Free Finding the Way Back by Jill Bisker Page A

gone. Besides it’s only some
footsteps and noises. It’s late and I just want to go to
sleep.”
    Connie nodded at Emmett who accepted her
confirmation. “You have my cell number. Call if you need me.
Tomorrow I’ll get a hold of my guys and let you know when we’ll be
here.”
    Connie saw Emmett to the door and thanked him
for his help. We decided to sleep with lights on in the bathroom
and in the kitchen so if we had to get up we wouldn’t trip in the
dark. I didn’t think there would be any more ghostly occurrences,
but if anything more did happen we were tired enough to sleep
through it.
     

 
    Chapter
Nine
     
    The next day I awoke to the early morning sun
starting to shine into my room. I rolled over to hear Connie’s cell
phone ringing in the next room. “I should probably start carrying
my cell,” I spoke out loud to myself. I just hated being so
accessible, I rarely had my phone near me. I guess I was an anomaly
of the times.
    I could hear Connie talking quietly on her
phone as I plodded down to the kitchen. Coffee. Before everything
else. Coffee. We hadn’t washed dishes the night before, so I just
rinsed my cup from yesterday and popped a K-cup into my machine. I
put more water in the reservoir, then watched the machine as it
warmed up and pushed the button that made the magic happen. It was
gratifying to have coffee made that quickly, but even so, more
quickly would be even better.
    When my cup was done, I added my sugar and
cream, and heard a chair being pulled out from under the table. I
turned around expecting to see Connie but she wasn’t there. I
blinked a few times, puzzled. Did I just see the chair move that
last inch away from the table?
    At that moment I heard Connie come down the
steps and she appeared around the corner. “I’m ready for coffee,”
she said.
    “Did you just pull the chair away from the
table?”
    “What? No, I just walked in.”
    “Connie, I heard that chair being pulled out
while my back was turned. Are you sure it wasn’t you?”
    “Of course, I’m sure. Are you saying it
happened by itself?”
    I didn’t know what to think. “Maybe it was
like that and I just thought I heard something. The coffee machine
makes a lot of noise.” We both gazed at the chair then I moved
forward and pushed it back in. I would have been sure it was
nothing if I hadn’t seen that last bit of movement out of the
corner of my eye when I turned around. Unless my eyes were playing
tricks with me. After all, I was moving at the time.
    “I’ve heard about things like this, but I’ve
never actually seen it myself. Good thing Emmett and the guys are
coming over tonight,” Connie said, passing me on the way to the
coffee machine.
    “I was rethinking that a few minutes ago, but
now I think it might be a good idea,” I said, still questioning
what had actually happened.
    Connie turned with a steaming cup in her
hand. “By the way, that was my mom on the phone. She and your mom
are coming over here later to talk about the house.”
    I looked at Connie and envisioned my mother’s
reaction to our new ghost hunter friend. “Did you tell her about
last night?”
    “Am I that crazy? No, but I do think we need
to discuss it with them, don’t you? You don’t want them to hear it
from someone else. They grew up here. If it were haunted don’t you
think they would have noticed? Maybe they’ve seen some of these
things too. If they never had experiences like these before, then
it’s a new haunt. Then that would mean it’s our grandfather,
right?”
    “I’m not sure it really works that way.” I
shivered at the thought of that conversation. “So when are they
coming?”
    “I told them nine o’clock. So theoretically
we have about an hour until they descend, but knowing them it
wouldn’t surprise me if they show up any minute.”
    “Right. I’d better get a shower. I suppose I
have to go take my life in my hands and battle the spiders
defending their homes in the shower stall in