Tomfoolery nodded. “Yes. Emotions and control are big parts when it comes to using magic for the dead. Any truly strong emotion affects a spell and how well it works while you're a ghost.”
Jackie asked, "Is the forest HAUNTED?"
"Yes. By far it's most haunted when everyone gathers on a full moon night, like it will be tomorrow night when we all come together.
"I wish Anna and Boo were flying past. We could signal her for help.
"That would be grand, Jackie."
The field that lay just ahead was full of apparitions next to their headstones. Many of the grave markers leaned forward, bent by age and weather. Mottled shades of gray colored the stones, and wind and rain had made much of the engraving illegible. Weeds, brown and dry from the cold, covered the graves and rattled in the breeze.
“Good health to you!” one ghost said, floating past Tomfoolery and Jackie.
"And the same to you," Tomfoolery hurried to reply, then stopped. "Look, Jackie, just to be polite, I know most of the ghosts here. No worries, ok?"
"All right. Most are like you and Boo?"
"Well most, I could say safely." Tomfoolery frowned and looked to another spirit. “I wish you good health, sir!” replied Tomfoolery
"And to you, kind sir." The ghost passed them on the trail down to the wooded valley.
"Acquaintances have ever so long ago bid the world farewell. The living have it all wrong," another ghost said in a quote as he went past and spoke while tipping his hat to Jackie.
Jackie quirkily relied, "And as to you, my dear good man, the ghost has the true path."
Tomfoolery said, "Very good, Jackie. That sounded just like one of them. You’ll fit right in.
The path wavered before her vision when she grew momentarily lightheaded from so many ghosts and spirits floating by.
The wind spirit followed closely, wanting to meet Jackie, as Tomfoolery already knew her from long ago.
"Hi’a, Windy," Tomfoolery said. "Meet Jackie, my friend."
"Hello," Jackie answered back. "You're making the night air a bit chilly, aren’t you?"
"Who, me? I haven’t thought of that. I'll simmer down and that will stop the cold breeze that I produce. Nice to meet you."
"And you, too," Jackie commented back to Windy, the wind spirit.
Jackie turned back to Tomfoolery. "She was nice."
"Yes, she is, and helpful too."
Jackie drew a deep breath of the chilly air to calm herself, but found it did nothing more than make her shudder. The three ghostly guardians from earlier welcomed Jackie to their home.
"Hello," Jackie said, then whispered, "Pssst, Tomfoolery, they look nothing like you and Boo. A bit ragged and spooky, if you ask me."
"Yeah," Tomfoolery said, "guess so." He hadn’t thought how he may have looked to Jackie all this time. "I guess we all look different to the living at times."
Jackie wrapped her arms about herself. She fought to rein her fear, but every tiny noise from the forest made her start from the shadows where she quietly followed Tomfoolery and the shadow guardians down the path.
CHAPTER 19
An aspen leaf cracked beneath Jackie's bare feet and she pulled Tomfoolery in closer.
Tomfoolery said, "It's okay, kiddo. Just the nighttime sounds of the woods. They used to get me all jumpy too when I was just a lad."
Tomfoolery patted Jackie's hand as they saw a shadow whisk by. "It's nothing to be concerned about, all right?" Tomfoolery said.
Jackie squeaked out a tiny all right with a slight tremble in her voice. Tomfoolery patted her hand a few more times.
Distorted shadows weaved into menacing shapes that seemed to claw at her legs, only bringing the unknown to her mind. Endurance, strength and an amazing will to survive the night surged through her fear. Being with Tomfoolery reassured her. Edging just above the trees, the big full moon almost appeared to smile down on her. A golden-white glow colored it, not like bleu cheese as Boo had always wished for, but a real one with shapely round eyes.
Leaves and pine needles blanketed the ground, giving off tarnished light when Jackie stepped on them. She trailed behind the others, coming closer to the valley of headstones that lay just ahead. Her icy breath puffed out in frosty ghosts’ shapes.
Jackie stopped, heart jumping into her throat, a small sound of fright escaping her full lips. Her blue eyes widened with worry, and she turned her head to peer at the trail behind her. A curve of ruts and black holes stretched to a heavy tree line ahead, leading into the ebony distance which met her gaze, but nothing else stood in her sight.
Jackie was unable to see her friend. Tomfoolery couldn’t help himself and hurried ahead to visit old friends. Jackie waited by the tallest tree in the clearing.
The tree moved. Its eyes blinked and it wiggled it ears and big nose. "Hello, child. Who might you be?"
"I'm Jackie. Pleased to meet you."
"We were talking about you earlier," the tree said.
Jackie couldn't believe she was carrying on a conversation with a real live talking tree.
"You were?" she asked.
"Yes," the talking tree said. "When you were running into the woods, we discussed if we should help or not. As you can see, we did agree to let you in."
"I thank you on behalf of myself and my friend, Tomfoolery. I need to find my way home to warn Anna and Boo."
"You don't mean Anna the witch, do you?"
"Yes."
"Anna is well known here. I'm surprised she let you go out after dark with only one ghost by your side."
"I was kidnapped from my home and so was poor Tomfoolery."
"Oh, sticky mess that is. There's a bad bunch of humans out there. My relatives met their grim fate by tree cutters. You must be special," the tree said.
"Me, special?" Jackie questioned.
"Yes, to be allowed in here. You may be the first human to my memory that's come this far in the valley."
Tomfoolery flew up and said hello to the talking tree and then turned to Jackie and said, "My friends in the woods will keep us for the night until the sun comes out and then we'll head toward home."
Jackie shook her head. "That's not a good idea. My parents will find me missing and the ghost hunters will head back to the manor. Who knows what they will do to my parents or Boo and Anna. We must find a way to head back tonight — and fast before first light appears."
"You're right."
Jackie caught herself holding her breath and forced it out.
"What's the matter, kiddo?" Tomfoolery asked.
"I thought I heard something."
Jackie could have sworn it came from somewhere behind, a harsh hiss of a thing that spoke her name. Jackie-Jackie
"No, that's impossible," Jackie said. "It sounded like Boo."
Jackie was glad not to be alone out here; if she was, she’d be more frightened than ever.
The woods has plenty of tricks to play. But Jackie could have sworn now she head Boo calling her to the attic to play.
A crashing of brush made her start. She jumped, losing her balance from the fright. Her heart pounded and she spun as the sound continued, retreating into the woods.
An animal of some sort. That's all it was, nothing more. Only her shattered nerves inflated it into something threatening.
“You're scaring yourself, silly girl,” she said under her breath, hoping to convince herself she was jumping at the shadows. The words provided her little confidence or comfort.
Turning, she looked back for Tomfoolery and the others, but saw only a darkened trail suddenly grown as sinister as the road to Hell...Hell in the bowels of these haunted woods.
***
At the manor, Anna had gone down to Jackie's room and discovered she wasn't there.
"Has Tomfoolery come back from the cemetery yet, Boo?" she asked.
"No, and I can't feel his presence or Jackie's. We must do something to find them quickly."
Anna whistled for her spell book. She thumbed
through the many pages and looked for the right spell to bring Jackie and Tomfoolery back to the attic. Then the spell was found, and Anna placed her finger on it.
"Here it is, Boo," she said. "It's a chant. To where you've been, to where you might think to have gone, you will both come back to me now. You have been summoned, and you must obey the 'Find Me' spell."
A ghost voice echoed in Jackie's ear. It was Tomfoolery. "Jackie, hurry. Grab my hand. Anna is summoning us to the attic with a spell. Hurry, kiddo. We are going home."
The next thing Jackie knew, she awoke in her bed. She looked at the clock on her bedroom wall. It had been ten minutes since dinner. Had the whole night happened? Maybe it had all been a dream.
A soft chuckle came next to her. It was the sound of Anna's voice. "You're home now and safe."
"Anna," Jackie cried and she reached out for a hug.
"Hi, honey," Anna said. "I'm so sorry you have gone through such a horrible ordeal."
"I'm glad to be home, and to see you. Is Tomfoolery okay, too?"
"Yes, I'm working on that right now. I added a time reversal spell to put a stop to the night's events before they happened."
"I understand," Jackie said. "How can I help?"
"Where were you when you were taken from the house?" Anna asked.
"In the hall just before the door to the attic."
"I need to go back to the manor cemetery and stop those men from taking Tomfoolery. You stay here just like before, all right, Jackie?"
She agreed.
Boo stood in the hallway and Anna whizzed by on her broom. "Elizabeth will be here soon to take Jackie," she said. "But this time she will only find you. Do your best spooking."
"All right, Anna, I'm on it. Never fear, Boo is here!"
Anna flew out the attic window to the cemetery where they last saw Tomfoolery.
"Hey, Anna," Tomfoolery shouted. "I'm back, but why here?"
"It's a time reversal spell. You must confront the two men with no fear. Rage with your chains and scare them away from the manor. Everything depends on this."
Tomfoolery waited in the darkness. He saw the van pull up without headlights in the driveway. Boo stood ready by the attic door upstairs, waiting for the girl to arrive. He heard her footsteps come around the corner. Boo wanted to scare the living daylights out of her.
Tomfoolery saw the two men with a net and a rope. They headed into the darkness of the cemetery right beside him. He was ready.
Anna landed her broomstick and took to the darkness of the trees by Tomfoolery. Pulling out her trusty wand, she watched closely. Time for revenge, she said to herself.
Tomfoolery heard the same sounds that happened the first time. He froze but then remembered he had done this once already. He gathered his chains, this time feeling much braver.
Seconds later, two figures stepped out of the darkness. Tomfoolery knew this was his chance. They moved toward him. Anna pointed her wand and cast a growing spell toward Tomfoolery, making him ten feet tall in front of the two men. He shook and rattled his chains and flashed his red glowing eyes which frightened the two men. They turned and ran off, scared out of their wits.
Anna had a big laugh and Tomfoolery felt good that he frightened them off this time.
Anna said, "And don't come back now, you hear!"
Boo heard the men scream and walked out with his arms outstretched, making his cloak larger than life. "Boooooh-hooo-blaah," he said into the frightened face of Elizabeth.
She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. After a moment she said, "Don't eat me, please."
From behind Boo, Anna said, "You've been caught by the demon of the manor. Let's take a look at you, shall we?" She pointed her wand at the young girl who shook like a leaf.
Jackie came running to see what was going on.
"Well," Anna said. "What do you want to do with her?"
Jackie stood back and thought for a minute.
Elizabeth pleaded, "Jackie, please don't let these demons eat me."
"Demons, huh? What you know of ghosts and demons is squat!"
Jackie whispered to Boo and then to Anna and over to Tomfoolery. "Remember our great night on the cloud?"
"Ah," they said in unison. "Good idea."
"Hey, you're more like us now, aren't you?" Tomfoolery said. "I do believe we have a young up-and-coming witch standing here amongst us."
"Yay," they all said as they placed Elizabeth on the back of Anna's broomstick.
Elizabeth pleaded, "Please don't."
"Oh, but we must," Jackie said. "You've been a bad girl."
"Come on." Anna grabbed Elizabeth by the neck.
"Where are you taking me?"
"You'll see," Anna said, and off they flew into the night sky.
Anna flew from the attic window with Elizabeth on the back of her broom, screaming and hollering at the top of her lungs, past the old mighty oak tree in the yard.
Boo laughed at the sight and Tomfoolery placed his hand in Jackie’s, reassuring her that she was home and safe.
Elizabeth saw her house lights dim as they flew higher on Anna's broomstick.
Anna came to the little candy shop and with her wand spun a magical spiral mist, sending her and the young girl into the shop.
"Why...why are we here?" the girl cried. "What you are going to do to me? Eat me as the main course and have your fill with all this candy afterwards?"
Anna laughed. "You really need to be taught manners."
Anna grabbed a couple of handfuls of candy from each bin, placing the candy in her witch's hat. Before, Anna would leave payment for the candy. This time Anna was going to leave Elizabeth to take the rap for breaking into the store. Anna just smiled at the young girl's panicked, bewildered expression.
Anna grasped her broomstick.
The girl rushed toward Anna. "Don’t leave me here!"
Anna pushed her to one side and went out the front door for the first time, setting off the burglar alarm. She magically locked the door so Elizabeth could not get out until the police came to find that she was the one taking candy all this time.
* * *
Back at Waverly Manor, Anna went to Jackie's room and found her in bed, but wide awake.
"You all right?" Anna asked.
"Yes. What an adventure!" Jackie squeezed Russell. "Elizabeth...?"
"Don't worry about her. She's going to be the center of attention all day tomorrow. I bet she forgets all about her report."
"Good!" Jackie settled back on her pillows. "I never knew when I first moved here that I would make such good friends. Thank you so much!"
"When I was alive, I didn't have any friends, either. Life was too hard. But now, I can't think of existing without good friends. Best friends...you."
Anna looked up at the ceiling. "BOO!" she hollered.
"What's the matter?" Jackie asked.
"He found the candy in my hat!!!"
The End
Bonus Short Story:
Haunted
At an older building in my hometown, I stood in the parking lot one afternoon, watching the goings on that day. Next to a Rite Aid and dry cleaners, a flag pole adorned the top of a large building. The California flag waved freely in the breeze near remodeled store fronts.
Los Gatos has many places where spirits walk freely around the unknowing, living inhabitants. The dead grow more alive in this town than we will ever know. Those who feel them will not tell.
Wraiths have more vitality today than ever before. Times are hard and many natives have moved away or died. Just a handful who are left know this story to be true.
In the quiet, friendly town of Los Gatos there is a well-known eatery by the name of Viva. Time stands still in this creaky old building on the boulevard. The restaurant is normally filled with laughter, twinkling glasses, and cheerful voices of those recounting their day, their week, and their world with other friends. Accompanying the cheer is the festive and ambient tones of both today and yeste
ryear.
The one scary spirit that resides hidden in Viva is well and waiting for you with a welcoming sigh. If you feel that pat on the back or a playful pinch, it should not be so easily dismissed after reading this.
Viva used to be the old stagecoach station in the early eighteen hundreds. In those days, good God-fearing men in town carried a sidearm. One day, thirty-two hooves pounded into the trail, kicking up dust and grit. It rose in a choking, stinging cloud made larger by the cut of the four heavy, iron-rimmed wheels into the uneven, dusty terrain to a newly built lumber town. Most of the billowing cloud of loose sand and gravel roiled up behind the stagecoach, but some of it blew in the open windows on the hot, dry wind, thickening the air, making it hard to breathe inside the stifling interior without coughing.
The loud creak of wood and the jangle of leather harness and metal buckles, the rumble of the wheels and the thundering hooves created an unholy racket, scaring the nearby wildlife away as it neared Los Gatos. People could see its dust trail pass the last town it left.
This din made it impossible to talk within the coach without shouting to be heard, not that anyone was talking. The steady lurch and jerk of the stagecoach shuddering over rocks and ruts, and the hard leather benches had numbed everyone into a weary stupor of resignation and led to a newly formed bruises.
They stared into space, at other passengers, or out the windows across the rolling landscape. A line of native oaks followed the nearby creek for the few miles that wound from the northwest. Rolling California scenery stretched to the coast, dotted with herds of cattle and sheep, dairies and farmland. The new churches, towns and cities being constructed along the way offered some visual variety.
During that time of the early eighteen hundreds, the bleak landscape around Los Gatos held only gnarled old oaks and mountain pine trees which shadowed the station, keeping some parts of it as the darkest in town.
When the stagecoach arrived at the station at five o’clock, a lone man, wearing an old duster, was leaning against the wall. He straightened and, with his arm outstretched and pistol in hand, walked to the coach before the horses came to a complete stop. The terrified passengers remained motionless, even though a thin layer of dust settled on their faces and clothes, and filled their lungs. The driver set the locking brake to the coach and raised his hands.