Every Boy Should Face His Demons, Charlie Boone! - 10. Chapter 10

"I think I understand now where my other self went," Charlie said, on the drive back. Everyone had been silent, reviewing the things they had learned.

"You went to see where the guests came from," Ricky said, from the back seat. "To see what they escaped from. At least, that's what I'm thinking now."

Charlie nodded. "My first guess was another planet, but now I don't think that. My other self has a good feel for going, if that means anything to you."

Horace glanced at him. "Going?"

"Yes. I don't actually travel through space, for instance. I go through something else, and re-emerge where I want to be. This time was different from anything I've experienced." Charlie sighed. "I think now that, wherever the guests came from, it is not a part of our universe at all."

"Where else is there?" Adrian asked.

"I don't know. Some other universe? Some other universe in some other time? Some other dimension? I can only guess."

Ricky gnawed briefly on a knuckle, and then frowned. "We'll probably never know. Do you think it matters?"

Charlie shook his head. "No. I think that, when Mr. Ravishaw and Mr. Tesla started their device in the hopes of drawing in the spirits of the dead, they instead opened a doorway to some other place. That was the strange rift I saw the block people go into on their world. Wherever they were, they suddenly had a route away from their adversaries. They lived in the sand, somehow, but surely they couldn't always stay there. And when they came out, something was waiting to get them."

"It's frightening," Kippy said, glancing out the side window at the sky. "Scary to imagine something diving out of the sky to attack you just because you came outdoors."

Charlie nodded. "I counted 22 of the block people that came out of one mound of sand. And there were mounds of sand as far as the eye could see, all around the rift. I suspect the block people were coming at great risk from all corners of their world to be close to the doorway. For a chance to escape to something better."

Kippy took Charlie's hand in his and lowered his head onto Charlie's shoulder. "There is so much strife, everywhere. Even in the little corners of eternity that we'll never know by name."

Adrian looked at Charlie. "It's important that the machine in the house keeps running."

"I agree. Mrs. Ravishaw said it has no moving parts. And that it is powered in some way by the planet's magnetic field. If that's so, it may simply run for a very long time."

"But the house needs to be there to shield it," Horace said. He shook his head. "This has been an amazing adventure. Do you boys do these sorts of things often?"

"Once or twice," Ricky said, smiling. "We get around."

The ghost hunter smiled. "So you have said before."

"I want to look at this machine when we get back," Charlie said. "I want to know it will be safe."

"I think that's a very good idea," Horace agreed. He sighed. "I guess you don't need a ghost hunter now."

Charlie laughed. "That doesn't mean you can't stick around. Besides, we do need you."

The older man cast him a quizzical glance. "What for?"

Charlie smiled. "None of us play the piano. Remember?"

"Ah." The ghost hunter relaxed in his seat, and looked happy for the rest of the drive home.

Moped was delighted to see them when they got back. Ricky and Adrian took her out for a quick romp in the grass, while the others prepared lunch. Charlie could tell it was everything Kippy could do not to rush into the library and find the hidden door to the basement. Patience had been one thing they had all developed in the past few years, but Kippy was often the most impulsive of their group. But he seemed willing to wait for the right time, this time.

They had sandwiches, while Moped happily tore up a leather chew nearby. The talk was still about the house, though.

"What do you think happened with Mrs. Viggerol?" Ricky asked. "She thought demons were hiding here."

"I think she experienced what she saw and heard in the light of her own fears," Kippy said. He smiled at the ghost hunter. "Like Horace said, all ghosts are basically the same thing, but some are nice, and others are jerks. That goes for people, too."

Adrian made a face. "You think Mrs. Viggerol is a jerk?"

Kippy laughed. "No. But people must see supernatural stuff in different ways, too. One guy's goblin is another guy's angel, you know?"

"I think that's a very astute observation, Kippy," Horace said, smiling.

Charlie nodded, and kept a straight face. "That's our Kip. Astute, all the way."

Kippy turned and stuck out his tongue, but the bright sparkles in his eyes clearly told that he was having fun. "Just keep it up, Charlie Boone. See what it gets you!"

"Oops." Ricky said, grinning around his sandwich. "No nookie for you!"

"Now, now," Horace said, holding up a hand. "Don't you boys squabble." He smiled at Charlie, and then Kip. "You two are quite complementary, actually." He sighed. "It would have been wonderful to be part of a group of friends such as this when I was your age."

Charlie looked around at the others, and saw agreement there. He smiled. "We like it."

They finished their lunch, and then it was time for the big moment. They went to the library, found the knob with the star on it, and stood looking at it a moment in silence.

"There it is," Ricky said.

"Uh huh." Charlie examined the knob. It was one of several, part of the ornate engraving and inlays on the panel. The other knobs had different designs on them, and there was nothing to suggest that the knob with the starburst engraved on it was special.

Finally, Charlie turned to Horace. "Why don't you give it a pull?"

The man smiled, and briefly steepled his hands and tapped his fingertips together rapidly in excitement. "May I?"

"Yes. Step right up."

Charlie moved over, and the ghost hunter took his place before the knob. Horace examined it a moment, and nodded. "Beautiful work." He extended a hand, grasped the knob, and gave it a pull. It came out slowly, plainly attached to a steel rod of some sort then. They heard the click of a latch releasing, and the entire side panel of the fireplace opened outward on hidden hinges.

Inside was a spiral staircase, just like the one on the other side of the house. Horace felt around inside the panel, found a switch, and flicked it on. A light came on above the stairs, and they could see light coming up from below.

Something blew through the room then, like a cool breeze, and a single note sounded from the piano. They felt a wave of fear then, stronger than before, muting the happiness the house normally held.

"We're not going to turn it off!" Kippy quickly called, looking around the room. "You're safe here!"

"You think they understand?" Charlie asked.

"Yes. Mrs. Ravishaw said they did." Kippy pointed at the stairs. "All they know is that we're going down to where the machine is."

Charlie turned then to look around the room. He could still feel the disquiet here, though it seemed to have lessened some after Kippy's reassurances.

"It's true," Charlie said quietly. "You're safe here. We will honor the pledge that Mr. Ravishaw made to you." He pointed at the stairs. "But I want to see this machine. I need to know it will not need maintenance, or that it can break down over time. Once I know that - once I am reassured - we will leave it, and close this panel again. No one will know of it, okay?"

The sense of fear lessened, and again a note sounded from the piano. Charlie was looking right at the instrument when it happened. The cover was still down over the keyboard. There was no way a key could be depressed. "Frequencies," he whispered, smiling.

"What?" Kippy asked.

"Nothing. Horace? You want to lead the way?"

"It would be my honor, Charlie."

The ghost hunter turned and stepped within the panel, and the others lined up to follow him down.

Here was the other side of the basement they had investigated earlier. Pipes and conduit came in above the center wall, and dispersed to various parts of the house, just as they had imagined. There were no boilers, nothing else in the room. Except for one thing, sitting squarely in the center by the middle wall.

Everyone stopped to stare at it.

A sense of time came over Charlie then, a sense of history, as he gazed at the device. Over one hundred years before, two men had worked together to create this thing, in an attempt to explore a region of science still untouched today. One man would go on to become a legend of sorts, and the man behind electric power in the world today; while the other would quietly fade away, remaining only in the minds and affections of one family's history.

Together, the two men had accomplished something neither had ever dreamed of: the creation of a pathway between their own world and some other, adrift in a reality far removed from the one they were familiar with. And in that creation, they had thrown a lifeline to a species in peril, and created a haven in which they could live in peace and happiness. Probably, no one would ever understand this. No one would ever know about it at all. This could not be shared with even the most careful of scientific minds, lest in the analyses of how it worked, that very lifeline be interrupted, or even destroyed. This was the secret a family had kept for over a century of time, and Charlie fully understood the reasoning for that now.

Lives were at stake.

"There is greatness here," Horace said, softly. "And treasure. I've never been on a treasure hunt before."

Charlie smiled. "We'll trust you to keep this quiet." He already knew that the man would never say a word to anyone.

The ghost hunter turned to gaze at him. "I realize the importance of this fully, Charlie. Mum's the word, I assure you."

Charlie nodded, smiling.

"It's amazing," Ricky said, shaking his head. "No moving parts. It doesn't even make a sound."

"It's not what I imagined at all," Adrian said. "Not that I could have imagined this."

The device was perhaps eight feet tall, its spire just beneath the joists of the flooring above. A large latticed dome of polished steel hung above an intricate center support, looking a bit like an umbrella. The center support spread as it descended, to end in eight steel legs splayed out to the exact dimension of the dome above. Those steel legs appeared to be sunk into the cement of the floor, giving the structure a solid stance that would resist all efforts to topple it.

Within the latticed dome were a myriad of steel projections, supported on what looked like ceramic insulators, each wound with complex patterns of copper wiring. Thick copper lines descended from each winding to an insulated circle midway down on the center support, and then back up to the next winding, linking them all together. There were no power supplies, no lines running anywhere to or away from the thing. There was no sound, not a murmur, and no movement.

Charlie smiled. "I wouldn't know how to turn it off, even if I wanted to."

"We're not going to, so it doesn't matter," Kippy said firmly. "Now we've had our look. Let's go."

Charlie nodded. There was nothing here that looked like it needed maintenance. Everything was steel and copper and thick, sturdy ceramic. Nothing to wear out, nothing to break. Not without great effort to do so, anyway.

Still --

"Nothing lasts forever," Charlie said. "If this is as important as it seems to be, we must ensure that it stays safe and healthy." He nodded. "But for now, it looks fine."

He turned, and the others turned with him, and Horace led the way back upstairs. They emerged, and closed the panel, which latched with a solid click.

Horace turned, and put his back to it. "I never imagined when I came to this house to look at it, what I would find here. I halfway expected Mrs. Viggerol's letter to be yet another hoax."

Kippy laughed. "Kind of nice it wasn't, huh?"

Horace looked about the room, perhaps feeling the intensified sense of peace and happiness that Charlie was now feeling. The guest's fears had been allayed. They knew they were safe now.

"Yes. In all my years of supernatural investigation, I do believe this has been the most satisfying venture yet."

"We aim to please," Ricky said, smiling. "When we have a party, you never know who you'll meet."

Horace looked delighted at that. "Perhaps you'll invite me again? You never know when you'll need a ghost hunter."

Kippy turned and cast a pleading look at Charlie, who smiled. "We'll see what we can do, Horace."

They sat and talked for hours after that, wondering, imagining, and marveling over the things they had learned. And all the while, a fervent sense of peace and happiness accompanied their speculations, diluting the passage of time into one long, pleasing moment spent with friends. Even Moped enjoyed it, laying on the floor nearby, her head on her paws, her eyes moving back and forth as her humans talked animatedly. What could be better than this?

"I know Annie's gonna be happy here now," Ricky said, smiling. "I know I'm going to be a frequent visitor, too!"

"If she'll have you," Adrian said, his eyes smiling. "And me. Because where you go, I go, too."

Horace smiled at that. "I envy you boys."

"No need for that," Charlie said. "Just think: there's seldom one of anything in this world. If you can find an otherworldly event here, think how many are still out there, waiting to be discovered!"

The ghost hunter looked delighted at the idea. "I didn't think of it that way. But I'm sure you're right."

Dinnertime approached, and they ordered a couple of pizzas to be delivered. A little exploring with the wall switches in the kitchen produced a variety of outdoor lighting, including a string of lights along the driveway. That would certainly let any would-be trick-or-treaters know they were welcome.

The pizzas arrived, and - surprise of surprises - Kippy allowed that they were almost as good as Irving's, if lesser by just a hair. "But maybe it's just a little bias on my part," he admitted, smiling.

Darkness descended, and they stood out on the veranda in the chill evening and looked at the stars, and the wondrous way the outdoor lighting lit the house and the yard. There were luminous stretches accompanied by eerie outer regions where the lights faded into darkness so deep that nearly anything could be hiding there, and the lights along the drive looked like lantern-carrying souls marching in a line into the woods. It was wonderfully, tingly, Halloweeny.

"This has been everything I could have wanted in a holiday," Kippy said quietly. They were standing with the others on the veranda. Charlie had his arm around Kip, and now he squeezed him closer.

"Happy Halloween, Kip. I love you."

"Oh, Charlie, I love you, too. There is nothing I want more than to be by your side."

"Keep it down over there," Ricky said, but the tone of his voice let everyone know he was kidding. "You'll scare away the ghosts."

Adrian laughed, and Horace, sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs, smiled.

"You know, I feel a little music coming on?" the man said. "Piano, anyone?"

"Me, me!" Kippy called, raising a hand and bouncing up and down several times within Charlie's circling arm. Charlie nodded, and turned them towards the front door.

"I have a feeling Horace is good at this, too."

"Oh, I'm quite average, let me assure you, Charlie." But the man's eyes twinkled in the light from the porch lamp, and he extended his hands before himself and made a show of flexing his fingers. "Shall we adjourn to the parlor, gentlemen?"

"The library will have to do," Ricky said, opening the front door. "We don't know where Annie keeps the parlor."

Moped, who had been laying quietly on the porch, just happy to be part of the group, bounced to her feet and rocketed past Ricky, and turned inside the vestibule, her tail wagging, and looked back at them as if to say, I won!

They went to the kitchen and pulled chairs from the table there, and carried them back to the library. The only seat in the room was before the piano, and Horace sat himself there and lifted the lid over the keys. The boys arrayed their chairs behind him, so that they could watch as well as listen.

"What shall I play?" the ghost hunter asked, peering back at them over their shoulder.

Charlie grinned. "Beethoven or Mozart, remember?"

"Ah, yes." The man turned back to the keyboard, raised his hands, and began to play.

The acoustics of the room were amazing. Horace moved delicately into Für Elise, the simple, six note opening phrase instantly recognizable. Charlie closed his eyes, listening, immediately recognizing the timing and talent of the man playing. Here was someone that loved and understood music, and loved to play the piano.

They passed from that piece to a Mozart sonata, his most famous, probably, No. 15 in C. This was a light and lively piece that Charlie had heard many times before. Classical music amazed him, as much for the creativity that went into as the mathematical precision of sound it often represented...

"Charlie," Kippy whispered, interrupting his thoughts.

Charlie opened his eyes.

On the other side of the piano, they had visitors. Rank after rank of the tall, blocky creatures stood, stretching away into an enormous distance, certainly beyond the confines of the room, to a bright horizon far to the rear. If there had been any doubt in Charlie's mind that his other self had visited any other place than the origin of their guests, it was laid to rest now. Here they stood, in numbers hardly imaginable, unmoving, quiet, certainly listening, obviously enjoying the music that Horace was playing.

The ghost hunter looked up and spied his watchers, and if anything, it added greater energy and finesse to what he was playing. Ricky and Adrian were sitting side by side next to Charlie and Kip, Ricky with his arm around his boyfriend, the two of them looking completely enraptured by what they were seeing and hearing. The happiness and contentment that seemed to fill the room was enormous, almost a living thing now, and Charlie fully understood why Charles Ravishaw and his family had found it so important to keep this place as a haven for creatures they would never even fully understand.

Happiness, apparently, was a universal state of mind.

Horace played for an hour, before the sound of the doorbell broke the fragile glass that was the moment. The man stopped in mid-stream, and the music died away. He looked back at Charlie and the others, and then stood, and bowed in the direction of the massed guests.

"It was my honor to play for you. I hope we can do this again."

A brief wave of happiness filled the room, and then the ranks began to disappear from the rear, moving forward one by one, until only the front line of the blocky creatures remained. The sense of peace swelled one more time, and then they, too, disappeared.

Horace sighed. "The performance of my life, I am certain."

Kippy bounced to his feet, delight upon his face. "We have trick-or-treaters!"

They moved to the front doors as a group, and opened them to find a small witch and an alien, accompanied by a smiling woman in a long overcoat.

"Trick or treat!" The small ones yelled, holding up bags.

Kippy picked up the bowl they had placed by the door and extended it. "Help yourselves. I trust you not to be too greedy."

The kids examined the contents of the bowl and happily selected their treats.

"I'm so glad you're home," the woman said, as the kids trotted back down the steps, laughing. "It's such a long walk up here. I'd have hated to waste the time."

Charlie smiled. "We're happy you came. It wouldn't seem like Halloween without some visitors."

The woman smiled. "I heard the house had been sold. Nice to have such pleasant neighbors."

"We're just visiting," Ricky said. "But you'll like my cousin. She's good people."

Moped, standing just inside the door, barked once, as if in agreement.

The woman thanked them, and then hurried after her charges.

Kippy turned to Charlie and beamed. "Even if no one else comes, that made me happy. Happy Halloween, everybody."

The others returned the wishes, and they went back inside and closed the door.

"Well," Horace said, a trace of sadness in his voice, "maybe I should be going. Yes, maybe I should. There are no more ghosts here to hunt."

Ricky looked disappointed. "You have to be somewhere?"

The older man looked briefly startled. "Well...no."

"Stay another night," Adrian said quickly. "We can still talk, and I would love to hear more piano later, after the trick-or-treaters are done."

"I have a feeling some others might like that, too," Charlie agreed, smiling.

Ricky nodded. "Annie won't be back until late Monday. No reason you can't stay another night. I mean, it's Halloween!"

The ghost hunter looked from one face to another, and smiled. "I would like that very much."

They adjourned to the kitchen for hot cocoa, and discussed the earlier piano performance and the amazing turnout of listeners.

"There's a lot more of them than I ever imagined," Charlie said.

Horace set down his cup and smiled at them. "I have to ask - but you do not have to answer - is this your first adventure like this? Or have there been more?'

Everybody looked at Charlie, who laughed. "Would you like to hear that we've had other, um, interesting moments?"

"I certainly would. You have no idea how much these few hours here have encouraged me that my explorations are not in vain."

"They're not," Kippy said, looking serious. "There's a lot out there, just waiting to be explored, just waiting to be discovered. It's fun for us."

"I can imagine. As I said once before, please feel free to call me if you have need of a ghost hunter again. Here - I'll give you my number."

Kippy turned and gave Charlie a pleading look, and when Charlie glanced at Ricky and Adrian, they seemed to be doing the same thing. Horace seemed oblivious to the exchange, digging in his pocket for his phone. Charlie smiled at the man, recognizing a kindred spirit when he saw one.

Ghost hunting was not unlike any other stab at exploring, at learning, at trying to discover the many wonders that made the universe tick. That the man had a fervent desire to know and understand things seemed clear. And, his honesty and dependability were verified by skwish, which could not be fooled when it came to revealing a person's heart of hearts. Horace's compassion was evident, in the joy he had displayed in the simple play of music for those he scarcely knew, but whom he did know loved to be cheered by the vibrations of creative minds.

Horace was like Charlie and the other boys. He was one of them.

Charlie sighed, and nodded at Kip, and then at Rick and Adrian. Those three looked delighted, and so when Horace finally found his phone and looked up again, it was to find four smiling faces aimed his way.

"Ah, here it is. I'll give you --" He broke off, his eyes widening at the smiles he saw before him. "Oh, my. Was it something I said?"

Charlie gave Kip a squeeze, and laughed. "We've decided to adopt you."

The ghost hunter blinked. "Adopt? Me?"

Charlie nodded. "You'll be expected to be circumspect with anything you learn as a result, okay?"

The man's mouth opened as he looked from smiling face to smiling face. "Um...I promise." He smiled then, and laid his cell phone on the table. "Just what is it I will be learning?"

"Oh, lots of things." Kippy said, smiling, and squeezing Charlie happily.

"Amazing things," Adrian said, his face all a great smile.

"Some pretty strange stuff," Ricky agreed, his eyes twinkling.

The ghost hunter looked baffled, and then interested, and then enchanted with the idea. "Go on."

Charlie nodded, and leaned closer to the man. "So, um, Horace. May I call you Horace?"

"You already have. I mean, please, do."

"Oh, just ask him, Charlie," Kippy said.

"Yeah, ask him," Ricky and Adrian chimed in.

Charlie waved his hands, not to be hurried. This moment would be another one of the outstanding variety, one they would all remember forever.

The older man looked totally mesmerized now. "Ask me what?"

Charlie smiled. "Well, you see, there's this little get together we're planning, and some of our friends will be there, and I thought...we thought...that you might like to go along."

Horace stared at them owlishly. "Get together?"

Charlie's smile widened. "Yes. It's the perfect occasion for an explorer like yourself. Ghost hunter, and delver into the unknown, and all that." Kindred spirit.

He leaned forward, just that last inch, and raised his eyebrows expectantly. "So...what are you doing for Christmas?"