Read Online The Ghostly Hideaway by Doris Hale Sanders - Free Book Online Page B

appreciate it a lot." They got it up to
her room and set it at the end of her bed and then Johnny gave her
the card he had bought the week before when Ed had mentioned that
Chrissy’s birthday was coming up.
    “This isn’t much but I wanted to let you know I was
thinking about you on your birthday. Happy Birthday, Christina
Marie.”
    Chrissy opened it and the front of the card said,
‘To Someone Very Special, Happy Birthday." Inside it had a tiny
bouquet of for-get-me-nots that looked very much like the first
flowers he had left for her. It said, “I know this is a special
day/When dreams can all come true/But it couldn’t be as super/As
extraordinary you." He had signed it: “With Love, Johnny.”
    “Thank you, Johnny. I’ll treasure this, too." She
leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Then she put
the card in the little tray in her hope chest where she had said
she’d keep all her special keepsakes.
    It did turn out to be a truly special day and
everyone enjoyed it very much, especially Chrissy and Johnny.
    The middle of August, Ed and Chrissy went to
Fordsville for supplies. While they were there, Ed also arranged
for telephone service at the farmhouse. He hadn’t thought there
should be a problem since there had been service there before. He
went to the post office to check on getting mail service, too, and
was told they would bring his mail to the junction where his drive
left the main road if he would put up a mailbox. He now had a
telephone number and an address.
    His next stop was at the Rural Electric Co-op where
he changed the electric bill into his name.
    He used the public pay phone to notify the Social
Security Administration that Clifton Calhoun Coy had passed away in
order that his social security account could be closed. He had
picked up all the mail from the post office that had accumulated
since Uncle Cliff’s death and he got his social security number
from the bank statement.
    While he was near the phone, he decided to try to
find out how things were going in North Carolina. He called the man
who had been his employee and friend in North Carolina and talked
to him for a few minutes. Ed was anxious to know if his ex-partner
had been found and prosecuted for the robbery Norman Jones had
framed him for. Bill Blass had informed him that the police had
received a tip that Jones had been spotted in Chicago, but when
they found where the suspect had been living, he had just left.
Nevertheless, they were still on his trail. Ed gave him the number
where he could be reached at home as soon as it was connected and
asked Bill to keep him updated on the situation.
    Chrissy made one stop of her own while her Dad was
on the phone. She went into a little gift shop, bought a small
vase, and managed to zip it up inside her purse. She wanted
something pretty to put her magic flowers in when they mysteriously
appeared. They were so special to her that she wanted a vase for
them instead of the old, discolored mug.
    When Chrissy and her dad got home that evening, they
found Johnny there with JoJo and the twins were having a wonderful
time playing with the beautiful dog. Johnny volunteered to help
unload the groceries and things they had brought back from town.
One of the things he helped unload was a mailbox and post.
    “Hey, Mr. Wroe, are you going to start getting mail
service? Do you need help putting this up?" Johnny was anxious to
help. It gave him an excuse to see Chrissy more often.
    “Yes, I am and I would sure appreciate your help,
Johnny.”
    It rained the next day and it was Friday before they
could get the mailbox installed. While they were working on getting
it up, a neighbor Ed hadn’t met came by and Johnny introduced
them.
    “Mr. Tinsley, I’d like you to meet Edward Wroe. Mr.
Wroe, this is Frank Tinsley. The Tinsley Family would be your
nearest neighbors on the west. Mr. Wroe is living in the old Coy
house.”
    The two men shook hands and liked each other right
away. “Did you