Page 20 of Eldritch

“No. I’ll put in a call to the owner,” Sybil said.

“Wouldn’t she have told before you cleaned her house?” Annapolis asked.

Letisha settled down in a chair. “Maybe not. I mean, she didn’t hire us to clean something like that. For example, we aren’t cleaning the windows.”

The deputy looked at the floor and stayed silent for so long, Sybil wondered if she should fill in the gap. Finally the woman said, “Anything else unusual happen around this house?”

The question seemed a little weird to Sybil, but she said, “No.”

“What do you mean by weird?” Letisha asked.

The deputy shrugged. “Sometimes these old places have quirks. People can make a mountain out of a molehill, as they used to say. Noises you wouldn’t be used to, for example.”

Letisha sat up straighter. “I wouldn’t call someone tracking mud through the house a molehill.”

Annapolis smiled, and it looked genuine. “Sorry. I’m not trying to minimize this. Well, okay. Maybe I am. I’ve been doing this job a long time, and we’ve gotten calls from people way out here that are pretty strange. I blame the trees.”

“The trees?” Sybil’s curiosity burned.

The deputy shrugged her thin shoulders yet again. “They’re big and weird and block out a lot of sun. We also get UFO calls. Even a Bigfoot call once.” The slight smirk widened. “Not that there are many houses out here. I think there’s like five in the total area where these trees grow this size.” She walked to the library window that faced the north. “I’d make sure you keep the doors locked at all times. Just in case.”

“In case Bigfoot walks through the house again?” Letisha lifted one eyebrow as she smiled.

The deputy grinned. “Yes. By the way, I’ll need the owner’s number.”

Sybil rattled it off while the cop entered the number on her phone.

Annapolis left a short time after that. Letisha and Sybil stood in the Great Hall.

“She thinks we’re full of shit,” Sybil said. “And I wouldn’t blame her.”

“Maybe.” Letisha shrugged. “Wait, we better call Clarice now, before the deputy does.”

Sybil sat down on the couch that faced the gargantuan fireplace. Letisha sat on the couch to the right of her.

Clarice’s phone went to voice mail, and Sybil left a message giving her updated details and explaining the deputy might call her.

Sybil leaned back on the couch. “Well, that’s that. Let’s clean up these footprints.”

Letisha smiled. “Flip you for who does cleanup.”

“Huh. How about we do it together?”

“Okay, but this is a one-person job.”

Sybil felt unsure how to react to this entire morning. “I’ll do it. What do you want to start on?”

“The cabinets in the kitchen need a good clean up and oiling, but I think that should be last considering we’re using the kitchen every day. I’ll work on the parlor.”

The Great Hall already held the supplies they needed to clean the rest of the house, so Letisha grabbed what she needed and headed to the parlor. Sybil sighed and grabbed the vacuum cleaner she’d need to start on the carpet. Thank god for industrial equipment. Plus, she’d need the carpet cleaner. She started on the third floor. Because there was no elevator, she made three trips upstairs to the hallway. She intended to start outside her bedroom door and work her way to the stairs. As she reached the bedroom before hers, that’s when she saw something. The footsteps now led all the way down the hallway...and ended at the large window to the west that hovered over the big terrace below.

“What the hell?” she whispered. “No way.”

Surprise and unease crawled over her. How had she missed those footprints the first time? She walked to the end of the hall and looked to the left. More sets of large windows looked over the terrace below and led to the bedrooms on the south side of the house on this floor. She continued down the hall toward the south side, thankful for the sun breaking through clouds. The hallway seemed less isolated. She shivered as the wild sensation that she wasn’t alone bothered her. She stopped and looked back. No one was there. Her heartbeat quickened.

“Get a grip,” she said.

At the same time, she knew “something” was there. Something. Even with her heartbeat still tripping in her chest, she continued her walk and followed the muddy footprints down the hall and then to the left in front of all the other third-floor bedrooms. More footprints down the south hall, until she’d returned to the landing which connected to the second floor and the west bedrooms. She scrubbed a hand over her face. This couldn’t be happening. Yet it was. Anger lit up inside her, mixed with humiliation. Was Pauline doing this? Was someone else in her group? She drew in a deep breath and used a technique the therapist had suggested called the 333 method, which worked for her whenever anxiety hit. She noted three things she could see around her.

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