Tuesday, April 9, 2013

A-Z: Help From Hannah

A-Z Challenge 2013:
The Paranormal Case Files of Indigo Eady
 
 
Hey bloggers! I’m Indigo Eady and I play the leading role in Givin’ Up The Ghost, A Guilty Ghost Surprised and Second Death, written by Gwen Gardner.  I've had some pretty interesting paranormal experiences, to say the least. I mean, just look at those titles!
So I’ve been asked by Gwen to host and share some of my paranormal case files for the A-Z Challenge.
I’m always happy to help Gwen out. Right now I’m trying to get on her good side so she’ll ease up on the clumsy angle of my character. And maybe she’ll even give me a little more confidence, especially around boys. Oh, and I’d totally love it if she made my bubble butt just a little bit smaller. So—you know—if you enjoy my case files, maybe you could put in a good word for me…
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H is for Help From Hannah.
 
Hannah is the seventeenth century serving wench that "works" at the Blind Badger. Notice the quotation marks. Even when she was alive, I don't think she got much work done. She's a terrible gossip and eavesdropper and just loves messing with modern technology. She's a terrible flirt, too. 
 
Yeah, Hannah is obviously a ghost that only I can see. But she did prove helpful to us on one of our investigations. Um, not counting the fact that we almost got killed... 
 
We were all in the snug discussing the last piece of the puzzle; Shelly’s body and the missing shovel used as the weapon. Ralph Radcliffe gave the police all the information he had and Robbie had shared it with us. Apparently, Billy and Ralph had hidden the bodies and weapon in a tunnel somewhere in Sabrina Shores.
“Tunnels?” said Simon. “I’ve never heard of any tunnels ‘round here.”
Hannah floated in and out of the room, carrying full tankards of ale in, and empty tankards out. She wore the same clothing as always; blouse, bodice, skirts and apron. Her blonde hair was pinned into a bun, with escaping tendrils surrounding her round face.
I smiled absently at her as the conversation continued.
     “Apparently they’re only accessible from the river,” said Badger.
     “No they’re not,” said Hannah, setting down tankards of invisible beer.
     “They’re not?” I said.
     “No,” said the wench.
     “What do you mean, ‘they’re not’? How do you know?” asked Riley. The others looked on, confused.
“Hannah,” I answered, pointing to the spirit standing behind Simon, playing with his hair. He swatted at an invisible fly. They glanced at the empty space.
Hannah continued. “Any time you want to hide something around these parts, it’s always in the tunnels.” She looked at me like I was simple-minded. “Everybody knows that. But it’s dangerous – the worst of the worst is down there. You’d never get me down there.”
“Where are the tunnels, though? How do you get there?” I asked as the others looked on, bemused.
“I’ll show you,” said Hannah, and she floated through the closed door before I had a chance to say anything.
I leapt out of my seat and ran through the door after her, yelling, “Come on,” over my shoulder to Riley and the boys. They raced after me.
“What’s going on, where are we going?” Badger asked from behind me, weaving through the passages to a door at the other end of the kitchen. I yanked on the door, about to burst through, when I hit a wall of darkness. Badger, unable to stop his forward momentum, ran into the back of me, grabbing me around the waist before I could tumble down the dark stairwell. Simon, Cappy and Riley brought up the rear, peering around us to see what was below.
I fumbled around for a light switch, which when I found it, cast barely a glow to light our way. I started down, the others behind me. The stairwell was steep and went down quite a way before we reached the bottom.
I shivered at the cold and damp. Badger fumbled for a light switch on the wall behind us, which cast another weak glow.
“The cellar,” said Badger, unnecessarily. Full of boxes stacked against the walls, mostly alcohol, but sacks of potatoes and other goods as well.
I looked for Hannah, who hovered at the top of the stairwell looking down at us. She pointed into the shadows, a look of true fear on her pale face, and disappeared.
“She’s afraid.” I peered into the shadows and shivered involuntarily.
“Who?” Cappy asked.
“Hannah,” I answered.

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If you want to learn more about what happened in the tunnels, come back for the 'T' post!
 
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30 comments:

  1. Hi, Gwen! (Don't we all? Ha!) Anyway, I enjoyed the post, and I love ghost stories (have done so all my life, since my mom used to tell some to us, many years ago - I'll be 80 next month). Keep writing...Best regards to you. Ruby

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    1. How scary to be told ghost stories as a child!

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  2. I guess every paranormal detective is fortunate if they can find useful help from a realm beyond our own.

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    1. It does come in handy, Miss Smith.

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  3. And now I want to go read your book again, it is so good! Love Hannah as a character, and how she helps Indigo.

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    1. Hah! I'm glad you enjoyed it, Miss Martinson.

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  4. Hannah is a fun side character in the book. Despite being a gossip she is quite helpful.

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    1. I do adore Hannah. It is frustrating though, when she starts messing around with modern technology.

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  5. I really enjoyed the Hannah character. All of the ghosts were fun. :)

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    1. Thank you, Julie. More ghosts coming up!

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  6. Gwen, I so need to read your book! I'm on a writing kick right now, but when I'm back to reading, I'm all over your book. It sounds fantastic!

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    1. I hope you do get a chance to read it - but write while you can!

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  7. I wonder what happened to make her afraid of the tunnels?

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    1. Oh, don't you know that pirates abounded in her day? Arggh!

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  8. Hannah sounds like a riot of a ghost! :)

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    1. Yes, Hannah can be a lot of fun :)

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  9. Hey Indigo Eady,

    I have appeared, yet again. Hannah sounds remarkably like the barmaid at one of my local pubs named "The Quiet Woman". And no, I'm not going to make some silly remark about the name of the pub.

    Just like that, Indigo Eady, I vanish >>>>>>>>

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    1. Well, Hannah isn't really the quiet sort. There's always room for her two cents, for sure. Thanks for coming by Klahanie. I always enjoy your visits.

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  10. Oh yes, Hannah. I do remember how handy she was, and quite the nosy dear lol!!1

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    1. Handy Hannah, lol! You always make me laugh, Angela.

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  11. Hurrah for Hannah! She was much more useful than any of them thought.

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    1. Oh yes, Miss Rains. She always keeps her ear to the ground and knows what's going on.

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  12. These ghosts keep getting better and better! Apparently they're everywhere - makes me wonder who keeps messing with my hair:)

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    1. They certainly abound in numbers - and they especially like playing with hair.

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  13. I've worked with a few Hannah's before. Great character.

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    1. You know, I think she's the first one I've ever met :)

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  14. I like Hannah. Thanks for the enjoyable read.

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    1. My pleasure, Miss Mannan :)

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