A Summer of Fear: A True Haunting in New England by Rebecca Patrick-Howard Read Free Book Online Page A

five of them, as promised, and they were all college students studying various things from park management to health sciences and education. From the easy way they talked and joked with one another it appeared they’d known each other before their arrival. “They’ve been getting together all year for retreats and workshops,” Janet explained as we sat down for lunch in the cafeteria. It was my first day of getting to eat onsite. Apparently, from here on out, the kitchen would be open for lunch. That still meant I had dinner on my own but it was something.
    “Hi,” I said to everyone, trying to appear cheerful and friendly as I sat down at the long table with them. “I’m glad to have some company here!”
    The others introduced themselves and then went back to talking to one another, laughing at some inside joke. Well , I figured, I’d get to know them eventually . There were three girls and two guys. The oldest guy, Trent, was a graduate student. He was tall and lanky with a goatee and scar above his right cheek. Jeff, the shorter and better looking of the two, looked like a west coast surfer with his curly blond hair and tan skin. He looked like he’s just stepped out of a LL Bean catalog with his leather hiking boots, khaki shorts, and flannel shirt. Sherry, a chunky brunette, had a sweet smile and big green eyes. She occasionally caught mine and smiled at me. Julie, a smaller girl with bony arms and legs played with her hair a lot and rolled her eyes whether she was annoyed or found something funny. Then there was Maya, another grad student, from Wisconsin. Maya appeared to be dating Trent. Tall, like him, she was extremely athletic looking and had a loud, booming voice.
    I spent the remainder of the lunch period talking to Janet. I apparently had a roommate coming in four weeks. This was news to me, but not necessarily not bad news. Surely I’d be able to sleep then. I was a little surprised that I was only just now learning about a new person and knew I’d have to move some of my stuff around, but I didn’t really care. The more the merrier.
    “I hope this isn’t a problem for you,” Janet said, enunciating every word so that they were crisp and tart.
    “Oh, no,” I replied with a smile. “I think it will be fun. What will she be doing here?”
    “She’ll work in the office with you and help you out. You’ll share your workload.”
    It was all I could do to keep from laughing aloud at that. Share my workload? I didn’t do anything! Now I was suspicious, though. Did they know they were going to hire her or were they displeased with me and thought another set of hands was needed? It was true I spent most of my time biding time, but it was because they wouldn’t give me any responsibilities!
     

     
    A t the end of the day I overheard the new staff talking about having a movie night in their cabin. I hoped they’d invite me but they didn’t. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask if I could join but since not one of them even looked my way, much less suggest it, I stayed quiet. Too shy to invite myself over, I simply said goodnight to everyone and watched as they all filed out and went their separate ways. The farm house was, once again, quiet and lonely.
    I spent the evening lying in bed, starting on a new book (“The Book of Ruth”) and listening to an Iris Dement CD. The house was unusually quiet that night. Somewhere there on the grounds there were five people hanging out together, laughing and watching some kind of movie. I wanted to be with them. Several times I got up and started to drive over to their cabin but then talked myself out of it. I didn’t want to be pushy. Or appear too desperate.
    Still, knowing they were nearby made me feel lighter and I slept better. Nothing bothered me.
    The next day, I caught them at lunch talking about a new movie that had just come out. “Why don’t we go over to Portland and watch it?” Julie, rosy cheeked and soft spoken, asked. They were kind of