Echoes of a Haunting - Revisited Page 16

  Alex said he had “flown” over the house. For a moment, his words baffled me. Then I realized he meant astral projection. He said he saw influences and possessions. Even in my skepticism, I had to admit he seemed to know what he was talking about. He said he was trying to get someone to sponsor an investigative trip to the house but had been unsuccessful so far. After I confirmed his suspicions regarding the problems we have been having, he assured me he was going to intensify his efforts. In the meantime, he promised to send something of his own that we could use as a protection. He was especially worried about Beth, stating that she was the one in the greatest danger and I had to agree. I hadn’t told him of Beth’s changes of personality but he seemed to know anyway. Since his presence had calmed the house before, he felt that some personal possession of his would protect us.

  After talking to him I had to go in and help rescue Paul who seemed in imminent danger of being strangled by Randy. I no longer take Randy’s “trances” very seriously. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems to me that it’s a good way to get attention and commit mayhem without worrying about the consequences. Maybe I’m just getting cynical.

  Tuesday–January 29, 1974

  Well my doubts about Beth’s voices disappeared tonight. Earlier today I had called and made an appointment for stomach x-rays for Beth. She still wasn’t feeling well. An appointment had been set up to take the tests on Thursday.

  This evening I sat in the living room reading. Beth was in her room listening to records and Keith went in to talk to her. They were in full view of everyone in the living room so I caught Keith’s frantic signal right away. Beth wasn’t looking at him but staring into space., dreamy-eyed, lost in the music. Keith was motioning me to come in and also to keep silence. As quietly as possible, I went into her room.

  My hair stood on end! I could hear two distinct voices. The one, a male voice, said, “What’ll we do now? She’s taking her to the doctor.” The other, a woman’s, replied, “I don’t know. It’s easier when she’s sick.” I couldn’t tell if it came from outside the window or from the cellar stairway which would have been on the other side of Beth’s wall. I motioned for Keith to stay. Quietly, I checked both the cellar (it was hard to force myself to open the door) and outside her window. I found nothing.

  I returned to the house where Keith told me that the voices had continued for most of the time I had been gone! I had not heard them, either from the cellar door or from the outside tank. I clung to the thought that maybe whatever Alex sent would help. It seems superstitious to me, but anything, at this point, is worth a try. It’s hard to keep your skepticism in such an atmosphere.

  Thursday–January 31, 1974

  Well, thank God, Beth doesn’t have an ulcer. A minor miracle! Her problem was diagnosed as an extremely nervous stomach so we’re really back where we started from.

  Phil’s car had been acting up lately so it gave him an excuse to ask to borrow Mike’s car. The twin “warnings” last weekend had been preying on his mind. He thought he’d see how it handled on the long drive to Buffalo when he went to work. Mike reluctantly gave him his permission. About four o’clock in the morning, Phil called. He had an accident just outside Franklinville. While traveling south on the twisting, narrow road he had seen a tractor trailer coming straight at him in his lane. He swerved off the road but, on the steeply sloped shoulder, the little Maverick was not heavy enough to right itself. After going into a skid, it then rolled over three times across the road, landing upside down in a farmer’s field.

  Several trucks passed and, though he honked the horn asking for help, no one stopped. There’s a truckers strike on and there had been a lot of violence so I guess that’s the reason the “knights of the road” ignored him. He finally managed to squeeze his way out the passenger window and walked a mile to the nearest house. He was ignored though he could see people inside.. He walked the other way and finally came to a house whose owners were a little more humane. I promised I’d be right there to pick him up.

  One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was to tell Mike his new car was wrecked. He and Keith went with me to pick Phil up. After a quick check at the hospital, we took him home with orders to rest. Now I knew what the dream meant. Somehow, I think it would have turned out differently if I hadn’t gotten the drape off Mike’s door. And I no longer care who called me superstitious!

  Friday–February 1, 1974

  Today we went out and picked up some cheery wallpaper. Dad and Gordon came down to begin the papering. Since Beth’s room seemed to hold the most danger, that’s where they started. How ridiculous–to fight “ghosts” with wallpaper! Next would be the kitchen, which we had been told had the most spirits and the bathroom which held the infamous root cellar door. We opted to do the rest of the house as we could afford it. Mary’s room we had given up on and we seriously doubted that wallpaper would help so we put that on the bottom of the list. What a difference it made in Beth’s room. No more dark corners! It was now a light and cheerful young girl’s room and Beth loved it.

  We received Alex’s talisman today–a large lock of his hair! I guess you can’t get much more personal than that. I put some in my I.D bracelet for Beth so she could always have it with her. Recently, I found the bracelet. It had been misplaced in all our moves. The hair was gone. Either it got lost along the way or Alex took it with him when he died. Either is possible. Alex had warned me that someone would try to make her take it off but to tell her not to listen. She promised me she’d keep it on.

  Monday–February 4, 1974

  Chalk up another one for Alex! Just as he had predicted, Beth’s gym teacher told her to take her bracelet off. Beth knew they were allowed to keep their watches on and the bracelet had an expansion band and fit close to her wrist like a watch. She refused to remove it. Uncharacteristically, her teacher became very angry and insisted. Again, Beth refused and, instead, went to the Principal. He was surprised at all the fuss and told her that, of course, she could wear the bracelet.

  Unbelievably, the bracelet had an immediate effect. The voices now sounded frustrated and said Alex was with her. Even if it was only an emotional crutch, it was working. Why is it even when I have proof I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone and don’t really believe all this stuff?

  Wednesday–February 20, 1974

  Strange how things work out. A distant cousin of mine whom I hadn’t seen since our wedding in 1955 called mum and told her about two mediums, a husband and wife team. They live in her small town, which is about half way between Olean and Buffalo. She promised to give their phone number to mum who would then pass it on to me.

  Tonight I was alone in the house and began to feel a little uncomfortable. Every so often there was a loud pounding at one of the outside doors. The dogs would rush to investigate but, after the first fruitless trip, I just ignored it. Finally, I decided to call Joan, a woman I had worked with at BOCES. We were having a pleasant talk when, suddenly, I was almost overpowered by the smell of manure.

  I remember thinking, “I knew Mike’s room needed cleaning but really!” The odor became worse and worse until I was forced to go onto the front porch for a breath of air. Just as suddenly as it came, it disappeared. Two or three minutes passed and the odor began again, this time even stronger. I finally made an excuse to Joan and ended the conversation.

  When I investigated Mike’s room, I found it completely clear of any smell and yet I would have sworn the smell was pouring like a noxious tide from that room. By the time I came back to the kitchen the odor had disappeared. I went back to reading my book, pointedly ignoring the alternate pounding at the two doors and the heavy footsteps in Mary’s room. I suppose I should have turned on the radio or TV to drown out some of the racket but I felt that as long as I could hear the noise nothing serious would happen. At that point, though, in spite of my apparent unconcern, if I had seen anything strange it might have been a different story!

  Friday–February 22, 1974

  There was an ar
ticle about Father Al in the Buffalo Evening News today entitled “The Mystery House and the Exorcist”. The columnist, Bob C, intended to interview Father about an exorcism but instead wound up talking about our house. What we already knew was made more apparent–we are very much on Father’s mind. In the article, he gave a brief synopsis of much of what had happened at the house. Bob C has promised to relate the tale of the exorcism in tomorrow’s paper. Does he know what kind of condemnatory letters he’s going to get?

  Tonight Mike and Beth went to the weekly Record Hop at the school. They had been gone about an hour when Keith decided that he, too, wanted to attend. He asked for and received permission to borrow Phil’s car for the four mile trip.

  It wasn’t too long until he was home again with bad news. He had been going over a one-lane bridge on the crest of the hill going into town when a car came up the hill with no headlights on and ran right into him. The driver lived about a mile down the road from us and was already in trouble with her insurance company for her numerous accidents. Like the Maverick, the car had no collision insurance.

  Saturday–February 23, 1974

  Today was incredible. Mike’s friends came up to help Keith fix Phil’s car. They’d worked so hard I was sure they’d have it finished by the next day. For kids they really did a great job.

  As promised, the second article about Father Al appeared in today’s Buffalo Evening News. This one was titled “Priest at Bona Recounts Exorcism He Conducted”. In it, Father described an exorcism he had performed on a young woman at the request of famous psychic investigators, Lorraine and Ed W. The couple had recently given a lecture at St. Bonaventure and were contacted about a young girl of about 20 who seemed to be possessed. The exorcism was successful.

  Wednesday–February 27, 1974

  Mike asked to use Phil’s car tonight. Since it had just been fixed, Phil was reluctant, but, since he had wrecked Mike’s car, he couldn’t very well refuse. The main reason for his reluctance was the weather. It was really cold. Ice coated everything. The hill was hazardous under the best of conditions but when it was icy it took on all the attributes of an out of control roller coaster. Nevertheless, Mike took the car but was back in about half an hour. The steering would not respond on the steep, icy slope and the car slid into a tree just off the road. Poor Phil! This time I think we’ll have to get a different car.

  Thursday–February 28, 1974

  We were in luck. Phil managed to get a car from a man in town for only $150. Not too bad and it will do for a while.

  Friday–March 1, 1974

  Tonight Mike’s lamp was the victim. He had a very pretty cut glass lamp on his chest of drawers. We were all watching TV in the living room and the pets were all outside. Suddenly, a horrendous sound caused us all to jump. Mike’s lamp had hurtled across the room and smashed against the wall. Luckily, only a small chip came out of it and, aside from another light bulb smashing, no real harm was done. Why don’t they like lamps. Or is it the light that offends them?

  Saturday–March 2, 1974

  The psychics recommended by my relative kept their promise. Paul and Peggy seemed very nice and really appreciated our problem. They promised to try to help. Some of Mike’s friends were here when they came so they had an opportunity to hear about some of their experiences. Peggy affected Dave strangely, though. He was extremely uncomfortable in the room with her. Finally, she said to him, “Why don’t you cry if you want to?” He had to leave the room. I guess he had felt like crying. This type of occurrence still makes me uneasy. Wouldn’t you think I’d get used to it? Our two new friends asked if they could return some evening next week with a fellow parishioner who was an excellent psychometric. Of course we said yes. Peggy also asked for something that had been “handled” by the spirits and Beth gave her the perfume bottle that had been thrown across the room on August 10th.

  Sunday–March 3, 1974

  At this point I must pause for a breath. It seems, in my recollections, as though nothing good ever happened at the house. This isn’t true. However, the happy times seemed unrelated to the strange events and I’m afraid, in a book, might interfere with the continuity. We had many picnics, swim parties, just-for-nothing parties and, even though our lives were rather hectic, we managed to have some very memorable times.

  Our garden was a source of constant joy to me and the feeling of being watched didn’t seem to matter as much when I was harvesting green beans or squash. Happily, I canned and pickled and froze the products of my tiny plot of ground. In fact, as I was in the middle of pickling some undersized watermelons, the town mayor stopped in to visit. The debris on my kitchen table didn’t faze him and he settled down for a chat as I continued with my chore. If it hadn’t been for these nuggets of happiness we wouldn’t have made it as long as we did.

  Thursday–March 14, 1974

  Paul and Peggy returned this evening with the psychometric. It surprised me–the girl looked so young. When they first approached her at their church, they gave her the perfume bottle with no explanation. She asked immediately why it had been thrown. Then she went on to describe the interior of our house in great detail. She even described the paneling on the ceiling, a rather unusual feature.

  We told her about the lamp being thrown and were told to bring it in. After touching it the young woman said someone was very sorry such a pretty thing had to be thrown but it was to convey a message. If so, the message didn’t get through. Peggy then proceeded to describe two spirits she could sense in the living room–one a woman with long skirts who was very angry looking and the other, a man, who either had his eyes blindfolded or darkened in some way. She took it to mean the man was blind. Paul took a walk outside and when he came in asked who “Anna” was. He said “someone” was standing under the pine tree calling “Anna”. He wasn’t sure if she was calling someone or telling him her name. I had dismissed it before but several visitors claimed to have heard someone saying “Anna” or “Mama”.

  We learned much later that the daughter of one of the original owners of the house was, indeed, named Anna.

  All in all, it was an interesting evening. I hope I managed to hide my doubts. All through this I saw proof, time and time again, that something extraordinary was at work and yet some perverse part of my mind refused to accept it. Part of me sat back and said, “I’ll play along but I don’t believe it.” Maybe it was my way of staying sane.

  Saturday–March 23, 1974

  Bob C’s column proved what I had expected. This article was titled “A Mailbag Potpourri: Barnum, Nixon, Sinatra”. The only part that interested me was the criticism of Father Al. The writer of the letter quoted Barnum’s famous adage about a sucker being born every minute and stated boldly that Father Al was a sucker for believing in our story. Bob C answered by defending psychics in general; Father Al in particular and us by association. He explained that men and women in the field of psychic phenomena are dealing with the mind, a relatively unknown area and stated that they received little reward or credit for their achievements. He went on to state how happy he was to have had the chance to meet men like Father Alphonsus, who contributes more to mankind in a day than Barnum did in a lifetime. Bravo!

  Friday–March 29, 1974

  The Buffalo Evening News carried another article about psychic phenomena today. This one was titled “Probing the Psychic, Unknown Can Pit Spook Against Spoof”. As usual, the columnist was Bob C As we expected, he is receiving all kinds of letters, many of them derisive and derogatory. One, however, had been sent by one of our camping neighbors. Ann and Lee T and their twins were good friends of ours. In the letter he stated: “I was once an unbeliever but now I am convinced. When you sit out in the field at night and your hair stands up and you feel you are being watched and can’t see anybody or anything, no matter how powerful a flashlight you have, you know something strange is present.

  “I hung a cross in my garage and it was thrown to the floor a few times. I have no explanation for that. I am not one to
be afraid of anything, but I know something is there. I have no intention of leaving the place and will fight back with any weapon I can get.”

  Another letter was one from me thanking him for defending Father Al against the scoffers, who are legion. A third was interesting to me because it was a quote from a fellow friar from St. Bonaventure’s. he had apparently been present when Alex T returned from his visit to our house the night of his lecture at the college. In it, he stated that Alex was “so badly shaken, I thought he might have to be hospitalized. This is not my field but after seeing (Alex) T I believe the stories I have heard about the house.”

  Well, at least everyone isn’t skeptical.

  Monday–April 1, 1974

  April Fool’s Day! I got a long distance call from New York City today. A girl named Jan, who is a student at New York University said she would like to come down with Alex and film the story of the house. They would bring a film crew with them. The project was supposed to be sponsored by New York University, Educational TV and the Institute for Psychical Research. I agreed and a tentative date was set–April 12. Maybe things would soon be better. Alex was coming.