McConnell House

1939 Part 5

King George and his wife Queen Elizabeth were doing a cross country tour. It was the first time that the King of England, and Canada, had visited Canada. The plan was to visit every province in Canada. They arrived in Quebec, and then continued westward to Ontario. There was speculation that they might not head further. The prairies were immigrant rich, and the depression was still on everyone's mind. The King and Queen still took the royal train westward.

The royal visit was big news, and of course, I knew about it. With everything on my mind, it was just background chatter, something that was interesting, but would never affect me. Of course, I was wrong.

I decide I was going to leave Calgary, escape would be a more accurate term, the day before the Royal couple visits Calgary. The fates, God, or my subconscious mind plotted against me.

In any case, I was now stuck in Calgary. I could not afford a car. Hitching a ride was also out of the question, as people were arriving to the city to see the King and Queen, not leaving it. I would have to wait until their visit was over to leave, maybe even hitching a ride with them. Or I could ride a flying pig to Alaska.

I had no place to stay, so I let my feet take me where they willed. Since I was having a fantastic day, I ended up right next to McConnell house. I couldn't end my day without a visit there, could I?

The house was right next to Inglewood road. It was behind a hedge, with some trees to the side so it was hidden a little from view from the road, but nowhere near out of the way, as it was in its original spot.

Now that it was just another house part of the neighborhood, the spookiness factor seemed to have been sucked out of it. Knowing its history and reputation, I wasn't about to go and stay the night or anything drastic as that, but if I was just another visitor passing through, I wouldn't look twice at the place. Maybe R.L. McConnell was on to something when he moved the house.

I crossed the street and walked down a side street by the house. Inglewood road was one of the main streets of Calgary, and I didn't want a passing police cruiser to see me.

It was getting dark by then. I was thinking of heading to one of the hobo jungles on the edge of town, but something pulled and kept me here. I felt almost giddy, hanging around the house the has caused me so many problems since arriving in Calgary. Next I would run up the front walk, knock on the door and then run away giggling.

Instead, I sat on a bench across the street. If any copper walked by, they would make me move on if they didn't arrest me. I recalled that this was Sgt. Foley's beat. If he caught me sitting here I would be lucky if all he did was arrest me.

A tiredness that I haven't felt before overcame me. Tired of worrying where my next meal would come from. Tired that someone would arrest me for the bank robbery or explosion of the bridge. Tired from this whole decade. I was too tired to move from this bench.

"Help!"

I sat up straight. I had fallen asleep and somehow night had snuck up on me. A streetlight was right above me, shining a halo of light down on me and protection me from the darkness around me.

"Help me!"

I could hear a faint cry coming from the north. I wasn't sure if I had heard right when I startled awake, but that confirmed it. The voice sounded like it came from a young boy.

I stood up and started walking to where the voice had come from. I walked a couple of blocks, straining my ears to hear any more cries. There were streetlights throughout the neighborhood, but their small halos of light could not keep back the pitch black of the night.

I stopped, not sure where to go from there. Holding my breath, and trying to keep the rhythm of my heart slow not to make too much noise, I waited to hear if there would be any more cries.