us running behind him
“ No-o-o!!”
By the time we caught up with him, Tom was on his hands and knees cleaning up the broken plates and glasses thrown in a pile on the floor. Open flour and sugar sacks lay nearby, and a full drawer of silverware had been tossed upside down on top. Poking out of the mess beneath the drawer were the handles of several large cooking pots and pans from the kitchen island nearby.
“ Who in the hell did this?”
Even before I voiced the question, I took a precautionary gaze around the kitchen, peering into the living room and down the hall to the bedrooms. Not sure without a full search, but it didn’t feel like anyone else was here. Just a deeper coolness than when we loaded the dishwasher earlier, and its heat should’ve warmed the air around us. Not so.
“ Tom, I sense anger and protectiveness near us…in here,” said Fiona, who had joined him on the floor in his efforts to pick up the bigger porcelain and glass shards from the pile.
Meanwhile, Justin and Angie headed down the hall, while Tony moved through the dining room on his way to the living room. Jackie went to look outside. That left me to find a broom and dust pan, which Tom told me would be in the pantry.
“ You haven’t told us everything about the house, or what attracted you to buy this one over the others you considered in Green Hills,” continued Fiona, to which he jerked his head around to face her. “I’ve felt this for awhile, but out of respect for your privacy I’ve never mentioned it.”
“ How’d you know?” he asked, his tone subdued, like a dirty little secret had just been revealed. For a moment he seemed to forget about the mess around him.
Now I was confused. And no doubt the others would be, too, in a moment.
“ Whoever did this must’ve split, man!” Justin announced, once he and Angie returned to the kitchen. She shrugged her shoulders again, her confirmation the place was empty.
“ It’s getting too dark to know for sure, but we didn’t see anyone outside,” added Jackie, as she and Tony returned to the kitchen right after the others. “You don’t think this has anything to do with what happened last night and this morning, do you?”
She looked at Fiona, who continued to clean the floor while everyone else awaited her response.
“ No…I don’t,” she said, standing up and carrying a handful of glass shards to the open trash container I’d brought over to the pile a moment ago. She dropped the pieces and brushed her hands over the container to rid them of flour and sugar grains, and no doubt a few small glass chips. “Tom doesn’t believe that either.”
Now we all looked at him, eyebrows raised in puzzlement for most of us.
“ Okay,” he sighed. “She’s mostly right….but I think it could still be related to what’s going on elsewhere, or at least related to what we described tonight.”
“ What in the hell are you both talking about?”
That was me, as I just looked down at my watch. 8:40 p.m.
“ Nathaniel. Nathaniel Smith is still here,” Tom explained. “I know it sounds nuts, though it shouldn’t since this is what we look for in other places….the haunted locales we visit. The guy never left after his death. Yes, I told you the truth about the grave stone out back, but the reason I got this house for twenty grand less than the asking price was on account of the ‘resident ghost’.”
“ So you knew this place was haunted?” asked Justin, moving into his Wayan brother voice pitch. “And you bought it anyway?? Well at least we’ll know what you’re up to if you decide to skip an investigation….’Gotta play with my kitchen ghostie, don’t you know!’”
Ah, another mirthful moment to ease tension. But Tom and Fiona were both dead serious, and eyed him like he’d just called on Satan to make it rain. Then something else happened. The cupboard next to Justin began to tremble, like a small tremor moving through the foundation from deep
“ No-o-o!!”
By the time we caught up with him, Tom was on his hands and knees cleaning up the broken plates and glasses thrown in a pile on the floor. Open flour and sugar sacks lay nearby, and a full drawer of silverware had been tossed upside down on top. Poking out of the mess beneath the drawer were the handles of several large cooking pots and pans from the kitchen island nearby.
“ Who in the hell did this?”
Even before I voiced the question, I took a precautionary gaze around the kitchen, peering into the living room and down the hall to the bedrooms. Not sure without a full search, but it didn’t feel like anyone else was here. Just a deeper coolness than when we loaded the dishwasher earlier, and its heat should’ve warmed the air around us. Not so.
“ Tom, I sense anger and protectiveness near us…in here,” said Fiona, who had joined him on the floor in his efforts to pick up the bigger porcelain and glass shards from the pile.
Meanwhile, Justin and Angie headed down the hall, while Tony moved through the dining room on his way to the living room. Jackie went to look outside. That left me to find a broom and dust pan, which Tom told me would be in the pantry.
“ You haven’t told us everything about the house, or what attracted you to buy this one over the others you considered in Green Hills,” continued Fiona, to which he jerked his head around to face her. “I’ve felt this for awhile, but out of respect for your privacy I’ve never mentioned it.”
“ How’d you know?” he asked, his tone subdued, like a dirty little secret had just been revealed. For a moment he seemed to forget about the mess around him.
Now I was confused. And no doubt the others would be, too, in a moment.
“ Whoever did this must’ve split, man!” Justin announced, once he and Angie returned to the kitchen. She shrugged her shoulders again, her confirmation the place was empty.
“ It’s getting too dark to know for sure, but we didn’t see anyone outside,” added Jackie, as she and Tony returned to the kitchen right after the others. “You don’t think this has anything to do with what happened last night and this morning, do you?”
She looked at Fiona, who continued to clean the floor while everyone else awaited her response.
“ No…I don’t,” she said, standing up and carrying a handful of glass shards to the open trash container I’d brought over to the pile a moment ago. She dropped the pieces and brushed her hands over the container to rid them of flour and sugar grains, and no doubt a few small glass chips. “Tom doesn’t believe that either.”
Now we all looked at him, eyebrows raised in puzzlement for most of us.
“ Okay,” he sighed. “She’s mostly right….but I think it could still be related to what’s going on elsewhere, or at least related to what we described tonight.”
“ What in the hell are you both talking about?”
That was me, as I just looked down at my watch. 8:40 p.m.
“ Nathaniel. Nathaniel Smith is still here,” Tom explained. “I know it sounds nuts, though it shouldn’t since this is what we look for in other places….the haunted locales we visit. The guy never left after his death. Yes, I told you the truth about the grave stone out back, but the reason I got this house for twenty grand less than the asking price was on account of the ‘resident ghost’.”
“ So you knew this place was haunted?” asked Justin, moving into his Wayan brother voice pitch. “And you bought it anyway?? Well at least we’ll know what you’re up to if you decide to skip an investigation….’Gotta play with my kitchen ghostie, don’t you know!’”
Ah, another mirthful moment to ease tension. But Tom and Fiona were both dead serious, and eyed him like he’d just called on Satan to make it rain. Then something else happened. The cupboard next to Justin began to tremble, like a small tremor moving through the foundation from deep
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