Books: 🐕🐕The Hospital- Next Steps (Multi book series

I layed in ed thinking about a releationship with Simon.

I set up a larger playlist and hit play. I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up Ella said, "Good Morning!"

I asked, "Ella can you show yourself or do you need to be hidden?"

I saw a flicker in the corner of the room and smiled. I heard, "I never tried to be honest. I would like to show myself to Ella."

"In due time," I said. "I would like to mention you to Ella today once I am back from hiring workers. Do I have your permission to do that?"

"Yes," She said. "Tell her no pressure, though. I want her to be comfortable with me."

Nodding I said, "Understood. Don't worry I will be very empathetic and let her know its when she is comfortable and ready."

I got in my car and drove to the front gate. Simon was talking with Mason. When he saw me, he gave me a bright smile and walked over to my window. He said, "Hey Franny. Are you heading down to town?"

"I sure am," I said. "Do you want anything from town?"

"No," He said. "I think we should be good for now with supplies. One of the things I am doing is tracking things as we go. We are stacking the bricks from the buildings up front, I am hoping to use them as a pathway eventually, so we shall see. Be safe on the road."

"I will," I said. Driving into town, I passed Charlie, Walt and Shawn as they headed to the hospital. Getting to the store I saw about ten workers. Pete was one of them.

Getting out of my car I said, "Good morning everyone! I am glad to see you all here. If you are ready please line up and fill out your info and you can head up to the hospital."

They all lined up and signed the form. When Pete came up to me he said, "I am gonna give you a chance Miss Franny. I am sorry that I have been a dick we have been screwed over before."

"Pete," I said. "We are only as good as our word. I promise you that you work you get paid. If you work hard enough you may just get that invitation to come there instead of waiting for the invite."

He nodded and put his hand out. He said, "Franny I am glad you feel that way. I like you. You are smart and you keep your word. I will see you up there."

He left and as I was ready to leave I heard a woman call out, "Franny wait. Is it only men your hiring?"

Turning back I saw a older woman coming towards me with a back pack. I looked up and said, "Not at all I have a invite already to a younger woman. Did you want to join us?"

"She nodded and said, "I do. However, I cannot lift a lot. My husband has taken ill and he cannot work for a while. Do you happen to have some work for me?"

I asked, "How do you feel about working alone?"

She said, "Are you asking me if I mind working in a potentially haunted building?"

"Yes," I said.

"I will be their worst nightmare if they scare me," She laughed. "But I have no problem working by myself. I just have to get a ride up and I can call my son to get me later."

"Pointing to the car I said, "You can ride up with me. Just sign the paper I have to get somestuff from the supply store. What did you do previously for a job?"

She signed the form and said, "I did filing for the lumber mill until I was laid off. My husband does road work, however, he was diagnosed with cancer and my son is going to take him to treatments."

"I am sorry about your husband," I said. "Lets go into get supplies and I will explain what your going to do."

We went into the store and I bought them out of permanent markers and all the gallon ziplock bags they had. I also grabbed walkie-talkies and we checked out and went to the car. On the way up I said, "Your job is going to be a bit different then most. But it will hopefully help your back and you are gonna get me ahead on a project that will be coming soon. You are going to be in the library all day, bagging books and sweeping up the trash in the areas."

"Are you sure it is not pitty work?" She asked.

"Not at all," I said. "There are thirty rooms in the medical library. There are books, records and items in all the rooms. The books are going to be going for $200 a piece. Records are going to be going for $50 a piece. I have a wagon that you can fill and bring to the relic store. The medical library is close enough to the front, I am thinking this is going to be a good building to work on when the weather starts to get rainy. But we need to clear and clean before we can start any work."

She smiled and said, "Thank you, I appreciate all the work I can get."

"Well, lets see how you so today," I said. "If you do great I will give you a invite."

Sharon looked very happy with that information. When we got to the hospital she whisteled and said, "I forgot how big this place was."

Simon came over and I asked, "Did everyone get assigned?"

He nodded and said, "All but Sharon. Did you have a special job for her?"

"I sure do," I said. "Do you have that pull cart?"

He went into the shed and brought it out. I loaded the supplies along with the broom and trash bags. Smiling I said, "Follow me, you two."

As we walked I asked, "Simon do you know any roofing companies?"

Both Simon and Sharon said, "Martin Smith."

Laughing I asked, "Simon can you call him and have him come out to get us a estimate for the medical library? I think on days when the weather gets bad we can start inside the buildings. Sharon needs some work but has a bad back so she is gonna be our go to girl and start the first book room to get things priced and in the relic store. Then she will get the garbage out and ready for us to start working on rooms."

"What a great idea," He said. "I will call Martin and have him come up for an estimate."

When we got to the building I said to Sharon, "Will you be able to get the cart up and down the ramp?"

She looked and said, "Sure can. Show me the room."

As we went in I said, "I did here footsteps and see shadows when I came in here. But you are going to be fine."

She nodded and called out, "Whoever is here, I am going to be working in a room. Please be respectful of me and I will be respectful to you."

Leading her to the first book room I showed her all the book shelves and teh boxes of files. Pointing to the table and chairs I said, "Sit if you need to and when you fill the cart bring it to the relic store. There are shelves to the back of the store. The books and files need to be placed there with the prices we talked about."

She nodded and said, "Perfect. I have my lunch here."

"You can join Ella and I for lunch if you want. We will come by at lunch time." I said. "We are a work family."

She walked to the first shelving unit and took the broom sweeping off the dust and dirt. She looked up and said, "If there are any books that cannot be salvaged I will add them to the empty crate there for you to go over. That way nothing is thrown out unless you say so. But it looks like these are all good except for the dust."

"We will let you get to it," I said.

Simon and I walked out and headed towards the front. He said, "Sharon is a wonderful woman. It is a shame about Stan though. He is a tough man and for her to have to work again it is serious."

"I will keep her on then after today," I said. "As long as she works hard I have no issue keeping on the harder working people."

We parted ways at the store, and I headed to the cottage. I set up the walkies to charge and called out for Ella. She popped her head in and said, "Good Morning Franny. I have most of the China cabinet emptied. But you have to see what I found, you are going to love this."

She showed me the hidden drawers in the china cabinet and I said, "Oh wow. I was thinking if we were going to keep this and I think we are. I guess we are ready to start the primer."

We got to work in the laundry room. By lunch time we had primed the laundry room two times. We headed to the library and called out for Sharon. She popped her head out and said, "Hey Franny and Ella. I am ready for lunch, but first come see what I got done."

Walking into the book room I saw she had cleared all the files from the main table. I saw she swept the floor and she found an old fashion duster to dust the books. Looking at her I said, "Wow Sharon this is amazing. What a great job. How is your back?"

She laughed and said, "My back is great. I have been sitting at the table after I move a few stacks of books. The duster was in a file box so it has helped a lot. So far I have moved three carts of books to the relic building and I made sure the price is able to be read and it's printed large."

"Well lets go to my RV and eat," I said. "This is great work and Sharon you have an invite back. The library is now officially your baby."

"Really," She said. "Thank you. I cannot wait to see the other rooms."

We headed to my RV and ate our lunch. When we got inside I heard the videos going and saw the dip in the bed. While I ate I said, "Ella you know about your Grandma passing. What if I was to tell you that her spirit is here."

Ella looked up and said, "She is a ghost?"

Nodding I said, "Yes. She has seen you and would like to talk to you when you are ready. There is no pressure, however, she would like to get to know you when you are ready."

She smiled and said, "Is she here now?"

"Yes," I said. "She likes to watch travel shows so I leave them on for her while we ar working."

She said, "Hi Grandma. I am sad that you could not move on. My mom passed two years ago from a car accident. Grandpa told her all about you and he never remarried. He is still alive and all he talks about is his Ella. Know that he raised Mama in your memory and he talks about you often."

The blinds opened and closed again. I said, "She can move the blinds and she is trying to show herself and be heard without the spirit box."

Ella smiled and said, "When your ready Grandma. I am here on the weekdays for work and you can visit and watch me anytime you want."

The door opened and closed. I said, "I believe she is going to watch us work after lunch."

Sharon took Ellas hand and said, "You are a very lucky girl to have her watch over you."

We all talked during lunch and we walked Sharon back to the library. I handed her a walkie and said, "Use this is you need us."

She walked back in and we walked back to the cottage. When we got back we found the living room was searched. I pushed Ella back outside and said, "Let us find Simon."

We found all the guys eating lunch by the relic building. Simon saw the look on our faces and asked, "Whats wrong Franny?"

"Did anyone go to the cottage?" I asked.

"No we have been together all day," He said. "What happened?"

"The living room was tidy when we left for lunch," I said. "We were gone around an hour because we checked on Sharon and went to eat lunch. The living room was searched hard while we were gone. We did not go inside when we saw it."

The guys stood up and Simon said, "Let me go search the building. You ladies stay outside until we are done."

Sharon called out on the radio. "Hey are any of you in the library. I am hearing a lot of movement upstairs."

Simon took the walkie, "Sharon get out now. We are sending a few guys to search the building now."

Pete said, "We will go search the library."

A few men left with him and Simon and the rest of the guys headed to the cottage. Pete called over the walkie and said, "Boss man we are hearing the movement but have not found anyone yet. It looks like someone jimmied the back entrance."

Simon said, "Okay give me a few we are gonna come there as we have not found anyone in the cottage."

We headed back to the library and I pulled Simon aside. "I do not want to leave Sharon alone. Can we have one or two workers start weeding around the building to keep an eye out for her?"

He nodded and said, "I was thinking the same thing."

Turning to the guys he said, "Listen I think we may have snoopers and we are gonna have a meeting after you all leave today. Sharon the building is clear do you feel okay going back in and working?"

She nodded and said, "Sure. I am good to work I thought it was weird I heard nothing until we got back from lunch."

He said, "Okay then go back in and start back to what you were doing. We are gonna shift our work around. I need two people stay here and work on the outside of the building."

Pete said, "I will stay here and work Simon. I do not want to leave Sharon alone knowing Stan is sick."

Charlie said, "Same sir. What would you like us to do?"

"There are a lot of loose bricks around the building," He said. "Let us gather them and start taking down these weeds that surround the building. When you're done if there is still time then we will start cutting down the low-hanging branches and adding the wood to the wood bin near the cottage. But one of you stays here at all times so you can take turns. Pete, go get the cart so you guys can drive the bricks and branches. Weeds can be brought up to the compost bins we built today and dropped in there for when we start the gardens."

Sharon went inside and Pete went to get weedwackers, a saw, and the cart to go back and forth. Simon walked Ella and I back to the cottage and said, "We did not find anything but a hand print on the china cabinet and it was a mans handprint. I am going to be near here and keep a walkie on you in case you hear anything."

Ella and I went inside the building. She said, "I guess whatever is here wanted to make its presence known."

We started to paint the laundry room. We finished the first coat and went to the dining room to sort and price. By the end of the day we had gotten two coats on the laundry room. We also bagged and priced the items from the China cabinet. I used the walkie and said, "Its that time everyone. Lets start wrapping it up."

Sharon called through the walkie, "Ella you think I can get a ride to town?"

She nodded and replied through the walkie, "Sure thing Sharon."

We cleaned up and I sent Ella's pay to her cash app. Sharon brought the books she had to the relic building and she said, "You can send my pay to my cash app as well. Also I went through a third of the bags so you may want to buy more bags soon."

I pulled up my phone and placed a online order. I order a hundred cases from Sams club. Smiling I said, "They will be here tomorrow afternoon."

After they left I paid the guys and when they left Simon joined me in the relic building. He said, "I pulled Pete aside and he is going to be coming back by invite. He is a great worker and deserves the chance."

"I invited Sharon back as well," I said. "When she was leaving with Ella, Ella was offering her rides when she needed it. We are getting a good crew."

He looked at all the books and items we brought over he said, "Sharon worked hard today and organized this so well."

"That is one of the reasons I am keeping her," I said. "That and I remember when Grandpa was ill. If this helps her and her husband I am happy to keep her working."

He said, "So the mysterious intruders."

"Yeah," I said. "I think we need to keep workers near her. I am thinking that it may have been unseen residents."

He nodded and said, "I agree. So what are you doing for dinner?"

Laughing I said, "The last of the leftovers. Want to join me?"

He said, "Sure let me run and shower first. Give me about thirty minutes."

"Same," I said.

We headed to our homes and when I got out of the shower I had enough time to put on Pjs before he knocked at my door. I pulled out the leftovers as he pulled the plates and I said, "So what are you going to do at the medical building?"

"Well we have the estimate for the rood tomorrow," He said. "I am going to have the guys continue maintaining that area and we are going to do forms around the building to create flower beds and walking paths."

"Well," I said. "When sharon gets here I am gonna have her continue on. Ella is gonna clean out the cabinets in the kitchen until I get back. We also have a Sams Club order with 100 cases of gallon ziplock bags for the library. We can bring the order to the library when it gets here. Except for two cases for the cottage."

We spent the rest of night talking about random things while we ate. When it got a bit late Simon took my hand and thanked me for dinner. He kissed my hand and went home. I laid in bed setting up a play list for Ella and slowly fell asleep.

I must have been sleeping when my phone rang. It was Simon and he said, "Franny I called the police there are lights coming from the library. Stay inside until I call you."

The spirit box shifted and I put it on. Her voice whispered, "It's an older woman and a young man."

I asked, "Human?"

"Yes," She said. "I think they are looking for treasure. Shall I look?"

"I do not want you to get hurt," I said.

"I am a ghost," She said and I heard the door shut.

I calle dSimon and when he answered he said, "I felt a rush of air and the door shut in front of me."

"Go to the gate and let the police in there are two of them,"I said. "Ella is watching them."

"They are locked in an upstairs room," She said. "Carl is not happy they tried to steal from his library."

"Carl," I asked.

"He is the librarian," She said. "He is happy the books will go to a good home."

Simon came up to the RV with two officers and I said, "The spirit of the library locked them in an upstairs room."

The officer chuckled and said, "Carl at it again? He was my granddad's poker buddy."

We walked towards the library and saw four officers walking out an older woman and a younger man. I looked over the woman and said, "Aunt Flo?"

"I deserved this place Franny," She huffed.

"So you decided to try to steal from me?" I asked.

"Well my son decided to work for you instead of getting what was rightfully ours," She said. "Where is the treasure? Where did you hide it?"

This land is the treasure," I said. "what did you take?"

She laughed and said, "There is nothing worth taking here."

The young man with her said, "Jewerly and some documents that are in the trunk of the car. A few nicknacks from th house as well and silver from teh kitchen. I am sorry miss she was blackmailing me to come with her."

March 21th- Ella, Charlie, Walt, Shawn, Sharon

Aunt flo

Simon- Caretaker

Mason- Wall repair

Mike- Construction supply store Russel- Electrician Martin Smith-roofer

Caretakers house-

small apartment- bedroom 1, living room, bathroom/closet, k+itchen/dining room, closet

Main building- Master bedroom, master bath/closet, guest room, bathroom, office hallway top attic

kitchen, dining room, living room, sun room, mudroom/laundry room ,hall way bottom, stairs, bathroom

Franchesca- Main Matt-Brother Exploration Adventures