"The Old Cartwright Home" Part 4

"The Old Cartwright Home"

Part 4

The next morning Leonard remembered that Ruby had mentioned a Pastor Wilson. He decided this was a matter the pastor would be interested, in and looked him up in the phone book. There were dozens of small churches in the area and without his first name, he next to impossible to find. Leonard cranked up the truck and took off to Ruby's place.

The day was too short and it was evening by the time he got out of his truck and knocked on Ruby's door. He knocked more frantic and felt anxious, hoping Ruby would answer. The door rattled and Ruby appeared.

“Hello, Mr. James, how may I help you?”

“Hi Ruby, you had mentioned a Pastor Wilson several weeks ago when last spoke.”

“Yes indeed.”

“Would you have his phone number, or a way I could contact him immediately?”

Ruby glanced questionably at Leonard and replied, “Yes dear, one moment.”

She shut the door and was gone for quite a while, leaving Leonard to pick at the skin around his fingernails.

“She must have it stashed in mountains of junk that probably resides inside that house.” thought Leonard to himself.

Ruby eventually reappeared, and handed him a small scrap of paper that had the pastor's telephone number scribbled down.

“Thanks, and you have a good day.” said Leonard, as he was turning towards the pickup truck.

“Do you mind telling me why you need Pastor Wilson, and also why you seem in such a hurry?”

“Well, last night, I saw something in the yard.”

“What do you mean?”, further inquired Ruby.

Leonard cleared his throat, “I think there was a ghost out in yard yesterday evening.”

“Oh dear, well that explains the tired look on your face, and the worry in your eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if there were spirits at that house given all that has happened there.”

“Yeah, its got me a little worried.”

“Call Pastor Wilson, I think he has dealt with this kind of thing before, and a word to wise, you may want to leave the house as soon as possible.”

Leonard started moving toward his truck, “Yeah, we'll see, but thanks again for the phone number.”

Leonard got into the truck and quickly drove down the old bumpy driveway back to the main road. He sped back to the house, as it was late evening, and he wanted to see if Pastor Wilson could pay a visit tonight. Leonard ran into the house as soon as he got back and grabbed the phone, dialing the number as quickly as possible. It rang several times and Leonard was worried that the Pastor was not in.

Pastor Wilson was quietly eating dinner when the phone started to ring. He contemplated not answering it, but knew it could be one of the parishioners, so he did.

“Hello?”

The voice on the other end seemed rushed and nervous all at the same time.

“Hi, is this Pastor Wilson?”

“Yes it is, and with whom am I speaking too?”

“Yes sir, my name is Leonard James, and I got your number from Ruby May who said you may be able to help me.”

“Right, I know Ruby, what can I do for you?”

Leonard paused for moment, thinking to himself how insane all this was.

“I think there is some bad energy in my house that I need to get rid of.”

“I'm sorry, could you explain more to me.”

“Well, last night, I saw what I believe to be a ghost out in my back yard.”

Pastor Wilson laughed under his breath, and then said, “I see, sure I could help you out. Where do you live?”

“I live in the old Ella Cartwright home, just down the street from Ruby.”

“Oh dear, that changes everything. I won't be able to meet tonight, but let's meet tomorrow and we'll see what I can do.”

Leonard felt panicky, “Are you sure you can't come this evening?”

“I am terribly sorry, but I'm very tired and need to rest, but I will be there first thing in the morning.”

“Ok, see you in the morning.” said Leonard and he hung up the phone.

One could see the nervous and worried expression on Leonard's face, but what was not so easily detected, was the intense fear that had come over him as the sun was setting. He walked into the kitchen and looked out the window but saw nothing. He made a sandwich and looked out again before sitting down, but there still was no ghostly figure. He ate his sandwich and by the time he finished, which was not long, darkness quickly approached. He leaned up against the counter and stared into the back yard expecting the apparition to appear at any moment, but it never did. Leonard's worry was somewhat put at ease and he decided to go to bed early so tomorrow would come quickly.

Copyright 2018

An interesting interpretation of Cthulhu

An interesting interpretation of Cthulhu

Copyright 2018

"The Old Cartwright Home "    Part 3

Leonard ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled a breath before asking, “What ever happened to Ella Cartwright?”
    “That is the biggest mystery of all. She moved out of the house for awhile and lived with her parents, during which her sanity seemed to decline. All of a sudden one day I saw her walking down the road and ran out to see if she was alright. She had a dull expression on her face and lacked any vitality as if all her inner happiness had been sucked out. She said she was good and then turned around and headed back home. Three days later, as it was so many times before, the police were on my front doorstep asking if I had seen Ella Cartwright. What happened was Pastor Wilson had stopped by and couldn't find her, so given the history he called the police immediately. After that, the house sat empty until Ella's parents died, then the bank took possession of it and the rest of the land in the area. That house was rented to a number of tenants, all of whom, from my best guess, seemed to stay for no longer than a month and then suddenly leave. Mr. James, I'm sorry but that is the sad tragic story behind the Ella Cartwright home. Do you have anymore questions?”
        “No Ma'am. That's plenty. Surprisingly enough, it doesn’t bother me very much. The home I come from was drenched in sadness and tragedy.”
    “Well, Mr. James, I wish you best of luck and hope you have a good afternoon”
Ruby slowly stood up from the old swing and went to open the front door, when she turned to Leonard, “Mr. James, do be careful.”.
        “Thank you Ma'am”, said Leonard, while he waved and got inside his pickup truck. He paused a moment before cranking the truck and thought about how much he missed his wife.
Several weeks had passed and Leonard was really enjoying the solitude of the place and the peaceful countryside. It was 8 o'clock and Leonard was just finishing up with dinner. He got up to put his scraps in the scrap bucket by the door, when he looked outside to see how dark it was. “Still a little bit of daylight”, he thought to himself. He glanced over at the barn and was startled to see a shadowy figure just outside of the barbwire fence. The shape moved behind the barn and was gone long enough to allow Leonard to grab his shotgun. It reappeared from behind the barn on the other side. It looked like the silhouette of a person slowly walking along side of the fence.
Leonard opened the back door and yelled, “Hey you, this is private property! Get out here or I'm calling the police.” The figure continued it's pace, just outside of the barbed fence swaying to and fro in a haunting manner. Leonard quickly slammed the back door and continued watching from the kitchen window above the sink. Several times, the ghostly apparition circled around the barn, and the backyard,  then made its way around the front of the house. The figure made it's way around the barn and then didn't appear on the other side as before. It was gone, Leonard said, “Thank God” and his pounding heart slowed back to a normal rhythm. For most of the night he was in and out of sleep trying to stay awake on the living room couch, with his gun by his side.

Copyright 2018 M.G. Wylder