Out of the Frying Pan

Uncle Hayes at the Campbell Mansion, Part 10

"As I pulled into the driveway, I looked at the house and smiled. I drove rather quickly to the back, parked my truck and went upstairs to the apartment I was staying in. I had bought three lawn chairs while I was in town earlier. Better than sitting on crates. I pulled one of them up to the windows that faced the main house. With my coffee sitting on my new end-table-made-from-a-crate, I put my feet on the window sill and began to watch.

"I just sat there, waiting. Occasionally I checked the time.

Nine o’clock, no sign of the haint.

Nine-fifteen, nothing.

Nine-thirty, maybe I was wrong, it wasn’t going to show up.

Nine-thirty-five, a shadow went by the window.

"I jumped up and made myself more coffee, then sat down to watch the show. There it was, moving past one window after the other. It had to be the haint, all the doors and windows were locked up tighter than a drum.

"I had turned on every light in the house, even put lamps where needed. If I’m right, the haint will find whatever it’s looking for, or maybe just realize that what it’s seeking isn’t there and just leave and never come back.

"I continued watching.

"The haint was moving from room to room, upstairs, downstairs, I could see her pass by the kitchen door then back again. I just couldn’t help but think, What the heck is she looking for? A couple times when the shadow was upstairs, it would disappear for a while. I figured it must have gone into the attic where I had no view from this angle. But in a few moments, I saw it again in one of the bedroom windows as it just kept going from one window to the next.

"I sat there for over two and a half hours, just watching. Then I noticed that its movement had started to become more hurried, like it was almost running from room to room, up and down stairs, faster and faster.

"Then a thought occurred to me. With every light on in the house, maybe it couldn’t leave. When I watched it before, it used the darkness to disappear. Shucks, I done trapped the thing! I jumped up, grabbed the keys and took off, taking the stairs two at a time. Rushing out the door, I looked up and could see it was moving frantically about. I hurried over to the back door, unlocked it, and opened it wide. I ran back across the yard to my place and looked up once again. The shadow was still upstairs, so I went inside, back up to my lawn chair in front of the window to watch.

"Again the shadow passed from one bedroom to the other, then finally I could see it downstairs in the dining area, passing back and forth between the windows. I saw it pass the open doorway, heading for the cook and butler’s rooms. This time when it came back, it hesitated in the kitchen.

"I could see the figure standing in the doorway as if it was puzzled by its new find. After a moment or two, the haint came outside.

"I could clearly see that it was the same woman. I watched her move around, looking around the back of the house. She looked happy, even clapping her hands as if she was joyful. Her clapping didn’t make any sound, but it was as if she was satisfied with the fact that she had finally seen the whole house. Maybe that’s why she never came back here to this apartment, because she had seen it? Come to think of it, the moon had been full and the moonlight had lit up the stairway but she stopped before the top step because it was dark. Until I turned the light on, she couldn’t come in any further.

"I just hoped that now she was satisfied and would go away."

...To be continued...

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