“Only all of our lives,” he joked and gave her a quick kiss. He looked around them at the entrance hall, the high ceilings, and the rich wallpaper. “This will be quite the adventure for us.”
“Running a rental house?” she laughed.
“Well that, yes. But owning a house in general. We’ve never owned so much as a car, let alone a house.” Barry’s eyes were filled with wonder at the very idea of it. “There is probably so much we don’t even know.”
Kate gave his hand a squeeze. Barry had always been the dreamer. The one with the grand schemes and plans. She could see the wonder and fear mixed in his eyes and could feel it mirrored in her heart.
“We’ll get through it together, dear. Like we have everything this far in life. There is very little that we can’t handle together.” She glanced at the painting on the hallway wall. It was from a time she couldn’t identify and she couldn’t say that she was very fond of it. “We’ll need to make some serious changes around here, though.”
He followed her gaze to the painting and chuckled. “That’s for sure.”
Chapter 4
Not Quite Right
* * *
It took a few weeks to get all the paperwork together and close the sale of the house. It helped that the owners were extremely eager to get the sale done and over with. That expedited the process.
Kate and Barry weren’t going to argue with it being rushed. They didn’t have a great deal of possessions to move in. They didn’t have many affairs to get in order. Their main concern was starting the construction. They couldn’t do that until they owned the house officially.
When the paperwork was finally signed and the keys handed over, it brought a mixture of excitement and dread. They both knew that there was a great deal of work to be done before they could start to bring tenants into the house.
Between the three different professionals they’d contacted to handle the work, it was scheduled to be done in a month. They had a written guarantee that it would be complete within a month. And with that in mind, they began to recruit their tenants.
It didn’t take long to fill the five spots they had available. Interest in living at the legendary Fyfe Hall gained more applications than they could have expected. It took a few days to sort through all the applications, call references, and weed out candidates, but eventually they had their five.
Money exchanged hands and there was a promise of a move-in date at the beginning of the next month.
Kate was feeling rather optimistic about the whole venture. True, they were living in chaos at the moment. The house was a construction site, housing almost round-the-clock workers. But that meant that things were getting done.
Kate and Barry were sleeping in the library for the moment. They were also working in the library and eating in the library. They rarely ventured from that room unless it was to use the only bathroom that wasn’t being renovated or restored. Otherwise they left the house to the workers. It seemed best to stay out of their way. Nothing good ever came of hovering over someone’s shoulder while they were trying to work.
Barry would wander out and check on the progress every few days. He said that he wanted to see how things were going, but Kate knew that he wanted to supervise. He had an ingrained need to micromanage. She’d learned to live with it. She just hoped he didn’t push too many buttons with the workers.
They wanted the work to be done. If Barry micromanaged too much, they would quit. And that wouldn’t help anyone.
It was halfway through the month before they started to notice the unrest among those they’d hired to repair the house. They stayed shorter hours. They brought in more staff to compensate for this, but it seemed that there was a change. Kate couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she and Barry had both noticed it.
“Wonder what has them spooked?” Kate asked conversationally one day when they were both seated in the library working on their separate work projects. “They’ve been acting a little strange lately. Have you noticed?”
Barry glanced up from his screen. “It’s nothing,” he said dismissively.
“Oh, nothing?” She raised a brow and set her computer aside. “That’s a lot of scheduling changes for ‘nothing’. What aren’t you telling me?”
Barry sighed heavily. He hadn’t wanted to get into this with her. He hadn’t even wanted to acknowledge that it was happening. But there was very little that Kate didn’t notice. It was an appealing and extremely annoying trait.
“It’s just superstitious nonsense, darling. It’s not even worth the time to talk about it.” He glanced back at his computer screen. He had a deadline that he needed to meet tonight, but he also knew that dismissing her wouldn’t go over well.
“If it’s just nonsense then you should have no problem explaining it to me.” She smiled sweetly. She knew that she was pushing him into a corner with her line of questioning, but she didn’t really care. She wanted answers and she knew that he was keeping something from her. It wasn’t like him to keep things from her.
He heaved another heavy sigh and closed his computer after saving his progress. He knew that if he gave her half of his attention, he would get in trouble for it. So it was best to get this done and over with now.
“They’re just being superstitious,” he began.
“So you said.” Kate gave him a level look as if daring him to try to put this off.
“Some of the workers are apparently very familiar with the history of this house.” He gave a small shrug. “It’s got a colourful history, by the way. I recommend you read up on it when you get a moment.”
“How colourful?” Kate was intrigued. She always liked a good story, especially if it was true. And she imagined that a house this old would have several good stories attached to it.
“Depends on how morbid you’re feeling. The last long-time owners of the house didn’t have a very good ending. Something to do with a gypsy curse.” He rolled his eyes. He’d never bought into such nonsense. But Kate had always had an imaginative heart.
“Gypsy curse? Perhaps I will have to read up on it.” She smiled. Stories that involved gypsies were always interesting.
“Well, apparently some of the workers believe that the curse doesn’t just envelope the original family it was placed on. Some of them think that the house is cursed and that, if they stay too long, the residents will meet an untimely death.” He tried not to laugh as he said it. It seemed preposterous just to consider the idea of it.
“They were fine during the first few weeks. What happened to spark this trend of thinking?” Kate got up from her chair and began to pace the library. She hadn’t felt any negative vibes from the house. But to be fair, she’d mostly lived in the library. Perhaps one had to be in the other rooms of the house to feel the unease that was beginning to settle in.
“Apparently there have been some accidents.” He shrugged. “They aren’t really anything out of the ordinary. Equipment malfunctioning, supplies stacked improperly and toppling over, and people tripping or falling. These things happen on job sites. No one has been seriously injured.”
“If they are normal, then why put up such a fuss?”
“It would seem they are happening at an unusual frequency. All three crews have been experiencing them to some degree. And there have been ‘encounters’ with paranormal things, or so they say.” He grinned a little. People were so incredibly gullible and so incredibly superstitious. It was shocking what they would believe.
“Really?” She turned to look at him and there was a wide smile on her face. “That’s fascinating. What have they said they’ve ‘encountered’?”
“Really, Kate? Must we continue to entertain this? I have work to do.” He glanced back at his laptop as if he could will it to open so he could continue to work. “I have a deadline.”
“We all have deadlines, Barry. What were these ‘encounters’?” Kate crossed her arms and leaned against the bookshelf. “I’ve got all day. My deadline isn’t until tomorrow.”<
br />
Barry rolled his eyes. “You’re impossible, you know that right?”
“You married me for that reason.”
“Indeed I did.” He leaned back against the opposite shelf from his place seated on the floor. “Well there have been a few encounters it would seem.”
“Do tell,” she said with a grin. She knew that even talking about it was grating on his nerves. He didn’t have a superstitious bone in his body. He barely wanted to entertain horror movies let alone real people talking about their encounters.
“One worker says he saw a young girl in one of the bedrooms. Another said they’ve seen a woman wandering the hallways. Objects have moved on their own. People have heard voices. It’s all rather fantastical.”
Kate grinned. “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“It was painful. It was exceptionally painful.” He rolled his eyes at her laughter. “Now can I get back to work?”
“Of course, darling. I would hate to keep you from your work. Especially when you have a deadline.”
She watched him shake his head but he was back at his laptop in a moment. And there was no getting through to him after that. Once he was in his work zone it was best to just leave him be.
That was one of the main reasons they got along so well. They were able to respect each other’s work environment. They were able to respect the amount of time it took to do the jobs they had to do. And they could leave each other alone long enough to get it done.
It wasn’t always easy. It wasn’t always fun to sit and work side-by-side for hours on end without speaking. They didn’t always get along. They didn’t always agree with their schedules or what to eat for dinner. But underneath all of that, there was respect and there was love. That was what had kept them together so long.
Kate went back to her workstation and set to work researching the history of Fyfe Hall. It was clear that Barry was quite done with discussing the topic, but that didn’t mean she had to quit her digging.
She was more likely to entertain the story and enjoy it than he was anyway. And since her deadline wasn’t until tomorrow evening, she might as well take the time now to look into it.
So she opened her Internet browser, glad that Internet was the first thing they’d had hooked up for the house, and began her search.
It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for. It didn’t take her long to find article after article written about Fyfe Hall. She was surprised that she hadn’t thought to look for them before.
It took her less than a half hour before she found briefs on the Smythe family and learned about their fate. It was less than a half hour before she learned all she needed to know about the apparent gypsy’s curse.
And after two hours of research she was thoroughly intrigued.
Chapter 5
Woman in White
* * *
The renovations finished a week ahead of schedule. Barry was ecstatic. He would have been happy if the work had been completed on time, but ahead of time was fantastic.
Kate was fairly certain that it must have had something to do with the encounters and the odd happenings. She was also happy to see them leave, but she was a little sceptical about their level of fear. She had read the articles. She knew the history. But she didn’t understand what there was to be so afraid of. It was just a house.
Regardless of their reasoning, the workers had done an exceptional job with the renovations. The bathrooms had been overhauled and the bedrooms were now livable. Each tenant had a furnished room and closet. Each floor had an updated bathroom. And their bedroom on the main floor had completely replaced what had once been the parlour.
They were both extremely pleased with the work and said that they would do whatever they could to recommend the companies they had hired to anyone who was in the market. It was really all they could do as they said their goodbyes and sent them on their way.
Within a week, their five tenants moved into the house. They celebrated by preparing dinner for everyone in an attempt to let everyone get to know one another. They were renting rooms, after all, not individual apartments. It was important that they knew with whom they were living, and that they all recognised each other.
The meet and greet went well and everyone seemed to get along well enough. Kate and Barry felt pretty happy about their situation. The house was fully tenanted. The renovations were complete. They had both retained steady work. And they’d even received a bit of media attention after purchasing the home. That had been crucial in building a local clientele.
They hadn’t lived in London before. Out of all the major cities in the world,, it was the one that they’d never decided to visit. The media coverage of their purchase of Fyfe Hall had helped to promote their individual businesses and gained them each several new clients.
Everything seemed to be going well.
And then at the end of the month, three of their tenants packed up and left. They didn’t offer an explanation. They didn’t give notice. They just packed up their stuff and moved out.
Barry and Kate tried not to be too discouraged by it. Sometimes tenants left. Sometimes people didn’t like where they were staying. Sometimes it wasn’t a good fit.
They still had a stack of applicants that they could call so that’s what they did. They went through their remaining applicants, called at least a dozen numbers, and eventually found three tenants to replace the ones they had lost. It was all they could do. They just had to move forward.
By the beginning of the second month, they were a full house again and it was something to get used to. After living primarily in the company of each other in hotels and rental homes, it was strange to get used to living with so many other people.
Kate thought it brought life to the house and to their lives. There was a hustle and bustle that they weren’t used to. It offered a nice distraction, but it also offered some nice energy to feed off of.
It wasn’t until half way through the second month that things began to get strange again. They’d postponed holding their meet and greet dinner due to a busy schedule, but by the time everyone gathered at the dinner table for a hearty meal of lasagna and garlic bread everyone had words to be exchanged.
“I want to thank everyone for joining us tonight. And sorry this is two weeks delayed. I’m sure most of you know each other by now. But I like to ensure that we all have a nice meal together before everyone gets caught up in the chaos of their lives.” Kate smiled at everyone around the table. “My name is Kate and beside me is my husband Barry. If you have any concerns about anything in the house please don’t hesitate to voice them. And finally, welcome to Fyfe Hall.”
The two tenants who had been present at the last meet and greet smiled politely and exchanged a glance. They knew that the last tenants had left quickly and without explanations. And they had a pretty good idea as to why that was.
Barry served food to all of the guests and they settled down around the table to eat. It took less than ten minutes before someone broke the companionable silence.
“Well, as we are all siting here, I might as well bring it up. Because I’m certain you’re all thinking it.” Ben, one of the newer tenants glanced around the table. “How many of you have seen her?”
Looks were exchanged among the other tenants at the table as if all of them were wondering who would speak next.
Grace, one of the original tenants swallowed her bite of lasagna and bit the bullet. “I’m going to assume you’re talking about the woman in white?”
“So you have seen her?” Ben set his fork down and leaned closer.
“I’m pretty sure that we’ve all seen her.” Grace looked around the table and watched heads nod. “She’s a little hard to miss.”
Kate watched the exchange. This was the second time she’d heard someone mention a woman wandering the house. Barry had said the workers were worried about one. Now it seemed that her tenants were having a similar encounter.
She could tell that Barry was
trying not to scoff at the concept. He was focusing intently on eating his lasagna, keeping his head down, and trying not to draw attention to himself.
“Can someone fill me in on this?” Kate looked around the table from face to face. “I haven’t seen this woman in white, as you describe her.”
Grace looked surprised by the comment. “I figured, you being the owner, that you would at least be aware of her. She’s the reason the others left.”
Kate took a moment to let that sink in as she looked around the table at her tenants. She had to wonder if they were messing with her, but they looked dead serious.
“I think it’s time that someone let me know what’s going on.”
Grace took a generous bite of her garlic bread. If she was going to have to get into this then she was going to at least enjoy some of her meal at the same time. “Well, the woman in white is exactly that. She’s dress in a long white gown, I would guess Victorian era by the looks of it.”
David, the other original tenant nodded in agreement. “Yes, it is most definitely Victorian. There is no mistaking that design.”
“She’s very sad looking,” Ben added. “I don’t know why she’s so incredibly sad. But she is always wandering aimlessly. Sometimes she is sobbing. Sometimes she is staring blankly out a window.”
“She walks through the walls. That was my first clue that she was a ghost and not just another tenant with a fetish for Victorian era garb. I wasn’t sure at first. Some people are into some weird things.” John, one of the newest tenants added. “I once lived with a guy who liked to dress up like a rabbit.”
“She won’t reply when you speak to her. I tried to ask her what was wrong. I tried to communicate.” John shrugged. “She’s clearly here for a reason, but it’s not one she’s willing to share.”
“Are you worried about her? Has she threatened you in anyway? Has she been violent in any way?” Kate had lost all interest in her meal, and it was now going cold on her plate. Barry had long since finished his second helping and had slipped out of the room. He didn’t seem to have the patience for the conversation that was developing. That, or he had a deadline to meet. Kate could never be certain, but she had more pressing concerns. She would deal with Barry later.
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