Mysteries of Holt House - A Mystery (4 page)

He dug his keys out of his pocket while
locking his door. He was shaking, but he managed to insert the right key and
start the engine, and he began to drive off the property.

Amelia had second thoughts.

“George,” she cried, “we’ve got to go
back! We can’t just leave him. You know we can’t do that. Turn back!”

“No!” George said as he pushed the gas
pedal closer to the floor. They were almost to the end of the drive. Everything
was happening too fast. George slowed before turning onto the road and stepping
on the gas again.

Something snapped inside Amelia as
George sped up, trying to get away. She glanced back toward the house and saw
the man standing in the driveway. What she didn’t know was that the tears she
saw on his face were tears of laughter, not tears of sorrow.

“We’re going back!” She grabbed the
steering wheel, trying to force her husband to turn the car around.

“No!” he yelled. “Let go of the
steering wheel, Amelia! I can’t keep the car on the road.” He struggled with
his wife but it was too late.

The crash was like a single boom of
thunder as they hit the tree. The man standing in the driveway laughed even
harder before turning and heading back into the house.

When a passerby stopped to help at the
scene of the accident, George’s last thought was that he couldn’t let anyone
know the truth about what had happened. He died trying to protect the man he
both loved and feared.

Chapter Five

“See?” Sharon said. “I told you I heard
she was nuts. She went berserk – you heard him.”

“Oh, Sharon. We don’t know if that story
is true or not,” I replied.

“Well, I know that most of it is true,”
Jasper said. “At least I know Mr. Holt said his wife fell and hurt herself and he
was rushing her to the hospital. My cousin, God rest his soul, was the guy who
stopped to help them. And Mr. Holt did say his wife was pretty upset. Now
whether or not she went off the deep end, I can’t rightly say.”

“Oh,” I said.

“By the way, do you know what ever
happened to the housekeeper they had?” Sharon asked.

“Haven’t a clue,” he replied. “She left
the area in a hurry and no one ever heard from her again.”

The house was three stories with a large
covered porch in the front, and a patio off to the side. The patio had
obviously been added at a later date since the house was so old.

We entered the house and stood in a small
entryway. By turning left we would enter the living room, but if we walked
straight ahead we’d come to the stairs that led to the second and third floors.
I looked up the stairs, almost expecting to see someone standing and watching
us. I shook off the feeling of being watched and followed Jasper.

We turned left and entered the living
room, where we found hardwood floors covered by the largest braided rug I’d
ever seen. There was a brick fireplace against one wall with an ornate mantle
over it. I could see a spot where a picture had once hung. I had a feeling the
portrait I’d bought would fit perfectly.

“That’s odd. I could swear the furniture
has been moved around. Oh well, probably just my imagination.” Jasper shrugged
his shoulders and began opening drapes to let the light in.

My gaze took in the rest of the room and I
saw the house was eclectic in style, probably due to additions and changes done
over the years, but it all worked together. There was a picture window
overlooking part of the porch.

Two doors led out of the living room. One
led to a library where I found wall to wall bookshelves, a game table and a
huge oak desk. An overstuffed chair sat by a lamp – just right for reading.

The other door led to a formal dining
room. There was a decorative hutch in one corner and a buffet in the other. A
large dining table dominated the room. I noticed most of the furniture was oak,
and the dining set was no exception. It was large enough to seat approximately
sixteen people, which would work perfectly with my plans. I wondered why the
Holts would have needed such a large table until I remembered they’d bought it
with the house.

From the dining room you could either exit
onto the patio, or go into the kitchen. The kitchen also had a door which led
onto the patio. Looking out the door, I realized there was room for a swimming
pool between the patio and the garden. The little tiny wheels in my brain
started spinning again.

At the rear of the kitchen there was a
small room which had been converted to a laundry room. Also at the rear of the
kitchen was a hallway leading to the servants’ quarters.

There were four bedrooms for the servants.
They weren’t as big as the rooms upstairs, I was sure, but they were still
larger than normal, and there was one bathroom to accommodate all four rooms.

We climbed the stairs and found there were
five bedrooms and three bathrooms on each of the upper levels, with a linen
closet at the front of each floor. There were two bedrooms on each side of the
hallway, with one master bedroom at the back of the house on each level.

It was wonderfully roomy, and after I
opened the shutters at one of the windows, it was quite light and cheerful. It
wasn’t a spooky old house after all. It only needed some light.

We took our time touring the house, then
returned to the living room and sat down to talk. I had questions for Jasper. I
was more comfortable with my decision as each question was answered.

“Well, that’s it,” Jasper said. “What do
you think?”

“I want it,” I replied. I knew I was being
too easy, but it was an auction so I didn’t need to worry about a Realtor or
owner jacking up the price. “When is the auction?”

“It’s a week from tomorrow.” Jasper gave
me the details and told me if I had any questions to call him. We shook hands
and I thanked him for his time.

The drive home was a quiet trip.

“You know, at first I thought this was a
ridiculous idea,” Sharon said.

I turned and frowned at her.

“Well, I have to be honest, don’t I?” she
said. “But anyway, after seeing the place, I’m beginning to think maybe you
could pull this off. I don’t know if you’ll have boarders or vacationers, but
it’s a great house. Lots of atmosphere.”

“I thought you said it was spooky,” I
reminded her.

“I did. Some people might actually like
the spooky stories that come with the place. You know how people can be.”

“No matter,” I said. “Some people want to
live out of town, and some want to get away for a vacation, and I’d have room
for both. I’ve really thought this through, and I figure I could have a pool
and tennis court installed, and add onto the patio. Enlarge it. And there’s
always hiking. I could even fill up the library for those who like to read. I
can make the rounds of the secondhand book shops so there will be all kinds of
books. And – ”

“You think you’ve got this all figured
out, don’t you,” Sharon interrupted.

“You have no idea how much thought has gone
into this. I’ve got pages and pages of ideas written down. When the thoughts
started coming, I just couldn’t stop them.”

“You know? I’m feeling kind of excited,
too.”

“I figure I’ll have to hire a housekeeper
who can cook and a handyman who can double as gardener. Of course, I’ll be
doing part of the housework and cooking myself.”

“Of course,” Sharon replied. “I wouldn’t
expect less from you. I may have found your first boarder for you, too.”

“You’re kidding!”

“No, I’m not. I’d love to get out of town
and I think we’d have a great time. I’m not going to quit my job, but I could
help you out in some ways. I hate housework, but I’m a great cook and I could
do the meals, at least the dinners, on the cook’s days off.”

“I knew there was a reason I liked you,
but are you sure about this?”

“I’m absolutely positive. It would be fun,
and it would be cheaper for me, paying for a room instead of an apartment.”

“Cheaper than you think. If you’re going
to help out, I’m not going to charge you for a room.” I suddenly felt very
generous.

“Yes, you will. You can’t make any money
if you give rooms away. A discount is fine with me though, and will be greatly
appreciated.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” I said,
feeling my spirits lift.

The next week passed slowly. I was anxious
to get the auction over which made the time drag. I called Jasper when it
struck me that I’d seen telephone lines going out to the house, but nothing
resembling power lines.

“There are power lines close enough to run
out to the house,” he explained. “In the past, generators were used.”

I was surprised that the Holts had been
such pioneers. Thanks to them, if the electricity went out, the generators were
still there. Propane was used for heat and was trucked in, and there were wells
on the property for water. That was fine with me. A small price to pay to live
out in the country.

“By the way, did you ask your supervisor
about the books Mrs. Holt kept?”

“Yes, he said you can have the household
books.” Jasper also told me no one else had shown interest in the house yet –
music to my ears.

I found myself spending many spare moments
during that week studying the portrait of Mrs. Holt. To say she fascinated me
was an understatement. I still couldn’t get past our resemblance to each other.
I even called my mother and asked her if she was keeping anything from me.

My mother laughed. “It really is just a
coincidence, sweetheart. I saw Mrs. Holt in town a few times, and in person the
resemblance isn’t so strong.”

“Thanks for setting my mind at ease, Mom.”

We hung up and I turned to the painting.
“I sure wish I could figure you out. I wish you could open your mouth and
answer some questions. Oh, well...”

The auction finally rolled around and
there was only one other bid besides mine. To my delight, I was able to outbid
the other person. The house cost less because of being sold through auction and
I would be buying it outright. It would be mine as soon as all the red tape was
cleared away. It didn’t take too long to process the paperwork, and in a month
I was able to move in.

I took my high back rocker, personal
possessions and a few of my “yard sale specials” with me, and had a yard sale
of my own to dispose of my other furniture. My rocker was the only thing I
absolutely refused to part with.

I didn’t have much work to do when I
arrived at the house. It was a little disconcerting, but someone had come in
and cleaned the entire place for me, and after checking I found it wasn’t the
agent or his people. The furniture was even rearranged so that it enhanced the
appearance of the house. I hung the portrait of Mrs. Holt over the fireplace in
the formal living room and everything looked complete. I did some unnecessary
dusting, put my personal effects away and made up my bed. I’d bought more
bedding and sheets, and purchased all new bedspreads for the bedrooms. I
wouldn’t make up the other beds until I had guests.

I thought it over and decided that I
didn’t want my room to be on the same floor as the guests’ rooms, so I took
possession of the largest of the servants’ rooms. I put my rocker by the
window. The room was set off from the others, so I’d still have my privacy.

It was such a large house. I couldn’t help
but wonder why the Holts had bought it since there were only the two of them
and they never entertained. Living in an old house meant I had to put up with
some creaking and occasional groaning, but that was okay once I realized no one
was sneaking around upstairs. It was mine.

After settling in and fixing myself soup
and a sandwich, I realized I was exhausted. So much had happened, and it was
finally catching up to me. I slept well the first night in my new home. The
peace was glorious. Even the sound of the crickets didn’t bother me. Their
chirping was like a lullaby.

What did it matter that I was all alone in
a big, very old and creaky, three-story house?

Chapter Six

I called a couple of employment agencies
before moving into Holt House and they were sending applicants out for
interviews for the two positions I needed to fill. The handyman would start work
within a week, but the cook wouldn’t be needed for about a month. I felt I
could have the rooms filled within that timeframe, and until then I could do
the cooking and cleaning myself.

I also had the telephones connected a
couple of days before moving in, so early in the morning I called to place an
ad which would run in a few different newspapers in the surrounding cities,
looking for boarders or vacationers who wanted a great place to stay. Later on
I’d need to look into broader advertising to attract more vacationers.

My first interviewee showed up bright and
early, and turned out to be completely wrong. Mrs. Lomley
didn’t
do more
things than she
did
do. The interview didn’t last long.