Henderson House

by Kathi Daley

  I grabbed a napkin and wiped Catherine’s face. “Why exactly are you researching this mine?”

  “The assignment was to write a paper about a person or a place that helped to shape Ashton Fall’s history. A lot of people are doing papers on people like Ashton Montgomery and places like the old medical clinic, but I wanted to do something different. Hazel said the little mining town that sprang up didn’t amount to much until the Norlander brothers struck it rich. Once word got out about the piles of gold they were pulling out of the mountain, other miners came to the area, and what was once nothing more than a camp turned into an actual town. Of course, the town that grew up from the mining operation was called Devil’s Den back then, but Devil’s Den is part of Ashton Fall’s history.” Alex looked at Scooter. “And yes, the fact that the mine is reported to be haunted and that the brothers died on Halloween is an extra bonus given the time of year. I thought it would be fun to do a story with spooky undertones.”

  “It sounds like an interesting project,” Zak said. “I’d like to read it when you’re done.”

  “Sure, I didn’t know whether the paper would come together when I first started looking into it, but Hazel has been a big help. Ethan too,” Alex added, referring to another of the teachers at the Academy. “Between the two of them, they knew a lot of stories about Devil’s Den. It’s been tricky separating fact from fiction, given the way the brothers died, but the assignment was to write about a place, and legend is part of history, after all.”

  “I heard the brothers were buried up there near the mine, but when the townsfolk went up to the graves to lay flowers the day after they were buried, the ground had been dug up and the bodies were gone,” Scooter informed us.

  Alex frowned. “I think that must just be a story. I’ve been reading about the mine for a week and haven’t heard anything about that. In fact, I think the brothers were buried in the old cemetery at the base of the mining camp, with everyone else who died around that time.” Alex looked at me. “Have you heard anything about missing bodies?”

  I shook my head. “No. But then again, it isn’t like I studied the subject. I do know there have been a lot of ghost stories told over the years about what happened to the brothers.”

  “Zombie story,” Scooter said.

  “Zombie?” I asked.

  “The brothers’ graves were empty the day after they were buried, so they were zombies, not ghosts. That would make them zombie stories, not ghost stories.”

  ******

  After dinner the kids went up to do their homework and Nona retired to her suite to watch television. Zak offered to do the dishes while I gave Catherine her bath. We’d settled into a routine that revolved around Alex and Scooter’s after-school activities, dinner, then getting everyone settled for the evening. It seemed to be working for the most part, and I felt we’d found a way to support each other and spend time together while still allowing everyone their own space.

  “Did you have fun at Auntie Ellie’s today?” I asked Catherine as she splashed water all over the bathroom floor.

  “Ma.” Catherine giggled as she hit water directly into my face.

  “Thanks a lot.” I laughed back and splashed some in her direction.

  Of course, Catherine thought this was a game and hit me again, which earned her a splash in return. I loved these little games with my daughter, but by the time I’d had enough and put a stop to things, Catherine had managed to flood the entire bathroom. I picked her up, wrapped her in a large towel, and carried her into Zak and my bedroom. Zak had lit the gas fireplace earlier in the evening, so it was nice and toasty warm. I laid Catherine on the bed next to my cats, Marlow and Spade, while I went to the attached nursery to find her footie pajamas. Marlow, who was usually the more playful of the cats, wasn’t a fan of having his fur pulled, but surprisingly, Spade, who has always been the quieter of the two, seemed to love the whole baby package.

  “Da,” Catherine screamed when Zak walked into the room with an arm full of folded laundry.

  Zak set the pile on the dresser, then scooped her up and, cradling her in his arms, began to give her belly kisses, which made her laugh and scream.

  “You know, it’s not a good idea to get her all wound up before bed,” I scolded, even though I couldn’t help but smile. I loved the way Zak played with our daughter, and the way she adored playing with him.

  “I’ll rock her after we get her dressed.” Zak laid Catherine back down on the bed and began pulling on her jammies. “Everyone is occupied this evening, so I thought we’d just settle in up here. I’d like to discuss what happened this afternoon.”

  “I told you what happened.” To be honest, I didn’t want to rehash the whole thing. I knew Zak would be curious, but I was having a hard time getting the image of the man with the fang marks out of my mind and hoped for a distraction rather than a retelling.

  “You gave me a very brief explanation of what occurred, but I’d like to discuss it in more detail,” Zak countered. “It sounds like we might have a real maniac on the loose.”

  I sighed and plopped down onto the sofa while Zak settled into the rocker with Catherine and her nighttime bottle. I wanted to forget about the man I’d found that afternoon, though I did find myself speculating about him. Salinger hadn’t called, so I guessed he didn’t have an ID yet, but still I wondered. Was he someone’s father? Husband? Brother or son? Had he died as part of a game aimed at me, or had the motive for murder had to do with him, with me as a side plot? I supposed it was possible he’d been killed by a jealous wife, a vengeful neighbor, or a wronged employee, but that wouldn’t explain the puncture wounds that looked like a vampire bite or that he’d been found in the most haunted place on the mountain.

  I pulled a throw over my lap and snuggled up with one of the pillows we’d arranged on both ends of the seating area. When I was snuggly and content I began to speak. “Do you remember when the ghost hunter died in that house four years ago?”

  Zak cradled Catherine close to his chest and began to sway back and forth as he lulled her toward sleep. “I remember. His name was Adam Davenport and he came to study paranormal activity in the house. I also remember I almost lost you to the madman who killed him.”

  “I know. I remember as well, although, looking back, I’m not sure Joel Ringer ever meant to kill me. I’m pretty sure his only intention was to detain me. Debating that issue isn’t the reason I brought it up, however. Do you remember that huge storm we got caught in that same Halloween, when we found Karloff on the side of the road? We’d been heading out to the Henderson House to investigate when Karloff ran out in front of us and you just barely missed hitting him.”

  “Yes. But what’s that about? We didn’t hit him, and he found a good home with Levi, so everything worked out in the end.”

  “Everything did work out in the end. In fact, it was that Halloween when we finally got engaged. But that isn’t my point either. At least not totally.”

  “Okay. So what’s your point?”

  I leaned toward Zak slightly. “After we found the pup we brought him home and got him settled. Do you remember what we did after that?”

  Zak furrowed his brow; then he must have remembered because he grinned. “I do remember what we did after that.”

  “I miss that.” I glanced at Catherine, as I once again let the memory play through my mind. We’d come home, built a fire, settled the puppy, then retired to our indoor/outdoor spa with a bottle of champagne. After that we’d come upstairs and spent the night in each other’s arms. “Don’t get me wrong. I love our family. I love having a house filled with love, several generations, and more activities than we can reasonably manage. But sometimes, when I think back to those days, like I did as I was driving through the storm to the house today, I realize that while I love what we have, at times I miss what we had.”

  Zak sent me a tender look. “I guess it’s hard to have a romantic night outdoors in the spa with a house full of people, but once Catherine goes to
bed we’ll have this suite to ourselves.”

  “We will,” I agreed. “And I look forward to that. But I guess I’m in one of my melancholy moods. I have been for a while, and I don’t know why. It doesn’t make any sense, really. I have everything to be happy about, but sometimes I can’t help but feel sad.”

  Zak stood up with our sleeping baby in his arms. “It does make sense. And I sometimes feel the same way. In the past four years we’ve had a baby, accepted guardianship of two teenagers, and invited another adult, who requires her own level of supervision, into our home. It’s a lot, and while I love every minute of the life we’ve built, I do sometimes miss us as well.” Zak walked into the nursery and put Catherine down in her crib. Then he came back into the bedroom. He took my hand and led me to the French doors leading out onto the deck that was exclusive to this suite. It had stopped raining, and the clouds had cleared, revealing the stars and moon shining down on the still water of the lake. “You know,” he said, pulling me closer to his side, “it wouldn’t take much effort to add a hot tub out here.” He pointed to a dark corner. “Maybe over there. Near the railing.”

  I tightened the fingers of the hand Zak was holding. “A hot tub for two?”

  “Absolutely a hot tub for two. A no-kids-or-grandmothers-allowed hot tub for two.”

  I leaned my head against Zak’s shoulder and looked out over the clear dark night. “That sounds absolutely perfect.”

  Chapter 3

  Tuesday, October 23

  Zak and I never had gotten around to discussing the vampire murder the previous evening. He’d brought it up, but then we began to discuss the hot tub, and one thing led to another, and, well, you know. Talk of death and haunted houses pretty much was forgotten. He’d had an early meeting at Zimmerman Academy this morning, so we hadn’t talked then either, but I was under no illusions that he’d forget about it or let it go.

  I got everyone off to school, then decided to head into town to pick up a Halloween costume for Catherine, as well as some candy and party favors for the children who would be attending our party. As I expected, the Halloween store was crowded, but Catherine loved the people and I loved the decorations, so we were both happy as we wandered the aisles. I’d invited Nona to come with us, but she’d claimed she had a headache and opted to skip it.

  “So, what do you think?” I asked Catherine as I held up a selection of outfits. “Cookie Monster? Minnie Mouse? Maybe Winnie the Pooh?”

  Catherine seemed more interested in watching the baby seated in a stroller at the other end of the aisle than the costumes I held up, so it appeared it was up to me. Both the Cookie Monster and the Winnie the Pooh costumes were thick and fuzzy, which would be perfect for trick-or-treating if we decided to take her out. On the other hand, both would probably be too hot to wear indoors for any length of time. Minnie Mouse was cute, but I wasn’t sure. I definitely didn’t want to go the princess route. Maybe a doggy or kitty costume?

  “Oh my, look at this.” I held up a lamb costume that was one-piece but not quite as heavy as Cookie Monster or Winnie, fuzzy beige with big floppy black ears. It was adorable. “What do you think? Do you want to be a lamb?”

  Catherine pointed at the baby in the stroller, who happened to be chewing on a toddler cookie.

  “Yes, I see the other baby has a cookie. I don’t have any with me, but I do have juice.”

  Catherine reached for the bottle I held up and I tossed the lamb costume into the basket. Now I needed toys and candy for the little gift bags I wanted to create for the kids. I was pretty sure I’d seen small items in the front of the store, so I headed in that direction. There, I found Zimmerman Academy principal Phyllis King sorting through a bin of rubber spiders.

  “I like the one with the red eyes,” I said, walking up behind her.

  Phyllis turned. “Zoe, Catherine. How nice to see you both.” Phyllis glanced in my basket. “It looks like someone’s going to be an adorable little lamb for Halloween.”

  I held up the costume. “It’s pretty cute, and it’s warm without being too heavy. Are you buying decorations for the dance?”

  “Zak already has that covered, but I wanted to decorate my office with a few pumpkins and spiders. I spoke to him this morning and he told me that you had a bit of excitement yesterday.”

  “If you can call finding the victim of a vampire attack exciting.”

  “Zak mentioned the puncture wounds, but surely you don’t actually believe…”

  “I don’t,” I interrupted. “At least I don’t think I do. It was pretty creepy, though. Did Zak tell you that it looked like I was intentionally steered toward the house so I’d discover the victim?”

  “He did. That worries me.”

  I bit my bottom lip. “It worries me as well, although I’m trying very hard to convince myself that I’m in absolutely no danger. I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything?”

  “About the murder or the person who carried it out, no. I might know something about the victim.”

  “Such as?”

  Phyllis brushed a lock of her long white hair away from her face. “When Zak told me the man who was found in the basement didn’t have any identification and didn’t look familiar to either you or Salinger, I remembered a man I ran into at Rosie’s Café a few days ago. He was talking to the cashier, who stopped me and introduced us. His name was Edgar Irvine, and he was a visitor to Ashton Falls. He needed directions to the old cemetery outside of town and said the cashier thought I might be able to help.”

  “Which cemetery?” I asked.

  “The one near the foot of the mountain where we held our Halloween event a few years ago.”

  “The one where Isaac Wainwright is buried?” I confirmed, referring to the source of another local legend.

  “Yes, that’s the one. I gave him directions, though, knowing no one has been buried there in a century or more, I asked him why he was interested in it. He said he was writing a screenplay about a group of ghost hunters who visit haunted places. He didn’t mention Henderson House specifically, but he said there were three places on his list to see. I would think if someone was researching haunted places, Henderson House would be one of them.”

  “I agree. What did he look like?”

  “Tall. Dark hair. Skinny. I called Salinger and described him, and he said it sounded as if we might have a match, so he sent me a photo.” Phyllis made an unpleasant face. “It was an after photo, I’m afraid, but the man who asked for directions was definitely the victim.”

  This was an unexpected twist. The man I’d found in the most haunted house in town had been asking for directions to the most haunted cemetery in the area. “Out of all the haunted places in this county alone, I wonder why he decided to investigate haunted places in Ashton Falls. We’re just a tiny little town most people have never even heard of.”

  “I don’t know,” Phyllis admitted. “He didn’t say why he chose Ashton Falls. I guess you can ask Sheriff Salinger if he was able to ascertain the man’s reason for being here in the first place. He told me that he planned to go to the man’s hotel room to see what he could find there: notes, a computer, something that might provide a lead to what he was after and who might have wanted him dead.”

  “The day you ran into him at Rosie’s, when you gave him directions, did it seem as if he planned to head out to the cemetery right away?”

  “I think so. Which would mean if he had three places on his list, it’s likely Henderson House was his last stop. Again, Salinger might be able to answer your questions about him by this point.”

  Asking Salinger about Edgar Irvine was exactly what I was going to do. But first I needed to meet Ellie for lunch to find out if I was going to have an honorary niece or nephew.

  ******

  “So?” I asked her, after I’d placed Catherine in a high chair and slid into the booth where she was already waiting with Eli.

  Ellie smiled. “We’re having a girl.”

  I clasped my hands together. “A
girl! I’m so happy for you.”

  “I’m happy too. I honestly didn’t know if I wanted a boy or a girl when I went into the doctor’s office, but when he said it was a girl I felt this extreme joy in my heart. I seriously felt like jumping off the table and hugging him.”

  I reached across the table, grabbed Ellie’s hands, and gave them a squeeze. “I’m so excited. Catherine is excited too.” I looked at Catherine, who appeared to be more interested in the cracker I had given her than our conversation. “How does Levi feel about having a girl?”

  “He seems to be really happy.” Ellie paused. “I wasn’t sure he would be. He talks about sons all the time, not really about daughters. He’s always saying he’s going to teach his sons to play football and baseball, and how he can’t wait until Eli is old enough to go hiking or fishing. He even talks about having sons to carry on his family name, but he’s never talked about wanting a daughter, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when the doctor gave us the news he seemed happy. I hope he’s happy.”

  “I’m sure he is. Zak adores having a little princess to dote on. I’m sure Levi will as well. In fact, I’m fairly certain he’s going to spoil her rotten. Do you have a name picked out?”

  Ellie shook her head. “No. We’ve discussed and discarded a lot of them, but I don’t feel we’ve hit on the right one. We have two months to decide. I’m sure we can figure it out now that we know for certain we’re having a girl.”

  “We need to go shopping,” I said. “If you’re having a girl you won’t be able to use Eli’s hand-me-downs like you said at one point. I know I didn’t want a lot of pink, frilly stuff for Catherine, but pink and frilly seems like a must for a Denton daughter. Maybe we can go to the mall in Bryton Lake before the Christmas rush sets in. I think we have a few more weeks at least before the crowds become unmanageable.”

  “I think we have time,” Ellie agreed. “It’s not even Halloween, although the Christmas hoopla seems to get started earlier every year. Did you find a costume for Catherine?”