April Slaughter by Ghosthunting Texas Read Free Book Online Page A

beverage counter, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a section of the building that wasn’t covered in art or odd, antique trinkets.
    I stepped up to order our coffees, and as the lady behind the counter was preparing them I suddenly felt the urge to ask her something.
    “You wouldn’t happen to have any ghosts in this building, would you?”
    She paused for a brief moment and replied, “Actually, we do.”
    Honestly, I was half-joking when I asked and I certainly did not expect her to give me the answer she did.
    “Really?” I asked. “Would you mind telling me about them?”
    I handed her my business card and introduced myself. She told me her name was Charlene Lindstrom and that her parents, Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Cook, owned the building. They had purchased the property in 2000 and spent three years painstakingly restoring it, opening it to the public in 2003. For years the building had housed a small tailoring business run by an elderly Jewish couple, Mike and Jenny Bornstein, but now it served as a place to grab a soda or beer on-the-go, have an ice cream cone, or enjoy a nice glass of wine.
    “You’re probably going to think I am crazy, but I know there is a man that lives in this building,” she said. “Bill and I have heard him walking around up here when we were down in the basement.”
    Bill Mackey is a good friend of Charlene’s who helps manage the Bull Ring. As we were introduced, he began to tell Allen and me that he was a believer in paranormal phenomena and that he knew without a doubt that someone (maybe even several
people) haunted the building. Like Charlene, Bill also acknowledged that he had witnessed the presence of a man in the building, as had several others over the years. As my husband and I were growing short on time, I didn’t yet have the opportunity to inquire further about the resident spirit. I assured both Charlene and Bill that I would return soon to discuss the ghost more with them when I had more time to sit down and hear their stories.
    “You have to see our basement before you go,” said Bill. “It used to be all boarded up, and I can tell you that it has a completely different atmosphere down there.”
    He escorted Allen and me down the stairwell at the rear of the building into the basement. It was as if we had stepped into an entirely different time. Artwork and old photographs were everywhere, and writing on the concrete wall read, “If you can’t pay, don’t play,”—reminiscent of a time when not being able to pay off your bets might have landed you in a very dangerous situation with your fellow gamblers.
    Several people were running about, preparing for a wedding reception being held in the building later that evening. We didn’t want to be in the way, so we took a few photographs and asked to set up a time when we could come back in.
    “You and your team should come out to investigate the Bull Ring sometime,” said Charlene. “We’d love to have you. No one else has ever been allowed in to do that before, and I’d be interested to see what y’all would come up with.”
    “We’d love that!” I said. “Let’s set it up.”
    As Allen and I left, we talked about how surprised we were to have found a potentially fantastic location completely by chance. The Bull Ring had not previously been anywhere on our list of places to visit for the book, but now we could hardly wait to get back and learn more—and all because I had to have a cup of coffee!

    In the days that followed our first visit to the Bull Ring, Charlene, Bill, and I kept in contact and I began to learn a lot more about the building. It was originally a tavern constructed in 1910 by William T. Cooper (aka “Buck”). In the decades since, it has served as everything from a bar, to gambling hall and speakeasy, a diner, a tailoring shop, and now as a place to grab a drink and enjoy an impressive collection of original art. A.C. Cook has spent years gathering over one thousand pieces by Texas