“Okay, everybody, follow me! And stay close together; we don’t want the ghost to snag any stragglers.” The Devil Springs Mine tour guide winked at the small group of people who had come for the late autumn tour.

Sixteen-year-old Sara Marlowe grabbed her little brother’s hand. “Stay by me,” she whispered.

“I’ll have to if you keep hanging onto me like this.” Ten-year-old Derek twisted his hand in an attempt to escape her grip. “You’re scared, aren’t you?”

Sara looked at him and laughed. “Nope, I just know how you like to go off exploring on your own.”

They followed the tour guide as she began telling about Dan Steele, the ghost local residents said haunted the old mine shaft where the tour was about to begin. The shaft had become a great tourist attraction since renovations were undertaken by the Save Our Mine Society. The ghost legend was a big draw.

“Dan Steele was from Pennsylvania and came west in 1880 to try his luck at silver mining. They say he left a sweetheart at home and was mining to earn money so they could marry. And that was her name, Mary.”

”Sounds bogus to me,” whispered Derek. “Hey, what’s that smell?”

“Shhh,” Sara responded.  

“Dan was a quiet guy, but rumor had it that he almost killed a man over Mary just before coming to the mines.”

“Cool!” said Derek, a little too loudly.

“Well, we don’t know for sure that Dan committed any crime,” said the guide, frowning at Derek, “but we do know he died in a mining accident. The bracing gave way and Dan was down there alone. The other miners heard him screaming, ‘Mary, Mary,’ but he was gone before they reached him.”

“I’ll bet you think that’s romantic, don’t you?” Derek was jiggling with laughter as he looked up at his sister.

Sara stuck her tongue out at him.

The tour guide continued with her presentation as they walked through the renovated mine. Sturdy handrails marked the boundary where visitors were allowed. As the approached a bend in the shaft, Sara sneezed.

“I told you this place smelled!” said Derek.

Sara let go of his hand to hunt for a tissue in her purse. She sneezed again and looked around for him. Derek was ducking under the handrail not ten feet from where she stood.

“Derek,” she hissed. “Get back here!”

“But I see something. It’s a door.”

As Sara reached the spot, her little brother jerked open the old wooden door.

“This tour is boring,” he answered and skittered out of sight.

“Derek!” Sara had no choice but to follow him inside. “Its pitch black in here, Derek. What are you doing?”

“Hang on, I found a switch!”

Suddenly there was light.

“Aw,” said Derek, “it’s just a dumb old storage room.”

“Were you hoping for something else?” Sara smirked at the disappointed look on her little brother’s face.

“Yeah, I thought we’d see old Dan,” Derek shot back.

“The only thing I see is that,” replied Sara, pointing to a pile of fur near a cardboard box. Her hand flew up to cover her nose and mouth.

“That must be the smell,” said Derek. He went over to the box and stirred the fur pile with his foot. “Dead critter – I don’t even want to know what kind. Yick!”

“Come on,” said Sara, “we have to catch up with the tour group.” She grabbed Derek’s hand as he turned out the light. They shut the door and ducked under the hand rail.

“Mary?” The voice was soft.

“Who said that?” Derek asked.

“And why is it so cold in this spot?” said Sara.

“Mary, please.” The voice was a little louder this time.

“Hey,” said Derek, his voice shaking. “Isn’t that the name of old Dan’s sweetheart—Mary?”

Just then the sound of running feet came from the direction of the bend in the shaft.

Sara and Derek froze. Then Sara smiled when she saw the man.

“I think he’s one of the guys from the tour,” she said with obvious relief.

 “Can we help you?” she asked as the young man approached. He wore blue jeans, a plaid shirt, a floppy brown hat and heavy boots.

The man looked at Sara and smiled. “I’ve lost my girl, my girl. Blond hair, blue dress. Have you seen her, have you seen her?”

“Sorry, we got sidetracked, in there,” answered Sara, pointing to the door. She wondered why the man repeated some of his words.

“Dumb old storage closet,” mumbled Derek.

 “We’d help you look, but we have to re-join the tour group,” said Sara.

“That’s okay. They’re not too far ahead. I’m sure my girl is just fooling around. She’s such a kidder, a kidder.” The man laughed and continued back along the walkway.

“Come on, Derek,” said Sara. “No more fooling around for you either. Mom and Dad will be waiting for us at the end of the tour and then we’re going to dinner.”

“Boy, that guy is in some hurry,” said Derek, turning to watch him go.

“And now we come to the deepest part of the mine,” the tour guide said as Sara and Derek re-joined the group.

“The great Colorado silver boom brought prosperity to the whole region and . . .”

Derek tugged on Sara’s hand. “There she is!”

A girl in a blue dress with blond hair stood directly behind the tour guide. Sara walked over to her and bent down.

“Did you know your daddy’s looking for you?” she said sternly.

The little girl looked at Sara with bright brown eyes. “No, he’s not,” she said. “This is my daddy right here.” The girl reached over and grabbed the hand of a man Sara hadn’t noticed before.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Sara. “We just saw someone who . . .”

“And we know that our ghost, Dan, had some odd speech habits, too,” said the tour guide.

Sara stood up quickly. “What?” she asked.

“It’s just another part of the legend.” The tour guide chuckled. “They say old Dan often repeated the end of his sentences. There’s no way to know if it’s really true.” She waved her hand to move the group forward. “Okay, almost done. And let me remind you about our wonderful gift shop.”

Derek looked at his sister with huge eyes, his voice shaking. “You know that guy we just saw? Do you think . . . “

Sara looked at her brother with even bigger eyes. “I sure do! I think we just saw the ghost of Devil Springs Mine, little brother.”