"Well, Miss Kae." the old man says. "I would be inclined to pay 25 gold a piece for you to take a look. After that, it would be 10 gold a day, if it takes longer than a day, and the market price for any "artifacts" you might find, if any, and wish to sell. One of the boys, Miguel, will lead you up there but there is no road, just an old footpath."
He smiles at Kae.
"Well young man," he turns and says to Zal. "The two boys that went up there come running back as quick as they could. Pedro here talked to him and said they believed they had heard a woman weeping and singing."
"La Llorona." Pedro says.
"At any rate, the boys didn't see anything. It's what they heard that spooked them. As for looking for someone who grew up there, you're looking at him. I come from a very poor family that lived there when my father was trying to "hit the big score" looking for gems and the like. He was killed in a mine accident and My mother moved us away from there. It's been some years since I've seen the spot and I had intended to venture up that way but, business and other things kept me from it." 
He pauses.
"I am just curious about what has happened to the old place. I heard most of the prospectors fled long ago but a new group of young folks have trekked up that way. The boys said they didn't see anyone but, they ran after just hearing a voice so it might just be those young folks." 
"Do we have a deal?"

 Zal winced, but at least looked to be thinking over the request before slowly nodding. "Sure, we can, uh... we can, uhm, check things out under the added condition you and Pedro either now or once we get back tell us everything -- and I do mean everything that you know about the redbrands and their activity in town, their activities in town. Because if this actually turns out to be more dangerous than some kids having a go at everyone, I'd like somethin' a little more concrete to follow-up on after beyond just 'maybe' scrounging up some artifacts as you put it."

The half-elf crosses his arms and gives both Pedro and the old man each in turn a hard look, letting them know he wouldn't budge on the topic. "Or at the very least, be able to point us in the right direction in regards to them... though preferably not the Sheriff."

"Well" the old man says while thinking. "These Redbrands aren't entirely secret about their actions, though I believe the Sheriff is part of it or at least turns a blind eye to those folks' goings on. As for what I know they came in about a year ago, and trucks started coming in and out of the village at their behest and that's about it.  I've heard they got a leader though, called Glass Staff or some such nonsense. If you're too busy to do this I understand and will not keep you any longer. If you're able to do this then I would greatly appreciate it. I will wait for all your answers."
With that he says nothing else, waiting for the others to respond.

"Glass staff? Doesn't sound like a very practical piece of equipment..."

Kae gives a thumbs up and nods a bunch. "Let's do it! The Redbrands don't seem to be going anywhere, and the money could really help us out. Lead the way! Or, I guess, lead Miguel to lead the way." She stands up in preparation for adventure. Well, for a lot of walking, really, but she hopes that the walking will lead to an adventure.

Eddie gets up and joins his friends. He will whisper quietly to them "I'll try my best not to mess this job up for you guys like I did the last one."

"Fine Fine" the man responds. "Pedro will give you better directions and I will leave you to it."
The old man turns his wheelchair around and wheels himself towards a doorway along the south wall. 
"I will expect a report on what you find in a couple of days. Good Luck!"
With that, he wheels through the doorway. 
Pedro steps up.
"Gracias for taking this on for Senor Edermath." he tells you. "You may not understand it but Senor Edermath is a very important man." 
With that Pedro leads you outside and jumps on a tractor with an attached trailer.
"I can take you as far as the other side of the orchard. The path to the well is there."
He motions you to hop onto the trailer. Once on you begin your bumpy ride to the Orchard's edge.

DM:
I will post the rest of this tomorrow. if you have anything you wish to do prior to the tractor ride, let me know.

Zal's eyes widen just for a moment at the mention of a 'Glass staff', before it falls away with a more contemplative look taking its place. But he still has the wherewithal to whisper to Eddie without really looking at him, "Don't sweat it, Slick. It happens." Beyond that point the half-elf readily follows after Pedro, though had to quickly scoop up CC in seeing her getting the 'I'm about to mark my territory'  air about her. "Mn. Thanks Mr. Edermath. Knowing our luck, we'll probably need it." He throws back belatedly. 

Once the group are on the trailer and on the move again, Zal pulls out the book found in the hideout and peruses it once more for any hint of the word 'Glasstaff', while also searching his own memory without much hope of success.

History: 7. 

Try as he might, Zal has no idea who or what is Glass Staff.

Pedro leads you, Miguel, all the while extolling the virtues of Senor Edermath along the way.
You find Miguel, a short Hispanic male with short black hair and a smile that has a few teeth missing. 
Pedro hands you off to Miguel who, at his beckoning, leads you to the edge of the orchard and the path.
The trip is short and Miguel has little to no information to share with you. His usual response to any questions is "No se". 
"The path only goes to the well and back," he tells you and points your way down it.
As you set out, he returns to the orchard and his work.
Your trek starts easily enough. The path is well marked and its edges appear to have been mowed recently. 
After about a mile, the edges disappear and the path is walled by young trees. 
CC is having the time of her life, running back and forth and chasing everything from small squirrels to butterflies. Though having fun, she does not wander far.
The sun is up and shining and a cool breeze rustles leaves and branches now and then.
You stop for a short rest and a drink, taking in the ambiance of the woods, something Zal is very at home in. 
You restart your journey and notice the sun is not setting as high as it had been. Slowly Dusk starts to settle across the woods. 
Your hearts jump and CC barks. You spin around to see 4 deer and 2 fawns cross the path behind you about 50 ft. back.
Dusk starts turning to darkness as you go, when ahead you make out an old building with a partially caved-in roof. 
As your eyes adjust you start making out more buildings, most half-standing, made of cement blocks and rotted wood.
The out of the darkness the sound of a female faintly singing is heard. You can gauge the singing is coming from ahead of you but the buildings obscure your ability to see anything.

Actions?

Zalosultuvan did not scare easily, and was quite proud of that fact. Although he'd show a healthy amount of respect for beasts far stronger than him, as well as for foes that might outnumber him (goblins included), hearing the singing left even him slightly shook. However, he soon put on a more braver face, if but for his compatriots, and after listening for maybe at most a minute to just to try and gauged if the singer was moving or not, he finally speaks to the others in hushed tones.

"Guess there was like, some truth to the stories. Not saying like there's an actual ghost or anything just yet. But if it is... like, I mean, we've all heard the stories, right? We cut'n run if things get too dicey. Understand?" He asks the pair. "All that said, Slick.... I hate to say it, but you might have to take point chatting them up."

Kaesira scares pretty easily, and she's not necessarily good at hiding it. Once her keen elven ears pick up the tune, she lets out an involuntary "eep" and is visibly nervous. She seeks refuge in a bit of makeshift science. "Odds are it's, like, wind going through weird passageways or something. Get it coming through the right structures at the right angle with the right speed, and you could get the suggestion of a soft singing. Definitely enough to start a ghost story." This refuge lasts about as long as it took to come up with it. "Or it's real ghost. I suppose it could always be a real ghost. It's probably a real ghost. It'd be nice if it were wind, though."

Kae begins to scratch her head out of nervousness. "Er... I guess we're gonna talk to the ghost. 'Cause that's what we're here to do. And that's the thing that we're going to do. Soon. No, not soon, now." She steels herself and puts her hands in a circle around her mouth, aiming herself at where the voice is coming from. "HEY, GHOST! UH... HI! WE LIKE YOUR SINGING!"

"Woah, not so loud Kae-Kae. If we do want to talk to this thing and not spook it, we might be better of just approaching it and talking to it calmly rather than yelling out. Plus we don't know what, or who, else is out here. Let me try and move ahead of you guys and see if we can find this thing. I promise I won't jump the gun this time. It'll be ask questions first and shoot later."

Eddie will move ahead of his friends and make his way towards the buidlings, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious along the way (any traps, tracks or other signs that someone or something may be out here).

Eddie's perception: 11

Kae yells out and the singing stops.

Eddie moves ahead of the group, making his way around the path. Within a couple of seconds, Eddie finds himself at the edge of a stone-lined well. A bucket attached to a rope hangs over the well. He looks around.
He finds no sign of anyone being close by but he does see a small pool of water on the edge of the well. 
Eddie looks around from where he is standing and sees a few more outlines of old buildings.
He does not hear any crickets or tree frogs that would be out this time of the year. (This is something Zal notices as well.)
Eddie does see another path leading north that cuts around one of the buildings but with the rapidly dying light of the day, what he could see starts becoming nothing more than shades.

Does Eddie return to the group or move forward? 

Eddie returns to the group and reports back what he sees. "There wasn't anything at the well but I'm going to go and check out the buildings I saw."

He will then move towards the buildings quietly and carefully to take a thorough look at them. On his way he is also going to keep his eye out for any copper wire (e.g. if the old buildings have any sort of electrical connections or wiring and if so he will use one of his daggers to cut off a small piece).

Stealth: 12

Perception: 10

The others wait as Eddie moves back out into the village. 
Eddie explores the village he finds little of what he had hoped to find. These buildings appear to have been ransacked by people with the same thoughts.
Eddie counts around 13 buildings total, of various sizes, all weathered and in various stages of decay. 
Eddie stops dead in his tracks.
A twig snaps and it sounds like it's on the other side of this building.

Eddie carefully puts his head around the edge of the building so that only the top of his head and his eyes go around the corner.

(OOC - Do you want another perception check here? If so:18)

((No need))
Eddie looks around the corner but does not see anything.

Not seeing anything he will carefully make his way around the corner and up to end of the house before repeating the maneuver and trying to see without being seen.

Although left a bit frazzled after Kae's unexpected yelling, seeing as it did sort of do the trick of spooking off the potential spook, Zal was scratching his head and pondering over the preemptive potential success of the mission. He ultimately nodded when Eddie volunteered the first go around to check things out, and the second time as well, still very much just that deeply lost in thought; only by then, it is more so his trying to recall anything he could about be ghost and their habits.

Religion: 19?

"... Crickets." He mutters, frown, and then looks about while straining his ears to try and catch even a hint of the critters. But no, nada, zilch of either them or any other nocturnal creatures beginning to rousing to begin their 'day' hits his ears, leaving the half-elf wary. So much so, he actually remembers his badge, if only to pack it away and make sure it didn't catch any moonlight. "Hate to be a buzzkill, Kae, but... somethhing ain't right. I mean, like, really not right about this place. Once Eddie gets back, I say we... eh, I say we camp just outside of this place and keep an eye overnight."

Kae doesn't hear anything either, but it doesn't strike her as odd, largely because she's used to not hearing much, what with the elf ears being a recent development. "I don't see what'd change overnight. I mean, we gotta figure this place out sooner or later, why would we wait for tomorrow? Carpe diem! That's Latin for something relevant. Once Eddie comes back, we'll either know that nothing's here or we'll know something's here and we'll know where it is so we could just go and look at it."

Eddie moves to the other side of the building but sees nothing. He slowly moves to the next dilapidated building. 

About 50 ft. off to the left of Kae and Zal, deep in the dark woods, you both hear a snap of a twig and what sounds like the shuffle of feet.