If Ellie’s calculations were right, she should be arriving at the cemetery any moment now. Steven had told her to take the narrow road on the left just after the bus stop. She noticed a man standing waiting and hoped it might be him. An arm went up in the air to confirm it was and she lowered her car window.
“Hello,” he said, in a friendly voice, “Ellie?” he inquired.
“Yes, you must be Steven?” They gave a brief handshake and Steven climbed into her car. “Just turn right down here, the road looks a little abandoned but there are in fact a couple more houses further down. It’s a bit off the beaten track but nice and quiet.”
“Are there any shops nearby, Steven?”
“Yes, straight back past the cemetery and instead of heading in the direction of Cressle, where you have come from, go the other way, it’s barely a ten-minute walk. There are only a few shops but there’s a bakery, a newsagent and a small convenience store so you can find most of the essentials without having to drive into town.” His hand indicated her to slow down. “It’s here.” Ellie’s heart sank as she parked in front of the sinister dwelling. The house was practically hidden in the wilderness of overgrown trees and hedges. There was a small wooden gate falling off its hinges. The advert had stated ‘needs a little attention’, clearly a mammoth understatement. The rent for the dwelling was very low which had been the reason she had enquired about it; she hadn’t been expecting anything posh but she was hoping for something more maintained than this.
Ellie Marshall was thirty years old, tall and slim with long dark hair and very pretty. She had walked out on her boyfriend of four years several weeks earlier after yet another big row. This time she was determined to make a clean break. Ed had been the main breadwinner so he was keeping on the attractive flat they had been sharing. This was going to be a big change for her. She wasn’t used to living on her own and this house was far more remote than she had expected it to be. The only positive point was that she could afford it.
Steven pushed open what was left of the gate. Ellie could just about make out the writing on the rusty metal plate. ‘Orchard Grove,’ she mumbled.
“Yes, mum and dad named it ‘Orchard Grove’ soon after they bought this little house; they hadn’t been married long. Mum loved orchards so shortly after they moved here, dad planted lots of apple trees for her. The trees still flower and give tons of fruit each year,” he told her. Ellie followed him down the little gravel path. “Don’t be put off by all the brambles,” Steven assured her, “I’ll be coming around regularly from next week and I’ll get them all cleared for you.”
When they had spoken on the phone, Ellie had imagined Steven to be older. He was quite tall, with a good stocky body and yet he was surprisingly gently spoken. She guessed he was about ten years older than her. He wasn’t classically handsome but he was good-looking in a nice rugged kind of way. Bestowing a little smile upon her as he put the key into the lock, he asked: “Are you ready?”
“Yes, of course,” she answered with a little smile, despite the strange presentiment she was feeling.
The creaky front door opened into a small dark hallway. Steven led the way inside explaining that the house had been abandoned since his father had died five years earlier. Neither he nor his brother had found the time to maintain it and as his father had sorely neglected the house after the death of their mother, they hadn’t been able to put it up for sale. They planned to eventually do it up and sell it for a decent price. As that still hadn’t happened, they had put an advert in the newspaper to see if anybody might be interested in renting it. They would use the rent money to hire somebody to do the house up gradually. They had put the price very low thinking it would be snapped up in a flash but Ellie was the only one who had contacted them.
“There’s no damp,” he told her, “and my brother Danny came over yesterday to open up all the windows.” Steven flicked on the light, allowing her to appreciate the cobwebs in all their glory. “It’s a bit dusty,” Steven apologised. “We had intended to get Peggy Biggins in to give it a once over but she’s on holiday; everyone around here gets Peggy in to clean.” He walked over to a door that opened into the lounge. “This is the main sitting room. The fireplace works but might need a sweep if you are thinking of using it regularly.”
Ellie looked around the room and her heart sank. It was tinged with grey, presumably from the chimney smoke. It was a far cry from the smart, bright, modern flat that she had shared with Ed. At this very moment, she would have given anything to go back there and for the very first time, she was regretting leaving him. This house was dirty and old and horrible. It had a cold unfriendly feeling about it. She absolutely did not want to live here.
“I’ll show you the kitchen” Steven said, “that is if what you have seen so far hasn’t already put you off?” Ellie somehow managed a weak smile and followed him into the gloomy kitchen. A pair of shabby curtains hung over the window of the kitchen sink, stopping some much-needed light from coming in. “It isn’t modern, as you can see but the gas stove is perfectly functional and the taps are all running; I just need to turn the water on at the mains.” He opened the curtains and to Ellie’s surprise, a potentially pretty garden sat before her. “I think this is probably the selling feature of the house,” he said encouragingly.
Ellie stood next to him and gazed out of the window. It was a mess out there but her mind was already imagining what it might look like once tended to. “Do you think it would be possible to clear all those brambles quite quickly, Steven, if I did decide to rent the house? I’d be more than happy to do some gardening if you and your brother can do the heavy work.”
“Definitely,” Steven confirmed, “my brother Danny and I can give it a good clearing in just a couple of days. It won’t be refined but we can chop everything back for you.” It had been obvious to Stephen that the young woman was far from enamoured with the property but her interest in the garden was giving him a small glimmer of hope.
Ellie followed Steven up some creaking stairs. Straight opposite, was a small dark bathroom without a window. Then she was shown the miserable bedrooms; one with a large bed, the other with just a single bed. That was it. From the outside, Ellie had the impression that the house was bigger. Sometimes space could be deceiving. It was a reasonably warm spring day outside yet she felt peculiarly chilly inside. There was something eerie about the place. It had been left empty for far too long. Ellie followed Steven back down the stairs. There was nothing else to see.
“So,” Steven smiled at her, “what do you think?”
“Well, it does need a little attention, of course.” This was his parent’s home and saying anything unkind about it would most certainly hurt his feelings and she would not want to do that. “Has anybody else viewed the property?” she inquired.
“You are the first one to visit but a couple of other people are interested,” he fibbed, hoping it might appeal to her more if there seemed to be a little competition.
“Yes, of course, I quite appreciate that other people might be interested,” she said kindly. “You see, I’m living with my great aunt at the moment because my parents live down south. She is very kind but she is old and used to living on her own and I don’t want to put on her for too long. I have to be honest Steven, this isn’t really what I’m looking for. I need a little bit of time to think about it.”
“Of course, I understand. Listen, if you are even a little bit interested in it, me and Danny can make sure that it’s in a reasonable state for you to move in.”
“Thank you, Steven.”
“If you do decide to take it, how soon would you want to move in? Just so that we know how quickly we would need to make a start on brightening it up.”
“Probably in about ten days. I can call you at the end of the week and give you a definite answer. Would that work for you?”
“Yes, Ellie, that would work just fine.” They agreed that by the following Friday, they would both give a firm answer and shook hands as she left.
Ellie stared at the telephone with a heavy heart. She had to make that call. She gazed at it for the longest time, periodically picking up the receiver, knowing full well that she was not going to dial, before placing it down again. Finally, she had no choice and snapped at herself to make the call. After just three rings, Steven answered.
“Hello,” his friendly tone responded and immediately put Ellie at ease. “Hello, Steven, this is Ellie Marshall, I came to see you about renting your parent’s house.”
“It’s nice to hear from you, Ellie,” he said happily. “Have you been able to come to a decision about ‘Orchard Grove’?”
His pleasant manner was helping her to relax, despite the predicament she was in. “Yes, I have. Is the house still available?” She didn’t think for a minute that people were queuing up to rent the property but at the low price they were asking, there was a possibility of a few other potential clients.
“Yes, it is available. I have spoken to my brother and we’d both be delighted if it’s you who rents it.” Ellie felt a pang of guilt for not feeling in the slightest bit delighted. “I’ll get Peggy to come in and spruce it up,” Steven continued, “she’s back from her holidays now. Danny and I will get cracking on the garden. I think it should be ready for you to move in at the end of next week. How does that sound?”
“It sounds fine,” she answered, relieved that the decision had been made. Maybe this was a good thing that was happening after all. Once it was clean and free of all those cobwebs she might look at it with different eyes. Also, she was curious to see what could be done with the garden. “So I’ll see you next week, Steven, thank you very much.”
When Ellie moved in, she hoped she might feel a little excitement; a new home, a new chapter and all the drama of these last months finally pushed behind her. In reality, all she could feel was despair. Nothing was working out in her life. Her job at the post office earned her barely enough to live on and her love life was in shreds. She glanced around the gloomy room that was crying out to be painted. Two very worn matching armchairs sat opposite each other in front of the fireplace, she sat there, lost in thought. A small rug lay in front of the mantelpiece; fleetingly she imagined a cat sprawled out upon it. She wondered if Steven’s parents ate in this room during the cold winter evenings; perhaps sat cosily in front of the television with trays on their laps. This is certainly what she would do when the weather became colder. Ellie decided to have an early night. Maybe she would see the house through different eyes in the morning. Rising to make her way upstairs she heard a light thud behind her. She turned to see if something had dropped but there was nothing. Her weariness was telling her to go to bed; whatever had fallen was nothing that couldn’t wait until tomorrow.
The following morning, Ellie awoke to find the sun streaming into the bedroom. Momentarily, it seemed like the little house was welcoming her. She had awakened several times during the night but fortunately, her fatigue had led her to fall quickly back to sleep again. She lay in bed for a while, lazily observing the room. Old-fashioned pictures adorned the walls and a sad little lampshade surrounded a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. In the corner was an overbearingly large wooden wardrobe. What a gloomy dwelling this was! Even the sunshine was having trouble enhancing it. As she rose, she noticed the light on the landing was turned on; that was strange, she was sure she had turned it off the night before. She flicked the switch off and decided that she would spend the whole weekend doing her very best to brighten the place up. Shortly after taking a shower and while sitting in the kitchen eating a quick breakfast, there was a knock on the back door. She opened it to find a good-looking man in his early thirties standing before her. Ellie observed his slightly dishevelled blonde hair and his twinkling blue eyes as he held out his hand to greet her.
“Hello Ellie, I’m Danny, Steven’s younger brother, pleased to meet you.” He graced her with a charming smile.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Ellie chanted, “ please come in. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?” Danny happily accepted and sat with her in the kitchen to chat for a while. He explained that they had tidied the garden up as much as they could before her arrival and that they would continue working on it as often as they could. Danny was friendly and light-hearted and made her laugh. She had been mildly drawn to Steven when she met him but of course, it was far too soon for her to consider dating anybody yet; she still needed time to get over Ed.
It was almost half an hour later before Danny rose to leave. The friendliness of the two brothers was helping her feel welcome here. Ellie spontaneously accompanied him to his car and glancing fleetingly inside, she spotted some flowers on the passenger seat. Unexpectedly, her heart sank ever so slightly. He was an attractive man, she hadn’t noticed a wedding ring on his finger but she guessed the flowers would be for his girlfriend.
“Here’s my phone number Ellie, just in case you should need me for any reason. I only live ten minutes from here.”
“Thank you, that’s very kind. It has been nice to meet you.”
“It’s been nice to meet you too,” his eyes sparkled at her, “I would happily have stayed a little longer but I’ve some flowers to put on my parents’ graves and then I need to buy my material for the week. I’m a builder and Saturday is my day for stocking up.”
Immediately, Ellie was touched by his kind attention. “Are your parents buried in the cemetery down the road, Danny?”
“Yes, they are buried next to each other. This is a small village, mum is buried with her parents, and dad with his family, and happily, they are next to each other,” his eyes became a little sad, “it’s some small consolation. They loved each other very much.” Ellie gave him a gentle smile, touched by his sudden show of emotion. Danny and Steven were good people. Maybe it wasn’t going to be so bad living here after all.
“Hi Steven!” Ellie shouted through the window. Steven raised his head from the brambles and wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Hi Ellie, did you see the progress we’re making here?”
“Yes, it’s really taking shape. Thank you so much. I’m just about to brew some tea if you have time to take a break?”
“With pleasure, I’ll be with you in a few minutes.” It had been a month now since Ellie had moved in and it was nice that Steven and Danny came regularly to work on the garden and to see her. Ellie too had been working hard, inside and out. She had planted various shrubs and flowers; invested in a little second-hand garden table and chairs and was slowly putting licks of paint on as much of the house as she could. Steven wiped his feet on the back door mat and walked in.
“I’ll let you put your sugar in,” Ellie said, placing his cup of tea on the table and putting some biscuits on a plate.
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure if you’d be here today with it being Wednesday,” he said, stirring the sugar in his tea.
“Normally I wouldn’t be, but the post office is making cuts so we are all down to four days. Work is hard to find and I love my job so I don’t want to leave. I’ll just have to be a bit more careful with my spending,” she shrugged.
“Is the bathroom door opening better now?” he asked.
Ellie shook her head, “No, I got stuck inside again this morning.”
“Maybe it’s better if you just leave it open?” Steven suggested. There was a knock at the back door and Danny popped his head around. He walked in, gave Ellie a big smile and his brother a friendly punch on the shoulder. “Any of that tea left or am I disturbing something?”
“Hi,” Ellie greeted, “of course you aren’t disturbing anything. The tea’s still hot I think.”
“I was just suggesting to Ellie that maybe she should leave the bathroom door open because it’s still sticking.”
“Good idea. Don’t worry, nobody is going to walk in on you,” Danny said with just a hint of cheekiness. Ellie’s total lack of response left a momentary peculiar silence in their conversation.
“Is there a problem?” Steven asked puzzled. Ellie hesitated as she glanced at the brothers. What on earth was she to say? Her eyes skipped from Steven to Danny. She couldn’t tell them she thought the house was haunted; that she locked the bathroom door for that very reason. That she slept with the blankets pulled over her head every night and the radio playing so she couldn’t hear the creaking and squeaking; they would think she was being ridiculous. “No, there isn’t a problem. It’s just that sometimes I hear noises.”
“What kind of noises?” Steven asked.
“Creaking noises…and stuff.”
“This is an old house, Ellie,” Danny said reassuringly, “it’s normal that there’s a little creaking.”
“Well,” she continued, still hesitantly, “creaks and other sounds like things dropping and scratching.”
“The scratching will just be branches brushing against the windows, I’ll cut those back for you when I’ve finished my cup of tea,” Steven said, fleetingly glancing at his brother.
“Don’t worry Ellie,” Danny reassured her, “it’s nothing! We’re used to the noises in this house; we both lived here. You’ll soon be familiar with them.”
“Are you unhappy here?” Steven asked.
“Unhappy, no, but a bit frightened. The house is looking better each week and I’m thrilled with the garden but sometimes I feel afraid here. There are gaps in the windows that make whistling sounds and the curtains move. Each time you mend the bathroom door I get stuck in there again, that alone is very strange and all the water pipes rattle and bang something terrible during the night.”
“Would you like me to come and sleep over for a day or two, Ellie?” Danny proposed, “I’d be happy to.”
“Really Danny?” The expression of relief on her face was incontestable.
“If you’d feel better then of course I will. I can come over tonight if you want.” Ellie felt a sudden surge of relief. The idea of not being alone, if only for a few days, was very reassuring. Her face broke into a pretty smile.
“That’s settled then,” Danny said. He turned to his brother, “Steve, I have a couple of bunches of flowers in the car, can you put them on the graves when you leave, I’m in a bit of a rush?”
“I’ll be here for a few hours but bring them in and Ellie can put them in some water.”
“I’m going to the baker’s this morning,” Ellie said, “I’d be happy to put them on their graves for you,” she offered.
“Thanks Ellie, that’s very kind,” Danny said, “I’d appreciate it very much. The graves are easy to find; as you go through the gate they are on the second row, halfway along. Joan Schofield, and dad is next to her, Albert Schofield.” “I’ll find them,” she reassured him.
Ellie liked to walk to the small village several times a week. It gave her some fresh air and the walk from ‘Orchard Grove’ was pleasant; it also gave her a break from the oppressed feeling of the house. She had planned to have a wander around the graveyard on several occasions so today was her opportunity to do so. As she entered the gates, she saw that many of the graves were abandoned; on looking closer it was hardly surprising, some of the graves were more than a hundred years old. Many relatives would be dead themselves by now. As she walked towards the parents’ graves, she glanced around her. Trees shaded many of the tombs, it felt quite eerie. She stopped at the first headstone, ‘Joan Edith Schofield’, was chiselled into the marble, ‘beloved wife of Albert and adored mother of Steven and Daniel. RIP’. She was buried with both her parents and her sister. She glanced at the grave next to it. ‘Albert Schofield, A wonderful father.’ A wave of emotion came over her; these two young men had lost both their parents. Ellie picked up a vase from each grave. She walked to the bin and emptied the wilted flowers; she washed the vases until they sparkled and then filled them with fresh water. She returned to the graves and carefully arranged the fresh flowers as prettily as she could. It was strange, there was something slightly amiss about the graves. She finished the displays and stood a couple of paces away to see how they looked. It was then that she spotted each tombstone was slightly ajar. The earth must have settled and forced the marble tombstones to move. It was strange that the sons hadn’t done anything about them.
Over the following days, Ellie became more relaxed. Given the choice, she would be happy for Danny to stay indefinitely. He was easy to live with and there was a mutual attraction between them; it made the situation all the more agreeable. Today, Ellie had decided to organize the drawers and the big wooden wardrobe in her bedroom. A couple of drawers were filled with documents belonging to their parents but she was sure the sons wouldn’t mind her carefully putting them safely elsewhere. She sat on the floor and opened the bottom drawer, taking the dusty documents out one by one. There were plans of the house dating back to 1890. The dwelling was older than she had thought, this could also explain the creaking. The house would not even have been equipped with electricity when it was built. Out of curiosity, she began unfolding the plans. The kitchen had been made a little bigger; she could see which wall had been knocked down. There had been a downstairs lavatory that was now a cupboard. Like many houses built at the end of the nineteenth century, the bathroom would have been installed later. She studied the plans of the first floor. There were three bedrooms so one of these had been made into the bathroom. She studied the plans closer. Her bedroom remained on the plan, as did the one Danny was using, therefore the bathroom had been made from the middle bedroom at the top of the stairs. It appeared to be at least the size of her room on the plans and yet the bathroom was quite small. That was puzzling. There was space she was unable to account for. Next, she picked up a box and had a little browse through some of the photos. Many were in black and white; a few of the more recent ones were in colour. She found a faded colour photograph of Steven and Danny when they were younger, taken with their parents. All four were sat on a sofa in the lounge downstairs, their parents in the centre and a son on either side. Their mother had a kind face and pretty features; a cat was sitting on her lap. The sofa was no longer there; the two armchairs had replaced it. She stared hard at the photograph; there was something curious about it but she couldn’t figure out what it was. Reflective, Ellie replaced everything in the drawer and closed it again. She rose and descended into the garden. She walked around the house to observe the construction. Her bedroom was on the east side, overlooking part of the orchard. Danny’s room was on the west side with a small window. She continued circling the house; something was amiss. She walked some way back from the building to observe it properly. Slightly offset from the main walls of the house it appeared that there was a third upstairs window. This should have been the bathroom window from the third converted bedroom but there was no window in the bathroom and where was the entrance to this room? Why would a room with a window have no entrance to it? It just didn’t make sense.
*
“Do you want two eggs with your chips?” Danny asked.
“One is fine, thank you, but plenty of fried tomatoes please.” Ellie had set the small kitchen table for two people and poured each of them a glass of red wine. Danny had spoiled her over the last few days. Their friendship was blossoming and the night before they had come quite close to exchanging a kiss. Danny put the two plates with eggs, tomatoes and copious amounts of chips on the table.
“So,” he began, as he started cutting into his egg, “how was your day?”
“Busy, it’s pension day so lots of our little old ladies come in for their money.” Her face beamed, “These chips are lovely and crispy, they are delicious! How was your day?”
“Good. I’m on an interesting job at the moment reconstructing an apartment.”
“Have you done much work on this house, Danny?” she asked.
“A little, my dad asked me to make a few alterations here and there.”
“That’s nice. What have you done?”
“General stuff,” he answered.
“Mmmm,” she murmured as she ate her meal, “masonry, plumbing and stuff?” she probed.
“I fitted some cupboards in the small bedroom where I’m sleeping so I needed to knock the adjoining wall down and Dad wanted the bathroom altered at the same time so I did that too.”
“It’s a shame there’s no window in the bathroom; it would be handy for me putting my make-up on.”
“Well, this is an old building Ellie.” He then changed the direction of their conversation and Ellie decided not to pursue the matter any further, at least for the time being.
*
It was Saturday evening, Danny had been sleeping at the house for six days now and they had exchanged a brief first kiss. Tonight, Ellie was preparing a candlelit meal for them. Engrossed in her cooking, she didn’t hear Danny creeping up behind her. He put his arms around her waist and Ellie impulsively shrieked. As she turned, he saw her face had become deathly white.
“Ellie,” Danny said concerned, and pulled up a chair to sit her down. “What’s wrong? Has something happened?”
Ellie shook her head and put her arms around him. She was trembling. He calmed her down and wanted to know what had provoked her reaction but she didn’t want to discuss it; Ellie knew there was no point. Discussing the matter of her being frightened in this house would just be brushed aside. As best she could, she pulled herself together and continued preparing the meal. That evening, Ellie encouraged Danny to show her some photographs, inquisitive to see him during his childhood. He had made a small fire and they sat cosily on the little rug in front of it as he told her stories from when he was young. They exchanged a few small kisses as they chatted; their relationship was developing nicely. Danny took another box and pulled out several photos. He talked freely about his happy childhood and the photos of ‘Orchard Grove’ showed how lovingly cared for the house had been when he was younger.
“Is that you swinging from the tree?” Ellie asked.
“No, that’s Steven; he was always encouraging me to do dangerous stunts. He’s the braver of the two of us.” He laughed and gave her a small kiss. He picked up another photo. “This is a nice one of mum, sitting in the garden knitting. She was always knitting. I swear I can sometimes hear the sound of her needles clicking together.” Then he sighed, “Aaah, look, Nina is sitting in mum’s wool basket,” he gave an affectionate chuckle, “I hadn’t noticed that before. Mum worshipped that cat.” Ellie looked at the photo and smiled at the big ginger cat sitting in the basket. “This photo was taken not long before mum died,” Steven reminisced and then went quiet for a moment as he stared fondly at the picture of his mother. He replaced the photos and closed the box; it was his way of saying he didn’t wish to ponder any longer. They chatted about lots of other subjects for quite some time, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. At one moment, when she was least expecting it, Steven kissed Ellie again but this time more passionately. Then he gently took hold of her hand and led her upstairs to the bedroom. That night they made love for the first time. Danny was a sensual, caring lover and made her feel like she was the only woman in the whole world. In between their lovemaking, they each talked about themselves, sharing little secrets. Suddenly a noise disturbed them and Ellie tensed up.
“I’m here, Ellie,” Danny reassured her, “don’t be frightened.”
“Those noises, what are they?”
Danny pulled her close to him. “They’re nothing,” he reassured her, but he could feel her whole manner had changed. “Ellie listen, I’m going to explain something to you, this way you will never be frightened in this house again. My parents loved each other very much; they truly were soul mates. When mum became ill, dad was devastated and said he wouldn’t be able to live a single day without her. Mum couldn’t bear to see dad so sad and they made a pact. You asked me why the bathroom has no window, didn’t you? On my parents’ instructions, I sectioned their bedroom off. It’s on the other side of the bathroom and it is really lovely inside. They have their sofa and bed in there and some of mum’s prettiest little tables, glasses and tea sets; however, there is no way to enter.” Ellie listened to him, puzzled by what he was saying. “Even when mum was nearing the end and had little strength left, she made sure the room looked absolutely perfect before allowing me to seal it off. Also, they requested that both their tombstones be left slightly open, you might have seen that?” Ellie nodded, mesmerized by the incredible story he was telling her. “They arranged that every weekend after dad’s death, they would each slip away from their graves and meet each other here, in their special haven. Steven and I truly believe they do.” Then he held his arms tight around Ellie until they both slowly drifted asleep.
Ellie jumped in her car and hurriedly pulled away from the house; every single one of her belongings was in the boot and on the backseat. She had needed to act as quickly as possible while Danny had slipped out. The ghosts of his parents remained in this house, she knew this now; she had felt their presence and was terrified by it. She quickly drove down the road and turned the corner. As she drove past the graveyard she briefly glanced over to where Steven and Danny’s parents’ graves lay when abruptly something made her foot hit the brake. Her eyes looked over and gazed in disbelief as she saw a ginger cat sitting peacefully between their two tombstones.
End