“Yeah. Fiona sent the security footage.” I turned and hit the play button on the laptop I’d set up. Everyone, including myself, gasped as Simon tackled the bird.
“Holy shit,” Jack exclaimed, laughing, and rewinding it to watch again. Although the bird was haunted, it was funny as hell.
“Wow.” Callie appeared lost for words while Michelle stared wide-eyed. Finally, even Sunny seemed amused.
“Well, that’s something I’ve never seen before,” Harry stated.
“Yup,” Michelle agreed.
“Anything else, Connor?” Callie asked, still chuckling.
“No, but Harry has some research,” I said and glanced at him.
“Yeah. Christmas Village was formerly known as Bearton and was a former silver-mining town. Once the mine was played out, the town became deserted and fell into disrepair from around the eighteen-fifties. Until the nineteen-thirties, it remained that way, before someone bought and converted it into a resort.
“But it was unsuccessful and passed through various owners’ hands. Sadly, they all had varying degrees of success. Finally, it was abandoned again in two thousand and six until Simon Barker purchased it with his wife, Fiona. They’ve owned it for just over a year.”
“Hauntings?” Callie asked, and I almost laughed.
That was Callie. Focused on the ghosts. I couldn’t blame her; I remembered that feeling from my early days. It had been a fever in my veins that my previous team had slowly killed. Even though I’d only been with Ghost Seekers Inc. for a few short weeks, I knew Callie would never go to the lengths my former teammates had for sensationalism.
“There were several deaths in the mines located near the town. I’ve found some men who were hanged for theft, and two prostitutes hung for killing their clients. Many children and women died in a tuberculosis outbreak, too. There’s certainly been death there, enough to cause hauntings. But nothing has been recorded. Probably due to the long breaks between occupations.”
“Okay. But nobody has pictures or anything?” Callie pressed.
“Nope, just stories of vague ghost sightings but nothing concrete, until these complaints by Fiona and Simon,” Harry replied.
“That in itself is odd, right?” Sunny asked.
“Yeah. Usually, there are legends or tales, but we’ve got zilch. No ladies in white, no rogue cowboys, absolutely nada. It’s strange because most haunted places have stories of the spirits that haunt them. Bearton, or now Christmas Village, lacksanything like that. I’ve not dug deep yet into the hauntings, but honestly, I can’t find a single story.” Harry seemed a little put out.
“That’s really strange,” Callie said, exchanging glances with me.
“I thought so,” I agreed. “I’ve investigated many places, and they all had tales to tell. Christmas Village isn’t something I’ve encountered before. A haunted town with no obvious reason behind it.”
“This is going to be interesting,” Callie exclaimed, clapping her hands together as a grin spread across her face.
“Especially with the dancing turkeys,” I quipped in reply.
Sunny
Seriously? I barely suffered Christmas when it was Christmas, but in June? I could spank Callie’s ass raw. If I’d known we’d be coming here, I’d have begged off. Worse, the snow was deep here, and I couldn’t even ride a bike. The team was piled into four winter-ready SUVs as we headed towards Christmas Village. It was set in a valley dip, high up in the mountains.
I’d been worried about road conditions, but was remarkably surprised. Tall barriers lined the edge of the mountain, thick and sturdy, easily capable of stopping a car from going over the side. The roads had been well gritted and were cleared of ice, which was at odds with the snow surrounding us.
“How come the roads are so clear?” I asked finally.
“That’s what made Simon his money. He created a compound that self-heats roads. Please don’t ask me how it works, but it was much simpler and cost-effective than what we had before. Simon sold the patent for the price of a small country. He’smega-rich. Put it this way, he would be able to fund Christmas Village for several hundred years without having a single guest,” Connor replied.
“Nice,” I drawled. Self-heating roads would be a Godsend in the winter. “Guess Simon wrangled his design to be used for his project first?”
“Yup. The roads constantly remain clear, no matter what. I’m no scientist, but an element in the compound Simon created heats up when it’s touched by cold.”
The driver who’d picked us up headed over a hill, and there before us lay Christmas Village. And immediately, Callie fell in love.
Aw, shit. My beautiful wife had never celebrated Christmas, but the scene below resembled something from a movie set. There was a village setting at one end of the basin it sat in, and we could see the hotel and the wooden cabins surrounding it. There were a few shops, restaurants, and a bar.
Splitting the dip in half was an unusual feature. There appeared an expansive wood that separated Santa’s Village from the Christmas Village. It was a dense woodland. I’d never seen a valley bowl split into two like this, although similar layouts probably existed. I spotted a clear path woven through the trees, all lit up and with what looked like animated figures. A stone arch with a tower on either side was built halfway through the trees.
