Free A Haunting at Hensley Hall (A Ravynne Sisters Paranormal Mystery) by Merabeth James Page A

the mistresses of Hensley Hall! We’ll have to change that of course…maybe Ravynne’s Roost? Anyway, that’s what I want to do!”
    “Well, come on then. The front hall’s not been cleaned yet, but the railing has been fixed, so we don’t have to look at that reminder dangling over our heads.”
    Meg opened the Ford’s door and slid out. Freddie jumped down and sniffed the air, then the ground, and finally the porch, where he lifted one leg and peed. Charlie raised an eyebrow and Meg laughed. “He’s just marking his territory. I think that’s a good sign.”
    “As long as he confines his ‘marking’ to the outside. Here goes, Meg. The moment we have been waiting for. Drum roll please,” Charlie said, as she turned the key in the lock and opened the door.
    Meg sighed, dramatically, and stepped inside. Charlie followed on her heels, but Freddie didn’t. In fact, Freddie sat on his haunches just outside the threshold and howled. Something neither sister knew he was capable of. As howls went it was almost wolf-like and Freddie seemed rather proud and perhaps a little surprised that it had emanated from him.
    “Well, here’s a problem we hadn’t anticipated. What do we do now?” Meg asked.
    “I suppose we could drape one of your new sheets over his head and carry him inside,” mused Charlie.
    “Don’t even say that out loud! He can hear you, you know. He would be terrified!”
    “More than he is now? Well, yard dog isn’t a possibility, so what is your brilliant plan?”
    “Bribe him with food. I have jelly doughnuts in the truck that were meant for us, but whatever it takes. He loves doughnuts!”
    But it didn’t work. Freddie sniffed the air, eyed the jelly doughnut with real longing, and then looked at Meg. If a dog could sigh, she swore that was what she heard, but he didn’t budge from the porch. “Freddie, please. No one is going to hurt you. I wouldn’t let them. Please!” she begged. Freddie whined, wriggled his bottom and plunked down, resting his chin on his crossed front legs.
    “Any other brilliant ideas?” Charlie asked, trying not to laugh at her clearly frustrated sister.
    “I suppose I could lie on the cleanest part of this floor, though I really don’t want to, and moan,” Meg told her thoughtfully.
    “And moan?
    “He’ll try to rescue me! In case you haven’t noticed, he’s very protective of me,” Meg told her with a touch of pride.
    “That’s not the way I heard it from your very lips not that long ago. And how are you going to keep him inside, moan indefinitely? I for one won’t be able to handle that.”
    Meg shot her a squelching look. “I’m hoping that once he’s inside, he’ll want to stay. And, of course, you’ll close the door behind him.”
    “There’s a blanket behind the seat in the truck. I’ll go get it. I don’t want to miss a minute of this,” Charlie replied.
    She was back in moments. With Freddie watching from the porch, his shaggy white head cocked quizzically, Meg caught the blanket Charlie threw her and spread it out on the black and white marble floor.
    Lying on her back she looked up at the deeply shadowed ceiling some distance above her head. She had a pretty good idea of how ridiculous she looked and found herself repressing a giggle. Something Charlie didn’t bother to hide. In fact, she was laughing quite loudly in a really irritating way.
    Clearing her throat, Meg experimented with a variety of moans settling on one that sounded like a strangled cat. She was well into her third one…her best so far…when Freddie had had enough. In three bounds, he cleared the threshold and landed on top of her.
    Laughing, Meg held her wriggling dog and wiped his spit from her well-licked face. “See! A mother knows her fur child!” she said just as Freddie bristled and took off at a run, chasing something down the hall towards the back of the house. “I’ve only seen him do that when he’s had a squirrel or a cat in his sights. But at