was dry and light brown. This could explain about the tan Bigfoot, or whatever people were reporting: A light-colored creature would camouflage in this terrain better than a dark one.

When I got back to the hotel room, Paul was sitting on the bed with his cell phone. He said,"I'm sending a message to Rosie and Butters."

"They'll like that," I said.

He dialed the house number and waited until the machine picked up. Then he said,"Hi, Rosie. Hi, Butters. How you guys doing? It's me, your best owner, AKA Paul. And I just want to send you a preppy message saying that I would rather be with you guys, but I have a dance competition, so I have to be here, and I miss you very much, and I can't wait to come home, because I would rather be in my bed at home, but I kinda have to stay here. So, bye!"

Dinner was the Mexican restaurant connected with the hotel. I looked over the menu and settled on the fiesta salad, which sounded healthy enough. Paul said,"There aren't any drinks on this menu."

"They're right here, on the front," I pointed out.

"Oh. Yeah."

"Okay if I order the kid a nonalcoholic margarita?" Tif asked.

"It's okay with me," I said.

"Any luck on your tan Bigfoot?" she asked me.

"Not really. We may still be too close to 80, though you can never tell. I did see why the local Bigfoot is light-colored; everything around here is dry and dead, which probably comes in waves as the area experiences droughts. So a light-colored Bigfoot, or whatever animal people are reporting, would camouflage better than a dark-colored one in this area, as opposed to, say, the middle of Cook Forest."

She looked at me. "Did you really just use weather studies to explain a Bigfoot?"

"I mean....You gotta have a general science background to really do it right."

Paul's strawberry margarita came. He sipped it, and smiled. "I like it!"

I was the first one up in the morning, which was usual when we traveled. Tif was asleep in a chair, and Paul was lying crossways on the bed. Paul rolls around in his sleep; the kid sleeps like he's running a marathon.

I walked down to the lobby to get a coffee. Drank a little while I sent Emily a message updating her. It always made me feel better to have someone back home to contact while I'm traveling. And Emily and I had gotten to be close friends; I was lucky to have her in my life.

I went out to the jeep to check on things; the trailer was down and ready, and the small stool we use for Tif to get in was in the back. Back inside, there was a dark-haired girl working the desk, and I asked her,"Do you know of any haunted spots around here, anything like that?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing I know of. I've never heard anything."
I sipped some coffee.

Sometimes it pays to check with the locals. Sometimes it doesn't.

"I got this, Dad. You can go," Paul said as we walked into the Scottish Rite building in New Castle. He immediately peeled off to join his friends.

"If you need me---" I called after him, and then dropped it because he was already out of range. He and his team, all dressed in their sparkly outfits, went running off wherever they go together.

Tif put her hand on my arm. "Let him go, Dad. He belongs to Team Edge now."

I saw Rachael, the owner of the dance studio, walking across the lobby, and I joined her. "Paul's here, so you know. He's been stressing out all week over his eye makeup."

She smiled. "Oh, he'll be fine."

"He's really thriving in dance class. He does soccer and basketball, too, but he seems to love dance the most."

"That's great," she said. "When the weather warms up, I'll be sure to bring the kids for a haunted tour."

"Think I might go and explore a haunted place right now, actually."

I walked outside and headed west. Two doors down from the Scottish Rite was the Foxfire Mansion, an 1890 building that as said to be haunted and built on a burial ground. I walked down to it, wearing my Rachael's Team Edge shirt and a green hoodie. Usually I'd be wearing my paranormal outfit, but I'd put on the shirt this time because of the competition. I'd done ghost-hunting in worse; last June it had been a light blue hospital gown once.

The mansion was even better than I'd expected. It was under repair, so some of the windows were boarded up, the front steps were cracked, and it was high up on a hill overlooking the city. 

I got out my EMF detector and walked around. It spiked in a couple of places. That was a good sign. I found a cold spot on the north side, and I checked that out for a while. I was a little dubious about the burial ground story; this far up on a hill wouldn't have been as likely. But the place seemed to be haunted. 

I found a spot that wasn't easily seen from the street, and got out a Plastic Man action figure. I could use that as a trigger object; this was about as close as I was going to come to a team-up with Plastic Man. I set an index card down, set the action figure on it, and traced around it with my pen. I could come back the next day and see if anything had disturbed it. Emily was going to love it.

"Dad, how do you get to the livestream for the competitions?" Paul asked, sitting on the hotel bed.

"What in our history together would make you think I'd know that?"

"I'll ask Mom. Can we go get a cup of tea in the lobby?" Paul asked. The kid loves hotels, but he's also easily bored. 

"Yeah, why not," I said. "Come on, let's walk on down and see if there's still any left."

We walked down the hall to the lobby. Paul made himself a cup of tea from the hot water there. There was a third employee working the desk this time, and I decided I had nothing to lose by rolling the dice again.

"Excuse me," I said. Paul watched calmly; he's seen all this before. "Do you know of any haunted places around here?"

"Well, this hotel is haunted," she said. "We get stuff happening here all the time."

Paul turned to me. "Can we take a walk and check?"

"We can. I usually have some equipment on me. The hotel does have kind of a Shining vibe."

We gathered up a couple of my EMF detectors and walked the halls. Paul was a little ahead of me---Probably looking for possible vending machines---And he heard my detector go off. He turned around.

"Was that?"
"A reading? Yeah. We got some EMFs in this area. Looks like the hotel might be haunted, after all."

It was pouring out the next day when I walked out of the Scottish Rite. I had an hour before Paul was on, so I walked down to the Foxfire Mansion again. On the corner, high up on the hill, I looked around.

An 1890 mansion. I checked with the EMF detector as I walked around to the back.

Plastic Man was still there, but he'd moved about an inch from where he'd been the day before. I took some more readings; this was good. The place was very likely haunted.

I walked back to the Scottish Rite, and met the other dads backstage. I'd volunteered to help move props around for the act, so I wound up shoving some stuff around the stage before the kids came on. And then the dance began, with the kids in their shiny costumes coming out....My son among them.

"Who's that girl....Watch that scene....Digging the dancing queen."

Paul lit up the stage. He was out there, dancing with his team, having a great time. And this....This was his part of the story. His much more than mine.

It was still raining afterward, when we went out to the car. Paul had changed from his costume into a new T-shirt advertising the dance competition. I said,"You did great, little man."

"Thanks," said Paul. 

Tif parked her chair and began walking toward the car door. She said,"Paul, you did great. I was really happy to see it. That was wonderful."
"Thanks," said Paul. "Where can we go eat?"

I rolled Tif's wheelchair up onto the trailer, and strapped it down. Tif was standing by the passenger side door.

"Where's the stool?" she asked.

I looked in the back, where the stool usually was. I began digging through the luggage. "I don't see it."

"Did we leave it in the parking lot of the hotel when I got in? Drive off and forget it?"
"Shit," I said with feeling.

"Did we really drive away and leave the stool sitting in a parking lot?" Michelle asked.

"I mean, I want to say no, but....It's not entirely implausible. We have to go back that way to get on 80; let's drive over and see if anyone found it. Either it'll be there or it won't. It's been six hours, but maybe we'll get lucky."

"If we can't find it," said Michelle,"We'll just have to buy a new one."

"I can get into the car if you help," said Tif.

We drove back up toward the hotel. As we pulled across the highway and into the lot, I said,"I see it!"

"You do not," said Michelle.

"No, I really---"

"Oh my god, there it is!" said Tif.

We all began laughing. The stool was sitting there, right where we'd left it six hours ago. Nobody had even noticed it there, the whole day.

I got out of the jeep, held up the stool triumphantly, and then put it in the back. I got back in the jeep, beside Paul, and we headed home. Michelle drove us up onto Interstate 80 going east.

I looked over at my son.

"Proud of you, little man," I said.

Paul smiled.

"Thanks, Dad."

Dance Dance Apparition: Part One

"Paul has his dance competitions coming up," I said. "It runs for like four straight weeks. We have weekends in Lancaster, New Castle, and the Lancaster again. Thanks for printing out the maps and schedules."

I was making notepads for a Sugar Valley store. Emily was hanging out with me in my work area, and we were talking, as we often do.

"No problem, Lou," she said. "Glad to help out."

"Well, you can help out a bit more," I said. "I'll probably be sending you a few messages while I'm there. You're under no obligation to respond, or keep an eye on your phone, or whatever. But I like to feel like I'm connected; like there's someone at home to message."

She nodded. "That's understandable."

"So you're my lifeline, Em."

Emily grinned. "Happy to be your lifeline, Lou."

"If I get a chance, I'm gonna get out exploring," I said. "Lancaster is America's oldest inland city; there's gotta be a few ghosts. I found a legend of a ghost stagecoach that rides through there, and a walking statue in a cemetery. And my friend Kevin sent me an article about a water cryptid down there, and I might look into that."
"Yeah, I printed the article out for you."

"Yeah, thanks for that, too."

"You're a good dad," she said. "I can't imagine Lou without Paul."

I smiled.

"I was there at the time," I said,"And I can't, either."

When we got to the apartment in Lancaster, Paul did what he usually does---Inspected the place thoroughly, checking for traps, cameras, and secret doors. I don't know where he gets this stuff.

"This is nice," commented Michelle.

"Nicer than our place," I agreed. 

She looked in the kitchen. "They have a sign up saying not to drink the water."

"I wonder why."

"I don't know. They have jugs in the fridge that we can use for drinking."

"Probably something like my dad's place," I said,"Where there's a lot of sulphur in the ground and you can taste it in the water."

"Your dad has well water."

"My dad has not-so-well water."

I walked around a bit. The apartment was set up in a way that you could walk all the way around in a square, with the living room, kitchen, and bedroom along the route. There was a big bookshelf in one corner, and I looked it over. It seemed to be mainly religious and Republican works, which I wasn't so interested in. One book caught my eye, and I removed it to look it over.

It was a small paperback spell book. It looked like it had been left by a previous tenant. Black cover, white title: Der Langer Verborgener Freund. Written by a man who'd lived in Lancaster. Inside was a bunch of spells for health, luck, crime prevention, and so on.

Paul rounded the corner and came in. "When do we eat? I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry."

"I'm growing."

"We can go now, and hit the buffet. I could eat something, too."

"So, you enjoying the buffet, little man?" I asked.

"Bet!" Paul said enthusiastically. "I love this! I'm going to go back for ten more plates!"

Paul loved the buffet; he went back for several slices of pizza and some hamburgers. He'd also managed about $3.50 worth of dessert items. I enjoyed it myself; I started with a salad and then moved on to the steak and seafood. Doesn't take me too long to get my money's worth.

The waitress stopped and looked at my shirt. "Are you really a paranormal investigator?" she asked.

I had the black shirt that said "Paranormal Investigator" on it. I looked down at myself for a moment. "I really am."
"No way!"

"Oh, sure." I gave her one of my cards. "Mostly up around Clinton County, but we're in town for a dance competition."

"That's so cool! There's plenty of haunted places around here. Have you heard about the cemetery?"

"I have; gonna try that if I get a chance."

"That's neat. I hope you find something." She moved off to gather plates.

I said to Michelle,"I forgot I was wearing this one."

Paul's first dance was "Respect." We had to get up way too early in the morning to get him to the hotel, which was the largest hotel I'd ever seen. After a while, we figured out where his dressing room was, and at his insistence, I left him there. A little while later, his friends from the team showed up, and he gathered with them.

I watched them run around the lobby and the ballrooms for a while, in the company of two of the moms. One of them looked into the crowd of kids, and said,"There's mine. I can spot the red hair."

"Yeah," I said,"Paul stands out in a crowd, too."

The other mom said,"Mine looks exactly like all the rest of them."

"Don't worry. As long as she stays with the other two, she'll be fine."

We watched the kids until it was time to go on. They got up onstage, and did their dance.

Paul's team. His people; the ones he was happy with. This was his thing. I had Millie, Ashlin, and Tim, and he had his dance group. They finished their dance and left the stage.

The announcer came out to give out the awards. 

"Second place....Team Edge! Respect!"

Paul walked up to receive the award.

That's my boy.

One thing about dance competitions; they wear the kid out. After the dance, we went back to the apartment and he collapsed on the couch for a while.

I went to the bedroom and changed into my LHPS uniform. I put on one of my vests---The travel model with the logo on it---And slung a pouch of equipment over my shoulder. I sent a message to Emily letting her know how things were going, and told Michelle,"I'm gonna go out for a walk."

"Have fun." Michelle was concentrating on a game on her cell phone.

I went outside. I wanted to get a water sample from Mill Creek, and check on the Sea Dog, the water cryptid from 1885. The Sea Dog had been spotted in the Susquehanna, but Mill Creek came off of the Susquehanna, so it was all the same water.

The creek was closer than I'd expected. I walked down a fairly steep slope, across the lawn, and was there. I walked around for a while, looking for a good place to go down and get some water. I found a short slope where I could walk down and collect some, and I got a sample container out of my bag, walked down, and dipped some water out.

I climbed back up to the grass, and there were geese.

Goddamn it. Geese. I'd dealt with these bastards before, showing up to bully me when I tried to get a water sample. There were several of them, all coming toward me and acting all badass.

I turned and ran. There was no way I was going to take on a bunch of geese in hand-to-hand combat. They chased me across the grass. I stopped and lifted the corners of my vest, making myself look bigger and more threatening. They weren't really intimidated. I ran back up the hill, and they decided I wasn't worth the trouble.

When I got back to the patio, Paul was waiting there. "They have a sign up that you're not supposed to go down there, I think," he said.

"Also some vicious guard geese. Let's not tell your mother. Want to help me run a litmus test on this water sample?"
"Sure."

We walked inside and dipped a piece of litmus paper in the water. "Seven," said Paul.

"You guys should test the faucet water," said Michelle. "See why we can't drink it."

"That's not a bad idea," I admitted. We tried the faucet water, and the paper immediately turned a deep green.

"That looks like a nine," commented Paul.

"It wouldn't support much life," I said. "Too acidic. No wonder we can't drink it; we'd be better off just sucking water out of the creek."

"Are you guys hungry?" Michelle asked. "I know you wanted to check out that place where they're having the cryptid festival in June, and there was that cemetery...."

"Lancaster Cemetery," I said. "We can check that out before dinner."

"Her name was Augusta Bitner," I said. "There are a couple of different stories, but they all seem to involve her dying in some sort of accident or illness while she was engaged. She was buried in Lancaster Cemetery, with a statue of her there. According to the stories, the statue comes to life and walks around at night."

"Do I have to not blink?" Michelle asked.

"I think it's not until sundown. Turn here."

Lancaster Cemetery is nice. Not the most elaborate I've ever seen, but pretty. It's not Erie Cemetery, but it's not Stech-Simcox, either. We stopped at a roundabout in the cemetery.

"I think it's that way," I said. "North."

"That's just a grass path," said Michelle. "I don't want to drive down there."

"I'll walk it, and check it out."

I could see the statue as I approached from a distance; it was easy to find and only about fifty feet away. I pulled out my EMF detector and checked---No readings at all. I stopped at the statue, looking it over. It was a girl, about six feet tall, with a pillar next to her. It had her name, the dates of birth and death, and a phrase: "Could love have kept her?"

There was a small pile of coins on the base of the statue, probably a couple of dollars. A couple of other trinkets---Keychains, a plastic coin, a small plastic heart. I dropped a penny on the pile.

I waved toward the jeep, trying to signal Paul and Michelle. Nothing. I waved both arms over my head, and nothing continued to happen. Probably both staring at their goddamn cell phones. I walked back to the van and opened the door.

"I found it," I said. Both of them were looking at their phones. "You want to see it?"

"I'll wait here," said Paul. "I'm wearing shorts, and it's cold out."

"I'll come," said Michelle.

So we walked back to the statue.

"Is it really haunted?" Michelle asked.

"Probably not," I said. "I'm not getting any readings. But this thing gets lots of attention." I pointed to the pile of coins and trinkets. "This is probably within the past week; I'm betting the cemetery association clears this up all the time. So people come to visit, and they tell stories. And it's because of that."

I pointed to the phrase: "Could love have kept her?"

"That's dramatic," I said. "It's memorable, and it suggests a story. People see that and want to talk about it. She died in 1906. That phrase, right there, is exactly what's kept the legends going for the last century or so. That's what makes people tell stories about the statue."

"Getting late, little guy," I said to Paul. "You have another big day tomorrow. Time to finish your tea and get to bed."

He nodded. He was sitting at the counter, drinking a cup of tea I'd made him and watching videos on his cell phone. "I like a little noise," he said. "It helps me sleep."

"Not sure that's how I've always experienced it," I said,"But okay." I sat down with him. "You did good today, buddy. Your whole team did."

"I like competition dance," he said. "I'm glad I signed up for it. I really like it."

I smiled.

"I'm glad," I said. "You do seem to be getting a lot out of it."
"It's fun," he said. "Doing all this stuff with Team Edge."

I nodded. I know how it goes, being part of a team. I have Millie, Tim, and Ashlin; Paul has Willow, Josie, Juliet, Tall Addie, Short Addie, Lili, Sophia, and all the others whose names I don't bother to memorize. 

He thrives in dance class; since signing him up during COVID, I'd seen him come a long way. He'd really grown into it. I had my things. This was his.

"I'm proud of you, buddy," I said. "That's my boy."