Will I Need My Wellies?

My name is Anton Tiodorescu - Tony to my friends. I have been working with Eoghan for five years. I am usually sent out into farm fields on rainy days or asked to search river banks or dig up beaches. At least that's how it seems to my wife who is tired of having wet boots messing up the hallway.

Eoghan and I met in strange circumstances. We were in the same restaurant at lunch time and he kept looking over at me. I was sipping my coffee and getting nervous. Why was this guy looking at me? A lot of possibilities flashed through my head and I didn't like any of them. Then he got up and approached my table. I considered getting up too and going to pay my bill. But something kept me rooted to my seat. He sat down in the chair across from me and said, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was hoping you could tell me about the ghosts you grew up with." It took me a few seconds to process what he had said and then I just started to laugh. The situation became stranger when I asked him who had told him; there were only four people I could think of who knew. I hadn't even told my fiance... yet. He said no one needed to tell him and handed me his business card - Parapsychologist/Paranormal Investigator, Eoghan Black and a string of letters that meant little. I still didn't see how his business card gave him the ability to read minds - but that's another subject altogether! After a drink of something a bit stronger than the restaurants coffee, I relaxed a little and started to find talking to Eoghan very interesting. By the time he left, I had given him my contact details and promised him a visit to see the family home as soon as I could arrange it with my parents.

A little background for you: My family had moved into a large Georgian house when I was six years old. My father was an antique dealer and thought the old coach house which came with the property could be converted into a shop. That's when the fun began. As soon as the work started, something else seemed to start as well. Objects would move, stains appeared and disappeared on the walls. Shadowy figures appeared in the old coach house and tools would be moved from where they had been left. Sometimes they would disappear for days only to return to the places they had been, broken.

​In the house, it was almost as bad. Odd, muffled voices, seeming to argue could be heard at night. In the daytime there would be knocking sounds coming out of thin air. One evening while we were eating dinner I made the foolish decision of copying the knocking pattern on the table. My parents and the unseen knocker disliked this and both showed their displeasure. My parents, with shrivelling glances and the 'ghost' - I'd might as well call it - by knocking louder and longer, the sound becoming like metal striking rock. I never copied the pattern again.

​I was working as a surveyor for my local council at the time I met Eoghan. He said he could use someone with my talents on his team if I was willing to put in a little study - paid, at that! After I went to his offices and met other people he was working with (they never said 'working for'), I cut back my council job to part time while I was studying. Now I'm a full time Paranormal Investigator. I've never regretted my decision.