Chapter 2

At three pm the containers were off loaded and secured as close to the house as the drivers could get them. The family locked the gates and headed back down the hill to the slumbering town.

All of the guesthouses in Main Street were closed up. The kids were hungry and that was working on Joe’s nerves. Nadine was the only one who did not say anything at all.

“Why don’t we go to the supermarket, they have food, if not, we’ll just make hotdogs for tonight.” Cynthia suggested softly to her husband.

Joe nodded and drove to a supermarket close by.

“Stay with the boys, Nadine and I will run in.” Cynthia said and grabbed her mask from the center console.

Nadine did not say a word, she numbly got out of the mini-van and put her mask on just before she closed the door. She and her mother walked in step to the supermarket door where a security guard stood waiting with a hand thermometer and a bottle of sanitizer.

The supermarket was quiet, and the two women were able to get to the deli without too much of a delay.

The deli was a saving grace to Cynthia, they had all kinds of goodies, from fried foods, to fast food.

“What do you think?” she asked her daughter.

“Take a couple of pizzas Mum, and for Dad the rotisserie chicken and rice and some veggies to go.” Nadine said and pointed at the items.

“Perfect.” Cynthia said and stepped up to the counter to order.

Whilst the server was busy with their order Cynthia asked the man standing behind them.

“Excuse me, pardon me sir, do you know perhaps where we can accommodation for a few days? We just moved here and the house is not really habitable at this stage.” Cynthia said.

The man’s head perked up as Cynthia spoke.

“I have a friend who has a guesthouse. Where abouts are you moving in?” he replied as he took out his cell phone.

“Thomas Gardens, up the hill.” Cynthia said and smiled at the man.

The man froze and blinked hard a couple of times.

“Did I just hear you correctly? Thomas Gardens?” he repeated carefully.

“Yes, the property belongs to my husband’s family, and when they heard we want to leave the city they gave us the keys.”  Cynthia replied, this time she was spoke carefully.

“Are you Thomases?” The serving girl asked as she handed the order over.

“We are.” Nadine replied and looked around her.

The stares in the store were starting to scare her, and she felt chills running up and down her spine.

“You know, there is another property up for sale on the other side of town if you’d be interested.” The man she spoke to earlier suggested.

“Oh no, really, it’s fine. The house needs a good cleaning but it’s lovely otherwise.” Cynthia had their food in her hands that was starting to shake.

“Okay, here, this is my buddy’s number, give him a call, he’ll help you for sure. Just tell Tim sent you.” The man said and showed Cynthia a number on his phone.

Nadine took her phone out and typed the number into her keypad and saved it.

“Thank you.” She said and gave the residents around her one last look before they scampered off to the tellers.

The Thomas women almost near ran out of the supermarket, away from the openly curious stares.

“Damn.” Cynthia said as she got into the van.

“You sound winded.” Joe asked with a soft smile as she handed him his food.

“Those people in there, I asked around for accommodation, Nadine got the number by the way, very nice people, until they heard we are moving in at Thomas Gardens. It was as if they fear it for some reason. And when they heard we are Thomases!”

“Daddy they looked at us as if we were crazy! The dude that gave me the number for the guest house actually had the audacity to tell Mum there’s a better property up for grabs at the other end of town!” Nadine interrupted her mother while she too, passed her brothers their pizza.

Joe listed to his women folk and just shook his head.

“My mother used to tell me stories about the place. I never believed any of them, they sounded so far-fetched you know?” he finally said and started eating.

“What kind of stories?” Brian perked up quickly.

“That in every generation the last hundred years, only one sibling survived this place if they stayed on the property. That’s why my mother said she and Uncle Samuel left after they got married. There was other uncles and aunts before my mother that left too, only came back to visit. That’s how she knew that she and Uncle Samuel had to go.” Joe told them reluctantly.

“Oh god, is the place haunted Dad?” James asked quickly.

“No my boy, it’s just stories. We’ll be fine, you’ll see.” Joe assured his kids very quickly, but from the looks on Luke and Cynthia’s face, he knew they did not believe him at all.

“Imagine, making a TikTok and there’s a ghost in the back ground.” Brian laughed and playfully tapped his sister’s elbow with his own.

“That’s not funny, secondly, that’s enough about ghosts. Nadine, let me have that number so that we can get into a bed.” Cynthia snapped at him.

“I’m only kidding ma.” He said, his smile fading by the second.

“I know, but that’s enough, you are freaking Luke out.” Cynthia replied and nodded at her youngest son in the far back, his face was as pale as a sheet, and he had not even eaten a slice of his pizza.

He opened his mouth, but not a word came out.

“Are you all right Luke?” Nadine asked him and quickly stood up to go to her little brother’s side.

“I… I… I…” he stammered.

Joe looked at the boy and then he repeated his wife’s request to Nadine.

“Your phone please.”

The guest house owner was only too happy to give them accommodation for a few days. He did not ask questions over the phone, he just gave them directions to his guest house.

The Martini Guesthouse was the closest to the Thomas Gardens. The owner, Martin Feldman, met them at the gate and hurried them in through.

Cynthia had a sneaking suspicion Tim had already contacted him by the way his face lost color with every child that got out of the mini bus.

“I have separate rooms available for each of your kids.” He said behind his mask.

“It’s all right, I think the youngest might want to share with his sister. Do you have meals available or is there a restaurant open in the area?” Cynthia replied quickly before Joe could open his mouth.

“I will arrange with my cook to come in if you wish to eat here.” Martin nodded quickly.

“We would appreciate that. We won’t be around much with all that is happening at the house, but breakfast and dinner would be delightful.” Cynthia said to him.

“Ah, Thomas Gardens. It used to be a gorgeous place when it was still being taken care of.” He told them and handed each of them a key.

“Oh, do you know it?” Joe asked curiously.

“No, I know of it. My grandfather used to tell me stories about that place, how he earned his first wages working in the gardens.” Martin said and showed them into a corridor with their rooms. “Please do not hesitate to call me if you need anything, I will get dinner at one of my other friends and just add to the tab, you can sort that out once your place is ready.”

Joe thanked him with a wave, it seemed that Martin himself was scared of touching people so he gave them a smile and walked away.

“What an odd man.” Cynthia said to Joe.

“It’s an odd town Mom.” Nadine commented, looked at the number on her key and went to her room.