by C. Fennessy
Aunt Mary's Victorian House in Marbleton, Massachusetts.
When the front door opened, an elderly woman stood behind a walker. A smile was etched in her wrinkled face framed by short, curly, grey hair. She wore a tan sweater and dark pants. Her vivid blue eyes twinkled at the sight of Kacey.
"Oh, Kacey! How wonderful to see you!"
Kacey embraced her great aunt and introduced her two friends.
"You must come in and have some tea. I have it all ready for you," said Aunt Mary.
The girls set down their bags in the spacious foyer and followed Aunt Mary into the large parlor. A big fireplace dominated one wall, trimmed with hand-carved mahogany. The room was filled with antique furniture and art. At the far end, a baby grand piano stood in the corner near the entrance to the dining room. A tea service and a plate of cookies were on the coffee table.
Kacey poured the tea while the girls helped themselves to cookies. Soon, they were all talking to Aunt Mary. She asked many questions about what they did, and they were happy to tell her.
"Well, I go to Westfield University, like Kacey," Ava explained, "I'm studying Criminal Justice. Fortunately, Kacey and I don't have classes for the rest of this week because of Alumni Week."
Aunt Mary said she thought it was wonderful that the girls were getting a college education.
"And I just finished a course at the Cordon Bleu cooking school," Emma declared proudly, "Which means I can cook some new recipes if you would like me to."
"I would love it!" Aunt Mary replied enthusiastically.
"Maybe later we can go shopping for groceries," Emma suggested to her friends.
"Good idea," Kacey said.
Ava asked, "Gee, Emma, didn't you bring all your groceries inside your luggage?"
Aunt Mary laughed, and Ava continued,
"I am not kidding! Whenever we go somewhere, Emma brings food, and sometimes she even brings her own cook ware!"
They all laughed, and Emma explained, "Well, I like to be prepared."
"So you should be!" Aunt Mary agreed.
After tea, the girls cleared up the dishes and took their bags upstairs to their bedrooms. Each girl chose a bedroom that she liked best, and they spent some time unpacking.
Afterward, the girls came downstairs and asked Aunt Mary how they could help her.
"Thank you for your kind offer. I hired someone to clean the house, but they didn't do a very thorough job. If you girls would wash the kitchen floor and clean the downstairs floors that would be a big help."
"Of course! I know where the mops and brooms are," Kacey said, and led her friends to the tall cupboards in the room next to the kitchen. Soon they were sweeping and washing the floors. By the time they finished, it was time for lunch. Emma offered to make lunch, and the girls asked Aunt Mary if she would like to eat lunch out on the front porch.
"Let's do that! It's a beautiful fall day, and there won't be too many more like today before winter comes!"
Soon they were all seated on the spacious front porch. The girls brought out some small tables for their drinks. While enjoying salads and fruit, the girls asked Aunt Emma about the town.
"I'm afraid you'll find this small town is not what it used to be," she said to Kacey, "Many of the shops and restaurants have gone out of business. They all relied so much on the castle to bring tourists to town, that when it was taken over, no one came here anymore."
Emma and Ava looked at each other, and asked, "A castle?"
"What do you mean by 'taken over'?" Kacey asked.
"Well, it happened almost two years ago. Your great-great-great grandfather, William Carlson, built that castle on the island over 150 years ago. It was passed down through the family to my husband, Charles. Charles had some repairs done on it, and decided that he would give the castle to the town so they could enjoy it. The mayor suggested that it could be turned into a museum. Since fishing was no longer a very profitable industry here, he thought that tourists might come to see the castle. And boy, did they come! We had people from all over the world come to see the castle. It's one of the few real castles in the United States. It was built to look like a real medieval castle, with a portcullis. Everyone loved it! And the people of the town grew rich from operating tourist businesses, like charter boats, inns and restaurants, gift shops, and even ice cream shops. It was wonderful! Charles and I were so happy that the people of the town could benefit from our donation. Business in town was booming!
"But after Charles died two years ago, a man came here and said he had the deed to the castle that gave him ownership of it. He said he had inherited the deed from his father. I tried to stop him in court, but since I couldn't find our deed and the will from Charles' father, the man's deed gave him the right to ownership. The judge had no choice but to hand the castle over to him. The castle was closed to the public. No more tours, no more tourists. This town has really suffered because of this."
"Who was the man who did this?" Kacey asked.
"His name is Garth Blake Simms, and he is your distant cousin!"
"My cousin? I've never heard of him before!" Kacey declared.
"I tried to find my deed to prove that his was false, but couldn't find it. I hired the best lawyers I could find to try to prove that the deed was a fake, but there was nothing anyone could do," Aunt Mary said, shaking her head sadly.
Emma was frustrated. "Why won't he let the tourists in like they used to?"
Aunt Mary shook her head, "No. He wants it all to himself. He lives there like a hermit. He rarely leaves. I've only seen him once since then, and he gave me a very dark look. He makes me uncomfortable. I hate to admit it, but I really don't like him at all."
"Well, that's understandable," Ava replied.
"Isn't there some way to get the castle back?" asked Kacey.
"Well, I've been searching this house for the will and the deed that would prove that the deed Garth has is false. I'm sure that if I could find it, I could get the castle away from him, but I've searched everywhere. I don't know where it is. The castle was especially popular around Halloween. They say the castle is haunted, you know. Some tourists even swear that they saw ghosts lurking in the hallways at night."
"A haunted castle? Oh great," Emma moaned, and turned to her friends, asking, "Why do you two always bring me somewhere where there is something creepy going on?"
Kacey shook her head, "It's not haunted; I'm sure."
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure if I were you," Aunt Mary cautioned, "Because I have been in the castle, and I have seen a real ghost with my own eyes!"
