Chapter Four
The Dillmans
Harvey Dillman drew the car to a halt beside the old wooden gate set in the long stone wall. It was still early evening, but the darkness had already closed in.
Just like the first night, when they'd broken down on the very same spot, there was another storm raging. Now lightning split the sky while thunder shook the air from both the scene and Harvey's lungs.
"It wasn't raining like this back in town. There was a full moon and stars." He glanced at the white-faced young woman seated beside him. "Are you really so sure you wanna do this, Gladys?"
He swallowed tightly. "I mean, there must be some other way. You don't look like you want to do it. Maybe we should've tried to call first."
"I've already told you I tried to do that from the Inn back in town. But the man on the desk told me the phone lines must be down out this way. And we have to do this," she replied bracingly. "As soon as we telephoned Mother to tell her we'd gotten married, she asked when she was going to see our wedding photos."
She sighed. "That was when I knew we had to come back here on our way home. She'll be horrified if there aren't any photos."
She shook her head at her husband. "You do remember that Mrs Muir was kind enough to lend me her gorgeous wedding dress. It would be bad luck if we bought one and used that instead. And we would still be out one wedding party. Not to mention the wonderful breakfast Martha laid on for us the following morning."
"How could I forget?" Harvey asked.
His bride nodded. She raised one hand and began to count off on her fingers. "Candy was my bridesmaid, and Jonathan gave me away. I know that will raise some eyebrows, but he was so sweet about it. And Mrs Muir and Martha were our witnesses. We need them to be in our wedding album."
She took her husband's hand between hers. "And that nice Mr Gregg was good enough to come out on such an awful night and get us married. He would need to be in the pictures, too."
Her cheeks glowed with colour. "We had such a wonderful wedding night in this house. And the last two weeks have been heaven. But now we have to face reality. We need those pictures, and we're running out of time. You have to be back to work in two days, and I need to unpack all our things in our new house."
"Yeah, I know about all of that and your reasons," her husband replied with an edge of impatience to his voice. "But it still doesn't help any. The place looks just as scary as it did last time. Maybe even worse. Surely no one will know the difference if we paid some people to pretend to have been at our wedding."
He cast a long look through the driver's rain-swept window at the old house beyond the stone wall. Lightning flashed, and it lit up the whole scene with an eerie blue glow. Something appeared to move behind the closed curtains of the living room. Colours danced across them.
"Oh, Harvey. You don't understand." Gladys slid her hands up his arm. "I would know it was all a lie."
Tears stood out on her lashes as she shook him gently. "Don't you want the very best for me? For our new life together. We would be living with a lie and I couldn't bear that. It would tear me apart."
"Well, yeah, of course," he replied quickly. "I was just floating the idea. Forgive me and forget I ever said anything. I was just worried for you."
Gladys sniffed and brightened. "Well, come on, then. We can't sit out here all night waiting for the rain to stop. Where did you put the flashlight? It looks like we're gonna need it again."
"I've got it right here…" Harvey fished around beside his seat until his hand closed tight around the flashlight's solid security.
He held it like a club as he opened his door and got out. Gladys followed close behind him with her coat over her head. Harvey slammed the door shut before he opened the gate, and they ran together up the path to the front porch. They stopped and turned back to look out over the rain-swept garden.
"Oh, Harvey," Gladys complained. "This is just as miserable as it was last time. I never knew it rained so much in this part of Maine. I don't know. Maybe you're right. Maybe we should go back to the Inn and come again in the morning."
"We're here now," her husband countered. "And I'm sure someone will have seen or heard us drive up. What will they think if we just drove away?"
"I suppose you're right." Gladys sighed. "I really do wish we'd gone to Bermuda like my mother said. She knew what was best for us."
"Aw, it'll be all right," Harvey replied bracingly. "We saved a lot of money by not going on that cruise. At least, we know what to expect here, this time. A nice, normal woman living in a perfectly normal house with two kids and a dog."
He braced his shoulders as he turned and walked to the front door. He picked up the brass knocker and knocked loudly three times.
Gladys crowded up next to him, feeling better for his closeness. "Maybe nobody's home." She shivered inside her damp clothing. "I wish we could have telephoned first."
She looked all around. "And why's it so dark? There aren't any lights on."
"I don't know. Maybe they've had another power cut," Harvey offered in a hopeful tone. "When we arrived, I was sure I saw something moving in the living room."
He knocked again. The sound echoed hollowly within the house.
"Oh, Harvey…" Gladys whispered. "This place is just as creepy as it was the last time. We're out here in the middle of nowhere."
Harvey moved up behind her. "Yeah, it is a bit like one of those old horror movies…" It made him feel better to play the man and have his wife cling to him for support. "The young couple comes up to the old, deserted house on a dark, stormy night… ooohhhh…"
"Oh, Harvey! Don't!" Gladys turned to him in horror.
Her husband laughed indulgently to cover his own sense of trepidation. "Aw, come on. Lighten up. Wouldn't it be funny if it happened again just like last time? If the front door opened all by itself and there was no one there…"
Gladys shuddered. "Oh, Harvey, please stop it! You're making me scared. Go and knock again. Someone must be home! You said you saw something!"
Just then, there came a long, low creaking sound from behind them. They turned together to see the front door swinging wide to reveal the gloomy interior. There were no lights on, and everything appeared shadowed and menacing.
"Ohhh, no..." Gladys breathed raggedly. "Look! It's happening again…"
"Steady on now…" Harvey put an arm around his wife's shoulders. "Remember, Mrs Muir said last time that the latch was broken. Maybe they just haven't got around to fixing it yet."
Gladys nodded jerkily. "Yes… I remember…" She looked up the shadowed stairs.
"Come on…" Harvey inhaled deeply and advanced through the open doorway.
He turned on his flashlight as he tugged his wife after him. She stumbled inside unwillingly.
"Don't worry…" Harvey reassured her as he played the flashlight across the foyer. "I guess it may have just been the wind that opened the door. Given the broken latch and all."
The door creaked shut behind them with a hollow thud. Harvey swallowed tightly. "Maybe it was the wind that closed it, too. Just like last time."
He shook his head. He was sure he'd heard music playing somewhere. But now all was silent again.
"Oh, Harvey…" Gladys crowded close to him, and the bright certainty of the flashlight's strong beam. "Maybe we should just forget about all of this. Maybe we should just hire some folks we don't know to pretend to be in our wedding party."
She shuddered. "I saw Mr Claymore Gregg's office sign when we drove through town. We could go back and call in on him. I'm sure he could find someone for us."
"But like you said, Gladys," her husband countered. "It wouldn't be real. It wouldn't be real, and we'd always know. We are not going to start our married life with a lie. I won't allow it."
"Oh, I do love you, Harvey…" Gladys breathed as she went up on tiptoe to kiss him. "I love you so much…"
Harvey shuddered. "Did you feel that?"
"Feel what?"
"I don't know…" Harvey looked all around him. "But I'm sure I felt someone touch the back of my neck just then."
He turned around. "Like someone's ghostly fingers. They felt so cold."
"Oh, Harvey," his wife pleaded. "Please do stop trying to frighten me. It wasn't funny before. It hasn't been funny right from the moment we pulled up in front of this house."
She tried to tug him back toward the front door. "Come on. Let's get out of here. We can always come back in the morning. It might've stopped raining by then."
Suddenly, the foyer's overhead lights came on. The Dillmans jumped together in shock and startlement.
"What's going on out here?" Martha demanded to know as she pushed the kitchen door open. "I thought I heard a car and now voices."
"Oh… Oh, it's only Martha!" Gladys declared with relief. "Hello, Martha. It's us. Harvey and Gladys Dillman."
"I can see that," Martha replied with a frown. "And you just happened to stop by like last time." She glanced at the rain outside. "And in weather like this."
"Something like that," Gladys replied quickly. "I… um, we were starting to think no one was home. We, ah, didn't see any lights on when we drove up."
"We've got all the lights off because it's our TV movie night," Martha countered. "We pretend like we're in the theatre."
She shrugged. "I was making us some popcorn and snacks when I heard you out here. No one in their right mind should be out on a night like this."
Gladys put her fingers to her lips "Oh, I'm so sorry that we disturbed your evening…" She tugged on her husband's arm again. "We really do need to go. We'll see ourselves out."
One half of the living room doors opened. "What's going on out here?" Carolyn demanded to know as she walked into the foyer. "I thought I heard voices."
"You did, and we have some unexpected guests," Martha replied acerbically. "Two of them." She pointed her chin at the Dillmans.
"Harvey?" Carolyn frowned as she walked forward. "Gladys?" She shook her head. "I don't understand. What are you doing back here? And on such a dreadful night like this."
"I…" Harvey stammered. "That is, 'we' have a favour we really needed to ask you. We are on our way home to Boston and…" He shrugged apologetically. "And it wasn't raining like this when we left town. In fact, it was quite clear until we turned onto your road."
"I see…" Carolyn looked around the foyer and shook her head. "The weather can be very fickle out here, at times."
Gladys stepped quickly into the awkward silence. "We were on our way home to Boston, and we realised we didn't have any photographs of our wedding. We didn't think of it when we were last here."
She raised her shoulders helplessly. "My mother is already asking when she will see them. I… didn't have an answer for her."
She wiped a hand over her eyes. "We did try to phone you from the town. But we were told the phone lines are down out here."
"And we have a brand-new camera out in the car," Harvey added helpfully. "And film."
"Oh, I didn't know about the phone lines. You poor thing," Carolyn responded as she took the young woman's hands in hers. "You're not going anywhere. You look half frozen."
She turned back toward the living room. "Come on in and get yourself warm by the fire. Then you can tell us all about it. I'm sure it's not that big a problem that we can't overcome it. I'm sure we can manage a few photographs."
"Oh, thank you so much," Gladys sighed as she gripped her hostess's hand tightly. "I knew you would understand. I'm just so relieved you're home. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't been."
Martha nodded. "I guess I'll fetch the coffee along with the popcorn and snacks then." She turned back into the kitchen.
The Captain appeared beside Carolyn as she shepherded the Dillmans into the living room. "At least, the young folk are married this time."
"Yes, you know they are. You organised it," Carolyn replied quickly as she indicated the pair could sit on the couch.
"Then I approve of them sharing the guest room. It's only right that you should offer to put them up for the night, given the storm outside."
"Thank you, Captain…" Carolyn muttered. "When I need your advice, I will ask for it. And no funny business. They're here for a very good reason."
The Captain laid an offended hand against his chest. "I, Madam? I would not dream of trying to frighten them away this time."
"What about the storm outside?"
"I was simply providing atmosphere for the nautical favour of your upcoming television movie, my dear lady." The Captain smiled. "It's not my fault they decided to show up uninvited in the middle of my performance."
"Well, thank you. But please don't do anything else…" Carolyn sighed as she turned her back on him.
No one appeared to notice that, outside the house, the storm had abruptly abated. The full moon shone down, and the stars twinkled in the blackness as the scudding clouds cleared away.
The children had been lying on the floor in front of the television. They both jumped up and complained when their mother turned it off.
"You can see we have guests," Carolyn pointed out. "Now, where are your manners?"
"Sorry, Mum…" Candy replied. "Good evening, Mr and Mrs Dillman."
"Yeah, good evening," Jonathan added. "Lovely to see you again."
Carolyn put one hand on each small back. "Now run along into the kitchen. Go and see Martha about your popcorn and soft drinks. Mr and Mrs Dillman and I have some adult business we need to discuss."
"Okay, Mum…" both children replied as they left the room.
"Oh, do call us Gladys and Harvey, please," Gladys protested. "You were so very kind to us the last time we were here. Opening your home to a pair of total strangers and sheltering us like you did."
"And managing to get us married so we could spend our first night together," Harvey added. "That meant the world to us."
"Oh, I would do it for anyone who'd been stranded outside my house…" Carolyn waved a denying hand.
She avoided the Captain's level gaze as he stalked back and forward behind the couch. He stopped and bowed ironically, silently claiming credit for Claymore's role in the nuptials before he resumed his impatient pacing.
Carolyn smiled as she turned on some lamps. She settled comfortably into the chair beside the fire. "Now tell me, Harvey and Gladys, what, exactly, can I do for you?"
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