Finding their normal spot at the end of Main Street USA with a view of the Castle, they sat for twenty minutes watching the crowd. Regis pointed out something to Carlyle who with almost little physical motion dismissed the observation.  Carlyle watched the crowd and then he pointed something out to Regis who shrugged indifferently. Then they both noticed something at the same time, three men, all dressed in matching apparel.
This was not an abnormal occurrence in Walt Disney World, the regular was families with matching T-shirts, sometimes couples with matching outfits, occasionally bachelorette parties, and infrequently bachelor possess.  But these three gentleman were in matching 1970’s era blue ruffled frilled tuxedo shirts.  After the three men were out of view Regis started the conversation. “Why would you wear a shirt like that? ”

Carlyle offered a theory. “Wedding?”

“Lost a bet?” Regis added.

“Maybe Youtube Tik Tok thing?” Carlyle continued with a hypothesis.

There was a pause as the two men sat there. Regis spoke first. “The last time I saw a shirt like that in Walt Disney World was worn by a ghost.” Regis said then leaned back against the bench.

Carlyle raised an eyebrow. “A ghost in Disney World wearing a 1970’s tuxedo shirt.”

“Actually, I met him twice, not to far from here, only a couple hundred yard from where we were sitting,” Regis said motioning over his shoulder “in the Contemporary.”

“So, there is a ghost in the Contemporary?” Carlyle said suspiciously.

Regis nodded.  “A real shame, the place was open less than a year, 1972. June to be exact, when our ghost was born.”

“A ghost is born?” Carlyle said leaning back as well.

Regis shrugged. “In a manner of speaking, that is when the man who became the ghost died.”

“So, you have met this ghost?”

“Yes, like I said earlier, twice. Sure, we even talked, in a manner of speaking,” Regis paused. “well, he talked, I listened, I don’t know if we really exchanged information, he was a little preoccupied.”

Carlyle bit. “What was a ghost preoccupied with?”

Regis said ominously tone. “Hurricane Agnes.”

“That was in 1972.” Carlyle said suspiciously.

“Yep, it was even more important why he was worried about the rainfall from Agnes but let me tell you the story from the beginning, at least what I stitched together after I met the ghost in the Contemporary and did some research. The Contemporary was open less than a year, it was the hottest new hotel in Orlando, well that and the Polynesian.”  Regis continued. “The Contemporary was the built with a partnership with United States Steel Corporation, it was the first ever in the world to have a monorail running through it.  There was some orginal concern that the Monorail would be too loud and noisy to run through the building, disturbing guests above it, but the thing is very quiet for being such a big vehicle.”

“Yes, the guests loading and unloading can be louder than the rolling stock.” Carlyle added.

Regis nodded. “The building was built really well, too well in one case, but not very well in another, which leads us to the ghost, Agnes came through in 1972 and while Agnes did not make landfall anywhere near Orlando, there was still record rainfall coming off her and therein lies the problem.”

Carlyle nodded.

“His name was Andrew and he could not swim.” Regis said. “Not that it would have helped him.”

Carlyle looked at Regis quizzically.

“I first met Andrew in 1985 when I was sitting on the convention level of the A frame late one night and to be perfectly honest, I had had a few and was recovering a bit before I drove home.”

“You were sleeping it off, weren’t you?”

“Well maybe a little.” Regis said shrugging.

“And this is when you met the ghost.”

“The first time.” Regis said, holding up one finger.  “So, I am walking back to my couch from the restroom, trying to judge my sobriety, you know doing the math in in my head, how many drinks I had versus how long it had been. I  firgured I was pretty sober and was reaching for my car keys when I saw Andrew.” Regis looked at his bench mate. Carlyle looked mildly interested so he continued. “He was standing only a few feet away, I had not seen him or heard him approach but the carpeting could have dampened his steps.”
“I said ‘Hello’ sort of surprised.  But he just looked around, not really at me more like through me. That is when I noticed what he was wearing, a baby blue tuxedo with his jacket draped over his shoulder.”

“Like we saw earlier?” Carlyle said suspiciously.

“Those were more of a robin’s egg blue, what Andrew was wearing was more of a baby blue, just a shade lighter and warmer.” Regis answered.

“Seeing ghosts and now you are a color palette expert.”  Carlyle said rolling his eyes.

Regis shrugged. “He was tall, about six foot, maybe six two, short hair above his ears, African American and instead of dress shoes he was wearing black cowboy boots. I reiterated my ‘hello’ again and he continued with the gaze that looked through me, there was no look of malice or ill will, but there was a look of concern, then he spoke. And he said, ‘Agnes is dumping a lot of water, I hope they moved the cows up to the north pasture; it is only a few feet higher but that may make all the difference.’

“He was talking about cows and pasture?”

Regis nodded. “I will explain.”

Carlyle threw up his hands in surrender.

“The next thing he said really threw me. ‘Do you think it is going to let up soon’ he said as he looked out the nearby doors.  I mean it was a dry hot summer night, there had not been rain in a couple of days.”

“So besides being strange, why do you think he was a ghost?” Carlyle said.

“Because right after he looked out the doors for rain that was not there,” Regis paused for effect. “he walked right through me.” Regis paused. “I thought he was going to bump into me but instead he passed right through me, I got a chill that ran up my feet and out through the top of my head, sort of a reverse dosing of water.” Regis shuddered at the memory. “I was totally sober then, like every ounce of alcohol evaporated from of my system, and I stood shockingly stone cold sober, it took me a second to turn around he was approaching the northwest corner stairwell.”

“Just past the bathrooms.” Carlyle added.

“Just past the bathrooms.” Regis nodded. “So, I turned and started to follow him. But when I got to the doors of the stairwell he was not there, and the doors were shut tight when they should have just been closing.  I poked my head into the stairwell and looked around, nothing. I swore I heard water running down the stairwell, but it was dry as a bone.” Regis shaking his own head in disbelief. “I spent the next few minutes going down the stairwell, and then I went up three stories.”

“You climbed stairs?” Carlyle said.

Regis looked at his portly friend knowing that he matched his own stocky and elder physique. “It was 1985, I was much younger and thinner.”

“Weren’t we all.” Carlyle sighed. “So, what did you do after the could not find him in the stairwell.”

Regis leaned back knowing that Carlyle was hooked on the story. “I went down to the front desk and asked if there was any weddings going on. This was years before Disney started doing weddings. And there were no weddings going on, no engagement parties, no proms, or fancy-dress parties either.”

“Did you ask about a man in a baby blue tuxedo wandering around?”

Regis nodded. “I did.  And you know what happened, the lady behind the desk got a strange look on her face, first surprise then a guarded look, like she knew something but was afraid to say.”

“Did she say anything?”

“No, but a custodial staff member I knew was walking out to his car at the same time I was and he told me various Cast Members had seen the ghost but I was the first guest he knew of that saw the man in the tuxedo. He was always seen near the Hall of the Americas, the convention level floor, always heading towards the same stairwell, and always disappearing in the same way.”

Carlyle nodded.

“It was weird I know, and I thought about it for the next couple of days, but work got busy, and we had a family vacation coming up and you know everyday things begin to distract you, but I remembered the encounter, it was bouncing around in the back of my head. So, the next time the wife and kids went to the in-laws and I had a few days of peace and quiet in the house I decided to do some research.

Carlyle nodded in understanding.

“I went to the Orlando library and pulled up articles from the hurricane coverage about Agnes.” Regis went quiet for a bit.

Carlyle waited and then finally broke down. “And what did you find?”

Regis nodded knowing he had the guy on the hook now for his story. “There was a person who matched the ghost’s description who was pronounced dead at a local Orlando hospital, named Andrew.”

“And he died from drowning?”

“All that was listed was accidental, no cause listed in the paper.”

“So how do you know he drowned?”

“More research.” Regis said drawing out the story to exasperate his bench mate. Carlyle’s eyebrow went up and Regis knew that he had struck paydirt.

“How did he drown?” Carlyle asked with his eyebrow still up.

“I found his family,” Regis stated plainly. “Did you know Florida is number twelve in the nation for supplying beef.”

Carlyle nodded but gave nothing else away.

Regis continued. “It seems Andrews family still owned the cattle ranch he was still worried about; the same one he was talking about the night I met him.” Regis paused. “I drove out there, they had a nice produce stand as well as still selling beef. I bought a bunch of produce and started talking to the old man running the stand, he had worked there since the 60’s.  He was an old ranch hand that still worked for the family, but in a diminished capacity.  I asked him about the family and since the produce stand was not busy, he offered me a chair and we talked for a long time and I got the story about Andrew’s death.”

“And how he drowned?”

“About how he drowned.” Regis nodded. “It seems that Andrew was celebrating his friend’s wedding which had occurred at the hotel in 1972. Andrew got drunk and wandered off from the party.  No one in the party was worried about him, it was Disney after all, and no one believed he would go outside in the torrential downpour, which they could all hear even in ballroom they were in.” Regis paused for breath. “But somehow in his drunken state Andrew wandered into the stairwell and the door locked behind him. So, and this was all theorized afterwards but the evidence bears it out.  Andrew went down the stairs. Unfortunately, this is where the fact that the place was built too well and not so well in other regards.”

Carlyle didn’t actually lean in to listen but he at least looked at Regis fully.

“The stairwell kept in all the water that poured in from the top floor down, all fifteen floors, pouring down those steps.  The Medical Examiner stated that he probably slipped, got knocked unconscious. And with that great build the water kept rising, and the doors were hung so well they were watertight, Andrew probably never woke up.”

“Sad.” Carlyle said.

Regis nodded. “Yeah.”  He said thinking of the young man lost due to bad luck, and a freak accident meeting up with a convergence of extreme weather.

There was no noise between the two men, just the normal noise from the park guests and the ubiquitous background music perfectly creating the ambiance at the end of Main Street, USA but contrasting sharply with two men’s thoughts.

Carlyle broke the silence first. “Wait, you said you met the ghost one other time?”

“Yes, I did.”

Carlyle sighed. “Okay when did you meet him again?”

Regis chuckled. “Of course, at the Contemporary again. This time I was sober as a judge, I had just spent the day in the park with my In-Laws and my family. I had splurged and got a couple of rooms in the Contemporary. It was late at night, but my mother-in-law had forgotten her medication at my house, so being the good husband I was, and not wanting to deal with a dead mother-in-law I drove home to get her medication.” Regis said sighing tiredly. “I had just gotten back to the hotel and was passing through the lobby when something made me take the escalator up to the convention level. Like before it was quiet, not a soul around. I don’t know why I did it but I walked towards that stairwell. I realized what I was doing and chided myself and turned around and there was Andrew again, in his baby blue tuxedo, looking as solid as you or me.”

Carlyle nodded.

Regis persisted. “I spoke first this time. ‘Andrew, they moved the cattle up to the north pasture, they did not lose a single cattle that night.’ I said repeating what the old ranch hand said about the night Andrew passed.”  Regis paused for effect now. “This time I think Andrew actually looked at me. At least it seemed so to me though. I spoke again. ‘The cattle were safe, and your family still owns one of the biggest family cattle ranches in Florida, they are doing all right.’

Andrew spoke but he was looking out the window at the clear night. ‘The ranch weathered the storm?’” Regis paused. ‘Yes, it did, it is still green and productive.’ Andrew then nodded and instead of walking through me, like he did before, he turned but instead of walking towards the exit stair well he looked out the double glass doors at the clear night and just disappeared.”

There was silence between the two men. Carlyle was about to speak when he saw Regis looking at someone over his shoulder.

Regis spoke first. “Hi Miles.”

Carlyle turned and saw the young man approaching their bench. “Mr. Mitchell.”

Miles Mitchell stopped in front of the two older men. “Have you guys seen four women in silky, almost wedding gowns pass by in the last hour?”

Carlyle and Regis shook their heads. But Carlyle volunteered some info. “We did see three guys in robin’s egg blue frilly tuxedo shirts, about twenty minutes ago.”

Miles gave a strained look.  “Are you sure there was only three, not four.”

Regis joined in. “Nope only three.”

“Three,” Miles sucked in some air at that. “Three, there is supposed to be four.” He paused and looked around. “Which way did they go?”

Regis and Carlyle both pointed and said in unison. “Adventureland.”

“Okay, thanks guys that helps a lot. See you.” The young man called over his shoulder as he walked not towards Adventureland but towards the castle.

The two men on the bench watched Miles walk away, it was at least ten minutes before Carlyle spoke. “So, Andrew just disappeared?”

“Yep.”

Carlyle shook his head in disbelief.

“That is my story, and I am sticking to it.” Regis then leaned back on the bench putting his hands behind his head while stretching out his legs and he started watching the crowd again.

This will be my next collection of short stories I put out, Mostly Untrue Stories of Walt Disney World.  Remember the title, Mostly Untrue.  I cannot stress that enough.  Regis and Carlyle put in an appearance in the Miles Mitchell Mystery, The Dress Up Case, which is the first collection of stories.  This story will only be here for a short time as this will be a bonus story in The Miles Mitchell Mysteries, Volume 2, coming out soon.  Also for people who love physical books, the first Miles Mitchell Mysteries collection will be out soon, watch this space for more details. Order Early, Order Often, Order Well. Thanks for reading, standard instructions, feedback and reviews are greatly appreciated.

The Miles Mitchell Mysteries in physical format is at :  https://bookstore.dorrancepublishing.com/the-miles-mitchell-mysteries-a-private-eye-at-a-magical-place/

Categories: A Miles Mitchell Story, Mostly Untrue Stories of Walt Disney World, Outrageous Lies and Tales

Tags: A Miles Mitchell Mystery, carlyle, Contempary, disney, Disney Contempary, Ghost, ghost story, Mostly Untrue, Regis