The storm continued through the afternoon. Several special news reports
had interrupted the movie Muriel was watching to show more pictures of the
damage being caused by the wind while lightning lit up the sky. Each
report encouraged viewers to stay tuned for the evening news for a full
report on the damage as well as the two fires that had been started by the
storm.
Eustace finally put down his newspaper. "Where's me dinner Muriel? I'm starved!"
"I'll have it ready in a few minutes." Muriel somehow managed to stay cheerful even with the storm raging outside.
Courage started to follow Muriel into the kitchen but Eustace stopped him. "Hey stupid dog! Make yerself useful and go see if there is any mail!"
Courage sighed. He did not want to go outside in that awful weather but he found himself venturing out the front door anyway. The wind had died down a little bit but the sky was still being lit up by flashes of lightning as he made his way to the mailbox. There was a lot of mail in the mailbox and Courage had to hold on tightly to keep the remaining wind from blowing it away. As he walked back toward the house, Courage found himself staring up at the sky. The lightning was making wild patterns as it flashed against the dark clouds. Courage stopped and just stared at it for a moment admiring the beauty of the blue-white flashes of light.
"Hey stupid dog!" Eustace's voice nearly startled Courage into dropping the mail. "What's taking you so long?"
Courage looked toward the house to see Eustace standing in the doorway. He gulped and trotted over to the porch to hand Eustace the mail. Eustace impatiently grabbed the mail out of Courage's paws and slammed the door in his face. Being left outside didn't really bother Courage too much. He returned his attention the the wild light show up in the sky. He had been watching the lightning for several minutes when he a chill run down his spine. He suddenly felt as though he was being watched. Courage looked around him but didn't see anything so he stepped out further into the front yard. By now his fur was standing on end. Courage gulped as he sensed something over to his right. Slowly, he turned to look and found himself staring at a bright white light that was floating just a few inches above the ground. Courage froze in his tracks, staring at the light as it began to slowly take on a ghostly shape of something that sort of resembled a human.
A loud groaning/screeching sound filled the air startling Courage back to his senses. He began to back away from the shape as it slowly moved toward him. Finally, Courage's nerves couldn't take any more and he bolted away from the eerie shape and flew through the door into the house closing the door tightly behind him.
Eustace looked up from the mail that he had been reading. "Stupid dog! Why do ya have to come busting in the door like that?!"
Courage quickly tried to explain but, as usual, Eustace couldn't understand a thing he was trying to say. It was useless. Courage was about to try again when Muriel called out from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready!"
The wonderful meal quickly made Courage forget about what he had seen. He cleaned his plate and begged for another helping of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. "Don't forget to save room for dessert." Muriel said as she handed back his plate.
Courage quickly finished his second plate of food and eagerly waited for dessert. Muriel always made something really delicious for dessert and the bananaberry pudding she served tonight was no exception. Courage finished his dessert and took his dish over to the sink to be washed.
After dinner, they all settled down in the living room to watch the evening news. The storm had caused a lot of damage in town. Various buildings had lost parts of their roofs, stores had lost signs, windows had been broken, trees had been blown over, and the whole town was a mess. But the big story was the fires that had been started by lightning. One of the fires had been put out almost instantly while the other fire was still burning. "This two story house was one of the oldest homes in the town of Nowhere. The house was owned by Claudia Dillon who recently passed away at the age of 103. Her family had recently donated many of the valuable artwork and antiques from the house to the museum. Many of these items were damaged or destroyed by the fire that destroyed the museum's storage room last night." The news broke away for a commercial.
"Now that's a strange coincidence." Muriel remarked. Courage looked up at her from his place on the warm livingroom rug.
Eustace just grumbled something under his breath.
The news came back on the TV. "The storm shows no signs of letting up. Despite the heavy clouds and thunder, there has been no rain. Tonight's forcast calls for more high winds and thunder. Now back to our coverage of the fire." An image of firefighters battling a fire in an old house filled the screen as the news continued, "The fire is finally out after burning for nearly two hours. There were reports of screams coming from the second floor of the house but this has not been confirmed." The reporter turned and quickly made his way over to a fireman who was standing next next to a firetruck. "What can you tell us about this fire?"
The fireman removed his helmet before turning to answer the reporter. "The fire was confined to two of the rooms on the first floor and there is not that much damage to the house."
"What about the reports we've been hearing about screams coming from the second floor?"
The fireman shrugged. "We heard something that sounded like screams coming from the second floor. Several firefighters went up and checked but there was nobody up there."
"Could there have been somebody hiding behind furniture or something?"
The fireman shook his head. "The second floor of the house is completely empty. I spoke with the son of the lady who lived here and he told me that the family had just finished moving everything from the second floor out of the house. They were going to get the rest of the furniture out of the first floor sometime this week."
The reporter turned back to the camera. "Well that's all the time we have. Stay tuned for more news later tonight."
"Now that is really odd! How is it that there was not much damage to that house when the fire had been burning for nearly two hours?" Muriel switched the TV off.
"Blah, blah, blah. Those TV news people always try to make somethin' out of nothin'." Eustace growled as he got up from his chair and headed upstairs.
Muriel followed him upstairs to the bedroom while Courage went up to the attic to his computer. Courage flipped a switch on the side of the computer and stared out the window while he waited. The wind was still blowing just as bad as ever while the streaks of light continued to flash against an ominous looking blanket of clouds.
A few seconds later, a voice came from the computer. "You know I don't like to be turned on during a lightning storm."
Courage ignored the voice and began typing something.
The comuter was silent for a few seconds then the voice answered him. "Apparently the house belonged to a lady by the name of Claudia Dillon. She and her husband bought the house when they first moved to Nowhere over 70 years ago. They had three sons and one daughter who were all raised in that house. Claudia's husband passed away about 20 years ago and she lived there alone until she passed away just over a month ago. Claudia was well liked by all her neighbors. She had many friends in the community. I can't find anything that would suggest anything odd about her or the house."
Courage sat staring at the computer screen for a few minutes. This whole thing was really beginning to puzzle him. Finally, he began typing again.
The computer answered him after a few moments. "Claudia's husband worked at the Nowhere Museum for 37 years. He was in charge of many of the ancient indian artifacts. He was also in charge of the Egyptian artifacts that were loaned to the Nowhere Museum back in 1967."
Courage thought about this then typed in another question.
"The Egyptian artifacts were from several different tombs that were discovered between 1950 and 1955. They were mainly small items such as simple jewelry, dishes, and some writings carved into stones. They weren't impressive enough for the larger museums to want for their exhibits so they were loaned to a lot of the smaller museums across the country. " The computer paused for a moment then continued. "You might find this interesting." A picture of a newspaper article appeared on the screen. The only thing Courage could make out was the headline.
ARTIFACTS STOLEN FROM NOWHERE MUSEUM
Courage typed in another question.
The computer voice answered him. "According to the story, some of the Egyptian artifacts were stolen along with a few of the antiques from the 'History of Nowhere' exhibit. I cannot find any other information on exactly what was stolen."
Courage was about to type in another question when a bright flash lit up the entire room. The rumble of thunder shook the entire house like an earthquake.
"That was too close!" The computer actually seemed afraid.
Another flash of lightning lit up the room.
"I've had quite enough of this. Goodnight!" The computer shut itself off.
Courage sighed. This whole thing was a puzzle to him. He gazed out the window, thinking about everything that had happened today. The things that the computer had told him didn't help him at all either. Courage wasn't sure how long he had been staring out the window when he saw the ghostly light appear out in the yard.
Eustace finally put down his newspaper. "Where's me dinner Muriel? I'm starved!"
"I'll have it ready in a few minutes." Muriel somehow managed to stay cheerful even with the storm raging outside.
Courage started to follow Muriel into the kitchen but Eustace stopped him. "Hey stupid dog! Make yerself useful and go see if there is any mail!"
Courage sighed. He did not want to go outside in that awful weather but he found himself venturing out the front door anyway. The wind had died down a little bit but the sky was still being lit up by flashes of lightning as he made his way to the mailbox. There was a lot of mail in the mailbox and Courage had to hold on tightly to keep the remaining wind from blowing it away. As he walked back toward the house, Courage found himself staring up at the sky. The lightning was making wild patterns as it flashed against the dark clouds. Courage stopped and just stared at it for a moment admiring the beauty of the blue-white flashes of light.
"Hey stupid dog!" Eustace's voice nearly startled Courage into dropping the mail. "What's taking you so long?"
Courage looked toward the house to see Eustace standing in the doorway. He gulped and trotted over to the porch to hand Eustace the mail. Eustace impatiently grabbed the mail out of Courage's paws and slammed the door in his face. Being left outside didn't really bother Courage too much. He returned his attention the the wild light show up in the sky. He had been watching the lightning for several minutes when he a chill run down his spine. He suddenly felt as though he was being watched. Courage looked around him but didn't see anything so he stepped out further into the front yard. By now his fur was standing on end. Courage gulped as he sensed something over to his right. Slowly, he turned to look and found himself staring at a bright white light that was floating just a few inches above the ground. Courage froze in his tracks, staring at the light as it began to slowly take on a ghostly shape of something that sort of resembled a human.
A loud groaning/screeching sound filled the air startling Courage back to his senses. He began to back away from the shape as it slowly moved toward him. Finally, Courage's nerves couldn't take any more and he bolted away from the eerie shape and flew through the door into the house closing the door tightly behind him.
Eustace looked up from the mail that he had been reading. "Stupid dog! Why do ya have to come busting in the door like that?!"
Courage quickly tried to explain but, as usual, Eustace couldn't understand a thing he was trying to say. It was useless. Courage was about to try again when Muriel called out from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready!"
The wonderful meal quickly made Courage forget about what he had seen. He cleaned his plate and begged for another helping of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. "Don't forget to save room for dessert." Muriel said as she handed back his plate.
Courage quickly finished his second plate of food and eagerly waited for dessert. Muriel always made something really delicious for dessert and the bananaberry pudding she served tonight was no exception. Courage finished his dessert and took his dish over to the sink to be washed.
After dinner, they all settled down in the living room to watch the evening news. The storm had caused a lot of damage in town. Various buildings had lost parts of their roofs, stores had lost signs, windows had been broken, trees had been blown over, and the whole town was a mess. But the big story was the fires that had been started by lightning. One of the fires had been put out almost instantly while the other fire was still burning. "This two story house was one of the oldest homes in the town of Nowhere. The house was owned by Claudia Dillon who recently passed away at the age of 103. Her family had recently donated many of the valuable artwork and antiques from the house to the museum. Many of these items were damaged or destroyed by the fire that destroyed the museum's storage room last night." The news broke away for a commercial.
"Now that's a strange coincidence." Muriel remarked. Courage looked up at her from his place on the warm livingroom rug.
Eustace just grumbled something under his breath.
The news came back on the TV. "The storm shows no signs of letting up. Despite the heavy clouds and thunder, there has been no rain. Tonight's forcast calls for more high winds and thunder. Now back to our coverage of the fire." An image of firefighters battling a fire in an old house filled the screen as the news continued, "The fire is finally out after burning for nearly two hours. There were reports of screams coming from the second floor of the house but this has not been confirmed." The reporter turned and quickly made his way over to a fireman who was standing next next to a firetruck. "What can you tell us about this fire?"
The fireman removed his helmet before turning to answer the reporter. "The fire was confined to two of the rooms on the first floor and there is not that much damage to the house."
"What about the reports we've been hearing about screams coming from the second floor?"
The fireman shrugged. "We heard something that sounded like screams coming from the second floor. Several firefighters went up and checked but there was nobody up there."
"Could there have been somebody hiding behind furniture or something?"
The fireman shook his head. "The second floor of the house is completely empty. I spoke with the son of the lady who lived here and he told me that the family had just finished moving everything from the second floor out of the house. They were going to get the rest of the furniture out of the first floor sometime this week."
The reporter turned back to the camera. "Well that's all the time we have. Stay tuned for more news later tonight."
"Now that is really odd! How is it that there was not much damage to that house when the fire had been burning for nearly two hours?" Muriel switched the TV off.
"Blah, blah, blah. Those TV news people always try to make somethin' out of nothin'." Eustace growled as he got up from his chair and headed upstairs.
Muriel followed him upstairs to the bedroom while Courage went up to the attic to his computer. Courage flipped a switch on the side of the computer and stared out the window while he waited. The wind was still blowing just as bad as ever while the streaks of light continued to flash against an ominous looking blanket of clouds.
A few seconds later, a voice came from the computer. "You know I don't like to be turned on during a lightning storm."
Courage ignored the voice and began typing something.
The comuter was silent for a few seconds then the voice answered him. "Apparently the house belonged to a lady by the name of Claudia Dillon. She and her husband bought the house when they first moved to Nowhere over 70 years ago. They had three sons and one daughter who were all raised in that house. Claudia's husband passed away about 20 years ago and she lived there alone until she passed away just over a month ago. Claudia was well liked by all her neighbors. She had many friends in the community. I can't find anything that would suggest anything odd about her or the house."
Courage sat staring at the computer screen for a few minutes. This whole thing was really beginning to puzzle him. Finally, he began typing again.
The computer answered him after a few moments. "Claudia's husband worked at the Nowhere Museum for 37 years. He was in charge of many of the ancient indian artifacts. He was also in charge of the Egyptian artifacts that were loaned to the Nowhere Museum back in 1967."
Courage thought about this then typed in another question.
"The Egyptian artifacts were from several different tombs that were discovered between 1950 and 1955. They were mainly small items such as simple jewelry, dishes, and some writings carved into stones. They weren't impressive enough for the larger museums to want for their exhibits so they were loaned to a lot of the smaller museums across the country. " The computer paused for a moment then continued. "You might find this interesting." A picture of a newspaper article appeared on the screen. The only thing Courage could make out was the headline.
ARTIFACTS STOLEN FROM NOWHERE MUSEUM
Courage typed in another question.
The computer voice answered him. "According to the story, some of the Egyptian artifacts were stolen along with a few of the antiques from the 'History of Nowhere' exhibit. I cannot find any other information on exactly what was stolen."
Courage was about to type in another question when a bright flash lit up the entire room. The rumble of thunder shook the entire house like an earthquake.
"That was too close!" The computer actually seemed afraid.
Another flash of lightning lit up the room.
"I've had quite enough of this. Goodnight!" The computer shut itself off.
Courage sighed. This whole thing was a puzzle to him. He gazed out the window, thinking about everything that had happened today. The things that the computer had told him didn't help him at all either. Courage wasn't sure how long he had been staring out the window when he saw the ghostly light appear out in the yard.