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Chapter 6
Josh pulled into the farm's driveway, right behind Zach, who drove the girls. As far as Josh could tell from the tracks on the hard-packed dirt, no other vehicles had been here except them a couple of days ago.
"Did you see the sign?" Zach asked. "It was different."
Josh nodded. "Welcome new friends."
"What did it say last time you were here?" Kendra asked.
"Welcome picture enthusiasts."
"Who changes it?" Whisper asked. "Doesn't look like anyone's been here in a while."
"That's the question," Zach said. "Who does change it?"
"Sometimes the sign stays the same for a year or two," Josh said, "and sometimes, like now, it changes a couple of times a week. It's been like that ever since I can remember."
Whisper frowned. "Signs don't change themselves. No one's ever seen anything?"
"No," Zach said. "The ghosts must wait until they're alone."
Kendra rolled her eyes. "Again with the ghosts?" She wrapped her arms around his waist. "I like you and all, babe, but give that a rest."
"I'm not kidding. Our pictures back it up."
"We'll see," Josh said. Though deep down he knew Zach was right.
Whisper took out her camera. "A mystery for another time. Let's get to the pictures."
Josh walked over closer to her. "You enjoy taking pictures, don't you?"
"Yeah, I've always loved it. My parents used to buy me cheap cameras. I'd wear them out so fast. Half the time I didn't even put film in. I just love looking through the lens. Or the view screen now, I guess."
"No film to worry about with digital cameras, right?"
She smiled at him, and his heart skipped a beat. "You got it."
Kendra slid in between them, giving Josh a pointed look and grin. "You two ready to go hunt some ghosts? Even though they don't exist?"
"You don't even know, Kendra," Zach said. "You weren't here. You'll see. There's no way we won't get the same evidence. Maybe even better."
As Kendra went off ahead to argue with Zach, Whisper leaned in closer to Josh. "What was it like? I mean, I don't believe in ghosts, but I felt something about those pictures."
"I don't believe either, but it was actually pretty creepy." He looked up towards Zach to make sure he was out of earshot. "I'm not sure if I'm hoping we get the same kind of stuff or nothing at all."
She looked at him for a second, and then nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
She did? He smiled, and they hurried to catch up with the other two.
"Whoa, you weren't kidding. It is creepy here," Whisper said as they stepped out into the fields. "Like hundreds of eyes are on us."
Josh shivered. "Yeah. Even worse than Monday, if that's possible."
Zach and Kendra frowned and shared a look.
"What?" Josh said. "You don't feel it?"
Zach shook his head, while Kendra said, "It looks like it should wig us out, but I don't feel anything."
Whisper took a deep breath. "I guess we should get to it." She started snapping pictures, not bothering to study the view finder after each. The others followed her lead.
A flash of light passed to Josh's left, though when he looked, nothing was there. "Did you guys see that?"
"No," came the general consensus, though Whisper looked a lot more on edge than the other two.
A thought wormed into his mind that he should snap a few towards the barn, which was still a ways away. He hit the button as fast as possible to get crisp pictures, then clicked back to the first of the three and studied it.
"Guys, come check this out."
"Two of us are girls, Joshy," Kendra said.
"Generic term, Kend. Now hush and take a look."
"That's a person," Zach said.
Whisper shook her head. "Not a person. Look, you can see right through him."
"No way," Kendra said. "It's the light. It's always playing tricks on cameras." She paused, and her voice squeaked to betray her calm. "Right?"
Whisper turned to Josh. "Did something tell you to shoot at the barn?"
"Yeah, did you hear the same thing?"
Her face drained pale. "Yeah. Just before you called us over."
"I didn't hear anything," Zach said.
"Me, either." Kendra rolled her eyes. "Are the ghosts supposed to be talking to us now?"
Josh studied the second and third pictures. "Look. It's completely solid in the second, but almost entirely transparent in the last one." He looked up at Whisper. "If you were going to take your pictures after me, I wonder if it was a different voice talking to you. Maybe another entity wanted you to see it."
"I don't know. I don't think I could describe it if I wanted to. It was just sort of weird and garbled. I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman."
"Yeah, mine too." He chuckled, though he was sure his nerves showed through. "Or even if it was human."
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