Three

I was very tired the next day at breakfast.  My sisters whispering to each other would have normally piqued my interest, but this time I just ignored them.  I wanted to go back to bed before I had even reached the table.  My mother was busy fixing my father some eggs and hadn’t noticed Betty and Deanna being silly at the table.  Mom would usually reprimand that kind of behaviour.  Today she seemed hurried in her activity and the eyes in the back of her head were looking elsewhere.

“Samantha!”  my father said so loudly I jumped, and then realized why he was shouting at me.  My elbow sat in the butter dish pushing the contents out around the edges and spilling in a sloppy mess on the table. 

“Sorry.”  I got up, went to the bathroom, and washed my elbow.  The water made a whistling noise when I turned the knobs on.  Then a breeze coming from the open stairwell doorway brushed past me and the whistling stopped.  Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something moving.  I turned to see what it was and it disappeared from my vision. 

“Get in here and eat your breakfast!” my father demanded as I stood in the doorway of the stairwell.  He could see me from the table clearly.  “and shut that water off!  You are wasting my money!”

I shut off the water and sat down at my placing.  Mom said a prayer to bless the food and everyone started eating.  I was sitting next to my father and could see the bathroom through the open doorway.  I realized there was a window I had missed when we first walked through the house because it was hiding behind the stairwell doorway.  It looked to me like there was a shadow between the open door and the window, as if a person was hiding there watching us eat breakfast. 

“Close your mouth dear and eat please.”  Mom said to me politely.  “There is still a good deal of cleaning and you need your energy.”

I shut my gaping mouth and then took a bite of my cereal.  It was getting soggy from my wasting time.  I knew I should eat it quickly so it didn’t get any worse, but I couldn’t help wondering what was near the door.  I kept staring in that direction and chewing slowly on my food.  Dad must have been annoyed by it as well because he got up and shut the bathroom door.  I still wondered about the shadow but finished my meal in silence as quickly as I could without being rude.  My sisters were nudging each other and smiling as if they had some kind of secret.

It was Deanna’s job to do the dishes today so as soon as I was finished eating, mom excused me to a short time of freedom. 

I went to the bathroom and looked behind the stairwell door; nothing was there.  I slowly started ascending the stairwell on my way to my room and I felt a chill run through me.  I looked up above me and the curtains were blowing out as they had previously.  It looked like a figure standing at the window.  At the third from the top step they fell, just as they had before.  This time, to my surprise the window was closed.  I started to turn back to tell my mom about this and I heard the floor creak in the attic room behind me.  I turned back to see the attic door open.  It was not opened a moment ago!  I peered into the doorway of the attic and momentarily was blinded.  A reflection of light from the window was shining on the handle of the axe I had tripped over previously.  I went over to it and picked the axe up. 

“Dad could use this for the wood out back,” I thought to myself. “Of course, he might make me chop it if I bring it to him.”  I decided I would not take the chance and placed the axe against the wall of the attic and left the room.  As I walked through the doorway, the door shut behind me by itself.  My first impulse was to run down the stairs and tell my mom about it; instead, I went to my room and sat down on my bed.  

I was thinking about the dream I had the night before, the dress my sister had found, the curtain blowing without a window opened.  These all seemed like clues to me, and I was fond of mysteries.  It was exciting to think our house might be haunted.  I had always wanted to meet a ghost.  Then I noticed the box in my room marked “Sarah”.  I hadn’t put it back away yet.  I decided to open it and go through it more thoroughly. 

I pulled out 3 patchwork quilts, one that had pink and blue flowered patches that alternated with white patches, another that was green and gold with little flowers embroidered into the patches, and the last one had Holly Hobbie patches that matched my wallpaper. 

At the bottom of the box I joyously found a picture that had been drawn of our new house.  It had a little girl with blond hair in pig-tails pale blue eyes and the pale blue dress that looked like the one my sister Betty had found, a lady with auburn swept back hair in a dark green dress with green eyes, and a man with brown hair in a brown suit with a brown bow tie.  It was very detailed for a crayon drawing.  I liked the picture right off and decided to hang it on my wall.  Then I found another picture, this one was a black and white photo of the same looking people in the drawing.  On the back, it said the name “Fowler” and the date “Sept. 1904”

Just as I was setting the picture on my desk a gust of wind blew my door shut.  My window was open in my room and the tree was blowing in the wind outside, so it shouldn’t have been such a surprise, but I fell back against the frame of my bed I jumped so hard from it.  My back ached from the sharp pain shooting up my body.  The stinging was incredible.  I felt a trickle drip down my backside and limped off to find my mother.

“What did you do to yourself!”  Mom exclaimed more than questioned me.  “You’ve got blood everywhere!”  She hurried me into the bathroom where she washed my back with some antiseptic.  She blew on it when I winced from the sting. 

“This is too big for a Band-Aid.  Just be careful and don’t pick at it.”  She hugged me.  “Now how did it happen?”

“I just lost my balance and fell against my bed.  I don’t know how it could have cut me.”  I was wondering myself why my clumsiness had suddenly amplified. 

“You worry me with how you are constantly getting hurt.  You need to be more careful.”  If she hadn’t said it so lovingly I would have felt chastised.  “Now go find your shoes and tell your sisters we are invited to a neighbor’s for tea.” 
Mom didn’t really drink tea so I assumed she just wanted to meet the people around us.  Apparently, they wanted to meet us too. 

“Be sure to use your manners, don’t take anything that isn’t offered, and say please and thank you.”  Mom always reminded us the same things whenever we went anywhere.  I figured by now she would realize we knew how to behave, but I guess she wanted to make a good impression.

We walked out the front door and too the brick sidewalk and headed towards the corner or Dorkus and 15^th Street.  We turned around the corner and walked down the hill past two houses before we stopped. 

“This is it. Remember what I told you.”  Mom reminded us again. 

The house was smaller than ours was.  It was only a single level.  It’s deep blue exterior and white trim looked like a dollhouse I had seen in a magazine.  The front yard had a hill of grass with a curving path that lead from the sidewalk to the large covered cement porch.

The man who answered the door was a tall heavyset man with dark brown skin, brown eyes and curly grey black hair.  He laughed when he saw us and opened the screen.

“My wife must have forgotten you were coming.  She has stepped out for a while, but you’re welcome to join me for my tea.”  His voice was deep and melodic.  He pushed the screen wider. 

“What lovely children you have Mrs. Cooper.”  He grinned at me as I walked past him into the living room.  The room had a small round table with two chairs on the far side of it with a doily style tablecloth and dishes set out for a formal tea.  I thought it was very pretty.  The sofa and chairs in the room all were in a Queen Anne style with doilies decorating them.  They had a fireplace against the back wall near the tea table with a mantle full of pictures.  Mom nodded in our direction and we sat on the floor near the sofa.

“Ha ha ha ha ha.. You can sit on the sofa.”  He reached his hand to me laughing, I took it and shook it as politely as I knew how.  “My name is Gustaphe Richardson, but you can call me Gus.”  My sisters sat next to me and mom took a chair. 

Gus poured some tea and set it on the coffee table for my mother, then he turned to my sisters and I, “Do you like sugar cookies?” His eyes gleamed and sparkled with life.  “Sure you do.”  He set a cornflower blue china plate of cookies in front of us and gave us each a glass of milk.  “Go on now, help yourself.”  He gave us another chuckle and smiled broadly.  His teeth were so white and straight.  He didn’t seem to be as old as his greying hair suggested.

My sisters took a cookie each in turn and then I picked one up and bit into it.  I was pleased to find they were soft and sweeter than I expected.  My grandmother made sugar cookies that were crunchy for her tea and I didn’t like them much.

“Thank you, Gus.”  Mom told him as she sipped her tea. 

“You’re welcome.” Gus replied.  “I am so glad that you came to visit.  Molly will be sorry she missed you.  It must’ve slipped her mind she’d invited you.  She’s a little forgetful these days.”  He chuckled again.  “She says you have moved into the old Fowler house.” He continued; my ears perked up.

“I watched that house get built.”  He told us. “I was a boy then, of course.” Mom smiled at him as he told his story. 

“I remember there was a nice couple that moved in, they had a little girl.  She was about my age then.  Let me think.  I was about 8 or 9.  I lived with my grandma as my parents died of influenza.  She kept me busy working in the garden all day so I watched them build the house while I worked.  It was the biggest house on the block at the time, it’s land was right next to Grandma’s back then.  The other homes were built later after the Great Depression.  They were a strange family.  That woman was always hollerin and fussin about something or other.  I was afraid of her.  The girl wasn’t allowed out without her mother, she was kept indoors all day.  Often times I saw her in the upstairs window watching out.  Occasionally I swore I heard her crying there.  I never knew for sure.  She didn’t look to happy at that window.  I just kept away.  Too bad what happened to them.”

The front door opened suddenly and I jumped.  My milk spilled all over the coffee table. 

“Oh, no!” I cried out. 

Mom glared at me, and used her napkin to try to clean up the spill. 

“No worries,” Gus smiled at me and got a towel for me. 

“Oh my!  I completely forgot.  I am so sorry Mrs. Cooper.”  Molly Richardson put the bags she was carrying down on a chair and shook my mother’s hand. 

I cleaned up the mess I had made.  I felt so embarrassed.

“It’s quite alright Mrs. Richardson.  Your husband has been telling us about when our home was built.”

Molly gave her husband an angry look.  “Don’t you be fillin their heads with your stories, Gus.”  She looked back at my mother.  “I hope he isn’t frightening you and your girls.  He gets a little carried away at times.  Don’t pay him any mind about that, his memory isn’t all that good.”

My mother smiled at her.  “It’s alright, we are interested in hearing about it.  He isn’t bothering the girls.  He has been quite the gentleman.”  Mom looked around. “I think I may have your chair Mrs. Richardson.”

“Now, now dear, you sit and be comfortable.  I am just fine over here. There are several other children in the neighborhood.  Have you gotten the girls registered for school yet?”  Mrs. Richardson poured herself a cup of tea as Gus excused himself from the room.  She sat in the chair Gus had been occupying.

“No, not just yet.  We are at the end of unpacking.  I thought I would do that at the end of next week.  I understand school doesn’t start until September here.”  Mom answered her.

“Yes that’s right.  I remember when my children were getting ready for school.  They are all grown now.”  The delicate older lady sat reminiscing about her past for a moment.  She had a smile on her lips and a dreamy look in her eyes.  Her hair was tucked back into a bun and she wore a nice green silk dress with lace on the collar and cuffs of her sleeves.  She had matching low heeled shoes with silver buckles on the toes.

Mom sipped the end of her tea and set the cup down.  “Would you like another cup?” Mrs. Richardson asked her.

“No thank you.”  Mom answered her.  “How has your day been going?”

“Fine dear, I went shopping.  I thought it was tomorrow you were coming so I wanted to get some cookies for the girls.”

My sisters and I giggled a little.  Mom looked at us with raised eyebrows.

“Thank you that is very kind.” She said.  “We should be going now, though.  Perhaps we can do this again soon.  I would love for you to come over and visit us.  How does next Tuesday sound?”

“Oh that would be very nice, thank you Mrs. Cooper.  Next Tuesday would be perfect, and please, call me Molly.”

“Yes of course, and you can call me Gina.  I’ll see you next Tuesday then.  Thank you so much Molly.  We’ll see you soon.” Mom looked at us.  “Girls?”  We got up and followed our mother out the door.

“Oh, wait a moment!” Molly called after us.  She reached into one of her bags and pulled out the same cookies we had been eating.   “This is for your girls.  Please let me know if you need any help with anything.”  She handed mom the box of cookies and shut the screen door after us.  Mom thanked her again and led us down the porch stairs. 

As we walked through the gate of our yard I looked up to my closed bedroom window on the second story of the house.  I thought I saw someone in the window, but I couldn’t make out the face of the person, it just looked like a shape.  As we entered the living room Dad looked up from a paper sitting on the sofa.

“Oh, I’m glad you are back.  I got home early so we can get started on the basement.”

“First these girls need something other than cookies in their bellies.  I’m making lunch.”  Mom told him.

Dad nodded and went back to reading his paper.  Deanna climbed up next to him and snuggled against his arm.

Betty announced she was going upstairs to play. I followed my mom into the kitchen.

“Can I help?” I asked her.

“Sure honey, you can set the table.”

I didn’t really want to go up to my room just yet.  I hadn’t closed the window before we left and Gus’ story made me wonder what was really in our home.

After lunch dad had me cleaning out the basement with him.  He had Deanna and Betty helping this time too.  He gave me the broom, Deanna a garbage sack and Betty the dustpan.  Dad led us to the room he wanted us to sweep up.  It was a strange room with a little door in the upper part of the wall.

“Is that a crawl space too?”  I pointed at the door.

“No Sam, that’s a coal shaft.  In the old days, they would shovel the coal down through there and it would be stored here until they needed it to heat the house.”  He pointed to the other side of the room that had a dividing wall in it.  “We are going to clean this out and use it for the wood we chop.”

I swallowed hard.  I had a bad feeling that the “we” he was talking about was actually me.

It took us a little over an hour to clean the coal room up to dad’s liking.  We were covered with soot from head to toe.  Mom drew us a bath to share.  She said it would save on water and keep the rest of the house from getting dirty.

After I was cleaned up and dressed again I went to the window at the top of the stairs.  I had forgotten for the afternoon about the story Gus had started to tell us.  I looked out at our yard and saw Gus in his through the chain link fences of the neighbors.  He was working on his garden in the fading evening light.  He looked up at me and waved.  I waved back and smiled at him.  I was about to open the window and holler at him something when mom called us to dinner. I thought I heard the floor creaking behind me, without looking I ran down stairs to eat.

At dinner I started to tell my father about what Gus had told us.

“Rubbish!”  He said loudly.  “The old man is just pulling your leg, he hasn’t been around here that long.”

“His wife made it sound like he was telling a story too.” Mom added in.

“But dad, I found a picture of them!”  I told him.

“humph.” Dad grunted.  No one said anything else.

After dinner I went to my room to get the picture to show my dad.  It wasn’t on my desk where I had put it.  I got down on the floor and looked under my chair for it.

“Whatcha doin?” 

I hit my head on the desk backing out.

“Ouch!”

My sister giggled behind me.  I rubbed my head and looked up at her.

“Did you take my picture?”

“Nope.”

“Get out of my room!” I said to her harshly.  I wondered what happened to the photo I found of the Fowlers. 

It was a hot night so I reopened my windows.  Every now and again a breeze would blow into my room.  I sat in front of the windows looking for other kids in the neighborhood.

At bedtime mom just said goodnight and turned off the light.  I was a little slow to fall asleep thinking about the noises and shadows that filled the house; the doors that opened and shut all the time around me.  It was a cross between fear and excitement that kept my heart beating fast and my mind alive with wonder.  I finally dozed off and slept through the night without any dreams I remembered or mom waking me.