Risen (Haunted Series Book 22)

butter, let alone a time portal.”
“She still can’t,” Cid said, walking into the room, carrying a tray of cheese and crackers.  “I caught her using this foul looking dagger to slice the top off the jar.”
Amanda twittered as she laughed.
Varden looked at her and said, “Burd.”
“No Grandmother,” Mia said and made the sign.
“Grrrrrmommm,” he repeated, making the sign.
“This is going to be so much fun,” Amanda said.  “Cid, Mia and Ted are going to let us take Varden and Brian on the summer dig with us.”
“Ralph, Bernard, and Ethan are going too,” Mia said quickly.
“I think that it will be a learning experience for all involved.”
“You’re such a diplomat,” Mia teased.  “K.  I know when to surrender.  I’m going to go and pack Varden’s bag.  Ralph may know what a baby needs to wear to be stylish, but I know what Varden needs to be comfortable in Wyoming in the summertime.”
Mia left Cid to converse with Amanda.  She couldn’t believe that she and Ted were going to have three weeks without their active little boys.  Burt didn’t have an investigation planned, and Nicholai was needed elsewhere, so Mia’s training had been postponed.  It looked like she was going to have free time on her hands.  Sure, she would worry about the boys, but that was to be expected.
“What’s the matter?” Murphy asked, materializing in the nursery.
Mia explained the situation.
“The boys will be fine.  If you want, I could go…”
Mia wanted to say yes, but she also knew Murphy had his trees to see to.  “I appreciate that, but I’ve got to learn to trust that the universe will look after the boys.  Plus, if there is trouble, Varden seems to have the inside track on calling the cavalry.”
Murphy smiled.  “He’s a good boy.  Brian will be a handful, but your father will be a good influence on the boy.  Brian needs to play in the dirt and get his hands dirty.”
“You’re right.  He does.”
“I thought you would be overjoyed by getting a break from the children.”
“You would think so, but I have this unrest,” Mia said, patting her chest.  “It’s a feeling that I can’t let go.”
“Describe it.”
“A chill as if someone just walked over my crime scene.”

Chapter Two
“The dead are watching us,” Kevin said, manifesting.  He pointed to the tree line.  “They are just inside the jungle in the shadows.”
Patrick turned, and with the glasses, he could see the wave of distortion that Ted told him would represent ghost activity.  “How many?”
“Twenty, thirty, it’s hard to tell because they keep shifting,” Kevin said.
“What do they look like?” Mason asked, taking out the expensive camera and putting on a telephoto lens.
“Men, women, and children.  Some dressed like Fergus and I, others wearing what I think of as underwear but Fergus assures me are bathing costumes of this century.”
“He’s got to get his head out of the books he’s missed and start looking at television.  This is how Stephen stays up to date,” Fergus said, drawing his knife out of his boot.
“Mia sometimes pretends she can’t see a ghost to walk by them,” Mason prefaced.  “Do you think this will work for us?” he asked the ghosts.
“Maybe.  Too early to tell,” Kevin answered.  “Fergus and I could approach them and…”
The ghosts disappeared.
“They’re gone now,” Kevin said.
“Gone or just invisible?” Patrick asked.
“Gone,” Kevin said, taking out his flask and taking a swallow of the alcohol to calm his nerves.
“Maybe they were warning us,” Mason said.  “Keep away, this is our island.”
“Maybe,” Kevin said, not convinced.  “Stick to the rocks, and probe the ground before taking a step,” he said, picking up a piece of driftwood and tossing it to Patrick.  “Fergus and I will scout out any entrances to caves you can reach from this side of the island.”
“Good plan,” Patrick said.  “Before you go…  Were any of the ghosties French naval seamen?”
“I wouldn’t know from sight,” Kevin said.  He looked at Fergus, and Fergus hunched his shoulders.  “Why?”
“This island is evil according to the local lads.  Maybe the crew of the America found out the hard way when they were delivering the merchandise,” Patrick surmised.  “Maybe they were the island’s first victims.”
“I don’t know about that.  The America was reportedly sunk in a battle between England and France.  The ship left here,” Mason stated.
“But with a full crew?” Patrick asked.  “The sandbar would have made it impossible for a Téméraire-class ship to dock inside the reef.  They would have taken longboats to the island.”
“Okay, we have to think like sailors entrusted to deliver and hide merchandise on a spooky island.  Where would we hide something like that?  Remember, this was a royal commission but, also, a chore,” Mason said.
“First available cave above the tideline,” Patrick said.  “Let’s confine our first search to the perimeter of the waterfall side of the island.”
“I’m with you there.”
Sabine tried to concentrate on something else other than the negative vibes the island was emitting.  Even from this distance, it was almost overwhelming for her.  In her pain, she almost didn’t hear the signal from her satellite phone letting her know that she could now connect with the outside world.  Sabine prayed she could get ahold of the person she trusted the most.  This person would know how to pull Sabine out of the crippling and painful zone she had fallen into.
Sabine took a deep breath and hit number one on her preset numbers.
Mia had just wished safe travels to Jeff the gargoyle and was elbow deep in dirt when she felt her phone vibrate.  She dropped the bush she was removing and pulled out her phone.  “Please let them be okay,” she prayed, picking up the call from a strange number, thinking it was emergency services and her children