That evening, everything was rather uneventful and pretty normal. Sarah and Alexis were both in dance class on Wednesday nights so the team wouldn’t meet after school again until Thursday when they would be meeting up with Miss Waters. Matthew and William took Jacob and Samantha fishing after supper to help clear their heads.
Jacob: “I didn’t know you guys liked fishing? I thought only older guys did that?”
Matthew: “Are you kidding me? It’s the one time where you can relax and get away from all your cares. If a fish bites, it’s awesome, and if one doesn’t so what? It’s called fishing, it’s not called catching fish. It’s about the peace and serenity you feel being away from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind.”
William: “That and the fact that it’s a great way to become better friends with someone. Matt and I have been doing this since he was twelve. That’s one of the reason we are such good friends.”
Jacob: “So where do you keep your boat?”
William and Matthew both laughed.
Matthew: “We don’t have one. We’ve always just fished right from shore. People don’t realize it, but I’d bet there are three or four shore fishermen for every boat fishermen out there, if not more. And anyway, if you watch those fishing shows, when they fish a river or small lake, they are always casting towards the shoreline. What we’re doing is covering the same water in a different direction.”
William: “And remember, you always have a better chance of catching a fish anytime you have a line in the water then the people driving by in a car.”
Samantha: “So do you guys eat the fish?”
William: “Only when we specifically go fishing for food. On evenings like today we just go for the sake of going. Everything we catch we will release back into the water.”
The group walk down to the river that flows through town near a park that was set up by the town council to prevent all the land along the river from being developed. They settle down on the bank and William and Matthew set up the rods for Jacob and Samantha. Before handing them to them, both of them pinch down the barbs on the hooks.
Jacob: “Why do you do that?”
Matthew: “When you want to release the fish, it’s easier to get the hook out of the fish’s mouth, and that increasing their chance at survival.”
Samantha: “Didn’t realize you guys were so concerned about wildlife. It’s actually a bit of a surprise.”
Matthew: “My dad always said, let it go and let it grow.”
After a few brief lessons, the two novice anglers were casting there lines out like seasoned pros. After a couple minutes, Samantha shouted “I’ve got a bite.”
As she was reeling in her fish, the three boys stood around waiting to see what it was. As she landed it, Matthew picked it up and removed the hook. William took a camera out of his pocket and Matthew gave instruction to Samantha on how to hold it so it didn’t squirm too much by placing her hand on the belly of the fish. Jacob was expecting Samantha to be a little skittish to pick up the fish, but she grabbed it in her hands the way Matthew showed her and held it up for William to take a photo. After a couple pictures, Matthew took the fish and showed Samantha and Jacob how to release it properly into the water so it would have the best chance of survival, by moving the fish forward a little so that water would flow through its gills. Matthew told them never to pull the fish backwards or it could drown. Both Jacob and Samantha started laughing.
Jacob stopped just long enough to say, “Who ever heard of a fish drowning? They live in the water.”
William intervened, “They may live in the water, but if water flows through their gills backwards, it could get into their lungs.”
Both Jacob and Samantha felt bad for not believing Matthew when he made the comment. They apologized to Matthew for thinking he was joking around. Matthew smiled at them, “Don’t worry about it. The amount of wisecracks I tell, it’s probably hard to tell when I’m being serious. But just so you both know, I would never joke around when it comes to my favourite past time.”
As the evening went on, Samantha landed a couple more fish, as did William and Matthew. Jacob was starting to get a little frustrated as he couldn’t understand why he couldn’t catch anything. He was fishing in the same area as the others, and even traded spots a couple times with William and Matthew, but they would catch and he wouldn’t. He was using the same bait and hooks as the other three as well and still having no luck.
“Relax”, said William, it’s as much about luck as it is skill.”
All of a sudden Jacobs’s rod was almost pulled out of his hands. He grasped it tight and started to reel it in. William and Matthew were both giving him pointers on the proper way to play the fish so it wouldn’t break the line and get away. Samantha stood by giving him words of encouragement. After a five minute fight, Jacob landed a large catfish. After removing the hook, Matthew was giving Jacob pointers on holding the catfish by its belly so it would calm down and to avoid the pectoral and dorsal fins. William snapped a couple pictures and Matthew released the fish into the water.
Matthew: “I love a fishing trip where everyone catches something.”
Samantha: “I can see why you guys do this so often. As long as you’re cautious by the water and pay attention to where your hook is when it’s out of the water, it’s a safe and relaxing past time.”
Matthew: “We try to get out at least once a week if we can. It helps clear your head of all life’s little concerns.”
William: “Yeah, and with the fun we had, no one’s even mentioned the case we’re investigating. And I have another surprise for you two. When you get home from school tomorrow, I want you to log on to this web site, www.shorefishing.net, and you’ll find the pictures I’ve just taken of your fish from tonight. This way you can show them to anyone you want.”
Jacob: “That’s so cool. And someone just puts the pictures on it for you for free? Speaking of tomorrow after school, what time are we meeting with Miss Waters?”
William: “We’ve decided to meet at her place around seven. I guess we should all meet at the school around six forty five.”
The kids gathered up their gear, and any garbage they had dropped and started for home. Jacob and Samantha thanked William and Matthew for taking them along. They also asked if they could come along again sometime. William and Matthew were both pleased to see the interest they showed in what was their favourite past time, and they both agreed that they could come along any time.
Jessica was having a family night out with her mom and dad. They would go to a restaurant for dinner and then a movie or something else afterwards so they can just be together at least once a month. Jessica looked forward to this day as it allowed them time to catch up on what was going on in each other’s lives. It seemed to help bring her and her parents closer together. They would normally only discuss things that would not upset the others so the evenings were always an enjoyable time.
The next morning, as Jessica was woken by her phone indicating it had a text. She rolled over and picked it up to see just who was up so early. William had sent her a message that he’d like to meet at school a little earlier, around 8:00, to go over what they would like to discuss with Miss Waters. She responded back that she would be there. She looked at the time on her phone and realized she had actually slept in a little so she started to quickly get ready for the day. William had sent the same message to all the group members and all were responding yes, they could make it.
At school, the group all met at their usual meeting spot near a large tree. William was handing out a list of what they had written on the board at his place and gave a copy to each group member. He instructed everyone to go over it to see if they would like anything to not be discussed, or if anything should be added.
Matthew: “Are you guys sure you want to discuss all this stuff with a scientific person?”
Jessica: “Why wouldn’t we? This could be our best chance to find out if what we saw is real or if there are some logical explanations.”
Matthew: “Are you going to tell her about your dream?”
Jessica: “Of course. It ties directly in to the whole story from the note book to the picture William printed off. I’d like to know what it all means.”
William: “Besides, if she can shed some light on what we saw, that’d go a long way in helping us determine if we are going about ghost hunting the right way.”
Sarah: “It does seem weird to be talking about this stuff to a complete stranger. I feel kind of funny about the whole thing.”
Jacob: “Me too. I don’t even like telling my parents what we do, let alone a complete stranger.”
Jessica: “If anyone is too uncomfortable to do this, they don’t need to come. It’s not like this is a mandatory thing that everyone must do. We just figure the way everything happened, and the fact that she just showed up at the school and is willing to talk with us is something we should take advantage of.”
Matthew: “It is a weird coincidence that someone like that just happened to show up the next day after we experienced what we did at the old mill. I guess it couldn’t do any harm.”
William: “Exactly, and we could learn from her experience. When is the next time a knowledgeable adult will be willing to waste their time talking to a group of teenagers about something most adults refuse to admit is real?”
Alexis: “So we are all in agreement that we will meet with this Miss Waters and tell her what happened at the old mill, and the whole story about the gold and everything.”
As the group was carrying on their discussion, they didn’t realize that Miss Waters was walking past them heading into the school. She looked over at them and smiled, “Good morning students.”
The group turned and William and Jessica both responded, “Good morning Brenda.”, while the other kids just said good morning.
Alexis: “You guys call her by her first name?”
Jessica: “She told us that’s what she prefers. She says “Miss Waters is my mother’s name, so just call me Brenda. Miss Waters sounds too old to me.”
The other group members were just staring at her. Matthew watched her walk past and said quietly, “She’s gorgeous. That’s your teacher?”
The other group members agreed that she was very attractive. Sarah looked at Alexis and said, “That’s the lady we saw the other day who we thought was someone’s big sister or something.”
Alexis: “Yeah, I never would have dreamed she was actually a teacher. She seems far too young.”
William: “We thought the same thing when she walked into our class the first day. But she is very unique in her teaching methods. She gets the entire class involved in her lessons and even the guys who normally goof around pay attention to her.”
Jacob: “I can see why. I’d definitely be paying attention to the teacher in that class.”
Matthew gives Jacob a little push sideways as he continues to watch Miss Waters walk into the school. As he turns back to the group, he notices that Alexis is looking at him with a slightly angry expression. He quickly looses the smile off his face and puts his head down. William, noticing this says to the group, “I forgot to mention the secret place she brought us too yesterday.”
Sarah: “She took your class to a secret place? How far from the school is it?”
Jessica: “William left out the fact that the secret place was in our minds. She took us through this hypnosis exercise that allows you to imagine a fantasy word that you control. It goes through visualizing the colors of the rainbow to help you relax and then down a path to a locked door that only you have the key to.”
Sarah: “Can’t you just close your eyes and imagine the place directly?”
Jessica: “No, this is different. You are completely relaxed when you get there so you really visualize the place in your mind like you’re really there. It’s like it’s on a different level of consciousness or something.”
Samantha: “Maybe we can all go through this exercise ourselves sometime. Sounds like a nice way to recharge our batteries.”
William: “That it definitely is. After we went through the exercise, everyone was alert and really involved in any class discussions we had in the morning. Maybe next time we meet at my house we can go through it.”
Matthew: “So back to current business. We were discussing yesterday that we should just meet at the school after supper around 6:45.”
William: “That’ right. Then we can all go down to Miss Waters’ house together.”
The group agreed this was a good idea and that they would all meet at the same spot.
Jessica asked, “How was fishing?”
Samantha: “I never realized how much fun you could have with a stick and some string.”
Jacob: “I caught a monster size catfish.”
William: “Yeah, everyone caught something. It was a very relaxing evening.”
Jessica: “Well next week I’ll be coming along as well.”
Matthew: “Our fishing group is getting larger. Good thing our fishing spot is large.”
The group continued talking about what each did on the night before until it was time to head into the school. As they were walking into the school, Jessica noticed Miss Waters looking out the window of her class at them. She thought it was a bit strange, but didn’t mention it to the group.
During lunch, Miss Waters went to the councillor’s office to discuss what she had noticed from the self hypnosis session she put the students through the day before. She explains to the councillor what she did, and how it is believed that the type of door each student saw gave a bit of insight into their own personality based on the type of door they had on their secret place. She was showing him the sheets the students handed in and explaining that some had normal doors, some had fancy ornate ones and some had vault style doors. One student even had a glass door. The student with the glass door had nothing to hide, and was a very open and trusting person. The ones with the normal doors were just average everyday people, with little secrets and relatively normal lives. The ones with the fancy ornate doors were all living in a bit of a fantasy world, or trying to portray themselves as better off than they were. Her concern however, was with the ones who had the vault style doors, as they were indicating that they were hiding something. It may be nothing to serious, but it may also indicate that there are things they are going through that they are trying to hide from everyone. This was a concern to her because she was worried if they try to deal with issues themselves and not seek help, they may experience anxiety and frustration that they really didn’t need to go through. The councillor listened to Brenda and took what she was saying rather seriously. The two of them have had discussions throughout the week about a multitude of topics, and he was aware of the list of social courses she had degrees in. He agreed to keep the information secret and to talk with the students who seemed to be hiding something over the next couple weeks. He suggested that they bring a couple students who were not showing signs of any hidden issues, so that the troubled students don’t feel like they are being singled out. Brenda agreed that that would probably be the best way to deal with their issues. She thanked the councillor for his time and headed off to class to prepare for the afternoons classes.