Chapter Five
“Can you work the emergency room today, Carly? They’re understaffed again but the baby business seems slow this summer.” Patty Felland, head nurse on Lakeview Hospital’s obstetrics ward, handed the nursing roster to Carly for assessment. “I think you’ll be kept busier down there.”
“Sure.” Carly feigned enthusiasm. Usually she’d be thrilled to work a busier shift, but today she needed a quiet day. She wondered if the dark circles under her eyes revealed just how little sleep she’d been getting. She and Rags had returned home, and the spiders seemed to be exterminated, but she still awoke each night from voices in her attic. At first, the noises scared her. With Rags at her side, she’d creep up the third floor steps, heavy silver candle holder in hand and readied if needed to administer blunt trauma to whatever might be up there. Each time her foot hit the third floor landing, however, the sounds ceased, and she went back to bed. But after several nights of this game, she gathered up her courage to go all the way to the attic and investigate the two barren rooms that had served as servant quarters many years before. They lay dark and empty. The other half of the attic, open and unfurnished, also stood still as death. Her fear and curiosity turned to annoyance and frustration. She needed a full night’s sleep and the noises had to stop.
“Carly?” Patty waved a hand in front of Carly’s face. “You with me? You look tired, hon.”
“Oh, I am.”
“Out late with a hot new boyfriend?” Patty winked as if she could cajole Carly to share secrets. “Have you met someone since moving back home?”
Ouch. Recollections of Friday night and meeting Mike still upset her. But Patty had become such a nice friend and mentor since Carly started at Lakeview; she didn’t want to brush the dear lady off.
Carly attempted a cheerful smile. “No boyfriend. Just busy getting the new house in shape.”
“You bought the old Keller-Bradford house, right?”
“Uh-huh.” Uh-oh. Topic number two she didn’t wish to discuss. “I should get down to the E.R., Patty. My shift starts soon.”
Patty glanced at her watch. “You still have a few minutes.”
Drats.
“So how’s the house coming along?” Patty took the roster back from Carly.
“Fine,” Carly lied. “I mean, there’s some electrical problems and some noises in the attic, but my dad is going to take another look at those problems.”
“I’m kind of shocked someone finally bought that place.” Patty grabbed a nearby chart and studied it as she spoke. “It’s been vacant for about ten years. I would think you’d have a lot more work to do in it.”
“It’s in pretty good shape, actually.” Carly gently defended her decision to buy the old house. “The Keller-Bradfords left a lot of the furniture and such. It’s really a lovely home, despite a few problems.”
Patty looked up from her chart. “Seemed for a while there, they couldn’t keep tenants. Except for the occasional summer renter.”
Patty’s statement reminded Carly of Friday night again, and how the people at The Second Wind hadn’t paid her any attention until Larry mentioned where she lived. Did this town know something about the house she didn’t?
“Why couldn’t they keep renters?” Carly asked.
Patty chewed the tip of her pen. “Well, now, I don’t really know. I remember a group of young college men rented it for a few weeks in the summer. They left near the end of the first week without a word to anyone. Didn’t even ask for their money back. They just took off. And then a group of priests rented it for a retreat and the same thing happened.”
