Part 2 (1/2)
”But along came Jeb Stuart's whole cavalry and they pushed Captain Costin's squadron all the way back to Manassas, and then they occupied the area But Captain Costin couldn't stand not seeing his Ellen, so he soe to her, to meet him at the mine”
It was the first Rick had heard of a mine He asked, ”Can I ask a question? Where is this ht across the creek, just beyond the bridge,” Jan explained ”We could see it from here if the trees weren't there
Anyway, it's where the town picnic ground is located now, on our property, partly It used to be a leadthe Civil War a lot of Southern bullets came from there”
From Jan's tone of voice, Rick suspected that her sympathies ith the lost Southern cause, which was natural enough, since her ancestry was pure Virginian for several generations
”The mine wasn't worked on Sunday, in those days, and Captain Costin asked Ellen to ht at nine o'clock Well, the Lansdale boys so, and they went, too And they shot down Captain Costin in cold blood, right at the reet his sweetheart!”
Jan obviously didn't like this part of the legend, Rick thought
”So that's how the ghost began,” Jan concluded ”After h practically the whole Confederate cavalry, he was shot down at our mine before he could even say hello to her! No wonder he haunts the place!”
”How about all the soldiers killed in the fighting?” Scotty asked, straight-faced ”Don't they haunt the place, too?”
”We've heard that sohost,” Jan said, ”but we don't credit secondhand stories much We only saw the captain”
Rick must have looked pretty incredulous, he suspected, because Barby gave hilance and stated flatly, ”And we did see the captain, Rick Brant! Didn't we?”
The Millers all nodded ”Tell theested
Barby picked up the tale ”We were all invited to a cook-out the other night It was given by the Lansdale Garden Club and Mrs Miller is ain advance, so they couldn't call it off or go somewhere else, so it was held There must have been at least fifty people there”
Rick made a mental note to ask for elaboration of Barby's state it somewhere else
”The barbecue pits are close to the old host always appears because that's where the captain was shot Anyway, everything ell until nearly nine, and that e all began to get nervous”
Shot at nine, reappears at nine, Rick guessed Strange ghost Usually apparitions are supposed to appear at ,” Barby went on, ”because who believes in ghosts anyway?” She shuddered ”At least I didn't then But at nine someone let out a screa above the ht in the mist, and it ful” She ran out of breath and paused
”It really was,” Mrs Miller said quietly ”Go on, Barby”
”Well, the ghost was a handso officer in a blue uniform, the Civil War kind And he held out his hands, and he looked soso appealing And then he suddenly put his hands on his chest, and when he pulled theulped Rick shot a quick glance at the Millers They were nodding So all had seen the sa, then
”Anyway, he faded away then, and only the white mist was left But honestly, it waswell, it was so real! And the whole thing was blue, sort of, except for thethe blood That was red” Barby finished whitely, ”It kind of broke up the picnic”
Rick could ihouls! What had happened? He couldn't believe the ghost was real, but Barby and the Millers were obviously convinced
”Incredible,” Scotty reed ”I want to see this Blue Ghost,” he stated
Dr Miller s I hosts My entire scientific training rejects the explanation But let enuine apparition just as Barby described it, and I can offer no reasonable hypothesis I have thoroughly inspected the area, and there is no physical evidence I have been able to see”
Rick digested this statehost was somehow man-made He still didn't reject the idea, but Dr Miller's cohost at least wasn't obvious