Peter and Dorothy Mchuan first crossed paths while studying psychology at Edinburgh University they tied the knot in 1951 and began their married life together in London but city life with all its noise and crowds didn’t suit them they longed for open space and clean air and a better environment for raising their two young children so they made a bold decision to leave the capital behind there were plenty of quiet spots near London but they hoped for more than that they wanted to return to the land where they had first met Scotland and so in December 1952, they packed their belongings said their Goodbyes and made the long journey North over 600 miles.
In fact to the Scottish Highlands, the Highlands are known for their breathtaking beauty their vast landscapes dramatic peaks and endless rolling hills and the Mchuans had chosen a true gem for their new home a property near Fort Augustus right by the infamous Loch Ness their money went much further here than it ever could in London and soon they found themselves the owners of an imposing old Georgian house articky Lodge had originally been a shooting lodge from the 19th century built on the grounds of a much older residence the previous occupant Mr Bruin had lived there for years with his wife but she’d passed away 2 years before leaving him alone in the large echoing lodge mr bruin knew that it was time to pass it on to a family these rooms and halls would heal life again the house needed work more than they had anticipated but it was expansive with many acres around it in fact it was more than just a house it was an estate complete with cottages outhouses a garden a pond they had ambitious plans to raise pedigree pigs despite the skepticism of local farmers who scoffed that the land wasn’t suited to such a venture but Peter and Dorothy were not discouraged they pressed on eager to build their new life and yet running the estate proved far more demanding than they had imagined the pigs multiplied rapidly and the daily upkeep of the land was relentless they needed help so the Mchuans decided to hire a living-in couple they decided that they wanted a woman to assist with housekeeping and child care and a man to handle the land and animals rather than advertising locally.They placed a job listing back in London where Peter’s parents still lived back in the capital his mother pinned the ad to a board at a neighborhood shop and waited applications rolled in and after careful selection Peter’s parents settled on the McDonald’s though they had been living in London Jaime and Elizabeth Macdonald were originally from Scotland jaime had worked as a postman while Ellsworth was a housekeeper she was half Scottish half French and both were practical hardworking people and like the Mchuans they longed for a quieter life in the Highlands no less so this job was perfect for them 2 weeks after their initial interview which was conducted by Peter’s parents they were invited to spend a probationary month at the lodge if all went well they would be offered a permanent role jaime and Ellsworth must have been confident in their chances because they sold their possessions and Jaime even left behind his postal pension and they took the overnight train from London to Glasgow then boarded the West Highland line and made their way to the lodge.
It was the morning of August 17th 1953, when they stepped off the train at Spainbridge Railway Station and waiting for them was a familiar face Peter McKuan’s father James who had interviewed them james greeted them warmly and took their bags he led them to the car ready to begin the final leg of their journey to Adaki jaime and Elizabeth may have felt a flicker of nerves as they made their way up the Glenn towards Articky Lodge preparing to meet their potential employers but they weren’t the only ones feeling apprehensive Peter and Dorothy too had their own concerns think about it after all these two couples wouldn’t just be working together they would be sharing the same home their lives intertwined every single day and so the question lingered would they all get along as the car pulled up outside Arty Lodge Ellsworth caught sight of the house and gasped with delight two figures stepped out onto the Porsche to greet them peter and Dorothy Mchuan the McDonald’s were led to their room where they took a moment to put their bags away before being given a full tour of the estate peter and Dorothy showed them around the lodge its expansive grounds and the various outbuildings pointing out the many tasks that they would be responsible for the workload was no small undertaking but Peter and Dorothy were keen observers too and they soon noticed the strain creeping into their guests jaime and Elizabeth had been polite at first but as the tour stretched on they began to drag their feet there exhaustion quite evident for Elizabeth though fatigue wasn’t the only thing weighing on her something else was darkening her mood when they reached the rose garden her demeanor changed completely a tension settled over her and her movements grew stiff her expression uneasy something about this place put her on edge but when asked to explain it she couldn’t as the McDonald’s retired to their room Dorothy made her way to the sitting room where Peter was sharing a late supper with his father James and the three settled in chatting casually about their new potential housekeepers but before they could get far into the conversation something happened that none of them were expecting it was about 10:30 p.m and it was Elizabeth and Jamie elizabeth looked pale her hands trembled slightly as she apologized for disturbing them jaime polite but clearly unsettled then asked a rather bizarre question had anyone been using the staircase near their room in the last half hour the others exchanged confused glances no one had left the sitting room all evening.
They asked them to explain and Elizabeth shared a very strange experience back up in the room Jaime had fallen asleep almost instantly but she’d stayed up sorting out a few belongings and that’s when she heard it footsteps slow and steady at first coming up the stairs and then passing right outside their door before stopping in the room across the landing she’d opened the door to check expecting to see someone but the hallway was completely empty then just as she closed the door the footsteps came again this time louder heavier enough to wake Jaime together they listened as the sound moved on the exact same route up the staircase across the corridor and into the same opposite room jaime opened the door and even checked the room across the landing but there was nobody there at all someone or something had been walking those halls but whoever it was had left no trace at all now surely they had just heard the creaking of the old house this was something they’d have to get used to living in an old place like Articky but Elizabeth did not look convinced but they didn’t want to make a bad impression on their very first night and so they decided not to make any more fusss about it the McDonald’s let out a weary sigh and made their way back their footsteps echoing over the same stairs where they had heard something else moving downstairs Peter Dorothy and James likely exchanged hushed words sharing their unease about the couple now settling into their room but whatever concerns they had were nothing compared to what was coming next because an hour later a piercing shriek tore through the house the mchuans bolted towards the McDonald’s room jaime explained that they had started to hear knocking again but this time it wasn’t from the corridor outside but from inside the room itself as if whatever was out there wanted to come closer to them they said it sounded like Knuckles tapping on the interior wall of the bedroom slow and deliberate three wraps sometimes four but when Jaime switched on the light the knocking stopped instantly as if whatever was knocking was watching them and their actions and responding in kind peter realized no one was going to sleep after that and he suggested that they all head downstairs to make a pot of tea and try to make sense of what was happening could there have been an intruder lurking somewhere in the house was it nothing more than their minds playing tricks on them or was this something far stranger something beyond explanation peter and Dorothy were both trained psychologists yet neither dismissed the more unconventional corners of their field back in London Peter had even become a member of the Society for Psychical Research one of the longest run organizations dedicated to studying unexplained phenomena the supernatural was something he approached with curiosity but tonight it was no longer just an abstract interesting concept what if it was in his own home peter asked Elizabeth if she was psychic or if she had the gift of spiritual mediumship she said not particularly but she did admit that she had worked for a psychiatrist once who suggested she might be peter was intrigued but what could be done after some thought Peter devised a plan if they truly wanted answers they needed to recreate the moment he and Mr mcdonald would return to the bedroom switch off the light and sit in silence waiting if something was out there they would give it the chance to make itself known they sat in the darkness listening and waiting minutes ticked by 10 in total but there was nothing no footsteps no knocks no eerie presence lurking nearby peter let out a breath seemingly satisfied perhaps whatever had unsettled them earlier was gone peter was ready to call it a night and he suggested that they all just return to bed now that everything was calm but Jaime wasn’t so sure he gently explained that neither of them especially Elizabeth could sleep in that room again peter was underestimating just how frightening those deliberate knocks had been peter sighed but nodded thankfully Articky Lodge had plenty of other rooms.
Peter and Dorothy decided to set up a different guest bedroom one that was well away from the room where the footsteps and knocking had been heard once everything was ready they invited Elizabeth in but as she stepped into the room she did something strange without a word she crossed the floor and pressed her head against the fireplace resting it there as if she were listening to something no one else could hear the others exchanged uneasy glances watching in silence as Elizabeth remained still her head resting against the cold stone seconds passed and then at last she lifted her head but she didn’t turn to face them instead her eyes were fixed on the wall above the fireplace and in a voice barely above a whisper she said “She’s in here she’s in here.” The others said “Who?” And Elizabeth gave her answer “there’s an old woman there’s an old woman in here.” The others exchanged confused glances unsure of what to make of her behavior and then at last Elizabeth began to slowly turn toward them but before she could fully face the group something caught her eye her gaze jerked upwards locking onto the top corner of the room and at the moment she saw it whatever it was her eyes widened in utter terror she staggered back recoiling as if she had just come face to face with something unspeakable they called out to her in alarm asking what she could see insisting there was nothing there but Elizabeth reaction told a different story she was seeing something something horrible elith didn’t seem to hear them she just remained frozen her breath shallow her wide eyes locked on the corner of the room and then slowly her arm began to raise with an almost trans like movement she lifted her hand and began to beckon gesturing for whatever was there to come closer the three of them watched in astonishment as the invisible thing moved across the room jaime’s nerves snapped he said he couldn’t stand it he had to put a stop to whatever was happening elizabeth’s eyelids fluted as if she were waking from a deep sleep she swayed unsteadily her breath and even her gaze flickering around the room as though she were trying to regain her bearings as if at least for a moment she had been somewhere else entirely she called out softly for Jaime her voice trembling she was astonished that the others hadn’t seen her the old woman standing right there in the corner of the room and she insisted the figure had been as clear as day and asked if they’d heard the strange sound too the sudden rush of bird’s wings filling the air none of them had seen or heard
anything elizabeth said the old woman had a shawl draped across her shoulders and wore a strange hat on her straggly gray hair but it was what the figure was doing that caused particular alarm elizabeth said the old lady had beckoned to her one of those old hands reaching towards Elizabeth but the other hand pressing against the lady’s own face the Mchuans were baffled and perhaps at this point a little exasperated first Elizabeth had refused to sleep in the room where the knocking had been heard and now after what had
just happened it was clear she wouldn’t be able to rest in even this guest bedroom either running out of options Peter and Dorothy suggested another space a room directly across from their own it was far from both of the troubled rooms and offered what they hoped would be a sense of security and to put at ease they even suggested keeping both bedroom doors wide open and leaving the lights on elizabeth eagerly agreed and so at last they wear wearyily made their way to this new arrangement climbing
into bed within shouting distance of one another and for a moment all seemed quiet but only for a moment because then from across the hall came a sudden commotion peter sighed threw back the covers and climbed out a bed the house was dimly lit with shadows stretching along the hallway as he made his way to the McDonald’s open door jaime apologized said the knocking was back though Peter hadn’t heard a thing so Jaime added that it had been incredibly soft this time knocking on the bed head close to their ears it was as if
whatever was making this noise didn’t want the Mchuans to hear it only the McDonald’s dorothy had to get out of that room the two couples stood together on the landing blurry eyed and exhausted murmuring about what to do next the tension in the air was thick their nerves worn thin by the relentless disturbances of the night but before they could say much Elizabeth let out a terrible shriek elizabeth’s voice was shaking as she insisted the woman was back they saw nothing no shadowy figure no old woman
just the dimly lit corridor stretching into the darkness and what she said next slipped the tension into terror she said “She’s crawling on the floor she’s coming to us on her hands and knees.” Her voice lifted with panic and then she added that there was something in the old woman’s hand a candle lit and flickering as it scraped along the floor peter doing his best to stay calm asked Elizabeth to try and speak to the apparition perhaps they could learn something she called out softly asking what was troubling the spirit “she won’t answer,” she said “she’s turning she’s She’s crawling away it would only be a flicker of relief because Elizabeth then gasped the woman was coming back crawling faster now.” Elizabeth moaned in terror it was horrible horrible a pair of wrinkled hands and bony knees dragging across the floor moving unnaturally fast crawling towards them with terrifying speed jaime and the others grabbed pulling her back because she’d been standing there frozen in terror and without hesitation they hurried her down the staircase moving as fast as they could they were desperate to put distance between themselves and whatever she had just seen they rushed into the kitchen collapsing into chairs around the table they were scared and shattered not least who was clearly being stalked throughout the house by this entity this presence where could they go at this hour the only sleeping option left for the McDonald’s was the little cottage on the grounds where Peter’s father James was now sleeping.
So as uncomfortable as it was Peter had no choice but to head to the guest cottage and to wake his dad james ever the reasonable man did not argue or protest he simply nodded or got up and handed over his room to the shaken McDonald’s surely this would work the cottage was separate from the house itself so whatever had been disturbing them wouldn’t couldn’t follow them there could it well by now it was already 4:30 a.m peter James and Dorothy made their way back through the silent halls of a house that no longer felt safe the air thick with unease as they switched off the lights and climbed into bed and eventually sank into a restless haunted sleep after a long harrowing night daylight finally spilled across the lodge but at least one thing brought relief whatever had terrorized them had not followed Ellsworth to the cottage was it possible that the entity if indeed that’s what it was was somehow trapped inside the house itself peter’s curiosity burned with this and he needed answers and determined to learn more he headed straight to the home of Mrs beckett an elderly neighbor who had lived in the area for years surely if anyone knew the history of Arduki Lodge it would be her that morning as they sat together in Kicki House Mrs becket began to tell him the story of Articky Lodge and the secrets that it held peter sat with Mrs beckett in Kulliki House the untouched tea growing cold between them and he asked about the history of Ari Lodge she said the place was built as a shooting lodge in 1840 for a man called Charles Gillespie. The house was then sold to Colonel Campbell until it was eventually bored by the Bruins the last occupants before his own arrival the Bruins were from Ireland and Mrs. Bruin was an older woman who lived there with her husband and her sister kind people she said “And quiet.” Peter gently asked if Mrs bruin had died in the house Mrs Becket shook her head “No Mrs Breuan had moved to a carehome before her death ….
to be continued ……
krpoems23 