Ghost of O'Leary House

Chapter Five

“Why would she get upset? It’s just a pond,” David asked, thinking about how confident his Grandma had been that people would be down here.

Bryan held his marshmallow over the fire, watching it as it began to quickly toast. “Who knows?”

Luke elbowed Jesse in the ribs with a smile. “Though we do visit her home every occasionally, on a dare right, Jesse?”

“Shut up!” Jesse said, laughing.

“What? What’d Jesse do?” David asked, looking between the two.

Susan laughed, pulling her own marshmallow off her stick, blowing on it to cool it. “We, and by we, I mean Bryan and Luke, dared Jesse to go up into the old lady’s garden and bury some Witch-Hazel.”

“Witch-Hazel?” David asked, looking around the campfire.

Luke popped his marshmallow into his mouth, chewing heartily. Bryan rolled his eyes and turned to look at David. “It’s a shrub that witches are allergic to. If you take the leaves and steam them, you get an extract that actually burns them as if it were acid.”

“So why wouldn’t she just remove the plant?” David asked.

Jesse smiled. “I planted like ten of the little bushes in the middle of her garden where she grows all of her other herbs. By the time they’ve grown large enough, she won’t be able to do anything about them without breaking out in painful hives and sores.”

“And planting Witch-Hazel in her garden accomplished what? Because it sounds like you’re just trying to piss her off,” David grabbed another white puff, stabbing it with his stick. “I mean, when she realizes her gardens been corrupted, she’ll most likely want to exact some revenge, right?”

This thought made the gathered teen’s look entirely uncomfortable. Luke swallowed his mouthful of savory fluff before smiling at Miley, patting her hip to try and give her some reassurance. “It was all in good fun, and I doubt she can figure out who did it. It’s not like she can track by fingerprints or anything.”

Susan nodded. “It was still stupid of you guys to dare Jesse to do that.”

“Yeah but imagine how she’ll react when she can’t gather her herbs!” Bryan laughed, patting Jesse on the back. “She’ll have to hire a gardener to come out and remove them, which means she’ll have to communicate with the outside world!”

“It just sounds like you’re trying to antagonize her for no reason,” David said with a tone of finality, holding his treat over the fire.

“What would you know about it? We’re just trying to warn you about how Alice Grove works is all,” Luke said, glaring at David, one hand going up to scratch at his scar idly. “You don’t know the things she’s done to us here in this town!”

“Well, all I’m saying is that she only seemed to get angry when people were taking her land or messing with her! If you just leave her alone, she’ll probably just let everyone else be.” David argued, thinking of how nice his Grandma was and how stupid you had to be to really believe in Witches.

“You don’t understand,” Miley said, looking down into the fire, “she gets involved in everyone’s life here in town.”

“How so?” David pressed.

“Well, people go to her for things,” Miley said slowly, shivering a bit. David couldn’t help but notice how she… moved when she shivered. Luke hugged her closer to his side, glaring at David for daring to look at Miley’s curves.

“Like for what?” David asked.

Bryan scratched the back of his head. “Some people go for personal reasons, others to ask for favors. She’ll always grant you whatever you ask for, so long as you’re willing to pay her price.”

“What’s her price?” David asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

Miley stared into the fire for a long time, her arms wrapped around her knees. Luke pulled her into a tighter embrace, but she pulled away slightly. She clearly didn’t want to be touched while she thought of this.

“When I was younger, around five or six, my father fell ill with something that made it impossible for him to leave the bed. For days, he laid in bed, sweating, and coughing as he struggled to breathe. Mom took care of him as best she could, but when the nurses came and started caring for him, they said he didn’t have much time.”

David didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. He just watched as Miley’s face grew even more strained as she stared into the crackling flames. It was obvious that she didn't like this memory.

“She went to the witch, told her how sick my father was. She’d brought me along and I could stay in the sitting room. I played with her cat and listened to the house groan and shift with the old woman’s mood.”

“Groan and shift with her mood?” David interrupted.

Miley looked over at David, her eyes were not focusing on him at all. “The house is as alive as she is, it’s even haunted. There was a spirit there that day, watching me. Sometimes I feel as if it’s still watching me…”

Miley shook her head, scooting out of Luke’s side-armed embrace, shaking her head at his hurt look. “Anyway, Mom and I left there with a bottle of what looked like sewage water, all green and goopy. She spoon-fed that to my father for a whole week, until he was strong enough to feed himself. Over a month, he ate and drank that noxious looking gunk until it was all gone. He was better, but boy was he mad.”

“Mad? Why?” David asked.

“Mom had to trade something to the old lady in exchange for that stuff. I don’t know what it was, or how valuable it is, but Dad has never forgiven her for it.” Miley said her face growing flushed from the heat of the fire. She snuck a look at David, smiling. “You have to be careful David. You can’t make a bargain with her like my family did.”

“I won’t,” David said, fighting not to roll his eyes at the way they all spoke of his grandmother. They hadn’t seen her, the little doughy woman baking cookies with a homicidal cat. She wasn’t anyone to be afraid of! But they certainly were… 

Why? He thought, looking around at the various teens as they chatted. His small circle had gone uncomfortably quiet, merely drinking, and snacking on treats as they stared into the fire and thought. But there were other teens, some even older than him, and he took a moment to study them.

After a few minutes, all he could really see beyond laughing and flirting was that despite many of them being in swimsuits, they still had on jewelry. Not odd, but as all the jewelry seemed to be religious in nature? It made him remember that this was a town in Southern Texas.

They’re parents are probably kooky about religion, he finally surmised. Old single woman like grandma, that owns a lot of land and is selling herbal medicine? Not surprising they think she’s a witch.

By then, Luke had already gotten everyone relaxed with a few jokes, and they were all laughing. David joined them, pushing the strange idea of witches in this day and age away from his mind.