We Hear the Dead Read Free Page B

certainly was, but not for the reasons she imagined! “I am going to bring my husband here to see this for himself, but I admit I am loath to leave you here so frightened!”
    Kate reached over and gripped Mrs. Redfield’s hands earnestly, looking frail but determined. “We can be brave until your return.”

Chapter Three
    Maggie
    Made bold by our high success with Mrs. Redfield, I regained a little of my own spirit and bounded out of the bed to take my mother’s arm. “Mother,” I urged, “if Mrs. Redfield is returning with her husband, then we should cover ourselves more decently, don’t you think?”
    â€œYes, child. This haunting has quite addled my wits!” exclaimed Mother. “We are in no state to receive visitors.”
    Mother and Lizzie put on their housedresses over their nightclothes while Kate and I merely donned our cloaks and climbed back into bed, pulling the blankets up over our legs. I felt excited and giddy. So the house was haunted by the spirit of a murder victim, was it? Surely I had something to add to this story, for I would be ashamed to be outdone by my little sister!
    We did not have long to wait. Soon there was a great deal of commotion at our front door. Mother quickly went to meet the visitors, and we heard a confusion of voices talking all at once. Mrs. Redfield had indeed brought her husband but had also stopped at the Dueslers’ house and pressed both of them to come, along with Mr. and Mrs. Artemus Hyde, who had just been departing from a visit with the Dueslers. In addition, they were joined by three men all in fishing gear, who had been night-fishing at the creek when they spotted the activity outside our house and decided to investigate. All in all, there were more than a dozen people crowded into the little bedroom of our house, and I had to pinch myself to keep from laughing at the hilarity of it.
    Mr. Redfield was a little wisp of a man, not nearly as imposing as his wife. With the Dueslers it was the opposite, for Mrs. Duesler resembled a wilted flower while her husband was large, loud, and athletic, with dark, curling hair and a fashionably large mustache. Mr. and Mrs. Hyde were both tall and dignified, exquisitely dressed as befitted their station as the richest family in town. Mr. Hyde’s father had founded Hydesville, and Mr. Hyde owned the house in which we now lived.
    Mr. Hyde was proclaiming in a loud voice that he had never heard any complaint about this house before, and it was certainly nonsense that a murdered man was buried here. Mr. Duesler was quick to agree, pointing out that he would know if anyone had been murdered on the street behind his own home!
    In this, Kate and I quickly discovered that we had a friend in Mrs. Redfield. Having been convinced herself, she did not wish to be made ridiculous. Her voice rose above the others as she repeated what she had heard.
    â€œâ€™Tis a prank,” scoffed Mr. Hyde. “Tomorrow is April Fools’ Day, and I am afraid you have been made the April fool, Mary!”
    â€œArtemus, it is no prank. I will vouch for these girls myself! If you used your ears instead of your tongue, even an old dog like you might learn something!” scolded Mrs. Redfield.
    As if it had been waiting for its introduction, our ghost suddenly rapped loudly. All present heard it and began to look around uneasily for the source of the sound.
    â€œIs this the injured spirit who communicated to me and the Foxes earlier this evening?” Mrs. Redfield inquired in a loud, dramatic voice.
    Two raps.
    â€œTwo means yes, and one means no,” Mrs. Redfield explained to the crowd.
    â€œWhy, someone’s having a game with us!” exclaimed Mr. Hyde. “They’re in the attic and knocking on the ceiling above us!”
    This caused the fishermen to hurry out of the bedroom and into the hallway, where we heard their feet pounding up the attic stairs.
    Mr. Hyde followed them out