Free The Haunting Of Bechdel Mansion by Roger Hayden Page A

another
argument for their second night in the house. “What’s the plan for
tomorrow?” she simply asked.
    “ Well…” Curtis said, flipping to the
next page in his notebook. “The painters will be here to work on
the interiors. Got an electrician coming out to sort out the bad
wiring. Lawn maintenance begins their long slosh through our jungle
of a backyard. Cleaners will be here to take care of the other
rooms.” He paused, thinking to himself. “Is that it?”
    “ Sounds like plenty,” Mary said,
taking a seat next to him in bed.
    Curtis glanced over at her library find
stacked next to the bed. “You never told me much about the library.
Did you find what you needed?”
    “ It’s just a start but yet. The
librarian was an older man named Hal. A bit off-putting at first,
but I think he warmed to me eventually.”
    “ Who could resist?” Curtis said with a
smile.
    Some of Mary’s blond hair had fallen in
strands from her hair tie in the back. Her ponytail reached just
below her neck. Her face was free of makeup and tired looking.
Curtis’s face was thick with stubble from the past few days. It was
fair to say that they were both in need of a good night’s
sleep.
    “ He suggested that I go to the office
of records near the courthouse,” she said.
    “ To find what?” Curtis asked,
curious.
    She turned to look at him. “The history of
this town. Of this house.”
    “ I knew it,” Curtis said with a laugh.
“You are planning on writing a book.”
    Mary smiled, not wanting to go into too much
detail. “Maybe so.”
    He took her hand, kissed it, and pulled her
closer to him, kissing her soft lips. With a heavier embrace to
follow, Mary backed up, holding him at bay. “Honey, please. We’re
filthy.”
    “ I don’t mind,” he said with
that look in his
eyes.
    It suddenly occurred to Mary that they
hadn’t made love in quite some time. Not since she went to the
hospital. Not since the miscarriage. The feeling in her bones was
enough to go on. It was time. She fell back into his arms as they
kissed with deep-seated passion. His hands caressed her back,
moving her shirt up. She broke away and raised her arms as he
pulled the fabric off and tossed it on the floor.
     
    Mary awoke in the dead of night on her side
of the bed, lying naked next to Curtis. The sheets were pulled up
halfway, and she felt a dryness in her throat that she could no
longer ignore. The room was dark beyond the blueness of the moon
shadowed in through the open windows. The overhead ceiling fan was
on, making a strange buzzing noise. The air conditioning unit
needed to be replaced and Curtis had told her to expect a new unit
there within the week.
    Feeling spirited, not to mention thirsty,
Mary rose and stepped out of bed, leaving Curtis asleep on his
stomach. She grabbed her T-shirt and a pair of boxers lying on the
floor and put them on. She wasn’t sure which lights in the house
worked yet, so she picked up a flashlight next to the TV stand and
left the room to venture toward the kitchen, where there was plenty
of bottled water in their new refrigerator.
    She crept down the hallway, flicking a light
switch on the wall that did not work. She then turned on her flash
light and continued down the hall. The house was quiet with nary a
disturbance. The noise of their old city seemed like a distant
memory. At the moment, Mary would have done anything to hear a car
engine, a siren, or a train. She was tired of thinking of their new
home as the Bechdel mansion. Maybe Curtis was right. It was so long
ago, why couldn’t they just make the place her own? She then came
to the stairs, hesitant to enter the black abyss below.
    She never considered herself a fearless
person. She knew when to stray from danger when it was right in
front of her, especially living in Chicago, but if she was to be
afraid to venture the house along, day or night, she feared that
she could never make the transition work.
    “Come on. What are you waiting for?”