“Peggy,” Annie said, “I’m still curious about the air freshener. Those people on television didn’t use it—not even one time. So why are we talking it with us?”
Peggy’s expression said Annie just didn’t “get it.”
“Annie. Any house that has been closed up for years and years, especially out in the middle of nowhere, is going to have an unpleasant odor. In fact, closed-up houses stink.”
“Febreze has absolutely nothing to do with the supernatural,” Alice chimed in, “and everything in the world to do with eradicating stinky air.”
Annie felt foolish, and a little bit chastised. “Oh. Okay, then,” she said humbly. “That makes sense.”
With their arms as full as if they were going on a weekend camping trip, the women piled into Annie’s Malibu and headed toward Fairview. Alice and Peggy chattered madly in the backseat. Kate sat silent and clench-fisted in the front passenger seat while Annie guided the car along the highway to Doss Road. At last she turned the car onto the rutted, muddy lane that led to the house. The car’s headlights washed over the trees and overgrown shrubs and threw the yard into deep shadows.
The women got out of the car, and stood a moment, staring at their destination.
“It does look eerie, doesn’t it?” Alice said in an undertone. “Especially at night.”
“But don’t you think most places look a little eerie at night?” Annie asked.
“Annie is one hundred percent right,” Peggy stated. “Come on, ladies! Onward and forward.”
The quartet gingerly picked their way across the gummy yard toward the house. The weathered siding seemed to absorb all brightness from their flashlights without allowing any illumination to spread. The closer they got, the more the old house took on a deeper, almost sinister aura in the murky darkness.
The other three huddled behind Annie as she fumbled with the old key and lock. They stood so close she could almost feel them breathing down her neck.
“It will probably take all of us to push this thing open,” she said, but at that moment the key turned with her first attempt, and the door swung open.
“Oh, my,” Annie said, faintly.
“That was easier than the other day,” Alice told her. “I still have a bruise on my shoulder.”
Annie opened her mouth to say she had not even so much as turned the knob, let alone pushed against the door itself, but one glance at Kate’s nervous face kept her silent. She admired the other woman’s spunk, but it seemed to Annie that something deeper than just a little hesitation to explore the old house lay within Kate’s fear. Perhaps Kate’s answer to this night’s adventure call was the way to fill an emptiness created by the years she had spent locked in an unhappy marriage. At least she was out of that relationship now, but the aftereffects often lingered for years. If exploring a dank old house at night was part of Kate’s do-it-yourself therapy, Annie questioned the wisdom of including the younger woman in this mad errand. In fact, seeing a professional counselor seemed more prudent.
Peggy eagerly stepped over the threshold, and Alice followed. They stood for a moment just beyond the doorway, skimming the interior with the beams from their flashlights. Peggy ventured farther into the dark room.
“Are you all right, Kate?” Annie murmured, lingering on the porch with her uneasy friend. “Do you want to wait in the car, or would you like to go back home? It’s okay, if you do. We’ll all understand.”
Kate moved restlessly, took in a deep breath, squared her shoulders and met Annie’s gaze in the leftover light.
“Thanks, Annie, but I’m fine. Just because I saw a ghost once before doesn’t mean I can’t take seeing another one. The whole experience was probably all in my imagination, anyway.”
“What?” Alice said, swinging her flashlight around to assault Kate’s face. “What did you say, Kate?”
Kate drew back, squinted and turned her head to fend off the light. “Please!” she exclaimed. “Get that out of my eyes, or all I’ll see from now until next Christmas is a bright blue splotch!”
“Oh. Sorry.” Alice lowered the flashlight. “Did you say you’ve seen a ghost?”
Kate sighed. “I thought I did. But it was a long time ago, and I … well, never mind.”
Peggy came trotting back to the door. “Oo! Do tell!”
“Not now,” Kate said. “Let’s see what Fairview has to offer.” She resolutely stepped past Peggy, leading Annie into the house. She glanced around at the darkened corners. “And I think we should shut the door.”
“Oh, I thought I would run out to the car and turn on the lights to shine inside, to help us see better,” Annie suggested.
“Oh, Annie!” Peggy said in disgust. “Didn’t you learn anything from that video tonight? Haven’t you paid attention to anything I told you?”
“The thing is, Annie,” Kate said, as if explaining a simple crochet pattern, “if you’re hoping actually to see something, you really need it as dark as possible in here. Spirits often manifest as nothing more than shadows or flickers of energy. When the light shines, the shadows you see might be made from objects in the room. Plus, outside noises will contaminate sounds we hear inside, so it’s better to have doors and windows closed.”
Annie listened to these statements with considerable amazement.
“Where’d you come up with all that?” she asked.
“Who cares?” Peggy said. “It makes sense.”
“Well, if I hear a noise, I’m turning on my flashlight to see if it’s a mouse,” Alice said stoutly. “I don’t mind seeing a ghost, but I do not want to see a mouse.”
“No!” Peggy said. “Alice MacFarlane, don’t you dare turn on your flashlight!”
“If you do that, you will ruin everything,” Kate said.
“But those people on the show turned on their flashlights sometimes,” Annie said. “And they had camera lights. How else could they film the program?”
“Those are special lights that they use,” Peggy said shortly.
“I am not going to stand here and let a mouse run up my pants leg!” Alice’s voice went up an octave or two as she spoke.
“Just do us a favor, then,” Peggy snapped. “Go wait in the car.”
Annie disliked the ugly turn the evening suddenly seemed to be taking. The bad atmosphere that was brewing inside Fairview just underscored the whole miserable aspect of the old house, and she found it all disturbing. She heartily wished she and her friends had never embarked on this scheme.
“Ladies,” she said, “maybe we ought to just—”
“Peggy Carson!” Alice all but yelled, “I most certainly will not wait in the car! I have as much right to be here as you do, and I want to—”
“Stop it!” Kate shouted, sounding like a drill sergeant. In the glow of four flashlights, she glowered at the two bickering women who stared at her with wide eyes. “Now, you listen to me. If you hear something, just be very quiet. We’ll be able to tell if it’s a mouse or not.” Kate became the quiet voice of reason and strength. “If it’s a mouse, I’ll take care of it.”
The other women continued to gape at her. Where had her timidity gone?
“So where do we start?” Annie said, dragging her gaze off Kate to settle on Peggy.
Peggy handed her flashlight to Alice and dug into her backpack. She pulled out her tape player.
“Kate, do you have your recorder?”
Kate pulled it out of her coat pocket.
“Good. I wish we had more than two of them,” Peggy said. “You saw on the program that most of the proof of paranormal entities was found on the recorders.”
“But weren’t the ones they used those high-end, techno-sophisticated digital recorders?” Annie asked.
“But these are what we have, so they will just have to do.”
“And didn’t they also have those special cameras that see in the dark and measure heat and—”
“Annie, for Pete’s sake, do you have to be such a Debbie downer?” Alice said.
/>
“Is that the same thing as a buzzkill?”
“Yes, it surely is! And this isn’t like you. Where is your sense of adventure, anyway?”
Annie cringed inwardly. She truly was not trying to ruin this adventure for the others. The whole ghost-chasing bit seemed so far-fetched, and she was usually so practical, that it was hard to see past all the nonsense. Recalling her earlier conversation with LeeAnn, and how her daughter had encouraged Annie to keep an open mind and have fun, she resolved to stuff that practical self into the background for the night.
“Okay, then,” Annie said brightly. She gripped her flashlight tightly and grinned. “Let’s do it.”
“And let’s have no more nonsense from anyone,” Peggy said. She paused to let this sink into the other three brains. “We really should break up into teams of two,” she continued. “Since Annie and Alice have been here before, they will be leaders. I’ll go with Alice, and Kate, you go with Annie. You two start with that room right over there.”
She pointed the flashlight at the bedroom door on the far side of the living room. That was the room where Annie and Alice had heard noises, and where Annie had actually seen something move. She pondered telling Kate, but not wanting to resurrect the woman’s anxiety she choose to keep silent about it.
Annie took a deep breath, and with a zest she did not feel, said, “C’mon, Kate. Let’s go bust us some ghosts. Be careful you don’t bark your shins on this furniture in the dark.”
“Lead on,” Kate said enthusiastically. “I’m right behind you!”
They wended their way carefully toward the bedroom.
“Be sure to take pictures.” Peggy called after them, adding, “And do not forget to turn off those flashlights!” She and Alice were already heading down the black-as-night hallway. At least in the dark Peggy couldn’t see Annie roll her eyes.
Annie pushed open the door, wincing as its hinges screeched like every door of every haunted house in every cheesy horror flick ever made. It was as awful as fingernails scraping down a blackboard. She sensed, rather than saw or felt, Kate shudder behind her.
Alice and Peggy could—and probably would—set up a howling protest, but Annie refused to turn off her flashlight and plunge them into murky darkness before taking a moment to look around the room. She would rather not run into the wall or stub her toe on a piece of furniture.
The bedroom lay in dusty, dim relief as they flushed the interior with their light beams. Annie stepped inside and Kate followed.
“What a lovely room,” Kate said, as if they were standing in a four-star hotel on a sunny day. “Look at that painting!” She crossed the room, directing her flashlight across the face of an impressionistic painting. She touched it. “Feel that texture,” she said. “Even under all that dust, it’s obvious that this is an original. Oh, I’d love to see it in the daylight!”
After a bit she threw the beam around the room while Annie focused her light on the corner that had mystified and frightened her and Alice the other day.
“Did you see this coverlet?” Kate asked. “Such a gorgeous pattern.”
Annie looked over her shoulder, saw Kate bent over the bed, studying the cross-stitch work.
“Yes, I saw it the day Alice and I were out here. It’s lovely. In fact, there are quite a few lovely things in this house.
“You should take these things home, Annie, and have them cleaned. The painting, the coverlet, those darling little pillows in that old rocker over there.”
“Kate … ?”
The other woman lifted her head, looked at Annie, smiling. “Yes?”
Annie stared at her, still astounded by the transformation from the apprehensive woman on her doorstep earlier in the evening to the casual, confident woman in front of her at that moment. Maybe all it took was purpose and a need to bring about change. Maybe Kate’s do-it-yourself therapy was a good idea, after all.
“What is it you wanted to say, Annie?” Kate prodded.
Annie shook her head. “Nothing. Just … are you having a good time?”
“Yes. Except for the squabble between those two in there.”
They shared a smile.
“I’m glad,” Annie said.
Kate laughed.
“Me too,” she said. “But we are here to look for spirits, not handiwork, aren’t we?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Annie let out a sigh of resignation.
“I just got caught up in this lovely old place,” Kate said. “I had no idea Foulview could be so marvelously surprising.” She turned the light to her tape recorder, adding, “Annie, why don’t you take some pictures.”
“Of what? Nothing will show up, we don’t have enough light.”
“The flash ought to brighten the areas you snap. Turn off your flashlight and just take random pictures. Remember what those guys did on Peggy’s video.” She fiddled with the tape recorder, lifted her head, and to no one Annie could see, Kate casually said, “Is anyone in here with us?”
“Kate, do you really expect someone to answer?”
“Won’t know until we try, will we?”
Kate turned off the flashlight. After a moment’s hesitation, Annie turned off hers, too.
“Hello? My name is Kate. The lady with me is my friend, Annie. Can you tell us your name, please?”
A long, unbroken silence followed. In spite of her strong skepticism, Annie knew if some unearthly voice replied, she would probably faint dead away.
“Annie,” Kate whispered, “take the pictures.”
Without a word but feeling incredibly foolish, Annie picked up her camera, turned it on, pointed it in various spots in the room and pressed the button—flash after flash—until she was sure she had blinded every specter hovering around.
After a bit, Kate moved and said, “Let’s go into another room.”
Annie started to leave but stopped. Maybe she was getting into the swing of things, or maybe she was just being silly, but she could not leave the room without another look at that mysterious corner.
“Wait a minute, Kate. Would you please come over here to this corner?”
“Did you see something?” Kate whispered as she approached.
“Not tonight, but the other day …” she whispered back. “I’m not sure. It was dark in here. Not as dark as right now, but you know, gray and dim. And this corner ….”
Kate said aloud, “Is someone in this corner?”
The pair stood still, breathless and wide-eyed, waiting. Perhaps there was the sound of slight movement. Maybe it was her imagination. Annie lifted the camera and fired off several flashes from all angles. There was a definite noise, louder this time, like the scattering of rocks. Kate gasped, and Annie reached out for her. They grabbed each other’s hands, not moving, but watching, straining to see in the darkness. The sound of knocking, a loud thump so near it seemed they could touch it had they not been frozen in place.
Annie stifled a scream, and Kate drew in a shuddering breath.
“Who’s here?” she said, her voice quivering. To Annie, frantically, “Take pictures, take pictures!”
Annie snapped photos of the corner as fast as her camera could process the action.
A loud scream from another part of the house and both women jumped so hard they bumped into each other. Annie’s camera nearly slipped from her shaking fingers as she and Kate raced across the room.
“What happened?” Annie cried as they burst into the living room the same time Alice and Peggy charged from the back of the house. All four flashlights blazed, lighting the room.
“What happened?” Annie asked again.
“Didn’t you guys hear that?” Alice said. “Don’t tell me you didn’t hear it!”
“Oh, my word! It was awful!” Peggy gasped, one fist pressed to her chest as if to slow down her heartbeat.
“You both heard all that knocking and thumping?” asked Annie. “We thought it was just in the bedroom.”
“Knocking and thumping? Are you kidding? No!” Pe
ggy nearly shouted. “It was a shriek. Like someone in pain.”
“And then cold air all around us,” Alice added. “Just like the other day when we were here, Annie, only worse.”
Kate gaped at them. “You heard someone scream?”
“Yes! Didn’t you?” Peggy looked from Kate’s face to Annie’s, and back to Kate’s.
“And that cold air that went across us!” Alice added, shuddering. “It was like an icy breath.”
“Did you see The Sixth Sense?” Peggy said. “Whenever ghosts were present, everything got so cold you could see everyone’s breath. It was like that.”
The quartet stood shivering in the middle of the dusty room. Their flashlights offered a poor substitute for the comforting bright light the women craved. Just then a mournful call wailed out and a blast of cold air enveloped all four women. The cry died, only to come again, louder and longer the second time. Every woman in the room screamed and ran to one another, closing the small space between them, as if to draw strength and protection.
The racket Kate and Annie heard in the bedroom now came again. This time it was above their heads, seeming to be coming from the attic, banging and thumping, then a sound of dragging and glass breaking. The shrieking moan happened again, and the air grew even colder.
“I’m getting out of here!” Peggy shouted. “This is not fun anymore!”
“I’m right behind you,” Alice said, following her to the front door.
Peggy grabbed the doorknob. “It won’t open!”
“What do you mean, it won’t open?” Alice yelled. “Pull it, don’t push it! Here, get out of the way. Let me!”
Alice yanked. The door yielded, and they both tumbled backward. When the shriek sounded again, louder than ever, both women screamed like little girls and dashed out into the yard. They seemed to have forgotten their purpose in visiting the old house at night. A bit later they approached the house again, one hesitant, cautious step at a time. They huddled together on the edge of the porch, trying to peer inside the open doorway from that safe distance.
“Annie! Kate!” Peggy called. “Get out of there. Can’t you tell whatever is in there doesn’t want us around?”
Even though she gave little credence to supernatural events, Annie could barely move her rubbery legs. On the other hand, Kate stayed rooted to the spot. Annie started to move toward the open door.
The Deed in the Attic Page 9
