“I ate before I left home. You go ahead.” Leah went over to the window next to them and gazed out at the yard and the lake. “My mom knew old Mr. Salter, the guy who owned this house. He went to the same church, at least until he got sick and died.”
Maya swallowed fast and blurted, “Did he die here? Did your mother say anything about that?”
Before Leah had a chance to answer their Aunt Claire came in, loaded down with a bucket of cleaning supplies and the vacuum. “Save some for me girls.” She set the things down and walked over to join them at the table, plucking a burger wrapped in foil, out of the bag. “That was the last load from the old house. We’re officially living here now.”
Leah flashed a grin at Claire. “I like this place. It’s a little out of the way, but that’s part of the charm.” She turned to answer Maya. “Yeah. Mr. Salter died here. Mom said he went in his sleep, really peaceful. His son found him the next day.”
Ashley sneaked a peek at Maya. Great. From the wide-eyed look of shock in her sister’s eyes, she’d be thinking about this and would be jumping at her shadow. And of course Leah would feed into that as well. There wasn’t a horror movie she hadn’t seen. When it came to spooky, she ate it up like candy.
Leah glanced over at Ashley before adding quickly, “I don’t think you need to worry, Maya. This place has a good feel to it. He was a nice, old guy.”
Aunt Claire had been watching the exchange between Maya and Leah. She smiled and placed her hand on Maya’s shoulder. “This place will be fine once we clean it up and decorate. You’ll see. How was your swim?”
“Good. The dock needs some work. Ashley went through one of the boards.”
Aunt Claire’s gaze darted to Ashley. “You’re okay, right? Maybe you two should stay off the dock until I can get around to fixing it.” She finished the last bite of her burger and wiped her lips with a paper napkin. “I’m going to do some cleaning in here, give the cabinets a wipe. Even though it’s the first room I’m renovating, that probably won’t be for a few weeks.” She rose and scooped up the empty bags and litter from the takeout meal.
Leah nudged Ashley. “I’m ready for the grand tour before we get to work.” Her gray eyes lit up. “I love exploring old houses, seeing the odd nooks and crannies.” Fishing a cell phone from her knapsack she added, “We should take some before pictures!”
“That reminds me...” Aunt Claire’s smile fell when she looked at Ashley. “I spoke with the internet people. There were no openings before Tuesday.”
“Thanks for trying, Aunt Claire.”
“You’ve got your phone, so it’s not as if you’ll be cut off from the outside world.” Leah led the way out of the kitchen and then stopped short in the small hallway. “Upstairs or down?”
Ashley shrugged. There wasn’t anything all that interesting about the living room or dining room, just boxy rooms connected by an archway. “Upstairs. I’ll show you my room.”
When they walked up the stairs, Maya was right behind them. “Aunt Claire’s got the biggest room of course, but I like my room. It’s got built-in shelves and there’s an entrance to the attic.”
Leah turned, “Have you been up there to check it out? There might be some cool stuff hidden there. My grandmother’s house is old like this, and she stores all kinds of neat shit in her attic. If Mr. Salter was anything like her, there might be stuff that his son overlooked.”
Ashley rolled her eyes, “There might be lots of spiders too...or even bats and mice. Yuck.” The thought of crawling around some dusty, old attic made her chest tighten. With her asthma, she was already wheezing a little just being in the main part of the house. She should have grabbed the vacuum and brought it up with her to give her room a good going over.
Maya spun on the newel post at the top of the stairs and bounded across the hall to her room.”You don’t have to go up there. Leah and I will check it out.”
“Hang on, Maya. I want to see this floor first.” Leah peeked in the bathroom. “Nothing special here, although it needs some elbow grease.”
Ashley nodded. “If you do the tub, I’ll tackle the rest of it when we’re ready.” She continued down the hall on the other side of the stairs and stepped into her aunt’s bedroom. Her bed and dresser were there along with packing boxes, almost totally covering the wooden floor.
Leah went in and wandered close to the window. “Wow! Nice view!”
“Yeah, my room’s the same except it’s half the size.” Hearing Leah’s praise took some of the sting out of living there. She’d get used to the house and maybe the exercise of riding the bike five miles into town would be good for her. For sure Maya wouldn’t mind the ride.
“Leah! Come on!” Maya shouted from across the stairwell.
Leah grinned. “She’s not the most patient person, is she?” With that she walked from the room to join her.
When Ashley got there, Maya held a broomstick aiming the hook on the end, through the eye bolt screwed on the ceiling door. Leah grabbed the stick and together the two of them tugged it open, jumping back quickly to avoid being hit by the ladder that slid to the floor. Particles of dust flitted through the air, released along with the old wooden access.
Covering her mouth and nose with her hand, Ashley peered up through the opening. Natural light from a window at the gabled end of the house revealed thick roof joists and curtains of cobwebs clinging to them.
“Cool!” Leah grabbed the sides of the ladder and began climbing. She paused at the top of the ladder looking around at the space.
“What’s up there?” Maya was chomping at the bit to get up to the attic as well.
“There’s an old trunk and a bunch of boxes.” She scooped her cell phone out and flicked on the flashlight app. “You wouldn’t like this place Ashley, not with your asthma. You were right about the spiders.”
She aimed the flashlight around and then jerked back. “Shit! That scared the hell out of me!” She grinned looking down at Maya.
“What was it?” Maya’s grip on the sides of the ladder loosened and she stepped back.
“It was an old mirror. My light flashed in the reflection, that’s all. Come on!” Leah climbed the last few steps and then was gone.
Maya was wide-eyed looking over at Ashley. “I’m going. Are you?”
Ashley grabbed her inhaler from the pocket of her shorts and gulped a long blast of the Ventolin. It was probably the last place she should go but Maya was already climbing. Who knew what she could get into with Leah? If the floorboards up there were anything like the dock, she might go through and break her ankle.
Plus, Leah was acting kind of excited by whatever was up there, urging Maya to see it. She wouldn’t mind checking it out either.
To be on the safe side, she rummaged in Maya’s dresser for a scarf or shirt to filter the dust. She found a bandana and draped it over her nose and cheeks, tying it tight at the back of her head. She might look like a bandit but at least she wouldn’t be inhaling so much dust. Slowly, she climbed the ancient rungs of the ladder, saying a silent prayer they wouldn’t give out.
When she was eye level with the attic floor, she saw Leah and Maya kneeling beside some old wooden chest, rummaging around inside it. She glanced up at the cobwebs fluttering in the air from the commotion and the breeze funneling through the opening. If a spider came anywhere close to her, she would be out of there in a flash. All bets would be off, and Leah and Maya would be on their own.
She climbed the remaining rungs and then hunching to avoid touching anything above, she went over to join them.
“Awww...” Maya held up an old doll, draping the lace christening dress it wore over her bare arm. One blue eye of the doll’s face was open while the other at an angle was almost shut completely. Maya adjusted the bonnet on its head as she gazed down at it. “It must have been one of their children’s dolls. The Salter family, I mean.”
“It’s creepy, Maya. Put it down.” Ashley mouth pursed tight staring at it. With the lines crisscrossing
the plaster of the face, it was actually grotesque. She looked past her sister to what Leah had pulled out of the trunk.
Her friend held a school notebook thumbing through pages. Leah’s lips pulled to the side. “Grade two, I’d guess.” She tossed it back in the trunk and then grabbed a wooden truck with three wheels. “It’s just old toys and kids’ stuff. Maybe your aunt should contact the son in case he wants this crap.”
Ashley edged closer and peeked inside the box, seeing some old clothes and more books and toys. “Yeah. This stuff might have some kind of sentimental value to him.” She looked around and noticed the old mirror, which had startled Leah, propped up against a tower of boxes. She inhaled fast, trying to get oxygen into airways that were closing despite the inhaler. She’d have to get out of there soon before she had a full blown asthma attack.
Leah rose and then pried open a cardboard box next to the trunk. “Oh my...” She pulled a rectangular box from inside and held it up. “This is kind of weird to find up here. Especially for a churchgoing family.”
Maya set the doll back in the trunk. “Why? Was is it? Some kind of game?” She brushed her hands together and then sat back on her haunches looking up at Leah.
“It’s no game, Maya. This is a Ouija board.” Leah could hardly keep the excitement from her voice as she hunkered down to the floor. Lifting the lid of the box off, she continued, “This thing’s pretty old. These boards are used to summon the dead.”
Ashley grit her teeth watching her sister’s rapt attention on Leah’s words and the board. First the talk about old man Salter’s ghost and now this. “Those things don’t work, Maya. It’s just superstition and a bunch of nonsense.”
Leah shook her head. “That’s not true. They do work. A girl in my Facebook group, Cindy, used one to contact her grandmother. The old lady told her things that only she would have known. And another guy, Allen, he—”
“How does it work?” Maya picked up a leaf-shaped object with a glass circle in the center. “What’s this?”
Leah snatched it from Maya’s hand. “It’s called a planchette. This is the thing that spells out answers to questions people ask. It’s not a game, Maya. It works.”
Ashley forgot about her own discomfort and her rapid, shallow breathing. “It’s bullshit is what it is, Maya. People make this thing move. They may not consciously be aware of it but they do. I read a story where a couple girls tried it. Right after the story was an explanation of how it worked.”
“Just because you don’t believe it, doesn’t make it any less true, Ashley! That’s just a theory. There’s plenty of evidence that can’t be explained away so easily.” Leah set the board on the floor and unfolded it, showing an arc of letters of the alphabet on a golden-brown surface. A line of numbers, one to ten were above the word “Goodbye.”
Maya’s mouth was set tight when she peered at her sister. “What if it does work, Ashley? Wouldn’t you like to be able to contact Mom or Dad? I know I would! Maybe we should try it.”
Leah’s gaze flitted from Maya to Ashley. It was obvious that her friend was on Maya’s side. But of course she would be. If it was spooky, Leah was the self-appointed expert. She was even in some kooky, paranormal investigation Facebook group!
Ashley knew she’d have an adult ally in her logical-minded aunt. Claire wouldn’t want Maya buying into this and scaring the living crap out of herself in the process. “We’ll see what Aunt Claire thinks.”
Leah shook her head. “You can’t tell her. She’ll take it away for sure. I wanted to buy a Ouija board a few years ago at Halloween, but my mom threw a fit! She said it was evil and wouldn’t let me get it. Your aunt will probably be the same.” Her eyes narrowed, challenging Ashley. “Besides which, if it doesn’t work, why get all bent out of shape about it? You could at least try it once for Maya’s sake.”
Maya turned puppy-dog eyes at her sister. “What if we could talk to Mom and Dad? Don’t you even want to try?”
FOUR
ASHLEY COULD FEEL HER CHEST TIGHTEN even more looking at her sister. This time it had nothing to do with the dust in the air. Of course, she’d give anything to be able to talk to their parents. Her whole world had fallen apart that night when the police showed up at their door telling them about the accident. Aunt Claire had been staying with them at the time. She was back in town and licking her wounds from her marriage breakup. Thank God, she’d been there that night.
She gazed at the board. Her parents had died way too soon. She’d never had the chance to tell her mother how much she loved her, how much she appreciated all the things she’d sacrificed to raise them. And Dad...how many fathers took the time to teach their daughters things like riding a bike, swimming and how to throw a baseball? He’d helped with schoolwork but it would be the times outside in the fresh air learning sports that she’d always cherish most.
And Maya felt it too. And to make matters worse, Maya had been grounded for mouthing back to Mom on the night that their parents had died. She’d probably give her eye teeth to take back those words she’d flung at their mother before they left for their date night. Ashley could still hear Maya shouting how much she hated Mom and how she thought Mom was stupid. It didn’t matter how many times Aunt Claire and she had tried to reassure Maya, that their parents knew Maya loved them. That memory would always haunt her sister.
“I won’t tell Aunt Claire. Just don’t be disappointed when you see it doesn’t work, Maya.” She scowled at Leah. “I’ve got to go down again. This place is killing me. Don’t do anything with that board without me there.” She’d talk to Leah later about this Ouija board, giving Maya some false hope of reaching their parents. If only it were that simple. But at least if she were there when they tried it, she’d keep Maya grounded, not buying into Leah’s psychic nonsense.
She climbed down the ladder leaving them to rifle through the rest of the boxes for treasure. She tore the bandana from her face and reached for the inhaler. After a few deep breaths, she felt her breathing become deeper and slower.
When she went downstairs to get the vacuum and saw Aunt Claire straining to reach the top cabinet with the soapy sponge, she was tempted to let her in on what they’d found. But she’d given her word to Maya. Plus, her sister would tire of it when she saw it didn’t work. Best to leave the subject of the Ouija board alone. Her aunt had more than her hands full without dealing with some bullshit board game as well.
“What time is Carol coming out to give you a hand? Do you need my help in here?” Ashley steadied the chair that Claire stood on when she rose to her tiptoes to get the back of the shelf in the cabinet. The woman was a workhorse when she set her mind to a project. And this house was definitely a project.
Claire lowered and then tossed the sponge onto the counter. She wiped her hand across her forehead and smiled. “I’m good. Carol will be here in a couple of hours. How’s it going upstairs?”
Ashley shrugged. “It’s dusty but my room is getting there. We’ll clean the bathroom and then go over everything with the vacuum. I’m going for a swim after that. You should take a break and join us.”
Claire stepped down from the chair and put her hand on Ashley’s shoulder. “I might just do that, Ash. It’s too hot to keep this pace up. It’s pretty quiet upstairs. Are Leah and Maya helping or goofing off?”
“Don’t worry. I’m about to read the riot act to Maya. She was showing Leah her room when I came down.” She was about to leave the kitchen but Claire held her arm.
“How’s your breathing, doll? You doing okay in all this dust?” Her eyes narrowed examining Ashley’s face.
Ashley patted the pocket where her inhaler was. “I’ve had to use the puffer a few times, but I’ll be fine once the dust is cleaned up.”
Aunt Claire’s eyebrows arched, “I probably should have hired someone to do this cleaning before you got here. Just take it easy and get Maya to do the vacuuming, okay?”
“Sure.” Ashley strained maneuvering the vacuum out of the kitchen and then
up the stairs. They’d better be finished in that dirty old attic or she was gonna strangle them. She set the machine down with a thud just outside Maya’s bedroom doorway.
Maya stood on the bottom rung of the ladder reaching for the board that Leah extended from the space above. She held it in her hands looking at the childish scribbles and a drawing of a spooky face written in red marker on the cover. She glanced at Ashley. “Who’s C. V., I wonder? Wasn’t their last name Salter?”
Ashley rolled her eyes and sighed. “Who knows? You’d better put that thing away and do the vacuuming.”
Leah stepped down and brushed the dirt from her hands on her jean shorts. “Yeah. We’ll try it out tonight, Maya. It’s better when we create the right atmosphere and it’s quiet. In the meantime, put it in your dresser out of sight, in case your aunt comes in.”
Maya’s eyes glistened when she looked over at her sister. “I really hope we can get some kind of message to Mom and Dad.”
Ashley felt her heart ache seeing the sadness in her sister’s face. Maybe if Maya used the board and thought she was contacting their mother it would ease her guilt. Would it hurt if the planchette helped to accomplish that? There might be some good that could come of it, even if it was a hoax.
Leah took the board and opening the bottom drawer of Maya’s dresser, she slid it inside carefully like she was holding something sacred. “We’ll try, Maya. If it doesn’t work the first time, we’ll keep doing it until you reach them.”
Maya blinked a few times and then gave her head a little shake, forcing a smile. “Kind of like getting a busy signal? So we keep calling, leaving messages? Is that it?”
Although Ashley snorted, she was glad that her twelve-year-old, smart-ass, pain-in-the-butt sister was back again. “It’s call-waiting in another dimension.” She laughed and then pointed to the vacuum. “The sooner we get this work done, the faster we’ll get outside to go swimming again. C’mon, Leah. There are rubber gloves with our names on them.”
A Grave Conjuring Page 2