The Clearing Continued

Chapter 2

Monday night brought with it a partial moon and a darkened sky. Old Doc sat outside his country cabin, sipping a scotch, smoking a stogie and watching his dogs at play.
It had been a warm Summer's day and the temperature had dropped little when darkness had pushed the light away. Perfectly suitable, Doc thought, tilting his head back and blowing smoke into the night, for sitting outdoors. And, he further supposed, for chasing ghosts if one were of such a mind. He wondered then, how things were faring down at the Arboles store. He imagined chanting. He imagined rattles and noise makers like drumsticks on empty cans. He imagined Sharman led Indian dancing for surely some of the ghosts must have been Southern Utes, they'd been in the area for centuries. And as he sat there constructing in his imagination the mass exorcism, he chuckled quietly to himself at what he felt was the sheer silliness of it all. It would be fair to say that his mind at that moment was somewhat less than open. Had he known for sure, however, what was actually occurring at the Arboles store, he might have sung a different tune.

The store had been closed shortly after nine, locked up, lights out. The Woowoo spook chasers assembled in its most open area and formed a circle, linking hands. At Sharman's instructions, each began to visualize a crystal staircase rising up from the store's floor and disappearing into the darkness above. When the image was as clear and sharp as they could make it, they were then to mentally begin urging the ghosts to climb and be gone, to go home, to leave this place where they were no longer wanted. Although at no point were the ghosts ever visible, all four participants were later to say that their presence could be felt throughout the episode and that as they stood there, gently suggesting the ghosts take a powder, they could feel their invisible targets getting more and more agitated. They clasped each other's hands tighter than ever and focused for all they were worth. They more than sensed they knew, something big was about to happen.