I've been going outside a bit more, walking about and making plans for this summer's work. A lot of trash to burn, storage to get rid of and a building to take down. Switch our large coal bin (the house used to heat by coal) over to become a wood shed and make a doorway for it through the basement wall. We estimate the bin could hold over 5 cords of split wood. Currently we have our library stored in the coal bin and desire to move it into our school bus for better protection from the rains and snow. We look forward to the day we can again display all of our books and loan them out to other readers.
As I've kept you updated, I am currently working on Book 2 of the "Badge and the Cross" series, entitled "Stronghold". Mostly based on my time as a police officer for the Skagway Police Department back in the early 1980's, but with fictional characters.
The story begins with the murder of "Big Red" in 1899, a 200 lb prostitute brought up from the Barbary Coast to entertain the thousands of miners arriving in town for the 1898 Gold Rush. She was known as Big Red for her size and her long flowing red hair, and her life ended violently on a wintry night in Room # 308, on the third floor of the Golden North Hotel. Big Red is probably one of the most famous spooks in Alaska and paranormal experts and those who study the supernatural as a hobby come from all over the world to stay in her room, and possibly experience the spook's many activities. Back when I was a cop there, the owners of the hotel kept the third floor boarded off during the winter months. The hotel's owner, who supposedly had two frightening encounters with Big Red, never went above the 2nd floor.
But, even during the summer months, the room maintain an icy temperature, furniture was destroyed and a reoccurring event was to have the room's wooden chair thrown out through the window, shattering the glass. On one such wintry night the chair landed on the hood of my patrol car and the locks to the third floor were still in place and the owners down in Seattle. The lights in the room, a overhead electric light and a small bedside lamp often went off, while the rest of the hotel still had power. More than once during my walking patrols I saw a person standing at the window of Room # 308 who had long flowing hair and I would pray. No, I don't believe in ghosts, but I do believe in the existence of demons who play the roll to confuse us. I found the lengthy history of Big Red to be interesting as it demonstrated the goings on in town from the time of the Gold Rush to when I was working there.
She had been a cold, cynical woman with a violent past and one late night she encountered a crazed miner who ended her life. I prayed when I was in that room, investigating new vandalism and in the back of my mind I could almost hear the screams of a tortured soul screaming