The House on Xenia

by Rita Moreau

  “Yes,” Josie said. “Aliens and highly intelligent ones at that, they can communicate with us through our minds. Just like that house.”

  “That means the alien and the house can communicate with humans the same way,” MC said.

  “Telepathically?” Ernie said and then the meeting was over as Maggie came back into the room and stood next to Ernie.

  “We can talk about this later. Maggie and Max and his sister Molly are returning to Florida today,” Ernie said. Their job was done.

  “Right now, we need to get the chip that Harvey Long gave to GiGi,” Ernie said. “The one you gave to John Long, Josie.”

  “So that is the chip?” Josie said. “My sister had it all along. It wasn’t in that house. I should have known. That house is sneaky. I wonder what it wants to tell Annie,” she said looking at MC.

  “Whatever it is, the time is now,” MC said. “It doesn’t have much time left. It’s dying. Talking to Annie is the last thing it has to do on this earth. Plus, we need to send that message for ET—I mean Egor.”

  “John, I’m afraid for him,” Josie said as she was back up and pacing around the room.

  MC looked over at Ernie. She knew he knew something about the chip and John, but he would not give it up. He knew where John was. She could feel it in her bones and so could Josie.

  “You know where he is?” Josie said. Now the two bonded by a strong family both looked at Ernie.

  “Let’s just say for now we have a lead and that’s all I can say for now so don’t ask.”

  Both MC and Josie gave him the evil eye.

  “Okay, I think it's time I talk to Annie and get her onboard.”

  “She’s already onboard. She knows what to do. Probably has known for a long time,” MC said and looked at Josie who nodded her head in agreement.

  “I’m afraid so,” Josie said. “She has to cross this bridge alone. Trust me on this.”

  Ernie looked at the two women.

  “Well then, all roads lead to that house on Xenia. Let’s get going. We have very little time. The dragon is circling,” Ernie said.

  MC and Josie exchanged knowing looks. Yep. The spook had gone Hollywood.

  “The house loves her, like a YaYa. It has a message for her. It will protect her,” MC said. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 33

  Dayton, Ohio

  Annie, Josie and I entered the house. Tony was right behind us. No way was he going to wait outside with Ernie and his men.

  “If you see any large rodents, please shush them away. I hate mice,” I said to Tony.

  “Will do, ma’am.”

  “Annie, you will be fine. The house loves you,” I said.

  “Okay,” Annie said. She was shivering. Josie came up and wrapped her arms around her.

  “It’s time to give the house what Egor gave you,” Josie said. “It will know what to do with it.”

  Annie reached in her jeans pocket and took out the beacon and placed it tightly in her hand.

  “Annie, what is it?”

  “I don’t know, Aunt MC. Maybe it’s something I dreamt a long time ago or some memory. I’m afraid.”

  I didn’t like what I was hearing. Annie had the genes. It ran through the family. She may have the same ability as I do. Maybe even greater. She may see the future.

  “Annie this house has protected your family for a long time. It will not let anything happen to you.”

  We were now walking through the dining room toward the living room. It was dark and very cold. The wind was blowing through the broken windows. Suddenly it got even colder.

  As we stood there something appeared in the dust below our feet. It was the house. It was talking to Annie. We watched as the words appeared as if a fog rolled in.

  “Follow your dream.”

  We now watched Annie. She walked into the living room and stood next to the fireplace. Annie placed her hands on the ancient fireplace and bowed her head. Xenia was speaking her last words to Annie, the youngest of the family line she had protected for so long. Her time on this earth was ending. Annie lifted her head, and we watched as she took the beacon from her jeans. She pried open a loose tile from the fireplace and placed the beacon in there.

  “You know what to do with this YaYa,” Annie said to the house.

  She stood there, and we heard her whisper good-bye to Xenia.

  “Thank you YaYa. I promise you will not be forgotten.”

  Anne started to walk back to us, and as she did, the beacon Annie had just placed in the fireplace fell out of the fireplace. Annie looked at me, and at that moment we both heard the house speak. Annie was frozen in place. “Pick it up, Annie. Xenia wants you to take it,” I said.

  Annie picked up the beacon and held it in her hand, and I could see the fear on Annie’s face. “I remember my dream now,” Annie said to me while looking toward the dining room. There stood Josie and next to her was a man in a uniform with a gun pointed at her head.

  “Meet Colonel Storms everyone,” Josie said. Ernie was nowhere to be seen. Whatever his plan was it apparently involved getting Colonel Storms to make an appearance. Well, it was working. All hell was about to break loose, literally. We had all crossed that bridge.

  Chapter 34

  Dayton, Ohio

  “Give me the chip young lady.”

  “I will not,” Annie said holding the beacon in her hand for everyone to see.

  “Fine, I’ll shoot your grandmother.”

  “No, you won’t because if you do, I will toss this chip into the fireplace.”

  “What good will that do my dear, that fireplace has not worked for decades.”

  The moment he spoke, a roaring fire appeared in that old fireplace. Annie walked over to it and held up the beacon near the flames. He watched her but still held the gun firmly to Josie’s head. She was calm. Tony had been quietly standing next to me. I could tell he wanted to do something. He looked straight ahead at Josie, and the gun pointed to her head. His military training which had kept him in check gave way to his heart. He walked over to stand near Annie.

  “Stand down soldier,” Colonel Storms said. Tony had positioned himself between Annie and Josie and the gun to her head.

  “Mary Catherine get out your cell and call Ernie.”

  I got out the burner and called Ernie’s number.

  “Just stay calm,” Ernie said before I could say a word.

  “Ernie we are here with the colonel,” I said. “He has a gun to Josie’s head and is demanding that Annie turn over the chip. The house has started a fire in the fireplace and Annie is holding the chip close to the fire.”

  “Give me that cell,” the colonel barked at MC.

  I handed it to him.

  “This is Colonel Storms. I think you need to have a chat with these women. I order you, and as your superior officer, you need to obey my orders. Tell the granddaughter to give me the chip, and I will release them unharmed.”

  Ernie was listening to Colonel Storms. He was now standing on a back porch which led into the kitchen.

  “I understand, sir. What do you need me to do,” Ernie said hearing the desperation in the colonel’s voice.

  “For the last time or I’ll shoot one of these women, I need that chip.”

  “They don’t have it.”

  “What do you mean they don’t have it? I am looking right at it,” he said and squinted his eyes. The fire in the fireplace was giving off a lot of smoke.

  “I have it.”

  “Then if you have it and you want to keep these three alive, officer, I need that chip. Bring it into the house and give it to me.”

  He handed the cell back, and I put it up to my ear.

  “Hang tight. I threw him a diversion. He thinks I have the chip. You need to go along with that. Do you understand?” The line went dead.

  We stood there as the house filled with smoke, and the next thing I saw was Ernie coming up behind Colonel Storms. As the colonel turned to see who it was, Tony made his mov
e and tackled him. They struggled, but soon Tony had the colonel pinned on the floor. Ernie grabbed Josie and pointed her out the door. Josie grabbed Annie, and I followed. As Annie passed Ernie, she handed him the beacon and said, “The house said I was to give this to you.”

  On my way out I looked over at Tony who was still tangled up with Storms, and I saw the gun fly out of Storm’s hand and disappear into a hole in the old wall. Storms watched that in disbelief and then Tony took the opportunity to punch his lights out.

  “Let’s go,” Ernie said as the house was now on its way to becoming fully engulfed in flames. “Grab him, and we will drag him out of here.” As Tony went to grab his legs, a line of fire shot right between him and Colonel Storms. We watched as he got up and began making his way toward us. A rod from the fireplace shot over and knocked the colonel on the head. He went up in flames.

  “Let’s get out of here.” The three of us ran out of the house.

  As we stood across the street, the old house went up in flames. Josie and Annie and I watched, and the tears flowed down our cheeks. “Good-bye old house,” Annie said. “I have your message, and I will carry it with me, and I will pass it to my first-born daughter.” As she said that she reached over and grabbed Tony’s hand and looked into his eyes. He took her into his arms, and he kissed her and held her tight.

  Annie spoke to Josie. “The house told me something. I’m to keep it a secret and pass it on to the next generation. You and John Long are to write the book and tell everyone the story of this house. The house said it will be a best seller and a movie. Do it and believe in your dreams.”

  Josie smiled at her granddaughter and Tony who she felt was not going to leave her granddaughter’s side anytime soon. “I will, Annie. I will.” Josie also had a message from the house. Xenia spoke to her in those last few minutes. “I want you to write my eulogy. Make it a good one.” She would write the eulogy for Xenia and more.

  I also heard Xenia’s final words on this earth as she spoke to Annie. She said good-bye, and she left her this message.

  “Annie, I am not gone. I will watch over your children and their children. Your mother Cora will watch you and your father. She did not die. She left this earth with your father to his home on a distant planet. Someday your children and their children after will be the ones to return to space and open the world to all people of all planets.”

  Chapter 35

  Fish Camp

  I was back in my tax office in Fish Camp, and all was well. Theo was able to moor the Mary Catherine on the dock behind the tax office. That is where we will live for the time being.

  I just got off the phone with Josie. She told me that Annie was making plans to move to Hollywood, and she was going with her. Not a permanent move but she would stay as long as she was needed. John Long was safe and back on the evening news. I suspect he will make frequent trips to La La Land as will Tony.

  The house had also spoken to John and told him where to hide. “I was told by the house to give this to you,” John said when he met Ernie and gave the chip to Ernie.

  Ernie made sure his father’s remains were returned to John. We attended a small service at Woodland Cemetery for his father burial. He would now rest in peace. Josie wrote his eulogy and John spoke the words.

  I decided to make my way over to Hotel Florida where Ernie was tending bar. I still had a few unresolved questions I needed to ask him.

  “So, the house drew Colonel Storms out of the cave and in her last act she hit him over the head with a rod?” I asked Ernie. There were things I needed to get from the spook. My genes can only do so much. That’s when the spook told me the rest of the story.

  Ernie looked at me and placed another cold beer in front of me. The usual drill.

  “So did the chip have evidence that a UFO really crashed at Roswell and everything was brought back to Wright-Patt? That Colonel Storms headed a secret department that used the aliens and their technology which I’m guessing was a lot more advanced than what we had on earth?”

  “If I told you I’d have to shoot you.”

  I gave Ernie the evil eye, but then I heard the rest of the story.

  “Yes it did,” Ernie said. “Lucky for you I don’t have my gun today. You should know Egor and his people are now free.”

  “Mother of God,” I said and made the sign of the cross. That was all the spook would tell me, but that was enough.

  I finished my beer, and soon Maggie and Max and Molly arrived. They were all going out to the park for a picnic lunch. Max was doing much better, and Frank had talked to the Columbians, and they had agreed to extend Molly’s visit with Max. Seemed like the wild child had settled down and was getting married.

  “I have something I need to discuss with you MC,” Maggie said as I was leaving. “It involves your genes. Stay awhile and have another drink. I’ll drive you home.”

  So, I was back. I smiled at Izzy who I brought with me. He was sunning his little iguana self near the bar. I looked over at him and I heard him say, “Enjoy your break while you can MC. You’re back!”

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for reading my fifth Mary Catherine Mahoney mystery. Trust me this novel is a work of fiction, but it draws on the theme that the house you grew up in stays with you all your life. My mother Georgia was a lot like GiGi, a strong woman, a single mother. Another theme is the strength it takes to raise children as a single mother.

  Below is a short history of the house I grew up in. Like the lyrics from one of my favorite country songs, this was the house that built me. It was also very interesting to find out the history of the house. Thank you, Betsy Wilson, house detective, and historian.

  1869: The 1869 map of Xenia Avenue shows that only the first few blocks of the street are developed. The map ends at the city line, and still includes a number of farms.

  1874: Dayton City Directory lists Michael Higgins, teamster, living on the “north side of Xenia, near Corporation Line.” This is his first listing in the city directory (which began in 1854).

  1874: ​October 14 D. Webster Clegg creates a plat of house lots in the area known as Newcom Plain (most of this is now under Route 35)

  1875: ​March 19 Michael Higgins purchases two lots and a part of a third in this plat. See Auditors Map.

  1880: ​Census lists Michael and Elizabeth Higgins on Xenia Avenue in Dayton (no house number given) with eight children, ranging in age from 22 to 10: Mary, Sarah, John, Charles, Michael, Emma, Frank, and Annie. Michael is working as a teamster.

  1886: ​Dayton City Directory for the first time lists the Higgins family at the house number 1019 on Xenia Avenue.

  1889: ​December 30 ​Michael Higgins sells this property to daughter Sarah Ellen Higgins, for $1800 and the promise to care for himself and his wife Elizabeth throughout their lives. Elizabeth Higgins signs with an X.

  1894: ​Michael Higgins dies on October 20. Death record. He was buried in Woodland Cemetery, Section 114, Lot 3201.

  1898: ​September 13 ​Sarah Ellen Higgins Sloan, and her husband Albert, now living in St. Louis, Missouri, sell the property to her sister Anna L. Detweiler. We know they’re sisters because Anna Detweiler’s death certificate in 1931 lists the names of her parents.

  1899: ​June 13 Anna and her husband Franklin Detweiler, and Elizabeth Higgins, Michael’s widow, sell the same property to Dagobert A. Scheibenzuber.

  Dagobert Scheibenzuber was born in 1868, the son of Anton (or Anthony) Scheibenzuber, a physician from Austria, who emigrated to the United States around 1870. 1880 Census. In the 1880s, Dagobert returned to Vienna to study medicine, and then received further training in Cincinnati, before coming back to Dayton to practice medicine.

  1899: ​Dayton City Directory lists Dagobert Scheibenzuber and his wife Harriet at 228 Green Street, the building that had been his father’s home and office. They continue to live here until the mid-1910s when they move outside Dayton.

  1901: ​The Montgomery County, property tax record, listed Da
gobert Scheibenzuber owning thirteen parcels of land, confirming the idea that he purchased the Xenia property as an investment.

  1911: ​A construction increase of $3000 raises the property tax value of the lot to $4700. This means that either the prior house was torn down and a new one built, or a major addition and renovation was made to the earlier house to make it into what it is today.

  1914: ​The Dayton City Directory begins a crisscross listing, by street address. For the first time, we are able to see who lived in the house. Fred Kislig, a physician, is listed at 1019. There is no listing for 1017.

  1918: ​First time this house appears on the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. The footprint of the house is similar to what is there today, confirming the construction of a large foursquare-style duplex.

  1919: ​The Dayton City Directory listed:

  1017: ​Connors, Frank L, inspector and wife Anna

  1017: rear Naas, William J, solicitor for Globe Steam Laundry, and wife Luella

  1017: rear Riber, Daniel H

  1019: ​Walter, Wilson [sic]

  1931: ​October The Union Trust Company of Dayton, which held mortgages for many of Dagobert Scheibenzuber’s properties, is liquidated by the state of Ohio, presumably because of the Depression.

  1932: ​April ​The Depression is taking its toll on Dagobert Scheibenzuber also. The state liquidator of the Union Trust Company recovers a judgment against Dagobert Scheibenzuber for $109,000 for his unpaid mortgages.

  1936: ​Dec ​This property, along with a number of other parcels belonging to Dr. Scheibenzuber are sold at sheriff’s sale to the holdings of the Union Trust Company for $11,145, essentially 10% of their former value.

  1937: ​August ​ 13 Harry, Samuel and Julius Donoff purchase this house from the holdings of Union Trust for $3500.

  1938: ​The Dayton City Directory shows that the house numbers of these buildings change from 1021, 1023 and 1025 (not used in this timeline) to 1017, 1019 and 1021. There is no indication why this happened. See changes noted on Sanborn Fire Insurance Map 1950.

  1940: ​1940 census shows the Voyatzoglou family: August and Mary, naturalized citizens from Greece, their daughter Georgia, called Rita, and Guss’s widowed older brother Sam.