Cole kissed her and set off to see what he could do in terms of replacing Laura. He had not picked up on all the non-verbal communication clues that Barbara had so easily observed at the time, but thinking back he could not believe he had missed them. They had all been there for sure. He agreed with Barbara; it seemed obvious that something had scared off Laura. There did seem to be something about this place that was just a bit off, even with all the work they had done to hopefully cleanse the cloud that had been hanging over it. First the inexplicable phenomenon that they all had observed in the nursery. Then the rash of accidents and mishaps during the renovations from the construction crews. And then Barbara’s near fall on the stairs. With the sudden resignation of the nanny, it was making Cole question what might be behind it all.
Unseen Hands
After Laura left, Cole discovered that finding a replacement for her was going to be a challenge. There was a pool of potential candidates to select from, but they all were either were gainfully employed elsewhere or were suddenly not interested when they found out they would be working at the Shawcroft House. Cole assumed this latter issue was a combination of the word of Laura’s sudden departure with the house’s dark past. To make matters worse, he found out that Laura had fled Carlisle, a town where she had been born and had grown up in. It seemed odd to everyone he spoke with, as she gave no indication that she was leaving.
It seemed that as soon as she had resigned from Cole and Barbara’s employ that she packed her things and just vanished. Not a word to anyone there, not even her closest friends. She had given no indication of her plans, she just was suddenly gone. As Cole talked with the neighbors he agreed that it was odd, though he assured them all had been going well until the day she resigned. He returned each day to the gate house no closer to replacing Laura than the day she had fled. To help out Barbara, though, they purchased what was called a “Nanny Cam” that they could install to let them keep an eye on the girls even when they were not immediately in the vicinity of the nursery.
The video system provided a live feed to other strategic locations in the house that would alert them of an emergency or a sudden need. Barbara was thankful for this new gadget as the search for a new nanny looked as if it might take some time. Also, Cole had been called away for a few days to attend to some contracts that had to be signed in person back in Wetheral as some of their rental properties were undergoing a change in the property managers attending to them. Nothing out of the ordinary had transpired since Cole had left and Barbara was beginning to feel better. The Nanny Cam was a help, giving her the added help she needed when she was not able to be right in the nursery.
The last night that she was alone, though, before Cole was to return home, Barbara began to think otherwise about the nursery. After dinner and after the boys had wandered off to their rooms, Barbara sat down on the bed, pillows propped up behind her as she tried to finish off the book by Raymond Esters that she had had been working on for weeks. Both Chloe and Yolande were fast asleep and Barbara was relishing in some time just to herself. The video feed was well within her line of sight as she leaned back and relaxed.
The book was engaging and she found herself drawn into the story deeply. Just as she was turning a page, Barbara glanced up to see what she was sure was a shadow moving across the nursery in the direction of the twins’ cribs. She felt her heart race as she tossed the book aside and rushed through the door to check it out. She burst through the door, but all she found when she got there were the girls sleeping peacefully as they had been all night. Other than them, Barbara was alone in the nursery and nothing was amiss. She was sure she had spotted something though…
She reset the covers on the girls and shook her head as her breath returned to normal and she went back to her bed. The rest of the evening, though, Barbara could not concentrate on her book, as she could not take her eyes off the closed circuit feed. There was no repeat incident and she finally fell asleep herself assuming her imagination had been responsible, leaking over from her being lost in the book. She would check the video recording in the morning just to put her mind completely at ease. No sooner than Barbara had dozed off, however, a second set of forms drifted across the nursery and paused as they reached the cribs. A strong wind rose up outside and whipped around the eaves of the house and the rattling of the window seemed to cause the forms to turn to mist and just melt away…
………
Cole arrived about mid-morning as Barbara was going over the recordings from the camera from the night before.
“Anything interesting?”
“Oh, Cole…not sure. Late last night I thought I saw something move across the nursery when I was in bed reading. Just thought I’d take a look at the tape and get a better look.”
“Moving? Like what?”
“Hard to describe…just sort of this set of amorphous, fuzzy shadows.”
Cole looked over her shoulder as she cued up the recording. Barbara slowed the feed as it approached the time in question. Then for just the briefest of moments, she saw it!
“Did you see that?”
“Cannot say I did…run it back.”
Barbara reversed the feed and played the critical spot again.
“Right there! Just near the cribs!”
Cole did not know what to say. As closely as he concentrated, he just could not pick anything up. He had a feeling that Barbara’s nerves were getting a bit frayed from all that had happened and that finding a replacement for Laura had just become a priority.
“Sorry, sweetheart…I’m just not seeing anything.”
Barbara felt annoyed when he did not see what she was picking up so clearly, but she could see at that point that it was useless to continue trying to convince him. She sighed and let it go. Maybe some fresh air, she thought…just to clear her mind and focus on something else. Cole headed off to his office down below as Barbara bundled up the girls and took them for a stroll through Upperby Park. By the time she returned, Barbara was not so sure about what she had been so sure of on the tape. Maybe Cole was right and she was just still feeling the effects of all the weirdness that they had been encountering. All seemed fine now and they shared a quiet and warm evening together as a family with dinner and talk in the living room. Like normal, Zady and Vince headed off to bed early while Cole and Barbara got the twins put to bed. Barbara once again settled down with the Esters’ novel as Cole went to the bath to brush his teeth.
Barbara closed the cover, as she had come to the conclusion of the gripping mystery. Just as she leaned over to put the book on the night table, she looked up at the video feed in horror as she watched the cover on Chloe’s crib slowly fall away, moving off her small body as if being drawn away by unseen hands.
“Cole! Come quickly! It’s Chloe!”
Cole rushed through the door, smacking his shin painfully on the door frame to find Barbara gone and in the nursery. He hobbled along, the sound of her voice making him certain something horrible had happened. When he arrived, though, all he found was a panting and trembling Barbara standing by Chloe’s crib staring at her. As far as he could tell, nothing was wrong.
“Barb…what is it?”
“Her crib cover.”
Cole looked down to see the cribs just as they had left them earlier.
“Something wrong with it?”
“On the video feed…when you were in the bath. Someone or something was pulling it off her!”
“Look down, honey. Nothing has happened.”
“But I saw it move! I know I did!”
Cole was now getting more than a little concerned about Barbara. Ever since they had known each other, she had been the most rational, sensible, unshakable person he had ever met. But something was making her come unhinged. He watched as she touched the cover gently and then returned to bed with him. Cole knew he could not delay finding some help for her another day…
Second Sight
Cole knew finding a replacement nanny in Carlisle had hit a dead end.
There was no one. He did, though, recall Mrs. Matty, the woman just down the block mentioning an older woman down in Blackwell that might be an option. He hated having to figure out the logistics of getting help back and forth between Carlisle and Blackwell for some part-time help, but it seemed as if Barbara was in dire need of it. Perhaps, he thought, she might consider living on site for a bit more money. Cole phoned up Mrs. Matty and found out that the lady, one Maude Stipplington, was available and would be happy to come on temporarily as a live-in nanny. Cole drove to Blackwell and retrieved the woman immediately, forgoing the formal interview process due to the situation.
On the ride back, Cole filled Maude in on their situation, including the history of the house and the sudden departure of Laura. She just smiled and nodded, as none of what he spoke of seemed to bother her in the least. She was well acquainted with the Shawcroft House, even its previous incarnation as The Hellingly School…she just shrugged.
“Tis no problem, sir. I am sure I will manage.”
Her flat affect of speech felt a bit odd to Cole, but otherwise she seemed fine. They arrived back quickly and he introduced Maude to Barbara and the boys. From there, he let Barbara take over to show her around and help her get settled in a small guest bedroom down the hall. Barbara returned to the kitchen where Cole was fixing tea.
“She seemed…I don’t know…different to you, Cole?”
“Different?”
“I don’t know…just different. I can’t put it into words.”
Cole knew what she was driving at. He had felt the same thing on the trip back to Carlisle from Blackwell, but as she had said, it was hard to put into words. Based on what Cole saw as Barbara’s shaky psyche at the moment he did not comment. Maude joined them for dinner and all seemed to be fine. She engaged the boys in conversation as well as the two of them and any thoughts of Maude’s being “different” vanished. Everyone headed off to bed for the night and a calm that had not been felt in weeks settled over the house.
Cole was just returning to bed from the bathroom in the middle of the night when he thought to take a peek in on the twins even though the video feed was indicating that all was quiet and calm. He slipped in quietly through the door that joined their bedroom to the nursery so as not to awaken the girls or Barbara. To his surprise he came upon Maude just sitting quietly in a chair out of the view of the Nanny Cam, her hands folded on her lap and her eyes closed. As he came closer, he saw she was not sleeping, but keeping what appeared to be a silent vigil over the nursery. She opened her eyes slowly as she sensed his presence and smiled.
“Anything wrong, Maude?”
“Not at the moment, sir. It helps for their safety if I just make sure they know I am here.”
“The girls? But they are asleep…”
“Tis not the girls that I mean, sir. All is well. Go back to bed and we can talk more in the morning. I am sure the missus would like to be part of the conversation.”
Cole wanted to reply, but what was he to say? The girls were perfectly fine and Maude was just sitting quietly with them. Her comments had him a bit confused, but at the moment he could see no point in pressing the issue with her any further. He nodded and bid her a good night.
……….
Cole had returned to bed but he did not sleep well following the oddly cryptic conversation he had had with Maude just hours before. He rose just as the sun was peeking through the bedroom windows and padded off to the kitchen to heat water for tea. Just as the kettle was boiling, he looked up to see Barbara come in to the room and join him.
“You’re up early today, Cole.”
“Could not sleep. The girls up yet?”
“Still sleeping like little lambs. You OK? You look like something is bothering you.”
Cole poured her a cup of tea and then sat with her at the table to go through his encounter with Maude during the night. Barbara furrowed her brow as he told the story.
“That was it?”
“That was all she said. I assume she will be up soon and will fill us both in on what she was talking about.”
Just then, they both looked up as Maude joined them in the kitchen, wearing the content smile that never seemed to leave her face. Cole indicated some tea for her and she gratefully accepted as she sat at the table across from them.
“Morning, sir. Missus. What a lovely tea…Bewley’s Irish if I am not mistaken?”
“Uh…yes…it is, Maude. I was hoping you could fill both of us in on what you meant last night in the nursery? I filled Mrs. Caruthers in on the basics.”
“Certainly, sir. I know you have taken on a house that has a…shall we say…interesting history. The old Hellingly School was a horrible, dreadful place run by some misguided people.”
“So you know of all of that?” Barbara asked as she set her tea down to listen more carefully.
“Aye, missus. I am afraid anyone of my age within the vicinity of Carlisle knows of it. And that, I understand is what drove off your last nanny.”
“She had health concerns, Maude.” Cole said.
“No sir. With all due respect, that is incorrect. ‘Twas the house that made her run and with good reason for someone not intimately familiar with what went on here.”
“And how would you come to know this, Maude?” Barbara asked.
“I am,” Maude continued, “what people in the old days referred to as possessing the gift of second sight.”
“Like ESP?” Cole asked.
“A version, sir, yes. Something I was born with and it has remained with me all these years. I have no idea where it came from, but when a location is still inhabited by spirits that for some reason cannot move along to the next phase, and they are still attached to the site, I can see them.”
Both Cole and Barbara went deathly silent as her pronouncement settled in. Knowing the background from the old Hellingly School, a cold vise of fear fell over them. They had no idea if what Maude was saying was the truth or not, but they let her continue wondering if what she could see might explain a lot of what had been going on since they had arrived and taken residence.
“So, what have you seen here, Maude?” Cole asked.
She sipped her tea, set the cup aside and held out her hands, one toward each Cole and Barbara, who each instinctively took her offered hands.
“This will not be pleasant to hear, but I think you need to know what other entities you are sharing this place with before you begin bringing in any more children.”
Blessing
Cole felt his mouth go dry and he looked over to Barbara who was now visibly shaken as well. They knew each other well enough to know each agreed to hear more and they turned to face Maude once again.
“Since you are well aware of the history here, especially with the younger children, I will not go over all the details again. The fire that ravaged the school? It was extensive, as you can imagine and many of the children here were trapped and could not get out. Perhaps you have heard that no one at the school tried to help them either once the fire began. Very few of them survived. What I am seeing now are large groups of hideously deformed children that were killed by that fire wandering the halls, crying out in agony for help.”
“They appear to be clawing at the windows and walls in an attempt to get out. They were taken young and as is often the case in situations like that, the spirits of the deceased feel trapped, spiritually, as their earthly lives were cut short. Until this is resolved for them, I am afraid they will remain stuck in a kind of macabre limbo. They are not particularly malevolent at the moment, but nothing can be predicted, and your own children could be at risk.”
“What options are there to help them, Maude?” Barbara asked as the descriptions of the poor souls cut her like a knife.
“Are you religious people, missus?”
“In our own way, I guess so…”
“My recommendation would be to have a priest from one of the local churches come, and exorcise and bless the whole house.”
Whil
e Cole and Barbara were not of a mind of this type of activity, they both were getting a vibe from Maude that she had been through this type of thing before. There was no reason to feel she was being dishonest with them and certainly it would not hurt…if nothing else, they would be in no worse shape in the house then they were now. Maude knew a priest that was adept at the treatment and with their permission she arranged to have the exorcism and blessing performed while Cole and Barbara took the family to Carlisle for the day on a “family outing”. She thought it best if no one else was privy to the treatment.
………..
They returned to the house once the priest had left and Maude assured them it was fine to come home. Everything looked and felt the same as they entered into the gate house, but there was a look on Maude’s face that made them know there was more to address—she was smiling as she shook their hands, but the smile was diminished just a hair.
“You seem like you need to tell us something, Maude.” Cole said as they sat together in the living room.
“Yes, sir. The treatment was successful to a degree. Father Ingrahm did all he could and for the most part.”
“But?” Barbara asked, feeling her heart sink.
“But, due to the large number of children that perished here years ago, and with your intent to house orphans here, there is a risk.”
“Risk?” Cole asked.
“Yes, sir. The blessing has helped show the lingering spirits that they have been freed and can move on, but due to the large numbers of them and their young ages, once more children flood in again, it could possibly act as as…I guess a spiritual magnet is the best way to describe it…that might draw them back.”
“I see,” Barbara replied. “So, moving ahead with our idea of the safe haven may not be such a good idea?”
“Hard to say, missus. All I can say is what the priest told me and what I have experienced before.”
Haunted House Tales Page 37