Haunting Danielle 27 The Ghost and the Mountain Man by Bobbi Holmes (great novels to read TXT) 📕

Danielle said. “Considering how long he’s been dead—I figure a long time if he knew Walt’s parents—then it’s possible the apparition he shows us may not represent his body when he died. He may have moved beyond that stage. He can summon up a rifle in the same way Walt used to summon up a cigar.”

“I hate to say this, Walt, your dad might have had something to do with his death, considering his insistence on seeing your father,” Chris said.

“Not necessarily,” Danielle said. “He might think Walt’s dad had something to do with his death, but it doesn’t mean that’s what really happened. Look at Stoddard, he haunted me because he thought I killed him.”

Chris looked at Walt and smirked.

Danielle frowned at Chris. “What?”

“When I first met Walt, he told me Joe had arrested you for Stoddard’s murder.” Chris grinned.

“What are you talking about? Joe’s the one who got the charges dropped,” Danielle said.

“Oh, I know that now, but—” Chris began.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about, or how it’s relevant to our current situation,” Walt said.

“I didn’t say it had anything to do with this,” Chris argued. “But when Danielle mentioned Stoddard, I remembered what you told me when I asked what the deal with Joe and Danielle was back then. You said they dated briefly, but then he arrested her for her cousin’s murder, for Stoddard’s murder and for some other murders. Or something like that.”

Walt shrugged. “Well, maybe he didn’t arrest her for Stoddard’s.”

Before Danielle commented, the ghost they had been waiting for appeared.

“Where is Anna?” the ghost demanded. “She needs to hear this.”

They turned to the ghost, who stood in the open doorway leading to the hallway.

“What is your name?” Heather blurted.

The ghost looked from Walt to Heather. “Ask Alex.” He looked back to Walt.

“Alex is never good at introducing us to people he knows.” Danielle flashed the spirit a weak smile. “Please, can you tell us your name?”

The ghost glared at Danielle. “Why should I tell you anything? You lied to me. You said you didn’t know who Alex was.”

“Good one, Danielle,” Heather muttered under her breath.

“Why don’t you just tell us what you came to say,” Walt suggested.

“I want Anna to hear this. Where is she?”

“Tell me the year, please,” Danielle blurted.

The ghost looked at her and frowned. “What?”

“What year is it?” Danielle said.

“What kind of question is that?” the ghost asked.

“Please, if you tell me the month and year, I’ll tell you where Anna is,” Danielle promised.

“It’s August 1904, of course. Now tell me, where is she?” the ghost demanded.

“Anna is at the Frederickport Cemetery,” Danielle said.

The next moment the ghost vanished.

“There he goes, disappearing again,” Heather said with a sigh.

“Well, at least we’re fairly certain when he died, summer 1904.” Chris looked at Walt and asked, “Does that date mean anything to you?”

Walt looked to Chris, his face expressionless. He nodded. “Yes, it does.”

“What does it mean?” Heather asked.

“My parents died in August 1904.”

Five

Rake in hand, Pearl stopped working for a moment to listen. It sounded like a whimper coming from the north side of her property. Leaning the rake against the house, she left it there and walked toward the fencing separating her yard from the Marlows’. Just as she passed the toolshed, she saw it, a nose sticking through the fence into her yard. She smiled.

“Is that you, Hunny?” she cooed. Hurrying toward the pit bull, she craned her neck to peer into the Marlows’ backyard. There didn’t seem to be anyone outside with Hunny. When she reached the dog, she fell to her knees, reached through the fence, and took hold of Hunny’s head, pulling it to her face and accepting the wet kisses.

“How is my baby?” After a moment of loving up Hunny through the fence, Pearl stood up. “Does Hunny want a cookie?” The dog gave a bark and then sat down, tail wagging, while patiently waiting for the promised treat.

“I’ll be right back.” Pearl hurried to her house.

“Your parents’ death had to be somehow connected to the mountain man,” Heather insisted.

Chris arched his brows at her. “Mountain man?”

Heather shrugged. “He wouldn’t give us his name, and we have to call him something.”

“Connected to my parents how?” Walt asked. “My parents died in Frederickport, and like you said, he probably died up in the mountains, considering that’s where we first saw him.”

“Unless he saw you first in Frederickport, followed you up to the mountains, and then followed you back down again?” Chris said.

They considered Chris’s suggestion for a moment, and finally Heather shook her head. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” Danielle asked.

“Because I saw him before Walt and Brian. We were walking down a path; I was going first. Brian and Walt were trailing behind me, talking. I sort of barged in on Mountain Man. Totally caught him by surprise. I could tell he didn’t expect to see me. He was definitely not a ghost who had been following us. He was holding a rifle, pointed it at me, and I begged him not to shoot. I didn’t realize he was a ghost. He asked me what we were doing there, and he accused me of snooping. Oh, and he threatened to shoot me like he had the rest.”

“The rest?” Danielle asked.

“Yeah, like he had shot at others up there before me. Also, he asked if I was a woman, which I found insulting. Yet now knowing he was from the early 1900s, I realize my clothes confused him.”

“That really doesn’t sound like someone who had been following you,” Chris said.

“No, it doesn’t” Danielle agreed.

“Try to remember what you can about your parents’ death or at least that time period,” Chris urged.

Walt took a deep breath, exhaled, and then closed his eyes for a moment, considering Chris’s question. When he opened his eyes a few moments later, he said, “Actually, there are some things I remember about that time.”

Danielle reached out and gently took Walt’s left hand