The House on Rectory Lane

by Stuart James

  Jake suddenly jumped up.

  ‘Can you hear that?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Shhhhhhhhh. Listen.’

  ‘To what exactly?’

  Jake moved out to the hall calling back to Kate, ‘You can’t hear that?’

  ‘I can’t hear anything.’ She joined him in the hallway.

  ‘There’s a clanging noise, like something shuffling about. I’ve heard it a few times now.’ He went over to the corner and placed his ear to the floor of the hall.

  ‘Jake, don’t be silly. It’s probably mice or something. Heating pipes maybe. It’s an old

  house; we need to get used to noises like this.’

  He looked at Kate. ‘It sounds like someone is under the house.’

  ‘Jake. Really. Come on. Under the house. Are you for real?’

  They moved back to the living room.

  ‘I think we just need a night out,’ he replied. ‘The stress is getting to me, babe.’ ‘And how will we manage that?’

  ‘Pete gave me a number. His kids are older now, but they had a regular sitter for years. She

  still lives close by. We’ll call her. No time like the present. Let’s make a night of it. Just you and me.’ Jake fished out the number and dialled. The girl on the other end of the line was very pleasant. She told him the price per hour; they would pay for her cab to and from and she also had the luxury of an open fridge. Jake could live with that. He booked her for Friday night and gave her the address.

  ‘Sorted. Job done.’ They spent the rest of the evening chatting. Mainly discussing what they wanted from Ramsbury. Sean. His new school had great reviews and the latest Ofsted report was outstanding. They hoped it lived up to its reputation.

  ∞∞∞∞ A little before ten the place went completely black and they were swallowed into the darkness. Kate was too frightened to move. Ever since she was a child, she hated the dark. Always had to sleep with the side light on.

  ‘Jake, quick. Do something.’

  ‘All right. Hold your horses.’ He rose from the floor and felt his way into the hall. ‘I know the main consumer unit is here somewhere. My phones dead. Shine some light out

  here will ya, hun.’

  Kate had her phone resting on her lap. A few seconds later, Jake’s face lit up. ‘Lovely. Right. Let’s see what’s going on.’ He reached up to the main board and found the

  switches all in the on position. ‘That’s weird.’

  ‘What?’ Kate called out.

  ‘The switches. They’re all up, as in, on.’ He made his way to the front door, as he stepped

  out he looked to see if any of the houses in the distance were lit. They were. All of them. ‘Kate. Can you look up the number for the electricity supplier? Try and find the emergency

  number.’

  A couple of minutes later she called it out. Jake returned, found the number on Kate’s phone

  and dialled it. ‘For bill inquiries, press one. Payment inquiries, press two.’

  ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake.’

  ‘If you are having trouble with your broadband press three. If you have an emergency—. ’ Jake hit four without waiting. Music blared out while he waited. Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’. A few minutes later came the dull tone of the operator.

  ‘Sally speaking, what’s your emergency?’

  ‘Hi, yes. We have a power cut.’

  ‘OK, bear with me. Can you give me your address please, sir?’

  Jake read it out.

  ‘Thank you. I won’t be a moment.’

  After another couple of minutes of Elton, she came back on the line.

  ‘OK, sir. According to our records, nothing has been reported. Have you flicked up the trip

  switch?’

  Light. Jake saw his wife’s face.

  ‘No, it’s fine. It’s back on. Sorry to have troubled you.’

  ‘That’s quite all right, sir. Is there anyth—?’

  Clunk.

  ‘Wait. It’s gone off again.’

  ‘That’s peculiar.’

  Jake was losing his patience.

  ‘Why is this happening?’

  ‘As I’ve said, sir, there hasn’t been any reports of a power failure in your area.’ ‘Well, can you explain why this is happening?’

  She looked at the records on a brightly lit screen placed in front of her. Sally tried her best to

  explain over the line.

  ‘If you have a power cut, you need to turn everything back on at the main consumer unit.

  Often it will be one switch that has tripped. Yours is situated in the hall, if my system is correct.’ ‘Yes, I’ve done that. Nothing had tripped. I thought I’d explained this.’

  ‘OK, sir, there’s no need to raise your voice.’

  As Jake spoke, the house lit up like a floodlit sports stadium. Kate struggled to adjust her

  eyes.

  ‘It’s come back on again.’

  ‘Right, sir.’

  ‘Can you explain what’s happening at our home? Is this a usual occurrence?’ ‘Sir. If there’s no power failure reported and all other houses in the vicinity are operating as

  normal and you say the main switch is on, then I’m afraid there is someone tampering with the box

  outside.’

  Jake hung up. He turned to Kate. ‘Quick, move upstairs. Now. Do it!’ She didn’t wait for an

  explanation. Kate ran into Sean’s room. He was fast asleep. She perched herself on the end of his

  bed. Her heart racing. Head aching. A nervous twitch danced under her right eye. Slowly, she slid

  her hands down her face. Jake had seemed troubled the last day or so. Like he was holding something back. Things were going on he wasn’t telling her. The protective husband. She needed to

  speak with him. Find out the full story. Jake had to tell her everything.

  ∞∞∞∞ Jake went to the back door of the kitchen. He’d thought about opening the front door again, but if someone was there, they’d see him straight away. The back door key was hanging on a rack. Small, silver coloured. Reaching for it and gently sliding it into the lock, he twisted it slowly to the left. The lock clicked, and he opened the door. Luckily, it was silent and didn’t creak. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered. The wind howled and instantly hit his face, making a stream of water seep from his eyes. Branches swung, causing shadows from the bright moon to cast over the back of the house like an evil entity. Jake held his breath. He was scared. No doubt about it. Something was going on. Moving around the back of the house he suddenly realised he wasn’t armed.

  ‘Shit.’ He jumped as he heard a scream in the distance penetrate across the fields. A fox. Hopefully. No werewolves in Ramsbury. As he made his way around the front, he found the electric box. It was open, the door flapping in the wind. He couldn’t tell if it had been closed before. Didn’t want to make that assumption. After he’d closed it and made sure the gates at the front were shut, he went back into the house, leaving the dark night behind him.

  ∞∞∞∞ ‘Jake, is that you?’ Kate called from the top of the landing.

  ‘Yes, it’s me, hun.’ He made his way into the kitchen and searched for local alarm compa

  nies online. There was a company based just on the outskirts of town. ‘Don’t alarm yourself, let us

  do it,’ written as the headline. There were a couple of reviews down the page. Adam was truly wonderful. He went above and beyond – Five stars. Probably his mother. Adam at Alarms for You is really the best. Cheap price also. Five stars. Jake made a note of the number. He would call them first

  thing tomorrow.

  Chapter Ten

  The following morning, Jake was in the kitchen gulping a protein shake. I must be Thor, he mused to himself. He called Adam’s number. The phone went straight to voicemail. ‘This is Adam at Alarms for You. I’m either making someone’s house safer or breaking in somewhere that hasn’t got one. Ha ha, only joking. Leave a message, and I’ll return your call
as soon as I can.’ Jake left a quick message instructing him to call as soon as possible and relayed his address. Heading out for a run, he shut the door as quietly as possible. It was still early, 6.50 a.m. The route he decided to take was the same as the morning before. Still quiet. Peaceful. The sound of the birds was something Jake wasn’t used to. Something unwanted after a few drinks the night before. The ground was filled with water. The rain had pelted down hard and gathered in potholes. Jake had to leap over a few to save getting soaked. Half an hour later he found himself approaching the Jack Russell. As Jake glanced into the garden, the dog was more or less in the same place as yesterday. But this time, he was barking uncontrollably. Jake slowed up. He dared not go near him today.

  It was like the dog had contracted rabies overnight and was in line to have a lethal injection. Keep going. Keep going, he thought but his curiosity got the better of him, and he halted. ‘Hugo. What’s up, mate?’ The dog ignored him. ‘Hey, boy. You OK?’ Jake made his way to

  the gate. ‘Where’s your ball, pal?’ It was no use. Hugo was too interested in something else this morning. Jake had been blown out. As he walked back up the side of the drive to the lane, the back door slammed shut. Shit, Jake thought. Punchy Man. He ducked. Fast. There were no lights on in the house. The dog was still barking. Jake needed to go. He crept away keeping as low as possible not wanting to be seen. This guy wouldn’t be the type you’d greet each morning with a smile. Hi. You good? Family OK? Yeah, drinks at our place, Friday night. Not happening with this loon.

  Jake heard someone in the back garden. He glanced over the fence, staying crouched as low as he could manage. There was a huge figure in the distance. Possibly Punchy Man. The dog had stopped barking. Silence. Punchy Man was dragging something behind him. Jake looked closer. It was some kind of sack. Yeah, it was, he was sure of it. As Punchy Man moved it across the lawn, the mud unearthed around it. The weight must have been immense. Deep marks scraped on the grass. Jake’s imagination let loose. Rocks for a water feature? Bricks for a wall? Sand and cement? Father bloody Christmas? Punchy Man reached some sort of pit and dropped the sack straight into it.

  ∞∞∞∞ Kate had been woken by Sean. He’d run into the room. ‘Mummy. Bad dream.’ She lifted her head off the pillow.

  ‘Hey, baby. What’s that?’

  Sean was visibly upset. Kate budged across to Jake’s side as her son climbed in beside her. The buzzer sounded making her jump.

  ‘We have to do something about that bloody noise. Wait here, baby.’ She got out of bed and slipped on a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a tight, clingy top, showing her midriff. The buzzer went again.

  ‘Hang on for God’s sake.’

  She glanced at the monitor. There was a small van with what looked like a set of ladders on the top. A guy was looking into the camera, fixing his hair.

  ‘Can I help?’

  ‘It’s Adam,’ he announced.

  ‘Adam? Adam who?’

  A song came from the speaker.

  ‘Adam who, alarms for you, yes it’s true, alarms for you.’

  She could hear him laughing.

  Kate wasn’t in a jokey mood.

  ‘What the hell do you want?’

  ‘I’m here to fit your alarm system, babe. Had a call from Jake, is it?’

  ‘Oh, I see, OK, you’d better come in.’ She pressed the button on the monitor and the gates opened, followed by the van pulling onto the drive. Adam parked up and walked to the door. Kate already had it opened. Adam stopped. ‘Hello, baby. Where ya been all my life? Wow!’

  Kate blushed. She continued, ‘Are you putting it in this morning?’

  ‘Steady babe. We’ve only just met. Let’s at least have a drink first.’

  ‘Can you wait in the hall? My husband will be back any second.’

  ∞∞∞∞ Jake arrived a few minutes later. He was trembling. He opened the gates and was surprised to see a van on the drive. ‘What the hell?’ Jake made his way to the front door. Adam was standing just inside as the door opened. He extended his hand like he owned the house.

  ‘Nice to meet you. I’m here to fit your alarm system.’ ‘OK. I don’t actually remember making a booking.’

  ‘They don’t call me Superman for nothing,’ Adam laughed. Jake knew it was going to be one of those mornings. After he’d brought Kate up her coffee and sorted Sean out with breakfast, he sat down with Adam and went through the options. ‘Let me explain how we roll at Alarms for You. Two sugars if it’s all right.’ Jake leaned back on his chair. He tried to hide his annoyance but made him a drink as Adam reached into his briefcase and pulled out a couple of brochures.

  ‘These are your main options. We do a standard alarm type, you know, a basic crappy one. Cheap as chips. I wouldn’t recommend this, even to the mother-in-law.’

  ‘OK. I want something a little more advanced. Let’s get straight to the price, Adam, and how it works.’

  Adam’s face lit up. He pulled out another brochure. ‘Now we’re talking.’ Adam was reading from the brochure. ‘You can’t go wrong with a wireless alarm system. Contacts on doors and windows to detect intruders before they’ve even entered your property. The sensors will even set the alarm off if any window is forcefully touched. Internal infrared passives with pet-friendly motion detection. Systems that provide immediate notifications of intrusion, fire, or both. System event reports sent directly to you via an app on your phone or to a monitoring station for round the clock protection.’

  He passed the brochure over to Jake who continued to read, ‘We also provide maintenance contracts on new installations and existing systems – even if not installed by us. Benefits of an Intruder Alarm: Deters a potential crime. Having a security system not only protects you but helps your neighbourhood be a safer place for everyone. Fine, what’s it going to cost me?’ Adam removed a large calculator from his case. He seemed to be punching numbers in for hours. Jake held his breathe as Adam muttered like he was pricing to decorate Buckingham Palace. When he was done, he held up the screen to Jake.

  ‘Fine. When can you do it?’

  ‘Well, it just so happens I’ve had a cancellation this morning.’

  What a surprise.

  ‘OK, let’s get it done.’

  ∞∞∞∞ Adam worked fast. He seemed to know his job, which pleased Jake. The noise was difficult to deal with though. Drilling walls. Lifting floorboards. He also had a small radio pumping out something the younger generation called Grime. In Jake’s day, grime was something you cleaned off the cooker on a Saturday morning when your mum announced the house needed a spring clean.

  Around lunchtime they’d had enough and decided to take Sean down to the lake to feed the ducks. He was starting his new school on Monday, so they had the boredom covered from then on. ∞∞∞∞

  The lake was magnificent. They never expected such an extravagant setting. It seemed to spill for miles. The sky was clear, and the reflection from the sun on the lake was blinding. Swans graced the water as Sean pointed excitedly. A row of ducks drifted across the middle, with little ones slacking behind. In the distance, there was a breathtaking building with incredible architecture, The Ramsbury Manor. Jake had googled the area earlier and relayed the information to Kate and Sean. It was a grade 1 listed building purchased back in 1676 by Sir William Jones and designed by Dr Robert Hooke. Back in 1966, the place featured in the Guinness Book of Records, listed as the most expensive house in Britain. Sean stood on the edge of the lake hurling bread into the water. It wasn’t long before they had company and hungry mouths. They took lots of pictures and sat on the verge taking the scenery in.

  ‘This is the life,’ Jake said as he held Kate’s hand. Right now, he didn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.

  Across the lake, deep in the woodland, a branch moved sideways. Someone was watching. They weren’t alone.

  ∞∞∞∞ Arriving home that evening, they found Adam still working. He was on one knee at the front door pulling a cable.

&nb
sp; ‘How’s it going?’ Jake asked.

  ‘Nearly there, mate, another half an hour and you’re set up.’

  ‘Great, tea?’

  ‘Do you have anything stronger?’

  He didn’t want to go down that route. Adam would be there all night. ‘Tea is the best I can offer, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Then tea will do.’ Kate was in the kitchen starting dinner, and Sean was plonked in front of the telly.

  ‘Kate, I need to talk to you.’

  ‘What’s up, hun?’

  He wanted to keep it to himself; he had battled, not wanting to put a spanner in the works. But what choice did he have? It couldn’t be kept hidden from her. They all needed to be a little more vigilant. As he started speaking, Adam walked into the kitchen.

  ‘I’m more or less done.’

  ‘Oh, OK, can you quickly show me how it works?’

  Jake followed Adam into the hall as he went through the operating instructions and how the system worked. Adam showed him how to get the phone app and went around the house pointing out the infrared stations and alarm boxes. He then carried out a test, so they were all aware how it sounded in the unfortunate event an intruder arrived.

  ‘You’d be hard-pressed to get inside of here now, pal.’

  ‘Glad to hear it.’

  ‘Plenty of privacy if you get my drift?’ He nudged Jake.

  ‘Yes, quite.’

  He was starting to get irritated. Adam produced a card machine, they settled up, and he was gone. Jake rejoined Kate in the kitchen, she could tell he was agitated, pacing up and down. Something was on his mind. She could read it.

  ‘Babe, come here, you’re all flustered. Can I do anything for you?’

  The provocative way she spoke.

  Kate grabbed his top and forcefully pulled him in closer.

  God, he wanted her. Here. Now.

  Sean came bursting in.

  ‘Hey, baby. Has your programme finished?’

  ‘I’m hungry.’

  ‘You’re always hungry, just like Daddy,’ she replied. ‘Oh, hey, Jake, we have visitors this evening.’

  ‘OK, who?’

  ‘Let me show you.’ Taking her phone from her pocket, she opened the social media site, ‘There’s a page on Facebook, you know, for the parents of Sean’s new school. Anyway, I joined it a few days ago. Look.’