After his death in 1925, Walt Marlow had spent the next ninety-one years confined to Marlow House. While he hadn’t spent his entire time in the attic, it had been his preferred area of the house, perhaps because that was where his spirit had left his body. Yet much had changed in the past three years, which included no longer being dead. During these brief years into his new life, he and his wife, Danielle, had remodeled the attic, first to serve as his bedroom, and later, when they awaited the birth of their twins, as his office.
Walt had discovered his new calling early into his newest life, as an author. He took the cliche writing advice: write what you know. And so Walt wrote stories which took place in the 1920s during prohibition. His first book had become a New York Times bestseller and was supposedly making it to the big screen. Of course, he had been told that before. His second book showed promise.
After spending the morning writing, Walt walked down the stairs from his attic office to the second floor. His first stop was to peek in on the twins and check if they were still napping. The moment he stepped on the second-floor landing, a woman screamed, followed by a loud thumping and then crying.
Walt raced to the nursery, and the moment he swung open the door, he found June Bartley sprawled out on the floor, with her daughter, Kelly, kneeling by her side. Behind them in a rocker sat Danielle, struggling with the squirming infants while looking confused at the scene on the floor. The babies were no longer crying and were again nursing.
Walt was about to ask what happened when June’s eyes fluttered open and looked up into Kelly’s face.
“Mom? Are you okay?”
“What happened?” June asked.
“Umm, well…” Kelly struggled to explain to her mother what they had witnessed but paused a moment and looked up at Walt.
Dazed, June, who hadn’t tried to sit up, turned her head to one side and came eye to eye with the stuffed elephant now sitting inches from her nose on the floor. June let out another scream and, like the one before, startled Danielle, making her jerk, causing the twins to unlatch from her nipples again. The babies cried. But she quickly got the situation in hand.
Walt focused his attention on the two women on the floor. Kelly had wrapped her arms around her sobbing mother and attempted to soothe her.
“What happened?” Walt asked gently as he knelt before the women.
Still wrapping her arms around her mother’s shoulders, Kelly gave Walt a shrug while saying, “Umm, the rocking chair started rocking on its own, and then the stuffed animal…” Kelly paused and nodded down to the stuffed elephant. “It sorta, well, flew across the room.” Kelly turned to look over at Danielle. “You saw it. Right?”
Danielle shook her head. “No. I was fussing with the babies, not really paying attention to what was going on while you were taking pictures.”
“You didn’t see the stuffed animal fly across the room?” Kelly asked.
Danielle shook her head again.
“I noticed Mom staring at something, and I turned to see the chair next to you rocking. And then the stuffed animal flew across the room toward Mom.”
June, who had stopped crying, gave a sniffle and pulled herself from Kelly’s hold. She looked up at Walt. “I never believed in ghosts before, but I think your house is haunted. This isn’t a safe place for those babies.”
With Kelly’s help, June stumbled to her feet.
Once standing, June looked at Walt and said, “We need to get out of here, and I think you should, too.”
As the women hurried from the room, Walt called out, “I’m sure there is a logical explanation!”
“Yes, Marie,” Danielle grumbled after June and Kelly were out of earshot.
Walt turned and frowned at Danielle. “Did Marie do something? What happened?”
The twins, no longer wanting to nurse, squirmed again, and without being asked, Walt took one from Danielle. It wasn’t until they stood by the cribs, each holding a baby, did Walt ask again, “What happened? I could hear June screaming from down the hall.”
Resting Addison against a cloth diaper draped over her right shoulder, Danielle gently burped the baby while Walt did the same with Jack. “You heard what Kelly said. Apparently, the other rocker was moving, and the stuffed animal flew across the room. I didn’t see any of it because I was looking at Addison and Jack. I knew they were taking pictures of the quilt, but I wasn’t watching them.”
With the burping done, they wiped excess milk from the corners of tiny mouths and began checking the status of diapers when Walt asked, “But why did you say Marie?”
“I just figure, if the rocker was really moving on its own, and the stuffed animal flew, then it had to be Marie. Unless you snuck in here and messed with them.”
“I didn’t see Marie. Was she here?”
“I haven’t seen Marie all day. But if those things really happened, who else did it? Eva can’t move things.” Danielle let out a sigh and picked up Addison now freshly diapered and swaddled in a receiving blanket. “It’s entirely possible Marie was in here, and I didn’t notice her.”
Walt and Danielle went to the living room a few minutes later, each holding a swaddled baby. Lily was still lounging on the sofa while Connor played with the toys from the basket. The moment the new parents walked into the room, Lily called out, “Okay, Walt, what did you do to June and Kelly?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Walt and Danielle walked to the recliners and sat down, each holding a baby. Connor looked up from his toys and called out, “Babies!” before standing up and running over to have a closer look.
“Just look; don’t touch,” Lily warned her son, who now hovered curiously by Walt and Danielle’s side. Lily looked at Walt and asked, “Are you sure you did nothing to them?”
“Nothing,” Walt insisted. After allowing Connor to inspect the babies, Walt distracted the toddler so he wouldn’t wake the twins; he sent a toy airplane flying. Seeing the miniature aircraft, Connor lost interest in the babies and followed the airplane, which landed amidst his pile of toys.
“What did they tell you?” Danielle asked Lily.
“The minute they got downstairs, June demanded we all leave. Not just her and Kelly, but me and Connor. She said something about the place being haunted.”
Danielle shifted the sleeping baby in her arms and looked over to Lily. “But you stayed here?”
Lily grinned. “I told her I wasn’t afraid of ghosts. Reminded her I had lived in Marlow House and always got along with the resident ghosts.”
Walt chuckled.
“What did she say to that?” Danielle asked.
“She got a little flustered and dragged Kelly out before they could explain what exactly happened. What happened?”
Danielle told Lily, as best she could, what had occurred in the nursery.
Lily frowned. “You think Marie was messing with them?”
“Who am I messing with?” a new voice asked. Everyone in the living room could hear it except Lily.
Connor looked up from the toys and cried out, “Gamma Marie!”
“Hello, love,” Marie greeted Connor after giving him a quick kiss on the forehead. Like the illustration in the storybook that morning, Marie wore a floral housedress and a straw hat over her short gray hair.
“Marie’s here?” Lily asked.
“Yes.” After answering Lily, Danielle turned to Marie and asked, “What were you thinking earlier, messing with June and Kelly?”
Marie, who had just bent down to pick up a toy, glanced over at Danielle. “So it’s June and Kelly I supposedly messed with? When did I do this? And what did I do?” Marie handed the toy to Connor and then walked toward the adults.
“You know very well what you did, not twenty minutes ago,” Danielle scolded.
“Dear, I was with Eva in Astoria twenty minutes ago. I just stopped here to see how you and the babies are doing. I didn’t expect to get blamed for something I didn’t do.” Marie sounded amused, not offended.
Now standing at Walt’s side, Marie looked down at Jack and smiled and then looked over at Addison. Both babies slept.
Danielle studied Marie for a moment. “You’re serious? You just got here?”
“Yes, dear. I’m serious. Now tell me, what happened?”
A few minutes later, Marie sat in an imaginary chair between the recliners and sofa. When Danielle finished explaining what had occurred in the nursery, Marie let out a sigh and asked, “Do you think Kelly threw the stuffed elephant?”
Danielle repeated Marie’s question for Lily.
“Is Marie saying she wasn’t responsible for June freaking out?” Lily asked.
Danielle nodded. “She is.”
Lily considered Marie’s question for a moment before saying, “Well, you did say, according to Kelly, June was staring at the chair that seemed to rock by itself when the stuffed animal flew across the room. I could see Kelly trying to be funny.”
“Funny, how?” Walt asked.
“Danielle said Kelly removed the quilt from the chair. It’s possible she accidentally sent the chair rocking. If she noticed her mom staring at the chair a few moments later, maybe she realized her mom thought it was rocking on its own, and she impulsively picked up the stuffed animal and threw it in June’s direction, sort of like saying boo! But when June freaked out, Kelly regretted the stunt and didn’t fess up to what she’d done.”
“That’s entirely possible,” Danielle said. “I wasn’t paying any attention when this was all going on.”
The sound of barking from the hallway interrupted the conversation. A moment later, Lily’s husband, Ian, walked into the living room with Sadie by his side.
“I found this dog in your backyard,” Ian teased. The golden retriever moved quickly around the room, greeting everyone with a wet nose and sniff, even Addison’s and Jack’s blanket-wrapped feet, before joining Connor and the toys.
“Did you see Max?” Danielle asked.
“Yes. He’s still outside, sleeping on one of the patio chairs.”
“Did your mom stop by the house?” Lily asked.
“That’s why I’m here. Mom and Kelly came by, and Mom insisted I come over here and bring Connor home because Marlow House is haunted.”
“She didn’t tell you to bring me home? She was fine leaving me in this dangerous haunted house?” Lily teased.
“When she told me what happened, I assumed it was Marie or Walt trying to be funny.”
“It wasn’t me,” Walt said. “And Marie insists it wasn’t her. By the way, Marie’s sitting right there.” Walt pointed to the spot Marie occupied.
Ian glanced to where he imagined Marie sat and said, “Hello, Marie,” before pulling his cellphone from the back pocket of his jeans. “Maybe it wasn’t Marie, and after seeing the pictures my mother took, I didn’t think it was Walt.”
Danielle frowned at Ian. “What are you talking about?”
Ian stepped toward Walt and Danielle. “Kelly told me Mom took pictures of the quilt. But when she looked at the pictures, she noticed something strange. Kelly airdropped these to me from Mom’s phone.”
Danielle took the phone Ian offered while saying, “Your mom said something was wrong with her phone’s camera. Said something about how the pictures looked like they had water drops.” She looked down at the phone’s screen.
“Not water drops. Orbs. The kind of orbs paranormal investigators talk about,” Ian explained.