The Cottage of Secrets

“Stop being such a scaredy cat,” said Emily.

“I’m not… I just have a bad feeling about this,” said Ashley. “Why can’t we just hang out at the house today?”

“Ashley! Come on… We have been planning this for ages, and as soon as we are finally about to go, you don't want to go,” Emily complained as she packed her drawing book into her saddlebag.

“It's not that I don't want to go, It's just…” Ashley sighed “I don't know… I just... Nevermind.”

Now with both horses tacked and the bags packed, they set off.

“Emily?” said Ashley as they rode along. “Why exactly do you want to even go to this abandoned house? It's not like there is going to be anything there.”

“I don't know...” Emily sighed as she rolled her eyes. Geez. Why does she keep bringing this up? Thought Emily.

All of a sudden, there was a loud rustling of leaves next to her. The horse spooked and reared, almost throwing Emily off the horse’s back.

“EMILY!” Ashley yelled as the horse came crashing down. “Are you okay?”

“Easy boy, easy boy… You're alright,” Emily said calmly. “ You’re okay... It was just a bunny or something. I'm good,” said Emily shakily. “Just a little… startled.”

“Are you sure you are okay?” asked Ashley in such a hushed voice that Emily could barely hear her.

“Yes, I'm fine,” said Emily in a definite voice. “Are you okay? I can hardly hear want you are saying.”

“I’m fine… just scared,” said Ashley. “I told you that I had a bad feeling about this, and look what's happened.”

“Oh come on,” said Emily with a twinge of annoyance in her voice. “It was a bunny. Not a rabid beast that was sent to attack us. Seriously. Chill out.”

“I’m sorry, Em,” said Ashley. “I’m just a little jumpy at the moment.”

They rode on for another hour and half or so and then stopped at a little creek to give the horses some water.

“Em? How much longer is it to the cottage? I'm afraid if I ride much longer I’m not going to be able to walk tomorrow,” Ashley said laughingly.

“Not much longer...I hope. The guy in town that I talked to said that it was about two hours north of the farm,” Emily said looking around at the forest as she led the horses to a nearby tree so they could eat some grass for a bit.

They sat on the grass near the creek for about twenty minutes just listening to the birds sing and the sound of the creek running.

“Um… Em?” said Ashley suddenly breaking the silence. “Did you even know the guy that told you about the cottage?”

“No” said Emily after a moment of silence. “I don’t… He just overheard me talking on the phone to David about wanting to find an abandoned cottage to explore, and came over and told me about this one.”

“Then how did he know that it was only an hour away from the farm?” said Ashley wonderingly.

“I don’t know,” said Emily shrugging. “I probably said something about it to David”

“Okay,” said Ashley, still a bit hesitant.

After about ten more minutes of sitting there in silence, Ashley broke the silence once more.

“Emily?” Ashley whispered. “Do you feel that?”

“What?” Emily answered as she turned her head towards Ashley. “Feel what?”

“I-I feel like someone is watching us. I don’t know where but I feel like someone is here… Just watching us.”

“Ash, Come on,” said Emily. “There is no one here. Just us and the horses.”

“I don't know. I just can't shake the feeling,” said Ashley quietly. “Can we please get going? I don't want to be here any longer than we have to.”

“Okay,” said Emily sighing and pushing herself off the ground.

They went and untied the horses from the tree and kept going. After about half an hour more of riding along on uneven ground, talking about life, school, jobs, etc. They came upon a run down little cottage.

“Finally!” said Emily “We are finally here!”

Ashley sighed in relief. Finally... She thought.

They tied the horses to a nearby tree and grabbed the flashlights out of the saddlebags and creeped quietly over to the cottage. Emily walked up to the door as Ashley hid behind her.

As she went to open the door all the adrenaline rushed through her. Oh my gosh she thought. Why do I do this? Why can't I just listen to Ash?

Emily pushed the door open. It was pitch black. The flashlight’s beam pierced through the dark inside the one room cottage. As they creeped inside they looked around. There was a bed in the right corner and a small table on the left wall. Next to the bed there was a small night table with a glass of water on it and what few windows there were were shattered. As they walked over to the table the glass crunched under their feet.

“Emily…” said Ashley in a scared voice. “I don't like this. Can we please go?”

“Ash, We just got here. We will leave in a bit,” said Emily in a exasperated voice.

They got to the table and saw a few things were still there. A small plate with three melted down candles, a little black leather book, and a pencil. Emily drew in a small breath. She opened the book. The pages were yellow with age and she could hardly see the neat handwriting inside.

“Oh my gosh...” said Emily in a hushed voice.

“What?” said Ashley as she was still looking around, scared.

“This is a diary. From the 1950’s…” said Emily, still staring at the book.

As she got farther and farther into the book, the more intrigued she got. As she was coming on the last page, she heard Ashley breath in sharply and say…

“Emily?” Ashley said in a hushed voice. “I think I saw someone outside.”

“What?” said Emily, shocked. “What did you say?”

“I think I saw someone outside,” Ashley repeated.

“Please don't do that. I’m scared enough,” said Emily.

“Emily, I'm serious. I saw someone outside,” said Ashley once more.

Whatever, thought Emily, rolling her eyes.

As she flipped to the last page in the book, she stood there shocked. There was blood on the last page. Not like a little bit of blood but like a lot of blood. She called Ashley over to look at the book. Ashley looked at the blood and her eyes widened.

“Emily, please can we leave. I really don't like this. Please,” she said in a terrified voice.

Emily looked over at her best friend and decided that it was time to go.

“Okay,” said Emily. “Just let me look in the side table over the bed really quick and we will go.”

“Okay. But do hurry,” said Ashley in a quiet and trembling voice.

Emily walked over to the side table and pulled open the one drawer that it had and shined the light into it. There was a small lock box and a pistol. She took the pistol out and examined it. It was fully loaded. She set the gun on the floor and took the box out.

Please don't be locked. Please don't be locked. She tried lifting the lid and it just popped open.

Thank gosh. She looked inside and was shocked with what she saw.

“Ashley, come over here,” said Emily slowly.

Ashley walked over and looked in the box.

“Oh my gosh!” Ashley shrieked. “Is it real?”

There was almost twenty-thousand dollars inside the box and a small note. The note said, “If you have found this money, then it is yours. I have been hiding it from my greedy children and I knew that I could hide it here and it would be safe, because they would think that it is locked and not really care about an old box. So with that, have a nice rest of your day.”

Emily sat there shocked. And then all of a sudden the door slammed open and a tall burly man walked in. Ashley screamed and Emily jumped to her feet.

“So you have found it,” said the man and he looked at Emily's feet and saw the box open and the money. “I have been looking for my father’s money for years and never thought to look in that drawer,” he said gruffly.

Emily just stood there. Staring at him. Why did he look so familiar? Where had she seen him before. Then it dawned on her. He was the guy in town that had told her about the cottage. He had wanted her to try and find it because he was too lazy to do it. She scowled at him. Ashley stood shaking in the corner trying with all her might to hold back her tears.

“You did this on purpose. You wanted us to find it,” said Emily angrily.

“Yah. But now that you did, I will be taking that money,” he said with a twinge of annoyance in his voice.

“No,” said Emily sharply. “No, you won't.”

“Emily, Just give it to him!” wailed Ashley.

“I would listen to your friend if I were you,” he said.

Emily had to think quickly. What could she do? They were out in the middle of nowhere and had no backup. As quick as she could she grabbed the pistol at her feet and prayed that if she did need to use it wouldn't blow up in her face.

“Step aside” said Emily strongly. “Or I will shoot.”

“Sure,” said the man sarcastically. “That gun probably doesn’t even have a bullet in it.”

“Step aside, ” Emily said once again.

“No,” said the man harshly. “I'm not waiting any longer.”

The man rushed at her. Before she knew it, she had fired the gun. There was a flash of light and Ashley screamed. She had hit the man, in the shoulder and he fell down and hit his head on the table and was knocked unconscious.

Emily made sure he was breathing. Then she took out her phone and called the police and told them everything. They told her that she and Ashley could leave.

Emily picked up the money and held her hand out to Ashley and said, “Come on. Let's go home.” Ashley took her hand and they walked out of the cottage.

The End.