The Ghost of Castle Isle

Chapter Five

  Ava ran to Emma to see what had happened.

  "A...a... s-skeleton!" Emma stammered.

  Ava opened the closet door slowly and cautiously as Kacey came running to them.

  When Ava turned on the closet light, she saw a full-sized human skeleton hanging in the closet. She sighed and turned to the others, saying calmly, "I think we just found the Halloween decorations."

  Kacey started to laugh, but Emma protested, "Well, how was I to know it was a fake? It looked real in the dark!"

  "It looks like your family does have skeletons in their closets after all," Ava remarked to Kacey.

  "Well, Aunt Mary probably hung it up there because she didn't want to get it broken by squeezing it into a box. Let's get this stuff out," Kacey said, taking a jack-o-lantern from the shelf. Ava told her she and Emma would do the job while Kacey put things back into the sea chest.

  Kacey returned to the pile of envelopes on the floor and searched through the remaining things in the chest. There were more, old photo albums that looked interesting, but Kacey decided to leave them. She picked up the thick envelopes and stacked them back into the chest neatly. As she picked up the last one, the contents fell upon the floor. Upon inspection, Kacey saw that the envelope had come unglued at the bottom. She found another envelope and began putting the papers into it. Suddenly, her eye saw something on an old paper sticking out from the pile, that read, "and Testament" written in Old English type.

  She pulled the paper out and began to read it. Across the top it read, "Last Will and Testament"

  "Oh, Wow! Look at this!" Kacey cried. The others came quickly, asking, "What did you find?"

  "I think this is the missing will that Uncle Charles' father left, and look! It also has the deed to the castle!"

  The girls were excited that they had found the papers which proved that the castle had been left to Uncle Charles, and not to Garth Simms.

  "Let's go tell Aunt Mary!" Ava cried.

  The girls ran downstairs and found Aunt Mary sitting in the library reading a book.

  "Look what we found!" Kacey said excitedly, "I think these may be the papers that you have been searching for!"

  Aunt Mary's eyes widened at the sight of the papers. She took them and began to read them.

  "Yes!" she cried, "Yes, this is the will from Charles' father! I have been searching everywhere for this! Where did you find it?"

  "It was in an old sea chest with all of Uncle Charles' papers and things," said Kacey.

  "Oh, my! I put all of those envelopes and papers in there after Charles died. I didn't know that the will and the deed were in them. Oh, my! I can't believe you found this!"

  She and Kacey embraced.

  "Aunt Mary, does this mean you can get the castle back?" asked Emma.

  Aunt Mary nodded, "Yes, I think so. But I'll have to take these papers to my lawyer first thing on Monday morning, and he will tell me for sure."

  She inspected the deed to the castle and shook her head, "To think I almost threw all those papers away. I didn't think there was any purpose to keeping them, but they belonged to Charles, and I just couldn't part with any of his things."

  "Well, it's a good thing you didn't!" Emma exclaimed.

  "I guess so!" Aunt Mary replied, "I thought I'd lost these papers forever!"

  "Let's put them in a safe place. Where should we keep them until Monday?" Kacey asked. Aunt Mary thought a moment, and then said, "There is a safe here in the library. We'll keep them in there."

  She went to one of the bookshelves and moved a section of books. On the wall was the door to a safe. She expertly dialed the combination and opened it, saying, "I kept looking in here for them, but couldn't find them. Now we know why."

  She put the will and the deed into the safe and locked the door. After helping her to replace the books, Aunt Mary thanked Kacey again and hugged her.

  Kacey said, "You're welcome. Now that one problem is solved, let's work on decorating the house!"

  The girls returned to the attic and each brought down an armful of Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations. Aunt Mary laughed when she saw the big skeleton.

  "We used to hang that right by the front door on a string. When we opened the door to the trick-or-treaters, the skeleton would pop up and scare them! Uncle Charles rigged that up, and we had so much fun with it!"

  "Can we put lights in these jack-o-lanterns and set them on the porch?" Emma asked.

  "Oh, yes! They'll need batteries to light them up. I have some in the kitchen drawer next to the sink. Go get them, please," Aunt Mary said.

  They took all the decorations out of the boxes and Aunt Mary told the girls where to hang them. Most of the large hanging ones went into the front windows. A wispy ghost was hung up on the porch and the jack-o-lanterns were set outside on the steps. Ava helped Kacey to string up the skeleton next to the front door so it would pop up when the door was opened.

  "Hey, let's test it by having Emma ring the doorbell. Then we'll open it and hear her scream," Ava teased.

  "Ha-ha. Very funny," Emma replied, "If you'd seen that thing hanging in the dark closet, you would've thought it was real, too!"

  The girls teased one another as they placed the decorations around on the dining room table and on the fireplace mantle. They packed up the unused items and took the boxes back up to the attic.

  "Wow, Kacey," Ava said as they closed the attic door, "I can't believe that someone in your family owns a castle!"

  "Well, Uncle Charles wanted to lease it to the town, so I imagine that's what Aunt Mary will do."

  "Why doesn't she give it to her own kids?" asked Emma.

  "They live in New York City. They only get to visit her once in a while, and can't spend much time at the castle. Besides, an old castle takes a lot of work and money to keep it maintained. By leasing it to the town of Marbleton, the town pays for the upkeep and handles all the maintenance so Aunt Mary won't have to worry about it. The castle will still be owned by her, and someday she'll probably leave it to her son and daughter who will probably continue to lease it to the town as a museum. Now they can reopen it to the public."

  "And we'll be able to come and visit it with the guys any time we like!" Emma smiled.

  "Right!" Kacey replied, "And now, we don't have to sneak around in the castle looking for the fake deed because we have found the real one."

  As they headed downstairs, Ava replied, "But we're still going to the séance, right?"

  Kacey nodded, "Of course. I'm curious to see what kinds of things go on so I can try to explain them to Brittany."

  Emma sighed, "Well, I guess I'm the only one trying to keep an open mind. You both might be wrong, you know. Maybe there are such things as ghosts, and maybe we'll see one tonight!"

  The girls remembered to wear dark colors and warm jackets, and they met Brittany at the Crystal Cauldron a few minutes before six. She was just turning off some of the displays and putting the 'closed' sign on the door.

  "Come in and I'll introduce you," she told them.

  "This is Witch Hannah, my mentor. Hannah, these are my friends from high school that I told you about: Ava, Kacey, and Emma."

  Pleasantries were exchanged, and then Hannah told them to follow her to the harbor where they would be boarding a chartered boat for Castle Isle. Hannah drove Brittany and the girls followed in Kacey's convertible. The harbor was only a five minute drive, and when they arrived, they saw others heading down toward the pier. Some were dressed in long, black capes, and others wore ordinary black clothing. Kacey counted twelve people besides herself once they were inside the boat. It appeared to be a kind of tour boat with bench seats for everyone.

  Hannah gave the captain some money and he cast off from the pier. Soon they were heading out of the harbor into open sea.

  Emma had never been in a boat at night before, and although there were lights in the harbor, it was very dark out on the open sea.

  "I hope we don't have a crash out here. Is it safe to driv
e the boat in darkness?" she asked.

  "I'm sure the captain knows these waters very well," Kacey replied, "Besides, there are two lights on the island to guide him. See those red and green lights ahead?" she pointed.

  Emma leaned out to see the tiny lights through the darkness. As she did so, the speed of the boat cutting through the choppy water frightened her. She nodded to Kacey and huddled closer to her.

  As the boat picked up speed, the wind grew fierce and cold. The girls were glad that it would only be a few more minutes until they reached the island.

  Approaching the entrance to the cave, the captain slowed the boat and guided it expertly despite the choppy water. The giant portcullis was raised, making a loud, grinding noise. Finally, it stopped, and the captain steered the boat into the black mouth of the cave.

  At first, everything seemed dark. Gradually, the girls could distinguish the walls of the cave and two lights mounted on the walls. The boat slid forward, bumping against the landing dock.

  The captain tied up the boat and helped the passengers climb out of the boat and onto the dock. Hannah led them up some stone steps. Emma looked back at the boat and saw that the captain was casting off. She was beginning to regret her decision to come, and was tempted to run back to the boat. But she knew it was too late to back out now.

  The group climbed a narrow, stone staircase. Their footsteps echoed in the hollow stairway that led first to the right, and then curled around in a spiral toward the top. Kacey began counting the steps and when she reached the number 27, she heard the sound of a creaking door.

  A few more steps brought them through the heavy oak door and into a wider hallway lit by burning torches. Their footsteps echoed along the stone hallway for a short distance before reaching another heavy, oak door.

  As they went through the oak door, Emma grabbed Kacey's hand. Kacey smiled and squeezed her hand assuring her that everything was all right, even though it was mysterious the way that no one spoke a word.

  The only sounds were their own echoing footsteps and the guard dogs barking outside.

  The next room was smaller and they all crowded together. Once the door behind them closed, another door ahead opened.

  A man stepped into the room. He was only average in height, and in his early thirties. His jet black hair rested upon his shoulders. His eyebrows formed a V over his dark, deep-set eyes. Silver rings pierced his nose and ears. His black clothing was indistinguishable in the semi-darkness except for the silver pentagon he wore around his neck. His sinister appearance frightened Emma.

  "Good evening," he announced in a deep voice, "Welcome to my castle. I am Garth Simms. Please follow me."

  He turned and led them into another room. When the girls entered, the ceiling seemed to soar high above them like a cathedral. The stone walls bore suits of shining armor, shields, battle axes, spears, and other weapons of war.

  The huge fireplace to their right was large enough to stand inside. A roaring fire lit the room and cast dancing shadows across the walls. On their left, two tall pillars of stone flanked what appeared to be an altar, with a large ornate chair in the center of the stage. The cavernous room was dimly lit, and moving shadows gave it a mysterious air.

  The girls looked all around them as they followed the group through the spacious main hall.

  They were led through a tall archway at the opposite end. More steps up a spiral stone staircase led them to the next floor. Next, they entered a hallway and walked past an opening overlooking the immense main hall below. The majestic pillars, lit by flickering light, stretched upward to the ceiling.

  They arrived in a smaller room where a fireplace glowed in one corner. Shelves of magical artifacts lined two walls. In the center of the room was a large, round table with thirteen high-backed, antique chairs, each beautifully carved in wood. One chair had a red, velvet, tufted back. Garth Simms stood by this chair and waited until everyone was seated.

  After they sat down at the table, Kacey noticed several objects on the table: candelabra with four lit candles, a bell with a long handle, a large, old, open book, and a wine glass turned upside down.

  Garth spoke.

  "Tonight we will summon the spirit of a long-departed one. To begin, we will each place our fingertips of one hand on the glass. Do not push the glass; just allow your fingers to touch it. You see the letters in the center of the table, arranged in a circle. The spirit will move the glass to spell out its name. Let us begin."

  Everyone except Kacey put two fingers upon the glass and waited.

  Garth Simms called out, "Oh, spirit, come! Tell us your name!"

  At first, nothing happened. Everyone remained silent. Kacey looked around and saw that everyone was staring at the glass intently.

  "Everyone must think about the spirit so that it can be revealed to us," Garth warned, "Think of nothing else!"

  Kacey waited while the others stared at the glass. Ava looked as though she were playing a part in a play, but Emma's expression was anxious.

  Suddenly, the glass began to move. It first slid to the letter A, and then B. Next, it traveled to I,G,A, I, and L.

  "Abigail!" called out Garth, "Are you Abigail Simms, the one for whom this castle was built long ago?"

  The glass slid to the letters Y, E, and S. Garth took his fingers away from the glass and the others followed.

  "Show us your presence," Garth intoned, "Make your presence known to us. We will now join hands."

  Again, Kacey sat back in her seat as the others joined hands around the table. They waited for a minute, and then felt a cool breeze accompanied by the scent of lilies. The pages of the large, open book on the table began to shudder. Then, two of the pages moved and turned by themselves. There was an audible gasp by some of the members.

  Next, the bell on the table began to clang, even though it was not moving. Suddenly, the candles in the candelabra blew out.

  "Keep your hands joined together, do not break the circle!" Garth warned.

  Suddenly, the candles sparked and one by one lit up again.

  Faces at the table wore a look of rapture, but Ava remained stoic. Kacey knew her friend was not convinced that there was a spirit in the room, but Emma's wide eyes expressed fear.

  Garth said, "Tell us, Abigail. Do you have a message for us? If you do, please ring the bell again."

  The bell clanged twice.

  "Let us place our hands on the glass again," Garth instructed, and everyone but Kacey placed two fingers on the glass.

  Slowly, the glass began to move. It spelled out a message, and after each word, Garth spoke it, "The...truth...shall...be...known."

  The glass stopped moving, and Garth released it. The others followed.

  "Thank you, Abigail, for your message. We shall indeed know the truth that your spirit dwells among us, as do all the spirits of those we summon."

  The scent of lilies and a sudden breeze blew the candles out once more. But just as before, they soon flickered on again.

  Everyone looked wide-eyed at each other.

  "The spirit of Abigail has departed from us," Garth announced. Gradually, the lights in the room became brighter and the chilling atmosphere of the séance faded.

  "If you would all follow me, I have refreshments prepared for you."

  The people at the table stood up and followed him out of the door. Some were whispering to each other and talking excitedly in low tones.

  "Well, what do you think?" Kacey asked her friends.

  "It was...interesting," Ava replied.

  "It was creepy, and I hope I never go to another séance as long as I live!" Emma declared.

  The girls followed the crowd through the hall past the opening to the floor below. They descended another winding staircase down to another hall. Passing through the arched doorway, they entered a large room with a long dining table. Upon it were three candelabras, plates of appetizers and wine.

  Hannah served the wine while Garth invited the members to eat. Most of the
m stood holding plates or wine, and a few sat at the table. Two people warmed themselves at the fireplace.

  The girls gazed around the room, noting the tall, glass-door cabinets along one wall filled with dishes, cups, silver tea settings, and goblets. Darkened windows filled the adjacent wall. A gold-framed, antique painting of a fruit bowl hung over the fireplace.

  "This castle is awesome!" Ava remarked, "I wonder if he'll give us a tour."

  Brittany brought a plate of appetizers over to her friends and offered them some food.

  "The crab rolls are delicious! You should have one. Kacey, I'd like to introduce you to Garth. I think he'd like to meet his long-lost cousin."

  Kacey smiled, "Okay."

  She followed Brittany over to Garth and was introduced to him.

  Garth' two dark eyes pierced into her.

  "A cousin, you say? How are we related?"

  Kacey replied, "My great-great-great-grandfather was William Carlson, the one who built the castle."

  Garth looked skeptical. "Really?"

  "Yes. It was handed down through the family to my great Uncle Charles."

  Garth stiffened. He forced a smile.

  "Yes, that was what they used to think. But it was my great-great-grandmother, Abigail, who passed the deed to the castle through the family to my father. When he died, I inherited the deed, so it belongs to me now."

  "Really?" Kacey echoed, "Well, things never stay the same very long, do they?"

  Garth did not reply. He turned to the others, saying, "Please, enjoy some refreshments and wine before you leave."

  Brittany spoke up, "Garth, would it be possible to see some of this awesome castle before we leave? I've never seen a real castle before."

  Garth smiled at her wickedly, and replied, "I'd love to show you my castle. As soon as everyone has eaten, I'll take you on a short tour. There isn't time to show you everything, of course."

  "Cool!" Brittany exclaimed excitedly, and hurried back to tell the other girls.

  True to his word, Garth invited Brittany and everyone else on a short tour of the castle. The crowd was delighted and followed him through an arched corridor to a doorway.

  "This is the library. It has one of the finest collections of antique books and first editions. Many are signed copies, and extremely valuable. Of course, the most valuable ones are locked in glass cases. I also collect old objects of fascination, as you can see."

  The shelves held hundreds of books, but also a few human skulls and bones.

  "Are those skulls real?" asked Brittany.

  "Yes, they are, though I can't tell you who they once were," Garth replied.

  A huge oak desk stood in the center of the room, with a richly-carved wood chair behind it. The library exuded a feeling of antiquity and wealth.

  "And if you'll turn back to the hallway, I will show you one of the bedrooms. Follow me."

  He squeezed past the crowd and led them back through the hallway and into a tall stone tower where another spiral stone stairway led upward.

  At the third floor, they went through a rounded doorway and entered another corridor. He opened the first door to the right and went in.

  Once inside, they observed a four-poster bed with a red velvet cover. Red velvet curtains hung behind the bed and at the sides. The room had a small fireplace, an antique chair and a tall chest of drawers.

  "This is my bedroom. Inviting, isn't it?" he asked, looking directly at Brittany. She smiled back shyly.

  Garth looked at his watch.

  "Well, I see it's almost time for the boat to arrive. Follow me."

  He led them back out into the hall. As they proceeded, Kacey looked down the hall and saw other doors that probably led to more bedrooms. When she entered the stairway, she looked up and wondered how many floors were above them. She knew the castle had many more rooms than what Garth had shown them.

  The group reassembled in the dining room and Garth thanked everyone for attending the séance. They thanked him and followed Hannah back out through the hallway and down the curving steps.

  As they walked, Garth stepped next to Brittany and took her hand.

  "May I have a moment?"

  Brittany stopped and looked at him.

  "Yes?"

  "I hope you enjoyed the séance. Hannah tells me that you are interested in the occult and have shown a true dedication to the dark arts. If that is so, I would like to discuss this with you personally. Would you be able to come here tomorrow night with Hannah?"

  "Oh, yes!" Brittany replied eagerly.

  "Good. Hannah will give you further instructions. Tell no one else of this meeting."

  "All right," Brittany agreed, "See you tomorrow!"

  He nodded in reply and let her move ahead with the rest of the group.

  They followed the same path down to the cave where the boat was waiting. The members all climbed in and the captain drove them back to the harbor. As soon as they were back on land, Kacey thanked Hannah and Brittany for taking them to the séance.

  "I hope it has opened your eyes to the spirit world," Hannah replied, "Not everyone can see the power of the spirits as we do. They are invisible to disbelievers."

  Ava responded, "Oh, we saw everything very clearly, didn't we?" she asked Kacey, who agreed, but Ava's intended meaning escaped Hannah.

  "Good. It was nice meeting you. I hope you'll come to my shop again," said Hannah. Brittany said goodbye and invited her friends to come to the shop and talk with her about the séance.

  "We'll try to stop in tomorrow afternoon," Kacey promised.

  "Okay! See you then!" she waved and followed Hannah to her car.

  Emma was rubbing her hands together.

  "Let's get in the car! I'm freezing!"

  The girls got into Kacey's convertible and she turned on the heat. As they drove back to Aunt Mary's house, Ava asked, "Well, what do you think of Garth Simms?"

  "I think he's a fraud and a thief," Kacey said bluntly.

  "What do you mean?" asked Emma.

  "Everything that happened in that séance can be explained. And he's a thief because that castle and everything in it legally belongs to Aunt Mary."

  "Yeah, and from what little we saw, I bet that old stuff is worth over a million dollars!" Ava remarked.

  "Well, Garth won't be in that castle much longer, now that Aunt Mary has proof that it belongs to her," Kacey said.

  Emma shook her head.

  "All I can say is that the séance seemed real to me. How did Garth make the pages turn in the book, and the bell ring when he and everyone else were holding hands?" asked Emma.

  Ava replied, "I bet there's a fan hidden in the room. Did you smell the lilies? That's probably nothing more than air freshener that's sent into the room when the fan is turned on. And you can bet that Garth was moving that glass to spell out words on the table."

  "What about the bell ringing?" Emma asked.

  Kacey replied, "That could easily be triggered electronically. And those candles going off and on? I have a set of trick birthday candles like that. Every time you blow them out, they go back on again. They're treated with a chemical that makes them do that."

  Emma was unsure that the girls' explanations explained everything.

  Ava said, "Emma, I read about séances in that witchcraft book that Aunt Mary let me take up to bed last night. It told about how all those things were done and some of it is pretty clever and convincing, but there are no real spirits or mediums. They're all fakes. The famous magician Harry Houdini proved that back in the 19th century."

  Emma slumped down in her seat.

  "You seem disappointed," Kacey remarked.

  "Well, I am. I was starting to believe in everything I saw."

  "Sorry, Emma," Ava said, "And I hate to be the one to tell you this, but...Santa Claus isn't real, either."

  "Ha-ha. Very funny!" Emma said sarcastically.

  It was just about midnight when they arrived back at Aunt Mary's. She was up, wearing her robe
and slippers, waiting with a pan of warm milk and a plate of sugar cookies.

  "I thought you might like something to warm you up before bedtime. How was the séance?" she asked.

  The girls gave her a detailed description for everything they saw. Ava and Kacey explained how they think the special effects were done. Aunt Mary seemed indignant.

  "Shame on that man for deceiving people!" she said, "I won't be sorry to see him go!"

  "Neither will we," Kacey agreed.

  After clearing up the dishes, the girls bid good night to Aunt Mary and went to bed.