The Stories That Haunt Us (9 page)

“That's it,” said the painter. “I quit. I won't be back.” John Campbell had a pretty good idea why the painter quit, but he wanted to hear him say it anyway.

“While I was painting, objects were moving about the room and when I got down to move the ladder, it moved on its own. That's when I left in a hurry.”

The painter was a man of his word. He never returned.

The Amiro Mystery

T
his story takes place in July 1900. Rosalie Amiro of Pubnico, Nova Scotia, left her home to go into the woods to collect tree bark and woodchips. She was never seen again.

One hundred and three years later, the question is still being asked. What ever happened to Rosalie Amiro?

This much we do know: She left home with a large basket to collect the tree bark and wood chips from trees her husband and other woodsmen were chopping down. She probably ventured close to where her husband was cutting, but, as I understand it, she didn't speak to him, and moved deeper into the woods, away from the woodsman.

She crossed paths with two young girls who were picking blueberries. Wanting company and someone to talk to, Mrs. Amiro invited them along, but they declined as it was close to suppertime and they had to get home. She bade them farewell and took her leave of the girls.

As mealtime drew close, Mr. Amiro, after a hard day's work in the woods, headed home to have his supper. Night came, and still there was no sign of Rosalie Amiro. So out of character was Rosalie's behaviour that a search party was quickly organized—even a wedding party joined in the search for the missing woman, as did the crews of two American fishing vessels that were in port. The search lasted for days and covered miles of the woods. In the end, though, Rosalie Amiro was never found.

What fate befell her?

According to Edward D'Entremont of lower east Pubnico, who included in his “Whisperings of the Past” booklet a description of the area where Mrs. Amiro was travelling, she probably fell into one of the bottomless sinkholes scattered throughout the swampy area. It's pure speculation, but that is all we can do when faced with another Maritime Mystery.

Captain Swaine's Secret

A
deline Colby said goodbye to Toronto, got in her car, and headed for Nova Scotia's south shore and a new life. She had already bought a two-hundred-year-old cottage that had been vacant for many years but was, according to the real estate agent, in surprisingly good condition, considering.

The cottage reportedly sat high above a wind-swept cliff overlooking the waters of the Atlantic. During the several phone conversations Adeline had with the real estate agent, he told her that she was buying a “getaway place,” a place of isolation. It sounded perfect to Adeline, and she bought it, sight unseen, and made arrangements with the local bank to hire a handyman to get the place ready for her arrival.

Adeline was forty years old and strikingly beautiful. She was tall and slender, and had what some would call cheekbones to die for. She had sparkling green eyes and warm auburn hair. A graduate of the University of Toronto, she won a job in public relations, moved on to Queen's Park, and kept moving up until she became the woman who was always a step behind the premier of Ontario. People said she had it all, but she was never satisfied or happy—something in her life was missing. She knew what it was, but would never face up to it because of the drastic upheaval it would bring to her lifestyle. But when she saw her on-again, off-again boyfriend arm in arm with his ex in the lobby of the Royal York, she realized it was time for a change.

Adeline decided that day to pack up her dreams and head east to her father's childhood home. She remembered her own wonderful days as a child visiting Nova Scotia, warm summer days at her granny's cottage along the Fundy shore. She never knew her paternal grandfather, who had been lost at sea. When she'd ask her father where he came from, where he was born, he'd lift her high above his handsome head and shout, “Why, child, don't you know? I'm a Shubieman!” When he was dying he asked to be cremated—and his ashes? He told the family to do what they wanted with them. “Chuck ‘em along Highway 401 for all I care.” His ashes were safely packed away, and now Adeline and her father's ashes were taking the trip to Shubieland.

Adeline's thoughts and memories of her parents and grandmother brought tears to her eyes. They were all dead now, and for the first time it hit her how truly alone she really was. All that was left of her family were warm memories.

When Adeline crossed into Nova Scotia from New Brunswick, she lowered the car's window and whispered into the wind, “I'm coming home, Granny.” Ever since she was a child, Adeline had dreamed of one day becoming a writer. Today would be the beginning of that dream.

Adeline arrived in Indian Harbour in late afternoon. Her plans were to stay with a friend overnight and go on to her new home in the morning. Her friend, Sandy Armitage, was an internationally recognized painter. She was in the doorway waving when Adeline drove up. They first met as children during a summer vacation up on the Fundy shore and remained friends ever since.

Sandy was the one who found the cottage for Adeline. She was also as an interior decorator, so naturally it was agreed that she should decorate the cottage, purchasing only the necessities until Adeline arrived, when they could both go on a shopping spree.

After dinner, Adeline and Sandy put on sweaters and walked the short distance from Sandy's home to the shore, where they sat on huge boulders much like the ones at Peggy's Cove. They talked about everything—except for why Adeline decided to pack it in and come east. High above, several squawking gulls circled over two Cape Islanders coming into harbour. Adeline said, “This place, I mean, I don't know. Somehow it doesn't seem real.” Sandy smiled. “You too, eh? It's said the place is haunted by a woman known as the lady in blue.”

“Have you seen her?”

“No, but people I know have.”

“Do you think we'll see her?”

“I doubt it.”

And then out of the blue Adeline started talking about why she had left Toronto.

“The reason I came east was to get out of a bad relationship, and I also felt a lack of fulfilment in my work. I've always had the urge to write. I've had this dream since I was ten. I don't know if it was a wise decision. I don't even know if I can write, but I have to find out.”

“I always said you were meant to be a writer. I could see it in the letters you wrote to me when we were still kids. You made the right decision Adeline, I can feel it.”

There was a chill in the air and fog was rolling in over the rocky beach. “Time to go back,” Sandy said.

Adeline was up bright and early the next morning, but not before Sandy, who was working on a new canvas.

“We'll have bacon and eggs before you set off.”

“Great. And the coffee smells delicious.”

Over the breakfast table, Adeline knew by the way her friend was looking at her that there was something on her mind and that she was having a difficult time finding a way of getting it out.

“I know you too well, Sandy, you have something on your mind. Out with it.”

“Well, it's just that. Now, it's just a rumour mind you, and yet if something untoward should happened I'd never forgiven myself for not warning—no, not warning—telling you.”

“Telling me what?”

“Well there are stories, rumours, that the cottage you bought is haunted. That's why it's been vacant for so long.”

Adeline laughed. “Haunted? Ghosts? Sandy, really.”

“It's what I've heard, so I thought it was only right that you should know.”

“And I thank you on behalf of myself and all those shadowy things that go bump in the night. Really, Sandy, I'm surprised.”

“It's okay then? You're all right with it?”

“Of course. I don't believe in all that hocus-pocus anyway.”

Sandy stood in the yard waving as her friend drove down the highway. She stayed there until the car disappeared. She couldn't put a finger on it, but she had an uneasy feeling as she went back into the house.

Two and a half hours later, Adeline turned the car onto the long and winding driveway that led to her new home. She noticed a green truck parked by the side of the house. When she got out of the car, a man came out of the house smiling.

“I'm Eddie Colter. The bank hired me to get things in shape for you.”

“Yes, Mr. Colter, nice to meet you. I'm Adeline Colby. How's everything? I mean with the house.”

“Oh, great. No problem. Everything is ship shape, like my daddy used to say.”

Adeline took in the sweep of the ocean. It was so enormous it took her breath away.

Eddie Colter was watching and sensed her nervousness.

“You gotta be real careful when near the cliff 's edge ma'am. It's a mighty long drop to the rocks below. Sometimes if you're standing too close to the edge, the wind will sneak up and lift you clear off your feet and down you go. That's why there's them poles staked out along the edge. Something to hold on to if you have a mind to peek over the side.”

“What's down there?”

“Two hundred feet of God's air and jagged rocks to fall on. If that don't kill ya, the fierce surf will. And something to remember ma'am, only a fool walks out here when the fog rolls in.”

“Well thank you, I'll remember. It will be some time before I find the nerve to get that close. Well then, I'd like to see the inside of the house before I get things out of the car.”

“Right, and then I'll help you with your things?”

“The heavy things, anyway.”

Adeline was certain she'd feel differently about the place tomorrow, but today she felt somewhat disappointed. She had assumed the cottage would be warm and welcoming. She had thought wrong.

It wasn't that there was anything specific she disliked. From the outside the cottage looked small, but inside it was quite spacious. There were two large bedrooms, the master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom. There was an enormous living room off the dining room and a good old-fashioned kitchen with ample cupboard space. On the west side of the living room there was an alcove facing the ocean, the perfect spot to write her book. Still, she couldn't shake the disappointment she felt about the house's atmosphere.
Oh well, we'll grow
to like each other, I'm sure
, she thought.

Before leaving, Eddie Colter offered to continue the handy work, and she accepted readily.

“I left my phone number on the kitchen table, ma'am, just in case.” Eddie Colter then saw the slightly alarmed expression on Adeline's face and quickly added, “It pays to be enterprising these days ma'am; early worm and all that.”

“Yes. Thank you. I'll have to see what needs to be done first.”

“I left a list of things that should be taken care of with the number ma'am. Well good day to ya.”

“Good day.” There was something about Eddie Colter that bothered her. Something strange. But if the bank people recommended him, he must be okay.

Adeline was surprised when she checked the refrigerator and shelves. Sandy had bought enough cans of food to last the winter—and, Adeline noticed with relief, a sufficient supply of wine, too. After supper, she watched the news, read a while, and fell asleep.

When she woke in the morning, the dream she'd had cluttered her mind. It was a most peculiar one. It had something to do with people arguing over where to hide a body. She also remembered how angry some of the voices had been.

After a shower she went downstairs to the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the automatic coffee pot. “Ain't progress grand,” she thought, as she made her way to the living room. She stood looking out the window at the dawn, sipping coffee and looking at the vastness of the ocean, when she heard someone behind her whispering. Adeline's back stiffened. The hand holding the cup began to shake.

My god
, she thought,
if I turn—and I must—what will I see?

Again the whispering. Her heart was racing and she was having difficulty breathing. She finally whirled around to face whatever it was, but there was no one there
. How could that be?
Adeline wondered.
I
distinctly heard someone whispering. Maybe somebody got inside and was
trying to scare me
. The thought angered her, which in turn gave her the courage to call out, “Hello? Hellooo?” No one. She crossed the living room toward the kitchen and was stopped in the doorway by what she saw. Faint at first, the shapes were beginning to appear. They were of eight men seated at a long table, whispering to each other. And it looked like the men had just come in from the rain. Water was dripping from their knee-high black boots onto the floor. Fear filled Adeline's heart when one of the men turned and looked in her direction. She took a step back. Was he looking at her or someone else?
I must be losing my
mind. Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?
she thought
. Is this something
out of the past? Ghosts! Oh god, Sandy's right! The place is haunted.