The House on Serpent Lake (Ghost, Romance, Fantasy) Read Online Free PDF

tell me about a special tree in the back of the house?” she asked Eric.
    “A special tree? Of course not.”
    “You didn’t build a tree house or anything?”
    Ignoring her question, he headed for the kitchen. “Let’s see the rest of the house.”
    Lindsay glanced once more out the window, then followed.
    After the exceptional condition of the parlor and dining room, Lindsay felt disappointed at the warped cabinet doors and café curtains underneath the sink instead of a cabinet. A big rust spot ringed the drain. She wouldn’t have been surprised to see an old water pump mounted on the rim.
    A hallway led them to another front room across from the parlor.
    “We used this as the family room.”
    The windows, like those in the parlor, opened onto the porch and provided a view of the sparkling blue expanse of the lake. A pot-bellied stove, with dull nickel decorating the black iron, was mounted on a brick pad in the corner. All it needed was a little bit of polish to make it sparkle. Lindsay decided it would make quite a conversation piece, and she was even more determined than ever to keep this lovely home.
    The stairwell opened to three bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor, with a landing spacious enough for a comfortable chair and bookcases by the window overlooking the lake.
    Unfortunately the bathroom was as outdated as the kitchen. Instead of the familiar porcelain tank behind the seat, two pipes led to a boxlike object mounted on the wall above.
    “It’s an old-fashioned water closet,” Eric told her, pointing to a long slim rod on the left side. “You pull this to flush.”
    Lindsay frowned. She could make do with an older kitchen but that bathroom had to go.
    They continued on to the attic where partial walls for a small bedroom had been fashioned under the sloping roof. There was a twin bed, the bare mattress under a dulled brass headboard still in place. A scarred dressing table stood against one wall with a flower-painted ceramic pot and lid next to it.
    “That’s a chamber pot,” Eric explained. “I imagine the outhouse is still in the woods.”
    “Good God!”
    Eric grinned. “I can just see you half asleep on that thing in the middle of the night.”
    “And they call those the good old days?” But despite everything, Lindsay loved the place.
    The rest of the attic held unused furniture and boxes spilling over with discards, but Lindsay was drawn to the front windows. She gazed through the dusty panes to the serene lake below.
    The sun rode high above, casting its shimmering reflection on the water. From her vantage point, she could see down the water’s edge to the motel and the park with a swimming area. Several boats were scattered on the lake, and she watched as one fisherman hooked something, his rod bending as he reeled it in.
    Slowly, the brightness of the attic dimmed, as if a shadow had slipped in front of the sun. She became aware of a faint, spicy scent with a hint of cloves, the same fragrance she’d smelled when she first entered the house.
    It grew stronger.
    Thinking that perhaps it came from outside, she unlocked the window and raised it, amazed at how easily it opened. She inhaled deeply. The air was fresh, so the scent wasn’t coming from outside.
    “There it is again,” she said. “Smell it?”
    “Umm,” Eric murmured, absorbed in the contents of one of the boxes stacked against the wall.
    A slight breeze ruffled Lindsay’s hair, touching her face in a light kiss. Her skin tingled and the hairs on her arms stiffened. An incredible warmth and excitement spread through her as if all the all the physical pleasures she’d been denied were centered right there in the attic, just waiting for her. Her nipples hardened. She turned toward the stir of air, reveling in the familiar scent, closing her eyes and lifting her face to the feather-touch against her lips.
    Eric came up behind her. “Smells pretty rank up here,” he said. “It’s a good thing you opened the