Ghostly Tales of Mississippi by Jeff Duke

Author:Jeff Duke
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781647553104
Publisher: Adventure Publications
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Longwood House

Natchez, Mississippi

The boy had fresh pralines, and that was good. He was also on his second house of the tour in a day filled with house tours in Natchez, and that was bad. His dad loved old houses. The older, the better. He would walk around these homes in a semi-daze as he marveled at the quality of the woodwork. Homes built before the Civil War were his dad’s favorites.

The boy, on the other hand, didn’t think too much of old houses. Old houses were just that—houses that were old. Sure, some of the high ceilings and creaky staircases were cool and reminded him of Harry Potter, but soon his interest faded, and the boy would be left to his own devices as his dad wandered around and studied the structures in great detail.

To make matters worse, this particular house wasn’t even finished. On the outside, it looked like a Southern palace made of porches, high windows, and an actual dome on top. The boy had to admit that was pretty neat. He imagined a wizard living up there, casting spells by starlight. But once they were inside, the boy learned that the house wasn’t even done. Only the basement was compete. The rest looked more like the backside of a movie set rather than an actual home.

The tour guide explained, “ . . . and when the war broke out, the workers stopped whatever they were doing and fled north to prepare for the oncoming conflict. Legend has it, their tools remained for years in the exact spots where they dropped them. Due to the war, the house was never finished and eventually fell into ruin.”

Everyone craned their necks as the tour guide carried on: “During the war, the family lived in the basement, as it was the only completed level of the home. Dr. Haller Nutt died before the war’s end in 1864. The official cause of death was pneumonia, but most people say he died of a broken heart over the state of his finances and, most importantly, his unfinished home. His wife, Julia, continued to live here in the basement at Longwood until her own death in 1897.”

The boy sighed loud enough to get shushed by his father and to be on the receiving end of more than a few dirty looks from the other people on the tour. All these names and dates were boring. Old houses were boring. Adults were boring. Everything about this trip was boring, and this was no way to spend a Saturday afternoon. At least outside he could be on his own and go exploring. The boy left the main group in the dining room as the tour guide was explaining the manually operated fan that hung above the table.

He started heading for the front door when he first saw the woman. She appeared out of the corner of his eye and moved silently across the opening to the adjacent room, pausing as the boy turned to look at her.

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