The Haunted Homestead

Chapter Four, It's Just The Beginning

A couple of weeks went by, and Raymond now tends to goats and his chickens. The barn is now finally ready for horses, but the family has to wait a month for that. Raymond looks at his driveway and notices his new friend Herbert was walking with three creatures. Two were large creatures, and one appeared to look smaller than the others.
"Hey Herb what's up?" Asked Raymond to his new pal.
"These horses are a gift to your family." Said Herbert handing over the lead ropes to Raymond.
"Herbert why are you giving us horses?" Gasped Raymond.
"Because these beasts will bring you love and more family time." Said Raymond. 
Raymond and Herb walked the horses to their fenced in pasture.
"Cup of a fine Earl Grey tea?" Asked Raymond.
"That would be lovely, thank you." Said Herbert. 
The two made their way to the porch and Jewel Jacinda ran outside to hug her dad.
"Look what we have now Jewel." Said Raymond pointing towards the horses.
Jewel was so excited tears welled up in her vibrant blue eyes, and she jumped up and down.
"Thank Herb dear, he gave them to us." Said Raymond.
"Oh thank you, sweet Herb!" Squealed Jewel jumping into Herbert's arms.
Sharon walked downstairs with her shorts and the shirt on, for it was a warm June  day. Raymond was in the kitchen putting the kettle on, talking to Herb.
"Good morning boys." Greeted Sharon.
Raymond noticed his wife had a big black bruise on her arm.
"Hey what did you do to your arm?" Asked Raymond.
Confused Sharon looked at her arms and finally noticed the bruise. She shrugged her shoulders and explained that she didn't have the slightest clue to what happened.
"Come outside Sharon,  Herbert brought us three gifts." Said Raymond heading to the front door.
Sharon stepped out the door and noticed three beautiful horses grazing in the Marone's new pasture.
"Oh my gosh Herb! They are Beautiful! " Gasped Sharon.
The family and Herbert walked to the horses. Jewel was already there petting them through the fence.
"Would you like to go for a ride?" Asked Raymond to his wife and daughter.
Jewel bounced up and down, and Squealed with excitement. Raymond saddled up Jewel's horse, and helped his daughter climb on. Her red ringlets were blowing wildly in the breeze. Raymond looked over to find his wife saddling her own horse.
"Ah hell, I will come to." Said Raymond. 
Sharon tethered her horse to the fence and ran to the house to quickly pack a picnic for their journey on the property trails.
"These paints will help you a lot around here, even if it's for leisure." Said Herbert patting the male horse on the nose.
"I love my sweet girl. I shall name her Osaka." Said Sharon scratching her horse's ear.
"I shall name my beauty, Orla." Said Jewel.
"Don't you guys mind taking me home?" Asked Herbert.
"Absolutely not, we are making a day of this." Said Raymond.
So the crew set out to drop Herb home, and roam on their land. It was an hour later they went over a little Creek and came across an overgrown field.
"This would be perfect to grow hay or potatoes." Said Raymond.
The family came across a peculiar sight of a humongous willow tree, that looked like death grazed it's fingers. It appeared to be slowly dying.
"Look at the willow tree mama!" Yelled Jewel pointing towards the old willow.
Sharon had a funny feeling about the tree. She had no idea why, but her gut kept telling her to leave there now.
"What's wrong Sharon?" Asked Raymond with great concern.
Nothing..it's just..I feel we shouldn't be here." Muttered Sharon, looking around.
"Well it's our land, so we aren't going anywhere." Assured Raymond.
The Marone family tether their horses to a nearby post.  Jewel hopped off her horse, and twirled around the field like a Disney Princess. 
"Come on sweetie, it's time for lunch." Called Sharon.
The family sat on their picnic blanket, mowing down their deli sandwiches. Jewel finished up her lunch and walked to the tree. She bent over picking up the object that caught her eye, the object was jammed under a tree root.
"Mom look!" Shouted Jewel holding up the white fragment.
Raymond hopped up off the blanket and ran towards his daughter.
"Jesus that's a bone!" Stammered Raymond removing it from Jewel's hand.
No sooner the family heard a distant sound of drums that sounded like it was a few feet away. The family walked over to the treeline but couldn't find anything.
"There are some pretty good trees that I could use for fire wood." Said Raymond very pleased.
"Tomorrow we should see if Herb will help us out with loading the wood." Mentioned Sharon.
A few hours passed, and the family trotted their horses back to the house.
"I'm going to Herbert's to see if he can help us tomorrow." Said Raymond, looking down at his beautiful red headed wife.
"Okay honey, dinner will be served in an hour. It will be Caesar salad wraps." Said Sharon.
Raymond nodded his head and trotted up the driveway to meet up with Herbert again. Sharon and Jewel went to their fresh garden to see if they need to pluck any weeds.
"Come now Jewel,  it's time to wash up." Said Sharon coaxing her daughter to go inside.
It was always a chore to get Jewel in the house. Jewel was always a different girl, she was angelic than most children her age. She turned eight years old tomorrow and Sharon was hoping to bake her cake tomorrow morning, and to decorate her house. Sharon washed her hands and began to prep dinner. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs, but when she looked, it wasn't Jewel for she fell asleep on the couch. Sharon's heart rate increased in fear.
"Hey Sharon." Yelled Raymond barging through the front door frightening Sharon.
"Jesus Christ Raymond!" Shouted Sharon, swatting at her husband.
"What's wrong with you? You have been so jumpy lately." Said Raymond shaking his head at Sharon.
" I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, but nobody was there." Explained Sharon.
"Oh babe don't worry, it's just an old house. Probably just the house settling." Assured Raymond.
"Alright then." Said Sharon raising her arms in the air.
"Kay..well.. Herbert is coming over tomorrow to help cut firewood." Said Raymond.
"Maybe he can identify the bone we found." Said Sharon. 
The wraps were served and gobbled up,and Sharon cleaned up the dinner mess.
"Jewel Jacinda it's time for a bath. You smell like horse." Chuckled Sharon to her daughter.
Jewel sighed and climbed in the warm bath water to wash up. She knew it was too close to bedtime to play with her dollies. Raymond helped dress her pyjamas on and tucked her to bed. And read her favourite story like it was a nightly ritual.
The next day rolled around, the forecast called for sun and cloud, with some wind. The Marone's were greeted by their neighbour Herb.
"I'm here to help ma'am." Said Herbert taking off his orange Boundary Creek cap.
"Jewel, Raymond..are you ready to go?" Hollered Sharon holding her wicker picnic basket.
Raymond and Jewel came down the stairs giggling at each other, for Jewel and her father kept making silly faces at each other. The family stepped on their front porch to find two massive Clydesdale horses hooked up to a wagon.
"Oh my God Herb they are absolutely beautiful." Gasped Sharon.
the Marone's saddled up their horses, and Herb climbed into the wagon. And together they slowly made their way back to the field with the lone half dead willow tree. Sharon and Jewel tethered up their horses to the random pole and Raymond tethered his to a random tree branch from a cedar tree.
"Herbert can you tell me what kind of bone this is?" Asked Sharon holding up the unusual fragment.
Herb grabbed it and held it up for a closer look.
"This here is a human bone." Explained Raymond.
Sharon and Raymond looked at each other with great concern. Sharon felt her heart race again.
"Why didn't you know? This here property is mostly a native burial ground." Said Herbert to the concerned family.
"Don't worry, they won't hurt you. You have a protector." Said Raymond glancing at Jewel. 
Raymond and Herb gunned their chainsaws and began cutting a few trees down. Raymond brought the trees down, while Herb cut the logs into smaller pieces. Sharon and Jewel began loading the smaller pieces into the wagon carefully, and worked themselves to exhaustion.
"Lunch break." Demanded Sharon to the crew.
The Marone's and Herb, sat around each other eating egg salad sandwiches with veggies for a side snack.
"Ma'am you make wonderful food." Thanked Herbert with his belly full.
"Say Herb... how do you know this was a burial ground?" Asked Sharon with curiosity.
"Because I have been around for a long time ma'am." Explained Herbert.
"Sharon, why don't you take Jewel for a ride?" Mentioned Raymond to his wife.
"We are gonna be here for a while longer." Assured Herbert.
Sharon and Jewel liked their suggest on,  and saddled up their horses for some exploration. The girls decided to walk their horses on the wooded trail for a change of scenery.
"Oh look at the pretty Bluejays MOM! " Said Jewel to her mom.
Suddenly Sharon could hear the weird drums again, and they picked up the farther they trotted down the wooded trail.
"Mom who's that?" Asked Jewel pointing at a strange figure that stood near a tree, that was a couple feet away. The figure looked like a native man. But it disappeared in a split second. Sharon frantically cantered her horse, to scope the area.
"Jewel we need to full on sprint back to your dad." Stammered Sharon with fear.
Herb and Raymond finished stacking the last bit of wood, until they noticed Sharon and Jewel running full force towards them. Fear displayed on their faces.
"What's wrong ladies?" Asked Raymond to his girls.
Sharon explained the strange encounter her and Jewel endured. So the Marone's and Herb quickly loaded up and bugged out of the field. Sharon hoped the man wouldn't follow. They reached their house, and Jewel and Sharon walked their horses to their pasture.
"Jewel don't leave your saddle out." Grunted Sharon, hauling her saddle to the barn.
"Yes mama." Said a tired Jewel.
Sharon insisted that Herb stayed for homemade pizza, and Jewel's surprise birthday cake. Jewel blew out her candles after making a wish.
"Open your gift now". Gushed Raymond to his daughter.
Jewel opened her rectangular gift to find a nice pair of dark brown cowboy boots.
"I love them!" Squealed Jewel with excitement.
"You will have to start breaking them in, but mind you, you may get blisters." Said Sharon.
Jewel sat her boots aside and went upstairs to have her bath. Sharon walked into the bathroom to find her daughter playing mermaid in their giant claw foot tub.
"Okay my little mermaid, it's time to get your pyjamas on, and brush your teeth." Coaxed Sharon. 
Jewel climbs out of the tub and dried herself off, while Sharon tried to comb her wild red ringlets.
"Sit still please." Mumbled Sharon.
Jewel was so exhausted, she managed to fall asleep without needing story time that night.
"Goodnight beautiful." Whispered Sharon to her sleeping daughter.
Sharon decided to have a shower and clean  up herself.she was hoping the hot water would ease her muscles and mind about earlier's events. Sharon suddenly heard the bathroom door slowly open. It broke her train of thought.
"Raymond? " Called Sharon.
But no response. Sharon felt that she was being watched, so she took a quick breath and quickly yanked the curtain back. But nothing was there.
Sharon shut the water off, and patted herself dry. She put on her lingerie that Raymond bought her for a Christmas gift. Her wet wavy red hair, clung to her neck, and her nipples were hard. She tiptoes to her bedroom to find her husband fully naked on their queen size bed. He lay on their bed with a raging hard on, while Sharon slowly took off her satin robe. Sharon and Raymond Embraced each other and made sweet love to each other. Except Raymond forgot one important thing before sex, and that was to put on a condom.