Finding the Way Back (15 page)

I ran through the parking lot to get to my
car. Of course, the only available parking spot when I arrived was
in the farthest corner of the lot. I dashed between the vehicles,
trying to navigate the shortest possible distance I could manage.
As I emerged from between two cars a truck rushed past me right
through a deep puddle. A muddy mixture of water and road dirt
sprayed me from head to foot. I gasped, stunned, but continued
forward. Moving more carefully I crossed over toward my car.

Fumbling in my purse, I finally found my keys
as the rain continued to come down. I slung my purse over my
shoulder and tried to unlock the door quickly. By this time, my
hands were sopping and the keys slid through my fingers to land in
a puddle at my feet. I leaned over to fish them out, and my purse
slid off my shoulder, landing next to my keys. I picked up both my
keys and my now-sopping purse and tried to unlock the door. But now
the key wouldn’t turn. Damned car. Why now? I ran around to the
other side of the car to try that door and this time it unlocked
for me. I threw myself into the car and pulled the door shut behind
me in an effort to keep out as much of the rain as possible. What
else was ruined? Shoes for sure, probably my slacks and blouse as
well. I climbed over the middle gear changer lever thing and
plopped into my seat, then started the car and turned the heat on
high. I was shivering so hard by this time I could hardly put my
car in reverse. My teeth chattered and I turned on the windshield
wipers then realized it had just stopped raining. I was ready to
get home.

I drove back to the house and pulled into the
driveway just in time for Emmett to pull up behind me. Nice. If it
wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all today. I was
afraid to see myself at this point so I didn’t even bother looking
in the rearview mirror. With a sigh I opened my door and stepped
out.

Emmett was walking up to my car when he
stopped short and smiled. “Caught in the rain?”

I took one look at him and tears came to my
eyes. Maybe this was a sign. I was forever destined to look
ridiculous to him. I was ungraceful, unattractive, unable to keep
from making a fool of myself. “Go ahead and laugh,” I challenged
him. “I’m sure you’re thinking how horrible I look.”

“Well, no, I wasn’t thinking that at all,” he
said with a puzzled expression. “Actually I was thinking, um ...
uh, never mind. I’m sorry, go ahead,” he gestured. “I’m sure you
want to get inside and change clothes.”

I held back the welling tears and turned and
headed for the house. Glancing back I saw Connie pull up. She got
out of her car looking pristine and beautiful, like she just walked
off the cover of a magazine. Emmett greeted her with a hug and they
started shooting the breeze. Watching them together, I felt even
more foolish as it dawned on me. Connie was the real reason he was
involved in our drama. She was the person he was interested in.

I dropped my drenched wet shoes and socks on
the porch, and walked into the house heading straight for my room.
I was still shivering and needed to get in the shower before I
froze to death. Once inside, I stopped short at the stairway as I
saw the disarray in the study. There were books, papers and
miscellaneous items all over the floor as if a cyclone had been
through it. I walked into the room and picked up one of the papers
and looked at it. It was one of the check stubs I’d seen in the
desk. The stamp I found was still on the corner where I left it.
Who did this? I didn’t know what to make of it. Was this paranormal
or was somebody in here?

I heard Emmett and Connie walk into the
house, laughing and talking, carrying bags of groceries and other
supplies.

“Connie, have you seen this?” I asked.

“Seen what? Oh!” She saw the chaos in the
study and looked at me in alarm. “What happened?”

“I have no idea.” I walked toward the kitchen
and felt a cold breeze hit me as I turned the corner. The back door
stood wide open.

“Connie, did you leave the back door
open?”

“Of course not,” she answered as she and
Emmett came in behind me. “You okay, Laney?” she asked, noticing my
appearance.

“I’m fine. I just had a little mishap. I’ll
be fine after I get a shower.” My dignity was crushed but I could
pretend it wasn’t. “At first I just thought this was another one of
those funny things happening around here but now I think maybe
someone was in the house. Or is still here.”

“You two wait here. I’ll check it out,”
Emmett responded.

“I don’t think so, don’t you watch scary
movies? If you split up, nothing good happens. We’re coming with
you.”

Connie closed and locked the back door. “The
door wasn’t kicked in and it doesn’t look like the lock was
jimmied.” Emmett examined the door as well and agreed, then we
headed upstairs. It didn’t take long to confirm that there was no
one there.

“We should check the basement too, but if
anyone was here I think they’re long gone by now,” Emmett said.

I grabbed a change of clothes and as many
musty towels from the closet as I could carry, and followed Emmett
and Connie to the basement. A quick perusal proved no one was there
either.

“Great, now I can take another shower,” I
said as I headed toward the stall. I’d have to soak what I was
wearing, but I could throw a load of towels in. I kept one out to
use after my shower and threw the rest in the battered washing
machine. I looked at Connie and Emmett pointedly.

“Do you think someone has keys to get in?”
Connie asked.

“The house is seventy-five years old, I think
a lot of people could have keys. Can we talk about this after my
shower?” I asked, getting a little irritated. I just wanted to be
alone and get cleaned up.

“Sure, Laney, go ahead. We’ll head upstairs.”
She and Emmett went up the stairs and I took a long, hot shower. I
wasn’t even going to worry about spiders. I had a little pity party
for myself with a double shampoo and deep conditioning as the
prize.

It’s always amazing how a simple shower can
improve one’s outlook on life. Feeling a hundred times better and
dressed in dry jeans and shirt, I put my towels in the dryer and
threw my wet clothing in the washer and set it on soak. I would
need to wash them several times but the mud might already be set. I
would have just thrown them out but it was one of my favorite
outfits and I didn’t have a lot of clothing with me. Eventually I’d
have to get to my mother’s house and pick up some more things I’d
stored with her after moving out of my old house.

On arriving upstairs in the kitchen again, I
decided I really deserved another cup of coffee. I was exhausted
from the lack of sleep as well as the emotional toll of the
day.

Connie soon joined me. “Emmett said he’ll be
back later, but he said they caught some interesting things on
their equipment. The crew is all coming over this evening to show
us. He just stopped over to let us know. He left while you were in
the shower.”

“I hope we don’t have to feed them again. He
could have used that thing called a telephone instead of just
dropping in,” I said, adding sugar and cream to my coffee. “Doesn’t
he have a job? What was he doing here in the middle of the
morning?”

“He works from a home office so he can be
flexible.” Connie looked at me and started to say something then
seemed to think otherwise. “Are you okay? Did everything go well at
the lawyer’s office?”

“I don’t even know where to start. Simon
showed up.”

“What? What was he doing there?”

“Besides putting the moves on the
receptionist? Thoroughly annoying me.”

“You’re kidding!”

“No, he actually had his hands on her. Then
he had the nerve to tell me he wanted me back.”

“No way! That slimeball! What did you say to
him?”

“I said I finally saw him for what he was,
and that I was sure the divorce was the right thing to do. Then I
signed the papers.”

“Good for you. I can’t believe he had the
guts to even show up.”

“Shocking, isn’t it? When Simon and I first
started breaking up, all I did was cry. Then I hardened myself to
it, and I tried to be independent and strong on my own. I’m still
not sure what I’m going to do, but I’ll make it one way or
another.”

“We’ll make it together,” Connie said. “You
don’t have to do this alone. You’re better off without him.”

“I know I am. And I’m okay with it. It’s just
a bit of an adjustment.”

“I’ll bet you didn’t eat any lunch. How about
I make us some lovely salads? I haven’t had any vegetables for days
so I got some fresh produce at the store.”

“That sounds wonderful. I’ll help. We need
our strength to get through the rest of the day if we aren’t going
to get a nap.”

* * * *

The dumpster was delivered as we finished our
salads and we headed out behind the house to help them find a good
place to put it. The yard was fairly large with ancient oaks and
overgrown landscaping. The old garage sat in one corner of the lot
and an old chokecherry tree sat in the other. The only thing worth
saving on the lot was the chokecherry. I had visions of making jam
in the fall but didn’t know if I would still be there. I was
starting to see a future in this old place. Remodeling takes so
long anyway, I comforted myself. Perhaps I could drag my feet a
bit.

I realized I hadn’t explored the backyard yet
and walked up to the old garage. Wiping the dirt off the outside of
the window I tried to peer inside. The grime on the inside made it
too difficult to see anything. Rounding the garage, I saw the
double doors that faced the alley, the sagging, weathered wood
resting on the ground in the center. I tried lifting and pulling at
the same time to open them, but to no avail. It was likely fastened
shut from the inside. I went around to the side entry door and
turned the knob—it was locked. Fine. Not knowing where the key was,
I’d save that project for another day. Connie was talking with the
man dropping off the dumpster and it looked like she was handling
it so I left her to it and went inside.

I needed to check on my laundry so I headed
toward the basement and marched down the stairs. I was hoping one
more wash would get my clothes from that morning clean. Some things
in life seemed to need a few extra washings to get the stains out.
I started the washing machine then started to get that queer
feeling again. I turned around quickly, with my hands up in a
defensive mode. Naturally, there was no one there, but it felt like
someone was watching me. I stood still for a moment, scanning the
basement, watching for any movement, listening. But there was only
the rumble of the washing machine behind me.

Convinced I was letting my imagination get
the better of me, I turned around again when all the lights
suddenly went out. I looked around and was surprised at how dark it
was. It was still light outside, but the one window well open to
the basement was boarded over. I vaguely remembered my mother
saying something about keeping out animals or water or something.
Well that was getting added to my list to fix.

Trying not to panic, I started walking slowly
in the direction I thought was the stairs. I held my hands in front
of me to make sure I didn’t walk into anything, and slid my feet
forward on the floor so I didn’t trip over anything. Suddenly I
detected a foul odor that I hadn’t ever noticed before. It reminded
me of the way our basement had smelled when I was growing up and a
squirrel had fallen down the old chimney to the wood furnace shaft.
Except this was getting much stronger.

“Connie,” I tried to yell but it came out
breathless and halting. I took a few breaths and tried to steady
myself, then tried to call out again. “Did you turn out the lights?
I’m still down here. Connie? Please turn the lights back on to the
basement.”

I felt my hands connect with the wooden
banister. But the smell was becoming overwhelming and I was
starting to feel nauseous. I dropped to my knees as dizziness
threatened to freeze me in my tracks. Fighting the urge to curl
into a ball and stay at the foot of the steps forever, I started
pulling myself up. Finally, the door opened at the top of the
stairs, a beam of light and life shining down on me and dispelling
the darkness and decay. Connie flipped on the lights and my rescue
was complete.

I blinked at the bright lights and lunged to
my feet taking the last steps at a run. I nearly toppled Connie
over as I rushed through the door and into the safety of the
kitchen.

“Did you turn off the light to the basement?”
I asked and accused at the same time.

“No, I just came in and heard you yelling.
What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Let me get my breath,” I panted. “I hate
that place.”

Connie gaped at me, my distress obvious. She
flipped the switch a few times and the light went on and off
obediently. “I wonder how the light went off,” she said.

“I don’t wonder. It’s that damned ghost! Why
is it after me? Nothing is happening to you. Why me?” I asked.
“From now on I’m carrying a flashlight any time I have to go down
there. Some animal must have gotten in there and died too. It
smells atrocious, but I’m not looking for it. Maybe we can get Dean
to do it.”

“What smell?” Connie asked looking down the
stairs and sniffing tentatively. “I don’t smell anything.”

“Well, of course not, from up here. Go to the
bottom of the stairs. It’s awful, you’ll see.”

Connie walked cautiously down the stairs and
stopped on the bottom step. She sniffed a few times and took a deep
breath. “I don’t smell anything. Maybe you just thought you smelled
something,” she called up to me.

“I did not imagine it! How can you not smell
that? It smells so bad down there I almost vomited. I can still
smell it from here,” I said, then paused. “Well, maybe not anymore,
but it was there, I’m telling you. I’m not coming down there again
right now.” I peeked around the corner of the doorway as Connie
moved further into the basement, sniffing as she went. I couldn’t
see her anymore and then I didn’t hear her. I started to feel
anxious. “Connie, can you smell it? What are you doing? I think you
should come back up.”