by Tony Walker
In the morning, Manuelita told me she couldn’t stay in the house anymore.
“You are a good man, Mr. Dougan, but this is una casa poseída - there is something wicked that lives here.”
“So where will you go?” I said. I was mortified at the idea of losing Manuelita.
“I can get a lodging in the town. I will come every day, but I will not sleep here. And you should not also. Not with that little boy.”
“Leave Benji out of this,” I snapped, suddenly angry at her for bringing him into her stupid fears. Instead of being upset at my tone, Maneulita came and held my hands in a gesture of comfort. “Please, think on what I say. Leave and we will all be safe.”
I turned to Victoria and said coldly, “And what about you?”
Victoria looked sheepish. She looked first at me and then at Manuelita. She said, “I will stay.”
Manuelita exploded in a torrent of angry Spanish. I guessed she was telling the girl not to be so stupid, that she was putting herself at great danger and all of that baloney. With lots of hand gestures, Victoria explained herself right back. I was glad that she was staying.
And then I had to explain to Annie why Manuelita was going. We sat in the library and drank coffee that Victoria had brought us. Benji was at school. Behind us Cap’n Flint squawked his usual inanities about ‘Pretty Polly’ and ‘Pieces of Eight’ that Benji had taught him.
“I don’t understand,” said Annie when I told her; “I thought she liked us.”
“She does,” I said soothingly. “She’s just a crazy middle-aged woman.”
“So why is she going?”
I sighed. “She thinks the house is haunted. She thinks she saw something. Or rather that Victoria saw something. I mean, she didn’t even see it herself!”
“Where did she see it?”
“Does it matter? Up on their floor. But there was nothing there, really.”
A cloud passed over Annie’s face. “I’ve thought I’ve seen something here in this house,” she said finally.
I was exasperated - Annie too now. I exhaled. “It’s nothing. We’re all getting a little crazy. It’s an old house. It creaks. It’s big, it makes noises. The wind and rain make you think you hear things, but you don’t.”
She nodded. “I know. It’s irrational. You’re right.”
“Thank you,” I said. I loved that house on the lake and I didn’t want my year of bliss to get spoiled by the crazy imaginings of a Spanish maid.
“But you know, I am scared of ghosts,” said Annie.
“Yeah, you told me.”
“Do you know why?”
“Nope,” I said, taking a sip of coffee.
She laughed, but it wasn’t a convincing laugh - almost as if she was trying to make herself feel better about something. She began, “Did I ever tell you about my twin - Amy?”
I nodded. “I knew you had a twin who died.”
“That’s right. We were about Benji’s age. She drowned.”
“I think I knew that.” Feeling I’d been a bit of a dick and insensitive, I squeezed her hand.
“I still miss her. After all these years. Odd isn’t it? But twins are close. It felt like a part of me had died. And I still think there’s a hole in me where she should be.” She started to cry softly.
I stroked her hand. “Yeah, but that’s nothing to do with ghosts. There’s no connection with this house.”
“Well, it wasn’t a ghost, really. It started off that she began to sleepwalk.”
My heart froze. I hadn’t told her about Benji. I certainly wouldn’t now.
“My mum and dad would find Amy wandering all over the house. But mostly she went upstairs. She appeared very disturbed by it. She couldn’t remember afterwards but she kept talking about ‘grandfather’.”
“Grandfather?”
Annie nodded. “When we were little, my dad’s dad was still alive. He was a lovely man. But my mother’s father was dead. Naturally my parents asked Amy to describe this grandfather she claimed to see around the house. Her description matched with my mum’s dad.”
“But surely her grandfather wouldn’t want to hurt her? Surely if it was a ghost, he’d want to protect her.”
Annie smiled thinly. “My maternal grandfather was a nasty man. He beat his wife and...”
She paused as if finding something difficult to say.
“And what?”
Her mouth wrinkled in distaste. “She said he was into black magic. That he had some kind of occult room in the basement. They lived in the marshlands in East Anglia. The basement was often flooded so that was his excuse why he wouldn’t let people in there. But they say he spoke to the Devil.”
“What a freak,“ I said.
Annie nodded. “He was a disgusting man. Kids went missing in the neighbourhood. They never proved anything against him because he died, but people thought he’d taken them.”
I felt suddenly sick.
“But how is this related to Amy?”
“The sleepwalking got worse. My parents would find her upstairs in the attic. She said that Grandfather had told her to go there - that he wanted to play with her.”
“He was already dead at this time?”
She nodded.
“Amy sleepwalking — how long was this before she died?” I felt awful asking her the question.
“About a month. They tried locking our bedroom door to keep her in. I would usually sleep through it, but sometimes I would wake up and see Amy standing in the room. I tried to talk to her, but she was asleep.”
“Did you never see anything yourself?”
She shook her head.
“Then why didn’t he come for you too?”
She laughed again. “You make it sound like you believe he really did come back from beyond the grave.”
“Of course I don’t.”
“And then one night, I woke, and Amy was gone. The door — which my parents had locked — was open. I got up and saw that the front door was open too — our house wasn’t very big. I woke my dad up. He was frantic - beside himself, as was my mum. They both went outside with torches and shouted for her. They neighbours helped them search, but they didn’t find her.”
She went quiet. I said, “So who found her?”
“The Police the next day. She’d gone to the river. She was dead.”
Annie broke down in sobs. I went to comfort her. “Don’t worry, my love - that was then. This is now. Nothing bad is going to happen to my family. I won’t let it.”
I didn’t like to admit it but I was unnerved myself. The whole atmosphere of the place changed - from being my getaway dream - it started to feel like a heavy, sullen place. Spot still wouldn’t come in the house, and I wondered if he had always sensed something there.
I brought Benji’s bed into our bedroom so I could monitor his sleepwalking. I didn’t tell Annie why I’d done it.
One Sunday, Benji wasn’t at school and he’d been talking to Cap’n Flint in the library trying to teach him new words. Manuelita had come over, even though Sunday was normally her day off because she and Victoria were planning to go back to London in the week for a break.
Annie was watching Breaking Bad on Netflix - at least our Internet connection was fast - and telling Benji off when he was trying to teach the parrot to say ‘bum’ and ‘wee’.
I was half aware from the radio that played in my study, that there was a storm brewing. When it hit, it came suddenly blowing up the lake and the treetops round the house thrashed around. The grey waves started to break against the rocky shore of the island. I heard the wind push against the window in wild gusts and it started to rain heavily.
One of the windows in the library hadn’t been fastened properly, and it blew open with a huge rush of air, scattering papers and making the parrot shriek. When I heard, I ran through from my study to see Annie trying to pick up the newspaper she’d read earlier. Benji was clapping his hands in delight at the parrot’s terror. The rain was coming in. I closed th
e window creating a sudden calm inside even while the tempest blew outside.
“What an awful wind,” said Annie. “Where did that come from?”
“It was forecast,” I said. “I heard it on the radio. Still, we’ve got everything we need.”
Annie said, “But Manuelita won’t be happy. We won’t be able to take her back to the town jetty - not with these waves.”
“Well, she’ll just have to stay here. You never know, she might have got over her silliness by now.”
“Will the dog be okay outside?” asked Annie
“I guess he’ll just hunker down in his kennel till the wind stops.”
“I hope he’s not scared.”
“I’ll go out and see him,” I said.
I put on my coat and got a handful of dog biscuits as a treat. I pulled up my collar against the rain and I went over to the kennel. Spot didn’t like bad weather, and he was a bit of a coward, so I’d fully expected to find him cowering in his kennel. But he wasn’t.
“Hmm - a mystery,” I said to myself. I knew he couldn’t get far on the island and I certainly not in this rain.
When I got back Annie asked if Spot was all right.
“Couldn’t find him,” I said.
“What?” she said, sounding concerned.
“It’s an island. He’ll be somewhere close by sheltering.”
“I hope he hasn’t gone in the lake.”
“Spot’s not exactly clever,” I said, “but he’s not stupid either.”
The weather didn’t improve. The day was so dark and heavy that soon we had to put the lights on. As predicted Manuelita was very unhappy about having to stay in the house.
“I do not want to stay!” she said.
“I can’t take you over in the boat in this weather,” I said. “It’s not safe.”
“I’ll take my chances,” she said.
“But I won’t Manuelita. That’s the end of it. Sleep in Victoria’s room.”
Victoria came and put her arms round her aunt, cooing to her comfortingly in Spanish.
“It’s ok, Mr. Dougan,” said Victoria. “I will make sure she is ok.”
“Of course she’ll be ok!” I said. “What do you think could happen to her?”
Victoria shrugged and the two of them went back to the kitchen.
Benji was now watching TV with his mother in the library. We got our signal from a satellite, but the rain was so heavy that the picture kept breaking up. Giving up on that, we put on a DVD of the Disney hit - Frozen. That kept him quiet. He and Annie watched it while I was looking up stock prices on the Internet. Old habits die hard I guess. Even Cap’n Flint was quiet for a change.
It was about 8 pm and very dark outside when the next thing happened. I heard Spot barking outside. “What is that bloody dog doing?” I said.
“Go and get him in Howard. It’s horrible out there,” said Annie.
I got up. “Silly bloody animal, if he’ll come in.”
I went to the front door. Manuelita was already there staring out into the dark. The rain was running down the glass panel. I could still hear Spot but couldn’t see him. I opened the door and the wildness of the wind hit me. I strained to hold the door from being blown back.
“Spot!” I shouted. “Spot!” but I couldn’t see him.
He sounded like he was barking at something.
“There’s a man out there Mr. Dougan,” said Manuelita from behind me.
“A man?”
“An evil man,” she said.
I shook my head in disbelief then I ignored her terrified eyes and shouted for the dog louder this time. I thought about going out looking for him but the rain was horizontal and it was dark. I wouldn’t see him. If he wanted to stay outside and play silly buggers that was up to him. I closed the door.
“I feel frightened for the dog,” said Manuelita.
I just looked at her then walked past and went to hang up my dripping coat.
Frozen was nearly finished. “It’s time for Benji’s bed,” I said.
Annie nodded. “I’ll put him in the bath first.” She got up. Manuelita, who had been sitting watching the movie, said she would go with her.
“Where’s Victoria?” I asked.
“She’s in the kitchen baking,” said Manuelita. Then they all went out leaving me and the parrot. I swear Cap’n Flint was skittish too. He kept running up and down the wooden pole in his cage and clashing his beak against the metal bars.
“Can you pack that in?” I shouted at him, but he just kept running up and down. In the end, I put his cover over the cage to make him think it was night. But even then I could hear his sad squawking from inside it.
I got up and poured myself a whisky. What a night. The weather was making everyone crazy.
And then the generator failed. The whole house was suddenly plunged into darkness. I pulled out my phone and used the flashlight function to light my way to the kitchen. Victoria was standing there, fumbling around to find the candles. She looked terrified.
“It’s only the generator. Get the candles and then when I make sure everyone is ok, I’ll go and see what the problem is.”
We found some candles and there were plenty of candlesticks. I guessed that power outages were pretty common on the island.
“Don’t leave me here,” said Victoria.
I sighed. “Come on.”
By the light of the candles we made our way upstairs. I could see the light of a torch and Manuelita flashed it in my face as I came upstairs, “Nombre de Dios!” she said.
“Silence, auntie,” said Victoria in English. “It’s only us.”
Benji was sitting in the bath being soaped by his mum. He was enjoying being bathed by electric torchlight. He liked the candles too.
“Ok,” I said, “I’m going to fix the generator.”
“Ok,” said Annie.
As I was going out onto the landing, Manuelita grabbed my arm and came part way with me.
“What?” I said tetchily.
“He has been here,” she said.
That was the last thing I needed.
“For the love of God, Manuelita, can you please keep all this shit to yourself?”
But she looked scared. Her eyes were wide. “I saw him. On the landing, just before the lights went out.”
I shook my arm free. “I’m going to fix the generator,” I said.
I went downstairs and back into the kitchen. There was a heavy-duty flashlight in a drawer there that would give me enough light to work. I wasn’t relishing going out into the weather, but it had to be done. There were tools in the hut behind the house that housed the generator.
The wind howled, and the rain poured down as I went out of the door. At least the dog was quiet, I thought. I took a look at the kennel as I went back. Spot still wasn’t there. If he had any sense, he’d found somewhere to shelter.
I made my way round to the hut. The door was banging in the wind. I shone the flashlight on it. It wasn’t broken, just loose. Then I went in. The generator was dead. I checked the fuel. There was plenty. I tried to restart it but it nothing happened. I cursed. I kicked it. I had a basic understanding of how it was supposed to work, but that was it. I would need someone who actually knew what they were doing. It looked like tonight we’d have to make do with candles.
And so I turned back into the wind, bending almost double to make my way. Just to the side of the house, I stumbled over something. At first I thought it was a log, half hidden in the grass, but it was softer than that. I shone the light on it. It was Spot.
I knew at once that he was dead. A great rip of grief tore through me - my poor little dog. I leaned down and picked him up. He was heavy in my arms and he was still warm. He wasn’t bleeding. In fact, I couldn’t see how he could have died. He hadn’t been struck by anything. There wasn’t a mark on his body.
I hugged him to me and took him to his kennel. I placed him in it and wrapped his blanket around him, as if he needed it. I wished he would just h
ave come and lived in the house then none of this would have happened. But he wouldn’t — there was something about the house that scared him but it was outside that he’d died. I stood by the kennel. There were tears in my eyes as I said goodnight to my little buddy, and I promised I would come back for him soon.
I went back in by the front door. Everyone must still be upstairs, I thought. I took off my coat and with the torch still on; I mounted the stairs to the bathroom. They had obviously finished in there as it was empty. I turned and saw my own bedroom door was closed. That was weird.
I pushed it open and saw the three women standing there, wide eyed, and shaking with terror.
“What?” I said angrily.
“There was someone there,” said Annie.
I would have expected this of Manuelita, but not Annie.
Victoria said, “We all saw it. A shape on the landing outside.”
“Honestly, Howard. I’m really frightened,” said Annie.
Manuelita was beside herself. I could see they really thought they’d seen something.
I tried to comfort them. “Listen, it’s just the storm,” I said.
Then Benji piped up, sitting there in his pyjamas; “It was Grandfather,” he said.
Annie spun round. She was trembling so much I thought she was going to break down. “What did you say?” she said.
He smiled. “Grandfather. He lives in this house.”
She grabbed him and put her hand over his mouth. “Don’t say that my love. Please.”
“Annie, this can’t be what you think,” I said. If I could only keep everyone together until morning, then we’d leave. If that’s what they all wanted, we’d leave.
I closed the door behind me. And locked it.
“There,” I said. “It’s locked now. Let’s just wait until daylight.”
This seemed to calm them a little - as did me being there. The one thing I wasn’t going to tell them about was Spot.
They decided that the three women would sleep in the double bed. Benji had his single bed, and they found me an extra blanket to cover me while I sat in the chair. They wanted to keep the candles burning, but I put all of them out except one, so we didn’t run out of light. I also had the flashlight beside me.
