AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes, that was him!” Elise exclaimed, pointing his way.
“Sorry to have shocked you. It’s been some time since we’ve had visitors on the island.”
“And who are you?” Erik asked.
He moved forward, “I’m Archibald Devane, the caretaker.”
“My friends and I were shipwrecked by the storm,” Erik explained.
“I saw. There’s been some damage to your boat.”
“I’m afraid so. Is there some problem staying here?”
Archibald Devane smiled kindly. “Why no. I’m glad the house could be a safe haven once again.”
“Again?” Laney whispered.
“We are uncharted here, but occasionally someone stumbles on our humble shore.”
“You say we?”
“Ah!” the old man looked slightly chagrinned. “It’s just me now. Mr. Christian Barth, the owner of Marquis Island lives in New England. I’m afraid he had to abandon this little jewel a few years ago, due to bad health. I still think of him being here. This was quite the place in the 60’s and 70’s.” He gazed around the room with a melancholy eye. “I’m just the caretaker now.”
“Well, it certainly was convenient for us tonight,” Erik said.
“And you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like. I’m afraid the baths aren’t working, nor is there running water in the kitchen. But other than that, the stove works, and there’s a pump outside the door. Plus the old latrine is decent enough. The storm’s likely to rage a day or two. You might as well settle in.”
“We do have plenty of food,” Erik said. “So, I suppose we’re as safe as anywhere.”
“Long as you don’t let the spooks get to you,” Devane said as his odd eyes danced.
“Spooks?” Laney wondered aloud.
“Just kidding, ma’am. But you know these islands can be mysterious, and strange things happen in old houses.”
“You’re saying the place is haunted?”
“Not by the dead, if that’s what worries you. You make yourselves at home, I’ll check back with you tomorrow.”
“And where do you live?” Matthew asked.
“No more than a quarter mile down the island there’s another house. Much smaller. I prefer it there. It’s near the dock and I have my radio.”
“You have a radio?” Jason jumped in.
“When it works. But not in this storm.” He nodded, turned, and shuffled off giving them a friendly wave while mumbling something none of them could hear.
“He’s sure an odd one,” Jason said once he was gone.
“Kinda creepy,” Laney agreed.
“I thought he was rather friendly,” Sandra said.
“Like too friendly,” Elise murmured under her breath. She was still recuperating from her shock. Her plain, wide-open face seemed to hold the fear inside its simple features far longer than a normal face might. She was an enigmatic woman, ‘a sensuous pianist’, Laney called her. And determinedly driven, ultimately focused. ‘She rode her own pair of horses’, Matthew described her once referring to her art and her earth—she was dedicatedly into classical piano and raising rare tropical plants. That appraisal wasn’t quite accurate, however. Elise rode three horses, Matthew being the third. She’d do anything to fuck him, which he needed; keeping his hot temper mollified on most occasions. That was a blessing to the world, so all his friends believed. Now, however, she looked as ghostly as the ghost she claimed she’d seen.
“Elise, you’re going overboard,” Matthew said tersely.
“He was weird-looking in the window,” she said adamantly
