Freaky Rites (A Mystic Caravan Mystery Book 6) Read online

  “But … there are no buildings to look at.”

  Sometimes he’s far too pragmatic for his own good. “I think there’s like some sort of train barn or something at one end,” I argued. “That’s on top of the gardens.”

  “What is it with you and the gardens?”

  That was a good question. “I don’t know. I just think it’s neat that the gardens somehow survived without tending. It’s like nature always finds a way. There are fruit groves and flowering plants. I can’t explain why I want to see it. Like I said, you don’t have to come. I’ll be perfectly safe taking a hike in the woods on my own.”

  “No, I want to go.”

  Luke snickered. “He doesn’t want to go. He simply wants to make sure you don’t find trouble with the ghosts and get hurt. You know that, right?”

  I’d figured that out on my own. “We’ll talk about it later,” I said. “In fact … I don’t have to see the town. It was simply something I was thinking about. We can focus on Eureka and leave it at that.”

  “We’ll talk about it later,” Kade said, hitting his turn signal. “Here’s the road. We’re almost there.”

  “Great,” Luke enthused. “I can’t wait. This has been the longest drive ever.”

  “You should see it from my point of view,” Kade groused.

  “I have and you got the better end of the deal.” Luke was blasé. “I happen to be a witty conversationalist. You’re boring and … um, what’s worse than boring?” When I didn’t answer, Luke barreled forward. “What are we going to have for dinner? I’m starving. How about steaks?”

  And just like that we were almost to our new temporary home and everything was almost exactly the same as before … except for Melissa. I had no idea when things were going to turn for her. I hoped it was soon, though. I couldn’t take much more of the melancholy.

  2

  Two

  I was impressed with our site. The minute we stopped, I could do nothing but smile at the large trees buffering the location on three sides … and the spanking new trailer located in the exact right spot to kick off entrance to what we affectionately referred to as trailer row.

  “Do you see that?” Kade sidled up and slung an arm over my shoulders. “That’s our new home.”

  He seemed so earnest, so content, all I could do was smile. Of course, the new recreational vehicle was beautiful. It was the fanciest trailer to date – including the one Max called home – and I couldn’t help being a little proud … and smug.

  “Do you want to see it?” Kade asked.

  I nodded. “Don’t we need keys?”

  Something jangled in Kade’s hands and I smiled when I saw the keyring. “Where did you get that?”

  “Max had them. The guys who dropped it off left a set next to the fence post.”

  I was beyond excited. “So … let’s check out our new digs.”

  “Definitely.” Kade linked his fingers with mine as we tromped across the grassy ground. “Hey, Luke, I’ll be back in a little bit if you need help unloading things. You’re strapping and strong, though, so I’ll bet you can do it yourself.”

  Luke, his arms laden with chairs for the common area, shot Kade a withering look. “Oh, no, let me do all the heavy lifting while you do my best friend.”

  Kade was unbothered by the snark. “That’s the plan.”

  “Whatever.”

  I left Luke to his bad mood, sparing a quick glance for Melissa, who appeared to be helping the others without saying a word, and then pushed the worry out of my head … at least for the time being. “Let’s see it.” I rubbed my hands together as Kade fit the key into the lock and pushed open the door. My breath all but whooshed out when I saw the clean interior, which was ten times nicer than my previous trailer. “Wow!”

  “Yeah.” Kade was equally impressed, running his hands over the granite countertops (Max spared no expense trying to woo his son into forging a new start) and letting loose a low whistle. “This is nice.”

  “For all the cooking we do inside the trailers,” I teased, smiling as I bounced on the leather sofa. It sat across from two matching chairs, both of which were pointed at a flat-screen television. “This is like the queen of all trailers.”

  “King,” Kade absently corrected. “The king of all trailers.”

  “Not in a matriarchal society, which is what we embrace at Mystic Caravan.”

  It took Kade a moment to realize what I was saying and he looked legitimately amused as he tore his gaze from the cupboards. “Good point.”

  “Your old trailer is being moved to the administration row, right?” As second in command to Max, I was the organized sort. I couldn’t stop myself from focusing on logistics even though Kade clearly wanted to focus on something else. “We got everything cleaned out and it’s just waiting for desks.”

  “It’s taken care of. Your other trailer is going to Melissa, right?”

  I stiffened at mention of her name. “It is. I thought she would like it because the old trailer she had was falling apart. The one she’ll get isn’t top of the line or anything, but it is a vast improvement.”

  “You don’t think she’ll like it?”

  I shrugged. “I think she has other things on her mind.”

  “As do you.” Kade folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the small row of cupboards. “Poet, you can’t force her to talk about what happened. It’s only been a few days.”

  “A week,” I corrected. “It’s been a week.” We’d had a week off in our schedule, which we used to take a break and regroup in Oregon.

  “And you think that’s enough time for her to get over what happened?” Kade wasn’t one to purposely pick fights, but he held his ground when he believed in something. “I’m not sure I think a month or even a year is enough time to get over what happened to her.”

  I furrowed my brow. “But we saved her. She’s okay. Don’t you think she should take the first step and start talking about what happened? She’ll never get over it until she talks it out.”

  Kade exhaled heavily as he moved to the couch to sit with me. He lifted my hand, flipping it over so he could trace the lines on my palm, seemingly searching for the right thing to say. “I think there’s more than one thing going on here. For starters, before it happened Melissa was being something of a pain. She was acting out and we were punishing her because of that.”

  I scowled. “Yes, it was more like we were parents than employers.”

  Kade chuckled. “You don’t look old enough to have a child Melissa’s age. Don’t worry about that.”

  That honestly hadn’t occurred to me. “I don’t like being the mommy of the group,” I countered. “I like being the cool and sexy … cousin.”

  Kade laughed so hard I thought he would fall over. “You’re definitely cool and sexy. I refuse to think of you as my cousin, though.”

  “That would be criminal.”

  “Definitely.” Kade licked his lips as he stared at my hand. “Melissa is struggling with her attitude and what happened after that. She probably thinks that was another punishment. She’ll come around on her own – you don’t have to worry about that – but the more you hover the longer it’ll take.”

  I balked. “I haven’t been hovering.”

  “You have. Everyone recognizes it, including Melissa. I think most of our friends understand why you’ve been doing it. Melissa almost died, after all. You managed to keep that from happening.”

  “I had help.”

  “You did, but you were the one who kept things together,” Kade pressed. “You’re the reason we got her back safe, and I don’t want to hear one second of arguing about it. You were the hero.”

  Under normal circumstances I would like being referred to as a hero. Given what happened in Seattle – the horror that almost occurred – I was keener to put the entire episode behind us. “I just want her to smile every now and then,” I admitted. “She seems so despondent and she purposely keeps distance between herself and us.
I don’t know how to fix that.”

  “I think the problem is that you can’t fix that,” Kade countered. “Melissa has to come out of this on her own. It’s not up to you.”

  He had a point. It wasn’t one I liked, but I understood what he was saying. “I guess you’re right.”

  “I’m always right.” Kade poked my side to get me to look at him. “Now, how about checking out the bedroom and seeing how right I can be in there?”

  I didn’t want to smile. It would only encourage him, after all. But I couldn’t stop myself. “Okay, but when Luke complains that we didn’t help unpack I’ll blame you.”

  “I’d expect nothing less.”

  “YOU TWO LOOK all flushed and happy.”

  Raven Marko, our resident lamia and pot stirrer, fixed Kade and me with a knowing look as she delivered a platter of grilled corn on the cob to the table.

  Mystic Caravan essentially separates into three rows during setup. The midway workers take one, the clowns and others who don’t fit in with either group (essentially the “irregular” workers) take another, and my outgoing performance-focused brotherhood take the third. The fourth side is always open and near the parking lot, and that’s by design.

  “We are happy,” Kade said, smirking when my cheeks turned red as several pointed stares turned in our direction. “Only one of us is flushed.”

  I smacked his arm as he smoothly shifted to deflect the playful blow. “I’m not talking about this.”

  “Talk about your new trailer,” Nellie instructed, hiking up his pink evening gown so he could get comfortable on the picnic table bench. “Everyone is drooling we’re so jealous. Is it nice inside?”

  “It’s very nice,” Kade replied. “The counters are granite and the cupboards aren’t made of particle board. The bedroom is great. We have a queen-sized bed for a change.”

  “Nice.” Raven winked at Kade before smirking at me. “Oh, look, Poet is so red I think we should chop her up for the salad. People will think she’s a tomato.”

  “Leave her alone,” Kade instructed, rubbing his hand over my back as he took a look around the fairgrounds. “Where are the rest of the tents and stuff?”

  “Not arriving until tomorrow,” Max announced, appearing out of the gloom and offering me a smile before sitting at the end of the table. “The fog came on when the trucks were still two hours away. It was thick enough that I told them to stop at a hotel for the night.”

  “Oh, well, that’s convenient.” Nellie made a face. The dwarf – the bearded variety from another plane of existence – had a ridiculously expressive face. “I can’t believe they let a little fog stop them.”

  Now that they mentioned it, the grounds were quickly filling with a thick fog that I wasn’t anticipating. “Is it normal to fog like this?” I rubbed my hands over my knees as I regarded the expansive grounds. “I mean … we won’t be able to see from one end of the fairgrounds to the other once this fog settles.”

  “My understanding is that the fog is normal during the overnight hours,” Max replied. “The ground gets warm during the day, but the nights are cooler. That creates the fog. Plus, well, there are so many trees in this area that they help keep the fog cover low.”

  “That sounds like something out of a horror movie,” Luke complained, rubbing his neck as he stared toward the woods to the east. “I don’t like it.”

  “That’s because you’re dramatic and tend to be a big baby when you want to be,” Kade fired back. “A little fog never hurt anyone. In fact, it’s kind of fun. It’s atmospheric. I think, once we finish moving the rest of our stuff into the new trailer that we should celebrate with a horror movie or something, Poet. That sounds like the perfect evening to me.”

  “You just want to get her worked up so she’ll give you a little grab when you’re sharing a blanket,” Luke shot back. “Just for the record, horror movies don’t freak Poet out. She likes them well enough, but she’s more horrified by chick flicks.”

  Kade cocked an eyebrow as he snagged my gaze. “Is that true?”

  I nodded without hesitation. “Dirty Dancing gave me nightmares for weeks.”

  Luke extended a finger. “Nobody puts Baby in a corner!”

  Most everyone grouped around the table burst out laughing. Melissa was the lone holdout. She sat at the opposite end and stared at the fog, seemingly oblivious to the conversation going on around her.

  “It seems you like the new trailer.” Max’s smile was indulgent as he looked at Kade. Their relationship was something of a work in progress, mostly because Max was a magical mage who didn’t have a hand in his son’s upbringing. Kade had always thought his father died before he was born. When he found out his father was Max – a man he thought of as a funny uncle (not in a gross way) – things didn’t go well. After several weeks of strain and fighting, Kade and Max were officially trying to forge a bond. It was slow going but entertaining to watch. “I’m glad it worked out.”

  “The new trailer is great. Thank you.” Kade’s smile was easy. “I think we’ll be very happy there.”

  “We still have to get your trailer set up as an office,” I reminded him.

  “Yes, dear.” Kade adopted a put-upon tone that caused more than a few snickers. “I figured we could focus on that tomorrow and the next day, before the circus opens, and we should have everything put together by opening night.”

  “That’ll put a crimp in your exploration plans, Poet,” Luke pointed out. “There won’t be time to visit ghost towns if you’re constantly working.”

  Max, his interest piqued, arched an eyebrow. “What ghost town?”

  “Falk,” I answered. “It was a former logging town. There are a lot of ghost sightings and it’s within walking distance.”

  “I didn’t know that.” Max appeared more curious than concerned. “I’m sure we can find time for those interested in seeing the town to take a walk in that direction. We’re organized in a way that we can run this place in our sleep. Even with the rest of the trucks arriving later than expected tomorrow morning, I have no doubt everything will work out.”

  “I’m sure it will, too,” I agreed, inadvertently leaning closer to Kade when I realized the fog was thickening. “Wow. That is … something.”

  “It is,” Raven agreed, her tone somber. “I know we’re in the middle of cooking dinner, but I almost think we should take a pause to erect the dreamcatcher. I’m worried that someone might end up lost in this if we’re not careful.”

  That’s not what she was worried about. She kept her true concerns to herself. It wasn’t that she was afraid we would lose someone in the mist. It was far more likely we would pick up someone, and without the dreamcatcher in place we might not even pick up on the danger.

  You see, in addition to being a source of entertainment for families, we’re also monster hunters. Yeah, that’s not an exaggeration. Most of us are paranormal beings with a sense of right and wrong and an innate desire to rid the world of legitimate threats. As part of our process, we created a magical dreamcatcher. Four of us – Raven, Nixie, Naida and myself – work together to erect the dreamcatcher, making sure it covers all four corners of whatever fairgrounds we happen to be calling home at any given time. The dreamcatcher alerts when an evil paranormal being crosses its boundaries. It also serves as a lure, calling to those creatures. Unfortunately for us, the magic is so strong it often calls to the occasional evil human as well. We dispatch them as quickly as we hit the actual monsters. We don’t discriminate.

  “I think we should definitely do that.” I licked my lips as I got to my feet. Something about the fog set my teeth on edge. I couldn’t explain it. “We should go in teams.”

  Kade must have sensed my unease because he remained close, his hand on my elbow to still me should I try to walk away. “I’m fine with going in teams. I’ll be on your team.”

  “Who didn’t see that coming?” Luke muttered, rolling his eyes.

  “Because you want to be part of everything, you can b
e Nixie’s partner,” Kade instructed, his tone practically daring Luke to pick a fight. “Nellie, you should go with Raven.” Kade was uncertain when he glanced at his father. “Do you want to help?”

  Max nodded without blinking. “I think that’s a good idea. I haven’t participated in a good dreamcatcher ritual in some time. This fog really is … something. I don’t know what to make of it.”

  Max wasn’t the worrying type, but I didn’t miss the way his gaze briefly touched on Melissa before shifting to me. “Let’s get the dreamcatcher up as soon as possible. If it’s not perfect because of the fog, it’s still something. We’ll test the lines when the sun comes out tomorrow. I think it would be wise if after dinner tonight everyone hits their trailers early.”

  Luke made a protesting sound in the back of his throat. “What about the bonfire? We always have a fire our first night in a new place.”

  “I think it’s wiser for everyone to go to their trailers,” Max replied, unruffled. “If you want to have a fire, I certainly won’t stop you. I’m your boss, not your keeper.”

  “Good.” Luke slid his eyes to me. “I think we should stick to our usual schedule.”

  Oh, now he was just messing with me. “You only want me to stick close to you so Kade and I can’t enjoy our first night in the trailer.”

  “That is a vicious lie.”

  “It’s not,” Kade argued. “It doesn’t matter, though. We’re doing the dreamcatcher and then eating dinner. After that, we’re going to bed. Alone. There will be no visitors this evening.”

  “Like I would want to visit you.” Luke’s tone was haughty as he turned to Nellie. “They’re boring and old. Do you want to sit around the bonfire with me and hunt anything that might take advantage of the fog?”

  Nellie shrugged, noncommittal.

  “You can bring your ax.”

  “That’s a given,” Nellie shot back.

  “We can have s’mores.”

  Nellie brightened. “You had me at hunting.”