A Haunting at Hensley Hall (A Ravynne Sisters Paranormal Mystery)

by Merabeth James

  Charlie laughed and said, “Sounds like a good idea. Toss you for the dishes?”

  ***

  After they'd finished in the kitchen, they decided to grab a book from the library and head upstairs. Their bedrooms seemed like a sanctuary to them both just then. A place to ‘hole up’ and keep the rest of the house at bay.

  The huge house was already a place of shadows that swirled like mist along the edges of their awareness, as they made their way down the long hall to the library wing. A sly whispering seemed to follow them…not hostile…more curious than anything else, both sisters thought, but neither mentioned what they heard. It was almost dark and probably not a good time to be ‘spooking’ each other.

  Opening the library door, they flipped on the lights and looked around. The sun’s last gasp threw up tangerine, purple and red colors against the sky. Meg opened the French doors and stepped out on the fieldstone terrace, while Freddie headed into the bushes for his last leg lift of the night. A bird called and another answered. Cardinals, Meg thought, getting ready to roost. Unlike most people she knew, they mated for life. She sighed and called Freddie, who was sniffing the base of a tree. Stepping back inside, she looked around and found Charlie sitting on the floor surrounded by a stack of books.

  “Some great classics here, Meg. The Bronte sisters…Jane Austen. I think I’ll re-read Wuthering Heights. Maybe we’ll luck out and find some rare first edition.”

  Meg browsed the shelves and found a gardening book from the early part of the 1900s. Tucking it under her arm, she said, “Ready?”

  Charlie nodded. “It’s beginning to feel a little…”

  “Heavy in here,” Meg finished for her. “Nothing malevolent like that first day. Let’s take the main stairs up since we’re on this end of the house.”

  They climbed the sweeping staircase, averting their eyes as they passed the repaired railing. In the upper hall, Meg switched on the wall sconces that lined both sides of the long corridor, pushing back the shadows that seemed to flee behind the closed doors. With Freddie between them, his back bristling like a furry stegosaurus, they continued towards their rooms. Charlie broke the silence first, “I know it’s probably just my imagination, but it feels like each of these doors has someone on the other side, listening to us as we pass. I know I can depend on you to tell me I’m just being silly, right?” she whispered.

  “You are just being silly,” Meg whispered back.

  “You’re lying, aren’t you?”

  “You bet!”

  Finally, they reached their ‘sanctuaries’ and opened their doors, glad they had left the lights on, when they'd left earlier. “You sure you want to spend the night all alone? You know you can stay with me…you and your fur child,” Charlie told her with a worried frown.

  “Thanks, but no thanks. If we want this to be our home, we need to at least be able to sleep in our own beds. Besides, it looks like Freddie has already settled in for the night! He seems to really like this room for some reason,” she said.

  After a hug, both sisters went into their rooms and closed their doors behind them. Charlie made her way into the bathroom and smiled as she looked around. Pulling the shower curtain shut, she adjusted the water temperature. Stripping off her jeans and tank top, she studied herself in the full-length mirror fastened to the bathroom door.

  She was tall, still slim, but not quite as slim as she once was. Pulling the scrunchie off her ponytail, she shook her hair loose to fall like silk over her shoulders and breasts…good breasts still high and firm. She studied her face. Paul had told her she was beautiful. She wasn’t sure about that, though she liked her gray eyes fringed with surprisingly dark lashes that matched the color of her winged eyebrows. There were laugh lines fanning out at the corners of her eyes and she liked them, too.

  Paul had called her mouth ‘generous’, and she wasn’t sure what he meant, but it must have been something good from all the attention he gave it. Her nose was a bit long to be considered perky, but she’d keep it. She smiled, realizing for the first time she could think about Paul without an overwhelming sadness. Healing. It took time and she had already given it a lot of that.

  She made a face at herself in the mirror. How long it had been since she had taken inventory? Maybe Meg was right for once. Maybe Moe Swenson had stirred her up. She shook her head, laughed, blushed and snorted simultaneously. Which was definitely not a good look for her, she thought, as she turned and stepped into the shower.

  A short time later, she wrapped herself in her terry robe and padded into the bedroom, then crossed to the balcony door. She opened it to the night wind and climbed into bed. Lying there, she watched the white sheers, they had hung earlier, billow in like restless ghosts. The Ravynne sisters had way too much imagination, herself included, she decided. Punching her pillow into shape, she turned over and was asleep in minutes.

  Not so Meg. Meg had spent a long time soaking in the deep clawfoot tub. It was heaven. Simply heaven. After she had long passed the ‘pruney’ stage, she climbed out, toweled herself dry and pulled on one of her ‘girlie gowns’ as Charlie called them…a confection of ruffles edged in lace. Freddie was already sound asleep and she crawled in next to him, thinking about the doggie bed they had just purchased and would need to return. She should have known where Freddie would insist on sleeping!

  She looked around slowly. It was a wonderful room, perfect for her. She glanced up at the canopy frame and pictured how pretty it would look when she found the right replacement, and the rose rug would be perfect once it was cleaned and back in place. She studied the marble fireplace with its roses and fat cherubs, then let her eyes drift up to the portrait above it. Breanna was certainly beautiful in an ethereal kind of way. Her eyes seemed focused on some distant place mere mortals would never see. How she must have loved sleeping in this bed, she thought, as she settled back with a sigh and opened the book she’d brought upstairs. She began to read, but her eyes quickly lost focus. Mumbling to herself she reached over and switched off the light. Moments later, she was sound asleep and snoring lightly with Freddie snugged up against her side, his shaggy head resting on the pillow next to hers.

  Some time later she awoke with a start and sat straight up in bed. A sliver of moonlight found its way across the floor and brightened one corner, where a mist was forming. It was a slender spire that wavered, then moved purposefully across the room straight towards her. “Oh, my!” Meg whispered. Sensing spirits, hearing them, even having them touch you, wasn’t the same thing as seeing one coming straight for you! She was about to scream down the house, when she heard it. Crying, the heartbroken kind of sobs and she knew: This was Breanna.

  The spire twisted, writhed and churned, as it…she…continued to wail. Freddie’s ‘woof’ got Meg’s attention. He was sitting on his haunches, twisting his head from side to side, as puzzled and concerned as she was. She reached out and stroked his silky ears, “It’s okay. It’s just Breanna and I don’t think she means us any harm.”

  “At least I hope not,” she added under her breath, so he wouldn’t hear.

  The spire seemed to grow taller but the wailing had stopped. For which Meg was grateful. One could only take so much of that sort of thing. “Breanna, is that you?” There was no answer just a preternatural cold that made Meg shiver and pull her blankets up to her chin. “We only want to help you, be your friend, if you understand me tap on the bed post.”

  But ‘Breanna’ uttered a low moan, and began to disperse, taking the cold with her. With one very prolonged wail, she disappeared completely, leaving Meg and Freddie staring after her. Well, that was a little unnerving, Meg thought, not scary exactly, but definitely unsettling. She could use her big sister right about now.

  Sliding out of bed, she padded across the room and opened the door. She checked the hall in both directions, thankful they had left the sconces lit when they went to bed. With Freddie next to her, she opened Charlie’s door and slipped inside. She could see her in the moonlight, lyi
ng in a tangle of sheets and blankets. “Charlie,” she whispered, “are you awake?” Just as she expected, her sister was sound asleep, totally unaware of what was happening next door.. A bit miffed, Meg threw the covers off her and bounced up on the bed next to her.

  Charlie opened one eye and groaned. “Are you all right?”

  Meg launched into full babble and Charlie just managed to understand that Breanna, in ghostly form, had just paid her a visit.

  “She was crying…wailing quite loudly truth be told. I’m surprised you didn’t hear her through the wall, though you were sleeping like the dead. I shouldn’t use that metaphor, I guess, and she seemed so, well, needy and…”

  Charlie clapped a hand over her sister’s mouth and dragged her down to the pillow next to her. “I’m not psychically gifted, and I use that term loosely, as you are, Meg, but even I can feel something needs fixing here. If Breanna’s a ghost, she must be dead.”

  Charlie could feel Meg’s lips moving against her palm and pushed harder. “If she’s dead, she didn’t get there without some help. Of course, she could have had an accident of some kind, but…”

  Unable to remain quiet another moment, Meg peeled her sister’s hand away and burst out, “So, what do we do about it?”

  “I think we need to visit with this nanny as soon as possible.”

  “I hope ‘soon’ means just that or I won’t be getting any sleep at all,” Meg said with a prolonged sigh. “Unlike some people I could name.”

  Charlie pulled back the blankets and patted the bed next to her. Meg didn’t need a second invitation and neither did Freddie.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Meg took a moment to decide where she was, then stretched and looked around. at the gray beginning of a day that hadn’t had a chance to see the sun yet. She was in the Blue Room with Charlie. The events of the night before came back with a rush and she shoved them aside to examine later. Something had wakened her. What was it? A whine and persistent pawing on the edge of the bed answered her question.

  “Okay! Okay! I’m coming,” she mumbled and looked over at her sister, who was still sleeping heavily with her blanket pulled over her head. Deciding she wasn’t about to be the only one up and about, she pulled the blanket down and leaned close to her ear.

  “Wakey! Wakey!” she called with every ounce of perkiness she could muster, which was way too much for her sister!. Charlie rolled over and gave her a baleful glare that should have stopped her, but it didn’t. “Time to rise and shine!”

  “As though that’s ever likely to happen. What time is it anyway,” Charlie mumbled, wondering why she hadn’t noticed Meg’s streak of sadistic perkiness before.

  “Don’t know. I’m headed downstairs with Freddie. Breakfast is in 30 minutes…one of my world famous UFOs. Be there!” Meg called over her shoulder, as she bounced off the bed and headed out the door.

  Moaning, Charlie pulled her pillow over her head. UFO was Meg's code for ‘unidentified fried object’ one of her specialties. They really would have to look for a cook, as soon as they could afford one, or they would all be dead. Even the ‘lint ball’, since he ate as much of her cooking as they did! Not that her own ‘cooking’ contribution was any improvement.

  Still moaning, she rolled off the bed and headed to the shower. Fifteen minutes later, she was sitting at the kitchen table, cradling a cup of coffee. Grimacing, she took a sip. Meg's coffee was worse than her UFOs, but Charlie was desperate!

  Over breakfast, they discussed what happened the previous night. “I think today would be a good time to visit this Nell something or other and see what she can tell us,” Meg said with a thoughtful frown. “Maybe we’ll find out what Breanna wants and lay her to rest, or whatever we’re supposed to do with her.”

  “We can leave right after they put in my DSL line. They’re supposed to be here at 10AM,” Charlie told her, as she slipped her UFO under the table, where Freddie waited. “As soon as I have Internet again, we can find out where this Sunnyvale Nursing Home is.”

  “We will have to bring Freddie along. We can’t just leave him here all by himself and, besides, I hear they love to have animals…dogs…cats…whatever…visit nursing homes. Just look at him! He’ll be a hit!” Meg enthused.

  Charlie smiled and wisely kept her mouth shut.

  ***

  As it turned out, Sunnyvale Nursing Home was in Sunnyvale, as might have been expected…a small town some 30 miles away. Pulling into the parking lot they looked around at the sprawling white building with its columned portico jutting out over the drive. It was just after lunch and the grounds were deserted except for several employees on a ‘smoking’ break.

  “Must be nap time. Maybe we should come back later,” Meg said, looking around.

  “Well, we’re here now. Let’s just go on in and see. Maybe Nell isn’t the ‘napping’ kind,” Charlie replied.

  After emptying Freddie surreptitiously behind a bush, they crossed the courtyard and passed through the sliding electric doors. A middle-aged woman in a bright yellow tunic took their measure from her cubicle. The words ‘Information’ and ‘Visitor Registration’ hung over her head.

  With Freddie tucked between them, they approached. “I see you have brought a little visitor, though it isn’t ”Pet“ day today, is it? Always the third Wednesday in the month. You might want to mark that on your calendars!” she told them condescendingly.

  “We’re sorry. We didn’t know. We just can’t leave him in the truck or his brain will fry,” Meg told her with one of her most melting smiles. The very kind that had got her out of trouble, as a child, not that she was ever in much, thought Charlie with a wry grin.

  The woman smiled way too sweetly. “If I make an exception, everyone will be bringing their pets in willy nilly and how would that be?”

  “Wonderful! It would be just wonderful. How many of the people you have in here had to leave a beloved pet behind? Nell Arnold wants to see this dog. I think you should let her, don’t you?” Charlie asked quietly, but with steel in every word.

  The woman, whose name-tag read ‘Cynthia', blinked rapidly several times. “Just this one time and don’t breathe a word of this to anyone. Now sign in. That’s one rule I must insist on! We like to keep track of everyone. Room 114 is just down that end of the hall”

  Meg tightened Freddie’s leash, as his exploratory nose took over. At the command “sit!” he looked up at Meg and seemed to consider his options, then, to her complete surprise, he, actually, sat and both waited while Charlie filled in the “Visitor’s Log’.

  As they headed down the hall, an aide in bright yellow brushed past them on her way to answer a call light. Otherwise, it was quiet. From the rooms they passed, doors gaping widely, they saw that most of Sunnyvale was either fast asleep or headed in that direction.

  Both sisters had expected to find Nell asleep, but she was standing by the window talking to her African Violets. “Now you know I have to pull off your leaf, don’t you, Doris? A yellow leaf will never turn green again. Just a quick pinch and it will all be over.”

  Charlie cleared her throat and she turned around. “Time to nap already? I’m not going to do it. You know you can’t make me,” she told them with a shake of her head.

  “We’re not here to make you do anything you don’t want to do, Nell. See we brought you a visitor and a treat.”

  “Come closer. My eyes aren’t what they used to be along with the rest of me. I don’t think I know you girls, do I?” she asked, as she moved across the room, pushing a walker with tennis ball feet. Her hair was a wisp of gray…like feathers…flying about the tiny wizened face. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes a faded blue lit with the inquisitiveness of a squirrel. She was wearing a floral print dress now several sizes too big for her.

  Meg handed her the box of chocolates they had picked up on the way there. She had had her doubts about the wisdom of gifting her with chocolates without asking the nurse first. “What if she’s diabetic and we kill her?” she’d asked
her sister, who predictably replied, “Death by chocolate! What a way to go!”

  “Chocolates! How did you know? Haven’t had a full box of chocolates since…. Well, in a very long time. Let me get situated in my chair and you can tell me what brings you to Sunnyvale, where no one would go in their right mind,” she laughed. “It’s a joke. Get it?”

  It didn’t seem funny to them, but it apparently it did to Nell. When she’d quite finished laughing, she reached for the box of chocolates and tore off the gold foil wrapping. Popping one in her mouth, she closed her eyes and moaned in pure delight. “You two go right ahead and tell me what you want, while I sit back and savor these. Scrumptious! I suppose the polite thing to do would be to offer you two girls one, but I’m hoping you’ll say ‘no’.”

  Which they did. While Nell popped her third chocolate in her mouth, Meg began, “We’re the Ravynne sisters. I’m Meg and this is Charlie….Freddie is the short furry one. He’s a Ravynne too.”

  “Looks like he got the looks in the family,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes, as she squinted down at Freddie. “Cute enough, but I never much liked pets in the house…hair everywhere…dirty beasts every one. Not like my flowers.”

  Charlie smiled. “No, they’re not. Quite different in fact. Would you mind if we asked you about a family you worked for a long time ago? The Hensleys of Hensley Hall? You were the twins nanny.”

  Nell looked at them for a long moment and then seemed to slip away. Just as the sisters were beginning to think their trip had been a waste of time, she said, “Breanna and Devon. Pretty things, both of them. Dark hair and big gray eyes. Taught them both in that schoolroom. Kind of a nurse and nanny combined. They had a tutor, too, later…can’t think who that was…looked like a weasel…beady close set eyes”

  “About the twins. We live in Hensley Hall now and we need to know everything you remember. Please, it’s really important!” Meg said.