by R A Wallace
Ava looked back at the school, dread forming in the pit of her stomach. “Yes. Tomorrow night. I’ll need to clean at night for the rest of the summer.”
Chapter Two
The tantalizing smell of coffee woke Megan. She smiled and stretched, then rose and followed the smell to her kitchen. She always considered herself an early riser but discovered that Dan was even earlier. By the time Megan rose, he usually had Emma and the chickens fed and he’d checked on the sheep and miniature donkeys. She was still getting used to having the help. The previous weekend when they’d had guests staying at the bed and breakfast, Dan pitched in and helped to serve breakfast. Afterward, he spent time with the guests in the orchard picking apples.
Megan glanced over at Emma. The tiny black cat was munching happily from her bowl. As she reached for her coffee mug, the sparkle of the new gold wedding band on her left hand caught her eye. She felt herself grinning like a fool. Through the kitchen window she saw Dan returning to the house. After pouring them both a cup of coffee, she carried them out to the porch and curled up on the cushioned rattan sofa. Dan took the seat next to her a moment later and leaned back, his mug held in his right hand. With his left, he reached for Megan’s hand and curled his fingers lightly around hers.
“Good morning,” Megan said with a smile. She saw Henry out in the barnyard, methodically searching for his own breakfast.
“It is a fine morning,” Dan agreed amiably. He lightly squeezed her fingers. “Every morning is a fine morning now. As long as we face it together.”
“What do you have planned for today?” Megan asked as she looked out to the paddock.
She saw that Dan had given the donkeys a soccer ball to play with. They had discovered that both of the donkeys were extremely playful.
“I need to make a decision about what to do with my house,” Dan said before chuckling at the antics of the donkeys.
“What did you have in mind?” Megan asked.
“Well, there are two options. I either try to sell it, or I rent it out.”
She knew that Dan had lived alone in the house for many years after the divorce from his first wife. He told Megan it had never really felt like a home. It had been a place to sleep at the end of a long day at the feed store that he owned in town.
Megan thought about it for a moment. “Which would you prefer?”
“Renting it out would add a steady income until we decide,” Dan said. “But if anyone offers to buy it, I’ll take it.”
“Makes sense.” Megan was relieved to learn that Dan had never considered any option other than living with her at the Teaberry Farm. She loved her home.
“What about you? What are your plans?” Dan asked as he stretched out his long legs in front of him.
“They’re re-dedicating the old elementary school today. I need to be there to take pictures for the town web site,” Megan said.
“Hopefully, they’ll get some good use out of the building. Much better than sitting there empty, just taking up space,” Dan said with a nod.
“Did you ever hear any of the stories?” Megan turned to Dan.
“You mean, about it being haunted?” Dan asked with a grin. “Of course. Boys love stories like that. We’d sit around a campfire and one-up each other on the scariest story we could make up about it.”
Megan pulled up an image of a young Dan in her mind and pictured him sitting at a campfire with other boys his age, scaring each other until they couldn’t sleep. She didn’t have to imagine what he’d looked like back then. They’d grown up together in the same town and had been in the same grade in school.
“Hopefully those days are gone and no one brings up any of the old stories anymore,” Megan said.
***
Mayor Barbara Reynolds stood at the podium in front of the old Teaberry Elementary School. The afternoon sun beat down on them without apology in the large asphalt parking lot. The crowd in front of her was larger than she’d hoped for. She’d hoped that the re-dedication of an old building could be handled quietly and that it would be in use for some time before anyone remembered the old stories. Judging by the size of the crowd in front of her, that was not to be the case.
After explaining to them that the plans for the building included a Kids Camp in the summers for STEM courses and other events such as a Winter Craft Fair and Pumpkin AutumnFest, among others throughout the year, Barbara’s planned speech was winding down.
“And now, thanks to all of the support, including a generous donation from the John Wainwright Foundation, we’ve reached our goal and completed the renovations of the new Teaberry Community Center.” Barbara sincerely hoped that renaming the building would help them to move forward from any memories of the past.
Megan positioned herself to get the mayor and part of the building in the background behind her and snapped several pictures. She then moved to get a closeup of the mayor as she shook hands with the representative from the Wainwright Foundation before blending back into the large crowd attending the ceremony.
“But Mayor Reynolds, what about the history of the building?” Someone shouted from the crowd.
Megan turned to track who’d said it, but there were too many people blocking her view. She turned with the others toward the mayor to hear the response.
“As you all know, the building long served the community as an elementary school,” Barbara answered noncommittally.
A general buzz in the crowd could be heard as many spoke to each other at once.
Then someone else raised their voice. “But what about the murder?”
Barbara took a calming breath and smiled politely. She had prepared for this. “There was an unfortunate accident in the past but that was over forty years ago. While our thoughts go out to the family, we look forward to the benefits that the building can provide to the town for many years to come.”
“But what about the ghost?” Someone else shouted.
There were rumblings of agreement across the crowd. Other voices grew louder as they discussed seeing lights and hearing voices within the building at odd hours. The stories were common over the years. Everyone had heard them.
“Perhaps those are simply great examples of stories that pop up about underused buildings,” Barbara said with a smile. She wasn’t going to debate the presence of supernatural beings in a public forum. “I hope that many of you have already registered your children for the abbreviated Kids Camp that begins next week and runs until the end of this summer. As you know, we plan to have a much longer session next summer now that the building is available, but we wanted to dive in and take advantage of the time we had left. Thank you all for coming.”
Several angry voices could be heard saying “Not my child” as the crowd began disbursing.
Barbara stepped down from the podium and shook hands with several people but managed to catch Megan’s eye while she did. She motioned to the young girl to come over to her. After she finished speaking with the other donors who had helped make the renovations possible, she pulled Megan aside.
“Well, that went better than I’d hoped it would,” Barbara said as they moved away from the others.
“Makes me wonder about the scenario you imagined instead. After listening to that, I added mayor to the top of the list of jobs I never want to have.” Megan glanced around the crowd then turned back to Barbara. “The Kids Camp sounds like a great idea. I’ll be sure to add more information about the camp on the town web site as time goes on. Maybe it will help with enrollment for next summer?”
Barbara nodded as she watched the cars of people driving away from the parking lot. Not everyone was leaving, however. A large group was forming on one side of the lot. Many of those people were gesturing toward the elementary building and then looking over at Barbara before turning back toward the group. “We’re going to need all the help we can get with enrollment.”
Megan drew her brows together in surprise. “What do you mean? Enrollment isn’t good?”
“No, that�
�s part of what I wanted to speak with you about.” Some members of the group on the other side of the lot broke away and began walking toward Barbara. She looked at Megan and smiled. “But not now. It appears my work is not yet done here. Can you come by my house tomorrow?”
Megan nodded agreement and watched Barbara walk toward the group of people to meet them halfway. More references to ghosts and the building being haunted could be heard. Megan shook her head and watched as Barbara spoke to the crowd that was left.
Chapter Three
Justin Dempsey rolled onto his side and glared at the clock on the nightstand. Moaning, he returned to his back. Bringing his hand up, he wiped at his face hoping to erase the last vestiges of sleep. He’d been working extra hours all week. At this point in the year, a lot of the nurses at the hospital were taking vacations with their families. Now that Justin’s family was about to grow by one more baby, he was taking all the extra hours the hospital would give him.
But he also had to care for the children they already had and right now that meant forcing himself out of bed. He knew his wife, Lauren, was already at work in her kitchen. Although his mom would be by later to help with the kids, that left him to handle Mia and Noah this morning. They’d been practicing getting ready for school all week.
Seven year old Mia was something of a pro but had forgotten some of the specifics during the past summer. Five year old Noah would be entering kindergarten this year. The entire routine was completely new to him. Justin’s mother, Bev, was a retired school teacher. It was her idea to practice getting ready for school before school officially began. They had done so in the past with Mia and it seemed to be successful.
This summer, the kids would be getting a mock trial starting next week when they attended the Kids Camp. That was also his mother’s idea. She was scheduled to teach some of the classes at the camp. According to Bev, it would be a great way for Noah to get accustomed to being with other children throughout the day before he began kindergarten.
Both Justin and Lauren had agreed to the concept of getting the kids up early this week in theory. It was the practice that was proving difficult. Justin pushed himself out of bed and went into the master bath. After splashing cold water on his face, thirty-three year old Justin looked in the mirror. The old man looking back at him was tired. Justin could tell by the puffiness around the eyes where the age lines had begun fanning out.
He headed down the hallway and stopped at the next bedroom door. It was half open. Both kids preferred their bedroom doors that way at night. Justin went over to Mia’s bed and looked down at his sleeping daughter. His princess. He wondered again what baby number three was going to be. Leaning down, he kissed his daughter and began murmuring morning greetings to her. Her eyelids fluttered and a smile formed.
“Hey, pumpkin. Time to get up.” Justin straightened as Mia’s eyes opened.
“Hi, Daddy.” Mia rolled over and stretched. Her eyes began closing.
“No, uh uh. You need to wake up now, sweetie,” Justin said gently. He watched Mia’s eyes open again. This time, there was more awareness. “There you are. Time to get up. I’m going to go get your brother now, okay? You get up now sweetie.”
“Okay, Daddy,” Mia said as she sat up in bed.
Justin took one final look at her before heading down the hall again. He pushed open Noah’s door. Noah was half on the bed and half off. The blanket was on the floor. The sheet was twisted in a knot at the foot of the bed.
Justin knelt down and tried to lift Noah back onto the bed. “Buddy? Hey, Buddy? Time to get up.”
Noah kicked out with one leg. Justin moved just in time to miss getting nailed. He reached down and lightly held Noah’s legs. “Buddy, c’mon. You need to get up now.”
Noah began thrashing with his arms. Justin stood back and waited until Noah was calm again then spoke more loudly as he reached down and gently shook his son’s arm. “Noah, Buddy, you need to get up now.”
Noah remained sleeping. Justin sighed, then he reached down and lifted his son from the bed. He went out into the hallway and then to the kitchen. He found Mia sitting at the kitchen table. She’d turned the small television on the counter on and was watching a princess cartoon.
Justin bounced Noah up and down gently in his arms, one hand cradling his back. “C’mon Noah, time to get up,” he said loudly as he continued the bouncing.
Noah’s eyes fluttered open and fixed on the television, then narrowed to slits. “Dad! She has a princess show on!” he yelled.
Justin set Noah down on a chair. “It’s better than an alarm clock,” Justin muttered to himself as he turned to push the button on the coffee maker.
“Dad!” Noah yelled.
“Mia, honey. Let’s turn the TV off for now. We’ll have breakfast together, okay? That’s a girl. What sounds good today?” Justin asked as he headed to the fridge.
“Pancakes!” Noah yelled.
Justin turned and looked at his daughter. Mia shrugged. “Okay, pancakes it is.” Justin opened the freezer and pulled out a bag. Lauren made the pancakes in advance and froze them. Justin popped four in the toaster and pushed the button. Then he rummaged in the fridge for the syrup. After pulling out two plates, he dug for some silverware. The pancakes popped up soon after.
“Here you go. Pancakes for breakfast,” Justin said as he placed the plates in front of them.
Mia grabbed the syrup first and squirted it on her pancakes. Justin moved the bottle closer to Noah as he watched Mia cut her pancakes. Noah struggled with the bottle but finally got syrup on his pancakes and the table.
“Uh, oh. I’ll get that, Buddy,” Justin said as he went over to the sink to get a paper towel. He wet it first then returned to the table and wiped up the syrup. “Do you guys want some juice?”
“I do,” Noah said as he used his left hand to hold down the pancakes while he tried cutting it with his right hand. His left hand was now covered in syrup.
“Me too, Daddy,” Mia said. “Daddy?”
“Yeah, pumpkin?” Justin said as he got out two glasses and the carton of juice. He also poured himself a cup of much-needed coffee.
“Why do we have to go to camp next week?” Mia asked.
“We talked about this sweetie, remember? You’ll have a lot of fun there. There’ll be other kids to play with and you’ll get to learn cool stuff.” Justin set the glasses in front of them and filled each cup about a third of the way. He had learned very early on with his children that he should only pour as much as he felt like cleaning up at the time. Today, he didn’t want to clean up much.
“But why don’t we just wait for real school?” Mia asked.
Noah looked up at his sister. Normally, he disagreed with most everything she said. But he hadn’t liked the idea of going to school either. “Yeah, Dad. We can just stay home with you.”
“Buddy, we talked about this, remember? You’re going to go to school with the big kids this year. You need to practice so that you’re used to the routine.” Justin sat down at the table and took his first sip of coffee. “Drink some of your juice, Buddy.”
Noah scowled at his father but picked up the cup with a syrupy hand. After taking a loud drink, he set it back down on the table but placed it on top of the knife he had used to cut his pancakes. Justin reached for the cup and grabbed it in time before it toppled. He set it on the table and moved the knife away from Noah.
“I’m all done, Daddy,” Mia said.
“Okay, sweetie. Go brush your teeth. When you’re done, we’re going to work on some of those worksheets Grandma Bev gave us.”
Noah speared the rest of his pancakes pieces and shoved them into his mouth all at once. He squirmed to the tune of a song only he could hear as he finished chewing then held up his fork with a syrupy hand. “Done!”
Justin stood and picked up their plates. “Good job, Buddy. Go wash your hands really good and brush your teeth. Make sure you do a good job. The tooth fairy gives extra prizes for the best teeth.”
“Good morning,” Lauren said with a smile. “How did school practice go?”
“We need to buy an alarm clock that has all of the princess voices on it. It’s the only way we’ll get Noah up,” Justin said.
Lauren thought about it. “They probably make those. Like, with the princesses singing.”
Justin chuckled. “Even better.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea for them to go to the Kids Camp next week?” Lauren asked.
“What do you mean?” Justin asked. “It’s perfect for us. I’ll be able to work the extra hours and they’ll be at camp.”
“Yeah, but what about the stories?” Lauren asked.
Justin knew she’d had some concerns about the kids going to the old elementary school but hadn’t wanted to bring it up. Now that it was getting closer to the time, he figured that she probably couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“Stories? You mean, the ghost stories?” Justin asked, pulling away from his wife. He picked up his coffee cup and moved to where he could see her face. “Are you really worried about that stuff?”
“I don’t know. I mean, not really. But, yes, I guess. Haven’t you heard stories about the building over the years? People seeing lights and hearing voices?” Lauren asked as she rolled out more cookies.
“Yeah, but I mean, that’s all they are. Stories, right?” Justin said.
“I guess,” Lauren said hesitantly. “What if there’s more to them?”
Chapter Four
Matthias made it from the master bedroom, down the stairs, and to the large room they used as a study without limping. Now in his early sixties, he was at that point where a little routine maintenance was required and some recent work on his hip had been causing him to move around a little more slowly. After many months of physical therapy, however, he was feeling more like himself. He no longer required the use of a cane, but he had grown to like the ornate silver-headed present from his wife and still used it when they went out in public.