Adam's Thorn

by Angela Verdenius

  Minus ghosts and weird noises, if one believed in them of course. “I’m actually having the walls painted,” Barbie replied, “And all wood panelling will be repaired or replaced.”

  He nodded.

  Upstairs they looked at the photos on the walls, the older couple again able to provide identities of the subjects.

  Entering the library, Mrs Hubble exclaimed, “Oh my, this is still a bit of a mess, isn’t it, dear?”

  “What?” Bewildered, Barbie hurried to where the books were heaped untidily on the floor, some with the flaps open, a couple tossed against the armchair. “I don’t understand. I didn’t leave them like this.”

  “Maybe the workers?” she suggested.

  “No, they haven’t been here since Friday, and these books were all in the book case.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.” Barbie started placing the books in neat stacks. Worry bit at her, fear was undeniable. “I found Fred in here and took him out, and these books were in the bookshelf.” She glanced up to find Old Man Parker glancing around the room.

  She followed his gaze, relieved to find the window shut, but chilled to realise that the old ink pot on the desk was now on the floor beside the desk leg, the nibbed pen stuck in the old carpet, sharp point down.

  Seeing the doubt in Mrs Hubble’s eyes as she knelt down to help stack the spilled books, Barbie stood, not wanting to bring her attention to the pen and ink pot. “I’ll clean this up later, I-”

  A bang echoed through the hallway, making the hair on her nape prickle.

  “Probably something tipped over that the workers left behind,” Mrs Hubble stated sensibly. “They can sometimes be careless.”

  “Possibly,” Barbie admitted.

  Mrs Hubble, Barbie and Old Man Parker looked at each other as a soft thump sounded, then another.

  Feeling a little more secure with their company, Barbie walked out into the hallway and called out, “Hello? We’re up here.” When there was no answer, she walked to the staircase and peered down. “Hello?”

  Silence.

  A thump, soft, muted, had her turning quickly to stare down the hallway. Mrs Hubble jumped and clung to Old Man Parker’s arm, her eyes like saucers.

  Barbie knew exactly where the sound had come from, and she smiled reassuringly at them. “Oh, that’ll be the broken shelf spilling the dolls again.”

  “My dear,” Mrs Hubble said, voice quavering. “Why one earth would the dolls be on a broken shelf?”

  Damn good question and one to which Barbie felt slightly sick.

  Crossing to the girl’s room, she opened the door and looked in. The sight that met her eyes had heart starting to pound.

  In the middle of the floor sat the dolls, every single one that had been on the repaired shelf. The carpenters had fixed it on Friday, she remembered now, and the dolls - Oh God, the dolls she’d stuck back on the shelf…

  The dolls now sitting in a line in the middle of the floor, staring sightlessly at her out of their glass eyes.

  Old Man Parker looked over her shoulder. “Never did like those things.”

  “They were on the shelf,” Barbie said faintly.

  He stiffened behind her.

  “Oh, they’re sweet!” Mrs Hubble swept into the room and picked one up. “I had one of these when I was a girl, passed down to me from my mother. I treasured that doll.” She beamed at Barbie.

  Old Man Parker looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “Clare, that damned thing is sitting on the floor.”

  “It fell off the broken shelf.” She turned and pointed to the shelf. “Oh…it’s not broken.”

  “And those dolls were on the shelf,” Barbie repeated with a shiver.

  “And those dolls, including the one you’re holding, are on the floor. Sitting on the floor.” Old Man Parker pointed to the sightless porcelain dolls facing him.

  Mrs Hubble looked from the dolls to the shelf, to the doll she cradled in her arm. Uncertainty crossing her lined features, she stepped back. “Oh. Um…” She placed the doll hurriedly on the shelf. “Yes. I see.”

  “Probably the carpenters,” Barbie managed a sickly smile.

  “Who haven’t been here since Friday,” Old Man Parker muttered.

  “Really, Percy.” With a huff, Mrs Hubble regained her composure along with her no-nonsense attitude, and proceeded to pick the dolls up and set them on the shelf. “Barbie, you must have forgotten to put them back or someone is playing a joke on you. Probably that young Bruce, or Shane. After all, they’re up here and you’re downstairs. It wouldn’t take much for them to slip back in here and set this up.”

  Of course. Relieved at what was an obvious explanation, Barbie squared her shoulders. “You’re absolutely correct, Mrs Hubble. Thank you.” It doesn’t explain the noises, that loud bang.

  “No worries, dear. Now, Percy.” Mrs Hubble almost glared at him. “No more scaring the poor child. Penny was a little addled, and this is an old a house. Some of the workers are young and would get a kick out of playing a joke on Barbie. Let’s go back downstairs and enjoy another cup of tea.”

  Not looking completely convinced, Old Man Parker followed them down the stairs.

  Fred and Barney were flopped in the hallway near the front door, their tails twitching, gazing lazily around. That was a good sign, Barbie assured herself. The cats would be freaked if there was anything supernatural happening in the house.

  Apart from someone playing a joke on her.

  She kept telling herself this as she sat in the lounge sipping tea, trying to ignore the soft thud from the floor above. Old Man Parker didn’t appear to hear, and Mrs Hubble chatted on about her youth and what she remembered of the Declan family, which wasn’t a lot. It seemed that once Penny’s parents didn’t mix much with the townsfolk, and even when her father died, Mrs Declan and Penny lived quietly, only venturing out to buy food and a few items. They stayed on their block and didn’t mix, and that didn’t change when Penny’s mother had died.

  Another soft thud had her heart leaping. Half listening to Mrs Hubble, she kept her ears strained to hear any further noise, but there was nothing. It remained blessedly silent.

  It was late afternoon when Mrs Hubble and Old Man Parker finally took their leave, Mrs Hubble trying to cajole Barbie into visiting her, while Old Man Parker stood to one side.

  He settled Mrs Hubble into the passenger seat of his car before turning to Barbie. “You shouldn’t be in that house alone.”

  “It’s just an old house, Mr Parker,” she assured him, more for her own sake. “Just old house noises.”

  Concern was plain in his eyes. “There’s something weird in that house, love. You should stay elsewhere.’

  “No, look, I’m certain it’s fine. I-”

  “Then ask the police to look around.”

  “Mr Parker, I do appreciate your concern, but-”

  Old Man Parker leaned closer, dropping his voice so Mrs Hubble couldn’t hear. “Penny saw and heard things. I believe her.”

  Seeing the sincerity in his wrinkled face, the steadiness of his gaze, Barbie shifted uneasily. “Have you seen anything here?”

  “You mean apart from what I saw and heard today?”

  That wasn’t comforting. “Uh…yes.”

  He glanced around, looked back at her. “There was alight once.”

  “Where?”

  “In the lounge room.”

  “When Penny was there?”

  “No.” His jaw tightened. “After she died. When the house was empty.” He paused. “Before you came.”

  “Someone broke into the house?”

  Old Man Parker frowned slightly. “More like a lamp light. An old lamp light, one not used nowadays.”

  Oh shit. Folding her arms, Barbie shivered.

  “Percy!” Mrs Hubble leaned across the seat and fixed him with a stern stare. “Stop scaring the child and get in the car.”

  He cast the house a last look. “Don’t stay here.” With a no
d, he climbed into the car. “Don’t get your panties in a knot, Clare. I’m coming.”

  “Really, Percy, your language!” Mrs Hubble spoiled the whole shocked affect by giggling.

  Old Man Parker started the car and drove away, but not before giving Barbie a meaningful look.

  When his car pulled onto the road out of sight, Barbie turned back to the house. With the sun still up, it looked harmless enough until one looked up at the vacant windows staring down at her like eyes.

  And especially when one of the curtains swayed. The curtain in the boy’s room this time.

  She froze, several thoughts at once tumbling through her head.

  Ghosts.

  No such thing as ghosts.

  Someone is playing a trick. Check out the back, see if there’s a car there.

  If it’s Shane or Bruce, they could have walked.

  It could be Fred or Barney playing around in the room.

  This was followed by the realisation that the cats were alone in the house. The memory of the dolls sitting in a line facing the door - Barbie’s gaze flashed back up to the window of the girl’s room.

  “Oh no!” Horrified, she stared at where Fred was in the window, his front paws scrabbling at the glass before he fell back out of sight.

  Terrified for her cat, Barbie ran into the house and up the stairs, yanking the door of the girl’s room open.

  She screamed as something spat and ran past her, brushing against her legs. Startled, scared stiff, she looked over her shoulder to see Fred disappearing down the stairs.

  Oh God, he’s safe. Thank goodness. Sagging with relief, Barbie turned back to the room, only to freeze as pure, unbridled fear coiled through her.

  The dolls were back on the floor, sitting in a line facing the door, eyes sightless, porcelain arms reaching up.

  Heart pounding, terror clawing at her, Barbie stared at the dolls before slowly, slowly stepping back, shutting the door so slowly, expecting any minute to see them move.

  Finally it was shut, and she gripped the doorhandle, shaking. Something wasn’t right, something wasn’t - she screamed as something thudded against the door, followed by another thud and another.

  Taking the stairs two at a time, stumbling once and gripping onto the banister, Barbie screamed the cats’ names as a bang rang through the house.

  Wanting to flee, needing to stay to find the cats, refusing to leave them alone in the house, she grabbed the phone, tears blurring her vision as another huge bang echoed, a door slamming.

  Standing in the lounge room, shaking uncontrollably, Barbie heard Adam’s voice. “Hello?”

  “Oh God, Adam! Adam! There’s something in the house! There’s something in the house!”

  “What? Barbie?”

  “The house, Adam.” She was sobbing by now, whimpering and cringing as another loud bang rang through the house. “There’s something in the house!”

  “Barbie.” Adam’s voice rang in her ear, loud and reassuring. “Get out of the house. Hang up the phone and get out now.”

  “No, I can’t, the cats-”

  “Barbie-”

  “I can’t.” She gasped as a thud came from overhead. “Adam!”

  “I’m coming.” She could hear his voice uneven as he obviously ran from wherever he was. “Get out of the house now.”

  “No, the cats-” She screamed as something smashed overhead.

  “Barbie-”

  Seeing Barney pelting past the door, she dropped the phone. “Barney! Barney! Fred!” Sobbing, gasping for air, her heart hammering, she dropped to her knees to coax Barney out from under the hall table, grabbing him by the scruff and dragging him out when he wouldn’t come.

  Hissing, he swiped at her arm. Ignoring the pain and the blood, adrenaline driving her onward, she ran into the kitchen and through into the laundry, shoving a growling, spitting Barney into one of the cat cages.

  Hauling it beside her, she picked up the empty cage and dropped it into the hallway before running to the front door and shoving Barney in his cage out onto the veranda. Without hesitation, terrified beyond belief, she nevertheless swung back around and ran into the house.

  Something scraped on the second floor, a screeching of wood as something tipped over, followed by a fast, tinny beat, and she looked towards the staircase, knowing instinctively what was sounding. The toy monkey’s cymbals.

  “Fred! Fred! Oh God, Fred, come on, please! Please!” Terrified, but refusing to leave her cat alone in the house, Barbie ran into the bedroom, frantically searching for him.

  Spying his tails ticking out from behind the curtains, she grabbed him and lugged him into the hallway, shoving him into the cage after a struggle which left her with bloody arms and hands.

  Just as she fastened the cage door, she heard something on the staircase. Looking around, too scared not to, she saw one of the dolls come hurtling down through the air to smash onto the floor.

  Screaming, she grabbed Fred’s cage and ran out the door, picking up Barney’s cage on the way and jumping down off the veranda into the yard.

  As she did so, two cars came roaring into the driveway, a police patrol car and Adam’s car. Both stopped in a cloud of dust, two cops getting out and running for the house, while Adam ran for Barbie.

  Dropping the cages on the ground, she threw herself into his arms, sobbing and shaking.

  “Barbie!” He hugged her to him tightly, pressing a kiss to her forehead, tipping her head back to look into her face. “Oh Christ, you’re bleeding. Baby, what happened? Who did this to you?”

  Clinging to him, she could only shake her head and cry.

  Another siren, an ambulance turning into the driveway. Matt jumped out, his gaze assessing her. Sally, his offsider, jumped out the other side, running around to the back of the ambulance to open the doors.

  Before Barbie knew it, she was sitting in the back of the ambulance, shaking and crying, refusing to settle until Adam put the cats in his car. Only then did she allow Matt and Sally to check her.

  “What happened, love?” Matt asked. “Are these from the cats?”

  She could only nod, wiping at her eyes and dragging in deep, shuddering breaths.

  “Did anyone touch you, sweetie?” Sally asked softly.

  Barbie shook her head.

  “You’re scared stiff.” Matt started cleaning her arms, wiping antiseptic on her scratches. “Take deep breaths, Barbie. Nice and slow. Breath with me.” He looked at her quietly, reassuringly. “Nice and slow. In and out. In and out. Good girl. Keep looking at me.”

  By the time she’d calmed down a little, she realised that Adam wasn’t at the back of the ambulance. Immediately she tried to get up, tried to get out, wanting to warn him not to go into the house.

  “Sshh.” Sally placed a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder. “He’s in there with Sarge and Brandon. Three big cops, sweetie. They’ll be fine.”

  “No, you don’t understand.” She wrung her hands, eyes wide. “There’s something in the house.’

  “They’ll find him.”

  “No, something is in the house. The monkey started playing the cymbals and the dolls were all there-” Her breath hitched, caught, and then she started hyperventilating.

  Immediately Matt shoved a bag into her hands. “Breath into this, Barbie. Nice and slow, love. Calm down. Just calm down.”

  It worked, her breathing regulating, the grey edges and panic pushing back.

  It finally sunk in that she was safe, the cats were safe, there were people around. She was outside the house. Safe.

  Matt moved out of the ambulance, disappearing from sight. Male voices sounded, neared, and she recognised the deep tones of Adam.

  Getting up, she jumped from the ambulance, and without caring who saw or what they thought, she met Adam as he rounded the door and threw herself into his arms.

  Strong, safe, he drew her against him, drew her into the shelter of his arms, leaning over her and pressing kisses on top of her head.

&nbs
p; “It’s all right, baby,” he soothed. “There’s nothing in the house except a bit of a mess upstairs. Whoever was there has gone.”

  Her teeth chattered as adrenaline started to seep away. “Not someone. Something.”

  Brandon came up behind Adam, frowning. “Barbie, the house is empty.”

  “The dolls…you don’t understand, the monkey…” She shuddered. “The toy monkey from the boy’s room started playing near the staircase, I could hear it.” She looked up in time to see Adam and Brandon exchange glances. “What? What is it?”

  “Barbie, baby, there’s no need to go into this right now. I’ll take-”

  “What is it?” She looked from him to Brandon and back. “Adam, what did you find?” Before he could do more than open his mouth, she whispered, “Please, don’t lie to me. I know what I heard.”

  His mouth tightened, but he simply pressed a kiss to her forehead before saying quietly, “The toy monkey is at the top of the staircase. There’s a smashed doll on the ground floor. One of the rooms has dolls lying all over the floor, some damaged.”

  Shivers increasing, she pressed closer to him.

  He tightened his hold. “A couple of the rooms are a bit of a mess.”

  “Which rooms?”

  “The library. What looks to be a boy’s bedroom, the girl’s room.” He smoothed his hand down her hair. “We searched the house. Whoever was there has gone.”

  “There was no one there, Adam,” she insisted, a tear spilling over to trickle down her cheek. “There was no one in the house but me and the cats.”

  An older cop with Sargent’s stripes on his shoulder came up, smiling kindly at her. “Barbie, I’m Sergeant Hamilton, but most people call me Sarge. Are you all right?”

  She nodded.

  His gaze ran over her arms. “Those scratches. Where did you get them?”

  “Fred and Barney, my c-cats. They p-panicked.” She tipped her head back to meet Adam’s alert, worried gaze. “Cats don’t panic unless something scares them, Adam.”

  “Okay, baby.” He rubbed her back in slow, gentle circles. “I hear you. Sarge has to ask you some questions, okay? Can you handle answering them right now?”

  There wasn’t really any choice, so she nodded.