Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls

  Alex tilted her head to the side and looked back at me. Confusion lit her features. “There’s no gold in there,” she said.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes. I can’t sense anything but rock and bone in there.”

  “You’re dowsing?” I was shocked that she was able to use her abilities even in her condition.

  “It comes naturally,” she said. “But yes, even through my throbbing headache I can feel that there’s no gold in there. The tomb opposite you has some, though. I remember being drawn to it the last time I was in here.”

  I looked at Ranald’s stone sarcophagus straight across from Meara’s tomb and wondered if he hadn’t had someone bury his gold with him. Remembering the crowbar I’d found next to Alex’s pack, I went into the tomb and found it still lying on the floor. Picking it up, I wedged it into the crevice between the lid and the coffin and heaved.

  The stone moved more easily than I would have expected, and I managed to shift it to the side just far enough to shine my light in and look around.

  There in the bottom of the sarcophagus lay a skeleton clothed in tattered but elegant textiles, and on his chest was a large gold chain with a beautiful gold coin medallion. I knew without even seeing it up close that it was in fact a piece of Spanish bullion, but that was all the gold this tomb held.

  Stepping back out into the tunnel, I asked Alex, “When you came up here four years ago, was this the only tomb where you felt there was gold?”

  “Yes.”

  I stepped back out into the hallway and eyed the names of Ranald Dunnyvale’s descendants. And then, like a chest full of gold bullion, it hit me, and I knew exactly where to find the gold and the talisman. I also knew what had kept the phantom from going back into its home all these years.

  Hurrying back to Alex, I squatted down and wrestled with the dangerous mission I was about to undertake. It wasn’t much different from the one I’d proposed earlier, but there was even more at stake now, because Alex was injured and she was counting on me. “I have to go,” I told her.

  Her arm came away from her eyes and she reached out to clutch my shirt. “Please, don’t leave me, M. J.!”

  “Alex,” I said firmly, peeling her fingers from my clothes and anxious to be on my way. “I promise I won’t be far, and I swear to God I’ll be back as soon as I can, but I need you to be brave and wait here for me. You’re wearing your belt and I’ll give you a few of my canisters to keep you safe, but I have to go.” I pulled off two of the grenades around my waist and stood up.

  “Where are you going?”

  I pointed my flashlight at the end of the tunnel, where the spiral stairs led up to that small room on the first floor. Already moving away, I said, “I’m going to church.”

  Chapter 13

  I climbed those stairs quickly, but the closer I got to the top, the more nervous I became. I kept thinking about the power of the phantom when it had attacked me in the room above.

  And that made the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand up on end. I could feel the menacing energy of the phantom lurking somewhere in the castle. I wondered if it would be waiting for me when I pushed through the door.

  At the top of the staircase I realized I was panting hard and my heart was beating fast. I was in no shape to walk through that door and face the phantom. I also realized that I’d left six of my spikes down the stairs with Alex, because the ones I’d taped to my sweatshirt were probably right now still on the floor where I left them. “Damn it!” I swore, fear and anxiety building inside of me.

  I was about to turn around to go back and retrieve them when a calm Irish voice whispered, “Easy, lass. You’re almost to the prize now.”

  I jumped a foot. “Will you not sneak up on me, please?”

  He laughed, the bastard. “Apologies,” he said. “I didn’t know you were so jumpy.”

  I was about to tell him that I had to go back for my spikes when I thought of another plan, one that just might work. “Lord Dunnyvale, would you please accompany me to the church inside your keep? I could really use your knowledge of the castle as a guide.”

  “You’re looking to sneak past the phantom?”

  “Yes. Or get as close to the church as possible before it attacks me.”

  “Leave it to me,” he said.

  “Thank you.” I hesitated and then asked, “Would you also do me a favor and take a peek inside the room behind this panel to see if the phantom’s already in there?”

  “A moment,” he said. While I waited, I focused on breathing in the good air, and exhaling out the bad. There was quite a bit of wheezing involved.

  “The way is clear, my lady,” Ranald announced.

  “Thank God,” I muttered. I pressed on the panel and it swiveled to the side, exposing the creepy room beyond. Tiptoeing inside, I moved to the door, which was closed, and pressed my ear to it. I heard nothing on the other side. Taking a deep breath, I reached for the handle, but Ranald stopped me by whispering, “A moment!” I froze, and felt my heart rate increase. “Steel yourself!” Ranald commanded.

  I swallowed hard and inhaled deeply. I thought of all the times I’d faced off against dangerous and angry poltergeists and won. If I’d done it before, I could do it again, right?

  Still, as much as I attempted to calm myself, goose bumps along my arms told me that the phantom was approaching. My mind recalled the scariest horror movie I could remember seeing when I was about twelve. Images from that movie began to play across my mind’s eye.

  “Calm,” Ranald ordered. “Or you’ll lose the battle before you’ve even begun the fight.”

  “Samuel,” I whispered. “Help me!”

  I’m here, M. J., I heard in my head. And I won’t leave you. A wave of calm energy washed over me, and I was immensely grateful. And that was also when I felt something like a pause in the ether out beyond the room I was standing in—the approaching menacing energy stopped for a moment, then began to slowly fade away.

  “That’s a lass,” said Ranald. “It’s moving on from the hallway.”

  “We need a distraction,” I told the ghost, knowing I’d never get more than five feet down that hallway without alerting the phantom. “How many grounded spirits live here, Lord Dunnyvale?”

  There was a pause, then, “Oh, I’d say at least three dozen.”

  “Perfect. Will they all listen to you?”

  “Of course,” he said confidently. “I’m the lord of the keep, after all.”

  “Great. How afraid are they of the phantom?”

  “Oh, they’re quite terrified.”

  “But they’ll listen to you? Follow an order if you give it?”

  “Aye.”

  “Then I need you to order them to engage the phantom.”

  “All of them?” he asked me.

  “Yes. Every last grounded spirit that you can enlist to taunt, tease, distract, or otherwise be a menace to the phantom, just long enough for me to get to that church. That’s all I need.”

  Dunnyvale was silent for a moment, considering my request. Finally, he asked, “Do you know how to find your way there from here?”

  “No clue whatsoever.”

  He chuckled. “I’ll tell you the most direct path, lass, and spare you from having to travel through the middle of my keep. You’ll take the corridor just beyond that door, turn left, follow that hall all the way to the end and through the door outside to the back of the castle. Run along the side for a bit until you see the rear door to the church.”

  “Straight, left, straight, through the door, outside, back of the church,” I repeated. “Got it.”

  “Excellent,” he said. “Now wait until you hear the commotion before you leave this room. If the phantom enters while I’m gathering the others, dart back down those stairs and you’ll be safe enough.”

  I nodded, but I absolutely knew that if I went back down those stairs, I’d never find the courage to come up them again. I had to get to that talisman by going either around the p
hantom or straight through it.

  Ranald left me and I paced the floor in the meantime, steeling my nerves, thinking happy thoughts, and tamping down my anxiety.

  Finally, I heard at least a dozen doors slam all throughout the castle. Then I heard a parade of footsteps, catcalls, more doors slamming, and the sound of running horses followed by battle cries. The commotion was amazing, and I had to hand it to Ranald.

  I wasted no more time and moved quickly to the door. Taking one deep breath before opening it, I stepped out into the hallway and jogged along to the end. “Left,” I whispered to myself, and darted around the corner. Behind me loud footsteps pounded down a stairwell, followed by a cascade of pots banging together, merry music being played, more doors being slammed, and laughter, deep and boisterous.

  I hustled to the end of the next corridor and found the door to the outside as a shriek sounded in my ear. I jumped and felt my heart thump against my chest. “Sorry!” some disembodied voice said next to me before the sound of footsteps ran away.

  I took a very deep breath and did my level best to chill out.

  But it was too late. The phantom probably had been distracted by all the ghosts running amok in the castle, but the moment it felt my fear, it knew I was in the area.

  It came at me fast and furious; I could feel it like a large wave, bearing down on me. “Son of a—” I swore, and bolted through the door to the outside. I ran for all I was worth along the wall, desperate to keep out of the phantom’s reach.

  Behind me I heard a snarl and a growl. It was closing in.

  My mind flooded with images, and I began to struggle just to see where I was going. “Dunnyvale!” I shouted. “Help me!”

  A chorus of noise erupted all around me. My nostrils filled with the smell of horses, smoked meat, and musk; loud voices called to each other, and then, like a miracle, fully embodied spirits began to appear all around, running alongside me stride for stride. To my right a young boy of about eleven grinned broadly when I looked at him. To my left was a portly man-at-arms, and three soldiers flanked my back. And just ahead, Ranald himself appeared, handsome, tall, and even a little dashing. “To the church!” he cried.

  More spirits surrounded me until I was running in the middle of the largest crowd of spooks I’d ever witnessed. My senses were abuzz with all the energy and I felt a surge of courage course through my veins. The phantom was still behind us, but it was held back by the brave ghosts buffering me and seeing me to safety.

  Ahead, Ranald led the way before he disappeared around a corner, and I dug deep for more speed. When I rounded the edge of the stone wall, I saw the door open and inviting just fifty yards ahead.

  But the snarling and growling behind me increased and the phantom saw that I was close to reaching the safe haven. I could feel it pushing at the back of the large crowd of spirits surrounding me, and one by one my brave ghosts began to fall away.

  I heard cries and shrieks and painful shouts. Ranald’s expression changed from victorious to one of shock and horror in a heartbeat. “Run, lass!” he shouted at me.

  I was panting so hard that I could barely take in a breath. And then, an unexpected and horribly nightmarish image burst into my mind with such suddenness that it caused me to trip. I went sprawling to the ground, and the spirits around me scattered. Somewhere nearby I heard Dunnyvale shout, “To all who have sworn fealty to me, I order you to attack! Attack the phantom!”

  At first, nothing happened except that the phantom came racing toward me and I was powerless against it. I put my arm up to shield my head, waiting for the full weight of that terrible thing to hit me, when out of nowhere the ghost of Ranald leaped over my head and landed between me and the phantom.

  “Attack!” he shouted again, waving a silver sword. Immediately a group of guards surrounded him and together they pushed the phantom back.

  I lay sprawled on the ground, completely speechless for several moments, when I heard Ranald yell, “Malachi! Help her to the church!”

  In the blink of an eye the young lad who’d been running beside me earlier appeared. He said nothing but offered me a shy smile.

  I scrambled to my feet and he took off. I chased after him and we reached the sanctuary at last. Dashing through the door, I took several more strides until I finally collapsed right next to the stone tomb.

  It took me several minutes to collect myself. Outside the battle raged on for a bit before fading away into silence.

  When I felt able to, I got up and hedged toward the door. I looked outside but saw nothing. No ghost or phantom was about. Still, my sixth sense indicated that the phantom was nearby, waiting and watching for any attempt of my escape.

  My heart sagged a little at the prospect, because there was no way I could use the hidden stairwell in the church again; the manhole was sealed tight. My only choice was to find the talisman.

  I waited until I’d caught my breath to pull the crowbar from my messenger bag, and still, it was a moment before I could work up the nerve to squat down next to the young boy’s tomb and wedge the tool into the crevice. “Lord Dunnyvale,” I said to the empty church. “If you’re around, I want you to know how sorry I am for disturbing your son’s final resting place.”

  There was no reply, which left me a bit sad, but I was a woman on a mission, and after working the crowbar into the crevice and giving it a few good heaves, I was finally able to push the top of the tomb aside several inches.

  Shining my flashlight inside, I gasped when I took hold of the contents.

  There, lying peacefully on a huge mound of gold bullion, lay the remains of Malachi Dunnyvale, the true love of his father’s heart.

  I couldn’t help it; I sat back on my heels and shed a tear or two for the heartbreak that not even gold could heal.

  With a final sniffle, I leaned in again and squinted into the stone coffin. There, lying against the opposite side from me, as if it had been slipped carefully inside, was the stone Incan disk, its gold stopper removed. “Gotcha,” I said, and worked my hand and arm in to retrieve it. Taking it out to inspect it, I marveled at how simple it was, and how powerful. My intuitive sense felt the waves of energy emanating off it, but its design was so simple that it could have passed for just another flat stone.

  About the size of a saucer, it was round, just like Alex described, with a hole drilled into the middle. I was guessing that was where the gold stopper had once been, only what’d happened to it was anyone’s guess. Still, the hole wasn’t much bigger than the coins inside the coffin, and I wondered if one would fit.

  Reaching back into Malachi’s tomb, I pulled out one gold coin and hovered it over the top of the hole in the disk. It would certainly work in a pinch, I thought.

  Outside the interior door of the church there was a sudden loud hissing sound, and I jumped. Looking in the direction of the noise, I saw that the phantom had decided to make its reappearance, and it was closer than I’d ever seen it to the sanctuary, right on the edge of the doorway, and to say that it appeared furious is to understate its mood dramatically.

  I stared at it in stunned disbelief for a moment, shocked by the nearness of it, and that was when it lunged forward into the church, where it curled into a small ball as if it was in great pain. I got up and edged away from the tomb, so scared I could barely breathe. There weren’t any nightmarish images filling my mind, and I assumed the church was buffering the power of the phantom’s control over me, but watching the raging demon was enough of a nightmare to scare me down to my toes.

  The phantom continued to curl in on itself, then unfurl an spin around wildly, like a small and deadly tornado. In an instant I realized that I’d likely done the worst thing possible by retrieving the disk. I also realized I had no idea how to get the genie back inside its bottle.

  At that moment there was a loud noise right behind me. Startled, I looked over my shoulder to see Heath and Gilley emerging from the secret passage. Heath was panting hard and hunched over in pain, and Gilley was carrying a
set of bolt cutters.

  “M. J.!” Gilley cried when he saw me. “You’re not dead!”

  The phantom shrieked, unfolded itself from its ball, and lunged forward again, coming to within ten feet of me.

  “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!” Gilley screamed, before fleeing back down the steps.

  Heath remained where he was and shouted to get my attention. “M. J.! Come over here! We can get down the stairs where it can’t follow us!”

  But I knew that as long as I held the disk, the phantom would follow me. I set the disk down on the ground and slid it over the floor in the direction of the phantom. The ball of dark shadow and growling fury tumbled this way and that, darting toward the disk only to curl up in a ball again, as if fighting off unseen attackers.

  With a feeling of dread I realized that it wouldn’t be able to enter the disk within the confines of the church. The protective energy of the place was simply overwhelming it.

  I looked at Heath and bit my lower lip. He was urgently waving at me to come to him, but I knew what I had to do.

  Calling upon every ounce of courage I possessed, I darted forward to the disk, snatched it up off the ground, and bolted for the back door.

  Behind me Heath yelled, “Don’t!” but I ignored him and ran as if my life depended on it, which—let’s face it—it did.

  Behind me I heard the fury of the phantom increase to a deafening crescendo of noise, and if I hadn’t been so focused on my mission, I might have been scared witless.

  Once I was free of the church, I dug in for ten long strides, took the gold coin out of the hole, bent low, and dropped the disk in the grass before getting the hell out of there. I made it another yard when something hit me like a freight train, and I went tumbling head over heels in the grass, and my mind filled with a dizzying array of noise, horrible images, and a dread so deep I could not breathe. Worse still, my body was being pummeled by unseen fists, and even curling into a tight ball did not relieve me of the attacks to my stomach, sides, and back.