Chapter 1
The Sad Ghost
[Based loosely on a dream I had in January 2021]
In life Elizabeth Grouse was a well-liked woman, she had everything she wanted in life, a husband that she loved and, a grand house in which they both lived. They were committed to each other, or so Elizabeth thought. Because when her husband, Neville died, she found that in his will, her husband had left everything to someone called Amelia Cartwright. Who was this woman? She had never heard mention of this woman before, and upon inquiring, she found that none had heard of this mysterious woman either.
Elizabeth hired a private detective to find out the whereabouts of this Miss Cartwright, and when he reported back to her that he had found that the name was a pseudonym for a man called Roger Blackwell. It appeared that, according to the private detective that Mr Grouse and Mr Blackwell were more than just friends. Elizabeth, as to be expected in her time of grief was, as they say, devastated. Not only was her husband carrying on with a man, but he had also left everything to this Blackwell fellow. Elizabeth appealed to the courts, but could not get the will overturned and eventually it happened. Elizabeth in a fit of madness flung herself from the second floor landing to the ground floor ending her once happy life.
Mr Roger Blackwell, now a rich man and living in the grand house left him by his deceased lover whiled away the hours hosting party after party for all his ‘strange’ friends, as people of the town would label them. But it was with relish and joy that Blackwell continued to ignore the slanderous remarks made about him and his ‘strange’ friends by the townsfolk. Never one to back down from anything, Blackwell ignored comments by his friends that his home might be haunted saying that they felt unwelcome in certain parts of the house. He laughed at their weaknesses and bid four of them to spend the night in rooms on the second floor. Never ones to be made to feel weak, the men accepted Blackwell’s offer of comfortable beds and as much drink as they wanted.
The old grandfather clock in the hallway struck the hour of twelve as all five men were retiring to their bed chambers. Each of them taking a bottle of brandy to ‘help them sleep’ as they would say. Phillip Davidson was preparing for his bed when he thought he heard someone walking along the hallway outside his room. Upon opening the large oak door he stuck his head out and peered into the near darkness but could not see anyone, but, he could smell what appeared to be a lady’s perfume. Tiptoeing out into the hallway Davidson made his way to the hallway leading to the stairs; he could still smell the sweet aroma of the perfume and continued to follow it. Upon getting to the stairs he thought he could just make out a figure looking over the banister rail. The figure seemed to be that of a lady, but she appeared to be shimmering. Then with a flourish, the shimmering figure went over the banister rail and in his head Davidson could hear a scream and then silence. Running to the banister he looked down and saw a figure on the floor below. Taking up a candle from the wall sconce he rushed down the stairs to the ground floor to where he saw the crumpled figure laying, only to find no one laying there dead. Davidson trembled with fear and held the candle aloft to see if he was in the right area. No figure to be seen lying dead on the floor. With a shudder, Davidson made his way back up the two flights of stairs to his room and upon locking the bedroom door poured himself a very large brandy.
