“Kids keep asking me if you’re gay. I hate them.” Sarah started crying, looking out the window.
“And what do you tell these nosy ones?” Rebecca frowned at her reflection in the rearview mirror, her voice full of concern.
“I tell them to mind their own bees wax.” She turned her gaze to her mom. ‘”But are you? Are you guys gay?”
Kayleigh glanced nervously at Rebecca, not sure how to respond.
Rebecca turned her attention back to the rearview mirror. “Sweetie, we love one another. You know that. But you can tell those nosy kids that Mommy and I are very close friends. They don’t need to know more than that. There’s nothing wrong with anyone being gay, but kids who hardly know you have no right to ask such personal questions, and so you don’t need to give them any more details than what’s necessary.”
Kayleigh was relieved that Rebecca had an answer ready. She wasn’t prepared for any such questions yet. Rebecca started the engine and took the winding road back to the house.
†
Rebecca unlocked the door. Kayleigh followed her inside and automatically went to the kitchen, straight to the kettle to make them some tea. Sarah ran upstairs to her room. A blood curling scream made Kayleigh drop the kettle in the sink with a loud clatter. Before she could react, Rebecca was already climbing the stairs three at a time. Kayleigh followed Rebecca’s pursuit, terrified of what she would have to face when she reached Sarah. When she made it into the room, she found Rebecca holding a visibly shaken Sarah.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Rebecca smoothed her hair as she hugged onto the child.
“There was a man in my room, but he just disappeared.” Sarah managed to say between sobs.
Kayleigh raised her face to the ceiling and screamed. “Go away! Leave us alone! If you want to bug anyone, bug me! But leave my child and Rebecca alone, you sick bastard!”
Rebecca let go of Sarah and straightened. Sarah ran to her mom and wrapped her arms around her.
“Who was he, Mommy?”
“I don’t know, baby.” Kayleigh bent down and held onto her daughter. She didn’t know how to deal with the fact that Sarah had also seen this thing. She felt completely helpless.
“He’s gone now.” Rebecca soothed them as she walked around the room and checked in the cupboards and behind the doors. “You know what? Let’s go out to dinner. The school vacation is starting tomorrow, so I suggest we get out of here for a few hours.”
Before leaving, they each took turns to wash up in Sarah’s bathroom, too afraid to use the downstairs shower. Rebecca and Kayleigh stayed in Sarah’s room while she bathed. Kayleigh didn’t want any of them left alone at any time.
†
“Let’s go to the Blue Olive,” Kayleigh suggested as they drove out of the driveway.
“Great idea,” Rebecca said as she turned left at the corner.
“Tristan has a new girlfriend,” Sarah said from the backseat.
“That’s great news, sweetie. Are you happy about this?” Kayleigh asked.
“Very happy. Now he can leave me alone.”
After Rebecca parked the car, they got out and walked toward the restaurant. “Kind of chilly, do you rather want to sit inside, love?” Rebecca asked as she took Kayleigh’s hand.
“Definitely.” Kayleigh let go of Rebecca’s hand as they mounted the steps and entered the warm, cozy eatery.
“Good evening, table for three?” A very well dressed man welcomed them at the door.
“Please,” Rebecca said and they all followed him to a table right by the window.
“Look, you can see the ocean from here. How nice,” Kayleigh said as she moved to sit in her chair. She took the menu the waiter offered her.
“My name is Charles and I’ll be your waiter for the evening.”
“Thanks, Charles. Can you bring us a bottle of your house special?” Rebecca gave him one of her charming smiles. “And an apple juice for the little one. Thank you.”
Charles nodded while he wrote it down in his little notebook. “Anything to eat? Or would you like a few more minutes?”
“What are you going to order?” Kayleigh asked Sarah who had her nose in the kiddies menu in front of her.
“Mac and cheese, please.” She looked up at Kayleigh. “May I go and play in the play area?” There was a playroom for the kids with games to keep them occupied.
“Sure, honey. I’ll call you when your food is here.”
“I’m going to have your catch of the day,” Rebecca said to Charles.
“And I’ll have grilled calamari, thank you, Charles,” Kayleigh said.
“With pleasure.” Charles took the menus and disappeared off to the kitchen.
“We should have invited Lindsay and Judy to join us,” Rebecca said before taking a sip of her water.
“I wonder how they would react if we told them about the ghost. I can’t believe we haven’t told them anything.”
“I somehow don’t think they would believe us, Kay. You know they’re agnostic.”
“Yes, which is exactly why I haven’t mentioned anything.”
“Your wine, my ladies.” Charles showed Rebecca the bottle, she nodded and he opened it with a corkscrew before pouring a small amount into her glass.
Kayleigh watched with admiration as Rebecca sampled the wine and gave Charles the go-ahead. He filled both their glasses before placing the bottle in an ice bucket. He then ran off to the kitchen again.
“I love you, Rebecca, So damn much.” Kayleigh didn’t care who was watching them. She reached across and held Rebecca’s hand.
Rebecca’s eyes glistened. “I love you, too, my one and only true love.”
After Sarah finished eating, she asked if she could go and play in the games area again with Angie, one of her classmates, who was also dining at the restaurant with her parents. As Kayleigh watched Sarah and Angie chat like old buddies on the way to the games room, she noticed Angie’s parents looking in their direction. They had their heads together for a moment, then got up and walked to their table. Rebecca saw them coming and jumped up to greet them.
“Hi, I’m Rebecca and this is Kayleigh. She’s Sarah’s mom.” Rebecca motioned to Kayleigh, and Kayleigh reached out her hand to greet them.
“I’m Bert and this is my wife, Jessica.” He shook their hands and beamed at them. “Do you mind if we join you?”
“No problem at all. Please do,” Kayleigh said.
Charles came over and offered more chairs, which Bert accepted. Bert went to help him while Jessica went back to their table to fetch their drinks.
“So where do you guys stay?” Bert asked as he took his seat.
“We stay in Hoekwil, just up the road.” Kayleigh explained where the house was and saw surprise in Jessica’s eyes.
“You mean old man Martin’s place?” Jessica asked.
Rebecca frowned. “Do you know the place? And Martin?”
“Yes, we know the old guy. But isn’t that house haunted or something?” Jessica raised her eyebrows when she asked the question.
At that, Kayleigh choked on her wine she had taken a sip from.
“Are you all right?” Rebecca tapped her back softly.
“Yeah. I’m all right.”
“Do you mind if I ask a very straightforward question?” Jessica asked, seemingly letting off the hook about the house being haunted.
“By all means.” Kayleigh was still coughing softly.
“Are you guys a couple?”
“Yes, we are,” Kayleigh said as she took Rebecca’s hand.
“I told you,” she said to her husband and he rolled his eyes as he took his wallet out and handed her a note.
“Sorry,” he said. “We must seem rude, but we had a bet earlier—”
“We don’t have a problem with gay people. In fact, my brother’s also gay.” Jessica interjected.
“That’s nice to know,” Rebecca said, shifting in her chair. “Nice to meet you.”
“I drive past your
house every day and it looks so spooky. We live just behind you guys, in fact,” Jessica said.
“So tell us about Martin. Do you know where he is now?” Kayleigh could barely contain her excitement that they found someone who knew about the owner.
“I heard he was at the Sedgefield Frail Care Center. He must be a hundred by now. He hasn’t lived in his house for years,” Jessica said and took a sip of her wine.
And there he was under their noses all this time. It had never occurred to Kayleigh to even look there.
Bert motioned at Kayleigh and Rebecca. “So how did you two meet?”
They talked for several minutes and got to know one another. Bert was a dentist in George, and Jessica was a full time mom. They’d bought their house the year after they got married, so they’d been staying in Hoekwil for ten years. Since they moved there, the house on haunted hill, as they called it, had been standing empty most of the time.
“I heard that people never live there for long,” Bert said. “The last time anyone lived there was a few years back. Martin stayed there for a few months, but rumor has it he moved out fifteen years ago. He rented it out a few times, but the people always left in a hurry, only staying there a month or so.”
“Do you know anything about the history of the place?” Rebecca asked.
“No. Unfortunately not much. Why? Have you seen anything?”
“We have had some strange experiences. Just tonight in fact. Which is why we came out to dinner. Sarah saw a man in her room, and the night before something tugged at my blankets.”
Jessica’s eyes widened. Bert seemed uncomfortable, but nevertheless, very interested. “What else has happened? I mean, you said you’ve had a few experiences.”
Kayleigh cut in. “I heard a man’s voice once. He said the name Catherine. Any idea who that could be?”
“I have absolutely no idea. Do you, honey?” Bert looked questioningly at his wife who in reply, shook her head.
“How do you know Martin, if he hasn’t stayed in the house for fifteen years? You mentioned you’ve only stayed in Hoekwil for ten,” Rebecca asked.
“Oh, he came to greet us right after we moved in. He wanted to let us know that he would maintain the lands. We were concerned that the place was empty, and then the estate agent contacted him. He came over for tea one day. He told us at that time that he was staying at the care center,” Jessica told them.
“Well, as you can understand, we’re pretty hyped up over the stuff happening and want to get in touch with him to find out what happened in the house,” Kayleigh said. “Maybe if we know the history, we could sort of help the thing walking around the house to move on to the next world, or whatever it is, to get that thing to leave us alone. Look, I know we must sound crazy, but all of us have had at least one experience in that house. We just want it to stop.”
Bert and Jessica obviously weren’t skeptical. Bert said, “Maybe you should call a medium?”
“When I was a child, very weird things happened in my parent’s house. They had a medium over and it worked. You guys should really try it.”
“I don’t suppose you still have that medium’s contact details, do you?” Rebecca asked.
“No, I don’t.” Jessica shook her head.
“Just give me a second, I am going to call someone who knows a spiritual clairvoyant, I’m sure she would be able to help you guys.” Bert retrieved his phone from his pocket and scanned through his numbers. He pressed on a contact, got up from the table and walked to Charles and asked for a pen. After a few minutes, he returned with a paper and a number scribbled on it. “Her name is Maggie Fletcher. My colleague says she’s the real deal.”
“Wow, this is such a great help. Thank you, Bert.” Rebecca scanned the number for a second before saving it to her phone.
After a while Bert and Jessica left. Kayleigh looked over at Rebecca and reached for her hand. “I’m scared. Can’t we go to your house, please?”
“I have a family in it for the Easter holidays.”
“Dammit, I forgot. Let’s stay a bit longer then. I’m not ready to go home just yet,” Kayleigh said. “Oh, I forgot to mention earlier, I have a temp coming in for two weeks. He’s a newly qualified veterinarian and here for the Easter holidays. He was looking for a temporary position and contacted me today. I told him he can come work for me for two weeks, and if he likes it, he’s thinking of moving here permanently. It will be great having someone who can take over when I’m away. His name is Angelo. Apparently he finished first in his class two years back and has an excellent reputation. He worked for the animal clinic in Plettenberg Bay, but says he wants to open up his own practice. I’m thinking that if he’s as good as they say, I can make him partner.”
Rebecca’s eyes lit up as Kayleigh spoke. “That’s wonderful news, honey. You need a bit of a break.”
“Yes, I do. It would be nice to spend some time with you once Sarah has gone to her dad.”
“Ooh, the possibilities,” Rebecca whispered.
Sarah returned to the table, waving goodbye to her friend.
“Finish your juice, sweetie, it’s getting late. We should go,” Rebecca said, then signed for the waiter to bring the check.
†
Kayleigh drove the Mini Cooper home. She thought again how safe it would’ve felt for all of them if they’d be driving to Rebecca’s house instead. But because Rebecca had already booked a family into her house for the Easter holidays, that wouldn’t be an option. Kayleigh listened to Sarah’s excited chattering about her new best friend, Angie. It was as if she’d completely forgotten about the man in her room. Kayleigh mentally shook her head at the resilience of children.
When they reached home, Kayleigh turned to a pale Rebecca and asked quietly so that Sarah wouldn’t hear, “Ready?”
“Let’s do this.”
They got out and walked to the house with Sarah taking Rebecca’s hand and skipping along beside her. All the lights were on just how they’d left it. Kayleigh dug the keys from her jacket pocket and unlocked the safety door first and then the main door—it creaked open. Kayleigh entered first with Rebecca and Sarah following quickly on her heels. Sarah closed the door behind her before Rebecca took the key and locked the door. Taking a deep breath she walked into the kitchen.
“Mommy, can I move into the guest room, please?” Sarah asked while Rebecca switched the kettle on.
“I don’t have a problem with you doing that, baby. Shall I help you?” Kayleigh turned to Rebecca. “Can you make the tea while I help Sarah?”
“Of course, babe.” She gave Kayleigh a kiss and reached up in the cabinet for three cups.
Kayleigh and Sarah went upstairs to Sarah’s room hand in hand, and got everything that Sarah needed for the night—blankets, pillow and pajamas.
Kayleigh kept the conversation light as they carried everything into the spare room. The room was on the farthest side of the hallway, on the other side of Kayleigh and Rebecca’s bedroom. Kayleigh removed the dusty linen from the bed and replaced it with Sarah’s pink duvet set. The duvet got lost on the huge king sized bed that was in the guest room. Sarah changed into her pajamas and jumped onto the big bed.
Rebecca came in, balancing three cups, “I think I messed a bit on the way up. I’ll clean it later,” she mumbled as she passed them their cups and sat next to Sarah on the bed.
“Thanks,” Kayleigh and Sarah said in unison.
“Sarah, have you ever seen the little girl again?” Kayleigh sat on the other side of Sarah and put her hand on her daughter’s leg as she spoke.
“Carrey? I saw her a few times, but not recently. She wasn’t scary. She was nice. I liked her.” Sarah seemed to think of something else. “She asked me if I knew where her mommy was. Her daddy was mad, because her mommy had found someone else, she told me. I think that man in my room was her daddy.” She whispered the last sentence with big eyes.
Rebecca and Kayleigh looked questioningly at each other and nodded. “Hey, this bed is
nice and big. How about we all sleep here—just for tonight?” Rebecca suggested. “If that’s all right with you two?”
“You know what, I would like that. Let’s get some more blankets.”
Rebecca got the blankets from their bed and Kayleigh locked up the house and made sure Rattex came in from outside. They usually left the sliding door partially open and the safety gate locked so that he could come and go as he pleased, without any unwanted visitors breaking and entering the house while they were out. Tonight, she got Rattex in and closed the sliding door.
She’d also put in a safety gate at the top of the staircase and now kept it locked at night for extra security. After locking all of the what seemed like ten thousand doors and gates, she switched on the alarm system and switched off the lights and went to the spare room where her family was already lying comfortably, waiting for her return. Sarah had snuggled tight against Rebecca and was already fading into dreamland. Kayleigh climbed in on the other side of Rebecca.
Rebecca wiggled between them with a grin on her face. “Cool, I’m sleeping between two beautiful women tonight.” She leaned to give Kayleigh a soft kiss. “Good night, my love,” she whispered.
†
Just as they’d hoped, the night went by without any strange events. Still, they didn’t sleep very well. The following day was Friday, and the schools were closing early for the Easter holidays. With Sarah’s bags in the trunk of the car, packed and ready for her trip to her dad, they dropped her off at school, and then both went to their respective offices. When Kayleigh arrived at her clinic, Angelo and Faith were sitting inside, talking like old friends.
“This guy is great,” Faith said the instant Kayleigh stepped inside.
“You can tell that from only a few minutes of chatting?” Kayleigh smiled at her nurse.
Angelo stood from his chair and held out his hand to shake Kayleigh’s hand. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he said. “I actually know Faith from Plettenberg Bay. We’ve worked together before.” He looked around animatedly. “Quite the set up you have here. I love it.”
The Presence Page 18