The Secret
by Terry Baldwin
I knew something like this would happen the moment I realised I was dead.
I warned them not to sell my cottage, which had been in my family for hundreds of years. Mind you, you wouldn’t think it to look at it. It had been extended and given all the mod cons. I
should never have trusted those money hungry relatives. But that’s all spilt milk as the saying goes.
Now the cottage, together with its secret, had been sold to a stranger.
Although I knew what was on Anna’s mind I could do little other than watch the events unfold. I’m afraid Anna and her younger sister, Georgina, may never know what whirlwind of activity resulted from their disobedience of my wishes. It was something they had to do. You could say it was their fate… As it had been others before them.
Anna, who was eleven, and Georgina ten, weren’t missed until they failed to turn up for dinner. Their parents looked all over the house and garden but, of course, they couldn’t be found. The children had volunteered to pack the last of their books and toys. No one, except me, had seen them since they went up to their bedroom.
It made a big splash in the media. The headlines on the local news boards were the first to alert the general public something was wrong.
GIRLS DISAPPEARANCE - LATEST
The headline shouted its grim news.
It’s been four days since the two girls disappeared. The press and television had kept up the pressure on the police and public. Each day one or the other carried a report of the progress or lack of progress in this case. All local child molesters had been interviewed to no avail. They even had emotional interviews with their parents and a reconstruction of the last known movements of the girls. Hopes of finding them alive were fading.
As I said I sensed what the girls had on their minds. I watched as Anna and Georgina sneaked out of the house. They were on a very special errand to my cottage. It was a simple case of curiosity. Perhaps if I had told everyone it would have been prevented. If. I wonder how many times that has been uttered.
I listened as they started their adventure.
"We’ve plenty of time to get to Aunt Nellie’s and back," Anna reassured her younger sister as they closed the door quietly behind them.
"But what if mammy finds out?" whispered Georgina.
"She wont, silly," laughed Anna.
It was already dark. Fast-flying clouds shot across the moon. Swaying shadows changed shape. To Georgina they appeared to be reaching out for them. She grasped her sister’s hand. "I… I don’t think it’s such a good idea," she said in a hushed tone.
"It will be all right. We’re almost there. Besides we’ve walked along this path hundreds of times." Anna laughed but it sounded eerie even to her. The rustling of the trees came to them as whispers on the breeze. There was no other sounds, no cars, no dogs barking, no human voices.
A sudden screech from the deep darkness of the wood that surrounded them made both girls jump. They stood huddled together. "What was that?" cried Georgina.
"I… I don’t… know. An animal of some kind I guess," Anna replied a little shakily.
"I wish we had stayed at home. Can’t we go back?" whimpered Georgina.
"Yes, my dears. Go back. Go back," I shouted. "You’ll never experience the emotions of first love." But they didn’t hear me. And would it have made any difference if I had been heard? The excitement of the present is a very strong emotion to overcome.
"It was you who wanted to come in the first place. Anyway, there’s no point in going back now. I’m sure I can see the cottage," Anna told her.
"Well I can’t. We could be anywhere. We could have lost our way. It’s so dark."
"Didn’t you bring the torch like I said? You haven’t forgotten it have you."
"No. It’s in my pocket. You told me not to use it until we were in the house. Let’s go back."
Anna dropped her arm from around her sister’s shoulders. "Come on. It’s not far now," she said and strode off into the darkness.
"Anna. Anna. Wait for me," wailed Georgina. Without her sister’s comforting arm she was petrified. She couldn’t move. Her sister had disappeared and she was alone in a dark void. "Anna. Anna," she shouted again.
Anna stopped after taking only a few steps. She was already ashamed for leaving her young sister on her own. She looked round but the darkness was so complete it was as though the ground had swallowed her. A faint sound caught her attention. It came towards her at increasing speed and volume.
A scream rent the air and a flutter of large, strong wings sent eddies of wind rippling past her face. "Gina. Gina. Are you all right?" Anna shouted as she darted back along the path.
Georgina was on her knees with her hands over her head. In the blackness Anna almost stumbled over her. Anna knelt beside her. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.
"Something touched my hair. I felt the wind on my face as it moved. It was terrible. Let’s go home. Please let’s go home Anna."
Anna held her sister in her arms. She could feel the young body shaking. An owl hooted close by in the darkness. "There you are. It must have been that owl. I felt it as well. Don’t give up now. It’s our last chance."
Almost immediately the girls saw my cottage. But in the darkness it had changed. It no longer appeared welcoming. The glass in the windows looked cold and menacing. It was impossible to see through them. Anything could be looking out at them from the inside. For a moment even Anna hesitated as a shiver crawled up her back. Pulling Georgina along Anna made her way round the side of my cottage. The spare key was exactly where it had always been. She opened the back door and the two girls walked slowly into the kitchen.
In contrast to the usual bustle the cottage was quiet, too quiet. Instead of being filled with laughter there was a noisy stillness of expectancy. The cottage appeared to be holding its breath. I was quite an experience for me I don’t mind telling you.
"It’s so weird," Anna whispered as if unwilling to break the stillness of the empty shell and so announce their presence.
"Do you think we ought to do it," whispered Georgina. "You know. Open it. It’s a bit creepy without all the furniture."
For one moment Anna felt as if they were desecrating some kind of shrine. The darkness appeared to close in on them and she grasped Georgina’s hand. "The cupboard is in the next room," she whispered. "Sh… Did you hear anything? I thought…" She let the words trail into silence as they came to a stop outside the parlour door.
That was my name for it. I know Anna always thought of it as the front room.
"I don’t like it here," said Georgina moving closer to her sister. "It’s so… I don’t know… Strange. No. Frightening. Let’s go back. I wish we hadn’t come." She gripped her sister’s hand even more tightly.
"It’s okay. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Besides, it’s the last chance we’ll have to look in the cupboard. The new owners will be given the keys tomorrow and we move to our new house soon." Anna wasn’t a hundred percent sure herself if she wanted to continue. But having come this far she didn’t see the point in leaving. "Switch on the torch Gina." Georgina pushed her hand into the pocket of her jeans and after a bit of a struggle pulled the torch free. She switched it on. Its pale circle of light illuminated only a portion of the door.
Anna reached out to grasp the handle.
I did the only thing I could think off. I stamped my foot before she could turn it. The floor beneath their feet shuddered and the walls shook.
"What was that?" whispered Georgina.
Anna couldn’t fail to hear the tremor in the small voice. "A… A strong gust of wind I guess. Nothing to be scared of anyway," she said as she grasped the door handle and opened the door. She pushed it until it rested against the wall. "Swing the torch round the room Gina." But even Anna couldn’t stop the tremor from her voice.
The beam from the torch failed to reach the opposite side of the room as I filled the room with light absorbing darkness. Well there’s only a limited amount someone freshly dead can do you know. Anna squinted to see through the clinging darkness. "I thought you said the batteries were new."
"They are," said an indignant Georgina. "I put them in myself. Honest. But I don’t like it here. It’s so dark and I keep hearing funny noises. I wish we hadn’t come," she cried her voice echoing round the empty room. The hand holding the torch shook and dozens of strange, black objects appeared to dance round them.
Anna instinctively took a step back and held her sister’s hand more securely. "There can’t be anything to hurt us in Aunt Nellie’s house. We loved being here. Remember."
"I suppose so," Georgina admitted reluctantly. "But it seems different somehow. So empty… and hollow… and dark. I don’t really like it hear without her."
"I know what you mean. Let’s find that cupboard and then we can go. Perhaps we’ll find a secret treasure. There has to be some reason why Aunt Nellie said the cottage should never be sold."
"Will it really," replied Georgina brightening at the thought of treasure. "Something like the Cave of Wonders."
Anna laughed despite the thickening gloom. "The quicker we look the sooner we’ll know. Now where…"
"There it is," interrupted Georgina beginning to gain a measure of excitement. She knelt down in front of the door trying to keep the torch still. "It’s not very big. Can’t be much in there… And it’s still locked."
Anna couldn’t decide whether her sister sounded disappointed or pleased. She rattled a bunch of keys. "Perhaps one of these will open it," she said with the hint of a smile. She tried each key in turn. It either didn’t fit or nothing happened. "The last one," she whispered. "If this doesn’t work…" She inserted the last key. With a slight click the lock sprang open.
I threw an energy beam. I didn’t know where it had come from or where it was going. I was desperate. It struck the old apple tree, which stood in the front garden in front of the window, like a bolt of lightning splitting it in two with a thunderous roar. The air around the girls sizzled and crackled. Both girls jumped as the very foundations of the cottage buckled and heaved.
"Geeze. That was weird. I don’t want to open it now. I want to go home. Aunt Nellie did say never to open it didn’t she" cried Georgina nervously.
At this point I tried the subtle approach. I blew cold, freezing cold air over them. A fat lot of good that did. They didn’t even notice.
"All the more reason to open it," whispered Anna. "If there is treasure in the cupboard we don’t want a stranger to have it do we," she said as she pulled open the door.
"There’s nothing in there," cried Georgina. "What a swizz. It was all for nothing."
"Wait. What’s that?"
"I can’t see anything. It’s been a waste of time," declared Georgina.
"No. Look. It’s a light. I can see a light."
Something told me it was almost too late. If they didn’t get away from that cupboard soon… But what could I do. I wished I had been dead longer.
The two girls watched the point of light grow larger and brighter. It appeared to come from a great distance. The drift of air towards the cupboard, which only ruffled the fine strands of their hair, went unnoticed. Within seconds this gentle breeze had gathered strength, pulling at their clothes, tugging at their bodies.
Georgina screamed. "Help me Anna. Help me," she cried as first her legs and then her body was sucked into the cupboard.
Anna grabbed both her sister’s arms. She pulled with all her strength but it was hopeless. She watched in horror as her sister disappeared into the dazzling blue-white light until only her arms and head remained outside.
The suction increased and Anna started to slide. Both girls screamed as they were swallowed by the light. The cupboard door slammed shut and the cottage returned to its empty, quiet, waiting state.
I stared in horror. I had kept the secret for forty years without knowing what the secret was. There was only one thing left I could do. I had to go after them. That’s why I’ve found a way of recording this on tape. I hope someone will listen to it as I squeeze through the keyhole of the cupboard.