It was mid-afternoon when the couple arrived at the holiday house.
The building had been hard to find, being located so far off the beaten track. This didn’t bother him. The idea was for the two of them to enjoy a well-deserved ‘getaway’ break. It was a large house, two stories and obviously not well looked after. The guy from the office that had offered the rental at a very reasonable rate had almost talked him out of it because of it being virtually empty and in need of repair. He was surprised that he had been so reasonable about it, as they had never really hit it off. However, he couldn’t resist the offer.
When they arrived, they found a screed of papers hanging from the front door’s knocker.
It seemed an odd thing to find way out there in the middle of nowhere. There were a couple of pages, with the front one saying ‘Read before entering’.
“Never really saw him as a joker,” he grumbled, “but we’d better read it, I suppose. There could be a safety issue.”
His wife nodded.
He opened the first page and began reading the hand-written contents aloud.
‘Take note, there have been issues with the property. Problems with things going missing. At first we thought it was break-ins, but this was soon discounted. It gradually got worse over time and we found that whatever we put in the house would disappear without a trace while we were not in it. The house came to me from a distant relative who had died, leaving it to me. So, I had no one to ask about the nature of it or whether there was any history that would shed light on what was happening.
‘When the first things went missing we reported it. The local police gave us the impression that they didn’t believe what they were being told. Anyway, it was evident that they simply weren’t interested.
‘Our losses to date are a camera, a television, two portable radios, a clothes iron, a hairdryer, kettle, four suitcases with contents, toilet kits, books, newspapers, magazines, mobile phones, my son’s pet hamster, a stamp collection, two laptops, a computer game, and several personal medication items.
‘It’s only conjecture, but we think the house took them.
‘I can only suggest that you enter at your peril.
‘PS Please leave this note where you found it.’
He laughed. She wasn’t so sure.
They carried their cases in and the house took them.