The Haunt

Chapter 3

THREE

“It all began for me in September 1970. Jenifer and I had married in the June of that year, and as money was a little tight we decided to wait until we could afford a proper honeymoon abroad. One day a letter arrived from a solicitor, informing me that I had inherited a house from a distant relative - who prior to that moment I had never even heard of.

“Apparently, I was subsequently informed by the said solicitor, he was a distant cousin on my father’s side and according to the terms of his will I was eventually traced as his only living male relative, and as such I was his sole beneficiary.

“My parents had both been killed in a car accident the year before I met Jenifer, leaving my younger sister Jane and I to fend for each other. Jane was only nineteen when they died, and she had just gone away to university. Our parents’ death left us both shattered and she ended up taking a year off, fully intending to start again the following September.

“We both inherited our family home, and at the time neither of us had any intention other than to live in it together for the time being to help keep some stability in our lives. We had always been close, and both took great comfort in the other’s presence in the house to help us through the darkness of the early days after the funeral.

“I was already working at the bank so at least we had the stability of a regular wage coming in, but after a couple of months at home Jane started to feel guilty about not contributing to the household kitty. Even though I kept telling her not to worry herself about it, in the end she found herself a position at a hotel through a local temp agency just to keep herself busy until she returned to university.

“As things turned out, whilst working at the hotel she met her future husband Neil who was the assistant manager there; and although I was a trifle concerned that their relationship smacked of being a ‘whirlwind’ romance, who was I to talk?

“The bottom line was that Jane never did return to university, but she was, and still is for that matter, very happy, and Neil has always been a good husband and father to their three children, so in the end everything worked out for the best.

“Once Jane and Neil decided to buy a place of their own together, I re-mortgaged the house so that Jane could have her share. I did consider selling and starting again, but I had such happy childhood memories there and even though under normal circumstances the re-mortgage would have been beyond my pocket, as I worked for a bank they offered me a special rate so it was just within my budget.

“I had only had one experience of dealing with a solicitor before, and that was when I had to see to the probate of my parent’s will. The solicitor on that occasion was a dour-faced, sullen individual, with extremely poor customer service skills, as well as a very bad case of body odour. Not that I would automatically tar every other solicitor with the same brush, but the memory of that initial encounter still resonated in me while I was speaking on the telephone to the solicitor for my recent benefactor’s probate.

“The property that I had inherited was in Northumberland, which to my memory I had only travelled to once before, during a family holiday when we went to visit my father’s older sister. My father was a very late child so there was thirty years difference in their ages, and from what I understood they were never that close.

“Both Jenifer and I were understandably very excited to go and view our new acquisition, but as fate would have it we were desperately short staffed at the bank and I had already taken a week off for our wedding, so, when I approached my manager with my annual leave request he made a point of reminding me that loyalty and dedication were the key qualities he looked for in an employee who, one day, wanted to move up the managerial ladder, as he was well aware that I did. As it was he agreed to allow me to take a second week off, but only after a couple of my colleagues had returned from their leave. So, I just had to be patient.

“Jenifer was naturally disappointed, but she fully appreciated my situation at work so she too just accepted it. Throughout the next couple of weeks, the house in Northumberland was all that we could talk about. The solicitor had very graciously sent us some details concerning the property, and when we excitedly opened the envelope neither of us could believe our eyes.

“The description of the property, along with the drawing of the layout and its adjoining land, made it look enormous, and the grandness of the structure reminded us of some of the stately homes we had visited on Sunday outings, with the national trust organisation.

“The building itself, according to the documentation, had been built in the eighteenth century. It was set in its own grounds and boasted three levels, four if you included the basement, which housed the kitchen and scullery. The front entrance was housed in a massive arch, which was supported by two concrete pillars, with a couple of stone lions standing guard at the bottom of the stairs.

“According to the description the property needed some considerable repairs, but my father’s cousin had lived in it his entire life so at least it had to be habitable. Not that we were considering moving to Northumberland! Jenifer was extremely close to her parents and I knew that she would never consider relocating so far away from them. She also worked for her father in his photographic studio, and over the years he had come to rely upon her more and more. She had confessed to me that in many ways she felt obligated to stay, as she was not sure how well he would cope on his own. Added to which she did actually enjoy her job, and she loved dealing with people of all kinds who came in for portraits or to arrange to have their weddings and other special events recorded for posterity.

“Now given half a chance, Jenifer would have loved nothing more than to work on the manor house herself. She wasn’t just a terrific photographer; she could turn her hand to almost anything artistic whether it was painting, drawing, needlepoint, fashion design, upholstery, DIY - almost whatever she tried. She would gush for hours after dinner about how she would design matching curtains and fabric covers for the furniture, as well as what colours she would paint each room, or what wallpaper would suit which walls best.

“Although I have never had any kind of artistic talent myself, it was easy for me to be swept away by her enthusiasm for the project and sometimes, if she was really excited about a particular idea, the time would just slip away until it would be midnight before we looked up and realised how late it was.

“But for all her eagerness and passion, we both took a very pragmatic approach in deciding what we would, in fact, do. Our plan was that once we had settled the death duties which the solicitor was in the process of calculating for us, we would sell the place and hopefully, if there was enough left, pay off our mortgage. It was still a windfall and a very pleasant surprise, but we were realistic enough to consider the fact that although such a lavish property might make a fortune in London, it was not going to be the same story in its present location.

“Also, according to the solicitor’s description, there was the state of the property to take into account plus, besides the death duties, the solicitor had mentioned that there might be some outstanding debts courtesy of my benefactor.

“But with all that, nothing could quell our excitement. We further discussed the possibility of being able to give Jane part of our windfall. Jenifer understood how close we both were, and what’s more they had grown quite close too. Therefore, we both agreed that we would look at the state of our finances once the dust had settled and see where to go from there.

“But the overall fact was that we were still incredibly thrilled about the future, especially with regards to our latest acquisition.

“The days at work leading up to our big adventure seemed endless, and for the first time in my life I actually considered how tedious and boring my chosen profession could be. I began to watch the second hand on the clock as it slowly mocked me for my impatience.

“With less than a week to go before we set off on our quest, Jenifer’s father was offered an extremely lucrative contract for a large fashion house which was just about to branch out into selling accessories as well as clothes. He had been offered the work as a result of a wedding that he and Jenifer had covered a couple of months earlier, which quite by coincidence was attended by one of the directors for the chain that was launching the new collection.

“Under normal circumstances Jenifer would have been just as excited as her father for the upcoming event, as it would be a tremendous opportunity for them to showcase their talent which might in turn lead to future bookings with the same company.

“Typically, however, the booking was planned for the week that we were going away to Northumberland to visit our new house. Naturally there was no point in asking the fashion house if they could postpone their shoot, as it would doubtless have meant that they would just go somewhere else and Jenifer’s father would lose his commission, not to mention the chance of any future work from the same organisation.

“Jenifer was torn. On the one hand she was desperate to come with me and see the house, but on the other hand she appreciated how desperate her father was to take on this new - and very influential - client, and there was no way that he could have handled the project on his own. He had often commented that if it had not been for Jenifer’s passion for the business he would have either had to scale down the operation or possibly even sell it off altogether.

“Jenifer and I spoke at length about what we were going to do about the situation, but we both knew that the pair of us would feel far too guilty to leave her father in the lurch. I even considered asking my manager if I could postpone my holiday for a week, but after the fuss he had created about my initial request we both decided that that would not be a viable option.”

Jonathan smiled up at the group seated around the table.

“Back in those days a job in banking was about as good as it could be for man with my qualifications, and the law did not protect the employee as much as it does now. I had seen colleagues dismissed on the day for the most minor of indiscretions, so I knew that it was not in my best interests to rock the boat.

“So, in the end we decided that the best course of action was for me to travel down to the house as arranged, and with any luck Jenifer could join me before the week was out, depending on how things went with the fashion shoot. If push came to shove we could always take a trip up there over a weekend, it was just a shame that we had missed the last bank holiday weekend for the year. It would be a tiring journey driving all that way for one night, but if it meant that Jenifer could see the house it would be worth it. Also, the bank was always closed over the Christmas period, so that might give us another opportunity to visit if Jenifer could wait that long.

“As much as she refused to let her parents see her disappointment, the closer my date to leave grew the more down-hearted Jenifer became. I knew instinctively how hard it was going to be to leave her behind when I set off, but our hands were tied.

“Eventually, the weekend before my trip arrived. Had we have been going together, we would have left first thing on the Saturday morning. But as I was going alone, I decided to postpone my departure until the Monday so that we could spend an enjoyable weekend together, and I could spoil my wife a little as recompense for her disappointment.

“We spent most of Saturday in the west end, shopping. The deal was that as it was part of Jenifer’s treat I would not complain. I had always hated clothes shopping, right back from when my parents used to drag Jane and I up into town when we were small. As much as I loved my wife’s company, it made little odds when she was darting in and out of boutiques and I was made to spend what seemed an eternity sitting outside changing rooms whilst she tried on every dress in the place. Especially when she ended up buying the first dress she tried on!”

There was a smattering of titters from a couple of the men, including Meryl’s husband who received a well-aimed elbow in the ribs for his cheek.

Meryl did not wish to disturb Jonathan while he was speaking, so she mouthed a silent instruction to Mike to replenish the glasses for everyone.

Jonathan continued. “We dined that evening at our favourite restaurant, and on the Sunday, as the weather was uncommonly pleasant for the time of year, Jenifer suggested that we spend the day by the seaside. We had always shared a love of the sea, and never needed an excuse to visit one of the many resorts accessible within a few hours’ drive from London.

“On this particular day, we chose Brighton as our destination as we had not visited it for a while. Being so late in the season we made very good time, and even managed to find a place to park along the front.

“The minute we both stepped out of the car our senses were infused with a heady combination of the usual seaside fare and treats being peddled by the seafront traders. As was our usual habit when visiting the seaside, we both had a modest breakfast so that we could look forward to overindulging in fish and chips, doughnuts, toffee apples, and naturally Jenifer’s favourite, candy floss.

“Jenifer had always been a marvellous swimmer, and her penchant for the sea was quite overwhelming so she had brought her costume so that she could have a dip before we ate lunch. I, on the other hand, was more than happy with our local pool, so while she stripped off into her costume I set out a couple of towels on the beach so that I could watch her swim.

“Jenifer would always swim out too far for my liking but she was not in any way reckless, so she made sure that she did not go out any further than the buoys that had been placed there as a marker. I watched from the beach, squinting into the sunlight until her tiny form almost disappeared from view. I would often catch myself holding my breath until I could see her on the return journey. But I never told her so because I did not want to spoil her fun.

“After her swim Jenifer towelled herself off and changed in one of the toilets along the front, and then we lay in the early afternoon sun for a while to top up the tans we had acquired during the summer. I managed to doze off, but fortunately Jenifer woke me up before I burned. Her swim had given her quite an appetite, so we made our way to a small fish restaurant we knew down one of the lanes where we had always managed to secure a table.

“We decided to walk off our lunch by taking a stroll along the front. As usual we planned on visiting the arcades and funfair later, so we initially headed out in the opposite direction, allowing ourselves plenty for the return journey.

“On our way back, as the pavement was growing more crowded with the arrival of latecomers, we decided to walk along the beach instead. The journey back took far longer than the journey out, mainly because there was a plethora of small craft shops at beach level and Jenifer could not resist stopping off to buy anything unusual that happened to catch her eye. I would always liken her to a child in a sweet shop whenever she was around craft stalls at fairs.

“As we approached the pier, I suggested that we use the next ramp to take us back up to street level. We were about to turn off when something else caught Jenifer’s eye and she began to pull me along, gesturing excitedly towards what appeared to be an old wagon further along the beach. It looked like something from an old Western film which should have had a horse attached to the front of it. The panels - unlike the canvas ones generally seen in the movies - were made of solid wood, and they were decorated with incredibly detailed and ornate paintings of various animals, forests, planets, and the like.

“As we grew closer, I saw the sign outside the wagon which had caused Jenifer to grow so excited. It was an advertisement for a gypsy fortune teller, promising, for a small fee, to reveal your future. Personally, I had never believed in fortune tellers, and table rappers, and people who claimed to be able to speak to the dead. The entire lunatic fringe, as far as I was concerned, were there merely to part gullible individuals from their money.”

Jonathan suddenly slammed his hand across his mouth, and his face grew red.

“I am so sorry,” he said, apologetically, looking at the individual band members. “I did not mean any offence towards any of you, or your traditions. Oh, how stupid of me!”

Melissa leaned over the table and placed her hand on his arm. “Please don’t reproach yourself,” she offered, comfortingly. “We know that you didn’t mean anything by it; please continue with your story, I’m fascinated to know what the fortune-teller told you.”

The others in the band all nodded their agreement and smiled at the old man, as if to convey their agreement with Melissa that they had not taken offence.

Jonathan took a sip of beer to clear his throat before he continued.

He was grateful for the band’s understanding nature, but he still felt foolish that he had allowed his words to slip out without considering their feelings.

“Now,” he continued, “where was I?” Jonathan took a moment to catch up with his train of thought before he continued. “I could tell from Jenifer’s eagerness that she was intent on visiting the wagon. Instinctively I began to pull back as we approached. Sensing my reluctance, Jenifer turned to me with that excitable look on her face that she always wore whenever she wished to convey to me that she desperately wanted to try, or buy, something which she knew I did not share her enthusiasm for. By now I had stopped dead in my tracks, refusing to play along. But, as usual, once Jenifer altered her expression to that of a pleading child, complete with pout and sad eyes, desperate to get her own way, I crumbled.

“Madam Zorha, according to the sign outside her wagon, had travelled the world reading the fortunes of everyone from kings and queens, to film and pop stars, and as a result she was in great demand, which sort of made me wonder why she was reduced to telling fortunes from an old cart on the beach. However, I did not share my concern with my wife. My guilt at having to leave her behind the following day as I set off to Northumberland would be eased, I reasoned, by allowing her this small indulgence without too much complaint on my behalf.”