We took a couple of days to get things ready, making sure we do not forget something. We do not really know what we might find, but somehow I doubt that old tower is deserted. If people are afraid of the place, then things must be happening out there and that means people are out there. Muffin, Storm and Tiia will come along on this trip.

Snow is staying behind since she came on the last case. John, Aari and Frank have gone fishing with Clarence for a couple weeks, so they cannot come. Mac hates fish and searching an old place is more to his liking, so he will come along. Sigurbjorn, Astrid and Aasta will come since they are each fluent in the Finnish language.

Kate, Angel, Crystal, Bridgette, Cinnamon and Catalina will come as well. Plus Sky, myself and Jinni. I am not sure if I believe the story that Jinni gave us, it seemed too well ‘rehearsed’. However, people are different and she does seem to be a person who likes to be thorough and make plans before doing something, and that part is good.

Soon we were landing at the airport. From here we must drive for 4 hours to reach the small town near her property. We were arriving too late to begin our trek, so we stayed at the only hotel in town. I think we occupied every room in the hotel. I asked if there were any guides in town, but the lady said none that would help us go to that tower.

She seemed to be terrified when I mentioned going there. After dinner we went back to our rooms. We wanted to get to bed early so we could leave early the next morning. Since Mac and I were the only men on this trip, we shared a room. About half an hour later there was a knock at the door. Mac answered and there was an older lady standing there. She wanted to talk with us about our hike to the tower.

“Come in,” I said, “I see that news travels fast in this small town.” I was glad she could speak English. “Everyone knows,” she said, “and everyone is scared of that tower. It is haunted. Plus some wild creatures live out there, they are only half human and they kill anyone that goes near that tower.” “Has anyone from the town been killed?” I asked, “Do you know of anyone that has been killed?”

“No,” she said, “but it happens, years ago people tried to go out there, but never returned.” “Are you trying to scare us?” I asked. “No, just giving you warning so you know what to expect,” she said, “I knew the man that owned that property, he was very nice to me.” She blushed when she said that. She must have been his girlfriend at one time.

“I will take you to the path that leads to the tower,” she said, “it is hard to see, but I am sure you can follow it. How much do you pay?” I made her an offer. She sat there thinking, so I doubled the offer and she jumped at it. She also told us if we hiked all the way in one day it would be dark when we arrived. I did not like that idea, so we will camp about half way so we can arrive about midday which will give us lots of time to look around in daylight.

We slept well and left early, the older lady was ready and waiting for us. I thought she would slow us down a bit, but she walked very fast and just stopped a couple of times to check where the sun was located. Amazingly, after two hours we arrived at the path she told us about, then she left quickly. “She is a rather odd lady,” said Sky, “I hope she brought us to the right path.”

“Yes, so do I,” said Jinni, “I do not trust her at all. Why is she the only person not afraid to bring us out here?” “Good question,” I said, “but she has saved us time bringing us this far. It is odd, however, that the path starts, or ends, right here, what is the purpose in that?” “Safety,” said Mac, “makes it hard for people to find it, and them.”

“Good thought,” I said, “still, there is no other path of any kind around here, surely if someone lives out there, they must come into town sometimes.” “Maybe not,” responded Mac. I waited to see if he would add something more to that thought, but he did not, so on we went. It was beautiful hiking through those tall pines. We continued hiking until 3 pm, then I told everyone we would camp there for the night.

“It is still early,” said Jinni, “we should keep going.” “No, I do not want to be any closer,” I said, “we will camp here and leave early in the morning so we can arrive around noon.” Besides, my back was in a lot of pain, I am not used to this much hiking now and carrying such a large pack. I asked Sigurbjorn for a massage.

“You should not be carrying that heavy pack,” she said. “Right,” said Sky, “we will rearrange things for tomorrow.” I had Muffin stay with Sky, Kat, I mean Kate, and Jinni. Mac and I shared a tent, but as we were going into our tents, Angel brought Storm over and insisted that he stay with us. Turned out to be a good thing too…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.