More Harry Hogan stories!
Ida Pinsent laid her coffee mug on the end table and looked at her childhood friend, sitting across from her. “So… now that you have the full story, are you still interested?”
Marion Wilson was slowly shaking her head. “Let me get this straight… first you get me excited about sharing this farmhouse with you and several other retirees… and then you tell me it might have a resident ghost. Do I have that right?”
“Right, but when you put it like that, it doesn’t sound very appealing… and if you don’t want to be part of it, I’ll understand.”
“Are you kidding? Give up the chance to live in a house that might have a ghost?” Marion’s eyes widened and her eyebrows rose. “Not a chance! You’re not getting rid of me now.”
“Drat,” Ida said. “I completely forgot about your obsession with anything related to ghosts.”
“This means a lot to me,” Marion said quietly. “Not the ghost, but… I could have retired ten years ago, after Levi passed, but I kept working and developed some hobbies to keep me busy. Now I want to devote more time to these things.”
Ida breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, because there’s just one room left and I was hoping you’d take it.”
“I’m looking forward to the move… and meeting the others.”
Ida nodded. “Ella, a professional cook, insisted that we let her do the cooking… and it made sense, instead of everyone cooking separate meals all at the same time.”
“Fine with me,” Marion said.
“Shelia loves to vacuum, Viola and Alice will do whatever is needed, but we all do our share of the housework.”
“Sounds great,” Marion said. “I know it was a farm, so I assume there’s a vegetable garden.”
“Doesn’t look like it’s been used in many years,” Ida said.
“Great! I’ll take care of that and everyone interested can help,” Marion said confidently. “We always had a garden and greenhouse. Most years we had enough produce to last all winter.”
“Really!” Ida raised her eyebrows. “If that’s what you want, we’ll have it plowed and I’m sure you’ll get lots of help.” She paused a moment. “Now, about the ‘ghost’ thing…”
“What about it?”
“It doesn’t bother me or you… but not everyone feels that way. There’s this retired police detective, who’s known for solving these things, and I’m considering asking him to check it out.”
“If he debunks the ghost idea, I can live with it,” Marion said. “But all the residents must be happy if you want them to stay.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“As for me, with a garden… and maybe a greenhouse… I’ll be as happy as a pig in you-know-what!”
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