“Sssh… here he comes again!”
Jack, Tommy and Tristan came in from the supply yard with their arms full of chicken feed. As they approached the counter Edna made sure that they didn’t need anything else – Jack said they did not. A moment later, as Jack and his children headed back out onto Mountain Road, the muted chatter resumed inside the General Store.
*
"Three in a row!" yelled out Shane as he claimed victory in his third straight game of checkers against Tommy. Prior to this, Uncle Frank, and the kids had played their way through the closet filled with board games, effectively exhausting their uncle. Uncle Frank now sat quietly reading the Elkhart Bugle in his recliner in the living room, while Jack sat opposite him staring out the window, deep in thought.
"Good job, son. Are we finally finished with the games for the evening? I need to take Cole home soon. Where is Cole, anyway?"
Shane shrugged his broad shoulders as he ran towards the back door with Tommy in tow. Shane and Tommy headed out onto the expansive Morrow property in search of Cole and Tristan. They searched through the orchard, the barnyard, and finally, they found them on the bank of Croft Lake. As they approached the lake, Tommy stopped dead in his tracks to find his friend Cole standing quite close to his younger sister. The pair held hands as they stared out across the reflective lake, unaware that they were being watched.
"Hey, there you are," hollered Tommy, effectively breaking Tristan and Cole’s attention from each other. Tristan quickly removed her hand from Cole's grasp and Cole looked to see who was calling.
"Did you win again?" asked Cole innocently.
"Three times," replied Shane smugly.
"What are you two doing out here?" asked Tommy, suspicious of his friend's close encounter with his little sister.
"I was telling Cole about our experience in town the other day."
"What about it?"
"How the people were staring, and Joey Binns’ father was afraid of Dad, and what Edna said about me."
"Just ignore them, they’re stupid."
"I don't like how they think they know more about this family than we do... Makes me think we are kept in the dark."
"Your sister was also telling me about the land,” explained Cole. This caught Tommy off guard.
"Oh?" A troubled look grew across Cole's face as he spoke, eyes widened with fear. "I heard this land is haunted, and that a lady died in this lake,” Cole said with a chilling tone to his voice.
Taken aback by his friend's seriousness, Tommy pensively replied, “Our family has owned this land for generations… Do you really believe such rumors?”
Before Cole or Tommy could say anything further, Tristan looked at both of them with a fierce glare in her eyes. All sense of Tristan's usual warmth was removed from her features as she released a simple yet ominous statement: "Without a doubt."
The simple statement and the look upon Tristan's face flushed the color from her brother's skin, and sent chills running up Tommy’s spine. Before anyone could ask anything more, a booming voice echoed from the valley beyond. Frank was calling them home so that they could take Cole home. As Cole, Tristan, and Shane ran back to the house, all Tommy could do was stare at his sister. He could not quite put his finger on it, but something about that moment scared the living hell out of him.
*
Nighttime in the Hollow was unsettling. The shadow of Mt. Grier and the long-reaching arm of Cavegat forest casted a dark shadow across the valley. The pale light of the moon reflected across the black glassy surface of Croft Lake and acted as the sole source of light for the valley beyond. If you were to walk through the valley in the dark of night, you wouldn’t be able to see your hand if you waved it across your face.
Then there was the house itself.
Although Morrow Manor was considered to be farmland, the Morrow family did not live in a simple farmhouse. The manor house was a massive and elaborate Victorian Queen Anne. Standing three stories high, the moss-strewn building had as much character as the people who lived within. In the darkness of night, the Morrow house stood like a forgotten skeleton in the abyss of night. Morrow Manor set to darkness could strike fear in the stoutest of men.
As Tristan closed her eyes, her mind raced from the day’s events. From outside her window, a bird pecked at the windowsill as a breeze rustled through the tree branches. Overhead, Tristan could hear a scratching from the floor above; the raccoons must have gotten into the attic again.