The house groaned and creaked with unexplained noises. Aaron did his best to ignore them. The house was nearly a hundred years old. The timbers were entitled to groan.
But then something completely different caught his ear. A rythmic sound - like someone with a peg leg walking through the kitchen. It made Aaron think of Captain Ahab walking the decks of the Pequod.
From the dining room he listened to the step and slide, step and slide, step and slide as something approached the archway between the dining room and kitchen. His pulse pounded in his ears. His lungs worked in short panicked breaths. His instincts demanded he run but he refused. To leave the house now would mean never returning.
The vibration of his cell phone in his pocket made him leap from his chair.
"I'm running late," Cindy said. "Did you let yourself in?"
Aaron nodded even though he knew Cindy couldn't see the motion. "Who else lives here?'
"No one," Cindy said. "I inherited the house from my grandfather. It's all paid for. I don't need a room mate. Why?"
"Anything special about your grandfather?" Aaron asked.
After a long pause Cindy answered, "No. He was a simple blue collar guy. Worked for the railroad. At least until an accident took his leg."
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