Oddities on the Estate

I drove up the long winding road, in which turned out to be the coldest day of the year. The trees were bare and foreboding. There was one very tall tree that had about 30 blackbirds attempting to warn me of something ominous. But, I had to go. My favorite aunt had fallen and broke her hip, she needed my help. So, I packed my bag and headed to Gingerhaven. That's what they had called their huge, falling apart estate since 1865, when the first matriarch had red hair. It had changed hands many times, a few people had passed on there. My Aunt May swore it was haunted. Not that I was afraid of spooks, but I'd rather not. I pulled up onto the pebble-stone driveway, and parked. The maid answered the door. She was tall and thin, like she had skipped many meals. I held out my hand, "Hi, I'm Kelsey, it's nice to meet you." And then her voice shocked me, for someone so petite, she had a deep baritone voice. "I'm Joanne, delighted to meet you also. May is in the room upstairs, she's excited you're here. Frankly, so am I. It's a lot of work piled on me, when I already have plenty. Go on up, I'll put your bag in the rose room."

So, I headed up the stairs, and I noticed one creaky stair, and wondered if it could be fixed. I enter her room, It was huge, a soft dusty gray color, a chaise lounge next to a bookcase, and a fireplace in the corner. It was a beautiful room. May was propped up with numerous pillows, and smiled when she saw me. "Kelsey, my girl! I"m so happy to see you!" I went over to hug her. "I"m happy to see you too! It's been way too long. How are you feeling? I'm here to help." May said "I have a home health nurse coming today at 4, can you help me to shower?" I responded "Absolutely I will, what about after lunch?" She smiled, "sounds perfect."

I went to the kitchen to check on lunch. The room was freezing when I entered. "Joanne, why is it so cold in here?" "I get hot flashes, so I turned off the vents in here." "Oh, okay, but maybe turn one back on so the pipes don't freeze." She gave me an odd look, but replied "yes Ma'am. Lunch is ready to go up, could you take it?" "Of course, I plan to deliver all her meals. And I'm giving you a bonus for all the extra work you did." Joanne looked happy. "Thank-you ma'am." I grabbed the tray of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, and went back up to May. She had her eyes closed. "May, are you hungry?" She opened her eyes, and shook her head yes. "I'm going to move the table over by the big chair and help you over to it. Walking is very important." I found her walker and brought it over to her. "May, why wasn't your walker next to the bed?" "Joanne often moves things around in here." I got upset. "I'm going to talk to her, it's important you have everything you need close to you." May seemed distressed. "Please don't do that! She talks to the spirits here. She may tell them to do something. Our last gardener yelled at her, he was found later at the bottom of the cliff. Something's not right with her." I comforted her and told her that since I was in charge of her care I wouldn't say anything, for now.

We ate lunch in silence, then I carried the tray back to the kitchen. I heard voices, and stopped to listen. "I'm not sure about Kelsey, she seems way too bossy. We'll see." I walked in and set the tray on the counter. "Thanks, Joanne, it was delicious." Joanne looked at me, "I haven't asked you if you had any allergies." No ma'am, I'm good with anything. Thanks for asking. Is there any more staff here?" "Yes, we have a new gardener, the last one had a terrible accident." "That's awful! What kind of accident?" She replied, "He got too close to the edge of the cliff and lost his balance. He was the second one, Maria, who worked here for a time fell off the cliff too. There needs to be a sign." "Well, I'll make sure not to walk there."

I went back up, and helped May get into the shower, luckily there was a shower chair. We got her dressed, and got her back to bed. "Would you like to take a nap before she arrives? I'll get you a pain pill." "That would be lovely, thanks." So I got her settled, and went to explore the estate. I was looking around and came upon a locked door, I went back downstairs and asked Joanne about it. "Nobody enters in there. It's been locked since Julie passed away." Well, I'm going to hire a locksmith to open it, There's no sense paying homage to someone who's no longer here." She looked distressed. "NO, you will NOT enter that room. Julie will not be happy!" How dare she! "First, you do not, ever, yell at me, and I don't give a fart's patoot what Julie thinks." She gave me an odd look, again. "You will be sorry." I chose to ignore that.

I went back up to wake May, since it was close to four. "May, your nurse will be here soon, wake up, hun. She opened her eyes, and said "I have to use the bathroom", so I helped her to it. I helped her back to her chair, and when she was seated I asked her about the room, and what Joanne had said. She told me, "I don't even know where the key is to that room, it hasn't been open for 30 years. My grandma told me that it was sacred, I never asked her to who. And I told you Joanne was odd." "Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to have it opened. It's your house." "Oh, you do what you want, after all, it's going to be your house one day." We were interrupted by a silent knock on the door. "Hello, it's Susan, your nurse, can I come in?" "Come on in" shouted May. She was young, but I'm sure quite competent. She asked her about her mobility, her pain level, took her blood pressure, and listened to her lungs, and pronounced her as getting better. She told her that in a few weeks she could be walking down stairs. That made May happy. After the nurse left, Joanne called up that dinner was ready.

I went down, and entered the kitchen, and Joanne was in the pantry, talking to Julie. She said her name! "Julie, she wants to go in your room. I told her no, but she's not listening. Tell me what to do. The cliffs, I'll try." I walked in and called out her name. "Were you talking to someone in the pantry?" She answered "I like to recite poetry to myself." "Awesome, I like poetry too. I came down for dinner." "The tray is ready, I hope you like spaghetti." "I love spaghetti, thank-you."

I walked dinner back upstairs, and was delighted to discover it was tasty. After dinner we took a little walk, watched some TV, and then I was ready for bed. I walked into the rose room, and unpacked, It was the perfect temp for sleeping, but I still cracked the window an inch. I fell asleep immediately, but was jolted awake by a sound outside. I peeked out the window, and saw Joanne arguing with a young man. She slapped him, and told him his days were numbered. He let out a huge laugh, and told her to get over herself. He walked away, and she came back in, it was odd, for sure. I tried to settle back down but I heard music coming from the locked room. I put on my robe, and walked that way. The door was cracked open, and I saw Joanne in the closet pulling out dresses, and repeating to herself, "this is mine now, this is mine." I called out to her, she looked horrified, and jumped out the window. I was so shaken that I could barely call the police. The police chief came, and told me, "we just about had enough evidence to arrest her for those two cliff murders."

After they left, I went upstairs to close the room, and May was in there, dancing. Something was definitely not right there.