Chapter 18
I went to the door and was surprised to see Mrs. James waiting at the door. I opened the door and she asked if she could talk to me. I asked her in and we went to the living room. I motioned for her to sit down and she sat on the edge of the seat wringing her hands.
"You look troubled Mrs. James, what can I do for you?"
"I have been worried about you ever since I sold you the house. I wasn't truthful with you and I want to make it up to you. I should have told you something about the house and I didn't. I have lived here my whole life and have learned how to live with what I have to tell you."
"I know what you have to tell me Mrs. James. The spirits in the house have made themselves known. Why don't you tell me your story. But wait a minute, I have a guest and I want her to hear this."
I went up to my bedroom and woke Jan up explaining that we had a visitor she might be interested in. She said she was feeling better, went to the bathroom to wash her face and came down with me. I introduced her to Mrs. James and we sat down to hear what she had to say.
"I first experienced the spirits when I was a child. He would come to me in my sleep and tell me stories about my family. I thought they were just dreams but as I got older I researched the family and realized that the dreams were exactly like the history I found. I asked my mother if she ever had strange dreams and she said everyone in the family has them. She wouldn't say anything else and I just took it in good faith that it was normal because I didn't know any better. The spirits that inhabit this dwelling are not evil as far as I know. They were never threatening to me or anyone else as far as I know." She hung her head in embarrassment as she paused for a few minutes.
We took the pause as an opening to ask her some questions.
"Do the spirits have names Mrs. James?"
"Yes there is a female named Etta, a male named Michael, there is another male entity but I don't know his name. I have a faint memory of another female but she only came to me a few times and I don't know who she was."
"How did you find out the names?"
"They had a conversation in one of my dreams and called each other by name."
"Are they the only ones that you know of?"
"Yes as far as I know. I have to tell you that after my husband passed away I took my maiden name back as I am the direct descendent of the original owner. I have to tell you that there was a witch in the early family that was tried and hung in the Salem witch trials although it passed down thru the family that she only did good deeds."
"Yes we know about Etta, Michael and Abigail the supposed witch. Did you know about the trunk in the attic?"
"What are you talking about Mr. Williams. I don't know anything about a trunk?"
"I found a trunk in the attic and it contained quite a few diaries that were written by Etta. There was a stack of clothes that I have to believe belonged to her and a large book that chronicled the story of the family. The last twenty pages tell the story of Abigail and there is also a section that contains spells and directions for potions. At least that is what we believe it is. I can show you what the book contained about the family history. We transcribed it onto my laptop."
She said she would love to have a copy of what it contained so I went to print it out along with the genealogy report I had generated for Jan. When I returned, Jan and Mrs. James were deep in conversation and I just put down the information I had printed and went to the kitchen. I knew we had plenty to eat so I invited Mrs. James to dine with us. As expected she declined but I insisted saying there was plenty and since we had to eat we would love to have her join us. I wanted to keep her around as long as possible so we could glean more info from her. Jan was doing a good job of it and I decided to let her do her thing. I thought Jan would get more from her than I could because of the gender thing.
We sat down for dinner and she told us stories of her time living here. Some were funny and it turned into a pleasant visit from her. I asked if she would like to see the books and she nodded in the affirmative. I excused myself and went to the attic to fetch the books. I guessed if she wanted them she could have them as they were really her property but I wasn't going to offer them to her because there was a lot more to learn if I was to go thru them again.
I handed the first volume to her and advised her that there was some very graphic dialogue in the book. She opened it and read thru the first ten pages or so and then skipped ahead until she came upon the account of Etta's deflowering. Her eyes widened and blushed as she read the account of Michael taking Etta's virginity. She skipped ahead a little more and read in detail the story of Etta's life.
"My God, that sounds like I wrote this book. I am embarrassed to say that Michael came to me in much the same way. Oh my I shouldn't tell you that."
Jan went to her and put her arm around her telling her that Michael came to her also so she shouldn't feel embarrassed or anything. I said that Etta had come to me and another guest had a visit from Michael also. She was shaken and didn't move for quite a long time. I asked if she was ok and if she didn't feel well she could stay here overnight. She looked like me as if I had stabbed her with a knife.
"I wouldn't stay another night here if I had to live on the street. I have had enough of Michael and his invading my dreams for his own pleasure. At first it was a pleasure for me but over the course of my lifetime I hated his visiting me. I have to leave now. Will you be home tomorrow because I would like to talk to you some more?"
I said I would look forward to her visit and walked her to the door. When I returned to the kitchen Jan was already cleaning up from dinner and as I helped we talked about our visitor.
"I wish I could stay tomorrow and listen to what she has to say. I have a feeling she knows a lot more than she told us tonight." Jan said
"I think you are right and I would like you to stay too but I know you have classes to attend. I will leave the camera in the living room on and send you a file of our conversation if it isn't too large."
"As an after thought, why don't you write down some questions that you would like to ask her and if I can work them into the conversation I will do that."
Jan said she would write down what she wanted to know, not just about our situation here but some information for her research. We got a list together and called it a night.