Read Online Madison Johns - Agnes Barton Paranormal 02 - Ghostly Hijinks by Madison Johns - Free Book Online Page A

tourists. What can you tell me about that?”
    “You know, sometimes folks check in and forget to check out, is all. That’s what happens with the supernatural goings on around here.”
    “How about a family with a five-year-old child, a blonde?”
    “I think I remember a family that fits that description, but from what I can recall, they were looking to strike it rich.”
    “Leister’s gold,” a tall man said from the bar. “Plenty of folks still believe in that myth.”
    “What is Leister’s gold?” I asked Redd.
    Redd rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Well, there was a prospector, a Peyton Leister, or so the stories go. He was reputed to have found a huge amount of gold, but instead of bringing it into town he had it melted down into gold bars, which he had hidden in one of the canyons around Silver. But shoot, it might just be in some mineshaft, for all we know. You’ll have to check in over at the Willington General Store after the dust storm subsides. The owner, Glenda O’Shay, has the full skinny on the story. All I’m going by are stories that make the rounds. I guess it comes with the territory since this is a ghost town and all.”
    “My, now that sure is interesting.”
    “But how did you know about the missing family, Agnes? I mean, that they had a five-year-old daughter and all? That sure seems pretty specific.”
    I bit my bottom lip now. How on earth could I ever try and explain that I dreamed about the girl when I don’t even know for a fact if she’s real or not?
    “Oh, well. I-I—”
    “Agnes doesn’t want to get any of the other staff into trouble for telling us something they shouldn’t have,” Eleanor said as she batted her eyelashes.
    “I see. Probably for the best, since if Lois found out she’d have a cow.”
    “I suspect she has had a herd by now,” I said with a wink.
    I turned to ask the tall man that was at the bar about Leister’s gold, but he now was nowhere to be seen. Figures. Hopefully, we’d be able to get that out of Francine when we meet her, which from the looks of how the dust was blowing outside, wouldn’t be today for sure.
    Redd stood up and stretched. “Sure nice talking, Agnes, but I best do my rounds to make sure there isn’t any dust making its way into the hotel.”
    I thanked Redd again and yawned. “What now? I really want to talk to Francine, but I guess it can wait until tomorrow.”
    Andrew had his arms folded over his chest. “At least you have some sense. I half expected you to demand we make our way there during the dust storm.”
    “I’m not completely crazy.”
    “No? Well, you sure seem hell-bent on checking out a story based on a dream, of all things. I miss the days when you were just poking into murder investigations,” Andrew said.
    Eleanor leaned across the table. “You do realize that Redd never did answer your question about if he had or hadn’t been in Room 109 before?”
    “That’s right. I guess I was so interested in hearing the history of the place that I completely forgot that. Lucky for us, we can always ask him at another time. From the looks of the remains, it appears that it’s been in that room for quite a spell, like before Redd was even born, for all we know.”
    “It’s not like we’ll be able to figure out just whose body that is. I’m sure the sheriff won’t be supplying us with that bit of information,” Eleanor said.
    “No, and that’s not my main concern now. I feel like Rebecca is out there somewhere and it’s up to us to find her.”
    “If she is,” Andrew began, “I’m sure she has perished from the elements by now, or will have in this dust storm.”
    I nodded, but I wasn’t about to give up on this just yet. I didn’t exactly know why I had that dream, but some of the pieces were falling into place. That is, if Francine looked anything like the woman that worked the counter of the hotel in my dream. Sure, I also knew that I also dreamed of men in 1800s clothing, but gosh darn it,