Ghost Tales

You see, you don't realise what's on your own doorstep. I mean Mrs Corduroy lives in a house further down in the village. She's a cleaner and I think about 63 years of age. She said she writes and gives talks on the Siege of Mafeking. Anyway, it's funny how you find yourself brought together, saying hello to a person on the street and talking with a friend of mine who happens to know of my ghost hunting interest and there you have it. One hour on a street corner getting cold and making promises just to get on with what I'd intended to do before the shop shuts.

Mrs Corduroy was telling me of a spooky place she cleans for - up the lane. Doctor Roland Nord's place. Ah, well it is spooky up there, damn well creepy. Seems that she's always felt shall we say a presence around the rooms. Apparently she's been told to stick to certain rooms and not be bothered with some of the others, one of them being his study.

"I'm not one for gossip, Mr Bedford far be it for me to be such a type, but Doctor has some very strange books and objects in that back room."

She was speaking rather loudly at this point. We were standing outside a row of terrace houses and I'd say Mrs Corduroy was hard of hearing, certainly a loud talker and slightly embarrassing actually. I feel sure the residents in these houses could hear the discussion.

"He showed me what I thought was a bible, Mr Bedford." She was at full throttle. "Devil's bible he said, Oh I said take it away Doctor, what you doing with that I asked? Just tapped his nose on the side. Minister wouldn't like to learn he has things like that, eh! Mr Bedford, eh!"

"What's the experience you were going to tell me about Mrs Corduroy?"

"Oh yes gave me quite a start, it did." She seemed caught in a thought just then, shivered in that way as if something or someone had walked over her grave. She smiled and appeared vacant.

"...The window..." Joyce, my friend prompting.

"Oh yes, I'd gone outside and thought it wouldn't hurt to give those study windows a wipe over. Well I'd gone around the back wiped over the first set. There's no way you can see into those rooms Joyce, he has shutters on the inside. It must be awfully dark in there. Anyway, I carried on while I had the chance. It was very quiet and that feeling in the stillness from over in the garden shrubbery that I was being watched. I kept looking back over my shoulder. Silly really, there was no one there." She was still shouting this out for all in the houses to hear no doubt.

"I carried on," said Mrs Corduroy, "went over to the next set. Now I'll tell you something I could see into that room, Mr Bedford. It's an empty room. I started to give them a wipe over then, Oh my goodness! A face just flashed right in front of me pressed up against the glass. Frightened the life out of me. Oh, it was a scary thing. A woman pale as anything with such a hard look on her face. There she was then just gone. Just appeared out of thin air."

"...And there was no one in the room she just appeared?" I asked.

"Yes...yes just out of thin air."

"Did you tell the Doctor?"

"Mr Bedford, he'd have me in a sanatorium thinking I was off my marbles... I'm not going mad you know... Ask me any sums I can work them out in my head. I can say the months of the year backwards. Do you want to hear me?"

"Best not I really must get on. Want to catch the butcher he said he's got some tripe for me." Joyce flashed a look.

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