“Oh my God, Marty, this is...” I couldn’t finish the sentence. I choked on a fresh wave of emotion, as I shook my head and faced him, in complete awe.
“McFly,” he corrected me. “Remember? You call me McFly.”
“McFly,” I said as I took a deep breath. “I… I can’t believe it.” I shook my head again, taking in everything around me with renewed shock and elation.
Marty smiled at me, a boyish, hopeful gleam in his eye. “Do you like it?”
I nodded until my neck hurt. “I love it.”
He beamed even more broadly. “We’ve still got some things to get. I’ve got to pick up some more screws for one of the cabinets and some more light bulbs for the chandelier.” He looked up at the ceiling. “It doesn’t look like the lights in this place have been replaced in years and you may want to consider an area rug for the front entry. There might be some water damage on the wood floor.”
“I just… I don’t even know what to say,” I said as I circled around again and felt like I wanted to cry.
“Is it what you wanted?” Marty asked, sounding hopeful.
“It’s above and beyond what I wanted!” I said, nearly singing. I looked at the store again. There wasn’t a speck of dust in sight. If I was a betting woman, I’d say Marty had scrubbed the floors, fixtures, and furniture with wood polish. “It’s just… you had to have spent a fortune on the furniture. This is way more than what we originally talked about…”
He shook his head and held up his hands. “Everything was free, Poppy.”
“Free?” My eyes about bugged out of my head.
He nodded. “This stuff used to belong to Henner’s grandmother, Ethel. It’s been crowding up his basement for years. Believe me, you’re doing him a favor by taking it.”
“You really are,” another voice said, drawing my attention to an outcropping of boxes that were piled one on top of the other. There was a man hidden behind them, and he craned his neck around one side to wave at me.
“Yeah, it was this or a yard sale,” he started. “No one wanted to take any of it!”
I was shocked. “Why not?”
He frowned. “Everyone was afraid it was all cursed.”
“Cursed?” I repeated, frowning. “Why?”
He nodded. “Because of the legends surrounding the old Tayir House.”
“The Old Tayir House?” I repeated, looking at Marty for an explanation.
“Henner’s grandmother owned the Tayir House, back in the day. Everyone called her Lady Tayir.”
“You mean everyone called her ‘Witch Tayir’,” Henner corrected.
I started forward, mainly to see what Henner was working on behind the tower of boxes. He was crouching over what looked like an old-timey radio. The insides had been gutted, and wires trailed out onto the floor like limp, multi-colored spaghetti.
Seeing me, he stood to his full height, which seemed to be six feet, or so. The first thing I noticed was his black, hooded sweatshirt and the skeleton torso on it, making it look like he was half skeleton. He was wearing black shorts, even though it was freezing outside, with black combat boots. And on his head was what looked like a genuine, military-issue beret, covering part of his long, black hair.
His smile was extremely friendly as he extended a hand to me. “I’m Henner Tayir, by the way. You’re Holly, right?”
“Yes,” I started as I took his hand and shook it briefly. “It’s really great to meet you.”
“Poppy,” Marty corrected us both and then patted me on the head. “We call her Poppy here.”
Even though Marty patting me on the head made me feel like his trusted dog, it was still cute, all-the-same. It made me feel like I was one of the gang. And I liked that feeling.
“Oh, cool,” Henner answered as I thought about the fact that Marty called me Poppy. I liked that too.
But, going back to the conversation at hand, I couldn’t help but get a bit concerned about Witch Tayir. I had to wonder if Henner’s grandmother was a witch, was he a warlock, rare though they were?
But when I’d touched his hand to shake it, I couldn’t feel any magic rolling off him. So, that would lead me to believe the answer to my question was a ‘no’.
“Thank you for all of this,” I said, gesturing to my surroundings. I still couldn’t believe it—how amazing everything looked—how they’d completely gone overboard. For me.
“That looks like a smile of happiness,” Henner said.
“It is!” I answered with a laugh. “It’s... well, the shop looks incredible. I just don’t even know what to say or how to thank you.”
“I think you just did,” Marty answered with a chuckle.
“I… I still feel like I need to reimburse you, Henner,” I said as I faced the man in question. “For all your grandmother’s things.”
Henner looked thoughtful for a moment as he scratched his chin with his index finger and I braced myself for a high number. After all, most of the bookshelves and cabinets appeared to be antiques. An alleged curse might dissuade those in the know in Haven Hollow, but it wouldn’t depreciate the value outside this strange, little town.
Finally, Henner shook his head and dusted his hands off on his shorts. “No charge, Poppy. Consider it a ‘Welcome to Haven Hollow’ gift.”
“But, there must be something…”
“How about your friendship?” Henner asked with a big grin. “I can always use more of those.”
I laughed, immediately drawn to him. He had the same goodness in his eyes Marty did. They seemed to be cut from the same cloth and it was no surprise they kept company with each other.
“I’d love to be your friend,” I said, overcome yet again by a wave of gratitude.
Aside from the nightmare visions and my unwelcome ghostly hitchhiker, life in Haven Hollow was shaping up to be exactly what I needed. It felt like the cosmic lashing I’d been experiencing in my life, thus far, was finally coming to an end.
Tears of happiness welled in my eyes, and I had to blink them away. I wasn’t exactly keen on being emotional in front of people I’d just met.
“What’s that on the floor?” I asked, scrubbing at my eyes.
“It’s our homemade ghost box,” Henner answered.
“What does it do?”
“Well, it’s supposed to allow ghosts to pick up on radio waves, songs, and other signals to get their message across,” Henner answered. “I brought it to your store so I could show Marty and we could figure out what was wrong with it.”
Marty looked at me then. “I think I mentioned it to you when we first met?”
“Oh, right,” I said, but I honestly couldn’t remember the conversation at all.
“Most of the spirits we’ve encountered are willing to move on peacefully,” Henner continued. “The sentient ones, anyway.”
So they were aware there was a difference between residual spirits and intelligent ones. That was a good thing.
“I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to have people ignoring you day in and day out,” Marty went on with a heavy sigh. “I’d throw things across the room too, just to get a scrap of acknowledgement.”