Present, December 18th
Joshua felt proud of himself.
After he had left the strange man in the silver car, he walked with is head down and cap over his eyes back towards the large house. He kept his eyes on his feet as he retraced his steps.
It was getting warmer and he knew Mrs.Boggs, the caretaker, would be looking for him, but she wouldn’t go out in this weather. No one would.
The large house still stood in the clearing. The gate still swung open on it’s hinges, inviting Joshua to come farther, his used Doc Martens sinking into the grass and mud. Not paying attention to the massive headstone in the front yard. He hopped onto the walkway and stood at the front door.
The view of the lake had been grown over by trees and moss.Joshua reached for the cast iron door knocker shaped like a rose.
The door swung open on its own.
Joshua looked up as a woman stepped from behind the door, staring at the threshold as if in fear.
The woman
motioned for him to come inside. She was too young to remind him of his mother,
but an older sister or aunt maybe. She
was pretty with dark hair that matched her dress. She had on a necklace with a single initial "C" on it.
He felt as if he had seen her before but didn’t give much thought to it.
“Won’t you stay a while”, the woman said, there were red
marks over her wrist
“C-can I”, Joshua shivered under his wet skin.
The woman nodded and turned on the fireplace.
“He’ll be back soon”, she said handing him a blanket.
“Who ?”
The woman sat back on her ankles on the sofa, twirling the ring on her finger while looking out the window.
“My husband”, she said sadly.