Tales of the Red Roofed House Chapter 1 – Introduction Chapter 2 – The Evolution of Darkness Chapter 3 – The long night Chapter 4 – The making of a nightmare Chapter 5 –The darkness and the light Chapter Six – The Unexplainable Happens

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Chapter One – The Introduction The cold ruthless nights in the mountains just southeast of the small village of Santa Fe New Mexico is the home of many secrets where countless men have been locked away for committing crimes against the land lords of this area of vast green filled grasslands. Here they rule using their slaves on plantations surrounding this tiny village as free laborers chained together to prevent them from running off and escaping their daily labor tasks of working the fields. Growing especially high quality hay and alfalfa feed for the rich men who own numerous livestock north of the snow covered villages; these lords are ruthless and hateful people who have used slavery and wandering immigrants for years to grow their riches. The magnificent quality and quantities of minerals found in this valley has developed a grade of alfalfa that is exceedingly rich with sources of energy, protein, calcium and other nutrients beneficial for horses. Horses that are specially bred for racing, nomadic and working the lands need these extravagant green harvested bales that are filled with such excellent sources of protein and calcium needed to keep the livestock, especially horses, filled with high levels of nutriments. The land lords, many preferring the alfalfa over the grass hay bales, have made a living off selling rolls of these high energy bales of commodities that they have expanded their farm lands throughout the vast green valley and recruiting workers from the outside to keep the production levels going to meet the demands. Throughout the area, the land lords were well known for their mistreatment of their slave workers and how they beat and tortured them to work hard in the fields some days without food or water allowing them only to rest when the day is done. Among these workers in the fields were children, men and women who have relatives in the hidden dark dungeons buried away down in the valley and covered with dirt and stone underground where the sun and the moon and the stars can’t reach their deadening eyes and minds. The moon, showing the full light of the dark night at its most glorious moments when shimmering off the peaks of the snowcapped mountains so high up in the sky, it catches the attention of the wolves and other creatures that live there in the caverns and coves of the deep forest darkened with fear and mysteries of tales told of the haunted prison down below in the valley of evil. Within this forest of pine and ponderosa trees live renegades who have escaped the wrath of the land lords and rob their lands during the night to eat and feed their families.

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In this peaceful village, a fairly quiet village, live a man and a woman who have trekked from afar places to settle down and live in peace and harmony with nature and all its beauty. Coming from the lands of the Rocky Mountains and big horn sheep, they searched endlessly for a place to call home after the War Between the States ended. Not yet established as permanent residents of the valley, they are closely watched by those who live there to see if they are good or evil within their community. Seeking peace and forming a bond with the land they loved so much, they became homestead to this green valley just south of Santa Fe living inside a small farm house that they so delicately built with their own hands and their own labor to make it most comfortable to live in. Robyn was a hard drinking young man who stayed sober long enough to do the work around the farm and to raise a family of three. His past is filled with events of vagabond experiences as he traveled from north to south, east to west to find a home that satisfied his needs to be free and away from people in the cities. Finding a good woman he finally settled down enough to show his domestic qualities and married a good woman. A peaceful man but short tempered when it came to his sharing his wife, Sybil, his explosive temper was well known in every village tavern where he frequented and sometimes brought his wife along to celebrate special occasions or family revelries. Sybil, a quiet woman known to be a good seamstress and most productive baker of breads and other pastries, was a good person with a good heart. Her love for baking and stitching clothing for her children was quite impressive and landed her a reputation as the best local seamstress in the village for others to bring their garments for mending or alterations. She had a most pleasant smile that made men think she was flirting with them when in all actuality she was merely being friendly and courteous to those who greeted her with respect and recognition she was present no matter where it was. Together with their three children, Buford, the oldest boy, Sheila, the middle child and Rufus, the youngest born, they lived in a most comfortable house that once belonged to the village town doctor who used it to treat his patients and never charged them a cent to be treated. The house was a small three bedroom frame made dwelling that was unlike the many log houses that were built there in the valley. A red roof and windows upstairs and downstairs made this house a most beautiful house to look at and appreciate the carpentry and effort put forth into building this most impressive dwelling.

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Chapter Two – The Evolution of Darkness Settling in this beautiful house, they first noticed how the walls were textured with wall paper that came from back East. The patterns on the paper resembled circular patterns of circles interwoven within each other giving it a most pleasant view for the eyes. The fireplace was made of red stones and the lumber to make a mantle was like black oak with a thickness of perhaps three inches deep showing strength and supporting the huge chimney that reached a good three feet beyond the roof. The house was always warm and seemed to have had a good previous owner as the doors and windows were like new and the steps leading to the upstairs were barely worn. No carpeting to cover the wooden floors, they showed hardly any wear and tear as if the house was never occupied yet the stories told of the house being used as an office for the doctor to treat his patients and keeping some of them in the bedrooms upstairs to recuperate their wounds or illnesses. The oil lanterns lit the house like it was daylight and the fire kept a comfortable climate within the entire house including the kitchen where the black belly pot stove was used to bake goods for sale and making a decent living off the pastries, bread and other yeast made derivate sold. Sybil kept the stove going day and night during the winter as it was a good source of heat to keep the dwelling warm. Saving as much firewood as possible during the winter, it was Robyn’s job to make sure the firewood pile was never below three cords and as the levels went down during the Spring and Summer, he and his boys would go to the forest and chop down those dead trees that would give them the fuel they needed to keep the fires burning. It was during these trips to the forest that Robyn taught Buford how to drink. He knew that Sheila would cringe if she found out he let the boy drink so they did this while inside the deep and dark forest looking for wood. Once Sybil smelled liquor on Buford’s breath and before she spoke, she sighed and exhaled loudly through her nose speaking words of not becoming of a lady towards Robyn who was most apologetic but more so that he got caught and not for what he did. There was booze in the den and on the shelves above the fireplace but the children were forbidden to touch the latches that locked it away or the bottles they kept near the fireplace. Sometimes Sybil would use some of the liquor in her baking and add a special flavor her customers had specially requested to be done. It was mainly cakes and cookies that were filled with sweet rum that made them taste so pleasantly sophisticatedly delicious. 4

Robyn had many different bottles of liqueur for different occasions. He even had a special bottle of what he described as a most vile tasting whiskey that was most offensive in smell and taste and used this brand to keep the unwanted friends away from the house when they came here to visit without an invitation. Bragging to Sybil one night he said “This is the bottle I want you to serve to my unwanted friends who leech off us and borrow money from us and not pay us back. Rubbing his finger over the neck of the bottle, he laughed out loud and said to Sybil, “I found this bottle of whiskey in a small town about a hundred miles away from here where the storeowner said it was a special blend made in Tennessee to serve to special friends of the governor. Tasting it you will see that the drink will taste like medicine and has no pleasant flavor to it at all.” Pointing to every bottle he had in his cupboard and on the mantle, he spoke of every bottle in detail and had a different story for every different bottle he picked up. A professional part-time drunkard at best but a full-time good man when sober, Robyn told the children how whiskey and other liquors are made. He describes the differences in bourbon, in rum and other liqueurs that he had brought into the house to keep him filled with alcohol when the nights were cold and the days were short. Oddly, Buford, the eldest said to his father “Father, how come you don’t like beer for I have never seen you drink beer? Is there a reason why you don’t bring home bottles of beer?” Surprised by his son’s observation, Robyn responded to Buford, “Son, I don’t like beer. I never drank it but once and that was enough. I have no desire to buy it or keep it here in the house. A man likes to drink something that has taste and beer has not taste at all for my pleasures.” Sybil was glad that Robyn only drank at home as he would surely get into trouble if he drank in the village saloons or pubs where there are others that would be drunk just like him. After all she thought, when he is drunk at home, he goes to bed and sleeps it off till the next morning and stays out of harm’s way and the police. She was certain that if he drank in the village he would drink beyond his limit and find trouble along the way before coming home. It was nearly midnight and the house was still except for a few good men downstairs playing poker at the kitchen table. Robyn, drunk and still playing a decent hand of poker was pouring another drink out of his favorite bottle when someone knocked on the door and shouted “Is anybody home? Can you please answer the door?”

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Staggering to the door with his friends watching him from afar, Robyn opened the door and saw a man standing there dressed in a uniform and gun in hand. Reaching for his pocket, the uniformed man introduced himself as the local sheriff and asked he anyone had been seen around the house here in the past few hours. Surprised and sobering up quickly, Robyn stared at the sheriff and said “No sheriff, I haven’t seen anybody around here tonight. Who are you looking for” slurring his words a bit. “We have been playing poker here in the den for about four hours and nobody has come to our door this evening but if one did, I would tell you.” With a harsh and stoic voice the sheriff said “Well, keep your doors and windows locked and don’t let any strangers in tonight. We had an escape from the prison and we are looking for the man who is extremely dangerous and armed with a knife he took from someone during the escape.” Sybil, coming down the stairs quietly listened to the two men conversing at the door and caught the last part of the conversation. Her body began to shiver as she thought that someone maybe outside looking in to harm her and the family. She had heard the sheriff say there was an “escapee” on the loose and that he was dangerous. She covered herself with a blanket and asked Robyn if he was done playing poker so that he can send his friends home and come to bed. Almost sober and drinking his last drink, he told his friends to pack it up and meet another day to finish the game. Slowly, the others got up and put their jackets on as they exited the door with a complimentary shot of liquor in hand that would keep them warm during their walk to their own homes. It’s 3 a.m. and the house was quiet. The smoke from the chimney was thinning out as the wood burning was getting low. It was the youngest, Rufus, turn to keep the fire burning but he was sleeping soundly and no amount of noise was going to awaken him tonight. Sensing the fire was dying, Sheila, the second oldest came down the stairway and put a couple of logs on the fire to last the fire until daybreak when the sun would shine through the clear windows that brought life back into the house as they were all early risers even on the weekends.

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As Sheila was gathering a couple more logs of firewood stacked outside on the front porch, she heard a rustle in the bushes near the side of the house and was startled. Sensing someone was looking at her, she ran inside and awoke her mother quietly so not to disturb her father. Whispering to her mother, she said “Mom, I think somebody is outside the house hiding in the bushes as I was getting firewood and heard something there.” Startled Sheila woke her up and remembering the words of the sheriff earlier that night, she quietly slipped out of the bed and went downstairs with Sheila. “Are you sure Sheila, are you sure you heard someone out there? You know you might have been hearing things as you are not really awake and still a little sleepy.” “No mom, I heard it and it is out there. I know it felt like someone was looking at me and I could feel the eyes staring at me in the darkness.” “What kind of eyes dear, animal eyes or human eyes? Describe to me what your saw and heard before we awaken your father. Did it feel like a human was peering out from the darkness seeking help or did it feel evil?” Sheila, carefully choosing her words began to describe how she felt when she stepped outside the house to gather the firewood. She started by saying “it felt like a couple of eyes were peering out from behind the bushes mom, it didn’t feel like a creature but rather a person.” “You know dear, there are a lot of squirrels, wolves and other creatures out there in the middle of the night looking for something to eat and they are harmless if left alone. I don’t think a person can stand being outside there so cold and sometimes the wind does strange things to you making you think that something or someone is talking to you when it’s really just the wind.” “It wasn’t an animal mother; I could feel the eyes belonged to a person. Someone is out there and it is looking in our house to do something to us. I am afraid and I can’t sleep with knowing that somebody is out there.” Sybil, knowing the house is located near the end of the village and bordering the forest is prone to be mistaken for the house that once belonged to the doctor and that in the past, those renegades living in the forest would come down during the night and see the doctor and see if he could fix them up or treat them of their wounds before daybreak and disappear back into the forest without any clues to anyone else. Perhaps, what Sheila heard was a wounded person needing the help of the doctor.

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Her obsessiveness to find out if anyone was hiding in the front yard or backyard was something she hadn’t counted on as he went back inside to dress warmer and find a lantern that will filled with oil to make it last longer in the darkness. Sending Sheila back to bed, she went outside and searched the front yard looking for proof of an intruder and trampled bushes or broken branches. Her excursion drifted into the dark backyard and ignoring the dangers of drifting so far away from the house, she continued to look into the darkness for a wounded or injured person. She knew that legends had been told of this house and how it served the doctor’s needs when the prisoners kept in the dark dungeons farther down the valley would be brought here to be treated and taken back to remain in the dungeons to serve their time sentenced to remain there. She had heard the doctor was a compassionate man and that he treated all men regardless of their crimes committed. She had also heard about the legends that came from the prison as there was some kind of monster thing that lived there attacking other prisoners and the guards. It was also documented several times that this monster thing would escape from the prison grounds and would drift into the woods nearby and visit different houses or cabins near the woods attacking or killing people that lived there. Legend said that it was captured and shot right nearby the doctor’s house a few years back and that the monster thing lived and taken back to prison after the doctor treated it and saved its life. Her obsessive notion to keep looking for proof that there was someone out there kept her oblivious of the severe cold temperatures as she felt the woods come alive during the night as she too now felt heated glowing eyes staring at her as she roamed through the darkness looking for life. She couldn’t tell if it was a wolf or another sort of animal but she was determined to find her prey. In the meantime, Sheila, worried about her mother’s absence in the darkness awakened her drunken father and told him of the story she told her mother. Somewhat angry to be awaken like this but concerned for Sybil, he dressed quickly and took another lantern to the backyard and began looking for a flicker of light from Sybil’s lantern somewhere in the back yard but near the border of the forest. Strangely, he too could feel the woods come alive and felt the glowing eyes of something staring at him from the darkness. Covering the trail that was easy to follow as the grass was freshly trampled and branches broken, Robyn saw the light from Sybil’s lantern and yelled out to her in the darkness to return to him. 8

Yelling “Sybil, come back immediately, it’s too cold out here and the darkness will make you fall. Please come back and we will look first thing in the morning for whoever is hiding there in the forest.” Startled Sybil was worried now that Robyn had been awakened and looking for her in the darkness. She in turn yelled out “I’m right here dear, and I think I found something you need to see.” Stepping up and racing towards the light, Robyn was worried for Sybil’s’ safety and ran as quick as he could without stumbling in the dark. Finding her standing over a person laying in the grass and covered with blood, he realized that this was the person the sheriff was looking for earlier that night when he knocked on the door and asked if they had seen any strangers. Dressed in black and white striped clothing identifying him as a prisoner, Robyn was cautious as he remembered the sheriff telling him he had a knife. Looking around the body as the man just laid there motionless, he found his hands empty and no weapons around the body. Feeling comfortable they are both safe, he picked up the body and slung it over his shoulder with Sybil leading him back to the house from the darkness of the backyard and the forest. Sheila, the most responsible of all three children was waiting at the door and had put on a kettle of hot water in case her mother wanted to make something to drink for her father or the stranger. Looking at the striped man she saw the blood and shuddered a little and frightened a bit more than before as she could tell he was wounded and near death. The two, shivering from the cold and walking into the house quietly and carefully so not to waken the two boys upstairs asleep, nodded to each other as Sybil went into the kitchen and Robyn laid the wounded man on the floor near the fireplace. Covering him up with blankets he poured himself a drink as he warmed himself up a bit watching Sybil in the kitchen making something hot for herself. Putting on a hot pot of coffee using the water heated by Sheila, she poured some into a cup and walked into the den where the man was laying and mumbling some words incoherently. The man in the striped shirt and pants was an older man. He must have been at least forty and his unshaven partially stubbed bearded face was that of a kind stranger but nevertheless, they were both careful as they treated his wounds and put fresh bandages on the cuts and stopped the bleeding.

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Ironically, the doctor in his hasty departure from the red roofed house had left many medical supplies inside a cupboard and closet that Sybil found with ease when they first moved in and kept them in a storage box just in case the kids were hurt or an emergency such as this. The sun light was peeking inside the kitchen window as the first signs of dawn arrived and provided them with more light to see the man lying there motionless. It would be only a matter of minutes before the boys would wake so Sybil had begun to make breakfast that consisted of eggs, bacon and home fried potatoes. Robyn was sitting quietly at the table as he thought about how he was going to handle this matter and contact the sheriff of this stranger in his house. Enthusiastically the boys awakened and ran down the stairs as they smelled the cooking and food coming from the kitchen. Running past the man lying there near the fire they stopped in their tracks and looked closely at the clothes the man was wearing and the blood that had seeped through the bandages on the arm and legs of this man. He had also suffered a stomach wound and that was the main concern for Robyn as he tried to stop the bleeding from that wound to keep him from losing so much blood. Sitting at the table the boys kept quiet as neither wanted to ask their father or their mother what had happened throughout the night while they were asleep. Table bound and quiet they ate their breakfast and prepared for the day’s tasks given to them by their father. In the meanwhile, Sybil had washed the wounded man’s arm and leg several times with soapy water and disinfecting it with some of Robyn’s liquor he kept on the fireplace mantle. Hours went by after the sun came up before the man moved and spoke a word. “Where am I and who are you people” asked the wounded man with curiosity as he winches with pain. Robyn, sitting there breaks a grin and said “You don’t recognize either one of us do you? You don’t remember us finding you in the woods early this morning scaring the shit out of us because you were staring at my daughter. Who are you and where are you from.” The man, trying to sit up and propping himself against the wall a little shook his head and said to Robyn, “Well first of all, I want to thank you for finding me and treating me. I know I must have scared the living daylight out of your daughter but I meant no harm. I am running away from the sheriff and his men because they want to take me back to that prison down the valley where they keep them all in chains when working the fields.”

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Curious, Sybil asked him for his name as he answered her question. “David, David White, I am an escapee and am running for my life but couldn’t run any further that your house before getting to the woods where it would be hard to find me. I will leave your house as soon as I am well enough to walk again so please don’t worry about me, I will be gone in a few hours.” Thinking to herself and looking at Robyn, she asked “Robyn, what are you thinking? Are you really going to send the boys to go get the sheriff for this man? He doesn’t look dangerous to me.” Robyn, pondering and thinking it over said to her “Look, I know how you are, you take in every stray cat or dog if you could but this is different. This man is wanted by the law and they are looking for him. We need to let the sheriff know we found him last night and come get him.” Robyn takes another drink and looks into the stranger’s eyes. “Well, Mr. White, what are we going to do with you huh, what is the best thing we can do to make this work for all of us? My wife says to let you go and I am thinking perhaps you should be returned to the sheriff for running from him.” Listening to the slow and deliberate words spoken by White, the children went upstairs and found things to play with as their parents make up their minds how they were going to handle this most awkward matter and tell the sheriff or not there was a stranger in the house. Robyn said to Sybil, “We won’t do anything until he regains his strength. We will treat him like the doctor would if he was here and keep him safe and sound and warm until we figure out what we are going to do with him later on in the day.” Sybil was glad to hear these words from her husband who was a most sensible man when not drunk. She told him she loved him very much and made another pot of coffee for the stranger and some soup for him to eat. Sheila, knowing her mother’s schedule was writing a note to put on the door telling people that her mother would not be baking today and that there were no goods for sale keeping them away from the house for a short while so the man could mend his wounds and get better. Looking from a distance and standing in the kitchen Sybil could tell this man was not a monster or evil doer as the sheriff had said when he knocked on the door last night. He was a kind looking man and he was hurt awfully bad to be running so he had to rest awhile and heal as fast as he could before leaving again and run for his freedom.

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Chapter Three – The Long Night The early moments of the day and the lingering hours of the afternoon were uneventful except for a few knocks on the door when those looking for baking goods failed to read the note posted by Sheila earlier that morning. The house windows had all its blinds down keeping the sun from warming it up with sunshine but the fire was going strong and the firewood was plenty. Suddenly about half past two o’clock someone knocked on the door and as Sheila answered the door, a man stood there with a long gun in his hand asking for her father. Closing the door softly as she had only cracked it a few inches wide to shield everyone from sight, she yelled at her dad to come to the door. Robyn, standing there and looking at the man with the long gun stood stoic and asked “How can I help you stranger and what’s with the gun? Are you hunting something or looking for someone here?” “Yes, in a matter of fact, we are hunting something or someone, a man. A man who escaped last night and has fled in this direction as his blood trail led up to the edge of the woods and stopped there for some reason as if he disappeared. We need to find this man for he is a dangerous criminal and must be returned to the prison he escaped from.” Well,, I told the sheriff last night that we have seen no strangers and have heard not of anyone being here or near the woods. The dogs howled a little last night and I think there was a wolf out there sometime during the night but we have seen no man here. I will send my boys to the sheriff if he comes around here. Are you all right with that?” “Yes, of course” the man with the long gun replied. The wounds on the arm and legs healed quickly and the bleeding stopped on all but the stomach wound. It needed stitching up and not being a doctor, Robyn couldn’t figure out how to treat this man to help him get better. He knew he had to leave soon and believed the quicker he got well, the quicker he got out and be free to run to wherever he was going to find that gave him the solace he needed to feel safe. Sybil, pondering the dilemma quietly said to Robyn, “I think I can sew his wounds with my needles and thread if you want me to try. It won’t be pretty but I think we can close the wound enough to draw the skin together close enough to heal and stop the bleeding. Do you mind if I try?”

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Reserved Robyn thought about it for a minute and said to her “Okay dear, but please be careful, I will get some of my liquor to use as an anesthetic and clean the wound for you before you sew it together.” David impressed at the courage these two displayed when the man with the long gun began to tell the story of why he ran and escaped from the prison that has kept him for the last fifteen years. It was a story that had to be told to make Robyn and Sybil aware of his situation and reasons for taking off like he did when the guards were not looking and preoccupied with whipping another man who was not working hard enough in the fields to bale the precious alfalfa for the land lords. “My hands were blistered and I couldn’t hold the twine any more with my hands to wrap the bales so I was being punished by the guards as I was too slow baling and tying the bales into bundles for others to pick up. I couldn’t take the beatings any longer” and showed his blistered hands to Robyn and the rest of the family. Thinking back a little, Sybil and Robyn had seen the scars on the man’s back when they found him and treated his wounds. They said nothing of the scars on his back as it was something they didn’t want to pry into but now she knew he was telling the truth that he was being abused and whipped for reasons unjustified according to law and human decency if the man was telling the truth of the reasons for those whippings. The day extended into darkness as the dog outside began to howl warning of approaching men with guns and dogs. The posse had found tracks leading them to the red roof house and surrounded the house with men on horses and carrying long guns on their hips ready to shoot anything that moved in a threatening manner and as another knock on the door made their presence, the man in the striped shirt was long gone and headed into the woods seeking his freedom. Answering the door Robyn stood there staring directly into the eyes of the sheriff he had met the night before and asked him “How can I help you sheriff and what do you need me to do?” The sheriff somewhat bewildered and surprised at the courageous attitude Robyn and Sybil displayed at the door said to them “We have not yet found this escapee but we feel his might be here nearby in the edge of the woods so we are warning everyone to look out for him and let us search their homes to make sure he is not hiding anywhere like the attics or floorboards without their knowledge. Can we come in and search your house please?” Without hesitation Robyn answered the sheriff with a “Sure Sheriff, you can look anywhere you want to look.” 13

Chapter Four – The Making of a Nightmare

Events at the red roof house returned back to normal as the family endured the extremely cold winter days and nights. The goods baked were making good money for Sybil as she was saving some money for new clothes for the children and a new buggy to travel in for Robyn who had hired on as a blacksmith in the village shoeing horses for the rich men who lived north of the mountains. Horses in this valley were valuable commodities and were treated with the utmost importance by their owners. Blacksmithing in this valley was an expert trade that drew many to the best blacksmiths around. Robyn had learned the trade from his father but as time went by, he lost interest in such hard work and found easier work to do to make a living. Every now and then he would come to work telling his boss “I know, I drink a little too much and I am late for work but now that I am here, I will finish whatever needs to be done for the day and won’t go home until it is done.” His boss, a drunkard as well popped off a few words and slurped another beer into his mouth telling Robyn “Sure you drunk, make sure you get it all done before you go home.” Some time back he confessed to Robyn he drinks a good six bottles of beer a night before he goes to bed and that tells Robyn a lot about how to handle his boss when he was late for work. Sybil, appreciating the fact these two got along so well said to Robyn before he left for work that morning, “It’s good you have each other, it’s good for you and good for him for we can’t risk being without work and having work to make ends meet.” The day was long and Robyn was tired when he came home. Sybil was sitting at the kitchen table looking at photos of her family she had saved before they moved from the Rocky Mountain area where they lived for a few years. She was looking at a photo of her parents, her brothers and sisters when Robyn said to her “Maybe we should go to the village and get a photo taken of all of the family, what do you think Sybil, is that a good idea?” “Yes, I like that honey, I think I will make an appointment with the photographer and set it up. I can’t wait till we have the kids in their new clothes and take a picture of them looking so handsome and pretty. I will be going to the village today and buy Sheila a white dress and a new petticoat and the boys some new black leather shoes to match their new black pants. How about you, do you want me to buy you something new Robyn or are you going to wear that suit I bought you years ago but haven’t worn yet for one reason or another?” 14

The house was bustling as the family sat down for dinner this late winter night. The moon was full as the stars were bright and the wind was howling through the windows and doors creating a slight draft inside this house that was normally oh so warm to enjoy and live in. It had been nearly a month since the prison escapee left the house for the woods and nobody has seen him since. The sheriff had told people in the village that the winter in the forest and the mountains were so harsh no man could survive such an ordeal without food, water or shelter and that it was likely the man had already died up there somewhere in the wilderness and eaten by the wolves that roam there. Laying down on their mattress of their king size bed, Robyn turned to Sybil and asked “What are you thinking dear, you are so pensive lately, and I am wondering what is wrong.” “There is nothing wrong dear, I was just thinking about that David fellow we treated and how he managed so far up there in the woods or mountains that is so frightening cold.” “Yes, I know. I heard the sheriff saying the exact same thing a few days ago when he came by to get his horseshoed by me. He was laughing out loud saying no man can survive such an ordeal without help from anyone.” “I don’t know about you but I don’t trust that sheriff. He seems evil to me and there is something about him that makes him evil. I guess it’s because he has no compassion for the fact that that man was escaping from being tortured and already being in pain with his blistered hands and scarred back where he was beaten.” Robyn, grinning a little as he sips on some of his finest liquor said softly “If I had to guess, that man is just fine up there somewhere and looking down from the mountain and buying his time to come back down when they have stopped looking for him and given up the search. He will then find a way to get down the road a bit and find his freedom just as long as he his careful who he talks to and mixes with in the future for many men in this village have loose lips and wicked tongues including the politicians who benefit from the land lords who rule this place with fear and intimidation of their workers and their families. We are lucky to not have to depend on them for our food, our shelter and our money. The children, closing in on their mother and father were asking questions about their grandmother and grandfathers. Knowing almost nothing about them they wanted to know more and more as days passed and the stories unfolded into telling memories of both Robyn’s and Sybil’s parents who live back in the Rocky Mountain area. 15

Softly, Sybil said to Sheila, “My mother was a stubborn woman; she was a very contemptuous person who never washed a dish in her entire life. She was spoiled and expected others to do her chores for her. I have bad memories of her for she didn’t cook or clean or anything for my father who either cleaned up himself or had help from us.” Telling a dark family secret to her children she spoke “Once, she ran off leaving the family behind and looking to find a new home in a place called New York until she ran out of money and returned within a year after she ran away. She came back all apologetic and my father took her back without saying a word. She was a selfish woman who didn’t change her ways until lately when Sheila turned about four.” Scratching his head Robyn said “Hmm, New York, I wonder what made her choose New York to run off to. It was such a big nasty place and would definitely not be one of my favorite cities to go to or visit if I had a choice where to go. I would rather go to Denver, San Francisco or even New Orleans if I could. They serve the best liquor in these places and have many festivals that are some of the best celebrations in the world.” “Of course dear, you would pick those cities that serve the best liquor. What about other cities and other things you like in life?” “Well, New Orleans has some of the best sea food you can eat whether Cajun or regular served. San Francisco serves great Chinese food and Denver, well Denver is different. It is a blend of good food, good clean air and beautiful scenery that will intoxicate your mind into wanting to stay there forever and enjoy the mile high fresh air and fresh snow year around. Laughing he continued to name his cities and said “Oklahoma City, the worst city in the country if not the world and if a tornado blew that place to pieces, nobody would miss it or see the difference such a disaster makes.” Simultaneously the whole family laughed at that comment as the wind continued to howl into the darkness of night. The children, getting sleepy headed up for bed and as they kissed their parents good night, a strange howl came over the backyard where they found that escapee months ago as if there was a ghost out there talking to them. Thinking it was a lonesome wolf on the prowl; the children hurried off into their rooms and covered themselves up with the thick blankets that would keep them warm throughout the night. Tonight, it was their father’s turn to keep the fire going so they could all go to a deep sound sleep.

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Chapter Five – The Darkness and the Light

It was during the winter months that the family endured long tales of stories resembling both horror and ghostly stories that were hard to believe but realistic enough to consider them to be possibly true. Stories of the paranormal always intrigued the children and kept their attention on the tales putting them to sleep with drowsy eyes and cloudy minds making the nights better to endure and winter easier to accept. Robyn, inspired to tell stories while sipping on his favorite brands of liquor whether it be whiskey, rum or bourbon or even vodka, relaxed every night with a sip here and a bottle in his hand there. Sybil, feeling comfortable with his habit and having things to occupy her own mind found the nights intriguing as well as some of the stories told were new to her as well but often reminiscent of stories told in the past when she was a child and hearing them from her father. They often spoke of legends related to the Rocky Mountains where it was the home of many bandits, trappers, and other fabled stories of outlaws and searchers looking for gold. There was one in particular that spoke of creatures in the dark that appeared on lonely roads or dark deepened forest where coyotes and wolves roam with eyes that can see in the dark and find something to eat or kill without the knowledge of man or any other creature as it is stealthy and swift in its kill. Legend has it that that these creatures of the dark resembling coyotes or wolves are not really animals but men shape shifting from man to animal and animal to man when the sun comes up. It is said they can walk upright or walk on all fours and have paws that resemble those of a dog but that can kill like a werewolf shifting their forms and doing something evil under the cloaking of the dark. Whether a curse or a myth, the stories are told and believed by many people who live near these shape shifting creatures in Arizona, Colorado or New Mexico. Sitting there listening intensely to the story of the Skinwalker or what is commonly known as a Navajo witch, this story in most told in times when the moon is full and the air is frigidly cold. A Skinwalker is a medicine man that attained special powers allowing him to break cultural traditions and perform acts that are hard to explain or believable to those listening to the story. Banished from their tribes for their evil doings, they seek out into the desert or mountains alone and prowl much depending on their shape shifting into any animal they wish which are commonly found to be a coyote, wolf, cougar, fox, owl or crow.

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Their eyes are almost certainly human even during their body snatching transformations and take this eye locking method to read human thoughts or imitate their voices making it appear to be a human talking rather than this creature that can shift forms anytime of the day but preys mostly at night. They climb the walls of sleeping families and bang on the walls and knock on doors or windows just like a human would. They are malicious in nature but rarely attack unless provoked to do so. Climbing the roofs and finding ways into the houses of unaware families they attack with vicious power when faced to defend themselves as a last resort. Robyn describes them as fast and ugly with mutations that are somewhere between human and creatures thus not fully an animal or a man. Sometimes they are naked and sometimes they are fully clothed but regardless, they are hard to kill and once bitten, you too may become a shape shifter and prowl the lonely desert or mountains at night looking for prey or victims according to the legends. Rumor has it the only way to kill a Skinwalker is with a silver bullet. Sometimes the legends were of tales called vampires as they lived inside the homes of those who lived on the dark side of the sun at all times. The stories are told of the old world vampires that came from ancient Greece or medieval Bulgaria where they were described as winged creatures that craved blood especially from children. Then there are old world tales of the Albanian type of vampires that have captured the new world’s imagination with tales of horror that can keep you awake when the stories are told. Now traveling into the new world, there are Rocky Mountain vampires that sucked the blood out of their victim’s ears using its pointed nose as a means to suck the life fulfilling blood into their own bodies. Robyn would tell of how the people would protect themselves from them wearing garlic or a crucifix around their neck and keeping holy water or a branch of wild rose or hawthorn near them and meticulously placing mustard seeds on the roof of their houses to prevent them from attacking them in their sleep. Some say that vampires don’t cast reflections or shadows of themselves and won’t enter a home unless invited. However, some vampires break all the rules and will enter the most sacred places on earth whether they are invited or not. Chilling and somewhat frightened, the children were mesmerized and as the story came to an end, they were all stymied with bewilderment that such creatures exist and attack humans for blood. Slowly, they stand up and stretch their legs as they prepare to go upstairs and go to sleep. Another winter night will pass and the family will sleep soundly even after listening to such horror stories that Robyn loved to tell.

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Chapter Six – The Unexplainable Happens

Her mouth moves but nothing came out. Talking loudly in the beginning she is now talking so softly, you can’t hear a word she is saying. Like watching a silent movie with no words, Sybil thinks of how she can change this house that doesn’t fit her any longer as there was something about this house that was weird and leaving shadows on the walls that she could see out of one eye but that nobody else apparently has noticed since they lived there. She feels like someone is watching her and is determined to hire an architect to change the house they live in. Walking through the house with her hired architect she tells him how she wants to change the plumbing, the rooms and the walls as she feels that something evil is lurking inside that house that has kept her safe and warm up to this point but was often suspicious of other spirits living there without being invited to do so by either Robyn or her when they first moved in. She wanted to put locks on the doors so she can control who goes in and who goes out. The keys to the locks must be kept somewhere safe and the walls must be painted a different color as the wall paper that she once liked had to go for it was most ugly in the dark when you stared at it almost shining a light from the interior parts of the walls giving it a translucent glowing texture that was spooky at night. New paint and new fixtures she wanted to make it new. Doing away with everything the doctor had put into this house and replacing it with her own was important to her. Walking and talking to her architect she said to him “Cover this, replace this and knock this out and make it look brand new.” Soon the house was done. The windows were replaced with better air tight windows and the doors were heavier and had locks put on to keep strangers out and family safely in during the nights. Strangely the architect and she had found all the walls inside this house hollow and some were hollow enough to put the space to good use for storage and other things. Talking to Robyn, Sybil said to him “Isn’t fascinating what we found behind some of those old walls. It had old paintings of people that never lived here and other things that belonged to dead people from a long time ago. I wonder why the doctor had them inside this house if they didn’t belong to him.”

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Removing the old paint and putting up her own wall paper covering it with her own photographs and wall fixtures; she was happy how the house turned out and changed its look. It seemed warmer and less drafty with the new windows and doors. The air was more comfortable and the wind didn’t howl as loud as it did before. Spring was almost here and the days were warmer and the sun stayed longer as the snow was melting slowly on the ground revealing a fresh stream of water nearby running full with crystal clear water and newly originated trout’s never seen before, coming down from the mountain. The fields were thawing and the weather was quickly improving as the wintery blustering wind had died down enough to allow the trees and bushes to sprout new leaves and new ferns. Standing outside enjoying the sunshine Sheila could hear her mother calling for her. Hearing her voice come closer, she runs towards the house and meets her half way. With a befuddled stare in her eyes she asked her mother “What’s wrong mother, why are you crying.” “I know this sounds strange dear but I just heard the voice of my mother calling me out here into the woods but I know that can’t be. She doesn’t live here yet I heard her voice loud and clear calling me.” Sheila, somewhat confused and putting her hands on her head moaned “Maybe you didn’t sleep well last night mom and you are tired. Come let’s go back into the house and take it easy for a while.” They briefly huddled and hugged each other tightly as they walk back to the little red roofed house that has been changed to meet the likings of Sybil but who is now experiencing weirder thoughts than ever before. It was like they put a curse on the house after she changed it and now it was changing her in a most bizarre way causing the children and Robyn more concern than ever as she talked a lot about hearing voices and other noises coming from the walls in the house she changed to suit her own needs and tastes. In the meantime, Robyn had stopped drinking excessively and more rarely lately than ever. His behavior had done a complete turnaround and was most unusual as he had been a drinker for many years just to give it up like this at a moment’s whim one might say. Drinking was his prelude to telling stories and the children haven’t been told a good story for many weeks now since the winter has gone and the springtime has created more opportunities to be outside and enjoy the fresh air.

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The plantations of alfalfa and hay were reaping a record setting harvest as the first cut revealed a prosperous year with a good crop for those rich men north of the village. There were many new workers in the village and looking for a place to stay as during the harvest time, room and board was hard to find and the costs of renting such a room was ridiculous if not preposterous to say the least. During the past few months and after the renovation of the red roofed house, Robyn and Sybil had added a guest room in the back that would accommodate a small family of three if they were not large people. They had put up a sign near the tall tree that borders the road with the village end and offered to rent the guest house for extra income that would help pay for Buford’s education as he was being tutored and home schooled because of his problems at school failing to get along with others and getting into a lot of fights lately. Seems that ever since the house was remodeled the family characteristics had changed as well and everything that was once before was slowly changing into a different direction. Strange coincidence one would say if they didn’t believe in that house being haunted and possessing a special spirit or so when the doctor left it in such a hurry, nobody really knew why he gone. Spring came and gone and then came summer. It was a most pleasant time in the village as the festivities were often and the people were glad to celebrate every chance they could removing any misery from their minds as the harvest was good and the money was plenty. Robyn still worked as a blacksmith and did his chores around the house as Sybil baked goods for a village store and sewed clothes for those who worked in town or at the local prison. She did uniform alterations and found it to be a good trade as the money offered was good and the business was booming with more and more people moving to this village to work the fields and small industries inside the village limits. While she was sewing or altering clothes for those prison guards she had heard many stories of how the men worked in the fields and how they were being treated inside that dark and tomb like prison that was underground and not accessible by anyone not employed by the prison. It was like a deep dark secret place that nobody really talked about except perhaps over a brief cup of coffee or drink of ale at the local pub or saloon but rarely for any length of time or detail.

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Sybil had heard that the prison had grown almost two fold as the need for more field workers became necessary and that there were less and less immigrants coming to the village to work for the large land lords or farmers being afraid that they sheriff might arrest them for being vagrants thus ending up in jail. They knew that if thrown in the jail, they would end up working in the prison fields for free rather than being paid as a traditional way it used it to be before the rich men had ordered more prisoners be found to work the fields. They called it slavery but the sheriff called it the prison work force paying society back for what they took from it. Robyn was shoeing horses for the work details and posse that went after escaped prisoners from the fields. The need for more horses increased with the need to put more guards out there in the fields to watch the prison workers. The money was good and there were no complaints of the extra work as it meant extra income. Sheila, carrying a book and talking to herself as she is walking down the hall of the upstairs part of the house suddenly stopped and saw a shadow on the wall that seemed to follow her. Wondering what the shadow was she turned and saw the light behind her was very bright and she thought that perhaps she was imagining things. The smallest but yet the smartest of them all, Rufus was busy doing his homework when he noticed a shadow on the wall moving quickly away from him but paying it no mind as he too thought he was seeing things. Coming down the stairs she saw her mother and focused on her face. Her mouth did not move but looking closely under the shadow of her face, she was moving her lips and saying something that was unheard by Sheila or anyone else standing closely. Exhaling and staring at her mother drew a negative reaction from her mother as she asked “What’s wrong with you Sheila, why are you acting so strange?” Not wanting to upset her mother of her seeing the shadow upstairs she replied “Nothing mother, just got a lot of things on my mind and I forgot what I was going to ask you.” Book in hand and turning away from her mother, Sheila went about her own business and went outside to read her book by herself and away from the weird things happening inside the house. As the sun settled down and casting dark long shadows over the red roofed house and the village nearby, the air chilled a bit and you could hear a wolf howling in the distance as if something was terribly wrong and something evil was about to happen. 22

Sybil had bought new curtains for the house after the remodeling and covered the windows with a thick material that kept the sunlight out and the darkness in depending what time of day it was. The hardwood floors were left alone but were polished to a new color and shined brightly leaving a glossy shine no matter how dirty they were. Sybil and Robyn had put a swing set on the porch where they would sit at on summer evenings as they talked about the day’s events or future plans with the children or the house. It was a most pleasant place to sit and dream a little dream about anything you wanted to dream about. It seemed the only thing Sybil didn’t change about the house was the red roof shingles as they were sturdy and expensive to replace. At dinner the family sat down and talked about things they felt filled their day. None of the two either Sheila or Rufus mentioned the shadows on the walls and none said a word about it afterwards as well. Exhausted from work, from school or from work, they all went into a deep sleep and closed their eyes till the next morning sunrise that would be met by the crowing of the rooster that served well as the family alarm clock no matter what season it was or how cold it was during the early morning hours. Sybil said to Robyn, “Ever since we reconstructed this house, things have been different. Our habits have changed, our food has changed, our leisure time has changed and our personalities have changed. I wondered whether changing the house interior has changed our lives to such a degree that we are now different people. It seems so strange that we don’t act the same any more like we did before. Maybe it’s because the children are growing up and we are tired from working all day.” Robyn suspected more than just a mere coincidence as he had noticed these changes but never said a word to anyone for fear of scaring them unnecessarily and making a mountain out of a mole hill. Perhaps time will heal all these suspicions and make the paranoia go away. Robyn has suspected for quite some time now that when Sybil changed the interior of the house, she changed the dynamics that were inside that house including the spirits that lived there before them and those of the doctor. Besides seeing shadows on the wall himself but never revealing them to anyone in the family, he has heard music come from the kid’s bedroom and dishes breaking in the kitchen when there was nobody there. He has seen shadows of both men and women standing there either sitting or standing on the bed he sleeps in and now, with the addition of the guestroom, he has seen shadows walking across the window even when it wasn’t occupied yet and put up for rent.

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He had noticed personal items moved or missing when he removed his jewelry or his ring and put it in the box where he keeps all his valuables. Even with the new doors and new windows he has heard the wind howl through the house when nobody else is around as if someone left a door or window open but after a close examination of all the windows and doors, nothing was found open or left un-shut. These paranormal occurrences has him worried and knowing how much Sybil loves this house, he has refrained from asking if she wanted to move to another house somewhere else and has found his liquor cabinets unlocked or left open when in fact he locked them regularly to keep the kids from reaching in there and drinking his liquor. Last week he installed a new hand crafted table in the table that was very heavy but about two days after bringing it home, he found it re-located about two feet where he had put it with the help or two other men. Certainly he thought “The table didn’t jump into the air and moved itself just because it was no longer where he left it when he brought it home.” Robyn didn’t like what was happening and this phenomenon was terrifying the hell out of him. Afraid to confront Sybil, he let it go and focused on other things around the house that needed either mending or fixing because it seemed a lot of things were breaking lately and with no explanation or reason for doing so. One morning Robyn left for work as usual and as he kissed Sybil goodbye he went about his business and headed for the village stable where his boss was waiting on him to finish what he started the night before. Working hard at bringing the cash home he felt uncomfortable with leaving Sybil alone inside that house with those guards that came and went to drop off and pick up their altered uniforms almost every day of the week. He was jealous to some degree but understood and trusted his wife completely. It was the guards he didn’t trust as when they came into the stable to shoe their horses, they were braggers of how much of a Romeo they were with the ladies in the pub or elsewhere in the village. One day, he decided to return home early and found a dead man on his front yard. Not knowing what had happened here he called for Sybil who was in the house completely unaware of the dead man’s presence on the lawn. Screaming as she saw the body, he comforted her and took her back into the house. Telling her he was going to go get the sheriff he left her there in the den near the fire place and headed out the door when he noticed the dead man was gone. Looking and feeling foolish, he knew he didn’t imagine the body as Sybil saw it too. Between the two of them it must have been real, so he thought. 24

Regardless, he went to the sheriff’s office and reported the dead man on his front yard. The sheriff, scratching his head said to Robyn “Are you sure you saw a dead man on your lawn and if you did, what was he wearing. What kind of clothes did he have on and how was he dead. Did you see a gunshot wound or blood or anything?” Robyn, stymied by the hesitation provided by the sheriff asked “Why do you doubt my word there was a dead man laying on my front yard. I saw him as did my wife. He was real and I didn’t make it up. Won’t you please come to the house and see for yourself what I am talking about Sheriff, it is very important that you do this for me.” The sheriff, an old timer and having been the sheriff there for the last thirty years laughed and said to Robyn, “Sure, partner, I will follow you home and look at the body you say was on your front lawn but before we go, let me tell you a little story. It’s a short one so sit down and listen.” “There once was this man who was a trapper by trade and who put out traps all over those woods nearby your house making a living off the pelts and skins trapped by him. He was found one day by a stranger who heard a gunshot go off and found this trapper laying there with a gunshot wound inflicted by his own gun. Barely alive they took him to the red roofed house where the doctor lived and before they got to the front door, the horse that was pulling the wagon where the trapper was put to rest got spooked and dumped the trapper on the front yard of the doctor right there before the eyes of many witnesses including the doctor. Well, the trapper died right there and the doctor said to bury him in the front yard to dispose his body. Ever since that trapper died, people have said they saw a dead man’s body on the front yard of that house and its keeps happening no matter who lives there. The doctor got tired of seeing the dead body re-appear every so often and moved away but the body keeps popping up like a ghost or something.” Eyes wide open and mouth open as well Robyn said to the sheriff “So what you are telling me is the body is something that happens every now and then and disappears once seen by someone like us? That is so hard to believe but I will take your word for it so forget about coming out to the house and I will explain this to my wife as we try to understand the reasons for what had happened that day on the front yard. Robyn knew Sybil would have a hard time swallowing this story as he was a master story teller but usually very good at make believe and not reality such as this ghost story, a certain anomaly he would have a hard time explaining to anyone. 25

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