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Cornelius Cone: The Tale Of The Ghost House Part One

Postman Pete is the local postman for Hythe village and is also known as a bit of a joker. As he drove his van past the power station before turning on to Badminston Road, he always felt uneasy about delivering to these three houses pinpointed out in the middle of the open fields. All three had long gravel driveways that he needed to reverse up and then drive out of as there was nowhere to turn the van around. 

The first house, Whittington Farm, belonged to Mr and Mrs Sanderson. They were always available for conversation and had given Postman Pete two dozen eggs freshly laid by their hens a couple of months ago. 

The second house, Tumbleweed Cottage, belonged to Mr and Mrs Granger, never very talkative and often in a hurry. Pete made sure that he didn’t spend too long there. 

It was the third house that disturbed him the most though. Zimmerman House, belonging to Mrs Patterson-St-George. Her husband had gone off to war and never returned but Mrs Patterson-St-George always looked very pale and she felt cold on the couple of occasions that Postman Pete had touched her hand as he handed over her mail and parcels. He often noticed the curtains moving in the upstairs windows and some loud noises coming from inside the house but Mrs Patterson-St-George claimed that she lived alone and preferred it that way.

This morning though, something just didn’t feel right. As Pete drove his van back down the driveway from Tumbleweed Cottage, an ambulance bounced its way carefully along the gravel track towards the main road before turning on its blue flashing lights and speeding off into the distance. Postman Pete carefully drove his van down the track towards Zimmerman House where the ambulance had came from. He had a parcel for Mrs Patterson-St-George that needed signing for. He approached her driveway and reversed the van up towards the house before putting the hand brake on and stepping out of his van. The place was eerily quiet. All of the curtains were closed in every window and the only sound was the hum of the van’s engine. Pete opened the side door, picked out the parcel and letters for Mrs Patterson-St-George before heading over towards the front door.

Zimmerman House had a huge metal knocker on the front wooden door and Pete reached out and gave three loud thud, thud, thuds on the door. He waited and waited and waited. No answer. He tried again. Thud. Thud. Thud. No answer. Maybe it was Mrs Patterson-St-George in the ambulance that he saw leaving, he thought. As Pete reached into his pocket to pull out a red card to leave a note for Mrs Patterson-St-George, he leant against the door and it slowly creaked open.

Pete felt a little unsure of what to do. Could he leave the parcel inside and close the door or should he just return it back to the office? 

He pushed the door completely open.

“Hello! Hello! Mrs Patterson-St-George! Is anybody home?” Postman Pete called out.

There was no answer. 

He placed the parcel and letters on to a small table next to the front door that had a fruit bowl on it with a set of keys and a mobile phone in it. Pete knew he should just leave the parcel and letters and walk away but he felt curious. He heard the floorboards creaking upstairs and called out again.

“Hello! Hello! It’s the postman! I have a parcel for you!” Pete called out.

There was still no answer. Pete moved forward and headed down the hall towards the living room. The door was slightly ajar and Postman Pete pushed it open. In a split second, something black and furry flew through the air, scratching Pete’s face before landing in the hall. Pete quickly stumbled backwards before turning around to see a black and white cat running out of the front door. 

“Darn cats” Pete whispered to himself rubbing his hand across his face to make sure he wasn’t bleeding.

Happy that he was ok, he moved into the living room where he found an old rocking chair, a bookcase, an old television that stood on its own four metal legs, a radio and an old fashioned gramophone with its brass horned speaker. The vinyl record was still spinning around on its turntable but the stylus had been lifted off of it. Pete reached out and switched the turntable off. As he did though, he heard the floorboards creak again but this time, it was coming from the staircase in the hall. 

Postman Pete quickly moved back toward the door and looked out into the hall. Nobody was there. Pete didn’t want to stay around any longer and quickly headed back towards the front door. As he arrived back at his van, he realised that he left his pen next to the parcel and letters in the hall. As Pete turned to go back to the house though, the front door slammed shut with a loud boom that seemed to echo around the area. Pete walked over and tried to push the door open again but it wouldn’t move. He tried knocking again but there was no answer. He gave up and wandered back to his van where he knew he had a spare pen hidden in the glovebox at the front of the van.  

As he drove away, Pete looked in his mirror back at the house and saw the door had opened and an old man was standing there wearing a white vest and black trousers and he was holding the parcel and letters that Pete had left in the house. Postman Pete stamped on to the brakes and stepped out of his van but when he stood outside his van and looked back at the house, the door was closed again and nobody was there. Pete scratched his head. There was no way that the old man could have gone back inside the house again in the few seconds it took for Pete to step out of his van. 

He ran back up the gravel driveway towards the house and knocked on the front door again with a loud thud, thud, thud. No answer again. 

“Hello! Hello!” Postman Pete called out as he knocked again.

There was still no answer. Maybe he was imagining things. He had been working a lot lately. As Pete began wandering back to his van, he could hear the gravel crunching under the tyres and the van began moving forwards.

“Oh no!” Pete shouted and he ran as fast as he could to catch up with the van.

The van seemed to move faster as Pete got closer and then, crunch! The van was stuck in a ditch at the side of the gravel track. Its front bumper was dented, the headlight was smashed and it slowly sank into the wet oozy mud of the ditch. Pete stopped and held his head in his hands in disbelief. 

“Are you all right?” a lady called out.

Pete looked up and saw a lady riding a big black horse down the lane. 

“I’m, er, I’m fine, thanks” Postman Pete replied. 

“Your van isn’t though,” the lady replied.

“I know, I, um, I,” Pete stammered.

“It’s ok, this is a rather peculiar place. I’m Layla, Layla Langshore. I live further down the tracks in Badminston. Do you need me to call anyone for you?” 

“I’m ok, thanks Layla. I’m Pete by the way. I’ll just call for the breakdown services to rescue me. You said this place is peculiar. Do you know the people who live here?” Postman Pete asked.

“Not really. An elderly lady lives there but I very rarely see her,” Layla replied.

“What about an elderly man?”

“No, as far as I know she lives on her own. Her husband died about ten years ago so I think it’s just her and her cat there now.”

Pete thanked Layla for stopping and watched as she continued riding her horse down the gravel lane towards the fields near Fawley Village. He looked down at the van and shook his head as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and called his manager. It was going to be a long day.

Meanwhile, at the supermarket, Cinnamon, Colin, Christopher and Cornelius Cone were lining up alongside Bennie and Bryony Barrier to divert the traffic around The Maintenance Truck and the long ladders that Driver Dave and Highway Harry were standing on. Mr Mullet had ordered some new energy saving light bulbs from Kazakhstan which were meant to be ten times brighter than ordinary light bulbs and only use ten percent of the electricity. He had asked Driver Dave his team to help install these light bulbs in all twenty-five of the street lights that lit up the supermarket car park. Dave had been delaying the job for as long as he could due to the bad weather they had been having recently but today, there was hardly a cloud in the sky and Mr Mullet took his chance.

“Oooh this is so exciting Corny!” Tricia Trolley shrieked. “The car park will be so bright tonight! There will be nowhere for those joy jokers to hide!”

“Joy jokers?” Cornelius Cone laughed. “What on Earth are they?”

“Oh, you know, those young teenagers that think it’s ok for them to take a joy ride in the trollies and then leave us dumped in a hedge or upside down in the woods or worse, in a river or a stinky swamp. They took Trudy across the main road last week and into the forest. Oh my, it was awful. They rattled her wheels over the gravel. Spun her round and round and round. Raced her over the humped bridges by the Itchen river and when she thought it couldn’t get any worse…”

“She came back here?” Christopher Cone added.

Tricia Trolley scowled at him. “No! They left her in the cow’s facilities.”

“The cow’s facilities?” Christopher Cone asked, looking confused.

“The facilities that most of us use to spend a penny” Cornelius Cone added. 

“Like I said, she returned to the supermarket. Although with Mullet’s prices there’s nothing for a penny in there” Christopher Cone replied.

Cornelius Cone laughed. “No, they left her in the cow’s toilet area. She was covered in…”

“Ssshhh! Here she comes now” Tricia Trolley interrupted before turning to face her. “Good morning Trudy!”

“Is it?” Trudy Trolley asked. 

“Oh don’t be such a grumpy wheels. Look, the sun is shining, Corny’s here and it’s going to be a beautiful day” Tricia Trolley replied.

“It’s ok for you. I overheard Charlie say that I needed another washdown. That’s the fourth time this week!”

“We all have a washdown on Thursdays. I’m sure it’s just part of the routine” Tricia Trolley reassured her.

“I guess. I just want to be useful again after everything that’s happened lately.”

“Well, if you do well, I’m sure Mr Mullet will give you a pat on the head” Christopher Cone laughed.

Tricia Trolley and Cornelius Cone both looked at him just as Highway Harry called out something from above and a screwdriver fell and bounced off of Christopher Cone’s head. Christopher fell to the floor and Cinnamon Cone quickly picked up the screwdriver before it rolled out into the road.

“Sorry down there!” Highway Harry called out. “Is everyone all right?”

Cornelius Cone moved over towards Christopher and helped him up again. He held up his hand.

“How many fingers am I holding up Chris?” Cornelius Cone asked.

“Er, eight?” Christopher Cone replied before staggering over towards the back of the truck.

Cornelius looked at the four fingers he was holding up before helping Christopher into the back of the truck. Highway Harry climbed down the ladder and Cinnamon Cone handed him the screwdriver before he climbed back up again.

“Will he be ok?” Tricia Trolley asked.

“He’ll be fine, just needs to sleep it off” Cornelius Cone replied.

“Tricia!” Mrs Quilliam called out.

“Gotta go, see you soon Corny” Tricia Trolley replied before she scooted across to Mrs Quilliam for her to start her shopping.

Driver Dave and Highway Harry climbed back down their ladders and placed them into the back of The Maintenance Truck. Cornelius Cone and Bennie Barrier moved their teams further on down the road and Dave followed with the truck. They closed off the area and Dave and Harry set up their ladders onto the next double lamp post. 

“Only twelve more to go,” Harry sighed as he climbed up.

“What’s wrong with Christopher?” Dave asked.

“He has a screw loose” Cornelius chuckled.

“Oh right,” Dave replied, looking confused before joining Harry at the top of the ladders.

“I’m telling you, it’s going to look fantastic!” Wet Floor said as he walked out of the supermarket with Checkout Charlie next to him.

“I’m going to miss that old chimney though,” Charlie replied. “My grandad worked at that old power station for twenty-seven years. He once took me half way up that chimney and the views over to the Isle Of Wight were amazing.”

Wet Floor pointed at the newspaper he was holding. “Look, there’s a competition to win the chance to push the button when they blow it up. Maybe you could enter it?”

“I doubt I’d win it. There’s going to be thousands of people who would want to do it. I don’t understand why they would want to ruin the area,” Charlie complained.

“Are you talking about the new development down at the seafront?” Bennie Barrier asked as Wet Floor and Checkout Charlie walked past.

“Yes, have you seen it?” Wet Floor asked excitedly.

“Some of it. We worked there when they first started clearing the area. Apparently there’s a new school, supermarket and lots of houses being built there. It’s going to look great!” Bennie Barrier replied.

“Except that it’s haunted,” Charlie replied.

Wet Floor and Bennie Barrier looked at him. 

“Haunted?” Wet Floor asked nervously.

“You don’t believe in ghosts do you?” Bennie Barrier laughed.

“No, of course not,” Wet Floor replied worryingly.

“That’s why a lot of the land hasn’t been used before. The few houses that are down there are down long gravel tracks away from the main road. Apparently it was a big battlefield hundreds of years ago and it remains haunted today,” Charlie explained.

“And have you seen any ghosts down there?” Bennie Barrier asked.

“Well, no, but my grandad worked down there for twenty-seven years and he said that there were strange things happening,” Charlie replied.

“Charlie! Are you coming over!” a voice shouted from the petrol station.

“On our way!” Charlie replied. 

Checkout Charlie and Wet Floor headed over towards the petrol station and Bennie Barrier moved back in line alongside Bryony Barrier.

“Finally,” Bryony sighed. “I thought you had abandoned me again.”

“As if I would,” Bennie Barrier replied.

“If Corny’s involved, you always do” Bryony Barrier laughed.

Eventually, all of the lamp posts in the supermarket car park were changed to the new light bulbs. Harry and Dave helped reload The Maintenance Truck alongside Cornelius Cone and Bennie Barrier before heading off into Hythe Village. Dave parked the truck outside the tyre and exhaust workshop next to the sorting office. As he wandered inside looking to buy a replacement spare tyre, a breakdown vehicle with flashing amber lights pulled up alongside them and Postman Pete stepped out of the passenger side of the vehicle. As the breakdown vehicle moved away, they saw Postman Pete’s van on the back of it covered in mud and damaged. Cornelius Cone and Bennie Barrier jumped down from The Maintenance Truck and walked over towards Pete.

“Hi Pete, what happened?” Cornelius Cone asked.

“Oh, hello you two. I had an incident up in Fawley and now I have two days of deliveries to do tomorrow in an old reserve van” Postman Pete sighed.

“It’s good to see you are ok,” Bennie Barrier added.

“Yeh, I wasn’t even in the van at the time. I’m sure I put the brake on but it rolled down into a ditch.”

“Were you delivering near to where the new houses are being built?” Bennie Barrier asked.

“Yes, I was actually. Why?”

“Oh, no reason. I just overheard Checkout Charlie and Wet Floor talking about it earlier.”

“You know that area Bennie,” Cornelius Cone added. “We worked there a few weeks ago when they started digging the foundations and we had to help the quarry with the extra work.”

“Did anything seem odd to you up there?” Postman Pete asked.

“No, why?” Cornelius Cone replied.

“It’s probably nothing. It’s not my usual round and those houses out in the middle of nowhere are a nightmare to get to. I much prefer living around people rather than acres of dark open forest land. I’m so annoyed with myself. My van never lets me down. It’s a Wednesday van and I’m sure I pulled the handbrake on before I got out of the van. Obviously I didn’t but your mind can play tricks on you out there.”

“Maybe it was a ghost,” Bennie Barrier laughed.

Postman Pete and Cornelius Cone both looked at him.

“What? Anything is possible. Remember the witch in the woods,” Bennie Barrier added.

“That was a very angry bin scaring children Bennie, the open fields at the seafront used to be a battlefield hundreds of years ago,” Cornelius Cone replied. 

“That’s what Checkout Charlie said earlier,” Bennie Barrier replied.

“Are you telling me that it’s haunted down there?” Postman Pete asked.

“No, don’t be silly…” Bennie Barrier started.

“It’s not silly Bennie. A lot of people are wondering what will happen when more people live down there. Maybe you did pull the handbrake on Pete…” Cornelius Cone replied.

“It’s not Halloween Cornelius. We don’t need any more ghost stories. I’m going to collect my things and go home. I don’t want to hear anything more about it,” Postman Pete said before rushing into the sorting office.

At that moment, Driver Dave came out with the mechanic and they lifted the spare tyre on to the back of The Maintenance Truck. Dave shook his hand and the mechanic wandered back into his workshop. 

“Right, back to the yard. Are you two coming?” Dave asked.

“No thanks Dave, we’ll be back later!” Cornelius Cone replied.

“Well don’t stay out too late, we have an early start tomorrow!” Dave replied before climbing into the driving seat of The Maintenance Truck and driving away.

“So, what now?” Bennie Barrier asked.

“Now, we ask Bruno Bus if he wants to go for a ride,” Cornelius Cone replied.

As night time fell, Bruno Bus’s headlights lit up the country roads heading down towards the seafront near Fawley Village. The old chimney from the power station stood alone against the dark navy blue sky above it. There were bird calls, trees and bushes rustling and snorts of horses coming from the open fields.

“I don’t like it down here at night” Bruno Bus complained.

“Bruno, you’re a bus. You must go to lots of different places late at night,” Cornelius Cone replied.

“Yes, I do, but we don’t come down here after seven o’clock. Too many weird things happen late at night. 

What are we doing down here anyway?”

“I’ll know when I see it,” Cornelius Cone replied.

Bruno Bus slowly drove around the tight and twisty roads until he came to two gravel tracks.

“Why are you stopping?” Bennie Barrier asked.

“I can’t fit down these lanes. If I try, I’ll probably get stuck like the postman did earlier. If you want to go down there, you’ll have to walk.”

Cornelius Cone looked at Bennie Barrier.

“Oh, that’s a shame, we don’t have any headlights, we’ll have to take a look down there tomorrow,” Bennie Barrier said.

Cornelius Cone reached behind his high visibility belt and pulled out two small torches with very powerful light bulbs in them that almost blinded Bennie Barrier when Cornelius turned them on.

“Always keep some supplies with you Bennie, you never know when you might need them,” Cornelius Cone smiled.

Bennie Barrier groaned.

“Do you know where Postman Pete had his accident?” Cornelius Cone asked.

“According to Buddy, he was just down that lane at Zimmerman House,” Bruno Bus replied.

“Who’s Buddy?” Bennie Barrier asked.

“My friend at the bus depot, he gets all the glamorous routes whilst the rest of us are stuck in the city,” Bruno replied. “I’ll wait here for you. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“So do I,” Cornelius Cone replied as he stepped off of the bus with Bennie Barrier following close behind.

The two friends shone their torches ahead and wandered down the gravel track. They found the first house. Everything looked normal. The curtains were drawn and the lights were on. There was a cloud of smoke escaping from the chimney and a faint smell of logs burning filled the air. Bennie shone his light on the sign at the end of the driveway. 

“Whittington Farm, not that one,” Cornelius Cone whispered.

The two friends continued along the lane.

“You know Cornelius, the last time we were sneaking around this area late at night, your friend Susie Suitcase left a mess down at Ashlett Creek,” Bennie Barrier whispered.

“I remember it well,” Cornelius Cone replied.

“Then why are we trespassing in the dark again?”

“You can’t trespass on a public road Bennie.”

“You know what I mean. What’s so special about this house that Pete crashed his van at anyway?”

“They want us to work here to get the area ready for building the seafront village. I want to find out what caused Postman Pete’s accident and if what Charlie’s grandad told him was true.”

They came to a second house. Cornelius shone his torch on the sign at the end of the driveway.

“Tumbleweed Cottage, not this one,” Bennie Barrier said. 

“No, it’s the next one. There’s no lights on in Tumbleweed Cottage though. You’d have thought someone would be home,” Cornelius Cone replied.

“Maybe they’re working late or have gone out for the evening. There could be a hundred reasons.”

The two friends stopped. They heard something crunch in the distance. It sounded like twigs breaking under someone’s foot.

“I don’t like this Corny,” Bennie Barrier whispered.

“We’ve come this far, we’re not going back now.”

Both friends shined their torches around but couldn’t see anything unusual around. They moved forward slowly and as quietly as they could. The gravel under their feet had begun to turn to mud and they could feel their boots beginning to squelch in the oozy mud as they continued onward. Cornelius lifted his torch up at the sign at the end of the last driveway on this part of the lane.

“Zimmerman House,” Cornelius Cone whispered.

The whole house was in darkness. There were no sounds. No signs of life anywhere. 

“Now what?” Bennie Barrier asked.

“Now we knock on the door.”

Bennie Barrier shone his torch on Cornelius who squinted against the light. 

“Have you gone mad? We don’t even know who lives there!”

Cornelius Cone was about to reply when he heard some movement from further down the lane. There was the sound of heavy breathing and snuffling, like a horse. Both friends shined their torches around looking for something, anything. Bennie’s light caught the reflection of something down a little muddy pathway that led further into the fields.

“Corny!” Bennie Barrier stammered. “We’re not alone…”

As Cornelius Cone turned around, they were both lifted into the air in one quick swoop. The trot of horses’ hooves echoed as they were transported through the night. Bennie Barrier dropped his torch as he was lifted up but Cornelius managed to keep hold of his. He turned the torch around and shone it at whatever it was that had grabbed hold of them both. A wave of black hair was flowing freely in the breeze and Cornelius noticed a lady wearing a black mask. She hit the torch out of Cornelius Cone’s hand before encouraging her horse to speed up as they disappeared into the night.

TO BE CONTINUED…