by Alexie Aaron
Walnut Grove House
A Cid Garrett novel
by Alexie Aaron
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
~
Copyright 2020 – Diane L. Fitch writing as Alexie Aaron
ALSO BY ALEXIE AARON
HAUNTED SERIES
in order
The Hauntings of Cold Creek Hollow
Ghostly Attachments
Sand Trap
PEEPs Lite: Eternal Maze 3.1
PEEPs Lite: Homecoming 3.2
Darker than Dark
The Garden
Puzzle
Old Bones
Things that Go Bump in the Night
Something Old
PEEPs Lite: Checking Out 9.1
PEEPs Lite: Ice and Steel 9.2
The Middle House: Return to Cold Creek Hollow
Renovation
Mind Fray
The Siege
NOLA
Never Forget
The Old House
Restitution
A Rose by Any Other Name
The Long Game
Given Enough Rope
The Return
Risen
The Candle
Book of Souls
A Daughter of Nyx
Sideshow
Crossroads
Sticks and Stones
Coming Soon: Lost Child
CID GARRETT P.I. SERIES
Cid
High Court
Tiny Houses
The Promise
Walnut Grove House
CIN FIN-LATHEN MYSTERIES
Decomposing
Death by Saxophone
Discord
The Wages of Cin
Unforgivable Cin: An Opera in Three Acts
STAND-ALONE PARANORMAL SUSPENSE
The Knight of Pages
SHORT STORIES
Evil
I dedicate this book to everyone embracing positive change. Sometimes you just have to reach out and grasp not only the brass ring but the brass cleaner too.
Table of Contents
Walnut Grove House
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Glossary
Alexie Aaron
Walnut Grove House
“I thought I was dreaming until my bones started snapping,” the burly Norwegian plumber confessed. “I’ve had bad dreams before. They became more frequent the longer I was involved in Walnut Grove House, so I just assumed that I’d wake up intact.”
“But you didn’t, Mr. Toov,” Dr. Silva confirmed. He walked over and pulled up the scans taken of Eskel Toov’s hands and arms. “I’m going to refer you to a specialist. I fear you have a long painful road of recovery in front of you, and you may never have the fine dexterity you’ve been used to…”
“I’m alive,” Eskel interrupted. “I’ll cope.”
“How did you become involved in this renovation project?”
“My local union representative recommended me for this out of town project.”
“I’m not savvy on unions, but is it normal to travel so far out of your area for a job?”
“This job paid extremely well.”
“I don’t fault you for taking the job. I’m just questioning why they hired contractors from so far away?” Dr. Silva asked.
“I now realize that there was no way anyone in the area would take the job. Not after I heard the history of this renovation project,” Eskel said. “I went into it blind. Never again.”
The doctor pulled over a chair and sat down. “Tell me about the attack and why you thought you were asleep when it happened.”
“The managing contractor, Akil Zabala, insisted that we stay on the premises to cut down on travel time. Or that’s the line of bull we bought into. There were rooms over what would have been a carriage house of some kind, little apartments. And to give him credit, the rooms were outfitted with bedding, towels and a refrigerator full of beer. He had a cook to make us meals. There was no need to go into town. Had we, I would have left the moment I first heard the history of the house.”
The Norwegian closed his eyes. His silence Dr. Silva mistook for sleep. But Eskel’s eyes opened before he could rise out of the chair.
“I left my bed, pulled on some coveralls and boots. I moved as if called into the house’s old kitchen and over to the open wall where I had been replacing the old cast-iron pipes. The day before, there was a rattle in the wall which I assumed was either air in the pipes or pressure was causing the pipes to move. I decided to do this early in the morning before the carpenters started. I walked over and ran the water. I waited, and sure enough, I heard the noise I would associate with a pipe shaking and hitting something in the wall. I located the pipe and hemmed and hawed with the decision to open up the wall at the point of instability so I could brace the pipe.”
“Why wait?”
“These were old plaster walls. Very expensive to fix. Pain in the ass to cut into. The problem was also low enough to impact the expensive trim board. I made a small drill hole in the plaster and pushed a scope into it. The light would help me to find the location from the floor below because the cellar ceiling was taken out for the convenience of the many contractors doing work on the house. My thoughts were to reach up and brace it from below. I walked downstairs and didn’t turn on the light. I saw the glow from my scope, grabbed a ladder, and marked the area. Once I did this, I climbed down and turned on as many lights as possible before I went upstairs for my materials.”
“Why all the lights?” Dr. Silva asked.
“Old cellars tend to eat light. This house was creepy, and the cellar was something out of a B horror movie. The more light, the more I felt comfortable. I’m vulnerable when I’m working. Usually I’m stuck in a small space. I like it better when there aren’t too many shadows to pay attention to. I can hardly look over my shoulder when I’m working.”
“Go on,” Dr. Silva encouraged.
“I ran into one of the electricians. I can’t remember his name… Let’s call him Harry. I asked Harry to wait a few minutes and turn on the water for another few minutes so I could make double sure I had the right pipe. He nodded, pulling out a cigarette. I hustled downstairs and waited. The water ran and the pipe vibrated. It was knocking against a piece of wood that really didn’t have any business being where it was. I needed to move it so I could properly brace the pipe. I waited for the faucet to be turned off and reached up to see if I could
pull the wood out. There was enough room for me to reach up with my hands on either side of the pipe.”
Eskel’s face paled, and his lip quivered. Dr. Silva moved towards him. Eskel held up a shaking hand. Dr. Silva waited.
Eskel took a deep breath and said, “That’s when I felt the hands pulling me upwards into the ceiling. I screamed and fought as the grip tightened and my fingers were beginning to snap. I don’t know if it was the pain combined with my overactive imagination, but I felt a second set of hands on my arms, and they began to twist and pull with enough force to pull my arms out of the socket. I must have been thrashing around because the ladder fell out from under me. I felt something cold move around my neck. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was a length of old electrical wire from the wall. The hands let go, and I fell. Harry caught me. Had he not stuck around to finish his cigarette, I would have died. Even if my hands and arms weren’t broken, the quickness of the drop would have broken my neck before I could grab hold of a beam or pipe to stop my fall.”
Dr. Silva got up and examined the plumber’s neck. “If you hadn’t told me, I would not have suspected your neck was wrapped in wire.”
“Harry’s a big guy, but he’s quick. He cut the wire and carried me upstairs.”
“You said Harry was an electrician. Could he have wrapped your neck?” Dr. Silva asked suspiciously.
“For what purpose? We really don’t know each other. No. The man saved my life. Cigarettes may eventually kill him, but that cigarette saved my life,” Eskel professed.
Dr. Silva stepped back. “Just to be sure, I’m going to have your neck scanned. Mr. Toov, it sounds like you’re lucky to be alive. Who knew that plumbing was such a hazardous profession? What will you do until you’re healed?”
“The union will take care of me, and then I’m going to look into new construction. Never again will I step voluntarily into a house older than a few years.”
“I’ll be back to check on you. If you need anything, alert the nurses.”
Dr. Silva walked out of the door and stood at the nurses’ station outside of Toov’s hospital room and typed in his notes.
Four suited individuals brushed by him and entered Toov’s room. Silva wasn’t positive but he doubted that they were family. Maybe from the union? He angled his head and peered into the room. There, he saw papers being pulled from a briefcase just before the door was closed by one of the suits.
Silva returned to his business but couldn’t shake the uneasiness that he had witnessed something he wasn’t supposed to see.
Chapter One
Cid handed another suitcase to Ted who was applying a Tetris method of stacking while trying to fit all the items in the back of Mia’s truck under the new cover.
“You don’t have to put it all here,” Cid said. “You can split it up between the SUV and truck.”
“If I separate the luggage into two vehicles, the odds of leaving something behind grows,” Ted said, scratching his head. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us? Europe in the winter? Snow bunnies on the slopes,” Ted tempted.
“You’re not going to be anywhere near a ski lodge,” Cid pointed out. “I would love to spend a few weeks with the Neyers in Alsace, but I have to make a living.”
“If money is a problem, I can loan you some until our new earcom patent goes up on the block in February. I hear we have three telecom companies interested.”
Cid looked at his generous friend. “You didn’t have to put me on that patent. All I did was suggest it. You worked out the bugs.”
“With your help. I’m not giving you charity, Cid,” Ted said offended.
“I know you’re not. How do I explain this…? I need to bring in a steady enough income if I’m ever going to be able to support a family.”
“Have you and Rand discussed marriage?” Ted asked, his face brightening.
“No. I’m not sure she sees me that way any longer.”
“I thought the two of you got back together.”
“Briefly. We just enjoyed a few dates when she was back visiting her folks. Rand’s being courted by a prestigious prep school on the east coast. She asked me if I’d move for her career.”
Ted’s face clouded. “Would you?”
“I don’t know. You moved to be with Mia.”
“I moved to court Mia. I was just lucky that PEEPs decided to move out here too. Burt told me that Mia told him that she would have moved to Kansas had PEEPs decided to use Wichita as a center of operations.”
Cid was gobsmacked. “How did I not know that?”
“I assume it never came up in conversation because it didn’t happen.”
Cid turned around, walked to the open garage door, and looked out at the farm. “Honestly, I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
Ted smiled behind him. “Me neither. Where else could a man have a family, a farm with its own ghost, and his best friend living a stone’s throw away?”
Cid watched as Murphy set another piece of wood up to quarter. Ethan Aldridge collected the firewood and stacked it in the wheelbarrow to take to the woodshed behind the house. Snow was expected, and Ethan had been put in charge of the Martin homestead. He and Murphy would hold the fort while the Martins went to Alsace with Nanny Berta and Lazar Popov. Lazar’s parents insisted the veteran go and spend his winter break with his distant cousins.
“Are you sure you want to trust your home to a kid?”
“Burt and Tom said they would be stopping by. I think it will be good for Ethan. Mia trusts him, and that’s good enough for me.”
“I don’t know why you have to take Jake with you?”
“Mia wants him to integrate himself into the sanctuary’s security system. If she’s going to stand a chance of selling the idea of building a sanctuary here like die Zuflucht to the Brotherhood of the Wing, she needs proof that it can be protected from prying eyes.”
“So, this isn’t just a pleasure trip.”
“No. But it will get us all away together. We’ll show off the kids, bond with family, gather intel, and come back ready for our next adventure.”
“You’re brave to make a trip with five kids…”
“Six, Mark is taking your spot.”
“Two teenagers and four kids under six. I don’t think you should be as concerned with getting all your luggage there in one piece as keeping track of your tribe.”
“I wanted to put trackers on them, and I almost had Nanny on my side, but Mia said no.”
“Maybe if you hadn’t insisted that dog trackers would be just fine.”
“Varden was very keen because his collar would have had little bones on it.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t suggest implanting RFID transponder chips.”
“Mia would have skinned me alive.”
“So that’s why she asked to borrow my filet knife,” Cid teased.
“When do you have to be on the job?” Ted asked.
“Kiki wants us there the day after tomorrow. I’m going to wait for Jessie, and we’ll drive in together. He’s offered to put me up in his fifth wheel instead of us having to bunk in the carriage house with the rest. He said he didn’t have fond memories of dorm life and felt the less he saw of Gut, Walrus, What the Fuck, and Holy Shit the better. He told me, ‘It’s not just their looks, it’s the smell.’”
Ted imagined two grown men alone in a fifth wheel would be worse but kept his mouth shut. “Couldn’t you stay in the mansion?”
“It’s haunted. That’s the reason we’re getting the job and being paid a premium. I’m going to make more in two weeks than I did the whole of last year.”
“Someone has deep pockets.”
“I not sure why exactly but the homeowner needs to be installed in this house by March,” Cid said. “Kiki said she’d give us the lowdown when we got there. Meanwhile, I have to purchase the standard ghost deterrents for everyone. Mia gave me a list. Tom gave me the little iron-ball shootin
g pistol he frisked off Whitney before he left.”
“Careful with that. It will seriously hurt a live being. What reason did Tom give Whit for taking it?”
“Tom was sheriff and the gun was unlicensed in his county. He was going to give it to Mia for her birthday but thought better of it. He licensed it to me as a hobby gun. Mia doesn’t like guns. Although, she’s quite a good shot with the sawed-off shotgun that we load with rock salt. You better take that too,” Ted said, walking over to the wall safe.
“I think that may be overkill.”
“When the house is haunted is brought up in the first sentence, then we’re not talking white ladies drifting down staircases,” Ted said. “Have Audrey do some research on the property before you leave.”
“Already requested. Kiki’s paying her,” Cid said, taking the shotgun from Ted. He looked down the scope.
“Its aim is off. If you want dead center, aim a little right and a little down from where you want the spray of rock salt to land,” Mia said, walking into the garage.
Cid nodded and placed the weapon on the workbench. “This is the last resort. There is very expensive rare wallpaper on those walls.”
“If it’s between your life and bloody wallpaper…” Mia started.
“The wallpaper goes,” Cid promised. He leaned down and hugged Ted’s wife. “No getting used to all that French cuisine and bringing back a French chef. That kitchen is mine.”
Mia released him. “There is no replacing you - Lazar in a heartbeat, but never you.” Mia turned to Ted. “The kids are ready and waiting for us to pick them up at the house. Nanny has her best hat on. Lazar is still trying to weasel out of the trip.”
“I’ll load Jake into the laptop, and I’ll be ready,” Ted said and walked into the office.
“I’ll pull the SUV around and start loading the kids,” Cid said.
“Thanks for taking us to the airport,” Mia said. “We would have had to rent a bus to get this crew there in one vehicle.”