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“Huh." I think about it for a minute. "This wouldn’t happen to be a house surrounded by trees and with creepy statues right?’
She pauses. “I don’t know, but it fits the bill. Why? You saw it?” My sister’s excitement practically oozes out. “Ooh, take pictures for me."
I share a glance with Ava who seems puzzled about what we’re talking about. "Yeah, sweet sister, I’ll do that. And in the meantime, watch over Mimi for a few more days.”
“Sure. You know I love that little girl. She’s so charming and well-spoken.”
“That she is. I’ll call later in the evening so Ava can talk to her.”
“Alright. Don’t forget the pictures.”
“How could I?” I say as I hang up.
I give Ava a triumphant look and say, “See? That’s solved.”
She still looks doubtful, so I add, “If in a few days, the road opens up and you still want to go home, I’ll take you.”
Her eyes widen. “You will?”
“I will,” I say. “In the meantime, we have to figure out how to pass time in this place. I’ll call the hotel and see if they can give us back the room.”
“And then what do we do for the rest of the time?”
I think about it for a little and then smile. “You wanna go into a haunted house?”
“A what?”
“Trust me,” I say, putting the car in gear.
Ava is quiet for most of the ride, but she doesn't seem as tense as when we started. She seems to be enjoying the scenery, smiling to herself at times.
Finally, we reach the house that we stopped at before, hooded by the trees.
She frowns, though, as we follow the familiar road from before, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
“This is the haunted house?” she asks when I pull the car to a stop. On closer analysis, the weeds are overgrown, and the metal gate is with a few cracks in the wall. The cherubic statues also look like they’ve seen better days. But it’s surrounded by a pond and the structure is pretty solid.
“Yup,” I answer, getting out. I come over to open her door, holding my hand out for her. She eyes me as she takes it, and I try to ignore the sizzling from the contact. "Chloe says one of her people spotted a ghost in here."
“She said there was a ghost?” Ava glances around as we walk up the stairs. The door isn't locked, and pushing it open reveals a dusty wooden interior, with no furniture. The floorboards creak as we enter, mold having chewed through most of them.
“Yeah,” I say. “But I think the rumors of paranormal activity are greatly exaggerated.”
“Tell me about it,” she says wryly. She glances around the interior, narrowly avoiding a cobweb as she moves. “But the place must have been something back in the day."
"Precisely." I could tell from what was left that it had Victorian decor, with a wide parlor and ornate spiral walls. "It's a shame that no one has snapped it up till now."
“Why would anyone want to buy a haunted mansion in the middle of nowhere?" she says, and then she suddenly stops in her steps and stares at me with wide eyes, like a lightbulb goes off in her head. "Oh, my God."
"I feel like you just figured out something."
“I think I did. What if this is the place?” Her eyes are brimming with excitement. "What if I show the Nixons."
“What?”
“Sure, it looks rough, but it's a good option for their camp. It’s away from everything. It has enough space. There could be a ranch out here. Harry likes horses, right?” She claps her hands together. "It's perfect."
I think about it. It makes sense. "Not bad."
