Ghost Granny (3 page)

Catherine was immediately intrigued and
decided to search through the rest of the advertisements and help
wanted ads. Another, stronger, gust of wind blew the newspaper out
of Catherine’s hands. Catherine asked Cody if he had seen where the
newspaper blew to. Cody pointed across the street to where the
newspaper had blown up against the door of a little shop. Taking
Cody’s hand, Catherine walked across the street and when she
grabbed the newspaper, there was a help wanted sign on the inside
of the glass window it had been pressed against.

Catherine looked up and saw the name of the
shop. Thelma’s Chocolates. There were few things that Catherine and
Cody loved more than chocolate. Catherine decided to take a chance
and they walked inside. Behind the counter stood the little woman
in the blue dress that Catherine had seen in the hotel and a couple
of other places in town. The woman smiled and said “Welcome to
Thelma’s Chocolates.” Catherine returned her smile. “Hello, my name
is Catherine and this is my son, Cody. I believe we have seen each
other around town, but have never met. Are you Thelma?”

“I am Thelma’s sister. The lady looked at
Cody and said “I have a raspberry chocolate truffle with your name
on it!” Cody smiled and looked at his mother for permission to take
the offered candy. Catherine nodded and said “Thank you. I noticed
you have a help wanted sign in the window. What exactly is the
position you need help with?”

“I can be your taste tester!” Cody told the
women. This chocolate is so good! The lady in the long blue dress
smiled and said “If you want the job, it is yours! Now, to you.”
She said, looking up at Catherine. “Thelma needs someone to run
this shop while she travels. She has a young lady who comes and
actually makes the candy pieces, but it would be good if the
manager could also pitch in. Here is a book of all the candies and
their prices. Everything you might want to know or need to know is
all in his book. So, do you feel up for the job, Catherine?”

Cody looked up at his mother, silently
pleading
say yes!
“It sounds wonderful, we are just visiting
here, but I would love to make our stay more permanent. We have
been at our apartment for the past six years and our lease is
actually up this weekend. I say, yes!”

The lady in the blue dress smiled and said
“Good! It is all settled then, remember, the book holds the answers
to all of your questions.” The lady in the blue dress turned around
and her backside knocked over a stack of boxes. “Oh dear, well,
Cody, there is your first assignment.” She smiled and walked into
the kitchen which was in the back of the store behind the
counter.

Catherine waited for the lady to reappear
while she helped Cody restack the boxes. She then peaked into the
kitchen while saying “When did you need me to start work, Mrs…I’m
sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” But when Catherine walked into
the kitchen, it was empty.
How odd.

Just then a customer walked into the shop.
“Good afternoon, I am picking up an order for Roger.” Catherine
looked behind the counter and found a big box with the name “Roger”
on it and handed it to the lady. The woman handed Catherine $40.00
and said ‘keep the change.” Catherine knew how to run a cash
register from her days at the hardware store. She rang up the $40
and told the woman thank you when handing her the receipt.

Catherine sat down at one of the black wroth
iron table and chairs and read the book that the lady in the blue
dress had pointed out to her. Indeed it had just about everything
in there that Catherine could have asked. It had keys to the shop,
the shop hours, and even information on the local bank where her
check would be directly deposited.
I have a job, but we have no
home yet.
Catherine and Cody had a few days left to be at the
hotel, but what had she been thinking, accepting a job in this town
where she did not live?

A young lady came to the back door of
Thelma’s Chocolates and introduced herself as Isabel. She brought
in several sheets of chocolates and placed them in the
refrigerators. “You must be Catherine.” The young lady said. “Yes,
how did you know?” Catherine asked her. Luna asked me to give you
this.” She said, handing Catherine an envelope. “What is this?”
Catherine asked.

“It is the keys to 100 Enchanted.” “To,
what?” “To 100 Enchanted – the house that you are going to be
staying at. It is good that you don’t already have a home here,
this will be perfect for Thelma. You don’t have to worry about the
grass or other maintenance for the house since my brother Sebastian
takes care of all of that. Do you need help moving in?”

Catherine was almost speechless. “We don’t
really have much with us. The ad in the newspaper about the house
sitting, that house belongs to Thelma?”

“Yes, Thelma and her sister Luna own a lot
of property around here. It was nice meeting you, Catherine. The
shop is only opened a half day today, so if you need any help with
the house, let me know.”

“Thank you, Isabel.” Isabel left and the
clock on the wall chimed. Twelve o clock, the chocolate shop was to
close now. Catherine made sure the doors were locked and she and
Cody walked out into the afternoon sun. “Are we going to our new
house now, mom?” Cody asked.

“Cody, I am really overwhelmed. I don’t know
where this house is and I am not sure what I have gotten us into
here. Come to think of it, Isabel said she would help us, but I
don’t have a phone number for her or know where she lives
either.”

“Hello Catherine, Cody.” A man’s voice said.
Catherine looked up to see an older gentlemen standing in front of
her. “Hello, do we know you?” Catherine asked, still rattled by all
of the morning’s events. “You do now! I am Mr. Lucky, I teach
school here. I will be your teacher, Cody.”

“How do you know our names, Mr. Lucky?”

“We don’t get many newcomers, but when we do
it is always a treat. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Catherine was both relieved and cautious. “Could you tell us where
100 Enchanted is?”

“Of course – just over Luna’s hill. I would
walk with you, but I need to get back to classes. The school, by
the way, is just one half block over from here to your right. We
have a very good educational system here.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lucky, excuse me, but is
that your real last name?” “Sure is!” “It is very nice to meet you,
and thank you for your help.” Catherine said, standing up and
taking Cody’s hand. “Just over that hill, then?” “Yes, just on the
other side of Luna’s hill. Have a good day.”

Catherine and Cody walked towards the hill
where the pumpkin rolling contest had been held. When they got to
the top of the hill, both mother and son stood there in awe. “Cody,
this is spectacular!” “Mom, it’s like in a movie or something!”

Walking down the other side of the hill they
saw a heavy mist-like fog hovering over a beautiful postcard worthy
scene. There was the lake to their left, straight ahead of them was
a little wooden bridge over a pond and there were two deer drinking
from it. In the distance they saw a big thatched roofed house with
a wrap-a-round porch and three miniature ponies in the yard. To
their right was a garden with a staggering amount of pumpkins
growing. To Catherine, the mist reminded her of spun sugar
surrounding the scene like looking through a panoramic Easter egg
and seeing all the beauty inside.

The sight of a tractor pulling a big cart
full of hay came into their view. Catherine watched as the tractor
pulled up to them and stopped.

“Hello, you must be Cody and Catherine. I am
Sebastian. Would you like a ride down to the house?”

Catherine could not have imagined a more
perfect scene. Not only this phenomenal view, but also Sebastian.
He was about her age, tall and muscular, had a beautiful smile and
a welcoming hand reaching out to them.

Cody ran and started climbing onto the
tractor. “Whoa, Cody, why don’t you ride in the back with your mom
for now? “

“Cody, that is too high, come sit back here
on the hay with me.” Catherine told her son. “A hay ride, wow!”
Cody laughed. Sebastian brought out portable stairs and helped
mother and son up into the wagon. “Hold on, Cody, we have some
bumps to go over.”

Catherine put her arm around her son and
held on to the railing with her other hand. The deer did not
startle as they drove over the wooden bridge and Catherine was
surprised to see how dark blue the water was and how it glittered
in the sun. She couldn’t help but stare at the back of Sebastian’s
head and strong shoulders. She was glad that the short trip was not
conducive to conversation and she used this advantage to try and
collect her thoughts.

So much had happened to them since the storm
forced them off of the expressway. It seemed like weeks ago instead
of only a few days. Everything looked perfect, but perfect was not
a word that usually defined Catherine’s world and she needed time
to wrap her head around these recent events and take time to sort
things out in her mind. This, of course, would have to wait, no one
could think straight in this setting right here and now, everything
looked magical.

Sebastian pulled up to the very large Old
English style home. He helped Cody and Catherine down and said
“Well, what you think of the place?”

“It is beyond gorgeous, but that would be
quite a long walk to get back to the hill, especially in the
winter, which is coming soon.” Catherine said.

“That is why I am here.” Sebastian said,
then adding after he noticed the look of surprise on Catherine’s
face. “I mean, that is my job here. I oversee the house and the
land and make sure the inhabitants are safe and well cared
for.”

“Do you live here too?” Cody asked. “There
is a cottage in the back and that is where my sister and I, and my
son Max live. Max is ten years old, how old are you, Cody?” “I am
ten.” “That works well, Max is at school right now, but you will
get to meet him later.”

“Could you show us the inside of the house?”
Catherine asked. “Of course, the house is hundreds of years old,
but has all of the modern hook ups and electrical outlets. The
house if fully furnished, of course, and Thelma has instructed me
to keep the refrigerator and pantry stocked.”

“For us?”

“Yes. She and Luna are very grateful that
the house will have life in it again and are eager to do anything
to keep it that way.”

“But, how did she know, how did you know,
that we would be here today? We only found out ourselves not more
than two hours ago.”

“All I know is what Luna told Isabel. Is
there anything else you need tonight? Make a list of things you
find that would will need and I will make sure that I deliver
them.”

Sebastian pointed to the big bell on the
porch with a long rope. “Just pull it down and I will be here in a
hurry.”

Catherine walked around the massive house.
It was furnished with furniture that went well with the style of
the structure. The chairs and couches were all large and
comfortable looking. The kitchen had a modern gas stove and two
large ovens, a big pine wood table with eight chairs, toaster,
coffee pot, and microwave. Just from this quick assessment,
Catherine could not imagine anything that they would need that was
not already here.

Catherine ran her hand along the rich wood
mantel of the fireplace. “Sebastian, could you take me and Cody
back to the hill now?”

“Of course, but if you are worried about
your suitcases, I can retrieve them from the hotel for you.”

“No, I would like to go back to the hotel
now and just process everything. I mean, everything seems so
perfect and I am not ungrateful. I keep wondering what the catch
is?”

All of a sudden Catherine felt a rush of
wind and saw only a white blur out of the corner of her eye.

“Speaking of the catch – there she is.
Twinkle is the true owner of this house and she is who you are here
to look after.” Sebastian said.

Twinkle had jumped up onto the back of the
chair Catherine was sitting at and then continued on to the kitchen
table where she stuck her tail up in the air and looked at the
newcomers.

“Aw, mom, she is so cute!” Cody said, rising
from his chair.

“Oh Cody, don’t pick her up, she does not
know us and it will take her time to get used to us. Sebastian,
could you show me where her food and water pans are? I’d like to
make sure she is taken care of for tonight and so I can know what
and where to feed her tomorrow. We have never had a pet
before.”

“Never at a pet, ever?” Sebastian asked,
surprised.

“No, first where we lived was way too small
for even the two of us, and the apartment where we lived did not
allow pets and we were at work and school all day so it didn’t seem
fair to lock a pet up like that all alone.” Catherine said.

Sebastian showed Catherine and Cody where
Twinkle’s food was kept and then he said “Oh, I almost forgot.” He
walked over to the big coffee table that was in front of the six
foot long couch and picked up a rather large book. “This book will
tell you everything you need to know about living here.”

“May we take that book back to the hotel
with us? Luna gave us a big book all about the chocolate shop and
that information is priceless. It is very thoughtful of her and
Thelma to have left us such a good guide.”

“Are you hungry? I have a big pot of beef
stew on the stove in my cottage.”

Cody and Catherine were, in fact, very
hungry. She had to stop herself from sampling the chocolates at the
shop most of the time she was there today and she knew that Cody
had to be hungry by now.

“We wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.”
Catherine said.

“Not at all, actually, Isabel made the stew
and she always makes a lot. She loves to cook, I will be right
back.” Sebastian said.