The Haunted Spirits of Fort Mifflin (Rick Thane book 3)

Chapter 2: Meeting the Family

Chapter 2: Meeting the Family

Edgar wished us well as we put our suitcases into the taxi. I didn't tell Penny about what he may be up to while we were gone, though I did wonder if he was telling the truth or not. The drive to the airport went well, as there was no traffic. One thing that I was getting increasingly aware of; was the amount of traffic on the UK roads these days. Of course, the roads were nothing compared to those back home in the states. A normal B road in the UK was practically a dirt track back home, and a dirt track in the UK was a cattle path back home. The roads were smaller, and the lane numbers were minimal, and though England swears they were conquered by the Romans, I hardly saw any evidence of it. British roads were so windy that it looked like they were created by drunkards. But after saying all of that, we made it on time.

'God, I hate customs.' Penny said, disgruntled as she hefted her hand luggage over her shoulder. 'No one listens to me when I say the cameras are not to be played with.'

Penny wanted to start the "Paranormal Investigation of America" right this very minute, and the people working in customs weren't happy with her and practically snatched the camera out of her hands to scan it.

'You know, I wanted this to be a vacation, not another side episode of the show.'

As we walked towards our gate, I noticed people staring and pointing at us. These past five months of TV success were clearly making our faces known. Of course, the locals around Bath knew us. A lot of business these days was racked up from the show, but I still had clients who hadn't watched an episode, which made me feel less of a hypocrite.

'We're not signing autographs,' I mumbled to her as a saw a group of five giggling girls make a bee-line for us.

'Are you Penny and Rick Thane?' a ginger-haired girl asked. 'We love the show! It's so amazing how you can see and hear dead people.'

'Thank you,' Penny smiled. 'You guys are amazing for watching. We're trying to find interesting places to go to next, but we can't say at the moment.'

'Do any of us have a ghost attachment?'

And there it was. The question that I now get asked nearly all the time. Though strangely enough, the answer was yes, not the ginger-haired girl. One of her friends hiding in the back looked extremely shy.

'No, don't answer!' One of her friends yelped. 'I don't want to know. It's creepy. I don't want some dead relative hanging around me.'

The spirit, a woman in her mid-forties, who had attached herself to the ginger girl's friend, looked right at me and frowned. 'Damn. You can see me.'

Penny sighed. 'The dead aren't scary, not really.' I didn't like having these types of conversations. They led to unnecessary questions.

'Well, we hope you enjoy your flight,' I came behind Penny and tried to nudge her onwards.

'Wait! Could we please have a photograph?' the ginger-haired girl asked. 'Our friends at school would flip.'

'Of course, you can,' Penny was loving this limelight, but sometimes it never brought us anything good. One time, not too long ago, Penny was posing for pictures when someone robbed me of my wallet. It was lucky for me that Edgar was on hand to track down the person and get my wallet back, but as it turned out, the person who'd originally asked for the photos was the distracter and accomplice of the robber. Since then, I have been very dubious when people ask to pose for photos. 'Rick, get in here.'

Penny waved me forwards, and I leaned in. The girls took photos of us all, then, giggling, headed away. The spirit nodded in appreciation to not out her, then continued to follow the shy little girl. It wasn't my business to tell the girl she had a spirit following her, though to be fair, I think she already knew.