That Old House

I stumbled into the stairwell opening, propelled by the shove. If I hadn't caught the edge of the door, I would have fallen through the opening, taking Andrew with me. As it was he caught me, teasing me for being clumsy. "Careful, Bub."

"I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It must have been an accident," I tried to explain, while pulling the doors shut above me. The door slammed shut, in spite of my trying to control its descent. My hands were shaking when I slid the bolt home.

"Probably best to make that area off-limits," I said. "Nothing up there anyway."

The brief bit of excitement was forgotten shortly after, when the kids hit the outdoors, once Karen had taken care of young Holly's pinched fingers. Nothing serious, thankfully.

I tried to be a good host, but my mind was working overtime. Mary's warning, the accident, the firm push in my back, they all had me worrying. I had a bad feeling.

Mary and I needed to talk. Not now, but soon.

* * *

Our little party was a hit, and as soon as our guests had departed, Karen put an exhausted Bev down for a short nap, while I started the cleanup. My nerves calmed a bit, but I still considered hunting Mary down for a private discussion. In the end, I decided to postpone it for the following day. I was going to spend a good part of the next few days working on the second floor and figured I'd have some privacy then.

"They're nice people," Karen observed.

"I know. I can't believe how lucky I've been so far."

She chuckled. "It's not luck, Jack. Likes attract."

I shrugged it off. I knew better. "Any interesting gossip?" I teased.

"Girl talk. They're curious of course."

"About?"

She laughed. "About everything. If you're single. How we came to know each other. How long Bev and I are staying. What you do for a living. If you plan on living here, or selling the place when you're done. What kind of pie you like. The list goes on and on. I think you're going to be the topic of a lot of town conversations for a while."

"That's all I need."

"Get used to it. What did you expect, rebuilding the hilltop haunted house, and doing it almost in secret, by yourself?" She leaned in and gave me a hug. "I told them you had a Swiss-army knife, deluxe model."

"Haunted house?"

"Can you believe it? Marge and her daughter had a ton of scary old tales. Local legends. Ghostly images walking around the property. A Halloween haunted house party in the 50's that ended up with two injured kids. Children disappearing in the woods. They must have had half-a-dozen different stories to tell. Probably more."

"I never heard anything about any of that."

"You're not the most social guy in the world. Hell, you didn't even know the name of most of your guests. That's weird even for you," she teased.

She was passing me the dishes to put away, as she went on. "These kinds of places always create stories, rumors, and suspicions. You're not getting spooked are you?" She raised her hands high, her fingers forming claws. "Ooooooh," she moaned, "I'm the ghost of Christmas future."

"I don't think a sexy ghost like you would frighten many people off," I told her.

"They did say that the building had burnt down before. That's kind of scary. According to Marge, it's cursed. Burnt down at least 3 times. Bev's uncle had to build it up almost from scratch like you did. Of course, nobody mentions how common it was for buildings to burn down back then. Chimney fires, everything made of wood, no fire alarms, and too far away for volunteer fire departments to do much good. Is it a surprise if there were a couple of fires over a span of 200 years?"

That wasn't making me feel any better. Maybe I should invest in more fire alarms. Andrew had insisted I put in the minimum.

I wasn't the best host that evening. We talked, and snacked on leftovers. Bev mentioned how popular her 'costume' jewelry was. The girls had a good laugh at that. I spent a few minutes on my phone, accessing the internet and found a certified gemologist in Richmond that would probably be able to appraise the jewelry. After some discussion, and more than a little push-back on my part, the women finally convinced me to let them take the truck down to get the jewels appraised and insured, while I got back to work on The House.

At least it would give me some time to 'talk' with Mary.

* * *

Once they'd left in the morning, I retired to the bedroom undressing for some quality time with my favorite house 'haunter'. Mary wasn't long before making her appearance, and she was eager again, making my first a quick one.

As she settled in for a more leisurely time, I spoke with her. "Can we talk about the third floor?"

Her actions stopped, and then I felt the tentative tug on my right ear.

"After, alright? Maybe while I'm working upstairs."

I had another short tug, one of her wispy kisses, and then she was back working her magic, dealing with my rock hard erection. She took her time, riding me once again, until I couldn't resist her any longer. Not that I worked very hard at it.

I spent the better part of the day working on the plumbing, one of my least favorite jobs. I was always concerned I was doing something wrong, and it took me twice as long as it should have.

Mary was with me. I knew she was, and she reminded me with the occasional caress. At my first break, I took out one of my carpenter pencils, and marked up a board. "Don't Know", "Yes", "No", "Maybe", and a new answer "Other".

"You don't like the third floor, do you?" I asked her. I knew the answer, but she rapidly moved the pencil tip to 'No'.

"We're not alone here, are we?" I think she understood I wasn't talking about Karen and Bev.

The pencil shifted, and I was a little surprised when it tilted upward and underlined the 'No'.

Shit. There was a time when all of this would have seemed like so much nonsense. But there was no doubt in my mind that Mary was very real. Which opened up so very many possibilities.

"Did...did they have anything to do with what happened to you?"

The pencil shifted over and settled over 'Yes'.

"More than one?"

That answer was less definitive. The pencil shifted from 'Yes' to 'Maybe' and ended at 'Don't know'.

"You think so, but you're not sure?"

'Yes'.

"They're dangerous, aren't they?"

Another ambiguous answer. A firm 'Yes', the tip tapping on the answer, before it moved over to the 'Maybe' and finally 'No'.

That had me talking out loud. "Yes dangerous, but no? Not always? Not everywhere? Maybe only up there, or on certain occasions. Crap. I wish I could... we could talk."

Her concerned face appeared before me, and her lips moved. "...protect you..." she said, before fading away.

That woke me up. Was she protecting me, us? How? Why? What kind of protection? Damn, this was getting weirder by the minute.

"Are we safe on the first two floors?" I asked.

I got a tug on my right ear, before the pencil move to 'Yes'. Then it hovered over 'Maybe'.

I sighed. It was difficult to communicate with Mary. I wondered how hard it was for her. "I think I need a break, and time to think about this." I opened my pants and leaned back, inviting her attention. "Thank you for watching the kids, that could have been a mess, couldn't it?"

I got a tug on the right ear, a quick kiss, and then I was no longer able to concentrate on anything but her attention.

An hour or so later I receive a call from Bev. "Working hard?" she asked.

Not as hard as I had been just a few minutes earlier. "Always. How are you guys doing?"

"We're getting a lot of attention. The main appraiser here is excited. We're going to be at least a few more hours. Apparently records exist for our jewelry, and she's going to start out confirming them."

"What's this going to cost?" I asked. I had no idea how much something like that would run.

"It depends. How do you feel about publicity?"

"What kind of publicity?" I asked.

"If we only want an appraisal for insurance purposes, she says she can do both for under $500."

"Five hundred dollars? To appraise jewelry?"

"If we allow her to write it up, take credit for the appraisal, she'll do it for free. Apparently it's a big deal. A famous set of jewelry reappearing after 80 years."

"I don't know, Bev. Isn't that dangerous?"

"She says she'll keep our names and address out of it. I don't think it will be a problem. Once the item's existence is known, it would be hard for anyone to lay claim to it."

"It's yours. If you don't mind, I guess I don't. Is she talking numbers yet?"

"No. I mean, well, she hazarded one number, for the set, but I don't know if she's serious. She says that's what an auction might bring."

"Auction? How much?" I asked.

"Three million. She says that's a minimum. Do you understand now, Jack? This isn't something you just give away."

I was unable to answer. Three million? I was thinking closer to a hundred thousand. It only cost $20K new. Hell, the diamond wasn't even clear. It was yellow.

"Jack? You still there?"

"Yeah. It's kind of hard to believe, you know."

"I know. We'll have a better handle on it in a few hours. She's making a lot of calls. She wants to send pictures out. If you don't mind, I'm going to allow her."

"Whatever you want to do, Bev. It's yours. Yours and Karen's. Just be careful, Ok? I get nervous thinking of you two driving around with more than a million dollars of jewelry."

"We'll be careful. You do the same, alright?"

"Of course. I'm always careful. Still have all my fingers and toes to prove it."

"I'll call before we leave. Karen says you're on your own for lunch, and we'll probably pick up dinner on the way back."

"Alright. Love you, take care."

"Love you too, Sweetie. See you later."

After a leftovers lunch, I had a short discussion with Mary. I didn't learn much more than the third floor was dangerous. She confirmed The House had burnt down before her husband Don had it fixed up. She had heard it had burned down more than once. She believed our third floor guests were responsible for the fires.

She also seemed to believe if we stayed away from the third floor, we were probably safe. That was about as good as I could hope for.

I wondered if all those crazy TV shows about Ghost Hunters, and such stuff had any validity to them. If there was somewhere I could go for help. Of course my main concern was exposing or endangering Mary. Damn it, one more thing I'd have to look into. But not so long as the women were there.

I got a bug up my ass, and regretted not having the truck. I wanted to lock that trapdoor. Prevent any accidental contact. For the moment, I toe-nailed about a dozen nails into where the doors joined, a temporary but moderately effective lock.

It was good to be with Mary. I loved my women, but hated that I couldn't make time for my spectral girlfriend while they were around. I did my best to restock her energy, until I was feeling the effect too much to continue. She recognized the impact on me, and when I made a fifth offer, she zipped my pants up, and gave me a nice long kiss.

"Later then," I promised.

I got another kiss, and a tug on my right ear.

The women showed up at dusk. They were obviously worn out, but seemed pleased with their outing. They made me carry a couple of heavy boxes into The House. They'd obviously done more than wait idly for the appraisal results. Over a dinner of fried chicken and mashed potatoes I received both the good and bad news.

Bev stared the conversation. "It's all official. The jewelry's the real deal. Apparently the set has a name, The Duchesses Daisies."

"Jewelry has names now?"

"Not normally. Only rare, important pieces. Nina wants us to consider a new name. The Lost Daisies."

"This is too bizarre for words," I told her. "You get to rename the jewelry?"

"It's going to be big news. The necklace stone is still among the half-dozen largest in the world, and one of the clearest. It's all a bit of a shock to me as well."

Karen interrupted. "Even the ring is practically priceless. This is more than a little crazy, Jack. You don't know me well enough to be giving me a million dollar ring."

I was still having a hard time working with the numbers they were talking. But I knew I didn't have a choice. The jewelry wasn't mine to give away. It was Mary's. And she'd made her decision. "I guess I'm going to have to get to know you better, then," I told Karen.

Karen pulled out the papers. "It's not a joke. Tell him, Bev. Or I will."

Bev looked nervous. "At least $4 million at auction, probably more like $6 million, with a possible high end of ten or so for the right buyer. That's for the set. Individually, the value goes down about 40%. Matching large yellow diamonds are impossibly rare."

"You know how insane this sounds?" I told her.

"It's a problem, Jack. We can't insure them," Bev explained.

"Why not?"

"Insurance would run around one percent of the value, and that's only with the right security. We're talking over $60,000 a year in payments."

"You're kidding," I blurted.

"Hardly. There's really only two things we can do," Bev said.

"And those are?"

"Either we keep them totally secret, never wear them, never let their existence be known, or we let the whole world know about them, which would make it impossible for them to show up on the market. We'd still have to keep them locked up at the bank when we're not wearing them."

I had to laugh. "What a mess. I just wanted to give you something nice."

Bev reached out and held my hand. "It's more than nice, Jack. It's incredible, and just like you. It's my family's heritage, and you have no idea what this means to me. We just have to figure out what to do about it."

I nodded. "For now, I think it's best if it goes back into its original hiding place. That worked for almost a century."

Of course, they wanted to know more about that. After dinner, I ended up carrying Bev up the stairs, with Karen following, dragging long a chair. Once I had them in front of the fireplace, I pulled up the stone that covered the secret hideaway.

We put their jewelry back in the cases, and lowered it into the hole, covering it up again. I put the log rack over it, hiding its existence.

"How did you ever find that?" Bev asked.

Good question. "Just cleaning. I...uh...was washing the stones down, and the water kept leaking away. I thought it might need repairs. I had no idea it was a secret vault." I felt a little guilty lying to them. This guilt thing was starting to get to me.

* * *

I think we all felt better, once the jewelry was in a safety deposit box at the bank. While we were out, I was able to pick up a few things I needed at the hardware store, before we returned home.

The rest of the week was all I could hope for. I'd almost forgotten to get Bev's commitment, but Tuesday at breakfast I had a little note at my table place.

Upstairs.

I laughed, and promised I'd get right on it.

We'd eat our meals together. I'd work from breakfast until dinner on my projects, occasionally with Karen assisting, but mostly they had their own projects they were working on. Tuesday afternoon, I was surprised to hear a sewing machine running downstairs. I learned I was going to be getting drapes. Of course it was my job to hang them. The women ran errands without my even knowing about it. I just kept plugging away at the second floor, my only company Mary, most of the time.

It did give me the opportunity to spend a lot of quality time with Mary, and keeping her needs met. A couple of nights, when she was feeling ornery, she'd get involved in my session with Karen. Those were quite exhausting, and Karen warned me after the third one, that I'd have to keep the craziness down to no more than twice a week, or she'd never get anything done. We got a lot of ribbing from Bev the following mornings.

I was informed we were going to a New Year's Party in town. Marge had insisted, and the women seemed eager to attend. That meant I lost them for the whole day Friday, while they went shopping and got prettified.

It was worth it. Bev was elegance personified, and her necklace had been cleaned and shone like the sun from her chest. Looking at her, I could only imagine how beautiful she must have been in her youth. "Don't let any of those young men run off with you, gorgeous. I'll bet you're the best looking woman at the ball."

She laughed. "I'll take that bet. Karen cleans up nice."

Holy shit, did she ever! I'd never seen her in anything but casual wear, mostly jeans and oversized shirts. I knew her body was fabulous, but I wasn't expected the vision of loveliness that exited my room around 9:00 PM. I was struck dumb.

She posed for me, then I saw the nervous look on her face. "You don't like it?"

That broke me out of my trance. "My God, woman, are you insane? I love it! You're gorgeous!"

A huge grin broke out across her face. "Not too much?"

A little too much cleavage, a bit too much leg, a tad too tight, all too incredible for words. "I don't dare leave your side all night. I'll lose you for sure."

She walked forward on her almost non-existent three inch heels. "Silly man. No way you're ever going to lose me. You'd have to throw me away."

The only item of jewelry she was wearing was her ring. I felt odd for a moment. Like the items should be worn together, but there was no way I was going to suggest that. Instead I asked for a moment.

I went to my room, and called out for Mary. I felt her touch. "Would it be Ok for Karen to wear your pearls for the party tonight?" I asked as I opened up the box. There had been a worn suede bag inside of it containing a pearl necklace. I had realized at the time that Mary had been around during the flapper era. I wondered how often she had worn it.

I received a tug on my right ear, and she ruffled my hair. That usually meant that she was happy with me, so I didn't worry about it. "Gimme a kiss, beautiful," I said softly. "I wish you could go with us. Maybe next year we'll hold New Year's here."

I got my kiss, and returned to the women. I held up the pearl strands. "Will this go with your outfit?"

Bev laughed. "Pearls go with everything, dear man."

They were longer than I expected. I was used to more of a choker style, but these hung down almost to her waist. Bev called Karen over. She had her lean over, and tied a knot in the strand, about halfway down her cleavage. "Mary's?" she asked.

"Yeah, she said it's Ok," I added without thinking.

Bev looked up at me, and I realized what I said. "I mean, I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

Karen stood back and posed for us. "How does it look?" she asked.

"You're stunning," I told her.

She smiled, blushing. "I already know your opinion. I mean the pearls."

"Perfect."

Bev didn't think so, and adjusted the knot upward a bit. "Be careful with these. We'll want to get them restrung as soon as possible. Silk lasts a long time, but not forever."

I felt like a goofball, wearing a plain suit, with these women dressed up as they were. "Remind me next year to rent a tux. I look like a homeless guy next to you two."

Bev took my hand, chuckling. "That's how it's supposed to be, Sweetie. You're never supposed to look better than your women. I know it's hard for you to tone it down, but I think we'll be fine for tonight."

"I feel almost as foolish driving you ladies in a truck. You deserve a stretch limo."

Karen slid her arm in mine. "Not on your driveway. Maybe next year."

That sounded like a plan to me.

* * *

We were a hit. At least the women were, always surrounded by admirers. I had to fight my way through the crowd a couple of times. I would have been more nervous, if there weren't as many women around them as men.

The party was at the local VFW. I learned it was the biggest hall in town, other than the high-school gym. They had it fixed up nice, and even had a local band. $50 a couple bought your entrance and a bottle of champagne. Our table of eight contained Marge and Ron, as well as two other couples. It was a little crowded squeezing Bev in, but nobody seemed to mind. We were royalty. We were sitting with both the Mayor and his wife, as well as the high school principal and her husband.