The Ghosts of Minera Springs: A Novel by Charles Franklin

Author:Charles Franklin [Franklin, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Riley

Deputy Talley had Mr. and Mrs. Sloan take me and Tobi down to the police station to make statements. It was all like a dream. I hadn’t seen the girl, but it didn’t seem real that Tobi saw her moments before and now she was dead. Nobody said how she died, whether she was shot, or stabbed, or something else.

Still, people didn’t die very often in Minera Springs. Unless they were old. My daddy once told me that Bonnie and Clyde had a shootout with the cops down on Baker Street a long time ago, and some people died that day. But, other than the Union Hill Bride–which was most likely not a true story–I’d never heard of another murder.

“She could’ve died from starvation. Or dehydration.” Tobi said to me while we sat on a bench in front of the police station and waited for Mr. and Mrs. Sloan.

“Could have. But then whose footsteps were those in the house? I didn’t imagine those.”

“I don’t know. It all happened so fast.”

“Yeah. Everything is a blur when I try to remember. And the policeman kept asking me about all these details. Shoot, I don’t remember.”

Tobi pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. Her eyes drifted off somewhere else. I couldn’t imagine how she felt, having seen that girl and not knowing how much she needed help, until it was too late.

“Lacey,” she said softly.

“Huh?”

“Her name was Lacey. That’s what the officer told me. Lacey Perdue. She was from Stephenville, and was a varsity cheerleader. She was a junior in high school and wanted to go to college to be a veterinarian.”

I searched for what I could say. But nothing seemed right. When people say they’re sorry when someone dies, I feel like that’s a default answer. What could I say to bring honor to that girl’s life? What could I say to express that I cared about who she was and that she had once lived?

No good words came to mind, though. My silence would have to do. A moment of silence and remembrance of someone I never knew, and had only learned of her existence just a few hours before.

“I’m sorry I led you into danger like that,” I said. Those words didn’t seem strong enough, either. I had promised God I’d protect his angel, and I’d done a terrible job of that.

“You didn’t know anything like that was going to happen. Neither of us really thought there was going to be an old husband-killing widow living in that house, did we? Sure, I was scared to go, but mostly because of the thrill of it. Not because I thought someone could actually die.”

“Exactly. Things like that only happen in big cities, like you see on the news.”

“Maybe this will be our one true ghost story. Although, she looked alive when I saw her.” Goosebumps crawled up my arms. Could it be?

“Riley, no. She wasn’t a ghost. She was as real as could be.

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