“Oh yeah, I know. Well, I’m free to do whatever I want now. And I have a few people coming up to join me anyway.”
“Yeah?” Brit said. “Like who?”
“Oh people you don’t know, I met them through my YouTube channel,” Ashley said.
“Your YouTube channel?” Brit scoffed as she spoke.
“Yeah, it’s a lifestyle channel I have just started. It’s already got a few thousand subscribers.” Ashley lied. It only had a few hundred subscribers even though she had put so much time into it. She had thought starting a lifestyle channel would be easy, but she was wrong. She said her goodbyes and hung up the phone. She switched on the TV and found a film to watch. She couldn’t concentrate though. She was too busy thinking about how Brit would probably get the internship at the law firm she had always wanted whilst Ash would be filming YouTube videos in a house by herself.
She opened her eyes. The ceiling looked unfamiliar. There was a flashing light in one corner. Her head felt groggy and her mouth dry.
“Mom?” Ashley croaked, “Did I oversleep?”
Ashley realized that she was not in her room and her mom was not in the room next door. She was in Sprucewood Mansion. She had fallen asleep on the couch. Her foot felt something cold which fell onto the floor with a clatter. She looked down. It was a half full glass of wine. She had forgotten that she had helped herself to a bottle of wine from the back of the well-stocked wine cellar. She was pretty sure it wasn’t in their agreement, but then there were so many bottles there, who would ever guess? She rubbed her eyes and stood up. She looked at her phone. It was nearly 2am. She must have fallen asleep in front of the television.
She brushed the pizza crumbs off of her top then headed out into the hallway. It was bigger than her bedroom at home. She turned to the front door and checked she had locked it. She had. She peeked out of the peephole. Outside the street was dark. It also looked really far away. There was room for a whole other house on the front lawn. She was very secluded. She turned and ran up the steps and went into the room she had taken as her bedroom. She wrapped the duvet around her and crawled up into a small ball. Eventually, she felt so exhausted she fell back to sleep.
Ted
“Here kitty, kitty,” Ashley shouted out of the back door. She shook the box of cat food, so it made a loud noise. “Come and get your breakfast.” She looked out into the large back garden. It went on so far that she couldn’t see the end. She headed out onto the porch. “Kitty, come and get your breakfast,” she shouted again. “Stupid damn cat,” she whispered under her breath. She leaned forward onto the wooden fence which separated the porch and the grass below. It was no use. The cat just had to come home when it was ready. At least she had fed and watered one of them named Sissy. Sissy was a black and white adult female who was heartily tucking into her dried pet food. Ashley turned to head back inside when she saw something strange on the wooden post which was holding up the roof over the porch. There were scratch marks on it, but these scratch marks were too high up to have been made by a cat. Ashley lifted her hand up and ran her fingernails along the lines. They were the right spacing to have been made by fingernails.
“You won’t find what you’re looking for here,” an older male voice said. Ashley turned around in shock. She dropped the cat food box which landed on the porch, food spilling everywhere. She looked up at the man in his sixties or so, wearing a faded checked shirt, and a cap pulled down over his eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’m Ted, the gardener.” He bent down slowly then started to scoop up the cat food in his large hands and pour it back in the box.
“That’s ok. I just haven’t seen anyone since I came here, that’s all.” Ashley knelt on the floor and started to grab the food as well. “I’m Ashley.”
“I know,” Ted said. “The owner wrote to me to tell me that a young lass would be house sitting, I thought I would come over and meet you myself.”
“So, what’s the owner like then? They must have a lot of money to afford somewhere like this?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Gerard own the place. But the daughter has put it up for sale on their behalf.”
Ashley was quiet. That really didn’t answer her question. It just created new ones. “So why do none of them live in the house? There’s three of them, but they need a house sitter to look after the place?”
“The parents must be very old now. And besides, they haven’t been seen for years.”
“What do you mean?”
“They lived here for most of their lives. Then they stopped coming out of the house. The daughter looked after them. Then last year she announced that she had decided to put them in a home. Anyway, what are you doing out here with the cat food?”
“I can’t find one of the cats,” she said.
“Which one?” Ted said. He stood up, the mess cleared.
“Sally.” Ashley stood too.
“She’s probably somewhere in the garden. It goes far back. I’ll keep a lookout for her. She’ll come back when she’s hungry.” They said their goodbyes and Ashley went back into the house. She spent the rest of the morning listening to music on her phone. She made lunch from the contents of the fridge. She sent a text to her friends from college. She waited for replies, but they must have all been in classes, as no one got back to her. She watched some more TV. She answered the door to a man who was there to check the electric. This house-sitting business was a breeze. If only she had someone with her. By late afternoon she got ready for the cats evening feed. She poured some food into the bowl where Sissy came running and eagerly devoured the food. But there was still no sign of Sally. Ashley reached down to pick up the bowl for the water, but it had moved. She looked around. It had moved to the other side of the kitchen. She reached down to pick it up and filled it up with fresh water. She headed back to Sissy and placed the water bowl down on the plastic matt. She looked around. There was no bowl. It wasn’t where she had just put it a moment ago. She looked down at Sissy who was drinking the water.
“Where’d your bowl go Sissy?” She said. Sissy didn’t reply. Ashley looked around. The bowl was on the other side of the kitchen. Sissy must have pushed it far away. Ashley picked it up and carried it back to the plastic mat. “Stupid cat, can’t you leave your bowl on the mat? I don’t want to have to clean the floor as well.” There was a tap at the window. Ashley spun around and turned to face it. There wasn’t anyone there. She ran over to the window and looked outside. She saw something far away at the edge of the lawn just as it went into the trees. It was small and black. It must be the other cat. Ashley ran outside and stood on the porch again, shaking the cat food box, but this time she was more careful not to spill it anywhere.
“Sally? Come here girl. Your food is ready,” She shouted. She looked out into the garden. There was no sign of her. Ashley walked further into the garden and shook the box again and called her name. Nothing. When she reached the end of the lawn, she realized that Ted was right. The garden really did stretch on for miles. She saw a group of trees at the end of the lawn. She glanced back, and the house already seemed far away. She stepped in-between the trees and found herself in a thick undergrowth of bushes and overgrown plants. This was a piece of land which Ted obviously didn’t look after. She could hear bees and flies buzzing around her, and the air was hazy and fragrant from the greenery. She could feel leaves and thorns scratch against her bare legs as she walked across the uneven undergrowth. “Here kitty, can you come home now please?” Ashley called. Her foot slipped underneath her, and she fell forward and downwards where the ground was sloping. She stuck her arms out to brace her fall, and she rolled down the slope onto her bottom. She slipped down a slope as the bushes came to a clearing. Her sandaled foot came in contact with water as she slid downwards. She was falling into a lake. She grabbed hold onto the root of a tree just in time to stop herself from falling in. Her legs scrambled around in the loose sandy ground, trying to get a footing. “Help! Help me! She shouted,�
� but there were no houses nearby. Who would hear her? She could hear the sound of the tree root creaking as it strained under her weight. She grabbed hold of a second one with her other hand, the cat food box dropped on the floor, spilling cat foot again. She managed to wedge one of her feet against a rock and pushed her weight against it. She pulled herself up until she was sitting next to the tree then grabbed hold of the large trunk and pulled herself up into a standing position. She hugged the tree, too shocked to move for a second. She looked out at the lake. It was covered in green algae and weeds. No wonder she had not seen it. That and who would have thought there would be a secret lake at the bottom of the garden. She heard something rustling on the other side of the lake, about twenty feet away. She could see the reeds next to it moving, as is someone had brushed against it.
“Hello?” She said, quietly. No one answered. The reeds stopped moving. There probably wasn’t anyone there, but if there was, why didn’t they stop and help her? And what were they doing in the garden anyway? Ashley regained her composure. She couldn’t reach the box of cat food and decided to leave it where it was. It was better than falling into the lake anyway. She was about to turn and go back when the noticed something sticking out of the water. It was metal and rusty and sticking out of the water by a few inches. Ashley looked at it trying to work out what it was. She realized it was the handle of a kid’s bike. She peered into the water and could see the wheels underneath. Ashley looked up. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky. She headed back to the house and locked the door behind her.
Carol
11:35
5th September 1983
Sprucewood
New England
“Hello, I don’t know if you can help me, I’m looking for my son, Brodie. He went missing two days ago. Have you seen him?” Carol helped a photo of her son out in her hand. It was a picture of him and her at Disney World taken last year. They were outside the Cinderella Castle in Disney World, wearing matching mouse ears. The woman took the photo and looked at it. She shook her head.
“I’m so sorry, I heard about him. I haven’t seen him.”
“Can I give you this?” Carol thrust a picture into her hand. It was a photocopy of the picture, with a description of Brodie and a telephone number underneath. The lady nodded and gave Carol a weak smile. She shut the door on her. Carol headed out onto the street and started heading to the next house. She saw two boys on the road on their bikes. She knew that one of them was called Karl, she knew that he came from a house down the road.
“Excuse me?” She called out to the two boys. They looked at each other. They looked nervous. She ran towards them.
“Hey, Karl isn’t it?” She said. “You’re at school with my boy, Brodie?” The boy nodded.
“Did you know he’s been missing?” She said. The two boys looked at each other.
“Yes ma’am, I heard,” Karl said, the larger boy remained silent.
“When did you last see him?”
“I haven’t seen him since school last week.”
“You haven’t seen him out on his bike? He had a new one. He was out riding it when I saw him last.”
“Sorry we can’t help,” Karl said. Carol nodded. She watched as they peddled off down the road on their bikes. Carol headed back to the road and walked up the drive to the last house on the street. She looked at the sign that said Sprucewood Mansion. It was the oldest house on the block, and it gave her the creeps. She wasn’t even sure if anyone lived on it. She walked up the drive and knocked on the front door. There was no answer. She rang the bell. There was nothing. Carol walked around the back of the house. She noticed the lawn had marks on it where someone had been riding their bike. She walked up to the tracks and looked at them. Could they have been from her son’s bike?
“Can I help you?” Carol jumped in shock at the noise. She turned around and looked at the porch. There was a young woman standing there. She was in her twenties or so. She was wearing a floral cotton dress with a belt around the waist. Her hair was tied back in a knot. Her face was pale.
“I’m looking for my son. Have you seen him?” Carol walked up to the porch and held out the picture. The woman kept her arms folded but looked down at the picture.
“Why are you on my property?” The woman looked up at Carol.
“I’m sorry. No one opened the front door. It’s just my son is missing, I really need to find him. He’s been gone two days. Please, can you look again at the picture?” The woman was quiet for a minute. Then she reached out and took the picture. She looked at it for a minute, then handed it back.
“I’ve never seen him.” She didn’t smile or move. Carol nodded and started to walk back to the road.
“I’m sorry,” she said. Then she stopped and turned around. “These bike marks on the lawn. Are they yours?”
“What we do in our garden is none of your concern. And may I remind you, you are the one who is trespassing.”
“I know, I’m sorry, it’s just my son was on his bike when he went missing.”
The woman didn’t answer for a second. She unfolded her arms and walked down the stepped to the porch and went up to Carol. “It was those boys you were talking to, and other boys like them. They think it is funny to come and trespass in our garden. Funny to disturb my poor, ill parents. Is your son the kind of boy to trespass in someone’s garden and to hound them for fun?” She sounded harsh. Carol shook her head. Her Brodie wouldn’t do anything like that. “Then I guess it wasn’t your son then. The woman turned around and headed back to the house. Carol stood on the driveway for a moment. She looked down at the photograph of her and Brodie. She noticed that drops of water were falling on it. She realized they were coming from her eyes. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and took a few deep breaths. She had to hold herself together. She marched down the driveway and headed towards the front of the house. She got back onto the street and took out her map of Sprucewood. She had a couple more roads she had yet to visit. She turned and took one last look back at the house. She noticed a curtain moving in the upstairs window in a strange turret. The curtain fell back into place as she looked up. Carol turned back and started walking along the road ready to try the next street.
Julia
It was day three. Ashley ate breakfast by herself at a dining room table which was big enough to seat ten people. Afterward, she walked to the postbox and collected the letters. She stood on the lawn looking out to the road. A woman pushing a baby in a stroller walked past. Ashley raised her hand up in a greeting at the woman. The woman looked away from Ashley and sped up until she disappeared around the corner. Ashley headed back inside the house. There were several addressed to the Gerard’s which she put in their office as she had been instructed. There was one for her as well. She tore it open.
Dear Ashley,
I hope all is going well with the house. Please check your emails regularly for updates on when there will be viewers coming around. Enclosed is your first check.
Also, please do not let any viewers go to the top floor of the house as there is still personal artifacts in storage there.
Regards,
Miss Faye.
Ashley took the check out of the envelope and put the letter in the bin. What an idiot this Miss Faye was for paying her a lot of money to house sit a couple of cats and let people in and out of the house. She must have more money than sense. Ashley thought about the note and how it said not to go to the top floor. Maybe that was where they kept the expensive things. Maybe there were some valuable things in there that she could sell. She went up to the first floor. That was when she realized she had not seen a staircase to the top floor. That was strange. She went back down to the living room and put on the TV. She sank deep into the sofa and flicked through the TV channels. She was so bored. She got her phone out and opened a search engine. Sprucewood Mansion, New England. She scrolled through the results. She saw the for-sale listing. It was up for over a million dollars. Ashley thought th
at she hadn’t been in a place this expensive before. She looked through the real estate listing. It had been for sale for over a year, and the price had been dropped twice. Did it normally take that long for houses to sell? Ashley wasn’t sure, but she thought that seemed like a very long time. She looked through the photos. It was all pretty boring. She looked back at the search history. There was nothing of interest on the first page. She went into the second page. The house was mentioned in a forum. Haunted New England was the topic title.
Hey guys has anyone heard of Sprucewood Mansion? I used to grow up around there. It was a spooky place. The owners never came outside. And there were rumors of some supernatural stuff going on.
That was weird. Why were people talking about the place online? Ashley scrawled down the replies. There was a lot of spam and a lot of people who had never heard of the place. Then she read from someone who had.
Hey, I grew up around there as well. My mom told me never to go near it. She said the owners worshiped the devil.
Ashley laughed out loud. What rubbish did people come up with? Were they just jealous of others’ success? Maybe people didn’t like this house as it was so big. Ashley noticed a link someone had posted, with no comment. It was from a library website. It was a scan of an old newspaper article. Local Boy Missing. Brodie Churchill from Sprucewood, New England has been missing for one week. He was last seen after school, on his bike. Please contact the police if you have seen him.
That was weird, why was there a missing boy posted in the forum? People do speculate over nothing. Her phone beeped. She had got an email. It was Miss Faye.
Hi Ashley. There is someone coming today to view the property. Please make sure the house is clean for 2pm.
Ashley swore. The house was definitely not tidy. She jumped up and looked around. She ran into the kitchen and got a garbage bag and started to collect the garbage she had left strewn across the house. She got the vacuum out and started cleaning the floors. She did downstairs first then carried the vacuum upstairs. She went into the master bedroom and cleaned in there. As she was cleaning the floor, she bought the vacuum arm back too far and heard a crack as she knocked into something behind her. She swore and turned around. She had knocked a picture off of the wall. She picked it up. It was a framed print of some flowers. Luckily, she hadn’t broken the glass. She picked it up and was about to put it back on the wall when she noticed that it had been covering something up. It had been covering a hole on the wall. Ashley put the picture back down. She looked at the hole. It was about a foot or so across. She looked inside of it to the inside of the wall. She peered in. There was something in there that caught the light. She reached her hand in. She couldn’t reach it. The doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts. She looked at her watch. It was two o’clock. She hung the picture back on the wall, hid the vacuum in a corner and ran downstairs to open the front door.
Haunted House Tales Page 102
