Dennis Driscoll was tired, tired of looking at smaller homes, tired of meeting women his age and all their baggage, tired of everyone feeling sorry for him because his wife died. He and Lorna had had a good life together for forty-two years and he really missed her, but he also understood that her health had declined, and life had become a constant pain, he didn’t want her to suffer and told her she didn’t have to hang on for him. She passed quickly after that.

Their house, in which they had raised three boys and two girls was now far too much to care for. Two of the boys were in the military as was one of the girls. One son was in medical school on the East Coast and the other daughter had married a nice young man who then moved to Vermont to take over his family’s plumbing supply business. He was pretty much alone in the American Southwest now and he was not at all inclined to move back to snow, cold and crowds of people.

He had looked at lots of homes in gated communities with snobby neighbors, but he wasn’t interested in impressing the Joneses. A few had been interesting, but he wasn’t interested in the five-acre lots or long drives on dirt roads to get to a paved road and yet more driving to get anywhere. He was once again sitting with Herbert Gregory, a frustrated real estate agent going through more possibilities when Rose Wheeler, the owner of Wheeler Real Estate said, “So show him the Cave House. It’s close to the road and not crowded with people”.

Herb nodded his head. “I hadn’t thought of that place”.

“Let him look and decide Herb, take him there”.

Herb sighed and said, “Yes Ma’am, I’ll show him that on the way out to a couple I think he may like”.

Herb offered to show Dennis several more places, and they went out to Herb’s car and headed south away from town. Just south of the little community of Brahma, Herb turned right onto a narrow, paved road and then left onto what seemed to be a driveway. There was a small rocky rise directly ahead that seemed to be the tip of a low ridge from the mountains to the west. The low trees obscured any view, but the road quickly turned left and went up the side of the ridge/knoll to a small parking area with a cave to the right that was paved and had been used as a parking spot, judging by the oil stains.

They got out and went up a couple of shallow steps to a door that opened into a large glassed-in room built into the rocky knoll. The whole eastern half was made of floor-to-ceiling windows. There was a sizable fireplace built in the middle of that eastern wall and a dining area toward the back. On either side at the back, a walkway went up to a six-foot-high landing overlooking the dining area and then two more walkways went off left and right to the next level. On the right side was a door that would seem to go out to that parking spot in the cave he guessed. Obviously, a prior owner was disabled and needed the angled walkways.

They went to the back of the room and up the ramp to the landing, which proved to be laid out in a shallow X-shape. The ramp going above the parking area was to a large bedroom according to Herb. They went up that ramp to the bedroom. Off to the left was a short hallway to the bathroom.

The bathroom had a light tube in the ceiling to let in daylight along with regular lighting. It was also spacious and equipped for the handicapped, with a large shower, an equally large tub, and a handicap toilet. There was a laundry area to the left as you entered the bathroom with both a washer and a dryer. Both were older, but Herb said they worked.

In the bedroom, the bed was up against the back wall looking east, there were no closets, but the wall behind the bed had a walkway to either side of the bed. Walking in showed a spacious closet area with a built-in dresser and two more light tubes. Dennis was impressed; this was a nice bedroom, and he couldn’t find a fault. “So, what’s next?”

“Come this way and we can see the kitchen” Herb replied. He walked out of the bedroom, and they entered a large kitchen with a small dinette area looking out east through a large set of windows that went right across the east side and looked out over the living room roof below. The stove top had a griddle in the middle and different sized burners. There was a double wall oven, a large sink area and lots of counter space including an island that merged into the dinette. There was a lot of natural light, especially in the mornings he figured. In the back wall there was a door that opened into a pantry and small wine cellar.

Herb volunteered “You can see it’s a cook’s kitchen”.

He looked around and nodded, the person who designed this kitchen had been a cook, no question. He walked out the other side of the kitchen and found a smaller room with the ever-present light tube and nothing much else. The room was too large to be a closet but had nothing to indicate it’s intent, he turned and looked at Herb who shrugged. “Don’t know what this was for; it has outlets and might have been for storage”. It did have lights and a view out the door, but otherwise Dennis wasn’t sure what it was for. A storage room would have a door and wouldn’t be located here.

A few feet down the hall past that was an office/den/library type of room with plenty of built-in bookshelves and a lot of space for an office, easily the size of a small two car garage. It had a great view out to the east and southeast. That was pretty much the whole house, excepting a spare bedroom under the office. It had a small three-quarter bathroom off it.

Dennis was taken with the little place. “How long has this been on the market?” he asked.

Herb shuffled his feet. “The owner died about a year ago. The family emptied it of everything they wanted and put it up for sale, but it’s quite small and not everyone’s cup of tea, it does have two bedrooms and the large living room for entertaining. A lot of people have looked but just don’t think that it will fit their family”. Dennis nodded, he didn’t think it was all that bad and he wasn’t looking to do much entertaining. He certainly didn’t need anything larger.

Obviously, it was cool since the heat was turned down and it was February. “So, when was the last time the heat was on?” Dennis asked.

Herb shrugged again, “It is on. The temperature is turned down, but it may need propane”.

“Does it work?” Dennis asked.

“It does; can’t sell a house without heat; if I remember right it also has a solar heat assist too” Herb replied.

“I see, so how much land and what are they asking for it?” Dennis replied.

Herb looked at his papers. “Seems to be just under four acres...” Herb mentioned a number. “ ... and of course, it is canyon land”.

Dennis shook his head, anything even vaguely close to the mountains had a surcharge on it as “Canyon Land” which was kind of silly in his thinking as it just meant the sun set early and the cold came quicker, but people had some stupid ideas. He nodded. “Okay, I think I will make an offer on it, it suits my needs quite well, is there anything else I should know?”

Herb replied, “Nothing I can think of; the size put most families off.”

Dennis looked at him and said, “I see,” but Dennis suspected something was not being said.

Herb nodded, “So we should put a bid in and prevent it being sold out from under us.”

“So, is there a rush?” Dennis asked.

“Umm, only if another agent is also showing it and we aren’t aware of it. I’ve seen homes purchased right out from under someone who was ready to buy it.” Herb said.

Dennis nodded, an old story, but then most agents pushed for a commitment; no telling who else may have looked at it, although he didn’t see any cards, which most agents leave when they show a house. He didn’t care much; he wasn’t much inclined to keep looking around and this looked close to ideal from his perspective. He shrugged, “Okay, let’s make an offer”.

Herb seemed to be watching Dennis like he was about to run out the door. “Okay, let’s make an offer on this place. Rose will be happy her suggestion was a hit.”

Dennis looked at him and smiled as he nodded to him.

It took almost two months, but Dennis got the house for $226,000, which suited him fine, as his old house sold for a good bit more and the taxes were bad enough without paying in taxes all that he had saved in getting a cheaper loan.

It had taken a bit of finagling to get his stuff into the new house and the movers had to work harder than they had expected, but he made sure the tip covered any pains and the extra time. He was still not settled in but was about to spend his first night in his new home. Wheeler Realty had provided a wealth of background on construction and care over the years since it had been built. He was able to turn the solar heating up a bit which promptly took the chill off. Getting the furnace, water heater and such checked had only taken a day once he got the folks to show up. The Building Inspector gave it a clean bill.

He had some eggs, sausage, a few frozen vegetables, and some ground meat; he liked his new kitchen. For his first dinner, he made Salisbury steak, boiled potatoes, and a vegetable medley he roasted in his fancy new ovens.

The view across the valley at the far mountains to the east as the sun set was remarkable. He had simply stacked boxes in his new den but had the bedroom mostly set up. He went to bed early as it had been a long day. He slept soundly with the normal interruptions for bathroom visits and awakened to the glow of the new day and a feeling of someone pressed up against him, he turned and looked, startled, but no one was there and the feeling subsided.

He got up, showered, and dressed before making coffee and breakfast, then he went into his den to start on it and stopped cold. Many of the boxes were empty and many of his books were on shelves.

He went in and looked, someone had been busy overnight and had done quite a bit of work. He scratched his head, then went to work putting the rest up and getting it organized.

He had to stop about noon to go in town and do some shopping. It was about three when he came home and he was tired, he wished he had put the beer in the fridge before he left but went to get a bottle and the beer was gone. He cursed, then started putting things away, he went to put things in the fridge, but had to move the beer out of the way, He stopped. Who put the beer in the fridge? He knew he hadn’t. Something was going on.

He opened a beer and finished putting things away. Then he sat down at the kitchen table and said out loud, “Okay, who is here with me?” Nothing happened, he finished his beer, threw the bottle away and felt something tap his cheek, he spun to see nothing. Something fluttered in the den, and he went to see what it was. He didn’t see anything, so he had dinner and watched the news before going to bed early, as he was tired from all this work. His mind worked about all the strange stuff, maybe the house was haunted, but the spirit, if there was one, seemed to be a help more than a problem.

He eventually went to sleep, waking about 2:30 in the morning for a bladder break and felt again that he wasn’t alone, he reached behind him and for an instant thought someone had been there, but it faded away and his bladder’s urgent demands didn’t, so he went to take care of the pressing issue.

He went back to bed and drifted off wondering about what was going on; he woke in the morning to the soft glow of dawn and that nice warm feeling of a woman snuggled up behind him. He didn’t move but just asked, “So, when do we get to know each other better?’ The warmth moved a little and he could swear he was kissed on his neck, then the feeling of warmth faded away.

He got up and went through his morning rituals. When he started making breakfast, he asked out loud, “So are you hungry, want some breakfast?”

A few moments later a soft, “No, thank you,” drifted to him. Did he just hear that? or just think it?

After breakfast he went back to work finishing up his den and moving his loading bench into the room of no real use, he stopped to sweep it up before putting everything together and noted something glinting in the dust. It was a fired primer, like you take out of a fired case, as Dennis was inclined to talk to himself at times he asked, “So, this was somebody’s reloading room?”

The soft voice answered, ‘Yes’.

He began to wonder if he was going nuts. After getting all his reloading things in the room, he went back to the den and sat down; the view was great. He got up as the shadows grew long and the view changed to lights clicking on across the valley.

He went into the kitchen, grabbed a beer, and said to himself out loud, “So what will we have for dinner tonight, Dennis?’”

The soft voice answered, “Maybe a grilled steak with mushrooms cooked in butter and red wine.”

Dennis’ head snapped up and looked around, he could swear there was a soft giggle, but his mouth watered at the idea the voice had presented. He cooked a steak and sautéed mushrooms in red wine and butter, along with some green beans. It was a good dinner, he expressed his sorrow that his new ethereal companion couldn’t join him but was told, “It is okay”.

That night as he got into bed, he asked the spirit if she was going to join him, he knew the spirit had to be female. The voice replied, “Well, I was going to do some things to help before coming to bed”.

Dennis nodded, “If you are ethereal, how can you move things and do stuff?”

There was a silence, then the voice said, “I can manifest for periods, it is tiring, but I can, and then I retreat to the ethereal world to rest and regain strength before trying again”.

“I see,” said Dennis. “May I know your name that I may address you properly?”

There was a pause, “I am Eleanor Dunbar, murdered foully by Zwing Hunt after he tried to rape me and was foiled by my kicking him between his legs. He stabbed me, but my father tracked him down and killed him further north”.

Dennis shook his head, “I have never heard of this, it must have happened many years ago.”

“Indeed, in 1886,” the voice replied.

“So, how do you know of these new things? You just watch and learn?”

“How else does one learn?” the voice replied.

Dennis nodded. “So, you were never married then?”

“No, I was but 19 when I was killed, and no one held a service here for me, so I am bound to this knoll.”

“That’s terrible ... I think. Would it help if I held a service now?”

“No, but thank you, there is a time when it would work, but not now” the voice replied.

Dennis nodded. “I need to get some sleep Eleanor; you are welcome to join me or do as you see fit.”

“My thanks, Dennis. I shall join you shortly”.

She was there when he woke for his midnight relief run and again in the morning.

He got up and did his morning ablutions, made breakfast and then asked Eleanor, “Have you been friends with the wives that lived here?”

“It’s my knoll. I choose not to share it with other women; children, daughters are fine so long as they do not attempt to physically join with their father or whomever lives on the knoll. Those who do, I run off however I must. Do not bring other women to my knoll, Dennis.”