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CHAPTER SIX

The footpath from the kitchen to the cemetery was made of slate stones, and for as old as the cemetery was, the trail was weeded and tidy. Abernethy glanced over his shoulder once, then led the way.

The path wound through a large backyard, to a stone wall that fenced off the cemetery. An old iron gate straddled the sidewalk, but it opened smoothly without a squeak. I had the feeling Abernethy came out here to look for his great-grandma a lot. He seemed shaken up by the whole situation.

As he opened the gate, standing to the side to let us through, I looked around.

The cemetery wasn’t large, but there must have been well over a hundred graves in it, and it had grown wild, with climbing roses and ivy creeping over gravestones and markers, and blackberries encroached from the other side.

A massive yew tree grew in the center of the cemetery, and as we entered the cemetery, Kerris let out a little gasp.

“I have to ask you not to take any photographs,” Abernethy said. “If my employers caught sight of any online, they’d have my head for this.”

We promised, and he seemed to believe us because he relaxed.

“Oh good grief,” he said. “I forgot to put up my out for lunch sign. I doubt we’ll get any more visitors today, but I have to leave a note to tell them that I’m around.” He worried his lip. “If I leave you here alone, do you promise not to do anything to compromise my position?”

I wasn’t sure what more he could do to put his job in danger than let us in here, but I nodded. “We’ll just look around.”

“All right. I’ll be back in a moment.” He hurried out of the graveyard, shutting the iron gate behind him.

I turned to Kerris. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “I noticed you?—”

“I sense Penelope. She and I have a bond, and I can feel her out here. I’m not sure where, but…she’s here, all right.”

I told them about the conversation I had had with Agnes as we looked around. “Penelope is out here. We just have to find her.”

There were several mausoleums, along with all the graves.

They were made of weathered stone, with thick ivy growing over the roofs and up the walls.

The longer we stood here, the more active I realized the graveyard was.

I could feel the movement of spirits everywhere, and as we stood silent, I heard muffled crying on the wind.

The sound of a woman singing a melancholy dirge lingered on the edge of my hearing, sounding faint like an echo from the past. I shivered, feeling like I was walking between worlds.

“This place gives me the creeps,” I said. “There are spirits everywhere.”

“It reminds me of the Pest House Cemetery over in Whisper Hollow. I wonder if they’re all like this. So much death and pain and loneliness can’t help but imprint on the area,” Kerris said. She began to walk toward one of the mausoleums. It was small—they all were—but still impressive.

Shrines to the dead , I thought. Set up to stop the hands of time, to push back against mortality and remind people that the inhabitants had once walked this Earth, as alive and vibrant as we were now.

Death was an odd thing—we traveled through life and then, often in the blink of an eye, we faded away, left behind.

Or gone ahead, perhaps? To another world?

Whatever direction, we were no longer woven into the tapestry that made up the living mass of humanity.

And all our dreams and plans and hopes faded into the past.

“Are you all right?” Rowan asked.

I shrugged. “Just thinking about death. It’s the one thing most of us fear, and yet it’s the one commonality we all have. Regardless of our differences, regardless of our similarities, we all come to that day when we must say goodbye. And then…we become memories for others.”

“We travel on, though,” she said. “You know there’s no end to the spirit—to the essential self.

We transition, we change. We move on ahead.

We go ’round on the Wheel again and again, and with each journey, we hopefully evolve until we’re ready to let go of the physical and move on to another realm, beyond the physical.

Beyond the spirit world.” Rowan glanced at Kerris. “Can you pinpoint where Penelope is?”

Kerris began walking around the graveyard, stopping at each mausoleum. The first, she shook her head at. And the second as well. But the third one, at the far end of the cemetery, she paused and nodded.

“Here—” she started to say but quieted when Abernethy reappeared. He was breathing heavily as though he’d just run a marathon.

“I’m back,” he said. “I need to ask you to go back inside. While I was there, I got a call from one of my employers. He’s going to arrive shortly and I can’t have you out here.”

We hustled out. I didn’t want to be around if one of the Covenant of Chaos members showed up.

“We have to leave anyway,” I said. “Thank you for the tour. We’ll talk to you soon.”

“What about my great-grandma—” Abernethy started to say, but we were back at the house and heading for the front door.

“I’ll talk to you later. I didn’t find her grave yet, but I’ll be glad to give it another try,” I said, waving as we hurried out the door and toward the parking lot.

Leaving a bewildered Abernethy behind, we were in the car and pulling out when a large, black sedan pulled in.

The windows were tinted—probably to an illegal level—and we averted our gaze, trying to remain anonymous as our car passed theirs.

Another moment and I did my best to snap a picture of the back of the car, trying to get the license plate.

As we headed home, I leaned back against the seat. “Well, what do you think?”

“She’s there,” Kerris said. “I think we should sneak back at night. Otherwise, Abernethy’s going to notice that we’re there.

And I want to do it quickly, before they have a chance to move her or try to destroy her.

While I don’t think they could kill her, so to speak, I don’t want them to disrupt her. ”

“There’s another issue besides Penelope,” I said. “Agnes and the doctor. I’d like to help, if I can.”

“Who do you think summoned him back?” Kerris asked.

“Who else but the Covenant of Chaos?” Rowan said. “I wonder what they’re planning.”

“Agnes seems to think it was Penelope. Anyway, I might be wrong but I have the feeling they may reopen the Pest House as a haunted B&B. Did you notice how neatly all the bedrooms were made up? There have been some renovations done there lately.”

“That would make sense,” Rowan said. “And you know it would draw ghost hunters of all kinds.”

“Agnes told me this: If we don’t help, he threatens us with obliteration.

I don’t want to frighten people. I don’t like being used as a sideshow feature.

So yeah, I think the future of the Pest House is headed toward the haunted house route.

” I shook my head. “Can you imagine being dead and being forced to play up to tourists? Being imprisoned and used as a prop?”

Both Rowan and Kerris grimaced.

“That’s so wrong,” Kerris said.

“When we get home, let’s look up this Dr. Myopa. And we can make plans to return to look for Penelope. You said you think she’s in that third mausoleum?” Rowan asked.

Kerris nodded. “I know she is. You know, if they do try to turn it into a hotel, then it would make sense to have a Gatekeeper. But only if she was under your control, because her job is to help spirits cross through the Veil. In this case, they’d want to keep the spirits around.”

“Is the Gatekeeper strong enough to prevent them from crossing over?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, she could do that. But only if she’s under their control.

” Kerris frowned. “That would kill two birds with one stone—if you’re right.

It would get her out of Whisper Hollow, for the Hounds, and then it would also prevent the dead from leaving the Pest House, for the Covenant of Chaos.

But they’d have to figure out how to control her. ”

“How would you do that?” I asked.

Rowan let out a deep sigh. “There are ways. Old spells, meant to control the dead. I think we need to visit Charles Crichton at the library. He can help us with research. He’s well-versed in local lore, and the Pest House is close enough to Moonshadow Bay that he should know something about it.”

Charles Crichton was an older gentleman—a true gentleman—who worked in the Garrison Library. He was tall, fit, and in his seventies. A recent widower, Charles came over to dinner on a regular basis, and we’d spend the evening talking about the history of the town.

“Of course,” I said. “Well, if we’re right and they’re planning to use Penelope to trap the spirits so they can make money off of that, then we shouldn’t have to worry that they’re going to try to destroy her.”

“True, but whatever they do to her, it could forever change her. We can’t bank on having lots of time,” Kerris said.

As we headed back to Moonshadow Bay, it occurred to me that we’d learned a lot for one afternoon and we at least had a fighting chance.

* * *

By the time we made it back to Moonshadow Bay, I’d put in a call to Charles and he was waiting for us at the library. We meandered through the stacks, heading toward the second floor where Charles had his office.

We reached his door at three o’clock, and I knocked lightly, then opened it.

Charles was sitting behind his desk. “January,” he said, standing. “I’m delighted to see you. And Rowan, you as well.”

We shook hands and I introduced Kerris. “Kerris is the spirit shaman of Whisper Hollow,” I said. “We have a confidential request, and it’s vital that whatever we say remain private.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’ve never talked to a spirit shaman before,” he said with a nod, looking as stately as ever. “I give you my word, ladies. Please, sit down.”

As we took chairs around his desk, he cleared his desktop computer and brought up a browser, though it looked to be an internal one used by the library staff, because I’d never seen it before.

“What can I do for you?” he asked.

“We need information on the Wildcat Cove Pest House. We think there’s something shady going on there.” We told him what had happened.

“Can you see what you can find out about the mausoleums in the cemetery? Also, can you find out who the Broadman Group is made of? Apparently they own it now,” I added.

Charles was strong with the search engines. He had been teaching me tricks and tips on how to find the information I needed, but I still couldn’t match him when it came to digging out historical information.

“Give me just a moment,” he said. He tapped away at the keys, his fingers still swift and sure on the keys.

A few moments later, he looked up. “The group who owns the Pest House—the Broadman Group? The ‘group’ is made up of two men, and both are members of the Covenant of Chaos. Also, and this probably plays into matters, too, the Broadman Group is known for presenting events. They sponsor all sorts of presentations through the year, from Bellingham down to Everett. They’re successful at what they do—a lot of good reviews. ”

I asked, “Are they going to do a haunted house soon?”

“Yes—they’re advertising tickets to a haunted house tour starting next week, at the Pest House.” Charles frowned. “They guarantee manifestations and they plan on running these tours year ’round.”

“Then there’s another reason they kidnapped Penelope.

If they’re controlling her, she can command the ghosts to do whatever they want.

That’s despicable.” I shook my head. “Ten to one, the Hounds saw the opportunity to rid Whisper Hollow of the Gatekeeper and simultaneously make allies with the Covenant of Chaos by providing them with a moneymaking opportunity. Who are the men who run the Broadman Group?”

“Cleese Jenkins and Wily Shelton. And I think you’re right,” Charles said.

“The pair have made a lot of money over the years, and this will just increase their wealth.” He held up one hand.

“Let me check on something.” He went back to the computer and a moment later, looked up.

“Ghost hunting groups all over the area are talking about the event, and they are starting to line up tours to come visit the Wildcat Cove Pest House.”

“Crap,” I said. “We can’t let this happen. For one thing, Whisper Hollow needs Penelope. For another, I hate seeing ghosts being exploited. Agnes—the spirit I talked to earlier—said something about being part of a sideshow and how much she dreaded it.”

“What are you going to do?” Charles asked.

I glanced at Rowan and Kerris. “We’ll have to figure that out. When does the event begin?”

“Friday. You have tomorrow and Thursday before it’s going to get very crowded there.” Charles frowned. “I wish I could help.”

“You just did,” I said. “You gave us the most valuable thing we needed—information, and timing. Thank you.” I gave him a quick hug and we headed out.