92 Before the Pumphouse

The Little Red Haired Girl

After Nana had left the Pumphouse, and Body and the Little Red Haired Girl were fast asleep, Spirit felt uneasy and cursed itself for not having more insight and knowledge about other Spirits. It felt inadequate and lacking, even though Body had kept it busy fighting for her all her life.

Yes it was apparent now on reflection that Spirit had been fighting all Body’s life which would account not only for the extreme tiredness but also it’s own lack of awareness about the spiritual realm and others within it.

Before being in here in this dark concrete round Pumphouse, Spirit remembered the incidents that happened in the unfinished renovated house not long after Noswad had left. Spirit had felt and reacted to. Incidents that defied Brains logic and Hearts denial and broken beats. Incidents Spirit now remembered and Body had felt and reacted to. Incidents that even Spirit itself had wanted to deny.

“This will be interesting” interrupted Brain.
“Don’t” cried Heart “They make me question everything.”
“And me very scared” Body shuddered.

“We have to acknowledge them” called Spirit “But if it’s too much for you don’t listen.”
“Go on” said Brain. “There is nothing you can call that I cannot explain away with knowledge and logic so do your worst.”

Spirit didn’t like the challenge but rose to it never the less as Heart shut down. It was too shameful to listen.

Spirit had listened night after night as Heart had sobbed about Noswads departure. Heart sobbed and crushed Body’s face into soft flannelette pillows that were her favourite because they reminded her of home. Sobbed and constantly twisting and wrenching at the same question. Why had he left? Sobbed and was oblivious to the bed, the time, the room, and even the house. The house did not matter to Heart anymore. The dreams for Heart and Noswad within it had gone and so it remained unfinished. The house was tainted and ruined and Heart was not it in anymore. Spirit had watched over Heart but was unable to help. The weight of Hearts pain was killing Spirit too.

Spirit recalled some voices Body had heard and Spirit had felt. Strange to use the word ‘felt’ but Spirit had felt the voices within the air displacement. The words they had spoke could not be remembered by Spirit nor were always within the hearing range of Body, but Spirit had felt their presence and seen the darkened areas within the candlelight. Body insisted on lighting a candle every night since Noswads departure out of fear. Fear of being alone and on her own physically, but also because of what was present in the room in the dark. Body did not know what exactly but Body had felt their presence too.

Spirit had watched Body dreaming and talking to herself in her sleep, unaware of what she was saying and the ‘conversation’ and dream completely forgotten in the morning light. Dreams so real they had left marks, physical marks on Body. Bruises that appeared on her legs and arms, sometimes scratches and strange marks that looked a little like small red burns, none of which had been created through work or accidents from the daytime hours. After all, since Noswads departure they had done no work on the house.

The loud bumps Body had felt through the mattress from under an enclosed storage bed. Enclosed to the floor which meant that nothing could have crawled under it to create the sound. So loud and so violent it had work Body up. She was so scared and defensive they had run to the kitchen with all lights on in their path to calm down and drink tea.

The sounds of the house creaking and groaning. Sounds of nothing dropping from the ceiling as Body had pin pointed where the sound had come from in the room, switched on the lights but eyes had not found anything on the tiled floor to have caused it.

The walking on the pan tiled roof which had frozen Body to the bed in fear. Body had eventually got so used to it’s occurrence most nights that eventually, was brave enough to force herself out of bed, fetch a torch and gone out into the night to check if someone could be seen up there. Like watching a horror movie when the viewer screams to the screen “Don’t go out there!” “Stay put stay safe.” Body had heard the roof footsteps so often now that the torch was kept by the bed and her response to catch the ‘Intruder’ was quicker. No one was ever found.

The gun shot dream that woke Body and yet Brain and Body did not find any evidence of till months later. When the weather was warm enough to spend time in the garden and therefore revealed it to them. A distinct and perfectly cylindrical hole on the outside wall of her bedroom.

The exploding candle vase that had sent glass right across the bedroom and shattered into so many fragments that Body kept finding pieces of it months later no matter how much she swept and cleaned up.

The Beetles, Spiders and indescribable insects that Body and Brain had not seen before, that kept appearing in strange unpredictable places within the bedroom. So much so, Brain had googled their identity to find out what they were and where like liked to inhabit, where they were usually found. Their appearance seemed random and if google was to be believed, not usually found within a house without a nest or an entry point being discovered.

Spirit had been so protective of Body and Heart being in this state of fear for so many months, it did the only thing the darkness could allow it to do. It shone. Spirit had shone its light into the dark and placed itself around Body like a shield, a suit of armour. Spirit had encouraged Body and Brains help in doing this. To visualise it and they had worked together. It helped, Body felt safer and Brain soon fell asleep with the concentration of it. This visualisation was a white light encasing Body and Brain and they imagined it as an Egyptian sarcophagus for protection. (Their skills more recently at meditation in the Pumphouse were improving).

Spirit recalled all of it. So much of it happened in the dark, but there were other incidents that also happened in the daytime. Too many to recall all at once. Body however wrote reminders in her diary. At least it was some sort of record of the incidents.
“To what purpose?” Brain asked. “What’s the purpose of writing rubbish like that in your diary?”
“I don’t know” called Spirit.
“Maybe it’s just to have a purpose” sighed Soul “that in itself is good enough especially if it enabled Body to feel better.”
“Whatever” Brain waved Body’s hand dismissively.

“The point to all of this recalling” called Spirit “is that the malevolence we are feeling now around us, in and around this Pumphouse, is a continuation of the past when we were in the house. The signs were there but we all denied it. There has to be a reason for this malevolence and I believe it’s contributed to the last year of failures with the house project, relationship with Noswad and possibly our friends too. Where it comes from I do not know, and hopefully spiritual court will find out and work on our behalf to set us free and bring justice if it is required.”

“I see where you are going with this Spirit and I like the lateral thinking” said Brain.

“It’s a wider view” called Spirit “as we were discussing we needed and I think it’s relevant.”

“I’m glad I made some notes ” muttered Body under her breath “I might have actually been of some use then” sarcasm dripping from her lips.

“You are useful Body, don’t say that” cried Heart.

“If you say so Heart, but it doesn’t convince me that I am good enough” Body whined.

“You are good enough, just believe it” Big voice announced.