The Ghostly Hideaway (6 page)

“Oh, Mom, look! It has writing on the back. It says
‘Gertrude, Jimmy, and Penelope.’ And it’s dated ‘1970.’ Mom, what
is it? You’re as pale as a sheet!"

Ed had been watching “Law and Order” on the
television but he turned toward the others when he heard the panic
in Chrissy’s voice. “My God, Penny, what’s wrong? Are you
alright?”

Penny still sat with her eyes glazed and her mouth
hanging open. She didn’t blink or move at all when Ed waved his
hand in front of her face. Ed grabbed her shoulders and shook her,
hard. As she focused her eyes on her husband, she fainted dead
away. Chrissy ran after a washcloth and wet it with cold water and
brought the first aid kit with the smelling salts. After washing
her face and passing the smelling salts under her nose, she
revived, but she didn’t know for a few minutes why she had fainted.
As the memory came back to her, she pointed at the picture that
once again had fluttered to the floor. Chrissy picked it up once
more and Penny whispered, “That’s me,” pointing to the little girl.
And that’s my Dad and my Grandma Gertie. The names and date are on
the back and I had already noticed the birthmark on the back of
Daddy’s hand. The Coys are or were my aunt and uncle."

“Are you sure, Penny? Are you positive these people
were your relatives? It’s just not reasonable to believe that we
stumbled by accident onto the property that was owned by your
relatives.”

“It’s true, Eddie. There’s no other possibility. Why
on earth would they have that picture of us if they weren’t
related? Grandma Gertie or Daddy had to have sent the picture to
them. And as far as it being an accident that we found this place,
I’m not sure I believe that it was a coincidence. I felt something
really weird the first time I saw this place. I’m nearly positive
I’ve never been here before and yet things seemed almost familiar
somehow. I can’t explain it; but someway or other I think we were
meant to get ‘lost’ and ‘find’ this farm. I’m thinking the spirits
that seem to inhabit this house actually want us to be here. Oh, I
know I’m not making any sense but there doesn’t seem to be any
other explanation.”

A couple of nights later, Chrissy, whose room was
next door to the one the Coys had used, was awakened by a commotion
that seemed to come from that room. She hated to admit it but she
was afraid to go see what was happening until morning. When it was
daylight again, Chrissy slipped from her room to the door leading
into the Coys’ bedroom and opened it slowly. She was totally amazed
by what she saw. Some of the clothes they had folded and put away
were once again in a heap on the floor; the rocker had been
re-positioned back to the middle of the floor as it had been. The
bedclothes were mussed and while it had no indentations where it
would appear somebody had slept there, it looked as though it had
been turned down ready for someone to sleep in.

Chrissy’s gasp of surprise and consternation had
aroused her parents from across the hall and they had come in to
discover the disarray, also. After discussing the phenomenon most
of the day, they were no closer to solving the mystery than they
had been in the morning.

That evening after supper, they had brought out the
journal and were about to begin reading another segment of it when
a knock sounded on the front door. They weren’t sure whether to
answer it. They wondered if someone was, in reality, at the door or
if it was another paranormal event. Ed went to check, however, and
found the County Sheriff waiting there. Ed invited the sheriff into
the living room and introduced his family.

“I don't want to trouble you," Sheriff Lampton said
as he took the chair Ed offered, "and I’m sure Mr. Coy has already
retired for the night; but seeing the lights on and the
improvements that have been made, I was sure there must be someone
else here. Cliff hasn’t been able to fix things around here for
several years. You said your name is Penny. I’m sure that means
you’re their niece, Penelope. I’m truly glad there’s someone here
to look after him and his place. Is he as well as usual, do you
think?”

“As a matter of fact, Sheriff, we haven’t seen him
since our arrival a few weeks ago. It was raining extremely hard
when we got here and after knocking several times with no answer,
we found the back door unlatched and just came on in. We could see
lights that had been left on in the house, and we assumed he would
be home soon. When he still didn’t come in after some time had
elapsed, we thought he might be visiting a neighbor, or perhaps in
the hospital or something similar and we had no idea where to begin
to look. We weren’t even sure where the nearest hospital is or even
the nearest town. We had become completely disoriented on our way
here in the pouring rain. We had never been here before and we
weren’t even sure we had found the right place." Ed had made the
best scenario he knew how to make and still be honest.

“When he still wasn’t here after a week, we began
reading Uncle Cliff’s journal thinking it might give us a clue as
to his whereabouts. As we understand from reading it, his biggest
concern was the death of his wife, Aunt Lorraine. He seemed
terribly distraught still over losing her." Penny didn’t see that
it should be necessary to tell anyone that she had only recently
realized that it truly had been the home of her relatives.

“As far as anyone in town knows, Penelope is Cliff’s
only living relative; she and her family, of course. Sheriff
Lampton inclined his head toward Penny and got up preparatory to
leaving.

“Sheriff, could you tell us the best way to get to
town for some supplies? There are a few things that we are
beginning to need very badly." Ed tried to make sure he didn’t
leave the same impression he’d had on Mrs. Thorne.

Sheriff Lampton explained the best way to get to
Fordsville.

“Do you think we should start a search party to see
if he is around here, maybe at a neighbor’s? We also wondered if he
might be in the hospital or something.”

Sheriff Lampton suggested that he do some checking
back in town and if they had no word about him or from him in the
next few days, they would indeed need to make a search of the local
area. The sheriff said his goodbyes and went on his way back down
the muddy road.

A couple of days later, Chrissy heard someone
whistling out about the storage shed. She stepped out on the back
porch to see if what she had heard was spirit or flesh and saw a
young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties with a beautiful
golden retriever at his heels. He was undoubtedly the best-looking
‘ghost’ she had ever seen in the almost nineteen years of her life.
When he removed his cap as a form of respect, she could see that
his hair was an almost fiery red and the freckles on his face tried
unsuccessfully to hide the deep, deep dimples in each cheek. As
fate would have it, her parents had made the trek into Fordsville
to get supplies and see if the sheriff had any information about
Uncle Cliff. It would probably be an hour or longer before their
return.

“Hello, colleen, my name is Johnny O’Reilly. I live
with my Grandmama up on Thorne Hill. I had been seeing lights on in
the house a good bit later than Old Mister Coy usually stayed up
and I thought I’d see if we had new neighbors I wanted to meet. Now
that I’ve seen you, the answer is definitely ‘yes.’”

“We are the Wroe Family,” Chrissy blushed as she
took his hand. “My father is Edward; my mother is Penny; I have
twin siblings, Andy and Candy; and my name is Christina although
everyone calls me ‘Chrissy.’ We came up from North Carolina to see
Mama’s Aunt and Uncle but we haven’t seen either of them since we
got here. We’re extremely concerned. Oh, where are my manners?
Would you like a glass of tea? I’m afraid that’s all I have to
offer at the moment.”

“Tea would be wonderful." Johnny knew her folks were
not at home. He had seen them leave so he didn’t even think about
trying to beguile his way into the house. Well, maybe he
thought
about it but he certainly wouldn’t do it.

She returned in a short while with two tall glasses
of frosty cold tea. They sat side by side on the back steps and
enjoyed simple conversation for the better part of an hour. Neither
of them, later on, would have a clear memory of what they had
talked about. However, they were sure it was a wonderful
conversation. Chrissy did remember being introduced to JoJo, the
Golden Retriever. JoJo had shook paws with her, had even let
Chrissy scratch her ears, and pat her on her silky, golden
head.

“Do you think it would be out of line if I came by
again to see you and meet the rest of your family?” Johnny
asked.

“Oh, I think that would be very nice indeed. I know
they would all enjoy meeting you and JoJo.”

When it was time for Johnny to go and he was about
to go out of sight, he turned, took off his cap again, and waved to
her and JoJo barked good-bye. Chrissy was still on cloud nine when
her parents and the twins got home. Nevertheless, she helped unload
the back of the SUV and even managed to get excited about all the
goodies they had brought home. Penny and Ed had bought a bunch of
treats they hadn’t had for a long, long time. Finally they got
everything in the house and put away. Then they decided to rest a
few minutes.

“What did you do to occupy the time while we were
gone?” they asked Chrissy.

Chrissy blushed prettily. “Well, actually, I had a
visitor after you left.”

“Who on earth came to visit?” they asked.

“He was the grandson of the woman you met up on
Thorne Hill, Daddy. His name is Johnny O’Reilly and he has a Golden
Retriever named JoJo. He was the one who put on the fireworks
display we enjoyed on July 4. I thanked him for setting them off
where we could watch it, too. I told him it was a terrific show. He
said he was glad to know someone other than he and his grandmother
had appreciated it.”

“What is a gold ‘triever?" Candy wanted to know.

“I know what it is,” Andy spoke up. “It’s one of
those ‘tectors that finds stuff that’s under the ground. Did he
find any gold or anything ‘round here?

“A Golden Retriever, Kids, is a beautiful breed of
dog. It has curly golden hair and is usually quite friendly,” their
Dad explained.

“She
was
friendly. She let me pat her head,
rub her fur, and scratch her ears. She even barked ‘good-bye’ to
me. Johnny said Aunt Lorraine had loved her and he had brought JoJo
here to see her often when she was alive and Uncle Cliff enjoyed
seeing her, too.”

Penny was somewhat concerned about the young man
being at the house when Chrissy was alone. “Where did you two do
all this talking?”

“He sat on the porch steps while I fixed us a glass
of tea and then I sat there, too, and we drank our tea and talked.
You know I wouldn’t have invited him into the house when you all
weren’t here, Mom.”

“I know you’re a good girl, Chrissy, but you haven’t
dated much and I just didn’t want him or anybody else talking you
into things or taking advantage of you.”

Candy and Andy suddenly remembered one of the treats
they had bought at the store.

“Can we have some ice cream, Mama?" Candy was
prepared to pout if necessary.

“It’s been a long, long time since we had any,
please, Mommy." Andy was just as anxious.

"It's
'may'
I have, not 'can' I have," Penny
corrected and the twins immediately revised their request.

"Let's see, it's a little over three hours until
time to eat. If I let you have ice cream now, will you still eat a
good dinner?" Of course, she knew what the answer would be.

“Yes, yes,” they yelled in unison.

“I want strawberry." That was Candy.

“I want chocolate." That was Andy.

“Vanilla for me, and I’ll help you fix it." Chrissy
loved ice cream, too. And she appreciated a great deal the change
in the topic of conversation.

That night they finished reading Uncle Cliff’s
journal. The last entry was dated June 15, 2005.

The chest pains I’ve been having were
worse this morning and my breathing gets more and more difficult. I
still miss Lorraine so terribly much. I believed that in time I
would become accustomed to her being gone, but it only seems to get
harder and harder to accept that I will never see her again on this
earth. I want more than anything to be with her. Of course, when
Johnny came by I tried to be as cheerful as I could... I realized
he would be concerned if he knew how depressed and fragile I
feel.

This evening I am going to try to make
it up to the graveyard to visit Lorraine and Baby Cliffie’s graves
one last time before I get past going. I need to say goodbye to
them and tell them it won’t be long before I’ll be joining them in
that Great Beyond. The weather is beginning to look fierce and I
should probably stay home; but somehow, I feel I must go. CCC 15
June, 2005

*

“Poor, poor Uncle Cliff,” Chrissy sighed, “he sounds
miserably unhappy! I wonder if something did happen to him when he
went up there. Have you ever seen a small cemetery, Dad, when you
went for your exploration walks?”

“No, but I did see where a huge old oak tree had
been apparently struck by lightning and it had fallen. I think
maybe we need to make a family excursion up there and see what we
can find right after breakfast in the morning.”

“I wish we had some way to let the sheriff know what
we’re planning so he could come and help." Penny was very concerned
with what they might find. “But with or without the sheriff, I do
think we need to see if we can at least find the graveyard.”

Everyone agreed.

Next morning they ate breakfast and prepared to
leave the house in search of the cemetery or Uncle Cliff. Before
they could get started, however, a van pulled up out front. Sheriff
Lampton and five members of the Ohio County Rescue Service alighted
and came around to the back door.