This is a sequel to Kidnap but can stand on its own. The Winchester Mystery House really does exist and I've been there multiple times. If you'd like to look the place over, go here: .
If you've ever seen the movie/novel Rose Red by Stephen King, he based it on this house.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
October 31
Halloween
"Do you ever miss the Halloweens back home in Kansas?" Virgil asked wistfully," sipping his coffee. The television was tuned to a one of Scott's favorite horror movies, an ancient classic "Young Frankenstein."
"You mean dressing up and extorting candy from the neighbors?" Scott adjusted his sneaker-clad feet on the coffee table and replied. "Yeah, it was fun. Trouble with living on an island, we don't even get trick or treaters," Scott fumbled for his own cup, then remembered and used his right hand. His left was still numb in spots although he did his exercises faithfully.
"Or invited to Halloween parties," Virgil replied. "Alan and Gordon won't be back from the mainland until tomorrow morning at the earliest."
"Aw, c'mon, Virg," Scott said with a smile. "Their crowd is too young for us anyway. You know you can't stand the music they play at their parties. Besides, Dad said somebody had to be on-call in case a rescue came up and it might as well be us."
"Whoops! Speak of the devil," Virgil said and nodded at the light blinking on the wall.
"Good! I've seen this movie a dozen times anyway," Scott said, put down his cup and ran for the lounge with Virgil close behind.
In the lounge, their father was already talking with the lit portrait of John on Thunderbird 5.
"Hey, John!" Virgil waved at his brother. "What have you got for us?"
"There's been a major earthquake in California," their father began.
"So what else is new, Dad?" Scott plunked down into one the lounge chairs. "Do you want us to ferry supplies or workers? Los Angeles or San Francisco?"
Jeff shook his head. "No, this isn't on the San Andreas fault. A less well-known fault line, the Calaveras Fault in San Jose has caused an 8.0 quake, measured on the Richter scale. Silicon Valley has been pretty much destroyed but local authorities are handling it pretty well."
"Then why us, Dad?" Virgil asked.
"There's an older building that's partially collapsed with about fifteen people trapped inside. The locals don't have the manpower to get them out; the house is about two hundred years old and is a local attraction called…"Jeff looked at his notepad. "the Winchester Mystery House."
"Yeah, what's so special about it?" asked Scott curiously.
"You'd better let John fill you in on the way," Jeff replied, smiling a bit. "Off you go!"
Scott shrugged and went to his wall-lamp gantry to Thunderbird One. Once he was airborne, he'd know more.
One Hour Later
"You have got to be kidding!" Scott exclaimed to his brothers. "Virg, are you getting this?"
"I hear you both. John just said we're going to a haunted house," Virgil's calm voice came over the radio.
"John, you've been on that space station too long. That's all I have to say," Scott said. "In what way is this old house supposed to be haunted? And how is that relevant to our rescue?"
They could hear the grin in his brother's voice. "Well, it is Halloween after all. And one of the trapped people is a famous medium, Mary Kessler, and her camera crew. They're shooting a segment for Terri Kawamura's talk show. She's there too, I understand."
"Oh, now that is just all I need," sputtered Scott. "That woman had it in for me last year and wanted nothing but to see me hang. Dammit, now I'm gonna have to wear one of those fabric masks Brains invented."
"No, that's not quite right," said Virgil's calm voice. "She wanted to hang the son of Jefferson Tracy. She never got a good look at you. The photos they showed on tv were all years out of date."
"And they didn't look like you anyway," John added. "Remember how we doctored all the old photos on file of the family when we started International Rescue? Well, hers came from a batch I worked on personally. No way would she recognize you. I already discussed it with Dad; he doesn't see a problem."
Scott grumbled a bit under his breath. "Okay, okay, I don't see that we have a choice anyway. Alan and Gordon are at their party, so we're it in any case. Now tell me some more about this 'haunted' house."
He could tell that John's grin had gotten even wider. "Well, it has somewhere around 160 rooms, give or take a secret passage or two. The original owner, Sarah Winchester, had builders working on it day and night for 38 years."
"Okay," Virgil interrupted. "Why? Big family?"
"Oh no," John said. "No family, they were pretty much all dead. Her husband had been the heir to the Winchester rifle fortune before he died. She built the house to house the spirits of all those killed by the Winchester rifle. She was told that when she stopped building, she'd die."
Scott put Thunderbird One on autopilot and scrubbed his face with his hands. "And they called us why?"
"Like I said. There are people trapped somewhere in the house. When the quake hit, part of it collapsed and the tour guide died under a pile of rubble. She was the only one who knew the house. The rest of the people have no idea where in the house they are, but they can't get out of the room they're in. They managed to call out before their cell phones died."
"And the locals are dealing with the rest of the quake damage," Virgil added. "So they called us."
"Could be worse," said John. "There could be mud." He waited for that to sink in, then said, "I'm downloading the last known house plans to both of you. They, um…aren't very up to date. Apparently Mrs. Winchester never had any real building plans and there are a variety of secret passages and rooms that nobody's seen in a hundred years."
"Why am I not surprised?" said Scott. "All right, anything else we need to know? Are there vampires? Zombies? And is Gordon in on this?"
"Not that I'm aware of," John said promptly. "And it's no joke! Honest."
San Jose, California
October 31
9 P.M. P.S.T.
Thunderbird One set down smoothly on the cracked tarmac of the parking lot. Scott had taken the precaution of turning on TB-1's exterior lights, so he was able to see a bit to the area and hopefully could guide Virgil in.
The quake had done a lot of damage. He could see houses and buildings fallen in, and the street lights were all dark. Fortunately, there was a police car waiting for him. A man with a flash light approached him as he climbed out of his Thunderbird.
"Hello! You're International Rescue?" the cop approached Scott and reached out to shake his hand. "I'm Jim Smith with the San Jose P.D., I'm here to give you a bit of guidance and crowd control."
"Crowd control?" Scott looked around the dark, empty parking lot.
"It's Halloween, even though there's been a quake. There's been looting and an increase in crime and vandalism since the power went out. I'm here to guard your vehicle." The cop looked longingly at Thunderbird One. "She's a beauty."
Scott grinned. "Thanks, I appreciate the help. I do have some security alarms already on her, but I won't turn down an extra pair of eyes on her." He looked around. "So where is the house?"
The cop gestured, then pointed with his high-powered flash-light. "Right behind us."
Scott saw a huge pile of a building sprawling over the lot behind him. It had multiple stories, he counted four and it was huge. "How big is this place?" he asked.
"I hear that there are three miles worth of corridors inside," Smith replied. "And that's just about the ground. There are also basements underneath, including some they've never found." The cop ran his flash light over the front of the house. "They say it's haunted, you know. One of the trapped people is a famous medium; maybe one of the ghosts got mad at her and caused the earthquake!"
Scott just smiled. "We're just here to rescue the trapped people. I promise we'll leave the ghosts alone."
He heard the familiar sound of Thunderbird Two's engines and saw with gratitude that Virgil had made it to the danger zone. Delicately, Virg set his 'bird down next to Thunderbird One.
"Well, since Thunderbird Two is here, we can get started," Scott said confidently. "I'm sure this will be much less complicated than it seems." And then I can go home.