Gaywatch

Nobody becomes a paranormal investigator for the food. But sometimes it works out that way anyway. 

We usually meet at Millie's. She has the biggest house. So we were sitting around the table snacking---We had some coconut cake, chips, and sodas. I sat around the table with both teams---Millie, Tim, Ashlin, Devaughn, Pete, and Vince. It was the best meeting we'd had in a while.

"Here's your ticket for the Hiawatha cruise, Ashlin," I said, handing her an envelope. "Been hanging onto it since the last meeting."

"Thanks," she said. "I'll be seeing you guys there."

"Does it take all night?" Millie asked.

"Nah," I said. "Been on the cruises before. It's only a couple of hours."

"I think it's from seven until nine," said Vince.

"That sounds right," I said. "I'm gonna get an article out of it."

"West Branch Pride sold out of tickets again," said Tim. "This makes the fourth year in a row."

"There's an old legend of a ghost along the river," I said. "A Henry Shoemaker story...The Siren of the Susquehanna. A Native American girl who was killed by a jealous lumberman, so her ghost waits by the side of the river singing to lure people in. I'm gonna smuggle in some of my equipment to take some readings while we're onboard."

"I'll let security know," said Tim,"To avoid any problems."

I nodded. "Should be mostly just my all-in-one EMF detector. I don't see the need to wear my whole tac vest on a gay pride cruise."

Tim grinned. "Want some more coconut cake?"

"Do you guys know what ICE is?"

This from Paul, just before bed. Michelle glanced at me; we had that telepathy that comes when you've been married for twenty-two years. Her look said This one's all yours.

I nodded. I got this.

She left the room. I sat down on Paul's bed.

"Yeah, I know ICE. We're talking about the government agency, right?"
"Yeah. Some of my friends are scared."

"I don't blame them, really. It's pretty scary lately. They're rounding up people who came from other countries, and sending them back. Or, in some cases, people who were even born here."

"I have a friend who doesn't speak much English," said Paul. "And he says he just wants to hide in the bathroom."

"I can see where he'd be worried. It's a very scary time. Now, so you know, you're an American citizen, so you don't have to worry. Okay?"

"I'm African-American. Does that mean I'm half African and half American?"

"No, your ancestors were from Africa, but you're also full American."

"Will my friends get taken away by ICE?"

"I hope not. And if I can help, I will." I tugged his blanket up over him. "Things are gonna be okay, little man. Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"Check it out, kiddo," I said, pointing as we pulled into the parking lot. "That's the boat."

"Cool!" said Paul

The Hiawatha, a huge paddleboat, sat at the bank of the Susquehanna River, festooned with Pride flags and rainbow decorations. Tim was waiting when we walked up the ramp and into the lower level, and he gave me a hug.

"Millie's already on board," he said. "Tif, I have a spot for you on the front. You guys can sit anywhere you want."

"Let's go up top!" said Paul.

We walked up and got a table. Paul asked me,"Can we go get a cupcake and a soda?"

"Sure, kiddo," I said. "Come on."

We walked down to the lower level, and I bought the kid a soda. The cupcake was free, and probably was not going to be Paul's only one of the night. When we walked back up, I bumped into an old friend.

"Lou! Hi!"
"Hi, Claire!" I said with some surprise. It had been a few years since I'd seen her. "How have you been?"

"Great! These are my friends, Kendall and Jonah."

I shook a couple of hands. She said,"I love the ghost shirt. Doing any investigating?"

"Oh sure." I had my rainbow ghost shirt on. I got out my all-in-one. "Brought my EMF detector today."

"I wondered what that was," commented Jonah. "I thought it was some sort of walkie talkie."

"Looks like that, actually. But it measures electricity and magnetism."

"And that's a sign of a ghost?"

"It can be. I like this model because if you press this button, it measures temperature, too. So that means I don't have to carry around several pieces of equipment. It's easier."

"That's cool."

"I'm looking into a legend of a ghost along the river tonight. She was a murdered girl from an old legend, and is said to sing to lure in people....The Susquehanna Siren."

Jonah smiled. "I think we just found our trivia team name! Unless you were going to use it."
"Nah, my wife would just give me that look. You go right ahead." I got out my EMF detector and turned it on, and almost instantly got a little flicker. "Oh, now, that's interesting."

"Are you getting something already?" Claire asked.

"I am, a little bit. I need to look into this some more."

The boat gave a very gentle lurch, and we were off.

Ashlin sat at our table, across from my wife. I looked over at her and grinned. "Who would have thought, a million years ago when you were waiting on me at the grocery store, one day we'd be on a Pride cruise together?"

She grinned back at me. "I did not see this coming."

I got up and gave her a hug. "You know you've become one of my best friends."

"You, too."

Tim came over, and I joined him at the railing overlooking the back of the boat. We watched the paddlewheel go around.

"Neat, isn't it?" he said. "Too bad it's fake."

"I didn't actually know that until you said it," I said.

"Yeah, it's actually powered by an engine."

"I'm thinking of ditching the tactical vest for a while," I said.

Tim understood immediately. I knew he would.

"ICE," he said.

I nodded.

"Yeah. I got a rinabow ally patch on there, but still....I don't want to be scaring anyone, or having problems."
"Yeah, you notice I quit wearing mine."

"I'm thinking of a temporary redesign. I've done it before, for similar reasons. I'll be working on that for a while. Maybe something a little more Robin Hood."
Tim smiled.

"Robin Hood is good."

Paul came over. I said,"Having a good time, buddy?"
'Yeah!"

"You see those little islands in the river? Those are log booms. Back in the 1800s, guys used to stand on them with long poles and sort out the logs for the lumber companies."

"Cool."

"You want to help me look for the Susquehanna Seal? It's supposed to be in this river someplace."

"Sure."

"I got a binoculars."

"Oooh! Gimmie."

I handed him the little cheap folding binoculars. "Here, you unfold them like this. No, you're looking through the wrong end. Like that." I was actually glad that I had the string to wear them around your neck, or I might end up with binoculars on the bottom of the Susquehanna.

"It makes everything look close up!"

"Have fun, little man."

Paul leaned over the railing, raised his hands, and called out,"I'm flying, Jack! I mean, Dad!"
"Actually, it's okay with me if you don't use my real name when you do that."

"Oh, come on."

I stepped forward, and Paul stood behind me, and I shouted out,"King of the world!"

You have to do that.

With Tim circulating the boat and Paul on guard against water cryptids, I walked around a bit with the EMF detector. I got a few flickers where I shouldn't have, always a good sign.

Tif was still downstairs where I'd left her, wearing her bright rainbow dress. "You doing okay, honey?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," she said. "Paul came by and gave me a rainbow party hat."

I went inside to the bar and got a beer for about $3.50---Normally I never drink while investigating, but I figure you can probably get away with in on a Pride cruise. I returned to the front of the boat.

I leaned over the front rail and looked out at the river. A guy with a beard came over to me. "Enjoying the view?"

"Checking for water monsters."

He went someplace else.

I got out the EMF detector, sipped my beer, and took some readings. It shot up to .12 at one point, which was good. Could be the Susquehanna Siren.

It was not bad, being here with some of my best friends and my family. It was another one of those wonderful times, one of those times you'll never forget.

Paul came to join me as we pulled back into the dock. He had an armload of the table decorations he'd begged off of people---Noisemakers, party hats, and tapestries.

"You have a good time, little man?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Paul.

We stood together as the boat docked back alongside the Susquehanna River.

As we disembarked, I passed Claire and her friends again. She grinned over at me.

"Find anything?" she asked.

"A few flickers I need to look into," I said, smiling. "It's been a good night."

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."

Thin Ice: Cold Comfort

Two degrees.

Overnight, the temperature had dropped to two degrees outside. Across town, car batteries were going dead. Ice was forming on the Constitution Bridge. The Susquehanna River was frozen solid.

"Put on a damn coat!" I shouted at Paul as he got ready for school.

"Oh. Yeah." He set down his backpack and put his white coat on. "Will you be home when I get home today?"

"I'll be at work, but your mother will be home. But before I get to work, I'm going to try to write an article."

"Oh yeah? About what?"

"Don't know yet I'll dig through my files and find something." I handed him his pack. "Shoes. You need shoes. Have a good day, kiddo. Love you."

"Love you, too," said Paul, pulling on his shoes as he walked out the door.

I poured a cup of coffee---Tim had given me a Swartz Paranormal coffee mug---And sat down at my laptop. I played around a while---Much freelance writing work can easily be mistaken for playing around---And then took my mug and walked upstairs to my office. I pulled out a random file on ghosts, and flipped through. 

And I rediscovered the frozen ghost of the Pine-Loganton Road.

When I got to work, there was a sign job waiting for me. This required me to spray adhesive on a piece of foamboard and stick a poster to it. Normally I'd just go out in the alley and do it, but it was too cold for any kind of spray adhesive. So I took it down to the basement.

The basement of the Hecht Building is a long, dark, stretchy thing that runs the length of the building. I'd been building a secret headquarters in one of the alcoves. I'd always done that sort of thing as a kid, and had never really outgrown the tendency. I changed a couple of light bulbs to give myself more illumination, then laid the foamboard down on a shelf and sprayed it.

When I brought it back upstairs, Emily was bringing back a printed job of fourteen hundred flyers to be cut and folded.

"Morning, Emily," I said.

Emily smiled. "Good morning. Got a huge stack of flyers for the Catholic school for you."

"You know that place is built on an old burial ground? I mention it on a lot of tours."

"How do you even remember all this stuff? I'd forget it immediately."

"I don't make much of an effort; I don't study it or anything. If it's something interesting to me, it just sinks in and sticks. But I can't balance my own checkbook, so don't get too impressed."

"Find out anything new lately?"

"I stumbled on one I've checked out before. There's a ghost down along the Pine-Loganton Road, which is Clinton County's most haunted road. He was a guy named Harry who froze to death in December of 1894 trying to walk down to visit his girlfriend. His body was found frozen under a tree. The story is that if you listen in a cold winter, you can still hear him calling for help."

Emily shivered. "That's another creepy one."

"I may get out there and check. This would be the perfect winter for it. I might take my rifle microphone and check if I can hear anything."
"How do you plan to get out there?"

"I don't know, maybe make a friend who can drive. I'll figure that out later. It's too cold to go out, so I think I need to do a little digging in the archives first."

The boss came through. "I'll be out for a while," he said. "I need to make a delivery down to Loganton."

"Drive careful," I said. "And keep your eyes open. There's supposed to be a ghost down there who froze to death in 1894."

He smiled, amused. Amusement seems to be his default position to my paranormal investigations. "I'll look for that."

He walked out the back door, and Emily said,"I can't believe I get to hear you say things like that."

Every now and again, Chris and I tried to get together for coffee, almost as if we were normal people. We sat at the same table in the local coffee shop and hung out, sometimes working on projects, sometimes just talking.

"I heard the Piper Museum is hiring for a general manager," I said. 

Chris looked at me, interested. "You going to apply?"

"Not gonna lie, I was thinking about it," I said. "I mean, nobody can say I'm not qualified. I was the curator over there for three years. I'm considering it. But I'm not sure how much I want to go back to working for a board of directors again."

"It would require working weekends," said Chris. "I know you've been enjoying spending time with your family on evenings and weekends."

"Yeah, that's another thing," I admitted. "I love the Piper Museum, I always have. But I do like working at the print shop, too. Everyone treats me good, and the place is haunted as hell."

Chris grinned. "Investigating it while it's too cold to go out?"

"Actually I'm currently working on the guy who froze to death on the Pine-Loganton Road while attempting to get to his girlfriend."

"This sounds like a Shoemaker."

"It is, in fact, a Shoemaker. It's from one of his articles in the 1950s."

"Shoemaker never lets you down."

It was morning, and Paul was off to school. I sat down at the table with my laptop. Coffee and a ghost; that classic way to start the day.

I began by checking the newspaper archives from December of 1894. I got on the website and checked every issue, one at a time. I learned that it had been a very bad winter that year, and people did in fact freeze to death while going out. I found a couple of cases of that actually happening, which was encouraging.

Then I took my coffee up to my office and pulled the cemetery records, Rosie and Butters trailing after me in case I had some available food up there. I began with Sugar Valley, because Harry had been from there and died on that end of the Pine-Loganton Road. I went through the records, one name at a time, and found it almost immediately.

There was a man named Harry who'd died "near Loganton" and been buried in very early 1895. He'd been about nineteen years old at the time. Bingo. That was my guy.

Okay, so I knew who he was now, and that it had actually happened. That was a good start. I'd backed it up historically; now I had to check into the paranormal side of things. That was a little harder.

"Right up here," I said as Michelle pulled the jeep up alongside the Pine-Loganton Road. 

"Should I pull in, or just anyplace?"

"We're in the right vicinity. Just anywhere along the road should be fine."

We'd gone around the long way, as opposed to starting in McElhattan and traveling the entire road. With the temperatures consistently below freezing, I hadn't wanted to chance any patches of ice, which were pretty likely. Michelle stopped the vehicle.

"You coming with me, or waiting here?" I asked Paul.

"It's twelve degrees," he said. "I'll wait here."

"Be right back."

I got out and walked along the road. It was cold as hell, and the wind was blowing. I got out my rifle microphone and slipped the headphones on, which actually helped warm my ears. I turned it on and raised it, moving at carefully around in an arc.

Howling. Oh my god, the entire forest was howling. I could hear it clearly through the headphones. The wind was drowning out everything else around for a mile. Probably happened every time winter hit.

Which would explain, to an extent, how the legend got started. Someone freezing to death along this road, which already had a reputation for being haunted, and the wind making noises that could be mistaken for human....Yeah, it made sense.

I walked back to the jeep and climbed in. Michelle said,"Anywhere else you need to go?"

"While we're in the neighborhood, one more stop."

I stood over the gravestone, looking down at the name "Harry." Paul roamed the cemetery somewhere behind me.

"Here he is, kiddo. The ghost who froze to death on the Pine-Loganton Road."

"Cool," said Paul. He was leaning over a couple of stones a few rows over. "This one just says 'Mother.'"

"Her name is on the big monument beside it. They did that sometimes, just labeled them like that."

Paul walked a little bit down the row. "These guys weren't very old. This one was only twelve."

"That happened, too. You see how these two died within a year? You see that sometimes, and it tells you something. In the future, people are going to be seeing a lot of graves from 2020 and 2021. What killed a lot of people in those years?"

Paul thought it over. "COVID?"
"Very good. Yes, COVID. When you see a lot of similar dates, it probably means there was an epidemic of some sort. Most cemeteries have them. Later on, if you like, we can check to see how these two died, and if there was some epidemic that year. I'll show you how to do that."

Paul nodded. "Did you get what you needed?"

"Yeah, I found the ghost grave," I said. "Let's get back where it's warm."

Monday morning, and sixteen degrees. When I got to work, as always, Emily was there.

"How was your weekend?" I asked.

"It was good. We took my sister back to college."

"Bloomsburg, right? Only town in Pennsylvania."
"That's right. How was your weekend?"

"It was good. Checked into that ghost who froze to death on the Pine-Loganton Road. Turns out, that actually happened to a guy. I found a guy with the right name who died about that time, and then when I checked the area, the wind was making a lot of noise through the trees."

"That would be hard to hear with the headphones."

"It kinda was. But I figure the noise, plus the death in a place already known for being haunted....That added up to the legend. I didn't get a whole lot of readings, but that's an investigation for another day. A warmer day."

'That makes a lot of sense." Emily grinned. "Don't know what I'd do without you here to tell me about this stuff."

I smiled.

"You won't have to find out," I said. "I'll be here."

Merry Cryptid: The 2022 Christmas Special

The puppy bounced around in the grass while I strapped the trees on the car. He was a tiny Mini-Goldendoodle, a couple of months old. My brother sat on the grass, watching with some amusement.

"He's funny as hell," commented Jon.

Paul, holding the puppy's leash, said,"We just got him. Rosie wanted a friend. His name is Butters."

"Good name." Jon glanced at me getting the second tree strapped down. "Two trees this year."

"I've been working with a local charity. For some reason they elected me vice-president a while back. I promised them a tree for their building."

"That's cool," he said. It was our annual Christmas trip to the farm. Paul always enjoyed going to visit, and Butters seemed to be having a good time with it, too. I was having a bit of a slower time since Resurrection Casey had graduated and left, but it was good to see the farm.

"Butters likes this," said Paul.

Jon nodded. "You want to bring him out here in the summer? You guys can work for me."

"Yeah!" said Paul. "How much?"

My teammates Tami and her wife Bre were having an ugly sweater party, and my family was invited. I have an ugly Christmas sweater that puts all the other sweaters to shame. It shows a blinged-out Santa in sunglasses carrying presents, and has a front pocket that perfectly fits a can of beer, if you want one on Christmas morning. I was wearing it as we walked into the house.

I gave Tami a hug. "Make the Yuletide gay," I said.

"Thanks for coming."

'Thanks for inviting us. Michelle made buffalo dip."

"Want a drink?" Bre offered.

"I'd hate myself if I didn't try one of your Grinch drinks," I said. "Let's go with that."

"We had the sound of the exterior door opening and closing the other morning," said Tami. "I thought it was the kid leaving for work, but as it turns out, they were still here."

I grinned. "We'll have to investigate. I just treated myself to a new thermal imager for Christmas, and I've been looking for an excuse to try it out."

"Oh, cool! What does that do?"

"It shows heat sources, sort of like infrared. I'll bring it to the next meeting and show you. It's really pretty cool, and I think it can be used for all sorts of applications---Ghosts, UFOs, cryptids."

"All the cool stuff."

"It can be used to check the insulation in your house, too," added Bre.

Tammy and I looked at each other. It's hard to be married to a non-investigator. "I mean, if you want to be all practical about it," I admitted. "But I'm not gonna pretend that's why I bought it."

I used to hate being in classes, and as an adult, I've been kind of glad those days are behind me. Then technology came along and fucked that all up, too. I was sitting in the kitchen, taking a required class on my laptop, when Paul and his little friend Serena came in, followed by Rosie and Butters.

Serena is in Paul's grade, but is tiny by comparison. She'd moved in next door in October, and ever since it had been a near-constant run on playdates and sleepovers. Both were in their pajamas tonight.

"Serena wants to know if we can teach her to ghost hunt," said Paul.

I smiled. "You're into that?"

Serena nodded. "I think that's really cool."
"Why not?" I said. "Let me get my stuff."

I pulled my tactical vest out of my office and put it on. Paul got into his. Serena said,"You guys really wear those?"

"When we're hunting ghosts, yeah. They're good for keeping all my stuff in the pockets. This is the laser thermometer, and this is the EMF detector. What we do is to find different readings, and then check to make sure it's nothing explainable."

"You guys have a ghost here, don't you?"

I nodded. "Ida Yost. She was seventeen when she died on our back porch."

"That's so cool. I wish my house was haunted."

"Okay, Paul," I said,"You want to show Serena how to do an EMF session?"

So there I was, eating lunch in a closet.

Lately I'd been doing that kind of thing. Not really in the mood to risk doing something extreme like socializing with my co-workers, I'd been slipping off on my lunch break to some of the most remote and unfindable places in the building. I knew them all---Hidden staircases, crawl spaces, and unused offices. Today I'd chosen the second-floor closet in the old part of the building, which I was also using to stash some of my program materials. So I sat among the art supplies, yarn, and a stuffed lion I'd saved for some reason, eating my sandwich and pickle, reading Salem's Lot.

When I was done and went back downstairs, a message was waiting on my computer. A woman who'd been on one of my tours a couple of years ago. I read it, and then considered.

When Chris came in a few minutes later, I was up to my elbows in old maps and cemetery books.

"Don't let me interrupt," he said.

"You know how it goes," I said. "Got a possible Wendigo sighting."

"Wendigo....Refresh me."

"The Wendigos were believed to be cryptids, more or less, by the Native American tribes of the north. They were thought to be created by very cold winters, when someone had to commit cannibalism to survive."

"Really cheerful career you got there."

"Well, it's one of those things where they were seeing something, cryptid or not, but their interpretation was colored by their fears. Like the Jersey Devil. These legends come from Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, where even in the good winters you were at risk of having to eat somebody."

"And somebody saw one of these locally?"

"A couple saw one while they were staying in a cabin at Pine Creek."

"And you're not concerned you might get eaten?"

"My bloodstream is basically coffee. I can't imagine I'm part of a healthy diet. Thing is, Wendigo or not, they saw something. I gotta figure out what."

"You ever deal with a Wendigo before?"

"A few years ago, in Chicago, I got a bit of a crash course, but I wound up investigating ghosts and stuff instead. I've known about Wendigos, but never had an investigation. I've always wanted one."

"It's a Christmas miracle," said Chris.

It was a rainy Wednesday afternoon when the phone rang. It was Tif.

"Hey, Dad, the staff down here wants to know if they should cut the bottom off the tree stump before they put it up."

"Yeah, at this point they probably should," I said. "About half an inch will do; doesn't have to be too much."

"I'll tell them. Thanks."

Five minutes later, the phone rang again. 

"Dad, the staff can't find a saw. They want to know if you can cut it for them."

"Tell them I'll be down in ten minutes."

A little while later, I pulled up in front of the building with my bow saw. I buzzed in, and Lacey led me to the backyard, where the tree was propped. She said,"Sorry to bring you all the way down here in the rain."

"It was a pretty slow day anyway, until this. You know you guys don't have to make my daughter call me; any of you can ask me for help."

Lacey grinned. "We figured she knew the number."

I took a few minutes and got a pretty good cut in the stump, then carried the tree into the building. "Where do you want this?"

"Up front," she said. "Let's put it in the office. You want to stick around for our potluck lunch?"

"I don't want to take your food, but I'll hang out with you guys for a while," I said. "I'll tell you all about my Wendigo investigation."

It was twenty-one degrees when I put the kids on the school bus, and not warming up much. I had my heaviest coat on, the one I kept around in case of a Yeti attack. Paul nd I had been taking Serena down to the bus stop since she'd moved in, saving her mother a step each morning. Serena's mom was just coming out her door as I walked past on the sidewalk.

"Hi," I said.

"Oh, hi," she said. "Hey, since you're here, I wanted to ask you something. Are you guys going to the Santa shopping at the school tonight?"
"Oh, yeah, I was just talking to my wife about that. We're taking Paul."

"Could Serena ride along with you? I want her to have the opportunity to buy presents, but I can't take the two little ones out that time of night."

"Oh, sure, I don't see why not," I said. "While we're at it, would you mind if we took a little ride afterward? I want to go over to Pine Creek."

"Oh, sure."

"This next part is where it gets weird....I'm investigating a cryptid sighting."

"Cryptid....?"

"Like Bigfoot or something."
"Oh, she'd love that. What time are you leaving?"

"About five-thirty."

"I'll have her ready."

"Guys, we've had a Wendigo sighting out this way," I said. "The Wendigo is a creature the Native Americans believed in, with big horns and glowing eyes. Someone out here thinks they saw one, so we're gonna check it out." I figured it was probably best if I left out the cannibalism details around the eight-year-olds.

The back of the car was filled with purchased Christmas gifts and two excited kids. There wasn't a lot more space in the front, where I had my backpack and my cryptozoology kit. I was wearing my gray ghost sweatshirt and my black adventure jacket.

"It's dark out here," observed Serena. "Do you always do this in the dark?"

"Not always," said Paul.

"We've hunted Bigfoot at high noon," I added.

"But sometimes in the dark?" she asked.

"Sometimes."

"Do you ever get hurt?"

"Well....It happens," I said, at the same time Paul said,"Yeah." I concluded,"But we try to avoid that."

Michelle turned and pulled into the foresty area off 44. She said,"You guys go. I'll wait in the car."

"Okay, guys," I said. I opened my car door and slung my crypto kit over my shoulder. "Take the night vision binoculars and the thermal imager, and check around the edges of the field."

The kids and I spread out across the snowy field. I'd taught them how to use the equipment, so I let them at it while I took some photos. Paul said,"Here's footprints!"

I knelt down and looked at them. "You know what these are? A rabbit."
"Really?"

"Yeah. You can see where he hopped around with his back and front feet. Good eye, though---I'd have missed them."

"There's different prints over here," said Serena.

I looked. "Now these, I can't identify. I'm going to take a photo to check them out later." I got out my pocketknife and laid it down beside the print. "See, what you do is to put something common, like my knife, down beside the print. That way you have a good sense of the size in the photo."

"Ah, I see," said Serena, interested.

"Allright, guys, we've checked enough, and it's cold," I said. "Let's get in the car."
"No!" Paul protested. "A few more minutes!"

"Okay," I said. "Since you're having fun. Few more minutes."

I walked over and leaned against the car.

Michelle rolled down the window. "Find any Wendigos?"
"In a manner of speaking," I said. "Work with me here. This was territory of the Seneca and the Susquehannocks, an Algonquin offshoot. They're the ones who believed in the Wendigo. Now, like the Thunderbird, they were likely seeing something. Whether it was an actual cryptid, or an animal that they mistook for one, they had reports of this thing. Now it's not impossible for some animal to follow Pine Creek down from the north. We have rabbit prints, and where there's prey, there's predators. So it's pretty likely my client saw something that's not supposed to be here---A large, unfamiliar animal, or an actual Wendigo."

Christmas dinner.

I sat at the table with Paul, Michelle, Tif, and Biz, while Butters and Rosie ran around on the floor, hoping something might drop. We'd exchanged presents---I'd gotten a couple of pairs of thermal socks, a bar of Bigfoot soap, and a new canteen. Good year.

"Got everything I wanted," I said. "Including a Wendigo investigation."

"Generally when people see a Wendigo, they don't see another one," said Biz. "Or much of anything else, either. Ever."

I grinned. "Well, you never know. There was a couple who saw something out there."

"But Bigfoot still eludes you," said Tif.

"Well," I said,"The new year's coming."

#100: Sea Change: One Guy Is An Island

I was just back from camp when I got a message about the paranormal. It happens.

I almost ignored it, then I read it over again. I walked into the other room, where my wife was watching TV.

"What do you think about a trip to Tionesta?"

"Didn't we just get back from a trip?"

"Yeah, but there's a program for at-risk kids out there that sent me a message. They have this annual event about the paranormal, and they just lost a guest speaker. They asked if I could fill in. It looks really cool; it's on an island in the Allegheny River. And it's in the PA Wilds, so I can get an article out of it, too."

"When is it?"

"Next Sunday," I said. "Day after I'm booked to give that talk at Hyner Run."

"Okay," said Michelle. "Anything cool out there to check out?"

"I don't know," I said. "But I'll find out."

The monthly meeting was me, Heather, and Ashlin. The others hadn't been able to make it. We sat in Heather's house, with her giant dog checking in on us periodically.

"It's been slow lately," commented Ashlin. "What can we do to drum up a little business?"

"You know," I said,"I think we all need something. Millie's husband died, Heather's grandfather died....I'm still recovering a bit....I think we need some time together. Every time I write something about the Pine-Loganton Road, the most haunted road in Clinton County, we get a lot of attention online. Maybe we need to investigate the PIne-Loganton Road."

"What's out there?" asked Heather.

"Well, there's a old legend of a murdered servant girl who appears in the form of a dancing cupboard. There's Bigfoot sightings. And I been working on water monsters all summer....There's a story near Sulphur Spring, where there's a horned serpent caused by a comet."

"That's a water monster?" asked Ashlin.

"If you squint."

"This sounds good," said Heather. "You know I'm in."

You'd think it might be unusual to have dinner in a haunted house, something that only happens in the movies. But my family does it every Friday. Tif, Biz, Paul, Michelle, and I sat around the table.

"I hate to eat and run," I said,"But as soon as I do the dishes, I gotta get out with the team. We're going to investigate the Pine-Loganton Road, the most haunted road in Clinton County."

"What time will you be home?" asked Paul.

"Probably around nine. Don't forget, little man, we're going to Hyner tomorrow night for my speech. And I may look into the Susquehanna Seal while we're there. And then on Sunday, we're going to Tionesta."

"What's in Tionesta?" Tif asked.

"I'll be speaking at a program for at-risk kids," I said. "Makes me feel good to use my paranormal experience to help out a little. We'll be on an island, with a lighthouse, and get this, the local library has a small cemetery right there on the property. It's one of those situations where the land was donated, but it already had the cemetery, so they agreed not to disturb it."

"Cool."

"I've had a song in my head all week," said Biz, who often comes up with these announcements out of left field. "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

"At least it's a good song," I commented.

Biz sang softly,"Turn around...."

Tif joined in. "Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming round...."

"Turn around...."

"Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears...."

They both sang together: "Turn around, bright eyes...."

And that was when I joined in. "And I need you now tonight....And I need you more than ever....Forever's gonna start tonight! Forever's gonna start tonight...."

We all sang together. Paul, who didn't know the lyrics, smiled and just loved it.

"Once upon a time I was falling in love....Now I'm only falling apart....Nothing I can say....A total eclipse of the heart."

I sat in Heather's SUV next to her as she drove down the Pine-Loganton Road. Heather's hair was dyed bright blue. I was wearing my LHPS uniform and my classic tac vest. In the back sat Millie and Tami, our new member.

"I couldn't get the right coordinates for the dancing cupboard spot, so I had to figure it out more or less by hand," I said. "Should be up about here, Heather."

Heather pulled over, and we got out of the vehicle. I walked around to help Millie get out. I've known her a long time, and sometimes it surprises me that she's aged. I'm almost the age she was when we met.

"Thanks," she said as I helped her out.

"After all these years," I said,"I finally get to hold your hand."

She laughed. We fanned out along the road and began taking readings with our equipment. I got out my laser thermometer.

"Turning on recorder," said Heather. "We're along the Pine-Loganton Road, looking into stories of the dancing cupboard. Is there anyone here? Why take the form of a cupboard?"

"I've always wondered that," I said.

I walked around on the road, taking readings with my thermometer. Heather glanced over, and said,"Cool."

"New laser thermometer," I said. The new one was purple. "I admit I ordered it just for the color. It's my favorite. While I was at it, I got an all-in-one EMF detector---Three different settings, some of which I'm still figuring out, plus a thermometer and a flashlight. Saves some weight when I'm packing stuff."

"So where can we get these?" asked Tami.

"I'll send everyone the link. Amazon suggests this stuff to me now." I looked down at my thermometer.  "What the hell?"

Tami glanced over. "Something?"

"Yeah, maybe. It's late August, and it's like ninety degrees out here. So why the hell am I getting a reading of twenty-six?"

"Is it Fahrenheit?" asked Millie.

"Yeah, I always leave it set to Fahrenheit because it's easier to understand." I showed Tami the screen. "Just for a minute, I got a serious drop. Could be our first ghost of the night."

Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up on another corner and got out. Heather looked over the foliage and commented,"Look, mint. Wild grapes, raspberries...."

"If Bigfoot wanted to eat, it would be a good place," I said.

We hiked back into the woods a bit. There was a thin trail that led back. I spotted a cluster of whitish hair on the ground, and knelt down beside it. "Hair," I said.

"Probably deer," commented Heather. 

"Probably," I said. "But I'm taking a sample. I haven't given up hope of a blonde Bigfoot."

Heather laughed. "I'm going to start keeping a journal of your quotes. I haven't given up hope of a blonde Bigfoot is a good one."

We walked back through the woods. I said,"Don't wanna leave Millie alone in the car too long. We'd better get back, and check on the Sulphur Serpent."

We rode down to Loganton, and I pointed. "The pavilion over there---That's Sulphur Spring. There's a legend there of a Native American guy who was killed, and a comet turned him into a serpent monster and gave the water a heavy Sulphur flavor."

'What?" asked Millie.

"Yeah, it doesn't make any more sense when you read it," I said. "Some of the tribes believed that drinking from the spring had healing powers."

"How can you get it down with the Sulphur?" asked Millie.

"I'll never know. I couldn't do it. Specifically, they believed it could cure a hangover, and it's too bad I can't drink it, as I was up half the night and spent about $3.50 getting one."

We stopped and got out of the car. Tami and Heather headed immediately for the footbridge, and I said,"Be right with you. I'm gonna test this water. Keep an eye out for serpents."

I walked over to the spring, getting out my litmus paper. I knelt down by the spring, under the pavilion. I could smell the water from where I was already.

"Sulphur," I said softly.

I held the litmus paper under the water for a moment, then pulled it back. It had turned a light green, which I compared to the little chart that came with the kit. Then, sliding the whole thing back into my pocket, I walked across the bridge to Heather and Tami.

"Water's a little alkaline," I said. "Nothing too dangerous."

"No serpents?" Tami asked.

I grinned at her. "Not yet."

Heather said,"Look at those divots in the rock down there. I wonder what those are."

"From here, they look manmade," I said. I considered a moment---There'd been a time I'd have climbed right down the bank, and I decided I wanted to be like that again. "Let's check."

I scrambled down the bank and stepped over the water on the rocks. Heather landed nimbly behind me---I'd known she would. "If you fall in, I'm not fishing you out," she said.

"Think I'll be okay."

We knelt down by the dents in the rock. I said,"These look Native American to me. Some sort of cooking thing, maybe? Put your water in there to heat it up. They did a lot of that."
"Yeah, this didn't happen naturally," said Heather, running her fingers in one.

"Confirms that the Native Americans were here," I said. "All points to the legend."

We looked out at the sunset in the SUV, on the way home. Heather said,"I love this area."

"Me, too," agreed Tami. "I'm glad I moved here. This is a great place."

"I needed this tonight," I said. "I'm glad we got the chance to get together and do this, guys. I really needed this."

I sat on the bench beside my wife, watching Paul in the pool at Hyner Run. At eight, Paul is more confident in the water than I've ever been, which continually fascinates me. He was throwing pool toys into the water, letting them sink, and then diving down to retrieve them. And then throwing them in to start all over again.

I stood up. "I'm gonna go for a walk before my speech," I said.

"Have fun investigating your monster," said Michelle.

"What monster?"

"Whichever. Whatever monster you're sneaking off to find."

"You're so suspicious," I said, and then walked off to look for the Susquehanna Seal.

We were at Hyner Run, which flowed into the Susquehanna. I was even wearing my Susquehanna Seal shirt on it, showing the monster that had often been sighted in these waters. Earlier in the summer, I'd come up with the theory that it was a rogue Hynerpeton, a prehistoric creature that had been discovered only in Clinton County. I'd started off the pandemic investigating the Susquehanna Seal, and now here I was doing it again.

I felt good. I was in a good mood, and some of the self-improvement I'd tried to work on over the summer seemed to be taking effect. I could feel myself taking up my old rhythms, feeling more like the old me before COVID knocked out a lot of my confidence. I was getting some of that back now, and it was a good thing.

I got to the peaceful, grassy spot down near the bridge, and I dropped my pack to the grass. Walking down to the run, I tested the water with litmus paper---I knew it could support life, as I could see bugs and fish in the water, but you gotta follow procedure. It was a perfect seven, exactly the right pH.

I looked at some of the plants. With something prehistoric, you reach what I call the Population Problem---If there are sightings over a hundred years, you're obviously not looking at one creature, but a family of them. If I was considering a leftover prehistoric Hynerpeton, it had to eat. And the plants had all changed, since those days. I knew of only one tree, the gingko, that was still around from that long ago.

I looked at the bugs, skirting across the top of the water.

What if it was a carnivore?

Now, that was an interesting thought. Thought all the plants had changed in the past million years or so, insects and fish hadn't much, at least not in terms of nutritional value. A carnivore could have lived in these waters that long without having to evolve much, diet-wise.

I walked back up the path. As I walked, I saw a DCNR vehicle rolling down toward me. I raised a hand and waved, and an arm waved back from the window. He pulled up beside me, and it was my friend Ian, who booked me for a speech every year.

"How you doing, Lou?" he asked.

"I'm good, Ian," I said truthfully. "How about you?"

"Yeah, I'm good," he said. "Thanks for coming tonight."

"Glad to do it," I said. "Thanks for inviting me."

"You finding everything allright?"

I nodded.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "I'm finding some interesting stuff."

That night, everyone was in bed. Michelle, Paul, Rosie. This left me up with Emily, our new hamster, and probably Ida, the ghost in the house. I sat in the kitchen with my laptop.

"Hi, Ida," I said. "How you doing?" Some nights I do this, just talk to Ida with everyone else asleep. "It's your anniversary, isn't it? A hundred and seventeen years since the night you died. I'm doing a little research, if you want to stick around."

I got online, and searched for Hynerpetons.

Among all the pictures and other information, I found an article that said, based on their jaws, they were carnivorous. They lived on bugs and small fish.

"Well, Ida," I said,"Looks like my theory is good."

The borough of Tionesta reminds me a lot of Renovo, back in Clinton County. As we pulled into town mid-afternoon in the Prius, I was getting serious Renovo vibes.

"Right here, right here," I said excitedly. "Stop at the local library!"

Michelle pulled the car in. "Says it's closed."

"It is closed. But they have a cemetery, and I gotta check it out."

I climbed out of the car. I had my deluxe tactical vest, the one with all the patches and pockets. I took a few readings with the thermometer, and clicked some photos. 

Someone came up the slope behind me. Paul.

"Check it out, little man," I said. "I wish our library had a cemetery."

"It's cool," Paul agreed.

"And this is only the beginning of today," I said. "We're gonna go out on the island so I can make my speech."

"Cameron doesn't know how to ghost hunt," he said. "When I was playing with his the other day, he had an app. I told him they're all fake, and he wanted to know why I think everything's fake, and I told him I know, cause my dad's a ghost hunter."

"Proud of you, little man."

"When I'm older," Paul asked,"Can I take over your team?"

I smiled.

"Yes," I said. "Yes, you can."

The island was really cool. There's no other way to say it---The island was cool. We drove in on the small bridge, and parked by the building. We walked around a few minutes, looking at the lighthouse standing over everything, and the park that even had a model of the Statue of Liberty in it. I'd fallen in love with Tionesta immediately upon arriving, and this just made it even better.

"Is that a hot dog stand?" asked Paul.

"You hungry? Come on, let's get you a hot dog."

We bought Paul a hot dog, and then I found my contact person at the front of the building. I recognized her in a moment, and said,"Roni? Hi, nice to meet you!"
"Thank you for coming," she said. "We have a table set up for you."

I brought in my equipment and set it on the table. I had laser thermometers, EMF detectors, recorders, and cameras along with the LHPS business cards. My vest was in the center.

The guy currently speaking was going on about demons and werewolves. Michelle leaned over and whispered,"Oh, they're gonna just love you."

"Yeah. I was thinking that."

A kid came up to the table, looking things over. He asked,"What's this?"

"Night vision binoculars. If you press the button on top, a laser lights you up."

"Cool. This is awesome." Pointing at the tactical vest.

"Yeah, man," said another kid. "That's really cool."

I grinned. "Looks pretty bad-ass while I'm investigating."

Roni went up and took the microphone. "If everyone could please take their seats," she said,"Our next speaker came all the way from Lock Haven to be here today. I'll let him come up and introduce himself, and please give him your attention. Lou?"

I walked up to the front of the room. I was wearing my shirt with the ghost silhouette symbol on it. I stood in front of the table and set down a few pieces of my equipment.

Paul came up and sat down in the front row.

I smiled at the audience.

"Hi, everyone, and thanks for having me," I said. "I appreciate your being here today. My name is Lou, and I'm a member of the Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers. We do scientific, measurable investigations of our local places. Let me say, I am loving Tionesta! I've never been here before, but I love your community. This place is great."

I took a deep breath, and then grinned.

"Now," I said,"Let's talk about the paranormal."

And it ended with bedtime....As most things do.

Night had fallen. I walked along the sidewalk with Rosie, and then entered the house. I let her off the leash, and she jetted for the stairs. I followed along.

Paul was already in bed, under the covers. I gave him his goodnight kiss, and said,"Goodnight, little man. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Daddy," Paul said, already preparing to not fall asleep until after eleven.

I stopped at his door and turned around. He said,"What?"

"What's your favorite thing we investigate?"

He thought it over. "Ghosts. Also Bigfoot. And cryptids. Why?"

I smiled. 

"Just wondered, little guy. Goodnight."

Here Today, Gone Giwoggle

It was dark, getting late. I was out, but not looking for ghosts or aliens. I was just walking the dog.

I walked with Rosie down the street. As I passed on the north side, one of my neighbors called out."Lou! Hey, Lou! Come over here!"

I tugged at the leash, and we walked over to their porch. The woman who lived across from me was standing with another woman, holding a cell phone. She said,"He's a ghost hunter. Play it for him."

"You think you have a ghost?" I asked, while Rosie sat on the steps patiently.

"We have a doorbell camera," the woman said. "We live across the street. I checked the recording, and this came up."

She held up the cell phone and played it for me. I saw a view of our street, and then heard a weird, creepy voice say something I couldn't quite make out. I frowned.

"That could be a ghost, right?" the woman across the street asked.

"Well....Hard to say. Has anyone ever done the research on your house?"

The woman shook her head. "No. I don't want to know."

I could do it in about five minutes without ever leaving my office, and it's generally harmless. But I let it go. "Have you had any other issues lately?"
"Well, we found a thing....A bar, you know, the kind they use to pry things open...."

"A crowbar?"

"Yes, a crowbar. We found a crowbar in the backyard. And something messed with our back fence."

"Okay," I said,"You could have led with that. You don't have a ghost. What you probably have is an attempted burglar. I'd suggest calling the police."

I love what I do, but man. A lot of people just don't think things through.

Dinner was mustard-crusted pork chops and stuffed baked potatoes---I'd found new recipes. The conversation was, of course, local history and folklore.

"So you want to write about Loop Hill Ike," I said.

Biz nodded. "My professor wants us to do folklore, and left the rest up to us. I thought Ike would be a good one."

"Who's Loop Hill Ike?" asked Paul.

"Loop Hill Ike was Isaac Gaines," I said. "He was descended from escapees on the Underground Railroad, and lived up in Keating Township. He was said to be kind of a paranormal bounty hunter; there are a lot of stories of him dealing with ghosts and monsters. Remember when you and me looked for the Swamp Angel last summer?"
"Yeah," said Paul.

"Loop Hill Ike dealt with the Swamp Angel, too. He was also responsible for handling Clinton County's official monster, the Giwoggle. The Giwoggle was sort of a werewolf, with the hands of a bird and the feet of a horse."

"Cool," said Paul. "We had chicken nuggets in school today."

"Yeah? Did you like them?"

"Yeah. I ate a bunch."

"When are you in the library?" asked Biz. "I have to do fourteen hours of supervised research."
"Take your pick," I said. "I'm in Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from noon until eight."
"I'll come in Thursday."

"See you then."

"You mind if I order something to eat? Biz asked. 

"Nah, go ahead," I said. "Thursday nights are always dead in here. Nobody will even notice."

"So what do we have on Loop Hill Ike?"

"I went up to the attic today and pulled all the old Keystone Folklore Quarterly magazines that had his stories in them," I said. I slid three photocopies across the table to her. "Here's the Giwoggle, the Swamp Angel, and the haunted fiddle. That one is based on a real murder."

"Oh yeah?"

"The Gaines murder. One brother shot another through the window while he was eating dinner. We can get it from the microfilm if you like."

"Possibly later. Do you know where Ike is buried?"
"Yeah, he's in a small cemetery at the Clearfield/Clinton County line. I'd like to say we can go and find it, but it's a hell of a trip. We're not making it in a Prius."
"No, that's okay."

"Interestingly, there have been sightings of what they call 'bipedal wolves' in that area. With a little accounting for unsure witnesses, these could be interpreted as Giwoggles, running around the grave of their old adversary."

Biz grinned. "That's so cool."

"There was also an incident in the Civil War," I said. "Captain Wilson Kress went to recruit Ike to fight, and Ike shot him in the leg and ran. He hid out, spending some time lumbering in Warren and McKean Counties under assumed names, until the search cooled off. Years later, he met Kress at a railroad station in Lock Haven, and they shook hands and let it go."

"Cool."

"It makes me wonder about the assumed names," I said. "I have to wonder if Warren and McKean have stories of a legendary ghost hunter up there, and it's actually Ike, and they don't even know it."
"Now," said Biz,"That would be really interesting to find out. What other documentation do you have?"

"There's a will," I said. "Loop Hill Ike seems to have left a will when he died. I can pull that from the courthouse for you, if you like."

"Let's hold off on the will for now," said Biz. "But maybe you can show me later."

Morning. I got up and had some coffee. Able to function, I walked Paul down to the bus stop. He rode his scooter down excitedly. It's crazy how kids are able to wake up without coffee like that.

I put the little guy on the bus, and then walked back to the house. The morning newspaper had arrived. I took it inside and set it on the table while I had more coffee.

I opened my laptop, and checked all my e-mail. A couple of things had come in overnight. I skimmed through them, and then saw a story about dogman sightings in Pennsylvania.

I grinned.

I subscribe to all the best newsletters.

I rode down to the courthouse annex before work, and headed up to the Register and Recorder's office. The women all looked up when I walked in.

"Hi, Lou! Been a while!"

"Yeah, I don't get down on this end of town much anymore. I should bring the little guy down sometime. Right now, I gotta find a will."

"You know where to look."

The wills are all on microfiche, and with some effort, I found the right one, and put it in the machine. Loop Hill Ike had died in 1915, leaving the bulk of his estate to his housekeeper, Mary Ann Williams. Who then seemed to have vanished without a trace----I checked all the other sources, and couldn't find anything that indicated that she'd died, gotten married, or owned property.

Another mystery.

I was wearing my Aliens made me do it shirt and working the desk when Biz walked in. She had her laptop slung over her shoulder.

"Hi, hon!" I said. 

"Just here to do some writing," she said. "The last night working on my paper."

"Got it. Let me know if you need anything," I said. "Hey, you'll like this. According to one of the paranormal newsletters I subscribe to, there have been several dogman sightings in Clearfield County, near the Clinton border. Right about where Ike is buried. Now, it's not too much of a stretch to think these might be Giwoggles."

Biz grinned. "Some witches getting busy up there."

"I can print the newsletters out for you, if you like."

"Sure. Might be able to add some color to my paper."

"When is this due?"

"Tuesday. I got time. Which is good, because I sure as hell can't focus right now. I work best under pressure."

"You kind of work exclusively under pressure."

"Where exactly is Keating Township, anyway?"

"Way the hell up on the west end of the county," I said. "Actually there are two, East and West Keating, and I don't know why the hell they did that, as there's like six people between them. You want to see on a map?"

"Sure."

I took one of the tourist maps we hand out, and laid it out on the table. "Here's Lock Haven. Here's Keating."

"Wow, that is pretty far out there, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's listed as one of the most remote places in the state. If you drive through Renovo, and then look around and it's still not deserted enough for you, Keating is your next stop."

"Can I keep this map?"

"Sure, we get them in boxes of a hundred and hand them out to the tourists."

"I went down to the courthouse the other day and pulled Ike's will for you. I have a copy made. I know you said you didn't need it right away, but...."

"No, at this point I'm glad you did. Find anything interesting?"

"Ike left the bulk of his estate to Mary Ann Williams, his housekeeper. She was to live on the property until she died. Can't find her; she's probably buried on the property up there someplace. After her death, the property was to go to Ike's in-laws, Martin and Isaac Lanager, assuming they were good to Mary Ann. If not, it was split up among his siblings."

"Lanager. That sounds....Didn't you write about that?"

"Several years ago, I wrote a column about a Lanager. Had to go back and check my files. William Lanager, who had to be a son, died in a house fire in 1949. He's buried with Isaac, but not all of him...His arm was lost in a railroad accident, and is buried across the street."

"Weird shit."

"Whole township is full of it."

"Can I order some food in here while I work?" she asked. "I'm getting hungry."

"The idea of a severed arm makes you hungry?"
"It's been a long time since breakfast."

"I mentioned the siblings. One of those was Sarah Confer, who told the Giwoggle story in the first place. In fact, since it was her grandson who wrote it down, without Sarah, we wouldn't have the county's official monster. And she was telling these legendary stories about her brother."

"Which would mean...."

"Which would mean that there's only a couple of steps between Ike and what we know. Sarah, her grandson, and then me. Accounting for tall tales, a lot of this stuff has to be pretty accurate."

"So there were really Giwoggles?"

"At the time, someone believed that there were. And considering we're still getting sightings over a hundred years later, there's something up there."

I was at my desk when an e-mail came through. One of the local writers was interested in a Shoemaker article form 1954. I set down my coffee and walked to the file cabinet, sitting on the floor. S to Z was the lowest drawer, and I pulled out the Shoemaker file and started paging through it.

I found a green folder I didn't remember seeing before, and I opened it. Inside was a stack of typed pages, an interview with a Keating woman named Helen McGonigal. I read through them, fascinated.

I went and got my cell phone, and called Biz.

"Hey," she said. "What's up?"

"You remember when I wondered if maybe Loop Hill Ike had some adventures in other counties during his time on the run?"

"Yeah."

"By sheer coincidence, I just stumbled on an old paper that talks about ghostly adventures he had in Potter County while he was a fugitive. Written by Henry Shoemaker, too."

"Nice," said Biz.

"Up near the Triple Divide, Ike was camping when he heard something sneeze. He walked into the woods to follow it, and found a bunch of plants that seemed to be screaming."

"Sneezing plants?"

"Don't look at me; I don't make this stuff up. So Ike dug down, and found a skeleton, which was sneezing because it had a nose clogged with dirt. So he cleaned it off, wrapped it in a copy of the Clinton Democrat of all things, and reburied it. The ghost came to him later and thanked him."

"Cool."
"I'll make you a copy."

Dinner was marinated chicken and baked potatoes. Like always, Biz sat to my left.

"It's a relief to be done with school for the semester," she said. "Got all my papers in, and now I just have to sit back and wait for the grades."

"I remember how that goes," said Tif. "I always hated the end of the semester."

"Well, I'm done now," said Biz.

"So how'd you do on the Loop Hill Ike paper?" I asked. "Get that one back yet?"
"I got a ninety-five," she said.

"Good job," I said. "Proud of you."

Biz smiled.

"Thanks."

Quoth The Haven

Thy soul shall find itself alone

'Mid dark thoughts of the gray tomb-stone---

Not one, of all the crowd, to pry

Into thine hour of secrecy...

"This is your brain on ghost stories."

I cracked a couple of eggs into a measuring cup and scrambled them up. With Michelle and Paul out on a shopping spree, I had some time to make myself breakfast. Rosie followed along, because you never know, I might drop something edible. 

From the front room, I heard a bark. Just one single, very familiar-sounding bark. Like fifteen years worth of familiar.

I set down the knife and walked into the room. I glanced out the front window---Nobody was out on the sidewalk.

I looked down at Duke's empty bed. 

"Duke?" I whispered. "You there? I miss you, buddy."

I felt myself beginning to cry. "You were such a good dog. I loved you, pal. Things just aren't the same without you. I hope you're still around; I hope you can hear me. I miss you so, so much."

I sat casually at the meeting, taking notes in the haunted house. When your best friends are ghost hunters, that happens.

Millie, Ashlin, and SaraLee sat with me in the living room. The Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers were back to meeting once a month, which we hadn't been able to do since February of 2020, when COVID hit.

The Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers were back.

"So anything else for us, Lou?" Millie asked.

"I met with my editor recently," I said. "Turns out, her family owns the Straub Brewery up in Saint Marys. Great beer. They're convinced it's haunted, and they'd love to have us up there. Maybe for a public event in a year, once COVID numbers are down."

"I have a feeling that won't be until July of 2022," said SaraLee. "But I'm in."

"I knew you'd be."

"What about the other investigations?" Millie asked. "Should we start requiring proof of vaccination?"

"You know, that's a good idea," I said. "Things aren't going to be getting any better until it becomes more of a problem to stay unvaccinated. We really should do that. I'll contact our clients and ask."

"What we need," Millie said,"Is a place where we can just go and investigate, without a client."

SaraLee held up her hand. I turned and looked at her.

"That's right, your place," I said slowly. "That's a great idea. I'm in."

"We have activity," SaraLee said. "And I'll have you guys in anytime."
"I love it," I said. "Let's do that for our next meeting, in September."

"Are we bringing all of the equipment, or just the personal stuff?" Millie asked.

"Let's go with just the smaller stuff," I said. "We'll do an inventory in October, check to see what still works. We always have the October meetings at your place anyway, Millie. I'll wear my new outfit....I changed it a year ago. You guys remember the tactical vest? I got rid of that because it looked too much like the terrorists who raided the Capitol."

"Yeah," Millie said,"You don't want to be associated with them."

"Instead I went with a more casual outfit, with buttons and stuff all over it. Nobody mistakes that for a terrorist."

"You ever going back to the vest?" asked SaraLee.

"I don't know. When the world calms down, maybe."

"Do me a favor," I said to my daughter. "Find our when Edgar Allen Poe died."

My daughter Tif picked up her tablet from the kitchen table. "Alexa," she said. "When did Edgar Allen Poe die?"

That annoyingly calm computer voice came on. "Edgar Allen Poe died on October seventh, 1849."

"Okay," I said. "That checks out."

"Do I want to know why I just did that?" Tif asked.

"I was talking to Kevin the other day," I said. "You remember my friend Kevin? The Thunderbird specialist from New Jersey? He turned up documentation of an old Shoemaker story that suggested Edgar Allan Poe carved his initials on a cave in Centre County."

"Cool!" said Tif.

"I'm a little dubious on that," I said. "But when I was checking some of the local ghost books in my office, I found a mention of the Eutaw House. Supposedly, Poe stayed there overnight once, about 1836, when he was visiting family in the area, maybe trying to deal with a family member's death. It's said that he carved his initials in one of the tables there: EAP. The house has been around since about 1823, and if Poe didn't died until 1849, the timing at least works out. It's said he's still haunting the place."

"That's really cool," said Tif.

"I'm not sure how true it is."

"Shut up."
"Hey!" said Paul, playing with Rosie on the other end of the table. "Don't tell Dad to shut up!"

"I want to think Edgar Allen Poe is haunting the area."

"Well, I'm working on that," I said. "I actually have something else going in Centre County right now. I'm going to check into this Poe thing at the same time."

"Hey, Lou, you know where Reeder's Tavern is?"

I turned from where I was ordering breakfast. The question came from the cluster of old guys drinking coffee at a table---Every fast food place has them. I think they're mandated by federal law. "I think so," I said. "Up along the pike?"

"Yeah, that's the place," said the guy. "There's a cemetery up there, just before you get to it. It's on the left. We were wondering what that was."

"It's on the left," said another guy.

"I'd have to look it up," I said. "Feel free to stop by the library----"

"Yeah, we wondered about that," the guy continued. "It's a little thing, right by the side of the road. It's hard ot describe where it is---"

"No, I got that---"

"It's on the left," the second guy said again.

"There are seventy-three cemeteries in Clinton County," I said. "I don't have them all memorized. But we have all the cemetery records, so I can look it up."

"Yeah, it's kinda hard to say where. But it's up along the pike, near the Black Forest. You ever go to the Black Forest?"

"I'll check into this," I said. I turned to the guy at the counter, who was watching with some amusement. "Ham and egg sandwich, please."

I biked back to the library. The weather was cool and the leaves were just beginning to turn. I've always loved autumn more than any other season. Something about the fall energizes me, makes me feel as if there are new adventures ahead.

Back at the library, I pulled the Gallagher Township cemetery booked and checked the map. Up about where they were describing was Luculls Cemetery, which was indeed on the left. I dialed down to the shop.

"Hi, it's Lou....I was just in there? Are the seniors with the coffee still there? I was wondering if you could pass on a message for me. It's Lucullus Cemetery, founded 1862. Yes, that's right. Thank you."

Okay. Serious research. I started with "Haunted Pennsylvania," re-reading what I'd already discovered. then I checked the index file---You never know, sometimes you get lucky. There was one mention of Edgar Allan Poe---He came up in a Henry Shoemaker story called "She Knew The Poet" from the Indian Steps book. It's right across from my desk, so I pulled it and read the story.

Shoemaker had Poe visiting the area around 1836 or so, staying in a local mansion called the Walters Mansion, and falling in love with a woman who lived there. I cross-referenced it---I checked the location of the Eutaw House, and then pulled the 1874 map of Centre County. I found property very near the location owned by a family named Walter---John Walter, George Walter.

Hot damn! Corroboration. That felt good. Is it haunted, or not? Only your paranormal investigator knows for sure.

Lunch time. I pulled my food out of my pack and went upstairs. Paul had been making me sandwiches to take to lunch lately---With COVID numbers rising, I wasn't going out and getting lunch anymore. I was eating upstairs to avoid sitting at my desk maskless.

Today's sandwich was salami and ham. I sat down to eat it. I'd had an enjoyable summer full of cryptids, but it was nice to be diving headfirst into ghosts and old legends again. I perused "Haunted Pennsylvania" again while I ate.

Harrison Shawley had bought the Eutaw House in 1939. He claimed to have found the old sign in the attic and renamed the hotel, and found the initials EAP carved on a table. Shawley had been the one to start publicizing the story of Poe's visit.

So, a timeline....

1823: The Eutaw House built. 1836-ish: Poe allegedly visits. 1912: Shoemaker writes about it, with a certain amount of embellishment. 1939: Shawley maybe reads the Shoemaker story and starts telling poeple that Poe visited.

Edgar Allan Poe. 1939. I'd heard those things together before. Why was this banging on my subconcious so hard....?

After a moment, it hit me.

"The Poe Toaster," I said to Tif. "You familiar with the Poe Toaster?"

"Is that an appliance?"

"It is not," I said. "Beginning sometime in the 1930s, a guy in an overcoat and hat started showing up at Poe's grave once a year. He would leave roses and take a shot of cognac, then disappear. Happened annually until 2009, and then he wasn't seen again."

"Oh cool. Now that you mention it, I think I heard something about that. I didn't know about the cognac, though."

I was cooking dinner. Rosie sat down at my feet as I chopped kielbasa. I dropped a piece for her; Rosie gets a lot of table scraps. "Here's the thing. Harrison Shawley bought the Eutaw House in 1939, and needed a way to publicize it. He was the one who claimed to have discovered the initials carved in the table."

"You think he was the Poe Toaster," said Tif.

"I think Shawley may have been the Poe Toaster."

"How long did he live?"

"I checked the cemetery records. Shawley died in 1988, but he had a son and then a grandson. The grandsom died in 2009, which is when the Poe Toaster stopped. So the times work out. The Poe Toaster may have been from Centre County."

"That's cool. You going to write about this?"

"Nevermore."

"Okay, where do you want me?" I walked out onto the patio, where staff and volunteers were unpacking boxes of books for the annual fundraiser. Mel glanced around the patio.

"Get busy," she said.

"I could use a few more specifics."

"We haven't put anyone on the religion section yet. Go unpack religion. That'll be fun for you."

"First time in a while I've got religion."

"Nobody buys them," she said,"So neatness doesn't count. I don't care how they're arranged."

I was stacking up a bunch of Tomato Bisque For Your Mental State books when Barb came out. Looking around for a moment, she found me. "Lou? Your wife called. She said to call back."

"I'll use my cell. Thanks."

Then it took me a few minutes to find my cell phone in my backpack---I rarely ever use it---And forty-five seconds to turn it on. I'd timed it once. I called home as I walked out into the backyard of the library.

"Yeah? Got your message."

"Paul's running a fever."

I felt a sudden panic---A fever. Christ. After a year and a half of COVID...."How high?"

"A hundred point five. I want to give him some Tylenol and call the doctor to see if he needs a COVID test."

"Okay. That sounds like a good plan. Call me on my cell and let me know."

I hung up and slipped the cell in my pocket. Then I collapsed, crouching against the wall of the library. Crying. Wrapping my arms around myself. 

Paul. 

My son.

"I called off work today," I said. "I won't be going in. Gonna spend all day at home with you."

Sitting at the kitchen table, working on his math, Paul nodded. "Good."

"Maybe later we'll give Grandpa a call. You did really good with the test today, buddy. I was proud of how well you did with that."

"Daddy? I'm scared."

"What are you scared of, buddy?"

Paul started to cry.

"I'm scared I have COVID."

"Hey. Hey. Come here." I hugged him. "It's gonna be okay, buddy. You're gonna be allright. Your mom and me will protect you. We're gonna take care of you, don't worry."

I held my son.

"We'll get through this, little man. We'll get through it."

"Dinner." I set the plates on the counter and removed the sausages from the oven. Michelle put some food on a plate and sat down.

"Not too hungry?" she asked me.

"Forcing myself to eat," I admitted. "Paul's sick. COVID numbers are rising. I've spent my entire life learing how to survive and deal with emergencies.....But I never envisioned anything like this."

Her cell phone made a sound. She glanced at it. Today I'd been kind of glad I barely use mine----It had negated the urge to check it every fifteen seconds or so. Michelle picked her phone up and checked the message.

"It's negative," she said. "Paul doesn't have COVID."

I breathed. Suddenly, once again, I could breathe.

"You want to tell him?" she asked.

I nodded. We walked into the living room, where we found Paul and Rosie, curled up together and asleep on the couch.

I looked down at my son.

"Let's let him sleep for a while."

I walked through the book sale, looking things over. It was safe for me to come back. I rearranged a couple of science fiction books, grouping authors together. I was wearing my kraken shirt.

My cell phone rang. To some extent, that was a little surprising. I was still carrying it in my pocket, in case Paul needed anything.

It wasn't Paul. It was SaraLee. "Hey, pal."

"Hey, buddy. I wanted to talk to you....I need to cancel the investigation tomorrow. Family stuff."

"Oh. Okay," I said. "That's allright. I'll tell the team."

"You sure it's okay? I feel kind of bad...."

"Can't help these scheduling things. I'll stay home and play with the kid," I said. "Family stuff."

I spotted a thick book with a blue cover, and picked it up. The Complete Works Of Edgar Allan Poe.

I grinned. "Hey, Zach, I'll take this one."

The next night, when I walked into a haunted house, it was my own. 

First Rosie ran to greet me, and then Paul. I gave the kid a hug. "Hey, little man. My ghost hunt for tomorrow was cancelled, so I get to spend time with you. I'd rather do that anyway."

"Yay!"

"We can get Chinese food and eat in the park. Maybe you and me will go looking for ghosts, sound good?"

"Yeah! Did you bring me any books, Daddy?"

"I did. Here's one for kids about ghosts." I handed it to him, and he took it and left the kitchen. I turned to Tif, sitting at the table. 

"He doing okay today?" I asked.

"He's getting his energy back. He seems fine," said Tif. "How are you doing?"

I sat down. "I'm still kinda recovering. Scared to death. I am furious at the selfish assholes who put us in this position."

"Yeah, me too," said Tif. "I'm so sick of this."

"I could kill. At this point, we shouldn't have to deal with this. It's being dragged out by the stupid bastards who won't get the vaccine."

"I need something to take my mind off it," said Tif.

"Well. I have a book about Edgar Allan Poe."

"Cool. When are you reading it? I might want to borrow it for October, when I read all sorts of spooky stuff."

"You can have it then, sure. In the meantime, I got something for you to work on. Sometime this week, come on up early. You and me are gonna light up one of my expensive cigars and do some writing."

"What kind of writing?"

"I got some stationery with roses on it. We're gonna write down a Poe quote and a mysterious message, and mail it to the Eutaw House. We'll do this once a year, and create a new mystery. You're gonna be the new Poe Toaster."

Tif grinned. "I like it. I'm in."

"We'll let someone else figure it out. We're gonna take this haunted place, and make it into a new local mystery."

The Prius pulled into the Citgo station just before highway 322, and we got out. I looked across the street at the Eutaw House, still standing in Centre County.

"That's the place," I said. "That's where Poe was said to have stayed. The place he may still be haunting."

"Is it still a hotel?" Michelle asked.

"It doesn't seem to be," I said. "The sign says it's PennDOT headquarters now, which is scarier than a haunted hotel." I turned to Paul. "You want the thermometer or the K2 meter?"

"The thermometer."

I handed it to him. We held hands as we walked across the street. I said,"Get a baseline reading along the building. Stay on the side, watch for traffic."

"Sixty-two degrees," he reported.

I held up the K2 meter, which went straight to red. I said,"Check it out, Paul. This is topping out immediately. No wires, nothing that should be setting it off."
"It's haunted?" asked Paul.

"Could be," I said.

"I want to try that."

I traded the K2 meter for the thermometer, and then I snapped a couple of photos. This was going to make a great article. I walked along the side of the road, checking out the haunted hotel with my little boy.

I finished my Chinese food, sitting in Riverview Park. Nearby, Paul was running around on the playground with some other kids. I watched for a while.

He was looking pretty good. He'd gotten his energy back, and was up and around. With each passing day, I was feeling better about his health.

I dug into my backpack, pulling out my K2 meter and my laser thermometer. I slipped them into my pockets, and then pulled on my jacket with all the buttons and badges. I walked to where Paul was playing on the climbing stuff.

"Hey, kiddo. There used to be a haunted hotel right over there."

"Oh, yeah, I remember."

"It was torn down decades ago. They say a lumberman got murdered on the stairs, and there was always a blood spot there. I'm going to go check it out. If you need me, I'll be right over there, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy."

I watched him play for a moment, then turned and walked across the park. My son was okay. I was doing better than I'd been. I was still afraid and angry. I was just going to have to find ways around that.

I pulled out the K2 meter and hit the button. It lit up as I walked, sweeping it side to side.

With the leaves falling around me, I walked through the park.

From childhood's hour, I have not been

As others were---I have not seen

As others saw----I could not bring 

My passions from a common spring.