Haunting Danielle 27 The Ghost and the Mountain Man Bobbi Holmes (best pdf ebook reader for android .TXT) 📖

Marie perked up. “You did?”

Danielle explained who he was, and how they came to that determination.

“He’s Emily’s great-uncle?” Marie asked.

“Technically, it’s Emily’s great-great-uncle,” Danielle explained. “Brother to her great-grandmother. If I’m following that correctly.”

Marie looked at Walt and asked, “This is the one you called Uncle Bud?”

Walt nodded. “Yes. And this makes even less sense than it did before.”

Marie leaned back in the sofa and said, “I know you’ve already talked to Eva about this. After she left you at the museum, we discussed the possibility he’d followed you up to the mountains and followed you back here.”

“We considered that, but we’re fairly certain he didn’t follow us up there,” Walt said.

Marie nodded. “Yes, and you’re right.”

“He is?” Danielle asked.

“Eva and I took a little trip up to the mountains, talked with some folks up there.”

“Folks?” Danielle frowned.

“Actually, a black bear, who was not happy when Eva disturbed his sleep. And a mountain lion who was rather friendly,” Marie explained.

“Um… and why did you go up there?” Danielle asked.

“Eva wanted to see if your ghost had been in the area for a long time. The easiest way to find out is to talk to some locals. According to the bear, your uncle Bud has been in that area since before he was a cub. His mother warned him about Bud. Occasionally your uncle Bud takes to shooting at the wildlife, but most understand he’s rather harmless, so they generally ignore him. But according to the mountain lion, she hasn’t seen him in the last few days.”

“That confirms what we thought,” Danielle said. “But why was he up there? How did he die?”

“We didn’t stick around to find any graves, but I imagine if we found his grave, we might find a clue on how he died,” Marie suggested.

“Since he didn’t seem to grasp the fact he was dead—at least not until Walt talked to him at the cemetery, I have to believe his apparition is an accurate depiction of what he looked like when he died.”

“It doesn’t look like a wild animal mauled him,” Walt said.

“No. And it’s possible that if whatever killed him killed him quickly, he didn’t realize he was dead, so his apparition won’t show any signs of his death,” Danielle said.

“Why do you say that?” Marie asked.

Danielle looked over at Walt. “I imagine Walt’s corpse showed ugly red marks around his neck from the rope.”

Walt frowned at Danielle. “Please, do we need to bring that up?”

“Sorry, but it is relevant. When you were a ghost and thought you were alive, I would never have guessed how you died,” Danielle said.

“I suppose she has a point.” Marie looked at Walt. “Unless this Bud returns, you may never find out what happened—until you move over to the other side.”

“Something I’m not eager to do,” Walt grumbled.

“I wonder when he died,” Marie said.

“When Danielle asked him the date, he said August 1904. The same month and year my parents were killed. I have to assume his last memory in reference to a date would be around his time of death.”

Danielle looked to Walt. “Did you ever see Bud wearing a beard?” Danielle asked.

“No. That’s why I didn’t recognize him.”

“Can you remember the last time you saw him?” Danielle asked.

Walt considered the question a moment and then said, “I’m fairly certain it was that last Easter with my parents. My grandmother had everyone over for Easter dinner.”

Danielle grabbed her cellphone off the nearby table and did a quick search. A moment later she looked up and said, “Easter fell on April 3 in 1904. He obviously grew that beard sometime after you saw him at Easter. Like you, I assume he died up in those mountains—the same month your parents died.”

Danielle then told Marie about their time over at Ginny’s house and Cory’s talk of a treasure.

“Interesting,” Marie said. “When you mentioned Bud, I didn’t give it much thought. But the treasure—I’ve heard about it before.”

“Adam had too. We talked to him about it.” Danielle then recounted to Marie their visit with her grandson.

“As I recollect,” Marie began, “Adam never met Caitlin. She was much younger than him. But I remember her, a troubled girl.”

“We saw a spirit at Ginny’s,” Danielle said.

Marie arched her brow. “You did? You didn’t mention it. I don’t imagine it was Emily. I’m certain she moved on.”

“This was a much younger woman. We wonder if it was Caitlin, especially considering how she died. But you mentioned your friend’s daughter was in high school, and this was a young woman, not a teenager,” Danielle said.

“What did she look like?” Marie asked.

“Somber—but she was a ghost. Long blond, straight hair, no bangs. She looked to be about twenty. Pretty, but a little plain. Thin. She mentioned a treasure. Told us to leave it alone.”

“Sounds like Caitlin. She was seventeen when she died, a senior in high school. But she always looked older than her age,” Marie said. “I imagine that’s Caitlin you saw. Poor Emily, she was looking forward to seeing her daughter when she passed over, and she’s not there.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t see her before she left,” Walt said.

“That happens,” Danielle reminded him. “Back when you were still haunting Marlow House, there were a few times some ghost showed up that you never saw.”

“True,” Walt agreed.

“But it is such a shame.” Marie sighed.

“What do you know about this treasure Cory and Caitlin talked about?” Danielle asked.

“I seriously doubt there really is a treasure,” Marie said. “More a family legend with the hint of a treasure to spice things up.”

“I’d like to learn more, because the person at the heart of this legend has accused my father of murder,” Walt said.

Marie let out a sigh and settled back on the sofa. “As Walt knows, Bud’s sister married the man whose family started the livery stable in Frederickport. They had two sons and one daughter. The daughter was Emily’s grandmother.”

“And I assume Ginny’s?” Danielle said.

“Correct,” Marie said with a nod. “She had two daughters,