Spooky Hijinks (9 page)

“That’s harsh. Both towns have their charm. I wonder if any old-timers still think that way?”

“I don’t, but there are people in town much older than me,” Eleanor said. “Like, in their nineties.”

I turned onto US 23, heading back to the lighthouse. “I guess I’d have to agree with you. There are some pretty nice homes along Lake Huron here, too.”

“It’s really a beautiful area,” I acknowledged. “But there are steep prices to go along with it.”

“All along Tawas Bay it’s expensive. If you bought a house lakefront, that is.”

“I’ve always wanted a lakefront home, but I fell in love with my cabin in the woods. Now Stuart is living there while I’m at the Butler Mansion.”

“We can buy a house on Tawas Bay, if you’d like,” Andrew said. “Even in East Tawas, if you want.”

“I can’t see myself there. I just don’t think I’d fit in with my neighbors in East Tawas.”

“That’s silly,” Eleanor said. “Why would you ever feel that way?”

“I don’t know, but I’m a little controversial.”

“That fits our entire family,” Martha said. “I’m still not all that sure what to make of Stuart, quite yet.”

“He works for the FBI,” I said. “That makes it very hard to understand him. I almost wonder if he’ll ever give Andrew and me his official seal of approval.”

“It doesn’t matter what Stuart thinks, Mother. If you’re happy, that’s all that counts.”

I knew she was right, and I’d thought about it long and hard. I wasn’t sure why I wanted his approval, but it was important for me to have both of my children happy when Andrew and I married.

We dropped Martha and a reluctant Cliff off, and he left without dragging his feet. It did occur to me that I had forgotten to tell Martha that she needed to keep her hands to home, but there was no sense in worrying about it now.

* * *

I dropped Andrew and Wilson off on Newman Street so that Andrew could retrieve his car. I then headed to the Butler Mansion, and when I pulled up, I noticed the light on the third floor was on. I had planned to go up there to speak to the ghosts, but I really wasn’t in the mood to do more than crawl into bed, hoping that I could catch up on some of the sleep I had lost from the night before.

Millicent walked forward when we came in the door. “I’m not sure what’s going on around here, but you really need to speak to the ghosts and tell them to cool it. Unless you want ghost hunters here.”

“Whatever are you talking about?” I asked, like I had no idea what she was referring to.

Millicent just shook her head. “Don’t even try that with me. It’s apparent that you can communicate with spirits. Either that, or you’re off your rocker. I’ve seen you plenty of times speaking to someone I can’t see.”

“Fine. I might be able to see a ghost, but it’s not like I’ll be able to control them. What kinds of things have been happening here today?”

“Oh, not much—picture frames crashing to the floor, mirrors fogging up mysteriously, footsteps in the attic. I’m shocked I haven’t seen anything myself. I guess I just wished I could so I could make sense of things.”

“I thought that too at one time, until I began to actually see a ghost. Believe me, it’s overrated. I’ll speak to Caroline tomorrow. We might have brought another ghost back with us from Nevada, and it’s stirred up one of the existing ghosts here.”

Millicent lowered her shoulders. “Fine, but please do something. I’d hate for guests to start checking out.”

I nodded. “I agree, but right now, all I have the energy to do is head to bed.”

Eleanor and I went upstairs, and I crawled into bed. Not even the footsteps overhead could keep me awake tonight.

              
Chapter Seven

I whistled a happy tune as I descended the stairs the next morning, until I saw an irritated Millicent waiting for me at the bottom. “You have to do something about these ghosts. Two guests are complaining that the ones in the attic were making horrible noises all night long.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” I said. “I slept like the dead.”

“I’d be careful with your choice of words,” Eleanor pointed out. “We’re too close to death as it is.”

“What happened, did someone die?”

“Oh, nothing like that, but Millicent probably told you already. You did tell her, Millicent, right?”

“I was trying to.” She sighed, exasperated. “There was a horrible racket in the attic, rattling and moaning all night long. Many of the guests were downstairs, quite frightened. I believe one of them even called a ghost hunter team.”

That wasn’t good. “Did you go up there to check it out at least? I’m sure there’s a logical explanation.”

Millicent shook now, her eyes wide as she said, “I-I’m not going up there. That’s your department, since you’re the ghost expert around here.”

I laughed. “I hardly consider myself any kind of expert.”

“I think seeing Caroline qualifies you, Agnes,” Eleanor said. “Maybe you should call her and see what the scoop is upstairs.”

“It’s not like it’s that easy, Eleanor. We’ve vowed to leave the ghosts that live in the attic alone, remember? If we go against our promises, there’s no telling what might happen.”

“Oh, and guests leaving by the droves or ghost hunters showing up doesn’t worry you, Aggie?” Eleanor asked with a shake of her head. “Whatever will the owner, Sara Knoxville, think? She left us to oversee things here, you know.”

“I know. I guess I’ll have to do something, but only if you come up there with me, Eleanor.”

“Leave me out of it,” Millicent said as she walked away.

I hoped that ghost hunters wouldn’t show up in town. It was the last thing I needed right now. We had a wedding to plan, and that didn’t include ghosts in the mix. I walked back upstairs, and once I was in the hallway, I whispered, “Caroline, where are you?”

Caroline slowly appeared with a forlorn look on her face. “I wondered when you’d call me.”

“Oh, and why would that be? Because you’ve made a nuisance of yourself yesterday and last night?”

“It wasn’t me last night. All that racket came from the attic, not downstairs. What are you going to do about it?”

“We’re going up to the attic to see what’s going on is what, and you’re coming with us, Caroline.”

She began to look more transparent as she insisted, “Oh, no, I’m not.”

“Hmm, I wonder if Rosa Lee Hill has any sage we could burn in the mansion.”

Caroline made a horrific face. “Yuck, please don’t do that. I’ll go along, but know this: I’m only going under protest.”

That was fine by me. I happened to glance up at the paintings of the Butler ancestors and gulped. They sure gave me the willies with all their long, unsmiling faces. What was it about not smiling and getting your picture taken or painted back then? There was absolutely no warmth in any of those paintings.

I climbed a few more steps that led to the attic and had quite a time of trying to open the door.

“Looks like we can’t get in. I should go,” Caroline said.

The door popped open just then, and I smiled. “Oops, sorry, Caroline. I’m not letting you get away with it that easy.”

“And when we, or rather Agnes, talks with the ghosts up there, no fading away, Caroline,” Eleanor added. “It’s about time you start taking responsibility for your actions.”

I opened the door, and Caroline whispered, “None of this is my fault.”

Before I was able to set another foot in the door, Duchess, my cat, came scurrying out with that ghost dog, or the ghost of what I called a hellhound hot on her heels. “Oh, my. How did she get in here? I bet she’s the one who has been making all that racket up here, and not the ghosts after all. See, I told you there was a logical explanation.”

“That’s my cue to go,” Caroline said.

“Not so fast,” a woman’s voice said from behind us.

I swallowed hard before I turned and faced three ghosts—two women and one man. The women had long, board-looking bodices with tight sleeves. Their hairstyle with heavy side wings that widened further over the ears told me that they were from the 1850s. Since Tawas City was founded in 1856, these ghosts might very well be the original owners of the mansion that was thought to be in East Tawas, but that was incorrect. The Butler Mansion was, in fact, in Tawas City.

From the look on Eleanor’s face, I knew that this time she could also see the ghosts. Instead of commenting, though, she remained silent. In the past, the only ghost Eleanor had been able to see was Caroline.

Since I knew who the original owner was, I asked the male ghost, “Are you Clarence Butler?”

He pulled on the lapel of his black jacket. “No, ma’am. I’m Erwin, his brother.”

“Well, Erwin, why on earth are you still here?”

“Earth? I’m not sure what you mean. I’m here in the mansion, like I’ve been since after I died, as have my sisters, Ada and Lydia.”

“You’ve all died in this house?”

“No, we were nurses,” Ada said. “We worked long hours caring for the sick at their homes, even though Clarence didn’t like the fact that we went. He wouldn’t allow us home after we did, either.”

“I was livid that Clarence did that,” Erwin said. “I went to find my sisters to make sure that they were okay, and finally found them caring for the ill. Since I wasn’t ill and saw what was happening outside of my home, I had to help out if I could. We had a livery stable, and I went back home and retrieved a wagon and horses. The wagon was fashioned into a hearse, and I picked up bodies, delivering them to the undertaker.”

“So your sisters cared for the sick, and you picked up bodies of the dead?” I asked, astonished. “I had no idea that happened here in the Tawas area.”

“Finally, I was stricken, and my sisters cared for me in a cabin near Tawas Bay.”

“Erwin succumbed to the Spanish flu and so did my sister and I. I’m not sure what happened when we died, or why all three of us turned up here at the mansion, but that’s just what happened,” Ada said.

“How sad. So here you are, stuck in the Butler Mansion for all eternity. How awful of Clarence to not allow you to come back here,” Eleanor said.

“That might just be why they came back here after they died,” I said. “Their spirits wanted to come home at last.”

“But instead of resting, you’ve been quite disturbed,” Eleanor said.

“Not always, but since this mansion was turned into a hotel, there’s no peace and quiet.” Erwin sighed. “But even that isn’t all that bad, but the antics of these new ghosts is quite another matter.”

“We call this a bed and breakfast,” I informed Erwin. “I’m sorry about bringing Caroline here, but she’s attached to me.”

“You’re a very naughty ghost,” Ada chastised Caroline, who hung her head.

Caroline then glanced up. “But it’s not my fault. One of your descendants, Malcolm, murdered me. He ran me down with his car when I left him, right there in downtown East Tawas.”

“Yes, and he’s been stuck here ever since he committed suicide from what he has told us,” Lydia said. “But that’s not what bothers us. It’s that you brought that ghost home with you from who knows where.”

“I’m sorry about that,” I said. “I didn’t think it would hurt if Caroline brought Niles back with us from Nevada. She’s sweet on him, you see.”

“There’s no need for romance in the afterlife,” Ada said. “Isn’t that right, sister?”

“She’s quite right. Either this Niles goes, or you all do.”

That was not the solution I was hoping for. “What if we find a way to make the peace? Would he be able to stay then?”

“He would, but it’s highly unlikely that a jealous ghost would be able to be pacified.”

“Leave it to me, then,” I said. “But in the meantime, please keep it down up here.”

“You have that cat to blame for last night,” Ada said. “All we were trying to do was get someone’s attention to get that blasted cat out of here.”

“How did she get in here at all since the attic door has always been kept locked?”

“It’s not locked now, Agnes,” Eleanor pointed out. “Remember, it opened right up for us.”

“The ghosts did that,” I said.

“Actually, people have been coming up here quite regularly,” Erwin said. “Taking pictures like they’re going to catch us on film.”

“That’s not a good thing. I’ll see what I can do about securing this door so that doesn’t happen again.”

Instead of responding, Erwin, Ada, and Lydia turned into a black mist that went into a framed picture of the three of them. I took a closer look and could see now that the picture had been taken while they were caring for the sick, as they were standing in front of a wagon. It was a hearse! I had never looked that close at the picture before now. It was apparent that one of the Butler descendants must have placed this picture here since Erwin, Ada, and Lydia weren’t allowed back at the mansion after they helped the sick.

We left the attic, and once we were back on the second floor, I told Caroline, “Find Malcolm and Niles. We need to have a meeting.”

“I’m not sure they’d want to come. It’s not good when they’re both in the room together.”

“I don’t care what they like. Things can’t go on like this. We have a wedding to plan, and it doesn’t revolve around ghost hunters showing up with their gadgets. Make it happen.”

Eleanor smiled. “That’s just so bad about the ghosts, don’t you think? They died helping out victims of the flu. Just awful about how Clarence wouldn’t let them come home.”

“I can’t totally blame him. He just was afraid that they’d bring the flu back home, but it does sound heartless. And now they’re stuck here in the mansion forever. I really need to learn more about the history of the Tawas area. It might play a huge part in figuring out what ghost haunts the lighthouse. Martha’s staying there, and now Cliff, so we just have to find out before we decide to get married there. What if the ghost shows up, causing problems during the wedding?” I asked.

“I doubt that would happen. With all of the visitors the lighthouse gets, it would be near impossible for that to be an ongoing problem, but we’ll figure it out. We always do,” Eleanor said as we went downstairs.

We met Millicent halfway across the drawing room. “Were you able to sort it out?” she asked, as wide-eyed guests with suitcases in hand looked on, obviously wanting answers.