That Slow Sweet Walk

Chapter 2

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Rattle. Rattle. Rattle.

    Sandy sat up and rubbed her eyes. Sleep fogged her mind as she called for whoever was at the door to come in. The clock on the beside table told her it was ten after two in the morning, she groaned. None of them were morning people, whatever had one of her friends so eager to talk to her had to be serious. A burst pipe, mold in the bathroom, rats under the floorboards, she waited but the door remained shut. Yet the doorknob still rattled. As her eyes adjusted to the low light, Sandy could see the doorknob move, the sound wasn't a product of her imagination.

    "Very funny," she called. "Just come in and knock it off. It's too early for this."

    Rattle. Rattle. Rattle. Rattle. The doorknob began to shake faster.

    Fed up with the juvenile prank, Sandy rose from bed flinching as her feet hit the cold floor. Sandy grabbed the doorknob and it shook violently in her palm as whoever was on the other side continued their nonsense. As she twisted the knob it tired it to jerk in the other direction. Grunting, Sandy managed to swing the knob her way and she pulled the door open. Nothing but cold air was on the other side. Sickly cold surprise made her stomach roll slightly and the sensation spread through her body. Sandy stuck her head out the door and looked both ways down the hall. Empty.

    "It's just a dream," she said to herself. "Never drink in a cemetery before bed." She closed her door and when she'd gotten three steps away the doorknob began to rattle again. Goosebumps rose on Sandy's arms as a new wave of cold swept over her. Choosing to believe this was all a dream, she got back in bed and put her earbuds in. The bubbly chatter of her favorite podcast filled her ears, drowning out the noise of the rattle.

    Sandy woke as light of a new day filled her room. It was nearing nine so she was probably the first one up, unless Janet decided to use her professional culinary skills to make breakfast. The memory of the rattling doorknob came back to her. Trying to convince herself it was all a dream, Sandy opened the door to see Betty was about to knock.

    The maid of honor yawned. "Morning. Jan's about finished with breakfast if you want to come down."

    "Love too." Sandy grabbed a robe to ward off the morning chill as she fell into step with her friend. "You don't look like you slept at all. Excitement?"

    Betty rubbed her neck. "No. All night I kept hearing things. It was like someone was moving furniture above my room. Every time I started to drift off or had fallen in a half sleep the noises would start. I went looking for raccoons or something in the attic but all I found were dusty antiques."

    Sandy almost mentioned the rattling of her doorknob but stopped herself. "You can try switching rooms. There's plenty to choose from. Maybe the wind was knocking and dragging a tree branch against the roof."

    "Maybe, but it doesn't matter now. We've got a long day ahead of us."

    Hours later groups of vendors were being shown where they'd set up for the big day. Janet's restaurant was catering the wedding, Francis' party planning business was taking care of decorations, and Marty's assistants would be handling the photography and wedding video. Betty and Sandy had already finished the costumes for the wedding party so they helped with the decorations. As three o'clock drew near everyone took a lunch break. Once again it was just the five women in house. They gathered around three piazzas in the kitchen and chatted.

    CRASH!

    All the women jumped and two screamed.

    "I thought we were the only ones here," Sandy said as they rushed from the kitchen to investigate.

    "I thought we were too. Hello?" Marty called. "Is anyone hurt?"

    Betty pointed to Janet, Francis and Marty, "You three take the left side. Sandy and I will take the right."

    They ran in and out of rooms to find nothing amiss. As the women reconvened in the foyer all were on edge but none wanted to show it. For better or worse they were staying here for the next fourteen days and a wedding to get off the ground.

    "Maybe it's the house settling," Francis offered. "The bigger the house, the bigger the pops."

    "Right," Sandy agreed, though she was pretty sure that wasn't true. "This place is ancient."

    Ding dong!

    They shuffled towards the front door. The large groups of various vendors had returned. "Are you ladies alright?" the man who was setting up the bar asked the spooked looking friends.

    "Yes," Sandy said as she opened the door wider. As the people rushed in to pick up their tasks all thoughts of the loud crash were banished. At the end of day they hadn't finished setting up quite yet but were ahead of schedule. Another day, a day and a half, was likely all it would take. Betty took Sandy's advice and switched rooms across the hall. While the sound of furniture moving overhead stopped, she was now plagued by whispering. Betty tried to ignore it, but the more she tried the louder it became though the words remained indistinguishable from gibberish.

    "Betty?" Sandy questioned as her friend showed up at her door looking even more worn than she had during the morning.

    "Can I stay with you tonight? There's whispering in my room."

    "Of course." Sandy stepped aside to let Betty in. "Whispering?"

    "Yeah. I think this house is haunted," Betty said causally as she flopped on the bed.

    "Don't tell, Francis. She's terrified of ghosts."

    Betty laughed and Sandy settled into the bed. The women found comfort in the other's presence and fell asleep quickly. They slept so soundly the rattle of the doorknob didn't wake them.

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