As predicted, Rory saw Len in the George that evening and was able to have a quick word with him. Knowing that the wheels had been set in motion, Nina was able to relax and put the ghost to the back of her mind. That left the antics of her mother as her main source of stress. Watching Louise sashay into the pub and immediately turn up her nose, it seemed they were in for a rough ride.
Joy and Martin fussed over Nina and were genuinely pleased to see Louise. Nina thought that they must have forgotten what a pain she could be. An inordinate fuss was made over the selection of the wine and then the menus were perused.
"Pies. Shepherds pie, beef and ale pie, fish pie." Louise's nose wrinkled as she read what was on offer.
"They do a lovely Caesar salad with chicken." Nina pointed out.
"It will have to be that then, won't it."
After the second glass of wine, Louise became a bit more amenable. She managed to say a few positive things about Fernborough. She showed Joy and Martin pictures of her fabulous life in Spain. Good things were said about the house where her daughter now lived. There was, however, a tipping point and that was reached as she finished the bottle of wine. Rory recognised his wife's look and rapidly arranged for the bill.
"It's been lovely to see you, Louise." Joy hugged Nina's mum.
"Thank you. And its been lovely to see you and Martin. I'll say goodbye, because I'm going home on Monday."
That was the first Nina had heard about the departure date and she simply rolled her eyes at Rory. Maybe it was for the best that the visit was so short. Louise was okay in small doses. As they left the restaurant, Joy pulled Nina aside and said that Louise had been good company. It was nice of her to say it, even if it wasn't true.
Knowing that Louise was leaving on Monday, Nina ensured that their Sunday together was fun. That, after all, was her mother's favourite thing. Music played in the house and the wine flowed. A magnificent seafood buffet was laid on and it was good to see Louise eating with relish. All that picking at her food forgotten in the face of such delicious morsels.
Teetering off to bed at 10pm, Louise left instructions to get her up early. Her version of early was 9am. Nina drove her to the station and they said a rather emotional goodbye.
"The next time I see you, you will have a baby boy. Good luck with everything, darling. We'll speak soon."
"Bye mum."
Waiting on the platform until the train pulled out of the station, Nina turned and wiped at her eyes. Rory was informed that Louise had left and he said that, on the whole, it had been a good visit. He was right.
Considering the guest had not even been there a week, the house felt empty. Nina wandered from room to room, surveying her kingdom and, silently, appealing to the house for an end to the strange occurrences. She must remind Rory to contact Len and arrange for him to give more details about the, supposed, haunting.
Rory was ahead of the game. That evening he confirmed that he had spoken to Len and the old man was calling to visit them the following evening.
"He seemed quite excited about having someone to tell his story to. I imagine that he will digress onto a number of other local tales as well."
"What time is he coming?"
"We agreed on 7pm."
"I'm excited to hear what he has to say."
The next morning, the light was on and the vase had moved. Nina smiled as she dealt with the anomalies. An answer to all the weirdness was out there somewhere and they were about to take the first step towards finding it. In town, she bought some bottles of real ale and biscuits ready for Len's visit. He was fairly garrulous, but it didn't hurt to oil the wheels.
At 7pm sharp, Len was rapping on the door. Once he was settled in the lounge, with a beer in his hand, Rory told him about the odd events that were happening in the house. Nodding sagely, Len, when asked what he knew about the previous occupants, was happy to tell his story.
"The first people to buy it, after the Phillips, were a couple of fellas. One of them worked in the city and commuted and the other one worked from home, or so I was told. They had big plans for the place. Landscape the gardens, redecorate, pull down that lean to at the back. They came in the pub a few times. Seemed like nice people, chatted to everyone, bought me a drink, so all was good.
A few months went by. They had people in doing various work. No one saw much of them, assumed they were busy with the house, and then they put the place up for sale. I was out for a walk one day and I saw them. I'm not shy, so I asked why they were leaving. Well, a look passed between them, and while one shook his head, the other told me what the problem was.
Said that they were unsettled. Strange things had been happening in the house. Items were moving about and lights were turning themselves on. I asked if they had seen it happen and they said no, it always happened overnight. Anyway, that was all I got out of them. They were a bit embarrassed by the whole thing, I think, and I never saw them again."
"That is pretty much the same as us." Nina said.
"The next lot, the Hamptons, were good folks, too. In their sixties I would say, retired. They were determined to finish what had been started. Spent ages doing the place up. They put in the new kitchen and started on the garden. Mr Hampton was unwell for a while and that stopped him doing any more work. I used to bump into Mrs Hampton and she said that he was itching to get outside and plant things.
Reading between the lines, I think that weird stuff started happening to them soon after they arrived. He had been a civil servant and she had been a bookkeeper. They were level headed people. They refused to acknowledge the small things, like lights and shifting ornaments. It was 3 years before they threw in the towel.
Eventually, the paranormal stuff, if you can call it that, escalated to such an extent that they decided to leave. He was still not in the best of health and it was all too stressful."
"You say escalated. What type of thing did they experience?" Rory asked.
"I never got specifics, but she mentioned things being damaged. It must have been frightening to make them leave."
"What do you think of all this, Len?" Nina said.
"I have seen a lot of things in my life. Most of them can be explained. I'm not discounting the whole ghosts and haunting thing, but I'm sure there is an answer somewhere."
Nina and Rory nodded in agreement.