Writing for Fun
February 2016
The White House - Gerry Miller
Although Peter was angry he did understand that the letter had been sent to Julie's address and so she opened it. Peter was cross saying his surprise was ruined; Julie was more than a little put out that he could even consider agreeing to buy a house for them both to live in without her even seeing it. She refused to talk about it for days and then as he wore her down she at last agreed to go and see it; at least it was in an area that she knew.
And so the following Sunday they drove into Kent to see the White House, a large cottage with a very appropriate name. Julie loved the outside the moment it came into view, but the inside was something else. Oppressive and doom laden were the best of adjectives Julie could summon up. The rooms were crammed with dark Victorian furniture, the walls and ceilings were beamed and cobwebby. In fact the whole place reminded Julie of Miss. Havisham's house in Great Expectations.
Laughing she struggled to explain to Peter what was now so funny and such an inappropriate home, needing a fortune to be spent on it. Peter's mood started to change and he looked so hurt; Julie stopped laughing and agreed to look around again with a less critical eye. The bedrooms were full of original features and, as Peter said, they were such the in thing. Even the central heating must have gone in with the ark as the radiators were large and cumbersome. The cottage had obviously been unoccupied for some time; Peter said that the price he had potentially offered allowed enough for the renovations. Julie's heart sank, for whatever reason Peter had his heart set on this place.
The kitchen was large with a huge old fireplace which would easily take an Aga and, as Peter stated, Julie had always wanted one of those. The view out into the garden and beyond was calming and tranquil; at last she saw something appealing about living here. Julie lifted the old kitchen rug to check that the dirty but beautiful old kitchen tiles were not cracked or damaged. What came into sight was a huge dark stain that sent chills down her spine. Julie shivered and showed the stain to Peter, she told him it looked like blood but he laughed at her strange imaginings.
Peter stormed out to the car and rummaged in the boot coming back with some car cleaner in his hands. He rolled up the putrid carpet and lobbed it into the scullery. Julie left him to it and wandered off to see the garden; an hour later Peter called her in. The floor was clean and the stain had vanished, the old slate tiles, though still partially wet, were gleaming. Peter smiled at her and gave Julie a reassuring hug. 'It's time for lunch and a pint of beer. Let's check out the local,' he laughed. Julie heaved a sigh and headed towards the car. She looked back as she waited for Peter and there at the side kitchen window the curtain billowed and she saw a shadowy face. Boy did she need a glass or two of wine, her emotions were all over the place.
The estate agents had not told Peter anything about the history but there again he had not asked, so why volunteer information. They drove to the local pub, Julie deciding to check the Internet for history whilst Peter went to the bar. Julie looked for her tablet and then realised that she had left it back in the cottage garden on the bench. Peter was back with the drinks and passed over his smart phone, Julie started to Google. Zoopla said nothing about the history of the property but Julie, trusting her so called imaginings, began searching through the local papers. Finally there it was, such a short article stating a kitchen maid in 1914 had disappeared and was never seen again. It was felt at that time Dolly Bates had followed a boyfriend. The owner of the house, a Captain Brown, left shortly after her disappearance when he went off to war. Neither Dolly nor Captain Brown returned to the area again.
Julie read the article to Peter and he was sarcastically amused as the house was such a good prospect he could not see that this made any difference. Three large glasses of wine and Julie could feel herself giving in and back to the house they went. Peter had a spring in his step and almost bounced up the path and into the house, Julie trudged behind him, Peter's whistling was doing her head in. Suddenly he pulled up short and stopped dead in his tracks; Julie collided into him. Peter stood to one side and they both stared aghast the large dark stain was back.
Now Peter was really angry, someone was playing tricks on him, he ranted and raved. There must be another person after the property and they were responsible. He went into the garden and picked up her tablet. Julie had not seen Peter so angry before and was intimidated by his erratic driving to the local hardware shop. He was in and out so quickly that they were back in the cottage within half an hour. Julie went and sat out the garden and waited; she hated this property and she was not sure that she really cared for Peter any more either. Peter came and joined her on the bench and said he was not going anywhere until that floor dried out properly; he had taken staged photos on his tablet which clearly showed a gradually vanishing stain developing into a pristine clean floor.
It was pleasant sitting in the sunshine and Julie at last had the time to reflect on the last few days and indeed Peter's reactions to everything as he dozed next to her. Peter woke up only as the clouds passed in front of the sun. He was ready, he knew that no-one had entered the property. He entered through the scullery into the kitchen then Julie a strange strangled cry. Julie knew that the stain was back and, leaning on the windowsill, she tapped on the glass and watched as Peter jumped. Where he had stood and what he could obviously not see was what could only have been Dolly in her kitchen apron and mop cap. She smiled at Julie and waved and, laughing at Peter's reactions, she slowly disappeared. Julie left the garden and walked out to the front and stood by the car waiting for Peter.
Two wonderful things happened that day: the first was Peter never mentioned that house on the way home and secondly Julie could see Peter for what he really was. His dictatorial and controlling behaviour was not for her, house or no house. She could not live with him and she could only thank Dolly for showing her what he was really like.