The Cats that Walked the Haunted Beach

by Karen Anne Golden

  Mum broke the ice. “Let’s go inside. It’s not safe to be out here when you can’t see a bloomin’ thing.”

  Katherine snatched Scout around the middle. Scout struggled to be put down. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re coming inside. Colleen, get Abra.”

  “That should be an easy task,” Colleen said facetiously, chasing down the faster-than-greased-lightning feline. Abra darted out of the room.

  “Mum, shut the door,” Katherine said, as she dove into the living room.

  Colleen continued chasing Abra, down the hallway, into her room. “Got you,” she said.

  Mum ran for the boxed wine, retrieved it, and then moved in front of the fireplace. “Katz, are there any logs to burn? I’m chilled to the bone.”

  Katherine noticed that mum hadn’t locked the door to the porch. “One second,” she said, stepping over and locking the door, then she moved to the fireplace. “It’s not a wood-burning fireplace. It has a gas insert. Here let me turn it on.” Katherine flipped the switch over the mantel, and a blue fire rose behind a ceramic-imitation log. “When you want to turn it off, just flip the switch again.”

  “Thanks, love.”

  Colleen came back in the room. “I’ve locked Abra up.”

  Katherine had already set Scout down. “You can let her out. I think they’ll be okay now.”

  Colleen gave an exasperated look and returned to their bedroom to release the excited cat.

  Mum suggested, “Katz, love, maybe we should call the police?”

  A loud knock rapped on the back door. Katherine startled. “Who is that?”

  Colleen said, “Don’t answer it.”

  The person outside was now pounding on the door.

  Katherine moved over to see who it was.

  Colleen grabbed her by the arm. “The last time you did this, back at that farmhouse from hell, you let Sam Sanders in and he tried to kill us.”

  “Maybe someone needs help.”

  “Like that nut case running outside screaming?”

  “Yes, exactly. Wait here. I’m going to answer it.”

  “Where’s your Glock?” Colleen asked, worried.

  Mum interjected, “Now, there’s no need for a handgun, my dear. There’re three of us here. We can deal with whoever it is.”

  “Colleen, we don’t need it,” Katherine said, opening the door a crack.

  A slender woman in her thirties with long, straight black hair, stood outside. “Hello, I’m Kate. I’m staying in the cabin next door.”

  “And?” Katherine prodded, wanting the woman to hurry up and state her business.

  “I’m so sorry, but I’ve done a really stupid thing. I managed to lock myself out of my cabin.”

  “Oh, not good,” Katherine said, sizing up the situation. She opened the door. “Please, come in. How can I help you?”

  Kate looked around. “I apologize for barging in on you at this hour, but I saw your lights on. I also managed to lock my cell phone inside the cabin as well. I was wondering if you could call a locksmith for me.”

  “Sure, but it’s midnight. Would a locksmith be available at this hour?” Katherine asked.

  “There’s a twenty-four-hour service in Seagull,” the woman said, then looked down, embarrassed. “This isn’t the first time I’ve done this. I’ve called them several times.”

  “Well, okay. Would you like to come inside? We’ve got a warm fire burning in the fireplace.”

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  Mum said, “Hello, let me introduce you to my daughter, Colleen.”

  Colleen stood in front of the fireplace and gave Kate a suspicious look.

  Kate said, “Pleased to meet you.”

  “I’m Mum. My name is Maggie, but you can call me Mum. Everyone else does.”

  “Okay,” Kate said. “I’m happy to meet my new neighbors. Are you here long?”

  Katherine answered, scrolling through Google sites for Seagull locksmiths. “We’re staying until Sunday.”

  Colleen asked Kate, “Why don’t you walk down to the manager’s cabin and see if he can help?”

  Kate explained, “When I drove up, there weren’t any vehicles parked outside, so I’m assuming they haven’t gotten back yet from wherever they’ve been. Have you met them?” Kate inquired curiously.

  Mum said, “Yes, when I got here, I met the woman . . . Misty. She gave me the keys. I didn’t see him.”

  “Arlo’s a piece of work, I can tell you,” Kate said. “I’ve been here for a little over four months, and each time I run into Misty, she’s wearing a fresh black eye.”

  Mum said, “Did you ask the poor girl about it?”

  “I asked her once, and one time only. She came up with this lame excuse that she fell off her porch. I didn’t ask her for an excuse the second time.”

  Colleen asked, “I wonder why she puts up with it?”

  Kate shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know what she sees in Arlo. She’s in her thirties, and he is at least seventy.”

  “No accounting for taste,” Colleen said.

  “Let’s be fair, Colleen,” Mum advised. “Maybe his wife loves the man for who he is and not for his age.”

  Colleen scoffed and repeated Mum’s words, “Loves the man for who he is. A wife beater!”

  Kate said, “I’ve seen the two of them together, walking hand-in-hand on the beach. He seems devoted to her.”

  “Maybe she’s clumsy and really did fall off the porch,” Mum said.

  Kate added, “I can say that she takes very good care of him. Arlo had a heart attack several months ago. Before he got ill, he was doing maintenance on the cabins. Misty hired a new guy to take over Arlo’s job. He’s in his thirties and very flirty. He moved into the last cabin in our row, four doors down from your cabin. I don’t mean to gossip, but Misty just bought a brand-new pickup and guess who’s driving it?”

  Mum said, “The new lad.”

  “Yep,” Kate answered.

  Katherine cut in. “Bingo, I’ve found a locksmith.”

  “Oh, gosh, I forgot to tell you the one I use is called Seagull Locksmiths,” Kate apologized.

  “Yep, got it,” Katherine said, punching in the number. She spoke into the phone and gave the information, then asked Kate, “What’s your cabin number?”

  “1313.”

  Katherine did a curious side glance at Colleen, then said into the phone, “1313 Beach Road. When can you be here? Okay, that’s fine. We’ll look for you then.” She disconnected the call and announced, “He’ll be here in an hour.”

  “Oh, that’s good. Now if you excuse me, I’ll just go sit on my back porch and wait for him.”

  Colleen suggested, still wary of the woman, “Why don’t you sit in your car? Wouldn’t that be warmer?”

  Kate answered, embarrassed. “I would if it wasn’t locked.”

  “Oh, bad luck,” Mum said, pouring another glass from the wine box. “At least take a seat and make yourself comfortable,” she motioned toward the loveseat.

  “Is that okay? I don’t mean to intrude.”

  Scout and Abra charged into the room, and immediately went over to Kate. They began brushing against her.

  Kate gushed, “I can’t take it,” she said, clutching her heart. “They are the most . . . drop-dead gorgeous . . . Siamese I’ve ever seen.”

  Katherine beamed. “Thank you. You must be a cat person.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “Because, Scout and Abra don’t take kindly to strangers.”

  “I’m flattered,” Kate said, reaching down to pet both cats.

  Colleen bluntly asked, “Kate, we heard a woman run past our cabin. She was screaming her head off. Was that you?”

  Kate’s eyes grew wide. She hesitated for a moment, then explained, “I know that you’re going to think I’m totally out of my mind, but that wasn’t a woman—”

  Mum said, “Sounded like a woman.”

  Colleen added sarcastically, “It certainly wasn’t a seagull doing a
voice impression of a screaming woman.”

  Kate said slowly, “It wasn’t me. I’m afraid you’ve heard the phantom voice of a woman long-dead.”

  “A spirit?” Colleen asked excitedly.

  Kate nodded.

  “Pause. Hold that thought,” Katherine said to Kate. “Let me pour you a glass a wine.”

  “Yes, I’d love some.”

  Katherine walked over to the boxed wine, hit the tap and poured a glass. Returning to Kate, she handed her the glass. “You said a long time? What did you mean?”

  Kate took the goblet and drank several sips. “I meant over eighty years.”

  Colleen finally sat down in a chair across from Kate. “You said ‘phantom voice.’ Has anyone ever seen this spirit?”

  “Oh, yeah, it’s common knowledge. There’re several people in town who would swear they saw her walking on the beach.”

  Katherine commented, “Interesting. The voice was as clear as day. My cats heard her, too. In fact, while we were sitting out on the porch, my cats were the ones that alerted us to someone running past our cabin.”

  Scout and Abra had lost interest in the newcomer, and had taken spots in front of the fireplace.

  “Have you ever heard the Seagull legend?” Kate asked.

  “No, can’t say I have,” Katherine answered.

  Colleen shook her head, “We’re not from around here.”

  Kate took another sip, and began, “Back in the thirties, a man and woman, husband and wife, had a cabin on this beach. The woman was from a rich family; the man was from a poor one. He also had a criminal background. They truly loved each other, well, that’s at least what the townspeople say, but the couple fought like cats and dogs,” Kate said, then paused for several seconds. She continued, “And, they drank like fish! One night they had too much to drink, and got into an argument. She accused him of cheating on her. He denied it. She ran out of the house, and he chased after her, but he didn’t get far.”

  “What happened?” Colleen asked.

  “He tripped over a kerosene lantern. They were not the tidiest of people, and the contents of the house quickly caught on fire. The house exploded in flames.”

  Mum made of a sign of the cross. “‘Twas terrible.”

  Kate nodded. “The fire department was too late, and the house burned to the ground.”

  Colleen said knowingly, “That’s typical of a haunting, especially the part of leaving this world before you’re ready. Plus, dying so tragically. I assume it was the husband who died in the fire?”

  “Yes, that’s it in a nutshell. At first, the fire chief thought she had died as well, but later she was found on the beach babbling like a crazy woman.”

  Katherine asked, “Let me get the facts straight. The husband died, the wife survived. What happened to her?”

  “Oh, she spent a few years at an insane asylum—”

  Colleen interrupted, “Another key ingredient to a haunting. The woman went daft and forever walks the moors searching for Heathcliff.”

  Katherine chuckled. “I think Colleen means the beach and not the moors.”

  Kate laughed. “I’ve read Wuthering Heights. I loved it.”

  “Me, too,” Katherine added.

  Kate finished. “She was released and died a few years later. To make ends meet, she’d walk the beach, picking up bits of debris that she’d make into necklaces and sell to tourists.”

  Colleen asked, “I thought you said she came from a wealthy family.”

  “They disowned her when she married her husband.”

  “Wow, what kind of parents do that?” Katherine asked, rolling her eyes.

  “To finish the legend,” Kate said, yawning, “She died of a broken heart. Two years to the date of the fire, her body was found not far from our cabins. She was nude and lying face-down in the surf.”

  Mum gulped down the rest of her glass. “Lovely,” she slurred.

  Colleen jumped out of her chair. “Mum, hand me your glass.”

  “Whatever for, dear? It’s just apple juice.”

  Colleen sniffed the drink. “Bloody hell, Mum. How much have you drank?”

  “A wee bit.”

  Kate looked surprised.

  Katherine whispered, “Mum had a drinking problem.”

  “I heard that,” Mum protested. She got up from her chair and stomped to her room. “I’d much rather be in me room . . . alone . . . then out here with a bunch of harpies. Good night.” She slammed the door.

  “Raw,” Abra cried, running her paw over her ear.

  Katherine consoled. “It’s okay, darlings. Go back to your heat basking.”

  “Fine,” Colleen shouted after her, then she looked at Kate. “I’m sorry you had to witness that.”

  Kate got up. “Ladies, I really must wait for the locksmith.”

  Katherine offered, “But you can stay here until he gets here.”

  “I just want to make sure he doesn’t leave when I’m not out there . . . waiting.”

  “Well, okay, then, but I insist you wear a coat.”

  “Yes, that would be nice. It’s freezing outside.”

  Katherine took her pea jacket off the coat rack and handed it to Kate. “You can return it tomorrow.”

  “Thank you ever so much,” Kate said, opening the back door.

  Katherine said, “Wait, Kate, I have a quick question. What were the names of the couple, so I can Google them.”

  “Her name was Madeline—”

  Colleen walked over, “Madeline? The flier I picked up at the gas station said the spirit’s name is Diana?”

  “Oh, no, that’s a different ghost. Similar history, but Madeline only appears when a murder is going to be committed.”

  “Seriously?” Colleen quizzed.

  Kate nodded. “The ghost hasn’t appeared since a murder on the beach two years ago.”

  “But you called her Seagull’s own.”

  “Whenever someone in town or on the beach is going to be murdered, Madeline appears. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must really go. Thanks so much for everything,” she said, leaving. “Bye now.”

  Katherine closed the door, and leaned the security bar underneath the door handle. Jake had insisted she bring it as a special precaution so no one would break in.

  Colleen joked, “I hate to tell you this, Katz. But a spirit can walk through doors.”

  “Hush, you. I’ll never get any sleep,” Katherine said with a twinkle in her eye.

  “I’m calling it a day,” Colleen said, heading for their bedroom. “Oh, Katz, the cats seem to be fine out here. Why don’t we move their litterbox out here, so they don’t wake us up with their shenanigans?”

  Katherine asked the cats, “Is that okay with you?”

  “Ma-waugh,” Scout answered, now half-asleep on the hearth.

  “Well, okay, we can try it,” Katherine said, reaching over and turning off the switch to the gas fireplace. “You girls be good.”

  Chapter Seven

  Late Thursday Night at Cabin One

  How Long has This Been Goin’ On?

  Misty nervously paced back and forth on the sandy yard outside her cabin, and waited for Josh to return her call. Arlo had found out they were having an affair, and she had to warn her lover. She’d texted and called him several times, but he didn’t answer. She tried him again. “Answer your stupid phone,” she said anxiously.

  Misty replayed in her mind what happened the day before, when Arlo came back from the hardware store. She was in Cabin Five making up one of the bunk beds. Arlo came in, fixed the toilet, and then left. She thought it was odd that he didn’t speak to her the entire time he was in the cabin. She finished cleaning around noon, then returned to the office. Sitting behind the desk, she checked her email. She was thrilled that cabins two through five were booked into July. She smiled.

  Arlo walked in with a murderous look, Misty remembered.

  “Better wipe that grin off your face,” he said.

  “What’s wrong?
” she asked apprehensively.

  “This morning when I was at the hardware store, Joe had something interesting to tell me.”

  “By the look on your face, it must have been a good one,” she scoffed.

  “He told me he caught you and Josh making out. How long has this been goin’ on?”

  “That’s ridiculous. Joe’s a liar.”

  “Don’t try and weasel your way out of this. I trust my friend over you any day.”

  “Thanks for your vote of confidence,” Misty said, getting up.

  Arlo reached across the desk and pushed her back into her chair. “If you know what’s good for you, you’d better stay out of my way.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Arlo yanked a key off the key holder on the wall. “I’m moving into Cabin Six.” He went into the bedroom and returned a few minutes later with a suitcase.

  Misty demanded, “Give me my Cherokee keys back.”

  “No way. You get the new truck back from lover boy—”

  “He’s not my lover boy,” she protested. “Joe’s out of his mind.”

  “I don’t know what possessed me to let you hire an ex-con.”

  “Arlo, I need my keys,” she pleaded. “Give them to me!”

  “Drive my truck,” Arlo said with a smirk.

  “The battery is dead!”

  “Have lover boy jump start it. He seems to be good at that sort of thing. He’s already jump-started you.”

  After that argument, Arlo had stormed out of the cabin and driven off in her Cherokee, leaving her stranded at the cabins without a vehicle.

  Around dinner time, Misty realized Arlo had not taken his meds with him when he left. She gathered the prescription bottles and walked to Cabin Six. Arlo wasn’t there, and when she looked behind the cabin at the parking lot, her Cherokee wasn’t there either. Only the disabled pickup remained.

  She called Arlo several times, but each time her call was directed to his voicemail.

  The next day, Arlo was nowhere to be found. She called a number of his friends, but none of them had seen him. She hesitated to call big-mouth Joe, and when she did, her call rang and rang. She surmised that Arlo and Joe had gone to their favorite casino and had gambled the night away. They probably got drunk and were sleeping it off.

  Misty was very busy on Thursday and didn’t have time to keep walking to Cabin Six to see if Arlo had returned. She stayed up until eleven, then went to bed. She had just gotten to sleep, when she heard the key turn in the back door. Arlo barged in and dragged her out of bed. He started accusing her of all sorts of things. Most of the accusations were false, such as she’d been cheating with men for years, which was ridiculous because she’d been loyal to Arlo until Josh.