Chapter 1
I had opted for an early retirement and at age 45 was looking around for some options to keep me out of trouble. I say this because I am a horn-dog and when combined with good looking women usually gets me in deep shit, not because they are beautiful but because more often than not they are in some sort of relationship.
I was on a leisurely trip thru New England when I saw the For Sale sign next to a long driveway. I could just see the edge of the house around a bend and in a spur of the moment decision decided to stop and see if anyone was home. The driveway was hard topped with white crushed marble and led to a circular parking area at the front door. I was impressed with the older house that was two storied with an attic. As I started to mount the steps a well-dressed older woman greeted me from the door. I introduced myself as Caleb Williams and explained that I was interested in looking at the house and she motioned for me to sit down in a chair that was on the porch. Joining me in a matching chair she asked me about myself, I think she was just trying to sort out the curious. I explained that I was recently retired and thought a move to a country setting was something I might consider if I could find a suitable house.
Mrs. James invited me to look thru the house providing she could be the tour guide. I readily agreed and she held the door as I went in before her. I got a momentary cold chill as I entered and put it down as just the difference between the outside and inside air. The home was well maintained and Mrs. James explained that her husband had recently passed away and she didn't need the big old house. The ground floor had the usual kitchen, dining room, half bath, an old fashioned summer kitchen and a parlor as well as a front room. I was surprised that there were still houses around with a parlor and remarked about it to Mrs. James. She smiled at me and explained that her and her husband used to entertain quite a bit and having a parlor kept the mess in one place.
There was a beautiful staircase leading to the second floor and when we started up Mrs. James took my arm and held me close to her as we alighted to the second floor. There was a hallway that led to the master bedroom with an attached master bath and three other bedrooms with a family bath to service them. A door opened to a narrow stairway leading to the attic and Mrs. James said if I wanted to see the attic I could go up myself and look around. I did that and found a spacious area that was empty except for what looked like an old trunk from the 20ies or 30ies. I came back to the second floor where Mrs. James patiently waited for me to return. I told her that I was very impressed with the house and asked if I could look around the grounds, she agreed and we went back down to the ground floor. She led me to the back door and said I could look around all I wanted but please come back to the house before leaving.
There was a large two stall garage and a small barn that had been built within the past 20 years or so and both buildings were in great shape. The grounds could use some work but could be restored to excellent condition without much effort. I remembered that Mrs. James mentioned that there were about 10 acres and I thought that this would be a terrific place if the price was right. I went back to the house and told Mrs. James that I was interested if we could come to terms on the price. She smiled and slid a piece of paper into my hand. I looked at it and almost fell over when I saw the price. I asked if this was the correct amount and if it included all the land and out buildings. She said it did and I immediately agreed to her terms. I asked if she would accept a check as a good faith binder, to which she readily agreed.
A few weeks passed before the contracts were drawn, signed and the property closed on. I gave Mrs. James all the time she needed to move out and she didn't take advantage of my good nature. I took possession a week after the closing.
Chapter 2
I had a moving company move my belongings from the city and I decided to camp out at my new house while I waited for them to deliver my stuff. I walked thru the front door and again got the cold feeling I did the first time I saw the house with Mrs. James. I didn't think much of it and set about blowing up my air mattress in one of the bedrooms. I had brought some coffee for morning and decided to explore my new property. My car fit in the garage with plenty of room and the barn was going to make a great workshop. There was a small copse of woods on one side of the land that would afford privacy on that side. I could probably rent some acreage to a farmer so he could grow hay or some sort of feed, in the meantime it was just some hay fields to enjoy.
I had brought a book to read and turned in early. I had a few interesting dreams and woke up early to wait for the movers. I was sipping a cup of coffee when they arrived and it didn't take long for them to unload everything and put it in the rooms that it was marked for. I did a quick inspection and didn't find anything damaged so I wrote them a check and they were on their way. I looked around and found I had a daunting task ahead of me to get everything unpacked and put away. I decided to tackle the kitchen first and then do the bedroom. That made sense to me because I had to eat and sleep. By the end of the day I had most everything organized and put away and was ready to turn in.
I woke up early and refreshed after my busy day yesterday. I had slept soundly and didn't have any unusual dreams like I had the previous night. I needed some supplies so I went into town to do some shopping. There was an A&P in town, the first one I had seen since I was a little guy, and I did a month's shopping before I got out of there. I had spotted some great steaks on sale so I stocked up along with other meats. I got a feeling of satisfaction when I put stuff away and the freezer was full.
A Satellite disk was included in the sale of the house, so all I had to do was call and have it activated to my account and I had TV for entertainment.
I had picked up the local paper and a tourist guide while I was in town and looked thru them for what was offered in the form of night life. Like most sleepy New England towns there wasn't much to do but an hour away was a major city with all kinds of things to do. I did find a few restaurants that were local and I knew that I would try them out before I took a guest out for dinner. My sometimes girlfriend was a city girl and I didn't expect her to be a frequent visitor. I would have to see if there were any local female companions available, single and unattached I hoped.
I was watching some nonsense reality show when I thought I heard someone softly call my name. "Caleb, Caleb, Caleb." I looked up and all around but didn't see anyone, not that there should have been anyone there but it was just a reaction to hearing your name. I got up and looked outside and again I didn't see anyone. "Must just be my imagination being in a strange place," I said to myself as I returned to my show. I had an uneasy feeling the rest of the night and just put it down to feeling spooky, I was glad Halloween was a long way off, I didn't need any ghosts and goblins knocking on my door.
Bedtime finally arrived and I checked the doors, turned off the lights and went upstairs to bed. I sleep in the nude so after my bathroom routines I snuggled under the covers and drifted off to sleep. I dreamt that I had a female visitor that came to my bed and sat down on the edge putting her hand on my chest. I woke up with a start to find that I was alone. I was wide awake by now and tried to get back to sleep but it wouldn't come. I got up and decided to go down and get a book to read until I settled down from my disturbing dream. It wasn't a nightmare but it seemed so real I expected to find someone sitting on my bed when I woke up. The book did the trick and I soon dropped off to sleep again. Morning dawned bright and sunny with a little dew on the grass. I guessed the chore for today would be to cut the grass. There would be plenty of chores to do to keep me busy with a big two story 4 bedroom house to take care of. I had set up one bedroom as a home office with my laptop, printer and fax machine along with a desk and some file cabinets. I had furnished a guest room with the furniture I had from my apartment in the city so that left one upstairs room empty. I didn't have any furniture for the parlor and didn't know what I would eventually put in there. The summer kitchen would be a temporary storage area for household items I didn't know what to do with. I thought that eventually that would become a TV/family room of sorts. It was big enough to entertain in and would keep the noise of the TV or sound system in one part of the house although I would wire some speakers in other parts of the house.
I had some breakfast and went to the barn to get the mower that Mrs. James had included in the sale. It was a big John Deere tractor with a few attachments that would be nice when I put in a garden next spring. The big 60 inch mowing deck put short work on the lawns but I would have to do some hand work but that was expected, luckily there was a push mower in the barn also so I was done in less than an hour. I cleaned up the mowers and put them away. I looked around the barn a little more and found a good selection of hand tools and a workbench tucked away in a corner. Apparently Mr. James was a handyman of sorts but not a craftsman by any means. I could see a nice shop in the future and I would probably park the tractor and mower in the garage.
It was close to lunchtime so I went back to the house. I went into the kitchen and reached for a plate only to find that things had been moved in the cabinets.
"Caleb, you are losing it, when the hell did you change stuff around. I must have been more tired than I thought." I said to myself. I prepared some lunch and had some time to consider what I was going to do with myself in my retirement.
I had always been interested in photography and had won some awards in school when we had a showing of our work. I was pretty good at woodworking but it was for my own entertainment. I was interested in history and thought I could research the area and maybe start a tourist tour service. Being a newcomer I thought that was a little presumptive on my part to give tours in an area I didn't know anything about. Probably photography was the best option because I could freelance the better photos and just enjoy taking the pictures anyways. Who knows where that could lead, in the meantime I was free to travel and see some of the sites I had read about but was always too busy to go there.
I was sitting at my laptop making some notes and a list of equipment I wanted to buy when I heard "Caleb, Caleb, Caleb," just like I had heard the night before. I was startled and looked around seeing that I was alone as expected. Was I losing my mind or just hearing things. I had to pay attention to my feelings and see if there were more things happening. I went back to my laptop and documented the strange things that seemed to be happening to me.
