by Roger Hayden
The child, a young boy, stood frozen in place at the grill of the SUV came within inches of his face. The moving truck halted. Its front end dominated the rear-view mirror, but it did not hit them. The boy came to his senses, hopped on his bike, and peddled off without looking back. Curtis sat at the wheel, dumbfounded and nearly out of breath. Mary felt her chest where the belt had yanked her. She was pretty sure it was going to leave a mark.
“Holy shit…” Curtis said, dazed. “That was a close one.” He pressed the driver’s side button. The automatic window began going down as Curtis stuck his head out the window. “Hey!” he shouted at the fleeing boy.
Mary grabbed his shoulder. “What are you doing? Stop it.”
Curtis turned to her as though he was completely justified. “I was just going to ask if he was okay.” The light was still green and heads were turning in their direction.
“Just go. People are watching us,” Mary said.
Frustrated, Curtis gunned it through the intersection as the moving truck followed, no doubt feeling a little on edge themselves after that close call. They passed a few more buildings and then turned left off Main Street along a glistening lake that stretched for a mile.
Some locals were spread out around the lake, standing in ankle-high grass as endless forest stretched behind them on the horizon. Curtis steered along the wide curve in the two lane road still shaken from the incident.
“Can’t believe he just came out in front of us like that. Where are his parents?”
“It’s okay,” Mary said. “Just grateful nothing bad happened.”
“Nearly had a damn heart attack,” Curtis said, shaking his head. “Kids…”
Mary looked out her window as they drove past homes concealed within the forest brush and spread out with No trespassing signs posted on guide posts and gates blocking dirt trail entrances. The rural homeowners seemed to revel in their privacy and privacy was exactly what Curtis and Mary were looking for.
“How much farther?” Mary asked.
“About five miles down here,” Curtis said. “Excited?”
“I am,” she said. It was all she could say.
Curtis looked away, convinced enough. Mary glanced at the dashboard clock. It was a little after three.
As they continued down the road, other homes became more sporadic. Soon Mary didn’t see any. Were they really going to live out here? What were they going to to do with a two story, ten thousand square foot mansion? Mary closed her eyes, trying to calm her nerves while telling herself that she had to give it a chance.
She then had a sudden vision of a large hall with open windows thin white curtains blowing in the wind. A distant voice called to her from darkness at the end of the hall where she could see the faint glow of red eyes. Her heart seized and she couldn’t move. She snapped out of it, clutching her chest with a gasp
“What is it?” Curtis asked, looking over with concern.
“Nothing…” she said, rubbing her head. “I was… just thinking about that boy. How terrible it would’ve been.”
Curtis took her hand again and squeezed. “No need to worry. I wouldn’t have let anything happen to him.” He tapped his steering wheel. “You’re looking at the model of a safe driver here.”
Mary smiled even though she still didn’t feel right. The closer they got to the mansion, the worse she began to feel. She squeezed her forehead again while holding Curtis’s hand. She felt dizzy, frightened even. Curtis must have noticed something in her fading color or nodding forward.
“Mary? Mary!”
Before she knew it, her head dropped down and hit the dashboard without a moment’s notice. She was out cold.
Chapter Five
Homestead
Mary woke up, reclined in chair inside mansion near a living room window with an icepack over her forehead. She had no idea how long she had been out for. The sun was still out and she could hear movement all around her. Curtis was nowhere to be seen. She rose up from the chair with a sore neck and scanned the empty room where boxes were strewn across the floor. A large water bottle had been placed at her feet. She grabbed the bottle and took a long swig from it, immediately subsiding her thirst. She looked around the room, getting her first glimpse inside of the mansion with no idea how she had even got there.
She left the living room and walked through the two large double doors were propped open, revealing the busy courtyard outside. She briefly covered her eyes as she walked down the steps into the courtyard where a barrage of people and unfamiliar faces moved around in a dizzying bustle. She turned to face the mansion as it towered over her. It’s faded gray walls were covered in winding vines green brush growing spread on all sides. Its windows were thick with grime and dust. Its arching roof top was covered in leaves and debris, gutters full. An elegant center deck on the second floor looked out into the entire property.
An empty fountain sat in the middle of the courtyard filled to the brim with branches and dead leaves. She turned back to the mansion, taking its looming sight in. This was it. This was where they were going to live. It didn’t look nearly as dilapidated as it had appeared in her dreams.
Curtis had hired renovation team weeks ahead. There were several landscapers on site, eradicating decades of foliage growth with electric trimmers and mowers. Men with pressure washer hoses sprayed the front of house, turning the hard exterior surface from gray to white. There were also painters on site, janitorial services, carpenters, and other renovation teams. Mary lost count of them all. She shuddered to think of the cost.
The reality was that both she and Curtis had dipped into their savings to pay for it all. For the life of her, she hoped that it would be worth it. Their moving truck was parked next to the courtyard fountain, backed in hear the front door. Curtis at the rear directing the movers as they unloaded their living room set, placing different pieces of furniture around the court yard. Mary felt strangely detached, and she couldn’t pinpoint why
The sun was temporarily concealed by passing clouds, providing some much needed shade. She looked to the driveway circling the courtyard where a line of vans and trucks were parked. Even with all the busy work going on, there was still a lot of work to do. The thought of the cobwebs and rodents alone made Mary queasy. Despite her lingering apprehension, she couldn’t help but feel the excitement in the air. They actually owned a mansion. Everything that had brought them to this moment seemed unreal.
She walked along pebbled ground toward the moving truck to talk to Curtis. She had seen pictures of the mansion before, but within its presence she felt as though she had walked the same path many times before. She stopped beside the moving truck and looked up to the center balcony where a white curtain flowed into the air from an open window, it fabric torn.
A pest control van drove pulled up next to her, out of nowhere, and parked behind the long line of vehicles. She took in the disorienting sounds of the pressure washers, gas-powered hedge trimmers, and lawn mowers around her. There was so much activity going on, she didn’t know what she could do, if anything, to lend a hand. Everything had already been set in motion. Curtis had seen to that. What could she do, if anything, but accept their brash relocation?
She approached Curtis as he directed the movers from the rear of the truck. “What happened? How did I get inside?” she asked, startling him.
He turned around, head sweating with stains showing through his white polo shirt. Mary was wearing blue jeans and blue drape halter top that exposed her shoulders. There wasn’t a bead of sweat on her, and she felt guilty having passed out with so much work to be done.
“You gave us quite scare,” he said. “That’s what happened.”
“Yes. But how did I?” she said, struggling to form the very question at hand.
“Get inside?” Curtis answered with a shrug. “We carried you in there. You just passed out. Your head hit the dashboard, and you were out cold. I pulled over and tried to wake you.”
“I don’t understand,” she said,
confused.
Curtis turned away from the movers and placed his hands over her shoulders. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Maybe it’s the heat. I called an ambulance about ten minutes ago, but look at where we are.” He spread his arms out wide, indicating just how isolated they were. She said nothing as he looked into her eyes with genuine concern. “How do you feel now?”
“Better,” she said with a faint smile.
He then turned to her side and held his arm out. “Well then. Would you like a personal tour of the premises now, Mrs. Malone?”
“A tour would be great.”
She put her arm around his as they walked off together, past the courtyard toward the marble steps leading inside. As the hired workers moved around them, Mary felt invisible. They ascended the front steps, arm in arm, leading to the large double-door entrance. The more she saw of the mansion, the more she felt at home.
Creeping anticipation for what lay behind each room increased with each step. Water mist from the pressure washer fell onto her arm from afar. Much of the grim and buildup on the right side of the house had already been removed. They reached the top step and Mary could see a darkened foyer ahead.
“Oh,” Curtis said. “Still trying to get the power on out here.” She followed him inside and could see rays of light hitting dusty hardwood floors from the open windows. “Got the water turned on though,” he added with pride.
“So… No power?” Mary asked.
Curtis let out a nervous laugh. “Trying to get ’em out here today, but it’s not looking good.”
Mary thought to herself for a moment. “Maybe we should just find a hotel for the time being.”
“Nonsense,” Curtis said with a squeeze around her waist. “It’s our first night. We have to stay.”
“But there’s no power,” Mary said. “And this place is a dust bowel.”
She looked down the vast empty foyer and observed its cobweb-covered chandeliers, hanging from the high ceiling above. Ahead of them was a long, winding staircase leading to the second floor. There were halls at both ends of the foyer, leading to a variety of different rooms—seven rooms on the first, eight on the second. Though there was plenty to explore, she felt a strange knowledge of the layout without even looking.
Curtis leaned over and kissed her on the head. “Shall we continue the tour?”
She turned her head slightly, smiling. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
Curtis released her and backed away, pulling a folded paper from his pocket. “I’ve got a layout here.” He unfolded the paper as Mary looked to down the dark hall to their left. Nothing immediately grabbed her interest.
Curtis pulled a mini flash light from his pocket and shined a light on the map. The endless symphony of pressure washers, hedge trimmers, and leaf blowers continued outside, unabated. Mary walked in the center of the foyer. Her soft shoes barely made a sound on the dusty hardwood floors. She looked to her right toward an adjacent room that could very well be considered an extension of the foyer, though she found something peculiar about it.
“The lounge…” she said softly. “Is this where it happened?”
“Sorry?” Curtis said, holding the layout under his mini flashlight.
“Nothing,” Mary said. “How big is the kitchen?”
Curtis scanned around the layout, trying to answer. “Kitchen?”
Mary turned to her right and began walking.
“Yeah, that way,” he said, looking up. He hurried to catch up with her as she continued down the dark hall. Mary stopped in her tracks and looked up as Curtis stopped beside her.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah…” she said in a distant tone. She closed her eyes and touched her forehead, sighing.
“What is it, honey?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said, lowering her hand, eyes open. “I’m fine.”
He caressed her shoulder with concern. “Maybe you should lie down. I don’t want to you to another… incident.”
“I’m fine. Let’s see the kitchen,” she said, walking ahead. She looked up to where the ledge of the second floor ended and stopped again.
Curtis halted as his shoes squeaked against the floor. “Now what is it?”
Mary scanned the area in deep concentration. “How much do you know about the Bechdels?”
“Who?” Curtis asked, clutching the layout.
“The Bechdels,” Mary repeated. “The family who were murdered here.
Curtis dropped his arms to the side. “Honey, that forty years ago. We’ve been through this. I didn’t know you were so superstitious.”
“As home owners we have a right to know exactly what happened here.”
Curtis turned around, unsure of what to say. A smile hit his face as a thought sprung to mind. “How about we go to town tomorrow. They have this quaint library, you’d love it. And I’m sure they have plenty of crime books if you’re into that kind of thing.”
Mary nodded with a blank stare, seeming neither taken with or against the idea. She continued down the hall and entered a long, empty room with two windows on both sides—caked with enough dirt and grime to block the sunlight from entering.
“I believe this is, or was, the dining room,” Curtis said, shining his flashlight around.
Mary looked around in awe. “Enormous…”
The air was stuffy and smelled of old wood. Curtis went to the first window at his right and tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. He handed the map and flashlight to Mary and turned back to the window, pushing up against it. “This is ridiculous,” he said grunting. “We need to get all the windows of this place opened, and air this place out.”
Suddenly, the front doors swung open down the hall at the foyer. Two well-built men wearing white pants and shirts with a moving business logo entered. Curtis turned toward the foyer and signaled to Mary. “I gotta keep things moving, babe.”
Mary nodded. With Curtis gone to help the movers, she felt free to explore. She approached the window he couldn’t open and ran her hands down the warm glass, trailing lines of dust. Now that they had started, she felt the urge to explore every room in the house, top to bottom. She approached a set of double doors at the end of the dining room, eager to see the kitchen beyond its simple amenities.
She turned both knobs and pulled the heavy oak doors open as dank, musty air hit her senses. Like the rest of the house so far, all the windows were closed and caked with dirt and mildew buildup over the years. She entered the kitchen, fearless, and turned on the mini flashlight. Dust rained down as she moved the light through the darkened room. There were several counter tops and cabinets that reached the ceiling. The kitchen looked as though it could have been considered at one time the height of elegance.
There as a large industrial-sized antique over in the corner. She wondered if it was still operational. To her immediate right was a sink the size of a bathtub along flat, dusty countertops that stretched the entire length the room with more cabinets overhead than she knew what to do with.
She walked along the tiled floor past the thick, granite counter tops where she came upon a vast pantry with dozens of shelves bolted to plaster walls. There was energy in the room that she couldn’t quite pinpoint.
She walked away from the pantry, exploring the rest of the layout when suddenly, a jolting metal clang hit the floor a few feet ahead of her. She jumped and raised her flashlight, only to see a metallic spoon on the ground. It had fallen from a nearby hook on the wall. How long it had been there, she had no clue. The kitchen needed work. That much was clear. She had seen enough, though, and walked with haste back through the dining hall to the foyer where the movers were carrying in boxes. Curtis stood to the side on his cell phone, pacing back and forth.
“We’re moving in today. Do you understand that? I was scheduled for activation yesterday.” He paused, annoyed. “Look, I know how old this property is, but your company was given plenty of notice to turn our power on.”
It wasn’
t looking good. Mary smiled and nodded at the movers as they breezed past her. She wasn’t sure what was in each box that they set down. She and Curtis had packed everything the prior weekend, and her head still wasn’t clear. Once their possessions were inside, she figured they could decide where to move it later, such was her exhaustion with the hasty move.
At first glance, the mansion seemed excessive in its size. Everything they owned could probably fit in the foyer alone. The thought of having so much space was overwhelming, and the thought of living behind these walls felt almost like a dream. What were they doing?
Curtis had spent the last few weeks convincing her they were making the right decision. He had made assurances of a fresh start and the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in their lives. She knew him to be impulsive, but in the end, she agreed to it. As she stood in the foyer, surrounded by boxes, she wondered when the true reality of their investment would settle in.
“Just send someone out today. Please,” Curtis said on the phone, out of patience. “We cannot and will not wait until Monday. That is final.” He hung up the phone and shook his head in frustration.
Mary’s gazed up the staircase, eager to see what the rooms looked like above and if they matched any of her earlier visions. It was funny to think of such a vast living space having remained vacant and undisturbed for so long. Though before she jaunted off into the unknown, she approached Curtis for an update.
“Everything okay?”
Curtis turned to her, flustered. “Yeah. Damn Power Company is playing games. They say that their service hours don’t run on the weekend, but our appointment was yesterday.” He looked around. “Do you see any power on, because I certainly don’t?”
She touched his arm. “I’m going to look around some more. Want to join me?”