Mystery of the Windowed Closet

by R. J. Bonett

  Ruthie came to the table. “Ray, I see you brought an extra set of hands this weekend, are you ready to order?”

  “Yes, I think we’re ready.”

  Laughing, she replied, “Still remember my name, huh? That’s really impressive. What’s your pleasure today?” continuing with a smile. “We have a special on chili- cup or bowl same price!” Looked up at the clock she added, “We’re going to close in an hour. Tomorrow it will be leftovers. What’ll it be?”

  Laughing at her salesmanship, she took our order and returned to the kitchen.

  I noticed Sue taking it all in- the restaurant, the customers and the waitress. I could tell it was all foreign to her.

  “Sue, living in a small town’s different. Everyone seems to know everyone else’s business.”

  “Yes, it sure seems that way. How did you ever find this place?”

  “Well, it took two years of looking.”

  Then I related the story of how it happened telling her the circumstances. I looked at so many properties, but none of them suited me. I didn’t care what shape the property was in. I just had a certain criteria in mind for a farm and adamantly stuck with it. The difficult part is, after looking for a period of time, I began to get frustrated and was almost willing to take anything.

  The real estate agent was also getting at the end of his patience showing me properties, and after about six months, was tired of taking me around. He began making all sorts of excuses about being with other clients.

  When I had the feeling he was putting me off, I went to his office and asked why he was giving me the brush off on the phone. He told me there were people that come up and just look. He felt he was wasting a lot of time on a person that wasn’t serious about buying. When I told him I was a definite sale, he opened his desk drawer and gave me a file card of a farm that had been vacant for a long time, save one purchaser that never occupied it, and only owned it for two years.

  I looked at him and asked the directions to the place. He looked back at me, examining the card identifying the house, barn and acreage. It seemed to be just what I was looking for, so I drove to the vicinity where he explained it was. After traversing a few roads I gave up on finding it. Thinking it may have been a gag property to humor me, I returned to his office and asked, “Is this supposed to be a gag? I drove up and down all the roads you described and couldn’t find it.”

  “No, the property’s there, let me get the key, I’ll take you to it.”

  “He drove me out to see it, and while he was showing me the barn, I agreed to buy it and wrote a deposit check sealing the sale.

  Don chimed in, “But the farm house itself is a 10 year project if not more. I have to confess though, with what Ray knows about construction, anything he bought could be redone to his liking.”

  “What made you settle on this place if it’s as bad as Don says?” she asked.

  “I wanted at least 50 acres or more with a certain amount of woods and cleared ground. I wanted a view, unlike my father’s property in Western Pennsylvania- in a valley.

  I really wanted a pond on the property but after two years of looking. I settled for a stream running through the property instead. It has everything else I wanted.”

  “The view is real nice,” Don added. “It’s the one thing that’s a positive. It’s up to Ray, but I think he should just tear it down and start over.”

  “Sue, I like the style of older homes. They have character. I don’t like the ones that look like cracker boxes with a roof.” Surprisingly, she agreed.

  When Ruthie returned to the table with our food, she teased, “Can’t stand being away from here, can ya?” as if she had known us for years. She remembered seeing Don and Delores the week before at the restaurant and the bar, but didn’t recognize Sue.

  “You’re new to this group. What do you think of our little corner of the world, kinda different, ain’t it?”

  Sue laughed, “Yes, a lot different.”

  After lunch we went to the hardware store to pick up an added flashlight and more batteries then proceeded to the farm. When we pulled up to the barn, Sue asked, “Is this where you pulled up the first night you arrived?”

  “No, I pulled up in front of the older section,” pointing, “About 30 feet further.”

  “It’s important to park in the same location. I’d like to go into the barn first before we go in the house.”

  I moved the car forward as she asked, and we got out. Sue walked into the barn just as Delores had the first day, with us following.

  “I want to see if I feel a presence the same way Delores said she felt, going from the new section to the old.”

  “Just watch your step Sue. Some parts of the floor are soft.”

  “Ok, I’ll be careful.” She walked slow heeding my warning.

  Following her from a comfortable distance, we anxiously watched for any reaction as she passed from the new to the old section. Would she feel more of a presence? We couldn’t tell. All of a sudden she hesitated. Hesitated at the same spot Delores had on her encounter. All of us could feel a definite change in temperature and looked at each other then refocused on Susan.

  She suddenly glanced up as if she was aware of something we couldn’t feel, something Delores didn’t even respond to. Strangely enough, it was exactly where the two barns were connected together.

  After we got outside, I asked, “You seemed to be a little hesitant when you got to where the barns were connected. Did you sense something different?”

  “I experienced a temperature difference, and a great sorrow of someone who lost a loved one, but that’s not much help.”

  “Why isn’t it much help?” I asked.

  “They could be two completely different incidents.”

  “That’s not very reassuring. I’m not living in the barn though. That’s getting torn down. So the house is really my priority.”

  While we were standing next to the barn, Frank, who had seen us as we passed, came up to say hello. Getting out of his truck, he remarked, “Hi, Delores, are you ready for another scare- the- hell- out- of- me session this weekend?”

  We laughed. “Are you and June coming tonight?” Realizing I hadn’t introduced Sue I said, “Oh, I’m sorry Sue. This is Frank, my neighbor. He and his wife June were here last Saturday night. Frank, this is Sue a friend of Delores’. She’s also a psychic.”

  “Pleased to meet ya’. My wife and I will be coming up tonight. She has something she wants to tell you. It happened right here by the barn Tuesday night, just before a rain storm__ Scared the hell out of her and the dog too!”

  “What happened?”

  “I’ll let her tell you. I don’t want to spoil it. I guess you’re going to start about 6:00?”

  “No Frank, probably earlier, about 5:00.”

  “Good! We’ll bring an extra chair for Susan.”

  “Thanks, that’ll be great. I have to pick up George at 4:30. Care to go along?”

  “I’d like to.”

  “I’ll pick you up at four.”

  As we walked up the front lawn to the porch, Sue turned around and stood scanning the view.

  “This view of the valley’s panoramic, really neat. You can see several miles in every direction. I understand now what Don was saying about a beautiful view.”

  When I opened the front door she hesitated, then laughed. “Now I know what Don was saying about being a major project.”

  I was disappointed in her remark but wasn’t shocked. She didn’t have to elaborate, the place is a disaster. Going inside, I realized even with the chill in the air, the house seemed cooler than it should have been. The sun shining all day through the windows without shades or curtains should have made the place at least a little warmer.

  Delores remarked as she closed the door, “It’s chilly in here!”

  “I’ll turn up th
e thermostat. I turn it down when I’m not here.”

  I went to the dining room to turn it up, but when I looked, I was surprised. I forgot to turn it down when I left last weekend. The house shouldn’t have been cool at all. I tried the light switch thinking the power was off for some reason, but the light went on. I thought, ‘The power’s on, I wonder if there’s a problem with the furnace? I hope not.’ Turning up the thermostat to 80 degrees, I could hear the furnace kick on. That’s a relief. I don’t have to do anything immediately with changing the old bugger.

  “Ray, is there something wrong with the heater?” Don asked.

  “No, everything’s under control. I was afraid there was, but it seems to be fine now, the house will be warm soon.”

  When Delores called Sue to tell her about the experience she had last weekend, she only told her the basics. If Susan agreed to come, Delores didn’t want to have her mind contaminated with the experiences she felt.

  She wanted to show Sue the house without us, and I was confident she knew enough about its history, to do so.

  “Ray, Don, if you don’t mind, I’d like to start first by showing Susan the basement.”

  A horrible thought crossed my mind. ‘What if they’re greeted by my friend, the rat?’ After some quick thinking, I made an excuse for going first saying, “Here let me open the door. Sometimes it’s hard to open when it’s damp. I left a few things on the landing too, I wouldn’t want you to trip over them.”

  Slowly opening it, I was relieved that my worry didn’t come to fruition. I moved the broom and bucket I had stored on the landing, and flipped up the light switch. To my delight, my friend wasn’t there.

  “Here Delores, take this flashlight just in case you need it.”

  I watched as they went down the stairs and about half way, the light bulb at the bottom of the stairs began to intensify in brightness, the same as it did two weekends ago when I was examining the basement. It continued to get brighter then explode. Stopping where they were, Delores turned on her flashlight, and both turned to look up at the landing where I stood, waiting for me to give them a logical explanation.

  “The same thing happened to me the first weekend I was here,” I quickly remarked. “It must be a power surge. That’s probably the answer with the age of the fuse box and wiring. I can see I’ll have to keep a steady supply of light bulbs until I get it fixed. Here, let me change it.”

  I didn’t want to add more mystery to their examination of the basement, but I didn’t think they knew that much about electricity, and didn’t realize a surge couldn’t have caused that. It was a lie. After changing the bulb, I returned to the kitchen where Don was waiting.

  Looking up at me he remarked, “I heard that excuse you gave them about the light bulb bursting. No way:”

  “I know. But I didn’t know what else to say.”

  In about 10 minutes they emerged from the basement.

  “Well Sue, what do you think about Ray’s project down there?” Don asked.

  “You’re right. It’s pretty challenging, to say the least.”

  We followed them as they left the kitchen heading for the bathroom where I had my incident with the hot water.

  “Is this where you experienced the water change?” Sue asked, as she stood next to the tub for a few minutes.

  “Yes, right here. Are spirits confined to a room, or are they free roaming throughout a house, like the ghost I saw in the living room?”

  Trying to sense something psychic, she replied, “That depends, sometimes they’re confined to a room where they died. I’ve seen it both ways. Where were you when you saw the apparition of the woman? ...and Ray, we prefer the word apparition or manifestation over the term ghost. Ghost has the connotation of being dramatic, or something that’s sort of a Hollywood explanation.”

  “Let me show you.” Returning to the living room I pointed to where I was the night it occurred, “I was in my sleeping bag right here on the couch when the wind rattling the windows woke me out of my sleep,” pointing with another gesture. “I saw a faint shadow coming from the dining room, and as it moved through the living room coming closer, it became more visible. I rubbed my eyes trying to wake myself, and saw the woman dressed in black, wearing a black bonnet. There was a white strip across the front, just like the woman in the carriage. In fact, that’s who I thought she was. What really shook me up, as she passed the moon-lit window, I could actually see through her. She looked as though she was... ” I paused, almost embarrassed to say it, “transparent: I could see right through her.”

  “Did she seem to be aware of your presence?” Sue asked.

  “No, that’s the strange part about it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She didn’t appear to be walking. She more or less glided across the floor. As she passed the couch, she never looked down at me. It was as though I wasn’t there.

  I watched as she went straight to the stairs and briefly pause, then turned as if she was examining the room. At that point it still didn’t look like she was aware of my presence. Then she slowly went up the stairs.”

  “Could you see her face?”

  “Yes, that’s when I realized she wasn’t the same woman from the carriage. They were dressed alike, but she looked to be very young, maybe 20.

  The woman in the carriage was much older. I would say probably in her late 40s or early 50s, it was hard to tell.”

  “What did you do then?” Sue asked.

  “I quickly got out of my sleeping bag and went to the bottom of the stairs. I yelled out to her- “Who are you? What do you want?” But she didn’t answer. I know if she could have, I’m sure she would have realized by the frightened tone of my voice I was there. My voice cracked and must have sounded like a kid that whistles when he walks by a cemetery at night. Scared, but acting brave so anything that’s potentially harmful would give whatever may be lurking, second thoughts about challenging him. The weird part about it, by the time it took me to get to the bottom of the stairs, she should have already been past the landing or wherever she was going. I yelled again- “Who are you?”

  Standing on the landing, she slowly turned her head and looked down at me as though she just recognized my presence.” I paused for a moment from telling my experience, remembering how she looked at me then continued, “She had the saddest expression on her face__ a look that was almost pleading. A look as if she was beckoning me to follow__ a look that I’ll never forget.

  She paused, then turned to the right and went into the closet with a window. Funny thing, I never heard the door open or close, and it has a loud squeaky hinge.”

  Don asked, “What do you mean by a pleading expression on her face? You mean like a look of wanting you to help with something? Did you follow her up the steps?”

  “Yes, but the fear and anxiety of confronting a ghost, sorry Sue, I mean the apparition, was the determining factor for not following her right away. In any other circumstance with an expression like that, I would have abandoned my own safety and never hesitated. After I got back in my sleeping bag, I tossed the event around in my mind. It never dawned on me that she might not be able to speak. Maybe that was the only way she could communicate without a medium.”

  Don directed his next question to Sue. “I thought spirits were sometimes heard moaning or crying, sometimes even laughing? How could they do that without a medium, or the ability to speak?”

  “This isn’t what you would call an exacted science Don. Sometimes, a spirit that wants you to help them can have a facial expression, as you said, sometimes pleading, sometimes sad, sometime fear- or even sometimes happy.”

  “Happy at dying:” Don asked.

  “Yes, I had an occasion where a woman was terminally ill and bedridden for two years. She would manifest herself to her husband on occasion in a dressing mirror in their bedroom with a smile.

  That�
��s when he requested my services; just to make sure he wasn’t going crazy or senile.”

  Sue then got back to my encounter. “Ray, what did you do then? Did you go upstairs?”

  “Yes, I got up slowly not knowing whether I should tempt fate or just return to the comfort of my sleeping bag and leave it alone until morning.

  After staring at the top of the stairs, I finally got up enough courage and decided to go up. As I slowly climbed the steps, the hairs on the back of my neck began to rise just like the description Frank gave me about his sister. The closer I got to the landing, the more they stood up. I wanted in the worst way to retreat but curiosity got the best of me and I went all the way to the top. As I slowly opened the door, the hinges made a creaking sound and I felt a light breeze across my face. The same way it had the first weekend I was here. To top it off, the full moon shining through the window from behind the tall wind-blown trees, cast eerily moving shadows on the wall of the closet.

  I thought at first I was hallucinating when I saw several bolts of cloth leaning against the wall in one corner, and for a second I thought I saw what appeared to be a toddler’s leg. He was in the sitting possession, with his leg sticking out from behind the bolts of cloth. It was as if he was hiding, playing a game, and I heard what I thought was a crying child. Those things weren’t there that afternoon. Taking my eyes off the corner for a second, I rubbed them, and when I looked again, they were gone. The room was empty. Taking a last minute scan of the room, I closed the door then re-opened it just to make sure it was my imagination.

  Going back down the stairs, I turned several times to reassure myself there was no one following me, spirit or human. I returned to my sleeping bag and after about an hour, I drifted off to sleep. In the morning, I felt a little braver when I climbed the stairs to examine the closet. After opening the door, it was the same as when I looked during the night- empty.”

  After discussing my chain of events at the bottom of the steps, Sue seemed impressed at my description and started slowly climbing the stairs with Delores following. Don and I watched as they went up, and saw Sue suddenly stop just short of the landing.