That night all the kids slept solidly through until morning. Nothing out of the ordinary happened to anyone. As Jessica was getting up, she heard her mother talking on the phone. She couldn’t quite make out what she was saying. When she went downstairs she asked her mother who she was talking to. Her mother mentioned that it was a very dear old friend of hers and that she was coming to dinner that night. Jessica didn’t think much of it and went to make her breakfast.
Later that morning, she received a text from William. Miss Waters sent him an email asking if he and Jessica would like to do a quick investigation of the old mill itself. Jessica was quite excited, as she had wondered what it looked like in the old building. She text William back saying she’d love to do it. Shortly after William texted her again, saying to meet at his house at noon, Brenda would pick them up from there. She responded okay, and continued on with her usual Sunday morning chores.
Jessica arrived at Williams around eleven thirty. William had left the front door open for her and told her to just walk in. As she was heading downstairs, she heard William talking to someone. Just as she reach the bottom of the stairs, she heard him say “good bye” and he hung up the phone. William looked at Jessica, with a strange look on his face. “Hey Jess, how’s it going? I want you to come here and look at something.” Jessica walked over to the laptop and sat down beside William. “I was just talking to Matt. I told him about us going back to the Mill with Brenda, and how she wanted to do it with a smaller group. He really didn’t seem upset that he wasn’t invited. He said he was meeting Alexis to take her fishing.” “Well, that would explain why he wasn’t upset,” replied Jessica, “I’m sure he’d much rather be spending time alone with Alexis.” William was rewinding a video on his laptop while the discussion was going on. “Okay, here it is, I want you to look at the window in this video and watch he curtain.”
As Jessica was watching the video, right after the glow moved across the screen and disappeared, she saw the curtain lift up from the wind. “So what am I supposed to be looking at? I just see the wind lifting the curtain.”
William points out to her that only one curtain lifts up from the wind. The one right beside it is moving a little, but doesn’t move nearly as far. Jessica doesn’t understand what he means, “So what if one curtain doesn’t move? I don’t understand the big deal.” William tells Jessica, “This video has bugged me all week long. The broken window is actually more behind the stationary curtain then the one that moves.”
Jessica still didn’t think it was a big deal. While watching the video again, she just shook her head, “I really don’t see why it’s bothering you so much?” William can’t explain it. It’s one of those things that eats away at you until you solve the riddle, then it’s like an ‘ah ha’ moment when you figure it out. A bit frustrated, William turns off the video. They head upstairs and grab a couple cups of coffee, then they go wait outside for Brenda.
Brenda pulls up around five to twelve. She waves at the two as they get up and walk towards her car. Jessica jumps in the front and William in the back. Brenda has a big smile on her face as they say good morning. She tells them that she had a real enjoyable time hunting with the group yesterday. She became so intrigued with the history of the old mill again, that she just had to check out the rest of the property. Brenda asks Jessica if she told William about the portion of the dream she remembered at the house. Jessica tells here no and turns to William to fill him in on their little secret. William’s curiosity is peeked as he gives Jessica his full attention. “When we were walking towards the kitchen yesterday, I looked over at the counter and had an instant memory flash of my dream from the night before. Remember I told you guys that Mr. Johnson had taken the gold out to melt it down. I didn’t tell you that Mrs. Johnson found a bag of gold in the wood that her husband missed. She was about to take it to him when a pot boiled and she put it down on the counter. I think there may still be gold in the house.”
William smiled at Jessica, “Would be nice to find a treasure in one of the buildings today, but I would imagine that if it was on the property, some treasure hunter would have discovered it by now.”
They continued on to the old mill. As they were getting out of the car, Brenda reminded them to be extremely careful. The old mill was in anywhere near the good shape the house was. As the walked through the tall grass towards the river, William was looking at the old house. He was staring at the windows trying to understand why only the one curtain moved and not the other one. As they got closer to the mill, they noticed that a portion of the roof was caved in and there were warning signs that this building was unsafe. Brenda told them that the city was planning on repairing the mill to make it part of the historic site. As they approached the door, they noticed a large padlock on it. Brenda took out the keys she was given and opened it.
As they carefully entered the building, they were awestruck that it looked like nobody had been inside for many years. There were empty flour bags that were chewed up by mice, and old tools covered with dust. As they were looking around, they noticed that the gear form the wheel that turned the grinder had fallen apart. They were taking pictures of the entire area inside the mill, when Jessica asked Brenda if they should do an EVP session. Brenda told her to give it a shot. Jessica took out her digital recorder: “Is anyone here with us?” (Pause) “If you are here with us, can you tell us your name?” (Pause) “Are you the traveller who stole the gold?” (Pause) “If you are here can you knock on the wall for us?” (Pause) “Please give us a sign that you are with us.” (Pause)
Brenda listens to the recording through her earphones, and then shakes her head, “Looks like no one wants to talk to us in here.” Jessica looks a bit disappointed as Benda gives her back her recorder. As they are looking around, they notice that most of the interior of the building is quite rotted from the moisture. They decide to check other structures on the property, as this building looked like it could fall down at anytime. As they left the mill and started walking towards the structures at the back of the property, William asked the girls, “Wouldn’t it have been cool to see what that place would have been like back in the day? I mean with the gears turning grinding the flour and stuff?” Brenda agreed. She figured it would take quite a bit of work to get it back up and running again.
Jessica was walking a bit ahead of the group and walking straight towards a specific shed. “This is where Mr. Johnson melted the gold,” she said with confidence. William was about to laugh, when he realized that her dreams have been strangely accurate so far, so he decide to stay quiet.
As Brenda unlocked the door and opened it, William was surprised to see an old forge for melting metal and some moulds in the shape of small trapezoids. William picked up one of the moulds and asked Brenda if she new why they weren’t just rectangles. Brenda explained to William that with the sides slanting away to make it larger at the top, the item would be easier to remove from the mould. William was still staring at the mould, and he simply replied “Makes sense.’
Brenda wasn’t sensing anything in this building, just like at the mill, so she figured she’d snap a few photos while Jessica did an EVP. She asked Jessica if she would like to, and Jessica smiled. She pulled out her recorder and started. “Is anyone here with us?” (Pause) “If you are here with us, can you tell us your name?” (Pause) “Are you in here Mr. Johnson?”
Just then a bang was heard near the back corner. A little startled, she continued: “Is that you Mr. Johnson?” (Pause) “Please give us a sign that you are with us.” (Pause) “Can you make that loud sound again?”
Once again Brenda listens to the recording, but this time thinks she hears something. She can’t quite make it out, and after Jessica and William both listened to it, neither of them could make out what the sound was. Jessica asked a few more questions before leaving the building.
The trio goes from building to building for a couple hours, but don’t find anything. They check the old barn and a couple storage sheds, but nothing really shows up. Brenda was a bit disappointed, as she was hoping they might find some new evidence. William seemed quite happy with just seeing all the old artefacts in the buildings. Jessica too seemed content just being out hunting for ghost, even if they didn’t show up. As they made their way back to the car, Brenda was looking at her photos on her camera. There was so much dust in the old buildings that some photos were completely full of orbs.
As they approached the car, William was staring at the house and asked Brenda, “Do you know of any logical reason for one curtain to move and the one right beside it not to? Brenda was not sure she understood the question. William explained that in the very first video of the traveller’s ghost, as he vanished near the window, one curtain lifted up from the wind, but the other one barely moved. Brenda suggested they go back inside the old house and investigate it further. Quite excited to get back to where most of their experiences took place, William and Jessica both agreed that it’d be a great idea.
As Brenda unlocked the front door, they heard a bang from upstairs. Brenda yelled out, “Hello is anybody in here?” There was no response. Feeling that it may be a bird or other animal, they headed up the stairs cautiously. As they reach the landing, they listen for any noise at all on the second floor. The house is silent. They slowly make their way to the first room. The first thing William notices is that all the doors are closed. William quietly tells Brenda and Jessica, “I am positive that when we left here yesterday, all the doors were wide open. I remember looking into each room as we left the second floor.” “I think you’re right,” said Brenda, “but why would they all be closed?” Puzzled by this, but not frightened, the trio enter the first room. William realizes for the first time that Brenda didn’t bring her infrared camera. He asks her about it, and she tells him she forgot to recharge the battery. She was busy catching up with an old friend that morning when she realized it was still sitting on the table in her study.
As they look around the room, everything seems to be in its proper place. William slowly looks in the closet, as his flashlight shines on the wall, he jumps back. The girls ask him what’s wrong and he tells them, “There’s someone in there. I saw their face staring at me.” Intrigued, Brenda goes to look into the closet, with Jessica close behind her. As she shines her flashlight in, she notices that the wall is discoloured from moisture. Jessica laughs, and tells him it’s just water stains on the wall. William goes to have a second look and as he does, he clearly sees the water marks on the wall, and also how he could mistake there pattern for a face. “What did you call that Brenda, facial perception” asked William? Brenda smiled, “You’re very close, it’s called face perception. And remember yesterday you couldn’t open that door? Your subconscious mind was probably expecting to see who was holding it shut, even though it’s the next day, so as you opened it, you saw what you expected to see.”
Feeling a little silly, William shut the door and they continued on to the next room. After a thorough search of the upstairs, nothing was found. Nothing seemed out of place, and nobody felt chills or sensed a presence. They decided go back to the main floor to continue investigating the curtain in the sitting room.