The Ghostly Hideaway

by Doris Hale Sanders

  Chapter Eight

  Some Dreams Come True

  Chrissy went upstairs and climbed into bed pulling the covers over her head. She didn't even turn the lights on and as she got warm she was asleep almost immediately.

  She dreamed. In her dream, someone was calling to her. “Christina! Christina! Where are you, Christina?" As she awoke in her dream, she could hear the voice calling and it seemed to be coming from far away. When the voice swam closer, she could see the colorless eyes as they came through layers of fog-like cotton. Then she could see the rest of the apparition, as it appeared to seep through the wall of her room and continued to swim toward her. It seemed she was sleeping in the Coy’s bedroom and the door in the corner from the secret passageway suddenly burst open and Johnny was there, wild-eyed and disheveled. His clothes were smoking and his eyes looked like coals of fire. He reached for her and the apparition appeared to knock Johnny back against the passageway door. Suddenly she was floating high in the air and the apparition was wrapped around her like a cloak of protection. Johnny was screaming her name and jumping up toward her as she floated near the ceiling. The apparition pulled her out of reach and Johnny couldn’t seem to grasp onto her. She began to struggle. She loved Johnny and she wanted to be with him. As she struggled, the warm cocoon that was the apparition released her and she began falling toward the floor and when she actually awoke, she had kicked off all the covers and she was shivering with cold and fright.

  She sat up on the edge of the bed and remembered everything that had happened in the night: the shotgun blast that woke her, the smell of kerosene that assaulted her nostrils, the accusations by Norman Jones, the sheriff taking him away, Johnny’s admissions, and the tour of the secret passageway. No wonder she had had a nightmare. She looked at the clock on her nightstand and it said it was almost eight o’clock. There beside the clock was a small pot of begonias the same color as the beautiful one on the windowsill at Johnny’s Grandmother’s house. Now, wait a minute. How did that get there? Surely, Johnny hadn’t come through the secret passageway again. Not after last night.

  Chrissy yawned, stretched, and went to the bathroom. She showered hastily, put her pajamas in the clothes hamper, put on her robe, and went back to her room to get dressed. She didn’t know what she wanted to wear; she had no idea what the weather was doing. She didn’t have any outside windows. She knew now it was because of the secret passageway. However, she did know it had to be cold because of the temperature in her room.

  When she got downstairs, she was amazed to find that snow covered everything. Snow was piled up on the tops of the fence posts and even under the veranda roof, snow was piled up on the porch swing several inches deep. Her dad came in with a load of wood and the snow had pushed its way over the tops of his boots. He estimated a snowfall of about twelve inches with drifts up to two feet high—maybe more in spots. He said the temperature was only thirteen degrees, and that meant it wouldn’t be melting very fast.

  Chrissy suddenly remembered that she and Johnny had had a date to go to the movies tonight. She was extremely disappointed that wouldn’t be happening. She didn’t know whether to expect him even to be able to come to see her today. When the phone rang, Chrissy wasn’t even interested in answering it. But she was sure glad she did.

  “Hi, Sweetheart. Are you snowed in?"

  “Where are you, Johnny?”

  “At home. Surprise! Grandmother had told me to order a telephone and they just got it turned on this morning. They installed it the day before Thanksgiving but I didn’t tell you. I wanted to surprise you.”

  “Well, you sure did. And, yes, I’m figuring we’re both snowed in. I’d say it means we’ll have to cancel our date, too.”

  “Yeah, we’ll have to at least postpone it. I’m afraid I can’t get up your lane even though the main roads will probably have been plowed by this afternoon. I could, more than likely, manage to slide down my hill in the car, but your road would be a problem. I thought, though, that I’d maybe put on my snow shoes and walk down to your house in a few minutes if that’s alright.”

  “Oh, absolutely, Honey. That would be fantastic. We’ll probably end up playing board games with the twins, but at least we’ll be together.”

  “Right! I’ll see you in a little while. I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Bye.”

  When Johnny arrived about a half hour later, she asked the question that had been bothering her since she got up. “Honey, where did the potted plant come from that I found in my room this morning?”

  “You had flowers again this morning? I guess you must have more than one secret admirer, huh?" Johnny was teasing and Chrissy knew it but she blushed anyway.

  “Johnny, come on!”

  “Come on and what? Kiss you? Okay, with pleasure. Or maybe I shouldn’t be kissing you. Maybe you’d rather have your other admirer kiss you.”

  “Johnny! I want to know how those flowers got there!”

  “Okay. Grandmother wanted you to have them and we brought them down in the car. Once, when I pretended to go to the bathroom, I went and got them out of the car and took them up to your room. I’m sure you were too tired to notice them last night when you went to bed—or rather this morning, when you went to bed. Do you like them?”

  “Oh, I love them! It was so sweet of Grandmother to fix them for me. But I won’t be able to leave them up there. There’s no light. I’ll bring them down here and put them on the table in front of the window next to the piano in the living room. There it’ll get plenty of light and I’ll remember to water it and take care of it. Thank you, Johnny, and thank Grandmother for me, too! Now, you may kiss me.”

  They spent a while, as Chrissy had expected, playing games with Candy and Andy. About one o’clock, though, after they had finished their chili and grilled cheese sandwiches, they decided it was warm enough to go outside and build a snowman. The whole bunch went out to the front yard and played in the snow. Penny showed the twins how to make ‘snow angels’ by lying on her back and moving her arms and legs to the side and upwards. The part of North Carolina where they had lived had very little snowfall so the kids had never seen this much snow on the ground. They also built fortresses of snow—the men on one side and the girls on the other side—and they had a brutally hilarious snowball fight.

  Then they built their snowman. They started a small ball of snow and rolled it across the yard until they had a huge snowball. They did the same thing again only left it somewhat smaller and stacked it on top of the first large one. One more still smaller ball of snow was set on top to serve as its head. They found two small walnuts to serve as the snowman’s eyes, put a carrot in the middle for its nose and inserted some small pebbles in a nice curved line to serve as a smiling mouth. A couple of sticks served as his arms. Penny went into the house, ran upstairs into Uncle Cliff’s room, and found an old hat for the snowman’s head and a scarf to wind around its neck and their snowman was complete. Or so they thought.

  Johnny went on home soon after that. He wanted to get home before dark and he still needed to carry in some extra wood for Grandmother. He called Chrissy before he went to bed to tell her ‘goodnight’ and to tell her he loved her.

  Next morning was Monday and Ed called Johnny to tell him that they wouldn’t try to go in to work at the school that day because of the slick roads. The kids wanted to go out and play in the snow again and they went out to the front yard to check on their snowman and see if he had started to melt yet. A short minute later, they came running back into the house.

  “Mom, guess what?" The twins were talking almost in unison.

  “I don’t have to guess,” Mom said a little crossly. “I know two kids who are not going to run in and out of the house tracking in snow and fanning the doors and letting out the heat.”

  “Okay, we won’t. But we had to tell you. Come on into the family room and look out the window and look close at the snowman. Please, Mom. Hurry!" Penny could tell they were extremely excited about
something, so she went to look.

  “What in the world is that sticking out of the snowman’s face right below his nose?" She could see it but she couldn’t tell what it was.

  “It’s a pipe, Mom! Did you or Dad put it there? I don’t think Johnny would have come all the way back down here last night to do that, do you?”

  “Oh, I can see, now. It’s a corncob pipe. I seem to remember seeing something similar to that in the storage shed one time, but I sure don’t know how it got stuck in the snowman’s mouth." Ed was puzzled, too. “And, no, I didn’t do it and I’m with you; I don’t think Johnny would have come all the way back last night nor would he have come back down here this early this morning. I guess we’ll have to blame it on the ghosts again.”

  When Johnny came later around noon, he confirmed that it had been too cold to make that trip last night or that morning. It was just one more inexplicable event to wonder about.

  The next morning, Ed decided it should be possible to get the SUV out and make it to town. The first stop Ed and Johnny made was at the sheriff’s office.

  “How’s the prisoner this morning Sheriff Lampton? We’d have been here sooner, but we got snowed in for a couple of days." Ed thought surely he would still be in jail.

  “Well, he’s not too happy, right now. We received notification a few minutes ago that North Carolina plans to extradite him to stand trial there for rape, perjury, grand theft, and fleeing the jurisdiction among other things. Anyway, it appears he will stand trial there first. When they’re through with him, we’ll bring Mr. Jones back to stand trial here for attempted arson and attempted homicide. Therefore, as I said, he isn’t too happy. Do you want to see him?”

  “I don’t think so; not until I have to. When I think about that he fully intended to kill me and my whole family, I still nearly go crazy. Are there any papers you need us to sign or whatever?”

  “Yes, I need you, Ed, and Johnny, too, to write up a statement of the events as you remember them beginning on Thanksgiving night and carrying through until Friday morning. There’re a couple of desks in here where you can write out all the information, please. When you’ve finished, I need you to date and sign them in front of our notary public. Judith is our notary; let her know when you’re ready. That’s all I’ll need until he comes back from North Carolina.”

  “Okay, Sheriff, we’ll do our best." It took Ed and Johnny almost an hour to write down their statements and get them signed and dated as requested. When they were finished at the sheriff's office, they went by the school to see if everything was okay there. The work was coming along exceptionally well. Ed was nearly sure they would be able to finish it all in a couple of weeks. That would let them complete the work by the middle of December as he had originally thought. As they were about to leave, they were confronted by a strange man.

  “Excuse me; I’m looking for Ed Wroe.”

  “You’ve found me. Is there something I can do for you?”

  “My name is Bill Weedman and I own Weedman and Jones Contracting. I found the guy who was my partner at the jail this morning when I went in to the sheriff’s office to file a missing person’s report. Victor Jones came here in February and offered to buy into my cabinetry business. I was in dire need of some capital and he assured me that carpentry was his trade and that he had several years’ of experience. Vic—I understand now his full name is Victor Norman Jones—had references from two other places where he said he had worked. I’m guessing now they were forged since his partnership with you appears to be the only job he ever had. Anyway, we drew up the papers and became partners. He was a good, knowledgeable worker and I thought we had a good thing going.

  “I couldn’t believe it when Sheriff Lampton told me what he had done and tried to do. I had no idea he was that kind of person or that he was capable of doing the things of which the sheriff said he was accused. I just wanted you to know that I certainly do not condone his actions and I want no more dealings with him at all. I’m hopeful that you won’t hold his actions against me. Do you think we could be friends or at least not be enemies?" Bill held out his hand and Ed immediately shook with him.

  “I, too, resent his actions but you must remember he was my partner before he was yours and I have known him most of my life; so I could hardly blame you for being fooled by him. He fooled me first and worst. So, certainly, no hard feelings between us. Incidentally, this is my new partner and future son-in-law, Johnny O’Reilly." Bill and Johnny shook hands, too, and they all went their own ways.

  They had received their payment as contractors from the school for the last month they worked. They went by the bank and got the check cashed. Since they had no outstanding invoices to pay, Ed deposited his part into his checking account and Johnny took his pay by the jewelry store and paid off the balance on the rings he got for Chrissy. He had planned to wait until Christmas to give her the engagement ring; but he wasn’t sure now if he'd be able to wait that long to give it to her. He could get her something else for Christmas. He didn’t know what but he could surely think of something. Anyway, a plan was forming in his head and he thought he could put it into action. Yeah, he thought he could.

  When they got back to Ed’s house, they all talked for a while. Ed told the others that Norman Jones would be extradited back to North Carolina to face charges of rape, grand theft and all the other.

  “Man, I’d love to see him get what’s coming to him for framing you for stealing that stuff." Penny declared.

  “Yes, so would I,” Ed agreed. “But by the time they get around to his trial, it could be about the time for Chrissy’s wedding and I sure wouldn’t want to get that all messed up. We can go watch the trial when they bring him back here to be tried for attempted arson and attempted homicide.”

  Ed also told them about Bill Weedman, the guy who had been working with Jones before he was arrested. Ed told them how nice he had acted and that they parted friends with Weedman.

  The twins weren’t too interested. They wanted to go out and play in the snow again. Of course, they wanted Chrissy and Johnny to go, too.

  “You two go ahead and we’ll be out in a few minutes." Chrissy and Johnny had something they wanted to discuss with Ed and Penny.

  “Mom, the twins’ birthday is coming up in short time,” Chrissy said after Andy and Candy had gone out, “and Johnny and I were trying to think of something special to do for them.

  “Yeah, we thought it might be fun for them if we took them to the McDonald’s that’s on the corner just before the by-pass in Owensboro and let them eat whatever they wanted and then play in the play room until they were tired." Johnny was excited for them. “There’s the newest Disney cartoon movie, too. “ Herbie: Fully Loaded,” is on at Malco Cinema Twelve, the theater way out near the Mall on Frederica and the afternoon matinee starts at three o’clock. We could take them on to see that. When that’s over, we could take them on over to Towne Square Mall and let them see Santa Claus and maybe get some ideas on what to get them for Christmas. Don’t you think that would be a nice birthday treat for Chrissy and me to give them?”

  “Oh, I think they would be in Heaven, Johnny. And you would both enjoy it, too.”

  “No, no, we meant the whole family, too. We were even planning on having Andy and Candy insist to Grandmother that she come, too. She has been down here once and she went with me to Fordsville to get groceries one time. However, this would be a truly unique experience for her. I’m not sure she’s ever been to the movies and she has probably eaten out but I know it’s been years and years. If you approve of the plans, the next question is: Do we tell them and let them look forward to it or do we surprise them on their birthdays?”

  “Oh, my. That is a question. It would be fun to surprise them but the anticipation might be almost as much fun as the actual trip." Ed wasn’t sure.

  “Which would be better for Grandmother Lydia? Would she be more likely to consent to go on the spur of the moment or would she maybe be more inclined to agree if she had
time to plan for it?”

  “Actually, I think the twins can talk her into it, regardless of when she’s asked. Thinking about it, though, it might be simpler for me to just bring her from home instead of having to go back for her." Johnny had about decided his vote would be to tell them now. It was terribly difficult to keep secrets anyway!

  “I vote we tell them,” Chrissy agreed.

  Ed and Penny looked at each other and nodded. “We agree. How about we tell them about McDonald’s and let them look forward to that and then surprise them with the rest of it?”

  “Oh, that would be perfect!”

  “Let’s tell them right now!”

  They had been talking earnestly and no one had thought to keep an eye on the kids. Unexpectedly, from behind them, Candy piped up; “Tell who, what?”

  “Yeah. We wondered what was taking you so long. Now what did you decide you were going to tell somebody about?”

  Ed, Penny, and Chrissy looked at Johnny and motioned for him to tell them since it was basically his idea and he planned to foot the bill for all of it.

  “Well, we had been thinking that it wasn’t long until there would be a birthday in the family.”

  “Ours!" It was amazing how often they spoke in unison.

  “What would you think about it if the whole family went to McDonald’s in Owensboro and let you two play in the play room and eat whatever you wanted?”

  “Great!" Andy was unbelievably excited.

  “Wonderful." Candy was ecstatic. “You said ‘the whole family.’ Does that include Grandmother, too?”

  “It sure does, if you can talk her into going. It may take some talking, though. It’s been years and years since she’s been that far from home.”

  “Can we call and tell her now?” Andy wanted to know. They were excited enough that Penny didn't even bother to correct his grammar that time.

  “Absolutely. Here let me dial the number for you. And remember to let your sister talk some, too. Okay?”

  “Sure. Okay. Oh, hi, Grandmother. This is your favorite grandson named Andy. How are you feeling?”

  “Just fine, Andy. You sound excited. What’s going on?”

  “I am. Johnny has just told us that he plans to take the whole family to Owensboro to McDonald’s for our birthdays.”

  “Well, that does sound exciting for you. I know you’ll have a great time!”

  “But, Grandmother, we want you to come with us and have a great time, too!"

  Lydia hesitated. “I don’t know Andy. That’s a kinda long trip for an old woman like me. I’d probably be slow enough that you’d have a better time without me.”

  Candy grabbed the phone. They could all hear her through the phone. “Grandmother, we won’t have a good time at all unless you come, too. We’d probably be crying instead of having a good time.” She only exaggerated slightly.

  Chrissy took the phone. “We all want you to come, too, Grandmother. We won’t be in any hurry at all, so you can’t slow us down.”

  It was Johnny’s turn. “We promise we won’t make you go down the slide in the play room more than once, Grandmother. We truly do want this to be a family outing." Lydia chuckled. It was a sound that Johnny was still getting used to hearing and he was loving every minute of it.

  “We really will enjoy it more if you’re with us." Penny added her bit.

  “That’s absolutely right." Ed shouted from the couch.

  “Well, I guess I’ll have to give in. I can’t argue with all of you. Besides this will be the first birthday my grandkids will be celebrating since I’ve been ‘in the family.’”

  Lydia heard a chorus of approval but she had one more question. "Okay when is this momentous milestone to be celebrated?"

  Andy took the phone again. “Our birthday is December 13. I guess that’s when we’ll go, right, Johnny? But it’s not our ‘first’ birthday. It’s our fifth birthday?”

  “Correct, Andy." He took the phone again. “We’ll talk more about it when I get home, Grandmother. Bye, bye for now and we’re all tickled you’re coming with us." Johnny hung up the phone and turned to Ed and Penny. “Chrissy and I had planned to go to the movies the night it snowed and we couldn’t. I thought if Chrissy still wanted to go out and you all don’t mind, we might go ahead and go tonight. Is it okay?”

  “I don’t have any problems with that. But don’t be late getting home. It’s still nasty enough out that we’d be especially worried if you were late." Penny had waited for the nod of approval from Ed and voiced her concurrence.

  Johnny looked at Chrissy and the stars in her eyes spoke for her. It would be the first time they were going to be alone since Thanksgiving night when all hell had broken loose with Norman Jones and the almost fire and everything.

  “The movie starts at seven and it should be over by nine so we should be home no later than ten. And we sure wouldn’t want to worry you. Chrissy, let’s go out and play for about an hour with the kids. After planning their birthday party, they’d probably forgive us if we didn’t but we told them we would. Then you can get ready and we’ll go. Okay? There’s one other stop I want to make, too. I think we’ll have time.”

  It was fine with Chrissy and that’s what they did.

  When they got to Owensboro, Johnny pulled into a place that sold mobile homes. He told the man in the little office they were interested in a three-bedroom trailer. They looked at several but they found one they both just adored. It had two and a half baths with a sunken tub with a whirlpool in the master bath. A gas fireplace was located in the living room with a built-in entertainment center with a plasma television screen and a complete sound system. It was fabulous and Johnny made arrangements to buy it on the spot. He contracted to have it set up, a well dug, a septic system put in, electric pole set and everything. He insisted in the contract that it be set and livable no later than February 10 of the up-coming year. He explained that they would be married on February 14 and it had to be ready for them before that time.

  “Are you sure you want to spend that much money without thinking about it for a while? Buying a home is a big step.”

  “Oh, are you thinking about backing out of marrying me? If you are, we do maybe need to reconsider. If not, what’s to think about?”

  “Hey, Baby, you’re stuck with me. I’ll sue you for breach of promise if you try to back out. It is a beautiful home, Honey. If you’re sure we can afford it, I’d truly love it. Where are we going to have it set?”

  “There’s a level five acre field about half-way between Grandmother’s place and your dad’s. I thought that would be a good location. Will that be alright?”

  “I think I know where you mean. It’s about where you gave me the Sweetheart ring, right?”

  “Precisely.”

  “Oh, Johnny, that’s so romantic. I love you very much.”

  Instead of taking the by-pass, Johnny continued on Second Street and pulled into the parking lot at the Executive Inn.

  “Where are we going, Johnny? I thought you said the theater was way out the by-pass.”

  “Now, think about it. Did I say we were going to the movies, Chrissy?”

  “Well, you said we had planned to go to the movies earlier and we’d go tonight. And you said what time the movie started and ended. Right?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t say that’s where we were going. Baby, we started something in the car on Thanksgiving and, unless you don’t want to, I’d like to finish it tonight. I love you, Sweetheart, and I need you to be mine, completely.”

  “Oh, Johnny, I want to belong to you, body and heart and soul. I won’t lie and say I’m not a little scared but it’s what I want, too. And I love you, too, Honey!”

  Johnny was sweet and gentle and when the evening was almost over, Chrissy loved him even more than before. They were sitting on the edge of the bed still kissing and preparing to leave.

  Before they left the room, Johnny took a small square box out of his pocket and opened it to show Chrissy her engagement r
ing.

  “I had meant to wait to give this to you for Christmas, but you’re truly mine now, and I belong to you completely. I want you to have this as a part of this night to remember." He knelt down in front of her and said earnestly, “Chrissy, I love you more than anything in the world and I will for the rest of my life. Will you be my sweetheart and my bride and my wife for all of time, my love?”

  “Oh, yes, Johnny." He slipped it on her finger, kissed her lovingly, and held her tight. “It’s beautiful and you’re wonderful, Johnny. Thank you for making this the most wonderful day of my life.”

  “The most wonderful, so far, Chrissy. I plan for you to have a lot more wonderful days even better than this one; although, this one will always be extremely special to me, too. Now let’s get you home before your folks are worried. I love you, Christina Marie O’Reilly (almost O’Reilly).”

  They got home about fifteen minutes before ten o’clock and Ed and Penny were waiting up as she expected.

  “How was the movie? Did you have a good time?" Her folks noticed the flush on both their faces and they didn’t think it was just from the cold.

  “I don’t really know, Mom. Was there a movie? After Johnny gave me this,” she held out her hand so they could see her ring, “I didn’t see much of anything else the rest of the evening but the ring and Johnny." Penny ooohed and aaaahed over the ring and her parents understood—or thought they understood—the starry eyes and flushed faces.

  And then they were both talking at once telling them about the new trailer they had bought.

  “It is the most beautiful home in the world, Mom. I fell in love with it the minute I saw it.”

  “Now don’t fall too much in love with it, Chrissy,” Johnny said. “I plan on living there while we build our house. We’ll do something else with it and live in our new home when it's completed.”

  “Oh, oh, a new house, too? Oh, Johnny, I’ll never get used to all this.”

  The next few days went as fast as lightning for Ed, Penny, and Lydia; but there's no way it could come fast enough for the young people and especially the twins. It seemed as if their birthday would never ever get there. Of course, Johnny and Chrissy couldn’t wait to be together all the time. Nevertheless, it did arrive and Saturday, December 13 was a day to be filled with unbelievable excitement for everybody.

  Lydia was still torn between looking forward to the “family outing” and being somewhat apprehensive about getting that far from home. It had been such a long time since she had had much of anything to look forward to; but since Chrissy and Penny had visited her the first time, she had found more and more things to enjoy. She had been working overtime to get as many of her recipes as possible copied into a scrapbook that she wanted to give Chrissy for a wedding present. She had asked Johnny to get the blank scrapbook for her to work with and she was relatively sure he would probably figure out what it was for but when he had asked, she had told him that nobody needed to know that right now but herself. She was finding old magazines and cutting out pictures to put in with the recipes and she was adding little flowers and ribbons here and there. She hoped Chrissy would enjoy it as much as she was enjoying making it for her.

  She had thought a few times about begging off from the trip but when she said something about it to Johnny, he had a fit. He told her how disappointed the twins would be and it was for their birthday and asking Lydia had been their idea, he told her, so she just had to go. She said no more about staying home.

  The following day, they saw the grader and the backhoe begin work on preparing the ground to set the mobile home on. Chrissy and Johnny walked over there and watched a while. They didn’t stay too long, though because it was still quite cold. The ground was solid but not completely frozen so it was workable. Another crew had begun putting in the septic system and still other workers were preparing to dig a well. Everything was in the works if the weather would hold.