Ghost House (6 page)

Sarah ran to the back door and opened it with
her key and then ran down the stairs into the basement. Nothing. No
smoke, nothing out of place.
That is so odd
. Sarah made
several trips in from the car and once she had all of her groceries
and other packages from her shopping trip on the table she again
thought of the white smoke she had seen and how she then saw
nothing in the basement that would have caused that.

Sarah realized with a start that there was
something else that she hadn’t noticed until just this second.
Where was Cooper? She had neither seen, nor heard him since she
came home.

“Cooper! Cooper!” Sarah went through every
room and finally she heard him whimpering behind the closed door to
the upstairs bedroom that they had never explored yet because of
the extreme heat. Sarah threw open the door and there was little
Cooper looking up at her with his big eyes and he looked tired and
was panting heavily.

Sarah picked him up and then grabbed a cold
bottle of water out of the refrigerator and an empty bowl and her
keys. She ran outside with Cooper in her arms. She got into the van
and turned on the air conditioner at almost full blast and sat
Cooper on the seat next to her and poured out some of the water
into the bowl. Cooper lapped it up so quickly that she was afraid
it would make him sick if she gave him too much more cold water in
his hot tummy. She did get some paper towels out of the back seat
and wet them and placed them on Coopers head. Little Cooper looked
up at her with love in his eyes and the two of them sat there in
the van with the air conditioning on until Cooper seemed back to
normal. “You scared me, little sweetheart.”

Cooper jumped out of the van when Sarah
opened the door and he ran into the backyard and took one lap
around it before stopping to relieve himself. Sarah waited until he
was through and they went back into the house together. The house
was cool because Sarah had left the air conditioning units on while
she had been shopping, but there was no air conditioning upstairs
and with that door shut and no way to get to his water dish, Cooper
could have been in serious trouble if he had stayed there much
longer, or if he had been an older dog.

Cooper stayed by Sarah’s side as she put the
groceries away, the ice cream had been well on its way to melting.
She made spaghetti and meat balls and set the table for dinner so
Jim and the girls wouldn’t have to wait on their dinner. Sarah had
enjoyed her day to herself, days like that were rare. Suzanne would
start school in September and then she would have more time, but it
was nice to get things done today without having the kids with her.
She felt guilty now though, poor little puppy. She wondered how
Cooper got stuck on the stairs behind that door. It was not a door
they ever had reason to open. They had not even stored anything up
there like she originally thought they might do.

Sarah finished her dinner preparations and
then sat in the living room with Cooper on her lap, both taking a
well-deserved break.

“We’re Home!” Sarah heard Jim’s voice coming
in the back door. The girls had t-shirts with the JAMICO logo on it
and both girls were smiling and full of stories to tell their mom.
Sarah laughed when she saw that even Mr. Pickles had on the company
t-shirt.

“We have missed you!” Sarah said and meant
it. “Come sit down, I made spaghetti!” Sarah said, turning on the
oven to heat the garlic bread and asking Jim to get the salad out
of the refrigerator.

“Yea!” Suzanne squealed.

Chapter 7

Saturday morning everyone slept in except
Cooper. He went into Sarah and Jim’s bedroom and rubbed his head
against her outstretched foot. Sarah let him out into the backyard
and then made herself some coffee, went into the living room and
turned on the T.V. She rarely had time to watch television since
they moved to Michigan. She was amused at a news story about a
little dog, a cockapoo like Cooper. When the dog’s owner would tell
the dog to ‘say momma’, the little dog would say it and it actually
sounded perfectly clear.

She heard Cooper jump up against the back
screen door so she let him in and poured herself another cup of
coffee. Cooper jumped on her lap as soon as she sat back down.
Sarah looked at Cooper and said “Say Momma, Cooper.” Cooper turned
his little head looking at her and said nothing. Sarah wasn’t going
to give up that easily. She looked at him and over and over again
she said “Momma”.

“Try and see if he will say Daddy.” Jim
laughed at her from the doorway. He walked into the kitchen and got
himself a cup of coffee and sat down next to his wife. “There was a
story on the news and it showed a little dog just like Cooper and
he would say momma every time his owner asked him to.” Sarah
explained. “Cooper is smart, but I bet even if he could talk, it
would be a long time training him to. Not that he would know what
he was saying.” Her husband said.

“I want to run some things past you before
the girls get up, Jim.” “More to-do things for the list?” He
asked.

“No, this is more important.” Sarah then
detailed how she found Cooper on the stairs to the upstairs bedroom
behind the shut door and how she probably got to him just in time.
Jim became angry and said that he told the girls they had to be
responsible for the dog if they got one. He said he would have a
stern talk with them. “But why would they even open that door and
wouldn’t they notice that Cooper was behind the door before they
shut it?” Sarah asked.

“Apparently not. What else could it have
been? I doubt Cooper opened that door by himself, or if he did it
would have stayed open at least wide enough for him to exit back
out of there.”

“He seems to have recovered nicely, I have
been keeping an eye on him since then. It’s amazing how attached
you become to pets in such a short time. Oh – another thing, I met
a guy named Alex.”

“You are leaving me for a guy named Alex?”
Jim teased. Sarah told him about her encounter with the much
tattooed teenager. She mentioned what he had said about the new
siding, but left off the part where their teenage daughter appeared
smitten with the boy.

“Hey, good deal, as long as he does a good
job. This is a lot of grass in front and in the back. Does he have
his own mower, or should I put that on the list of things to get
today?” Jim asked. “I see how seriously you take the list, Jim that
has been on your list of things to do since we got here.”

“I can get a lawn mower, but where would we
store it? We have to get a key for that garage out there. Come to
think of it, it’s been a few weeks since we got here and yet the
grass looks just fine, I wonder why?”

“Why? It’s because that Mr. Witters has been
cutting it.” Sarah explained.

“I think it is about time that we paid the
management company a visit.” Jim said and his wife agreed.

Sunday morning the family was enjoying a late
breakfast when Cooper started to bark and ran to the side door. A
knock on the door followed. “You must be Alex” Jim said, answering
the door. Riley jumped up and ran into her bedroom to get out of
her pajamas and Suzanne was trying to see around her father’s
legs.

“Yes, sir. I was wondering if your wife had
spoken to you about the grass yet.” Alex said, smiling down at
Suzanne and Cooper. Jim invited the young man in and they struck a
deal for keeping the grass cut. Riley walked into the room “Oh, hi,
Alex, I didn’t know you were here.” “Hey, Riley.”

Jim, wanting to convey the message to this
young man that his older daughter was only thirteen, said “Riley,
your birthday is coming up, fourteen. Now that the grass will be
cut, maybe we can plan to bar-b-que.”

Riley looked at Alex. “You will come, won’t
you, Alex?” “Yeah, sure, when is it?” “In a couple of weeks.” Riley
smiled.

Sarah glanced at her husband, but he wisely
chose not to make eye contact with his wife just then.

“We are going bowling today.” Suzanne said,
smiling up at Alex. “Can you come with us?” “Oh, well, thank you
for the offer, but I can’t. I’ll be back Saturday to cut the grass
though.”

“The girls will make sure they use the pooper
scooper Friday to clean up the yard before you cut it.” Sarah said.
Riley looked embarrassed. “Pooper scooper, pooper scooper.” Suzanne
laughed at the words which were new to her. “You think it’s so
funny, Suzanne, you can do it all by yourself.” Riley told her
younger sister.

The Gaunter family went bowling. Julia was
there and she and Riley laughed and whispered. Suzanne threw one
child’s bowling ball down the lane and then decided that was enough
for her and sat cross legged on the chair playing with Mr.
Pickles.

“I like that Riley has a friend here, she
seems like a nice kid.” Jim said, then repeated himself when he
noticed that Sarah didn’t seem to hear him. “Yes, me too. I am
concerned about Cooper. I can’t help but worry that he might find
himself on those stairs again.”

“You checked twice before we left, the door
was shut. I like the neighborhood, but I am thinking when the lease
runs out we should think about moving to a different house.” Jim
said. “One with air conditioning, a full garage and more
space.”

“I would like to stay in the same vicinity
though. It would be a shame to pull the girls out of their new
school after being there one semester and then having to make new
friends in another.” Sarah said. “I like the neighborhood where
Julia’s family lives, but we have to make sure first that your job
will continue here and we not be transferred again.” “Looks pretty
stable, I like being back here.” Jim said.

Sarah was relieved when they returned home to
find all was as they left it. Julia had come home with them and all
three girls and Cooper ran outside to play while Sarah fixed lunch.
She heard the sound of a basketball being bounced on the cement and
when it didn’t stop she looked out the kitchen window. Alex was
standing by the fence talking to the girls and drippling a
basketball.
Look at those faces, all three girls have a crush on
that guy. Maybe I should have told Jim that he should cut the grass
himself.

“What is so interesting out there?” Jim
asked, walking into the kitchen. “Alex is out there talking to the
girls.” “He seems like a nice enough guy.” Jim said. “He has to be
at least seventeen years old!” Sarah pointed out. “And your point
would be..?” Jim teased her. “My point is that I am not sure I like
Riley having a crush on someone that much older than she is.”

“They are kids, and I don’t know about Alex,
but when I was seventeen, I wouldn’t be caught dead around a
thirteen year old.” Jim smiled. “You just said it, you don’t know
about Alex, neither do I.” Sarah tried to reason with her husband.
“Sarah, just keep an eye out, Riley is a good kid and a smart one.
Besides, we have our own little spy and a guard dog.” “Suzanne does
make a good spy, but Cooper has a lot of growing to do before he
could even guard himself.”

“What are we going to do about Riley’s
birthday?” Jim asked Sarah, who was still nervously looking out the
kitchen window.

“Probably a bar-b-q, but she does not really
know any other kids around here, just Julia. She invited Alex
already. Maybe we should take the girls and Julia to Frankenmuth or
maybe go down to Sandusky, Ohio to Cedar Point, although I don’t
know if I feel up to being in an amusement park with three girls
all day and the long drive. Then too, we have Cooper now. I really
don’t want to leave him home alone.”

“Well, we can ask Riley and see what she has
in mind. It’s a shame we don’t have a pool here. No need to go
anywhere when we had a pool right in our own back yard.”

Sarah heard the sound of the basketball being
bounced again and all three girls ran in the back door, looking for
popsicles.

“Riley, your dad and I were just discussing
your birthday, what do you want to do on your special day?”

“Can we go back to Tennessee so I can see
Brianna?” “No, honey, that won’t be possible.” “Can she come here
then?” “Not a good time, Riley, we don’t even have enough sleeping
space and there is no central air conditioning here.”

“Well then why did you ask me if you’re just
going to shoot down everything I say anyway?” Riley demanded.

“We were thinking of a cook out in the
backyard, Julia, you can come.” “Thank you, Mrs. Gaunter.” Julia
said, but Riley just said “Whatever! I already asked Alex and he is
coming.”

Julia spent the night and she and Riley
talked and played their music almost the entire night. They didn’t
have it on loud, but in a house that small, sound travels and you
could hear the music through the vents. Twice Sarah thought about
getting up to tell the girls to keep the noise down and Jim
actually did get up once, but Sarah coached him back into bed,
telling him it was nice that Riley had a friend and that Julia’s
parents must have the same sleepless nights when Riley stayed with
them.

Sarah took Julia home the next morning and
she and the girls went to the management company to talk to them
about Mr. Witters. Sarah was frustrated when she walked into their
office. She did not like to complain, but Joe Witters had pushed
her to her limits.

As soon as Sarah gave her name and the house
address to the receptionist, the lady said “I understand.” And
handed Sarah a form to fill out that had in big bold letters across
the top NOTICE TO QUIT.

“Oh, I’m afraid there has been a mistake. I
would like to speak to someone about the property we are renting at
the address I gave you, but we are not planning to leave, at least
not until our lease is up.” Sarah explained. The receptionist
looked surprised and then told her someone would be with her in a
moment.

Sarah was preparing dinner when she heard a
knock on the screen door. Cooper came running out of the bedroom,
barking at the person at the side door. Sarah looked.
Oh no, not
Mr. Witters again!