The Ghostly Hideaway (13 page)

Oh, God! He could smell the kerosene and he could
just barely make out Jones’ shadow as he moved forward to add more
fuel to another spot along the house. At that precise moment, a
window on the third floor at the front of the house descended with
a loud noise which caused Jones to straighten and look up. Johnny
turned on his flashlight and shined it in Jones’ face, blinding
him.

“Hold it right there!" He spoke loudly hoping to
awaken Ed. “I’ve got a gun and I know how to use it. Put down the
can of kerosene and step back away from it! Do it now!”

“Who the hell are you? And what business is it of
yours what I do?" Jones set the jug down but he hesitated to move
back and Johnny decided that one shot would serve two purposes: it
would let Jones know he meant business and it should awaken Ed so
he could call the sheriff.

“Right now, Mr. Jones!" Norman still didn’t move
back so Johnny pointed the gun up in the air, pulled one trigger
and watched as Norman took several steps backward. Almost
immediately, the lights came on inside and in another minute, Ed
appeared at the front door. When Ed turned on the porch light the
panorama it revealed would have been funny if it hadn’t been so
serious. Norman Jones was on his knees begging not to be shot;
Johnny O’Reilly was holding a shotgun pointed at the wet place
between Norman’s legs where he had pissed himself when the gun was
fired and halfway between them was the jug of kerosene that told
the tale of intended activities.

“Ed, call the sheriff and tell him we’ve got a
prisoner for him. He’s a wanted felon who was in the process of
trying to burn your house down around you and your family.”

“Penny, call Sheriff Lampton and tell him to get
here as fast as he can. I’m going to give Johnny a hand." As Ed
stepped off the porch, he could see for sure that the man
blubbering on his knees was indeed his erstwhile friend, Norman
Jones. “How in the hell did you get here, Norm? And why would you
want to do something like this? I’m still trying to figure out why
you framed me for robbery and now I find you trying to kill me and
my whole family. I can’t believe this." Ed was careful not to get
between the two men but he did want answers. “What did I ever do to
you to make you want to hurt me? I gave you a job; I made you a
partner. I tried to be your friend when you didn’t seem to have
any. I need to know why, damn it, why?”

“Oh, think back, Ed. In school, who was the smartest
kid in class? You were. Who was the ‘athlete of the year’? Edward
Wroe. Who were all the girls after, hot and heavy? It was always
you, Ed; always you—not Norman Jones; never Norman Jones; always
you. And even though we were ‘partners’, you were always the boss.
You were the one who negotiated terms and prices with the clients.
You had the nice normal family life while I had the divorce and the
support payments. When I went over to Stokes County to find a
little romance for myself and Sally Denham had come on to me, I
thought maybe my luck was changing. She took me right up to the
edge and then tried to back out. I had been cheated out of too much
already and the idea of having a virgin was too much to give up. So
I took her anyway and, of course, she called it rape. That meant I
had to get out of the area, pronto. Of course, I needed a nest egg
to be able to leave and I figured I had some time since Sally had
no idea what my name was or where I lived. But I knew it was a
matter of a short time before they found me. I stole the stuff, and
blamed it on you. Hell, you had everything else; I figured you
might as well have the criminal record, too. When I moved here, I
was sure this would be the last place anyone would ever look for
me. Then one day in Fordsville, there you were. I knew if I was
ever to have any peace and security, I had to get rid of you.
Besides, I wasn’t through getting even with you. Not nearly
through. I’d have had my revenge, too, if this idiot with the
shotgun hadn’t shown up when he did. Damn it! Damn it. Damn it!" By
this time, Jones was blubbering again.

Ed turned and walked slowly back to the porch where
his whole family were huddled together, shivering with cold and
fright. He turned to Johnny and suggested he bring the prisoner
into the house before everybody froze to death.

They came into the family room and Penny poked up
the fire and added some wood to the fireplace.

“Chrissy, will you get a garbage bag and spread it
over that chair, there so it won’t get wet while Norman sits in
it?" They all sat silent with Johnny still holding the gun on the
prisoner until the sheriff showed up about fifteen minutes later
and took Jones into custody.

“What’s the charge, Johnny? Since you’re holding the
gun, I’m assuming you made the citizen’s arrest.”

“Sheriff Lampton, I caught him in the act of
distributing kerosene in various places around the house. I heard
him admit to rape, grand theft, perjury, attempted arson, and
attempted murder. I’d be glad to show you the kerosene can he was
using to make the area more inflammable and I’m sure you’ll find
his fingerprints on the can.”

“It would have made such a pretty blaze. All those
beautiful orange and yellow, and red tongues of flame shooting up
high into the sky. And it would have been such sweet revenge. Why,
Ed, why did you have to move to this part of Kentucky? You just had
to ruin my life, as you always have, didn’t you? “Norman
unexpectedly made a lunge toward Ed before the deputy could
restrain him and knocked Ed to the floor. His wrists were
handcuffed behind him so Norman began to butt his head against Ed’s
face. He tried to bite him on his nose, too, before they could
regain control of him.

“Get him out of here, Ken, put him in the back of
the cruiser, and leave the restraints on. Take him on into town and
lock him up tight. I’ll be on in a few minutes." Norman was taken
out kicking, screaming, and cursing every breath.

When everything was quiet again, Sheriff Lampton
looked at Johnny. “From the beginning, Johnny, and don’t leave
anything out.”

Johnny began to tell the story but he was pretty
sure there were two or three things he would be leaving out. “Well,
when I was bringing Chrissy home after we took Grandmother back to
her house, we stopped out on the road and talked a few minutes.
Uh….While we were talking, we noticed this car coming up behind us
with its headlights off. —Well, I guess I need to start back
farther than that— Ed had shown me the clipping and newspaper
picture of this man who he said had been his partner back in North
Carolina. Ed told me how this guy, Norman Jones, had framed him for
robbery and skipped town before they figured out Ed was
innocent.

“I had seen a man in town a few days ago who looked
a lot like the man in the newspaper clipping. He walked with a limp
and the picture of a hammer was tattooed on his forearm. I got the
license number of the Honda he was driving and had asked the girl
at dispatch to see if she could find out who owned it; but she
hadn’t had time to get back to me.

“Now back to the car that pulled up behind us. When
he realized the road wasn’t deserted as he expected, he gunned the
car backwards and turned around to leave. I swung my car around and
went after him. I got close enough to see that the back bumper was
missing just like the white Honda I had seen before. Then I turned
around again, brought Chrissy home, and drove back to my house. But
I couldn’t rest thinking about what if that car had decided to come
back.As I walked back over the hill, I did see car lights on this
road out of sight of the house and then the lights went off. I
hurried on down here and saw him when he took the jug of kerosene
out of the trunk of the car. I knew he had matches because I saw
him light a cigarette. I knew I had to stop him if he was planning
what I had every reason to think he meant to do. I knew where Cliff
Coy had kept his shotgun. Lorraine wouldn’t let him keep it in the
house, so he kept it in the root cellar by the hen house. I ran to
the little underground building, got the gun, and loaded it and
when I got back near the front of the house I saw him saturating
little spots around the house with kerosene. I told him to stop,
set the jug down, and step back. He set the jug down but he
wouldn’t step back; so I fired one shot up in the air hoping to
stop him and wake Ed to call you.

“After Ed came out Jones cursed at him and tried to
explain his actions. It was obvious that Jones had always been
jealous of Ed and resented that Ed had always seemed to have better
‘luck’ than Jones did. Jones’ envy seemed to cry out for revenge
and this was apparently his stab at retribution. He was also
concerned that if Ed discovered his whereabouts, he would turn him
in. He figured he would never be safe since his hideaway had been
endangered by Ed’s relocation here to this area. Mrs. Wroe called
you, we brought him inside so, with his wet clothes, he wouldn’t
freeze and you know the rest. I think that about covers
everything.”

“Do you have anything to add, Mr. Wroe?"

“Only that I’m shocked and stunned by what happened.
And I’m eternally grateful to Johnny for his diligence and good
work in stopping Norman from accomplishing his goal. I’m still
dazed thinking that right now my family and I could be dead, burned
alive, by that crazy man if not for Johnny. Thank you, Johnny, even
if I do realize you were parked and making out with my daughter
when this started." He grinned slightly at the look that passed
between the two young people and the blush that bloomed on
Chrissy’s face echoed the embarrassment on Johnny’s. “Since you’ve
already put a ring on her finger and set your wedding date
tonight—oops!—last night, I guess I won’t be too upset.”

“Sounds as if ‘congratulations’ are in order,
Johnny, and best wishes to you ma’am. I wouldn’t be surprised if
there’s a reward coming to you for the capture of the wanted felon,
Johnny. Well, I’ll be going to make sure Mr. Jones is totally
subdued and incarcerated properly. Good luck to all of you and
goodnight.”

“Thanks, Sheriff Lampton and goodnight to you.”

Since the excitement was all over, the twins had
piled up on the couch and were totally out of it again. The four
adults looked at each other and the two men hugged their ladies.
The sighs were long, deep, and tremulous.

“Oh, by the way, I’m sure glad somebody left a
window up on the third floor. It slammed down at the exact moment
when I needed Jones to look up so my light would blind him when I
shined it in his face.”

“I haven’t been on the third floor lately and I
didn’t leave a window up when I did go up there." Penny’s response
was echoed by Chrissy and Ed. “I don’t think either of the twins is
strong enough to raise those windows and as far as them falling
down, they seemed almost swollen shut. The one time I tried to
raise the windows, I had a hard time getting them up even an inch
or two. I guess we’ll have to blame the ghosts, again, right?”

Johnny looked up to the ceiling and tipped his hat
in gratitude to ‘whatever or whoever.’ “Thank you,” he said
solemnly. Guilt pricked his conscience and he decided it was time
for confession. He straightened his shoulders and let out a long
breath. “Ed, and all of you, there’s some other things I need to
tell you, too. I probably should have said something a long time
ago. It started out as a joke but I let it go too far and then I
felt silly about it.”

“What on earth are you talking about, Johnny?”

“Well, I had been on my way down here when you all
ran out of gas on the road. I was worried about Mr. Coy and I
decided to make sure that he wasn’t being exploited or possibly
robbed by strangers. I came on down and made sure he still wasn’t
here. He hadn’t been home for two or three days and I was very
concerned about him. There’s a secret passage on the west side of
the house and I made my way into it and I listened to you all talk.
I’m ashamed to say, I’ve done that many, many times since you came
here. Again, I was trying to protect Mr. Coy and then it turned out
to be fun to hear you make wishes and be able to fulfill those
wishes. I sneaked your car keys out of your pocket and got the
suitcases out of the car. I went and got a five-gallon can of gas
for your empty gas tank. I found the picture album for you and,
Chrissy, I left the flowers for you.

“I realize I should have told you all this before
but…well, anyway, I loaned you some chickens and eggs and the milk
cow was one of ours. I heard you sounding sad about the Fourth of
July so I killed the rabbits and dressed them for you and sneaking
through the secret passage, I left them on the kitchen table. I did
the fireworks hoping you would enjoy them. When I open the outside
door to the secret passage, sometimes it creates a draft that will
cause some of the doors to bang shut.

“I heard you the night you read Mr. Coy’s journal
entry about Ms. Lorraine’s death. I heard the sadness in your
voices down there and figured one of you had come upstairs because
I heard crying on the second floor. I decided I’d better go on
home.

“I don’t know what else to say except I am sorry
about deceiving you and eavesdropping on your conversations. I
should have told you, Ed, that I thought I had seen Norman Jones
when I first saw him at the Lumberyard but I was going to
investigate some on my own and then tell you. Anyhow, please accept
my apology. I sure would hate to mess up our friendship at this
point.”

After this long speech and his sincere apology, Ed
didn’t have the heart to be mad at him. “I’m sorry, too, that you
didn’t tell us all this a long time ago. You’ve explained away some
of the weird goings-on around here; but there’s a lot of questions
that haven’t been answered. One of them is the crying you
mentioned. We heard it, too, and we were all in the family room. I
guess we need to thank you for all the stuff you did for us. But,
where in the hell is that secret passage? I want to see it.”