A/N - I used the real history of Falls Village in this story but then dramatized it for the sake of the story and being able to do ghost walks from it. The hotel ghost stories are partially true as they do claim to have ghosts, they just don't know who the ghosts are supposed to be. It seems like a fascinating small town.

Chapter 11 Settling In

"I don't think I have ever been in such a small town." Amanda said.

"I have seen some small ones like this during my travels in other countries but they aren't usually so cozy looking." Lee Responded.

They followed the signs that led the way to Aunt Mary's Fun House Halloween Extravaganza. As they got closer, they began seeing and smelling fields of cows and horses. Lee loved horses and hoped he would be able to do some riding while they were there. It didn't take long for them to reach the entrance of the farm and they couldn't believe the sight before them. This was a huge farm complete with silos, barns, hen houses, Pigpens and an old fashioned farmhouse. In one of the fields, they could see that carnival rides had been set up and most were in action. The parking lot was overflowing with cars and Lee was not thrilled about leaving his Porsche among the general public where it would likely get scratched or banged up. They soon spotted a security guard and pulled up beside him.

Lee rolled down his window and smiled while extending his hand. "Hi, I'm Lee Stinson and this is my girlfriend Amanda Keene. We are employees and we just arrived to take over our duties. I was wondering if there was an employee parking lot where I could put my car."

The guard didn't smile. He walked around Lee's car, kicked at the tires and then walked back to Lee's open window and said "You can park in Lot C." He pointed to a lot that sat to the left and was next to a field packed with manure. Lee groaned, looked at Amanda and then drove to Lot C.

"I can't believe they expect me to park my 1963 Porsche..."

"Lee, you knew you should have left the thing at home and borrowed a car from the agency. You just wanted to be able to drive it to Connecticut, right?"

Lee glared at Amanda, opened his mouth to retort and then closed it. He helped her out of the car and they began walking toward the barns to figure out where they were supposed to go. When they reached the first barn, they saw a sign that said "office" and went inside. There was a young girl working at the desk who had blonde hair and blue eyes and wore a name tag that said her name was Patti. She totally ignored them even after Lee cleared his throat.

Amanda said "Hello, I'm Amanda and this is Lee and we are reporting for work. We were hired to help out here for a few weeks but we aren't sure where to go and were hoping you could help us." When the girl continued typing away at her computer while smacking her gum, Amanda continued "Yes, well see, I am going to be one of the bakers and my boyfriend Lee, is going to host one of the ghost walks at night time. We just drove an awfully long way to get here and really could use the money so if you could tell us who we should go see so we can get started, we would appreciate it."

The girl finally looked up and took notice of them both. She completely looked Lee up and down from head to toe and gave him a huge sexy smile. Lee found himself smiling back as Amanda glared at him.

Patti said as she looked directly at Lee and ignored Amanda "I'm sorry, what did you say handsome?"

Lee replied "We are here to begin the jobs we were hired to do and just need to know who to talk to."

"Oh, Baby, you can talk to me all day. Patti Purred.

Lee shot a glance at Amanda and then said "Well that might be fun but since people are expecting us, we should probably check in with someone.

Patti sighed and said "well you need to go find Big Bubba. He should be out in the pumpkin patch. If you go back out this front door, you will see a sign pointing to the pumpkin patch to the right."

"How do I know when I have found Big Bubba?"

"He's easy enough to spot. He's the biggest boy out there and he usually is wearing his blue overalls, stripped shirt and a huge straw hat."

"Okay, Sugar. Thanks for the information. Maybe I'll see you around again?"

"You can count on it, ummmm, I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."

"I didn't give it. My name is Lee. This is my current girlfriend Amanda. It is nice to meet you Patti."

Meanwhile, Amanda had stormed out of the building. Lee looked at the door as it slammed shut, apologized to Patti and ran after Amanda.

"What is the matter with you?" He asked when he caught up to her.

"Me? Why would there be anything the matter with me? We came out here with a cover of boyfriend / girlfriend and the first chance you get, you try to pick up another girl. Lee, you can't even keep your hands off another woman for a short time while on assignment. How do you think that makes me feel?"

"I didn't have my hands on her."

"Ohhhhh, what a small detail. Let me rephrase then; you can't keep your eyes in your head and the drool off your lip. Is that better?"

"Amanda! That's not true. I was just being nice. She might be useful later. If I didn't know better, I would say you were acting jealous."

"Jealous?! Jealous?! What in the world would I be jealous about? I just think that while we are on a case undercover, you should behave is all."

"Would you keep your voice down or else everyone will know we are on a case."

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"Yes, Fine. Let's go find Bubba blue jeans and get this case over with."

Amanda began walking fast to the right toward the pumpkin patch. She was so mad that she didn't even pay attention to the scenery around her. Lee hurried after her and did notice and said "Amanda, stop. Look around you. Have you ever seen anything like this?"

Amanda stopped walking and looked around and let out a gasp. The field was surrounded by trees turning beautiful fall colors but in the fields themselves, there was hundreds if not thousands of pumpkins. They were all shapes and sizes including some so huge that Amanda couldn't imagine how you would ever move them. Lee came up behind her and admired the scenery with her. He quietly said "I'm sorry."

She looked at him and said "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blown up like that. I guess I'm already missing my boys."

"Amanda, you know you don't have to accept these out of town assignments. Billy would understand."

"I know. I just want to help. Can we call a truce?"

"I would like that" Lee said.

They continued walking together the rest of the way to the field and soon saw a huge man wearing blue jeans and a bright red flannel shirt. On top of his head was a large straw hat with a ponytail hanging out the back of it. Lee walked up to him and said "You must be Big Bubba?"

"That's me. Friends just call me Bubba. Who are you and who is this beautiful lady?"

Bubba took Amanda's hand and gave it a big smooch. Amanda blushed and said "My name is Amanda and this is my boyfriend Lee. We were hired for the Halloween season. I'm going to be one of your bakers and Lee is going to take over one of the Ghost walks and help around the farm."

"Awwww, yes, I was told you were on the way. Well why don't you come with me and I will show you to your rooms. We had a couple of empty rooms in the main house so we thought you would be more comfortable there. I was told you wanted separate rooms? I guess you all believe in waiting till marriage?"

Amanda blushed again and said "Yes, we want everything to be perfect, right dear?"

Lee smiled and said "Of course. Enough about us though, tell us a little bit about this place."

Bubba said "Well we have been open since the late 60's. It was originally just a farm. Old Man Spencer used to just have some milk cows, pigs and hens but as time went on, it got too expensive to run the farm so he looked into creating something unique. There wasn't much in this town so he decided to create something that would bring in the tourists. It seemed to work. We average between 5 and 7 million people passing through between the months of August and December."

"Oh my Gosh" Amanda said. "That many? Through this little town?"

"I know, it seems crazy but people use some of our fields to set up camps and some stay in the Inns in town and others stay in hotels that are in neighboring towns. It all seems to work out in the end."

Lee asked "How long have you been here?"

"Me? Well I started when I was 18, so that was 15 years ago. It's a fun place. After the tourists all go home, there are still farm chores to do and we sell all the pumpkin products that we create so there are always people coming in and out of the farm all year round. There's always something to do here." We have nearly 250 head of cattle, about 50 horses and a couple dozen pigs plus all the hens so when the crowds go home, the farmers still have farming to do.

Lee realized that this made it so it was a perfect front for an underground terrorist network because it wouldn't be questioned when strangers showed up on the farm during the winter or summer.

"Here we are. This ranch house is nearly 300 years old. Spencer bought this farm from a family that had kept it through the generations but none of the kids had wanted to continue it as a farm so their father sold it. Spencer loved the looks of it and was seeking a way to settle down in the area so he bought it. I heard he practically stole it from the original owner because he just wanted to get rid of it."

Amanda had been listening and not really asking any questions but before Lee could ask another one, she said, "So where was Mr. Spencer originally from?"

Bubba looked at her and asked "You aren't one of those prejudice ladies are you?"

Amanda blushed and said "Me Prejudice? No, not me. I love all people. There is always good in every person out there, some hide it more than others though."

Bubba smiled and said "That's a good way to express it. No, Spencer is really a Russian. He came over to this country when he was in his early 20's with his family. They were able to obtain citizenship and they stayed."

Lee tried to keep the emotion out of his face and said "Spencer doesn't sound much like a Russian name, did he change his name?"

"You guessed it, he changed his name shortly after becoming an American Citizen. I think his original name was Gromov. He has never used it though and most don't realize he is not American born. He's a good man though and easy to work for. "

"So how come this place is called Aunt Mary's Fun House Halloween Extravaganza?" Amanda asked.

"Well Spencer had a niece named Mary that he thought the world of. She had two children at a young age but then was killed in a freak accident. Spencer paid tribute to his niece by naming this place after her."

Lee nodded and said "That makes sense."

Bubba showed them both inside the ranch house. Amanda gasped as she walked in and saw how beautiful it was. The entry way led into the huge kitchen. The floors, walls and ceiling were all made with hardwood. The kitchen cabinets were stunning and made out of oak. There was an old fashioned stove in the corner along with 3 huge commercial size ovens sitting next to it. Amanda was sure she had never been in such a gorgeous house before. She felt like a kid in a candy store as she checked it out while Lee and Bubba trailed after her. The whole place had wonderful smells of pumpkin in the air.

"Pretty impressive, isn't it, little lady?" Bubba asked.

"Oh my Gosh, it sure is" Amanda answered.

At that moment, a lovely lady entered the room. She was carrying a huge bowl of dough. When she saw that she had company, she set the bowl on the table, wiped her hands on a towel that she had in her apron and came over to say hi.

"Hi, my name is Margaret and I'm the kitchen manager. Are you Amanda?"

"Hello, yes I am. I'm very pleased to meet you. Where's the rest of your staff?"

"Oh, well most of them took today off since this is one of our slower days and we had baked enough yesterday to get us through today. Did you have a nice drive up here?"

"Yes, your state is very beautiful and we loved the fall foliage. This is my boyfriend Lee." Amanda stopped staring at the kitchen long enough to remember her manners.

Lee shook Margaret's hand and she smiled at him. "Bubba, why don't you take them to their rooms so they can freshen up? Take a couple of hours to rest while you have the chance. It will be extremely busy from here on out until Halloween so you won't get much time off after today. We have dinner at 6pm sharp in the dining room which is through that door." Margaret pointed to a set of French Doors that divided the kitchen from the dining room. "After dinner, we'll be holding a practice ghost walk so Lee and the others can see how it is done and then be able to ask questions afterward. We do those in town because Falls Village is full of history and of course we have our share of ghosts along with several towns near us."

Lee said "Great, I can't wait. Can Amanda come on the walk with me tonight so she can experience it?"

Margaret smiled and said "I don't see why not. That is, if she isn't too afraid."

Amanda laughed and said "No, I'm not afraid of a few ghosts."

"Great, then you both go freshen up and we'll see you at 6pm"

Bubba led the way up the beautiful spiral wooden staircase to the second floor where he showed them two rooms that were side by side. They were both identical so Amanda took the first one and Lee took the second one. Bubba asked them if they needed anything before he went back to work and they said they were all set. He hadn't taken his hat off the whole time but he tipped it at Amanda as he hurried back toward the staircase.

Lee guided Amanda into her room and he followed. "I thought it might be good for you to get an idea about the ghost walk. There is still a good chance that this is how they are sneaking people into the area so it will be good to have 2 sets of eyes out there tonight to see if we can figure out how it is being done."

"It's a good idea, Lee. In the meantime, I'm going to go take a nice hot shower. All that traveling has made me feel like I'm wearing 3 inches of dust on me."

Lee smiled and said "Yeah. Good idea. I'll come get you at 5:45pm so we can go down together."

"That sounds good. Thanks Lee."

"Sure."

Lee left Amanda's room and went to his own. He had a feeling that things were going to get very interesting from this point forward.

TBC