"We're headed to the old Candler Hospital." Cash released a deep breath. "It can cause chills up your spine."

Evan stopped in the parking lot. The group of thirteen circled around him as he pointed toward the hospital. "The decayed building before you is the old Candler Hospital. No building in Savannah has witnessed more misery and death. It was founded in 1808 as a seaman's hospital and a poor house. It's the oldest hospital in Georgia."

This is eerie. I can feel something here. Paige rubbed her arms as the hair bristled. Horrible things happened here.

"The structure has been empty for two decades, but was once used as a Union hospital as well as one where hundreds of patients died of yellow fever. It has even been an insane asylum." Evan stepped slightly to his left.

Paige took Cash's left hand in hers and held onto his arm. He glanced down at her and rubbed her hand.

"During the summer of 1876, the height of Savannah's greatest yellow fever epidemic, 276 people died within a period of forty-eight hours. With that many corpses, the doctors feared the disease would spread. They also were afraid it would cause the residents to panic. A tunnel was dug about twelve feet beneath the surface." Evan pointed to the parking lot and then to Forsyth Park. "It ended at the wooded area of the park. It was used for a morgue while they awaited burial and for autopsies and medical experiments. It's now blocked. Today Candler Hospital sits as an empty witness to Savannah's former sufferings."

Cash slipped his arm around Paige's waist, pulled her closer, and whispered into her ear, "Are you all right?"

"I'm not sure. I can feel the atrocities that happened to people here. I need a minute." Paige looked around at the somber group. Silence filled the air.

*****
Eventually, they crept along the almost empty residential streets. Evan stopped in front of a red-brick two-story house. "We're now in Ellis Square. The two-story building before you is the Johnny Mercer House. Can anybody tell me why it's is famous?"

The older gentleman said, "Johnny Mercer was a famous song writer."

"Very true. There's another reason. Are there readers in this group?" Evan waited a few minutes, then added, "It's a story about some very interesting characters who lived in our beloved Savannah."

Paige said, "I know." Evan nodded for her to continue. "There's a book and movie titled, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The movie was filmed here."

"You're so right, my dear." The tour guide faced the house. "The book tells the story of Danny Hansford's murder, but there were two earlier deaths in this house. First, a previous owner tripped over the second floor banister, fracturing his hip and suffered a concussion. He died three days later. A young boy was chasing some pigeons from the roof, fell over the edge and impaled himself on the fence below." He pointed to the iron-works. "Oh yes, Jim Williams in the story is the same Williams who lived in the Hampton Lillibridge House we just talked about. He died from a heart attack here. This house has more than a few ghosts haunting it." Evan motioned for the group to follow him.

"Before we return to the Pirates' House, there's one more place I'd like to show you. It's not too far."

Paige stared at the building they stood in front of and read the sign aloud, "The Marshall House."

"It's now a hotel with interesting heritage." Cash smiled. "I take it you're doing better."

She nodded.

"Constructed in 1851, the Marshall House is the oldest hotel in Savannah and is reportedly one of the most haunted places in this city," Evan said to the group.

"You've said that twice before," the youngest teenager commented.

"I wanted to make sure you were listening," the tour guide said with a grin. "Actually, which place is the most haunted depends on who you talk to and what their experience has been." He turned toward the building. "This hotel served once as a boarding house and three times as a hospital. In the later days of the Civil War, Confederate forces of Lt. General Hardee used the building as a hospital. Later it housed the Union armies under Sherman. Many wounded soldiers died or underwent amputation during their stay."

"Are you going to give us another history lesson?" The teenager shook his head.

"Nope, but you needed that information to understand the ghosts I'm getting ready to tell you about. During the 1957 renovation, human remains were discovered buried in the rear yard under the floorboards of a storage shed. It's believed these bones were amputated limbs of soldiers."

"How horrible." Paige released a deep breath.

"Today, guests have reported seeing a young man holding his own severed arm and searching for someone to reattach it. The soldiers wander the halls in Civil War clothing. People report hearing children, water and lights turning on and off, crashes of some sort, and door knobs wiggling, but nobody's there." Evan paused as the group stared at the building.

"I'm changing my hotel reservations." The man in his twenties chuckled. "I want to see some real ghosts."

"Now for the Pirates' House." Evan led the way.