Everlane House

           Lucy Wilton put another log on the crackling fire. She could feel a pain gnawing at the back of her neck. She'd be happier tomorrow when she got through the first night. It was a pleasantly quiet room for such a creaky old house. She was pleased with the eccentric realtor who had hired her to solve the mystery at the Everlane house. Lucy had responded to his quirky 'Ghosthunter Wanted' ad she had found on craigslist. Although Lucy was a mere amateur at ghost hunting, she had somehow managed to impress the young realtor with her credentials.

           As per her contract, she was to stay at the house for two weeks. In that time, she was to report back any unusual activity and or ghost sightings. She glanced around the room and wondered about the former occupants. All she knew was the house belonged to an elderly couple who were putting the sprawling Victorian-style house for sale. The couple would be moving to a retirement community. The only problem was the house appeared to be haunted. The realtor wanted to make sure the house was free of any lingering spirits, malicious or otherwise, before putting his client's home on the market. Lucy fixated on the old-fashioned furniture and crepey white curtains. She surmised the guest room had gone unoccupied for many years based on the decor. Her eyes wandered back to the curtains. They appeared eerily diaphanous from sheer age. Lucy opened her suitcase and set out a bag of toiletries, a pair of pajama bottoms, an oversized t-shirt, towel, washcloth, and a package of Unisom SleepGel capsules. Lucy knew she probably shouldn't be sleeping so soundly on her first night on the job, but she felt she needed time to acclimate herself to the questionable surroundings. There would be time enough to get better acquainted with whatever spirit was haunting the place. She plugged her phone in to charge it and walked over to the window with the paper-thin curtains. They had a slightly musty odor and were starting to give her the willies. Their frail opaqueness reminded her of death and the beyond. She decided to open them and let the evening light through the leaded glass window. Lucy was delighted to see a quaint-looking garden down below. It had wildflowers growing rampant amongst a tall fence with trailing vines and overgrown shrubs. 

           Before falling asleep, Lucy had a hazy feeling as she slid beneath the clean flowered cotton sheets and frilly Laura Ashley comforter on the four-poster bed. She found a charming vintage motel pen and notepad from the bed stand drawer, and while the SleepGel capsule she had taken earlier was about to kick in, she wrote on a page of the note pad, Breath of Heaven Lighten My Darkness. It was a line from a Christian song Lucy remembered from bible camp as a child.  She had no idea why she was writing it down. She ripped the page from the notepad, folded the paper in half, and placed it beneath her pillow.

           "So, did you sense anything unusual happening last night?" Levi Peterson asked. "I'm not trying to be pushy or anything; I just want to get this house on the market."

           Lucy was sitting at the kitchen table of the Everlane house enjoying the Starbucks coffee and pastry the realtor had brought her the next day. She stared at the marbled white and tan foam of her salted caramel latte. "Truthfully, not yet," Lucy said. She bit her lower lip.  "It would be nice to know a little history of the couple who lived here. How long ago did they move out? I mean."

           "They're a nice older couple in their seventies," Levi said. "No children. She's a retired architect, and he used to be on some gardening show. I forget the name of it. That was years ago, from what they told me. Look," Levi paused, "I'm just doing this whole thing as a precautionary measure. I'm not sure I even believe in ghosts. But it's a million-dollar estate with a killer commish for me. So, I don't want any troubles."

           Lucy looked into Levi Peterson's shifting grey eyes. Even though he didn't seem much younger than Lucy's twenty-seven years, she wondered if he wasn't jumping the gun a bit? She had had a restful night's sleep and no sense of otherworldly spirits whatsoever.

           "So, tell me, why do you think it's haunted?" Lucy questioned.

           "It's Elise Everlane. It's her concern. Her husband, Paul, isn't so sure. They lived here for almost thirty years."

           Lucy nodded her head and realized she hadn't even taken a shower before Levi had shown up with the coffee. She absently pulled her long dark hair into a top knot before finishing the rest of her coffee.  She was wearing a long slouchy sweater over her t-shirt and pajama bottoms. Levi, on the other hand, wore a pair of khaki trousers with a button-down Oxford shirt. He wore his blonde, curly hair combed back.

           "I see there's a lovely garden in the backyard. I think I'll check it out later this afternoon," Lucy smiled.

           "Be my guest," Levi said while grabbing his briefcase and cell phone. "The whole house is yours. I've got an appointment right now. Call me if you need anything."

            After Lucy had spent the morning nosing through every nook and cranny of the house, she found her way into the garden. Next to a clump of purple irises in spring bloom, she found a statue of a rearing stallion with his two front legs broken off. It wasn't the only sign that someone or something had disturbed the garden. Next to a tall mound of trampled fountain grass, a heart with an arrow piercing it carved into the trunk of a sugar maple tree. The carving rendered so deep as to make the tree weep some of its xylem sap. Lucy could feel a vortex of negative energy surrounding her. She could hear hushed child-like voices trailing as a gust of wind picked up speed. She walked past a rusty compost bin that upturned suddenly, leaving a pile of rotting vegetation and squirming maggots in its wake.  Lucy gasped and jumped to one side. She then caught sight of a shadowy figure that seemed to be looking through the window of a nearby garden shed.

           "Hello?" Lucy called out. "Is anyone there?" Lucy pulled her sweater tightly around her. She had forgotten her cell phone but decided to check out the cobbled stone shed and carefully unlatched the weathered barn door. The wind seemed to die down, and Lucy could no longer hear the child-like voices. 

           "Oh, you scared me!" Lucy drew in a deep breath as an oldish woman in a shift dress, sweater, and brown shoes stood inside the shed.

           "I'm looking for my cat--I thought she might have gotten in through a hole in the glass there." The woman pointed to a large window with a broken window pane.

           "Oh, I see," Lucy said.

           The next day, Levi Peterson showed up in his black pick-up truck with a bag of Olde Mill Burgers in his hand. Lucy could feel her heart pounding, although she didn't know why she felt so ill at ease with everything. She had another good night's sleep. Lucy had even found herself enjoying a late-night cup of tea and toast while watching an old film noir on her MacBook Air.

           "How's it going?" Levi stood with the sun angling on his face. "I brought some Olde Mill burgers."

           "You won't believe what happened to me yesterday," Lucy shook her head in disbelief. I found this older lady poking around in the garden shed. She seemed quite a bit old and out of place there."

           "Really?" Levi smiled nonchalantly. I wonder if it was Mrs. Clark? She's one of the neighbors. She can be a bit nosy."

           "She said her name was Genevieve," Lucy smiled. "I love Olde Mill burgers, by the way."

           Lucy decided to go to bed a bit earlier that evening. Even though she was confident of having another good night's sleep, in the spacious four-poster bed, with the floral sheets and soft comforter, something was worrying her. She didn't know what to make of the woman in the shed just yet. Their encounter had been brief, but from what Lucy could remember, the aged woman had seemed overwhelmingly concerned about finding her lost cat. Lucy gulped down two of the SleepGel capsules with a glass of water on the bed stand and quickly turned off the lamp.

            It was mid-afternoon by the time Lucy had meandered into the garden. She was fully intent on getting to the bottom of the old lady in the shed. The more she thought about it. The more peculiar it was.

           "Are you looking for something?"

             Lucy spun around quickly. She knew she had heard that voice before. Sure enough, it was the woman again, standing in the distance, plain as day.

           "It's right there. Behind it." The woman scowled as she pointed in the direction of a nearby shrub. 

           "I don't see anything," Lucy exclaimed. She could see a low mounded shrub with large white flower heads flopping forward. It had a copper stake next to it, marked Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle'.   She peered behind the flowering shrub, and noticed a large heap of freshly dug soil. "Wait," she turned around to show Genevieve what she had found. But the woman had seemingly vanished.

           Levi Peterson appeared from behind the shed next. He had the sleeves of his white button-down Oxford shirt rolled up. Lucy could see there were dirt stains on the front of his shirt.

           "It's in the garden, isn't it?" Levi said tersely.

           "What?" Lucy's voice tremored. She didn't like the way Levi had startled her. She couldn't remember him mentioning he'd be stopping by either.

           "The ghost. I know it's here. I can feel it. PLEASE DON'T KILL THE NEIGHBOR'S CAT!" Levi yelled. He suddenly forced the pitchfork he was carrying deep in the ground.

           "Who said anything about killing a cat?" Lucy whimpered.

           "Someone killed the neighbor's cat and buried it over there," Levi replied calmly.

           "Wait," Lucy thought for a moment. The woman in the shed, Genevieve. When I spoke to her, she told me she was looking for her cat. She was sad about it. She said she couldn't go home until she found it."

           "That's why I was digging over there--Do you see that hole?" Levi pointed.

           Lucy looked back at the mound of soil and noticed a hole with a wooden box in it. "How could I not have seen that?" Lucy asked.

           "Don't touch it!" Levi ran to Lucy's side. "I was going to lift it out of the hole with the pitchfork."

           Levi removed the lid from the box. Lucy wiped a tear from her cheek as she looked inside.

           "How could you have killed that poor old woman's cat?" Lucy shrieked.

           "Of course, I didn't kill that poor cat. Look, it's been dead a long time. It's all decomposed."

           "How did you know to unbury it, then?" Lucy questioned.

           "I don't know. I just heard a voice tell me to start digging." Levi paused to collect his breath. "I've never had a crazier real estate listing. I swear I haven't been myself since I agreed to put the Everlane house on the market. Look at how my hand is shaking." He put the lid back on the box.

           "I've figured it out. The garden is what's haunted. By the woman in the shed. Genevieve."

           "You mean the woman you saw the other day wasn't the nosy neighbor?" Levi stared intently into Lucy's eyes.

           "Genevieve is a ghost. I can't believe I talked to a ghost without even knowing it." Lucy's face went pale.

           "How could you not realize you were speaking to a ghost?" Levi's brows furrowed. "Isn't that why I hired you?"

           "Well, I didn't speak to her for that long. She was so upset. She told me she couldn't go home without her cat. So, I left. I didn't know what else to do."

           "And there it is," Levi said solemnly. He knelt and placed the lid back on the box.

           "I've got it! Lucy exclaimed. "We need to put the box somewhere in the shed so Genevieve will find it. Then she can go home, wherever that is, and there will be no more ghosts haunting the garden."

            "Just as long as she's gone before my open house next month," Levi joked.

           Lucy watched as Levi Peterson gingerly lifted the box from the ground with a snow shovel and placed it into a yellow wheelbarrow. He wheeled it over to the shed while Lucy followed behind.

           "I'll unlatch the door," Lucy said.

           Levi pushed the wheelbarrow into a far corner of the shed next to an old garden hose and leaf blower. "We'll leave it there," he said. "It's out of the way."

           "I think she'll be able to find her lost cat now," Lucy whispered.

           A week had passed with no further troubles. Lucy was getting a little stir-crazy and was glad she'd be leaving the Everlane house soon. There were only so many Netflix shows she could binge on.

           "Well," Levi said with a laugh. "My first haunted real estate listing, and hopefully, it will be my last." He raised his beer bottle, "Cheers!"

           "Cheers," Lucy clinked her bottle against Levi's. She felt carefree sitting at the new wrought iron table Levi Peterson had bought from Costco and placed in the garden. Levi had also hired a landscaper to clean up the garden.

           "Here," Levi playfully slid a white envelope across the table.

           "What's this?" Lucy asked while picking the envelope up.

           "A bonus check."

           Lucy beamed as she looked at the large amount on the check. "Wow, I don't know what to say."

           "You earned it. I couldn't have done this without you."

           "What about the cat remains?" Lucy said suddenly. "Shouldn't we go check in the shed? It's been a week, and I hadn't thought to go in there."

           "Well, I suppose it would be rude to leave a box of old cat bones for the new owners," Levi winked.

           "I wonder if we should have called the Humane Society?" Lucy questioned.

           Levi slid the latch open on the shed door, "After you."

           Lucy stepped inside. She was relieved to see no sign of Genevieve and the shed looking just as they had left it.

           "I don't see the box," Levi said matter of factly. "Look, it's gone, and I know the landscaper didn't take it. I told him not to bother anything in the shed."

           "Oh, my gosh! It looks like it's gone alright."

           "Just like you thought," Levi smiled. He reached into the wheelbarrow. "I guess there is something that got left behind."

           "What is it?" Lucy looked over Levi's shoulder as he held it up to the window's light.

           "It's a cat collar, and there's a tag on it."

           "Does it have an address?" Lucy wondered.

           "It just says, Annabelle." Levi dropped the collar back into the wheelbarrow. "Must have been the cat's name."