Short Stories

NOT SO SHORT - SHORT STORIES

The Haunted Hunt

ONE

Lizzy Gordon just stood in her tracks shaking her head. All she’d wanted to do was take a walk outside in the crisp fall air. There weren’t any cemeteries around and she was far enough away from all the local hospitals, so how had she managed to stick herself with yet another ghost in need? Just lucky she guessed. Sighing loudly and with an exaggerated shrug, she settled her hands on her hips and leaned back against a tree. Might as well be comfortable. It sounded like a long story.

“So, Mr. Ratcliff, what exactly do you need my help with?” Her smile felt forced but she was trying to be cordial even by her standards.

“They’re just gonna leave him out here to die! I can’t do that. It’s my fault he’s wondering the woods alone. I gotta find him.” The elderly man’s face held worry and impatience.

“Leave who out where to die?” Lizzy’s interest was piqued now. She sure didn’t believe in allowing anyone to suffer!

“Jake! That’s who.” Indignation increased his ruddy complexion so that had he not already been dead, Lizzy would be looking for a phone to call for an ambulance.

“Ok, calm down and tell me where they left him.”

“Out in the woods. Over by the home place where I hunt.”

“Ok,” she said slowly. “Where is the home place where you hunt? I’m not familiar with you Mr. Ratcliff. You’re going to have to give me a little more information if I’m going to help find Jake.”

“Oh …I’ll have to show you. It’s out side of Brandon near Pelahatchie.”

“I know where Pelahatchie is so that helps.” Relief replaced exasperation but was quickly changed again.

“So tell me more about this Jake and what he looks like so I can help you find him.”

“He’s about 70 pounds and has floppy ears. He’s black and tan and about the best…”

“He’s a dog?” Mouth wide she gaped at the old man. “You’re hanging around because you can’t find you’re hunting dog?”

“Now see here young lady! You mind yourself talking to your elders with that tone.” Gone was the troubled old man and in his stead stood a Southern gentleman standing straight and tall.

“Jake’s more’n just a huntin’ dog, he’s a good friend. He’s been with me nigh on twelve years and I’m not lettin him die out there alone.” Indignation colored his words with strength and Lizzy knew she was caught. Hook, line and sinker.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound disrespectful I just didn’t expect Jake to be a dog or that someone would care enough to put off their final rest to see about one.” True empathy sounded in her voice and she hoped he would see she was sincere.

“I’d love to have a dog or cat of my own to love, but I’m gone so much, it wouldn’t be fair.”

“Apology accepted.” He harrumphed gruffly and looked back over his shoulder at the yawning woods. “I’m just worried and shouldn’t have been so quick to anger. Most folks don’t think much of their dogs now days. Just use them like a piece of equipment and then throw them to the side when they don’t perform.”

“Mr. Ratcliff, why don’t you tell me about when you died? Seeing the pain in his expression, she continuing quickly with, “I don’t mean tell me the painful parts but how long ago and where you were. It would help to know where you are buried also.” Without trying, Lizzy’s entire body language expressed warmth and kindness. It was next to impossible not to feel that way about the old man. Especially when he loved his dog enough to put off his final journey to be sure the mutt was cared for.

“Me and Jake went huntin’ squirrel out on the old home place. I don’t always hunt when I go out there. Mostly I like to walk around the place and remember my folks and when I was a young’in myself.” Eyes misty with memories, the man seemed to shrink in stature again as he thought back to that day.

“Knew my time was a comin’ cause my pappy was visiting pretty regular with me now. Wasn’t scared or wishing it wouldn’t happen cause I was ready. Tired of this place where so much is different now.” The old man’s eyes searched Lizzy’s as if searching for something, maybe understanding.

“I suppose a lot has changed in your life time. Nothing stays the same Mr. Ratcliff.”

“Call me Tater, child. Easier than the Mr. stuff and most folks knew me by tater.” A warm smile brightened his entire face even filling his eyes with a soft glow of satisfaction. “I’ll tell you about how I got that name sometime, but first things first.”

Tater moved off the walking path that led through the woods and settled his bones on a partially fallen tree. No need checking for snakes or bugs or other nasty things. Nothing much would bother him now. Lizzy followed his example, but checked the stump meticulously for anything that might bite, sting or itch before making herself as comfortable as possible on a half rotten stump.

“Anyways, Jake’s as old as I am now when you look at dog years so we don’t do much of anything when we go out in the woods but walk and talk and look. We’d made it to our favorite spot near the old barn site and had sat down to watch the deer come moving into the field to graze.”

“You can sit there with Jake and they’ll come up like that?” Lizzy’s face was filled with the wonder she felt. Imagine being able to sit and watch deer like that.

“Oh yea, they knew we meant them no harm. Been doing that for years now. No need to hunt anything big like that when you can’t handle it yourself. Just a waste and I don’t believe in waste. Bout the only thing I’ve shot in the last few years be squirrel and rabbit. I can carry them and clean um and cook um up myself. Don’t need someone to do it for me.” Amusement twinkled in his eyes.

“Jake and I just sat there and watched um come and watched um go. Next thing I know, Jake is whining and licking on me. Don’t feel his rough tongue but I felt his love. What a feelin’! I could feel what he felt for me! That’s when I knew I was gone.”

When he didn’t continue right away, Lizzy waited patiently and just watched the spirit across from her shine ethereally from the love and happiness radiating from him. She’d only seen this with a few other ghosts she’d met. Most of the ones hooking up with her were so caught up in their own troubles; they didn’t experience the joy and peace that could come with death. Mr. Tater Ratcliff did though and she wasn’t going to interrupt something so wondrous.

“Sorry, got caught up in all that love. Been a long time since I felt anything that good.” The gruffness in his voice could only hint at the emotion pouring through him. “Figured they would come looking for me and take old Jake home with them. So I was pretty content and just passed on. Only they didn’t. No one came looking for me and Jake.”

Disbelief must have shown in her face, maybe even horror. Tater’s angry eyes met hers and he just nodded his head with his lips pressed tightly in a line.

“They just left you out there and didn’t worry or care when you didn’t come home?”

“Yep. Don’t know how long it was afore I felt that pull back to take care of Jake, but must have been a day or two. Anyway, I figure he’s been out there three days alone now and that ain’t good at his age. I want to be sure he’s taken care of. He took good care of me.”

The simple acceptance of this reflected the way of life in his time. You did things because they were right, not because you had to or because you were told to. It was just the right thing to do. Shaking her head at the progress man had made in the last fifty years she wondered at what cost.

“Ok, we need to go back to where you passed on Tater. That’s the place to start. Have you been there to see if Jake is still there by you?”

“Yep, he’s not. Course I can’t much call to him like I am. I’m mighty thankful you’re able to see and hear me for this.” His tired eyes smiled despite his worry. “Even went home to see if anyone was worried bout me. Guess not, they were digging through my stuff like I had buried treasure hidden in my underwear drawer.”

Hear own heart wept for him at the though of family going through his possessions more concerned with what they might find of valued than what had happened to their own kin. Sighing at the picture of his relatives tossing his home, Lizzy vowed to be sure they were publicly exposed over their greed and callousness.

“Weren’t too happy to find I didn’t have nothing for um’ either.” The first hints of a smile lightened the corners of his mouth. “That’s cause they never bothered to talk to me and find out where I had my meager savings hid.”

“Ok, Tater, I need to change clothes and get my car so we can head to Pelahatchie. I want to find Jake first and then we’re going to teach those miserable excuses of kin folk you have a lesson or two on charity and neighborly love.”

Jumping up from her uncomfortable perch on the stump, Lizzy found she had a numb spot or two in the area of her rump. Stomping her feet as she headed back to her car, the idea of inviting Tater along didn’t occur to her. After all, most of the ghosts she’d had dealings with in the past, didn’t ask permission for anything and sure didn’t worry about being invited.

Unlocking her car with the remote, she climbed in, fastened her seatbelt and started the engine. When he didn’t appear in the car, she sat puzzled for a moment. “Tater?” Looking around and not finding the spirit levitating anywhere close by, she merely shrugged and headed home to change gear. He’d show up when she was heading for the Brandon area she was sure.

TWO

Less than an hour later Lizzy headed down the interstate towards Brandon expecting any moment now the missing spirit would pop in. On reaching the Pelahatchie exit and no ghost, she began to worry. Pulling into a Texaco station, she pulled up and parked next to the phone booth cutting her engine. Still no Tater. Emptying her mind the whine of tires from the interstate melted away with the closer noises of the gas station. Concentrating, Lizzy called from within before saying anything out loud.

“Tater? Mr. Ratcliff, please come forward and help me settle your soul.” Silence from within and the distant traffic noises outside fell away briefly to the sounds of nature and the noisy silence of the woods.

“I’m here waiting for ya’ child. Just drive out towards Shiloh and turn at the old country store past the meetin’ grounds.” Kindness and peace flowed from his words into her mind and Lizzy nodded as the sounds of progress pushed into the quiet.

“Ok, Tater, here I come.” Back on the interstate, Lizzy took the next exit and followed the road a short distance before turning right and then fifteen minutes later left, onto Shiloh road. The thin trees of the interstate had given way to stouter pines with rolling hills where fields lay dormant waiting for spring. Harvest had come and gone in this area of the state and now everything awaited the first taste of winter to roll in.

Passing the meeting grounds and the Shiloh Cemetery, she continued following the curves and turned at the country store as he’d said. About the time she hit the one mile mark from her last turn, the road turned from partially paved and partially graveled to dirt and Lizzy figured she was fairly close to where Tater’s home place would be.

Tater suddenly appeared in the road ahead of her causing Lizzy to stand on the breaks before fully realizing it was him and not someone she could actually do harm to. Resting her head on the steering wheel to catch her breath and still her nerves, she had the sudden urge to laugh. Not wishing to appear foolish, she shook it off and climbed out of the car to get on with business of locating Jake.

“Sorry,” Tater’s sheepish smile warmed her heart as he ducked shrugged his shoulders. “Forgot you wouldn’t see me till I was right there. Should’ve called out first to warn you.”

“No problem, lead me to where you were and let’s find Jake.” Taking in the view surrounding her from the trees just shedding their autumn leaves to the bare branches of the ones already done. It hadn’t rained in nearly a week so the leaves crunched beneath her shoes as they headed further into the woods away from the dirt road.

“How did you and Jake get up here? Didn’t you have a truck or car?”

“Yep, truck’s on a back road the other side of the place,’ gesturing towards the west he nodded his head. “ This was easiest for you to find seeing as you hadn’t been out that way before.”

Following the elderly spirit was easier than she’d hoped. He didn’t fly off or float ahead but ambled along as if still alive making it a comfortable walk in the woods for her. Even the worry of watching for snakes left her mind when he pointed them out ahead and steered clear of them. He just seemed to know what was hidden beneath the leaves and coverings of the wood’s floor.

Once along the way he stopped and put his finger to his lips before pointing out a large buck laying in some scrub off to their left his antlers blending in perfectly with the fallen branches around him. She was so mesmerized by the site she almost forgot to breath. The silent chuckle in her ears startled her back into awareness. A huge grin broke out on her face before she could help it. How silly and immature this would seem to most anyone she might have told. She wouldn’t though.

“Ok, see that line of fence rail sticking up over there?” Tater pointed his arthritic fingers in the general direction they were heading and Lizzy could just make out a pole or two sticking up from the dry grasses. “Follow that fence line back north and that’s where I lay against what’s left of the old barn. I can’t get much closer than this. Something don’t let me get close.”

“You can’t return to your mortal remains once your spirit has completely separated. Not sure why, but I think it prevents a ghost from trying to reanimate its own corpse.” Cringing outwardly at the idea, she shrugged her shoulders.

“Just wait around here for me to go check and I’ll be right back.” Lizzy’s face must have shown some of her reluctance to viewing the remains of Tater Ratcliff because the old hunter held his hand up to stop her.

“You don’t need to go that close you know. Just make sure Jake ain’t around and we can start looking elsewhere for him.”

“I know, but thanks. I want to be sure…your um body is still there so I can call it in. You deserve a proper burial.

“Don’t know as it matters much child. I’m happy where I lay now.” The content in his graying eyes was obvious and Lizzy would love to leave it at that, but…

“Wish I could Tater, but the only way those relatives of yours will quit receiving a check from the government for caring for you is to report you missing and they will find your body once that happens. Since they never reported you missing, they’ll get a good scare when the authorities check up on ‘um about it.” Her smile ended up a smirk but it still lit up her face.

“Ok with me then. Don’t suppose it matters where they put me, I’m dead now and nothing’s gonna bother me; have at ‘um!”

Nodding her head in agreement, Lizzy began the short traipse across the field, mindful of snakes this time without her spiritual snake charmer to lead the way. On reaching the first fence post still standing she turned north and followed the line of leaning rotting posts as well as the virtual ones where some where missing. As she drew closer to where the single remaining side of a barn still existed, the distinct buzzing of flies was her first clue the hunter’s body lay close. The second clue was the unmistakable putrid sweet odor of early decomposition. About four days of cooler weather without rain seemed about right for the few clues she experienced going no further in her steps.

Turning back she walked just far enough away to loose the smell and began to slowly walk a circle around the site in hopes of picking up some sort of trail the missing Jake might have left behind. Almost full circle she located a faint trail of bent grass heading towards the direction Tater had pointed his truck to be. The hunter might have headed back to the truck then.

Picking up her pace a bit, she followed the bent grass to the edge of a tree line and stopped to call Tater to her side. Oddly enough, he was there before she had the thought formed and out of her mouth. Damn it was hard to get used to them knowing when you were thinking about them.

“Did you check your truck to see if he’d gone back there?”

“Yea, that was the first place I looked when I realized what was wrong. He wasn’t there and I couldn’t feel him there.” The weathered face squinched slightly when he said the word feel as if it pained him to admit he could.

“Ok, maybe he came up later though, after you had checked. It’s possible he stayed with you as long as he could before he realized there was nothing he could do for you.” Though she attempted to make her voice soft and comforting, a wince crossed the old man’s face.

“Yea, maybe so.” Gazing in the general direction of his truck he cocked his head to the side. “Follow me and I’ll lead you that direction.”

“I’m right behind you.” It wasn’t difficult at all to keep up with him. He tended to move as if he were still alive and eighty plus years old. His stride was longer but his pace slower as if there was all the time in the world. And maybe there was for him.

“Yonder is the truck, I don’t see Jake though.” The dejection in his voice matched the slump his shoulders gave as they approached an old faded blue Ford pick up.

“Jake!” she yelled as they drew nearer the truck. “Jake, here boy!”

“Whistle, he might hear that easier. I whistled for him.”

“Yikes, I don’t think I can whistle! I’ll try.” Giving it a good try she managed a couple of sick airy attempts that wouldn’t carry past her nose. “Sorry, never did learn how to do that.”

“S’ok, he ain’t here. I can feel him so he was here, but not now.” Shaking his head he walked into the truck and just stood there looking it over like an old friend. Then, walking back out of it, he turned toward the road and started walking.

“Hey Tater! Wait up, where are you going?” Lizzy had to jog to catch up and nearly ran right through him when he stopped suddenly.

“Figured he might try and make it back home so I’ll go see. Maybe I can scare one of them damn grand yungin’s of mine while I’m there!”

“That’s a good idea, but you don’t have walk back, you can just…think about being there if you want to go check it out while I keep checking around here.” She offered thinking he could make sure and be there and back faster than she could walk back to her car and drive there and back. “Can you do that without me with you? I don’t think once you’ve hooked up with me you can go far but that isn’t all that far away.”

“Hmmm, this ghost stuff is gonna take some getting used to I think. I’ll try that and come back in a few minutes. Just call his name since you can’t whistle and maybe he’ll bark if nothing else.” He was gone before she could agree.

Shaking her head, she turned back into the woods, planning to stay parallel with the road and just inside the tree line to call out for him. She wanted to be able to see the edge of the road to keep her bearings and to watch in case he was lying along the side of the road somewhere. Sighing in frustration at the cruelty of some people she started walking, watching for snakes and calling out for Jake.

About fifteen minutes passed with no signs of the dog when Tater popped back into view beside her. A funny smile lit up his eyes as he stopped in front of her.

“Did you find him?” She all by squealed at the look he had.

“No, but got them damn rascals!” The cackle he let out made her jump.

“What?”

“I figured out how to scare them crazy relations of mine and had a good time! Wooshed all through them and made them cold and scared then I concentrated real hard like and managed to push over my walking cane I had sitting by the back door.” Again he let loose the cackle and with tears streaming down his face finished with, “They were hollering ghost when they ran out into the street!”

Laughing as well, Lizzy wished she’d been there for that! She hadn’t met the relatives yet, but from what he’d already shared with her, they pretty much kept his money and left him to fend for himself. They’d gotten power of attorney over him when he’d nearly died of a stroke a few years back and when he survived instead of dying like they thought he would, they just kept it. He’d managed to get his medications since he just order them and let the pharmacy bill them. They didn’t have a choice but to pay or the state would have found out what they were doing.

“Tater, wish I could have seen that!” Shaking her head she started walking again. “Haven’t seen him yet or any sign of him. Do you think someone might have picked him up?”

“Reckon that could be. What will I do to be sure he’s ok?” Worry clouded the man’s face again, chasing away the earlier mirth.

“I’ll put an add in the paper and check with the pound to see if he’s there. Let’s head back to my car and look on the way back as well. My voice is going from yelling so I won’t be able to do much more today. I’ve got food in the car so we can leave it out in case he’s around.”

“Bless you child, you thought of everything.” The full warmth of his smile softened her heart. She was so tired of all this, but the man was getting to her.

Back at her car, and still no sign of Jake, Lizzy turned around and headed for town. She could check the pound now and stop by the newspapers to take out the adds if they were still open. Guess she would need to go to both of the Brandon papers, the Rankin County News and The Rankin Record. There wasn’t a local paper for Pelahatchie since it was in Rankin County and there were already two county papers.

THREE

They struck out at the local animal shelters but left information in case someone called or brought a dog in matching Jake’s description. Poor Tater tried to talk to the volunteers while Lizzy tried to keep from being distracted and make sure they got her contact information right. It was breaking her heart to hear him over and over tell people how much he missed his buddy.

Lizzy filled out a Lost Dog form to be posted in the next edition of the Ranking County News and took a copy of it over to The Rankin Record, avoiding the need to re-write the entire add a second time. Third if you counted the animal shelter. It was closing time for most everything in the county now but she really hated to tell Tater that was it. With a deep breath she suggested they stop by the local sheriff’s office to check with them on the off chance someone might have reported a dog wondering the area.

She really didn’t like dealing with the law even when it was something as innocent as a lost dog. She dealt with them a lot more than she was comfortable with already in the last few years with several of her spiritual encounters. One involved a murder no one believed had occurred and though she was vindicated in the end, they treated her like a loony tune the entire time. Suffice it to say, they weren’t her best pals.

The sheriff’s office was typical for a Mississippi country community. The officer behind the desk smiled broadly though it didn’t reach his eyes. His eyes had that, “Great, now what” look instead.

“What can I do for you?” Pen poised over a pad, he waited patiently as she explained she was looking for a missing dog for a friend. He was an older hunting dog and she was worried. Thinking quickly, she decided to put a hint about Tater as well. His face cracked into a smile when he caught on to what she was doing.

“See, fact is sir, I haven’t seen my friend, Tater Ratcliff, in awhile either. He usually goes huntin’ over on his old home place out near Shiloh road but I don’t really know anything about that area to go huntin’ for him and Jake.”

“Tater Ratcliff? You mean old man Ratcliff that lives in those senior duplexes outside of Brandon?” He looked surprised.

“Uh yea. You know him?” Lizzy had a feeling she wasn’t going to like this. Glancing quickly towards where Tater was looking at the map of Rankin County on the wall, she was disappointed to find he wouldn’t look at her.

“Yea, he’s been calling here off and on for years. Fussing cause his family hadn’t been by to bring him his groceries or about someone dumping garbage out somewhere.” The deputy didn’t seem to be put out about it though. “Fact is, we all know about him. He’d go hunting couple times a week in his truck and then complain cause the folks didn’t do his shopping.”

“Did you ever find out why? Fact is deputy; they had his checks and didn’t give him anything to live on unless he fussed.” Indignation colored her voice and probably her face as well. The very idea! They hadn’t bothered to find out why the man had complained so much!

“You’re kidding! Why didn’t someone turn them in if they weren’t taking care of him? Did he ever complain?”

“Don’t really know much about it other than he couldn’t get them to spend his money on him without resorting to complaining to you or the police. I do know he ordered his medications from the pharmacy to be delivered because that was the only way to charge it and be sure the bill went to them.” Lizzy hoped the little white lies wouldn’t color her soul. She was winging it here since Tater had chosen that moment to disappear.

“Hmmm, you say he’s missing? You sure about that, cause they haven’t filed a missing person’s report on him.”

“Well since they get his check, do you reckon they’re in a hurry to do that? This is the first of the month after all.” Unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice she added a smile for effect.

“Has to be missing 24 hours before we can write it up. How long has he been missing?” The deputy rustled through some papers and pulled out a folder full of forms.

“Let’s see,” she thought about it for a minute and decided on yet another small white lie. “He was supposed to meet over at the Library two days ago and didn’t show up then. I just figured he’d forgotten on was not feeling well. Then I stopped by his place yesterday and he wasn’t there and his truck was gone.”

“What was he meeting you at the Library for?” The suspicion in his voice sounded familiar to her. She’d experienced it often enough with the law.

“I’m writing an article on Octogenarians in the area and was interviewing him. The Library was a good place to sit and talk. They have benches outside and it’s not so cool close to noon.”

Lizzy could tell he was struggling over the word, Octogenarian. She nearly giggled but managed to keep her mouth closed. He’d ask if he really wanted to know.

“So he’s been missing over 48 hours really though you aren’t the family, I suppose I can still fill the paperwork out and then make it official once I interview them.” He looked up from writing to gage her reaction to him planning to interview Tater’s family. Since she was all for it he didn’t see anything suggesting she was worried about it.

“Great! That makes me feel better. I would hate to think he was out somewhere hurt or something and no one cared enough to look for him. Will you look for his dog to? I promised him I’d take care of Jake if something happened to him. He was really close to that dog.”

“Yea, I can do that. I have your numbers here so I’ll give you a call if anything comes up.”

Thanking him and signing the forms before leaving she risked a glance to where she’d last seen her spirit friend but was disappointed to find him still missing. Sighing as she closed the door to the sheriff’s office behind her, Lizzy hoped she’d done the right thing clueing the law in that he was missing. You never knew what to do in cases like this.

Time for something to eat and then some down time before bed she decided. She’d planned to have a nice quiet walk and then do her laundry and maybe catch up on some reading and now here it was nearly six o’clock on a Saturday night and none of it had gotten accomplished. With the way things were going, it wouldn’t get accomplished tomorrow either.

FOUR

Lizzy’s first sight when she managed to pry her eyes open the next morning was of Tater sitting in her rocking chair across the bedroom. Having long since adjusted to having all sorts of ghosts sharing her house even when she was sleeping, it didn’t surprise her to see him waiting for her to wake up, but rocking in her rocking chair was something she hadn’t expected. He’d figured out how to sit without falling through the chair seat and how to move it. Quite an accomplishment for such a ‘young’ ghost.

“I’m five days old now if you’re going to look at it like that.” The gravely voice made her squint. It was much too early for this she was sure!

“Naw, it’s already after seven in the morning child. You’re sleeping in!” Again the harsh voice followed by his dry laugh this time.

“Morning Tater. Make yourself at home.” Turning over, Lizzy pulled the cover over her head and tried to pretend she could go back to sleep.

“You’re wastin’ daylight! Get up girl, we’ve got to get an early start and find Jake!”

“Got away till at least 8:30! I’m tired.” She attempted to burrow lower in the covers, but a weird tugging on the covers jerked her upright in an instant. Tater was standing at the foot of the bed with a corner of the covers in his hands. The serious look on his face with his mouth screwed up in a pucker and his eyes squinted drew a laugh from her before she could stop it.

“Hey! Stop that! It’s not nice to pull the covers off of people!”

Pleased with himself, he only grinned and dropped the covers. His face shown with the pride of his accomplishment and he promptly walked right through the bed and Lizzy’s legs heading for the bedroom door.

“So get your clothes on and let’s go. I’m worried about Jake.” Without bothering to open the door completely, the spirit disappeared through the wall.

Yawning as she tossed back the covers and double timed it to the bathroom, Lizzy hoped to be showered and dressed before he took it upon himself to check her progress on getting up. He didn’t appear to have a lot of patience so she didn’t tarry with fixing her hair. Instead, she pulled it back into a pony tail and headed for the kitchen and something to drink.

Less than an hour later she was back on the road looking for Jake and hoping to locate him soon. Tater seemed much more anxious this morning than the day before. Maybe they would be lucky today and locate the missing dog.

“I thought we would run by a couple of the local vets to see if they have heard from anyone who’s found a dog recently.” Lizzy hoped this would give Tater some hope. His eyes were sunken and dark today. Worry etched his forehead with deep lines.

“That sounds like a good idea. Should have thought of that myself. Guess I’m not as sharp as I was.”

“You’ve been worried and you just died, I think you need to cut yourself some slack, Tater.”

Pulling into the first veterinarian office outside of Brandon, Lizzy checked with the receptionist but found they hadn’t received in found dog calls, only a lost cat call.

“I’ll check with the Doctor when he’s free but usually he lets me know if someone has contacted him. Leave me your phone numbers to reach you.” Taking the preprinted paper Lizzy handed her, she nodded and posted it on the little board above the phone in her office. “Good luck.”

It was at the last office they got a lead. A man called the day before to ask if anyone had lost a black and tan dog that looked to be around ten years old. Lizzy clapped her hands and risked a smile in Tater’s direction.

“Do you have the man’s phone number? That sounds like Jake!”

“Yes, but I’ll call him, we don’t give out phone numbers, I’m sorry.”

Her voice was friendly, but Lizzy couldn’t help the scowl that covered her face. She didn’t have a choice, but it didn’t mean she had to like it. She’d never had a lot of patience anyway.

“Why don’t you sit over there and wait a minute while I try to phone him.” The receptionist smiled warmly indicating with her outstretched hand the couch across the room. She picked up the phone and dialed while Lizzy sat near the window where she could see the traffic as it passed the office.

The jarring of her own cell phone against her leg alerted her of an incoming call. She’d set it on vibrate so she’d know if it rang over the ruckus of barking dogs and wailing cats. Pulling it out and checking the number she wasn’t sure who it was but flipped it open anyway. She’d shared her number with quite a few places in the last two days.

“Hello?”

“Is this Lizzy Gordon?” The voice on the other end sounded vaguely familiar.

“Yes, who’s calling please?”

“This is Sheriff Williams, you talked to one of my deputies yesterday about Old Man Ratcliff, right?”

Lizzy knew they’d found his truck and maybe even his body by now just from the tone in his voice. “Right, have you found him? Is he ok?” She hoped her voice held just enough emotion to sound like a normal reaction from a friend. This part always made her nervous. She’d never been particularly skilled at acting and playing the part of ignorance with people and most especially, the law.

“Um, Ms Gordon, we’d like to talk to you here at the station if you can come down for a few minutes.” There it was the subtle hint that something wasn’t right and she had to continue her charade. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and answered.

“I’ll be glad to, but tell me, have you found Tater? Don’t hide something from me. Is he hurt?”

“Ms Gordon, I think it would be better if you come down here so we can talk. If you need us to give you a ride, we can do that.”

“No, I have my car. I’ll come down. I should be there in the next thirty minutes or so.” Shaking her head she closed the phone and stuck it back in her pocket. No use hurrying, she knew what would happen next. The most important part now was to find Jake. Tater couldn’t be helped any other way now. The sheriff’s department was only a few blocks away.

FIVE

The receptionist interrupted her thoughts when she called over to where she was sitting.

“Ms Gordon, Mr. Lorry wants to talk with you. I have him on the phone here.”

Lizzy prayed silently Jake was with this man and she could help Tater move on now. She had a feeling things were not actually moving in a good direction. “Thanks, that’s great!” She hurried over to the window and took the phone from the woman’s hand.

“Mr. Lorry? My name is Lizzy Gordon.”

“Ms Gordon, Stan Lorry I guess I might have your dog.”

“I sure hope so Mr. Lorry, but he’s not actually my dog, he belonged to a friend of mine and I’d promised him I would take care of him.”

“Oh.” The disappointment in his voice was obvious even over the phone. “My wife and I had gotten pretty attached to the animal. He seemed pretty upset when we first found him but he’s kind of settle down now.”

Lizzy thought fast. “Oh, you were thinking he might be a stray and you wanted to keep him?”

“Well, yes. I suppose that was what we were thinking. My wife and I don’t get out much and he just seemed so happy to be here and all…” The voice on the other end of the line trailed off before picking back up. “But, he belongs to someone so I understand if he’s your friend’s dog and you need to come get him.”

“Mr. Lorry, he might not be Jake and if he is, well, I need to come see and talk to you about it. Could I come by a little later this afternoon?”

“Sure, sure. We aren’t going anywhere. Come by anytime. I think Rose can give you the directions.”

Lizzy thanked him and handing the phone back to Rose, asked for directions before thanking the woman and heading to her car. Tater was leaning against the hood waiting on her as if he were flesh and blood, a peculiar look on his weathered face.

“Jake might be in good hands there girl, what ya’ think?”

“It sounds like it but before we say he’s ok, we need to be sure it’s him and that they really are the right owners for him.” Lizzy settled into the diver’s seat and buckled up. Tater drifted through the door and nodded his head.

“Spec you’re right on that. What’s gonna happen now?”

“I’ve got to go by the sheriff’s office and pretend shock when they tell me you’re dead. This isn’t my most favorite part of this process at all. I hope they’ve already talked with your family and grilled them on why they didn’t report you missing.”

“Humph, I want to hear that part myself. Not that I’m all that broken up over it, I just would’ve enjoyed seeing them squirm for a change.” The humor in his voice even without the smile he tried to hide wasn’t lost to her.

Pulling into the parking slot only four cars from the building, Lizzy just shook her head and steeled herself for the next few minutes. Something nagged at her in the back of her mind. She had the uneasy feeling this wasn’t going to go as easy as she’d planned.

As soon as she entered the office, the deputy who’d been there the day before walked from behind the counter with his hand out.

“Thanks for coming down Ms Gordon. We just needed to talk to you for a few minutes to clear up some things.” His handshake was firm and he used it to draw her forward to one of the rooms off to the side.

“I don’t mind, anything that will help find Tater. I’m just worried about him.” She smiled even as the nagging turned into a knowing in her gut. This wasn’t good.

“The sheriff wouldn’t tell me if they’d found him and if he was ok. Is something wrong?” Worry and a trace of fear colored her voice and her face. Most of it was no longer pretend though.

“Well, Ms Gordon, fact is, Mr. Ratcliff is dead.” He’d just indicated a seat for her to take when he gave her the news and watched as she sank into it with a stunned look on her fact.

“Dead? Are you sure?”

“Yes ma’am I’m sure. We found him early this morning out on his property near Shiloh road. His truck was there and we found him propped up against one of the old buildings out there that’s mostly fallen in.”

Lizzy focused on a stricken look and shook her head slightly from side to side without saying a word. Silence had always served her well.

After a full minute of her silence the deputy nodded his head towards the door and stood up. “Ms Gordon, this is Sheriff Clark Williams, he wanted to hear what you knew himself.”

Lizzy nodded and looked up as the sheriff walked in. His blue eyes and ruddy complexion followed true to the majority of the people who lived in the area. The man held his hand out to shake hers and then sat in the chair across from her the deputy had vacated.

“Thank you again for coming out to talk with me. I just want to hear what you told my deputy yesterday.” He smiled and even his eyes picked it up. She was sure he’d used this look many times to keep someone off guard. What was going on?
“Well, I’m writing an article on Octogenarians in the area and hope to submit it to a senior’s magazine once I have it finished.” Lizzy smiled shyly and continued. “I work as an office manager for a clinic in Jackson and hope to do some freelance writing as well. Anyway, I’ve been doing some research and interviewing people for several months on other articles and met Mr. Ratcliff over at Shiloh cemetery one day. We struck up a friendship and have talked off and on for the last several months. He’s a great source for how things were when he was a child and about the history of the area.” Lizzy stopped and looking up smiled shyly shaking her head.

“I’m sorry; you’re not really interested in all that I’m sure. Tater seemed lonely and I enjoyed hearing about life when he was growing up. He had some really amazing stories.”

“I’m sure he did. If I remember right, he’d never been anywhere but this area so he would know just about everything about this part of the state.” He smiled again and seemed to wait for something.

Suddenly tater was in the table between her and the sheriff, his body looked as if it had been sawn in half and the top half sat on the table. His face was animated and excited looking so when he spoke; the higher pitch of his voice didn’t startle her as much as it could have.

“Wait girl! He’s trying to trick you for some reason. I’m originally from Alabama and moved here with my folks when I was a teenager. I lived here most all my adult life though, cepting when I went over seas in the military just after the war. I was with the marines!” He smiled smugly and turned to the sheriff with the look still on his face.

“Um Sheriff Anderson, he wasn’t from here, he moved here with his parents when he was a kid, a teenager I think he said. And he was over seas sometime after the war with the marines. I don’t guess you would have known that though if you didn’t know him real well.” Lizzy’s heart was in her throat now. Without Tater’s quick help, she’d been in trouble she knew that now. Something wasn’t going as planned.

“It’s them no good relatives of mine I can promise you that. They’ve filled him full of some story and he’s buying it.”

“Maybe you’re right Ms Gordon. I probably wouldn’t have known that about him. What’s this you told my deputy about his folks not taking care of him?” His face seemed far less friendly now, but not really directed at her.

“Well, I can’t say a lot because I only have what he told me but they got his check every month and he almost had to beg for them to bring his groceries. I overheard him once talking to them on the phone when I’d come by to see if he wanted to take a ride out to Shiloh cemetery with me. There wasn’t much of anything in his house to eat.”

“I think you’re right about that Ms Gordon, but I wasn’t really sure what you knew about him. His house looked as if it had been ransacked when we checked it out. Since the door was unlocked, we went on in and found things in a disorderly state, so we were thinking maybe a burglar. There wasn’t much food at all in the house, even for an old man who wouldn’t need much.” Standing up he held out his hand to her and waited for her to stand.

“I want to show you something we found in his house this morning though. If you’ll come this way I’ll show it to you.”

Lizzy frowned but stood up and followed the man out of the room and down the hall to a larger room where several labeled bags lay on a table in a neat row. She instantly recognized the shotgun from where Tater had died on one end of the table. Most of the items in the bags along the table didn’t look familiar but one of them held a gold band nearly worn into on one side that looked exactly like the one Tater had on his ghostly form now. Looking quickly at her ethereal companion standing close by, the ring was there.

The sheriff selected one of the bags and picking it up handed it to Lizzy. With a questioning look she took it carefully with two fingers and held it up. There was an envelope with writing on the outside and a letter in careful cursive as well.

“You can’t hurt it through the plastic so you can hold the plastic and read the letter.” The sheriff seemed amused with her care on taking the plastic from him.

Nodding her head, she held the letter to read through the plastic. The contents shocked her and she nearly dropped the bag it was in to the floor. Wanting to look at Tater she had to catch herself so she wouldn’t look crazy to the sheriff and his deputy. How had he done this? There was no way he could have written the letter before his death, he didn’t know her then…did he? Shaking her head in denial she just handed the letter back to the sheriff and looked at him.

“I can tell you didn’t expect that. He seemed to be fond of you. Naturally, when we contacted the family about his being missing, they said they didn’t realize he was missing. They wanted to know why we thought he was missing and when we told them a young woman had reported him missing they immediately started in about someone must be trying to take advantage of him.” He stopped and laid the letter back on the table in line with the other bagged belongings of Tater Ratcliff.

“They obviously didn’t know about you because they started fussing that some woman was probably trying to swindle him out of his money and he didn’t have anything but his family’s land. They painted you as a harlot and being a little older than what you are. I’m supposing you to be about thirty or so right?” At her nod he continued. “Went so far as to suggest you might have even harmed him if he was missing cause why else would he not be at home?”

Lizzy only nodded still shocked by the contents of the letter. Her eyes were moist now despite trying to keep the emotions locked down. This wasn’t something she would have expected and there was guilt as much as anything fueling her tears.

“I’m sorry about Tater, Lizzy.” The sheriff’s hand touched her shoulder briefly. “He was an old man and his time was up. I don’t think he suffered at all. He’ll be better off now with what he was dealing with here. I feel real bad myself cause we didn’t know they weren’t taking care of him. A lot of older folks aren’t always truthful about how their family treats them, either out of bitterness or just from not having all their faculties anymore, so we made an assumption we shouldn’t have and I’m real sorry about that.”

“Thank you sheriff. He would have wanted to die right where he did, on his home place and probably would have been much happier to have been buried there, but I guess that’s not possible now. I just wish I could’ve said bye, you know?” Lizzy smiled through her tears. Thinking quickly, she decided to make a stab it something. “Sheriff? What about his relatives? Will they be in any trouble for not reporting him missing or for miss treating him?”

“I’m sorry, but there just isn’t much we can do. They weren’t breaking any laws, and we can’t prove the neglect because he’s dead now and nothing about his death so far points to neglect being the reason. If something shows up at his autopsy, then we’ll go from there.” Smiling he ushered her out of the room and back towards the front of the building. “Don’t worry about any of that though. If something comes up we can use against them, we’ll make sure they pay the price. In the meantime, that letter back there is going to hurt them right nicely so don’t you worry about them ending up with anything out of his death. Old man Ratcliff got the last laugh in the end.”

Lizzy smiled in agreement and walked out of the office with the sheriff holding the door for her. Tater was in the passenger seat of the car waiting on her when she opened her door after the quick walk down the sidewalk. His pleased smile said it all. He felt good and was only waiting for the preliminaries of being sure Jake was in good hands before he moved on.

SIX

“Before you start in on me about that I have a few things I need to say to you. Let’s go on out to Shiloh cemetery before we check on Jake. I want to show you something.”

Lizzy nodded and with a lighter heart, started the car and headed to the old cemetery near the wooden tents where families had recently gathered for the week long camp meeting that was a yearly tradition for the community. More than likely there would still be a few lingering “long timers” still keeping house out there, but for the most part, it would be deserted.

Parking along a road across from the church, she locked her door and followed Tater as he headed into the older section of the cemetery near the tree line. Stopping beside a marker he smiled and nodded his head once before she made it to his side.

“Lizzy, meet my wife, Caroline Brown Ratcliff. She was my best friend as well as my childhood sweetheart and I’ve missed her these long years we’ve been apart.” Tears formed in his eyes as he talked. “Thank you Lizzy for helping me settle all this. I know you carry a burden speaking for the dead, but it’s an honorable one and you shouldn’t let yourself feel guilty when you get annoyed with us ghosts bothering you all the time. It’s bound to be a difficult cross to carry. I think I might have been on of your tamer spirits so maybe I didn’t give you much reason to be annoyed with me, but I’m sure it was enough just to have to spend your weekend traipsing around the woods and through my relatives dirty laundry.”

He smiled when his late wife’s spirit brushed him with a welcoming kiss on the cheek and the contact brought her form in view for Lizzy now. The woman standing next to Tater with her hand lightly touching his was lovely with her hair up in a bun and a sparkle in her eyes that suggested she enjoyed making mischief.

“She’s a lovely woman Tater. I know you are going to be happy once you leave this place. I wish you had let me know what you planned though. I don’t really know what to do about it now.”

“I knew about you before I died and knew you would help me somehow but I didn’t know what would be needed at the time.” He turned to his wife and smiled down at her. “My dear Caroline visited with me not long before I died and warned me to be ready that my time was soon. My pappy came as well and they could only tell me to be ready and that you were someone I would need to find when I passed in order to finish some task before I could move on. I didn’t have a clue what it would be, but I listened to my family because they were always there for me.”

Smiling warmly down at his wife he nodded his head and let go of her hand and she dissolved from Lizzy’s view. He began walking back to her car and talking at the same time so she followed him.

“I hid the letter so the rats that called themselves my kinfolks wouldn’t find it and then once I’d found you and we were working together to find Jake, I went back and teased it out of it’s hiding place for the sheriff to find. I knew they would go there looking once you talked to them about me being missing. I just hadn’t known you would actually go that far so fast.” He smiled and chuckled. “Thought I would have to figure out a way to get the envelope into someone’s honest hands myself but since you took care of that for me, I’m gonna be able to move on even sooner than I’d hoped. I’m might grateful of that and I know I did the right thing this way.”

“Yep Tater, you did the right thing. I would have been happier if you’d told me what you were up to once you knew for sure I was helping you and if you hadn’t mentioned me in that will. It put me in some hot water with the sheriff you know.”

“I apologize for that. It never occurred to me they’d think you were guilty of something. Heck, I didn’t even think about that being the reason the sheriff tried to trick you with that thing about me living here all my life, until he showed you the letter. That’s when I understood. I’m right sorry about that.” He ducked his head as he apologized again.

“It’s ok. Nothing came of it so don’t worry about it.” She smiled from across the car’s hood and unlocking the door she got inside. “Let’s go see about Jake and be sure this is a good home for him. Then you and I can say good bye and I can get some laundry done before needing to go to bed tonight.”

Tater smiled and calmly walked through the door and taking a seat, pulled his legs from the floor board to rest on the carpet in front of him. It amused him to be able to do it but he was old enough when he died that it didn’t occur to him to take advantage of the ability to bother Lizzy. She relaxed and turned the car towards the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lorry.

She peppered Tater with curious questions about his life as a teen there in the Pelahatchie community during the short drive and learned quite a few interesting facts about the area. Having never been able to talk to either of her grandparents as a child, it was fun to hear about how life use to be in the ‘old days’ and Tater played his part with relish.

Parking her car in the drive of the Lorry’s home, she worked on wiping away the laughter she and Tater had shared so she could play her part one last time. She was nearly positive this would be Jake and he’d be in good hands. Tater could continue his journey and she would be the one left with dirty laundry and only a few hours left before another work week.

When the door opened before she could know, she realized the man had been watching for her to arrive. His graying hair was thin at the top and the glasses he wore were thick. Tater moved on into the house without them as if he already knew where Jake was.

“Hi, you must be Mr. Lorry, I’m Lizzy Gordon.” Holding out her hand she smiled hoping to put him at ease. He already looked upset and she’d not done or said anything for him to feel that way.

“Yes, come on in. Dudley is in the den with my wife. Um, that’s what we were calling him and he didn’t seem to mind.” Without waiting to see if Lizzy followed, he headed into another room. Shrugging she followed and found Tater sitting on the floor next to a black and tan hound who was obviously Jake.

“Dora, this is Lizzy, the lady who’s looking for the dog.” Turning to Lizzy he nodded his head and indicated his wife. “Dora, my wife.”

The woman sitting in the chair didn’t stand but smiled at Lizzy warmly and held out her hand. “Pleased to meet you. Sit down; can we get you something to drink? We have tea if you’re interested.”

“No, but thank you.” Sitting on a love seat across from the couple she realized Dora was either paralyzed or had some sort of muscular disease because her legs, though covered with a throw, were thin and frail looking compared to the rest of her.

“So, is this the dog you were looking for?” Mr. Lorry got right to the point. “Cause we really are fond of him and if whomever this dog belongs to wasn’t keeping him up and safe, they really didn’t need to have him in the first place.”

“Now Bill, we discussed this. It’s whatever is best for Dudley.” His wife smiled and patted his hand.

Tater smiled at me from where he sat whispering to Jake. He nodded at me and began to dissolve before my eyes. He was satisfied. No doubt he’d talked with “Dudley” since the dog now stood up and walked over to the chair where Dora sat and laid back down putting muzzle on her feet. The scene touched more than anything had in a while.

“Actually Mr. Lorry, Jake’s um Dudley’s owner passes away. That was why he was missing. He’d gone hunting and died while out hunting and Jake just wondered off.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I sure didn’t realize it was something like that.” He looked ashamed and Lizzy was sure he was a nice man, just very protective of his wife and her best interest.

“That’s so sad. I’m sure Jake was sad and lonely when he couldn’t wake his master up.”

“That was what I figured. He wondered off not sure what to do. I had promised Mr. Ratcliff I would take care of his dog for him if anything happened to him. So, I started looking as soon as he went missing.” Smiling at the couple she could tell Jake was content with his new home by the way he went instantly to sleep after moving. They would be good to him, Dudley or not she thought smiling at the name.

“I can’t take care of dog with my job so I’ve been worried about how to keep my promise. If you are truly attached to him and want to keep him it would probably be better for him anyway.” She waited for them to say something. When they just looked at her and then at each other, she worried that she’d somehow miss judged their intentions.

“But, if you don’t want him I’m taking him and caring for him.” She quickly stated to be sure they knew he wouldn’t be dumped in a shelter.

“NO.” The husband said almost immediately. “We love him and don’t want to loose him. We’re just surprised because we had prepared ourselves for the worst.”

“We will take great care of him, I can promise you.” Dora said smiling and covering her husband’s hand with her own. “He’s been a joy these few days and I just know he will be happy here. We have a large back yard so he can run some if he wants to, but he really seemed to be happier just lying around.”

“He’s close to 12 years old so he probably doesn’t want to do much running anymore.” Lizzy smiled and felt relieved. They did want him after all. Thank goodness! “I have some paperwork here that tells about his vet visits and has the vet’s name so if you need anything you will have it.” Standing up she pulled out the papers from her pocket and unfolding them handed them to Mr. Lorry.

“Thanks, we appreciate this. It will make it easier to be sure he stays healthy if we know who was seeing him already.” Taking the papers he smiled warmly for the first time and Lizzy could tell a burden had lifted with the knowledge that the dog would remain with them.

Saying her good byes she petted Dudley and headed back home to her laundry and an empty apartment once again. Sometimes, she decided, the ghosts she picked up weren’t so bad after all. Now all she had to do was deal with that letter and she’d be done with Tater Ratcliff. Somehow she wasn’t as relieved as she normally was when she was rid of her latest spiritual attachment. She’d really enjoyed talking with him and he’d been a very nice ghost to deal with over most she’d encountered. Of course, he’d also managed to stick her with a final problem, but since it involved the punishment of his relatives, she wasn’t as ticked off as she might have been.

Sometime next week, a judge would contact her to arrange for the reading of the will once the autopsy was complete and everything was considered to be ok with that. She’d attend the reading and when the relatives learned the land had been donated to a wildlife conservation group, they would be livid. Then to top it off, they would learn he’d willed a portfolio of stocks and bonds they knew nothing about to one Ms Lizzy Gordon. She was sure they would try and protest the will, but since it didn’t matter to her whether she had the portfolio or not, she wasn’t worried about it.

The portfolio had been set up to put all earnings back into stocks so he’d never had to worry about anything and just left it all these years. The company managing it for him paid taxes from the stocks and his income tax forms were always prepared by the company so his relatives never knew about them. She had no idea what they were worth, but after the severe losses that occurred in the stock market not that long ago, she doubted there was much left in them to be a bother.

Smiling to herself as she pulled into her parking spot, Lizzy was satisfied it had all worked out for the best with the least amount of trouble she’d had to deal with in several attachments. If only they could all be as easy. Shaking her head she laughed and headed for the door. As long as she got a couple of loads done before bed time, she’d consider herself lucky and call it a wrap.

Epilogue

Lizzy sat in the judge’s chambers with her mouth wide open. Surly she heard him wrong she thought. There was just no way could he have said that. When the irate relatives of the late Mr. Tater Ratcliff jumped up and began to fuss and yell, she knew it was true. The stock portfolio Tater had left for her was worth a hell of a lot more than she’d ever dreamed possible in today’s market. Two hundred and Fifty Thousand dollars in various stocks and bonds managed by the firm of Rogers and Callahan were now listed in her name. What was she going to do with something like that?

Closing her eyes she shook her head and could have sworn she heard Tater laughing somewhere. When she opened them quickly there was no sign of the ghost, but she was sure he was there somewhere having his laugh on the relatives as well as her. Had she realized what he’d actually done…

It could continue being managed as it had before and she could deal with the problem later. Right now, she just wanted to get out of that room with those greedy kin of Taters’ and visit Dudley quickly before she needed to had back home. Somehow, she wasn’t surprised he’d gotten her goat. After all, he was a ghost after all. That’s what ghosts did, haunt the living.