Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side Barbara Parks (good e books to read .txt) 📖

death are the reason she remained earthbound for almost forty

years. Surely she deserves justice after all this time.

So even though I feel that Bev has at last crossed into the

light, the situation still warrants final closure. If Bev’s boyfriend did indeed kill her, surely he needs to be brought to justice. And if he too has already passed, the score will need to be settled on the other side.

chapter twelve

T h e B o y s

To say I just happened to chance upon another haunted house

would be a lie, as I admit I was deliberately in search of fodder for future chapters. I trawled the internet in search of a suitably haunted-looking building; somewhere with a rich history and the possibility of ghosts. The Ellington School House looked perfect. I booked my family in for a two night stay,

eager to discover whether the old school house would deliver

as much as it promised.

Built in 1885, the school serviced the farm children from

the district. It was operational sporadically until 1944, depending on how many children were living in the vicinity at the

time. The schoolhouse had been restored in keeping with its

nineteenth century character, with wide rustic floorboards and the original blackboard still intact.

I caught my breath as we first entered the white-washed

classroom. I immediately recognised the dense atmosphere

which alerts me to the presence of spirits. There is an unmis-91

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takeable heaviness which often characterises a haunting; a

heaviness that I felt as soon as I walked into the room.

The proprietess, Evelyn, dropped by shortly after we

arrived. In keeping with her country hospitality, she welcomed us with gifts of fresh eggs and cake. She told us a little about the building’s history, from where I managed to steer the conversation towards the topic of ghosts.

“So …” I asked casually. “Any possibility of the place being

haunted?”

“Not that I’ve experienced,” said Evelyn. “Although a cou-

ple who stayed here some time ago thought so. They reckon a

vase walked across the top of the cupboard and then smashed

onto the floor.”

“Really?” I asked excitedly.

“Well they were pretty weird,” said Evelyn. “So I’m not

really sure what to believe!”

She left shortly after, leaving us to settle in. My sister,

Vlasta and brother-in-law, Michael were planning to join us

some time in the evening.

What had been the schoolmaster’s quarters were now the

two guest bedrooms, so the seven of us had to squeeze in as

best we could. We decided we would move one of the mat-

tresses into the classroom area, so that Eloise would have the schoolroom to herself.

It was as I was making up Eloise’s bed that I came across

the first presence. I felt a sudden brush against my right arm, after which an intense warmth proceeded to travel down

towards my elbow. I looked to my right and saw a flash, and

immediately went to grab my camera.

“Hello!” I said. “Would you like to show yourself in my

photo?”

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With one quick snap, he was there; a fist-sized orb posi-

tioned just in front of the fire.

Given that spirit lights usually flash from the centre of

the spirit’s chest, I deduced that the spirit who had come to

greet me was a child. Judging by the positioning of the orb, it appeared that the spirit was no more than four and a half feet tall. Since Eloise would be sleeping alone in the schoolroom,

I kept the experience to myself, lest she felt uneasy about her invisible room mate. I had no doubt that the presence was

friendly, so I had no qualms about keeping this little secret private.

The first night was uneventful and we all woke up

refreshed after a peaceful night’s sleep. We decided to go for a drive after breakfast; our destination being a historic local inn.

Despite being a ten-roomed, gracious two storey building, it

was on the market for a suspiciously low price. I couldn’t help thinking that this was because it was haunted.

The Greenbark Inn was a solitary monolith on a deserted

stretch of country road. It had obviously been breathtaking in its Victorian heyday.

Now it was looking tired and run-down, with a network of

cracks running along most of its walls. Its wallpaper and carpets were no doubt original; its hallways perfused with a mustiness that only comes with age. Not surprisingly, there was the familiar atmospheric denseness that I associate with ghosts.

As we wandered along its hallways, I had the feeling that

we were being watched.

Convening at the bar a short time later, the waitress was

quick to confirm our suspicions that the hotel was haunted.

“We had a film crew here not long ago,” she said. “Some

ghost show from a cable TV network.”

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I asked if they’d managed to capture anything significant,

to which she replied that they certainly had. She also spoke

of some of her personal encounters with the resident ghosts, including being locked out of rooms and having doors slam in

her face.

The waitress went on to tell us about some recent house

guests who inexplicably checked out of their room at two in

the morning. The couple later recounted how they would

never stay at the hotel again, as they repeatedly heard some-

one bustling in their bedroom. And worse, they felt an unseen

presence sit down at the end of their bed. The weight of the entity was so palpable that the bedsprings squeaked as the

ghost settled at their feet.

In spite of deliberately hunting down haunted locations for

the purposes of paranormal research, even I felt uneasy at the Greenbark and was eager to get away. There was an oppressive

air about the place, and the ghosts within its walls didn’t feel hospitable.

I was aghast when Stu suggested we came back to spend

the night some time. He thought that a night at the inn would

provide great material for another chapter. For once I was putting my sense of well-being and safety before a potential ghost story, there was no way I wanted to be anywhere near the

place as darkness fell. I instantly dismissed the suggestion (at least for the time-being …)

We headed back