by R. J. Bonett
Continuing to search her bag, she had most of the contents on the counter before she said, “Ah, there they are. I thought for a minute I left them home.”
Taking the six candles from the bag, she carefully placed them around the room. After lighting the first one, she began to light the second when a light breeze seemed to come out of nowhere putting out the flame. We looked at each other surprised, and I know everyone was thinking the same thing. We hadn’t yet started, and there’s already a presence. Did it go out on its own? Were we about to enter a world of spirits that were hostile? I thought to myself, ‘We’ll find out shortly.’
Lighting another match she cupped the flame with her hand, sheltering it from another unsuspecting breeze. After successfully lighting the others, she placed the blue bottle on its side in the middle of the table. George took two small pieces of paper from his pocket with YES and NO in capital letters written on them, and placed them at each end of the table. You could tell the letters were written by George, the letters were printed with jagged lines, a sign of an older unsteady hand. Delores instructed us to seat ourselves around the table in the order she asked. Her at one end, George at the other, with Don and I, on opposite sides of the table.
Delores asked, “Ray, would you turn off the light?”
I did as she asked then sat down. At her request, we held hands forming an unbroken circle. She began by closing her eyes seemingly concentrating, letting herself go into a trance. Our eyes were focused on what she was doing, and when she appeared to be fully in her trance, I asked the first question.
“Are you a Quaker?”
To Don and my surprise the bottle shook slightly then spun, stopping, pointing to the word YES.
Don and I looked at each other in amazement. The reaction of the bottle answering the question was uncanny. I could tell by looking at Don’s face that he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue being in the presence of a spirit we couldn’t see. I didn’t fear any immediate personal harm, but being truthful, a profound insecurity and a sense of fear crossed my mind.
I asked reluctantly, “Was there some sort of tragedy that happened to the family?”
The bottle again shook for a few seconds then spun around pointing to the word YES. At that point I looked at George’s face. In the dimly candle-lit room, we could see his eyes were closed and he began to look pale and speak in a different tone of voice other than his own, a deeper__ younger man’s voice.
It was obvious to Don and I that someone had invaded George’s body, and we realized we didn’t only have one spirit but two. Startling us even further, George jumped to his feet, tilted his head back with his eyes exposing only the white and yelled, “Adda! Get our son Joshua, and get out of the house. It’s on fire!” repeating it several times.
Delores, in what seemed to be a panic stricken voice also foreign from her own, franticly yelled, “Levi, I can’t find him! I can’t find him! I’m trapped upstairs. Where are you?”
With fearful eyes quickly scanning the room, I noticed Don‘s face. It was probably like my own, frightened and shocked at what was taking place not knowing what to expect next.
The two restless spirits seemed to be re-enacting a tragedy that led to the haunting. Is this my problem? If it is: then why the hostility towards me? I had nothing to do with their event. The whole table began shaking at this point, and George seemed to go limp, falling back to his seat.
Fearing for his safety at his age, I didn’t want the séance to continue, and I let go of his hand. Don did likewise, and after a few minutes, they both came out of their trance. After quickly turning on the light, I extinguished the candles.
Shaking their heads as if they were just waking from a deep sleep, they seemed to be trying to get their bearing. After a few minutes they appeared to be returning to normal, gathering their thoughts to where they are, verses where they had been. Don and I were waiting for Delores to speak; but were surprised when George spoke first.
“I think I bruised my knee,” he said.
“George, you surprised us. You went into a trance too. You stood up from your chair and yelled, ‘Adda, get our son Joshua and get out of the house. It’s on fire!’ You were speaking in a much younger voice. Do you remember anything?”
“I remember sitting there watching Delores in her trance, then I had a strange feeling come over me where I couldn’t speak.”
“What kind of feeling?”
“I felt like someone or something was taking over my body. They was tryin’ to help somebody in trouble. Kind of, you know, desperate-like.”
“You don’t remember it?” I asked.”
“No, all I know is I hurt me knee.”
Don replied, “Maybe you hit it on the bottom of the table when you suddenly jumped up. The whole table was shaking. We wouldn’t have noticed. Delores, what do you remember?”
“I felt I was in a state of panic, and the room was getting very warm. I could hear Levi’s voice and was crying, looking for my son that’s very young, possibly a toddler. I think I found him hiding under a bolt of cloth in the sewing room. He was crying, calling for his mommy and I remember picking him up,” solemnly continuing, “But he was already dead.”
When she mentioned the bolts of cloth, I remember the split second after opening the door to the sewing room, there was a toddler’s leg sticking out from behind bolts of cloth.
I said, “Well, one thing’s for sure, that would explain why you were feeling the room was getting hot. There must have been a fire.”
As I listened to Delores and George, I knew there was a tragedy but couldn’t figure out why they were in a house that was different from the original. According to the stone in the basement, when the original foundation was laid it had to be a one-story house.
George, still rubbing his knee, replied, “I can remember around 1910 or so, there was a fire here and a little boy as I recollect, died in that fire upstairs.”
Delores commented, “Maybe the spirits were somehow swept into the more recent fire and it’s very possible the boy died in the sewing room. Strange, at first I really felt content. I realized Adda’s great love for her family. I actually experienced Adda getting vegetables to cook for dinner stored in the basement- then suddenly everything changed. I became panic-stricken. That’s when I felt the intense heat.”
Looking at George still rubbing his knee I asked, “George, how’s the knee feel? Roll up your pant leg. I’ll take a look.”
He rolled it up, but there wasn’t a mark I could see, he seemed fine. Getting up from the table he handed the blue bottle to Delores.
“Here, it’s yours now. You keep it for your séances. You have the power to contact the spirit world. I don’t have it. I’m satisfied just being a dowser.”
Shaking my head, I thought, “Water witch, dowser, séances, ghosts and a bottle with mystical powers. If someone had told me these things were real a month ago, I would have thought they were crazy or drunk.”
“It’s getting late George. I better get you home.”
Pulling up to his farm, I walked with him up the stone path until he was safely on the porch. With the porch light on, I could see a small branch in the shape of a Y. It was about 18 inches long, with 4 inches extending from where the two sides came together.
What appeared to be an old spring was lying next to it about 12 inches long, with a bolt stuck in either end. It was the type of spring tightly woven that was used years ago for pulling an old wooden screen door closed, similar to the one he has on his back door. When I picked it up to examine it, the end that was weighted by the bolt sagged down.
“George, what’s the branch and the spring for?”
“That’s what I use when I witch for water and other things. I thought I’d bring them just in case we needed them tonight, but I forgot.”
“Maybe you’ll have time to show me one of these days? I’m sure D
elores would like to see how you do it too.”
“Well, if you’re not doing nothin’ in the mornin’, why don’t you stop by? I always like to show a disbeliever how it’s done.”
“George, I wouldn’t want to put a strain on you, but would you be interested in a second séance tomorrow evening?”
“I’ll be glad to help. What time?”
“We’ll make it earlier than tonight while it’s still light. Let’s say around 5 o’clock, if that’s alright with you?”
“Why don’t you make it around 1:00 o’clock? This way, I’ll have time to show you how to witch water. Afterward, you can go to dinner, and I’ll have my supper a little earlier than usual.”
“You can have supper with us, if you’d like.” I replied.
“No, that’s alright. I’m an old man set in my ways. l’ll be waitin’ on the back porch.”
I waited until he got inside, and he watched me through the window until I got in the car before turning out the porch light.
I went back to the farm for Delores and Don then headed back to the motel.
On the way, we decided to stop at a tavern we passed for a drink. I don’t think any of us were tired, and we certainly weren’t finished discussing the surprising events of the evening.
The place was smoke-filled and crowded with locals. Some were still in work coveralls, while others were in hunting camouflage pants and red hunting shirts. Bow hunting season began in earnest the beginning of October, and is a big sporting event here. The country music coming from the juke-box was barely audible over the different conversations, and we found a table the farthest from the bar. The waitress was Ruthie, the same person who waitresses at the Chatterbox, working a second job. Recognizing us she immediately said,
“Hello again: How are you finding what country livin’s like?”
Don remarked, “Pretty interesting, but I don’t know whether I could take a steady diet of it.”
With demonstrating some home-spun philosophy, she replied, “Well, when you’re born into it, it’s different. We probably wouldn’t care for the city life either,” changing the subject she looked at me and continued, “How’s the work on the house coming along?”
I replied, “Fine:” raising my eyebrows in a way that let her know I was only kidding.
She remarked, “Well things take time. I’m sure you’ll get-er done eventually. Let me get your order into the kitchen.”
After leaving Delores remarked, “She sounds like a philosopher.”
“Yes she does.” I replied.
After she brought back our order of beer and potato skins, Delores commented to me, “I can see your point. The life in a small town doesn’t seem that bad. It didn’t take very long for you to get acquainted with people.”
“That’s because they’re outgoing. That’s life in a small town. Oh, by the way, we have a lesson on how to witch water tomorrow afternoon. George is going to show us how it’s done.”
Surprised she asked, “How did this come about?”
“When I walked him to his back door, there was an old spring and a small tree branch on his chair. He said he forgot to bring them tonight.”
Don asked, “What was he going to do with them?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we can ask that question tomorrow.”
We began a serious conversation about the séance, as we tried to sort out what had taken place. Delores, looking down at the ash tray, began spinning it on the table saying, “I felt an almost hysterical and angry sensation while I was in the trance too.
I was experiencing a vengeful feeling toward a man. I think his name may be Daniel.” It was something Delores never mentioned to George.
I remarked, “The way you’re spinning that ashtray- are you supposed to be mimicking the blue bottle?”
Appearing to be deep in thought about her experience, she suddenly broke a half-smile looking down at the ashtray as though she suddenly became conscious of her action replying, “No, not really. I’m still trying to figure it out,” sarcastically continuing. “Besides, this ashtray is green glass, not blue.”
I asked, “What do you think this all means? With you feeling anger, maybe it wasn’t an accident and this person Daniel was somehow responsible for the fire that took the life of Adda and her son Joshua? Do you think there’s a connection between the fire in the house and the Quakers in the carriage? If there is, we’re dealing with four spirits, not two.”
“Whoa! Ray. One thing at a time- The spirits in the coach so far are outside. We can deal with that later. There isn’t enough information to tell. People that aren’t in the trance are just as valuable a source of information as the person that is. In this case, I was drawn to Adda, maybe because I’m a woman and Levi to George, because he’s a man that has some psychic ability too.”
“That sounds plausible,” I answered.
The increased noise in the bar was beginning to hinder our conversation, and we found ourselves having to almost shout across the table to hear each other.
The increased decibels were a combination of the patron’s level of inebriation and some of the hunters arguing about the best technique to use when stalking white tailed deer. Others were encouraging the live four piece band that replaced the juke-box a half hour ago to play a certain favorite tune.
Almost having to shout to allow Don and Delores to hear me, I suggested, “Why don’t we finish our drinks and leave?”
Don replied, “Sounds good to me. After what happened tonight, I’m ready for a little solace of my motel room.”
We got up and inched our way through the overcrowded bar to the front door. When we got out to the parking lot, there was another crowd drinking beer sitting on the tail gates of some of the pickup trucks, engaged in similar conversations as the patrons inside. Several women in the crowd were wearing blue jeans and leather jackets with patches that matched some of the male bikers. The girls seemed to be a rough combination of feminism and masculinity in dress and manner, and Delores pointed out two of them as being quite attractive.
“Those two are probably the dominant factor in their relationships,” she jokingly said.
We laughed and Don asked, “You’re not thinking about buying a leather jacket and a whip, are you Delores?”
“No, just mentioning it.”
After getting in the car, we drove to the motel and settled into our different rooms.
Still wide awake, I sat on the edge of the bed wondering if we were going to find out anything new on Saturday evening. Finally laying it aside for awhile and after a warm shower, it was time for bed. It seemed like my head had just hit the pillow when I heard a knock at the door adjoining our rooms.
“Are you ready for breakfast? We’re hungry,” Don asked.
“Yes, I’ll meet you downstairs as soon as I’m dressed.”
When I got to the cafeteria, Don and Delores were almost finished breakfast. It was the standard continental fare with a few extras that came with the room. I got some waffles and a cup of coffee then joined them at the table. We talked about going out to the place early to see if we could find out anymore than we already knew.
Overnight the air turned chilly, and on the ride to the farm, Delores commented again on how the beginning of fall was her favorite time of year. Immediately after pulling up in front of the barn, Frank’s pickup came up the road and stopped. June was in the truck with him and they both stepped out anxious to hear what, if anything- happened during the séance.
“Hi Frank: good morning. I want you to meet some friends of mine from the city. This is Don and his wife Delores. Delores, this is June and Frank, my neighbors.”
After shaking hands Frank said, “Glad to meet ya.” then quickly asked, “Is she the psychic you told me about?”
“Yes, I guess you’re wondering what happened last night?”
June quic
kly replied, “Yes, we sure are. We’ve been talking about it all morning, waiting to see when you’d show up.”
“Well, quite a bit happened. We were able to contact two spirits and found out there was a fire in the house that possibly killed a toddler.”
Looking surprised June asked, “Who got possessed? Was it you Delores?”
“Yes: I was possessed by a woman named Adda.”
I interrupted, “We were surprised. George became possessed by a man named Levi.”
They looked at each other in astonishment of what they were hearing. It didn’t sound like a lie. Could it be some grand scheme to bring attention to the old house__ if it was, for what purpose?
Frank paused for a moment, raising the bill of his cap. “I remember my sister waking up one night and sleep walked downstairs. She woke everybody up in the house screaming, ‘The house is on fire! They’re two men dressed in black fightin’ in the living room. One hit the other one on the leg with a hatchet.’ Then she screamed again. I remember everyone running downstairs thinking the house was on fire. It scared the hell out of all of us. I remember my father shaking her until she woke up. As I remember, that seemed to be the first time it happened. She kept getting worse and worse. That’s why dad shipped her off to Aunt Ethel’s.”
After Frank told us about the men fighting and one being hit on the leg, Delores and I both looked at each other with the same thought in mind, simultaneously remarking,
“Maybe that’s the reason George felt the pain on his knee. If that’s the case, he was being possessed by Levi, and there must be a third spirit in the house. That may be the spirit that caused the water in the shower to suddenly turn super hot. If it is, he’s the one that’s potentially dangerous.”
Frank asked, “What do you mean turned the water hot?”
“Yes, Frank. When I was taking a shower, the water suddenly turned scalding hot.”
Delores said, “Ray, if you and Don could ask some questions at the séance tonight, we might be able to find out more.”
