Starlight
Chapter 1
Esther sat at her desk in her dorm room engrossed in her Astronomy textbook. She was startled by sound of laughter and a key turning in her door. A few seconds her roommate entered with two of her friends in tow.
"Essie, are you still studying?" asked Zoe as she glanced at her watch. "It is ten o'clock on a Saturday night." Zoe was incredulous at the sight of Esther studying.
Esther just looked at her book and then back at Zoe, "I just want to read one more chapter."
Zoe just shook her head. Typical. "You really need to come out with us. We're going to go to the Rec Center and meet up with Derek and a couple of his friends. C'mon, it'll be fun. I promise."
Esther just smiled shyly. "Thanks, but I think I'll just stay here." The thought of spending time with strangers, even if her roommate was there, made Esther feel uncomfortable. Besides, she really did want to finish her Astronomy chapter.
Zoe just shrugged her shoulders. She knew that there was no sense arguing. "Okay, then."
Her roommate was about to go out the door with her two friends when Esther said, "I'll see you tomorrow."
Zoe stopped and looked at her. "How did you know I wouldn't be back till tomorrow? I had forgotten to tell you that."
"Umm..," Esther quickly looked around the room until she found something she could explain this all away with. "You're overnight bag. You forgot you're overnight bag."
"Oh. Thanks. I almost forgot about it." Zoe picked up her overnight bag from the floor next to her bed near the door. "I'm going to spend the night at Jen's apartment afterwards so I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay, bye," said Esther.
"Bye," said Zoe as she left with her friends leaving Esther all alone in the room.
By the time Esther had finished reading her chapter it had gotten late. She yawned. It was definitely time for bed. She changed into her pajamas and went down the hall to the communal bathroom to brush her teeth. When she got back she took off her necklace with the pendant of a silver half star and laid it on the table beside her bed. She flicked off the overhead light before she got under the covers and turned her back to the wall that her bed was up against. As she looked at her door across the room, remembered that she had indeed locked it before getting into bed, and with that thought she fell promptly asleep.
The next morning, Esther was awoken by the sound of knocking and her name being called out. It took her a few minutes to fully wake up when she heard, "Esther, Esther, wake up! I can't get into the room. Something is up against the door."
Esther sat up in her bed and looked around in the room in wonder. Somehow, in the middle of the night, her bed and table that had been up against the wall had moved all the way across the room and up against the door.
Chapter 2
"C'mon, Peg. I'll be fun," said Declan with that excited smile he got when there was some new mystery to investigate. He and Miranda were sitting across Peggy's desk in her office.
"Delcan," Peggy said laughing. "I've got work to do, patients who need to see me. Dr. Bayliss is going out of town for that conference and I promised him I would cover his patients for him while he's away. Between my own patients and his, I'm swamped. As fun as it sounds, I just don't have time to go trekking with you across country to go ghost busting."
"It might not be ghosts," chimed in Miranda. "It could be that the girl has telekinetic powers."
"Yes, and it could be that the girl is just trying to get some attention with this stunt," said Peggy.
Declan just shook his head. "Nope, Father Foley knows some people over there. Mount Saint Mary's is an old Catholic College. He said that he believes the young woman had nothing whatsoever to do with it. Turns out they've had other suspicious happenings there over the years. They just don't like to talk about it. I'm sure if people found that the place was haunted, they'd have trouble getting serious students there and would probably attract a lot of unwanted attention. I'm telling you, whatever they put against that wall is moved by the morning. Peg, this needs to be investigated."
Peggy just shook her head smiling at the two of them. "Don't you have classes you need to teach?"
"Spring Break."
"Ah. Well, it sounds intriguing, Declan but I'm still unfortunately going to have to decline this offer. But call me and let me know how things are going," said Peggy.
"Okay," said Declan, "but you're going to miss a fun time."
"Are you sure we can't convince you to come, Peggy?" asked Miranda as her and Declan stood up.
Peggy just smiled, "I'll catch up with you two for the next local ghost busting expedition."
Chapter 3
"Emmitsburg, Maryland," said Declan as he looked out of the rental car window he was driving. "Beautiful countryside isn't it?"
"Yeah," agreed Miranda as they pulled onto campus. "Lots of fresh air."
They pulled into a parking space. Declan left Mole in the car with the window rolled down. "Stay, Mole." They walked into Mount Saint Mary's Visitor's Center up to the front desk that no one seemed to be manning.
"Maybe we came at a bad time," said Miranda.
"Can I help you two?" said a man's voice.
Startled both Miranda and Declan spun to face the speaker. There stood an elderly man with sunken cheeks and dark twinkling eyes who was smiling at them. By his black attire and collar, they could tell he was a Catholic priest. He moved around the two and stepped behind the Visitor's Desk.
"Hi, um, my name is Declan Dunn. I'm a professor of Anthropology at NOU. That's Northern Oregon University. And this is my assistant, my friend, Miranda Figelstein."
"Oregon...we'll that's a long ways away. I'm hoping you're not going to tell me that you're lost," said the man.
"No..no, not at all," said Declan smiling. "We were coming here. We heard about the dorm room, that room where nothing stays against the wall."
The priest just looked at them confused.
Declan explained, "We have an interest in investigating unexplainable phenomena."
"Ah," said the elderly priest smiling. "So you've come to check it out yourselves, eh? Find out if something is really going on. I'm afraid you've made a long trip for nothing. I mean weird things happen on college campuses, but that doesn't mean ghosts are involved. I could tell you two some stories. But I really don't think there's ghosts involved. I'm sure there's some rational explanation for all of it. And I should know. I am the spiritual director here. No ghosts get on campus without first talking to me." The man laughed good-humouredly at his own joke.
Declan couldn't help but smile. "We would really like to check that out for ourselves if it's okay."
Declan looked to Miranda who nodded.
"Tell you what," said the priest. "You two have traveled all this way, please stay and investigate. I'm sure you'll find nothing, but I can tell you two won't be satisfied by my say so. We moved the unfortunate young lady, Esther Paxton's her name, and her roommate to other rooms. The whole thing really scared her, poor thing. It's always hard on the Freshman, away from home for the first time. It's been hard for her trying to fit in. Any way the room's fine if you would like to stay there during your visit."
"Well we would really appreciate anything you can do. And staying in the room, that would be great," said Declan enthusiastically.
"You know we normally don't approve of occupants of the opposite sex staying in the same dorm room," said the priest as he fished in his pocket for the key. Miranda and Delcan exchanged an amused glance, "But in the interest of science, I supposed we'll have to make an exception. I'll take the two of you over there right now. It's Room 252."
Miranda and Declan started to follow him.
"Thanks so much for this," said Declan. "I'm sorry, but we didn't catch your name yet."
The man smiled. "I'm Reverend Simon Brute, but please call me Simon."
Chapter 4
"Hi, Peggy."
Peggy looked up from the nurses' station into the smiling face of Dr. Bayliss. "Hi, John. How are you today?"
"Just fine, thanks. I was wondering if I could spare of minute of your time before I head out."
"Certainly." Peggy closed up the file she had been reviewing and put it under her arm. The two began to walk down the hospital corridor. John handed Peggy a file folder. "I forgot to give this to you with my other patient files. I have this new patient, but with me going out of town I haven't gotten a chance to met him yet."
"What seems to be his problem?" asked Peggy concerned.
"Nothing too serious I hope," said John. "His name is Emmett. He's a student over at NOU. It seems that he's having bit of insomnia due to some reoccurring nightmare. Since I haven't spoken with him yet I don't know all the particulars, but if you could talk to him and try and help him out that would be wonderful. It might just be anxiety over being in a new environment. He's a transfer student. But it might be something more serious. Either way I'd hate for him to have to wait until I get back to see him. His parents are old friends of mine and they are worried about him. You know how parents are."
Peggy gave Tim a reassuring smile. "I'll do my best to help him."
Chapter 5
There were two twin beds in the room. One bed was against the infamous "wall." The two stood there staring at it after Simon had left them to settle in.
"Declan, I think..." began Miranda.
"No, I insist," said Declan.
"No, I do," said Miranda firmly.
Mole ran ahead of the two and jumped onto "the bed." Mole stretched himself out, yawned, and laid his head down. "Okay," said Declan dropping his duffel bag next to "the bed." He hopped onto it and he too stretched out. "Looks like Mole decided for me. Too bad Peg couldn't have joined us."
"Yeah," agreed Miranda sincerely as she got out Declan's camera.
"Yep. It would have been good to have her here. There's safety in numbers you know."
Miranda just shook her head in dismay and wondered for the millionth time how she had allowed Declan to convince her to come along on this ghost-hunting mission. If people had told her five years ago that she'd be trekking across country with an Anthropology professor in search of ghosts, she would never have believed them. "So what's our plan?"
"Don't know," admitted Declan. "Don't know much about this place or the ghosts that inhabit it. When I wake up tomorrow I'll see if my bed has moved next to yours."
Miranda was not amused. "No really?"
"Okay," said Declan, "we'll stay up and see if anything happens, beds or otherwise. If anything moves shoot it with the camera."
"I like the simplicity of our plan, but I think I'd feel safer with a gun."
"And shoot what? The air? These are ghosts we're talking about. It'll be fun."
"That's what Mulder said to Scully when they went on that trip into the woods. She nearly died," said Miranda.
"I promise, I won't allow any glowing bugs to bite you on this trip," said Declan laughing.
"Maybe we should go talk to Esther?" suggested Miranda.
"That is a great idea," said Declan getting up. Mole moved to follow him. Declan patted him on the forehead. "Stay here, Moley. We'll be back before the ghosts gettcha."
Declan and Miranda went off in search of Esther's room.
Chapter 6
Declan knocked on the door again.
"Maybe no one's home," said Miranda simply.
Declan just gave her a look and knocked again. "Simon did say they moved Esther to Room 353 didn't he?"
Before Miranda could answer the door creaked open. Miranda and Declan stared because there was no one there. That was until a long brown haired head popped around from behind the door. Her deep brown eyes looked at them . Declan let out his breath. "You scared us."
"Sorry, can I help you," asked the girl as she stepped fully from behind the door. The girl was dressed in a nice print long sleeved top and blue jeans.
"Are you Esther?" asked Declan as he adjusted his glasses.
"Yes, and you are?" asked Esther.
"My name's Declan and this is my friend, Miranda. We heard about your, well your experience in your old room. Weird stuff the furniture moving like that. Well we investigate strange events, things that cannot be explained. We were wondering if we could talk to you about it."
Esther considered saying "no" but they seemed nice enough considering all that had happened so she said "yes" instead.
"Come on in."
Declan and Miranda entered the room. They sat on the bed opposite Esther's. Esther sat down on her own bed. The fact that there were no sheets on the other bed did not go unnoticed by either Miranda or Declan.
"That's a pretty pendant you're wearing," said Miranda trying to make the girl feel more comfortable. A silver half star was hanging from Esther's chain necklace.
Esther looked down at her necklace smiling. Her voice became tinged with excitement. "Thank you. It's an old family heirloom. I use to make my Mom tell me the story over and over again when I was little. One of my Aunts years and years ago fell in love with a soldier during the Civil War. Before he went off to war, they got engaged and he told her that after the war they would be married. They picked out a star together, that would be their star so that wherever he went, as long as they saw their star they would be together. And they had this silver star pendant made. She kept half and he kept half. He went off to fight for the South and sent letters regularly until one day they stopped coming. He was never heard from again."
Esther looked up at Declan and Miranda. "I'm sorry for rambling. Sounds like something right out of a romance novel doesn't it? But when you're little.... Any way the story inspired me to become an astronomer. I've always loved gazing up at the stars."
"I think it's a wonderful story," said Declan with a smile.
"You have this room all to yourself?" asked Miranda even though she already knew the truth.
Esther shrugged. "After they moved us out of that room, she decided to room with another one of her friends."
"And you and your roommate haven't had any strange experiences now that you've been moved into different rooms?" inquired Declan.
"Nope."
Miranda asked the next question. "And it was just you those three nights alone in the room that your bed and table got moved across the room by the next day?"
"No, my roommate was with me the other two nights. We'd move the furniture back the next day and then in the middle of the night, my bed and nightstand would be across the room. It really creeped me out, me and my roommate. Bad enough we had to move out of our old room cause of that electrical problem it was having that the school didn't have the money to fix right now and now this."
"That's sorta an odd coincidence, eh?" asked Declan. "And you don't think someone, maybe your roommate was playing a practical joke on you?"
"How? That first night it happened, I was alone in the room. When I woke up my bed was across the room blocking the door. There's no way anyone could have pushed my bed across the room and then gotten themselves out the door."
"The room's on the second floor. Someone would have had to use a ladder to get in," said Miranda.
"Good point," said Declan. "We'll check that out. I've just got one more question, do you think this has anything to do with you?"
"What do you mean?" asked Esther confused.
"It just that in the things we investigate, a lot of times strange events happen for a reason to a person," explained Declan. "Maybe there's a reason only you had your bed moved."
Esther smiled at the notion. "I don't think so. Things have been fine since I've moved into this room. It's the room. Some weird is going on there. I thought ghosts only haunted abandoned buildings, not college campuses."
Esther realized she was beginning to like these two and it normally took her awhile to warm up to new people. Because of this she added one more piece of information she hadn't told anyone else. "And there was one other strange thing."
Declan and Miranda looked at Esther expectantly.
"Those three days we spent in the room, I'd have these odd flashes, like I could read people's minds."
Declan and Miranda exchanged glances. This was really weird.
"Can you read our minds now?" asked Declan.
Esther shook her head. "Not since I left that room. It would only happen in that room."
Chapter 7
"Okay, Emmett," said Peggy smiling comfortingly, trying to put her new patient at ease. He sat across from her on her office sofa.
He tried to return her smile but failed miserably. Peggy could tell he was uncomfortable. He looked tired.
"First time I've been in a psychiatrist's office," Emmett said.
"Well, Emmett, your parents are just worried about you. How long have you been having this nightmare?"
Emmett shrugged. "For about a week now. They just seem to be getting more and more vivid every night, more frightening really."
"Have you been under a lot of stress lately? I'm sure it must be hard starting a new school. I was told you were a transfer student from a small college in Ohio. Going from there to a large campus like NOU must be disconcerting for you."
Emmett shook his head. "No, my classes are fine, nothing I can't handle if I could just get a decent night's sleep. It's just these dreams. I keep on waking up my roommate. He's not too happy with me right now. Hopes you can give me something to make me sleep. At least he's gone for Spring Break."
"Well I don't like to prescribe medicine if there's something else that can be done to rectify the situation. Why don't we do this? Here's a notebook and pen. Write down what it is that's frightening you and then we'll talk about it."
Peggy smiled at Emmett and he, although unconvinced that this was going to help him, took the proffered notebook and pen. He began to write.
Chapter 8
"About fifteen minutes later, it looked like Emmett had finished writing.
"Did you write down the images you saw?"
Emmett nodded and looked down at the words he had written in his notebook. "It really just doesn't make any sense."
"Just tell me what you saw," said Peggy soothingly.
"Well, there's a girl. She looks really sad cause she was crying."
"Is it someone you know?"
Emmett shook his head. "I've never seen her before in my life. She's about my age, she's got brown hair and these dark, brown eyes. Pretty actually. The thing is she's wearing some kind of period costume."
Peggy frowned. "What kind of period costume?"
"Dunno. I've always been interested in the hard sciences. I don't know too much about history."
"What else did you see?"
"Then I'm in this battlefield. It can't be any recent battle cause there are cannons exploding. People are being shot all around me. They're crying," Emmett's voice was taking on a definite degree of panic.
Peggy put a comforting hand on Emmett's arm. "It's okay Emmett. They're only images. They can't hurt you."
Emmett nodded and took a deep breath and looked down again at his notes. "Then I'm shot. And I fall to the ground. I'm just lying there for a long time. Darkness falls and the stars come out. I'm looking up at the stars. One star seems to be shining more brightly than the others. Then everything goes dark, pitch black, and I feel myself fall, like I'm falling through air. That's when I wake up."
Peggy stopped jotting down her own notes. "And you have no idea what all of this means?"
"No. I wish I did. You don't think this means I have one of those past lives kinda things do you?"
Peggy just smiled. "You sound like a friend of mine. But no, I don't think it does. You talked in the end about the stars, we'll you are an astronomy major. I think this has to do with you being stressed in a new environment and with you classes. You've probably buried your stress down so deep you don't even realize it's there. Your stress has manifested itself into the vision of the battlefield. You're trying to win the battle by doing well in your classes."
"Makes sense, but what about the girl?"
"Are you currently in a relationship?"
"No."
"Maybe you feel the need to be in one."
Emmett shrugged. "My classes keep me pretty busy. I'm just curious about why the girl's so sad."
"That I don't know, but a lot of times the answers to our dreams are inside ourselves. Our dreams are often manifestations of what's going on in the waking world. It's only when we sleep that our subconscious tries to make sense of it all. Tell you what, why don't tonight, you make certain you think of something positive before you go to sleep. Maybe listen to music. Try to think about non-stressful things. See if that helps and contact me tomorrow and let me know how you slept."
"Okay, Dr. Folwer. Thanks," said Emmett with a smile.
"Don't thank me just yet," said Peggy returning his smile.
Chapter 9
"Declan...Declan, wake up," said Miranda in a slightly panicky voice as she shook Declan's arm.
"What...what's going on?" asked Declan groggily as he struggled to regain consciousness. Night had long since settled in. "Must've dozed off." Declan reached ofr his glass on the nightstand and put them on.
"Listen!" whispered Miranda.
The both listed and they could hear a large bell ringing.
"The bell tower? Why's it ringing at this time of night?" asked Declan confused as he put on his glasses.
"That's not all," said Miranda as she quickly, without thinking, grabbed Declan's hand and lead him to the window. "Look!"
Declan and Miranda just stared dumbfounded.
"Is that a...," began Declan.
"Yep."
"There's a monk dancing in the bell tower."
"Uh-huh."
"Okay, now that's weird. Let's go," said Declan.
"Go? Declan..." began Miranda worriedly as she quickly grabbed a flashlight.
But Declan had rushed out of the room leaving Miranda no choice but to follow.
Chapter 10
Miranda and Declan hurried out of the dormitory into the chilly night air. When they got to the tower they didn't see a door.
"Okay, there's got to be door to this tower. I'll go to the left. You go to the right. We'll meet at the door," said Declan.
Before Miranda could protest about splitting up and reiterating the safety in numbers speech, Declan had already headed to the left. Miranda turned and headed to the right. A few seconds later she found the door. She waited for Declan to come around the corner as he was supposed to.
Suddenly she felt a tapping on her shoulder and the words "Turn me over," were whispered into her ear. She spun around out of fright and anger, ready to yell at Declan, but no one was there.
"Turn me over," Miranda heard again behind her. She spun back around to see Declan waiting at the door. Relief washed over her which was quickly replaced by anger. "That wasn't funny, Declan."
"What?" asked Declan looking confused.
"Tapping my shoulder, whispering into my ear. It's not funny."
"I don't know what....," began Declan but Miranda was too tired to hear any of it.
"C'mon let's go," Miranda said as she pushed open the tower door. Declan wordlessly followed as they climbed the long winding staircase. Halfway through the climb they realized the ringing had stopped. By the time they reached the top of the bell tower, there was no sign of any dancing monk.
"We'll I guess he got tired of dancing," said Miranda deadpanned.
"I guess," said Declan disappointed at the loss. "Well at least we've got a good view."
Miranda and Declan put their hands on the cold stone ledge of the bell tower and looked out over the campus and the surrounding Maryland countryside. It really was a beautiful sight as the moon basked the quiet nestled campus in a white glow. They sky was littered with stars and one especially shone particularly bright.
But still in the end there was no dancing monk, no ringing bell. Declan yawned. "Well that was weird."
"Weird, yes," agreed Miranda. "But I'm not convinced that this has anything to do with the reason we came out here in the first place."
"Hey, maybe it was a rouse. Maybe by the time we get back to the room, someone will have moved the furniture."
"Well we have to go back in order to determine that. Although I'm hoping our furniture is right where we left it," said Miranda as she stifled a yawn. "I could use some sleep."
With nothing left for the two of them to investigate, they made their way back down the tower steps. It was extraordinarily easy after the climb up them. After they reached the ground they headed back to their dorm room. All the furniture was where they had left it. They both fell fast asleep as soon as their heads hit their respective pillows in their respective beds.
Chapter 11
The next morning the sunlight streamed into Miranda's face. They had forgotten to put down the blinds after watching the crazy dancing monk.
Miranda finally forced her eyes open and nearly jumped in fright until she realized the face she had woken up to was Declan's. Declan was still sleeping, oblivious to the world. While they had been sleeping, his bed had moved away from the wall and was now next to her's.
"Hey, Declan. Wake up," Miranda whispered.
"Hmmm," Declan yawned. He opened his eyes to see Miranda's face. He smiled. Then a look of confusion took over his face. "Wasn't my bed....?"
"Yeah," said Miranda.
Declan sat up excitement shaking off all of remnants of sleep. "You didn't....?"
"Nope," confirmed Miranda.
"Hmm...that's definitely strange."
"Totally."
Declan concentrated for a second. "I still can't read your thoughts. Can you read mine?"
"You're thinking about food."
Declan's face lit up. "That's right! You read my mind!"
Miranda threw a pillow that made contact with Declan's face. "You're always thinking about food, Declan," Miranda said with a groan.
Chapter 12
The morning sunlight shone through Peggy's office illuminating it. She looked up when she heard the knock at her door. Startled, she looked up from her paperwork on her desk. She wondered who could it be this early in the morning.
"Hi, Dr. Fowler," said Emmett. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I know we were supposed to meet later on today, but I was just so excited I had to come see you."
Peggy looked at Emmett in wonder. From the tired and worried young man she had seen yesterday, he had transformed into a bright-eyed, excited young man. Something obviously must have happened.
"I'm guess you got a good-night's sleep last night with no nightmare's interrupting."
Emmett shook his head. "No still had the nightmares, but there's been a break though, I think. I was talking to my parents last night, they're out of the country on business, and I was telling them about my dreams. It turns out that my great-great-great grand uncle was killed in the Civil War! My Mom's really big into genealogy. So this morning when I got up, I got on the Internet, and the same period costumes are the one's I'm seeing in my dreams! Turns out he was engaged but before he could get married, he was killed on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. They had received a letter from his Lieutenant informing the family of his death. The weird thing is they never got his body back for burial. It's like it disappeared. They never could figure out what happened to the body, but I guess if you had that many people killed in during a battle it's hard to keep up with all the bodies. They didn't have dog tags back then. You have to see this picture of them and the letter."
Emmett pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his jean pocket and handed it to Peggy. Peggy amazed at all this took the paper and unfolded it. There was a picture of a handsome, young man and woman dressed in Civil War period clothing. They weren't smiling, but then people often didn't smile in pictures back then. Peggy then looked at the copy of the letter. It did look authentic.
"And this is the woman whom you saw in your dream?" asked Peggy thoughtfully as she gazed at the picture again. The couple was so young.
"Yep, that's her! Since my parents are out of town right now, my Mom told our housekeeper where to find the picture and she e-mailed it to me. Weird isn't it. Turns out our family use to live in Maryland before we moved out west to Colorado. So I've decided not to waste the rest of my Spring Break. I'm going to go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and see if I can find out anything more. At the very worst, it'll just be a history lesson."
Peggy frowned. "I don't think this is something you should do alone."
Emmett laughed. That's just what my parents said. But I'm determined to go."
"Okay," said Peggy slowly. "One of my friends, he's actually a professor at NOU, he's actually close to Gettysburg right now. He's in Maryland about an hour away from there. He likes to investigate...things. Let me contact him. Maybe he can pick us up at the airport and drive us there."
"We? That's really nice of you, Dr. Fowler, but I don't want you to go to any trouble."
"No, trouble at all," said Peggy as she continued to gaze at the picture.
Chapter 13
"See Declan, the floor's at a slight incline," said Miranda. Both she and Declan were laying on the floor on their stomachs with flashlights, trying to figure out a plausible reason why furniture would have moved during the night across the room. "Either the construction workers at the time made a mistake or its just wear and tear. This College has been around since the late 1800s. That's a long time. Lots of things can happen."
Declan gave Miranda a quizzical look to which Miranda replied, "I read the information pamphlet while we were in the Visitor's Center."
"Oh," said Declan as he readjusted his glasses. "Since we were here and it happened, this has nothing to do with Esther. It has to do with the room. But why would the furniture move only in the middle of the night?"
Miranda stood up. "I've been giving it some thought. We checked the door, obviously locked from the inside. The window has been untouched. We are on the second floor so somebody would have to use a ladder to get up here. There's no sign or smudges that a ladder was used."
"But you've come up with something."
Miranda flashed Declan a quick smile. She walked to the window. "What do you see?"
Declan got up and walked to the window. "We're right by the highway."
"Yes and I noticed last night when we were investigating the bell tower a lot of trucks were going by. There are no sound barrier walls here."
Declan stroked his chin. "So you're thinking that the sound moved the furniture."
"Think about it. If sound can make windows shake why not move the furniture especially when the floor is already at an incline? Gravity would start to take over. It probably happens gradually over the night and while the occupants are asleep. That's why they didn't wake up. And Esther told us that they had just moved into this room because of an electrical outage in their old one that the school had been unable to fix without costing a lot of money that they don't have right now. Until they moved in, this room had been unoccupied for some time. In fact this whole wing is empty. Needs to be restored."
"Yeah I noticed it's been really quiet for a campus dorm."
"Sort of odd that the other room just happened to have electrical problems and they had to move. I wonder why move them to this wing unless there was no other place for them. And why was a priest dancing in the tower?"
"Maybe Simon would be better able to help us."
There was a knock at the door.
Declan and Miranda exchanged a glance.
Miranda shrugged, "Well we were going to have to move the furniture back at some point."
"Hold on a second," yelled out Declan as he and Miranda pushed the furniture back into place.
Mole suddenly started barking at the wall that they had moved the furniture back to.
"Quiet, Mole," said Declan as he pulled Mole away from the wall. He rubbed his back calming him while Miranda opened the door.
It was Simon.
"Hey, Simon," said Declan with a smile when he saw who it was. "We were just talking about you. Hoping you could help answer some questions."
Simon smiled. "I'd be happy to." He walked in and sat on one of the beds. Declan and Miranda sat on the other one. They explained about the furniture moving and the reasons why.
Simon nodded in understanding. "I'm glad to hear there's a logical explanation for it."
"But the part that has us confused is last night, the tower bell was ringing and we," said Declan giving a look to Miranda, "we'll we could have sworn we saw a priest dancing up there. We went to investigate but by the time we got there, no one was there."
Simon looked embarrassed all of a sudden. "I'm so sorry about that. That was one of my brethren, Father Gregory. He's sorta, well, eccentric. We were celebrating midnight mass and he likes to ring the bell. Sometimes he dances. I've told him about it. I've told him that it frightens people. I hope it didn't frighten you."
"No, not at all. But isn't it odd that we didn't see him at all? We climbed those stairs and didn't see him," said Declan.
Simon shrugged. "He probably had already come down before you got there. The bell only needs to be pulled once and then it rings for awhile. It was dark after all. And he knows the tower better than you two."
"Well I guess that explains all the unexplainable phenomena," said Miranda.
"Maybe not," said Simon. "When you two came, I must admit you two piqued my curiosity. I did a little investigating on my own. I looked in the library archives and, oh this is so horrible, had I known I would have made sure Esther was never put in this room."
"What?" asked Miranda impatient to know the truth.
"Well," said Simon solemnly. "It turns out that Esther's great-great-great uncle, he was a priest here, turns out he died in this very room. She got her scholarship to come here because of her relative. Many generations of Paxton's have come here to learn. Anyway the rooms in this wing use to be where the priests slept until the college expanded. Now we're housed in another part of campus."
"Do you know how he died?" asked Declan.
Simon shook his head. "I'm sorry. As soon as I found that out I came straight here to tell you. It's all there in the library archives so you can access it."
"Thank you for telling us about it," said Miranda sincerely. "We'll certainly check it out."
Declan nodded his thanks as well.
Simon stood up. "Poor girl. At least we've moved her out of this room."
Chapter 14
Peggy picked up her phone as soon as Emmett had left to go pack and dialed the number written in her Rolodex.
"Hello?"
"Hi Declan, it's Peggy."
"Hey Peg!" said Declan excitedly.
Peggy smiled. "The investigation must be going well."
"It certainly is! The game's afoot, Dr. Watson."
This elicited a chuckle out of Peggy.
"Sure Miranda and I can't convince you to fly out here?"
"Actually you can."
"Really?"
"Really," said Peggy. "I have a patient whose been having these nightmares. At first I thought it was just stress. He just recently transferred to NOU. I was thinking it's a new school, a new environment. He has dreams about a young girl and getting shot at the Battle of Gettysburg."
"Wait, did I hear you correctly Peg? Did you say the Battle of Gettysburg?"
"Yes, you heard me correctly."
"Cool! Hey you got some kind of side investigation business going on without me? You know I'd be all over this past life stuff" said Declan smiling.
"No," said Peggy chuckling. "I don't really thing this is a mystery at all. I think it has to do with a genetic memory."
"Genetic memory?"
"Yes. It turns out that his great-great-great uncle was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg, but they never recovered the body. He was engaged to this woman, but they never got married since he died in action."
"That is so sad. Reminds me of a story the girl who's room we're investigating told me. And they never recovered the body? Maybe his dead relative is trying to speak to him from beyond the grave," Declan suggestion.
"Declan, we're flying over to Baltimore-Washington Airport today, and when we get there I don't want you filling his head with such nonsense. He's all ready wired as it is."
"Wait you're really are coming out here?"
"Yes. I hope you don't mind. Emmett Smith, that's his name, is bent on going to Gettysburg to see if he can find out any more information. And I didn't want him to go alone. Since you were already so close I thought if you didn't mind...."
"Mind? Of course, I don't mind. Two investigations...this is becoming the best Spring Break ever."
"Thanks, Declan. I really appreciate it," said Peggy sincerely.
"No problem. When's your flight coming in?"
Peggy looked down at her e-ticket. "It'll be about a five hour flight. We should get there by 3 o'clock. Would it be possible for you to meet us out at the airport?"
"Consider it done. Miranda and I look forward to seeing you."
"Me too. I'll see you later today. Bye."
"Bye."
Peggy hung up the phone and then glanced at her watch. She had to hurry home and pack.
Chapter 15
Declan and Miranda found themselves in the library archive pouring over documents, killing time before they had to pick Peggy and Emmett up at the airport. They sat side by side at the computers as they pulled up articles.
"It's just like Simon said. Father Patrick Paxton died July 7, 1863. It says here that he was offering the..."
"The Sacrament of Reconciliation," read Declan. "Huh. Isn't that weird? He listens to confession, goes back to his room, the same room where his great-great-great niece was living, due to an electrical outage in her own room."
"Coincidence?" said Miranda with a quick smile.
Declan was too lost in his own thoughts to enjoy the humor of the moment. "Back then Maryland was very divided during the Civil War that had already ripped this country apart. Martial law was declared here. Maryland was very much a southern state and the North couldn't afford to have the nations capitol cut off from it. They needed Maryland. The state was like a microcosm of the war. Both North and South sympathizers lived here. By the time the Battle of Gettysburg had come around the war that they thought would be over in a matter of months had already dragged on for three years. And even after that Battle, the turning point for the North, its first real victory, even after that the war still dragged on for two more years."
Miranda was half listening as she scrolled through news articles around the time of Father Paxton death when something caught her eye. "Hey, Declan check this out. A few months after his death, this man a Joseph Randall, was found guilty of not giving a proper burial to fallen soldiers. Ugh. Looks like during the Battle of Gettysburg, this college was turned into a medical hospital. Randall was hired to bury the soldiers that died. Instead of burying the bodies, he stuffed them down a well on campus."
"A to B to C," said Declan.
"What?"
"Bear with me on this. What if Father Paxton heard the confession of this man Randall? Randall's eaten up with guilty about what he's done. He goes to see Paxton. Paxton hears the confession. He's a Catholic priest. He can't tell the authorities about what this man has done. He goes back to his room and dies of a heart attack."
"Declan, even if that were true. Paxton was fifty. People didn't live as long back then. You'll never be able to prove that he died because of something he heard."
"Maybe they kept records back then, ya know. Records of who came for confession that day he died," said Declan hopefully.
"Maybe," said Miranda thinking as she looked at the article some more. "Declan when were we investigating the bell tower, you didn't tap me on the shoulder and whisper "turn me over" in my ear did you?"
"No why?" asked Declan. "Are you telling me that happened to you?"
Miranda felt goose bumps rising on her arms. She glanced at Declan. "What did Peggy say the name was of that guy she's bringing her is?"
"Emmett Smith."
Miranda pointed to the screen and Declan read the names of the bodies that were recovered and then he looked at another article from another newspaper that listed the missing bodies. Michael Smith was the only name that was listed as one of the missing bodies and it wasn't listed with the bodies that were recovered. Declan felt chilly all of a sudden. He looked at Miranda. "Smith is a very common name, but you don't think.....?"
Chapter 16
After picking up Peggy and Emmett at the airport, Declan and Miranda gathered the two in their dorm room.
"So you think Emmett's dreams and what you've been investigating here are connected?" asked Peggy incredulously.
"Bear with me here, Peg. Emmett here is having dreams about a young girl from the Civil War. Turns out that his great-great-great...."
"Great," added Miranda.
"Thanks, Miranda," said Declan, "uncle was shot during the Battle of Gettysburg."
Miranda handed the two of them copies of articles she and Declan had printed off. "Look there he is Michael Smith-wounded in the battle and brought here for medical treatment where he died. After..."
There was a knock at the door. Declan opened it to find Esther standing there confused. "You left a message on my voice mail saying you needed to see me."
"Yes I did," said Declan with a smile. "Your just in time too. C'mon in."
Esther walked in.
"Esther," said Declan, "this is our friend, Peggy Fowler and this is, um, another student from our college Northern Oregon University."
They all nodded their hellos.
"Actually, you both are astronomy majors," said Declan throwing out that fact to see their reactions. He wasn't disappointed.
Esther and Emmett immediately smiled at one another.
"Please have a seat," said Declan. "I think we've figured out what's going on here.
They all sat down on the chairs and beds, wherever there was a spare seat.
"So you were saying Miranda?" asked Peggy.
"Right, Michael Smith, who bears the same name as Emmett's uncle, is wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. He is transferred here, to Mt. Saint Mary's which had been turned into a medical facility, for treatment where he dies of his wounds."
"Which is no surprise considering that they knew nothing about germs back then. Surgeons didn't even wash their hands," added Peggy.
"Precisely. A few days later, Esther's great-great-great uncle, Father Paxton, at this very college, is taking confessions."
"I ran into Simon," interrupted Declan. "He's been helping us on this case. He told me where I could find the Reconciliation Records. It's sorta like a sign in book back then. Any way one, Joseph Randall went for confession with Father Paxton. Later that night Father Paxton drops dead. We're assuming it's a heart attack."
"Father Paxton?" asked Esther. "He's the reason why I have the scholarship here."
"Yep, one and the same," said Declan.
"After Emmett's uncle dies, the body just disappeared along with several other bodies. With the death toll so high and records not being what they are today, soldiers didn't even wear dog tags or carry identification with them, nobody really seemed to notice. People disappeared all the time."
"Okay," said Peggy thinking this through. "So Emmett's uncle dies after being shot at the Battle of Gettysburg and Esther's uncle dies after hearing this man Randall confess. Confess to what?"
"Confessed that he pocketed the money that he was being paid for to bury those bodies and instead stuffed them down a well right here on campus. Father Paxton, unable to admit what had been confessed to him, dropped dead from guilt," finished Declan with a flourish.
"But," said Emmett, "why would Esther's uncle drop dead from guilt? He would have had to have some personal connection to my uncle. I've never met Esther until today."
"Good point," said Declan. "You might have just met Esther today, but your two family's go way back originating from Southern Maryland."
Esther and Emmett looked at one another.
"My grandparents moved to Colorado which is where my parents met, but they were originally from Surrattsville," said Emmett still looking at Esther.
Esther felt chilly all of a sudden. "I'm going to school here, but my family lives in Surrattsville."
"Declan," said Peggy in a tone that was slightly a warning to Declan. She didn't want these two jumping to any irrational conclusions.
"Peg, it makes perfect sense," said Declan enthusiastically. Esther's uncle, Father Paxton was one of three children. His brother, John, married and Esther is directly descended from him. The two also had a younger sister named Isabella."
"The woman my uncle was engaged to!" said Emmett excitedly.
At the same time Esther said, "That's the name of my aunt, the one who gave me this necklace." Esther fingered her half-star necklace absently.
There was silence as everyone in the room stopped to consider these revelations and let everything sink in.
Emmett pulled a folded piece of paper out of his back pack and handed it to Esther. She took it and opened it up. It was a picture of a young woman. "I don't know if you've seen pictures of her before..."
Esther just nodded her head, overcome by all if this. She looked up at Emmett. "It's her. It's my Aunt Isabella."
Chapter 17
Peggy stood up and motioned Declan and Miranda outside the room and into the hallway. They had left the door open but were out of earshot of Emmett and Esther and could now talk privately. By this time Emmett and Esther were in their own little world anyway talking about everything from this amazing connection to their love of astronomy.
"It's this amazing!" said Declan. "All these years, lost loves, and their descendents reunited."
Peggy just shook her head. "I just hope you know what you're doing, Declan. From what I can tell these two are having a hard time adjusting to college life and now you've thrown this at them. It could cause them even more stress by all these supposed connections."
"You said it yourself, Peg, that he's dream could be a genetic memory," said Declan with a smile.
"Yes, but....okay for arguments sake lets say that all of this is true. Why now, why all of a sudden?" asked Peggy.
"They're about the same age when their relatives were engaged to be married," said Miranda.
All three turned to give Esther and Emmett and good look. The two were oblivious to their being scrutinized at this second. They were obviously excited and enjoying each other's company.
"It's like they've known each other for years," said Miranda.
They all turned back to the situation at hand.
"So your think this is fate?" asked Peggy dubiously. "That somehow all this happened to reunited them?"
"That and the fact that I think that Esther's relatives are not at rest," said Declan.
"What?!" asked Peggy in disbelief.
"Declan's bed did move, Peggy," said Miranda. "It moved away from the same wall where the Father Paxton died."
"Yes, but you explained that, Miranda. The floor is at an incline and the vibrations from the highway trucks caused the bed to move," said Peggy.
"Yes, but some did tap me on the shoulder that night at the bell tower and said `Turn me over,'" finished Miranda.
"You promise you weren't playing a trick on, Miranda?" asked Peggy to Declan.
Declan held up three fingers. "Scout's honor, Peg. I think Father Paxton knew that Michael Smith, his future brother in law, was killed in the war and that Joseph Randall had buried him improperly. Maybe he was upset about the possibility of giving the news to his sister. Maybe he was Michael's best friend. The two families were close. I don't know. The point is that Father Paxton knew that Michael had died and that his body wouldn't be given a proper burial because of his vow, his vow to keep the confessions of anyone, even a murderer, secret under the holy Sacrament of Reconciliation."
"So if fate was trying to reunite these two, we've certainly helped that along considering the fact that Emmett wouldn't have even stopped her if I hadn't know you two were here," said Peggy. "But how do you propose to put ghosts to rest, Declan? If they are in fact not at rest."
"We've got a plan," said Miranda with a mischievous smile.
Chapter 18
"Declan, you can't seriously be thinking about going down there," said Peggy worriedly as she gazed down the darkness into the well.
All five of them had gathered at the old well on the north part of campus. The stones had moss growing in its cracks and crevices. It had obviously seen better days. They all looked at Declan who shrugged. "It'll be fine. Miranda promised me this pulley thing would hold my weight. Right, Miranda?"
"It should."
"That's not the resounding yes I had hoped for," said Declan. He turned his attention back to the matter at hand. "I'll get on the boards and you all can hold the rope, lower me to the bottom, and then back up. I borrowed this hat from one of the construction workers on campus and will be able to see if the body of Emmett's uncle is still at the bottom of this well." Declan turned on the light attached to his hard hat.
"Are you sure you don't want us to contact somebody official?" asked Esther. She was as concerned at the rest of them for Declan's safety.
"Nonsense," said Declan. "If I see something we'll definitely contact them, but if we contact them before then and bring them out for nothing...we'll I think we'd definitely have some unhappy people on our hands."
"So you think that when Joseph Randall confessed about stuffing the bodies down there that they missed one, that they missed Michael Smith's body?" asked Peggy.
"Yep that's the theory I'm currently working on," agreed Declan with Peggy's assessment of the situation.
"But what if he threw the body into the woods somewhere? Except for the highway woods surround this campus. It's literally in the middle of nowhere," argued Peggy.
"Details, details," said Declan with a smile.
"How are we going to identify my uncle's body if it's down there, Declan?" asked Emmett. "It's not like there are dental records to match up."
"No, you're right. The best we'll probably be able to do is see how old the bones are if the body is done there. And Joseph Randall probably cleaned the bodies of any personal affects they might have had on them. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Declan got on the plank part of the pulley. The other put on their gloves and stood in a line holding onto the rope. Declan put on his own gloves and held on tightly to the ropes connected to the planks he was standing on. "Okay lower me down."
The four of them strained as they lowered Declan down inside the well. He disappeared from their sight and all of them, especially Miranda and Peggy, put in a few extra silent good wishes.
Declan for his part tried to regulate his breathing in the musty dank, stale air that he was forced to breathe in. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. His headlight flickered for a second and he prayed that it wouldn't go out and he'd be in this small confined place without any light. He also prayed that the four up above didn't drop him down here. Finally he reached the bottom. "You can stop now!" Declan yelled up to them above.
"Do you see anything, Declan!" shouted Miranda which sounded far away to Declan.
Declan was about to shout that he hadn't seen anything just yet when his light found something white poking out of the mud and muck at the bottom of the well floor...a well which, Declan thanked God, hadn't been used in many, many years. Declan brushed some mud away and for a second recoiled in horror. An eye socket, which could only be connected to the rest of a skull, stared up at him.
Chapter 19
When they finally saw Declan emerge from the well, Esther and Emmett held onto the rope while Miranda and Peggy helped Declan off the planks and onto the ground.
"Well," said Declan as out of breath as the rest of them. "I think it's time that we called an excavation team."
"You found something didn't you?" asked Emmett excited as all of them.
"What is it? What did you find?" asked Esther equally as excited.
"Well there's a skeleton down there, face up in the mud," said Declan.
"Well when they get the body up, they should be able to date the bones. But I still don't see anyway to prove that the skeletal remains belong to Emmett's dead relative," said Peggy.
"There is a way."
Everyone turned to look at Declan. Declan reached down and pulled something out of his pocket. "I took this off the body. I think it belongs to you, Emmett." They all gathered around to look at the necklace with a half silver star pendent attached to it.
Esther gently took the necklace from Declan's hand. She tried to match this half-star with her half. They all watched as Esther did this. It was a perfect match. Esther and Emmett exchanged a smile.
"Yeah, I think this does belong to you, Emmett," said Esther as she handed the necklace to Emmett. Emmett for his part, put the necklace on. "It's the perfect star-their star."
Chapter 20
Two days later found Declan, Miranda, and Peggy walking across campus carrying their luggage towards the Visitors Center that Declan and Miranda had first entered upon coming to Mount Saint Mary's.
"Well it looks like NOU is going to have another student next year," said Peggy smiling.
"Really?" asked Miranda.
"Yes. Esther is going to transfer to NOU. Her and Emmett both want to go though the Astronomy program there together."
Declan smiled. "No kidding. Any more nightmares?"
"Nope, they seem to have stopped after discovering the body in the well."
"I think we've done whatever were we supposed to have done here," said Miranda.
"Yeah I think all the ghosts are at rest. The priest's secret is no longer a secret and Emmett's uncle can now get a proper burial. I spoke with his parents, they flew in yesterday, and they are going to take the body back to Surattsville to bury it next to his finacee," explained Declan.
"If they couldn't be united in life at least they are now reunited in death," said Miranda thoughtfully.
The three walked up the stairs to the Visitor's Center. Declan held the door open for Miranda and Peggy.
As they entered, Peggy said, "Now you two, don't get carried away. I'll admit, some of this was weird, but you pretty much explained everything. The furniture was moved by the sound vibrations, there were no ghosts. Esther's sudden psychic abilities have inexplicably disappear, if she had them at all in the first place. And as for Emmett's nightmares, sure that was strange, but I still think that it would more have to do with genetic memory than anything else. Maybe his nightmares were subconsciously prompted by something he read or saw. I'm glad everything worked out the way that it did, but I still think it's all explainable."
Declan and Miranda smiled. "You're probably right, Peg. But you do have to admit, there are a lot of strange coincidences."
"I grant you that, but life is full of them," said Peggy smiling.
By this time the three had reached the Visitors Center desk. Instead of Simon behind the desk, there was an older lady. She smiled at them.
"Welcome to Mount Saint Mary's. Can I help you three?"
"Actually," said Declan as he handed the lady the room keys Simon had given them, "we just stopped by to return these keys to you."
The woman looked at them curiously as she took the keys.
"We'd also like to thank Simon for all his help. He was so wonderful and was a great help, we just didn't want to leave without having thanked him," explained Declan.
"Simon?"
"I'm sorry," said Declan chuckling. "I should have said Reverend Simon Brute."
The lady just stared at them. "Revered Brute died in 1839. I personally don't think this is a funny joke. I wish you kids would stop making up stories about him. It's bad for prospective students."
The three were struck speechless by her words.
After a few seconds, Declan opened his mouth to protest, but Miranda touched his arm, gave their thanks to the lady, and she and Peggy started walking him toward the door.
As they were almost at the exit, Peggy said, "Simon that's the guy who...."
"That's the nice Father who was such a great help during our investigation," explained Declan still in shock.
"Declan, Peggy look," said Miranda suddenly.
They both looked up to where Miranda was pointing. Right above the exit they saw a painting of Simon smiling dressed exactly as they had seen him, in his religious raiment. Underneath the picture they read the engraved caption "Reverend Simon Brute. Died 1839. First Spiritual Director-Mount Saint Mary's College.
Declan's words summed the whole investigation for all of them. "Wow."
Chapter 1
Esther sat at her desk in her dorm room engrossed in her Astronomy textbook. She was startled by sound of laughter and a key turning in her door. A few seconds her roommate entered with two of her friends in tow.
"Essie, are you still studying?" asked Zoe as she glanced at her watch. "It is ten o'clock on a Saturday night." Zoe was incredulous at the sight of Esther studying.
Esther just looked at her book and then back at Zoe, "I just want to read one more chapter."
Zoe just shook her head. Typical. "You really need to come out with us. We're going to go to the Rec Center and meet up with Derek and a couple of his friends. C'mon, it'll be fun. I promise."
Esther just smiled shyly. "Thanks, but I think I'll just stay here." The thought of spending time with strangers, even if her roommate was there, made Esther feel uncomfortable. Besides, she really did want to finish her Astronomy chapter.
Zoe just shrugged her shoulders. She knew that there was no sense arguing. "Okay, then."
Her roommate was about to go out the door with her two friends when Esther said, "I'll see you tomorrow."
Zoe stopped and looked at her. "How did you know I wouldn't be back till tomorrow? I had forgotten to tell you that."
"Umm..," Esther quickly looked around the room until she found something she could explain this all away with. "You're overnight bag. You forgot you're overnight bag."
"Oh. Thanks. I almost forgot about it." Zoe picked up her overnight bag from the floor next to her bed near the door. "I'm going to spend the night at Jen's apartment afterwards so I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay, bye," said Esther.
"Bye," said Zoe as she left with her friends leaving Esther all alone in the room.
By the time Esther had finished reading her chapter it had gotten late. She yawned. It was definitely time for bed. She changed into her pajamas and went down the hall to the communal bathroom to brush her teeth. When she got back she took off her necklace with the pendant of a silver half star and laid it on the table beside her bed. She flicked off the overhead light before she got under the covers and turned her back to the wall that her bed was up against. As she looked at her door across the room, remembered that she had indeed locked it before getting into bed, and with that thought she fell promptly asleep.
The next morning, Esther was awoken by the sound of knocking and her name being called out. It took her a few minutes to fully wake up when she heard, "Esther, Esther, wake up! I can't get into the room. Something is up against the door."
Esther sat up in her bed and looked around in the room in wonder. Somehow, in the middle of the night, her bed and table that had been up against the wall had moved all the way across the room and up against the door.
Chapter 2
"C'mon, Peg. I'll be fun," said Declan with that excited smile he got when there was some new mystery to investigate. He and Miranda were sitting across Peggy's desk in her office.
"Delcan," Peggy said laughing. "I've got work to do, patients who need to see me. Dr. Bayliss is going out of town for that conference and I promised him I would cover his patients for him while he's away. Between my own patients and his, I'm swamped. As fun as it sounds, I just don't have time to go trekking with you across country to go ghost busting."
"It might not be ghosts," chimed in Miranda. "It could be that the girl has telekinetic powers."
"Yes, and it could be that the girl is just trying to get some attention with this stunt," said Peggy.
Declan just shook his head. "Nope, Father Foley knows some people over there. Mount Saint Mary's is an old Catholic College. He said that he believes the young woman had nothing whatsoever to do with it. Turns out they've had other suspicious happenings there over the years. They just don't like to talk about it. I'm sure if people found that the place was haunted, they'd have trouble getting serious students there and would probably attract a lot of unwanted attention. I'm telling you, whatever they put against that wall is moved by the morning. Peg, this needs to be investigated."
Peggy just shook her head smiling at the two of them. "Don't you have classes you need to teach?"
"Spring Break."
"Ah. Well, it sounds intriguing, Declan but I'm still unfortunately going to have to decline this offer. But call me and let me know how things are going," said Peggy.
"Okay," said Declan, "but you're going to miss a fun time."
"Are you sure we can't convince you to come, Peggy?" asked Miranda as her and Declan stood up.
Peggy just smiled, "I'll catch up with you two for the next local ghost busting expedition."
Chapter 3
"Emmitsburg, Maryland," said Declan as he looked out of the rental car window he was driving. "Beautiful countryside isn't it?"
"Yeah," agreed Miranda as they pulled onto campus. "Lots of fresh air."
They pulled into a parking space. Declan left Mole in the car with the window rolled down. "Stay, Mole." They walked into Mount Saint Mary's Visitor's Center up to the front desk that no one seemed to be manning.
"Maybe we came at a bad time," said Miranda.
"Can I help you two?" said a man's voice.
Startled both Miranda and Declan spun to face the speaker. There stood an elderly man with sunken cheeks and dark twinkling eyes who was smiling at them. By his black attire and collar, they could tell he was a Catholic priest. He moved around the two and stepped behind the Visitor's Desk.
"Hi, um, my name is Declan Dunn. I'm a professor of Anthropology at NOU. That's Northern Oregon University. And this is my assistant, my friend, Miranda Figelstein."
"Oregon...we'll that's a long ways away. I'm hoping you're not going to tell me that you're lost," said the man.
"No..no, not at all," said Declan smiling. "We were coming here. We heard about the dorm room, that room where nothing stays against the wall."
The priest just looked at them confused.
Declan explained, "We have an interest in investigating unexplainable phenomena."
"Ah," said the elderly priest smiling. "So you've come to check it out yourselves, eh? Find out if something is really going on. I'm afraid you've made a long trip for nothing. I mean weird things happen on college campuses, but that doesn't mean ghosts are involved. I could tell you two some stories. But I really don't think there's ghosts involved. I'm sure there's some rational explanation for all of it. And I should know. I am the spiritual director here. No ghosts get on campus without first talking to me." The man laughed good-humouredly at his own joke.
Declan couldn't help but smile. "We would really like to check that out for ourselves if it's okay."
Declan looked to Miranda who nodded.
"Tell you what," said the priest. "You two have traveled all this way, please stay and investigate. I'm sure you'll find nothing, but I can tell you two won't be satisfied by my say so. We moved the unfortunate young lady, Esther Paxton's her name, and her roommate to other rooms. The whole thing really scared her, poor thing. It's always hard on the Freshman, away from home for the first time. It's been hard for her trying to fit in. Any way the room's fine if you would like to stay there during your visit."
"Well we would really appreciate anything you can do. And staying in the room, that would be great," said Declan enthusiastically.
"You know we normally don't approve of occupants of the opposite sex staying in the same dorm room," said the priest as he fished in his pocket for the key. Miranda and Delcan exchanged an amused glance, "But in the interest of science, I supposed we'll have to make an exception. I'll take the two of you over there right now. It's Room 252."
Miranda and Declan started to follow him.
"Thanks so much for this," said Declan. "I'm sorry, but we didn't catch your name yet."
The man smiled. "I'm Reverend Simon Brute, but please call me Simon."
Chapter 4
"Hi, Peggy."
Peggy looked up from the nurses' station into the smiling face of Dr. Bayliss. "Hi, John. How are you today?"
"Just fine, thanks. I was wondering if I could spare of minute of your time before I head out."
"Certainly." Peggy closed up the file she had been reviewing and put it under her arm. The two began to walk down the hospital corridor. John handed Peggy a file folder. "I forgot to give this to you with my other patient files. I have this new patient, but with me going out of town I haven't gotten a chance to met him yet."
"What seems to be his problem?" asked Peggy concerned.
"Nothing too serious I hope," said John. "His name is Emmett. He's a student over at NOU. It seems that he's having bit of insomnia due to some reoccurring nightmare. Since I haven't spoken with him yet I don't know all the particulars, but if you could talk to him and try and help him out that would be wonderful. It might just be anxiety over being in a new environment. He's a transfer student. But it might be something more serious. Either way I'd hate for him to have to wait until I get back to see him. His parents are old friends of mine and they are worried about him. You know how parents are."
Peggy gave Tim a reassuring smile. "I'll do my best to help him."
Chapter 5
There were two twin beds in the room. One bed was against the infamous "wall." The two stood there staring at it after Simon had left them to settle in.
"Declan, I think..." began Miranda.
"No, I insist," said Declan.
"No, I do," said Miranda firmly.
Mole ran ahead of the two and jumped onto "the bed." Mole stretched himself out, yawned, and laid his head down. "Okay," said Declan dropping his duffel bag next to "the bed." He hopped onto it and he too stretched out. "Looks like Mole decided for me. Too bad Peg couldn't have joined us."
"Yeah," agreed Miranda sincerely as she got out Declan's camera.
"Yep. It would have been good to have her here. There's safety in numbers you know."
Miranda just shook her head in dismay and wondered for the millionth time how she had allowed Declan to convince her to come along on this ghost-hunting mission. If people had told her five years ago that she'd be trekking across country with an Anthropology professor in search of ghosts, she would never have believed them. "So what's our plan?"
"Don't know," admitted Declan. "Don't know much about this place or the ghosts that inhabit it. When I wake up tomorrow I'll see if my bed has moved next to yours."
Miranda was not amused. "No really?"
"Okay," said Declan, "we'll stay up and see if anything happens, beds or otherwise. If anything moves shoot it with the camera."
"I like the simplicity of our plan, but I think I'd feel safer with a gun."
"And shoot what? The air? These are ghosts we're talking about. It'll be fun."
"That's what Mulder said to Scully when they went on that trip into the woods. She nearly died," said Miranda.
"I promise, I won't allow any glowing bugs to bite you on this trip," said Declan laughing.
"Maybe we should go talk to Esther?" suggested Miranda.
"That is a great idea," said Declan getting up. Mole moved to follow him. Declan patted him on the forehead. "Stay here, Moley. We'll be back before the ghosts gettcha."
Declan and Miranda went off in search of Esther's room.
Chapter 6
Declan knocked on the door again.
"Maybe no one's home," said Miranda simply.
Declan just gave her a look and knocked again. "Simon did say they moved Esther to Room 353 didn't he?"
Before Miranda could answer the door creaked open. Miranda and Declan stared because there was no one there. That was until a long brown haired head popped around from behind the door. Her deep brown eyes looked at them . Declan let out his breath. "You scared us."
"Sorry, can I help you," asked the girl as she stepped fully from behind the door. The girl was dressed in a nice print long sleeved top and blue jeans.
"Are you Esther?" asked Declan as he adjusted his glasses.
"Yes, and you are?" asked Esther.
"My name's Declan and this is my friend, Miranda. We heard about your, well your experience in your old room. Weird stuff the furniture moving like that. Well we investigate strange events, things that cannot be explained. We were wondering if we could talk to you about it."
Esther considered saying "no" but they seemed nice enough considering all that had happened so she said "yes" instead.
"Come on in."
Declan and Miranda entered the room. They sat on the bed opposite Esther's. Esther sat down on her own bed. The fact that there were no sheets on the other bed did not go unnoticed by either Miranda or Declan.
"That's a pretty pendant you're wearing," said Miranda trying to make the girl feel more comfortable. A silver half star was hanging from Esther's chain necklace.
Esther looked down at her necklace smiling. Her voice became tinged with excitement. "Thank you. It's an old family heirloom. I use to make my Mom tell me the story over and over again when I was little. One of my Aunts years and years ago fell in love with a soldier during the Civil War. Before he went off to war, they got engaged and he told her that after the war they would be married. They picked out a star together, that would be their star so that wherever he went, as long as they saw their star they would be together. And they had this silver star pendant made. She kept half and he kept half. He went off to fight for the South and sent letters regularly until one day they stopped coming. He was never heard from again."
Esther looked up at Declan and Miranda. "I'm sorry for rambling. Sounds like something right out of a romance novel doesn't it? But when you're little.... Any way the story inspired me to become an astronomer. I've always loved gazing up at the stars."
"I think it's a wonderful story," said Declan with a smile.
"You have this room all to yourself?" asked Miranda even though she already knew the truth.
Esther shrugged. "After they moved us out of that room, she decided to room with another one of her friends."
"And you and your roommate haven't had any strange experiences now that you've been moved into different rooms?" inquired Declan.
"Nope."
Miranda asked the next question. "And it was just you those three nights alone in the room that your bed and table got moved across the room by the next day?"
"No, my roommate was with me the other two nights. We'd move the furniture back the next day and then in the middle of the night, my bed and nightstand would be across the room. It really creeped me out, me and my roommate. Bad enough we had to move out of our old room cause of that electrical problem it was having that the school didn't have the money to fix right now and now this."
"That's sorta an odd coincidence, eh?" asked Declan. "And you don't think someone, maybe your roommate was playing a practical joke on you?"
"How? That first night it happened, I was alone in the room. When I woke up my bed was across the room blocking the door. There's no way anyone could have pushed my bed across the room and then gotten themselves out the door."
"The room's on the second floor. Someone would have had to use a ladder to get in," said Miranda.
"Good point," said Declan. "We'll check that out. I've just got one more question, do you think this has anything to do with you?"
"What do you mean?" asked Esther confused.
"It just that in the things we investigate, a lot of times strange events happen for a reason to a person," explained Declan. "Maybe there's a reason only you had your bed moved."
Esther smiled at the notion. "I don't think so. Things have been fine since I've moved into this room. It's the room. Some weird is going on there. I thought ghosts only haunted abandoned buildings, not college campuses."
Esther realized she was beginning to like these two and it normally took her awhile to warm up to new people. Because of this she added one more piece of information she hadn't told anyone else. "And there was one other strange thing."
Declan and Miranda looked at Esther expectantly.
"Those three days we spent in the room, I'd have these odd flashes, like I could read people's minds."
Declan and Miranda exchanged glances. This was really weird.
"Can you read our minds now?" asked Declan.
Esther shook her head. "Not since I left that room. It would only happen in that room."
Chapter 7
"Okay, Emmett," said Peggy smiling comfortingly, trying to put her new patient at ease. He sat across from her on her office sofa.
He tried to return her smile but failed miserably. Peggy could tell he was uncomfortable. He looked tired.
"First time I've been in a psychiatrist's office," Emmett said.
"Well, Emmett, your parents are just worried about you. How long have you been having this nightmare?"
Emmett shrugged. "For about a week now. They just seem to be getting more and more vivid every night, more frightening really."
"Have you been under a lot of stress lately? I'm sure it must be hard starting a new school. I was told you were a transfer student from a small college in Ohio. Going from there to a large campus like NOU must be disconcerting for you."
Emmett shook his head. "No, my classes are fine, nothing I can't handle if I could just get a decent night's sleep. It's just these dreams. I keep on waking up my roommate. He's not too happy with me right now. Hopes you can give me something to make me sleep. At least he's gone for Spring Break."
"Well I don't like to prescribe medicine if there's something else that can be done to rectify the situation. Why don't we do this? Here's a notebook and pen. Write down what it is that's frightening you and then we'll talk about it."
Peggy smiled at Emmett and he, although unconvinced that this was going to help him, took the proffered notebook and pen. He began to write.
Chapter 8
"About fifteen minutes later, it looked like Emmett had finished writing.
"Did you write down the images you saw?"
Emmett nodded and looked down at the words he had written in his notebook. "It really just doesn't make any sense."
"Just tell me what you saw," said Peggy soothingly.
"Well, there's a girl. She looks really sad cause she was crying."
"Is it someone you know?"
Emmett shook his head. "I've never seen her before in my life. She's about my age, she's got brown hair and these dark, brown eyes. Pretty actually. The thing is she's wearing some kind of period costume."
Peggy frowned. "What kind of period costume?"
"Dunno. I've always been interested in the hard sciences. I don't know too much about history."
"What else did you see?"
"Then I'm in this battlefield. It can't be any recent battle cause there are cannons exploding. People are being shot all around me. They're crying," Emmett's voice was taking on a definite degree of panic.
Peggy put a comforting hand on Emmett's arm. "It's okay Emmett. They're only images. They can't hurt you."
Emmett nodded and took a deep breath and looked down again at his notes. "Then I'm shot. And I fall to the ground. I'm just lying there for a long time. Darkness falls and the stars come out. I'm looking up at the stars. One star seems to be shining more brightly than the others. Then everything goes dark, pitch black, and I feel myself fall, like I'm falling through air. That's when I wake up."
Peggy stopped jotting down her own notes. "And you have no idea what all of this means?"
"No. I wish I did. You don't think this means I have one of those past lives kinda things do you?"
Peggy just smiled. "You sound like a friend of mine. But no, I don't think it does. You talked in the end about the stars, we'll you are an astronomy major. I think this has to do with you being stressed in a new environment and with you classes. You've probably buried your stress down so deep you don't even realize it's there. Your stress has manifested itself into the vision of the battlefield. You're trying to win the battle by doing well in your classes."
"Makes sense, but what about the girl?"
"Are you currently in a relationship?"
"No."
"Maybe you feel the need to be in one."
Emmett shrugged. "My classes keep me pretty busy. I'm just curious about why the girl's so sad."
"That I don't know, but a lot of times the answers to our dreams are inside ourselves. Our dreams are often manifestations of what's going on in the waking world. It's only when we sleep that our subconscious tries to make sense of it all. Tell you what, why don't tonight, you make certain you think of something positive before you go to sleep. Maybe listen to music. Try to think about non-stressful things. See if that helps and contact me tomorrow and let me know how you slept."
"Okay, Dr. Folwer. Thanks," said Emmett with a smile.
"Don't thank me just yet," said Peggy returning his smile.
Chapter 9
"Declan...Declan, wake up," said Miranda in a slightly panicky voice as she shook Declan's arm.
"What...what's going on?" asked Declan groggily as he struggled to regain consciousness. Night had long since settled in. "Must've dozed off." Declan reached ofr his glass on the nightstand and put them on.
"Listen!" whispered Miranda.
The both listed and they could hear a large bell ringing.
"The bell tower? Why's it ringing at this time of night?" asked Declan confused as he put on his glasses.
"That's not all," said Miranda as she quickly, without thinking, grabbed Declan's hand and lead him to the window. "Look!"
Declan and Miranda just stared dumbfounded.
"Is that a...," began Declan.
"Yep."
"There's a monk dancing in the bell tower."
"Uh-huh."
"Okay, now that's weird. Let's go," said Declan.
"Go? Declan..." began Miranda worriedly as she quickly grabbed a flashlight.
But Declan had rushed out of the room leaving Miranda no choice but to follow.
Chapter 10
Miranda and Declan hurried out of the dormitory into the chilly night air. When they got to the tower they didn't see a door.
"Okay, there's got to be door to this tower. I'll go to the left. You go to the right. We'll meet at the door," said Declan.
Before Miranda could protest about splitting up and reiterating the safety in numbers speech, Declan had already headed to the left. Miranda turned and headed to the right. A few seconds later she found the door. She waited for Declan to come around the corner as he was supposed to.
Suddenly she felt a tapping on her shoulder and the words "Turn me over," were whispered into her ear. She spun around out of fright and anger, ready to yell at Declan, but no one was there.
"Turn me over," Miranda heard again behind her. She spun back around to see Declan waiting at the door. Relief washed over her which was quickly replaced by anger. "That wasn't funny, Declan."
"What?" asked Declan looking confused.
"Tapping my shoulder, whispering into my ear. It's not funny."
"I don't know what....," began Declan but Miranda was too tired to hear any of it.
"C'mon let's go," Miranda said as she pushed open the tower door. Declan wordlessly followed as they climbed the long winding staircase. Halfway through the climb they realized the ringing had stopped. By the time they reached the top of the bell tower, there was no sign of any dancing monk.
"We'll I guess he got tired of dancing," said Miranda deadpanned.
"I guess," said Declan disappointed at the loss. "Well at least we've got a good view."
Miranda and Declan put their hands on the cold stone ledge of the bell tower and looked out over the campus and the surrounding Maryland countryside. It really was a beautiful sight as the moon basked the quiet nestled campus in a white glow. They sky was littered with stars and one especially shone particularly bright.
But still in the end there was no dancing monk, no ringing bell. Declan yawned. "Well that was weird."
"Weird, yes," agreed Miranda. "But I'm not convinced that this has anything to do with the reason we came out here in the first place."
"Hey, maybe it was a rouse. Maybe by the time we get back to the room, someone will have moved the furniture."
"Well we have to go back in order to determine that. Although I'm hoping our furniture is right where we left it," said Miranda as she stifled a yawn. "I could use some sleep."
With nothing left for the two of them to investigate, they made their way back down the tower steps. It was extraordinarily easy after the climb up them. After they reached the ground they headed back to their dorm room. All the furniture was where they had left it. They both fell fast asleep as soon as their heads hit their respective pillows in their respective beds.
Chapter 11
The next morning the sunlight streamed into Miranda's face. They had forgotten to put down the blinds after watching the crazy dancing monk.
Miranda finally forced her eyes open and nearly jumped in fright until she realized the face she had woken up to was Declan's. Declan was still sleeping, oblivious to the world. While they had been sleeping, his bed had moved away from the wall and was now next to her's.
"Hey, Declan. Wake up," Miranda whispered.
"Hmmm," Declan yawned. He opened his eyes to see Miranda's face. He smiled. Then a look of confusion took over his face. "Wasn't my bed....?"
"Yeah," said Miranda.
Declan sat up excitement shaking off all of remnants of sleep. "You didn't....?"
"Nope," confirmed Miranda.
"Hmm...that's definitely strange."
"Totally."
Declan concentrated for a second. "I still can't read your thoughts. Can you read mine?"
"You're thinking about food."
Declan's face lit up. "That's right! You read my mind!"
Miranda threw a pillow that made contact with Declan's face. "You're always thinking about food, Declan," Miranda said with a groan.
Chapter 12
The morning sunlight shone through Peggy's office illuminating it. She looked up when she heard the knock at her door. Startled, she looked up from her paperwork on her desk. She wondered who could it be this early in the morning.
"Hi, Dr. Fowler," said Emmett. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I know we were supposed to meet later on today, but I was just so excited I had to come see you."
Peggy looked at Emmett in wonder. From the tired and worried young man she had seen yesterday, he had transformed into a bright-eyed, excited young man. Something obviously must have happened.
"I'm guess you got a good-night's sleep last night with no nightmare's interrupting."
Emmett shook his head. "No still had the nightmares, but there's been a break though, I think. I was talking to my parents last night, they're out of the country on business, and I was telling them about my dreams. It turns out that my great-great-great grand uncle was killed in the Civil War! My Mom's really big into genealogy. So this morning when I got up, I got on the Internet, and the same period costumes are the one's I'm seeing in my dreams! Turns out he was engaged but before he could get married, he was killed on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. They had received a letter from his Lieutenant informing the family of his death. The weird thing is they never got his body back for burial. It's like it disappeared. They never could figure out what happened to the body, but I guess if you had that many people killed in during a battle it's hard to keep up with all the bodies. They didn't have dog tags back then. You have to see this picture of them and the letter."
Emmett pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his jean pocket and handed it to Peggy. Peggy amazed at all this took the paper and unfolded it. There was a picture of a handsome, young man and woman dressed in Civil War period clothing. They weren't smiling, but then people often didn't smile in pictures back then. Peggy then looked at the copy of the letter. It did look authentic.
"And this is the woman whom you saw in your dream?" asked Peggy thoughtfully as she gazed at the picture again. The couple was so young.
"Yep, that's her! Since my parents are out of town right now, my Mom told our housekeeper where to find the picture and she e-mailed it to me. Weird isn't it. Turns out our family use to live in Maryland before we moved out west to Colorado. So I've decided not to waste the rest of my Spring Break. I'm going to go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and see if I can find out anything more. At the very worst, it'll just be a history lesson."
Peggy frowned. "I don't think this is something you should do alone."
Emmett laughed. That's just what my parents said. But I'm determined to go."
"Okay," said Peggy slowly. "One of my friends, he's actually a professor at NOU, he's actually close to Gettysburg right now. He's in Maryland about an hour away from there. He likes to investigate...things. Let me contact him. Maybe he can pick us up at the airport and drive us there."
"We? That's really nice of you, Dr. Fowler, but I don't want you to go to any trouble."
"No, trouble at all," said Peggy as she continued to gaze at the picture.
Chapter 13
"See Declan, the floor's at a slight incline," said Miranda. Both she and Declan were laying on the floor on their stomachs with flashlights, trying to figure out a plausible reason why furniture would have moved during the night across the room. "Either the construction workers at the time made a mistake or its just wear and tear. This College has been around since the late 1800s. That's a long time. Lots of things can happen."
Declan gave Miranda a quizzical look to which Miranda replied, "I read the information pamphlet while we were in the Visitor's Center."
"Oh," said Declan as he readjusted his glasses. "Since we were here and it happened, this has nothing to do with Esther. It has to do with the room. But why would the furniture move only in the middle of the night?"
Miranda stood up. "I've been giving it some thought. We checked the door, obviously locked from the inside. The window has been untouched. We are on the second floor so somebody would have to use a ladder to get up here. There's no sign or smudges that a ladder was used."
"But you've come up with something."
Miranda flashed Declan a quick smile. She walked to the window. "What do you see?"
Declan got up and walked to the window. "We're right by the highway."
"Yes and I noticed last night when we were investigating the bell tower a lot of trucks were going by. There are no sound barrier walls here."
Declan stroked his chin. "So you're thinking that the sound moved the furniture."
"Think about it. If sound can make windows shake why not move the furniture especially when the floor is already at an incline? Gravity would start to take over. It probably happens gradually over the night and while the occupants are asleep. That's why they didn't wake up. And Esther told us that they had just moved into this room because of an electrical outage in their old one that the school had been unable to fix without costing a lot of money that they don't have right now. Until they moved in, this room had been unoccupied for some time. In fact this whole wing is empty. Needs to be restored."
"Yeah I noticed it's been really quiet for a campus dorm."
"Sort of odd that the other room just happened to have electrical problems and they had to move. I wonder why move them to this wing unless there was no other place for them. And why was a priest dancing in the tower?"
"Maybe Simon would be better able to help us."
There was a knock at the door.
Declan and Miranda exchanged a glance.
Miranda shrugged, "Well we were going to have to move the furniture back at some point."
"Hold on a second," yelled out Declan as he and Miranda pushed the furniture back into place.
Mole suddenly started barking at the wall that they had moved the furniture back to.
"Quiet, Mole," said Declan as he pulled Mole away from the wall. He rubbed his back calming him while Miranda opened the door.
It was Simon.
"Hey, Simon," said Declan with a smile when he saw who it was. "We were just talking about you. Hoping you could help answer some questions."
Simon smiled. "I'd be happy to." He walked in and sat on one of the beds. Declan and Miranda sat on the other one. They explained about the furniture moving and the reasons why.
Simon nodded in understanding. "I'm glad to hear there's a logical explanation for it."
"But the part that has us confused is last night, the tower bell was ringing and we," said Declan giving a look to Miranda, "we'll we could have sworn we saw a priest dancing up there. We went to investigate but by the time we got there, no one was there."
Simon looked embarrassed all of a sudden. "I'm so sorry about that. That was one of my brethren, Father Gregory. He's sorta, well, eccentric. We were celebrating midnight mass and he likes to ring the bell. Sometimes he dances. I've told him about it. I've told him that it frightens people. I hope it didn't frighten you."
"No, not at all. But isn't it odd that we didn't see him at all? We climbed those stairs and didn't see him," said Declan.
Simon shrugged. "He probably had already come down before you got there. The bell only needs to be pulled once and then it rings for awhile. It was dark after all. And he knows the tower better than you two."
"Well I guess that explains all the unexplainable phenomena," said Miranda.
"Maybe not," said Simon. "When you two came, I must admit you two piqued my curiosity. I did a little investigating on my own. I looked in the library archives and, oh this is so horrible, had I known I would have made sure Esther was never put in this room."
"What?" asked Miranda impatient to know the truth.
"Well," said Simon solemnly. "It turns out that Esther's great-great-great uncle, he was a priest here, turns out he died in this very room. She got her scholarship to come here because of her relative. Many generations of Paxton's have come here to learn. Anyway the rooms in this wing use to be where the priests slept until the college expanded. Now we're housed in another part of campus."
"Do you know how he died?" asked Declan.
Simon shook his head. "I'm sorry. As soon as I found that out I came straight here to tell you. It's all there in the library archives so you can access it."
"Thank you for telling us about it," said Miranda sincerely. "We'll certainly check it out."
Declan nodded his thanks as well.
Simon stood up. "Poor girl. At least we've moved her out of this room."
Chapter 14
Peggy picked up her phone as soon as Emmett had left to go pack and dialed the number written in her Rolodex.
"Hello?"
"Hi Declan, it's Peggy."
"Hey Peg!" said Declan excitedly.
Peggy smiled. "The investigation must be going well."
"It certainly is! The game's afoot, Dr. Watson."
This elicited a chuckle out of Peggy.
"Sure Miranda and I can't convince you to fly out here?"
"Actually you can."
"Really?"
"Really," said Peggy. "I have a patient whose been having these nightmares. At first I thought it was just stress. He just recently transferred to NOU. I was thinking it's a new school, a new environment. He has dreams about a young girl and getting shot at the Battle of Gettysburg."
"Wait, did I hear you correctly Peg? Did you say the Battle of Gettysburg?"
"Yes, you heard me correctly."
"Cool! Hey you got some kind of side investigation business going on without me? You know I'd be all over this past life stuff" said Declan smiling.
"No," said Peggy chuckling. "I don't really thing this is a mystery at all. I think it has to do with a genetic memory."
"Genetic memory?"
"Yes. It turns out that his great-great-great uncle was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg, but they never recovered the body. He was engaged to this woman, but they never got married since he died in action."
"That is so sad. Reminds me of a story the girl who's room we're investigating told me. And they never recovered the body? Maybe his dead relative is trying to speak to him from beyond the grave," Declan suggestion.
"Declan, we're flying over to Baltimore-Washington Airport today, and when we get there I don't want you filling his head with such nonsense. He's all ready wired as it is."
"Wait you're really are coming out here?"
"Yes. I hope you don't mind. Emmett Smith, that's his name, is bent on going to Gettysburg to see if he can find out any more information. And I didn't want him to go alone. Since you were already so close I thought if you didn't mind...."
"Mind? Of course, I don't mind. Two investigations...this is becoming the best Spring Break ever."
"Thanks, Declan. I really appreciate it," said Peggy sincerely.
"No problem. When's your flight coming in?"
Peggy looked down at her e-ticket. "It'll be about a five hour flight. We should get there by 3 o'clock. Would it be possible for you to meet us out at the airport?"
"Consider it done. Miranda and I look forward to seeing you."
"Me too. I'll see you later today. Bye."
"Bye."
Peggy hung up the phone and then glanced at her watch. She had to hurry home and pack.
Chapter 15
Declan and Miranda found themselves in the library archive pouring over documents, killing time before they had to pick Peggy and Emmett up at the airport. They sat side by side at the computers as they pulled up articles.
"It's just like Simon said. Father Patrick Paxton died July 7, 1863. It says here that he was offering the..."
"The Sacrament of Reconciliation," read Declan. "Huh. Isn't that weird? He listens to confession, goes back to his room, the same room where his great-great-great niece was living, due to an electrical outage in her own room."
"Coincidence?" said Miranda with a quick smile.
Declan was too lost in his own thoughts to enjoy the humor of the moment. "Back then Maryland was very divided during the Civil War that had already ripped this country apart. Martial law was declared here. Maryland was very much a southern state and the North couldn't afford to have the nations capitol cut off from it. They needed Maryland. The state was like a microcosm of the war. Both North and South sympathizers lived here. By the time the Battle of Gettysburg had come around the war that they thought would be over in a matter of months had already dragged on for three years. And even after that Battle, the turning point for the North, its first real victory, even after that the war still dragged on for two more years."
Miranda was half listening as she scrolled through news articles around the time of Father Paxton death when something caught her eye. "Hey, Declan check this out. A few months after his death, this man a Joseph Randall, was found guilty of not giving a proper burial to fallen soldiers. Ugh. Looks like during the Battle of Gettysburg, this college was turned into a medical hospital. Randall was hired to bury the soldiers that died. Instead of burying the bodies, he stuffed them down a well on campus."
"A to B to C," said Declan.
"What?"
"Bear with me on this. What if Father Paxton heard the confession of this man Randall? Randall's eaten up with guilty about what he's done. He goes to see Paxton. Paxton hears the confession. He's a Catholic priest. He can't tell the authorities about what this man has done. He goes back to his room and dies of a heart attack."
"Declan, even if that were true. Paxton was fifty. People didn't live as long back then. You'll never be able to prove that he died because of something he heard."
"Maybe they kept records back then, ya know. Records of who came for confession that day he died," said Declan hopefully.
"Maybe," said Miranda thinking as she looked at the article some more. "Declan when were we investigating the bell tower, you didn't tap me on the shoulder and whisper "turn me over" in my ear did you?"
"No why?" asked Declan. "Are you telling me that happened to you?"
Miranda felt goose bumps rising on her arms. She glanced at Declan. "What did Peggy say the name was of that guy she's bringing her is?"
"Emmett Smith."
Miranda pointed to the screen and Declan read the names of the bodies that were recovered and then he looked at another article from another newspaper that listed the missing bodies. Michael Smith was the only name that was listed as one of the missing bodies and it wasn't listed with the bodies that were recovered. Declan felt chilly all of a sudden. He looked at Miranda. "Smith is a very common name, but you don't think.....?"
Chapter 16
After picking up Peggy and Emmett at the airport, Declan and Miranda gathered the two in their dorm room.
"So you think Emmett's dreams and what you've been investigating here are connected?" asked Peggy incredulously.
"Bear with me here, Peg. Emmett here is having dreams about a young girl from the Civil War. Turns out that his great-great-great...."
"Great," added Miranda.
"Thanks, Miranda," said Declan, "uncle was shot during the Battle of Gettysburg."
Miranda handed the two of them copies of articles she and Declan had printed off. "Look there he is Michael Smith-wounded in the battle and brought here for medical treatment where he died. After..."
There was a knock at the door. Declan opened it to find Esther standing there confused. "You left a message on my voice mail saying you needed to see me."
"Yes I did," said Declan with a smile. "Your just in time too. C'mon in."
Esther walked in.
"Esther," said Declan, "this is our friend, Peggy Fowler and this is, um, another student from our college Northern Oregon University."
They all nodded their hellos.
"Actually, you both are astronomy majors," said Declan throwing out that fact to see their reactions. He wasn't disappointed.
Esther and Emmett immediately smiled at one another.
"Please have a seat," said Declan. "I think we've figured out what's going on here.
They all sat down on the chairs and beds, wherever there was a spare seat.
"So you were saying Miranda?" asked Peggy.
"Right, Michael Smith, who bears the same name as Emmett's uncle, is wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. He is transferred here, to Mt. Saint Mary's which had been turned into a medical facility, for treatment where he dies of his wounds."
"Which is no surprise considering that they knew nothing about germs back then. Surgeons didn't even wash their hands," added Peggy.
"Precisely. A few days later, Esther's great-great-great uncle, Father Paxton, at this very college, is taking confessions."
"I ran into Simon," interrupted Declan. "He's been helping us on this case. He told me where I could find the Reconciliation Records. It's sorta like a sign in book back then. Any way one, Joseph Randall went for confession with Father Paxton. Later that night Father Paxton drops dead. We're assuming it's a heart attack."
"Father Paxton?" asked Esther. "He's the reason why I have the scholarship here."
"Yep, one and the same," said Declan.
"After Emmett's uncle dies, the body just disappeared along with several other bodies. With the death toll so high and records not being what they are today, soldiers didn't even wear dog tags or carry identification with them, nobody really seemed to notice. People disappeared all the time."
"Okay," said Peggy thinking this through. "So Emmett's uncle dies after being shot at the Battle of Gettysburg and Esther's uncle dies after hearing this man Randall confess. Confess to what?"
"Confessed that he pocketed the money that he was being paid for to bury those bodies and instead stuffed them down a well right here on campus. Father Paxton, unable to admit what had been confessed to him, dropped dead from guilt," finished Declan with a flourish.
"But," said Emmett, "why would Esther's uncle drop dead from guilt? He would have had to have some personal connection to my uncle. I've never met Esther until today."
"Good point," said Declan. "You might have just met Esther today, but your two family's go way back originating from Southern Maryland."
Esther and Emmett looked at one another.
"My grandparents moved to Colorado which is where my parents met, but they were originally from Surrattsville," said Emmett still looking at Esther.
Esther felt chilly all of a sudden. "I'm going to school here, but my family lives in Surrattsville."
"Declan," said Peggy in a tone that was slightly a warning to Declan. She didn't want these two jumping to any irrational conclusions.
"Peg, it makes perfect sense," said Declan enthusiastically. Esther's uncle, Father Paxton was one of three children. His brother, John, married and Esther is directly descended from him. The two also had a younger sister named Isabella."
"The woman my uncle was engaged to!" said Emmett excitedly.
At the same time Esther said, "That's the name of my aunt, the one who gave me this necklace." Esther fingered her half-star necklace absently.
There was silence as everyone in the room stopped to consider these revelations and let everything sink in.
Emmett pulled a folded piece of paper out of his back pack and handed it to Esther. She took it and opened it up. It was a picture of a young woman. "I don't know if you've seen pictures of her before..."
Esther just nodded her head, overcome by all if this. She looked up at Emmett. "It's her. It's my Aunt Isabella."
Chapter 17
Peggy stood up and motioned Declan and Miranda outside the room and into the hallway. They had left the door open but were out of earshot of Emmett and Esther and could now talk privately. By this time Emmett and Esther were in their own little world anyway talking about everything from this amazing connection to their love of astronomy.
"It's this amazing!" said Declan. "All these years, lost loves, and their descendents reunited."
Peggy just shook her head. "I just hope you know what you're doing, Declan. From what I can tell these two are having a hard time adjusting to college life and now you've thrown this at them. It could cause them even more stress by all these supposed connections."
"You said it yourself, Peg, that he's dream could be a genetic memory," said Declan with a smile.
"Yes, but....okay for arguments sake lets say that all of this is true. Why now, why all of a sudden?" asked Peggy.
"They're about the same age when their relatives were engaged to be married," said Miranda.
All three turned to give Esther and Emmett and good look. The two were oblivious to their being scrutinized at this second. They were obviously excited and enjoying each other's company.
"It's like they've known each other for years," said Miranda.
They all turned back to the situation at hand.
"So your think this is fate?" asked Peggy dubiously. "That somehow all this happened to reunited them?"
"That and the fact that I think that Esther's relatives are not at rest," said Declan.
"What?!" asked Peggy in disbelief.
"Declan's bed did move, Peggy," said Miranda. "It moved away from the same wall where the Father Paxton died."
"Yes, but you explained that, Miranda. The floor is at an incline and the vibrations from the highway trucks caused the bed to move," said Peggy.
"Yes, but some did tap me on the shoulder that night at the bell tower and said `Turn me over,'" finished Miranda.
"You promise you weren't playing a trick on, Miranda?" asked Peggy to Declan.
Declan held up three fingers. "Scout's honor, Peg. I think Father Paxton knew that Michael Smith, his future brother in law, was killed in the war and that Joseph Randall had buried him improperly. Maybe he was upset about the possibility of giving the news to his sister. Maybe he was Michael's best friend. The two families were close. I don't know. The point is that Father Paxton knew that Michael had died and that his body wouldn't be given a proper burial because of his vow, his vow to keep the confessions of anyone, even a murderer, secret under the holy Sacrament of Reconciliation."
"So if fate was trying to reunite these two, we've certainly helped that along considering the fact that Emmett wouldn't have even stopped her if I hadn't know you two were here," said Peggy. "But how do you propose to put ghosts to rest, Declan? If they are in fact not at rest."
"We've got a plan," said Miranda with a mischievous smile.
Chapter 18
"Declan, you can't seriously be thinking about going down there," said Peggy worriedly as she gazed down the darkness into the well.
All five of them had gathered at the old well on the north part of campus. The stones had moss growing in its cracks and crevices. It had obviously seen better days. They all looked at Declan who shrugged. "It'll be fine. Miranda promised me this pulley thing would hold my weight. Right, Miranda?"
"It should."
"That's not the resounding yes I had hoped for," said Declan. He turned his attention back to the matter at hand. "I'll get on the boards and you all can hold the rope, lower me to the bottom, and then back up. I borrowed this hat from one of the construction workers on campus and will be able to see if the body of Emmett's uncle is still at the bottom of this well." Declan turned on the light attached to his hard hat.
"Are you sure you don't want us to contact somebody official?" asked Esther. She was as concerned at the rest of them for Declan's safety.
"Nonsense," said Declan. "If I see something we'll definitely contact them, but if we contact them before then and bring them out for nothing...we'll I think we'd definitely have some unhappy people on our hands."
"So you think that when Joseph Randall confessed about stuffing the bodies down there that they missed one, that they missed Michael Smith's body?" asked Peggy.
"Yep that's the theory I'm currently working on," agreed Declan with Peggy's assessment of the situation.
"But what if he threw the body into the woods somewhere? Except for the highway woods surround this campus. It's literally in the middle of nowhere," argued Peggy.
"Details, details," said Declan with a smile.
"How are we going to identify my uncle's body if it's down there, Declan?" asked Emmett. "It's not like there are dental records to match up."
"No, you're right. The best we'll probably be able to do is see how old the bones are if the body is done there. And Joseph Randall probably cleaned the bodies of any personal affects they might have had on them. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Declan got on the plank part of the pulley. The other put on their gloves and stood in a line holding onto the rope. Declan put on his own gloves and held on tightly to the ropes connected to the planks he was standing on. "Okay lower me down."
The four of them strained as they lowered Declan down inside the well. He disappeared from their sight and all of them, especially Miranda and Peggy, put in a few extra silent good wishes.
Declan for his part tried to regulate his breathing in the musty dank, stale air that he was forced to breathe in. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. His headlight flickered for a second and he prayed that it wouldn't go out and he'd be in this small confined place without any light. He also prayed that the four up above didn't drop him down here. Finally he reached the bottom. "You can stop now!" Declan yelled up to them above.
"Do you see anything, Declan!" shouted Miranda which sounded far away to Declan.
Declan was about to shout that he hadn't seen anything just yet when his light found something white poking out of the mud and muck at the bottom of the well floor...a well which, Declan thanked God, hadn't been used in many, many years. Declan brushed some mud away and for a second recoiled in horror. An eye socket, which could only be connected to the rest of a skull, stared up at him.
Chapter 19
When they finally saw Declan emerge from the well, Esther and Emmett held onto the rope while Miranda and Peggy helped Declan off the planks and onto the ground.
"Well," said Declan as out of breath as the rest of them. "I think it's time that we called an excavation team."
"You found something didn't you?" asked Emmett excited as all of them.
"What is it? What did you find?" asked Esther equally as excited.
"Well there's a skeleton down there, face up in the mud," said Declan.
"Well when they get the body up, they should be able to date the bones. But I still don't see anyway to prove that the skeletal remains belong to Emmett's dead relative," said Peggy.
"There is a way."
Everyone turned to look at Declan. Declan reached down and pulled something out of his pocket. "I took this off the body. I think it belongs to you, Emmett." They all gathered around to look at the necklace with a half silver star pendent attached to it.
Esther gently took the necklace from Declan's hand. She tried to match this half-star with her half. They all watched as Esther did this. It was a perfect match. Esther and Emmett exchanged a smile.
"Yeah, I think this does belong to you, Emmett," said Esther as she handed the necklace to Emmett. Emmett for his part, put the necklace on. "It's the perfect star-their star."
Chapter 20
Two days later found Declan, Miranda, and Peggy walking across campus carrying their luggage towards the Visitors Center that Declan and Miranda had first entered upon coming to Mount Saint Mary's.
"Well it looks like NOU is going to have another student next year," said Peggy smiling.
"Really?" asked Miranda.
"Yes. Esther is going to transfer to NOU. Her and Emmett both want to go though the Astronomy program there together."
Declan smiled. "No kidding. Any more nightmares?"
"Nope, they seem to have stopped after discovering the body in the well."
"I think we've done whatever were we supposed to have done here," said Miranda.
"Yeah I think all the ghosts are at rest. The priest's secret is no longer a secret and Emmett's uncle can now get a proper burial. I spoke with his parents, they flew in yesterday, and they are going to take the body back to Surattsville to bury it next to his finacee," explained Declan.
"If they couldn't be united in life at least they are now reunited in death," said Miranda thoughtfully.
The three walked up the stairs to the Visitor's Center. Declan held the door open for Miranda and Peggy.
As they entered, Peggy said, "Now you two, don't get carried away. I'll admit, some of this was weird, but you pretty much explained everything. The furniture was moved by the sound vibrations, there were no ghosts. Esther's sudden psychic abilities have inexplicably disappear, if she had them at all in the first place. And as for Emmett's nightmares, sure that was strange, but I still think that it would more have to do with genetic memory than anything else. Maybe his nightmares were subconsciously prompted by something he read or saw. I'm glad everything worked out the way that it did, but I still think it's all explainable."
Declan and Miranda smiled. "You're probably right, Peg. But you do have to admit, there are a lot of strange coincidences."
"I grant you that, but life is full of them," said Peggy smiling.
By this time the three had reached the Visitors Center desk. Instead of Simon behind the desk, there was an older lady. She smiled at them.
"Welcome to Mount Saint Mary's. Can I help you three?"
"Actually," said Declan as he handed the lady the room keys Simon had given them, "we just stopped by to return these keys to you."
The woman looked at them curiously as she took the keys.
"We'd also like to thank Simon for all his help. He was so wonderful and was a great help, we just didn't want to leave without having thanked him," explained Declan.
"Simon?"
"I'm sorry," said Declan chuckling. "I should have said Reverend Simon Brute."
The lady just stared at them. "Revered Brute died in 1839. I personally don't think this is a funny joke. I wish you kids would stop making up stories about him. It's bad for prospective students."
The three were struck speechless by her words.
After a few seconds, Declan opened his mouth to protest, but Miranda touched his arm, gave their thanks to the lady, and she and Peggy started walking him toward the door.
As they were almost at the exit, Peggy said, "Simon that's the guy who...."
"That's the nice Father who was such a great help during our investigation," explained Declan still in shock.
"Declan, Peggy look," said Miranda suddenly.
They both looked up to where Miranda was pointing. Right above the exit they saw a painting of Simon smiling dressed exactly as they had seen him, in his religious raiment. Underneath the picture they read the engraved caption "Reverend Simon Brute. Died 1839. First Spiritual Director-Mount Saint Mary's College.
Declan's words summed the whole investigation for all of them. "Wow."