Haunted House Tales

by Riley Amitrani

  “For real?” Sophie exclaimed.

  “Yeah,” Jack added, for real?”

  “I guess if Tania can stand you two, it’s for real…Tania?”

  “Well…I don’t know….” Tania replied, putting on a mock mask of doubt.

  “Please, Tania?” Sophie begged.

  “I guess so…,” she replied as her face broke into that wide smile that Nadia had first seen when she had arrived,

  Both Sophie and Jack ran to her and clasped onto her legs as she bent down and hugged them back.

  “Why don’t you guys go play in your rooms so Tania and I can talk, OK?” Nadia asked.

  After they said goodbye to her, the kids ran off happier than Nadia had seen them in a long time.

  “I don’t know what to say, Tania…”

  “Oh, it’s nothing…”

  “Are you kidding me? They love you! You still interested in the gig?”

  “You bet! I love kids, but these two of yours are really something special, Nadia.”

  “I think so, too. Can you start Monday?”

  “Absolutely. I’ll pick them up at school and walk them home and hang out until you get home. That sound good?”

  “Perfect. And thanks so much. You have no idea what a difference you will make in their lives.”

  Nadia walked Tania to the door and hugged her as well. There was something about this woman that just broke down doors and made you feel as if she was your best friend ever.

  “Maybe someday I can tell you guys about the haunting of The Cleeman House,” Tania said as she released Nadia from their hug.

  “The what?” Nadia asked.

  “Oh, geez, I’m sorry…I was sure Marissa Talbot had told you the rumors of this place when she cut your lease.” Tania replied.

  “The building is haunted?” Nadia asked again wondering if Tania was just goofing with her.

  “It’s nothing really. Just an old folklore tale that has been around as long as anyone can recall. It’s mostly just something that comes up at Halloween or when older kids want to scare the little ones is all.”

  “You believe it?”

  Tania shrugged.

  “Not really. Like I said it’s just a legend. Don’t worry. I won’t say anything to Sophie or Jack. I don’t want to scare them.”

  Tania waved goodbye and Nadia closed the door. Nadia did not believe in such things, but there was hardly a place in the UK anymore that did not claim to have at least one haunted house in its midst. Outwardly she brushed off Tania’s comments, but at some point, she knew she would like to hear the backstory just out of curiosity since she was hoping Poolewe was to be their permanent home. However, once Tania had left, Nadia sat down and recalled that creepy feeling she had experienced the first night they had been in the flat. When she had suddenly felt anxious and as if she was being watched…

  Sophie Goes Rogue

  After Tania came on board as the afternoon nanny, things began to fall into a regular and predictable rhythm and Nadia wondered how she had ever managed without the wonder woman. At work, the staff had coalesced into a well-integrated and cooperative team and with Nadia’s guiding hand they had soon surpassed the expectations that the company had envisioned when they had first created the idea for an expansion in the north of Scotland. With the success of her new office, Nadia had gotten an unexpected, but certainly well-deserved and much appreciated bump in salary. The chances she had taken on her living situation, including her new nanny, were now much more palatable financially.

  Following up on her initial interactions with Sophie and Jack, Tania had as well become a fixture in the household, as if she had always been there. Both Sophie and Jack went wild with glee when Tania came to school to retrieve them in the afternoons and their goodbyes in the evenings once Nadia got home were touching and heartfelt. Tania never complained or even mentioned it if Nadia was late getting home in the evenings, and she suspected that the nanny was enjoying the company of the kids as much as they were with her. The memories of Richard, while still with Nadia to some degree, and she suspected they would never vanish from her subconscious completely, were getting to be a more and more distant thing to her.

  In fact, there were several men in Poolewe who Nadia knew were keenly interested in her, but she was still a bit shell-shocked from her disastrous marriage to get involved at the moment. Maybe one day, though…Nadia thought back on how blissfully content she had been just before discovering the last peg in what had been apparently a long series of mistresses in her ex-husband’s merry little band. It might indeed be a long time, if ever before she was able to trust another man as she had Richard. For now, though, her work and her kids were enough and she was happier than she had ever been. But again, much as on that hideous black day back in Glasgow, that all changed when Nadia arrived home to find Tania sitting on the sofa reading a book with a grim look of concern on her face. She had never seen such an expression on her nanny’s face since she had met her, except when she was just mugging for the kids.

  Nadia hung her coat and took a seat on a chair next to Tania as the nanny closed her book and sighed out heavily.

  “Looks like some shit must have hit the fan today, Tania. Don’t sugar coat it.”

  “It’s that obvious, huh?”

  “Relative to your normal Mary Poppins/Julie Andrews persona? Are you kidding me? Kids OK?”

  “They’re in their rooms. Jack is fine, but there was an incident with Sophie at school today.”

  “Sophie? You’re joking, right?”

  In her wildest imagination, Nadia could not envision the mild-mannered, easy-going, “I-get- along-with-world” Sophie Ralston getting into anything untoward.

  “I wish I was, Nadia. It seems that during the late afternoon recess today, Sophie hit this other girl.”

  Nadia just shrugged. It was not that she was trying to diminish the alleged incident, but more that unless things had changed dramatically since she was a kid, that occasional playground scrabbles were to be expected. In her life, anyway, it had been that way. But something in Tania’s face and eyes told Nadia there was a bit more to it than some minor incident.

  “I know what you are thinking, Nadia. What’s the big deal about a couple of kids having some schoolyard tussle, right?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “That was my reaction when the school called me as well. This stuff happened all the time when I was growing up. I am guessing for you too?”

  Nadia just nodded.

  “Things have changed over the years I am afraid. The teachers often overreact at the slightest things now. They have all these zero-tolerance policies for just about everything now. Pardon me for saying so, but no one lets kids just be kids and work out their own problems anymore.”

  “Something tells me this is more serious than I first imagined.”

  Tania nodded and sighed again. Nadia was touched that this seemed to be hitting her as hard as if Sophie was her own daughter.

  “Apparently, at least according to her teacher anyway, Sophie hit this kid hard enough split open the girl’s lip.”

  Nadia’s mouth fell open into a gape of disbelief. Surely, she had misheard what Tania just said.

  “Sophie? That cannot be right…”

  “Bunch of kids saw it, too, so I guess it’s what happened. The bad news is the teacher completely flipped out and probably caused more of an incident over the whole thing than was warranted. I am guessing she has never seen blood before and it freaked her.”

  “Is there good news?”

  “Yeah. The parents of the other kid were cool about it. It was just a fat lip with some minor bleeding that looked much worse than it actually was. Against the teacher’s insistence, they refused to let the incident spiral out of control. They said to give them a call and maybe everyone could get together and see if the girls themselves could resolve whatever it was that made Sophie lash out at her.”

  “That’s a relief. At least she went after a kid with fairly en
lightened and open-minded parents. I guess it could be a lot worse.”

  “With the growing litigious nature of Scotland these days? You bet!”

  “And the school?”

  “Without the other parents making a federal case out of it, there is not much else they can do. I suppose they could do something on their own but seeing as how the parents have let it go, all they have left is a pissed off and annoyed teacher. She’ll get over it, I guess…or not and just move on…whatever…”

  Nadia nodded and sighed in relief herself. The last thing she needed now was to have to deal with a lawsuit over a playground scuffle.

  “Guess we need to talk to Sophie, though. This is so unlike her, I am curious as to what caused it. Also, need to let her know this is not acceptable behavior. Then talk to the parents and see what they would like to see in terms of an apology…assuming Sophie was not justified in her action…you know, like defending herself?”

  “Good idea. You want me to sit down with the two of you to hash this out?”

  “If you don’t mind, yeah. I know this is sort of above your pay grade, so to speak, but I know how much Sophie adores you. She might open up easier if you are there.”

  “Sure. Be glad to. You think maybe she was provoked?”

  “Could be. Sophie is as gentle and kind as any kid I ever met. And you know as well as I do that the retaliation in something like this is often what is seen, not the instigation. I’d like to hear her side of it.”

  Sophie came out of her bedroom when Nadia called to her and sat down on the sofa between Nadia and Tania. She would not look Nadia nor Tania in the face as she sat down, just staring blankly at her feet. The gesture gave Nadia a nasty flashback to her last day with Richard when she had caught him with his pants down, as it were. If the other girl had hit Sophie it was not obvious as there did not appear to be any marks of a fight on her.

  “Tania tells me you had an altercation with one of your classmates today. Is that right?”

  Sophie glanced at Tania as if she had been ratted out, but she just shrugged and returned her gaze to her feet.

  “Want to fill me in, Sophie?”

  “Not really…”

  “The girl hit you first?”

  Sophie shook her head no.

  “She goes after someone else and you stepped in to defend them?”

  Again, Sophie shook her head no.

  “Sophie look at me, please…”

  Slowly she raised her eyes to meet Nadia’s gaze.

  “Tell me what happened. Right now, you are not in serious trouble. But we need to find out what happened. You cannot just go around hitting your classmates without provocation…”

  She half-mumbled/half-grunted out she did not know why and was sorry. Nadia looked over at Tania who just raised her shoulders slightly in a gesture of “beats me”.

  “Would you like to talk to Tania without me around? Would that be easier?”

  This would have killed Nadia if Sophie had said yes, but she knew how close the kids had gotten to Tania. She also thought back to how sometimes it had been easier for her as a young girl to talk to a friend vs. a parent. She was willing to try anything to get to the bottom of this. However, Sophie again just shook her head no.

  “OK, Sophie. Why don’t you go back to your room for now? If you want to talk about it, we are both here.”

  Without another sound and another glance toward them, Sophie slid off the sofa and padded back to her room. The door closed quietly. Nadia looked at Tania.

  “Any thoughts?”

  “Beats me, Nadia. This is so out of character for the Sophie I know.”

  “Me, too, Tania. Think maybe she is getting teased or bullied and is afraid to say anything?”

  “Could be. This sort of thing is all over the schools now. But somehow that does not feel right to me either.”

  “It could explain a sudden lashing out though. I am sure I am the last person her teacher wants to hear from at the moment, but I guess that is my next step.”

  “I agree, Nadia. Too bad if she doesn’t like it. At least you are trying to get to the bottom of whatever it was that precipitated this. And besides, it is her job…”

  “Thanks. Let me know if Sophie should happen to open up to you about this, OK?”

  Tania nodded.

  ……….

  A meeting with Sophie’s teacher was about as uncomfortable and antagonistic as Nadia had imagined it might be. The woman had lobbied hard to have Sophie suspended if not expelled, and Nadia was grateful for the support of the parents of the girl who Sophie had hit against that. The teacher grudgingly met with Nadia but could give her no real insight into what might have led to Sophie’s outburst. The woman had seen Sophie as a perfect student and friend to most of her classmates until just recently. Perhaps Sophie had grown a bit quieter than usual and was not quite as outgoing as normal, but she had to admit this was a phase that kids her age often went through…she had given it no real thought. Mostly, Nadia got the feeling the teacher had been forced into meeting with her and even if there had been something of substance to help her out here, she was certainly not going to get it from her.

  Sophie continued to be quieter than normal around the house, and so far Tania had heard nothing more from her on the subject. She continued to interact with Tania when she was around, but it was definitely not the same little girl she had first met. Tania was as baffled and concerned about her as was Nadia. The parents of the other girl had nothing to add either. Their daughter and Sophie had not been good friends but definitely had been OK with each other until that day. They had talked to their daughter and she had been as stunned by Sophie’s assault on her as anyone. According to the girl, there was no overall pattern of teasing or bullying going on that she knew of either.

  Nadia apologized profusely to the couple and finally coerced Sophie to come with her and apologize in person as well. It might not have been so genuine but based on how accommodating and understanding the couple had been over the whole thing, Nadia thought it necessary all the same. She let them know to contact her anytime if their daughter needed any additional medical attention or if she remembered anything more. Blessedly, no further contact came from them.

  Sophie’s New Friend

  As time went by, the incident at the kids’ school faded from everyone’s memory. There were no more confrontations between Sophie and the other little girl. And to everyone’s relief, a new teacher was assigned to Sophie’s class. The former teacher continued to raise a stink about how she had been undermined and insulted, so the school told her to get over it or she would be let go as they felt her attitude and presence in that particular classroom was becoming toxic to all. She finally just resigned and the matter was put to rest. Sophie, however, was still a mere shell of her former self. Whatever had gone on, Nadia thought, it was still hanging over Sophie even with the departure of the teacher who had tried to have her expelled.

  Tania was doing her best to bring Sophie back to normal, and Nadia had great faith that if anyone could so that it would be Tania. However, so far, not much had changed with her since the day of the assault. Nadia returned to her office somewhat distracted by the situation with Sophie, but she soon realized that she had done all she could. It bothered her that Sophie was struggling with some inner demon of some kind and that she could not reach her. Perhaps it was time to consider some sort of professional help, Nadia mused to herself as she walked home one evening. That was a nice thought, but this was Poolewe, not Glasgow…

  To add to the change in dynamics in the home, Nadia was also feeling a stronger and stronger sense of that creepy sensation she had experienced on her first night in the flat. It was an intangible thing for sure, but it also felt to her at times so oppressive in nature that she was sure she could reach out and touch it if she tried. It was impossible for her to describe, yet it was there and seemed to be growing day by day. Sophie was still quieter than usual, keeping more to herself which was not helping, but Jac
k seemed to just be Jack. Nadia tried to keep the downturn in her home life separate from her professional responsibilities at the office, but she had a sneaky suspicion the two worlds were colliding.

  One Thursday, early in the evening, a new wrench was thrown into the mix as Nadia sat alone in the living room trying to unwind from what had been a very challenging day at work. Both Sophie and Jack were off in their separate rooms. Jack was recovering from a mild cold and was napping, while Sophie was working on some homework. From out of the blue, Nadia heard Jack cry out. The sound startled Nadia from her reverie and she hustled along to his bedroom wondering if he had maybe fallen or perhaps had just had a disturbing dream. When she arrived, Jack was sitting up in his bed, his hands covering a superficial, but evident red mark across his cheek.

  Nadia pulled Jack’s hands away to look at his face. It was nothing major but was baffling all the same. It was like he had been struck with a strap or some other object that had left a visible red mark.

  “What happened, honey?” Nadia asked as she hugged Jack to her.

  Jack was still sobbing and blubbering but managed to force out a few words between his distress. As far as Nadia could figure out, he had been blissfully asleep until a sharp pain across his face had abruptly woken him. Based on what had just happened with Sophie, Nadia tiptoed into the hall and peeked into her daughter’s room. Sophie was bent over her school work. She then searched Jack’s room thoroughly, though she had no idea what exactly she was looking for. All her hunting and investigation, though, came up empty. She hugged and rocked Jack until he fell back asleep and then returned to the living room to mull it all over. It was a mystery to Nadia. On top of her stress from work and the oddly oppressive atmosphere of the flat itself, this was another burden that she definitely did not need just then.

  Several days went by without any other issues in the flat. Sophie was still a bit withdrawn, but Nadia did get the impression that she was slowly emerging from her self-imposed exile. She talked this over with Tania, and the nanny agreed that she did seem to be slowly returning to her old self. Later that week, as Nadia arrived home from work a bit earlier than usual she and Tania sat in the living room to just chat.