(The true stories about Bump City, Oregon,
as compiled in the Bump City daily newspaper,
Bump In The Night (BIT'N)
Included in this edition: · Die Laughing

Die Laughing
(The truth be told about the death of Lydia Wolfe!)
The 1st BIT'N File - issue 3

Chapter Thirteen

     Cindy couldn't believe it!

     How did Gentle get here?

     She looked down at the enormous white cat and then quickly looked around
the room. No one had seen the cat... yet.
     It was then that the bell rang loudly, ending the period. Cindy,
fearing that the cat would be discovered, grabbed her coat from the back of
her desk chair and dropped it over Gentle's giant frame. With her pencil
clenched in her teeth, Cindy gathered her books and papers together, and
crammed them in her backpack. She reached down, scooped Gentle up in the
coat and then, hurried out of the classroom into the hall.
     Students were everywhere, crowding down the corridor, making their way
to their last class. Cindy was glad. With all the hustle and bustle,
there was less chance for them to wonder what she had under her coat.

     "Cindy!" Scott Walker's voice rang out above the noise of the crowded
hallway. "Cindy!"

     The last thing she needed was to talk to anyone, especially with a giant
cat tucked under her coat.
     Pretending she hadn't heard him, she cast her eyes to the floor and
pushed her way through the crowd, forcing her way down the hall.
In theory it wasn't a bad idea. Only how was Cindy to know that Gentle
would see a mouse? Obviously, someone must have taken one of the mice from
Biology, and as a prank, turned it loose in the hall.

     Gentle's head popped out from beneath the coat and Cindy could feel the
cat's powerful legs begin to push and kick. Before she had time to react,
Gentle had broken free and hit the floor running.
     The mouse was scurrying as fast as its tiny feet could go. With
Gentle hot on its heels, it shot between the legs of several students and
around the corner of the hall.

     Cindy wasn't as fast as the cat, but she was just as determined. With
books falling from her backpack and her coat flapping behind her like a
parachute in the wind, she followed.
     She pushed her way through the crowd, dodging and weaving, working
against the flow. Skidding around a corner of the hallway that led to the
second floor stairs, she found Gentle who had the mouse cornered at the base
of the stairwell of the old building.

     Cindy grabbed Gentle by the scruff of the neck just as the cat swiped at
the helpless mouse. Putting her hand under his big belly she lifted Gentle
into her arms as the rodent took advantage of the opportunity and quickly
disappeared.

     The chase was over.

     Cindy was breathing hard, and she felt the ache of a soon-to-be-bruise
on her arm where she ran into some kid in the hall. As the bell rang for
the last class, Cindy hesitated and looked over her shoulder right into the
curious face of Scott Walker.
     "What are you doing?" Scott asked.
     "Not now, Scott," she groaned. "I've got to get Gentle out of here."
     "Who?"
     "Gentle. You know! The cat I found at the Wolfe place!" She turned
around to show him the cat.
     "What cat?" a voice behind Scott asked. It was Billy-Buck and behind
him came Kimberly and Iris, and Scott...
...Muffy, the Mistress of Mouth.

     Cindy quickly covered the cat with her coat.
     "First a ghost," laughed Muffy, "and now a cat?" Muffy held up her hands,
making a cross with her two index fingers. Everybody crossed their fingers,
joining in -- hissing as they all jokingly backed away from the 'ghost
lady'.
     Cindy could have shown them all the cat, but then the cat was sure to be
taken away from her.
     "What's going on here?" asked Mr. Thompson, the eighth grade counselor
and school nurse, as he came upon the group. "You're all supposed to be in
class. The last bell has already rung!"

     Quickly everybody began to disappear, melting down the hall.

     "And you, young lady" he said pointing at Cindy, "are wanted in the
office. The police are here!"

Chapter Fourteen

     As soon as Mr. Thompson turned and headed back down the hall, Cindy
pulled the backpack from her shoulder and stuffed the big cat inside. She
was careful to leave the zipper open so he would be able to breathe. She
swung the heavy backpack over her shoulder and trudged down the hall to the
office.
     The weight of the world was on her shoulders, and Gentle's massive bulk
didn't help one bit. How could the police know that she was at Wolfe's
mansion? She had called but hadn¹t given her name. "Maybe," she thought
hopefully to herself, "they are here to give me a safety award or
something."

     Tentatively she entered the office. There waiting for her was the
school principal, Clarence Odell who looked very uncomfortable. Standing on
either side of him was Sergeant Martha Kilpatrick, and Chief Ray Knight of
the Bump City Police Department.
     Standing just behind them was her mother, pursing her lips the way she
did when she was upset, and her lips were very tightly pursed.

     "We need to ask you a few questions, Cindy." Chief Knight began. "About
the death of Lydia Wolfe."
     It was obvious that Cindy wasn't going to receive a safety award for
good pedestrianism.

     Tears welled up in Cindy's eyes, and she felt her legs tremble. She
dropped her backpack on the chair and rushed to her mother.
     "I meant to tell you, Mom" she sobbed. "But I didn't want to wake you
up!"
     "Cindy, Cindy," her mother soothed, "next time, wake me up! I'm here
for you, you know that. You don't ever have to hide things from me!"

     Sergeant Kilpatrick placed her hand on Cindy¹s shoulder and turned her
around.
     "Cindy, 911 calls are traced," she said, "and when we talked to your
mother about a call from your house last night, she said it wasn't her.
     That only left you."
     Cindy nodded, a tear trickling down her cheek.
     "Now, help us out here," Chief Knight continued. "How did you know
Lydia Wolfe was dead?"
     Cindy told them everything: The challenge by the Word Whackers to take
a picture of the ghost, the juniper hedge, how she went into the house, the
ghost and Lydia's dead body. She left out the part about the cat.
Behind the police officers and the principal, Cindy watched as the
backpack began to move.
     "A ghost?" asked the chief as he shook his head in disbelief.
     Cindy began to sweat as she heard a muffled, "Burrnnow" and watched in
suspense as Gentle began to wiggle his giant head out of the bag.

     "A ghost?" her mother asked softly as the room suddenly became very
quiet.
     "I'll tell you what, Mrs. Finney," Sergeant Kilpatrick said at last,
"it's obvious your daughter is highly imaginative and very upset. We're
waiting for Mrs. Wolfe's only living relative, a great nephew from Iowa.
Once he gets here and has a chance to take inventory of what¹s missing in
the house, we'll get back to you."
     "Thank you for your understanding," Cindy's mother said as the
principal guided the sergeant and the chief out of the office and down the
hall.

     "And you," her mother sternly whispered to Cindy, "you and I will
discuss this further when your father comes home. We'll finish our little
chat then." With that she stormed out of the office.

     The only good things were that she hadn¹t been grounded (yet) and nobody
had seen Gentle (yet).

Chapter Fifteen

     Cindy's luck continued.

     She was still standing in the office when the final bell rang. Not only
did she miss the last period and Muffy Gilmore, but school was over for the
day. She tucked Gentle back in her backpack, hefted it over her shoulder
and waited. As soon as the halls were empty, she made her break.
     Unfortunately, when the school day ends, the rest of the day begins.
She hadn't gone farther than the flag pavilion in front of school when she
ran into Muffy and a group of Word Whackers.
     "Oh, lookie-lookie," Muffy chimed, smiling, "it's the little 'ghost
lady'."
     Cindy tried to go around them, but Muffy stood her ground.
Muffy continued, "C'mon Cindy, we don't believe a word of what you told
us this morning. And what's more, we don't want liars in the Word Whackers
club. But I'll tell you what, you get enough proof that this ghost really
exists and I'll not only let you in the club, but I'll even eat my socks."
The group cracked up laughing and then moved down the street.
Cindy stood there watching them go. "I hope the day I join the club is
the seventh day that Muffy has worn the same pair of socks," she muttered
angrily. The backpack suddenly felt like a boulder on her back and she let
it drop with a soft 'thud' to the ground.
     As if on cue, the zipper burst open, and Gentle bolted free. The big
white cat lumbered across the school lawn kicking yellow-orange leaves that
fluttered and fell behind him in a scattered line.
     "Oh, no!" Cindy groaned as she looked around. Fortunately, no one had
seen.
     Cindy grabbed the bag and ran after the cat. Breathing hard, she kept
Gentle in sight as the cat bolted down Pioneer Lane, through the grounds of
the old Sinkwater Orphanage, across an empty parking lot, and into the
deserted DieOxyn Chemical Plant
     Cindy had to run hard to catch up. She got to the abandoned plant just
as the cat ran through the rusted, open security gate and scampered up to
the boarded-up entry of the abandoned administration building. The cat
stopped, looked over its shoulder at Cindy, and then pushed through a broken
plank poorly nailed to the front and disappeared inside.

     Puffing some distance behind, Cindy followed, and soon she, too,
squeezed through the opening into the lobby of the run-down building.
The lobby was dark and the hollow sounds of her footsteps echoed down
the darkened hall. When her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could only
barely make out the room; broken glass doors, high vaulted ceilings, a row
of dusty chairs pressed against the wall.

     Thick dust lay everywhere and Cindy felt the urge to sneeze. She
remembered when Scott Walker told her about his dad closing down the
chemical plant because of some toxic accident or something. The DieOxyn
company had simply moved to their new facilities out near the Albeenie Falls
Pulp Mill and abandoned this site.
     Spooked, Cindy caught her breath and looked around for the cat.
Suddenly, a thumping noise echoed down the empty halls. Cindy's heart
skipped a beat and began to pound hard. She spun around, and saw Gentle.
"Burrnnow!" the cat called happily as he padded towards her, but Gentle
wasn't through with play. The cat looked at Cindy with its big eyes, then
flicked its tail in the air and shot between her legs, bolting back out the
front door.
     This was just not her day!

     As she turned to give chase, she caught the sleeve of her coat on
something - which she thought odd because she was standing in the middle of
the room.

     She turned to see what she had snagged...
     ...and looked into the face of a different ghost!

Chapter Sixteen

     The ghost was fainter than the ghost in the mansion but Cindy could
still tell that it was the ghost of a woman, with long, hair that streamed
like water weeds from her head. A long gown draped over her thin shoulders
and swayed in the breeze - only there was no breeze in the building.
The ghost's mouth was open like it was trying to talk, but there was no
sound.

     Cindy didn't know what to do, but her feet did -- they ran, and they ran
very fast!

     Without so much as a "Glad to meetcha, gotta go!" Cindy screamed and
ran across the lobby, through the boarded-up doorway, past the gate and as
far across the parking lot as she could get in one gulp of air.
     Scared wouldn't even begin to express what was going through her mind.
She was frightened nearly out of her wits.
     She finally stopped and leaned against a light pole at the side of the
street, gasping for air. She looked back at the plant and was relieved to
discover that the ghost had not followed.
     Two ghosts in two days, too much!
     She looked up and saw Gentle, sitting across the street, swishing his
big white tail. The cat seemed to smile a Cheshire smile, and then flipped
up his tail and trotted down Pioneer Lane heading toward town.
Cindy shook her head, and like Alice chasing the rabbit, continued after
the big cat. At this rate, she knew she'd never catch up, so she paced
herself, keeping the cat in her view as it pranced down the sidewalk.
The cat appeared to know right where it was going turning right on
Sutter Boulevard and then left on Park Avenue.
     "Park Avenue!" Cindy muttered, "The old Wolfe Mansion! Gentle's going
home!"
     She rounded the corner just in time to see the cat disappear through the
hedge that surrounded the grounds of the mansion. She slowed herself to a
walk and called for the cat.
     Looking up and down the street to make sure no one was watching, she
crouched down and pushed through the small opening in the hedge. Sharp
branches tugged at her hair and scraped her hands and face.
     She pulled herself through and stood up just as Gentle bounded across
the front porch and into the open door of the house.
     In daylight, the house didn't seem quite so frightening but the memory
of the ghost inside and its killing of poor Lydia Wolfe still haunted her.
The house was fenced in a yellow-tape police banner, that was inscribed:
DO NOT ENTER BCPD CRIME SCENE. The tape ran across the front of the porch
and crisscrossed the door, but the tape was broken and the door was wide
open.
     She didn't want to go back in there, but abandoning Gentle wasn't an
option she was prepared to take.
"Well," she whispered to herself as she crept toward the porch, "it's
only a killer ghost."

     Standing on the lower step, Cindy craned her neck and peered through the
entry door into the foyer. It was gloomy, but just inside she could see,
bold as brass, Gentle sitting there, licking his forepaw and washing his
white face.
     Cindy ducked under the yellow tape, but as soon as she took a step
towards the cat, it blurted a playful "Burrnnow!" and bounded up the stairs.
     "Oh, yeah!" she thought, "This is just what I need. Another adventure
in this spooked-out house."
     Shrugging her shoulders, Cindy reluctantly followed, taking the stairs
two at a time until she was at the top landing. But Gentle was nowhere to
be seen.
     Nervously, she walked across the landing.
     It was then she heard a muffled, "Burrnnow!"
Thinking the cat had somehow slipped behind her and went back
downstairs, Cindy rushed to the railing and leaned over, listening for the
sound.
     "Burrnnow!"
     She spun around
     The cat sounded like it was practically right next to her. But where?
Then Cindy remembered, "Of course! The secret stairway!"

     Feeling with her fingers across the polished oak paneling, she pressed
the wood repeatedly. She knew the pressure point existed somewhere.
Suddenly there was a click and the section of wall turned inward, only this
time she didn't fall on her face.
     And there, happily, sat Gentle.
     "Burrnnow!"
     But, apparently the game wasn't over. For just as Cindy¹s hands touched
fur, the cat scooted up the narrow stairway to the attic above.
     She hesitated, but then followed, stomping up the stairs hoping to scare
the ghost away. At least this time there was no need to be quiet, Lydia was
dead.
     At the top, Gentle was there to greet her, pushing his big white head
against her legs.
     "Big, bad kitty," she chided lifting him up into her arms, "why can't
you stay put, huh?"

     Cindy really should have asked why she couldn't stay put herself. As
she nuzzled Gentle and turned to go back down the stairs, something tugged
at her sleeve...again!

Chapter Seventeen

     Cindy's inner voice was talking loud and very clear, "You¹ve already
done this once today -- when something tugs at your coat and you're in a
very spooky place... don't turn around!"

     But like most folks, she didn't listen to her inner voice.
     She turned around...
     ...and found herself staring into the frightening face of the
killer-ghost from last night!
     The same ghost that had murdered Lydia Wolfe in this very room!
Cindy screamed so loud that Gentle jumped from her arms, hit the floor
and was gone in a flash. Cindy was right behind him running down the stairs
in record time, across the landing and almost without touching a tread,
fairly flew down the grand staircase.
     To her dismay, when she ran to the front door she found the wind had
blown it closed and it was jammed!
     Yanking at the handle with all of her might, she looked back over her
shoulder -- the ghost was still coming, its long hair floating like wavy
strands about its head as it descended the stairway.
     Desperate to find someplace to hide, Cindy ran again, this time down the
long hall she had explored the night before and back into the library. She
dropped her backpack and, relieved, slid the doors safely closed behind her.

     Her relief turned to horror as something tugged at her sleeve...
     ...again!

     Everything considered, Cindy did the best she could.

     She screamed and then simply passed out.

Chapter Eighteen

     The shimmering ghost slowly moved across the second floor landing its
arms reached out, searching, searching.
     Cindy was hiding at the base of the staircase, flattened against the
floor, safe.
     Suddenly, the ghost soared out beyond the landing and began to drop down
over the top of Cindy, its mouth open, demanding that she wake up.

     Wake up! Wake up!

     Cindy woke from her dream with a start -- staring into the smoky blue
eye of the ghost.
     She screamed a long ear-piercing scream.
     "Get away, killer-ghost!" she screamed again. "Get away! I saw what
you did to old Lydia Wolfe!"
     She tried to scramble to her feet, but the ghost was leaning over her
and she couldn't get up. She punched the ghost hard in the stomach with her
fist.
     The ghost groaned in a very unghost-like way, "For pity's sake, calm
down! I am not a ghost."
     "Yes you are!" Cindy screamed again.
     "Please, you're hurting my ears. I am not a ghost," he repeated.
She stopped struggling and felt his warm, firm fingers gripping her arm.
Cindy squinted up at him. He looked like a real, twenty-four year-old,
flesh and blood human being. His hair was a bit long and it appeared he
hadn't shaved for several days. His face was well defined and he wore a
pair of wire-rim glasses that framed his smoky-blue eyes. He was dressed in
a blue denim collarless shirt and was wearing a black cashmere overcoat.
     "Now," the stranger said as he let go of her arm, "Who did what to
Lydia Wolfe?"
     "Are you the police?" Cindy asked, pushing herself away and scrambling
to her feet.
     "Not hardly," the stranger softly said and then asked again, "What
happened to Lydia Wolfe?"
     Cindy looked again at his face. Her eyes flicked back and forth from
his intense blue eyes to the closed door. All the things she had been
taught to do all of her life ran through her mind: beware of strangers,
don't talk to strangers, run if a stranger confronts you.
     "Well, then," she said slyly, stalling for time and edging toward the
door, "this is private property, you know. And if I were you, I'd get out
of here before you get into some really big trouble."
     An odd smile creased the stranger's lips and he chuckled, "And just what
sort of really big trouble am I going to get into?"
     "Oh, really, really big trouble," Cindy warned, as she took another step
toward the door. "Lydia Wolfe¹s nephew is due to arrive any minute, and I
hear he is one buff, tough guy. A very, very mean tough guy and he's big --
very, very big and tough."
     "Yeah, right," muttered the stranger as he turned his back on her and
idly looked about the room.
     "Really mean, and really big! And I'm not kidding," babbled Cindy,
forgetting about her escape and getting angry that the stranger wasn't
reacting like she had thought he should.
     Ignoring her, he walked over to the oval table, and began looking
through the leather-bound files that were stacked there, "Well he's not that
tough and I hear that he is not mean either. But I hear he is really buff."
"And how would you know?" Cindy snapped, not liking the stranger's
attitude one bit.

     "Because," the stranger smiled, extending his hand to Cindy, "let me
introduce myself. I am Mrs. Wolfe's nephew -- Thadd L. Wolfe. Not big, not
bad and definitely not mean."
     "I know. I mean I knew but I was, well, on the floor and I thought you
were a ghost. Uh, well I'm sorry about your aunt."
     Thadd didn't even look up. He adjusted his glasses as he opened one of
the leather files.
     "Actually," he said at last, pushing the glasses back up on his nose,
"she was my great aunt." He looked around the room and then continued,
"When I was a boy, I lived here, until I went away to college. When I left,
I never came back -- until now. Too many spooky things always happened
here. I wanted to get away and find a life of my own."
     He dropped the file he was holding and then one-by-one opened the
leather files. They were all empty!
     "Hmm? I wonder where all of Lydia's files are, all of her notes? Maybe
the police," he said and shrugged. "Ah, it doesn't matter anyway. The
silliness of a wonderful old woman, probably not that important."

     Something bumped into Cindy's leg and she looked down. Gentle was back,
rubbing his massive head on her legs, his fur, boa-like tail wrapped around
her calves. She knelt down, groaning as she picked up the heavy cat. The
cat comfortably settled in her arms and Cindy stood there calmly petting
him. She looked across the table and noticed Thadd Wolfe staring at her
oddly.
     "What are you doing?" he asked.
     "What do you mean, what am I doing?"
     "Moving your hand through the air like that?"
     "Well," said Cindy indignantly, "as you plainly saw, I picked up the
cat and now I am petting it."
     "You are?" Thadd¹s eyes squinted as he pulled his glasses further down
the bridge of his nose. He slowly walked around the table towards Cindy,
stroking his chin and studying her. He stopped midway down the table.
     "Hmm," mused Thadd. "Come here."
Cindy reluctantly walked alongside the table to where he stood. He
smiled and turned her around facing her towards the gold, ornately framed
mirror. "Now," he said, "what do you see?"
     Stroking Gentle's broad back, she turned and stared into the large
mirror. In the mirror she saw herself, Mr. Wolfe and ...
     ...herself, Mr. Wolfe and nothing!

     Her arms were empty!

     She looked down at the giant cat, snuggled in her arms, and the cat was
there.

     "Burrnnow!"

     And when she looked back to the mirror, the cat was gone!

     Her jaw sagged and she looked from the cat to the mirror to Mr. Wolfe.
  
     Gentle was a ghost!

     And, for the second time, Cindy fainted.

E-Mail Thadd Wolfe