The Haunting Of Bechdel Mansion by Roger Hayden Page A

darkly
tan and lighting a cigarette. “Let’s go talk to him,” Curtis said,
taking her hand. “I want to ask him about leasing some space.”
    Mary stayed in place and politely moved her
hand away. “You talk to him, honey. I want to check and see if the
library is open.” The truth was that she was lost in her thoughts
and didn’t feel like talking to a lot of people at the moment. She
didn’t want to be rude, but it was a feeling she couldn’t deny.
    Curtis turned, frustrated but understanding.
“At least come say hi to the man. He really helped us out.”
    “Later,” Mary said. “I promise.”
    Curtis shook his head. “All right. Don’t go
far.”
    “I’ll meet you at the library,” she said,
waving.
    “Sure thing,” Curtis said, waving back. She
watched as he hurried to the building calling out Bob’s name and
shaking his hand. Bob looked startled and surprised to see him. His
lips then moved upward to form a big gaping smile as Curtis
continued talking. The exchanged words and then Bob slapped Curtis
on the back, opening the door to his office and leading him inside.
Mary felt free to walk through the town on her own to get a feel of
the place. Someone had to have the answers she needed.
    What had her visions meant? Was it all
really in her head? She was, in fact, a believer in the
supernatural. She had seen too many strange things her entire life,
but had always suppressed her ability to do so—from as far back as
a teenager. There was a lot Curtis didn’t know about from back
then, and she was determined to keep it that way.
    She approached the sidewalk and moved past
the pizza place, passing a closed consignment shop and next door
art gallery. Redwood seemed to have a little of everything, and she
was excited to see a crafts store with art supplies in the window.
It was closed as well, but she made a note to stock up later. A few
people passed her by as she smiled and nodded, but there weren’t
near as many people out as the previous day.
    She heard a church bell toll as the library
came into distance—a long gray building with a flat roof and large
tinted windows. It was surrounded by vertical metal railing and
nicely trimmed bushes. She didn’t see anyone around the building,
but something told her to keep going. The open gate in the center
was a good sign.
    As she walked past a closed bar, a woman
stepped into her path from an alley, scaring the hell out of her.
She was old and frazzled-looking with a long, dirty and plain dress
about two sizes too large for her that concealed her feet and a
green jacket. She was seemingly intoxicated as well. Mary froze as
her heart skipped a beat.
    “Oh my God! You startled me,” she said,
carefully moving around the woman.
    The woman stared her down, not saying a
word, with her gray hair sprouted in all directions. She wore
bright red lipsticks amidst the heavy bags under her glazed eyes.
As Mary passed, the woman turned to her with a long finger in the
air.
    “You… You and your husband,” she said in a
low, scratchy voice.
    Mary stopped and turned around, facing the
woman dumbfounded. “Excuse me?”
    “You’ve made a terrible mistake,” the woman
said.
    Mary stepped forward, angered. “What are you
talking about? You know my husband?”
    “You don’t belong here. Outsider…” she
hissed with contempt. Any normal person would have walked away from
the woman, considering her crazy, but Mary felt a strong urge to
probe her ramblings further.
    “Tell me what you know,” she said.
    The woman shook her head, lost in her own
thoughts. She looked as though she had just crawled out of a paper
bag, but there was something even stranger than her appearance. She
exhibited a certain wisdom, concealed behind endless wrinkles and
dirty layers of clothing.
    The woman opened her mouth to speak when a
man approached her from behind and placed a hand on her shoulders.
“That’s all right, Evelyn, let’s take you home.”
    The woman jumped as Mary