No one thought anything of it when Luke did not come in for lunch, they thought he was perhaps sleeping, since he kept telling them how tired he was. However, the situation started bothering Brian when he started hearing the crew talk about his brother whilst they were working.“Roe, what did you just say about Luke?” he asked quickly.“I’m saying your little brother is in that creepy barn up there, knocking holes in the walls with an axe. He said he’s going to burn that place down.” Roe told him quickly.“When was this?” James asked and poked his head out of the pump house.“About an hour ago. Cracker here just said he heard voices, sounded like the kid was arguing with someone, he came down to tell me.” Roe replied.“Fuck. James! Get Dad! Hurry!” Brian yelled and ran as hard as he could up the paths.“Let’s go lads!” Roe said to the crew and set off after Brian.Cynthia had watched from the kitchen window, and when she saw the sudden commotion she screamed for her husband.“Dad! Dad
Brian would be sore for more than a week after he helped rescue Luke. But he could hardly complain. Luke was still in the hospital since both his legs were broken just above the knee, his shoulder was fractured, and he had a couple of deep gashes where the nails had gotten to him as the building collapsed on top of him. Luke was permanently in a bad mood since he had to be pushed around in a wheelchair for his legs to heal or stay in bed. He was in constant pain too, but he did not complain about it.Cynthia knew something was wrong with Luke, but she could not put her finger on it; yet. Roe had told her they had discovered an axe near where Luke had been, it was a crew member’s axe, and the very axe they had been looking for since the day of the incident. All construction on the property was halted to clear up the pile of wood. Brian had planned a wooden floor for the pavilion, the dark mahogany had already been purchased, but after his experience with the beams, he felt they were
Brian and James were on their own for the better parts of the next two weeks. Between Luke and Nadine, the parents had their hands full. The only relief everyone had was that Saon and Elizabeth were there when the boys needed to make themselves lunch and dinner.The pond and pavilion progressed quickly, the contractors had seen what the ghosts were capable of, and they just wanted to get the job done so that they can put Thomas Gardens behind them. True to his word, Brian had gotten help from the ghosts, and every morning upon their arrival, a little of the work had already been done.Cynthia couldn’t believe her eyes when she finally came home the next Sunday. What had once been a construction site was now a gorgeous pavilion, decorated with fairy lights. Two bridges were on either side of the pavilion, and everywhere she looked was greenery and lights in between.The car jerked to a halt all of a sudden, and she nearly hit her head on the steering wheel.“You really need to look whe
Nadine and Jerry got married on the fifth of January, the garden was in full bloom, and the koi fish were jumping in and out of the water, which scared the pastor half to death since he thought he saw a woman in the pond.Some of the guests jumped when the wedding march was played on a guitar, that stood up against a chair, the strings moving as if by themselves. All though unsettling as it was to some guests, they still enjoyed the wedding. At the end of the ceremony, Luke leaned in to whisper something in Jerry’s ear who had nodded and then repeated it to Nadine who simply nodded.Brian, James and Luke stepped forward, closed their eyes and their bodies shook for a second. When the boys opened their eyes the pastor crossed himself quickly and held up a crucifix towards them.Brian was the first to open his mouth, his lips did not move, and yet, a deep baritone voice filled the air.“I, Robert James Thomas, hereby bless thee with a long life, full of prosperity and love, with the kno
Not everyone was allowed to sleep in the next morning. The three brothers were up by eight am, feeling as if a train had run them over. They were exhausted, and they had no recollection of the previous day’s events. All three of them woke up in house four, groaning at the aches in their bodies.They got dressed silently and then headed out to the front lawn to clean up a mess they had no recollection of participating in. It took the boys three hours to clean up everything, fold up the chairs and take the tent down. By the time Joe emerged from the house everything was done, and the boys were sitting in the pavilion with their feet in the cold water of the pond below.Joe looked around him, noting the difference immediately.“You guys did this all by yourselves?” he asked as he walked to the pond.Brian looked at his father with bloodshot eyes.“Yeah. What happened yesterday?” he asked his father carefully.“What do you mean? You were here!” his father replied.“Doesn’t feel like it. T
The City Gardens was an unsettling place. Brian felt the chills run up and down his spine as he stepped through the gate. He halted in his tracks as he caught the dark shadows dart out of the corner of his eye and to an abandoned building that seemed to have been ravaged by a fire.Brian did not like the look of things. He heeded Bradley and Roger’s warnings and silently called to his family. When he turned to look back he noticed the Mayor and her escorts were still standing at the curb beyond the gate.“Aren’t you coming in with me?” he asked carefully.“Will you not be able to manage the walk yourself?” the Mayor replied frankly, as if it was his fault that she was shaking in her high heel designer shoes.“You have to show me what you want from this place. I can’t run without direction.” Brian said to her.“Why don’t you just walk around and come back and tell me what you think? You are the landscape artist?” came the indignant reply.“What do you want me to do with it? Restore it,
Later that evening Brian sat in his study, looking at the pictures covering the walls of the room. Since he had graduated he had done four private gardens, the first was the guest house they had stayed in when the family had first arrived in Buttershire. The Thomas name was growing in the town again, not just for the landscaper, but the absolute delight of the Thomas gardens themselves.The towns’ people had gotten used to the ghosts following the family members around, popping up whenever and where ever in town.There was a knock on the front door.“Come in!” Brian called out.“Where are you?” Joe called out to his son.“Study Dad.”“Heard you had some complications at the survey this afternoon?” Joe asked and sat down on one of the other rolling chairs, normally occupied by James when he does his planning.Brian nodded.“Some nasty things are roaming around there Dad. It’s way worse than it was here. I was hoping I can get Luke’s opinion before I make up my mind about that place. I
Imagine the Mayor’s surprise early the next morning when she walked up the City hall’s steps only to be met by the three Thomas brothers in the reception area.“Have you reconsidered?” She said by way of greeting.“No, we need to get into the archives.” Brian said simply.“What for?” she asked confused.“I need to know what was the connection between the Wilcox and Thomas families fifty years ago; and what they did in the City Gardens.” Luke told her quickly.“Can’t you ask your ghost friends?” Mayor McCummins responded.“It’s not something you ask ghosts Mayor, especially if they were keen on keeping scandals out of the public eye.” James said.The Mayor shrugged and said“I’m sorry, I can’t help you. Mayor James Thomas had sealed those records in a vault that no one could open for fifty years.” She said and started walking away.“Aren’t you curious Mayor? About those records?” Brian suddenly called out to her.The Mayor’s interest was sparked, and she turned to look at the boys.“Wh