Erin and Teddy in
Supernatural Adventures
“The case of The Deadly Spirit”
Thursday
“A storm is coming!” Teddy shouted. He was looking at a weather report on his computer. The thought of a snow day entered his mind.
It was winter and there was snow on the ground from a previous storm. It was lake effect snow so it was just a dusting. The trees were bare and the air temperature was below freezing. The landscape looked colorless and the gray sky confirmed another storm was coming.
Friday
It had snowed all night and Erin and Teddy had a wish fulfilled, a snow day on a Friday. They played outside most of the morning. They had a snowball fight and they built snowman. When they came in Dad was waiting for them in the kitchen.
“Did you have fun out there?” he asked.
“Yeah it was great. Are we still going sledding after lunch?” asked Erin.
“Yes and I can’t wait. We’ll go to the big hill behind the church,” said Dad.
“That’s going to be fun except that it’s freezing out there,” said Teddy.
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“Freezing, I have the cure for that. Who’s ready for some hot chocolate?” asked Dad.
“Yea! Hot chocolate! Me! Me!” they both yelled.
“All right, keep it down. Mom is on a call with her work so try to keep it quiet,” said Dad. “Speaking of a call you got one when you were outside.”
“I did. Who was it?” asked Erin.
“It was Miss Simon from the library. Do you have books over due?” asked Dad.
“No. It’s probably about our volunteer work. The school requires us to have service hours so Teddy and I have been working at the library,” said Erin.
“I can get you out of that if you want. I could call the school and tell them I don’t want you participating in a program that makes you volunteer,” said Dad.
“No, no it’s not like that. It’s fun and we don’t do very much work. Once in a while we file cards or put books away. Most of the time we read or use the computer. I’ll call her later,” said Erin.
Erin didn’t want her dad to call and stop their volunteer work at the library. They had been going there after school for two hours a day, twice
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a week, for the past 4 months. Erin and Teddy each had over 60 in service hours.
They volunteered at the library after they solved ‘The case of the Missing Kids’, their first experience with the supernatural. Miss. Simon helped them solve the case and they worked there since.
Miss. Simon is a member of a group that deals with the paranormal and the supernatural. The group tries to stop evil beings from causing harm to humans and it tries to protect innocent beings of all types.
She was impressed with Erin and Teddy and how they handled themselves when they were confronted with supernatural evil. She asked them to join the group and has been training them to become hunters. Erin and Teddy are the youngest ever invited to join the group. They had never invited anyone under 21 years old.
Their training takes place in a secret room at the library. Miss. Simon does some of the training but she also brings in trainers, some human and some supernatural, with specific abilities or powers. They try to create scenarios the kids might face. The kids do a lot of work and a lot of reading but they get to see some fascinating spectacles.
Miss. Simon has supernatural abilities and she is a non-human. She’s what’s known as a
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Watcher. With her powerful psychic abilities she can see the unusual creatures that are among us. She can read their intent, if they’re good or evil. She has the ability to read the minds and thoughts of most beings. She can create images in minds and remove memory. She is very powerful and she is an innocent.
Erin and Teddy like their ‘volunteer’ work at the library and they didn’t want Dad making phone calls to get them out of it.
Mom had finished her half-day at work. The family had their lunch and it was time to go sledding. Mom and Dad were bundled up and ready to go. Teddy and Erin put their snow gear back on. The kids put two disks, a snowboard and a two-seat hard foam sled in the trunk.
There was a parking lot for the church at the top of the hill. It made the spot popular for parents who took their kids sledding. They could park and watch their kids while sitting in their car. The family made it to the hill and parked the car. They were the first people to get there. Dad was unloading the trunk and he said,
“These sleds are a lot different then what I used as a kid. I used a sled called a western flier. It had a wood body with steel runners. In the town where I grew up they would block off a street that had a steep hill. Everyone would sled there. With
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the steel runners on the frozen snow and asphalt it was like flying. There wasn’t much of a stopping area so you would have to dig your feet...”
“Dad that’s a cool story but can we go now?” asked Erin.
Mom looked at Dad and smiled.
“Go ahead kids. Have fun,” he said.
Teddy took the snowboard and Erin took one of the disks. They were the first to try the hill. There weren’t any tracks in the snow, on the hill or in the valley below. It was beautiful.
“Lets go!” said Teddy. He snapped his bootstraps down and jumped. He was sliding down the hill. He cut back and forth a couple times and then went straight to the bottom. His speed carried him a good distance on the flat land at the base of the hill.
Erin was sitting on the disk at the top of the hill and when Teddy said go she pushed off and started sliding down the hill. The disc started spinning and she was flying down the hill backwards. She loved it. When the disc stopped she got up and Teddy and her started walking back up the hill.
“That was fun! I made it down the whole way and I didn’t fall. Not bad for the first run of the season,” said Teddy.
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“Yeah that was fun. I watched you until I spun around. It’s scary going down backwards. I thought I was going to hit something,” laughed Erin.
“Looks like fun guys. What was it like?” asked Dad.
“It’s a lot of fun. You go really fast. You have to try it,” said Erin.
“We will. We’ll try it before we leave. We’ll do the last few runs,” said Dad.
Mom and Dad watched the first couple of runs from the top of the hill. After that then they moved into the car where they could sit and turn on the heater. They could see everything from the car so they thought they might as well be comfortable.
The kids did a few more runs and then they sat in the middle of the hill. After a while Dad got out of the car and asked what they were doing? They said that they were building a ramp. Dad remembered the ramp from last year. He launched into the air and landed on his tailbone and his back. It felt like being hit with a bat.
“Don’t build that too high. I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” He said.
“We won’t, don’t worry Dad,” said Teddy. Dad got back in the car and said,
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“They’re building a ramp.”
“That’s nice. I hope they’re safe,” said Mom.
They watched and the kids went over the ramp. The kids would get air born and land. It seemed as safe as it could be so the parents let them use it. Dad was ready to go home so he went out to slide down the hill a couple of times.
“Are you coming?” he asked
“Yeah, I want to try it,” said Mom.
Dad got the two-man sled and set it at the top of the hill. Mom sat in the front and held on to the handles. Dad gave a push and jumped on the back. The sled picked up speed the whole way down the hill. It started slowing down when it hit the flat land. The kids followed them down.
“How did you like it?” asked Teddy.
“It was fun except for the snow in my face,” said Mom.
“The snow blasting my face made it hard for me to breath. It was fun though,” said Dad.
“Are you going again?” asked Erin.
“I’ll do another run,” said Mom.
“Me too,” said Dad. “But then it’s time to go home.”
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“That’s ok with us. We were going to get in the car after another run or two. We’re getting cold,” said Erin.
Mom wanted to try the ramp. She used the two-man sled because it was thick foam and the discs were just hard plastic. The foam would provide padding for the legs and back if she had a hard landing. She said she was ready and Dad gave her a push. She gained speed and hit the ramp. She flew the furthest distance so far and landed smoothly. She came to a stop on the flat land. She popped up and threw up her arms in victory. The family cheered for her as she walked up the hill.
After seeing Mom have so much fun Dad wanted a turn. Mom handed him the sled and gave him a push. He went down the hill and hit the ramp. He didn’t fly as far as Mom but he had a smooth landing and he made it to the bottom without getting hurt. The family cheered him too as he crested the hill.
“That was fun wasn’t it?” said Mom.
“Yeah it felt kind of cool going off that ramp,” said Dad. “You guys can do one more run if you want.”
“I’m all finished,” said Erin.
“Me too. I’m ready to go home,” said Teddy. The family packed up and started home.
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“When we get home I’ll make soup and sandwiches. Hot chocolate too if you guys want some,” said Mom.
“That sounds perfect. I’ll help,” said Dad.
That evening the family was in the living room. Mom was sitting on the sofa reading her kindle. Erin was on the loveseat reading a book. Dad and Teddy were sitting on the wingbacks with a chessboard on a small table between them.
They were playing their second game. Dad thought Teddy was very good for his age. Teddy was already winning once in a while. He remembered teaching him how to play. Teddy quickly learned the pieces and their moves. Since then the lessons have been on strategy. He could see Teddy improving with each game. Watching him implement a plan or set a trap gave Dad a sense of pride. One day he’ll win and I’ll never beat him again Dad thought.
“Dad, your daydreaming, lets finish the game,” said Teddy. “It’s your move. I moved my bishop and you’re in check.”
“Check! That’s the last time I teach you to play a game,” laughed Dad.
Dad studied the board. He saw that Teddy had him. He looked at Teddy and asked if he had a plan to finish the game.
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“Yeah, you have to move your king. I slide my queen over and that’s check mate,” said Teddy.
Dad knocked over his king. Teddy had won and Dad was proud of him.
“Good move son, that was a fun game,” said Dad.
“Thank you. When you moved your knight I saw a chance to get you in check. You didn’t let me win did you?” said Teddy.
“Nope. It was a fair game and you won on your own,” said Dad. “Erin did you call Miss Simon?”
“I tried when we got home but they were closed. I’ll call her tomorrow morning. I think they open at 10 on Saturday,” said Erin.
“They’re open 10 to 5 on Saturday. Come on time for bed everyone. Lets go,” said Mom