Ghost House

by Carol Colbert

  “No, this is more important.” Sarah then detailed how she found Cooper on the stairs to the upstairs bedroom behind the shut door and how she probably got to him just in time. Jim became angry and said that he told the girls they had to be responsible for the dog if they got one. He said he would have a stern talk with them. “But why would they even open that door and wouldn’t they notice that Cooper was behind the door before they shut it?” Sarah asked.

  “Apparently not. What else could it have been? I doubt Cooper opened that door by himself, or if he did it would have stayed open at least wide enough for him to exit back out of there.”

  “He seems to have recovered nicely, I have been keeping an eye on him since then. It’s amazing how attached you become to pets in such a short time. Oh – another thing, I met a guy named Alex.”

  “You are leaving me for a guy named Alex?” Jim teased. Sarah told him about her encounter with the much tattooed teenager. She mentioned what he had said about the new siding, but left off the part where their teenage daughter appeared smitten with the boy.

  “Hey, good deal, as long as he does a good job. This is a lot of grass in front and in the back. Does he have his own mower, or should I put that on the list of things to get today?” Jim asked. “I see how seriously you take the list, Jim that has been on your list of things to do since we got here.”

  “I can get a lawn mower, but where would we store it? We have to get a key for that garage out there. Come to think of it, it’s been a few weeks since we got here and yet the grass looks just fine, I wonder why?”

  “Why? It’s because that Mr. Witters has been cutting it.” Sarah explained.

  “I think it is about time that we paid the management company a visit.” Jim said and his wife agreed.

  Sunday morning the family was enjoying a late breakfast when Cooper started to bark and ran to the side door. A knock on the door followed. “You must be Alex” Jim said, answering the door. Riley jumped up and ran into her bedroom to get out of her pajamas and Suzanne was trying to see around her father’s legs.

  “Yes, sir. I was wondering if your wife had spoken to you about the grass yet.” Alex said, smiling down at Suzanne and Cooper. Jim invited the young man in and they struck a deal for keeping the grass cut. Riley walked into the room “Oh, hi, Alex, I didn’t know you were here.” “Hey, Riley.”

  Jim, wanting to convey the message to this young man that his older daughter was only thirteen, said “Riley, your birthday is coming up, fourteen. Now that the grass will be cut, maybe we can plan to bar-b-que.”

  Riley looked at Alex. “You will come, won’t you, Alex?” “Yeah, sure, when is it?” “In a couple of weeks.” Riley smiled.

  Sarah glanced at her husband, but he wisely chose not to make eye contact with his wife just then.

  “We are going bowling today.” Suzanne said, smiling up at Alex. “Can you come with us?” “Oh, well, thank you for the offer, but I can’t. I’ll be back Saturday to cut the grass though.”

  “The girls will make sure they use the pooper scooper Friday to clean up the yard before you cut it.” Sarah said. Riley looked embarrassed. “Pooper scooper, pooper scooper.” Suzanne laughed at the words which were new to her. “You think it’s so funny, Suzanne, you can do it all by yourself.” Riley told her younger sister.

  The Gaunter family went bowling. Julia was there and she and Riley laughed and whispered. Suzanne threw one child’s bowling ball down the lane and then decided that was enough for her and sat cross legged on the chair playing with Mr. Pickles.

  “I like that Riley has a friend here, she seems like a nice kid.” Jim said, then repeated himself when he noticed that Sarah didn’t seem to hear him. “Yes, me too. I am concerned about Cooper. I can’t help but worry that he might find himself on those stairs again.”

  “You checked twice before we left, the door was shut. I like the neighborhood, but I am thinking when the lease runs out we should think about moving to a different house.” Jim said. “One with air conditioning, a full garage and more space.”

  “I would like to stay in the same vicinity though. It would be a shame to pull the girls out of their new school after being there one semester and then having to make new friends in another.” Sarah said. “I like the neighborhood where Julia’s family lives, but we have to make sure first that your job will continue here and we not be transferred again.” “Looks pretty stable, I like being back here.” Jim said.

  Sarah was relieved when they returned home to find all was as they left it. Julia had come home with them and all three girls and Cooper ran outside to play while Sarah fixed lunch. She heard the sound of a basketball being bounced on the cement and when it didn’t stop she looked out the kitchen window. Alex was standing by the fence talking to the girls and drippling a basketball. Look at those faces, all three girls have a crush on that guy. Maybe I should have told Jim that he should cut the grass himself.

  “What is so interesting out there?” Jim asked, walking into the kitchen. “Alex is out there talking to the girls.” “He seems like a nice enough guy.” Jim said. “He has to be at least seventeen years old!” Sarah pointed out. “And your point would be..?” Jim teased her. “My point is that I am not sure I like Riley having a crush on someone that much older than she is.”

  “They are kids, and I don’t know about Alex, but when I was seventeen, I wouldn’t be caught dead around a thirteen year old.” Jim smiled. “You just said it, you don’t know about Alex, neither do I.” Sarah tried to reason with her husband. “Sarah, just keep an eye out, Riley is a good kid and a smart one. Besides, we have our own little spy and a guard dog.” “Suzanne does make a good spy, but Cooper has a lot of growing to do before he could even guard himself.”

  “What are we going to do about Riley’s birthday?” Jim asked Sarah, who was still nervously looking out the kitchen window.

  “Probably a bar-b-q, but she does not really know any other kids around here, just Julia. She invited Alex already. Maybe we should take the girls and Julia to Frankenmuth or maybe go down to Sandusky, Ohio to Cedar Point, although I don’t know if I feel up to being in an amusement park with three girls all day and the long drive. Then too, we have Cooper now. I really don’t want to leave him home alone.”

  “Well, we can ask Riley and see what she has in mind. It’s a shame we don’t have a pool here. No need to go anywhere when we had a pool right in our own back yard.”

  Sarah heard the sound of the basketball being bounced again and all three girls ran in the back door, looking for popsicles.

  “Riley, your dad and I were just discussing your birthday, what do you want to do on your special day?”

  “Can we go back to Tennessee so I can see Brianna?” “No, honey, that won’t be possible.” “Can she come here then?” “Not a good time, Riley, we don’t even have enough sleeping space and there is no central air conditioning here.”

  “Well then why did you ask me if you’re just going to shoot down everything I say anyway?” Riley demanded.

  “We were thinking of a cook out in the backyard, Julia, you can come.” “Thank you, Mrs. Gaunter.” Julia said, but Riley just said “Whatever! I already asked Alex and he is coming.”

  Julia spent the night and she and Riley talked and played their music almost the entire night. They didn’t have it on loud, but in a house that small, sound travels and you could hear the music through the vents. Twice Sarah thought about getting up to tell the girls to keep the noise down and Jim actually did get up once, but Sarah coached him back into bed, telling him it was nice that Riley had a friend and that Julia’s parents must have the same sleepless nights when Riley stayed with them.

  Sarah took Julia home the next morning and she and the girls went to the management company to talk to them about Mr. Witters. Sarah was frustrated when she walked into their office. She did not like to complain, but Joe Witters had pushed her to her limits.

  As soon as Sarah gave her name and the house addre
ss to the receptionist, the lady said “I understand.” And handed Sarah a form to fill out that had in big bold letters across the top NOTICE TO QUIT.

  “Oh, I’m afraid there has been a mistake. I would like to speak to someone about the property we are renting at the address I gave you, but we are not planning to leave, at least not until our lease is up.” Sarah explained. The receptionist looked surprised and then told her someone would be with her in a moment.

  Sarah was preparing dinner when she heard a knock on the screen door. Cooper came running out of the bedroom, barking at the person at the side door. Sarah looked. Oh no, not Mr. Witters again!

  Sarah went to the door, sliding the lock into place before saying “Mr. Witters, why are you here?”

  “Stalking you, huh? You told them that I was stalking you?”

  “I did not say that, not exactly.”

  “This is MY house!”

  “And we are paying you quite well for our family to rent it. Especially since it has no central air and one of the bedrooms can’t be used in the summer because of it. Look, Mr. Witters, all we ask is that you stop coming around here, cutting the grass and doing other yard work.” Sarah tried to calmly explain.

  “Most people would appreciate that!” Mr. Witters glared at her.

  “We are renting the house, the yard, and the garage. As it is, we are hesitant to let our dog out because we never know when you are out there and by the way, Mr. Witters, either give us a key or remote to that garage, or we will get that one cut off and put our own on.”

  “That will never happen.”

  “Fine, then we will take $30.00 off of the rent check each month and you can keep the garage to yourself, but as long as we are renting this space from you, we do not want to see you around here. If you need to do any major repairs or whatever, please go through the management company. That is what you are paying them for anyway, isn’t it? Now, Mr. Witters, my dinner is on the stove, so, good-bye.” Sarah shut the door on him.

  She felt a little bit shaken, but she was not sorry that she took that tone with him. The nerve of the man! When she looked outside a good five minutes later, there he was, watering the flowers. She decided to have Jim bring in the hose after dinner.

  By the time Jim came home from work, Sarah had already worked herself up into quite a state.

  “Hey, honey.” Jim said, knocking on the back door. “The door is locked.” Sarah came to the door and opened it for him. “Get used to it! War has just been declared!”

  Jim looked at his wife and tried to lighten her mood. He half turned while saying “Uh Huh, O.K. then, I guess maybe I should go back to the office until things cool down here.”

  “Bring in that damn hose before you do!” Sarah said, turning back and walking into their kitchen.

  Chapter 8

  That evening Suzanne was playing school with Freddie and Mr. Pickles. She told them how they had to raise their hand if they wanted to say something and gave them other instructions that her mother had told her to expect when she went to school in September. “Don’t miss me when I go to school, Freddie, because I will come right home when it’s over. “ Riley was playing a game on the computer. Jim was watching the Tiger game on TV while Sarah read. Cooper was laying on the floor next to Suzanne looking at her like he understood every word she was saying.

  Cooper walked over to the basement door and started to growl. A slow growl at first, but then he ran to Jim and jumped up onto his lap, then ran back to the top of the basement stairs and started barking. “What is it Cooper?” Jim said.

  They heard the sound of glass breaking. “What was that?” Riley shouted.

  Sarah called 911 while Jim checked the bedroom windows and back door. Jim went downstairs to the basement. “Sarah, turn on the kitchen light, this light won’t come on down here.” Sarah turned on the light and then put her arms protectively around Suzanne and Riley.

  “A window in the basement is broken.” Jim said, coming up the stairs a few minutes later. Just then the police officers knocked on the back door. Suzanne let out a screech and hugged her mother tightly. Jim let them in and together they went downstairs, then one officer went to check the outside.

  After a few minutes of questioning who was downstairs and when, the officers looked at each other. “What is it?” Sarah asked.

  “The window downstairs is broken, but the glass from the broken window is only on the outside.”

  “How is that possible?” Jim asked. “It appears that the window was broken from the inside of the basement, not the outside. We didn’t see anything that could have been used to break the window from either side, no rocks or anything laying around. But there is definitely no glass laying in the basement, no glass on the window ceil either. There would be if someone had, say, shot a slingshot at it or smashed it with a rock.”

  “So what are you saying, officer?” Sarah asked.

  “Are you positive that window was not broken sometime earlier? Could it have been something else that you heard tonight?” The second officer asked.

  “No, we all heard it, our dog started to growl and bark, then we heard the glass breaking. My wife called you and I checked the doors and windows up here and then I went downstairs.”

  “Dog might have been barking at another dog, or a squirrel.”

  “He was not looking out the window, he was laying on the floor next to our daughter.”

  The police officers said that they would keep an eye out on the house and that they should pick up the glass from outside before letting the dog out again. Jim told Riley that she was going to sleep upstairs tonight. “No problem, dad.” Riley said, still afraid.

  Sarah and Jim looked up the number for a replacement window to be put in. “So, do we tell Mr. Witters, or what, exactly?” Sarah asked her husband. “I am sure he has home owners insurance, but to be honest with you, I’d just rather pay to get the new window in myself. I don’t want to give that nutcase any reason to cause us more grief.” Jim left a message on the machine and was surprised when the window replacement company called back so soon afterwards.

  An hour and a half later, Jim looked around the basement again while the window was being installed. It just does not make sense. The light is working again too now.

  “All set, Mr. Gaunter. You know, we could replace all of these basement windows with glass blocks. They are thicker and not easy to break or look through.” The installer suggested.

  “This will be fine, thank you for coming out so quickly.”

  “I checked the messages before I locked up. I usually check it every hour because of the nature of the business. Windows need to be replaced right away. We do car windows and larger orders like living room replacement windows as well. I could be wrong, but I believe our company replaced your dining room window a year or so back. We have better prices and faster service than the larger companies. We are lucky I got the message so soon after you called. It’s supposed to storm tonight.”

  Sarah looked outside the front window. The trees were swaying and the street looked deserted. Only three long blocks down to the right was the shopping mall, all lit up and busy, but none of that light or activity extended down to their house. There were two trees on the city strip in front of the house. One blocked out the light from the lamppost on the opposite corner from their house. Sarah thought she saw something in one of the trees for just a moment, but then it went away. My nerves are getting the best of me tonight.

  “It is a good night to turn in early.” Jim said, turning off the television. For once, neither daughter put up a fuss. “Take your showers and let’s call it a night.”

  Sarah woke up in a cold sweat. She wasn’t sure what woke her, but she felt very uneasy. She then heard the sound of the basketball being bounced again against the cement. She sat up in bed and there on the blanket close to her she saw a horrible skeleton like face. The lightening flash that came in from the top of the bedroom window illuminated it and it seemed to glow a ghostly white color. S
arah kicked it as she began screaming.

  Chapter 9

  “You know, you could have given me a heart attack screaming like that when I was sound asleep.” Jim complained the next morning, pouring himself another cup of coffee.

  “You? How do you think I felt, waking up and seeing that thing on the bed?” Sarah pointed out, defending herself.

  “Why were you afraid of Mr. Pickles, mom? I wanted him to protect you because you were talking in your sleep when I got up to go to the bathroom.” Suzanne said. “Riley and I had Cooper and Freddie in our room, but you just had Daddy.”

  Jim’s eyebrow raised at that statement.

  “I couldn’t help it. It was so dark in the room that the lightening made the white plastic on Mr. Pickle’s face look evil. Like it was glowing or something.” Sarah said. “I’m sorry I woke all of you up. I must have had the basement window on my mind when I fell asleep. I did hear a noise like someone was bouncing a ball against the house or cement when I first woke up.” She added.

  “It was the thunder. You girls have a good day.” Jim said, giving each a kiss on the cheek before leaving for work.

  Sarah and the girls decided to go to an early movie. They stopped in at the drugstore down the street to load up on goodies to take with them. Sarah liked coming here, the saleslady was always so nice to her. In fact, she had been the only one so far, besides Julia’s mother Victoria, who was friendly towards her.

  “Good morning, Dawn.” Sarah greeted her at the check-out. “Good morning.” Dawn smiled at them. “Did you find everything that you were looking for today?” “Yes, thank you.” Sarah smiled back. She noticed one of the other sales girl looking at them oddly. It wasn’t the first time that they had gotten these strange looks. Sarah didn’t know why and it never bothered her before, but she had yet to regain her pre-horror night good nature. She looked at the young girl and said “Excuse me, do I know you?” The young girl turned and mumbled something that sounded like “I don’t think so.” As she walked away.