Thanks to all of you who are still reading this and welcome newcomers.

'Kurama's thoughts'

~Youko's thoughts~

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The day started out so simple. I took a trip with Sam and Dean to the county courthouse. It didn't take us long to discover the location of the driver's body. The grave was located on a small plot of land at the edge of town. The grave's location proved to be both a blessing and a curse. The plot was an Amish cemetery. It goes against Amish custom to visit gravesites, so the cemetery should be completely empty. There was one snafu, however. None of the graves are marked. Only one of the community elders has the map of where each family plot is located. (1)

"Doesn't leave us with many options, does it?" asks Dean.

"Well," sighed Sam, "The simplest way would be to wait for one of the victim's family members to die. We could follow them to the grave site."

"But there's no way of telling how long that could take and the ghost was still racking up victims," I add.

"Exactly," replies Sam. "We could wait for one of the other parishioners to die, and hope to spot the elder with the map."

"I wouldn't have any trouble stealing the map," I answer.

Jorge starts snickering. "No, I don't imagine that you would," states Koenma.

"Again, there's no telling how long that could take," replies Sam.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Dean asks. "Torch the whole graveyard?"

"That would seem a little like overkill," I answer.

"Not to mention, it would certainly attract the attention of the local sheriff's office," replies Koenma.

"You have any better ideas?" Dean sarcastically asks Koenma.

"I do, actually," Koenma smirks.

"Please, enlighten us," replies Dean

"We could use a dowsing spell. All I'd need is a pendulum and something of the victim's," replies Koenma.

"Anything?" asks Sam.

Koenma's suggestion is simple, but ingenious. I feel embarrassed that I hadn't thought of it first. "Koenma or I could try it with a variety of objects. The spell will be more effective, however, with something that was considered to hold intrinsic value by the victim," I reply.

"Then let's go find the widow," replies Dean.

"You go," says Sam. "I'm going to go find the person who hit the buggy and warn him."

"Good idea," says Jorge. "Allow me to join you." Sam nods his consent.

"I'll go with Dean," I volunteer.

"Where he goes I go," states Koenma.

~What's a fox got to do to get a little privacy?~

'Maybe we should just consider ourselves lucky that he didn't insist on sleeping in the same bed.'

"Just stay out of the way and let me do all of the talking," answers Dean.

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Dean, Koenma, and I arrived at the Amish farmhouse in the middle of the afternoon. Dean knocked on the door and a simply dressed woman of medium height answers.

"Ma'am, my name is Agent Gibbons from the Ohio Department of Agriculture. We found that some of the local wells have been contaminated with pesticides. Would you mind if my colleagues and I took a look around the farm?"

The woman offers Dean her hand, "Rebecca. Please come in."

"Stay out here," Dean commands before stepping into the home.

Koenma looks like he wants to protest, but I put a hand on his shoulder and draw his attention to the road. A few seconds later Koenma sees what my sharp ears had already picked up on. A group of Amish children pass by wearing old fashioned roller skates. (2) A boy around twelve years old breaks off from the main group and heads towards the farm.

"Bis schpeeder," (3) the boy calls to his friends before entering a nearby barn. The boy quickly changes out of his skates and grabs a basket from a peg on the wall. He then enters a small garden and begins cutting asparagus and placing it in the basket.

"Let me try something," I tell Koenma and approach the boy.

I grab a small knife from the barn and join the boy in the garden. "Let me help you. What's your name?"

"I'm sorry, what are you doing here?" asks the boy.

"We're from the Department of Agriculture. My partner is inside talking to your mother."

The boy nods and passes me the basket, "I'm Amos. Could you hold this please?"

"You kids enjoy roller skating?" I asked.

Amos laughed. "Surprised you, didn't it?"

I nodded, "I didn't think that you would be allowed to use skates."

"We can have roller skates," Amos chuckled, "but not bicycles." I frowned, and Amos continued, "I don't understand it either, but I know better than to question my elders."

"We've never tried roller skating," I wave to indicate Koenma. "Do you think you could teach us?" It was a lie of course; Shiori and I had been rollerblading many times.

"Let me put these inside and I'll ask my mom," Amos replied. "Wait here."

Amos ran inside to talk to his mother. Meanwhile, I stood at the edge of the garden and fed the plants some of my energy. Amos and Rebecca wouldn't have to worry about having enough vegetables this year.

Koenma walked over to join me. "What's going on?"

"I'm befriending the boy. Have you ever been roller skating?" I ask.

Koenma made a face like he'd just eaten something sour. "Of course not."

"Well, Amos is about to teach us. In case Dean can't find anything, I'm hoping Amos will lead us to something we can use."

Amos came streaking out of the house and ran straight for the barn. "Come on you guys!"

Fifteen minutes later, Amos and I were skating circles around Koenma. The young god still couldn't get more than five feet without landing flat on his butt.

"So, whose skates are we borrowing? No one's going to be upset that we're borrowing these, are they?"

Amos helped Koenma to his feet for the umpteenth time. "Yours were my older brother's; he's since outgrown them. The one's Koenma's wearing doesn't belong to anyone. They were my father's, but he died when I was little."

'Bingo'

~Finally, something I can steal~

'Not steal, borrow. We'll sneak in tonight and they'll be back before Amos wakes up.'

~Killjoy~

"Okay, you guys go on without me. I'm too sore to continue," Koenma complains after landing on his rear again.

"Perhaps it's time we quit. I still have to help my mother with dinner," Amos replies. Amos and I helped Koenma back to the barn where we changed our shoes. I placed a few seeds under Koenma's skates before leaving.

Exiting the barn we find Dean standing next to the Impala waiting for us. "Where have you girls been? Let's go."

"Thanks for the lesson Amos." I wave and trot over to the car. Koenma also grumbles a 'thank you' and follows.

Dean pulls the Impala back onto the road and mutters, "Well that was a complete waste of time."

"How so?" Koenma asks.

"We have to wait until Rebecca's father can walk the field with us. She wants us to wait two more days," Dean answers. "I'm glad you guys had fun while I was working."

"I've made arrangements to secure what we need. All we have to do is wait until dark and come back," I inform Dean. "The skates Koenma was wearing belonged to Amos's dad."

"Oh," replies Dean.

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I had a really hard time writing this chapter. I'd originally tried to write an interview with Rebecca, but I couldn't get it to come out right. This afternoon I scrapped everything that I had written for chapter 10 and started over again.

In case you're wondering, I did not just pull all of this out of my a#*. I did my homework.

Most Amish cemeteries have rows of identical headstones with nothing more than the deceased's name. However, some parishes, like this one, do not mark the graves.

Almost all parishes allow for roller skates, but most do not allow bikes.

Amish children are taught a form of German before English. 'Bis schpeeder' is Pennsylvania Dutch for 'Goodbye.'

Until next time, thanks for reading and please review.