Chapter 3

"Hinting"

Rosemary went to her house to get her clothes and books while her boyfriend was at work, then she came back to Jasper’s house and unloaded her things in her new bedroom. Jasper went out and bought a jar of olives so Rosemary could see grandfather Watts for herself, and he was absolutely thrilled that she was now living with him. He was completely in love.

That evening, Jasper cooked Rosemary a delicious meal, then they played cards. As they played, they talked.

“When does the ghost come out?” asked Rosemary. Jasper thought for a moment, then replied, “When the sun goes down. Right about this time.”

“Ooh,” said Rosemary with a smile. Jasper told her, “You never have to be afraid of him, though. He’ll misplace your belongings every once in awhile, but he won’t hurt you. I’ve only seen him once in all me years of living in this house.”

“What did he look like?” asked Rosemary.

“Well,” Jasper replied, “I went to the kitchen late at night to get a drink of water, and on my way up to me room, I was walking up those stairs,” Jasper pointed to the left grand staircase that led to the second floor. “and I saw a pale man standing at the top of the stairs.”

Rosemary gasped and asked, “What did you do?”

“I looked at him for a moment, and he remained there. I was a bit spooked, so I went down the stairs and decided to take the other staircase. On me way down, though, I felt a cold breeze fly past me.”

“Oh wow, Jasper! That’s so cool! I hope that happens to me.”

Jasper laughed and began shuffling the deck of cards.

Late that night, Jasper was woken up by a knock on his door.

“Rosemary?” he sleepily asked. She opened the door and peeked inside.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Jasper,” she said, “but I heard some strange things.”

He turned on the bedside lamp and said, “Come in.”

Rosemary walked in the room and sat down on the bed with him. He smiled, smoothed out his tangled hair, and asked her, “What’d you hear?”

“Listen,” she replied. “I can still hear it.”

They were both silent, and they heard soft footsteps on the right staircase. Jasper smiled, then they heard a muffled crash. Rosemary gasped and asked, “What is that?”

He looked at her and replied, “That’s grandfather Jasper. He’s walking down the steps.”

“What is that crash?” she asked. He replied, “Well, he died when he fell down the stairs. He was an old man, and he snapped his spine or something like that.”

“Wow. That’s a bit scary.”

“It is awfully weird. Don’t worry, though. I hear that almost every night. He was a romantic man, though. Guess what he was going downstairs for when he fell?”

“What?”

“To get his wife a glass of water. She was in labor when he died, and that’s why he was in such a hurry to get downstairs.”

“Oh my God, how tragic!” she gasped. Jasper nodded and said, “Yeah. It is really sad. his wife never remarried, but guess what the baby’s first word was?”

“Daddy?” Rosemary guessed. Jasper replied, “Yep.”

Rosemary sighed, and Jasper said, “I could talk all night long about things I’ve seen.”

“Tell me,” Rosemary said with a smile. Jasper chuckled and said, “Okay, I’ll tell you another heart-crushing one. His wife’s craving when she was pregnant was peanut butter and crackers, and Jasper was constantly buying her peanut butter. A few years ago, I woke up early one morning and went into the room next to this one to get a book. The room I went into was their bedroom when they were alive, and I found a jar of peanut butter and a box of crackers on the bed. I was thinking that Jasper had brought that to his wife.”

Rosemary put her hands to her heart and exclaimed, “Oh my God, that is so sad!”

Jasper nodded, then Rosemary asked, “What room was this?”

He thought for a moment, then replied, “Um, this used to be a guest bedroom, but this is the room where all the women that have ever lived in this house gave birth to their children. I was born in this room, me mother was born in this room, and it just keeps on going.”

Rosemary looked around the room and replied, “Oh, how neat!”

“Yeah, I agree,” said Jasper. “Although, multiple babies and mothers died in this room.”

“Ooh, are there any other ghosts around here?” asked Rosemary. Jasper said, “Well, every once in awhile, I’m woken up at night by the sound of a screaming baby, but not too often. There used to be more ghosts, but most of them faded away.”

To Jasper’s pleasure, Rosemary suddenly curled up to him and softly said, “I hope you don’t haunt this house any time soon.”

Jasper wrapped his arms around her, rested his cheek against her soft hair, and replied, “I hope I don’t, either.”