The Old Tanner Place

The Old Tanner Place

“Have you been to the old Tanner Place?” Ellen asked her new friend Gladys as they walked home from school.

Gladys, who was kind of quiet, shook her head no.

“It on the way to our street, wanna see it?”

Gladys shrugged, which Ellen took as a yes.

The pair travelled some distance, with Ellen leading the way. Suddenly, a huge wrought iron gate rose up in front of the two girls.

“Isn’t it beautiful,” Ellen whispered.

Gladys nodded. As the girls passed through, Gladys could have sworn the eyes in the peacock’s tails that were fanned out spectacularly on both gates, blinked at her! Since Ellen didn’t seem to notice, the other girl thought she must have been imagining things.

The pair then walked through the open doors of the sprawling mansion and seemed to vanish. The ponderous doors swung shut behind them. By the time the moon rose, it was abundantly clear they were never going home.

Search parties fanned out all over when the girls failed to come home from school. Posters bloomed on the light poles and in store fronts. Some searchers even thought of the old mansion and tried to look there.

The doors were locked, and no amount of effort or tools would open them. The windows refused to break or be forced open, and the chimney was blocked solid with debris. The fire department even tried to break through the roof but failed miserably.

For many years, sleepless people who lived nearby swore the peacocks on the gate cried out piteously in some kind of distress. All that’s really known for certain is Ellen and Gladys were never seen again. Deeply grieved, both families left the town forever. As for the mansion, it mysteriously burned down the same day.