A Ghost at Stallion's Gate by Elizabeth Eagan-Cox Page B

asked.
    Gracie broke out laughing and then said, “Shannon, now we really are dealing in the paranormal. Irma is the ghost for the player piano at the castle. She can play any song on a moment’s notice. I was there recently and before the name Scott Joplin had left the tip of my tongue, Irma was tickling the piano keys to the tune of The Entertainer, one of Joplin’s most beloved and popular jazz tunes.”
    I turned to Alex and said, “You’re joking?”
    He said, “Yes and no. Irma is the name of the ghost who plays the piano in the front parlor of the Magic Castle. As the story goes, in 1908, the Lane family built the mansion that today is the Magic Castle. It was customary in that era to have a piano in the parlor. And though no one in the Lane family was particularly talented on the piano, a friend of the family, a woman named Irma, loved playing it. She loved it so much that the family grew weary of Irma’s ever present presence in their home and retired the piano to a private upstairs room. Discouraged and most likely feeling ostracized, Irma broke off relations with the Lane family. Irma died in 1932 and supposedly, she said she would forever play that piano whenever she wished. Much later, when the home became the Magic Castle, the piano was found in an upstairs room, it was restored and placed back in the parlor. Now, in the Magic Castle, Irma is welcome to play it whenever and however much she cares to. Needless to say, Irma can be heard playing that piano at all hours of the day and night. Most of us, magicians and staff, suspect that Irma prefers the times when guests have crowded into the parlor to hear her play. Irma is always accommodating to song requests and to the best of my memory, she has never failed to render a request.”
    I stared at Alex, not knowing what to believe. Was he trying to convince me that a ghost named Irma was still playing a piano and doing so for the pure joy of entertainment? And, that he could actually ask Irma for her opinion about a song? “Alex, there is some catch to this, some explanation that is earthbound in reality, right?” I asked.
    Alex did not give me an answer and instead he countered with a challenge by asking, “You don’t believe in ghosts?”
    His tease did not deserve my attention. I ignored Alex and looked to Gracie and said, “I will research the phrases that we heard in order to determine if they have a meaning unique to the time and culture of the 1920s, when Marla would have been onstage. And if Alex can get a lead on the song and lyrics then maybe we’ll have more to go on. As for any more EVPs, I have one more.” I adjusted the recorder to the next phantom sound.
    “Come back,” a woman’s voice whispered.
    “This occurred just as we were leaving, right before we stepped outside the theater,” I explained.
    There was no mistaking Gracie’s look of concern. “Play it again,” she requested. And so I did.
    “Nothing like that showed up on my recorder. Alex?” Gracie asked.
    Alex shook his head no and then he leaned forward and took my recorder in his hand, he replayed the EVP voice. He turned to me and said, “Shannon, I believe this was meant for your ears only. I have nothing like this on my recorder. In fact, other than the EVP about not teasing the spirits, my only other recording was of footsteps. However, because they occur at times when we three or us two were walking about, I’d be reluctant to say they are phantom footsteps.” Alex played the footstep EVPs, and sure enough each time footsteps sounded, we were walking about.
    “Hmm, I got similar footsteps and I agree with Alex. I suspect they are our own footsteps. So, for now, we’ve heard all the EVPs?”
    “That’s all I have,” I answered.
    “Yeah, me too,” Alex said.
    Gracie stood up and said, “For now that’s all we can do. Like I said, I’ll have my pics and Alex’s scrutinized by our tech guy. And maybe we can talk about this again in a day or