Logan Castle Ch. 4

Over the next week things didn’t really get worse, but every night was the same, someone stomping around above where she was sleeping, things being thrown around, crashes and banging all night long. Her cleaning supplies would disappear and she would find them moved to different rooms or outside. Loud roars echoing through the castle, they had even lifted the cushion that she slept on about ten feet in the air, then dropped it and a few nights she had heard what sounded like someone playing bagpipes.

Even after having her hand stabbed she felt less fear knowing it was dragons and not ghosts, it also made her more determined to stay and find some way to talk to them. Being kept up most of the night, every night was leaving her exhausted though. Even when she tried to take a nap during the day the noises upstairs would start up again. Katherine had invited her over for lunch that day and she didn’t want to be barley able to keep her eyes open or worse end up falling asleep while they were visiting, so she decided to go out by the lake and see if she could take a nap there. At least they wouldn’t be able to stomp around above her head if she was out side.

She found a nice sandy area by the lake, laid out her beach towel, lay down and had been lulled to sleep by the sound of the gentle breeze across the lake within minutes.

“What are you doing out here lass.”

Rebecca groaned, opened her eyes and looked up to see the old man standing there.

“I’m trying to get some sleep since you seem to have decided I’m not allowed to sleep inside the castle,” she replied.

“What are you talking about?” he asked sounding confused.

“I’m talking about you and your friend coming in every night and making so much noise that I can’t get any sleep.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said although he looked a little uncomfortable.

“Well then why would a voice have said, “who’s afraid of whom” the same night that I told you I thought that the ghosts where more afraid of me than I was of them?” she asked.

“They could have over heard you. The ghosts haunt the whole property not just the castle,” he told her.

“Whatever you say,” she replied dismissively then added, “Oh and another thing, I know you’re not ghosts or even human, I’ve never heard of a ghost bleeding and I saw your friend the next day by the lake with a bandage on his leg,” Rebecca said.

The old mans face went white as a sheet.

Rebecca fought back a grin and said, “Now let me get some sleep before I decide to call the local news station to tell them dragons still exist. Oh and if you try to kill me or anything to make sure I can’t tell anyone, I have about half a dozen copies of the pictures that I took of your friend that I sent to several friends of mine with the instructions they’re not to open the envelopes, but if anything happens to me they should take them to the news stations and police.”

Ok so it was a lie, but the thought had just hit her that now that they knew that she knew what they were they could try to kill her to keep her from telling anyone, and it was the only thing she could think of.

He got even paler and Rebecca said, “We can talk about this later, after I’ve gotten some sleep.” she then lay back down, closed her eyes and was relieved to hear him walk away.

- - - - - - - - -  - - - - -

After finally getting a little sleep Rebecca headed to Katherine’s house, “How are you doing and how have the ghosts been, did you scare them off?” Katherine asked.

“I’m okay, just a little tired because I haven’t scared the ghosts off, they seem to be just as stubborn as I am,” Rebecca replied then told her about some of things that had been happening although she left out her belief that they were dragons and not ghosts and about stabbing the one. Then she asked, “Do you know much about the caretaker?”

“There isn’t any caretaker, the only people who go up there are the people who inherit it or the local kids when they want to prove how brave they are or get dared to go up there. What does her look like?” Katherine asked.

“He’s probably a little over six feet tall, green eyes and white hair, probably in his seventies, but looks like he’s still in good enough physical condition to handle any work that a place like that might need. He also seems to want me to leave,” Rebecca told her.

“I don’t know of anyone around here who fits that description, do you think he’s one of the ghosts?” Katherine asked.

“Maybe, I was starting to suspect he might have something to do with everything that’s been going on at the castle,” Rebecca replied.

After lunch Rebecca headed back to the castle and decided to walk back through the forest instead of following the road. She was about halfway back to the castle, taking her time to enjoy the sounds of the birds and the smells of the forest when she heard someone talking nearby and decided to investigate. After quietly making her way through the forest for a while she came in view of a small shelter with a fenced in area attached to it. As she made her way around to where she could see in she noticed a man kneeling in front of a deer whose leg was bandaged and had a fawn lying at its side. He was wearing jeans, a dark green shirt and had dark red, almost brown hair.

Rebecca remained silent for a while, watching as the man filled a dish with food then pulled a couple of apples out of a bag and started feeding them to the deer, “There you go, at this rate you’ll be healed up in no time and running around with your baby,” he said.

Rebecca froze for a moment when she heard his voice and recognized it as the man who had stabbed her hand. After taking a moment to calm the nervous shaking of her hands and reminding herself that he hadn’t really seemed to want to hurt her, she started to quietly move away, until a twig snapped under her foot. Deciding she might be safer if he didn’t realize she recognized him she simply acted like she hadn’t heard or noticed him until he stood up.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” she asked as he stood up.

He hesitated a moment then, trying to make his voice sound deeper, said, “My name is Brian, my family was given permission to hunt on this land in exchange for looking after the grounds for the old owner.”

“I’m Rebecca, the new owner. Would you be related to the man I ran into when I first got here?” she asked.

“Old, white hair and a clear disliking for anyone new nosing around the place?”

“Yep, that would be him,” Rebecca replied, relaxing a bit, realizing he must not have talked to the old man since her run in with him earlier that day and probably had no idea she knew who or what he was.

“He’s my grandfather, he’s a bit over protective of the place, no one has spent any time around the castle since he started looking after it. He doesn’t like change or new people and will probably say anything to scare you off,” Brian smiled, his green eyes sparkling as he added, “Don’t tell him I told you this, but he’s harmless, so don’t let him scare you off.”

“You don’t mind new people hanging around here then?” Rebecca asked walking up to the fence.

“Not if it’s a beautiful lady,” Brian said bowing slightly and kissing her hand before he stumbled backwards as the fawn tried to push between him and the fence, “How rude of me, Rebecca, this is Gus and his mother Ruby.”

Rebecca knelt down and pet Gus, “I thought you said you hunted here,” she said.

“Yes, well, I found Ruby with her leg caught in some old barbed wire at the edge of the property. Normally I would have just considered myself lucky and had a nice dinner, but when I realized she was pregnant I had to help her. She had Gus a few days later and I’ve been taking care of her,” he explained as he opened the gate and motioned Rebecca to come in then handed her an apple, “Ruby has become very fond of apples since she’s been staying here.”

Rebecca knelt down and held the apple out to Ruby who sniffed her hand for a moment then began to eat while Rebecca scratched behind one of her ears and pet her. She watched Brian out of the corner of her eye as he sat petting Gus and she had a hard time believing he was the same man who had stabbed her hand and had scared her so badly. Then again he never had sounded like he really wanted to scare or hurt her.

“So how is it that you’ve managed to stay in that castle for a week without being scared off by the ghosts? I’ve heard a lot of stories about men who inherited the place over the years and none of them lasted more than a couple of days in the castle before leaving and never coming back,” Brian said.

“Maybe I’m just as stubborn as the ghosts are, they certainly haven’t made things easy on me, but I just can’t give up. I’ve never really felt like I truly belonged anywhere before, but the castle, it just feels like home to me. I don’t even know how to explain it,” she said as she stood up, leaned her elbows on the fence and stared out at the forest, “It’s almost like I can feel a connection to my ancestors who lived there so long ago. Even with the ghosts trying to scare me off I feel safe and at peace there, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, like a part of me knows this is where I was always meant to be,” Rebecca laughed, “I probably sound completely insane.”

“Not at all, you sound like someone who has finally found where they belong,” Brain said resting a hand on her shoulder and she turned to face him, “No matter what the ghosts try, don’t give in, they can’t hurt you and I’m sure if you hang in there they’ll eventually give up.”

“I’m not so sure about that, one of them stabbed me a couple of nights after I got here,” Rebecca said while mentally praying he wouldn’t realize she already knew it had been him.

“Was the injury still there when you woke up the next morning?” Brian asked.

“No.”

“Have you been hurt since then?”

“No.”

“Then don’t worry about it, I know a thing or two about ghosts, they can’t kill you and they can’t hurt you badly enough that there would be any sign of it by morning. Just stay strong and hang in there, trust me, they can’t keep this up forever,” he told her.

“You really don’t want me to leave, do you?” Rebecca asked.

“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and clearly since you’re still here, you’re braver, tougher and more stubborn than the dozens of men who have tried to claim that castle in the past. I’d like nothing better than to have you stay here so I have chance to get to know you better,” he told her.

“Then I promise, I won’t let them scare me off,” she smiled, “and maybe you could come up to the castle some time.”

“I’ll do that. Now you’d better be getting back there, it’s already starting to get dark out and I wouldn’t want the ghosts locking you out,” Brian said, “I’ll stop by tomorrow morning, if that’s alright, to make sure you’re still there.”

“I’d like that, I’ll see you then,” Rebecca said before she headed back to the castle.