The Barrens House

by S. August Thalmann

  The Barrens House

  By S. August Thalmann

  All text copyright S. August Thalmann

  Published by 40 Hour Books, September 2011

  For R.L. Stine

  CHAPTER 1

  Danny groaned as the car pulled up to the house that would be his new home. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he moaned, sprawling across the back seat.

  “Danny, get up,” his mom said as she exited the car. “Remember, you promised to give the house a try before you complained.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Danny sighed as he lifted himself from the seat and jumped into the sunlight. He grabbed his duffel bags from the trailer and followed his parents as they made their way across the yard and up the front porch.

  The house was a three-story Victorian with a wraparound porch. In the black and white photograph Danny’s father had shown him before the move, the house had looked clean and new. Now it looked rundown and very old, its weathered green paint aged and peeling, its windows caked with dust.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Danny’s dad said as he fumbled with a set of large keys at the front door. “It’s not what it looked like in the photo. But that photo was taken a long time ago.” He found the key he was looking for and turned it in the lock, then opened the door wide. It opened with a long creak.

  Danny’s mom gasped. She loved old stuff, Danny knew, and she was certain to love this old house.

  “Mark, it’s beautiful,” she said, looking wide-eyed from left to right. She strode over to the large staircase in the center of the main room, just opposite the door. “Look at the woodwork.”

  “Do you really like it?” Danny’s dad asked, dragging in her bags.

  “Like it?” Danny’s mom ran over to her husband and gave him a big hug. She kissed him on the cheek. “I love it.”

  “Coming through,” Danny said, pushing between them.

  His parents separated long enough for him to pass through the door, then resumed their hugging and giggling. “Get a room,” Danny mumbled under his breath. He could hear his parents talking as he started up the stairs.

  “And it’s over a hundred years old,” his dad said as Danny crested the top of the stairs to the second floor.

  Danny looked from side to side. A long hallway stretched to his right and left, with three or four doors on either side. They were all closed except for the far door at the very end of the hallway on his left, and through the door he could see curtains billowing in from a window. Had it been windy outside? The realtor must have left a window open.

  Danny shivered in the drafty hall and called down to his parents. “Where’s my room?” he shouted. His parents, still giggling and looking around downstairs, looked up. His dad smiled.

  “I’ll show you,” he said.

  When Danny’s parents had called him into the kitchen two months before for a family meeting and told him they’d be moving near the end of the summer, Danny had been distraught. What about his friends? Their house? Danny had spent all twelve years of his life in the same neighborhood, in the same home, and now they were taking it all away from him just as he was about to start junior high.

  “But I don’t want to move,” Danny said then. “What about my friends? What about school?”

  “I know this will be hard for you at first,” his dad tried to console him. “It’ll be hard for all of us at first. But this is a great opportunity for your mother and I, and it’s something we just have to do right now.”

  Danny knew that his dad had lost his job and that his mom’s job at the elementary school could barely make ends meet. And so he knew that when his dad was offered a job as caretaker of this old estate four hours south, rent-free, his parents would have been fools to say no. But that didn’t make it any easier.

  When Danny still seemed despondent, his dad looked at him, smiling. “Tell you what, Champ,” he said. Champ was what he always called Danny when he was trying to get him to do something he didn’t want to do. “I’ll have a special surprise for you when we get there. Wait till you see your bedroom.”

  Danny still hadn’t wanted to leave his friends, his school or the town he grew up in, but he had been excited to see his new room. Not that he was about to admit that to his parents.

  Now Danny’s parents practically ran up the stairs toward him, holding hands. They passed him at the top of the stairs and turned left. As they did so, Danny’s dad put his hand on his shoulders and looked at him, beaming. “This way,” he said.

  As they walked toward the end of the hallway, Danny noticed the door at the far end was now closed. That’s funny, he thought, the wind must have blown the door shut. He thought it was odd that he hadn’t heard the door slam, though, and was about to say something when his dad stopped him and said, “Here we are.” He pointed up at the ceiling.

  Danny looked up as his dad grabbed a long cord and pulled it downward. A small hatch opened in the ceiling and Danny’s dad slid a narrow ladder down from above. “Ta da!” he said, looking at Danny and smiling.

  Danny looked at the ladder, then at his parents. “The attic?” he said. “You want me to sleep up there?”

  His dad laughed. “It’s not the attic,” he said. “C’mon.” He looked at Danny’s mom and they winked at each other, then he climbed up the ladder and disappeared into the darkness. Danny approached cautiously and looked up through the hatch.

  “Go on,” his mom said.

  Danny slowly made his way up the ladder, his mom close behind. After a few moments he reached the third floor opening, and as he climbed into his new bedroom he gasped in surprise.

  His room was a large loft, taking up the entire third floor. It was ten times the size of his old room. On one end of the room was a small bathroom. On the opposite end was his old bed, neatly made, along with his dresser, desk and computer.

  “My stuff!” Danny said. This must have been the surprise his dad had promised. The movers wouldn’t be able to bring the majority of their furnishings until the next week, and Danny had thought he would have to wait for all his things. He dropped his bags and ran and jumped on his bed, hugging his pillow.

  “I know we said the movers wouldn’t be bringing our things till next week,” his dad said. “But we made sure they made an exception for yours.”

  “But how did you get it all up here?” Danny said, looking at the small hatch in the center of the bedroom floor. It had been slightly difficult just fitting his bags through, and he couldn’t imagine trying to get a mattress up there.

  “Ah,” Danny’s dad said, “I was hoping you’d ask.” He crossed the room toward the small bathroom and flipped what looked like a large light switch on the wall. There was a quiet hum, then after a few moments a loud click and the humming stopped. Danny’s dad turned and opened a hidden panel on the wall to reveal a large opening.

  “An elevator?” Danny said.

  “A dumbwaiter,” his dad corrected him. “It was used to haul stuff up here in the old days. It’s cool, I know, but it’s not for people.” He looked at Danny squarely, then closed the panel and flipped the switch again. The dumbwaiter began to whir as it descended.

  “You can’t even tell it’s there,” Danny said, walking over to the panel. “It blends right into the wall.”

  “What’d I tell you,” his dad said. “This house isn’t so bad after all, huh? And check out the view.”

  Danny had been so excited to see all of his things from his old house that he hadn’t even noticed the windows, which lined either side of the room facing out at the front and back of the house. He followed his dad to a window facing the front of the house and looked out. He could see their car far below, the scraggly leaf-strewn yard, and across the gravel street, a thick row of bent and
twisted trees.

  “Look at that yard,” Danny’s dad said, shaking his head. “I suppose it needs that same amount of work as everything else around here.” He put a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “I know it’s hard,” he said as Danny looked out at the trees across the street and the forest beyond, stretching into the distance. “But we’ll make it work, right Champ?”

  Danny looked at his mom, still standing near the hatch in the floor, smiling, then back up at his dad. He sighed. “Yeah, dad,” he said, smiling. “We’ll make it work.”

  “That’s my boy,” his dad said, playfully messing up Danny’s hair. “Your mother and I have our work cut out for us downstairs getting ready for the movers next week. You go ahead and get yourself situated and come down when you’re ready, okay?”

  Danny nodded.

  “Okay,” his dad said. Danny’s parents slowly made their way back down the ladder to the second floor.

  Danny stood at the window and watched as the sun began to set on the horizon past the tree line. I guess it’s not so bad, he thought. After all, he would have been leaving the intermediate school and starting at the new middle school anyway, though back home he had his friends. Home, he thought. I guess this is home now.

  He picked up his bags and set them on his bed. As he began unpacking his clothes it suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t even seen the backyard yet, and he made his way to a window at the back of the house to get a look.

  His heart sunk.

  Just outside the window, three stories below, was a graveyard.

  CHAPTER 2

  “A graveyard?” Danny said as his parents unpacked boxes of dishes and put the plates and glasses away in the kitchen cupboards. “How could you forget to mention our backyard was a graveyard?”

  Danny’s dad shrugged. His parents were in work-mode now, busying themselves with unpacking small necessities and tidying things up. “I don’t know,” he said. “I guess it must have slipped my mind.” He took a final, newspaper-wrapped glass from a box and handed it to Danny, setting the box aside and opening another full one. “Here,” he said. “Make yourself useful.”

  Danny unwrapped the glass and placed it in a cupboard with the others. “But what am I supposed to do in a graveyard? It’s … it’s creepy,” he said, staring out a window into the twilight at the back of the house.

  Danny’s mom was flustered, walking back and forth between rooms at a nearly frantic pace, trying to get things done. Gone was the initial excitement of moving in, and replacing it was the anxiety of finishing all the work that had yet to be done. Danny turned from the window, bumping into his mom, who then dropped one of the many plates she was carrying in from a box in the main room. The plate hit the floor and shattered with a crash.

  “Dang it, Danny!” she cried. “If you’re not going to help you need to get out of the way.” She carefully placed the remaining stack of plates on a counter. “Mark, have you seen the broom?”

  Danny’s dad’s voice came back muffled from behind a stack of boxes he was carrying in from the trailer. “What? Which room?”

  “Not room,” Danny’s mom shot back, frustrated. “Broom. B-R-O-O-M!” Danny was staring out the window toward the graveyard again. His mom passed him on her way to help his dad with the boxes. “Danny, you need to go somewhere, there’s no room in here to just be standing around right now,” she said, shooing him toward the back door. “If you’re so interested in the graveyard, why don’t you go take a look at it?”

  “But … but I …” Danny stammered, and before he knew it he was standing on the back porch looking out toward the gates of the graveyard. His mom closed the door behind him. He could hear her from outside say to his dad, “Watch out, Mark, there’s glass on the floor!”

  “What’s on the door?” his dad said, voice still muffled. There was a loud crash as the boxes he was carrying tumbled to the floor. “Ouch!” his dad yelled. “Susan, watch out, I think there’s glass on the floor.”

  Danny shook his head and stepped slowly down the steps of the porch toward the graveyard. It was surrounded by high stone walls meeting at two large iron gates. At the top of the gates was a stone arch, and at the center of the arch sat a large, grotesque statue.

  Danny felt a chill go up his spine as he approached the gate, staring at the granite figure. It was dark gray and had the face of a fat, evil looking goblin, with long, pointed ears and cold, blank eyes. It had a thick, wide snout, and it’s strange, sharp-toothed mouth made the figure look like it was smiling cruelly.

  The statue appeared very old, probably at least as old as the house, and was covered with moss, as were the stone walls. It had thick, muscular arms and legs, all ending in dangerous looking claws, and had a set of large, bony wings folded behind its back. Staring at the creature, Danny felt almost hypnotized.

  “Scary, isn’t it?”

  Danny jumped. He spun around to face a young girl, laughing hysterically. She was pretty, he thought instinctively, with big blue eyes and long blonde hair. She was tall and skinny, and looked about his age.

  “I’m sorry,” the girl said, still laughing. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” She composed herself for only a second, and then burst into another round of laughter. “But you should’ve seen your face!”

  Danny stood silent while the girl finished laughing, wiping the tears from her eyes. Finally she reached out a hand. “I’m Brenna,” she said. “I live in the next house over.” She pointed past the graveyard and into the woods.

  Danny looked, but couldn’t see a house. He shook her hand. “Danny,” he said slowly, still shaken. He tried to make conversation. “What is that thing?” he said, nodding at the figure on top of the arch.

  “Oh, that’s just the stupid old gargoyle,” Brenna said. “Nothing to be afraid of.” She stared at the statue for a moment, then turned and faced Danny. “So you guys are moving in to the old Barrens House, huh?”

  “Barrens House?” Danny asked.

  “That’s what everyone calls it around here. I don’t know why. Are you going to Sunset?” Brenna looked at Danny quizzically.

  “Um, I think so,” Danny said. He assumed Sunset was his new school in town. “I’m going into seventh grade, so …”

  “Ah, fresh meat,” Brenna said. “I’m going into eighth. Sunset’s cool because it’s only seventh and eighth graders. The younger kids go to Parkside and the high school kids go to River Bend.”

  Danny just nodded.

  “Do you like your new house?” Brenna said. “I heard it was haunted.”

  A lump stuck in Danny’s throat.

  “Haunted?”

  “Don’t look so scared,” Brenna said. “That’s just what the kids say. But they just say that because of the graveyard.” She looked through the gates at all the granite and marble gravestones and monuments.

  “Danny! C’mon inside and wash up! It’s time for dinner!” Danny turned to see his mom waving at him from a kitchen window. She saw Brenna and smiled and waved. “Your friend can come in too if she would like.”

  “No thanks, Mrs. …” Brenna looked at Danny.

  “Johnson,” Danny said.

  “No thanks, Mrs. Johnson,” Brenna yelled back, waving. “I told my mom I’d be home before dark.”

  “Okay,” Danny’s mom yelled back. “You’re welcome anytime.” She closed the window and disappeared into the house.

  “Well, Danny Johnson,” Brenna said. “It was very nice meeting you.” She started off through the trees in the direction she had pointed earlier. “Good luck with your haunted house!” she called as she vanished into the trees.

  “Well that wasn’t so hard now was it? We haven’t even been here a day and you’ve already started making friends,” Danny’s mom said as he entered the house. She set a tray of sandwiches down on a stack of boxes set up like a table in the dining room. Danny’s dad sat on a box opposite, chewing a mouthful of potato salad.

  “See, Danny,” he said, “I told you. In no time at all this pl
ace will feel just like home.”

  Danny sat on his own box and picked up a sandwich. Just like home, he thought. With a graveyard behind it. “Have you seen the gargoyle?” he asked his dad between bites. “It’s pretty creepy.”

  “Gargoyle? No I guess I hadn’t noticed it. On the house?”

  Danny shook his head. “At the graveyard. It’s on the arch above the gates.” He took another bite of sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly was his favorite.

  His dad nodded. “Interesting,” he said. “I’ll have to check it out tomorrow.” The sun had gone down fully now, casing the house in darkness. “You know, gargoyles were used in medieval times on lots of buildings. They thought they would protect against evil spirits.” He scraped his paper plate with a plastic fork. “Is there any more potato salad?”

  Danny’s mom scooped the last of the potato salad onto his dad’s plate. “So it’s nothing to be afraid of then, huh, Mark?” She winked at Danny, smiling.

  Danny’s dad laughed. “Hmph,” he said. “It’s just a statue.”

  After dinner Danny helped his parents finish unpacking what was left of the boxes in the kitchen. When it was time for bed, he reluctantly said goodnight and made his way upstairs. He didn’t really think the house was haunted, as Brenna had said, but being alone in an old creaky house at night still made him uneasy.

  At the top of the landing on the second floor Danny looked down the hall to the right. His parents had set up their bedroom in the suite at that end of the hallway, nearer the second floor bathroom and a smaller room Danny’s dad planned to use as an office. Turning to his left, Danny noticed that the door at the far end of that hallway was once again open, the curtains again billowing out from a window. The light inside was on.

  Danny thought about calling out to one of his parents, but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t a kid anymore, and he shouldn’t be frightened by an empty old house. Still, his parents had gotten mad at him often enough for leaving lights on in empty rooms that he was surprised they would have left one on.