Spooky Hijinks (10 page)

“My cat, Duchess, was stuck in the attic. Has anyone been going up there, like to take pictures?” I now asked the guests. “Because how else would my cat get locked in there?”

“We weren’t hurting anything. Just a few pictures to prove that this place is haunted,” a man said.

“And what did you find out?”

“Nothing,” he admitted. “But you can’t mean that a cat made
all
that noise up there last night.”

“There were high-pitched screams and moans,” a woman agreed.

“Did you know that a cat has quite the vocal range?”

“No, I guess not, but what about the picture frames flying off the walls down here last night?”

“They just haven’t been secured properly. I’ll be looking into that today. So if there’s not anything else, I suggest that you make up your minds if you want to stay or go. We have a waiting list, and Millicent can call the next person on the list if you decide that you can’t stay another night.”

“What do you want to do, Trudy? Give it another night?”

She nodded. “Why not, Shane? Our friends were jealous when I told them where we were staying.”

“Exactly,” I said. “We’ve been booked solid since the mansion was opened as a bed and breakfast.”

“Join us in the dining room for breakfast,” Millicent suggested.

“Go ahead, Trudy and Shane. We have some business to attend to,” I said.

We waited until the couple set their luggage down and followed Millicent into the dining room. “Meet us in the library, Caroline,” I whispered. Even though she wasn’t visible to me now, I knew she must have heard me, or even better, I hoped after speaking with ghosts in the attic that she was rounding up Niles and Malcolm. Eleanor led the way into the library that was down a hallway, and I moved her away from the chair she was poised to sit on, since Malcolm was in that chair and Niles was seated in the other, while Caroline stood between the men.

“I just don’t understand why I suddenly can see the ghosts in this mansion?” Eleanor asked.

“I suppose because they’re used to having you around at the mansion, Eleanor. Try not to let it bother you.”

“It doesn’t bother me like it used to, but I liked it much better when I couldn’t see them. It makes me feel like I’m not wrapped too tightly in the noggin.”

The ghosts in the room didn’t seem to mind what Eleanor had said, so I now faced our problem head on. “Sit in the chair behind the desk,” I told Eleanor. “It won’t bother me to stand.”

“Good. I need to rest my legs just in case you want to climb the stairs of the lighthouse tower later.”

“All eighty-five steps, Eleanor? I don’t think either of us are up for the challenge today.”

“Are we going to discuss ousting this ghost over here?” Malcolm asked, pointing over to Niles. “He should never have come here.”

“You do realize that Caroline wants him here, right?”

“I don’t care,” Malcolm said, pounding his fist on the arms of the chair. “This is my home, not his. I’m the Butler, and since this is the Butler Mansion, he should leave!”

“I see. Well, I suppose that Caroline should also leave, too, since she was never your wife, Malcolm.”

Malcolm leaned up in the chair. “No, that’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“I bet not, but let me tell you how it needs to go. Both of you men need to get over yourselves. Caroline left you, Malcolm, and you ran her down, killing her, remember? And Caroline brought Niles back with her and has the right to have him around. If and when we leave this place, they’ll both be leaving, too.”

“No, I never said I wanted Caroline to leave. It’s just that we were engaged.”

“Yes, before you cheated on me,” Caroline said. “Then you killed me!”

“I’m sorry about that, Caroline. I’ve apologized to you over and over. Why won’t you believe that I never meant to end your life that day?”

“I believe that, but forgiveness is much harder to do.”

“The thing is, if you two men don’t quit causing problems, this mansion will close to the public, and I don’t think that’s in the best interest of the owner, who is actually a Butler descendant.”

“Then Caroline will have no reason to be here,” Eleanor added.

Malcolm hung his head now. “Fine, I’ll behave myself, but Niles had better not be stealing kisses from Caroline when I’m in the room.”

“It would help if you didn’t follow us everywhere we went,” Caroline said.

“I was only doing that to get rid of Niles.”

“And causing quite the problems around here,” I added. “We can’t have picture frames sailing off walls, sending our guest fleeing into the night. I had to talk a couple out of leaving.”

“If ghost hunters turn up here, we’ll never be able to run the bed and breakfast properly. What if it closed its doors?” Eleanor spouted off. “You’ll be on your best behavior from here on out,” Eleanor said. “It’s December, and soon it will be Christmas Day. It’s a time for peace on Earth, and that includes peace between the ghosts of the mansion.”

“The ghosts in the attic are not happy about your behavior either, Malcolm, and they are your ancestors Erwin, Ada, and Lydia Butler, who lost their lives to the Spanish flu.”

Malcolm came off his chair. “Did th-they tell you that?”

“Yes.”

“They actually came out of the picture and talked to you?”

“Yes.”

“You know they weren’t even allowed to be buried in the family cemetery on the hill,” Malcolm said. “My father told me that’s why they still haunt the grounds.”

I took in a sharp breath. “It was bad enough that Clarence Butler would bar his own siblings from the mansion after they cared for patients, but to not even allow them to be buried in the family plot—now, that’s just horrible.”

“Clarence was a very strict man, but if not for him, there would never be half the fortune that there is now.”

I did my best not to be shocked now. Just how extensive was the Butler fortune, and why did Sara Knoxville decide to open the mansion up to the public?

“He was in shipping, right?”

“Yes, and his ships helped move the lumber after it left the mills. Clarence’s ships fared much better navigating Tawas Bay, as he knew it well.”

“But the bay was a place of shelter for ships during storms,” I said.

“Yes, but there are many shipwrecks around the point,” Malcolm said. “You might just say that Clarence was a blessed man, as he was a very active churchgoing man.”

“True, but a cold-blooded man also, one who turned his family away in their time of need.”

“Yes, but only for the survival of his family.”

“The way I see it, many of the Butlers met an untimely end here at the mansion.”

Silence now filled the room as the three ghosts huddled together, speaking in hushed tones. When they parted, Caroline said, “We all agree to get along.”

“And if we find that we can’t, we’ll simply stay away from one another until we calm down,” Malcolm said.

“Wow, it sounds like there’s just as much going on with the ghosts here as there is with the living,” Eleanor said with a chuckle.

I had to agree with that, and the ghosts faded away as the sound of footsteps could be heard advancing toward the library. My heart thumped now as I wondered,
What now
?

              
Chapter Eight

When the door was jerked open, Elsie Bradford said, “There you are, girls. I had lost all hope of finding you.”

I didn’t have time to think just why she was here before Bernice entered the room with a smiling Marjory, who was shaking a fabric measuring tape in one hand. “It’s time to get measured for your wedding dresses.”

When Dorothy entered the room, I was a little shocked, since Eleanor and Dorothy weren’t the best of friends. Why, they had been enemies not all that long ago, but in time, they had somehow resolved their differences. I think it happened when Eleanor began seeing Mr. Wilson, but whatever the reason, I was happy all the same. Although Dorothy still made some comments at times that had me wondering if she meant to say them quite the way they came out, like when she suggested that Eleanor wouldn’t be able to find a wedding dress in her size. I have to admit that I wondered about that myself, but only because we had so little time before the wedding.

“Who’s making the dresses?”

“We all are taking a whirl of it,” Elsie said. “It’s a team effort. We found a few great designs that would work for you girls.”

“Can we see the designs first?” I asked.

“Nope, it’s a secret. You have to learn to trust our judgment,” Bernice said.

I tried to smile, but all I could think about was how I had drunk Bernice’s moonshine once and how horribly sick it made me. “I can trust you girls, if you promise not to make us look comical.”

“Yes,” Eleanor agreed. “So no ruffles. We’re both too old for that.”

“Let’s just get your measurements,” Marjory said, as she put the measuring tape around my waist, yanking me toward her.

“Oh, my,” I said as our noses met.

“My word,” Eleanor said. “Are you planning to kiss her, Marjory?”

Marjory eased backward. “No. I guess I don’t know my own strength.” She shouted out the number, and Elsie jotted it down with a pen that she found on the desk. Next, my bosom needed to be measured, but after how Marjory had measured my waist, I took the tape from her. “I’ll do it.” I wrapped the measuring tape around my bust and gave Elsie the number and then moved on to my hips.

Eleanor stood with her arms wide. “You can measure me, Marjory. I’m not a fuddy duddy like Agnes.”

“Go ahead, Dorothy,” Elsie said. “Measure Eleanor.”

Dorothy made a face, but took the measuring tape from me and strolled over to Eleanor, who swirled her hips as Dorothy tried to get the tape all the way around Eleanor’s waist, almost falling into her bosom. “It won’t fit,” Dorothy said. “I told you we needed a bigger tape for Eleanor.”

“Is that right?” Eleanor asked with a huff, snatching the tape and wrapping it around her own waist. “See. It fits just fine.”

“I-I didn’t mean it in a bad way, I swear.”

Elsie took the tape next and measured Eleanor’s ample hips and bosom, telling Bernice the number. Bernice raised a brow, but didn’t react otherwise as she said, “I guess we had better get started on their wedding outfits if we’re to get them done in time for Christmas.”

“Agreed. What do you have planned for the reception?” Elsie asked.

“I really didn’t give it much thought. This was so last minute.”

“Why did you girls wait so long when you’ve been engaged for as long as you have?”

“I don’t know. I was trying to get out of it?” I said with a smile. “But now I just want to get it over with.”

“That’s hardly the attitude of someone about to marry the man she loves,” Marjory scolded me. “You do love Andrew, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course I do, but I haven’t even had a chance to speak with my son, Stuart, yet. What if he won’t give his blessing?”

“You really have more to worry about than getting married right now,” a voice from the doorway said.

When I looked up, I was staring directly into the eyes of my son, Stuart.

* * *

“What are you doing here, Stuart? I haven’t seen you for a while.”

“Are you still in town?” Eleanor said. “You do know your mother is getting married on Christmas Day—or I should say we both are, if we can ever get it arranged in time.”

Stuart sighed. “I’m still in town, enjoying some time off before I head back to Washington for my next assignment, but I’ll tell you all about that after your friends leave,” Stuart said.

“Oh, is your wife here, too?”

“Yes, she’s outside waiting for us.”

“I’ll catch up with you girls later,” I said.

Once we were out in the hallway, I heard quite the commotion, and as we made our way into the entranceway, I could see that men wearing blue jackets with the letters ATF on the backs of them were mingling around.

I bit my fist now. “What’s happening, Stuart?”

Stuart pointed at Marjory, Elsie, Dorothy, and Bernice. “These ladies are leaving. Please show them to the door.”

A tall man led them to the door, and Millicent’s eyes were quite wide. “I work here,” she informed them.

“Not to worry,” Stuart said. “We’ll be speaking to Eleanor and my mother in the other room.”

Stuart took ahold of my arm and directed me into the drawing room, with Eleanor trailing behind us. Eleanor and I sat on the sofa and I asked, “What’s the meaning of this?”

“Guns, stolen guns. It’s my understanding that you helped the Hill brothers to retrieve stolen property from Robert Miller’s house.”

I tried to act as innocent as possible. “I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know anything about any stolen guns.”

“Look, Robert’s mother, Vivian, told us how you went over there and found the guns in her shed and how the Hill brothers picked them up.”

I gulped. “From my understanding, that’s not what she told the sheriff.”

“I know, but she told us plenty, which is why we’re here now.”

“I’m pleading the fifth amendment on this.”

“Yup, we don’t have anything to say about the guns we found over at the Millers’ or that we went over there to get them back for the Hill brothers,” Eleanor said. When I nudged her, she winced. “Sorry, Agnes. Looks like I spilled the beans again.”

“Fine,” I said, since this was how it usually went with Eleanor, I might as well tell Stuart what happened. “The Hill brothers had their guns stolen, and one of their game cameras had captured Robert’s image, but I was able to get the guns back, so no harm done.”

“Yup, you should be happy that the guns were found instead of floating around somewhere,” Eleanor added. “Did you know that at the house Elsie was staying at, we were robbed at gunpoint just last night? They had planned to steal the guns until the cops showed up.”

Stuart wrestled his cellphone from his pocket now, reporting what we had said about Elsie’s place. Apparently, Sheriff Peterson never told them about that, or possibly didn’t get a chance. That meant the sheriff knew about us in relation to the guns now.

I tugged on Stuart’s arm until I had his attention. “She’s now staying at a house that was just bought for Jack Winston by his son,” I said. “It’s on 55.”