Little Kid's Horror Stories

Chapter 6 - A Change of Fortune

They all pressed forward into the small room and shook heads at the stuffed sofa covered in doilies and dust. Old Tiffany styled lamps sat on slender wooden side tables and on the wall across from the door the intricate face of an old railway clock stared back passively.

"Wow! I never dreamed . . ."

"Is all this stuff yours, too?" Dillard asked.

"Yes it is," Charlotte answered. "The house, the land and everything in it."

"Wow! Can we go upstairs?"

"Let's just take it slowly and do the ground floor first, and don't touch anything please."

"Do the lights work?" Dillard asked, pressing a switch.

"No, and don't keep touching things," Penny pulled his hand away.

"So then the fridge won't work," Heddy said.

"Of course not." Penny groaned and shook her head. "There wouldn't be anything to eat or drink anyway, Heddy."

"I never said that."

"Right."

"Never did."

"Did so."

"Didn't."

The group drifted from room to room, exclaiming delight in each new discovery and when they had gone over the whole house, they went outside for some fresh air.

They sat at a weathered picnic table under a huge pine tree on the front lawn area discussing all the things they'd discovered inside. John was elated. Cleaned up, that stuff was better than most of the things he and his mother had at the farm. They found, dishes and crystal and silverware in carved wooden chests, paintings in ornate frames, more lamps, mirrors and ornaments galore.

Charlotte tried to itemize as much as she could on a large pad, hoping to help John organize his daunting challenge of cleaning the place. Dobbs offered to help out with the task on weekends; he hinted that he could manage to bring the school bus along for transporting stuff that would be sold or given away. Charlotte said she would like to help as well and had to shout for silence as the children all jumped on the volunteer bandwagon.

"I want to take another look in the cellar before we go," John said. "I think there must be an electric pump down there for the well 'cause I don't see a source of power anywhere upstairs."

"There's nothing out back," Penny agreed. "We went all through that old shed and it just has some rusty old car tire rims and a broken blade for a plough. We couldn't get in the metal shed. There are no windows either."

"I forgot about that. They only gave me the one key, I wonder how you get in there."

"Wouldn't take much to bust through the lock," Dobbs said. "It's not even a dead bolt."

"Well, I think the first order of business will be to get a lot of garbage bags and cartons before I start breaking into sheds. There'll be lots of time for that." He stood and brushed the seat of his pants. "I'll be right back, I just want to check if there's a pump down there."

"Can I come?" Heddy popped up from the table.

"Sure."

"Be careful, Heddy and do as John says." Charlotte gathered up her list and started for the van with the others.

**********

Haggard woke with a start, surprised that he had slept and sat quietly, unsure what woke him. He grabbed the suitcase and was about to step out when he heard the excited babble of voices. Peering through the partially open door, Haggard saw the kid he'd traded the deed to along with the young woman, the kids and another older guy; it was the same group from town only with kids.