The Haunting of Pitmon House (15 page)

“What was this about protection?” Granger asked. “What kind
of protection is she asking for?”

“I think she’s replaying the gas leak,” Robert said. “She
realizes she died from inhaling something, and wants to be protected from that
happening again.”

“Of course it’s not going to happen again,” Eliza said. “That
was a moment in the past. What, is she stupid?”

“Many ghosts are,” Granger replied. “Most of them are stuck
in some way or another, reliving pivotal moments that were important to them.
If this is hers, we just have to accommodate it.”

“I’d say something like a gas mask,” Robert said. “She knows
she was poisoned. If she has a gas mask, she might reveal herself.”

“Even though she can’t use the damn thing?” Eliza said.

“Even though,” Granger replied. “She thinks she can, and it’s
a gesture of goodwill on our part.”

“Where are we going to get a gas mask?” Rachel replied.

“Army surplus,” Robert replied. “They’ll be open at 8AM
tomorrow. We can go back in to the house once we pick one up. I’d rather talk
to Agnes in the daytime, anyway.”

“Do you two want to stay over?” Granger replied. “We have an
extra room and a couch. Save you driving all the way back to Spring Green.”

“I don’t work tomorrow,” Eliza replied. “You, Rachel?”

“Half shift, starting at 3,” Rachel replied. “I could
probably beg out of it if we’re not done by then.”

“Alright,” Granger replied. “It’s settled. You’ll stay with
us, and we’ll start again in the morning.”

They walked over the grass to the iron gates. Granger used
his key to open them and let them out. Eliza turned to look back over her
shoulder at the house beyond.

Another day
, she thought, worried about Shane.

When they returned to Granger’s place, they discussed how the
day had gone over beers. When it was time to turn in, Rachel took the extra
bedroom, and Robert gave up his room to Eliza, saying he’d take the couch. They
said their goodnights, and Eliza was left in Robert’s room, feeling a little
awkward. She’d spent the night in a man’s room before, but never by herself,
and she felt guilty looking at the things on his dresser: deodorant and
cologne, combs, a picture of his parents. She picked up and looked at the
picture of a much younger Granger, standing with his arm around a young woman
with dark hair. She wondered what happened to her.

She had insisted that she’d sleep on top of the bed with a
blanket, resisting his desire to offer clean sheets. As she laid down on the
bedspread, she enjoyed the smell of his pillow. The more she thought of him lying
in the bed with his head in the same spot, the more she found herself becoming
aroused, and she contemplated slipping her hand inside her pants before she
decided it was inappropriate. Instead, she tried to fall asleep.

In the morning, she found Granger in the kitchen making
breakfast, and she asked if she could use his phone to call the hospital and
check on Shane. While making the call, she watched as Robert awoke from the
couch, his hair twisted and flattened. He swung his legs onto the floor and
raised himself into a sitting position. He was wearing shorts, and as she
waited on hold, she couldn’t help but notice the muscles in his legs. When she
glanced up at his face, he caught her looking.

She turned away quickly, just as the nurse came on the end of
the line. They discussed Shane’s condition, and when she turned back, Robert
was gone.

“How is he?” Granger asked once she hung up.

“No change,” Eliza replied. “Still the same.”

“Coffee?” Granger asked, pointing to a pot. “Help yourself.”

“Thanks,” she replied, walking to the counter and pouring herself
a mug. She sat at the bar behind the stove and cutting board, watching as
Granger cooked.

“Just a veggie scramble,” he said. “Bacon’s on the side in
case you’re not a meat eater.”

“Only in Madison would someone say that,” Eliza replied.

“I suppose you’re right,” Granger chuckled. “Robert’s in the
shower. Haven’t seen Rachel yet.”

“I’ll wake her up,” Eliza replied, leaving the counter and
walking to the hallway that led to the bedrooms. She passed Robert’s room and
knocked on the next door.

“Breakfast is on!” she yelled.

She heard rustling inside. “Alright,” Rachel croaked. “Give
me a few minutes.”

She turned and walked back down the hallway, passing the
bathroom door. Inside she could hear water running, and a quick image of Robert
inside, naked, water pouring off his body, popped into her mind. She let it
stay there while she returned to the kitchen and chatted with Granger until
everyone was up and running.

Robert was out the door at ten to eight, saying he’d return
before 8:15. Granger explained that the surplus shop wasn’t more than twenty
blocks away.

Robert came back with a plain, square cardboard box. Eliza
opened the top, seeing and smelling the rubber of the mask, with Rachel looking
over her shoulder.

“Stinks,” Rachel muttered.

“Yeah,” Eliza said, closing the box. “I’d hate to have that
on my head.”

They loaded into Granger’s tiny Fiat and made their way back
to Pitmon House. The sun was starting to warm things up, but Eliza kept her
jacket on, knowing there was no heat inside the residence. As they passed
through the large iron gate, she was glad they had waited until daylight to
proceed, even if the gas mask had forced the issue. At night the building
looked much more terrifying. During the day, she hoped she’d be able to see
more.

Once inside, Granger passed around the flask, encouraging
them all to drink. They climbed the first flight of stairs, their flashlights
off, and stopped on the landing.

Eliza looked across the sitting area to the far wall where
the second story stairs continued up. It appeared empty.
Is it there, just
out of sight?
she wondered.

They passed the door to Reid’s room and made their way around
the landing until they were at the base of the stairs. This time, looking up,
she could see light in the hallway beyond. They ascended.

“Easier over here,” Rachel said. “Not as much pressure.”

“We noticed that last night,” Granger replied. “Whatever’s
causing it, it’s strong on the other side of the house.”

As they crested the stairs, a long hallway appeared in front
of them. The carpet runner extended from the stairs right down the hall. At the
far end Eliza thought it might be a dead end; noting how the carpet ran, she
decided it was a T, and you could turn right or left. There were four or five
doors on each side of the hallway before you got to that point; each of the
doors looked exactly the same. A couple of them had transoms, which were closed.

“This is it,” Robert said, reaching for the handle to Agnes’
room and turning it. He pushed the door open, and they went inside.

It was brightly lit; large windows that faced the front yard
of the house extended from waist height to the ceilings. Eliza expected the
wood floorboards under her feet to creak as she walked, but they were
rock-solid. She reminded herself of Keith’s Pitmon’s money, and how the
craftsmanship involved in constructing the place meant it was likely to remain
resistant to the decrepitude visited upon most old, unused houses.

Robert placed the cardboard box that contained the gas mask
on the bed. “Agnes!” he called out, Granger having suggested that Robert should
lead the attempt to contact her. “Agnes! We’ve brought protection for you! Now
come out and speak to me. Speak to us. We want to talk to you. You’ve nothing
to fear from us.”

Eliza noticed Robert dropping into the River, so she joined
him. Once she was in the flow, she looked around the room, hoping to see the
ghost. Nothing appeared.

Agnes!
Robert asked again.
I’ve done as you asked. Come and speak with me.

Eliza just happened to be looking at Robert when she saw the
depression on his shirt, a hand pressing against his stomach, sliding downward.
She glanced up to his face, and could tell by his expression he was being
manhandled.

Come out, Agnes!
Eliza said, jumping into the process, hoping that the
presence of another woman in the room would cause Agnes to back off Robert. He
looked at her, aware of what she was doing. He smiled.

The box flew from the bed, rising through the air as it went,
slamming against the dresser. The gas mask spilled from the container and
rolled on the floor, stopped by the tubing that extended from the mouth and
terminated in a small filter cartridge. The box fell next to it, and Eliza
watched as the box was flattened, stomped on by feet she couldn’t see.

It’s for you!
Robert said.
You wanted something to protect you,
remember? I brought it for you!

Eliza saw the gas mask rise from the floor. An invisible hand
slipped it over a head, and it sat suspended in the air at face height. It
moved toward her, and Eliza stood her ground, waiting as the mask stopped just
inches from her face and tilted slightly. She was being examined.

In a flash the mask moved to Rachel, looked her up and down,
sliding behind her, checking her out from all angles. It moved quickly to
Granger, and then rapidly back to Robert.

You see?
Robert said.
You’re safe now. You’re safe while you’re with us.

Eliza could sense the faintest fog of white appearing inside
and around the mask. It was too vague to call a person, and it twisted and
moved like wisps of smoke. The mask shifted until it was directly in front of
Robert’s face, and Eliza could see the wisps moving toward him, reaching out at
waist height, swirling around his groin. Robert inhaled a sudden gasp of air,
and took a step back.

Now, now, Agnes!
Robert said.
We hardly know each other!

The mask moved to follow him, and Robert stepped back again.

What’s happening to him?
Rachel asked Granger.

Robert turned to her.
She’s…trying to stimulate me.

Rachel stepped forward.
Listen, bitch! Back off!

The mask turned to Rachel, then retreated.

Is this your wife?
Eliza heard, a weak, old voice, barely emanating from the
voicemitter in the mask.

Yes, I’m his wife!
Rachel said.
Keep your bitch-ass hands to yourself!

The mask tilted down.
No ring,
Agnes observed.

Reid Pitmon,
Robert said, trying to move the subject to their reason for
being there.
He told his father that you know a lot about other people here
in the house. Is that true? Do you know a lot, Agnes?

The mask turned to look back up at Robert’s face.
Reid?
The
frail voice said.
A fussbudget. Speaks like he minds his own business, but
he’s always up in everyone’s. I wouldn’t believe anything he told you.

Do you know Yessler?
Robert asked.
That’s who we really wanted to talk with
you about.

Yessler?
Agnes said.
Oh, you mean Kendall!
She laughed.

Is that who Yessler is?
Robert asked.
Kendall?

He called his sorry business Yessler Enterprises,
Agnes replied.
He had no head for
business or money. He could have been called Rockefeller and he’d still have
been a poor sod of a man. I feel sorry for him, I really do. No man should be
cuckolded the way he has been. Shameful. Do you know what? I think he liked it!
I think he liked their abuse! How perverted!

Kendall was married?
Robert asked.

Marvin kept an eye on them,
Agnes said.
That’s how I know about their sex
games, and the way Tena would make him masturbate while she had sex with Dominic,
right in front of him! Can you imagine the humiliation? Beyond scandal, and
going on right here in this house, with decent people living on either side of
them! Tena was a disease, let me tell you! When she first moved here, she
seemed normal enough, but the longer she associated with Dominic, the more
twisted she became. They fed off each other’s perversion. Two peas in a pod.

Eliza noticed that the more Agnes talked, the more her
personage began to take shape; instead of just wisps of white, she now had
edges that defined her body.

Marvin told me all about it,
Agnes continued.
They became so
wrapped up in their sick ways, they started abusing other people for pleasure,
starting with Kendall. Imagine a man who wouldn’t stand up for himself, who
actually likes being made fun of, being forced by his own wife and her lover! I
think it’s depraved, don’t you?

Suddenly Agnes raised her hands to her throat, coughing and
spitting, struggling for air. She tore at the mask and ripped it from her head,
tossing it to the ground where it landed with a thud. Then she froze, as though
someone had pressed a pause button, and she slowly faded until she was gone.

Agnes!
Robert called.
Agnes! Are you there?

They waited, Robert calling, hoping the ghost would return.
After ten minutes they gave up. Eliza dropped from the River and saw the gas
mask lying on the floor.

“Not a lot to go on,” Granger said. “Come on, let’s get out
of here while things are still quiet.”

They followed Granger from the room and down the stairs.
Eliza kept looking back over her shoulder, wanting to be sure they weren’t
being followed as they rounded the landing and made their way down the main
staircase.  

Once they reached the porch, Rachel said, “She sure seemed
titillated.”

“I can see why Reid was concerned,” Robert said. “That’s some
interesting family secrets to be spilling.”

“The problem is we need more than that,” Granger said. “If that’s
her cycle, we’ve got to find a way to stop her going on about Tena and Dominic,
so we can talk to her about Kendall before she asphyxiates again.”

“We did get names,” Robert said. “Kendall, Tena, and Dominic.
And she mentioned Marvin, like Reid did.”

“It gives us other people to contact,” Granger said. “So it
wasn’t entirely useless.”

“And you got a little thrill out of it!” Rachel said, giving Robert
a smile.

“I propose we try one of them,” Granger said. “If none of
them pan out, we can try again with Agnes.”

“Where do you want to do it?” Robert asked.

“Let’s try the landing,” Granger replied.