by Midge Cline
“You guys look like you partied too hard all night long.” Tate laughed.
“I thought the night would never end.” Harry said. “So many noises.”
“Noises?” Bonnie asked, she moved to stand behind the girl and pet her hair in a motherly fashion. “What noises?”
“Tapping.” Millie said.
“Knocking.” Harry said.
“Metal clashing.” Colt said.
“Voices.” Malcolm said.
“Crying.” Binne said. “All night, nearly non-stop.”
“Started about 15 minutes after you left, Mr. Morgan.” Malcolm added.
“Didn’t stop until about 15 minutes before the sun came up.” Millie said.
Bonnie placed a large plate overflowing with scones in the center of the table and smiled as she saw them vanish into hungry hands.
“Well, I guess we should tell you about our adventures last night as well.” She proceeded to tell the kids about the visitor in the hallway outside Binne’s bedroom.
“Dad, I think we should call Uncle Dexter.” Binne said with reserve.
“Yeah, I had the same thought. I emailed him this morning.” Nigel had just finished explaining Dexter to the rest of the kids when his cell phone rang from the counter. “Speak of the devil.”
“Holy Hellfire! Nigel what have you got yourself into this time?” Dexter’s voice boomed over the speaker phone.
“Hey Dex, seen the emails, have you?” Nigel said after advising him he was on speaker and making a quick introduction to the people in the room.
“Yes, and wow, just wow.” Dexter said. “I have made all the arrangements, I will be there before sundown, dress up the guest room and stock up on coffee, I will need a room to set up my video equipment. I will be bringing … a friend, she will need a room too if you have one to spare.”
“She?” Gwynn asked with caution and curiosity. “Spill it old man.”
“Put your claws away, she is a student, my teaching assistant, and the daughter of one of the Deans. She is as off limits as they come.” Dexter told her with a laugh. “You are going to have to keep your mama-protector suit tucked away for this trip.”
“Dang. Okay we will see you this evening.” Gwynn said with a knowing smile. “I have some errands to run in the village, I am off.” She grabbed her purse and she and Bonnie disappeared out the door.
“How long can you stay?” Nigel asked Dexter.
“Through ‘til Wednesday. I have an afternoon class, so I will need to leave early. I am bringing quite a bit of gear, so I will be in the truck, so I will need a place to park her.” Dexter answered. “But I can travel back and forth as needed after that, I am on sabbatical for the summer.”
“Done. What is the interns name?” Nigel asked.
“Pippa Atkins. Absolutely detests being called Miss Atkins. She is 24 and an absolute pain in my arse. Gwynn will love her.” Dexter laughed.
“Okay, I will see you when you get here.” Nigel said.
“Hey Nige.” Dexter said with seriousness, “Be careful up there, you guys are dealing with something seriously huge. Do not take any chances, and do not, under any circumstance, leave my goddaughter alone. Understood?”
“Got it, I guarantee she will be guarded at all times.” Nigel said.
“Oh my god, Uncle Dexter I can take care of myself. I am not some pansy ass.” Binne defended herself. “But I am excited to see you, hurry up and get off the phone and get your scrawniness here.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Dexter laughed and hung up.
“Okay, so the kids and I can go get two guest rooms ready for Uncle Dexter.” Binne announced. Looking at her friends for confirmation which came in the form of nodding heads. They moved as a group to leave the kitchen.
“Colt, if you guys have any trouble, call out, we will not be far away.” Tate said.
“You got it.” Colt said as they left the room.
****
“Uncle Dexter?” Colt asked as he reached on the high shelves of the linen closet to gather sheets and blankets for the guest rooms.
“Yeah, he and my dad have been friends since they were five years old. He is married to a most lovely woman, but they are estranged, hilarious, more than a bit overprotective of me, and brilliant. His IQ is even higher than my Dad’s which is impressive. You will like him. He just isn’t like most adults.” Binne said. “I wonder why Mom and Dad did not mention to him that Auntie Seriah was coming up to examine the body?”
“Should they have?” Asked Colt.
“Well, yes, they are married after all.” She said with apprehension.
“I have a feeling your family is just not a safe place for ‘normal’ adults.” He laughed. “Which is probably why they get along so well with mine.” They made quick work of fresh linens and a stack of clean towels in the two guest rooms in the same hallway as Binne’s room. They returned downstairs and found Nigel and Tate in the study looking over plans for the renovations for the tower.
“Okay so we put Uncle in the room next to mine with the dark green drapes, and his intern in the Beige room across the hall. The one with the free-standing wardrobe.” Binne advised as they entered the room. “I’ve fed the pups and let them out to the run, and we set the sprinklers on the back garden like mum asked me to. Is it cool if we go play video games?”
“Yes, go ahead.” Nigel said. “What time do I need to take you two home?” He asked the twins.
“Oh, Gram said she would be here this afternoon to fetch us, after her bingo. But thank you.” Millie answered.
The teens took themselves to the family room that Gwynn had put together in a sitting room on the main floor. She had filled it with comfy chairs and sofas, a large screen television, a game system, a game table and bookshelves which held books, games and movies for the family to enjoy.
Colt got everyone a soda from the mini fridge as they gathered around the game table.
“Your parents are incredibly open minded about everything that is going on.” Harry said. “Our parental unit type people would be freaking out so hard, we would probably be packed and in a hotel ‘til the place could be burnt and razed.” She said referring to her aunt and grandmother.
“My parents have always been rather open minded about some things. Simply parental about other things. I think they were hippies in a former life.” Binne sighed. “Without all the drugs and free love, of course.”
“So, we have proof of ghosts. And proof that the Hall is seriously full of them. How do we get them to go? Like, into the light or whatever they need to do?” Millie said with calm.
“Uncle Dexter will know what to do.” Binne assured them. “This is what he does.”
Millie looked at the pile of books Binne had stacked on the table.
“What are these?”
“They are books I found on the house and the village. There have been so many deaths here at the Hall I do not know how we are going to ever figure out which ghost is whom.” Binne sighed. “I have gathered all of this for Uncle, so he can sort it.”
“You have a lot of faith in this guy.” Harry said.
“Yeah, he has never failed me when I needed him.” Binne explained. “Never.”
****
Professor Dexter Dane maneuvered his truck along the curvaceous and narrow Irish roadways with patience and skill.
“I think the turn off is just up here a little bit.” Pippa Atkins said as she looked up from the map in her hands. “On the left, see the sign beyond the tree?” She pointed to a large stone with the words “Wyndham Hall” carved into the face.
“Leave it to Nigel to buy a haunted house with a treacherous drive.” Dexter laughed as he manipulated the truck up the gravel and dirt driveway. His intake of breath sharp and audible as he passed the graveyard and the pond before the Hall’s legendary tower came into view.
“I do not think we should be here.” Pippa said quietly.
“What? Why not?” Dexter asked her.
“Becau
se the ghosts do not like us. They want to be left alone.” She said with a reverberating voice, followed by a simple laugh. Knowing he would not appreciate her sarcasm, but unable to stop herself.
“DEX!” An enthusiastic shout greeted them as they pulled the truck to a stop in the drive beside the massive house.
“There is Nigel.” He turned to Pippa and said softly. “Try to be courteous and kind, you know, not your usual self.” His words were met with a scowl before he leapt from the truck to greet his oldest and dearest friend.
“Uncle!” Binne squealed as she tackled the large man. Dexter Dane was a very large man, 6’5 and 300 pounds of mass, he could not be considered ‘fat’ by any standards. Just large. Very large. His dark brown hair and goatee gave him the ‘I will kill you’ impression that his friends knew to be a false image. “Squeak! I have missed you so much!” He greeted his goddaughter with her nickname and an all-encompassing hug.
“What did you bring me?” She asked eagerly.
“Bring you? Why would I bring you anything? I don’t even like you!” He laughed as he pulled a gift box from the cab of his truck. A long box containing a lovely enameled fountain pen etched with skulls and crosses. “I found this in a shop in Dubai, the pen itself is made of the bone of a sea serpent and was etched by blind monks in a Tibetan monastery.” His lie was greeted with open and expected disbelief.
“Bought it on WISH, huh?” Binne smiled.
“Well, yes, Dubai is a dangerous city, I would never go back there.” Dexter smiled.
“That is because they still have warrants out for your arrest.” Nigel observed as he grabbed his friends’ luggage.
“She said she was 18. I swear!” Dexter defended.
A small cough from his side reminded him of his manners.
“Oh, hey, this is Pippa Atkins, she is my teaching assistant. She will be running some of the equipment I brought with us.”
“Hi.” Pippa said with a bored smile.
“Hi Pippa, I am Nigel, this is my daughter Binne and my wife Gwynn.” Nigel introduced his family. “And these are our friends Tate, Bonnie and Colt Brooks. Colt and Binne will take you guys up to your rooms to get settled in and we will meet you in the kitchen.”
Binne led the group, her arm wrapped around her godfather’s muscular arm. She chattered non-stop as she filled Dexter in on all the events of the last several weeks. Colt laughed, in all the time he had known her, this was the most he had ever heard her speak in one sitting.
“This my room, where the body was found!” She tapped a finger on her door as they walked past it. “That room is yours, Pippa.” She nodded to the room across the four-foot-wide hall. “We put fresh linens on the bed and there are clean towels for you as well. The shower is at the end of this hall, last door on the left.” Dragging Dexter into the room next to her own she paused to point to the wall at the end of the corridor. “We’ve loaded the dumbwaiter with wood for the fireplaces. Should you need it. It gets a bit cold in the middle of the night.”
Colt hefted Pippa’s luggage into the Beige room and set it on the floor before joining Binne and Dexter.
“Alright you two, sit down and tell me every creepy thing that has happened since day one. There are no adults here so don’t you dare hold anything back.” Dexter said as he unpacked his suitcases into the large dresser against the wall. They told him everything they could think of, in greater detail than ever.
****
An hour later they sat in the kitchen eating a supper of potato soup and bread.
“You are a fine cook Mrs. Brooks. This is lovely.” Pippa said politely.
“Thank you, it is just potato soup.” Bonnie blushed. “You may call me Bonnie.”
“Well, it is excellent potato soup, best I’ve ever had.” Pippa told her. “And this bread is so soft and delicious. Even better than Cook’s at father’s estate.”
“Thank you.” Bonnie smiled, she loved to cook for people, especially for people who seemed to truly appreciate her skills. She chose to ignore the condescending comment comparing her to an estate cook.
“Binne, tell me about the writing contest you entered? Heard anything yet?” Dexter asked his goddaughter.
“I don’t know anything yet, just submitted the final one yesterday,” She wondered how it had only been yesterday when it seemed so long ago. “I entered four different contests, I probably will not hear anything from any of them until the end of the month, at the very least.”
Dexter looked to the large pillow on the floor in front of the warm fireplace and smiled. “I see that Huey, Dewey and Stan are settling in nicely.”
“Yeah, they follow me to every room, all day long.” Gwynn laughed. “If they are not under my feet they are tracking Binne. Little guardians of the loudest variety.”
As if on cue all three dogs lifted their sleepy heads to them, made certain their humans were where they were supposed to be, and went back to sleep with lazy swiftness.
“And how are you settling into the new house and village?” Dexter asked them, “Other than the spooks of course.”
“Well, we have made some really good friends in the Brooks.” Gwynn said with a warm smile. “And the local pub makes a mean fish and chips.”
“But to be honest, we have been so busy here at the estate that we have not spent a lot of time away from it.” Nigel added. “In the morning I will take you to see the estate, the tower and the stables and everything. Tonight is for friends and family, no spooks allowed.”
****
Pippa opened her eyes, knowing she needed to get out of the bed but not wanting to leave the warmth and comfort of the large cozy guest bed. With a reluctant groan, she slipped out from beneath the covers, fumbled in the cold darkness for the lamp switch as her feet touched the icy floor. She quickly slipped on her robe and slippers and grabbed an electric torch from her bed stand to take to the hallway with her. Not feeling confident in her ability to find light switches in the strange house. The slippers made a shuffling noise against the hardwood floors as she made her way along the corridor to the bathroom at the end of the hall. Somewhere on the main floor an old clock announced the 2 0’clock hour. Pippa sighed with heaviness as she finished washing her hands after using the commode. A glance in the mirror told her that she would need an extra coat of concealer to mask the dark circles under her eyes, thanks to tonight’s nearly sleepless state. She had tried to sleep, had done her meditation, her breathing, even had taken a natural sleep aid, all to no avail. A soft sound in the hallway caught her attention and she slowly opened the bathroom door to peer into the darkened space. Seeing no one she gathered her robe around her and set a course back to her room, after about three steps she stopped and used the torch to span light behind her. She did not feel alone. In fact, she distinctively felt a presence in the hall with her.
“Hello?’ She whispered. “Is anyone there?” No voice answered her, though she would have sworn she heard a soft foot fall on the floor beside her. She made quick steps toward her room, reaching for the door handle when she felt it. A breath on her neck. Hot. Heavy. Malodorous. Panic filled her as she tried to convince her hands to work the door handle, it would not turn. The door would not open. Pippa felt her hair move from the nape of her neck as if a lover’s hand had swept it gently to expose her pale flesh. Another heavy molten breath crossed her skin sending chills down her spine and a terror filled scream from her lips.
“Pippa!” Dexter called as he raced into the corridor from his room just feet from hers. “Pippa?” He caught her before she hit the floor.
****
“Here child, drink the tea.” Gwynn placed the teacup in Pippa’s trembling fingers. “It will help you calm down.”
“So, you went to the bathroom, heard a noise in the hall, felt the presence of someone you could not see, then breath on your neck, followed by your hair being moved and another breath? Did I miss anything?” Dexter sat in a wingback chair beside hers near the blazing fire.
“Th
e door handle,” She said, her voice a little shaken. “It would not budge, that door was not going to open.”
“And the temperature?” He asked, scribbling notes on his pad without ever taking his eyes off hers.
“It was freezing. But to be fair, it was freezing before I even left the bedroom. I could see my breath it was so cold. I think that is part of the reason I couldn’t sleep.” She said, “because I was so very cold.”
“Was the fire lit in your room?” Nigel asked with concern.
“Yes, I checked it several times. The heat just did not seem to reach the bed. Or the floor. It was so cold.” Pippa said shaking her head. She grew up in an estate house only a few hundred years younger than this one, she knew these old houses were hard to heat, but her father would have never stood for anyone letting a guest room get that cold. Someone would have lost their job in an instant.
“I was just in there.” Binne said, “it isn’t cold at all. In fact, your room is warmer than mine.”
The expression on Pippa’s face was pure defeat.
“I am so tired, but I am not sure I will fall asleep in that room.” She admitted.
“If you do not mind, we have a cot with a cushy mattress we usually make Uncle Dexter sleep on, we can move it into my room, you can bunk with me while you are here.” Binne offered. She was happy to have her room back, but it would be happier with someone in there with her.
“It is a very comfy cot, indeed.” Dexter smiled with encouragement.
“Nigel and Dex, run now and get it, it is in the little closet off the library. There are sheets in the small closet in the hallway upstairs. Make sure you get her blankets and pillows from the guest room.” Gwynn ordered, knowing full-well her commands would be followed without hesitation.
“Now, Pippa, I want you to drink that tea before it gets cold, then I want you to follow Binne up to your room to gather your personal things and move them to her room.” Gwynn turned a calm and comforting eye to her daughter and nodded. Binne knew her mother wanted her to comfort the young woman, make her feel comfortable. She nodded her understanding and sat to drink her own hot tea.