A Haunting In Wisconsin Read online

  A Haunting In Wisconsin

  By Michael Richan

  By the author:

  The Downwinders series:

  Blood Oath, Blood River

  The Impossible Coin

  The Graves of Plague Canyon

  The Blackham Mansion Haunting

  The Massacre Mechanism

  The Nightmares of Quiet Grove

  The River series:

  The Bank of the River

  Residual

  A Haunting in Oregon

  Ghosts of Our Fathers

  Eximere

  The Suicide Forest

  Devil’s Throat

  The Diablo Horror

  The Haunting at Grays Harbor

  It Walks At Night

  The Cycle of the Shen

  A Christmas Haunting at Point No Point

  The Port of Missing Souls

  The Dark River series:

  A

  The Blood Gardener

  Other titles:

  The Haunting of Pitmon House

  The Haunting of Waverly Hall

  A Haunting In Wisconsin

  The School of Revenge

  All series are part of The River Universe, and there is crossover of some characters and plots. For a suggested reading order, see the Author’s Website.

  Copyright 2017 by Michael Richan

  All Rights Reserved.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious.

  Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  www.michaelrichan.com

  A print version of this book is available at most online retailers.

  ASIN: B071962FCN

  Published by Dantull (150317167A)

  Become a Patron of Michael.

  ●

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Complimentary sample from The Dark River: A

  For Renell

  Chapter One

  March 1999

  Eliza and Robert gently pushed open the door as quietly as they could, slipped inside, and closed it behind them. The house was dark, except for a small lamp sitting on a table just inside the door. Eliza looked down a hallway ahead, seeing only darkness. Robert lowered the suitcase he was carrying to the floor and reached for a small envelope on the table that bore his name.

  He opened it and read in a whisper: “Room 7, down the hallway. Last room before the stairs. See you for breakfast in the morning, 8:30 AM.”

  “Lead the way,” Eliza replied.

  Robert picked up the suitcase and began walking down the dark hall. Eliza followed, moving slowly so her eyes would adjust as they went. She was aware that they were passing numbered doors, and she wanted to be as silent as they could. There had been no way to reach the B&B during its normal check-in hours; the entire trip had been a surprise, a kind of last-minute getaway, so she hadn’t been able to make arrangements to leave work early. They started the long drive from Spring Green well after six, and now it was just past midnight. Not knowing how full the place might be, she didn’t want to wake any of them by bumbling a bag into a wall, so she took each step carefully.

  As with any hotel, she wanted to see how it looked, to make a visual inspection that would inform her of its suitability and cleanliness. That would have to wait; the hallway was far too dark to see details. The façade and entryway seemed nice enough; simple, with antique furniture. Now, walking down the hallway, trying to be as silent as possible as they slowly progressed, she really couldn’t see anything other than the shadow of Robert ahead of her. She used her other senses to pick up what she could of the place. It didn’t have much of a smell, and the only sound was of the two of them padding down the carpeted hallway, breathing heavy as they lugged their suitcases.

  “This is it,” Robert whispered, coming to a stop at a door on the right. He fumbled with the key, trying to locate the lock in the darkness. After a few seconds he had it open, and they shuffled inside, closing the door quietly.

  A small table lamp had been left on in the room, allowing Eliza enough light to find a switch on the wall. An overhead fixture illuminated. Eliza saw that the drapes had already been drawn, and the covers on a large bed in the center of the room had been turned down.

  “Looks like he had the room all ready for us,” she said.

  Robert lugged the suitcases into a spot by the window and opened them.

  Eliza performed her inspection now that there was enough light to do it properly. Bed? Nice and firm. Bathroom? Clean. Dust bunnies in corners? None.

  “Does it pass?” Robert asked.

  “It does,” she replied, falling on the bed.

  Robert fell next to her. “I’m glad you came. It’s nice to get away for a weekend. You work too hard.”

  “Yeah,” she replied, turning to face him. “If you say so.”

  “I do. This is the first real getaway we’ve had, not for lack of trying.”

  It was true. Robert had planned a number of trips over the past several months, all of which Eliza had cancelled for one reason or another. Most of the time it was work scheduling issues. When Robert informed her, just nine hours earlier, that they had been invited to a B&B run by a friend of his uncle, the suddenness of it seemed to make it viable in a way that the planned vacations had not. The fact that he was extending a generous family discount didn’t hurt either. Eliza agreed to go because of how impromptu it felt; no planning, no extensive packing, nothing to arrange at work. Just get in the car and go, and be back by Tuesday.

  “I’m glad,” she said. “It’s fun to be away for a while. And…” she paused. “What we decided in the car still stands?”

  “Sex, multiple times a day?” Robert replied.

  “No,” she answered. “That we’d stay out of the River for the whole trip? No jumping in, even if we really want to?”

  “Sure,” Robert replied. “I’m all for a break.”

  Someone overhearing their conversation might be confused; there was no river anywhere near the B&B. Eliza was referring to the ability she shared with Robert, a “gift” that allowed her to sense and see things that ordinary people could not, an ability she inherited from her father. Robert could do it too; their shared skill had been how they’d met months ago. Their gift allowed them to enter a place called The River, where they could see things hidden from normal view — such as ghosts. On the car ride up from Spring Green, where she lived and worked, they’d discussed how refreshing it might be to go a whole weekend without entering the River; staying out and just experiencing life like normal people. They agreed to give it a try.

  Eliza felt her eyes close as the comfort of the bed relaxed her. It had been a full day of work, and the drive had been long; they’d done it as a straight shot, with only a single stop. Now she was ready to sleep, but she felt Robert’s hands on her, and with them, an excitement that reminded her sleep was still a half hour away.

  ●

  In the dream she was dragging her suitcase down the dark hall, trying to be quiet, but unable to stop one edge of it from scraping along the wall. It was making a horribly loud sound
that she was sure would wake the other people in the B&B. The floor was littered with crumpled up paper, making it impossible to step anywhere without creating a crunching sound. She cringed, afraid she was rousing the entire establishment despite her efforts to be silent.

  She forced herself awake and propped herself on one elbow, relieved that it had been just a dream.

  The scraping sound, however, did not stop.

  Turning, she saw Robert asleep on the bed next to her. Quietly she slipped from the covers, feeling the cool of the room on her skin. After a couple of steps, she stopped and listened.

  It was something metal, scraping against the wood of her door. She walked to it; looking down, she saw a faint blue mist creeping in under the crack. She stepped back.

  Then she heard a crunching sound, and turned to see the wallpaper along one wall slowly crinkling as it pressed outward, into the room. The bulge split with a loud rip, and a chill raced down her spine as she saw a dark face appear inside the wall, its eyes turning slowly to look her way.

  She felt the hair on her arms stand at attention as the ghostly image emerged from the wall. Darkness spilled into the room around it, like long, black hair falling through the crack.

  She closed her eyes and found herself sitting up in bed. Robert was still asleep next to her, although in a different position.

  Dreaming, she thought. I was dreaming.

  She lowered back down to the pillow, her eyes resting on the ceiling above. Slowly they dropped to the spot on the wall where, moments before in her dream, she’d seen the face emerge.

  Nothing there, she thought. No sound from the hallway. Nothing under the wallpaper. Just a dream. Go back to sleep.

  She closed her eyes and tried to think of anything other than the dark face that had emerged from the wall, waiting for sleep to come.

  Chapter Two

  “You’d better get up,” she heard Robert say, as he gently rocked her back and forth. She opened her eyes; he had opened the drapes, and light was streaming into the room. “It’s 8:10. We’ll miss breakfast.”

  She pulled the cover over her head. “Fine,” she muttered. “Let’s miss breakfast.”

  “Oh, come on,” Robert replied. “I want to meet Milton.”

  “It means we have to meet all the other people staying here too,” she said from under the blanket. “I hate that.”

  “Don’t be anti-social,” he replied. “Just turn on your natural charm. We only have to meet the ones who bother to come to breakfast, which won’t be all of them.”

  Eliza threw off the covers and swung her feet to the floor, then stumbled to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later she felt presentable enough to interact with other guests, and they left the room.

  Now, with the light of day, she observed the little details of the hallway that she couldn’t see the night before. Molding in the corners, carpet edged an inch from the baseboards. A beautiful green wallpaper on the walls.

  At the end of the hallway they found the entryway they’d used the night before. Turning in the opposite direction, they walked through a door and found themselves in the middle of a kitchen. A woman with a large apron wrapped around her midsection turned to look at them.

  “Oh!” Eliza said. “I thought this might be the breakfast room.”

  “All meals are served in the room at the end of the hall,” the woman replied, returning quickly to her work at a large metal stove. “Back down the hallway, on the left. I asked him to put up a sign, but he won’t.”

  Eliza and Robert backed out of the kitchen and returned down the hallway, passing their room. On the right a set of stairs ascended, and to the left was an open archway. They could hear the sound of utensils and plates inside.

  “How did we miss this?” Eliza asked. “Just ten feet from our room!”

  “I guess we just assumed it was at the front,” Robert replied. “And as the woman said, there’s no sign.”

  They entered the room. It had six round tables, two of which were occupied. At one sat a young boy of ten, with his father. At another were two older ladies, dressed in flowery tops, their hair stacked nicely on their heads. One of the ladies looked up and saw them.

  “Come in, just sit anywhere,” she said. “She’ll come back around in a few minutes, and bring you breakfast.”

  “Thank you,” Eliza replied, walking to a table next to the women, and sat.

  “I’m Abbey,” the old woman continued, “and this is my travelling companion, Teresa.”

  Teresa glanced up briefly from her breakfast. The scowl on her face changed for a moment to a smile, then returned to a scowl and lowered, studying her food.

  “Nice to meet you,” Eliza replied. “I’m Eliza, and this is Robert.”

  “It’s so nice to meet a young married couple, isn’t it, Teresa?” Abbey continued. “So youthful and vibrant. It brings a healthy energy to the morning, doesn’t it?”

  Teresa glanced up again. “I don’t see rings.”

  Eliza saw Robert turn to look at her, and they exchanged a panicked moment. Eliza turned back to the women. “We’re not married.”

  Abbey raised a hand to her mouth. Eliza wasn’t sure if it was in shock, or to stop herself from exclaiming.

  “See what you’ve done?” Teresa chastised Abbey. “Presuming things.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Abbey said, turning to Eliza. “So presumptuous of me. You looked like a married couple, so I just assumed.”

  “A nasty habit!” Teresa interjected.

  “It’s perfectly alright with us,” Abbey continued. “Teresa and I are both freethinkers. We won’t in any way think less of you because you aren’t.”

  Eliza turned to look at Robert; he looked as if he was suppressing a smile.

  “Aren’t properly married, I mean,” Abbey said.

  “You’re putting your foot in your mouth!” Teresa said to Abbey. “Just shut up!”

  “We’re not offended,” Eliza replied.

  “Oh, of course,” Abbey continued. “Young people today aren’t bothered by old fashioned ideas like marriage.” She laughed and returned to her breakfast.

  “I have nothing against marriage,” Robert said. “I fully expect to be married someday.”

  “Some people say there’s nothing to be gained by it,” Abbey replied, laying down her fork. “I have many friends who think it’s quite useless, and I’m not sure they’re wrong.”

  “All divorced and bitter,” Teresa interjected, then turned to Eliza. “Don’t listen to her.”

  The woman they’d seen in the kitchen suddenly entered the room. Observing Eliza and Robert seated at a table, she let out an “Ah!” Then she turned on one heel and quickly exited.

  “Damn,” Robert muttered. “I wanted to ask her about coffee.”

  “She’ll bring you coffee,” said the small boy, who now stood next to Eliza. “Along with a plate of food.”

  “Hello,” Eliza replied, turning to look at the child.

  “Mack!” said the man at the other table. “Come away and leave them alone.”

  “You must be Mack,” Eliza said. “I’m Eliza.”

  “I heard you tell them that,” Mack replied.

  The man rose from the table, his plate empty. He downed the last of his coffee. “Come along, Mack,” he said.

  “But I’m not done,” Mack replied.

  Eliza turned to see a full plate of food still on Mack’s plate, next to the man’s empty one.

  “He’s such a slow eater, that boy,” Abbey muttered.

  “He’s welcome to finish eating with us,” Eliza offered to the man. He paused, looking them over. “Alright, Mack, you can stay, but straight back to the room when you’re done.”

  “OK,” Mack replied, grabbing his plate of food and moving it to Eliza and Robert’s table. The man strolled out.

  “I don’t know if the boy eats slow,” Teresa said. “Seems more like his father wolfs it down.”

  “My dad eats fast,” Mack said. “I hate to eat h
ere. It smells so bad.”

  “You don’t like the food?” Eliza asked.

  “No, the smell,” Mack replied. “She was in here earlier, and it left a stench.”

  “She?” Robert asked. “The cook?”

  “No, her,” Mack replied. “That girl.”

  “He means Marth’s daughter,” Abbey said. “What’s her name again, Teresa?”

  “Wanda,” Teresa replied.

  “That’s right, Wanda,” Abbey continued. “I don’t know why I can’t remember that name.”

  “She stinks,” Mack said. “Makes it hard to eat.”

  “Really?” Eliza asked. “I imagine at your age, you think all girls stink.”

  “No, just her,” Mack replied.

  “She really does present an olfactory challenge,” Abbey said. “I don’t know how Martha administers hygiene, but whatever she does, it does not work with that girl.”

  “I imagine she hasn’t bathed in months,” Teresa added. “To smell that bad, a child would have to be kept from a bath for a very long time.”

  “Perhaps she resists baths,” Abbey said. “I’ve heard some children hate to take them.”

  “Well, it’s not just the hygiene, now, is it?” Teresa replied. “All the other things.”

  Through the archway came the cook, bearing two plates of food, one in each hand. She set one down in front of Eliza and another in front of Robert. “I’ll be back with some coffee for ’ya,” she said, and turned to leave the room.

  “And utensils!” Eliza called after her.

  Robert looked down at the food. “It smells great.”

  Mack wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “I can’t stand it.”

  “Mister Lyons told me he thinks she smells because she has an evil soul,” Abbey said, spreading jam on toast. “Do you think that’s true?”

  “Might be,” Teresa replied.

  “Are we talking about a little girl?” Eliza asked. “Someone who stays here?”

  “I wish she didn’t,” Mack said. “She is evil.”