Bras D'Or

Dennis Jessome
The Boy From Bras D'Or

The Haunted House

Things were going good down at the Bras D'Or Shacks, as usual never a dull moment. I'd wake up in the morning and say to myself, I wonder what kind of a happy day I am going to have toady and ninety nine percent of the time it turns out to be one of the best days and if everyone thought like me it would be a happy world.

Life wasn't easy living in the shacks and we made the best of what we had.

One quiet evening and looking for some excitement, I went to see Leroy, Bernie and Gussie over at the pit.

This night we were talking about the haunted house in Ball's Creek and we were going a to ask Daddy if he wanted to go. That way we could get a drive up with him.

Daddy said, "First of all I don't believe in that foolishness, ghosts and spooks and all that malarkey about haunted houses".

We told him about the baby crying in the house and the family that lived there had no baby, and of course Daddy wanted a fill-in on the story.

The place was located at the turn of the old road going to Sydney, just at the Balls Creek Bridge.

Well apparently a young family from the States built a bungalow right on an old foundation of a house that burned and a little baby was burned to death, in the fire.

After explaining everything to Daddy he got a little interested and asked the boys from the shacks if they wanted to go over for a drive.

You couldn't get them in the car fast enough, they were so happy to go, especially if Darby Jessome was taking us in his car.

There were nine of us in Daddy's old 38 Ford, Emerson Jessome, Leroy Pero, Lawerence O'Toole, Bernie Day, Tootie Chisholm, Ya-Ya Slade and Jude and Larncie Carey.

We went up to Ernie Clifford's and got some gas and off we went. Ernie asked Daddy where he was taking the carload of us.

"The boys wanted go up to see the haunted house in Balls Creek", Daddy told Ernie.

Ernie said, "Gees I wouldn't go there Darby for all the tea in China. Little Joe Green from across the bridge was over there the other night and he's still having nightmares. Chanced it by himself, he said he never had a good nights sleep since and Joe said he hears a baby crying all the time".

Joe's mother told him, "If I hear they baby crying again Joe and you wake us up all hours of the night I'll whack you with old broom right over your geese head and that will stop the crying I tell you".

Daddy said, "Well if there's a baby there we'll surely hear him tonight" and off we went.

Ernie hollered, "Good Luck Darby but watch yourself".

Ernie had a little chuckle in his voice and with Percy Cantwell and a few of the Taxi drivers that used to hang around the area, they all started laughing when they heard about Darby going to Ball's Creek.

We pulled in the yard with the little white bungalow and went up the steps. We were all holding on one another and Daddy had the lead with his big five-cell flashlight. The flashlight was pretty bright and showed us the way. If we were going to see something then Daddy had the light for it.

We walked in the house and the door squeaked when we opened it, half the boys went down the steps and Daddy rang out, "Come on you lily livered chickens. Are you scared of your own shadow"?

In we go and walked around with Daddy shining the five-cell flashlight over the walls and in the kitchen. The house had all the furnishings and even two plates set on the kitchen table with dried up food on them.

The owners of the house heard the baby crying several times on Friday nights always around mid-night for weeks on end and the sound always came from the attic. The house must have burned down on a Friday night.

From local gossip we heard that one Friday night the owners of the house went up stairs and sure enough they could hear a baby crying and it seems that the baby was in sight, as they got closer to the baby it disappeared. The owners couldn't take anymore, they came down the stairs and got their coats and keys and left without touching a thing in the house and never ever returned.

As we settled in from looking around the place, now all we had to do was wait to hear the baby crying.

In the meantime when we went into the kitchen I saw a hatchet lying on the counter and I told Leroy, "Grab that in case anything happens".

Little did I know at the time but that was going to be the main event of the whole night. Daddy sat on the right end of the couch, I was in the middle and Leroy sat on the other end.

Everything was quiet and it was getting close to midnight and Ya-Ya Slade started making noise like a crying baby, "Oooooowwwwww oooooowwwwww".

Daddy said, "I'll oooooowwwwww you if you don't shut your mouth and listen".

We all got a good laugh, Daddy shone the light right on him and he settled down to wait.

Back to the stillness and nothing was happening it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Tootie asked Daddy, "Do you want to go upstairs and check if the baby is there".

"Na, na, na, no we'll wait right here". Daddy stuttered a lot. Daddy was leaning forward with his two elbows on his and Leroy whispered, "Watch this".

He leaned over me with the hatchet in his hand and dropped it by Daddy's foot. "Wa wa wa what was th th that", said Daddy. Looking down by his foot Daddy saw the hatchet and he said, "IIIt's a ha, ha, ha, ha, hatchet".

Everyone was getting ready to make for the door, Daddy hollered "It must of fell off the arm of the chair I'll hold my foot on it", so he put it down by his foot.

Things were all quiet again then Leroy bent down in front of me and picked up the hatchet easily.

Daddy thought he had his foot on it but was beside it. Leroy knew where everyone was sitting so he threw the hatchet towards the fireplace and made a loud bang.

Daddy reached for the hatchet and said, "Th th th the, Ha Ha Ha Hatchet is ga ga gone from under my ffa fa feet". He shone the light where he heard the sound come from and what do you know, Leroy had a lucky shot and the hatchet stuck up straight in the wall by the fireplace.

When everyone seen that they all headed for the door all at once everyone pulling back on one another trying to get out first. They were all jammed in the door trying to get out at the same time.

Leroy and I were busting our guts laughing and felt our way out in the dark, because I think Daddy was the first one to the car.

Daddy asked if everyone was here and then he said, "Lets ga ga ga get the hha,ha, hell outta here" and we headed back to the shacks.

Leroy and I were laughing at the rest of the boys telling what they saw.

Well that story went along for a long time. Leroy and I never ever told Daddy the difference after him telling everyone about the time he took all of us over to the Haunted House In Balls Creek.

God knows what he would do to us. Well It was one of the funniest days of my life .

Thanks Leroy, Yea Yea, Tootie, Lawerence, Jude,Bernie Emerson and Larncie for making it last in my mind forever and thanks Daddy.

You were the Greatest. Love you.

Live life to the fullest.

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