Did you hear that???

I'm skipping the annual gun/girl Halloween story and instead re-sharing a different tale.

One October afternoon I went with my dad and brother to do chores on my dad's family's farm. We went after finishing chores at our house, so it was late afternoon. I think I was 10.

We took our beagles along to let them run in the woods (chase rabbits). When we were done, the dogs were NOT done.   They ignored us when we called them. In a move that completely shocked me, my dad decided to leave them there.  We went home, had dinner, and then headed back to the farm. It was well after dark.  I'll skip the details of how we got the dogs.  But it did amaze me that somehow my dad knew just where to wait to head them off (as they chased a rabbit).  The two dogs were pretty surprised when we popped up.

Within minutes we had them in the very back of my mom's station wagon, which was parked right next to the farmhouse. The ancient (Civil War-era) two-story house on the farm was abandoned at that point. Local kids shot holes in the roof years before and the house was beyond saving. It stood there, completely dark and spooky looking.

Guess what? The station wagon wouldn't start. The battery suddenly was very dead.

My dad walked to a nearby uncle's house for help. We (my brother, me, the beagles) stayed in the car. I'm not sure if we waited there a long time or if time was just passing slowly. But it seemed as if my dad was gone a VERY long time.

As I sat there, I heard something familiar. It was the faint sound of sawing. Where could it be coming from? My brother asked if I heard it. We agreed the sound was coming from the house. The abandoned house!!! It got louder. We pretended it was nothing.  But soon we could hear hammering along with the sawing. Something terrible was going on inside that house. I told my brother we needed to do something (not sure if I meant investigate or run). He did something. He jumped into the back of the station wagon with the beagles. They would save him!

Suddenly, all was quiet. But as we listened, the sawing started up again. This time my brother could tell where the sound was really coming from.  It was the sound of the dogs wagging their tails. A slight wag made a "sawing" sound across the carpet and an excited wag made the dogs' tails thump against the side of the wagon--making a "hammering" sound.

I shared the story with my dad that night, which upset my brother. Since he was older and tried to hide behind the dogs, I suppose he was embarrassed. But not me!!! I'm happy to share an almost-ghost story to go along with my real ones.

Haappy Halloween!!!