A Grave Mistake Read Online Free Page A

studied the stone.
    “Good question.” Jolene looked around. “Got any vibes, Morgan?”
    But Morgan was busy staring at something behind them.
    “Huh?” Morgan spun around to face them.
    “Jeez, you’re making me nervous.” Fiona bent down and scooped up a handful of stones, closing her fist around them for a second then opening it up a little and peeking inside. Celeste could see disappointment on her face, but Fiona closed her fist and kept the stones inside.
    “Do you have any sixth sense about where to look so we can narrow down our search?” Jolene asked.
    “I don’t. I guess we should spread out and see if there is a clue on any of the graves.”
    "What about the mausoleum?" Fiona angled her head toward a cement doorway that was lower than the main graveyard and set into a mound of earth on the East side. It was small and not terribly ornate. The giant, iron hinges that held the doors shut, and the fact that it was inside the earth, made entering it a less than appealing prospect.
    Morgan shook her head. "I don't think the clue is in there. Besides, it's clearly locked … and it looks creepy inside."
    "Yeah, let's stick to looking around out here first, then maybe we can look in there." Jolene glanced over at the structure. "That lock looks easy enough to pick."
    “It would help if we knew what kind of clue we were looking for,” Fiona said as the girls started to spread out amongst the graves.
    “No kidding.”
    Celeste immersed herself in looking at the graves, searching for anything that stuck out. What would the clue be? One of the images engraved into the headstone? Some wording in one of the epitaphs? She tuned everything else out while she searched, moving deeper into the cemetery.
    In the back of the cemetery, Celeste could see a couple of chest tombs, their rounded tops making them look like concrete coffins sitting above ground. The stones back here were more ornately carved, as were the tombs.
    A wispy mass swirling from behind one of the stones caught her eye and she sucked in a breath. She recognized the swirling shape … it was a ghost.
    “’Bout time you got here,” the ghost said.
    She shouldn’t have been surprised to find a ghost in a graveyard and it didn’t startle her as much as it might have. Celeste was getting used to seeing ghosts—she’d been seeing them for a while now. Talking to the dead was her special gift.
    “You knew I was coming?” she asked the wispy swirl that was now solidifying into the shape of a man.
    “Of course. I been here a long time with Henry and Red.” The ghost nodded toward one of the ornate chest tombs. This one had a flat top and Celeste noticed two other ghosts sitting around it as if it was a table. They held something in their hands. Cards!
    Her brows mashed together as she squinted at them. “Are they playing poker?”
    “Yep. We got our regular poker game going so I don’t have much time, but you girls better take good care of that special item … I tried to keep it safe when I was alive.”
    “Oh, right. And just what is this special item?”
    The ghost looked at her slyly out of the corner of his eye. “Oh, come on. I know you girls know about it. Otherwise, why would you be looking?”
    “We need to keep the relic away from the bad guys.”
    “Yes, of course. That’s no secret. You’ll know it when you see it and know what to do with it.”
    “Yes, but what, exactly, is it?”
    “Why, it was one of my prized possessions. You do know who I am, don’t you?”
    Celeste shook her head.
    “Well, I might have been a bit before your time. I’m Ezra Finch. One of the very first pharmacists here in the state of Maine.” The ghost puffed up in a swell of pride. “People came from all over the country to get my medicines.” He leaned in close to Celeste and winked. “Some say they were magical.”
    “Magical?” Celeste’s brows shot up.
    Ezra laughed. “Sure. You know what I mean?”
    “Sort of,” Celeste said. “So,