The Stories That Haunt Us Read Online Free Page B

“Thinker.” Perhaps the ghost was thinking of ways to rid the house of humans!
    Nervous Nellie
    T he Fagan family lived on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore. A loving, close-knit family, they lived a quiet and contented life. There was only one problem. Things were never where they were supposed to be, and often, when someone in the family got up in the morning, they found cups and saucers in shattered pieces on the floor. Furthermore, the family members always had to be careful about where they stepped, as quite often things seemed to be spilled on the floor. Yet none in the family claimed to be responsible for the accidents.
    One of the Fagan daughters offered an explanation. “Maybe, we have a ghost in the house.” Her younger brother giggled.
    â€œRidiculous,” said the father. “There are no such creatures as ghosts.” No sooner had he said this when a cup fell off the sideboard and smashed on the floor. The mother jumped, the daughter smiled and the brother giggled again.
    â€œNow, now, that was a just a coincidence, nothing more.”
    â€œYes father,” said the daughter as she left the kitchen on her way to school. “Whatever you say.”
    The mother had had quite enough of this. The first few accidents she had chalked up to childishness, but she was beginning to put more faith in her daughter’s explanation. “What if she’s right? What do we do then?” she asked her husband. Mr. Fagan reassured his wife. “Don’t worry yourself about it. There are no ghosts in this house.”
    Putting on a brave face for the family was one thing, but the father was also having second thoughts about all the “coincidences” and “accidents” that kept occurring. One day, he went so far as to check all of the shelves in the house. They were all perfectly level. Yet the odd things continued to happen. It was getting harder to convince himself that a ghost was not at work in the Fagan household. Finally, with the urging of his family and his ultimate hope to prove them wrong, he decided to research the history of their house.
    Mr. Fagan went to the provincial archives in Halifax and spoke to a local historian. Together, they managed to piece together the history of the family’s house. A sea captain by the name of Eli Philpotts had built the house in 1833 for his bride, Nellie Fortune. Nellie, a little slip of a thing, was skittish around people. The couple rarely entertained because Nellie was so nervous that she often dropped things. Eli was devoted to Nellie and he never complained, even when she broke their best china.
    They lived happily together for many years, doting on each other and laughing at Nellie’s clumsiness. One day, however, tragedy struck, and Captain Eli’s vessel didn’t return to port. The vessel, its crew and its captain were never heard from again.
    After her husband’s ship failed to return on the appointed day, Nellie spent all her waking hours sitting at the window scanning the horizon. It came to pass that Nellie hadn’t been seen around town for three or four days. Neighbours found this odd and became concerned. Some of them decided to go to the house and investigate. They found her sitting in her seat at the widow, dead, with her eyes still fixed on the horizon. She spent her last moments on earth waiting and watching for her beloved husband.
    When the undertaker and his assistant were bringing Nellie’s body downstairs, they swore they saw her ghost standing in the kitchen watching her body being removed. They couldn’t leave fast enough when they heard a dish crash to the floor!
    Mr. Fagan decided it was best to tell his family what he had discovered: “I have checked out the problem and, as unbelievable as it seems, we do appear to have a ghost to contend with. But, a harmless one. Her name was Nellie Philpotts. Her husband was a sea captain who was tragically lost at sea and Nellie