by Eva Pohler
“I dare you to go up there alone,” Sue said to Ellen.
“Fine. What are we, twelve?” It was dark, because the electricity hadn’t been turned on, and there was a door at the top of the stairs, blocking any light that might come through the attic.
Even though she wasn’t afraid of ghosts, she was afraid of mice, rats, spiders, and rotting boards that caved in. Ellen tried not to show this fear because she had something to prove.
When she reached the door at the top of the stairs, she found it locked from the other side. She pulled the key from her pocket and gave it a try.
Chapter Two: The History File
Ellen woke up from the same bad dream she’d had the night before, and the night before that. She’d had it too many times to count. In the dream, she’d been at one of her husband’s work parties or high school reunions—someplace where she didn’t know many people. And Paul had been there, too, having a grand time talking to everyone but her. In every dream, she would walk up to him, and he seemed unable to see her. She always woke up at the moment in the dream when she’d finally realized she was invisible.
She’d shared the dream with her two best friends, and both Tanya and Sue had agreed that it was one more sign that they needed an adventure. They were all feeling invisible, now that their children had moved out.
Tanya, who’d worked in civil service at Immigration for ten years before she’d quit to become a stay-at-home mom, had even discussed going back to school to start a new career. Ellen had to admit she was getting bored with the same part-time teaching job she’d had for twenty-five years at the same university, but she told her friends she’d rather sell her body for sex than start a new career.
And Sue, who’d quit her job as an accountant to raise her family, had said, “You won’t make much money at that. You don’t even have sex with your husband.”
Which wasn’t entirely true, but the way things were going, Ellen believed it wouldn’t be long before it was.
It was strange to Ellen, how different her husband was when her kids came home to visit. Nolan, their oldest at twenty-nine, was in medical school in Oklahoma, so they didn’t see him much anymore. Their second son, Lane, was in graduate school in Austin, and their daughter, Alison, was in her second year of undergraduate work at the same university as Lane. Ellen had thought she would at least see the younger two more regularly, but their lives had become busy, and it was hard for them to get home.
But when they did, Paul transformed back to the man she’d married. He laughed and told jokes—reminding her of why she’d fallen in love with him in the first place. His sense of humor never failed. But when it was just the two of them, he’d come home from his office, or from showing a house, or from playing golf, or wherever it was he went all day long, and he’d walk in and sometimes not even say hello. Some evenings she’d be in the front room reading, and it wasn’t until she’d gotten up to get something from the fridge that she’d notice him in his recliner in the family room half asleep in front of the television.
Maybe she was invisible.
She went down the hall to the master bedroom, looking for him. They’d been sleeping in separate rooms for years because she couldn’t take his snoring. Some nights, she tried to sleep in the bed with him, but since he never crossed over to her side to stroke her cheek or rub her back anymore, there didn’t seem to be a point. If anything ever happened between them, it was up to her to initiate. He’d told her years ago that he wanted intimacy more frequently than she did, and he was tired of being rejected. It was up to her to let him know when she was interested.
Yep. It was pretty romantic.
A tear slipped down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away.
When she reached their room, she found it empty. She walked through the living room to the kitchen, and then poked her head into the family room. Through the window overlooking the driveway, she noticed his pickup was already gone.
Well, damn. She needed to ask him about a key to the attic. She’d mentioned it to him the night before, and he’d promised to call the state realtor today.
Thank goodness he answered his cell phone. Lately, it was more of a one in four chance that he would.
“There is no attic key,” he told her. “Ronnie said the key I gave you is the only one they have.”
Ronnie was the realtor representing the state. “Where are you?”
She half expected him to say, “Don’t you know I’m with my mistress?”
“Golf course. I gotta go.”
It was where he went every Saturday morning these days—at least, that’s where she hoped he was going.
Disappointed, she was about to hang up when he asked, “Did you find the file I left on your dresser?”
“What? No.” She hurried down the hall to their room. “Yes. I see it. What is it?”
She opened it to find a fax cover page, along with several documents.
“It’s everything the state has on the history of the house.”
Just when she thought he didn’t care. “Thank you, honey! Thank you so much!”
“Sorry there wasn’t an attic key. Ronnie said he could have a locksmith there on Monday.”
“That’s awesome! Thank you so much for taking care of that for me.”
“I gotta go now.”
“Bye.”
She called Tanya right away to tell her about the history file, but, when Tanya answered, her voice was hoarse and shaky, as if she’d been crying.
“What’s wrong?” Ellen plopped onto an armchair in her living room and opened the file in her lap, leafing through as she listened to Tanya talk about her mother. When Tanya said her mother hadn’t recognized her again, Ellen closed the file and said, “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s just so hard,” Tanya said. “It’s like, if your own mother doesn’t know you…”
“Deep down, she knows you.”
“She thought I was one of her cousins. It’s like I don’t even exist.”
“Your mother doesn’t have to recognize you for you to exist. I know who you are, and you’re an amazing person.”
“Well, thank you, but I don’t feel amazing. I feel terrible. The woman who used to hold me and cuddle me and take care of me has no freaking clue who I am.”
Ellen wasn’t sure what to say. “I have something that might take your mind off of it for a little while.”
Ellen picked up Tanya and met Sue at Panera Bread with the history file. Once they had ordered their meals and were seated but hadn’t yet received their food, Ellen opened the file. “I thought it would be more fun if we found out about the history of this house together.”
“Did we decide to buy?” Tanya asked. “I didn’t think we’d made a decision yet.”
“No. No decision,” Sue said. “But I would like to hear the house’s history. What’s in the file?”
“I have to see the attic before I can commit,” Tanya said before sipping her water. “And you have to agree to let me bring in that psychic I was telling you about.”
“How much will that cost?” Sue asked. “Because I’ve always been told I have the gift.”
“Did you sense something yesterday, when we were there?” Ellen asked.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I did.”
“I’ll pay her fee,” Tanya said. “She’s really done a lot for me since Dave’s mother passed. She’s been able to tell us things that no one but Dave and his mother could know.”
“We won’t be able to get into the attic until Monday,” Ellen said. “So while we’re waiting, let’s dig into this history file.”
Their food was brought to the table, and after everything was settled, Ellen ate a spoonful of broccoli cheese soup and began to read.
The document was an abstract of the house’s ownership, consisting of several pages. Ellen scanned through all of the legalese about the plot number and the county and builder information to get the gist of it. “German immigrants Theodore and Alma Gold, along with Alma
’s sister Inger Bohrmann, had the house built in February, 1860.”
“It says that Inger Bohrmann was an invalid,” Tanya pointed out. “I didn’t know the records included details like that.”
“Maybe that’s our ghost,” Sue said.
Ellen continued, “In 1881, Theodore left the house to Marcia Gold, his only living descendant. Why would it say ‘only living’?”
“It must mean he had other children who were deceased,” Tanya said. “And maybe…”
“Maybe they’re the ones haunting the house,” Sue piped in.
“In 1930,” Ellen read on, “Marcia sold the house to Dr. Jonathon Piers.” She scanned through two more pages about changes in the property—this was when the bathrooms were added. “In 1972, Jonathon Piers left the house to his son, Jonathon ‘Johnny’ Piers, Jr., who lived in the house until he died in 1994, with no heirs. The state of Texas took possession of the property in 1996 after being unable to locate any surviving relatives or beneficiaries.”
“Maybe the ghost is Johnny Piers,” Sue said. “Did the realtor say whether people thought it was male or female?”
Ellen shook her head, biting her lip to keep from smiling. Tanya and Sue were taking this ghost thing way too seriously. Ellen just wanted to use her HGTV and DIY knowledge to rehabilitate the old house into something spectacular.
There were a few more pages in the file about the six buyers who had closed on the house but had pulled out during the cooling off period.
“I wonder if we could interview some of the neighbors,” Tanya said. “We could pretend to be writing a magazine article or something.”
“That’s a good idea,” Ellen said as she finished up her soup. “We really could write an article about our findings. A little publicity could help us fetch a better price when we sell.”
“If we decide to get the house,” Tanya reminded her. “We haven’t decided yet.”
Sue wiggled in her chair, like an excited schoolgirl. “I think we should go there tonight and have a séance. Then we could find out what kind of ghost we’re dealing with.”
Ellen closed her eyes because she’d been about to roll them. “I don’t know.”
“Sounds scary but fun,” Tanya said. “Why not? Dave’s out of town, so I’m home alone tonight.”
“Tom’s going to be glued to the football game,” Sue said. “So I’m free. What about you, Ellen?”
“Seriously? A séance? Doesn’t that frighten you? If I believed in ghosts, I’d be too scared.”
“But you don’t, so what’s the harm?” Sue challenged. “Besides, if it gets out of hand, we can break the circle.”
“Huh?” Ellen had no idea what her friend was talking about.
“You hold hands to create a circle,” Tanya explained. “That’s how you summon the spirit. You have to have at least three people and three candles.”
“Once you break the circle, the séance ends,” Sue added.
Ellen wondered how people who believed in the paranormal came up with their rules and rituals. If there really were such things as ghosts, why would breaking the circle stop them from harming you?
“We don’t know what’s in the attic,” she said. “Maybe a vagrant is living up there.”
Sue flapped her hand through the air. “I doubt some homeless person will attack us, but I’ll bring my pistol, just in case he takes one look at me and decides to rape me.”
Tanya giggled. “I’ll bring the candles.”
“And I’ll make that dip you both like,” Sue added. “Do either of you have a box of crackers to go with it?”
Great, Ellen thought. They were going to a strange house, purported to be haunted, at night, armed with a pistol, candles, a box of crackers, and Sue’s famous dip.
Chapter Three: The Séance
Later that evening, Sue picked up Ellen and Tanya and headed for the King William district. Ellen sat in the passenger seat holding the stainless steel bowl covered in foil and containing the dip Sue had made. Tanya sat in back with a pitcher of frozen margaritas in one hand and a re-usable grocery bag filled with candles, crackers, and who knew what else in the other.
Somewhere—probably in her purse—Sue packed her pistol.
To Ellen, this seemed like a dangerous combination, but she went along with it because she was out-voted and because she really wanted her friends to buy this house with her.
Sue pulled up to the curb. Daylight savings hadn’t yet begun, so, although dusk was near, it was still light enough outside to clearly see the house.
It looked creepy to Ellen, now that they were about to summon a supposed ghost.
“I’m having second thoughts about this,” Tanya said. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”
“Oh, come on,” Sue said. “You’re this way about everything.”
Tanya blanched. “I am not.”
“You said that very thing last month as we were headed to the craft fair,” Sue pointed out. “And if I remember correctly, you said the same thing about the trip we took to Dallas last spring. I was literally in the car on the way to pick you up when…”
“But Mikey was getting sick,” Tanya insisted.
“It was the common cold, and he’s twenty-four,” Sue said with a laugh.
“Fine,” Tanya said. “But it’s probably hot in there. We could go back to my place instead. Ellen, what do you think?”
Ellen wasn’t sure what she thought. On the one hand, she was afraid of the neighbors wondering what a car was doing parked in front of a vacant property this late in the evening. She was also afraid of the possibility of a homeless man—or group of them—living in the attic. Her gut feeling was that all the supposed episodes with the buyers during the cooling off period had been caused by someone wanting to keep the house from selling.
On the other hand, she really wanted to buy this property, even if it did look a little creepy right now. Her gut was saying leave, but her heart was in love with this house—with what it could one day be—and she wanted to spend time with it.
“It won’t be hot for long with the sun going down,” Ellen finally said.
Sue turned off the car. “Then it’s settled. Come on.”
After Ellen put the key in the door and opened it, she paused on the threshold, waiting for whoever might be living there to clear out. She glanced back at Sue, who gave her a reassuring nod, and then she led the way inside, holding the door open for her friends before closing and locking it behind them.
It was dark inside.
“I almost had to cancel tonight,” Sue said as she made her way to the old dining room table, where she sat the bowl of dip. “My mom called about thirty minutes before I needed to leave to pick you up.”
“We could have canceled,” Tanya said.
“I know, but that’s not the point,” Sue said, pulling out a chair and testing it before putting her weight all the way onto it. “I hope I don’t break this thing.”
“They seem sturdy enough,” Ellen said of the chairs, taking one across from Sue.
Behind Ellen, the kitchen was the brightest room in the house because it faced the west. The living room in front of her, on the other hand, appeared dark and eerie.
Tanya stood near the end of the table pulling things from her re-usable grocery bag: a plastic tumbler for each of them, a box of crackers, three large pillar candles, three paper plates, and a box of matches.
“So why did you almost have to cancel?” Tanya asked Sue. “Is your mom okay?” She poured the pitcher of margaritas into each of the three cups.
Sue took a sip of hers and said, “Mmm,” before saying, “You know my mom. Her whole life revolves around me. I can’t take a dump without her knowing about it.”
“So nothing’s wrong?” Ellen asked.
“Well, if you were to ask her, she’d say the world was coming to an end because I made plans without her. I really need to find that woman some friends.”
“Surely she understands that you have a life,”
Ellen said before taking a sip of her margarita. “Mmm. This is good, Tanya. Thank you.”
Tanya sat at the end of the table between Sue and Ellen with her back to the foyer and staircase. Her eyes narrowed at the window across from her. “What’s that?”
Ellen and Sue turned to the window.
“What?” Ellen asked.
“Never mind,” Tanya said. “I thought I saw something. It was nothing. Can you pass me that box of crackers? I’m starving.”
Ellen handed over the crackers while Sue removed the foil from the dip.
“I forgot a spoon,” Sue said.
“That’s okay.” Tanya took a cracker and used it to scoop dip onto her plate. “Can one of you light the candles? I didn’t eat dinner tonight, so I think I’ll pig out first.”
“Just save some food for the spirits,” Sue said.
Ellen frowned. “The spirits?”
“You’re supposed to have a food offering, along with the light, to lure them to you,” Tanya explained.
Ellen grabbed the box of matches, trying not to laugh. “So how does this work, exactly?” She struck a match and put the flame to one of the wicks.
All three faces turned toward the ceiling when they heard a creak overhead.
“What was that?” Sue asked.
Ellen’s stomach dropped. “Do you think someone could be living up there?”
“Maybe we should go,” Tanya suggested.
“Old houses creak,” Sue said. “I’m sure it was nothing. And if someone is living up there, I doubt he’ll come down and risk exposing himself. Anyway, it could be the ghost. Let’s get started.”
Ellen struck another match and lit the other two candles.
“We can’t break the circle, once we hold hands,” Sue said. “So let me finish this margarita real quick.” She cocked back her head and emptied her cup.
Tanya laughed at Sue. “Do you want some of mine?”
“No, I’m good. Finish eating so we can hold hands.”