Free The Haunting Of Bechdel Mansion by Roger Hayden

a few dollar pills for
change. He stopped and nearly sighed as his hands slowly went to
the cash register and gave her a handful of change. She thanked him
and went to the copy machine, feeling satisfied, even excited.
    After a ten or so minutes of fishing through
relevant articles detailing Redwood or the Bechdel mansion, she
made her copies, one by one, not even realizing that the hour she
had told Curtis had already passed. With over twenty copies folded
and jammed into her purse she brought the newspapers back to the
shelves, realizing that her foray into the room was far going to be
her last.
    Before leaving, however, she scanned the
bookshelves, looking for anything crime related in the nonfiction
section. She came across a few travelogue books detailing the
“Redwood experience,” and then oddly enough came to a few books on
understanding the world of the supernatural. The books were all
from small independent publishing presses, and she wondered if the
authors were the very locals Hal had boasted about. Odder still was
that she knew exactly where to look for every book that ended up in
her hands. She’d never had such a seamless experience in a library
before.
    Hal’s eyes widened as she approached with
ten books in hand, plopping them down on the counter. “This’ll be
it for today,” she said with an exhausted smile.
    “ Well, all right then,” Hal replied,
marking the books with his scanner. She had more than enough to
keep her busy. For the time being.
    ***
    Later that evening, Curtis and Mary took a
breather in the master bedroom, admiring the setup. Their dressers
and nightstands had been moved in. The bed frame was set up. Mary’s
bookshelf was intact along with their television stand and flat
screen, and most of their boxes had been unpacked. The walk-in
closet was full of shirts, dresses, and pants on hangers along with
their shoes, but there was still plenty of room left. It was the
first, and only room they had deemed livable in the two days they
had been at the house.
    In the corner of the room, near the bed sat
Mary’s stack of newspapers and books. She had showed up to the
diner much later than planned, but Curtis gave her a pass. Bob, the
realtor had to go to a meeting, and she never got to meet him. It
was a small town, though, and she was sure she’d get the
opportunity again soon enough.
    “ Well, we have one room almost ready
to go,” Curtis said, falling on the bed, back first. He held up his
hand, counting along his fingers. “That leaves us about… fourteen
more rooms.”
    “ We don’t have enough furniture,” Mary
said, pacing barefoot in a pair of black Yoga Pants and white
T-shirt. The power had been miraculously turned on while they were
out for the day and although the standing lamp in their room worked
fine, there was a series of electrical issues throughout the house,
leaving many of the rooms without power. Curtis had explained that
this was to be expected.
    Mary was beginning to miss the simplicity of
their apartment in Chicago. She tried her best to understand
Curtis’s vision and share it with her, but the endless amount of
work ahead was exhausting to consider. Curtis sat up and grabbed
the remote, turning on the TV and receiving a screen of white noise
instead.
    “ That reminds me,” he began. “Cable
and Internet should be out here tomorrow.” He turned the TV off and
tossed the remote aside.
    “ You know a house like this is going
to need permanent upkeep. How are we going to afford it all?” she
asked, still pacing.
    Curtis groaned and grabbed a notebook lying
on the floor, flipping it open. “I’ve charted out our finances
right here for the next year. Things will be a little tight through
the summer, but as soon as I open up my own practice, we’ll be back
in the green.”
    Mary initially said nothing. Curtis sounded
so sure of himself and confident of their future that she didn’t
want to dispirit him, and she certainly didn’t want