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Again, I turned off the light, and lay awake, straining at every sound.
My eyes were still wide open when the alarm went off. I dressed quickly and peeked at the rocking chair. Good, it hasn’t moved. The puppy in tow, I knocked on Luke’s door.
“Morning.” He opened the door with a welcoming smile. Then one glance at my face, and his smile vanished. “Another rough night?”
I relayed the evening’s events. “I can’t explain them. Can you?”
“Maybe Teddy bumped the rocker.”
“That’s what I thought, but the chair just rocked on its own. Am I going crazy or being haunted?”
His forehead creased. “Did you find any feathers last night?”
“Nope. Bouncing balls and rocking chairs replaced them.”
“I have a hunch…” He opened the door. “Want to come along?”
“Sure.” With the puppy trotting after me, I followed Luke to the cabin.
He punched in the code, and as we entered, the furnace turned on. Then he pointed to the vent over the bed. “Yesterday, when I checked the air ducts and changed the filters, I closed this vent, so no feathers would blow onto the bed.” He gestured toward the rocker in the corner. “I take it you moved it there.”
“Yup. It was right—”
“Over here?” He moved it to the exact spot it had been.
“How’d you know?”
“Watch.”
Within seconds, the chair teetered. Then it began creaking as it rocked back and forth.
“See what I mean!” I panicked as the chair gained momentum. “Am I being haunted, or is it this place?”
He chuckled as he motioned from one vent to another. “When I closed the vent over the bed, the air pressure increased through the others. Plus, I redirected this vent to blow away from the bed.”
I squinted. What kind of nonsense is this? “Your point?”
“The point is ghosts don’t rock chairs. Air does.”
“You’re telling me the air pressure’s strong enough to move this chair?”
“Have a seat.” He gestured toward the rocker.
As soon as I sat, a draft from the vent whooshed against my chest. “You’re right. That vent really forces the air.” Then I remembered how the puppy had bowed and whimpered by the chair. “But why would Teddy try to give his ball to the chair?”
“Maybe because the chair moved, he assumed someone was sitting in it.” He shrugged. “Who knows what dogs think?” He leaned over to pet the puppy.
“That might explain it…but another thing.” I scratched my head. “How could Teddy reach the top of the cedar chest to get the ball. Even if he stands on his hind legs, he’s too short.”
“Can you show me?”
I took the ball from the nightstand and placed it on the chest.
Within seconds, air from the same vent rolled the ball over the side and onto the floor with the same THUMP…Thump…thump.
The heat rose from my neck to my face. Smothering a giggle, I retrieved the ball, too embarrassed to meet his gaze.
“Satisfied?”
