Haunted Tales Read Online Free PDF Page A

Eight  

 
    “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Bradley
asked later that evening as Mary prepared to meet Andrew in Polo.
    “Where are you going, Mom?” Clarissa asked from the kitchen
table where she was working on a school project.
    “I’m going to walk through an old school,” she replied,
slipping an oversized, black sweatshirt over her head and then over her belly.
“A man wants me to help him find his fourth grade teacher.”
    She turned to Bradley and smiled. “I’m fine,” she said.
“Besides, you have to practice your ghost-telling skills on Clarissa.”
    “Yeah, I need to hear more about Earl,” Clarissa added. “It
was getting scary. Really.”
    Bradley shook his head and lowered his voice. “It’s slightly
humiliating when your eight-year-old daughter is trying to boost your
confidence,” he said.
    She smiled wickedly at him and ran her hand slowly up his
arm. “Well, from where I’m standing you don’t need any boost in your
confidence,” she whispered.
    He smiled back down at her and nodded. “Same goes,” he
whispered back. “You still take my breath away.”
    “Yeah, well, that was from carrying me upstairs,” she
teased.
    He laughed and placed a quick kiss on her lips. “Be careful
and hurry home,” he said.
    “I promise,” she replied and then turned to Clarissa. “I’m
driving past the store on my way down to Polo.   Do you need anything?”
    “Did you get candy for the Halloween party at school?” she
asked.
    “Thanks for reminding me,” Mary replied. “I’ll stop by and
get some.   Anything
special?”
    “No peanuts,” Clarissa said. “That’s the rules.”
    “Got it,” Mary said. “No peanuts.”
    “But, if a bag of candy bars with peanuts and caramel
happens to make it into the cart,” Bradley whispered, “I’ll take care of them.”
    She grinned. “Oh, I see we aren’t worried about gaining
weight anymore.”
    “Not if I’m exercising regularly,” he countered with a wink.
“Besides, I’ll share.”
    “Well then, you’ve got a deal,” she replied. Then she raised
her voice back to its normal level. “Okay you two, have fun telling ghost
stories. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
    “Have fun,” Clarissa called.
    “Thanks,” she replied as she picked up her purse and headed
for the door.
    The autumn evening was crisp and clear. The moon was just
above the horizon and was nearly full.   Mary hoped it would be full for Halloween night. There was nothing like
a full moon for trick-or-treating.
    She drove south on Highway 26 past the last retail area in
town and onto the rural farmland that surrounded the city.   A few large combines were in the fields
harvesting the last of the corn crop, their headlights glaring brightly as they
moved up and down the rows.   Mary kept
her eyes on the road, trying to avoid the blinding light.
    She moved away from the combines and reduced her speed a
little as she entered one of the smaller towns.   Fields gave way to houses that lined the highway, their lawns neatly
manicured and covered with gold and red leaves from the maple and oak trees
standing lookout in the front yards.   Windows glowed with warm light that was soft and inviting, but the
porches were a fearsome collection of the decorations of the season: pumpkins,
inflatable ghosts, cardboard coffins and other spooky creatures that Mary knew
delighted the children in the community as they looked forward to Halloween
night.
    She continued down the highway, and twenty minutes later she
was pulling up in the large parking lot in front of the school.   The asphalt of the parking lot was fractured,
and weeds had sprung up between the cracks, creating a squiggly patchwork of
crumbled blacktop, solid surface and dried plants. Carefully driving across the
lot, she pulled up as close to the front door as she could.  
    Stepping out of the car, she took a long look at the old
school.   The two-story tall portico was
supported