Ghost Tales of Seattle

Ghost Chase Part 12

Addie was staring at the coast Bainbridge Island with a big grin on her face. I wondered if she was remembering when she had laid the clues for this treasure hunt. Why had she done it in the first place? She hadn't known she was going to die in a fire. Had she planned something else dangerous and hid the gun and the letters in case something went wrong? Perhaps she'd worried that she would never get to have her daughter with her. Moving around the country as part of a wild west show wasn't a stable home environment. How had Addie's cousin and her husband treated Mathilda?

As we walked back to the van I asked Addie, "Did you ever go to visit Mathilda and your cousins?"

"No, Hettie felt it was better for me to stay away until I decided to settle down," she said. "I'm not even sure Mathilda knew I was sending letters or money."

"So you created this scavenger hunt for your daughter in case you didn't get to be reunited?"

"Even if I did manage to make enough money for a house and could convince Hettie to let me take Mathilda, I wanted it to be something fun we could do together. I liked Seattle and hoped to settle down here with my daughter someday."

"Did you think about selling the gun? I bet that would have fetched some money back in your day."

"No, it was the only thing she would have had from her father."

Beth was sitting in the front next to Robert and Molly was in the bench seat behind me filming everything. The other three were listening to my side of the conversation with rapt attention. It's normally automatic for me to lower my voice when talking to a ghost in front of other people, but now I was being recorded, I spoke with a normal volume.

Roberts glanced at me in the rear view mirror. "I wish there was a way to record Addie's side of the conversation."

"Yeah, EVP only catches little snatches," I said.

"You believe EVPs work? I would have thought you'd laugh at them."

"No, a number of ghosts can work up enough energy to be heard in the physical world, but only briefly. You ghost hunters can get lucky and catch some of it. If you could find a way to amplify ghosts' energy enough to talk with everyone, you'd make a fortune."

"Do ghosts use electricity?" Beth asked.

"I'd call it more a form of emotional energy," I said. "You've probably heard stories of poltergeists and teenagers. The emotional rollercoaster teens go on can attract spirits, who use their energy to manifest in the real world."

"Do you see necromancy as science or magic?" Robert asked.

"You're asking someone with a Masters in Necromancy. I see it as a less studied kind of science, but generally necromancy and technology don't get along too well. I'm sure you've experienced spirits draining a devises battery at times?"

"More times than I can say."