Chapter Ten

I didn’t even know what to say, What the heck kind of place was I buying for goodness sakes, I asked Red how he knew so much about things that went on up there, well it actually was my father that was really into getting to the bottom of it..., bottom of what I asked, oh, all the disappearances and story’s about the goings on up there. I asked Red why his father would have been so interested in that, Well it started when a family named Shrilenger moved in, my dad ran the local lumber yard and Mr Shrilenger had came into the store to get a bid on a garage. After a few days my Dad went up to the old Crane place to deliver the bid to Mr Shrilenger, He said he had talked to him and Shrilenger said he liked the bid and to order the materials, He also gave my Dad a partial payment for the materials and said he would have the rest by the time the order is in. about a week went by and everything was in for the garage, Dad didn’t have a phone number for him so he went out to his house to tell him the news. Dad said he knocked on the door for a while then figured no one was home; he didn’t want to keep running back and forth up there so he wrote a note and stuck it between the jamb on the front door. He said another week had gone by so Dad drove up to Shrilengers place to see what was up, when he pulled up to the house the first thing he noticed was the not still stuck in the door, thinking to himself that was strange, he knocked on the door but again no one answered so he went to the windows and peaked inside to see if he could see anything , he said that it had looked like everything was gone from the house, it seemed to be empty, When my Dad came back into town he went over to the Sheriff’s office and told them what had happen and maybe they could go take a look, One of the deputies was sent up there to check it out, when he came back he said that there was no one home and that the house looked empty, but here is the strange thing, I chuckled well if it gets any stranger I think I’m going to really start to worry, Red looked at me with a sober face, then said oh it gets stranger, I was starting to think that this guy had the wind of a hurricane as much as he is talking, but I really wanted to hear what he knows about the house, even if they are just rumors, Red started in again, he told me that when the deputy was driving out of the driveway and he swears he saw a large black wolf just standing there looking at him, the deputy stopped and watched it for awhile, he said his dispatcher had made a call to him so he picked up the call, when he looked back up the wolf was gone, A black wolf I said, It must have been a big dog or something, Red shook his head, no I knew the guy that saw it and he wasn’t a one to make up story’s, Well is it possible one just wandered down from the hills, Red looked at me again with a cross face, and said there has never been any wolves around these parts before, but I’m not saying it couldn’t happen. I asked him what happen then; did the guy finally get hold of your Dad? No Red said that’s the strange thing months went by and still nothing, finally the Sheriff’s department went out to see what was going on, when they went to the front door my Dads note was still between the jamb, They tried the door and it was open, when they got inside they found the house empty. Wow that is strange I said, Did anyone ever hear from them again, and what ever happen to the check that he gave your Dad,
Well that was why my Dad started looking into things, at first he went to the bank and turned in the check, Dad asked the bank manager if Shrilenger had closed out his account, the banker was a close friend of my Dads and told him that he didn’t and hasn’t seen him around or heard anything from him for several months, Dad also asked him if they were getting any other checks coming in from Mr Shrilenger, the bank manager said no and he had actually tried calling him but no one answered. Dad spent the next several years researching everything he could about that place, and what happen to the Shrilenger family.
I asked Red if he is still trying to find out anything else, and that I would like to talk with him sometime. Red looked down at his cup of coffee then turned to me and said his Dad had passed away close to twenty years ago. Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Awe that’s ok, he had a heart attack sitting in this very restaurant; I guess that’s why I like coming here. We sat in silence for a few minutes, Well again I’m sorry to hear about your Dad, and thank you for taking the time and telling me all about the house but I had better get over to the bank, I have some business with them and I want to get there before they close their doors. Red stood up and reached out his hand to shake mine, he had a firm grip, it was as if he was saying be careful and good by all at the same time.