Ike Hamill - The Hunting Tree Trilogy

“Sure,” said Mike. “The sunset was giving off a ton of signal and everything peaked.”

“Yeah, right,” said Gary. “That’s what I thought too. But then as we worked more and more cases we started to do a lot of work to the south.”

“But the readings were all pretty much west,” said Mike.

“Well, not quite,” said Gary. “They all had a west component, but some were more northwest than west.”

“Okay,” said Mike. “Sure, but the earth is on an axis. The sun’s not always west. Plus it was earlier and later in some of the measurements.”

“Yup, that’s true,” said Gary. “I didn’t think anything about it either. When I plotted the bearings on my paper map, they just seemed to be pretty random lines. But then I started thinking, those maps use a Mercator projection,” Gary pointed to a map hanging on the wall of the van. It showed the New England states and had several red lines traced across from the locations where they had conducted investigations.

“What does that mean?” asked Mike.

“Well, simply put, north and south, east and west, are all straight lines on these maps, but we live on a sphere.”

Mike shrugged.

“That means if I just walked off in a straight line, then it wouldn’t appear as a straight line on this map. It would make a curve. It’s called a ‘great circle curve,’” said Gary.

“Where are you going with this?” asked Mike.

“If I use a mapping program, I can put in the positions and bearings of our readings and plot the great circle curves to see where the lines actually go.”

“And that gives you a different answer than your paper map?” asked Mike.

“Sure does,” said Gary. “Check this out." He spun the laptop towards Mike and overlaid the data. The red lines from their investigations curved gracefully and all met at a common point in New Hampshire. “See where they meet?” asked Gary.

“I do,” said Mike. “What does it mean?”

“You tell me,” said Gary. “Once I factored in the projection, these lines all meet within two hundred feet of each other, and it’s in the mountains of New Hampshire, near Campton.”

“Can you zoom in?” asked Mike.

The display changed as Gary decreased the scale and individual roads appeared on the map. The satellite imagery disappeared, leaving just the labeled lines of roads.

“What’s this dotted line? It goes right near your intersection,” commented Mike.

“Looks like a hiking trail,” said Gary. He pulled up the information on the line and reported—“It has two names according to this: ‘Moose Cross Trail,’ and ‘The Ledges.’”

“Huh,” said Mike.

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the side of the van.

The producer poked his head through the door. “We’re all done with our shots. Ready for your setup,” he said.

“Hey,” called Mike after the man’s head had vanished around the corner.

“Yeah?” The producer looked back in.

“Did you guys see anything?” asked Mike. “Anything unusual?”

“What, in the house?”

“Yeah,” said Mike, frowning.

“Just a house,” said the producer, raising his eyebrows.

“Thanks,” Mike called out as the producer dismissed himself. “That’s weird,” he said to Gary. “I wonder if the entity in Bill’s house hides before sundown.”

“Could be,” said Gary. “But Bill said the contractors were hearing stuff all day when they were here.”

“You’ve got a point, but maybe its behavior has changed,” said Mike. “Either way, let’s get in there and get the equipment online while nothing’s going on.”

“Roger that,” nodded Gary.

GARY, KATIE, AND MIKE FINISHED their preparations several minutes before sunset that Thursday afternoon. In the driveway, Leslie chewed the inside of her lip and talked to her producer about the editing schedule required to get the piece on the air that weekend, and to create a compelling teaser for their station to run to generate interest. Bill waited in his garage, reviewing the schematic of Mike’s paranormal amplifier.

At the edge of Bill’s yard, Gary leaned against a rock and smoked his cigarette. Just upwind, Katie stood with her arms crossed and the two spoke casually. Mike surveyed the scene, looking at everyone gathered for this unique research, and tried to think of how the night’s events would change his life. Convinced that he had finally arranged the right people at the right location, he was certain that he would finally have solid evidence. His theories would be confirmed, and his positions vindicated.

Mike narrated his own television biography in his head—“Paranormal research started as just a hobby for Dr. Markey,” he imagined the announcer saying while his college pictures glided across the screen. “He left his field of study and invested every dime to prove his theories.”

“You ready?” asked Gary.

“Jeez Gary,” said Mike. “You scared the shit out of me,” Mike said and then laughed nervously. “Those guys set?” He pointed to the news crew.

“Yup,” said Gary. “Just you and me at first and they’ll do the outside piece once we’re in.”

“Good,” said Mike. “I think that will play out really well. Did you tell Bill not to touch anything?”

“Don’t worry,” said Gary. “Katie will keep him in line.”

“Let’s do it,” said Mike. He unclipped the radio from his belt and clicked the send button twice. “You set, Katie?”

“Yes,” Katie’s voice came from the speaker.

“After you,” Mike waved Gary to the front door.

The first floor of Bill’s house appeared normal except for the bundle of cables tucked into the corner of the front door and running up the stairs. A reading light in the living room illuminated a pleasant, inviting space to curl up on the couch. To their left, the short hall showed a kitchen both well-equipped and clean. Mike mentally compared Bill’s cozy home to his own tiny house and envied the engineer despite his second-floor troubles.

Mike clicked his radio once more “Heading upstairs,” he said. He took the lead this time, and Gary followed close behind. They came to a stop several steps from the top when Mike heard child’s laughter once more.

“Did you get that?” he asked his radio.

“Nothing here,” said Katie through a wave of static.

Mike turned and raised his eyebrows at Gary who shrugged back.

“We’re getting a little static here Katie. Everything clear on your end?”

“As a bell,” said Katie.

Mike and Gary continued up the stairs and stopped at the top. Mike scanned the room, checking the camera locations. He glanced one more time at Gary and then made a statement for the record—“This is Mike and Gary, we’re doing our initial sweep of the second floor to check for abnormal activity and perform the final check on all the equipment before we introduce any stimulation.”

They moved methodically through the space, verifying the operation of each instrument. They had almost finished their initial sweep when Gary tapped Mike on the shoulder.

“Hey Mike, I’m getting a really odd sensation here,” said Gary.

“Odd, like what?” Mike asked, pointing a tape recorder.

“I’m not sure how to describe it,” said Gary. “I feel cold, but not like an external cold. More like it’s coming from the inside.”

“Okay,” said Mike. “And we’re in the back right, so this would be the northwest corner of the house." He snapped off the tape. “This is just the sweep, Gary. I don’t want to discourage you from letting me know when you have a strange feeling, but let’s get some hard-core action for the news guys before we talk about too much touchy-feely stuff.”