Adventures of Pudge

THE HAUNTED HOUSE, Continued ...

Immediately below them was a room the same size as the room they had just left. The only difference was that this room

had a small window on the end wall. The room on the next floor down was identical to the one above it. When they reached

the foot of the ladder, and the main floor of the house, the room was much smaller. There was hardly enough floor space for

both of them to stand. It was also very dark as there were no windows.

“Now where?” asked Pudge.

“Maybe we’re in one of the servant’s rooms, or in the pantry. At least, that’s the part of the house I think we’re in,”

Wendell replied.

Wendell began to push at the molding edging the walls around them. When he touched the top of the molding directly

across from the ladder that section of the wall opened toward them.

After passing through this “door” they found themselves in another small room with a real door at the far end. This door

opened to the pantry they had discovered earlier.

“Well, how about that!” was Pudge’s comment. “We know where one secret passage is., do you suppose there are

others?”

“Probably, but we’d better go home now. It’s getting late and we don’t want our parents to worry. Let’s see if we can

come back tomorrow.”

In the morning, after breakfast was over, Wendell took Pudge aside to talk to him. “My dad says the reception for the

anniversary isn’t until two this afternoon. He says it’s okay to go somewhere as long as we’re back home by noon. So, I was

thinking, why not make that house a “real” haunted house?”

“How are you going to do that?” Pudge asked.

You remember, yesterday, I told you I could rig up things that would make the house seem haunted; things like strange

noises and other sound effects like they have on the radio. The only thing I need is to have the electricity turned on. Maybe

we can do that ourselves. Want to give it a try?”

“Sure, why not,” Pudge replied. “But let’s go tell my folks we’re going.”

Before going to the garage for the bikes they went to Wendell’s laboratory where they gathered together several, to

Pudge, strange looking devices and several coils of wire. All of this Wendell placed in a large knapsack which he slung on

his back. When they arrived at the house they hid the bikes again, further from the house this time. Wendell handed the lock

pick to Pudge and said, “You try it.”

Pudge was amazed at how easily the lock opened with a little manipulation of the pick. Within a few minutes they were

in the cellar where Wendell began searching for the electrical control switch. When he found it he turned it to the “on”

position and then tested it by trying a switch at the bottom of the stairs. To their delight an overhead light at the top of the

stairs came on.

“Step one,” said Wendell. “If there’s another switch at the top of the stairs we can turn this light off again. Let’s go.”

As Wendell had hoped there was a switch at the top from which they turned the light off. Wendell headed immediately

for the closet in the pantry. He soon had opened the panel that led to the secret passage they had discovered the day

before.

“Now, let’s find someplace to hook up with the electricity,” said Wendell. “Do you see a wall plug in the closet?”

Pudge looked around in the closet but could see no sign of an outlet. Further search outside the closet, however, led to

the discovery of one on a wall directly in front of the ladder in the secret room. Wendell must have found it at the same time

as Pudge heard him exclaim, “I’ve found one.”

Pudge scurried back into the closet and stuck his head through the opening into the room. Wendell was busy using tools

to unscrew the cover from the back of the outlet. He soon had the cover off and began connecting two wires to connections

inside the box.

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll get a shock?” asked Pudge.

“No, I’ve done this so many times I could do it blindfolded.”

In a few minutes Wendell completed the connections and motioned for Pudge to climb the ladder. As Pudge began to

climb Wendell handed two wire ends to him. Nervously, Pudge continued his ascent with Wendell assuring him it was safe.

Wendell followed with his knapsack containing the tools and other devices he had brought.

“Now we need to find a place to set up our ghost makers,” said Wendell. I think the second floor would be a good place

to start. That way we’re halfway up or down.”

When they reached the second floor Wendell again took his tools from his pack along with a half dozen small, boxlike

objects and one slightly larger box that had five or six push buttons on it. He attached the ends of the wires that Pudge had

carried up the ladder to the pushbutton box and then tested his apparatus by pushing each button in turn.

To Pudge’s astonishment each of the small boxes emitted a different sound, one gave off a moaning sound that Pudge

usually associated with haunted houses he had seen in movies. Another sounded like a creaky door, still another had the

sound of people whispering. Pudge was overwhelmed.

“Now that we know everything works let’s go find a place to put them,” said Wendell. He left one of the sound makers

next to the wall in the second floor secret room and put the rest back in his knapsack. They climbed to the attic and opened

the panel to the hall. Pudge followed along as Wendell examined each room for a suitable spot to place one of the boxes.

He finally noticed a small ledge above the main staircase and asked Pudge to boost him up so he could place one of the

boxes there.

“I think we need to find some places at the other end of the house to put my transmitters,” aid Wendell. “We don’t want

all the sound effects coming from the same location. Maybe there’s a secret passage there we haven’t found yet.”

Together they searched the rest of the attic, testing every wall and every section of molding, all with no success.

Discouraged, they descended to the third floor and then the second; again there was no sign of a secret panel. As they

were heading for the stairs to examine the first floor Wendell looked at his watch and exclaimed, “Holy cow, it’s almost twelve

o’clock. We’d better head for home or we’ll be in trouble. Maybe we can come back tomorrow. First, let’s stash all this stuff

in the secret room in the attic.”

The boys arrived back at Wendell’s house just as their families were sitting down to lunch. "Here come the two ghost

breakers,” Wendell’s dad remarked. “I think before you sit down to lunch both of you better go wash the grime off; you look

like chimney sweeps. Be quick about it, we have to leave in a half hour.”

That afternoon the reception for Pudge’s grandparents was held at a large church in downtown Hartford. Pudge met

many relatives he had never met before as well as several he had met at previous smaller family gatherings.

It was an enjoyable afternoon for Pudge. The grandparents went through a ceremony in which they renewed their

wedding vows; then cake and punch was served followed by small musical group playing music of fifty years ago. Most of

the adults danced and a few of the younger people. Pudge and Wendell sat at a table and stuffed themselves on cake left by

others.

Following the reception a dinner party was held at Wendell’s house. The grandparents and most of the guests attended

this sumptuous affair. By the time it ended Pudge, who had been seated next to his grandfather, had decided that family

reunions were fun. Pudge had enjoyed himself so much during this visit he was actually sorry the visit was coming to an end.

The next morning was Sunday and Pudge knew he and his family had to leave Monday. When his parents went to

church with Wendell’s parents Pudge begged off so he could pay one last visit to the haunted house with Wendell.

When they arrived at the house they immediately retrieved the boxes they had left there the previous day. They retraced

their steps to the cellar and began another search for a second secret passage. Their search led them to inspect a small

closet under the stairs they had not noticed previously. Here, to their delight, they found another panel that opened and a

second ladder, this one attached to a chimney. This ladder extended to the second floor where they again found a small

room, this one with no windows. All their attempts to find an exit from this room failed; none of the panels would open for

them.

“We’ll leave one of the transmitters here and put one in the cellar,” said Wendell. “That way we’ll have something in each

part of the house. I hope we have visitors so we can greet them properly.”

The boys made their way back to the room where Wendell had hooked up the pushbutton and ate lunch while they

waited for something to happen. Soon, they heard a car drive up and car doors closing, then the sound of voices as people

entered the house. Wendell looked at Pudge and grinned. Pudge gave the thumbs up sign to show he was enjoying this

moment.

Wendell waited until the visitors were close enough for him and Pudge to hear the conversation and pressed the first

button. Immediately the soft moaning sound Pudge had heard the previous day sounded out from the transmitter in the room

where they were sitting. The conversation below ceased instantly. Then they heard, “What was that?” in a female voice. “I

don’t know, there’s always been talk about this house being haunted but I never believed any of it.”

A short silence followed and then the conversation resumed. Pudge and Wendell had to hold their hands over their

mouths to keep from laughing out loud. As it was, both of them had tears streaming from their eyes.

Wendell pushed another button; this one created the creaking door sound. Again, the conversation ceased. A repeat of

the moaning sound and then a third button to simulate the slamming of a door was apparently all the visitors needed. After a

brief, animated discussion during which the word haunted was used several times, the visitors left.

Pudge and Wendell could hold back no longer. As soon as the car drove away they both broke up and started laughing.

This time they made no attempt to restrain themselves. The tears flowed even more than before.

When they were finally able to control themselves Wendell suggested they pack up and leave. “The real estate man

might come back to investigate,” he exclaimed.

Quickly, they went to each of the locations where Wendell’s equipment had been placed and packed each piece away in

Wendell’s knapsack. Wendell disconnected the switching device he had hooked up near the pantry and packed this away

too. “There’s no sense leaving anything here now, he stated. “If you didn’t have to go home tomorrow we might have been

able to come back and do some more haunting.”

They made sure to turn off the electricity when they reached the cellar, then hopped on their bikes and headed for

Wendell’s house. As they were pedaling up the road away from the haunted house a car turned into the driveway.

“Whew,” said Pudge. “It looks like we just made it.”

The next morning Pudge said goodbye to Wendell and his parents and thanked Wendell for taking him to the haunted

house. “Maybe I can come back some time and we’ll pay another visit.”

“Sure,” said Wendell. “It was fun.”

As they were driving home Pudge told his parents about his experiences at the haunted house and about all the fun

things Wendell thought up. While he was relating these activities his dad interrupted several times with questions, each time

sounding more angry. When Pudge finished his tale Mr. Hammond explored.

“If I had known that’s what you were doing I never would have let you go. Don’t you realize you were wrong? You not only

broke into the place, you also invaded people’s private lives. You might have prevented the real estate salesman from

making a sale, which could have meant a lot of money to him. I’m disappointed in you, Pudge; I had hoped you knew better.”

Pudge was mortified. “I’m sorry, Dad; I guess I didn’t think of any of those things.”

That evening Pudge received a phone call from Wendell. “Guess what happened, Pudge. The real estate man saw us

riding away and recognized me. He called my dad and asked him if I had been inside the Trentham House. Dad told him,

yes, I had played there several times. Well, the man told Dad what had happened when he was showing the place to some

people and they got scared away. Dad apologized to him and told him it wouldn’t happen again. Then Dad bawled me out”

All of this was spoken so rapidly that Pudge had difficulty following him.

Pudge told Wendell that he had also been bawled out.

“I think it was worth it,” said Wendell.

“Me too,” replied Pudge.

EPILOGUE

It was about 35 years later before Pudge and Wendell next met. Again, it was at a reception for a 50^th wedding

anniversary, this time for Pudge’s parents.

Pudge looked across the hall from where he was sitting and saw a tall, almost cadaverous, bald man with thick glasses.

Instantly, he recognized the man as Wendell. He strode across the hall and stuck ou his hand. “Aren’t you Wendell?”

Wendell stared back at Pudge without at first recognizing him. Then, slowly, it dawned on him who he was shaking

hands with. “Pudge?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s me, but I go by Paul now. Pudge doesn’t seem to fit any more. Have you visited any haunted houses

lately?”

“Not for a year or two,” was the reply. “That was fun, wasn’t it? Even if we did get into trouble over it.”

“Are you still into science?” asked Pudge.

“It’s my whole life,” Wendell answered. “I work for NASA; you know, the National Aeronautical and Space

Administration. I helped develop the guidance systems for our space program. I guess that’s about as scientific as you can

get. How about you, what are you into?”

“I’m a writer,” Pudge answered. “Poetry and children’s short stories mostly. Some are about fishing and outdoor life. I

even wrote one about two boys and their adventures in a haunted house."