Ghosts

Chapter 2

Hillsdown was hardly a village. Once upon a time, in an era of promising prosperity, when the steelworks in the neighboring city of Fairmouthe was supposedly going to triple production, Hillsdown was expected to become a satellite where people could enjoy the rural lifestyle and commute to the much larger town. In anticipation of that, the good people of Hillsdown renovated and improved, hoping to benefit from the surge in demand to enable them to finally sell up and escape the dreary hamlet. One of the few homes not to be improved was the Shaydes home. Reasons for that were twofold. One, it was so let go, it would have been cheaper to demolish it and rebuild. That option was well beyond their means. Two, the Shaydes actually liked where they lived. It was at the end of an unfinished cul-de-sac that only had six dwellings in it. That their place had been numbered fifteen was more down to the number of building plots, not the actual number of houses. Fifteen stood, defying all known laws of physics and gravity, in splendid isolation at the end of the cul-de-sac. Beyond that was Windyway Farm, ninety three acres of continuously rotated crop production, and a much needed source of the Shaydes nutrition. A simple stepping over what was left of the fence to harvest a cabbage or a few potatoes, or a sack full of onions, meant at least there was always something to put on the table. Everything else was paid for out of Victor Shaydes meager pension from a fund set up after his industrial accident payout and a contribution from Grandma out of her pension.
Victor's younger brother Ben and his wife Daphne, had been keen to move on, to give daughter Harmony a better chance in life, so it was agreed that Victor would help get their house modernized to take full advantage of the anticipated rise in property values. Once sold, Victor would be generously rewarded for his efforts. A handyman legend in his own lunchtime, Victor assured Ben that there was nothing that between them they couldn't tackle. Ben should have remembered that Victor lost his leg at the steelworks when, as maintenance engineer, he had fallen from a gantry he himself had repaired. So, over two months, the place was gutted and a new bathroom and kitchen had been installed. To be fair to Victor, if inspection didn't go beyond the superficial, both the bathroom and kitchen at least looked the part. As Ben had been finishing off the exterior repairs and painting two things happened. The steelworks, owned by a huge, faceless multinational outfit, decided that the increase in demand was going to be at the new plant three hundred miles away, with a scaling down at the ancient Fairmouthe plant. Fifty three people lost their jobs, Violet and Uncle Ben being amongst them. Because of that, the property prices dropped overnight. The second thing that happened, were the deaths of Ben, Daphne and Harmony Shaydes. The coroner's report said carbon monoxide poisoning from a badly installed gas boiler. Victor was prosecuted, but a lenient judge, taking pity on the one legged man, feeling his grief for the loss of his family was enough punishment, handed out a suspended sentence. The insurance company refused to pay up anything, arguing successfully that the deaths were through negligence and as Benjamin Shaydes was a party to the installation of the boiler, was as much to blame as Victor. With no other relatives, the house was signed over to Victor and Violet took it on herself to sell the property. They scraped enough money together by selling off all the furniture, to have the gas boiler installed correctly and certified as safe. This left little money to advertise the sale. Having worked in the administration department at the steelworks, Violet was proficient on the computer and produced an impressive web-page, extolling the virtues of quiet rural living and a great place to retire, thinking that would be her best target demographic. The initial response had been encouraging. Always a positive young woman, Violet became totally focused on the job in hand. Because the house was paid for, she set the price realistically at five percent below the valuation figure. One day after advertising on the internet, she got thirteen responses. Five of these she turned into hard leads and made appointments for them to view. Dressed in her best business office outfit, with a clipboard and a smile, she greeted the first couple at the gate. Newly retired, they were selling up and downsizing from their city home to live in the country. After making favorable comments about the garden being just the right size and the fresh paintwork, with her fingers crossed behind her back, Violet followed them inside. They liked the bathroom and kitchen, glanced at the certificate for the boiler, talked about the decor and what colors they would have and generally were quite upbeat. They were just starting the haggling over the price, when it all went horribly wrong. Three ghosts suddenly appeared, and two prospective buyers promptly disappeared.