Martha nodded. “But you haven’t seen anyone.”
Jackie nodded. “Right. I haven’t seen any children. Elena has had no play dates recently either.”
Martha continued, “Is she scared of them?”
“She didn’t act like it. She sort of laughed when she mentioned them.”
“I see,” Martha replied. “I realize this has been a trying day for you with the stress of the accident still fresh from this morning. Are you comfortable answering a few more questions?”
Jackie nodded. “I’m okay.” Then turned to Clay with a wry smile. “How ‘bout you, tough guy?”
“I wouldn’t encourage him if I were you,” Michael added.
Clay huffed out a quick laugh, then dipped his head once. “Yep. Good to go.”
“Okay, thank you,” Martha replied with an encouraging smile before continuing. “Do you know of some local folklore regarding two children dying on Haynesville Woods Avenue?”
Jackie slumped a little. Michael and Clay could only follow the exchange in silent fascination. “This might be a crazy coincidence, but the guy who ran into Clay this morning tried to pass off some story about kids haunting the neighborhood. I assumed he wanted to scare us with some exaggerated folklore bullshit.”
“Well, maybe, but I know the story of their deaths to be true. I learned of it while visiting a friend that lives on your street.”
“Wait, you’re the psychic who ran away when you heard this story?” Jackie asked.
Martha crossed her arms. “Yes, and with good reason. The experience was powerful and it motivated me to do a little research. I found a newspaper article about the incident in the library.”
“Ooookay, so what are we talking about here? You haven’t really answered the question yet. What did you see at my house?” Jackie demanded.
“When we stopped by your place, I stepped out of the car and saw the spirits of these children in your front yard.” Martha paused to let that sink in. Jackie said nothing, so she pressed on, “There also appears to be a malevolent entity manipulating them. Evan knows this. He insisted I tell you.”
The room remained silent. Martha wanted to wrap this up. “I need to go home and do some research so I can process all this, gain an understanding of what we are dealing with.”
No one spoke for several moments before Michael broke the silence. “Thank you, Martha. We really appreciate you doing this.”
Jackie looked up, her tears dry, tissues littered the floor around her chair. “Y-yes, we, I appreciate you taking the trouble,” Jackie said as she looked up from the wad of tissues in her hand. She couldn’t remember ever crying so much. So many disorienting emotions whorled around inside her. But she managed to give Martha a sincere look, the strength returning to her face. “Really, I mean that. And sorry about the attitude.”
“Don’t you worry about that,” Martha replied like a grandmother might.
Clay looked over and nodded to Martha with an appreciative smile. “Thank you, Martha.”
“You are all very welcome,” Martha said, an air of motherly warmth about her. “Jackie, may I leave my number?”
“Sure, why don’t we exchange numbers?”
While the ladies went about making plans to get in touch later, Michael gathered his laptop then turned to Clay, who extended his hand. Michael shook it and they looked each other eye to eye. “Thank you, Michael.”
“I’m not sure I did you a favor, but okay,” he replied with a grin. “I can’t give you a copy of the video right now, but maybe later.”
“I understand. Let’s stay in touch,” Clay replied.
“You bet,” Michael said just as Sean returned with Elena. She scampered over to her mother and gave her a hug, sensing her distress. “Are you okay Momma?”
Martha did her best to busy herself with her purse in order to avoid eye contact with Elena. She could sense her low steady hum of youthful energy, which made her want to reach out, but she thought better of it. Best to just observe for now, no reason to rush things.
Jackie gave Elena a good squeeze with one arm. “I sure am, honey, much better now that you’re here.” Then she looked up at Martha preparing to leave. “Thanks again.”
Martha nodded, a brief tight smile, wanting to leave the room without another word. But she paused at the door, realizing she didn’t have her car. She thought for a second and turned to Michael, who was watching her expectantly. She motioned and he walked toward her. “Don’t worry about giving me a ride home, I’ll get a taxi.”
“You sure? It’s no problem,” Michael asked.
“I’m sure. She reached up and patted his forearm. “It will be a nice opportunity to clear my mind.”
“Okay. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything,” Michael said.
Martha nodded, then left. Michael turned his attention back to the room. “Ready to go, Sean?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty hungry. You?”
“Definitely. We’ll stop on the way home.”
“Sounds good to me,” Sean said, then looked over at Clay. “Shoot me a text when we are back to work.”
“Will do, and thank you, Sean, for keeping me company.”
“Easiest eight hours you’re gonna pay me for,” Sean said, laughing out loud along with Michael and Clay. Jackie looked on, admiring the camaraderie. Evan had a similar rapport with his guy friends at the gym.
When they left the room, Clay returned to his bed. “How you doin’?” he asked Jackie.
She crossed her arms before replying, “It’s hard to say. So much has happened today.”
