Finding the Way Back (13 page)

“We should go down and regroup. Then we can
move to another area.” Emmett walked to the stairs and warned,
“Everyone be careful walking in the dark.” I wondered if Connie’s
comments were being missed or ignored by Emmett.

I grabbed Connie’s arm and we paused at the
top of the steps. “Seriously, Connie, stop with the comments
already. You’re embarrassing me.”

“What? Oh come on, it’s just a joke. We joke
all the time. It never bothered you before.”

“Well, it bothers me now. I’m not even
legally divorced yet. You might give him the wrong idea.”

“I don’t think I have to give him any ideas.”
Smirking, she started down the stairs.

I tried to see down the hallway one more
time. I was glad Emmett wouldn’t think I was nuts, at least not
about the paranormal things. I was sure he thought I was a flake
otherwise. What was wrong with me? Suddenly feeling very alone in
the dark, I noticed a chill in the air. I started down the stairs,
shining faint light on the steps as I went. The darkness pressed on
me from behind, and I resisted the urge to run. Watching my feet, I
took a few quick steps then felt a shove between my shoulder
blades. I found myself tumbling forward, smashing into Connie and
inadvertently pulling her down the stairs the rest of the way,
landing at Emmett’s feet.

Chapter
Fourteen

“What happened?” Emmett shone his flashlight
down on me and Connie lying in a tangle of arms and legs. He
extended a hand to help us up.

“Laney, what happened?” Connie asked. “Are
you okay?”

“I’m so sorry, Connie. I didn’t mean to drag
you down the stairs with me. Are you hurt?” Standing up, I
stretched and bent to see if everything was intact and in working
condition.

Connie did the same, mimicking my movements.
“I’m fine. Did you trip?”

“No,” I said, embarrassed, scared, and angry
at the same time. “I was pushed.”

“What?!” Connie and Emmett both said at the
same time.

“This is getting ridiculous,” I snapped,
feeling the anger crowd out my other emotions as I looked up the
stairs. “I was pushed from behind. Are you sure you’re okay?” I
asked Connie again, feeling guilty. If I had been holding on to the
banister I could have prevented my fall.

“I’m fine, a few bruises is all. This is the
one time I’m happy there is thick shag carpet at the bottom of the
stairs.” I knew she was okay when she joked.

Emmett ran back upstairs to see if he could
find anyone or anything but we all knew it was a futile attempt to
make sense of the fall. He returned a few minutes later looking
glum. “Nothing.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault. Besides, we’re
fine. I’ll be more careful from now on. I feel like I’m going to be
one big bruise after tonight. I may need to find a new
chiropractor.” Connie and I stretched our muscles some more then
moved to the living room. Connie lowered herself into the recliner
with a sigh and I took the couch.

The basement door in the kitchen creaked open
and then Dean and Glen joined us in the living room. “We heard a
large bang and wondered if everything was okay up here.” Dean’s
flashlight could be seen moving about the room as he scoured the
area for evidence of a mishap.

Emmett gestured toward us and explained my
accident. I was grateful he didn’t act like he thought it was my
fault. Dean and Glen took the kitchen chairs our mothers had
occupied that afternoon as Emmett joined me on the couch.

I could see a scowl on his face as I turned
my flashlight on him. “You look ominous.”

“I don’t like what’s going on here. It’s
almost like something is singling you out, Laney,” Emmett
responded.

“It’s probably more of being in the wrong
place at the wrong time,” I suggested, pulling my legs up under me
and leaning my head to lay it on the arm of the couch. “I am kind
of known for that.”

“Actually, she’s right about that,” Connie
chimed in. “She does seem to get herself in all sorts of
predicaments. If it could happen to anyone—it happens to
Laney.”

“Thanks, I think,” I countered.

“Maybe, but I’m not totally convinced.”
Emmett was quiet for a moment with his hand on his chin. Finally,
he said, “I think we should give this up for tonight. I’m not even
sure you two should stay here in the house anymore.”

I bounded out of my chair. “No one is going
to tell me what to do.” As soon as I said it, I realized how it
must have sounded. “Sorry,” I stammered as everyone looked at me.
“What I mean is, I’m not scared and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Listen, Laney,” Emmett started.

But I dug my heels in and cut him off. “No,
you listen. I’m not a little girl anymore and I don’t like being
told what to do. I think we should continue. If some entity doesn’t
want us here then there must be a reason. If possible, I want to
know what that is.”

Looking chastened, Emmett said, “Laney, I
would never tell you what to do, but I also don’t want to do
anything that increases the danger for you.”

There was something about the look on his
face and the tone of his voice that made me lose my train of
thought. “Thanks, Emmett,” I answered softly, sitting back down.
“But I think it’s important to go on.”

“I think Laney’s right,” Connie agreed.
“Don’t treat us like little girls.”

“I’m just worried about your safety, but it’s
up to you,” Emmett said.

“I know, and thank you,” I said. “But if he,
or it, or whatever, is so tough, then why not just appear now and
throw us all out? I’m not backing down this time, and that’s it.
We’ll just have to be more careful in the future.”

Emmett nodded and Connie looked at me with
something that might have been newly found respect.

“Let’s move on,” I said.

“Okay, well then, the basement also had some
weird incidents,” Dean began. “When we first got down there we did
an EMF reading. There are some very high numbers down there so that
might be why people feel uncomfortable, but I don’t think that’s
the only thing going on. I can’t put my finger on it but there is
something, I don’t know,
wrong
about that place. We sat
really quiet near the stairway and there were all these bumps,
which sounded like they were coming from near the washer and dryer.
We went over there and looked all around and moved them away from
the wall, but there was nothing we could find. No animals, mice,
squirrels, nothing. Nothing we could see or determine that might
have been making the noises.” He seemed hesitant to continue.

“Really? That’s interesting. Upstairs we
thought we heard some footsteps and music that we weren’t able to
debunk. There were a few other things, but it’s hard to say if they
were paranormal,” Emmett said, switching his light on and off
nervously.

“That is a lot of unexplained incidents. I’d
like to work upstairs next,” Glen proclaimed. “We should definitely
do more EVP work.”

“Well, Laney and Connie are determined that
we continue,” Emmett said reluctantly. “But no one goes anywhere
alone, especially you, Laney. Dean, you and Glen go upstairs, and
the three of us will work on this level.”

Connie, Emmett and I all sat gathered
together in the darkened kitchen lost in our own thoughts for a few
moments. Emmett had refused to continue unless we all sat in our
chairs during the session. Was there really something targeting me?
I wondered. It could be, I supposed. After all, I was intruding on
its territory and changing everything. It was amazing how far I’d
come in such a short time. I went from not believing in ghosts to
wondering if they were purposely singling me out for some nefarious
reason. The main level of the house was quiet. I could hear the
house creak or groan but it was in a normal, settling way as the
evening got colder.

Emmett rustled in his chair. I could almost
hear him ruminating on our stubborn behavior and wondering what to
do about our obstinacies. He wouldn’t understand that I was at a
point in my life where I just couldn’t be pushed anymore. I
appreciated Connie for backing me up.

Light from the streetlamps outside shone
through the kitchen window, casting a pale glow across the room,
making us look like grim specters. I could tell Emmett was still
harboring misgivings about continuing the investigation, but he
seemed willing to go on anyway at our insistence. Sighing loudly,
he pulled the EVP player out again and placed it on the table. “Is
anyone here with us?” he began. Silence. “Is there anything you’d
like to tell us?” More silence. “We’d love it if you would join us
here.” Not even a creak of the floor boards. We sat at the table a
few minutes more. My thoughts wandered as the minutes lengthened
and nothing happened.

“We just cleaned out the study earlier today.
Let’s move there,” Connie suggested, turning on her flashlight and
rising from her chair. “I’ve heard ghosts sometimes get active when
you redecorate or remodel. Maybe that’s what’s happening here.”

“Good idea,” I followed her lead, turning on
my flashlight and pushing the kitchen chair back under the
table.

Emmett got to his feet and strode out of the
room to the study. “I’m going first. If there is a chair, I’d like
you to sit in it please, Laney. If there isn’t one, I’ll bring one
from the kitchen.”

I could tell Emmett was making an effort not
to tell me what to do but he just couldn’t help himself. I held
back a laugh and decided not to argue since he was being so polite.
When we got to the study he pulled the chair out from behind the
desk, looked at me and gestured for me to sit. Smiling, I sat with
a flourish. He grinned back at me, shaking his head. “Connie, you
may sit at the window seat.”

“Thank you, sir,” she mocked, walking to the
specified location.

I sat at the desk and looked around the dim
room. There were more trees in front of the study windows than the
kitchen, so there was less light filtering in from outside. Emmett
walked around the room holding his EVP recorder, asking similar
questions as before then stopping so he would be able to hear
responses when listening to the tape later. His voice droned on and
I stopped paying attention. I rocked back and forth in the chair,
then sat forward and put my head down on the desk. I hadn’t slept
well in several nights and it was getting late. I had to sit up or
I would be asleep in a minute. Looking at the desk, I saw the
unexplored drawers and flipped on my flashlight. I hadn’t had time
yet to go through them, and now was as good a time as any. I felt a
little like I was invading my grandfather’s space, which I was, but
I had been doing that since the first time I set foot through the
front door. If this place would ever truly be mine and Connie’s, it
would have to yield all its secrets to us.

Without further hesitation, I slid open the
top center drawer. Pens and pencils rolled forward as the drawer
moved, pushing forward coins, paper clips, and old puzzle pieces. I
wondered if the rest of the puzzles were anywhere in the house. I
pulled out a scratch pad from the local bank and another from the
lumber yard that had gone out of business when the large corporate
store opened. Nothing good in this one. Ready to move on to the
next, I started to close the drawer. It stuck a little and I had to
jiggle it a bit to get it to go back in. The red glow of my
flashlight caught what looked like a small piece of paper as it
floated to the floor. I picked it up and held my light to it.
“Cool. Look what I found, a stamp from nineteen fifty-three. I
wonder if it’s worth anything. It has General Patton on it,” I said
to the others, and set it on the corner of the desk.

Connie got up and wandered over to look at it
with her flashlight. “I don’t think it’s been used. Does that make
it more valuable?”

“No idea. I don’t collect stamps. Wasn’t
there an Audrey Hepburn movie where the treasure was stamps?”
Opening the next drawer I found old check stubs dating from the
nineteen eighties, address labels, a stapler with its refills, and
a dust cloth. Funny, the desk was very neat in comparison to the
rest of the house. The other drawers were empty. He could leave
stuff piled all over the house, but let’s not muss up the insides
of drawers.

“Ooo, yes, with Cary Grant,” Connie said, as
she and I continued our conversation, totally oblivious to Emmett
trying to do his EVP work. “Isn’t it weird how he had that accent
even though he was American?”

“Cary Grant wasn’t American, he was
British.”

“He was not, he was, like, from New York or
somewhere.”

“Actually, he was born in England but became
an American citizen,” Emmett said, giving us a sideways glance.
“Should we be done here?”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I said. Compared to
earlier, it seemed like the rest of the night was going to be
anticlimactic.

“We’ll review the evidence and come back
tomorrow night to show you anything we caught,” Emmett said,
walking out of the room. Calling up the stairs, he told Dean and
Glen we were done then headed downstairs to turn the power on
again. The heater kicked on, and the refrigerator started humming
as the house seemed to spring back to life. We switched the lights
on and the guys got busy winding the extension cords and removing
the cameras while Connie and I took a potty break.

Regrouping at the front door, we agreed to
get together the next day to look over the evidence. “Is there
anything else I can do for you tonight?” Emmett asked me with a
serious look. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

It felt like everyone was watching us but I
was sure it was my imagination. “I’m fine, I mean, we’re fine.
Connie and me, I mean. We’re fine.” I didn’t know why I was feeling
so flustered. “I just want to go to bed. To sleep,” I clarified
quickly.
My God, what an idiot.

Emmett looked at me dubiously then looked at
Connie who gave him a reassuring nod. I tried to pretend it didn’t
feel like a first date but obviously didn’t do a very good job at
it. As Emmett turned to walk out the door, I pictured him giving me
a good night kiss. Missing that kiss was the only part that made we
wish it was a first date.