Lights, Camera, Action

Knock knock.

I tapped on the door. "Hannah? It's Lou. Came to check your office for secret passages."
"Oh, sure. Come on in."

I entered the small office on the top floor of the charity I help with. One of the staffers, Hannah, was sitting at her desk. I said,"A while ago I noticed that your office has some unexplained space when you look at it from the outside, so I thought I'd come take a look."

"Well, when you're done, Julie said she wanted to see you," she said. "A secret panel would be cool. Didn't you just look into some UFOs? Unexplained blue lights in the sky?"

"Goddamn gender reveal party," I said.

I checked around. Crawling on the floor, I tapped on the wall. On the eastern end of the office, I stopped. "This is hollow. There's a space back there, but it's plastered over."

She grinned. "That's so cool."

"I've found a few spots like that in the library, looking around," I said. "Discovered a hidden space in the attic after we got back from COVID."

"Figured you'd come in today and check?" Hannah asked.

I shrugged. "Well, you know. Paul's in school, so I got some free time."

Julie was downstairs in her office. At first, when I'd begun helping out at the shelter, I'd felt weird just walking in and out of the place. As time went by, I'd been appreciated by the staff, and begun to feel more comfortable being around the place. Now, I felt at home.

"Hi, Lou," she said, looking up as I came in. "Would you be able to spare a night to stop by and talk to some of the clients? They'd kind of like to hear from you."

"This ghosts, or history?" I asked.

"Mostly ghosts. They've been hearing some things around the shelter, and some of them are starting to believe the place is haunted."

"Well, it probably is. Place was built in 1885."

"Yeah, but you know how it is. I'd like you to come in and talk to them about ghosts, and maybe a little history on the building, and see if you can get them calmed down."

"I can do that," I said. "As a kid, I never saw myself as a calming presence, but I can handle it."
"You have the time?"
"Sure, it's a little slow lately. Probably the writers' strike. I can be here next Wednesday, if you like."
"That would be fine. Thanks."

"Anytime. Call if you need me."

I was at work when the storm broke out.

Sitting at my desk, I saw the pouring rain through the window, and watched the lightning flash across the sky. I was sitting in the oldest section of the local library, built in 1887.
My name is Lou. I'm a paranormal investigator. I look into ghosts, aliens, cryptids, and local history, and then I write about it. It's shocking how much attention you can get this way.

I sideline at the local library. Was a time, years ago, I'd have said I'm a librarian who supplements with my writing. But the older I get, the more I've begun to feel it's the other way around.

I was working on processing books when Zach ran by---One of my co-workers. He shouted,"We have a leak!"

I got up and walked toward the stacks. This is not an uncommon occurrence in an old library; it's why we were currently getting the roof fixed. I walked into the stacks---And saw disaster.

The water was coming through the ceiling in torrents. It was flooding the stacks, and soaking the books. A couple of my co-workers were pulling the computer tables out of the way and throwing plastic sheeting up over the shelves. One of my co-workers ran past, shouting,"We have  buckets up in Children's!"

I followed her up the stairs. "Does Children's have a wading pool or something?"
"She does! Good thinking! She keeps it in the storage room."

I found the pool and ran it downstairs. I put it under one of the bigger spurts. I ran to the shelf in the back room and began pulling old yearbooks off the shelves, running them back to the Pennsylvania Room, out of the rushing water. 

Halfway back, I bumped into Zach. "Where's Bill?" he asked.

Bill is the maintenance guy. "Don't know."
"The electricity is smoking."

I turned and ran for the lobby. "Bill!!?"

"Yeah?" To my relief, I heard his voice from the lobby.

"Zach says the electric is starting to smoke! We gotta shut down the fuse!"
Bill ran for the fusebox. I continued moving yearbooks into the PA Room, getting my Kraken shirt wet, then pulled my cell phone out of my pack and slipped off to the stairwell. I dialed the charity down the street.

It was Juli who picked up. I said,"How you guys doing down there?"

"Us? We're fine. Hell of a storm, but we're doing okay."

"Good. No problems with the building?"

"No, it's cool."

"Okay. Thought I'd better call and make sure. We're flooding here, but lately I feel more responsibility to the shelter than the library."

"Thanks for checking on us, but we're all safe."
"Okay. Good."

 I heard a repeating beeping. Following the sound, I realized that some of the lights on the alarm box were blinking.

"Bill! The alarm is making a noise!"
"Oh, dammit, I interrupted the whole thing!"
He ran for the alarm system. I saw a new place where the water was leaking, and threw another container underneath it.
"It's spreading!"

The boss stood on the side of the room, shaking her head.

"I'll have to call the insurance company," she said. "We're going to have to close up until we can get this taken care of."

In the middle of all the chaos, my friend Chris came in the back door with his camera. Chris was my intern well over a decade ago, and we'd become really good friends since. He wrote for one of the same newspapers I did these days.

"Here to report for the Record," he said. "Heard you guys were having a disaster."

"Jesus, are we ever. Follow me."

I led him back to the stacks, where he gaped at the collapsed ceiling and the flooded floor. "My god, you weren't kidding," he said. "How are you ever going to fix all this?"

I shook my head.

"I don't know."

Paul was packing his lunch for school in the kitchen. From what I could see, it consisted of two kinds of crackers, candy, and pickles, but I've long since given up questioning these things. From my pack, I heard my cell phone ringing---I'd made a point to set it to the plainest, most phone-like ringtone I could find. I dug for it in my pack.

It was Kira. Kira is my friend who works with Downtown Lock Haven, for the moment. She'd recently gotten a new job with the Economic Partnership, and was moving over there soon.

"What the hell's going on at the library?"

"We had a roof leak because of the repairs, which ironically were being done to fix roof leaks. It's bad, Kira. It's very bad. We're gonna be shut down for a few days at least."

"Oh, that's terrible."

"It's not great," I admitted. "Gonna be closed for a while. We're still holding the book sale, though, and it'll be more important than ever this year. Hey. You know I've applied for your job, right?"
"I know. I recommended you."
"Well, thanks for that. I mean, we'll see how it plays out, but I'm hoping. It may be time for me to move on from the library."

"The board hasn't made any decisions yet, but I'm pulling for you. Hey. I gotta run and eat pizza with my kids now."

"You do that. Have fun. I'll see you at the next meeting."

I've always loved autumn. When the leaves start turning colors and the weather gets cooler, it's my time to shine. I'll be telling ghost stories soon. My mother was a teacher, so I grew up around the educational system. It's probably why fall always feels like the beginning for me, adventures ahead. She'd have been mortified that I make my living chasing ghost stories, but my love for autumn has always lasted.

These days, autumn was a bit of a double-edge Pine Creek sword, though. Along with the cool weather and the fallen leaves, Paul was back in school. This left me alone and bored, and already awake. It was always a reminder of just how much time I spent with my son, and how alone I felt without him,

I'd been in the mood for breakfast, with Paul in school. It had dawned on me that I could get a decent breakfast at the coffee shop, so I biked down and got a coffee and an egg sandwich.

I sat down with Chris and his wife Kate at a table. I was wearing my South Carolina Lizard Man shirt.

"Hi, guys," I said. "Figured I'd come see if you were here."

"Of course we're here," said Chris. "Grab a seat."

"I love the little ghost sticker on your key card," Kate commented.

I glanced down at my lanyard, which held my key card for the shelter. It had a little sticker of a ghost holding a heart. "Figured I'd mark the key as noticeably mine," I said. "Been productive today. I got two columns done, sent in one for West Branch Life, and I have to get down to the shelter and do an exit interview. Figured I'd stop on the way."

"How's the job application going?" Chris asked.

"Waiting on word," I said. "They seem to be still gathering applications. I'm waiting to hear back."

"Got something for you," said Chris. "I saw a weird light on the mountain last night."

Kate grinned. "This again."

"I was driving on 150 from McElhattan," said Chris. "I saw a bright shining light on the mountain. It shined for a second or two, then went away. Up on the mountain where there's no houses."

"Hmm. About what time?"

"About six-ten-ish, I'd say. A UAP up on the mesa?"
"Could be. I mean, I want to say reflection off a rifle scope, but it's not hunting season. Did it appear to be a reflection, or an independent light?" 

"Independent light. Definitely."

"Was it moving?"

"Hard to tell, but I don't think so. It appeared still."

"I'm intrigued," I said. "I'm gonna designate this one CT-23. Castanea Township, 2023. UFO on the mountain. I'm gonna look into this, man. Things have been a little slow lately."

The weather was cool and placid when I got up the next morning. I got Paul and the little girls next door onto the school bus, and then got ready for work. I turned off of Bellefonte Avenue on my bike to on my own little path. Several years ago, the college spent about a million dollars to build a walking path for the students, who have never bothered to use it. So I basically have a path all to myself.

I rode behind where Painter Stadium used to be, and zigzagged over past the ruins of the old railroad machine shop. Then I hung a left where the walking bridge was torn down, passed behind the old synagogue, and turned left at the Kistler Carriage House. A right at the Furst House brought me to the library. You didn't understand a word of that. That's okay; it got me to work.

I walked through the stacks, looking at the damage. Water was still covering the majority of the floor, plastic was all over everything, and half the ceiling had fallen in. It was the worst I'd ever seen the place in the eleven years I'd worked there.

Jenn was in the PA Room, sorting the yearbooks for water damage. I said,"Think I'll take a couple of moments and sneak off today, check the building for ghosts. This is prime haunting conditions, with a disaster that bears a resemblance to one that one of our ghosts went through. Mary Elizabeth Crocker may be haunting the place, and she dealt with the 1936 flood."

Jenn nodded. "I never know if you're being serious when you say stuff like that," she said.

Outside, everyone was busy setting up for the book sale. I walked out and began opening boxes, unloading the books onto a table. Wearing my Loch Ness Monster shirt, I cruised around to the Local section to see what I could find.

There was a woman browsing them. She said,"Do you still sell the history book about Lock Haven? My grandmother wrote that."

"Yes, I know. You tell me that every time I see you."

I dug through the local books, and I spotted one. "A Township Called Wayne," by....Well.

I picked it up. "I always knew this was coming one day," I said. "My book, donated in a used book sale."

I took it inside and set it on my desk. Then I got out my all-in-one EMF detector and started doing a sweep of the stacks. Zach spotted me, and asked,"What are you doing?"

"Oh, you know, just checking for ghosts," I said.

"The electricity's been shut off, if that's what that measures."

"I'm not getting any readings, if it makes you feel better."

"It does, actually."

Paul was out playing with his little friends when I left the house. I found them out on the sidewalk, riding their bikes. Paul said,"Did you think you were getting out of here without saying goodbye to me?"

"I'm only headed out for a bit, buddy." I gave him a hug. Then I said,"Paul? You know I applied for another job, right?"
"Yeah."
"What would you think about that? If I left the library?"

"You'd be home more, right? When I get home from school?"
"Yeah, I wouldn't be working as late."
"Yeah. I want that."

My son doesn't care where I work. He just wants me with him as much as possible.

I put my hands in my pockets, and nodded. "Okay. Gonna run down to the shelter, little man. Back in about an hour."

It was a similar scene two nights later when I came outside with my tac vest on. Serena looked me over and declared,"You got too many vests. I can never keep track."

"They all have different purposes," I explained. "This one is for ghosts, but also has extra equipment for when I'm not sure what I'll be dealing with. It's the one I'll be wearing when Paul and I go back down to the shelter next week." I turned to Paul. "Gonna need you for that one."
"Okay," said Paul. I felt a little weird, standing out on the sidewalk in my uniform and vest, as opposed to inside a dark haunted house.

"Can you get me a vest like this?" asked little Sekiyah.

"I'm not sure they come in your size."

Chris pulled up. Paul said,"Uncle Chris! I lost two teeth in the last two days!"
"Wow! Let's see!" Chris made a show of examining Paul's smile, and asked,"You get any money for that?"

"Two dollars!"

"I used to get a quarter."

"Me, too, but you know, inflation," I said as I climbed into Chris's car. "Back in an hour, little man."

"Okay!" called Paul.

Chris drove down to the end of the street and turned left. "Thought I'd take you out the exact route I was on at the time."

"Good plan."

Chris drove out to McElhattan, turned, and then started back along 150. He slowly pulled over. "It was right about here. I saw it on that mountain, up above that black billboard."

We got out and walked along the highway for a moment. He said,"The sun was a little bit lower that night."

"Looking at these angles, there's no way it was a reflection." In spite of what Chris had said, I'd still been considering the idea of something reflecting, but that was impossible. I lifted my binoculars to take a look.

"No houses, no roads....Probably a couple of hiking paths up there, but nothing that should be lighting up." I handed Chris the binoculars.

"Is that a cut?" he asked.

"Power line," I said.

"Should we get closer?"

"We should."

We got back in the car and drove toward Castanea. "Could some sort of power line problem have caused this?" he asked. "A spark from a transformer? Isn't your dad retired from PP&L?"

"I've actually had something like this conversation with my dad. A transformer blowing, that could potentially cause a light for a moment."
"Would I be able to see it all the way down here?"

"God yes. I remember seeing something like that in Allentown around 1989 once. Lit up half the sky. And you might not even necessarily notice a blackout, either, because it's programmed to immediately reroute the power."

"Hmm."

"Got my job interview tomorrow," I said.

"Make sure you get as much money as you can."

"God. The low end of what they're offering is three times what I'm getting now. Right now, I'd take a pay cut to get this job."

"Not gonna get promoted at the library?"
"Jesus, at the library I don't even like the way I'm being treated now. If it was possible to apply for a demotion, I'd do it." I thought it over a moment. "I will say, though, that I've been feeling better about the place since the disaster. I'm caring about work for the first time in a while. That roof collapse did wonders for my attitude."

Chris turned into Castanea. "I should be able to get close to the mountain..."

"If we turn right at the PP&L substation, we should be able to see."
We turned and went down to just past the substation, where we found the road leading up to the power lines. It was gated off, and we leaned against the gates, where we could see clear up the cut.

"Looks like the logical explanation is a transformer problem, and you saw it blow from the highway.:

Chris nodded. "Kinda still want to tell people I saw a UFO, though."

"For all we know, a landing UFO caused the transformer to blow. I'm on board."

I sat in the county commissioners' conference room, facing the four board members of Downtown Lock Haven. I was wearing my grey suit, as if I have a whole bunch of other suits. They had been asking me questions for forty-five minutes now.

"So, I have one more thing," one of them said. "What makes you want this position?"
"I want to help the city," I said. "I've always wanted to help the city. I love Lock Haven. Lock Haven has given a lot to me, and I want to give something back. This seems like the next logical step. Lock Haven....It's my home. I've lived here three decades, and I love it. And I just want to help."

"How did it go?" Serina's mom asked me, standing out on the porch. I was wearing my grey suit and my blue tie with the little bulldogs on it, which I'd owned since high school. 

"I think well enough," I said. "Got through the job interview. Now I should be hearing something within a week. Just wanted to stop by and let you know I'm home---Thanks for watching Paul."

"Oh, anytime," she said. "Mostly the kids were out playing on the sidewalk."

"Like usual."

"What is this you're wearing?" Paul asked, examining my suit jacket.

"This is a suit. You have no reason to think I own one. I'm gonna go get changed into some real clothes."

"Yeah, you look kinda funny," said Serina. "I mean, not funny, but....Not quite right...."
I smiled. "I know. Feels weird to me, too. I'm gonna go get into a ghost t-shirt, the way I belong."

"Can I open the door, Daddy?" Paul asked as we parked our bikes in front of the shelter.

I handed him my key card. "Go ahead."

We buzzed ourselves in. Julie was in the conference room with two of the clients. I set down the big bag, and said,"How's things going? Any activity?"
"The door keeps rattling all night."

"Paul, check it out." 

Paul moved to the door with his EMF detector. I opened the bag and got our vests out. I pulled mine on over my uniform, and then the fingerless gloves. Paul got his on.

"What's this?" Julie asked.

"That's a thermal imager. I use that to detect heat sources." I turned it on and passed it around the table. "We check temperature, electricity, sonics, photography. We try to be as scientific as possible."

"I'm scared you might actually find something," said one of the clients.

"No reason to worry," I said. "TV and movies make this seem as scary as possible, but in real life, it's not like that. Probably the only people haunting this place are children. I found two who may have died in the building. By the way, the building is probably older than we thought---The people who filled out the Historic Resource Survey Form just got their information from the 1885 Sanborn Map. I've found some evidence that suggests the building could go back to the 1870s. I need to get to the courthouse and do a title search. Oh, and the third floor wasn't added until after World War II."

"Now, that's fascinating," said Julie. "How did you find that out?"
"Up until 1925, the Sanborn Maps list this as a two-story place. After the war, it was bought by an insurance company and they used it as a rental. That was when they built the third floor. When I mentioned this to the director the other day, she commented that the third floor does look newer."

"Dad!" said Paul. "When are we going to investigate?"
"We're getting to it," I said. I turned on my EMF detector and set it on the table. "Paul and I are going to do a walk-through. You guys keep an eye on this until we get back."

The lights immediately flickered to red. Everyone gasped. I said,"Well, that's a good sign. We may get some activity tonight."

Paul and I walked through the first floor, checking with our thermometers. We got to the far end, at the kitchen, and turned around. I said,"Want to see the upstairs?"

"Sure."

We walked up, and through the second floor. The accounting offices---Most boring place in the building. Upstairs was the third floor, and it did look architecturally newer---I hadn't noticed it before, but knowing what I did, I could see it. We went through, thermometers out.

We walked down the back staircase, which I almost always forgot was there, and back down into the conference room. Julie was waiting with the clients, and the EMF detector was still flickering.

"It keeps doing that," said one of the clients.

"We'll sit down and do an EVP session," I said. "But this is a good sign. Looks like we have some activity tonight."

"Thanks for coming tonight, Lou," said Julie. "I appreciate you doing this."
"Thanks for having me," I said.

Julie smiled. "Well, things are always a little more interesting with you around."

A week later, I was back having coffee with Chris and Kate. Kate was buried in her laptop, doing some sort of promotion, and I was finishing my coffee.

"Nothing new on the job?" Chris asked.

I shook my head. "They're taking forever with this hiring process. Looks like I stick it out at the library for a while more."

"Hang in there, man."

I finished off my coffee and stood up. "I gotta get over to the senior center. Got a speech to give over there, with a hundred people signed up."

"Oh, what's your speech on?"

"Ghosts, of course." I pulled on my jacket. "Hey. You and me have been buddies so long, I sometimes forget that you started out as my intern. But I'd like to step back into that role for a minute."
"Uh-oh."

"No, this is good stuff. I'm proud of you, man."

Chris looked a little shocked. "For what?"

"Everything you do for this community. You've really become a great force in the area, you do a lot, and you help a lot of organizations. You're hitting all the right notes. I'm proud of you for that."

"Well, thanks, Lou," he said. "Thanks for your kind words." 

I picked up my pack. "Gotta run. See you for coffee next week."

I slung my pack over my shoulder and walked out into the nice October air.

Fired Up

"So," I said,"How much would you want to know if I thought I'd found a secret panel upstairs?"

The Boss considered it for a moment. "Let's take a look," she said.

We went up to the old bedroom on the second floor of the library---Her old office before she'd moved downstairs. In the back of the large wall shelf, there was a small hole.

"See, I can hook my finger in here and pull if we remove these shelves," I said. "If you look at the seams around it, it looks like it's designed to be taken out. Maybe something behind it."

"Hmm," she said. "Let's give it a shot."

"You've kind of gotten more fun since I met you," I said, and started pulling at a shelf. It got a few inches, and then stopped dead. I couldn't work it out.

"Looks like They built onto the shelf at some point," she said. "Secured it in place."

"Yeah."

"To get in there, we'd need a crowbar and some other tools," she said. "It could take the res tof the afternoon."

"Yeah."

We looked at each other for a moment.

Five minutes later, we were standing in front of the shelf, holding a crowbar and a couple of hammers.

"Okay," I said. "Let's do this thing!"

"Hey, I get to sit between the new people! Hi, Beech Creek Girl." I sat down at the meeting between Claire, our new tech person, and Beech Creek Girl, who was running the Beech Creek branch. She actually had a name, but one of our trainers had called her "Beech Creek Girl," and now we all called her that.
"Come and visit in Beech Creek," she said. "It's scary being alone in the building."

"Well, I've never heard anything about it being haunted, if that helps."

"I don't know; I've heard noises in there. Someone walking around on the empty second floor."

"Really? I can look into that."

"I tried to research the history of the building, but...."

"Let me guess. You trusted Google."

"Well.....Yes."

"That was your first mistake. The internet is about the worst way of doing this research short of consulting psychics," I said. "I got the Historic Resource Survey Forms downstairs; I'll check into it for you."

As you may assume, I work at the public library. I'm in Adult Services, which means I plan programs a lot. Though I admit that a casual observer would never guess that to be anything like my highest priority.

I started studying  the Beech Creek Library when I got into work. I was working on that half an hour later when Claire came in.

"Finding anything interesting?" she asked. Claire was the new tech person, and we'd immediately become friends based on the fact that she'd worn a Mothman T-shirt to her first day of work.

"Checking into the branch library for Beech Creek Girl. Showing her how Google is crap for this kind of thing."

"Anything good?"

"Place used to be a church---I knew that. Built in 1866. I pulled the Historic Resource Survey Form. Then I checked Linn's History---There was a cemetery connected with the place. These days, it's pretty much open, but back then, it was only church members. Two women were buried there, currently unmarked---Eliza and Lizzie. Both of them died from yellow fever in the later 1870s---Lizzie was twenty-four, and Eliza was nineteen. I'm gonna send it all over to Beech Creek."

"You should come and check out my place," Claire said. "We have some stuff happen."

"You live up along the railroad tracks, right?"

"Yeah, by the river."

"That's the area where there's the legend of the Headless Trackwalker. A guy who was killed in a railroad accident; he's said to still be walking the tracks."

"There was also a woman who burned to death in the basement in a furnace accident. We'd love to have you guys come and check it out."

"I'll talk to the team," I said. 

"Good news, little man," I said to Paul as I cleaned the kitchen. "I'm having a ghost hunting meeting, but it's here at the house tonight. So I don't have to go anyplace."

"Yay!" Paul said. "Will Ashlin be coming?"
"She should. We're going to discuss an investigation next week."

"I'll go wait for her!" Paul announced, and ran for the front door.

"Put on shoes," I called after him. "It's like eight degrees outside!"

As Paul ran out the door, I sat down and turned on my laptop. I brought up my messages.

Three minutes later, I went out and got Paul. 

"Hey, kid. Bad news. Ashlin's not feeling well; she can't make it tonight."
"Aw. Too bad. The others are coming, though, right?"

"Yeah. Well, not SaraLee. She just had surgery; she's been excused."

"Okay."

We went back to the kitchen. I looked at the laptop, and then said,"Damn. Millie can't make it either; she forgot the meeting was tonight. And Heather figures it's not that useful with just the two of us."
"So nobody's coming?"

I shook my head. "Nobody's coming. No meeting."

"Then can I have one of the sodas?"

"Sure."

He grabbed a root beer from the fridge and ran off. Wearing my LHPS uniform, I stood alone in the dark kitchen.

"I'm telling you, Casey, you can't schedule anything lately," I said on my cell phone, sitting in the old stairwell. "Between COVID and the goddamn weather, It's impossible to do anything. I'm sick of it."

"At least you have a team," Resurrection Casey commented. "Been trying to build one up out here in Slatington, but nobody seems interested."

"Yeah, that's the Slatington I remember," I agreed. "My childhood was a boring hell."

"You think this is ever gonna get better?" Casey asked. "Or is this just our life now?"

I considered it. "It has to get better," I said. "I won't accept that the rest of my life is just going to be this kind of crap. Things have to get better. We healed after Spanish Flu, we healed after polio. We're gonna come back from this, too."

"Boy, I hope so," said Casey.

"Have to," I said. "I have an investigation coming up, and I'll tell you....I need this. First time I'll be wearing the new outfit for an official investigation. COVID has taken a lot from all of us. I've been running around depressed and scared for almost two goddamn years. It's time for me to come back from that. I need to be what I was again."

"I want that for you," Casey said.

"So what do you have going on?" I asked. "Anything good lately?"

"Got reports of UFOs over Walnutport. I'd like to get a good look at the skies above the whole town."

"Oh hell, there's a place near my dad's where you can see it all. I'll give you directions."

I got off my call and sat down at my desk. A moment later, Claire came over, telling me,"Two guys are fighting over there."

I stood up and walked to the stacks. There were two guys---One, we'd had problems with before. The other was new. The new guy was asking to use the phone to call the cops. I nodded to Zach, who handed him the phone, and told Claire,"Get the Boss."

"I was just sitting there, at the computers, and he was filming me," the guy was saying on the phone. Behind me, I could hear the other guy also talking to the cops on the phone. "I want him to delete it off his phone. I felt a pain in my leg, and I think he put a curse on me." I continued listening as he began saying crazier and crazier things. "There are cannibals here...."

The Boss came out. "Problem?"

"Been a while since we had one of these," I said. "I'll get the incident reports."

It was me, Ashlin, and Heather. We pulled up at seven PM, grabbed our stuff, and knocked on the door.

Claire opened it, her brother and two friends standing behind her. We went in, and I said,"Hi, Claire. Any hot spots in here? Places where the activity happens more?"

"Not really," she said. "It's pretty evenly distributed around the first floor."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks for letting us investigate. It's the first real investigation LHPS has had in...."

"Almost two years," said Ashlin.

"Yeah," I said. "It's been too long."

Claire smiled. "Anytime. I'm glad you guys could come."

"Let's get to work."

I opened my bag, and pulled out the tac vest. I slipped it on, the big vest with the alien patch, the skull gloves, the gauntlet with bottles on it. And once it was on, I felt something surge---Back in action. Back, finally, doing my thing.

"Let's start here. Get photos from every angle. Get a baseline temperature reading, too. Once we get all that, we'll do an EVP session."

We spread out and got photos and readings. Heather had taken my advice and bought several good pieces of equipment. I noticed she had exactly the same brand of EMF detector and digital recorder that I preferred. One of Claire's friends asked me,"Where did you get that outfit?"

"Amazon, mostly. I shouldn't be allowed around Amazon unsupervised."

"It's really cool."

Claire laughed. "That is his dream outfit, with the gloves and the gauntlet."

"I wanted to look a little less like a cop or a terrorist, so I added the little goth touches."

"That's great," said Claire's friend.

"I have a temperature spike," I said. "Baseline in here is about seventy-two, but it just spiked to eighty."
"Isn't it usually a temperature drop?" asked Ashlin.

"Usually, yes."

"But it's not unheard of to have a spike?" Claire asked.

"It's not. Especially in cases like this, when the ghost died in a fire. It would make sense that the temp would get hot."

Heather was checking the room with her digital recorder.

She said,"Did you hear something upstairs?"

"I didn't---Did you?"

"Heard something walking around up there."

"Keep recording. I'll check it out."

I pulled my thermometer and headed up the stairs. I checked the readings in every corner. I admit I dragged it out a bit; being back in business, back in my ghost-hunting outfit again....It felt good. Damn, did it feel good.

We gathered around the table, sitting down to do another EVP session. All three of us had our recorders going, and Heather and I both had our EMF detectors turned on and sitting on the table. We'd been through this before; sitting around and asking random questions in the hope of attracting a ghost.

We basically went around the table, asking questions. "Can you tell us your name?" "Is anyone here?" "When did you die?" I'd been through this a million times before with Ashlin, and Heather was doing well for her first time out. I heard a noise, and glanced at Claire.

"That's the furnace kicking on," she said.

I nodded. Then both EMF detectors lit up, immediately spiking to red.

Heather leaped up, surprised. Ashlin immediately got photos of the table. Good girl. I pulled my thermometer and began taking readings.

"Is that normal?" asked Claire.

"Not really, no," I said. "We got a spike on both of them at the same time; that's pretty unexpected."

'They're down now," said Heather. "Both green."

"So just got a surge for a moment there, when the furnace came on," I said. "When the ghost here died in a furnace fire. That's a win."

Carrying my bags, I walked up the porch steps and into the house. As always, Rosie ran to meet me at the door, not backing down until she got to lick my face. Paul wheeled into the room on his hoverboard.

"Daddy! I missed you!"

I gave him a hug. "I missed you, too, little man."

"How was your ghost hunt?"

"It was good," I said. "We may have some evidence of ghosts."

"That's great!" he said. "Hey! Mom! Dad caught a ghost!"

RB-75

Michelle was at the kitchen table when I went tearing into the house to grab my camera. She looked up at me as I ran past. "What're you doing?" she asked.

"Garage fire in the alley," I said. "I can sell photos to the paper."

I ran back outside, where Paul was waiting on the sidewalk with his little friend Dennis from around the corner. I said,"Okay, let's go get a look. You two stay where I can see you, and walk down the sidewalk."

I knew exactly where we were going to get the best view. I don't just think it's my city because I live here. We went around the corner, and I could see it down the alley---A garage, completely engulfed in flames.

It was going to be a total loss. I snapped a couple of photos. I ordered the kids,"Get across the street and stay there. Do not move."

I circled around, getting photos. The firefighters were spraying water on the blaze, to very little effect. The power line above began exploding with several very loud popping sounds, finally collapsing into the alley. I could feel the heat where I stood as I moved around in an arc, getting photos of the whole thing.

"How was your New Year break?" Tracey asked when I walked into the library the next day.

"Oh," I said,"About usual."

Most people I've met think that their job is the most insane job ever. I'm sure that you think your job is the most insane job ever. I assure you, it is not. For the last nine years or so, I've been the county's most prominent paranormal investigator at the public library. This means that the insane people who seek me out know where to find me.

We place bets on who the annual summer lunatic is going to be every year. I once had a woman hand me a live bird. People have walked in claiming to have proof of alien abductions. Your job may be wild, but it does not reach these levels of wild.

"Excuse me, sir," I said to the homeless guy sitting at a table. "I need to ask you to keep your mask on."

He pulled up the mask he had hanging down to his neck, and then very deliberately picked up his Pepsi bottle and took a drink through the mask.

"It was all made in a lab in China anyway," he said. "We're living in the End Times. I can prove it through historic research."

I looked at the newspaper as I walked across the library. My photo of the alley fire was on the front page. When I got back to my desk, Chris was working on the microfilm. "Found something for you," he said. "April 22, 1975. It's in the Renovo book on the cabinet."

I picked up the book, one of the comprehensive volumes on the history of Renovo. He'd left it open to one of the pages listing all sorts of oddball incidents, and I skimmed down the page. Four coal workers on top of the mountain had witnessed a UFO, described as having red lights, and they'd watched it for fifteen minutes.

"Well," I said.

"Thought you'd like that."

"You thought right."

"1975 wasn't all that long ago."

"Hell, I was alive in 1975. It must have been pretty high up, or pretty big. People reported seeing it as far away as Tamarack and Bitumen."
"You gonna get an article out of this?"

"Yeah, probably. Says it stopped at one point and shined a light on one of the TV towers. I can't think of an explanation for that, offhand, other than a helicopter, and the witnesses swore it wasn't a helicopter."

"An alien invasion?"

"We can hope. I'd kill for an actual alien invasion." I took the book to the copier and photocopied the page.

"Since it's 1975, some of those people are probably still alive," Chris suggested.

"Oh god, witness interviews. You just hit like my least favorite thing. I might take a ride up to Renovo, though, and see what I can find."

"Morning, boss," I said as I walked in. "I'm assuming you're there; my glasses are all fogged up."

The Boss laughed, in her office. Having confirmed that I was somewhat supervised this morning, I set my coffee on my desk and got to work.

I found the right microfilm---Renovo Record, 1975. I scrolled to the right date and found the headline almost immediately: "UFO Sighted Last Night." I printed it out and labeled it RB-75, using my own system: Renovo Borough sighting, 1975.

It had been witnessed by at least six people at ten-thirty at night, over the course of several miles. The red lights were arranged in a square, which moved fast and slow, and hovered. At one point it shined a bright light on one of the local towers. I couldn't, offhand, think of anything that would have behaved that way.

I ran through the rest of the month to see if there was anything that would explain it, or any follow-up articles about the sighting. I checked two other papers, as well. But there was nothing. 

"You ready?"

Tif called out from the kitchen. "I'm ready."

Paul and I walked in, showing off our new outfits. We both had tactical vests. His was smaller, with a unicorn patch and the neck guard. Mine had neoprene shoulder pads, an equipment belt, and a glow-in-the-dark alien patch.

"Cool," said Tif. "Is that customized?"

"Standardized vest, but I ordered some parts and customized it myself," I said. "There's a loop on the belt for my whip. I have patches that label the equipment pockets. Added first aid and survival equipment in the back. It's MOLLE-standardized, impact-resistant, and laser-cut. I have no idea what that means, but I like it."

"Mine has my slingshot," Paul commented.

"I designed this vest to be exactly what I needed for any investigation," I said. "With the gloves and boots, it's got a goth touch. It looks different enough that I don't resemble the terrorists from a year ago."

"You have a glowing alien on your chest!"

"That's a start, yes."

"Is that a gauntlet?"

"With little bottles strapped to it. It's got the goth look, but it's practical. I can use them for samples if I have to. I'm indestructible."

"You're not indestructible. You pulled a back muscle helping Paul with his subtraction last week."

"That involved the one substance on the planet that I'm vulnerable to."

"Math?"

"Never been good at it."

"It looks good," said Tif.

"I'm tired of hunting ghosts dressed like a Sixties reject," I said. "I'm taking my image back."

"Dad, can I go play with my friends down the street?" Paul asked.

"Sure, until dinner," I said. "I'll walk you down. Maybe there will be another fire."

It takes one minute or so to walk down to the end of the alley, where Paul's little friends live. One of the moms, Sara, was on her porch when I dropped him off.

"See you later, Daddy!" Paul said, already halfway gone to play.

"Have fun, little man. Hi, Sarah. How are you?"

"Doing okay, how about you? You want a beer?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks."

"Hey, I wanted to ask you," she said. "You can find out history and stuff, right?"

"More or less, yeah."

"Could you find out about my grandfather?"

"If he lived here in Clinton County, there's a fair chance."

"He lived here. He killed himself when I was a little girl. He owned a car dealership, and used to fly in a helicopter. He was always screwing around with the helicopter, I remember, he once landed it on the roof of the dealership, even though he wasn't supposed to. I was always told that he killed himself with carbon monoxide, but I met a woman recently who told me that he was shot and they made it look like suicide."

"Well, I can probably rule that part out right now. Someone would notice if there was a giant hole in a guy who died of carbon monoxide poisoning."

"Not if there was a cover-up."

"Television has a lot to answer for. For something like this, you'd get the police out there, maybe an ambulance. They'd have to call in the coroner, and then take him to an undertaker. One person can keep a secret. Twenty can't."

"Well, true. Can you find out?"
"I can pull his obit, maybe run to the courthouse and get the coroner inquest."

"You can do that?"

"Sure, that's public information. It'll take a few days, but I'll get back to you and let you know what I find out."

The obituary was easy. Obits always are. It was the way Sarah had described: Her grandfather had been accused of criminal activity with his car dealership, and killed himself with carbon monoxide. There were a couple of details she hadn't mentioned, though---He hadn't killed himself at home, but at his summer place in Gallagher Township. Who the hell owns a summer home in Gallagher Township, of all places? It'd be like owning a summer place on Jupiter, though the article did say he'd flown his helicopter out there, which would make it easier.

World War II veteran, which is where he'd learned to fly the helicopter. The newspaper had done their own bit of digging, and found out that he'd driven out overnight, piped the CO2 in from his car, and died in the room of his summer home. So much for the gunshot thing. In fact, it looked more and more likely this was just a straight suicide---If someone had been there and killed him, how would they have left? The car was the weapon.

I checked the will index. His will had been written not too long before the death, which is an obvious indication of suicide. I grabbed my jacket and pulled it over my rainbow alien sweatshirt, then thought to stick my pocketknife in my desk drawer.

"Gonna run down to the courthouse, Zach," I said.

"Have fun," Zach said.

I went through security at the courthouse, and over to the prothonotary's office. They found the right file for me, and I stuck the microfiche in the machine, and they left me alone. I looked up a moment later and realized that they'd all gone out on a break, letting me run around this government office all by myself. It's interesting being me sometimes.

I looked at the coroner inquest on the microfiche for a moment. It always sort of amazes me, how easy this stuff is to find. I get a question about a decades-old death, and it's right there. All I have to do is look.

The coroner report confirmed most of what I'd already found out. He'd been found dead in the home in Gallagher Township, with the vehicle still running and piping CO2 through a hole cut into the wall. Blood tests confirmed that the carbon monoxide was all that was in his system. Case closed.

The helicopter, though. What was it bothering me about the helicopter?

I was halfway back to the library before I got it.

Chris walked in when I was back at my desk, looking over a flight map I had left over from my Piper days. "Working on anything new, Lou?" he asked.

"Funny you should ask. The mom of one of Paul's little friends asked me to look into the suicide of her grandfather. I think he was a UFO."

"Well, now you're gonna have to explain that."

"He did definitely commit suicide---I can rule that part out. But he used to fly military helicopters, doing all sorts of screwy things with them. She told me he landed one on the roof of his car dealership. The timeframe works out. He died at his summer home in Gallagher Township, which isn't exactly on the way to Renovo, but close. I checked my maps---There's a military training flight pattern between Gallagher and Renovo. He wouldn't have been above flying around and screwing with people, and they might not have recognized a military helicopter offhand."

"Wouldn't they have heard some sound?"

"Maybe. I admit I'm not certain about this. But I think Sarah's grandfather was RB-75, because the only other explanation I have is actual aliens. And even for Renovo, that'd be weird."

 I peeled the velcro patch off the backing, and applied it to the pocket of my tac vest. The patch, in bright blue letters, said EMF. I had several like it, with different labels. With the pocket flaps closed, they weren't visible, but they'd be an aid in finding all my own equipment.

I looked the thing over. Excellent tactical vest, attached equipment belt. Alien patch, extra pouches, all the useful modifications I'd been adding.

Now I just needed the opportunity to use it.

Paul came into my office. "Daddy? Are you busy?"

"Not really. What's up?"

"I was wondering if I could go down to my friend's house."

I stood up.

"Sure," I said. "I'll walk you down. I need to talk to Sarah anyway, tell her I can answer her questions."

All I Want For Christmas Is Lou: The 2021 Christmas Special

The coffee table was covered with candles, the Christmas tree was decorated, and and the snacks were out. Millie had really gone all out for the holidays.

The last time LHPS had gathered for our Christmas event, it was pre-pandemic and had ended up with two members quitting the team. We were hoping for a better time this year.

"Guys, this is Heather," I said. "I invited her along because I think she'll be a good member of the team. I know it's the Christmas meeting, but we're so desperate for people, I didn't want to delay it."

"Hi, Heather," said Millie. "We really need new members. Welcome."

Heather, a middle-aged mom with blue hair, smiled at us. "I'm excited," she said. "My sister-in-law is jealous I got invited. She's really into stuff like this."

"This year, I made a record-setting amount of money on the tours," I said. "I've been asked to do a slightly different round for Christmas, so I came up with a program involving a tour of the library, a lesson on paranormal investigation, and then an actual investigation of the library. If I can get seventeen people to attend, I'll have broken a thousand dollars in fundraising for the year. You guys are welcome to come if you'd like."

"I'd love to," said SaraLee. "I didn't get a chance to make your October tours this year."

"I know; I kind of missed you."

"I'd like to be there," said Heather. "I can bring my son."

"I'll reserve you two spots. I'm training my kid to investigate."

"Great."

"Now, I believe we have a gift exchange?" I dug into my bag. "By the way, I got all of you something---I had to guess at the sizes." I handed them small, black rings.

"Nice rings," SaraLee said, trying hers on.

"They take your temperature," I explained.

Millie turned hers over. "Really?" She sounded fairly impressed.

"Well, only in the metric system, but still. You'll see it start around twenty-seven and then creep up until it hits about thirty-six."

"Neat," said Heather, looking at hers.

"I thought we could use them on investigations," I said.

"Where there's a cold spot," said SaraLee. "I like it."

A couple of years ago, the Boss moved my desk so that people knew where to find me. I have never entirely forgiven her for that.

"You're the history expert, aren't you?" the woman asked, approaching my desk. "I have a question. I did my genealogy on a software that's not in use anymore. How can I upgrade it to something new so I can view it?"

"This is why I do all my research on paper," I said. "Been around thousands of years, and it still works."

"Well, I wanted to put it on something digital that works with my new computer," she said. "How can I do that? Do I call the Mormon church? Don't they do genealogy?"

"Well, yes, they do genealogy, but this is more of a tech question than a history question. I'd take it to the techology place downtown and see if they can upgrade it for you."

"You don't think the Mormons would help?"

"Well, they've never helped me any."

As she left, Tammy called out of her office to me. "How's the ghost tours coming?"

"Got three people signed up. Fourteen more, and I've broken a thousand dollars in fundraising for the year."

"Lou," Zach called from the desk. "Phone for you. Your wife."
I was in the middle of processing books. "Thanks, Zach," I called, and picked up the phone. "What's up?"
"We have to pick up Tif," said Michelle. "She's in the Altoona train station. She left on vacation this morning, but there was an accident with her eye and she's losing her vision. Do you want us to pick you up?"
"Yes. Wait, no. I'll meet you at the house."

"We're on our way."

I hung up and stepped into Tammy's office. "Tammy, my daughter had a medical emergency. I'm sorry, but I gotta go."

"Okay. Go. Oh, are you on desk?"

"Yes, at three."

"Go," called Zach. "I got this."

"Thanks, man," I said, and ran for my bike.

Altoona is somewhat over an hour away. I walked into the emergency room a little after six, and it was insane---COVID overflow had pushed some patients into the halls. I found Tif with some difficulty, lying on a gurney outside an office.

"Daddy!" she said.

"Hi, hon," I said. I sat down on a chair. "Talk to me."

"They have to send me to Pittsburgh," she said. "They need a specialist and they can't do the surgery here. They're calling an ambulance to take me."

"Okay. What do you need?"
'Could use a hug."

I hugged her.

"Thanks for coming all this way, Daddy. I'm sorry."

"You haven't done anything wrong. We'll have to get you from Pittsburgh once this is done---We have to go home tonight and take care of Rosie."

"Yeah, I know. I'll call."

"Update us with what's going on. Let us know where we can find you."
"Any chance you can get me something to eat? I'm starved."

"Maybe I can find a vending machine someplace."

There was an old guy with a beard on the next gurney back. He said,"There's a little cafeteria down the hall past the elevators."

"Thanks," I said. "I'll bring you a sandwich or something, hon."

"You know what I like."
"Hey," I said. "It's gonna be okay."

We got the call at 6:48 the next morning. I rolled out of bed to answer the phone, and half an hour later we were on the road, heading to get Tif in Pittsburgh.

"I hope it snows for Christmas," Paul said.

"It might," I said. "We'll see."

"The weather says it'll be hot."

"Oh." I'd had no idea he knew how to check the weather report. "Well, you never know, kid."

"Is Santa real?" Paul asked from the back of the car.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I've been wondering if Santa is real or not," Paul said. "We look for aliens and Yetis and stuff that's maybe real, and I was wondering about Santa."

"Hmm. Well, what do you think?"

"I want to know what you think."

I considered it. My parents had spilled their guts about Santa when I was about six, the very first time I'd ever questioned it. I'd been prepared to do the same thing with Paul, more or less.

But is this really how I want it to happen for him? When he looks back on this in the future, is this what I want him to remember? Finding out just before Christmas, on the way to pick up his sister from a traumatic injury?

"I think he's probably real," I said.

Paul nodded. 

"Me too."

Paul and I brought Tif into her apartment as her cat meowed at her arrival. She sat down in her recliner.

"I'll run and get you some groceries," I said. 
"Can I stay here until you come back?" Paul asked.

"That's actually a pretty good idea," I admitted. "You help your sister. I'll be right back with some food."

"Dad?" Tif said.

I stopped at the door and turned around.

"Thanks for coming to get me," she said.

"Hey," I said. "It's family."

Back to work. When my predecessor had trained me, she'd told me that the first thing she did every day was check her e-mail. I have yet to have a day that organized, but I usually got around to it sometime within the first hour or so. After the e-mail, I went back to see if Tracey had anything for me.

"How's the fundraiser coming?" she asked.

"I have space for thirty people," I said. "If I get seventeen, at ten dollars each, I break a thousand dollars for the year."
"Why is it you can only do math when you're talking about ghosts?"

"So seventeen people is my goal."

"How many do you have signed up?"

"Six. But I just got a couple of e-mails---People deciding on the spur of the moment to come without registering."

"So people aren't bothering to read the ads. But you're making money."

"I know," I said. "It's a Christmas miracle."

I walked down the stairs and to the main desk area. Jim and Mel were finishing closing down.

"Everything locked on the third floor?" Mel asked.

"It was a couple of hours ago when I was up there," I said. "I haven't been up in a while."

"Oh. I'll check. I thought you were up there."

"Nope, did our lesson in the Sloan Room, and then investigated the old bedroom upstairs. We got some evidence---Some sounds and a ten-degree temperature drop."

"Ten degrees is a lot," commented Jim.

"Yep. Not a bad opening night."

"....So that's the basics of ghost hunting," I said, standing in the Sloan Room in front of five people. "Does anyone have any questions?"

Heather's son raised his hand. "How come you're wearing those gloves?"

I glanced down at the fingerless gloves with skulls on them, which I'd put on along with my black ghost sweatshirt. "Well, they protect my hands but I can still use my equipment. I used to wear a whole tactical vest and everything for investigations, but I realized it looked an awful lot like those terrorists on January sixth. Anything else?"

I looked around the table. "Okay, then, We're going to move down the hall and investigate, using the techniques I've taught you. I'd also like to introduce my new teammate, Heather, who is in training tonight."

Heather smiled.

We walked down the hall to the old bedroom. I said,"Everyone thought to be haunting the Ross Library has lived in this room. It was the bedroom of Annie Halenbake Ross, Mary Elizabeth Crocker, Robert Bridgens, and Isabel Welch. I'm going to start taking photos---You guys get some readings with the thermometers and EMF detectors."

We spread out through the room---It had been the boss's old office before she'd moved downstairs. In the old days, it had been the bedroom in the old house. I got photos from several angles while the others checked the readings on their equipment.

"I have a temperature drop over here," reported Heather.

"I'm getting a reading here, in the corner," said Heather's son. "It went up to yellow."

"Okay. Check that. I'm getting photos. Guys, get a temperature baseline over here. I'll start the recording." I turned on my digital recorder. "Recording. December twenty-second, seven sixteen PM, second floor bedroom of the Ross Library. Is there anyone here?"

We moved through the room, getting readings. Then we settled into some of the chairs to do some recording. I sat by the fireplace, monitoring the digital recorder.

"Can you tell us your name?....Did you live in this house?"

"Where do you get all this stuff from?" Heather asked.

"Mostly Amazon," I said. "I shouldn't be allowed to own a credit card and an Amazon account."

"Can you send me links?" she asked.

"Sure. I'd recommend just buying it all at once. You're gonna wind up owning it all anyway; you might as well get it over with."

"Lou," said one woman,"What do you think of other creatures? Didn't you write an article on werewolves a while ago?"

"Over in Northumberland County? Yeah, I did that one. I have some plans to go investigate them this summer, actually. Did a piece on the grave of a vampire up in Erie once, too."

"We got a spike on the electricity," announced Heather's son. "As soon as you mentioned vampires."

"Are you afraid of vampires?" Heather asked the room at large.

"You know, Annie Halenbake Ross was a fan of classic literature," I said. "It's a fair bet she read Dracula at some point."

"That's true," commented Heather.

"Thank you all for donating to the Ross Library," I said. "I appreciate your being here. We're getting a lot of activity tonight."

I walked Heather down to the lobby. "Gotta close up soon," I said. "Thanks for coming."

She smiled. "It was great," she said. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Welcome to LHPS," I said. "Merry Christmas, Heather."

Afterward, I walked through the dark library, hands in my pockets. I did this every once in a while, walked through this place that had become home, looking at it as if it were the first time.

For too long, we've been letting the inconsiderate and cruel people dictate the terms. We've worn masks and been vaccinated while they refuse. My child has been out of school while others spread the virus.

And I've changed my outfit to a less professional, less convenient one to avoid being seen as one of them.

For a year and a half, I haven't been myself. I've been letting the bad guys call the shots. But I've run out of patience for that.

I looked at my reflection in the window.

It's time to take my look back.

Outside, in the alley, it has started to snow. It was about an inch deep already.

I smiled.

Well, how about that.

The next night was Christmas Eve. Paul had been running around all day, tailed by Rosie, getting things ready for Santa. We'd shuffled him off to Tif's place to watch a movie earlier, for the purpose of getting all his gifts wrapped. He was now in the living room, watching a Christmas movie while he wrote another note to Santa.

"Hey, kiddo," I said. "Got your Christmas Eve present. Here."

"No," he said breathlessly. "It can't be." He opened the little box, and slid out a new pocketknife. Bright red, like mine, but smaller. "I don't believe it!"

He hugged me. I said,"Be careful with it, little man, but it's time we upgraded you."

"Thank you, Daddy," he said.

I smiled at my son.

"Merry Christmas, little man."

A Book By Its Cover

"Package for you, Dad." Tif slid the Amazon packet across the table. It was the size of an encyclopedia, which was far too big.

"What is it?" Paul asked eagerly.

"Got new gloves for ghost hunting," I said. I slipped two pairs of fingerless gloves out of the package and put one on. They were fingerless, black, and had patches with white skulls on the back.

"Cool!" said Paul with some enthusiasm.

"You like these?"
"Yeah! They're really cool!"

"You needed more gloves?" Tif asked.

"Different gloves. I changed my outfit over a year ago to avoid looking like a cop or those terrorists who raided the Capitol in January. The new outfit's been cool, but it's a little inconvenient. Eventually, it'll be time to go back to the tactical vest; I haven't worn them almost since COVID began. But I wanted to add some details to make it look less like a terrorist."

"So you got goth gloves."

"They'll work with the ghost hunting, but no cop or paramilitary Trumper would ever wear gloves with skulls."

"You ought to add a pride pin," suggested Tif. "No redneck terrorist would ever wear one of those, either."

"You're right, they wouldn't," I said. "Not a bad idea."

"I'm here." That's our code phrase, our signal that we're ready to take over the desk. We all say it. Mel stood up from the chair.

"If you get bored, there's quite an interesting little spider in the flower vase," she said. "He was trying to spin a web, but every time he dropped down, I blew on him. It got to the point where he'd climb back up if he saw me lean over."

"So you trained a spider," I said.

"I trained a spider."

"It's been a really slow night, I take it."

"It has, and it's all yours now." Mel headed for her office. I sat down in the chair.

A little while later, Zach came down the stairs.

"Hey, Lou, I need you to do me a favor."

"Sure. What do you need?"

"If you need to go upstairs, use the Sloan Room or the back stairs. Not that main stairs."

"Can do."

"I found a nest of bees in one of the lights from that hallway. I know you're mildly allergic, so...."

"God, yes. Thanks, man. I'll avoid that area. Don't want to have to go to the hospital."

"Didn't you get stung last year, and Paul treated you?"

"Yeah. He treated me for the wrong injury, but still. It's nice to know he learned some stuff."

The phone rang. I picked it up and said,"Ross Library."

"Hi, I'd like to register for the ghost tours. Do you still have spaces available?"

"Oh, sure," I said. "I have tours open. What night do you want?"

"....And that's the status of the roof repairs," our maintenance man announced in the staff meeting. "Anyone have any questions?"

"Yes," I said. "When will the bee problem be fixed?"

"Right, the bees," he said. "I'm working on that."

"Just call an exterminator," said the Boss. "Lou, what do you have for us?"

"Well, the tours," I said. "The haunted tours are my thing right now. I'm signing people up and making them pre-pay because of COVID. Last year, I made a record-setting amount of money, six hundred and seventy-five dollars. This year, I'm hoping to beat that, but it'll take more sign-ups than I have now. Right now I'm at three hundred and thirty, which is a little less than half my goal."

"Now you're good at math?" asked Tracey.

"How much could you make, potentially?" Barb asked.

"If I booked every tour solid, I could do seven hundred," I said. "The problem I'm having is that people delay calling, so I do the first few with light audiences, and then it gets busier."

"Any problems getting the ghosts to show up?" Jim asked.

I grinned. "No, the ghosts are pretty much okay."

After the meeting, I usually walked down through the old part of the building, through the twisty hallways. But that would require getting past the bees, and frankly, visiting the bee section does nothing for me personally. I went down the stairs in the tower.

At my desk, there was a message to call Barb from the Renovo branch. I dialed her on my cell phone.

She greeted me the way she usually does.

"You're gonna think I'm crazy," she said.

"I haven't yet," I said. "What can I do for you, Barb?"

"Well, it's weird. A while ago, at a bookstore in New Jersey, my husband bought this old copy of Dracula. I was mad as hell at how much he paid for it. It's got this art on the cover.....Looks like a human face, with weird fangs and stuff, like it was sculpted from human skin. I mean, it's really, really creepy. I can text you a photo."

"My phone is a low-tech thing," I said. "Send it by Facebook."

"Facebook, got it. Since he brought it home, weird things have been happening. I mean, it's been really strange. I'm sending the photo. Did you get it?"

I looked at my messages. If anything, Barb's description had underplayed the visual of this book. It showed what appeared to be a human face with fangs, severed and stretched out to cover the book. Eyeless sockets and a screaming mouth. This thing was nightmare fuel.

"Jesus, Barb," I said. "That thing creeps me out, and I'm used to this stuff. What sort of weird things are happening?"

"The TV comes on at night, just turning on to channels we never watch. It's weird, it happens when we're asleep. My daughter says she saw a dark figure in her bedroom. My husband had a weird kind of seizure; that's never happened before. I've never even seen a seizure; the tests didn't detect anything."

"So you have been to the doctor. Good, that was my first thought. I'd be irresponsible if I didn't suggest that."

"Yeah, we went, but found nothing. The book just creeps me out completely."

"Have you checked to see if there are neighbors whose garage door opener, say, is on your frequency?"

"I'll check. We're pretty far from the other houses, though."
"I'm gonna suggest a little experimentation. Try getting the book out of the house for a while, and see if things calm down. If you have a safe deposit box, maybe, or lock it in a closet at the library for a couple days. See what happens."

"That's a good idea. I'll start with that."

"If you can send me the information on the store where he got it, I'll contact them and see what I can learn."

"We still have the receipt. I'll send a photo of that, too."

"I'll see what I can find out and get back to you, Barb."

"Thanks so much, Lou."

"Hey. One Christmas, you gave me a pretty good investigation up there. Maybe this will keep me busy for a while, too."

I walked into Momoyo Otsu, the clothing store downtown, wearing my paranormal outfit with all the buttons on the jacket. The cashier looked up and said,"Hi! We haven't seen you in a while!"

"Yeah, the kid's been doing online school, mostly," I said. "He hasn't been able to talk his mother into bringing him down for a while. Hanna said it would be okay if I came in and took a few measurements....I have this building on my tour."

"Oh, sure," she said. "Hanna won't mind. Go ahead."

I pulled some of my equipment out of my pack. Walking around the room, among the clohting racks, I took some temperature readings---It held steady at a baseline of about sixity-nine degrees. Then I did another round with the K2 meter, and watched as the lights jumped to yellow.

"How's the little guy?" she asked.

"He's good. Doing his social studies when I left the house. He's a good little guy."
"We all love him here. We love when he comes in; he's always so happy."

"He'd be here every day if he could," I said. "I wouldn't mind stopping back sometime for a more thorough investigation, if that's allright."
"I'm sure that would be great," she said.

When I got into the library, my mailbox was stuffed. One payment for a tour, plus several messages requesting spots. I flipped through them and dropped them on my desk.

Okay, I have almost three hundred dollars in hand now. Over five hundred once all the checks come through. My goal is to beat the six seventy-five I made last year. A dozen stops on the tour, including some new ones....

I was pacing around my office. I stopped and looked out the window, staring at West Main Street.

And what is this unfamiliar feeling? Is this nervousness? I've given these tours a million times....Why would I be feeling stage fright now?

I turned and walked across the room, looking at the 1852 map.

Because I want this to matter.

Every October, it's my chance to do something good for the library. My chance to give something back. And I want to make it happen as best I can.

I stood in front of the crowd of ten people---Plus Michelle, Paul, and Rosie. I stood in front of the library, along Main Street, in my paranormal outfit....And no nervousness. Nothing. Because at this point, it's just doing what I do.

"Thank you for coming to the haunted tours, and supporting the Ross Library," I began. "One thing I'd like you to know is that I research all of this. If I say something, I can prove it. Nothing drives me crazy faster than someone claiming to have a haunting without evidence. If I say someone died in a house, I can show you a document that proves that. Now, if you'd like to follow me, we'll get started."

As we walked down Main Street I dug into my small pack and handed Paul my K2 meter.

"Your favorite store is coming up, kid. You know how to use this; get some readings."

"Okay, Daddy." Paul began to move the meter around smoothly across the front windows of the building.

"This building, now a popular local clothing store, was once the pharmacy of a Lock Haven mayor," I said. "Mayor Edgar Heffner was the oldest mayor we ever had at the time of election, and the man who brought Piper to Lock Haven. It's thought that he or one of his customers may be haunting the place."
"Daddy! I got a reading!" Paul called out delightedly.

"Tour on line one." Mel handed the phone to me. I hit the button to take the call.

"Hello, may I help you?"
"I'd like to book three tickets for tonight's tour."

"I'm sorry," I said. "Tonight is already booked solid. Is there another night I could fit you in?"

"Damn. My parents are in town, and they really wanted to come to this one. They're leaving tomorrow morning."
I thought it over, and rapidly came to two conclusions:
A- As far as COVID precautions went, there wasn't much difference between ten people and thirteen people, and---

B- The Board would never know.

"Okay," I said,"I'll bend the rules. You can bring fifteen bucks and pay at the door."

I sat at my desk and checked my e-mail. I'd used the LHPS e-mail to contact the bookstore, hoping to lend myself some credibility. There was a response---Probably they'd checked me out and figured I was legit. Or maybe they responded to everyone, no matter how insane. I knew from experience that was a bad policy, but you never know.

I got out my cell phone and dialed Barb.

"Hey, Barb. It's Lou. Is now an okay time?"

"Oh, sure. What's up?"

"Well, I contacted the bookstore, and they tell me it's just a regular book with cover art done by a local artist. They sell them routinely out there. If you'd like to bring it down, I can run a few tests on it."

"Yeah. That's a good idea."

"They said there's no reason to think it's paranormal. So we may want to consider a different direction here. This is the time when I gotta tell you I may sound crazy."

"Hey, I've done it to you," she said.

"Couple of questions. How old is your daughter?"

"She's eighteen."

"How did she feel about that book?"

"Oh, she was all excited."

"Okay. You may want to keep an eye on her, maybe talk to her a bit. I've never personally dealt with this---I'm a little out of my depth here----But there's some thought that poltergeist activity can be caused by a teenage girl who may not even know she's doing it."

"Oh, great."

"I don't know this for sure. I've never really been hit with this kind of thing before. But some people think that these things can be caused  by a teenage girl. It seems to always be a girl, not a boy. Generally she grows out of it, this stuff stops after a while. We may want to check out that possibility."

"Now, that's interesting. Now that you mention it, the other night she was out of the house....And the TV didn't turn on."

"It's something to look into," I said.

I stood in my home office, gathering the things I'd need for an investigation. K2 meter. Thermometer. Fingerless gloves. I pulled them from the shelf and put them in my pack.

I looked at the vest---The black tactical vest with the alien patch on it, hanging on a hook. I took a long look at it.

Then I shook my head and put on my jacket with all the pins.

Sometime soon.

But not yet.

Paul and I met Hanna, the owner of Momoyo Otsu, outside the store on the sidewalk. She approached to open the door, saying,"Sorry I was running a little behind."

"We just got here ourselves," I said. 

Hanna opened the door, and we walked in. She turned on the lights as I set my pack on the floor.

"Paul, get photos." I handed him a camera. "Every room, every angle."

Paul began moving around the room, getting pictures. I circled the room and snapped some shots myself. I asked Hanna,"Is there anywhere that's a hot spot? Someplace with a lot of activity?"
"There's a mirror up on the second floor where we've seen a lot of stuff."

I asked Paul,"Do you want the K2 meter or the laser thermometer?"

"The thermometer," Paul said immediately.

I gave him the laser thermometer, and he walked around the room, taking measurements. I called,"Make sure you get a baseline."

With the K2 meter, I walked up the stairs, checking the electrical output. I took some readings around the mirror in the upstairs room, until Paul called out below,"Dad! The earrings just fell off the rack!"

"Coming," I called.

Hanna followed me down the steps, where Paul was waiting by the jewelry rack. He said,"One of those earrings just fell on the floor."

"That necklace is moving on its own," Hanna said, pointing at a necklace swinging back and forth on the rack.

I approached with the K2. "Paul, get pictures. Then we'll do an EVP session."

"That's my favorite!" said Paul. "I want to ask the first question!"

"You can ask the first question."

Half an hour later, we were walking out onto the sidewalk, carrying my pack. I said,"Hey. Paul."

My son looked up at me.

I said,"Nice job. You did really, really good today."

I walked down the street in the dark, hands in my pockets, feeling very casually happy. Behind me, a crowd of ten people followed along. The tours had been packed this year, and the audiences had been very receptive.

It was good. A lot had been wrong with things lately---It had been depressing as hell. But this, these tours, they were good. I had a couple of families and a small cluster of girl scouts on this one, and they were enjoying it.

I stopped in front of the library and turned to the crowd. "Everyone, I'd like to thank you for coming tonight and supporting the Ross Library," I said. "I'm pleased to announce that as of tonight, I've broken my record. We've made over seven hundred dollars on these tours, and it's because of your interest and generosity. Thank you."

Quick round of applause.

"Now, before we go home for the night, I have one more story to tell. So everyone settle in."
One of the little girl scouts stepped up. "Lou?"

"Yes, Amelia?"

She looked up at me. "You give the best haunted tours."

I smiled.

"Thanks, kiddo. That means a lot."

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.