Shivers

By Thomas Warner

It is about two happy people having purchased their dream home at last, only for the woman to discover that that same house the husband just bought for their retirement home, is the same house she went to have an illegal abortion in when she was just fourteen years of age. And of course it all comes back to haunt her and everyone around her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Sep 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665566346

Thomas Warner

I began writing after my late wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008... I wrote a memoir of the last three months of her life, of course I didn’t know she was going to die, but die she did, and I have been writing on and off ever since. I do it just for a hobby and I enjoy it tremendously.

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© 2022 Thomas Warner. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse   08/22/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-6635-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-6634-6 (e)

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of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

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Contents

Chapter 1     The dream come true

Chapter 2     We are not alone

Chapter 3     The young girl in the bathroom

Chapter 4     The ‘Thing.’

Chapter 5     She moved through the fair

Chapter 6     East or West

Chapter 7     Into the early morning

Chapter 8     Into the wolf’s lair

Chapter 9     The body in the lake

Chapter 10   Beth Conlon

Chapter 11   A transfiguration

Chapter 12   The truth will out

Chapter 13   Gerry Hynes

Chapter 14   Reborn

Chapter 15   The end of the road

Epilogue

Part Two: Purgatory

Foreword

Chapter 1     The Abyss

Chapter 2     The Garden of Eden

Chapter 3     The birds’ bees and beautiful mermaid

Chapter 4     The human stain

Chapter 5     The devil you know

Chapter 6     Dead folk talking

Chapter 7     All quite below

Chapter 8     Old memories never die, they don’t even fade away.

Chapter 9     The angel of the Lord appeared onto me

Chapter 10   All things bright and beautiful

Chapter 11   What is lost can be found

Chapter 12   To be or not to be

Chapter 13   Nothing is what it seems

Chapter 14   No peace in the valley

Chapter 15   The preacher on the hill

Chapter 16   I dreamed a dream

Chapter 17   Beauty and the beast

Chapter 18   Alter list of the dead

Chapter 19   One more for the road

Chapter 20   Bloody Nora

Chapter 21   Three into two won’t go

Chapter 22   Dancing in the moonlight

Prologue

Part Three: Redemption

Chapter 1     World War 3

Chapter 2     High Ho Silver

Chapter 3     Let the fun begin

Chapter 4     On Angels wings

Chapter 5     Flesh and Blood

Chapter 6     The devil you don’t know

Chapter 7     Gremlins

Chapter 8     All or nothing

one

The dream come true

MONDAY EVENING 8 PM A lovely summers eve; Don Dunleavy stood outside his new home with his wife Angela. They had been married for thirty-eight years and they both had worked hard and saved hard and longed for this day. This was the day they had dreamed about. And a late lucky hospital sweepstakes win of 100.000 Irish punts made it all the more pleasurable.

A log cabin in the woodlands, one hundred and fifty acres, almost on top of a mountain and right beside a lake, their dream home. Don had been a long distant lorry driver and so had plenty of time to constantly dream of this day. With his beautiful wife Angela, they had spent many a good cosy night talking about it and with both saving almost every cent they could spare.

They were here at last.

And it was beautiful.

‘What do you think babe!’ he asked her, standing in front of the log cabin with his right arm wrapped tightly round her waist.

‘It, is’ she said excitingly, ‘everything I hoped it would be, it is beautiful!’ she said with a smile that that almost covered her face. ‘Not’ said he, hugging her even closer.’ As beautiful as you babe’ then he kissed her full on the lips saying.

‘Let’s go inside and decide what goes where and how it gets there’ and they hugged each other, and she laughed as he lifted her up in his strong arms and carried her up the three wooden steps and when he got to the door it just opened by itself and he looked down at her then kissed the top of her head and went cautiously inside. ‘A gust of wind!’ he said to her then laughed slightly to ease that worried look upon her face.

It did somewhat.

Don had been five years past retirement, and it really had been a struggle getting to where he was now. Two of his four children were dead! Henry had died after been hit walking home by some drunk lady driver, he was 27 years of age and doing well with his little fishing tackle shop in Capel Street in Dublin.

He left behind a young wife May and two children John and James now nine and ten respectively. It was a heart-breaking time for all concerned and truth be told no one especially Don, was over it yet, if indeed he would ever be.

He could not have got through it without his wife who it turned out had been so well named Angela, Angel for short and she was indeed an angel, full to the brim with love for her husband and everything he stood for.

Then two years later their only daughter Jane died from a drugs overdose! No one had expected that although a few red flags were raised but with Don away for long periods of time they went under the radar!

That sorry episode sent Don on drinking spree that he barely got over but get over it he did with a lot of help from his beautiful wife as she watched him struggle bravely these last few years and admired the way he stuck to his retirement dream as he moved from one major crisis to the next.

Some crises that he didn’t know she knew about. She however had some very serious issues in her own past that he in turn knew nothing about.

As a lot of people have. Lots of the time.

two

We are not alone

IT WAS A VERY BRIGHT spacious room, with all wooden floors with the lounge and the kitchen combined. A large open fireplace stacked each side with freshly cut logs with a plain but solid mahogany surround with a deer’s head in the centre of the wall that was a little spooky to them both but only for a second. ‘We can get a very large mat for in front of the fireplace if you want girl, in fact we can carpet the whole place if you want, what say you girl?

Angela replied saying, ‘Don’t you dare!

I love that floor darling… it is perfect, and I just adore that balcony… where does that lead to honey?’ Don told her it led into a very large but empty room with an iron stairway leading out into the back yard and garden.

‘So, we won’t have to worry about that room at all, but you are right girl, it does add to this room. Like something out of a cowboy film.’

There were two very large windows to the rear of the cabin, which was L shaped, plus a smaller one for the bathroom, and of course a door that led out back to the sheds and garage to the side of the cabin with one even larger window to the front of the cabin. There was also a small window on top indicating an attic above.

‘Tell you what!’ Don said to his lovely wife. ‘Let’s open that bottle of champagne we brought and launch this old girl before we move our stuff in, what do you say?’

‘Sounds good to me!’, she said then added, ‘and what say you to just getting our mattress in and leaving all the other stuff till tomorrow?’

And so, their first night in their new home consisted of getting merry and making love then falling asleep in each other’s arms. It had been a long drive from Dublin to Donegal and a hard and heavy day loading the trailer and they both were exhausted.

So just before she closed her eyes, she thought she had seen someone standing there watching her, a shadowy almost grainy like figure of a young woman! but when she looked again there was no one there. She put it down to tiredness and too much champagne and fell into a deep sleep.

three

The young girl in the bathroom

DON HAD AGED WELL, HE had kept himself fairly fit by jogging every chance he got, though he was on the road a lot he made sure he got enough exercise with every chance he did get.

He would go for a run whenever his lorry had been unloaded or loaded, if there were a gym nearby, he made use of that for whatever free time he had.

He was a tall man, six two and slim enough for his age, now almost seventy with two weeks to go for his birthday. His hair had turned a snowy white that had enhanced his appearance and made him seem more handsome than he really was up close.

But age does that to a person. No one escapes the wrath of time, though Angela was and still is a beautiful woman. Blonde and blue eyed standing five-eight and still a fine figure of a woman, for her age, sixty-two next May and in great shape still with great boobs and a face to die for, as they say in Ireland.

They had four children, three sons and a daughter, whom they named Jane, after her mother Janet. on the surface life was very good indeed before it all came crashing down!

The eldest boy was called Henry the second was called John and the third Michael after Don’s father Henry Michael Dunleavy with John called after Angela’s father John Mills originally from Sligo but moved to Donegal almost three decades earlier, a long time and much loved in the theatre world both north and south of the border, and in the UK. now of course deceased, passed peacefully in his sleep at the ripe old age of 87. Jane, her youngest, had been the little girl Angela had been longing for after the three boys.

They were both very busy unloading the U-hall for the best part of the following day. Angela wanted to mention the vison she had had the night before but decided against it. Don seemed happy enough so why spoil it, beside she was still sure it was just a combination of the booze and the heavy tiredness.

It was after four in the afternoon when they finished. Too exhausted to do dinner they just had a light tea and then moved some of the furniture into place in the living room then switched on the telly and had some more champagne and cheese sandwiches and relaxed on the large leather sofa.

‘Isn’t this just heaven? He said to her, as she snuggled into his chest and said it was. In no time at all they were both fast asleep. But again, before she went into a deep sleep, she thought she saw the figure of the young woman pass in front of the television!

As they both spent a second night sleeping in the lounge Don and Angel after breakfast made sure the bedroom was set up so they could really enjoy a good night’s sleep.

There were three bedrooms on the ground floor with the main bedroom an-suite just to the left as you entered the small hallway with the main bathroom further down the hallway with the door facing the living room. There was a very large room upstairs empty and bare as a new baby’s back side.

‘Happy!’ he asked her as he went to reach over and kiss the side of her face. ‘Yes very’ she replied pulling him down onto the newly made bed. They made love there and then and when it was over, he asked her what she was giggling about?

‘Oh! I was just thinking about the early days when we used to make love every night’

‘Mmmm’ he said into her left ear. ‘You still have a fantastic body babe, you still turn me on, and I love those boobs babe many a young lady would give everything they had to have tits like those! She laughed at that then rose to have a shower. He lay back on the bed and thanked his lucky stars and the man above.

He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew was hearing Angel screaming. She came out of the bathroom white as a ghost and panting heavily.

‘What is it? He asked her while reaching out and touching her arm. ‘There is someone in there, a young girl! well she, she, looked like a girl yet, she, she didn’t seem real, I could see right through her, she, she was standing in front of me just, just staring back at me from the mirror, oh, Don… I am so scared!

Don was now in the bathroom but called out to her. ‘There is no one here baby, come see for yourself, look no one, you must have imagined it girl!

She poked her head through the doorway and spoke. ‘I didn’t imagine anything, I know what I saw Don, and it frightened the life out of me! he took her in his arms and said to her. ‘Well, there is no one there now babe, come get dressed and we’ll go for a walk in the garden I haven’t shown you round yet’

four

The ‘Thing.’

AN HOUR LATER WHILST WALKING outside in the beautiful flower garden he asked her. ‘How do you feel now girl, have you calmed down? That must have been a huge shock to your system! she replied. ‘I know what I saw darling! and yes, it did scare me greatly’

Then remembering the first time she saw the vision she said to him. ‘Did you check if this house had any kind of history? you know you hear all kinds of horrible stories about isolated houses like this one!’ she shivered when she said this.

‘Of course, not babe! He answered then said, ‘The minute I heard this house was for sale I jumped at the chance… besides, they are only stories girl, now you’re not saying there are ghosts in our home now, are you?’ still shivering she says to him. ‘I’m not saying anything darling!’ but she was thinking something else entirely.

So here they were walking up a hill behind the house. Plenty of trees, mainly birch and acacia trees with the odd cedar tree here and there. They were following a path that was made over the years by whomever lived there before.

‘I did hear though’ he stopped and waited for her to catch up. ‘Yes! you did hear what?’ she asked him, waiting to hear some horror story.

‘I did hear there is a mine somewhere here on our land, and get this girl, not a coal mine, not even a copper mine, but a gold mine! would you believe it?’ mined out of course still, there might be remnants lying around, you never know babe, we might still strike it rich’

Angel still couldn’t shake that feeling that they were not alone in that big house. That there was more than a gold mine on this land, and she shivered again at the thought of it.

They walked uphill a good bit and they both were beginning to feel the effort and so were delighted to come to a small but fast running stream. They sat down on an old fallen tree and caught their breath. ‘This is nice! isn’t it, babe?’

She nodded and stared into the shallow waters. ‘You’re not still thinking of that thing in the bathroom back there! are you?’ he asked her, and she replied saying,

‘That ‘thing’ is right, it wasn’t a real person, it looked eh… just like a ghost! it really scared the pants of me Don, it was real enough so it was, yet wasn’t at the same time’

He sat beside her and put his arm around her saying. ‘We have had a tough time just getting here babe, all that pressure, the long drive, it all takes its toll, now I know you got a fright, and it was frightening… I know it was, shit, it even scared me! but it’s all behind us now, I’m sure of that, so try and relax, this is our dream house babe… you know how hard we both worked to get here, tomorrow we go into town and see if there’s a pharmacy and get you some anxiety pills to help calm you! girl how does that sound?’

She smiled and pressed her head into his chest and spoke softly.

‘Sounds good, baby’ he stood sniffing the air.

five

She moved through the fair

‘SPEAKING OF SOUND,’ DON SAID to her. ‘Can you hear music?’

She listened attentively but couldn’t hear anything.

She was about to say no when he schussed her saying. ‘There it is again! it is music and a woman singing, now do you hear it?

She raised her head and said to him. ‘Yes, I do! I can hear it, and it is… a woman singing, but who would be out here on our land? singing in the middle of nowhere, at this hour of the morning?

They stood up and followed the sound. It was leading them left of the small stream and taking them further away from the house.

As they got closer, they could hear a woman singing, and someone playing an accordion, ‘My own love said to me… sure my mother won’t mind, and my father wont slight you… for your lack of kind, as she moved away from me, this she did say…it will not be long love… till our wedding day’ and she was singing it beautifully, until she looked up and saw Don and Angela approaching.

‘Er, Paddy!’ she said to the man playing the accordion, who also looked up and stood up abruptly when he saw them coming.

‘Who, and what, are you doing here on my land?’ Don asked the man bluntly.

‘You must be the new people,’ he replied, ‘Sorry I knew you were coming, er, I just didn’t know when exactly’ he was shaking hands with Don then Angela and the woman come forward to do the same.

‘I’m Paddy Ward and this is my beautiful wife Maggie, we are members of the traveling community! but we are settled here as you can see, we keep an eye on the house and do odd jobs about the place, like that pile of logs in your sitting room, and I was about to fix that lock on the front porch, as soon as you stand on the board nearest the door, the bloody thing springs open! I will do it tomorrow so I will, eh, remind me please Maggie’ Maggie nodded.

‘Angela turning to Maggie said. ‘You sing beautifully, I love that song, ‘She moved through the fair’ wasn’t it?’ Maggie, a woman of many years and with a beautiful smile smiled saying. ‘Thank you, Ms, yes… it is, an old favourite song of ours, I’m glad you like it.’

‘And how long have you lived here! in this, eh, cave? Don asked Paddy.

‘Six or seven years now, is that right darling?’ ‘Ten years’ Maggie said. ‘Oh, right, ok ten years, ever since the old man died… yep ten years, my… doesn’t time just fly?’

Angela could not help but ask, ‘What! did he, the old man, I take it he was the owner of the cabin, what did he die off?’

‘Heart attack! died in the shower so he did, two days after his eightieth birthday so it was, a real shame, he was a lovely Christian man…’ Angela muttered. ‘And his wife, what happened to her after he died, did she move out?’

‘No, Ms!’ Maggie butt in, ‘she followed him a couple of weeks later… poor soul, very sad it was, she became very confused after all that happened, you know the way old people do… she got lost one evening and they found her next morning face down in that little pool up yonder, very sad, but sure they are together now… also up yonder! ha ha haaaaa, eh sorry’

Don and Angel looked at each other but he just turned away and shook his shoulders and shrugged it off. Angela on the other hand, got that shivering feeling again, this time she could not shake it off, not even later when they got home when Don said to her after he could not help but notice her quietness. He cautiously tried to console her. while he loved her with all his heart, he knew she had a short enough fuse and could give as good as she got, in fact much more even than that. So, he said to her gently.

‘Look girl… an old man had a heart attack! his wife, also very old… got lost in the woods and perished, poor thing, but these are perfectly natural things to happen, they call it life babe, so no need to go putting any other spin on it, ok