Sharon, some distance away, was greeting new visitors. She had her back to Owen and Monica. Her blond hair hung down in a thick braid.
‘That was certainly tacky,’ Monica said.
‘What was?’
‘What do you think? Ethel. Good God. I didn’t know this was going to be a peepshow. No wonder you were so eager to come here.’
They started to climb the stairs.
‘Nothing you couldn’t see on any beach,’ Owen pointed out.
‘In France, maybe.’
‘Anyway, she’s just a dummy.’
‘It’s pretty funny, they give all that lip service about keeping the dirty stuff out of the tour, then they show us something like that.’
‘I didn’t think it was that bad.’
‘You wouldn’t.’
At the top of the stairs, a sign on the wall read Station Three. ‘Here we go again,’ Monica muttered, starting her player.
Owen thumbed down the Play button on his machine, and heard Janice’s voice.
‘After finishing its brutal attack on Ethel, the beast ran out of the parlor and scurried up the stairs, leaving a trail of blood to mark his way. Ethel’s blood. Look down, and you’ll see stains on the floor. They’ve been copied from crime scene photos, and match the stains found on the hardwood floor the night of murder. Follow them to Lilly’s bedroom and listen to what Maggie had to say.’
Monica, head down, followed the red stains. Owen walked behind her. His tape hissed, wordless for the few seconds that it took to reach the doorway of a bedroom.
‘We’re just above the parlor here,’ Maggie explained. ‘This is Lilly Thorn’s bedroom. That’s her on the bed.’
He entered the room behind Monica.
Only a few tourists were here. They were scattered along the length of the cordon, so Owen had a fine view of the bed.
Sitting upright on it was the figure of a young woman dressed in a pink nightgown. Eyes wide, mouth agape, hand to her mouth, she looked to Owen like a star of the silent screen demonstrating terror.
‘All that commotion from downstairs woke Lilly up,’ Maggie continued. ‘She must’ve known something mighty awful was going on. Must’ve known she and her boys were in danger. But instead of running to save the kids, she climbed out of bed and shut her door. See that dressing table there? She dragged it over in front of the door so the intruder couldn’t barge in. Then she climbed out her window. It wouldn’ve been a long fall to the ground, but there’s a bay window just below this one, and she dropped down on top of it. From there, it was an easy jump. She landed on her lawn and run away into the night.’
‘Lilly made good her escape,’ Janice said, her smooth voice replacing Maggie’s gruffness. ‘She escaped with her life, but not with her sanity. The wax figure that you see on the bed, done by Dubois, was based on a photograph that had been taken of Lilly at the time of her marriage to Lyle Thorn, the outlaw, several years earlier. This nightgown is an exact replica of the one she . . .’
‘And the original can be found at the Beast House Museum,’ Monica said in a sing-song, mocking voice that interferred with whatever Janice was saying on Owen’s tape.
She pushed her Stop button.
Owen frowned at her.
He looked around. Though some people were entering the room, nobody stood nearby. Monica’s mimickry had probably disturbed nobody but Owen.
‘Cut it out,’ he whispered.
She flashed her teeth at him.
Owen stopped his machine. He studied it, found the Rewind button, and pressed it.
‘You’re not going back?’
‘Yeah, I am.’
‘That was the end.’
‘I wasn’t to the end yet when you interrupted. You made me miss stuff.’
She rolled her eyes and muttered, ‘You’re kidding.’
Owen thumbed Play. Maggie said, ‘from downstairs woke Lilly up. She must’ve known something mighty awful was going on.’
He’d rewound way too far.
As Maggie went on, he thought about hitting the Fast Forward.
Don’t, he told himself. Just listen to it all again. So what if it takes a while? Monica can just wait. She should’ve kept her mouth shut.
He met her eyes.
She frowned.
‘I rewound too far,’ he explained.
‘Good going.’
‘This may take a minute.’
‘Wonderful.’
‘Shhhh. I’m trying to listen.’
‘Cute move.’
‘You don’t have to wait for me.’
‘You can really be a pain sometimes, do you know that?’
‘You’re going to make me miss stuff again. Then I’ll have to rewind.’
She clamped her lips shut and glared at him.
Owen wished she would leave. He wanted to concentrate on the tour without any distractions – especially without the negative distractions provided by Monica. She was ruining it for him.
His tape reached the part that he’d missed.
As Monica had already told him, the original nightgown worn by Lilly on the night of the attack was on display at the Beast House Museum.
‘You may now go down the hallway, and resume listening when you come to Station Four.’
He stopped the tape.
‘All done?’ Monica asked.
‘Yep.’
‘You’re sure you didn’t miss a single precious word?’
‘I think that’ll do it.’
This time, he led the way. Though he walked slowly toward the door, he didn’t look back to make sure that Monica was staying with him. It made him feel rude, but he didn’t care. If it offended her, good. For years, he’d been looking forward to Beast House. Now he was finally here, but Monica wouldn’t let him enjoy it.
Big mistake.
And she thinks I’m actually going to marry her?
When hell freezes over.
He waited just inside the doorway while a family with three kids made their way into Lilly’s bedroom. Everyone in the family wore earphones. Even their girl, who appeared to be about eight years old.
It didn’t seem right, bringing a kid that age into a place like this.
People are so damn queer, he thought.
But what’s really the harm? If the kid ever lays her eyes on the TV news, she’ll see a lot worse than this.
When the door was clear, Owen moved into the hallway and stepped aside to avoid a man carrying an infant.
The baby didn’t wear earphones. Owen smiled.
For just a moment, he pictured a kid of his own – but it was a girl and it looked like Monica.
No way, he thought.
My God, she could be pregnant right now for all I know! Who’s to say she isn’t? Condoms leak.
He wished he could simply close his eyes and make a wish and Monica would be gone . . .
‘Oh, there’s nothing much to see up there, anyway. But the attic isn’t particularly safe. That’s why we don’t allow anyone up the stairs.’
Owen glanced at the person who was speaking.
A guide.
He started to look away.
She caught him looking and smiled.
He smiled back.
She turned her eyes away from him and resumed talking to a couple of teenagers who had stopped near the attic door. On the wall beside the doorway was a large number 7.
Owen kept moving.
He stared at her as he walked by.
Then he turned his head to look over his shoulder at her.
‘Don’t break your neck,’ Monica said.
‘Huh?’
‘God almighty.’
‘Huh?’ Facing Monica, he raised his eyebrows. ‘What’re you talking about?’
‘You know damn well.’
‘What?’
‘That dumb blonde in the guide suit back there.’
Was I that obvious?
‘What makes you think she’s dumb?’ Owen asked, trying to sound am
used.
‘Just one look at her.’
‘I wouldn’t know. I didn’t get that good of a look.’
‘Sure you didn’t.’
‘I was trying to see up the attic stairs,’ he said.
‘Uh-huh, sure. She’s not that hot, you know. If you ask me, she sort of looks like a horse.’
Yeah, a gorgeous thoroughbred.
‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I hardly saw her.’
He wished he’d had a better chance to see her.
She works here, he told himself. She’ll still be around when we come back this way. Station Seven.
She’ll probably be a big disappointment. Nobody can be that terrific. And even if she IS that terrific, I’d never stand a chance with her.
Guys like me don’t even exist . . .
‘Where you going, Bozo?’ Monica asked. ‘We just walked past Station Four.’
He stopped, looked over his shoulder, and saw the 4 painted on the wall of the hallway. ‘Ah,’ he said. Then, trying to smile at Monica, he said, ‘Thanks.’
With a smug smile, she said, ‘I think you’d lose your head if it wasn’t attached.’
‘Maybe.’
He pressed the Play button.
He expected Janice’s voice, but Maggie’s came on instead. ‘When the beast couldn’t get into Lilly’s room, it turned around and came prowling down the hall this way, looking for someone to kill. It sniffed its way along like a bloodhound.’
Owen glanced toward the attic door, but too many people were in the way and he couldn’t see the guide.
What if she’s gone?
Never mind, he told himself. Just ignore her and enjoy the tour.
Sure.
‘It smelled Lilly’s kids,’ Maggie was saying. ‘It tracked their scent all the way down the hall, and found them in their bedroom. This is it, right here. Come on in.’
While Owen waited for a man to step out, Maggie’s voice was silent. He imagined her leading a group of tourists into the room, making sure they were all inside before resuming her speech.
‘Here we are,’ she said.
Beyond the red cordon were twin, brass beds. The covers were thrown back and rumpled. The sheets were bright in the sunlight coming in through the windows, but spattered with dark stains.
The kids lay sprawled in the space between the beds. Their nightshirts had nearly been torn from their bodies. Sheds of the bloody fabric draped their buttocks.
‘This is the bedroom where the children slept,’ Maggie said. ‘But I ’spect they were wide awake when the beast came after them. All the commotion was downstairs and way at the other end of the hall, but this ain’t a real big house. And it’s real quiet in the middle of the night. Noise carries. So they likely heard the beast slamming things around and pounding on their mama’s door and roaring out its rage. If they heard it, they were too scared to move. All they could do was hide under their covers, the way kids do, froze up with fear and hoping it was just a bad dream and maybe it’d go away. Only it wasn’t no dream, and it didn’t go nowhere. It come for them.
‘Earl was ten years old,’ Maggie said. ‘His brother, Sam, was only eight. They were both still in their beds when the beast got them. See the blood? They must’ve started off on their beds and ended up on the floor. Right there, that’s where their bodies got found.’
Maggie stopped talking. Owen expected Janice to come on. But a couple of seconds later, Maggie’s voice returned. She said, slowly and low, ‘Imagine how scared they must’ve been, those little fellers. They likely reckoned it was the boogeyman. But I bet they figured everything’d turn out all right and they’d get saved at the last minute. Only they didn’t get saved. The beast got them.
‘It didn’t kill them right away. That would’ve been a blessing. We can’t really know what all went on here, but there’s reports of townfolk hearing the screams of children in the night. Far-off screams that went on for good long time. Nobody could figure just where they were coming from, but afterwards, they knew. It was Lilly’s boys crying out in horror and agony while the beast tormented them.
‘It’s said that Lilly heard their screams when she was running down Front Street, and that’s what unhinged her mind.’
The tape went silent again for a few moments. Then Janice came on and said in a solemn voice, ‘With the deaths of Lilly’s two sons, the rampage ended. The beast vanished, and its crimes were placed on the head of poor Gus Goucher. Nobody knew that there was a beast. Only Lilly, perhaps – and she had been reduced to maniacal babbling.
‘Which may or may not have been faked.
‘If your curiosity has been aroused, I suggest that you read my books and take advantage of the Midnight Tour. You’ll be surprised and maybe even shocked by what you learn.’
She paused for a moment or two, then started talking again. ‘After the attack on Lilly Thorn’s family on that horrible night in 1903, the house was abandoned. Nobody lived here again for twenty-eight years. Then, in 1931, it was purchased by Joseph Kutch. He moved in with his wife, Maggie, and their three children. But they were in the house for only two weeks before the beast struck.
‘You may now move on to Station Five. Turn right just outside the door, and go down the corridor until you come to the top of the stairway. There, you’ll hear Maggie begin to tell you about the night that the beast attacked her family.’
He clicked the Stop button.
Monica looked at him and raised her eyebrows. ‘Done?’ she asked.
He nodded.
‘Are you sure you don’t want to rewind? Maybe you missed a word or two.’
‘It’s fine,’ he said. He turned around and started across the room.
Already picturing the tall, beautiful guide.
Get a good look at her, this time.
When he reached the doorway, he stepped aside and gestured for Monica to precede him. ‘Ladies first,’ he said.
She gave him a look as if she knew exactly why he wanted her ahead of him. With a smirk, she halted and said, ‘Age before beauty. You go first.’
He shrugged. He smiled. ‘Okay. Just thought I should offer to protect your rear.’
‘My rear’s fine.’
‘The beast likes to jump people from behind.’
‘Sure.’
He stepped past Monica, turned right in the corridor, and walked slowly.
Slowly so she wouldn’t sense his eagerness.
Slowly to give himself plenty of time for his inspection of the guide.
Already, his mouth was dry, his face hot, his heart pounding hard and fast.
He could see the attic door up ahead.
But so far, the guide was still out of sight. Too many people cluttered the hallway.
Why can’t I spot her? She’s taller than most of them.
No she isn’t, he thought when he spied the pretty, young guide who was standing near the attic door. She isn’t that tall or that beautiful.
How the hell did I . . .?
After a moment of shocked perplexity, he realized that this was not the same guide he’d seen earlier.
He felt a surge of relief.
Mixed with disappointment.
Where is she? Where’d she go? Maybe went on a break. Maybe she’s gone for lunch.
What if I don’t get to see her again?
As he approached the replacement, he heard her talking to a small group of people who were gathered near the open attic door. ‘The attic’s never been part of the regular tour.’
He stopped to listen.
‘It’s just not very safe. I do take people up there during the Midnight Tour every Saturday night. But that’s a small, carefully supervised group. We can’t leave it open for the general public. There aren’t floorboards everywhere. Also, there’s a lot of clutter. Too many places where the beast might be lurking.’ She grinned.
According to the nametag on her chest, she was LYNN.
‘We don’t want to lose anybody,’ she said.
Owen wanted to ask where the other guide had gone, but he didn’t dare.
Monica would flip out.
‘If we wait here long enough,’ Monica whispered, ‘maybe she’ll turn into the beauty queen.’
‘Very funny,’ Owen told her.
He started walking again.
Where is she?
He stopped at Station Five, in the corridor a few feet beyond the top of the stairs.
Monica, stopping beside him, thumbed the Play button on her player.
Owen started his tape.
What if she’s gone for the day? What if I never see her again?
I can’t let that happen, he told himself.
‘We lived sixteen nights in this house,’ Maggie said, ‘before the beast struck.’
Chapter Eleven
Sandy’s Story – August, 1980
Sandy carried Eric down the wobbly stairs in his travel basket – a wicker bassinet with a closed lid and handles at both ends. Worried about the slippery steps, she moved slowly and carefully. She sighed with relief when her feet met the ground.
She set down the basket.
Together, she and Lib lifted the stairway and shoved it inside her trailer. Lib stepped out of the way. Sandy swung the door shut.
Turning around, she found her new friend picking up Eric’s basket by its two handles.
‘We gonna keep him in dis?’ Lib asked.
‘We’d better. In case we get stopped.’
‘Poor little pucker.’
‘I don’t think he minds. It seems pretty nice and cozy in there. And he’s got his favorite dolls.’
‘Can he breet okay?’
‘Sure. All kinds of air gets in. He’ll be fine. Let’s just put him in the back seat.’
Sandy hurried ahead and opened the back door. Then she took the basket from Lib and lowered it onto the floor in front of the seat. It was a fairly tight squeeze. The wicker made dry, crackling sounds. Sandy figured that the tightness was good for Eric’s safety in case of a crash.
She stepped back and shut the door.
‘I guess I’ll drive,’ she said.
‘How come?’ asked Lib.
‘You’re drunk as a skunk.’
‘Well, dat ain’t nebber stopped me.’
‘You polished off the whole bottle.’
‘It weren’t pull in da pirst place.’