Avocations
Writing
The Farm
*Important notes about The Farm
*In Progress: This story is far from finished. Even completed chapters are likely to change as the theme develops.
Chapter 1
I can dimly make out the grey jagged surface before me. My face pressed so close my gasping breath disturbs debris settled on its mossy surface as bugs scurry for new cover. There is a hot swirling wind howling around me like a thousand moaning souls. I am frightened, but risk looking over my shoulder with sweat dripping in my stinging eyes. I am clinging to a rocky wall in a wide vertical tunnel. I can barely see the other side in the dim light. There is nothing but blackness below me or above me. I greatly fear that darkness and sense it houses some hidden menace. I can feel the heat of its burning malice and rage rising at my trespassing. I start climbing, slowly forcing my way upwards, my heart pounding, hands slick with sweat. Then the phantoms come...
I sit up yelling "MOM, DAD, MOM, DAD, MOM, DAD!" I hear muffled talking and moving around and bumping in the room below. I suddenly feel safe, although silly and a little sorry for having roused my parents from their sleep. The light turns on as someone ascends the steep straight stairs to the play room and finally my bed room. It's Mom. "Are you alright?" she asks grumpily, eyes squinting in the light. "I had a bad dream, but I'm ok now." I am soaked with sweat, but thats not unusual. I am upstairs and it is a hot summer night without much of a breeze coming through the two open windows. "Leave the light on," I ask, as she kissed me and turns to leave. "I'll leave the playroom light on. Good night," she says yawning. She closes the playroom door, leaving it open just enough for some light to stream through. I lie back in bed, the memory of the nightmare slowly receding, and start thinking about tomorrow. It is promising to be a good day. We are going to the farm.
The morning broke clear and bright. Looking out my window, I see the bright blue of the sky flecked with random streaks of pale white. I hurriedly get dressed and run downstairs. Mom is already in the kitchen making breakfast. I smell bacon and hear it sizzling in the pan. I see Dad outside loading up the car through the little window by the kitchen table, which has already been set with silverware, orange juice and toast. "Good Morning," I chime getting a big hug, then sitting down. I am eager to leave and can't help swinging my legs back and forth.
Like most farms, this farm has a big old farm house. It is a beautiful house, but being an old house it creeks and rattles, and being a farm house it has critters and bats and old wagon wheels and barrels and other assorted old farm stuff. Behind the house is a gravel turn-around with an enormous tree with large sprawling branches set in the middle. Around the drive is arrayed a number of odd farm buildings of various shapes, sizes, and degrees of disrepair. To the left is a little brick smokehouse with an unpainted wooden door, an L-shaped three car garage with two old cars that don't run and packed full of old rusty car and tractor parts. There's a small workshop in the crook. An outhouse, a two story red playhouse, a beat up unpainted rabbit coop that used to be a small house or out building sit behind them. A white grainery with a loft, a concrete formed kennel that arcs like a small bridge with black iron gates and another half painted building of unknown purpose sit off to the right. Straight back from the house there is a large red barn and silo. Beyond that woods and fields and "cricks". That's what we called creeks when we were on the farm, "cricks". That's country talk.
The farm was recently bought by friends of the family, the Waldrens. The kids are, from oldest to youngest, Abigail, Cara, Brandi, and Devlan. I am ten and Abigail is two years older than me although she seems much older. Cara is one year older and Brandi one year younger and Devlan is two years younger. Their parents are Jake and Danielle. Jake is uncommonly loud and has a funny walk that resembles that of a zombie. Danielle is a sweet lady who makes the most elaborate deserts you have ever seen. They are fond of antiques, including creepy old dolls, which add to the atmosphere of the house. They have animals too: a tired looking horse, a couple ponies (one of which would bite and kick), a goat, some geese who would occasionally give you a good pinch, cows, pigs, rabbits, cats and dogs, and chickens. There is a giant mount of hay in the barn and stacks of bailed hay to jump from and a rope tied to a tree branch to swing across a crick that is often stinky and full of cow poo.
Like most old farm houses this one comes replete with ghost stories. Its unofficial history passed by oral tradition from one kid to the next. Legend has it everybody who ever lived in the house in it's over 100 years of existence died horribly. That's a lot of ghosts. All of the previous residents were at best odd and at worst serial killers. They were drawn to that house where they were mysteriously compelled to live. The last people who lived there were the oddest. They were an old lady, her daughter, and the daughters' strange boyfriend. The old lady dressed like a gypsy and was believed to practice witch craft. Goats and other small animals were said to disappear from neighboring farms for her evil ceremonies. The strange boyfriend seemed to be fond of digging. Whether he was searching for secret ingredients for sinister potions or some talisman of evil or burying body parts no one really knows. The daughter was the only one who would ever venture into town to pick up a few items from the farmers market. Mostly hearts and brains and other innards along with knives and saws and ice picks were all she would buy. All feared her and would avoid looking in her one good eye or they might die a gruesome and mysterious death.
It was the perfect kid place!
After breakfast I help by carrying stuff out to the car. We have an old country squire station wagon that is green with fake wood grain on the side. It is a little rusty and dinged up but I really like it because it has a funny little seat that pops open in the back. It is still early but the sun is shining brightly and it is already getting hot. We all pile into the wagon, which is packed to the roof with stuff which I find out is for a house warming party for the Waldrens. I have two brothers, Matt and Stephen. They are both younger than I and we are each two years apart. Stephen is sitting next to me in the popup seat, each of us with a snack tray laid in our lap with stern instructions not to drop them. Matt is packed tightly into one end of the middle seat and is taking great delight in complaining about it. All the windows are down including the back window which I am facing and a strong breeze is whooshing through the car.
I feel almost hypnotized as I stare at the dark concrete and white dividing lines whizzing ceaselessly by. We live in a very nice neighborhood full of tiny but well cared for houses. There are other kids around and we have a great time playing Tag, or Hide n Go Seek, or Ghost in the Graveyard if its night time. There is a line of shrubs that runs the entire length of our block in between the houses. It is green and bushy to look at but if you squeeze through the branches it is all brown and open inside like a secret passage. All the neighborhood kids know about it. I know most of the people on the block by name and I can run through all the yards and nobody cares. Not like some neighborhoods where people yell "Get off the grass!"
We have a great big tree fort in the back yard behind the garage perched between three large trees. It is a kid built tree fort which means there isn't a single straight angle to be found. It is made from every scrap of wood we could find and has grown to three somewhat shabby stories. One time a neighborhood kid was over. His name is Scott but we call him boogars on account of him picking his nose and eating the catch, yuck. Anyway we were working on the tree fort when he decided to climb up as high as he could in one of the trees. I started climbing up another tree but he was ahead of me and way above the roof of the garage. All of a sudden I hear a loud crack. I look and Boogars falls right on top of the tree fort completely demolishing all three stories finally stopping on the bottom platform with a whump. I scramble out of my tree expecting to find him seriously injured or even dead but he sits up and croaks "I have to go home now." Then just gets up and goes away. Next time I see him he is sitting under a tree pickin' his nose so I guess he wasn't too seriously hurt.
Matt is first to issue the expected question: "When are we going to get there?" followed by Mom and Dads usual answer in nearly perfect unison "We'll get there when we get there." The drive isn't far, perhaps only a half hour or so. Mom's name is Susan. She's a good Mom as far as what I know about Moms. At least I like her. She has red hair, I think, she dyes it. She has a mischievious sense of humor and delights in trouble and mayhem. Dad's name is Robert. He is a big guy with dark hair flecked with grey. I understand he is very young to have that much grey hair. He says it's my fault. He can be a tough Dad and you don't want to make him mad, oh boy! My butt still stings when I think of that time he stopped the car on the highway and gave me a whippin'! Still he's a good Dad, great at wrestling kids, and is a Dad you can look up too.
We pull off the tar country road onto the gravel driveway with the popping of stones and a trail of white gravel dust. I can see kids swinging on the rope swing which is just on the other side of the street. We stop on the far side of the turnaround and start unloading the car. We are greeted by a very large Great Dane and a rather scruffy looking Border Collie mix. My brothers and I start for the house with our arms loaded. "Don't drop those snack trays!" Mom yells after us as if we needed to be told. Danielle comes out and holds the porch door for us welcoming us with many kind words. "Just put those things on the table and I'll take care of them from there, thank you." Danielle is a pretty lady. Slender and tall with dark hair and complexion and a heart shaped face. She's a fancy dresser and looks out of place on a farm. A wild looking black cat scurries quickly out the porch door. It's a big old porch, screened in, painted white, with a grey floor and a wooden railing along the roof for a lookout. It guards the back entrance to the house. The wood plank floor creaks loudly at each step. The air is full of the essence of home cooking as we enter the house.
The family room is very cozy with a large fireplace and country style couches and a rocking chair. It's got a solid dark wood floor with a large throw rug. There is a great big table at the far end under a pair of windows which look out the front of the house. The windows are open and there is just enough of a breeze so that the house isn't uncomfortably warm. The kitchen is attached to this room only separated by a counter with a sink. There are two heavy wood beams that extend from countertop to ceiling with an ornate iron-wrought pot rack mounted in between. There is the sound of an organ, playing poorly, coming from another room. I make second and third trips to the car to unload. Matt and Stephen slipped away after the first run. The organ stops playing as I set down a tray of Moms most awesome chocolate chip cookies in the world and a moment later Jake shuffles in. "What are you doin' inside on such a nice day Benji?" He has a gravelly voice that would make him a perfect host for the Saturday night monster movie marathon and even this innocent comment sounds like "AHA, You escaped me once but now you're going to pay!" "I was helping and my name is Ben!" I say defiantly. "I'll call you Barbie if I want!" He feigns a lunge at me but too slow as I dart past him and out the back door.
I don't lose too much momentum as I round the corner and dash down the drive and across the street. I get there just in time to see Devlan lose his grip on the rope swing and plunge into the little crick below. It's not deep and he quickly stands up. Strangely he's smiling widely even though he is covered head to toe in gross slime. Everybody is laughing as he slogs up a short bank. "Get your butt home and get cleaned up and tell Mom you fell in the crick." Abigail orders loudly being a little too much like her father. "Shut up, you're not my Mom." Devlan says still smiling. He has a round and melodic tone to his voice. He has to be the skinniest kids I've ever known and his pants are typically hanging down. He's always pulling them up and has to hold them when he runs which can be comical at times. He has dark hair and complexion very similar to his mothers. Abigail is cute in spite of her bossy demeanor. She has long golden brown hair and is mature for her age.
Many kids are there as I wait my turn. Along with Abigail and Devlan there's Brandi and Cara, my brothers Max and Stephen and there are Aunty Carols' kids, Kyle, Elizabeth, and Eric. Their last name is Kendall. She's Jakes sister and not really related to me in any way but likes to be called Aunty. She can be a real practical jokester but she's always been nice to me. Kyle is the oldest of the kids in our group and is into sports. He has dark brown hair cut short and a square-ish shaped face with pronounced features and bushy eyebrows. It's his turn and he's gearing up for a big swing trying to climb into the highest branches he can get to. Elizabeth is pretty and very sweet. She has long straight dark brown hair that is usually tucked behind her ears, an oval face, almond eyes and full lips. "Come on, stop fooling around and go!" She complains getting impatient. I remember one time my parents were having a party and the Kendalls were over. Eli got so angry at Kyle she punched him in the face giving him a bloody nose. Everybody was surprised, especially Kyle! Eric has very short dark hair and is heavy set. Not fat, just rounded features and a bulky build. He is entertaining himself by throwing rocks and clumps of sod and dirt clods and anything else he can find into the crick.
Finally it's my turn and I start climbing up the tree when Devlan comes trotting back across the little road wearing fresh clothing. "Mom says everybody needs to go pick corn for dinner right now!" "Wait a minute I haven't had a turn yet!" I yell. "If ya don't help, ya don't eat." Says Abigail as she runs off along with everybody else. I take a quick unsatisfying swing from a lower branch favored by the smaller kids and run to catch up. There is a split rail fence that runs along to the right of the driveway opposite the house. It's an easy climb. Then through a field with a couple grazing ponies, a horse, a goat, and scattered apple trees. Watch out for meadow muffins! Over the fence on the far side is a large corn field. If you've never tried it I can tell you it is impossible to move quietly through a corn field. You cannot sneak up on somebody no matter how hard you try. I did try and got a good kick from Abigail.
I already knew the trick of pulling back part of the husk to see if the cob was ready for eating. Of course you only check the ears that look big enough. I gather all the corn I can carry, about six ears I think. It's not as easy as you might think to carry an arm full of corn cobs a relatively long distance over and around obstacles like fences but we all make it okay. There are a few newly arrived cars in the driveway and a beat up old grey wash tub on the stoop now filled up with corn. Danielle assigns all the kids except Cara and me to shuck corn. She sends us to pick scallions and tomatoes from the garden. The garden is behind the garage and between it and the rabbit hut. It is a large concrete rectangle around twenty feet long and ten feet wide. It stands three feet off the ground and is divided into four sections filled with dirt. "How's it goin' Benny Marshall?" She always addresses me with both my first and last name. Cara is a cute girl with a perky personality and is almost always smiling. She looks more like her Dad but takes after her Mom in that she seems a little out of place on a farm.
"Wow, look at the size of this thing." I pulled the biggest green onion I have ever seen from the ground.
"Do you know what that is?"
"It's a great big green onion!"
"No silly, thats a Leek."
"A what?"
"A Leek, they are like an onion. Mom uses them in soup. The green onions are over there."
"I'm hungry. I can't wait for dinner."
"You'll get to eat soon enough. How do you like the farm?"
"I love it. I want to live on a farm someday."
"Be careful what you wish for!"
"Why, don't you like it?"
"It's ok. You're a long way away from everything. You have to walk two miles just to get to the next house and it's hard to see your friends."
"I guess I didn't really think of that. Still the animals are cool. How many kids do you know that have a horse and ponies?"
"They are fun sometimes but we have to work so hard to take care of them. It isn't much fun getting up when it's still dark and feeding them and letting them out of the barn, especially when you have to do it before school. And they poop all over the place and they stink too. I don't think it's worth it."
"I guess I know you're right but it just sounds like a lot of fun to me."
"You should see if you can spend the night. Then you can help out tomorrow morning and see what you think. I can ask my Mom if it's all right."
"Thats a great idea! I'll bet it would be okay with my parents."
"You might even get to see the ghost!"
"The Ghost!?"
Of course what kid would turn down the opportunity to hear stories about a ghost even if one is highly skeptical.
"Yes, you didn't know about the ghost?"
"I guess I have heard a few stories and I thought they were fun but I didn't really believe any of them."
"Well you're going to believe in them Benny Marshall!"
"Okay, so tell me more."
"There's no time now, maybe after dinner."
We head back to the house with arms full of vegetables. People have been arriving while we were gone and the driveway is already packed with cars. We are met with a loud "It's about time you got back!" from Abigail. "It's okay." Says Danielle sweetly "Dump them in the sink and wash them quickly. Everything else is just about ready." The family room area is packed with people and loud with conversation. One old lady I don't recognize grabs my cheek with a grip that belies her frail appearance and comments on how much I've grown. Hellos and hugs and "I haven't seen you in so longs!" go on for several minutes.
Suddenly I hear a scream and the breaking of glass. A brief hush falls across the room which is quickly replaced by an even louder roar of commentary. A somewhat excited Aunty Carol can be heard loudly over the din, "We were talking about the ghost when Kyle snuck up to the window and scared me. I dropped my glass! Where is that kid? K-Y-L-E you get in here and clean up this mess you horses you-know-what!" Kids snickering can be heard outside the window. "That's ok, I'll clean it up," says Danielle as she scurries towards the spill. Mom volunteers my assistance, "Benny help Dani out, get a broom and dust pan." Jake meets me halfway broom already in hand. There's not much to sweep up. The glass broke into a few large pieces but I swept anyway, just in case, then put the broom back in the closet Jake took it from.
The conversation turns to gossip about somebody's rotten, no good, boyfriend while I squeeze my way to the table to get some food. Even at this age I recognize how fast the actions of one male can transfer to all males when there are enough jilted females about. Danielle runs to my rescue amidst a chorus of comments like "He'll end up rotten just like the rest of them!" with a big hug and mush, "Not my Benny, he'll be a good man. He'll love his woman, and wine her and dine her and worship her!" She attempts to smoother my face with kisses as I struggle to get away. "That's right Benny, that's what you've got to look forward to!" Jake chortles loudly. Danielle squints her eyes and grimaces at him, "Don't you listen to him Benny, he's a bad, bad man!"
Even though I am hungry I feel it is best to beat a hasty retreat and quickly escape into the room of the nearly dead. Ok, I admit that's a little crass. I can't help it, I'm a kid and there are few things in a kids life more horrific than being surrounded by a bunch of really old people. "Why who is this? Are you Amy and Joes' child?" "You're so big, let me see your muscle." "I remember when I was you're age we used to entertain ourselves with dirt." "Kids today, they all need a good turn behind the woodshed." "I remember when they removed part of my liver." "Eh, what was that, darn hearing aid doesn't work so well any more." "Yup, got it shot off in the war." After a few respectful moments I excuse myself and slip through the nearest door.
I find myself in the neatest little room. It is full of antiques but the kind of antiques that even a kid can appreciate. There are old muskets and rifles and swords and army helmets and stuff like that hanging on the walls along with some very old looking paintings including a creepy clown whose eyes were following me, some old circus posters, and hats. There was a display case full of stuff like old pocket knives and a cigar holder and a little two shot pistol and a very old looking toy car, a tin soldier, dice, a couple pocket watches. There were also stacks of old magazines and newspapers and another display case with model boats and cars and planes. On top of it was a large model of a wooden sailing ship that looked almost real but the most intriguing was several very old looking slot machines. I check my pockets deeply for change knowing full well I have none. I grab a handle and feel it is locked in place.
Just then I hear a noise like a falling stack of books. I look around the little room but see no evidence of anything falling. Then I notice a large dark wood door at the far end of the room. I guess it is a closet and move closer to see. It has an unusual handle that is clear and looks like glass cut like a diamond. It is set in front of a door plate with a large key hole that looks like it was made for one of those old skeleton keys. I turn the handle and pull. The door opens with some resistance and much creaking. It is a closet and is packed tightly with coats. There's a high shelf full of boxes and more boxes on the floor. I hear faint scratching sounds, mice probably, coming from within. I look in the space under the coats but over the boxes. It is absolutely pitch black dark. I crouch motionless listening for a moment as I almost could have sworn I heard a whisper. I am about to stick my head in for a closer look when I suddenly hear somebody calling my name from the other room, "Benny Marshall, Benny Marshall!"
It is Cara, "Where have you been and what have you been up to Benny Marshall? Everybody was wondering where you went." She snooted this comment but with a smile on her face and a smile in her voice. "I was just looking around." I said. "Well be polite and come back to the party." I notice an organ and more antiques as I follow her out through another small room skillfully avoiding the barely living room, then past an old stairwell and into the kitchen. Jake is on the other side of the counter standing on a step ladder, possibly hanging something on one of the old beams by the sink. "Good, Benny, you're here just in time. Come over here and give me a hand." It's strange to be hanging things in the middle of your house warming party but I don't think much about it as Jake is a little strange. As I round the counter I see Aunty Carol trying to close one of the two windows by the family room table. "How do you close this thing?" She looked like she was pulling with all her might. "That window doesn't close." says Cara. "It needs to be fixed." Recognizing an obvious challenge several guys, including my Dad, take turns trying to force the window shut to no avail.
Jake hands me some screws and says, "Just hand me these when I ask for them." Okay, easy enough. Now I can see what he is doing. He is shoring up the metal pot hanger. I hand him a screw on command but it falls and hits the wooden floor with a ping. I start looking around for it but he interrupts the search, "Forget about it, hand me another one." I hand him one but again he drops it with a ping. I can see the frustration building in his face as he extends his hand not asking this time. I hand him another screw. Now he has a look of sheer determination as he wrestles with screw driver, screw, and pot hanger and again drops the screw. He steps down the ladder muttering things under his breath and we both start searching the floor for the dropped screws. There are no screws to be seen. I get on my hands and knees and search but still with no success. "They have to be here!" I say getting a little frustrated myself. I have an idea and get the broom. After thoroughly sweeping the floor I am still confounded by the fact that I have found not even one of the screws.
"It's the ghost!" Jake loudly proclaims setting off a barrage of comments: "Don't be silly" and "I saw a ghost once." and "My grandfathers' spirit touched my leg after he died." and "My cousin was possessed by a woman but she wasn't dead." It was perfect party fodder and sparked numerous loud debates and stories. In the very midst of this commotion there was a very loud WHUMP! Everybody whirls around to see a large, five pound, block of cheese sitting in the middle of the floor. Jake walks slowly over to it in his zombie-ish sort of way. He stands there looking at it for a moment before he picks it up and carries it some five feet to the kitchen counter, "No such thing as ghosts huh?!" his voice taking on a pirate-ish quality. He apparently felt like he just won his argument and sets it on the countertop with a thump.
The commotion starts again as quickly as it had stopped. "I'm telling you there is no such thing as ghosts!" and "Sometimes I can see tracks around my dogs grave" and "I once had an out of body experience." and then WHUMP! Everybody whirls around and there in the middle of the floor is that five pound block of cheese. Suspecting foul play I run past the kitchen looking for a perpetrator but none could be found. As I walk back in shrugging the argument takes on a more hushed tone and becomes one unified conversation. "But how else could it have gotten all the way over there?" and "If somebody threw it then who?" and "Are you sure nobody was over there Benny?" My Dad, now sitting in the corner chair and trying to be most rational and most intelligent offers an explanation in a rather deep and sudo-authorative voice; "Harrrumph, you see gasses formed under the cheese, ah, causing it to lift off the counter, and um, gained enough momentum and, uh..." Jake raises his voice to a near roar, "NONSENSE, I'M TELLIN' YA IT WAS THE GHOST!" My Dad, not one to be shown up, stands and loudly declares "THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS GHOSTS!" No sooner does he finish the last syllable when the previously stuck window behind him slams shut with great force shattering the glass and sending splinters and glass fragments flying about. Dad falls forward on the table knocking glasses, plates, and serving bowls everywhere. Nobody anywhere near the table escaped getting spilled on or pushed over or both.
Chapter 2
* Note: This chapter is stil in the midst of the editorial process. There are some sections where I get over descriptive in an attempt to show the eclectic nature of the house but I find it slows the pace of the story. There are other sections where the language departs from the words and thoughts of a ten year old.
Whisps of Steam are rising slowly from the hot soapy dishwater. White foamy bubbles swirling as Cara pulls a plate from the hot water and hands it to me. Most of the guests had left with hugs and many parting remarks. Matt and Stephen are fast asleep sharing a couch. Somehow I found myself helping Cara with the dishes. I am amazed as she seems not to be bothered by the heat of the steaming water. I can barely hold a plate without the drying towel.
"So we got to see a little excitement tonight Benny Marshall!" Cara says with wide eyes and a big grin.
"Do you think it was a ghost?"
"Of course I do. What do you think it was?"
"I'm not sure. I guess I just haven't seen enough to prove it was a ghost, but I'm not saying it wasn't."
"Well you get to see lots of strange things around here."
"Like what?"
"There ain't no such thing as ghosts!" Abigale interrupts loudly, coming in from the hall.
"Yah, thats what Mr Marshall said right before the window slammed." Devlin says with a huge grin.
Abigale charges after him playfully, stomping her feet and roaring like a derranged dinosaur. Devlin darts quickly away but not fast enough as Abilgail grabs him and subjects him to the big sister tickle torture.
"Ok, all done, you can go now Benny Marshall." Cara says drying her hands.
Jake stuffs kindling in to the fireplace and starts a fire. The kids settle in front of the TV.
"Up there, up there in the vastness of space, in the void that is sky, up there is an enemy that is known as isolation. It sits there in the stars waiting, waiting with the patience of eons, forever waiting... in the Twilight Zone."
Abigail is rocking slowly in the rocking chair. Cara and Devlin share the love seat while I squeeze into one remaining corner of the couch Matt and Stephen are sleeping on. Brandi grabs a pillow and stretches out on the floor. Jake puts a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and saunters back over to the fireplace to stoke the embers with a poker.
During a commercial Cara stirs and calls out to my mom and dad now sitting with the few remaining adults around the family room table, "Is Benny Marshall going to be able to spend the night?" I had completely forgotten to ask. "Ohhhh I don't know. That would be up to Jake and Dani." Mom says. Danielle quickly responds "Of course that would be ok. We love our Benny. He is always welcome to stay here!" Jake growls "Sure, he can help me plant some new fence posts tomorrow!"
The prospect of planting fence posts doesn't intimidate me. I had never done it before and it would be cool to hang out with Jake for a while. I like Jake. Hes funny. Some people talk with their hands. Jake talks with his whole body. Most adults just think of you as a dumb kid but Jake is almost like a kid himself. He is just as good at joking about gross stuff as any kid and he likes to arm wrestle and is always willing to give a quarter to any kid that can beat him.
With a fair amount of heat coming off the fireplace I find it hard to keep my eyes open. I am growing sleepy but stubbornly fight to stay awake. Partly because I like the Twilight Zone but more because this house is so full of interesting things to look at. They have lots of antiques and stuff as well as a lot of neat clocks. One in the living room is covered by a glass bubble and you can see all the parts moving inside. On the far wall is a Cuckoo Clock that has a bird that really pops out and koo koo's and theres a grand father clock in the hall. You don't notice it so much in the day but at night you can hear them all clicking like crazy.
The light over the family room table looks like a wagon wheel with little lanterns sitting on it. There is a painting on one wall that looks like Billy the Kid and like the clown painting has those creepy painting eyes that follow you. There is an old brass bed pan leaning in the corner and a pedstal lamp that has a captain in a rain coat holding an old ship wheel. The coffee table is large and out of place being more modern looking.
I look over at the fireplace which sits in the middle of a short wall crowding out the small console television sitting just to the left between it and the entry way. It is brick with a wide brick hearth. This fireplace is heavily used and the hearth is full of fire place stuff, black wrought iron tools including a poker, brush, and tongs, a wooden bellows, a coal bucket full of kindling, blue tip matches, and a log holder. The fire place screen is black chain link which draws apart at the center.
There is a large wooden mantel. I don't know what kind of wood but it looks old and rough. Almost like a rail road tie. Upon the mantel are a few odd items. A wooden mallard painted with subdued colors next to a small white porcelain box painted with blue and pink fowers and gold trim. A cherry wood mantel clock with a rounded top, and a brass candle holder. The kind that has a plate to catch driping wax and a little curved handle.
The window sill behind me is crowded with nick nacks but I cannot see them well the way I am laying but they are mostly the figurine kind of stuff that doesn't interest me much. The couch is a dark green color with a raised pattern and is course and uncomfortable. The arm that my head now lays on is wood and hard. It would be uncomfortable to lay against if not for the aid of a large fluffy pillow. The walls are half dark wood panel and half white wall paper with very faint light blue lines. I can almost hear the adults conversation but mostly mumbles and laughter through the sound of the TV and the hissing and crackling of the fire. I nod off but am jolted awake by mom and dad gently lifting my brothers off the couch. I am glad to stretch out my legs as mom wishes me a good night and dad quietly warns me to be good. I fall easily back to sleep.
Through the fog of nothingness I come to realize that I am watching an old man. He is wearing overalls with a non descript white shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbow. He is working in the family room removing a wall that once separated the fireplace room from the table area. He is pounding the wall with a sledge hammer but I can hardly hear it. The sound muffeld as if listening from some great distance. I can see the sweat running off his brow, leaving streaks in the drywall dust powdering his wrinkled face. He stops, wiping his forehead with a hankerchief extracted from his pocket. Looking more closely into an opening in the damaged wall he reaches in. After a short moment he starts pulling on something. It looks like cloth. Like an old pillow case or bed sheet or shirt. He pulls harder, leaning back, grimacing at the strain. Suddenly he grabs his chest, great fear in his wide eyes, a look of dire pain on his face and collapses to the floor. An old woman enters the hall from the basement landing and sees the man on the floor. Instead of looking worried she appears angry. She hovers over the prone figure speaking. I can't make out the words but is sounds strangely like cursing. Then she looks up...and sees me.
I awake to the sound of several clocks chiming at the same time. I recognize the mantel clock, the coocoo clock hanging on the far wall, and the grand father clock standing guard in the dark hall way. It rings Clang, clang, clang, 3 A.M. I sit up and look around. I am still shaken from the odd dream and more than a little frightened to be waking in a strange place. The room is dark with the exception of the soft orange glow eminating from the remaining embers of the now dying fire. Everyone else has apparently gone to bed leaving me alone to sleep on the couch. The once interesting room now taking a more sinister aura with long shadows and darkened corners.
Sssssssssssss, Whats that!? I think I hear something. Realizing it could be my imagination I strain to discern the barely audible sound through the ever present clicking and clacking of clocks. I start to relax after a moment but no, there it is again, like breathing. Or maybe like the sound of fabric rubbing as someone walks. Ssssssssss, There it is again, undeniable now. Just then somebody steps up from the basement landing into the hall, a girl. I have trouble making her out but I am certain it is a girl in a white knee length night gown and long brown hair. Her white gown seeming to faintly glow in contrast to the surrounding darkness. She stands for a moment in the hall before quietly turning and walking up the stairs. I am relieved to see one of the girls, Cara or perhaps Abigale. No, it must be Cara. Not willing to miss my chance and not wanting to remain here alone in the dark I jump up and run after her. If I run quick enough I should easily catch up with her. My socks sliding on the smooth wooden floor I round the corner of the stairs. Up the first flight. Passing a window I get a chilling glimpse the moon shining brightly over the barn outside. Up the second flight. Into the upstairs hall.
Looking quickly in either direction I see no sign of her. The upstairs hall is long, running the entire length of the house. The ceiling is angled on the back side where it abuts the roof then falls straight allowing for a small attic entry door. Behind me, towards the master bedroom and along the back wall, are a pair of double doors to a balcony above the porch. Now open allowing a breeze to blow a pair of long white curtains creating moonlit patterns dancing eerily across the walls. Knowing where Caras room is I walk down the hallway. The creeking floor revealing my every step. Turning the handle the door seems to glide dreamily open on its own. Peering into the dark room I see her. Standing motionless at the foot of the bed. I can't make out her face in the dark. Not knowing exactly why, I step forward and reach out to touch her but my hand just passes through her.
My heart in my throat I race out of the room down the hall and into Devlins room. There is just enough moonglow to see two beds, one along each wall. I jump on the empty one and pull the covers over my head just as fast as I can. I feel breathless but struggle to control my gasping so as not to make too much noise. I am listening intently. I can hear the creaking of floorboards. I don't know if it is just the normal nightly sounds of a century old house or the floor being subjected to the weight of a body or some other indescribable force.
Suddenly the covers are pulled away! "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Shhhhhhhhhh, do you want to wake everybody up!?" Cara says standing over me, her index finger pressed against her lips.
"Wha, wha, wha..." I am relieved to be in the presence of a living person but still shaken.
"You said you wanted to help. It's time to feed the animals."
"This early? You have to be kidding. What time is it?"
"It's almost 5:30. I told you we'd be up when it's still dark."
"I know but I thought I heard the clock ring 3 times."
"You must have slept through the first two. Now come on let's go!"
I jump out of bed and follow her through the door. I was already dressed as I had no pajamas and had fallen asleep on he couch. We pick up several bowls and bring them into the kitchen. Cara pours some dry dog food in them and then starts rummaging through the refrigerator. I am totally suprised when she dumps a mishmash of leftovers in the bowls, green beans, potatoes, a couple chicken legs, apparently anything that looked like it wasn't worth keeping was going in the bowls.
"Will the dogs eat that stuff?" I ask.
"They will eat anything." Cara says.
"Won't they choke on those chicken bones?"
"What do you think they would eat if we weren't feeding them?"
I had never thought of that. Could that age old wisdom of not giving dogs chicken bones be a total myth? Maybe cooking them makes a difference but they weren't my dogs and I wasn't about to argue the point. We carried the bowls outside. Several dogs came scampering out of the concrete kennel built alongside the grainery. There is an enormous brownish colored Great Dane named Sheba, a scruffy looking black and white Border Collie with one albino eye named Frisbee, and a brown and white Bull Dog named Wags. There were also a couple cats, a tiger stripe named Houdini and a black named Isis. Apparently they all compete for what they can get from the same set of bowls. "Fill up those bowls with water from the hose and that plastic butter tub over there too for the chickens." We poured chicken feed right in the grass. They prefer to eat it that way Cara says. I wonder how she knows what chickens prefer. Just then as if on command several chickens and a rooster come strutting around the garage. Chickens seem so dumb sitting there clucking like morons. I am surprised they have enough sense to know when to show up for their morning feed.
Cara grabs a bag from the house and we start towards the barn. There are a number of odd out buildings serving various purposes but passing one in particular, a small building about the size of an outhouse, I could faintly hear some strange noises eminating. Echos and drips and a sound like wind blowing and something that sounds almost like murmuring...or maybe weeping. I stop, and stare at it, listening for a momnent.
"What are you doing? Come on we have things to do." Cara says.
"I think I hear something in there."
"You can always hear noises in there."
"Whats in there?"
"Thats the well. We have a couple of them. One even in the basement but it's capped off."
"Whats making the noises?"
"I don't know, dripping water, animals, who knows. I stay away from them. They're creepy."
We continue to the barn. It is a large Red Barn a lot like other barns. There is a Silo on the right side and a large double door in the center. It is surounded by a white wooden fence with big slats that most the kids prefer to climb over rather than go through the gate. This morning we go through the gate. We open the large double doors. It is pitch dark inside until Cara turns on the lights. The air is thick with the smell of animals and dung. I can hear the cows and horses stiring in their stalls. They have a horse and two ponies. We give them horse mix and water and I hand feed them some carrots. There are three cows and a bull. They get some feed and corn cobs and hay and water. The cows seemed friendly enough but the bull is skiddish. Cara warns me about him. He isn't generally agressive but he's a bull and can hurt you if he wants and who knows what will set him off or what he might do. There is a goat as well. We fed it some oats and hay and water then climb a narrow stair up to the loft to toss down some bales.
The loft is very large. The first floor has a low ceiling and feels crowded but up here the ceiling is super high and the whole space is open. There is a giant mound of hay bales stacked along one side and a large rear facing door where the ground is built up so you can drive a truck right in and there is a truck in here too. A really old one that looks like it hasn't run in a very long time. There is also a rope hanging from the rafters far above. I don't need anybody to tell me what that is for but Cara checks me as I start to ascend the bales with rope in hand. "Hey, you're supposed to be helping me!"
She is right so I come down with a short swing and follow her back down the stairs. We grab a couple garbage bags, a bucket of feed, and go out a narrow side door and walk through the back pasture until we come to the pig sty. There are four large hogs and a whole bunch of little piggies. We tossed the garbage, err I mean food, all around the pen so all the piggies have a chance at getting some. They live up to their name as they go crazy for the goodies scurring back and forth trying to scarf up just as much as they can get.
We walk back to the barn and let the cows and horses out to pasture. This is handled by opening the pen and standing out of the way. The animals know what to do. We clean the stalls and lay down fresh straw. We then take some rabbit pellets out to the the rabbit hutch. The rabbit hutch isn't really a hutch at all. It's really a small single story house with chicken wire suspended over a dirt floor so the rabbit droppings fall through. I don't know how many rabbits there are but there are a bunch of them. Cara doesn't know what the house was originally built for but guesses it had been a guest house a very long time ago. She jokes that now unwelcomed guest get to stay there.
The last remaining task is to take the goat out to the orchard. The goat grazes on the grass making it unnessessary to mow. Cara is tying it to a tree when for no reason I know of the goat charges right at me pulling the rope out of Caras hands. I catch him by the horns. "Don't let him go Benny Marshall!" cries Cara. "I've got him! He's not going anywhere!" I did have a firm grip on him and I am strong enough to hold him in place but I can't move him any closer to the tree for Cara to tie him up. She grabs the leash collar and pulls him. To her total surprise, and mine, he starts to pee on her.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh," squeels Cara. Throwing her arms in the air like it's a stick up she scampers side to side but that goat has amazing aim and keeps a steady stream trained on her every step until she moves far enough away. She turns and stomps off towards the house. "What should I do about the goat," I yell after her. "I don't care," she calls back not troubling to turn around. I decide that I am not going to be beat by some ornery old goat. Besides if I let him go he will charge me again and might scewer me. So the struggle of wills ensues. Me against the goat. After struggling for a few moments I realize that my best bet is to pull instead of push and I slowly move towards the tree. Instead of tying the leash around the trunk I throw it over a low lying branch and secure it. I let the goat back me up until the slack runs out.
Returning to the house I am struck by the aroma of breakfast cooking. "Hurry and get washed up Benny, breakfast is almost ready," Danielle chimes. "Yum!" I am hungry and run up the stairs and down the hall to the bathroom were I find Jake with half his upper torso squeezed into the cramped space beneath the sink. He curses several times before rolling over. Squirming his way out of the cramped space he stops. "What is this?" he murmers. He sits upright holding a strange looking object in his gloved hand. It looks like a dirty old bundle of green rags. "It's a rat," Jake announces "And totally petrified too." He shocks me as he grabs it with both hands and snaps it in two. "You are so gross!" Cara shouts. I didn't realize she was standing behind me now wearing a robe with a towel wrapped around her head. "Doesn't anything gross him out?" I ask. "No, nothing, ever!" Snarls Cara sounding thoroughly disgusted. "Do you need to get in here Benny?" Jake asks tossing the rat halves in the trash can. "Yes please," I sheepishly reply still a little stunned. "It's all yours. Just don't use the sink."
I take a hurried shower and put my same clothes back on. Going downstairs I am reminded of my hunger by the strong aroma of breakfast and push the thought of green petrified rat guts to the back of my mind. "Have a seat and help yourself Benny," Danielle politely offers. Abigale, Brandi and Devlan are already there eating. "There better be some left for me!" Cara shouts down the stairs. A chorus of no's and snickers come from what some parents refer to as the peanut gallery but there is plenty. The window in the corner has a piece of plywood covering it and I'm about to bring up the ever fascinating topic of ghosts when Jake stomps in and says "Let's go Benny! We've got to get some posts up before Carol and company get here and I lose my helper!"
I didn't know they were coming but am glad to hear it. A farm and a bunch of kids are a perfect combination. We make our way out the back porch door and past the turn around. Entering the barnyard we are confronted by an approaching brigade of blustering geese. Their evil eyes glaring with blood lust. Their outstretched wings and jutting chests heralding an impending attack. In a move of self preservation I back off. "Whats the matter Benny?" Jake asks. "Those geese are mean!" I respond determined to avoid a confrontation I was certain I would lose. "Awe come on chicken." I remember only to well the death struggle between Devlan and one nasty honker that clamped onto his leg and wouldn't let go. Devlan grabbed his neck and the two of them swung round and round until the evil fowl lost it's vise like grip and chased Devlan away. He was lucky to have escaped with only a black and blue mark as evidence of his battle.
"Come here and I'll show you how to make peace with them." Jake said. I shook my head vehemently not willing to risk it. "Trust me. I'm going to show you a secret and you will never have to fear the geese again." At that remark my curiosity overcame my fear and I moved closer. Jake lays in the grass facing the geese. "What are you doing?" I ask. "Come down here and I'll show you." Jake motions me to lay down beside him. I do but I'm nervous about it. "This is nuts." I say. "They'll just waddle up and gouge our eyes out or crack our skulls open and eat our brain out like a chicken pot pie." Jake laughs "No they won't Benny. Down here we are less of a threat to them. When they come close put your head down and shake your hair at them. They'll hesitate at first but then they'll try grooming you just like you're another goose." Indeed that was exactly what happens. After making a bit of a scene one large goose, probably the squad leader, stretches out tentatively and pulls at Jakes hair. After a bit more bluster he does it again only a little braver this time. Then apparently satisfied we are ok they all stepped forward and tend to our hair as well as each others feathers with a great deal of honking.
After a few moments of this the geese get bored and Jake stands up. I do as well. The geese no longer seem to mind us. I am amazed. I guess Jake really does know a few things. We grab a post hole digger and a couple fence posts and a role of barbed wire and head out to one of the fields. "Rats," Jake exclaims. "I forgot my hammer. Benny, run to the house. In the basement there is a small utility room with a work bench. The hammer should be on the bench." I take off determined not to be away too long. As I enter the house I see there are some kids already here. One little girl is standing in my way. "Hi, my name is Adrian. Who are you?" "Hi Adrian, my name is Benny." Pushing my way around her I head to the basement.
Some basements have playrooms full of toys. Some basements have tv rooms. Other basements have hobby rooms or laundry rooms but not this basement. This basement is a damp musty basement with spiders and pipes and cracks in the bare concrete floor. Even with the light on it is dark. There are many corners in this basement concelling who knows what secrets. There is a mosterous old furnace in the center of the room and a doorway leading to another chamber which I cautiously enter. This room is no better than the first. It is lined with dusty box laden shelves and has many crates and chests and old pieces of furniture. Along the far wall like the entrance to a tomb is a small darkened doorway. I don't like this place and am determined to finish my task quickly. I enter the dark little room and try to find a light switch.
CLACK, The door closes behind me. I am encased in total blackness. Fireworks errupt at the uselessness of my eyes. My hands scramble anxiously for the door handle. For a moment my mind is occupied almost completely with jiggling the handle, kicking and hammering the door, and yelling "Help, I'm locked in!" My heart is pounding and I am sweating and puffing in the stuffy, moist air. A growing thought that I dare not entertain but is floating in distant awareness; I might be stuck here for a long time.
Then I hear it. Softly at first. I strain to control my breathing. There, in the blackness, a sound like weeping. I stand perfectly still fighting to hear. Straining for every scrap of evidence. Some logical or disbeliving part of myself, demanding proof, trying to measure my experience against what I have come to know as reality. I raise the courage to say a furtive "hello?" The response comes in a scurrying sound like rats in a trash bin.
The obvious reaction by any kid would be total panic, screaming and yelling, crying and pleading, clawing at the door while imagining horrible creatures crawling out of the dark to a frenzied feast. That was not my reaction. Maybe it was an illusion brought on by fear and the rush of adrenaline but in that moment I felt changed. Until that very moment I hadn't known it but I had some strength in the make up of my spirit and I hardened. I was in control of myself. A host of ghouls and apparitions could have charged forth from some smelly hole and they would have broken on me like the wooden sailing ships of old thrust upon reefs in a stormy sea.
With deliberation I feel my way along the shelves and work bench until I find a screw driver. I use it to pry the latch and free myself. I feel a slight movement of cool dank air across my face and dim light comes streaming in. I don't run but step out in dignified retreat. I look back into the shadowy compartment and think to myself; everything is going to be different from now on.
Bringing the hammer I make my way back up the basement steps, out into the little hallway and then the kitchen. There is a bustle of activity. Devlan is setting the table while Brandi and Cara are cleaning freshly picked vegatables for this evenings meal. Brandi looks at me and asks "Where have you been?" It seems strange to me none of them heard my banging or cries for help but I answer nonchalantly "I was locked in the basement utility room." They all stopped what they were doing and stared at me silently as if I just revealed a secret.
"You were locked in the little room in the basement?" asked Devlan as if he hadn't heard me. "Yes." I answer sternly. "Weren't you scared?" asks Adrian in such a tiny voice as only a little girl could utter. "I jimmied the door with a screw driver." They look at me with awe at my apparent calm. "Did you hear the girl?" asks Adrain in a whisper. "I heard... something." I reply, "Probably just sounds from old pipes or sump pump or an old well." "Yes, yes, the little girl is in the well!" Says Devlan excitedly.
Just then Abigale comes stomping in from outside "What are yuse doin? Get goin' on them chores!" She had summoned her booming 'I'm the boss' voice. "Ben heard the girl in the well" Cara spouts. "Did he ask her to help with the chores?" she thunders sarcastically. Along with Adrian there are two boys fighting over the nerf football. "Benny have you met Adrian, Brian, and Mark?" asks Brandi. Brandi is a nice girl. She's thin with long black hair and a good sense of humor. "I met Adrain." I respond with a wink at the little girl. The two boys are too engrossed in their contest to take notice.
I run back to out to the field to find Jake finishing a hole. He had already planted several posts. "Geeze, what took you so long Benny? I thought you forgot about me." Jake is sweating and covered in dirt. "I got trapped in the utility room when the door closed behind me." I say defensively. "What made the door close?" Jake asks. "How should I know? I just walked in and it closed." I say with a shrug. "But I never close that door. It's always open. One of the kids must have been playing a prank on you." Jake says returning his attention to his post hole. I don't think it was one of the kids. I'm sure I would have heard somebody following me down. I help Jake by holding the barbed wire as he secures it to the newly planted fence posts. Finally he dismisses me and I race back to the house where I find more cars parked in the drive.
Chapter 3
*In Progress
The door is heavy with a large metal knob and keyhole. The kind you would expect to use a skeleton key with. Inside I notice a table built into a cranny by the towel closet with a large wash bowl and towel. The front is draped and there is a small white chair. The room is long and rectagular with a Sink and toilet along the opposite wall. The sink has fancy handles and there is a large tub.
I quickly change and scoop up my clothes in one arm and push open the heavy door creaking on old metal hinges. In spite of my eargerness to go swimming I can't help stopping to look at the Organ sitting against the far wall. It has three sets of black and white keys arranged vertically along with large green and white buttons used to control the sounds. Underneath are numerous pedals along with a "gas" pedal.
I sit down and quickly identify the on switch. The panel lights up. I push the keys but nothing happens. I try one of the large green buttons. This time resting my hands across several keys creates a sudden loud burst of sound that knocks me backwards off the bench. Operating on a hunch I kick back the gas pedal and that turns it down. Doing my best Phantom of the Opera immitation I start to play. Manically changing sounds as I create a cacophony of disonant chords.
WHAM CRASH! I stop playing and look around. On the floor a just few feet away is an old bugle and a doll. The doll is not like a baby doll. It's more like a midget zombie lady. The bugle is old and tarnished with many small dents and scratches. Jake comes through the doorway behind me. "What are you up to benji?" he roars in his usual animated voice. Normally I would be defensive over the use of the sudo-name but I thought I might be in trouble. "I'm sorry, I was playing the organ and these things fell down." "Nonsense" Jake says picking up the strange objects. He places the doll on it's stand on a small table a few feet away along the wall then walks across the room.
The back of the room is lined with windows. Between two of them, kitty-corner and close to the "doll" room, is an empty hook. Jake hangs the bugle on the hook. The doll room is a small alcove where Danielle arrays her antique dolls. It is the creepiest place I have ever seen. I can't image little girls playing with these things with their creepy faces and even creepier eyes. "It must have been on the table with the doll" I reason. "Maybe, are you ready to go swimming?" says Jake changing the subject. "I'm ready" but I'm glad when he doesn't hussle me into the other room. I am still too fascinated by all the buttons on this noisey machine. Not that I care to be a great organist. To me it looks like some crazy piece of scientific equipment taken from H.G. Wells Time Machine.
Preparing for a jouney in space and time I once again power up this mystical machine and start flipping switches like a mad scientist. Lights blinking and sounds swirling and then WHAM, CRASH, BANG! A shock runs up my spine. I feel the electricity tingling through every hair. Looking over I see the doll on the floor, crazy eyes and cracked face staring at me. Right next to it sits the same old dirty and dented bugle rocking slightly from the impact. Suddenly, either by an illusion of fright or a spirit of unknown power, I feel myself rising slowly upwards through the air. With a shout I bolt out of the room and down the hall only to find the family room empty. I race out the back door to see an old red pick up truck with the bed full of kids rolling down the long gravel drive.
"Wait for me!!!!" I scream as I race to catch up. The truck stops as I climb the tailgate. It is crowded. "Sit down stupid, you can't sit on the tailgate" Devlan yells at me with his usual wide eyed grin. I owe him a noogie for that. I squeeze in as the truck turns out of the drive and heads down the tar and gravel road. It was tight but after a moment of grumpy faces and shifting legs I settle in. There is something very cool about riding in the open bed of a pick up. It is a beautiful day with the wind in my face and swiftly passing trees. For the moment all thoughts of the scary episode forgotten.
After a few minutes the truck pulls partly off the right side of the road and we all bail out. "I'll be back in a couple hours. I'll give you ten minutes after I honk or you'll be walking home!" yells Jake out the open truck window and pulls away in a trail of dust and popping gravel. I'm last in line to follow a narrow trail which climbs steeply up a bank to a wire fence which we easily scale with the help of a small tree and ignoring the Private Property Keep Out sign. The trail winds it's way through the woods for several minutes before it opens up to a large open area along the edge of a water filled quarry.
Light is reflecting brightly off the waters surface dispite it's dark green color and array of crud, algea, water bugs, leaves, dandellion parachutes and who knows what else. This side of the quarry is a straight twelve foot drop of four foot square quarry stones. The only way out of the water is to climb using the cracks between them. "Yuck, I'm not swimming in there. It's a toilet!" I shout. "Don't be such a chicken" Abi says as she dives off the edge. "Yah, don't be a chicken Benny Marshall" Cara says and runs to the edge and screams as she drops off. Picking up on the game everybody says "Don't be a chicken Benny" as they run to the edge and leap off. Not one to be called a chicken, especially by girls, I charge the edge and hurl myself off partly clipping Abi.
Swimming downward to avoid her kicking feet I am surprised how deep I can go and still not see any sign of a bottom. While it was reasonably warm near the surface it gets cold and dark very quickly. My attention is caught by something moving deep through the water. I struggle to see the dark figure more clearly through the gloom. Running out of air I swim for the surface. I am met by a splash in my face as I gasp for air and take in a lung full of water. Coughing and choking uncontrolably Abi grabs my arm and pulls me over to the side. Does she apologize for splashing water in my face? No, but her voice is sympathetic as she instructs me to wait a few moments before trying to climb out.
Cara asks "Are you okay Benny Marshall?"
I nod "I'll be alright. I saw something in the water."
"Like what?" Kyle asks hearing my comment.
"I don't know, it was like a shadow moving just beyond where I could really see it."
"I don't believe you Benny Marshall!" Cara says with in a snooty voice.
"I'll go look," Kyle say's and sinks into the mirky water.
Eric and Devlan race each other to the edge to see who can jump the farthest while Brandi, Adrian, Brian and Mark move
closer to see what's going on.
"Benny Marshall saw something in the water" Cara explains as Kyle breaks the surface a few feet away.
"I don't see anything" He says.
"You must not have gone deep enough, or it swam away." I am sure I saw something.
"Maybe it was a turtle" Brandi says as Brian and Mark each dive down to take a look.
"It was too big to be a turtle." I'm starting to doubt my own memory and the others quickly tire of looking for underwater shadows and return to diving off the rocks. I climb up the side while Cara and Abi take turns staying close to Adrain. She swims okay but is too young to be left totally on her own. There is a nice breeze and a big blue sky overhead. I run and take a mighty leap into a swan dive, hover for an instant and plunge in to the water. I let the momentum of my dive drive me down to the edge of blackness where I linger for a moment and see it again. Just beyond the reach of the light a darker shadow, at least as large as a person, moving slowly against the darkness below. I stare for a moment as it moves beyond sight. It seemed or at least I thought it seemed like the figure of a young lady, arms and legs outstretched and hair splayed wide. I swim straight for the edge comming up close to the girls.
"Saw it again!" I blurt out breathing hard. "What is it?" Asks Cara "I don't know but we should get out of the water." Just as Abi opens her mouth to ridicule me we hear the truck horn beeping from the road. "We have to get out of the water anyway but you shoudln't try scaring people like that Benny!" "I'm not!" I say in protest but it was a wasted effort. Abi and Cara help Adrian make the climb and we all grab our towels drying off as we walk down the path. "That wasn't no two hours." Eric complains. I agree, it wasn't two hours. Not even close. We climb back over the fence and down the bank to the waiting truck. "Get in, get in!" Jake yells. We all pile in and the truck takes off down the road. I feel myself quickly drying in the rush of air. We pull up the long drive and park along the far side of the turn around.
"Why did we have to leave so soon?" I ask Jake. "I was down at the general store and overheard a couple old timers talking talkin' to a police officer." "A girls gone missin' and they think she may have been down by the quarry." "Some of the older kids hang out there in evening drinkin' beer." "A few years ago a teen drowned in there so the police will definitely check it out." "I didn't want to take the chance of you'se gettin' caught." "She's there." I say quietly. "You think so?" "I doubt it." "Probably ran off with her boyfriend." Jake says. "Benny saw her in the water!" Kyle shouts from the porch. "What?" Jake gives me a crazy look. "I didn't say I saw her." "I just said I saw something floating deep down in the water." "It's Probably nothing."
We enter the house to a bussle of activity. Dad and ? have some strange looking contraption half assembled or dissassemnbled in the middle of the living room floor. Danielle is scurrying around the kitchen. Mom and Aunty Carol trying to help amid protests from Danielle that she has everything under control. "You kids all take showers after swimming in that filthy pond!" She says loudly. "Theres too many of us!" Brandi protests. "I don't care!" "You figure it out." "Everybody takes a shower." Danielle is clearly not going to back down and several of us race up the stairs to get to the upstairs shower first. I thought I had won. "Be a gentleman Benny Marshall, ladies first." Cara says. As much as it pains me I can't argue with that and take a seat on a small sofa in the hall.
I am just about to get up out of boredom when she comes out of the bathroom hair wrapped in a towel and says "Thank you Benny Marshall." But just as I'm about to reach the restroom door Abi darts in front of me and says laughing "Ladies first!" and slams the door. I sigh and walk down the hall to the double doors leading out to a deck over the back porch. It is nice out but the wind is picking up. I hear Jake below say "It's going to rain tonight." "I can smell it!" "And it's going to be a big one!" I sniff the air to see if I can smell anything. It smells cool and fresh but maybe a little more humid than earlier.
The farm is a neat place and the deck gives me a great vantage point to see the various peculiar out buildings surrounding the drive along with many of the animals. Sheba the Great Dane is resting inside one of the kennel doors. Frisbe is barking at the goat. Isis goes sountering around the corner of the grainery while the geese march with an air of royalty through the barn yard. I can see the horse grazing in the orchard and the ducks searching for bugs by the outhouse. I assume the cows are in the back pasture but I can't see that because of the large red and white barn blocking the view. I hear the bathroom door open and I rush against the stomping feet of Devlan as he tries and fails to beat me. "Ladies first!" He shouts sarcastically as I close the door.
This bathroom is much smaller than the one downstairs. It is narrow with a sink, toilet, and a stand up shower. It isn't as fancy either with brown panelled walls. no sooner do I climb in the shower and start to rinse when Devlan bangs hard several times on the door and yells "Come on!" He's trying to antagonize me but it's not working. The shower feels good and I take just a little extra time enjoying it. I put on the fresh clothes Mom brought and open the door. "Geez did you take long enough?" "Did you leave any hot water for me?" I smile at Devlans complaints and head downstairs. Dad and ? with Jake kneeling close by working on what appears to be some kind of pump and Mom, Danielle and Aunty Carol are now sitting around the table talking. "Grab a sandwich Benny." "Just help yourself to whatevers there." offers Danielle. Thats a good idea. I'm hungry! Digging around the refrigerator I find some boloney and mustard and some bread in a bread box on the counter. Add to that a cold glass of milk and I was happy. I don't even bother sitting down I eat it so quickly. Theres not a kid in sight. "Where is everybody?" I ask. "Outside where kids belong on a nice summer day." Jake retorts. He gets no arguement from me as I head out the back door.
I see no sign of anybody and I don't hear them either. I walk around the house to get a look at the tree with the rope swing but they aren't there. I walk back through the barn yard, hop the fence, and enter the barn from the side door. I hear people upstairs. I quickly climb the narrow wooden stairwell and find everybody playing in the hay. Kyle is swinging from the highest stack of bailed hay on a rope. He's going really high up and yelling woohoo. Eric is jumps off a stack into the pile of hay below. Brain pretend to drive the old pickup truck while MArk climbs into the bed. Adrian is holding up two fistfuls of hay and with squinting eyes letting it fall on her head causing her ot sneeze. Abi and Beth are throwing fistfuls of hay at each other.
Devlan sees me "Hey Benny, I'll give you a hundred dollars if you'll jump in the silo!" He's pointing at a dark hole in the far wall. "You don't have a hundred dollars." I say figuring I've out manuevered him and avoided a possible dare. "So, you wouldn't do it anyway." He says snickering. Thats almost a dare. "I might for a hundred dollars!" I say treading a fine line. "You would not!" Yells Abi in her typical loud way. "I would!" Says Devlan laughing. Kyle swings by "Lair!" "Ya wanna bet." says Devlan. "Yah, I'll give you a hundred dollars if you do it!" challenges Kyle. Much to my surprise, and everybodys, Devlan walks calmly over to the opening. Looks inside and then just leaps in. "Oh my..." Says beth with wide eyes. "Devlan!" screams Cara. Kyle leaps from the rope as he and I race to the silo. It is pitch black inside and we can't see him. "Devlan!" We yell together but there is no answer. "Downstairs hurry!" Yells Abi. We all charge down the stairs and across the barn back to the far side. There is a wooden hatch. Abi grabs it and stars pulling but it doesn't budge. With out a word Kyle and I grab the hatch and start yanking as hard as we can. Little by little it starts to move and before long the three of us get it open.
Standing in the opening, covered in cobwebs is Devlan smiling ear to ear. "Did I scare you?" He asks laughing. "That wasn't funny!" Screams Abi and she marches away obviously very upset. Kyle and I pull him through the narrow opening. "You owe me a hundred dollars." Devlan says to Kyle. "I don't have a hundred dollars." Kayle says realizing he's made a commitment he can't keep. "But you said!" Devlan says angrily. "You knew I didn't have a hundred dollars so why would you take the bet." Says Kyle turning it around. "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep!" Devlan says walking away. "You're right." "I'll have ot owe it to ya." Theres little chance of Kyle ever making good on it but at least he acknowleged he should. I catch up to Devlan brushing off the dust. Cara walks up, smaks him on the back of the head gives him a disapproving look, then helps. "What were you thinking!" She asks. "That was crazy!" I add in. "No it wasn't." "It's really no big deal." "We don't use the silo so I started throwing hay down there." "The bales are too heavy for me to carry." "When I have to clean the stalls I have all the hay I need right there." Thats clever. I am impressed. "I still wouldn't have jumped in there." I say. "Thats because you're a chicken!" Dev says, he and Cara laughing out loud.
We go back up to the second floor were Mark, Brian, Eric, and Adrain are playing seemingly unconcerned about the recent events. Brian and Eric are both hanging onto the rope and swinging while Mark takes a flying leap into a bail of hay. I climb to the top of the bails and am amazed by high off the ground I really am. The top section of the barn is over two stories high and I am sitting at least two third of the way to the top. I amuzing my self jumping down the bails and ending with a leap into an unbailed pile. I even try doing a flip a couple times but being only partly successful. Jumping into hay isn't like jumping into water. You still stop fast and hard and after a while I take a break feeling a little beat up. I am sweating from the exersion but it is also getting noticably more humid and hot. I alway sseem to get jipped out of swinging on the rope but at this moment I don't care as I walk out the large double doors into the rising breeze. I can clearly see clouds rolling in from the west. I guess it is going to rain. I walk back into the barn and run up to the rope. Wrestling in away from Eric. Just then the dinner bell, which is a large black bell mounted on a pole just out side the back porch door, starts ringing. Eric laughs at me "Ha ha too late!" He and the others head for the stairs. "Come on Benny Marshall!" Cara yells "And don't forget to close those barn doors!" No big deal. I am hear by myself with nobody around to compete for the rope so I decide to take a couple swings.
I Climb all the way to the top and set my grip. Wow this is high up. I think better of it and climb part way down. I want to have a better idea of what to expect before I take the big swing. Swoosh, wow, I shoot out and swing in a partial arc before swinging back to the hay pile which I clumsily crash into. THat was fun. This time I climb all the way to the top and being over ambitious I take a flying leap in an angle that sends me in a wide arc. Just missing the wall I sail over the pickup then spinning slightly I hurl towards the far wall. Smacking into it kills my momentum and I swing back only I have slid down the rope and crash hard into the bails of hay. I decide to take one more swing. This one still from the top but with a little more control. This time I swoosh like superman over the truck and in a wide smooth arc missing both walls and landing perfectly except a little too close to the edge and I topple forward falling and rolling until finally stopping with a thud on the floor. Looking up I notice something I hadn't noticed before. Sitting in the corner on the far side of the old pickup truck was something with canvas draped over it. Being curious I walk over to get a closer look. Lifting up a corner and peeking in I am am surprised to see....dirt bikes, two of them, cool! Okay, thats enough for now, dinner time!
I close the large track doors and run down the stairs and out the back door. Ignoring the once threatening geese I run past and hop the fence. I smell food cooking as I near the house. It's getting dark but I'm not certain that is because it is dusk or if it's a premature darkness brought on by the approaching wall of dark clouds. Everybody is busy eating as I enter. "Where were you Ben?" asks Dad. "I just took a couple swings on the rope in the barn." "What happened to your arm?" Matt asks. "Huh?" I look down and I am scraped and bleeding a little and very scratched up. "I crashed a couple times." "You wash yourself before eating." Danielle says. I walk down the hall past the old organ. The doll is back on the table and the bugle hanging on the wall. "Don't worry, I'm not here to play the organ." I say to no one.
...more of chapter 3 to come!