“Repercussions?” He looked confused.
“Any lingering souls. Any hauntings.” She smiled sheepishly.
The old man chuckled. “Oh, there is nothing like that here. At least nothing that I’ve heard of and I’ve been in this village my whole life.”
“Really?” She glanced over at Joe who was giving her a knowing look. “You’re sure?”
“As sure as can be. But I can tell you anything you want to know about the battle itself and what happened afterwards.”
Vera smiled politely. She couldn’t deny the old man the chance to be a storyteller. He looked much too excited at the prospect. “I would like that very much.”
That night Vera crawled into bed with Joe just like every other night. Neither had mentioned ghosts or hauntings after leaving the historical society. They had returned home to their offices and worked for the remainder of the day. They’d joined each other for dinner and now they lay in bed together.
Vera was a little disappointed at how things had turned out. She had been hoping to find answers beyond a history lesson. Most of what she’d been told by the old man, whose name they had learned was Jonathan, were things she had already learned from her short bout of Internet research. She had been hoping that someone in the village would have had an encounter over the years. She had been hoping that someone would have seen or heard something.
But Jonathan had nothing to offer. He had no helpful information on the supernatural. He had been all about the facts. And he’d had plenty of them for that matter. She felt very well versed on the subject now, but she was no further ahead than she had been before.
She lay her head on the pillow and felt silly about the occurrences of the day. But there was nothing to be done about it now. All she could do was sleep it off and hope for a better day tomorrow.
Joe drifted off to sleep with his wife beside him. He had hoped she would get the answers that she wanted but alas that was not to be. All he could do was placate her and hope that by tomorrow she would be done with all this nonsense.
It was just past midnight when Joe woke with a start. He sat bolt upright in bed and stared at the doorway across from him. He was chilled to the bone. His hands shook and his body felt colder than it ever had in his life.
He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and it appeared before him in a puff of vapour. It was like being outside on a cool spring morning, but he knew that the outside temperature was much warmer than this. At least it had been when he’d crawled into bed last night.
He glanced towards the bedroom window. It was still open. He reached over to touch Vera’s arm. She was warm to the touch and yet his skin was covered in goose bumps. His hands shook from the cold.
His attention was pulled away from his sleeping wife and back to the window by the sound of metal clinking. He got out of bed and onto his feet. He walked to the window slowly and gazed out of it.
At first, he saw nothing. He hadn’t expected to see anything. He figured this was all his imagination playing tricks on him after the day they’d had. Perhaps it was the wine he’d had before bed. He was certain that this was all a dream.
But as he stared out the window the figures began to take shape on the lawn below. He had to blink a few times to be certain of what he was seeing, but the outlines of men were very clear and distinct in the moonlight. War weary soldiers marched across the lawn; dozens of them with their heads hung in exhaustion and their uniforms weighing them down.
Joe pinched himself to be certain that he actually wasn’t dreaming and cringed at the pinch. Nope, he was definitely awake but he needed to do a double take to be certain of what he was seeing.
He stood at the window for a full five minutes, watching the phantoms move across the lawn. There was something mesmerizing about it even if he could feel the chill of fear crawling up his spine. He was inside. He was safe. But that didn’t make the sight before him and less eerie.
So it seemed that Vera had been telling the truth. That was something he hadn’t expected. It wasn’t that he thought his wife was a liar, it was simply that he believed she exaggerated her paranormal encounters.
As he looked out the window, he was certain that this hadn’t been an exaggeration. She had sensed these spirits that afternoon on the lawn, and their suffering had drawn her from the house in the middle of the night. And as Joe watched them cross the lawn, he could sense that suffering. It was only that which kept him watching.
A larger part of his brain was screaming at him to close the window, crawl back into bed and pretend as if none of this had ever happened. But the looks on the soldiers’ faces had him standing on the spot watching them until they all disappeared in the fading darkness.
He stepped away from the window and looked down at his sleeping wife. She had been right about this. He was a little surprised at that revelation. He’d never encountered any of the spirits she claimed had lived in a variety of places. He’d always just believed that she was being fanciful, superstitious even. And now he could not deny this haunting. He could not deny her theory about the Battle of Tewkesbury.
But what to do about it now? They surely couldn’t let it continue. Sure, it had been going on for over 500 years, but it was time these souls were put to rest. They deserved that much.
He shook his head at the very thought. Yesterday he’d been making fun of Vera, in his head of course, about her belief in such things. Now he was standing next to the bed thinking about putting souls to rest. Life had a funny way of making you second-guess yourself.
He sat back down on the bed and debated waking Vera. He owed her an apology even if she wasn’t aware that he’d doubted her or made fun of her. He owed her an apology for all the years of doubting her sensitivities.
Perhaps she hadn’t been right every time but she was definitely right about this.
He ran a hand through his short brown hair and gave a heavy sigh. He would let her sleep. She looked too peaceful to disturb at the moment and she deserved a good night’s sleep after her encounter the previous evening. She deserved to rest, because he was fairly certain neither of them would be sleeping well again until this was taken care of.
He looked at his sleeping wife once more before getting up to leave the bedroom. The least he could do now was start on coffee and breakfast since he was already awake.
He needed some time alone to think about all this. He felt like the ground had given way beneath him. Everything that he had believed or not believed had just shifted sharply. He now wasn’t certain what to do.
He walked slowly down the stairs towards the kitchen. This was their home. They had built it from the ground up. He was in love with it. Vera was in love with it. There was no way they were leaving here.
And in order to avoid that, Joe knew what he’d have to do. He’d have to tell her what he’d seen. He’d have to admit that he was now a believer and they would have to brainstorm a solution to this. This wasn’t something he could do on his own. He needed Vera.
And in the meantime, he needed coffee.
The Experts
Vera was surprised to find coffee and breakfast waiting when she woke and went downstairs. It wasn’t that Joe never did anything like that. It had just been a long time.
She sat down at the counter and accepted her cup of coffee with a smile. “Why thank you, darling. What is the meaning of all this?” She gestured at the breakfast he was just finishing off.
“Can’t a man make his wife breakfast? There doesn’t have to be an ulterior motive behind everything.” He set the plate down in front of her.
She gave him a raised brow look and he knew that he was caught. She’d always been able to see through him. It was a rare occasion when he pulled the wool over her eyes about anything.
“Alright, alright,” he chuckled. He was feeling a bit better now that he had some coffee in him, but he wasn’t certain that he was ready to have this conversation. “Vera, I need to tell you something.”
Vera set her coffee mug down and met his gaze. She couldn’t read his expression and that concerned her. It wasn’t often that he said they needed to talk. These were words that most people dreaded in any relationship. And theirs was no exception. She never liked when he said that to her.
“Am I going to like this?” She chewed on her lower lip nervously. It wasn’t often that he made her nervous. She didn’t like the feeling.
He offered her a reassuring smile. “It’s nothing bad, I promise. If anything, I want to apologise to you.”
“Apologise to me? Whatever for?” Vera’s brow creased in confusion.
“I never really believed you about the hauntings and the ghosts. I thought it was all in your head.” He smiled sheepishly at her glare. “But last night I was pulled from bed by something. I was drawn to the window. And in the garden, I saw them. I saw the soldiers you spoke of. I saw the remnants of the battle that had been fought here. And I have to admit, it made me afraid.”
Vera resisted the urge to say, “I told you so” and instead nodded in understanding. “They put on quite the show, don’t they?”
“It was definitely a sight to see, but I can’t say I’m excited to see them again, ever.” He chuckled to himself and sipped at his second cup of coffee. “I don’t think I want to see anything like that ever again.”
“I told you we need to do something about it.” She felt a little vindicated that he had seen them. She wasn’t happy that he’d been startled or put off by the sight, but it was nice to have him finally believe her.
“And what do you suggest we do about it?” He raised a brow. “I’m at my wit’s end about where to even start.”
She considered this as she finally started to pick at the breakfast before her. “Well my first step was the historical society, but that fell a little flat. If we are to believe them, there are no spirits lingering in this area.”
“Well that is clearly false,” Joe laughed.
“Clearly.” Vera smirked. “If we can’t find our answers by looking into the past ourselves, then we will have to find someone who can look into the past for us.”
“And what do you mean by that?” Joe’s voice was filled with confusion which was clear on his face.
“Well there has to be a spiritualist or paranormal expert somewhere in this area. They seem to be all over the place nowadays.” She got up from the table and went over to the couch to retrieve her tablet. “I’m sure we can find someone on the Internet.”
Joe seemed to consider that for a moment. She would know best, he was certain. But he wasn’t confident that some stranger from the Internet could fix their problems. Still, he had agreed that she knew best so he was going to let her go ahead with her plan and hope that it got them some answers.
It took three days for someone to show up. In that time neither Vera nor Joe slept well. Each night one or the other was awakened by the sounds out in the garden. They both tried to ignore it but each night one of them was drawn to the window to watch the spirits travel across their yard and fade away as dawn crept forward.
By the time the paranormal expert they’d located arrived, they were both rather sleep deprived and ready to put an end to all of it.
When they heard the knock on the door they both rushed to answer it and the person they found on the other side was a bit of a surprise. The man had to be in his early twenties. He wore his hair down past his shoulders with beads woven into it. He wore rose-coloured glasses, had a thin moustache and a crooked smile.
“You’re the Searle’s, correct?” He stepped over the threshold and extended a hand. “I’m Johnny.”
“Just Johnny?” Joe raised a brow in question.
“Last names aren’t really important in this business. Johnny will do just fine.” He shrugged.
“I’m Vera and this is my husband Joe. Thank you so much for making time for us this week.” Vera greeted, maintaining her polite smile despite the oddity of the man.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner,” Johnny stepped further into the house as though he had been welcomed to explore. “I was caught up with another job that proved quite difficult. But no matter, it is done now.”
“Successfully I hope,” Joe asked with a smirk.
“Yes, all my jobs end successfully.” He gave them each a meaningful look. “I was quite intrigued by your situation. It is the first time I’ve had a call from this area. I had quite thought it to be completely uninhabited by spirits.”
“That does seem to be the local opinion,” Vera agreed. “But I can guarantee you that it is quite the opposite. We’ve both seen it with our own eyes.”
Johnny nodded. “Oh, I’m not doubting the validity of your haunting. I never do. It makes for bad business. What will be the real challenge is determining how to get rid of your little haunting problem.”
“Our little haunting problem?” Joe laughed. “I think it is a lot more than a little haunting problem.”
Johnny shrugged. “I suppose we shall see about that.” He turned his attention to Vera. “You said on the phone that you were the one to see them first. You indicated that you’ve always had a bit of a predisposition towards the paranormal?”
Vera nodded and tried not to blush at his direct attention. He had a rather piercing gaze. It was quite unnerving. “I’ve always had a sense for things. That’s why we built this house. I couldn’t find a house that didn’t have some sort of lingering presence in it.”
Johnny nodded, his face full of understanding. “I have faced the same issue in my life. Though I prefer to live with spirits than run from them. Adopting that same mentality may save you a great deal of heartache.”
Vera gave a polite smile but didn’t agree or disagree with his statement. “Well, I’ll bring you around to the back. That’s where all the excitement happens. We’ll see if you find something or feel something.”
“Indeed, we shall,” Johnny replied and followed the couple out into the back yard.
He stepped onto the porch and closed his eyes. He always felt that he got a better sense for a place if his eyes were closed. He drew in a deep breath. In through his mouth and out through his nose. He needed to become one with the place. He needed to understand what had happened here.
He stepped blindly from the porch and onto the grass and sensed the change immediately. The air seemed heavier. Everything around him seemed to grow in weight and sadness, but he couldn’t get a full read on what was going on yet.
He reached down with his eyes still closed and removed his shoes. He dug his toes into the grass and felt the earth beneath the bare soles of his feet. He felt the connection grow stronger. He began to understand what had happened here. He began to see the spirits and feel their pain.
Vera stood on the porch next to Joe and watched the strange scene unfold in front of them. She glanced over at her husband. “Do you think he is on drugs?” She mouthed.
Joe resisted the urge to laugh out loud. He didn’t want to disturb Johnny’s process. “I wouldn’t be surprised.” He mouthed back to his wife. He leant over to talk quietly to her, “But I guess one would have to be a little eccentric in order to work in this field. He definitely fits that mould.”
She nodded. “He is an odd duck. But if he can figure it out for us, he’s worth whatever we have to pay him.”
Joe gave a heavy sigh. “I’ll be happy when this is over.”
He watched Johnny turn in a slow circle and then open his eyes to look at them. His face looked pained and there was a hint of sadness behind those rose-coloured lenses.
“So what’s the verdict, Johnny?” Inquired Vera not daring to step down off the porch lest she interrupt his process.
He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “There was a great deal of death here. Pain and suffering, grief and guilt – the whole area is wrought with it. How you didn’t sense that when you stepped foot onto this plot of land is beyond me.” He shook his head slowly. “Hundreds died here and are buried here.”
“What are you saying exactly?” Joe’s brow creased in confusion.
“You built your home on a grave yard is what I’m saying. I’m shocked they found nothing when they excavated the property.” Johnny looked around himself. “Perhaps the house is just a bit too far from the woods.” He seemed to consider this, completely ignoring the horrified expressions on his clients’ faces. “But if you dig up the back yard, I’m sure you’ll find them.”
Vera watched him bend down and run his fingers through the grass.
“Yes, they are definitely down there,” he muttered.
Vera blinked in surprise and mild horror. She’d spent so long avoiding a haunted house. They had seen thirty homes before they had decided to build their own, and now she was exactly where she’d feared being. She was right in the middle of a haunting.
“Well, that’s about all I can do for you.” Johnny put his shoes back on and walked onto the porch to shake their hands. “You’ll get my bill in the mail.”
“But what do we do now?” Joe reached out to stop him from leaving without providing a solution to their problem.
“There’s only one thing you can do,” Johnny said with a shrug. “You have to dig them up.”
Put to Rest
July 2017
Manor House
Village near Gloucestershire
* * *
It took them a while to make the arrangements. They endured the nightly disturbances for a further month and a half. There was a process to go through before they could put the souls stuck in their garden to rest. And there was a great deal of paperwork to sign, apparently.
They’d talked about what they were going to do for a few days before they decided to go to the historical society with their details. They’d even done a bit of digging themselves until they’d found a relic in the yard. They wanted to have a little more substance besides the view of a spiritualist when they approached the academics. They wanted some hard evidence.
Haunted Happenings Page 57