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"It's perfect!" Sandy exclaimed as she and her bridesmaids walked into the foyer of the mansion. Ohh's and awes from her wedding party only solidified in Sandy's mind that they'd made the right choice. The last week and a half had been a snowball of anxiety for Sandy and her groom, Danny. On Monday she'd woken to a frantic phone call from Julie, the wedding coordinator. Thunder Alley Majestic Ballroom, their wedding venue, suffered catastrophic flooding after a bolt of lightening ripped open the roof during the thunderstorm the previous night. With time rapidly ticking down to the wedding they were scrambling to find another venue.

    It hadn't looked good. Sandy was a mess as she cried in Danny's arms on Wednesday, feeling hopeless. A year of planning was swirling down the drain. Then, as if by magic, Sandy's maid of honor Betty got wind the Copper Mansion had a last minute event cancellation, and was looking for someone to fill the spot. Copper Mansion was the most exclusive and expensive venue in town. Even at the discounted rate they'd been offered the two week stay came at a premium, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so Sandy and Danny ponied up the cash. Built nearly two hundred years ago as a bed and breakfast inside the town theme park The Columbia Gardens, the mansion had seen much in its life. It'd witnessed the deaths of three Copper Kings, the burning of its original home, and survived a relocation mostly unscathed.

    As the name implied the Copper Mansion was built with copper accents and murals, taken directly from the lucrative mines in town, which paired nicely with the wood paneling. Sandy was far too young to have seen the Columbia Gardens with her own eyes. Her great-grandparents were children when the park burned and told stories of what they remembered. Mostly it was about the colorful gardens, where the flowers were arranged so they formed pictures or shapes. Her great-grandma Consella loved the dog and other animals while great-grandpa Conor remembered the shamrocks and harp the best. One of the attractions at the new site of the mansion was an attempt to recreate some of the flower shapes on the new grounds, though they would never match the extensive acreage of flowers at the original site, they were still stunning.

"I can't believe we're going to be staying here for two weeks," Francis squeaked.

Marty echoed that with enthusiasm and a squeal of her own. "My standards for vacation are going to be raised forever."

Jan groaned. "Congrats, Sandy. You managed to exceed Marty's impossible standards."

"I'm not impossible, just refined," Marty insisted. Francis giggled and Jan rolled her eyes while Betty just smirked and began to dig in her duffel bag.

The manager of the estate smiled. Mrs. Blanchard was an older woman who lived just off the grounds. "Is there anything else you require, ladies?" she asked.

Sandy shook her head. "No, Mrs. Blanchard. I think everything is covered. The payment for the two weeks went through, right?"

"Of course it did, dear. Enjoy your time with your guests. I'm sure they'll be along soon."

Sandy was puzzled by that statement but just smiled and nodded. She, Betty, Francis, Marty and Jan would be staying alone for the next few days. Aside from vendors who'd be in and out during the daytime they'd be all alone anyway. Danny and his groomsmen were camping in Glacier National Park for his bachelor party and weren't due to show up for days. All of which Mrs. Blanchard knew. Sandy pushed the strange comment aside as the older woman handed her the keys to the mansion. Mrs. Blanchard smiled and waved as she left the girls alone.

Betty ran to the stairs and zoomed up to the halfway point. She had a duffel bag over her shoulder and a gift bag in her right hand. "How about a little sneaky peak to get the party going!" Betty pulled out a bottle of wine from the gift bag while doing her best impression of Stockyard Channing's Betty from Grease.

"Let's do this." Sandy picked up her suitcase and hurried up the stairs. "Women on the right!" Sandy reminded Betty as the maid of honor reached the top of the staircase.

Betty followed the instructions and went to the right side of the mansion. The three other women squealed in excitement as they rushed up the stairs after them. They ran by the bridal suite and took the biggest room they could find for Sandy.

"This is better than I imagined," Francis said as she threw her suitcase down on the bed.

"Look at this bathroom," Marty bubbled, "it's bigger than my apartment!"

Betty started sputtering and coughing. "There's dead people in the backyard."

"Excuse me," Jan questioned as she turned from digging through her bag.

"Dead people," Betty said again while she pointed out the window and took another swig of wine.

Sandy went over to the window and looked for herself. "Maybe it's decorative for Halloween," her tone uncertain.

The others came over and peered through the glass, their breath fogging it rapidly. At first you could be mistaken believing it an overgrown field, but familiar shapes of grave markers stood among the weeds if you looked carefully. The window overlooked a well managed lawn for about five hundred feet to the west. After that five hundred feet came a patch of overgrown and browning weeds, with trees extending their branches over it making a canopy of yellow, orange and gold. The temperatures outside were colder than average for the time of year, even for Montana. Those temperatures had killed the weeds and wildflowers they were seeing among the graves. Though the grass was mostly green on the well tended estate grounds it was tinged with yellow.

"Those are definitely tombstones," Marty said with distaste. "The website never mentioned having a boneyard on the property."

"I don't think it's on the property," Sandy mused. "If the estate owned it it'd be much better taken of."

"Let's go check it out," Jan clapped her hands excitedly.

Betty shook her head. "I don't know. What if there's another house over there and someone catches us trespassing? Sandy and Danny spent a lot of money to get this place. We shouldn't do anything that might get us kicked out."

"I agree with, Betty," Francis nodded. "This wedding can't have anymore hiccups."

Jan pouted. "Fine."

Marty nudged Sandy. Marty pointed down to the screen of her phone. She'd brought up images from Google earth. After some pinching of the picture and moving it around Sandy smiled and Marty nodded.

"Ladies, I'm getting married at sunset on Halloween and we're going to spend most of the next few days decorating. Let's do something spooky before the guys get here." Sandy wiggled her eyebrows.

"Sandy..." Betty said, "I know I'm usually up for things like this but I don't think it's worth the risk."

"Take a look," Sandy handed Marty's phone over. "Those images are brand new. They updated them three months ago. There's no house over there and Mrs. Blanchard won't be able to see us, her house is on the other side of the grounds."

After some conspiratorial looks the women dissolved into giggles. Marty wanted to change her shoes before they headed for the cemetery and the others followed her example. Trudging through weeds in heels would suck the fun right out of the night. Francis had the presence of mind to bring an oversized blanket she found in the closet and Betty brought more wine and paper cups from her bag.

"Don't forget these," Marty held up the bags containing their custom jackets Sandy had sewn. Pink Lady jackets. The five girls met in seventh grade when all signed up for theater courses after school. The first play they'd performed was Grease. It was ironic that most of their names were the same or pretty similar as the characters in the play. Francis and Janet were the only ones whose names weren't exactly the same, but it didn't matter to the girls. They saw it as a sign they were meant to become friends.

They slipped on the jackets and headed out. Fog swirled around their legs as their breath turned white and ascended in the air as they exhaled. Crickets and the soft hoots of owls along with the crunch of their footsteps filled the evening air. As they got closer to the end of the green, the air seemed to get colder. The stone tombstones were easier to see now they were here. It was amazing Betty's sharp eyes identified the crumbling markers for what they were. Sandy would have thought they were rocks.

"This is as good a place as any," Francis said as she spread the blanket on the flattest part of the ground, right in the center of all the markers.

Marty smoothed some imaginary dust off her jacket. "You should be proud of these jackets Sandy, they're the best things you've ever made. The guys jackets too, even if Jared did grumble about wearing a costume."

Sandy groaned. "Now if I could only get the costume business off the ground Jared might finally shut his mouth."

Jan laughed. "Your brother's just jealous he doesn't have any creative talent and is bent over his accounting books all day."

"I doubt it," Sandy smiled. "I do have news to share. Betty and I got the lease! We can move in on Main and set up in a month."

The others squealed in excitement. Main Street was the prime location to set up for any business in town. Once anyone set up shop there they would fight tooth, claw, and nail to keep that spot uptown. And now Sandy's costume business would be added to the block, if only she could think of a catchy name for it. Betty worked with Sandy to create high quality Halloween costumes, and occasionally custom clothing as well, and would hold a fair share in the business.

    "Here's to Sandy and Danny!" Betty said as she finished giving out the paper cups full of wine. The toast was echoed loudly.

    "What do you think the guys are doing right now?" Marty wondered.

    Betty laughed. "Telling dirty jokes and spitting alcohol into the fire." They all laughed at that.

    "I hope everyone finds the place ok," Jan said.

    "Don't worry. We've arranged shuttles if anyone needs them," Sandy assured her, though the cost was one they would have liked to do without. Danny and Sandy felt it was a necessary expense as most of Danny's friends and a good portion of his family lived out of state and had never been to Butte. "Though just in case, Betty hand me a bottle."

    The maid of honor complied and Sandy stood. Sandy walked off the blanket and tipped the bottle over slightly, spilling the red liquid on the fallen leaves and dying flowers. "You're all invited to my wedding should you want to come," Sandy used her free arm to gesture to the tombstones. "There'll be an open bar and costumes are required." Her wedding party laughed behind her.

    "Let's find out who these extra guests are," Francis walked over to the tombstone closest to her and gently moved the weeds in front so she could read off a name. "Shoestring Annie? That sounds familiar. Where do I know that name?"

    Sandy felt the answer hovering on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't for the life of her remember. Betty shrugged and Jan went over to another grave.

    Marty spoke up, "I remember learning about her in school. She was a woman who sold shoestrings to miners from a cigar box in the old days. That's about all I remember."

    Sandy nodded as Marty's words brought back memories of sitting in Montana history during high school. "But there's no way they would have buried her up here. There was nothing here until decades after she died."

    "Hey Sandy," Jan called, "this tombstone is for Marcus Daly. If I remember right he's buried in New York. This cemetery's probably a joke or something if all these tombstones belong to historical people from town."

    Jan's comment prompted farther investigation. The women went to several of the graves and found the names of famous people from town. But there were more than a few none of the girls could place, and no amount of googling turned up information either.

    Sandy's favorite tombstone was that of Manus Duggan. Manus was a hero of the Granite Mountain—Speculator mining disaster of 1917. Manus and a group of miners, including Sandy's own many times great–grandfather, were the last men to be found alive in mines after the fire. Manus knew the greatest danger wasn't the fire, but the deadly gasses as the fames ate the chemically treated timber used to buttress the mine. Knowing the group of men he was with had no hope to survive if they tried to walk through the gas, Manus came up with the idea to build a bulkhead in an area the gas hadn't yet reached, to preserve the air and wait and pray for rescue before the air ran out. It saved many lives, though Manus himself died.

    "Oh well, so much for ghostly guests," Sandy said. "It's getting cold, we should get back and settle down."

    The women packed up and left the cemetery behind. As they walked away none turned to look. If they had, they would have witnessed several foggy shapes in the dark that looked suspiciously like human forms, fallen leaves swirling around them, moved by an unfelt wind. And those foggy human forms slowly began to walk towards the mansion, gaining more substantial figures with each step.

🎃~👰🏼‍♀️~🤵🏾~🍁~👻~🧵~🏂~🌕~🥂