I tried to press all my weight down on the stairs to make more noise as I climbed. Was anyone who I thought they were in this place? Was I the only one who hadn’t had a prior connection to the Schillings? And why did no one like these people? There were plenty of horrible people who actually had friends. The Schillings apparently didn’t.
I drew in a deeper breath when we reached the third floor landing, working hard to do it because my chest was stubbornly refusing to let my lungs expand. That led to more panic, which tightened my chest even further.
I’d never had a panic attack, although I’d read about them. As a librarian, I’ve been known to read a little of everything. I reminded myself that part of the panic was that I couldn’t breathe and I needed to just keep breathing as steadily as I could. If I relaxed, I could breathe more deeply.
Being forcibly led into a hallway with a man who seemed angrier than he should, this was easier said than done. Relaxation did not appear to be in my future, at least not any time soon.
“Why are you doing this?” I wheezed.
“Don’t be dense,” Jimmy snapped. “Rachel told you, didn’t she? That stuff about Murray was just a lie you made up on the spot.”
“No,” I said slowly.
Jimmy didn’t even turn.
“Show me where that stuff is,” he demanded, pushing me into the schoolroom.
He flipped on a light, which didn’t help much. The lights were two overhead lights with bulbs that didn’t appear to be much more than forty watts, if that. Clearly light in the schoolroom wasn’t a priority, at least not now. There were places on the wall that I could see had once held sconces for light before electricity had come to Schilling Manor. I wondered how long ago that had been. Inane, I know.
I tried to breathe, pushing my way along the one path that led through the boxes to the one Rachel had found. It was still open when I got there, greeting me with the sight of leather-bound books.
I backed up so Jimmy could look through them. He pushed by me, a lantern in his hand, probably so he could see what was down in the basement. I was just glad he hadn’t dragged me down there instead of to the schoolroom.
My imagination ran wild with what was likely down there.
The lights flickered.
Jimmy swore.
Several boxes crashed over right near us.
I jumped.
Jimmy wasn’t far behind.
“Come here,” young Audra said, gesturing to me to follow. She was between me and the door.
I hurried to catch up with her, trying not to wheeze too hard.
I was nearly to the door before Jimmy glanced over at me, a puzzled look on his face.
I was through the door then, with Audra. She didn’t lead me to the stairs.
She led me down the hallway, towards the east wing.
“Where are we going?” I hissed.
“You’ll see,” she said.
She moved quickly, not bothered by floors that creaked or wood planks that weren’t as even as they needed to be.
I followed.
Something banged into a wall.
I turned.
Jimmy came careening through the doorway.
He looked left first and then spotted me to the right.
I picked up my pace, difficult to do when it was nearly dark and I could hardly breathe.
If only I’d been further along, I’d have been invisible.
Audra paused, gesturing to me to go ahead of her.
I placed my hand on the wall again and hurried down the hallway, which switched slightly to the right and then a hard turn to the left. It was completely dark now and I had to slow down. Who knew what was down the hall?
I caught a whiff of roses and then one of spice. I hurried along, hearing Jimmy behind me, his footsteps echoing in the silence, the only sound but for my gasping breath.
Three steps further the silence was broken by music that seemed to rise from the floorboards.
Someone played the pianoforte. It wasn’t the music I had heard earlier in my hallway. This was different. A waltz perhaps.
I heard voices murmuring, as if they were talking but they were far away from where I was. Still, I heard the sounds of talking and clinking glasses.
A woman’s scream.
I saw a shadow come rushing out of a room, a chill following it. Another shadow with even colder sensation rushed by me.
Someone crying. The chill reached me even as I hurried away, hating that I was heading towards wherever they came from.
A woman cried harder, as if her life was over.
Something hit the wall.
A groan.
It was surreal.
I hurried by, wanting to help, but suspecting that whatever had happened had happened a long time ago.
It was lighter in the hallway now, gas lights burning along the corridor which seemed narrower than it should have been.
I didn’t hear Jimmy, but I kept going and finally reached a stairwell off to one side. I headed down.
The third step down squeaked.
I heard heavy steps running in my direction.
I froze, half turned.
Jimmy was silhouetted against the gaslight.
He looked wild as he started down the stairs.
If there had been room, I would have stepped to the side to let him pass, but only one person could move down the stairs.
I ran down them, faster than I thought I could move. If someone had told me I’d take stairs in this place two at a time, going down, I’d have laughed, yet I was essentially leaping down them.
I missed my footing on the last one, sprawling into the second floor hallway.
It looked like the hallway always did.
Electric lights lit. No gas.
I thought I still heard the pianoforte.
Then the sound was gone.
Someone stepped on my hand.
A shadow ran down the hallway, past me.
I pulled myself up, watching the figure careen down the hallway as far as I could see, into the darkness where the electric lights didn’t stay on.
I limped to my door.
Used my key to go inside.
I locked the door behind me, sliding down against the wood panel.
I was breathing hard but I was breathing.
Whimpering.
My ankle had already started to swell.
Audra returned to my bed. “I led him off,” she said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think he’d get through the corridor so fast. We weren’t strong enough to hold him.”
“I made it, I think” I said.
“But you’re hurt,” Audra replied.
I shrugged.
“I liked Jimmy,” she said. “He was a good worker, like his father before him. His father helped my father bury Eddie out back by the greenhouse, where we used to meet.”
I was stunned. “Really?”
Audra shook her head. “My father caught us, setting up a fake meeting for each of us. He was there and accused Eddie of defiling me. There was quite an argument, with me trying to stop my father, but he wouldn’t be stopped. Jimmy’s father was there, too.”
I waited as Audra drew a breath to continue a story that was no doubt quite painful for her.
“It seemed that Eddie would best my father when things got physical, but Jimmy’s father hit Eddie over the head. He was stunned. It was my father that killed him, taking a spade and slicing through his neck, nearly beheading him. I think I spent the rest of my life screaming. Not out loud, of course, but inside.
“The two of them buried him out there. I always kept flowers out there and visited,” Audra said sadly. “My father tried to marry me off twice, but I always acted a bit off, just enough that the men were no longer interested.”
She smiled, a very impish smile. It was surprising, given how she’d been rather formal the rest of the time.
I smiled back, despite the throb in my ankle.
“But Jimmy?” I asked.
&
nbsp; “He and his family got paid monthly, whether there was work on not. A lot of money to keep things quiet. My father left Jimmy’s father a nice bequest when he died. Jimmy expected the same, for his own silence about the tale. After all, look where it had gotten his father. I should have told him that I didn’t care if the story came out. I should have told people before I died, but I didn’t, and now look at him. He’ll hurt people to get what he thinks should be his.”
I sighed.
“Do you know who else is around?”
“The crazy woman who thinks she’s banishing us. The two cooks are getting ready to leave for the day.”
I slid my back up against the door and limped over to my phone. I had no reception in that corner. I half hoped and half slid my way across the room to the window. I groaned a few times.
“He’s coming back,” Audra whispered to me.
I heard something in the hallway. The running feet like I’d heard in the night. Pounding against the boards too heavy to be real but this time I knew they were.
Then the thundering hammering on the door.
The knob twisted and turned.
A final thump against the door.
“The house can’t fool me!” Jimmy called. “It wants me here. And you can’t tell anyone what you found in that ledger. Not at all.” He banged on the door again and then thundered down the hallway.
I wondered what was in the ledger. What did he know about it that it had set him off thinking he was being implicated in something?
I stood on my one good leg with my phone near the window. I called Nathan first. It rang through and I slumped in relief when I heard his voice, a real voice, not a canned response asking me to leave him a message.
I told him what I knew about Jimmy.
Then I called Bethany, thankful to have finally gotten her phone number.
Hopefully they could call the authorities. For now I was safe in my room, or at least a little bit safe. So long as he wasn’t sure I was there.
I heard thumping and clattering around the house, like someone searching, loudly and noisily. I wondered what Pat and Bob thought.
I slid down again with my back to the window, watching the door, wishing for a weapon.
Then I heard another thump on the stairs. It was down towards the bottom but I knew that someone was climbing the stairs. It had to be Jimmy.
My heartbeat sped up. My hands got clammy. I began to breathe more shallowly.
My ankle throbbed in sympathy.
I pushed myself up.
Another thump on the steps. He was moving more slowly. Maybe he’d fallen too?
Audra had disappeared. I didn’t know what more she could do. She was a ghost.
I pressed myself against the window. I looked down and saw that yes, it opened.
Another thump. Closer.
I flipped the latch and pushed it up. Thankfully, that was something that had been repaired.
The air was pleasant outside. There were clouds gathering. I looked out. There was a tiny ledge of brick.
If my ankle wasn’t harmed, I might make it through the window to stand on the ledge or to work my way down to the ground and run away.
There was no way I could do that now. I was librarian, not a ninja warrior.
I slid down to the floor and crawled as silently as I could to the bathroom, leaving the window open. I crawled into the tub and shower combo and closed the shower curtain around me.
All of that had taken three more thumps on the stairs.
My heart hammered.
The tub plaster was cold against my back and I felt a few stray drops of water, now cold, seeping into my shirt, making me shiver more.
Soon enough Jimmy was in the hallway.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
No hesitation but no running either. I wondered what had happened to him.
A bang on the door made me jump, but I huddled as far down into the tub as I could.
I should have hidden in the wardrobe.
It was too late now.
The wood on the door cracked.
Another squeal of pain from the door as more wood was torn from the hinges.
Jimmy thumped through the room.
I held my breath.
There was silence for a moment.
Even my heart stopped.
Jimmy thumped around the room and I drew in the smallest bit of air.
I tried to remain still but I knew I was shivering from fear and because of the chill porcelain at my back.
He slammed something on the floor. It was too heavy to be a foot.
I waited to hear the floor splinter but nothing happened.
Outside I heard a siren.
My shoulders relaxed a fraction. It was almost over.
At least I hoped.
Jimmy slowly thumped across the room, away from the bathroom.
I heard the floor squeak. I didn’t hear the door close, but then he’d not opened the door, had he?
I stared at the white shower curtain, thankful that he hadn’t come in here where he’d surely have seen me. I breathed in my own sweat, having to breathe through my mouth because I’d started crying.
Though my legs cramped and I was uncomfortable, I didn’t move. I didn’t want to take the chance that he was just outside, waiting.
The siren drew closer.
My chest felt tight. I needed air, couldn’t figure out why, only to realize I hadn’t taken another breath in too long.
I breathed in a little.
The shower curtain moved slightly.
I heard a thump near the door.
I imagined Jimmy turning, coming towards me with whatever heavy object he held, ready to destroy me.
Instead, there was only silence.
I waited longer.
The siren, now more than one, got closer.
Faintly, I heard something that might have been tires crunching on the gravel. Or maybe it was just my imagination.
I breathed again.
No sounds from the room.
My muscles were cramping, aching, demanding that I move.
I lay still.
Counted to thirty.
Listened for movement.
Someone banged on something far away, probably the side door.
I heard a squeak and groan.
A thump.
I tried to imagine what was going on but didn’t dare move.
Something thumped across my bedroom.
Then the first thump into the bathroom.
A hand pulled back the shower curtain.
Jimmy stood there looking in on me.
He gasped, stepping back.
I pushed myself up, hardly leaping on him, but moving.
I screamed as loudly as I could.
Jimmy held onto a heavy sledge hammer. He was leaning on one leg, having fallen himself at one point.
He made as if to lift it.
I threw myself to the side, out into the bedroom, tripping over him, hurting my side again.
I screamed, “Upstairs! Upstairs!” again and again.
Thumps and groans from the Manor.
Jimmy righted himself.
Pulled up the hammer, trying to heft it as it to hurl it into my body.
“Stop right where you are!” a voice said.
The police had finally arrived.
Chapter 28
Nathan and Bethany hadn’t been far behind the police, who took Jimmy into custody. Someone called for medical aid but I said I was fine. Which, I realized later, was probably foolish of me. Earlier, I’d have given anything to get out of the house, and now I was giving up the perfect opportunity to leave.
The police had given Pat and Bob quite a scare. They’d been out near their cars loading up to leave when the police had barreled down the drive, lights flashing and sirens screaming. They’d seen Jimmy earlier and then saw him going on a tear, as they said, but figured he’d been angry about the generator.
&nb
sp; Rachel had been found down at the basement stairs. She was alive, though she wouldn’t be coming back to work for a long time. She had multiple fractures.
When Jimmy approached her, Rachel had ranted at him saying I was trying to frame her for the thefts. She’d gone running to the library where he said I was. He persuaded her that I must have gone into the basement and then he’d pushed her down the stairs.
“I grabbed him, though,” Rachel said. “And pulled him down on top of me.”
Which was probably where he’d hurt his leg. It was too bad Rachel had been on the bottom of that pile up.
Nathan went up and pulled out the ledgers and journals, and he and Bethany and I sat around Bethany’s sitting room. It was a pleasant little room a few doors down, easy enough to get to once I had a crutch, which, unsurprisingly, had been found amongst all of Audra’s things.
Sometime during our chat Maggie had arrived and she joined us, wringing her hands and bemoaning what had happened.
Bethany’s sitting room was brighter than most. The dark wood paneling had been removed and replaced with white carved squares of wood that went halfway up the wall and were topped by a white chair rail. Above that, the walls were painted bright yellow. Bethany had a large sofa and two love seats which were covered with thick tapestry fabric in cream with pink, blue, and yellow flowers on it. There was a low oval antique stool embroidered with a piano which sat in front of one of the love seats.
The floors were lighter wood than the rest of the place, although I think they’d just been stripped and refinished, as there was very little variance from the hallway wood floor, other than the color. There were pale sheer curtains which hung over modern mini-blinds, both in cream. Old-fashioned paintings of young girls with white cats hung on two walls. The third had a large painting of what looked like Schilling Manor in another era.
It was the most comfortable room in the Manor, I thought.
“Here it is,” Bethany said, one of the ledgers open on her lap, her fingers marking a multitude of pages. “All the money given to Jimmy’s family is here where it’s just listed as services, except for one, which is listed as burial fees.”
Nathan nodded.
“I bet that was for when he buried Eddie Hanna.”
“We do need to find out if he’s there,” Maggie said. “The poor man shouldn’t stay in an unmarked grave.
Ghosts from the Past Page 15