by Stuart
Kit made another stop before going back home – the Green Meadows Retirement Center. Some of the old-timers living there still had their faculties about them, even if they were too frail to live alone anymore. She remembered something Dane had told her on the night he disappeared. Old Man Weatherby told Dane about the Coulbournes. She knew he resided here in the center. Hopefully his long-term memory would still hold. She walked through the main room of the center, offering a polite smile to the seniors congregated there. Some were engrossed in a black and white movie on the large television, some were playing games. A few were asleep in their wheelchairs. She walked to the desk and inquired about Mr. Weatherby. “He doesn’t come out of his room much,” the nurse at the desk said. “I’ll go ask him if he feels up to having company. What is your name? Are you family?” “My name is Kit Eisley. I am not family. I have some questions about things that happened long ago that he may have knowledge of, if he would be willing to share it.” “I will ask him,” the nurse nodded as she walked around the corner. Kit waited patiently. The woman returned a few minutes later. “You either caught him on a good day or you raised his curiosity. He will see you. Around the corner, room 21. He’s by the window.” “Thank you,” Kit smiled and followed the nurse’s directions. She found room 21 and knocked at the door. “Mr. Weatherby? May I come in, please?” “Come in,” the man hoarsely reply. Kit approached him. “My name is—” “Kit Eisley,” he finished the sentence. “Verna told me. I know why you’re here.” “Do you?” “Been waiting for you a lot of years, Missy.” The man’s gaze never turned from the window. “May I sit here with you?” He shrugged and nodded. Kit pulled a chair up close to his. “You know what I am going to ask.” “You want to know about Coulbournes.” “Yes, I do.” Kit was amazed. It was as if the old man could read her mind.
He pulled on one wheel of his wheelchair, rotating to face her. “You shouldn’t have messed with him.” “I know that. I tried to talk Dane out of it.” “You should’ve tried harder, Missy.” “I know.” Kit looked down, ashamed. “Silas Coulbourne was the meanest, orneriest son-of-a-bitch ever. We all hated him.” “You knew Silas?” “I knew his son. We went to the same school, but he was a few years younger than me. His son Johnathan always had bruises, welts. His old man beat that boy, but back in them days there was no such thing as child services or whatever they call it. If your parent beat you, then you probably deserved it and that was that. Johnny didn’t deserve it though. He never hurt a fly.” “What about his daughter?” Kit hedged, wondering how the old man would take that information. “How did you know about that? Weren’t nobody supposed to tell anything about that.” The old man looked genuinely surprised. “I found a mention in one of the old newspaper articles. It did not give her name. It only said she was taken in by relatives, but there was no information beyond that.” “Well, she’s dead now, rest her soul, so I suppose I can tell you about her.” “I would appreciate any information you could give me on the Coulbourne family.” “Silas was a mean one, like I said. He had a temper worse than a hornet caught in a pickle jar. He came from old money. He never worked a day in his life. He fancied himself better than the rest of us folk because he could afford to build that big house, making it look like some castle. He’d have called himself a king if he could’ve got away with it.” “What about Mrs. Coulbourne? Why did she stay with him?” “Wasn’t so easy for a woman to make it on her own back then, especially with kids in tow. I think she stayed because she liked having a lot of money or else she was too afraid of what he would do if she tried to leave. Some people said that she finally had enough and was trying to leave him when he killed her and Johnny.” “What happened to their daughter? Did he ever say why he spared her?”
“Nope. All through the trial, he never said a word about the girl. After he was convicted, the girl was adopted by her aunt and uncle, Silas’ sister and brother-in-law. The official adoption records were sealed because of the girl’s age but they still lived in town so all of us kids knew her. We were all told that she got a new name and nobody was to ever call her by her old name again.” “What was her new name?” Kit jotted some more in her notebook. “Her aunt and uncle named her Florence, but she liked to be called Flossie, Flossie May Grissinger.” Kit dropped her pen. “Grissinger?” “Yep, Grissinger. Her great-grandson is that boy you were fooling around with in the cemetery.” “Well, sir, we were only 13. We weren’t ‘fooling around’ per se.” She leaned over and picked up her pen, feeling compelled to defend her and Dane’s virtue. “You know what I mean, Missy. You and him shouldn’t have been in there. I didn’t mean you was doing something improper.” The old man coughed a few times. “Flossie was scandalized, too, when she got herself in a family way without being married.” He coughed some more. Kit took his cup of water off of his table and offered it to him. He grasped it and took a few swallows before handing it back to her. “Thanks.” He cleared his throat. “You’re welcome. So Dane is descended from the Coulbournes. That is interesting.” “Too bad her daughter-in-law is too far gone in the head. She could probably tell you more.” “She’s still alive?” “She lives in here.” “What is her name?” “Mary, Mary Grissinger.” “Thank you for all of this information, Mr. Weatherby. Is there anything else you can think of about the Coulbournes or their manor?” “Only that you ought to take all these questions of yours and notes you’re writing and throw them all away. You messed with this once before and you got burned. Why are you meddling into things again, Missy?”
Kit paused a long moment, wondering if she should tell the old man. “You’ll probably think I am crazy, but I think Dane’s been haunting me, Sir. I have seen a ghost at night and it looks like Dane, only older. I asked if it was him and he nodded but he disappeared before I could ask anything more. I am trying to find a way to put his spirit at rest. I couldn’t save him before.” Kit sobbed, tears welling in her eyes. “Maybe I can somehow atone, even just a little bit, by helping him rest in peace.” “I don’t think you’re crazy, girl. I remember those stories after the boy disappeared. You said a ghost took him and nobody believed you. I did. No Coulbourne has ever rested in peace. I admire what you’re trying to do for the boy, but you’re only going to give yourself heartache. It’s best that you just quit now.” “I thank you for your advice, Sir, but I am afraid I cannot take it. I have to try.” “Ayup, I expect you would.” “Thank you for talking with me, Mr. Weatherby.” “You’re welcome.” Kit stood and left the room, her emotions jumbled inside her. Dane was a Coulbourne? Was that why he wanted to do the séance? She stopped at the desk again and asked if she could speak with Mary Grissinger. The nurse smiled and pointed to the petite woman in the wheelchair across the hall from the desk. Kit walked over to her and smiled. “Hello, Mrs. Grissinger. My name is Kit. I knew your grandson.” “My grandson visited me last night!” The elderly woman beamed. Kit’s smile did not wane though it no longer met her eyes. “He did?” “Oh, yes. He hasn’t been here in years and now he’s back.” The nurse walked over. “Mary, are you feeling alright? You look a bit tired.” “Yes, I’m tired. I want to rest to see my grandson again tonight.” “I think that conversation will upset her. I’m sorry,” the nurse whispered to Kit. “Oh, I’m sorry, I should have thought of that,” Kit whispered. She then turned her attention back to Mary. “Have a good night, Mrs. Grissinger.” “Bye-bye!” the old lady waved as the nurse wheeled her back toward her room. Kit wondered if the old woman really was as senile as everyone thought.
Chapter Six Kit went over all the information she gleaned from the variety of sources. There was definitely more to this story than she ever would’ve guessed. She drove back to the Grissinger home and knocked on the door. Sheila Grissinger answered. “Kit, how are you today?” “Confused, Mrs. Grissinger. May I come in? I have something I really need to ask you.” “Sure.” The woman stepped back, allowing Kit to enter. “Would you like some tea or coffee?” “Tea would be great, please.” Kit looked around the room. “Is Mr. Grissinger home?”
“He’s in his workshed out back. He won’t bother us.” Together, the women walked into the dining room. Kit sat down and Sheila joined her a few minutes later with glasses of tea. “What is it you wanted to ask?” “I’ve been doing some more research about the Coulbourne manor.” “Kit, are you sure you want to do this?” “I have to. I have to find out what happened to Dane. I know nobody believes me and I’m going to prove I’m not crazy.” “You’re obsessed. That’s not good either.” “It takes a bit of obsession to get to the truth sometimes. I found out something interesting that hadn’t been in the papers before. Silas Coulbourne killed his wife and son.” “Yes, there have been rumors in town of that for decades.” “It is a fact. There are newspaper articles corroborating it and I also spoke to someone old enough to remember it.” “Are you sure their memory was intact? If they were old enough to have lived then…” “Yes, he’s old and frail but not senile. I learned one other thing through the newspapers and more through this person. The Coulbournes had a daughter. After Silas was convicted of murdering his wife and son, the daughter was adopted by her aunt and uncle.” “Nothing was ever said about that.” “No, apparently the records were sealed, but the man I spoke to remembered the girl. He told me her family changed her name after she was adopted. Her new name—” Kit stopped suddenly, wondering if this was a bad idea after all.
“Go on,” Sheila urged. “Her new name was Florence Grissinger, but they called her Flossie.” Sheila’s jaw dropped agape. “Grandma Flossie? No, she never said anything about being related to the Coulbournes. This is the first I’ve heard of it.” “Please ask Mr. Grissinger about it. Please?” Kit pleaded. Sheila’s troubled expression spoke volumes. She nodded and got up, walking out the back door. Kit waited. Soon both Mr. and Mrs. Grissinger returned. Mr. Grissinger leveled a harsh glare a Kit for several long minutes. “So you couldn’t leave well enough alone.” “Sir, I have to find out what happened to Dane. I won’t stop until I do.” Frank Grissinger sighed. “Sheila, sit down. You need to hear this too.” “I need to hear what?” “There’s more here than what I’ve told you.” “What do you mean, Frank?” Sheila’s lip quivered. Kit’s stomach lurched. It was all she could do to keep herself calm. What did Mr. Grissinger know about his son’s disappearance that he never told anybody? “Kit’s right,” he started. “Grandma Flossie was a Coulbourne.” Sheila gasped at her husband’s admission. Kit just listened in rapt attention. “She was adopted by her father’s sister and brother-in-law and they did the best they could raise her without the stigma of being the daughter of a murderer.” “That’s understandable,” Kit whispered. “Silas Coulbourne was forced to murder his family. He was cursed.” “Cursed?” Kit’s eyes widened. “The story in the family goes that an evil hex was put upon Silas and it drove him mad enough to kill his wife and boy. The wife, well she was just as much of a greedy pig as he was. The boy was an innocent. He was the one Silas killed first and it was that way just to spite Silas.” “How do you know this?” “All of us kids are told this story when we’re old enough. I thought I could avoid having to burden Dane with it, but I was wrong. I should have told him. Then he wouldn’t have gone to that cemetery. It’s all my fault.” “How so?” Kit gently urged.
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“The manor is cursed. Any firstborn Coulbourne son who steps foot on the manor grounds is cursed. I am a second son. Dane was a firstborn. He was doomed by going there. I tried all his life to keep him away from there. I forbid him from going there, but I never told him why. He disobeyed me and the curse took him, too. The curse took him.” “Are you serious, Frank?” His wife looked incredulous. “I’ve never been more serious in my life. That night the sheriff told us where Dane had been and that he’d gone missing, I knew we’d lost our boy for good. I’m sorry Sheila. I should’ve told him the truth so he never would’ve gone there.” Kit’s eyes filled with tears. Dane was cursed. “So do you believe me that a ghost took him?” “Yes, Kit, I do. I have always believed you. I have no doubt in my mind that Silas Coulbourne haunts his manor and will exact the curse upon any firstborn Coulbourne descendent son who steps foot on his property.” “So you kept quiet all these years while the entire town thought I was a lunatic. You never once stood up for me.” Kit’s tone intensified. “Maybe someday I’ll bring myself to ask your forgiveness for that, but right now I know I do not deserve it. I am sorry, Kit. I am sorry for all you’ve been through. I know you were a good friend to Dane and I appreciate that. I always appreciated that. I guess I just got so wrapped up in my own grief that I couldn’t deal with anything else.” “Dane has been visiting me. I’m sure it was him. I asked the ghost if it was Dane and he nodded yes. He looks like Dane, only grown up. I didn’t realize ghosts could age. I am trying to find a way to put his spirit at rest, Mr. Grissinger. Is there any way you can think of to do that?” “Nobody knows where the curse came from or why Silas was cursed. I don’t know how to break it and release my son.” The man’s voice finally broke. “I couldn’t save my boy once and I still can’t. What sort of man am I?”
Chapter Seven Halloween was rapidly approaching. Kit’s disdain for the holiday was swept aside by her fervor to help Dane. Dane had come to her again, but so far had not spoken. His visits were brief, but more frequent. Kit settled into bed, wondering if he would be there again tonight. She wondered why he only came at night. Maybe it was easier for him to travel then. Her lids were nearly closed when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She sat up, blinking. Dane was back. “Dane,” she smiled. “You’re back.” The spirit nodded. “Can you speak?” Dane tried moving his lips but no sound came out. He frowned in frustration and tried again. “It’s hard.” “I understand.” Kit stared at him for another long moment. How she wished he was corporeal. She’d love to hug him, kiss his cheek. “I missed you so much.” “I missed you, too.” He paused. “It’s not so hard now.” “What happened to you? Did Silas Coulbourne take you?” “Yes. It is a curse. He had to take me.” “I’m sorry, Dane. I didn’t know anything about that.” “I’m sorry, too, Kit. I didn’t know there was a curse on the cemetery.” “It’s not just the cemetery, Dane. The curse is on your family. Your father knew about it, but he didn’t tell you. He didn’t think you would disobey him and go to the Coulbourne Castle after he told you not to. Dane, your great-grandmother was Silas Coulbourne’s daughter. The curse affects any firstborn son in your family line.” “I’m sorry, Kit. I didn’t know.” “I know that now. Your father told me as much.” “I have missed you so much, Kit. It’s lonely over here.” “It’s been lonely all these years without you. People think I’m a weirdo because I said a ghost took you. Nobody ever found your body. Where did Silas put your body?”
“I don’t know.” He patted his sides. “I still feel it.” “You look like a ghost to me. You look like I could pass my hand right through you.” “I wish you could touch me, feel me, Kit. I love you. I know you didn’t believe me when I told you, but I did then and I still do now. I have always loved you.” “I know, Dane. It took me a long time to realize, but I know. I love you, too. I know what we had was more than just a teenage crush. We were too young to realize it then.” “I think about you every day. Only now am I strong enough to come visit you.” “Not a day has passed that I haven’t thought of you. Your spirit is restless. I hate to lose all contact with you, Dane, but it kills me inside to know you’re not at peace. What do I need to do to help put your spirit at peace?” “Coulbourne blocks me from crossing over. You must find a way to banish him. Until that happens, I’m stuck here in between worlds.” “I’m trying, Dane. I’ll find a way, no matter what.” “I—” Dane suddenly disappeared. Kit lay back down, hugging her pillows close. Coulbourne took Dane. Coulbourne kept him captive. She had to find a way to banish an evil spirit. How in the world could she do that? The next day Kit resumed her mission. She blew off work once again, but there was little to do this time of year anyway. She drove to the south end of town. There was only on
e person she could think of who might be able to help her. It was a risk to ask, though. She pulled up in front of the ramshackle hovel, wrinkling her nose at the sight. She got out of her car and approached the door. A decrepit sign hung askew from a rusted brace. Fortunes Read. Kit knocked lightly on the door. A few moments passed before the door opened slowly with a loud creak. “Yes?” “Hello, Ma’am. My name is Kit Eisley. I have come to ask you some questions, if I may?” The old woman eyed Kit speculatively. “Come in.” She stepped back, allowing Kit to enter. Kit stepped inside and looked around. The smell in the place was a mixture of mustiness and herbs. Kit wasn’t exactly sure which one was more pervasive.
“Sit,” the woman gestured toward a velvet-cushioned Queen Anne style chair. A soft poof of dust from the threadbare seat clouded up as Kit sat down. “Most come here to know their future but you seek something else. You want the past.” “Yes, how did you know?” “I see many things, young lady. Do you know who I am?” “You are Fermina Viteaux, correct?” “That is my name, but who I am is a seer. I have the sight. You came today because you want this.” “Yes, I do.” Kit maintained a sense of calm aloofness. Fermina Viteaux was infamous in the town. Most people called her the “creepy old witch lady.” Few had anything to do with her. What business she did in fortune telling was for tourists and passersby. The townspeople mainly ignored the eccentric old woman. Until today. “I need you to look at something for me and tell me how to remove a curse from it, please.” “A curse? Now that is a deal all unto itself. What do you need a curse removed from? I see no cursed objects on you.” “It is not on me. It is a place. I need a curse lifted from the Coulbourne Castle.” Fermina exhaled a raspy breath. “The manor is cursed? I knew about the man killing his family, but not about the curse.” “Yes. I don’t know why Silas Coulbourne was cursed or who cursed him, but he was. That is why he killed his wife and son. I need that curse lifted.” “Why is it important to you?” “Do I have your word that this conversation will be kept between you and me?” “Nobody talks to me, young lady. You have my word.” “Silas Coulbourne had a daughter. She was adopted by her aunt and uncle and raised with their name. The curse affects the family line. Any firstborn son who steps foot on the property is taken and kept in limbo. That’s what happened ten years ago when Dane Grissinger and I went into the cemetery to do a séance on Halloween. That’s what happened to Dane. Silas took him. Dane’s spirit visits me now. He’s not at peace. Help me find a way to banish Silas and put Dane’s spirit at rest, please.” Kit began to sob despite her best effort not to. “I couldn’t save him back then. I need help to save what’s left of him now.”
