Free Secret Hollows by Terri Reid Page A

Mary’s bed.
    “Yes, this is Timmy,” Mary said. “Timmy this is my friend, Ian.”
    “Maggie said you were nice,” Timmy said. “I didn’t tell her, ‘ cause she’s still a kid, but I got killed. And I can’t find my way home.”
    Ian squatted down in front of the little boy. “Aye, that was nice of you. We wouldn’t want to frighten Maggie,” he said. “The good news is you have the very best people possible helping you find your way home.”
    Timmy looked around. “Where’s Mikey ? You said Mikey lived here.”
    Ian looked up at Mary and Bradley. “ Mikey ?” he asked.
    Mary nodded. “Mike,” she called. “Mike, if you can hear me, I really need to talk with you.”
    “Calling me to your bedroom, I knew you’d get tired of the Police Chief,” Mike said, as he appeared before them and then he looked around. “Whoa, party in Mary’s room.”
    Then his eyes rested on Timmy. “Who’s… ”
    “Mr. Richards?” Timmy said, standing up. “Do you know where Mikey is?”
    “Timmy?” Mike said slowly, shocked to his core, “Timmy Beck.”
    Timmy nodded. “Yeah, it’s me, Mr. Richards.”
    It took Mike a moment to realize what Timmy meant.
    “Timmy, I’m not my dad,” Mike said. “I’m me… Mikey .”
    Timmy walked over and looked him in the eye. “You can’t be Mikey , you’re too old.”
    “I grew up,” Mike said.
    “But you’re a ghost too,” Timmy replied.
    “So, I grew up and died,” he said. “Stuff like that happens to people.”
    “You’re really Mikey ?” he asked.
    Mike nodded. “Yeah, I’m really Mikey .”
    Timmy’s eyes filled with tears. “I got killed, Mikey . I went to the lake. I was going to start fishing. I was waiting for you. But then, a man came and hurt me.”
    “No, Timmy,” Mike said. “You never made it to the lake. Emil picked you up on the road and brought you back to his place. You were killed at Emil’s.”
    Timmy wiped an arm across his eyes, mopping up most of the tears and shook his head. “No, Mikey , it was the lake,” he said. “Right by our secret spot. I remember. Emil didn’t kill me, Mikey .”
    “But, he did,” Mike insisted. “He killed you.”
    Timmy shook his head. “I just want to go home, Mikey , okay?” he said. “Will you help me find my way home?”
    Mike nodded. “Yeah, I promise,” he said. “We’ll get you home.”
     

Chapter Thirteen
    “So, what do we do next?” Mike asked as he hovered around the group seated at the dining room table.
    Rosie and Stanley had volunteered to walk Maggie and Andy home and they had all left about ten minutes earlier. Timmy was in front of Mary’s television watching the movie “Batman Returns,” which was the last movie he had seen when he was alive. He was totally engrossed in the action and was not paying attention to the adults sitting in the next room.
    “What do you remember about the murders?” Bradley asked.
    Mike paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “There were five of them. Five boys, all about the same age. They had all been molested and strangled. My parents really didn’t want me to know about the details, but sometimes people forgot I was in the room and sometimes, I stood just outside the room so I could hear the details.”
    He took a deep shaky breath that caused his form to shimmer for a moment.
    “He was brutal to them,” he continued. “They didn’t know if they were strangled first and then...”
    “Timmy said the man hurt him,” Mary said softly when Mike paused.
    Mike’s jaw tightened and he nodded. “Yeah, so then he strangled them and buried them in a shallow grave at the edge of his property. Someone happened by his place and found some of the boys’ belongings in a shed and they brought out the whole town to search his acreage. It didn’t take them long to find the bodies.”
    “Did you know him? Emil?” Mary asked.
    “Yeah, he was our school bus driver,” Mike said. “He was in his thirties and still lived with