Brian saw Misty jump and then began to walk; he followed. Misty stopped, pointed down and told him to dig. Brian obeyed and began to dig. He heard a voice behind him, Brian and Misty both jumped and turned; a real man stood there.
“What the hell are you two doing?” The man asked.
“Digging for buried treasure,” Brian said with a sheepish grin.
Misty spoke up, “Jasper Alcott was murdered and buried here.”
“Who?” The man asked.
Brian said to the man, “just humor her.”
“Alright, but you better fill that hole in when you’re done.”
“We will, thank-you,” Brian said and continued to dig.
He dug for a while, Misty and the other man watched. There was a thud, he had hit something and lifted it up. It was a bone. The other man quickly became interested and joined Brian in the hole; soon Brian was holding a skull in his hands.
“How did you know? When did this happen?” The man asked wide-eyed.
“In 1855,” Misty said.
The man climbed out of the hole and said, “I need to get the police, I think!” He ran toward an apartment.
Brian continued to dig for the whole skeleton as Misty watched. A shiver crept down her spine and she turned: Jasper was there, again. She did not think about how scared she was of ghosts; Misty decided to talk to him, “who did this to you?”
“Angus Sullivan.”
“Why?” Misty asked.
Jasper walked across the creek and stopped. He pointed down. “Dig.”
Misty grabbed the shovel from her husband, walked across the creek, and started to dig where he indicated. She hit something.
Misty reached her hand in the hole; Brian walked up and crouched next to her. She felt something soft; Misty grabbed it and pulled it out. It was a medium sized drawstring bag, made out of black velvet. Misty opened it and poured the contents in her hands.
A bunch of shiny gold coins filled her hand and there was more in the bag. Brian and Misty looked at each other, shock showed on both faces.
Misty looked up at Jasper; he smiled for the first time and said, “Thank-you.” Then he disappeared.
“Well, we now know the legend was true. Do you still think you have a curse?” Brian asked her.
Misty looked down at the coins in her hand, and then looked at Brian; she smiled and said, “no, I have a gift.”
“No, I do,” a voice said.
Brian and Misty saw a tall shadow from the setting sun in front of them. They froze and slowly turned their heads. Seeing the figure behind them, Brian jumped up to his feet and Misty fell down as she screamed.
Standing there with his hands on his hips stood Angus Sullivan; in the flesh, some flesh. His overalls littered with holes, with the bones and tendons showing through the large gaps in the material. The flannel shirt had even more holes, the color faded. What was left of his black hair was slightly covering up his skull. His eyes dried up into the sockets, no nose and his lips were dried maggots that formed into a grotesque grin. The smell of rot hung about the air around him.
“I do believe those gold coins belong to me,” Angus said.
“No, there not,” Misty said as she jumped to her feet and backed away.
“I believe they are, missy,” he told her as he walked closer.
Misty looked to Brian, he was still standing in the same spot, he never moved.
Brian's eyes were wide and his mouth was open, Misty realized that he could see Angus too, but how. She turned back toward Angus; he stood right there. Face to face with his rotted corpse, Misty fought the urge to vomit from the decay that wafted off the decomposing flesh. She backed up again, he moved forward.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Brian finally move and lift up the shovel. Brian came up from behind and swung. Angus turned suddenly and grabbed the shovel before it made an impact. Angus then swung the shovel at Brian and it connected, Brian went down.
“You bastard,” Misty said and went to push him; her hand went through his shirt and between his ribs. Angus laughed as Misty wrenched her hand free.
“Give me the coins, I may be dead but I can still hurt you,” Angus said as he put his hand behind his back and pulled out the Bowie knife, Jasper’s blood was dried onto the blade.
Misty took a few steps back but before he could go toward her the shovel came down on the hand that held the knife, it fell to the ground. Both Misty and Angus looked and saw Jasper standing with the shovel in his hands. He was made of flesh and blood, not rotted.
“I believe those gold coins belong to the missus,” Jasper said and threw the shovel down.
Misty turned to Angus and was startled to see that he too was made of flesh again.
She ran to Brian, who finally began to stir. Misty helped him to his feet and the two of them watched as Jasper took his revenge.
“I been waiting for this chance many years, Angus,” Jasper said and punched Angus square in the face.
Angus staggered back and before he could regain his balance, Jasper grabbed the knife from the ground, stabbed it into Angus chest and he fell to the ground. Angus tried to reach the bag of gold coins that Misty still held, but before he could, Angus turned to ash.
Jasper looked down and kicked the ashes; he smiled and began to walk toward Brian and Misty.
Brian began to back away but Misty grabbed his hand and said, “It’s Jasper, he’s the good guy.”
Jasper shook Brian’s hand and turned to Misty, “I believe you will be ok, now.”
“Thank-you, Jasper,” Misty said and reached up and kissed his cheek.
Jasper touched her cheek, smiled and disappeared.
“Let’s go home now,” Brian said. They got into their truck and left Suntree Apartments.
At home, Brian excitedly told the kids and Misty’s mom everything that happened. Misty was tired, so instead of listening she went into her bedroom to change. She looked into the mirror and smiled, “maybe I do have a gift after all.”
Misty’s reflection changed and looking back at her was the decayed face of Angus Sullivan and the image said to her, “no, it is a curse.” Misty screamed.