A Wicked Whack: Mad River Series (Prequel) Read online

  Suddenly I felt a strange light rubbing against my shin. I looked down to see it was the fluffy grey tabby swaying back and forth, as it rubbed its head affectionately against me. Most ghosts wished not to interact directly so this seemed strange. I tried to ignore it, but it didn't seem to want to leave me alone.

  "Cat still here?" Harriet patted her lips with a napkin. "You make that face when you get distracted."

  I nodded. Harriet went back to eating her food again, now disinterested in conversation. I tried not to push again regarding the reenactment. I looked down at my new friend who had stopped walking in place and merely sat at my feet. The cat appeared to be smiling. That was the nice thing about them; they never judged you like a human did. I knew I liked cats for a reason.

  Chapter Three

  Thursday. Day one of the battle reenactment. Although the actual battle reenactment wouldn’t take place until Saturday, we were showing how the residents of Mad River Old Town prepared for the upcoming confrontation. Many weeks of intense preparation had led to this moment. It was a good thing we only opened later in the afternoon. I didn’t get much sleep the night before from all the excitement. I was ready and well prepared though. The sleepiness was probably going to be an asset more than hinder me. I believed it made me look like the women in those photos from the staff lounge. I’d be truly an authentic actress, but I had worked hard for this. All the studying was going to pay off. Even that mysterious voice that tormented me on day one of preparation hadn’t been around to cause me unnecessary anxiety.

  I dropped off my stuff on a table in the lounge. It was mostly empty. I arrived earlier than my required call time, but that was part of the plan to help me prepare. There had to be some spirit out there in the village who would likely cause me to veer off my course. Our crowds were expected to triple for this event. Scouting out things ahead of time was a good idea, particularly if I was to do my job correctly in front of more people.

  "Hey Shelby, you all ready for today?"

  My stomach jumped. Why was it doing that? Was that my first surprise spirit? It didn't sound like the old cranky voice tormenting me from beyond. I turned to see Nick had entered. No wonder my stomach lurched. I rather liked the blue bomber jacket he was sporting.

  I needed to stop it. There was a lot of work to be done and this was the last thing I needed to think about. Focus. It was important. There was absolutely no reason for my stomach to be flip-flopping at the sound of Nick Simmons' voice.

  "Yeah. I guess we're both first timers this year," I told him. "Going to give it my best though.”

  Eeekkk! I noticed my voice raised about five octaves. Nothing like giving away the goods on how Nick made me feel like Jello every time he entered my space.

  "I'm pretty excited. I'm hoping the volunteer work leads to a promotion at the station," he said. "I haven't acted seriously though since the fourth grade." He chuckled. Oh sheesh, I guess he still remembers the pulling up the dress incident. Little devil.

  "I'm sure you'll get it," I replied, returning the laugh.

  There was a moment's pause before Jenny entered with Eliana at her side, whose icy stare scaled over me. I couldn’t even recall the last time I had spoken with ‘she who is so above everyone else‘. Jenny was carrying a tray of bread already, which smelled delicious. I supposed though this was my cue to go.

  "Well, I should g-" I couldn't get halfway out the door before Jenny turned to me, holding out her tray of bread with purpose towards me.

  "Oh you have to try some of the bread I made ahead of time, Shelby. You'll love it. Goes great with a raspberry jam."

  "Jenny, you should probably be saving that for your first visitors considering you went to all that trouble," Eliana cooed as she put her lunch in the staff fridge.

  "It'll be fine, Eliana. I have much more baking to do. If anything this is just helping me self promote!"

  "Careful offering anything, Jenny. I'll eat the whole thing," Nick joked.

  "I'll reconsider that offer then," she said.

  "You break my heart," Nick added as he strode confidently out the door with a cheerful smile faking a broken heart with his hands held to his chest. I watched him disappear into the nearby hall.

  "I couldn't take my chances with that growing boy," Jenny whispered with a chuckle, "Here, take a piece."

  I lifted the bread blanket, tore a fluffy piece off the top, and chewed it ever so slowly. Jenny was definitely a wizard in the kitchen. I couldn’t wait to see what else she would come up with this weekend. She was clearly proud of the bread she made ahead and rightfully so.

  "This is delicious," I said with a mouthful of food. "Nick definitely would've eaten the whole thing."

  We laughed. Just as we did so, Calinda and Annabelle O'Dell, Mad River Real Town’s mayor, entered the lounge. Calinda made a beeline for Eliana, her daughter, before escorting her quickly out the door again, but Annabelle stayed nearby with us.

  "Ladies! This day is going to be just spectacular! I can already feel it in my bones. We're ready to ramp up for a good time aren't we?" Annabelle took a piece of bread from Jenny's tray. "Mmm, Jenny this is divine. It's too bad we couldn't serve this up with a little whiskey. Could you imagine that? Getting patrons good and drunk as they enjoy the Civil War? What a riot that would be!"

  Annabelle was just a bouncing ball of energy, even for her mid forties. Her tailored pantsuit seemed like much for this day specifically, but she was bound to dress in something equally as fashionable, making the 1860s look like something from a Vogue catalogue. I was a trooper for twenty-four, but even she at times could exhaust me. This felt like my cue to go. Patrons would be filing in within the hour or so.

  "Well I should probably go get myself organized," I headed towards the door.

  "Oh heavens Shelby, we have time," Annabelle sung.

  "We do have a lot of work to get going on though," Jenny told Annabelle. "The pies are all done, but the additional bread and cakes aren't." Jenny had lightly grabbed Annabelle's arm, which seemed to ground her energy.

  "Tuckerman, always with the delegation," Annabelle said to me. There was a hint of disdain there, which seemed peculiar, but I tried to think not much more of it.

  "See you at dinner break, Shelby?" Jenny said.

  "Oh you know it. I‘m hoping for more of that delicious bread of yours." I exited the lounge and headed towards the back door of the main office to get to the reenactment village. It truly was shocking that within a few steps I could leave a boxy modern building to head back in time to stone shops and wood-paneled houses. It felt like attending summer camp, where everything was fresh with character, but appeared to be a hundred years old at the same time.

  The walk along the main path was peaceful. It split off at a fork where one end headed towards the main part of the village while the other led to the battlefield. Volunteers dressed in Union and Confederate uniforms passed me by for their target practice demonstrations. I wondered if I would mix any of these gentlemen up with real ghosts. As exciting as this weekend was going to be, I had to be careful regarding whom I was talking to.

  "Excuse me; have you seen a woman in a deep blue dress with a white petticoat?"

  One of the soldiers had stopped me from behind, though I felt like I had never seen him before. I looked left to right to make sure I was alone. It was a force of habit when I wasn't sure if I was talking to someone from the other side. He was rather rugged in appearance, heavily bearded like a lumberjack. His face was young, but old like the man who had lived a hundred lives, with a dirtied uniform that appeared to have been worn before.

  "That depends, that really could be any woman here," I said. He looked as if he was about to laugh at my response.

  "I should have been more specific. She's a Sharp. Eliana? Bit of a resemblance you see?"

  I paused. "Wait, resemblance? Are you a Sharp too? I swear Matthew would have talked about you otherwise. Why haven't we officially met?"

  "Oh he's mentioned me once or twice
before. The name's Matthias."

  I stuck out my hand for a shake, but he didn't take it. I eyed him up and down curiously. A new one. Maybe I hadn't noticed him before because he was mixed up in the practice runs of the battle in the past weeks. The men in uniform all looked the same out there. I knew I’d heard the name before. Matthew did mention him. He’d died during the battle leaving his pregnant wife and two young children behind.

  "Matthias...oh, yes! I do recall."

  "It's nice to be noticed by someone from the outside. You don't come across that often. I try to care for the Sharps as much as I can, but it's difficult when no one can hear you, especially in that family. I swear they're so wrapped up in their work they neglect each other unintentionally."

  "I like to think someone like me is a good listener, I just do it a little more intently. The name's Shelby."

  "Lovely to make your acquaintance. Now which way would I find her? There's a very brash woman looking for her and I'd rather find a way to save her the trouble of getting yelled at by her."

  "Oh, Nancy. She's a real witch sometimes."

  “Witch…Lord spare us!”

  “Oh, I don’t mean she’s a real witch!” I have to be more careful. Apparently, even ghosts can be petrified of the living. Now that’s a switch!

  “Just that she can be kind of…well ornery.”

  Matthias wiped his brow. “That’s a relief.”

  A couple more volunteers dressed in uniform appeared on the path. I held my sentence in as I watched Matthias laugh at me trying to be unassuming to the outside world. Me standing aimlessly on a path, kicking the dirt with my shoe, probably looked strange in itself, but I bit my lip. When they were out of earshot, I continued.

  "Try the costume shop in the main building. She might be getting that blue dress from there."

  "Thanks kindly, Shelby. Enjoy the rest of your day. I might see you later!"

  I watched Matthias take off swiftly in the other direction in which I came. I continued down the path that led to the battlefield’s pasture. It was amazing how something so vast was tucked away behind so much. Had one not gone beyond the thick line of trees on the path you’d never know this existed.

  The walk through it was a good short cut for me. My little stone makeshift mill was at the bottom of a hill nearby and I could avoid crossing through many of the winding paths on the main part of the property. Beds of lush flowers surrounded the front walls. Being here continued to give me an overwhelming sense of pride. I took out my keys from my pocket and opened the door.

  I saw that my costume lay out neatly pressed on an old wood table in one of the front rooms next to my sample rack. Calinda must have brought it over for me the night before, but I thought to get started on setting up my carding tools first for the demonstrations.

  "How are things in here? You look all ready to go. All the blankets are so neatly pressed. You've really cleaned this place up nicely."

  It was Jenny. She had entered unexpectedly through the front. Her silence was unusual as I didn’t hear her come in, or any footsteps, but she startled me upon arrival.

  "Oh hi Jenny, I didn't hear you come in. We open to the public in a couple hours. You done baking all your-"

  She looked different. Her face was as pale as a ghost. She was usually so rosy-cheeked and happy, but something was off. Something wasn’t right. Her rounded figure appeared strangely weightless as she held herself coolly.

  "Oh thank goodness someone still wishes to address me. Everyone's been ignoring me and I can't figure out why. Did I do something wrong, Shelby? We all have jobs to do and I get that everyone's busy, but no one talks to me."

  "Of course I'm going to address you. Why wouldn't I..."

  The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. It was certainly a realization I didn’t expect, but the answer was all too clear given what Jenny was telling me and how she looked. Why would everyone ignore Jenny as if she wasn’t there? It's because she wasn‘t. I walked towards her and tried to grab her hand, but my own went right through her’s. Jenny looked down at her hand in disbelief with me.

  "Jenny, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you're dead.”

  The look on her face read perplexed, as if the life had been sucked out of her a second time. She leaned forward, grabbing her chest. I had never told anyone of his or her immediate death before. It must have happened recently considering I saw her alive and well not too long ago. I had run into confused spirits before, but being the one to figure out their situation was a whole other curve ball I wasn’t prepared to throw.

  "How did this even happen? Did you get sick? Did you hurt yourself-?"

  "That's why no one is talking to me? Oh my goodness. All I remember was waking up from a huge headache and thinking that everyone was unusually furious at me for eating some of the preserves. They're just preserves!"

  Jenny laughed with relief before shedding a few tears. She cradled her head in her hands. The shock of death had hit her harder than expected.

  "Oh Jenny, I'm sorry. I know it's somewhat surprising. Most don't really understand what's going on at first. I'd give you a hug, but you know..."

  Jenny laughed again only this time it was because the situation was actually amusing. She’d become more relaxed at the realization she had passed.

  "And you can see me? You see that I am standing here in front of you?"

  "You look just like any other person. The only difference is that you're dead, so only certain types of people can see you. I've been one of those people my whole life."

  Jenny shuffled around the room deep in thought, her new ghostly figure sometimes crossed through the furniture. "That's why you were always staring off into space?"

  "I prefer to call it being extra observant."

  "You knew things before most ever did. You were smarter than most, more in touch with others. I get it now. It all makes so much sense."

  I looked out the window and saw Matthew approaching across the front yard. He was dressed in his period clothing, but he didn't seem comfortable in his state of being. His stride was determined and his face panicked.

  "Jenny, Matthew is coming. You know we can't talk to each other right? It'll just look strange."

  "Oh. Right. I wonder why he's coming over here."

  Given Matthew's meticulous oversight of Mad River Old Town, I assumed he was coming to me to speak about Jenny. He had to have known first that something was wrong with her. On the other hand, perhaps he didn't know a thing and he just wanted to check on me. I really hoped he had some clear answers that Jenny could at least hear to make peace with the fact her soul had moved on from its body. I wanted to know too.

  Matthew swiftly stomped in the front entryway. Jenny shuffled behind me as if to hide from him.

  "Hi Matthew...is everything okay?"

  "Shelby, did you see Jenny with anyone in the last few hours or so? Has she been alone?" he asked.

  "I haven't spoken to her since we all went to set up our stations," I told him.

  "Hmm, okay. This is good to know," he said.

  "Is something wrong?" I asked.

  "Jenny's dead. We think she was murdered."

  If ghosts could faint, I'm sure Jenny would have.

  Chapter Four

  Matthew urged me not to follow him back but I insisted much to his dismay. I trailed behind him on the dusty path slowly through the village. I don't think many people knew what was going on, as all seemed relatively quiet among the shops, though maybe that was a bad sign. I tried to get a good look through the windows, but many rooms were dark or their windows far too dirty for me to see anything. The odd light was turned on, but I couldn't see any activity.

  "Oh gosh, you think people have found out, Shelby? I don't want a crowd of people around me dead. That's so embarrassing. Who knows what I'll look like!" Jenny stopped herself. "Am I going to see what I look like dead?"

  "I'm sure you haven't drawn a crowd." Yet... I thought.

  "Then where is everyone?
"

  Jenny was beginning to panic and I didn't know what to do. Of course, I couldn’t blame her. Finding out you’ve been murdered isn’t the best news. She had made a fair point though about where everyone was. As we passed the blacksmith shop, George was sitting on the front porch reading a book. He noticed me breeze by in a hurry before gruffly calling out.

  "Shelby? Where are you going? Why does Matthew look like he's outrunning the devil?"

  "Uhhh...." I stopped to pause, nearly tripping over my own feet in the process. It was a good thing I hadn’t settled into my period costume yet. Walking this fast would have been ten times harder and I ultimately would have tripped and ruined it.

  "Well girl, what is it?" he asked.