Chapter 2- Chasing Squirrels
After clearing a couple more rooms on the second floor, Luigi becomes stuck having one key that will not fit into the door leading to the next wing. Puzzled, he travels back to the foyer and looks around to see if there are any doors leading further on the first floor. There is one off to the left, but the key does not work. "Urgh," the green clad man grumbles irritated, "why can't he make the order of these keys make sense!" He steps back outside to get some air, descends the steps, and sits down upon the stoop. Scanning the front yard and sees nothing, so feeling safe, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to relax. His relaxation is soon interrupted as he hears a tune being hummed. Popping his eyes open, he steps down into the front yard and finds the brunette ghost from earlier tending to a small flowerbed. A trowel and something long wrapped in a piece of cloth lies beside her.
"Hmmmm hmmm hmmm, there we are! Now to tend to the roses in the back," she states to no one. She stands up, dusts herself off, then grabs her trowel and the wrapped item and begins to walk away.
Luigi follows behind her then notices the object wrapped in clothe becoming unraveled. He stops suddenly as the cloth drops away to reveal a human hand; female judging by the nails and rings upon the fingers. The younger Mario Brother lets out a whimper of fear and disgust then continues to follow the phantom from a safe distance.
She walks to the west side of the mansion and down twenty feet before she parts the overgrown bushes then disappears. Luigi approaches the same spot then after careful inspection, plunges his hands into the bushes. He blindly feels around until his hands find the wooden fence hidden b the bushy barrier. He slides his hands on the wood until his fingers come across a handle and lock. Quickly he takes one hand and grabs the key from his pocket while the other holds the lock. He fumbles for a minute to unlock the gate then it opens. With a deep breath, Luigi slips into the bushes, through the gate and out the other side.
The fence leads to a section of the backyard where a shed, little guesthouse, well, green house, and a couple of trees do the landscape. A large bed of roses lines the west side of the mansion, its vines climbing all the way up to the second story. Amelia is kneeling in front of the monstrous roses burning the arm in the dirt. "That should keep you feed for a while," she mummers to herself. A large doghouse stands not too far behind her, which catches Luigi eye as he can hear barking resonating from the wooden structure. "Samson! Come here Samson," the brunette ghost calls. Out from the doghouse a ghostly, heavy built, Victorian Bulldog emerges. It sniffs the air, turns toward Luigi and growls.
"Uh oh," the younger Mario Brother gulps. The dog charges and Luigi flees to the closest tree, climbing up high enough to stay out of the phantom pooch's reach. "Down! Down boy!" He commands shakily with no result as the dog continues to stand with front legs perched upon the tree trunk and bark. "You're worse than Spooky," the plumber grumbles as remembers the last ghostly bulldog he ran into.
"Samson! Samson, stop chasing squirrels and come here! Samson heel," Amelia orders as she puts the last bit of dirt on the amputated limb. The dog complies and trots over to her, obediently sitting next to her. "Now I don't want you digging this up understand? It has to stay buried, so Edward doesn't see it okay?" Samson cocks his head sideways like he is listening and understands. "Good boy," Amelia praises as she scratches the dog's head. "Now come Samson, it is time for our evening stroll." The ghosts disappear around the building and fade away.
After a minute, Luigi ventures down from the tree, feeling confident that Samson is gone, for now. Landing softly on his feet, he looks over at the roses, specifically at the base where he witnessed Amelia burying the arm. I feel like I need to uncover that arm, but I don't want to. I mean talk about creepy and eww. Reluctantly, Luigi goes over to the roses and stares down at the dirt, eye twitching. He looks up to the sky and takes a deep breath. I hope you know what you are doing. He turns his attention back to the bed of dirt and bends down to search. Immersing his white gloves into the black topsoil, he digs down to where the arm should be buried, but finds nothing. "Should I be relieved or worried," the plumber ponders as he replaces the misplaced soil and brushes off his gloves. "Glad I didn't have to touch that arm, but now I have no clue where the next area of the mansion or a key. Hmm," the younger Mario Brother scans the yard once more; his eyes settle on the greenhouse. "Now this I can handle," he strolls up to the dusty, dirty glass structure and walks around until he finds the door on the other side, unlocked.