Tag Archives: ghost story

Cannon #writephoto

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Photo by KL Caley

The last coach has long departed.  No voice of tourist nor even of costumed interpreter can be heard.  Peace has descended and we can emerge to our natural places.

I stand by the cannon, spirit soaring as I look out at the Wallace and remember days gone by.  Ah, being by the great man’s side…  I relive that day in my mind over and over. Yes, I was wounded and taken to the castle to die, but it was the height of glory! We would drive the English out!

Manning the cannon as he had in 1746 is Thomas, making sure that Bonnie Prince Charles can never take the walls and security in the strategic castle. An unlucky hit made it so he didn’t witness the Jacobite retreat with living eyes. To him, preserving the union of kingdoms was worth it.

Our aims in life may have been opposite, but together in death we get along alright.

We watch over the cannon and talk of times old, new and in the future.

But the night fades and day arrives too soon.

The staff arrive, including the costumed interpreters.  Too soon the first coach ascends from the small town.  Once more the sacred castle is filled with the voices and the tourists.

Thomas and I fade with the night.  We’ll meet each other again at his cannon as we have for almost three hundred years, a place where I have stood guard for 700 years.

***

OK, I could not think of a good story, but I had to write something, having recently stood where KL had taken that photo. Anyway, it has been ages since I joined in the writephoto challenge. This is now hosted by KL Caley. She provided the photo at the top and the word “Cannon”. Oh, here is the place from a different side.

Turning around from the wall where KL was (she might not have been that spot, but… you get the point):

Bridge #writephoto

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Photo by KL Caley

“Tom!”

The boy jumped then turned sheepishly towards the voice.

“What are you doing there, young Tom?”

Tom looked down at his feet, as if whipped by the stern words.

“Wasting time again, aren’t you?”

He glanced up at the lady and was surprised to see a smile.

He nodded.

The lady, Anne, moved next to Tom, put her hands on the battlements and stared out.

“It’s just, just, my Lady, it’s just that I wish I could go over there.”  He nodded his head outward.  “I wish I could cross that bridge and go into the village.  I want to see what they are up to.  I want to find children my own age to play with.”

Continue reading →

The Old Mill – Released!

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A stench lies on Avebury, New Hampshire. It isn’t something that one can smell, it is more of a psychic soot polluting everybody’s mood. No one recalls when it arrived, but there does seem to be a connection with the Old Mill and its mysterious new owners.

*

Following the trail of the local legend, the ghost of Martha Goode, Gill Baxter is driven to discover the truth behind the events of 1821 and, hopefully, prevent another “time of dying.” That trail, though, leads directly to The Old Mill.

***

The Old Mill was released today! You can find it on Amazon with the links below:

Kindle
US
UK
France
Canada
Australia
India

Paperback

US
UK
Canada
France
Germany
Italy

Continue reading →

Release Date – The Old Mill

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A stench lies on Avebury, New Hampshire. It isn’t something that one can smell, it is more of a psychic soot polluting everybody’s mood. No one recalls when it arrived, but there does seem to be a connection with the Old Mill and its mysterious new owners.

*

Following the trail of the local legend, the ghost of Martha Goode, Gill Baxter is driven to discover the truth behind the events of 1821 and, hopefully, prevent another “time of dying.” That trail, though, leads directly to The Old Mill.

***

As you might guess from the blurb, there is a mystery about the Goode family, their mill (one of the first in New Hampshire) and their Federalist mansion. In 2018, computer nerd Gill Baxter is set to solve the mystery. Or, perhaps mysteries, as the more he digs, the more he finds out about Avebury’s premiere family.

Of course it isn’t that simple. There are a lot of people, past and present, that are working to help and to hinder.

Anyway, it has all been worked out, edited, revised, revised again and again, edited more, kneaded, prodded, torn-up and put back together and finally, after almost four years, it is finally here!

Continue reading →

Encounter with Martha – The Old Mill

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The following is a clip from my WIP, The Old Mill – this is NOT a finished draft!

They had been planning the adventure for months. It was a rite of passage in Avebury, one that had been going on for decades, though every generation thought it was original.

The Five Inseparables were going to visit the Goode Mansion after dark.

Amy Lancing was able to borrow her parents’ car for the evening. Although the quiet one of the group, she reveled in the control that being the driver gave her. And this wasn’t just any night with the car. It was special and she would do everything in her power to make sure their adventure was perfect.

The traffic up the hill from Avebury was light. Great. Amy took the left onto Miller Road, as she’d practiced a dozen times. She slowed down as she passed the driveway into the mansion and began to scan the woods on the left. Just down a small incline and across a bridge and perhaps another hundred yards there was a turn off into the woods. It was supposed to be secret, but even in her headlights she could see that were many tire prints in and out. Right, the worst kept secret in the county.

Amy turned and pulled the car into the woods as far as she dared. She turned off the lights and shut off the engine.

The five 17-year-old girls piled out of the car, all giggles and trying to “shush” each other.

Amy looked at the other four: Jess, Lauren, Stacy and Kath. She shook her head. They had no clue and would be lost without her. Continue reading →

Transition #writephoto

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Photo by Sue Vincent

I dream of open spaces and sunlight.  I dream of freedom. I dream of adventure and romance.

I dream of her.

This transition has not been easy.  I was always a wild one, forever on the move, forever starting a new adventure.  To be locked away with no hope of escape doesn’t suit my nature.

And the cruelty of it all!  Just across that small courtyard that I can glimpse through an opening that I can never pass pass, just there, always in sight but forever out of reach, is where she is.

If only I could see her one last time, catch a glimpse of her smile.  If only I could hear her melodious voice one last time, I’d be content to settle here forever in my personal prison.  But no! She is kept just out of reach.

It was a dark night.  We had a rendezvous and she was late.  Impatient, I went to her abode to find her, to find why she hadn’t met me as promised.  Stupid, yes, but I was young and in love.

I thought I had entered the gatehouse unobserved.  I thought I had been sly.  I thought I had been crafty.  But he had been craftier, that jealous husband. He was waiting as patiently as I was impatient.  He would catch me.

Before I knew he was there, my throat was slit with the same knife that had taken her life.

I dream of open spaces and sunlight.  I dream of freedom.  I dream of adventure and romance.  I dream of her.

Although 300 years have passed, the transition from living to dead, from physical body to ghost, has not been an easy one.

***

Written for Sue Vincent‘s #writephoto challenge.  This weeks challenge, Transition, is here.

No Longer Fun

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bonfire-anshu

PHOTO PROMPT © Anshu Bhojnagarwala

“I got it, let’s tell scary stories, the way we did when we were kids!”

Sue gave Derek a dirty look while Bob just stared into the fire.

“Come on guys, you are just so boring.”

“What are you going to do, tell the one about the Claw?” Sue spit the words out.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so tired of sitting here doing nothing I thought you might want to try something different.”

“Those stories were more fun when we were kids, back in ’52,” Sue said.

Bob looked up, “Yeah, before the Claw killed us, before we were ghosts.”

**

Word count = 100

Friday Fictioneers is hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.  This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo PHOTO PROMPT © Anshu Bhojnagarwala.  Read more or join in by following the InLinkz “linky“.

Swift’s Hollow, aka Gore Orphanage #Haibun #Etheree #DoubleEtheree

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Storm-Clouds

Swift’s Hollow (Gore Orphanage)

It is a cold October night and I am walking through the woods at the bottom of this valley, Swift’s Hollow.  There is a strange noise, just beyond perception.  A muted sound, as if heard from a million miles away.  Is that the snap and crackle of a fire burning?  Do I smell smoke?  Are there screams of pain mixed in?  The children locked into this cruel prison for no other reason than their parents have died are trying to get out.  And now they are trapped, trying urgently to get out, to escape their grisly fate.  Do you hear them?

Flames
Children
Dull rumble
Behind locked door
The valley glows red
An orphanage on fire
Apparition of the past
Visit the empty foundation
Souls lost in a conflagration
They speak to us as midnight approaches

Why visit this bloody spot of gore?
Why listen to the loud screams of pain?
Can you stand to hear babies cry?
A local right of passage
Communing with the dead
The poor children burnt
Meaningless death
Lost spirits
Empty
Gone

** Continue reading →

Another Ball – The Old Mill

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(This is the latest installment of the series that starts with The Old Mill.  The previous chapter was  To Kill a Ghost.  The Table of Contents is here)

— —

The steps up to the third floor of the Goode Mansion seemed longer than ever.  I could hear the music drifting down the stairs, the murmur of people.  Each step was harder than the last.  It wasn’t just the pain.  Yes, there was still a bit of pain left over from the four broken ribs, the broken right arm, bruises and a bruised bone on the left arm, bruises and a bruised bone on my left leg and, well all of those other injuries from being struck several times by a heavy iron bar.  For the most part, they had healed, but there was still a bit of pain and tightness when I pushed it.  But, no, it wasn’t just the pain.

It was as much the fear.

Fear?  OK, maybe nervousness would be a better word.

I stopped at the landing on the third floor and took a few deep breaths, ignoring my complaining ribs.  In some ways this took more courage than entering the carriage house on that dark April night.

The ballroom was filled with people.  I walked to the front, the area were Abigail kept court, and turned.  I smiled at my parents, who were up from their retirement home in Arizona.  I nodded to my sister and a few friends.  I noticed Kunhal and other work colleagues. Continue reading →

To Kill a Ghost – The Old Mill

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(This is the latest installment of the series that starts with The Old Mill.  The previous chapter was  Where’s Lyndsey?.  The Table of Contents is here)

— —

“Hold on a minutes there,” Sean said.  “I was playing along with this, but it was all a bluff.  I can’t kill anyone.  I mean, I’m a good shot and all, but I’m not a killer.  I don’t even kill the mice in my house, I use live traps.”

“What do you think we were doing here, then?”

“You told me that once Jessica was in the mansion, Martha would have to leave her 100% alone.  She’d be vulnerable and we could kill her then.  That’s Martha, not Jess.  Martha’s dead already and she has been a pest.  I’ve known Jess since she was a little girl.  I can’t harm a hair on her head.  Or any of them, for that matter.”  He holstered his gun and turned to us.  “Sorry you guys.  I played along thinking it was just to scare you, but you know I wouldn’t hurt you, don’t you?  Sorry.  Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening.”

He turned and ran out of the building.

I took Jessica’s hand and grabbed Lyndey’s elbow and started to pull them towards the door.  We took three steps when Galvin came in.  He had a gun in one hand and an iron bar in the other.

“Point that gun at them,” Barbara said.

“I don’t like these toys,” Galvin said.  “I think cold, hard iron is a better solution.” Continue reading →