Hide and Seek, Part 2 of Ghost for Sale

 

Wilbur had lived in the old Victorian house for many decades. It had seen better days and recently went through a major overhaul thanks to the Charleston Historical Preservation Society.

Chloe and her husband, Dave had recently purchased the house on Danbury Street. It was an old but quiet family neighborhood.

The first couple of weeks of being in the house, Chloe was busy with work and trying to get the house set up the way she wanted it to look. She had even done a little stripping of the “spirits” that she thought were in her house.

She looked around the basement and then she saw him. He was dressed in a Confederate Civil War uniform. He had a mustache and goatee.

Chloe looked shocked when she saw him. He had distinctive markings on him that showed where he had been shot.  He had a place that had a red spot on his uniform on his stomach. There was another spot that she could see on his right shoulder.  Wilber also had a distinctive marking on the inside of his right wrist. It was an X with a line in the middle. He had always had this marking and never even thought about it anymore. All Chloe saw was part of what she thought was a tattoo.

She blinked twice to make sure she was seeing correctly. She then asked, “Who are you?”

He looked at her and then looked around. No one had seen him before this moment.

 “My name is Wilber and I have resided in this house since 1865 during the Civil War. I do not plan to go anywhere either “I happened to like living here in this house. I don’t want to leave.”

“Well, this is my house and I don’t want to share it with a ghost or spirit or whatever you are….”

“Actually, I might be helpful to you if you let me stay. I can let you know when someone is approaching the porch. I can be your look out.”

Chloe just shook her head from side to side. “I don’t need a look out person. We don’t have any need for protection like that.  I tell you what, I will allow you to stay but you don’t under any circumstances show yourself to my husband or my children. You got it?”

Wilber looked down at his boots and then up at Chloe again. He nodded and agreed that he wouldn’t let her family know he was there.

Chloe didn’t know it but Stacy, the little girl spirit was still there in the house.  She just didn’t show herself to Chloe. She was going to go toward the light that she saw the other day, but then she didn’t want to leave Wilber.

“I am going to go upstairs and wait for the children to get home from school.”

As soon as Chloe went upstairs, Stacy appeared. “Wilber, are you really not going to talk to the children? I want to be able to talk to the children.”

Stacy thought to herself, “I didn’t promise anything to that Chloe lady. If I want to talk to her children then I am going to do it.”

The next day, Chloe was looking around and couldn’t find her wedding ring on the counter of the bathroom. “Dave, have you seen my wedding ring?

“No honey, last time I saw it you were wearing it.”

She looked around and noticed that other jewelry was missing as well. “I guess I need to talk to Joni about getting into my jewelry again...” She found Joni in her bedroom getting ready for school.

“Joni, have you been in my jewelry again?”

“No ma’am not after last time when you told me to not wear it.

“Ok good, now I need to figure out where it went to.”  She thought to herself, maybe Wilber is messing with me.

She went downstairs to the basement and called out, “Wwiiilll-bbbeeerrr, where are you? I need to talk to you!”

Wilber appeared before Chloe. “Yes ma’am?”

She asked, “Did you take my jewelry that was on my bathroom counter? I am missing my wedding rings and other jewelry from my great-grandmother.”

Wilber looked at Chloe and told her, “No, I would not do that to you.”

“I really want my jewelry back.  What I got from my great-grandmother is extra special. It has special markings that are part of my family history. There is a bracelet that looks like an X and then a line through it. It looks like a starburst. If you can, please help me find my jewelry.”

Wilber looked at Chloe with sad eyes. “I will look around for you.”

She went back upstairs to get ready for work. Once she was gone, Wilber whispered Stacy’s name. Stacy appeared.

“Hi Wilber, what are you doing here?”

“Stacy, I know you took Chloe’s jewelry. That was just plain mean. You need to give it back. Some of it is from her great- grandmother. It is very special to her.”

“Oh alright, I will go put it back tonight.”

“You need to stop taking things around the house. She thinks it’s me doing it. She doesn’t know you are here. I would like to keep it that way.”

“Ok Wilber, I will try to be good.”

Stacy left the basement and went looking around the house. She went into JM’s room. The boy was still at school. She looked under his bed and in his closet. She opened his drawers. Stacy suddenly heard some steps on the stairs.

JM came into his bedroom. He swung his backpack on to the floor and flopped on his bed. He looked around his room. He noticed things had been moved. He was too tired to care so he just dozed off. Stacy waited until he was asleep and went and sat by him on his bed. She whispered in his ear, “We are going to become friends soon.” Then she faded out.

When JM woke up he thought for sure he had heard someone talking to him. He looked around the room and then he saw her. She was wearing a pretty pale blue dress and had her hair in pig tails. She looked to be about 9 or 10 years old.

He looked at her and asked, “Who are you?”

Stacy gave him a sweet smile and said, “My name is Stacy. I live in this house. I have been here a long time. Will you be my friend?” JM gave a puzzled look and said, “Sure, I don’t have any friends here. We just moved here. You want to play hide and seek?” Stacy liked that idea and nodded her head.  JM looked back and forth and when he didn’t see anyone he went down and got the key to the basement and went to hide in one of the closets down there.

Chloe started to call the kids into the kitchen to give them a snack. “JM, Joni, where are you? Snack time.”

Joni came running down the stairs and into the kitchen. Chloe asked, “Where is your brother?

“I don’t know, I’m not my brother’s keeper.”

  

 “What am I goin’ to do? What am I goin’ to do?” JM jiggled the doorknob, and he heard the door lock.  ”Why did I agree to play Hide and Seek? I am stuck here in the basement closet. I wasn’t to go down here.  JM yelled out, “Mom-mmy, Dda-ddy, Jo-ni, Little ghost girl…. I forgot your name.  They will not hear me down here. JM was so tired and bored, he dozed off.

 Hours passed and Chloe still hadn’t seen JM in the house. “Dave, I’m worried about JM. I have been looking for him and I haven’t seen him for hours.”

 Dave looked up from his computer. “Honey, he’s playing and doesn’t want to be interrupted. Leave him alone for a while; he’ll come see you when he gets good and hungry.”

 Chloe sighed, she went to start dinner.

 Stacy appeared to JM while he was in the closet. She whispered to him, “JM, wake up.” He rubbed his eyes and looked around. It was dark and cold in the closet. “Little Ghost girl, is that you?”

 “Yes JM it is me, Stacy. What are you doing in here? I thought we were playing Hide and Seek?”

 “I came in here to hide and the door wouldn’t open and then I fell asleep.”

 Stacy tried the door, but it didn’t budge for her. “I will find someone to get the door open.” She then disappeared.

 Stacy went into JM’s room and called Wilber. “Willb-eerr, I need you!”

 Stacy heard Wilber before she saw him. “What’s the matter Stacy?

 “Well, JM and I were playing Hide and Seek and now he’s stuck in the closet basement.”

 “You know the children weren’t to know you were here. Show me.”

 So Stacy took Wilber to JM.

 They both appeared in the closet where JM was sitting on the floor.

 JM looked up at Wilber and asked him, “Who are you?"

 “My name is Wilber and I can help you get out of here. There is a secret door in this closet.  Wilber pushed on the wall, looking for the lever that would open the door Yes, here it is. Follow me; it will lead us to one of the bedroom closets.”

 Living here so long, Wilber knew all the secret passages in the house. When they got to the end of the hall, there was another door and Wilber pushed on it. It turned around and lead them into Joni’s room.

 “Thank you so much Wilber for getting me out of the closet.”

 “Glad I could help you JM. Let’s not say anything to your Mom about the passageway through the closet. “

 JM nodded his head and went to his room. He was so tired; he lay down on his bed and fell asleep.

 Chloe stirred the pan of food for dinner. She went to the bottom of the stairs and called up to the twins. Joni,JM, time for supper.”

 Joni came running into the dining room when she heard her Mom calling.

 JM sat up on his bed and rubbed his eyes. He heard his Mom calling him. He slowly made his way down the stairs to the dining room.

 Chloe looked up from setting the table and said, “Well there you are JM. I was wondering where you were. “

 JM just yawned and said, “I was so tired from school today, I fell asleep right when I got home.” They sat down to eat.

 “Mom, Joni and I will clean the kitchen.”

 Joni gave JM a strange look when he said that. Then she said, “Sure, we will get it cleaned up. You go and rest.”

 Chloe went upstairs to get ready for bed. She had a busy day at work and was tired. She took her shower and was washing her face at the sink. Back behind the bottles on the vanity she spotted her jewelry that had been missing.  “Oh Wow! Look at that….I have been wondering where they were hiding. Chloe put on the starburst bracelet that was her great-grandmothers and put on her wedding rings as well. “I am keeping these on so I won’t misplace my jewelry again.”

 Wilber looked at Stacy, “I am so glad you put the jewelry back. The starburst bracelet was from the1800’s that her great-grandmother got from her husband.”

 Stacy asked Wilber, “Did you know Jaime’s great-grandmother?”

 Wilber smiled a distant smile and said, “Yes I did know her. I haven’t told Chloe that I knew her yet. I am not sure she’s ready to hear that.”

 After dinner, Joni and JM started to clear off the table and whispering to each other. Joni looked at JM and said, “Ok, I know something is up. What have you done now?”

 JM was so excited to tell Joni what happened. JM said, “I will tell you what happened but you can’t tell Mom or Dad.” Joni gave JM, her word she wouldn’t tell. So JM told her about what transpired that afternoon. When they were finished with the kitchen, they went upstairs to Joni’s room. JM showed her where the lever was in the closet to the passageway down to the basement.

 Joni looked at JM and said, “You know that the basement is a forbidden place for us.  Mom didn’t want us to go down there.”

 “I know Joni, but it’s so cool down there. She doesn’t have to know.”

 JM went to his room and grabbed his flashlight from his bed. He came back and he and Joni went slowly down the passageway.

 Wilber and Stacy were watching them to make sure they were safe in the tunnel.

 When they got to the closet in the basement, Joni turned the knob and the door opened. JM gave her a strange look.

 “That door was jammed earlier today.”

 Wilber and Stacy appeared. Joni raised her eye brows and opened her mouth to yell. JM said, “It’s ok Joni, these are my friends.”

 Wilber bowed, “My name is Wilber and this is Stacy.”

 They talked for a couple of hours. Then Wilber said, “I think you need to go back upstairs before your Mom starts looking for you. It is late.”

 Joni and JM nodded.

 “I hope I see you tomorrow Stacy, maybe we can play Hide and seek again?”

 “Sure JM, as long as you don’t get stuck in a closet again, she giggled.”

 As JM and Joni were getting ready for bed, they met in the bathroom to brush their teeth. JM whispered to Joni, “Thanks for coming with me downstairs.”

 “Sure JM, maybe tomorrow we can talk to them some more. Night.”

 Joni went to her bedroom and closed the door. JM finished brushing his teeth and turned out the light. He went to his bedroom and left the door cracked a little bit.

 “Stacy, now that the children know about us, we have to be very careful. Chloe didn’t want the rest of her family to know about us. She still doesn’t know that you are here.”

 “When are you going to tell her that you are related to her?”

 “ I am not. That is another story for another time."

 The next day was Saturday; Chloe was busy cleaning the house. She looked around and noticed the kids were not anywhere to be found.  “Well that is peculiar. I thought the kids were in their rooms.”

 She looked around JM’s room. The card table and chairs that JM had in his room were missing. Chloe made a note to ask JM about the table and find out what he did with it.

 She went into the kitchen and was fixing to clean the breakfast dishes. She went right by the basement door and she heard voices.

 Chloe found the basement key in the kitchen drawer. She unlocked the door and turned on the light. She looked down the stairs but didn’t see anything. She went all the way down to the basement floor. “That is strange; I could have sworn I heard voices down here.”

 There she found the table and chairs from JM’s room.

 “How on earth did he get this down here?”  She went back up the stairs and locked the door.

 “Looks like we need to have a family meeting tonight, Chloe sighed. I guess it’s time to tell Dave about Wilber. This should be interesting.”

 Later that evening as the family sat down to eat dinner; Chloe decided to make an announcement.

 “Ok I need to tell ya’ll something and I need you to remain calm. We have a ghost living in the house with us.”

 Dave looked at her like she had lost her mind. “No way, are you sure?”

 “Yes, I have talked to him several times. His name is Wilber and he has been living here since the end of the Civil War.”

 The twins just looked at each other and then at their Mother.

 Joni decided to tell her parents the truth about knowing the ghosts.

 “We know about the ghosts. JM and I have met them.”

 “Joni, there is only one.”

 “No, actually there are two. There is Wilber and Stacy, the little girl. JM and I met them. They got JM out of the closet in the basement when it was stuck.”

 “So how did you get out of the closet JM?”

 JM stood up and said, “Well, there’s a secret passageway from Joni’s closet to the basement. Wilber got me out that way when I got stuck in the closet. I was playing hide and seek with Stacy.”

 She hid her smile. “You were playing a game with a ghost that can go through walls?  Doesn’t she have a certain advantage over you? I am thankful that Wilber and Stacy were around and able to get you out of the closet.”

 Looking at Dave, she said,”I know what you’re thinking Dave and we aren’t kicking them out. They have been here longer than we’ve been alive. Besides, how do you kick out ghosts?”

 “You are right, there is no way we can kick them out. We will just move!”

 “Dave, we just moved here, we can’t just up and move again?”

 As they were bantering back and forth, Dave felt a tickle on the side of his stomach. He turned and looked around. “Who is tickling me?”

 Chloe, Joni, and JM just looked at him and said in unison. “Stacy!”

They all started laughing. Dave wasn’t laughing. “Who is Stacy?”

So Joni, started to explain to her Dad about Stacy and how she liked to play little jokes and tease people.

“So I guess we have some friendly ghosts in our mist.” Dave smiled and then laughed.