We turned into one of those cookie cutter subdivisions. It was a nice cookie cutter, like an upper scale version with the clapboard siding and brick archways around the front door, but no real personality. Skylar didn’t go far before she pulled into the driveway of one, and I took a better look as I got out. Two story, postage sized yard, nothing about it suggested ghosts.
Except, you know, the dozens of ghost trials all around the yard.
“Uh. Skye?”
She paused in front of the Wrangler, eyes snapping to me. “What?”
“You got more than one ghost here.”
Dismayed, her shoulders slumped, mouth going O shaped. “No. How many?”
“At least a dozen. At least. All white, though, they’re all friendly.”
“Okay, but, the family was freaking out with one?”
“Yeah, I’m not saying shit about the others until I figure out what’s going on.”
“Please and thank you.”
Now I was really confused and thinking I needed to call Brandon. This didn’t look dangerous, though. Maybe I should get a better idea of what was going on before calling. Yeah.
I followed her in, and found the full family waiting in the living room. All sitting on couches, with Abby consoling a much younger boy. He looked about nine and was visibly upset, latching onto her arm like she was a life raft.
“Hi everyone, this is Gwyn. She’s an FBI proby and full blown Medium.”
All true, but I loved how Skylar was giving me clout I absolutely did not have. Still, I put a smile on my face. “Hi.”
Skylar made the introductions. “Gwyn, this is Isabella” —bleached hair up in a messy bun, dressed in sweats, strained smile—“Gary”—greying beard, also in sweats and looking nervous as hell—“Harper, and her little brother, Liam.”
Harper and Liam looked very much like siblings. Same ash brown hair, strong patrician noses, and they really resembled their mom. They were also, unfortunately, just as scared as their mom.
But I had a feeling they really shouldn’t be. Because Skylar hadn’t introduced the last man in the room. The ghost standing near the front window looked a lot like Gary, and if they weren’t related, I’d eat my phone. I went right to him and watched as his expression grew delighted.
“Yes, sir, I can see you.” I grinned at him as I knew he was a good ghost. He glowed crazy bright white, so it was easy to tell. “I’m Gwyn, who are you?”
“William,” he answered with a return smile. “I’m Gary’s father.”
“I figured, the resemblance is pretty strong.” To Gary, I relayed, “It’s your father, you can relax.”
All the pent up concern whooshed out of him and the tension keeping his shoulders near his ears abruptly dropped. “Oh thank god. Wait, Dad? Why are you still here?”
That was the question, wasn’t it?
William explained to me, “I was set to leave, but I wanted to make sure they got into the new house okay. That inheritance mess made me nervous.”
I turned my head to relay this. “He was making sure you got into this house okay because of the inheritance issues?”
Understanding swept over both parents’ faces. So that apparently did make sense.
But William wasn’t done. “But once we got here, I realized there’s a lot of orphaned kids in this area. Turns out there was a fire back in the day, and they all died. They can’t figure out how to move on. I can’t leave the kids behind. I’d hoped I could alert my son that there’s an issue. I didn’t mean to scare the willies out of them.”
“Ohhh.” Now the ghost trails outside made sense. To his family, I explained, “There was a fire way back when, and it killed a lot of kids. They’re all stuck here, unable to pass on, and he just couldn’t leave them without trying to help.”
Gary gave a smile, shaking his head, not even surprised. “My father was a cop, and he loved kids, so this doesn’t surprise me at all. How many kids?”
William answered immediately, “Fourteen.”
Damn, those poor kids. “Fourteen, he said. Listen, William, I can pass all of you on.”
