What if you found out that your dream vacation house was haunted?

The house located at 203 Hyacinth Lane just two blocks from the beach was big, bright, and beautifully Victorian. For a little over a year, the Baker family—Georgette (Georgie to those in the know), Christopher (Topher for some inexplicable reason), Felix, Chloe, and little Mickey—looked forward to their beach vacation in the picturesque storybook town of Ebb Tide, Rhode Island. Georgie in particular would often bring up the house’s listing on the hometown realtor site late at night after Topher and the kids were asleep, aimlessly scrolling through photo after photo of the garden and the interior, not that she needed to after a certain point. She’d swiped so many times that she could practically walk from room to room whenever she closed her eyes, despite never actually setting foot in the small seaside town, never mind the house itself.

Ebb Tide was the kind of place that seemed to exist on postcards and in picture books. That it actually existed as a tangible place was baffling to Georgie and Topher. Tired of their usual spots along the Jersey Shore and in the Adirondacks, the Bakers wanted to find a new place to explore with their family. Since they had young children, they had specific criteria for any sort of trip: it had to be within driving distance, it had to be in a detached house with a nice deck and a yard, preferably with a play structure and a grill and maybe even a pool if they were really being picky, it had to have a nice view, it had to be walkable to local attractions, it had to have a TV for when the children inevitably got bored and antsy.

Georgie felt overwhelmed by the options when she started searching. Sure, they could go to Boston, but traveling from New York to another major city didn’t really sound so appealing, plus accommodations in cities tended to be very expensive and very small. Maine was definitely an option, but she’d heard about the big gross deer flies that descend and painfully bite unsuspecting shorts-wearers in August, so she tabled that location for a cooler time of year. She was ready to give up when she stumbled on the quaint and frankly out of date website for Ebb Tide, Rhode Island on page seven of her Google search results. When she showed Topher EbbTideRI.gov, he was frustrated by the slow page, the pixelation, the seashells cartoonishly raining down from the top of the browser with an odd sea shanty playing stop-start in the background, but Georgie found it charming that it hadn’t been updated since 1998. It was largely a municipal site, like any other small town’s, with tabs along the lefthand side on local government initiatives, a schedule of events, and shining news stories highlighting school sporting events and other endearing town matters.

Toward the bottom, there was a link that said ⭐️Vacation – All You Ever Wanted⭐️ that delighted Georgie. It took her to the Your Home Away Realtors site, which had an extensive listing of vacation homes offered at daily, weekly, and monthly rates, but the catch was that the stays had to be booked a year or more in advance because they get snapped up so quickly during the summer season. The Your Home Away Realtors thought it would be more fair this way, so said their About Me page, so that any potential visitors near or far couldn’t actually secure a last-minute booking. That is, unless someone pulled out in the event of death or illness, at a great financial detriment. Georgie shrugged; she figured they could go to their usual cabin in a vast campground-turned-resort in the woods upstate that year and then take a magical trip to Ebb Tide the following summer. In fact, the idea that she’d get to spend an entire year looking forward to going somewhere new with her husband and family thrilled her. After all, who doesn’t love a little anticipation?

She scrolled through the homes, charmed by their eccentricities. When she set her eyes on The Ship Laugh at 203 Hyacinth Lane, she knew it was the one. It looked exactly like her childhood dollhouse—lavender siding with indigo trim and roof, ornate newels with finials shaped like hyacinths greet visitors as they walk up the wooden steps to a porch lined with a delicate running trim and turned spandrils, sawn balusters with a flower pattern hugging a lavender twin bed sized porch swing fit for the whole family, the three stories swirling toward a turret delineated by corbels. On the second story, sawn spandrils in the same floral scheme of the balusters below close in a cozy porch overflowing with pink, white, and yellow peonies. It even had a widow’s walk rising from the gabled roof lined with dentils. Georgie, a romantic to her core, always felt like there was something beautifully tragic yet passionate about a widow’s walk. She couldn’t wait to wrap a black shawl (that she would expressly bring for this purpose) around her shoulders, braid her hair in one severe line down her back, and walk up to the widow’s walk by herself late at night so she could watch the seas for her imaginary lost lover. The front yard was enchantingly lush and overgrown, right out of her Secret Garden dreams, complete with a white picket fence and rose lined arbor. She knew it was the one.

The Baker family was able to secure The Ship Laugh and its seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, outdoor shower and sauna, state-of-the-art outdoor kitchen, pool, and two-car garage with linen service for a week in mid-August for the low, low price of $2,500. Topher repeatedly shared with Georgie for that year in waiting that he thought Shirley the 75 year old realtor must’ve made a mistake and undercharged them, because other houses that were similar in size and location during that time of year go for triple that, easily. George repeatedly shared with Topher for that year in waiting that good ol’ Shirl’ assured her that it hadn’t been a mistake, that the owners are just generous empty nesters who want young families to enjoy the house just as much as they did when their kids were small, and besides, they don’t really need the money. Topher repeatedly asked Georgie for that year in waiting if she thought there was something kind of off about that, and did it maybe creep her out? And Georgie repeatedly asked Topher for that year in waiting if he was scared of old houses because of spooky ghosties and ghoulies? And that generally ended the conversation because Topher really didn’t like it when she teased him about that one time he definitely he saw a ghost standing against a red door in the moonlight of a second floor bedroom of a college friend’s family farmhouse that said friend very meanly told him no one in his family actually sleeps upstairs because it’s too haunted and no there wasn’t any room for him downstairs with the rest of them so don’t even ask.

With each change in season, as the months drew nearer and nearer to August, Geordie and Topher’s excitement grew. In those final two weeks before they were set to leave, they told each other they simply couldn’t wait for a nice week away with the kids practically daily. Each evening after Chloe and Mickey went to bed, in those in-between hours where Felix was fighting sleep, claiming he was too big a kid to go to bed with the little ones, Georgie sat on her phone, ordering toys, a kiddie pool for the beach, new towels, and of course, adorable outfits for each member of the family, including herself, so they’d make a good impression on the people of Rhode Island.

Finally, it was time to set their out of offices. Topher’s was the typical, straightforward message: “Thank you for your message. I am out of office with limited access to my computer for the week of August 18. If this is an urgent matter, please reach out to John Gould. Otherwise, I will respond upon my return.” While Georgie’s was decidedly more colorful: “Living the doll’s life on my dream beach vacation this week. See ya, suckers!” She spent the entirety of the day before their journey organizing and packing, checking her various lists to be sure she didn’t forget anything because God forbid she have to go to a store to buy sunblock or bug spray while on vacation. The kids all went to bed easily that last evening, happy for once to go to sleep because sleep meant they were all the more closer to unlimited iPad time in the car with the beach at the very end of the ride. Topher fell asleep as soon as hit head hit the pillow. Georgie, however, couldn’t sleep that night. Whenever she closed her eyes, she imagined just how idyllic their trip would be, so perfect that Topher would fall even more in love with her than he was before, and maybe he’d buy her those earrings she’d been spying and dropping not-so-subtle hints about from Catbird as a thank you for planning such a wonderful family getaway.

Mickey woke with the sun promptly at 5:30am, softly calling out for mama from her crib. Georgie’s eyes snapped open, knowing that her pleas would wake Chloe, who slept in a toddler bed on the opposite side of their shared room, so she futilely rushed in to gather her youngest, not at all delaying the inevitable, before her middle child popped out of bed asking when they were leaving and did she know that elephants could store water in their trunks and that they liked to wear ballerina tutus? Normally, such questions would irritate Georgie so early in the morning, but she only smiled as she changed Mickey’s diaper and dressed her in a cute yet comfortable yellow t-shirt with lemon-printed bloomers. Her mood only improved as she brought Chloe to the potty, applauding her for having a dry pull-up like a big girl, dressing her in a matching lemon-printed dress with yellow biker shorts. She pranced down the hall with the girls to six year old Felix’s room only to discover that not only was he awake, but he was dressed in the yellow polo and khaki shorts she’d left out the previous evening. She took her lemon sherbet babies to the kitchen to put on coffee and make a quick breakfast while Topher lazily rose from his slumber, took a shower, and reluctantly dressed in a nearly identical polo and shorts. He did briefly question why they all needed to match for a car ride that statistically one of the children would definitely barf on, but Georgie just waved him away. She was going for a specific look, she told him, as she wrapped her own lemon-printed dress around her body.

After a relatively leisurely breakfast, Topher started packing the car and then came the swearing that they just had too much stuff. Georgie knew it would all fit between the car top carrier and trunk, so she set everything in the garage with her husband and closed the door, leaving him to sweat and swear and fume while she continued floating around the house in relative glee, packing a snack bag for the car, double checking the iPads were charged and ready to go, secretly packing away back up outfits for when one of the children absolutely barfed. He spent around an hour configuring and reconfiguring all of their shit like an infuriating game of Tetris until he was satisfied that not only did everything have a place, but he could also see out of the back window because he’d be “god damned” if he ever had to “use the 360 degree camera” on their Grand Wagoneer that they specifically bought the car for. Right on schedule, the Bakers did their final pees and walkthroughs of the house before climbing into the Jeep at promptly 10am. And they were off! The ride was as easy as expected with a big kid and two toddlers. There was minimal traffic and they miraculously made it all the way to the tiny shore town without any carsickness with a combination of goldfish, motion sickness wristbands, cracked windows, and sheer will.

The family was in awe of Ebb Tide from the moment they crossed the bridge. It was like a whole new world—one side was busy roads, ramshackle houses, tiny bait shops and big boat dealerships while the other was picture perfect with tree lined streets, extravagant gardens, and candy colored Victorian and Edwardian homes. The town square was marked by a lovely gazebo right out Stars Hollow, with adorable businesses like The Buoy Coffee Shack, the Sea Breeze Pancake House, Willard’s Grocery, The Pelican Diner, and Lobster! Lobster! Lobster! Rolls and Sammies. The Bakers—even the little ones—were immediately enchanted by the town and Topher even reluctantly admitted that Georgie’s citrus-inspired family uniforms fit nicely in the context of Ebb Tide. Everywhere they looked, they saw families smartly dressed, with children perfectly styled—not a hair out of place, and there were certainly no cherry water ice stains running down any shirts. Once again, and not for the last time, Topher quietly asked Georgie if she was just a little creeped out by the Stepford of it all, and once again, Georgie waved him off. It was a vacation town! They’re so used to Jersey, she said, perhaps these New Englanders are just more refined and better at keeping their kids neat! How aspirational!

Topher pulled up to the Your Home Away Realtors office just off of the town square as directed by the automated text service exactly at 4pm to check in. Georgie hopped out of the car before it came to a full stop, so excited to get her hands on the keys and finally set foot in The Ship Laugh. Just inside the small white cottage-turned-office sat a young woman named Gigi that Georgie suspected was in her early 20’s earning an easy buck for her summer gig. Gigi’s job was to sit at the reception desk as the sole employee on Saturday afternoons, handing out welcome packets and keys to weekly renters. She rested her crisp white keds on the desk, stretching her sun-kissed legs out as she leaned back dangerously on the chair, scrolling aimlessly through TikTok. She adorably wore pink linen shorts with a striped pastel button down shirt tied just above her navel, her long dirty blond hair brushing her elbows. Georgie loved her immediately.

“Excuse me, miss?” Georgie said when Gigi failed to look up upon her entering.

Gigi practically jumped out of her skin, her AirPods fell out of her ears onto the floor, “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry! I was watching…whatever, it doesn’t matter, it’s so boring here.”

Georgie smiled, “No worries, I was young once too.”

That made her cringe. Why did she say that? It did not make her sound cool and hip. “I’m here to check in to The Ship Laugh. I’m Georgette Baker.”

Still, she had endeared herself to Gigi and the younger woman’s face lit up in a jubilant smile, “Sure, welcome to Ebb Tide! Just a minute while I find your packet.”

Gigi rifled through a small plastic tote with sealed 6×9 Manila envelopes until she found one that said “Baker, Georgette, 203 Hyacinth, August 16-23”. Georgie couldn’t help but notice the way that Gigi’s eyes widened as she registered the address on the envelope. Like a summer storm, Gigi’s frightened expression quickly passed, her renewed smile even brighter than before.

“Here you go, Ms. Baker!” She said cheerily, “And please don’t hesitate to text the Your Home Away service. I’ll be manning the phones,” she waved hers in the air as if to prove she was in charge, “so rest assured you’ll be able to reach a real person in the event of…well, anything I guess!”

“Thanks so much,” said Georgie, opening the envelope to see two sets of keys and five beach tags, “but I’m sure you won’t be hearing from me! The house just seems so perfect.”

Gigi laughed uneasily, but said, “Sure is! Enjoy your time.”

Georgie walked out to the car feeling like that interaction could’ve gone better, asking herself why Gigi seemed so uncomfortable. She decided it was probably because she’d reached the age (39) where her attempts to relate to the youth were lame with a capital L. She only hoped Gigi wasn’t immediately texting her friends about the losery old lady who just told her she was young once too. As she approached the Wagoneer, she heard Chloe, Mickey, and reluctantly Felix, singing their favorite summer song: Sharks in Water by Danny Go! while her husband tried to keep a neutral expression on his face, despite the fact that the children only knew the refrain “SHARKS IN THE WATER!” and it was, in fact, very irritating.

She smiled as she got back into the car, placed a reassuring hand on her husband’s shoulder, and said, “Let’s go to The Ship Laugh!”

Her children cheered as their father pulled back onto the road and drove toward the lovely lavender dollhouse. 203 Hyacinth Lane was every bit as perfect as the online photos made it out to be. Their linens were in large zip tied bags just under the porch swing, and after his initial walk through, Topher was satisfied with the layout of the house, the kitchen appliances, and the Nest central air system. He started unloading the car as Georgie unleashed the children—first to pee, please, it was a long ride!—to select their bedrooms. Conveniently, there was already a crib in the small nursery next to the primary, so Georgie started setting up Mickey’s space—monitor, portable sound machine, nightlight, blankies and loveys—while Chloe followed her big brother up and down the stairs between the second and third floors. She had hoped that all of her children would want to sleep on the same floor as she and her husband, but when she heard exuberant exaltations of “THIS ONE IS MINE!” from above, she resigned herself to a nightly three story trek for the week. Felix and Chloe chose matching twin bedrooms at the top of the stairs, separated by the kind of sweet Jack and Jill bathroom that Georgie always secretly wanted to share with her own siblings.

Curiously, the third floor felt quite a bit colder than the first and second floors. Georgie always thought that heat rises, so she assumed that the uppermost bedrooms would be sweltering, but then again, it did seem like the owners had put a lot of money into the restoration of the old house, so she figured that maybe they just had a really good HVAC system and insulation. Whatever it was, she was glad she brought long sleeved pajamas for Felix and Chloe because they would definitely catch a chill up there. Upon making the beds in each room, she was astonished to see that these bedrooms weren’t quite as identical as she first thought. In Felix’s room, there were nice little touches that screamed classic BOY. Little cowboys were painted along the bead board, twirling tiny lassos above their heads. In the corner, she saw a child sized rocking chair with a weathered baseball cap hanging from the back post, a child-sized baseball bat leaning against the wall behind it. A small white stuffed rabbit missing one eye sat in its seat. It looked well-loved, and she was a little surprised to see it in a rental. Through the white and blue Jack and Jill bathroom, Georgie noted sweet girl touches in Chloe’s room. In place of cowboys, the bead board danced with delicate ballerinas. A small dress up area with a child-sized vintage illuminated mirror and glittery dresses and sailor frocks hung sweetly in the corner opposite the bed. She admired these little touches, assuming the owners did their best to cater to even their youngest guests.

After setting up her children’s rooms, she headed to the primary, listening all the while to the sounds of her children playing with their father below as he tried in vain to focus on ordering groceries for delivery. The primary suite was elegant and tastefully vintage. There was a white four poster bed with sheer gauzy fabric twisted around the canopy frame and small cherubic sconces flanked the sides of the bed above matching pedestal nightstands. Across from the bed was a pink dresser and wall-mounted flatscreen TV. Beside that was a vanity with beautiful antique silver hair brushes and hand mirrors. She felt a prickle at the back of her neck looking at these no doubt treasured items—shouldn’t they be in the owner’s home? What if a renter stole, or worse, damaged them? She picked up the mirror to inspect it. An exquisite etching of a rose snaked its way from the base up to the backside of the looking glass. A jolt ran through body when she picked it up, but she passed it off as static electricity. What else could it be?

Once she was satisfied with the bedrooms and bathrooms, she joined her family on the front porch. Topher was leaning back on the porch swing cuddling Mickey, sipping a beer, while Felix and Chloe played explorers in the flowers with toy binoculars.

“Hey babe,” he said, pulling a beer for her out of the small cooler he carried everywhere, “come relax. The food will be here in like 20 minutes.”

She climbed onto the swing and pressed a kiss on her baby’s forehead, accepting the can, “Thanks, hon, and thanks for dealing with the groceries while I got us set up upstairs.”

He turned the music up—his Spotify chill mix—on their little Bluetooth speaker and said, “No worries, thanks for setting up the beds and shit.”

Mickey stared intently at the Sesame Street videos playing in a loop on the iPad she shared with Chloe, too tired from the excitement of the car to do much else, while Topher and Georgie snaked their arms around her to hold each other’s hands. They peacefully lazed on the swing, enjoying the sounds of their older children’s giggles and whispers, in the summer breeze. Georgie felt like this was just the thing they’d been waiting for. They were content, fully in vacation mode. The groceries came, and so, to Georgie’s delight, did dinner. Topher ordered crab cakes, lobster tails, she crab soup, and double fried French fries for the two of them, and chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese for the kids. The family enjoyed their first night’s dinner on the porch steps, soaking in the late summer twilight.

Georgie’s heart was full when she took Chloe and Mickey in for their bath. With one baby on each hip, she slowly walked up the creaky staircase and felt a blast of air shiver down her spine. She looked around for a vent, wondering who on earth would place an air vent in the middle of the stairwell, and didn’t see anything. The weight of the girls was becoming laborious, so she shrugged and continued upward. She filled the clawfoot tub with bubbles and toys and sat back as her girls splashed around, giggling. Later, she after she dried, lotioned, powdered, and dressed the girls in matching pink primrose pajamas, she heard Topher giving Felix a bedtime shower. As she read five books, indulging the children in two more than usual, Mickey fell asleep in her arms. She gingerly placed the baby in the crib, turned on the sound machine, and tiptoed out of the room and up the stairs with Chloe. Any reservations she had about Chloe sleeping on her own, without Mickey and her sound machine, evaporated when she could see Felix’s bed from Chloe’s bed. As long as Chloe had an eye on her big brother, she’d feel safe. Plus, she brought an extra sound machine and set it in the bathroom adjoining their rooms. She and Chloe laid together in the twin bed, listening to Felix and Topher chattering in the next room. Finally, Chloe and Felix were sound asleep, and both parents snuck out of their rooms, feeling a little like teenagers creeping out of their parents’ houses for a forbidden tryst.

Giddy and just a little turned on, they tiptoed up to the widow’s walk for a make out session with a view. On the way up, both Georgie and Topher felt that sudden burst of cold air creep down their spines. They shrugged it off—old houses, you know? The view from the topmost part of The Ship Laugh was glorious. They could see the town square to their left, a lush park to their right, and ahead, the sea. Topher leaned Georgie against the wall and began kissing her hungrily. He placed his right hand just above her head and to the right, and felt carved letters in the siding. He pulled away abruptly to inspect it. Confused and a little put out, Georgie tried to pull him back in, but all was lost when she saw his face turn white. She twisted around to see what he was looking at. There, just above her head, next to the sconce, it said “Get away, DANGRRRRRRRR” with the last R ending in a long, jagged line.

“Hmm, that’s weird,” said Georgie.

“George,” said Topher, “this is more than weird, don’t you think?”

“I mean, it could be anything,” she said, “it’s not like there’s like a vetting process to rent the house. And especially at what it’s going for, I bet a lot of weirdos have come through these pretty doors.”

“Yeah,” he said, unsure, “I guess. Let’s go check on the kids, though.”

She sighed, a little angry about this development, a little amused by his fear, and indulged him. They crept back downstairs to see each of their children sleeping soundly in their beds. Topher opened a bottle of wine while Georgie grabbed a sweatshirt and the monitor screen. They met on the porch swing, leaving the front door ajar so they’d hear the children, and again, lazily relaxed for the evening. They felt cozy, warm, happy.

Georgie had prepared herself for a sleepless night. It was always the same the first night away anywhere, even at her parents’ house. One of the kids would always wake up, calling out for her in their unfamiliar beds, inciting a chain reaction with the other two, but she was not prepared for just how difficult the first night would be in The Ship Laugh. Just as she settled into a deep sleep, she heard some interference over the monitor. Usually, all they heard was the whirring of the sound machine and Mickey’s soft breathing, and after three kids, it was the kind of static noise that lulled Georgie and Topher to sleep. Instead, there came a crackling and a distinct shushing. Georgie sat up abruptly and grabbed the monitor screen, but when she looked at it, all she saw was Mickey sleeping peacefully on her tummy, butt high up in the air. She thought maybe it was just a dream or something funky with the monitor, so she set it back down and tried to go back to sleep. Again, just as she was falling out of consciousness, she heard the shushing followed by the creak of the rocking chair against the floorboards. Georgie flew out of bed and threw open the door to see nothing out of the ordinary. Mickey was sound asleep in her crib, the sound machine was on, the nightlight cast a warm glow in the happy little room. Disturbed, Georgie stepped toward the crib and placed her hand on her toddler’s back until she was satisfied with the gentle rise and fall of her breathing.

Reluctantly, she closed the door and went back to bed. She tried to sleep, she really did, but the way the bedroom was configured placed her side closest to the door, which was something she never liked, especially when the door had to be kept open a crack for the children. She didn’t feel comfortable turning her back to the door, preferring for her back to face her husband in the event of monsters or murderers or something, so she faced the crack. She stared at the crack, feeling her eyes dry out with the effort. She strained her ears for more shushing and creaking, but didn’t hear anything. As she finally started to relax, her eyelids drooping, she saw a shadowy figure rush past the crack.

Georgie sat back up, listening. Her heart was beating wildly. She knew that they locked the front, back, and side doors before going to bed. She knew that Topher had walked the entirety of the house before heading up to their shared room, so she knew that no one was inside, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that the Baker family wasn’t exactly alone. She clutched the monitor in her hands, feeling like she had to venture upstairs to check on her other children, feeling too afraid to do it by herself, feeling too embarrassed to wake her husband. And then she felt another burst of cold air shoot down her spine. She shook Topher awake and asked him to go with her. He was so tired and relaxed that he didn’t even get mad. He was pretty used to her imagination running wild whenever they were in a new place anyway. Together, they checked the nursery and twin bedrooms. All was well. He even indulged her by walking the entirety of the house again, checking the locks, and turning on all the lights.

They went back to bed with a light on. Topher fell asleep easily with a pillow over his eyes. Georgie thought she’d be awake for the rest of the night, feeling unsettled, but she eventually fell asleep. And then Mickey woke up, crying out for mama, as expected. And then just as Georgie got Mickey down, Chloe awoke, frightened in her ballerina bedroom. Georgie squeezed herself onto the twin bed with her toddler and all her stuffies and watched the large oak tree’s leaves dance across the ceiling in light from the street, listening to Chloe’s breathing slow and deepen with sleep. And then Felix woke up, needing to pee but not wanting to go by himself. And then it was four am and Georgie was out of her mind with grogginess, so she ended up falling asleep cramped in her son’s twin bed.

The next day, Georgie felt foolish about the previous night’s escapades. Every room of the lavender dollhouse was bathed in delicious morning light, making her feel safe and silly for her imaginings. Drinking her coffee in the warmth of the summer sun in the breakfast nook, she decided that whatever sounds she heard were just the old house settling. That the shape she saw was probably just the shadows cast by the street lamps and foliage outside. That the cold bursts of air could be attributed to an overrun ventilation system.

The Baker family spent the day on the beach, enjoying the sun and sand, eating lobster rolls for lunch, getting ice cream before after beach showers, going to dinner on a steamboat turned restaurant right on the water. It felt right. Again, bath time and bedtime were easy; the children were exhausted from the day’s adventures. Again, Georgie and Topher enjoyed a bottle of wine on the porch swing before bed.

Again, during the late night, Georgie heard the shushing and creaking. Again, she saw the shadows moving swiftly past the door. Again, she felt frightfully cold air creeping into her bones. She hated to admit she was scared in her dream house, but she was. She willed herself to sleep. She laid flat on her back, blankets pulled up to her chin, staring at the gently turning ceiling fan. Then, a sliver of bright light flashed against the blades, undulating in its movements. She lifted and cautiously looked around. The hand mirror on the vanity was facing up, which was curious because she knew she placed the glass down after using it to pluck her one annoying chin hair before bed. The old glass caught the light shining through the cracks in the curtain, throwing it up just above her head. She looked around the room and saw that the light split and refracted in a strange way. Not only did it shoot straight up to the ceiling, but it also bent and twisted and put an eerie spotlight on the darkest corner of the bedroom. There, she was horrified to see a dark figure moving as if through water. She sat up and turned on the lights, waking Topher in the process. There was nothing there.

Again, Mickey awoke calling for mama. Again, Chloe awoke calling for mama. Again Felix awoke needing to pee. Again, Georgie didn’t get a wink of sleep.

That morning, the children slept in until 7:30 and Georgie was grateful. She slept better in the early morning light than she did during the night, and she knew she needed her energy for the day ahead. Topher knew she’d had a restless night, so he told her to stay in bed while he took care of things. He scooped Mickey out of her crib, still warm from sleep, and hugged her tightly. He loved the mornings when he could take his time with his kids, which were few and far between because overwhelmingly their preference was for mama. Mickey hugged and kissed him and giggled softly as he changed her diaper and tried to comb her unruly hair. He brought the baby upstairs to wake up Felix then Chloe. He crept into Felix’s room and gently set the baby down on her big brother who was dutifully pretending to sleep. She crawled around and over his body, yanking his hair and drooling on his nose.

She squealed with delight when he opened his eyes and shouted “Who’s that crawling on my tummy? It’s Mickey! It’s Mickey!” Chloe leapt out of bed and ran through the bathroom to Felix’s room when she heard the commotion, gleefully prancing around the room. She swept up the threadbare bunny from the mini rocking chair and spun it around, softly singing “It’s Mickey! It’s Mickey!”

The children desperately wanted to snuggle up with their mother, so Topher told them that as long as they were super quiet and gentle, they could. They bounded down the stairs and launched into the king sized bed, smothering Georgie with kisses and hugs. Topher set Mickey down in the center of the pillows and went to make some coffee. Georgie felt whole. And more than a little silly. Yet she wondered how Topher would react if she told him she wanted the whole family to sleep in the same bed that night. Probably not well. She knew he’d probably say something like ‘we got this whole big house, why are we all going to smoosh into one bed?’ But having them next to her made her feel safe, so it was worth a shot.

Later that morning, they took the children to the conservation center to see the turtles and learn about the salt marsh. They stopped at an old roadside soup stand run by a WWII veteran and his son and grandson to pick up a late lunch. They took the children to a playground shaped like a giant blue whale. It all felt so good that Georgie was able to put the night’s frights out of her mind completely. That evening, Georgie and Topher sat on the porch swing with gin and tonics while all three children played in the yard—Felix, wearing a pirate hat, was imagining some sort of swashbuckling adventure, while Chloe entertained Mickey with bubbles.

Georgie slipped her hand onto her husband’s knee and said, “Hon? Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did!” Topher exclaimed.

“Ha ha. Anyway, what would you think about all of us sleeping in the big bed tonight? Like a slumber party,” she asked.

He could see the deep bags under her eyes and knew she was having difficulty at night. He didn’t want to spoil the whole trip, so much as he disliked the idea of crowding five people into one bed, knowing that little feet and butts would dig into his back, little hands would push him off the bed entirely, he relented. He wanted Georgie to have a good sleep so they could have fun. So that’s what they did.

Felix and Chloe were thrilled. After bath and books, they jumped on the bed, rolled around, giggled wildly while Georgie got Mickey to sleep. She told the other two to sleep on either side of the baby, keeping her safe. She set the monitor and sound machine in the bedroom and closed the door, knowing in her heart that they were safe. Again, she and Topher enjoyed a bottle of wine on the porch before turning in. But this time, she slept soundly with the door fully closed, children piled on top of her body, husband by her side.

Until about 3am. There was a shuffling sound above, from Chloe’s room. At first, it was so soft a sound that it could have been interpreted as a tree branch sweeping across the side of the house, but then it got heavier, a distinct thud between every two shuffles. It was a shuffle, shuffle, thud. Shuffle, shuffle, thud.

Shuffle, shuffle, thud.

Shuffle, shuffle, thud.

Like something heavy was being dragged across the floorboards.

Georgie and Topher sat up and looked into each other’s eyes. They didn’t want to wake the children, but the shuffling was getting louder, coming closer. They could hear it descending the stairs so close to their bedroom.

Shuffle, shuffle, thud.

Shuffle, shuffle, thud.

“Do you hear that?” Topher asked stupidly.

Shuffle, shuffle, thud.

“Yeah,” said Georgie, white as the milky moonlight, “can we lock the door?”

Shuffle, shuffle, thud.

“Okay,” said Topher, “but maybe I should look?”

Shuffle, shuffle, thud.

“No, please don’t open the door,” pleaded Georgie.

Shuffle, shuffle, thud.

“This is ridiculous,” he said, drawing himself up, puffing out his chest, trying to be brave, “I’m going to open the door.”

Shuffle, shuffle, thud. Right outside the room now.

He grabbed the antique hairbrush, the heaviest thing in the room, felt silly doing so, and took a deep breath before throwing open the door. Nothing was there. He turned on the hall lights, illuminating the nothing that was there. He walked up to the third floor. In Felix’s room, the chair was moved to the center of the rug. It was rocking slowly, cyclops bunny watching him. He shivered and looked to Chloe’s room. Small pink and purple and teal dresses were thrown this way and that, the mirror’s lights were on, betraying a crack in the glass. He ran back down the stairs and into the primary bedroom, locking the door. Whatever was there was mercifully gone, but it had made a mess.

He jumped into the bed and hugged his wife, whispering, “I think we have to get out of here.”

Then it was Georgie’s turn to be reasonable. This was their dream house and their dream vacation. It was nonsense to let some bumps in the night ruin it. She was sure everything would be fine in the morning, and sure enough, in the daylight, Felix and Chloe’s rooms were exactly as they had left them. No spooky rocking bunny in the middle of the room. No dress up disaster. No broken mirrors. They felt a little bit like they were going crazy, a little bit like they’d made it all up in a shared hysterical episode brought on by extreme exhaustion, though Topher had to admit that he wasn’t that tired, certainly not as tired as his wife, and a little bit like it was all a dream.

They took the kids the Sea Breeze Pancake House for breakfast, indulging their sweet tooth with syrup and whipped cream and candied strawberries and bananas foster and juice. Afterward, they took the revved up kids for a walk around town. Georgie and Topher bought handmade soaps, a Christmas ornament, a framed whale print, a tiny toy bowling set, craft beers, and artisan hot sauces from the little shops. They took an architectural walking tour. They spent the late afternoon on the beach, building sand castles and burying Topher. They rented a surrey bike and rode around town, finally watching the sunset while eating tacos on the beach as it dipped below the bay.

Topher and Georgie didn’t talk about the previous night’s events once. They didn’t discuss their sleeping arrangements for that evening, both rightfully assuming they’d again share the primary bedroom, this time with the door securely locked and maybe with a knife from the kitchen or a poker from the fireplace by Topher’s side of the bed. They didn’t want to talk about how they thought the house was probably haunted because to say so would make it real and they still had a handful of nights left and they didn’t want to skip town like outlaws, and besides it was too late to do so anyway because it would mess up the kids’ precious sleep schedules and anyone with young children knows that is strictly verboten.

So they went through the motions of bath time and bedtime, again telling the children that they were having a slumber party in mommy and daddy’s room. They hyped them up enough that they actually felt secure enough in the house that they agreed they should go forward with another night of drinking wine on the porch. After all, they had to find a way to salvage this vacation, didn’t they? This time, they chose to sit on the swing without any lights on, enjoying the soft glow of the illuminated garden below. Georgie felt relaxed, leaning against her husband’s strong body, sipping her wine. They could hear waves crashing in the distance. Topher absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair, looking at nothing in particular.

Then they heard a voice from the sidewalk.

“And finally, the crown jewel of our tour,” it said, “The Ship Laugh.”

Georgie popped her head up just enough to see that there was a young woman with her back to the house, holding an oil lantern, addressing a crowd of tourists, but not enough that anyone could see her. She gestured to Topher to stay low and quiet, listening.

“203 Hyacinth Lane has a storied history,” the woman went on, “Built in 1842, it was originally an estate house for one of the wealthiest families in America before turning into a boarding house during Reconstruction. You may think that Rhode Island sits too far north to have played any sort of part during the Civil War, but in actuality, here in the Ocean State, we were a hub for uniform production and, interestingly enough, the United States Navy.”

“Neat,” whispered Topher.

She went on, “The post-war years brought freedmen and former soldiers alike to our shores, so close to port for employment opportunities, and so picturesque, as you can see yourselves. Adelaide Montgomery lost her husband and eldest son to the war, and felt she no longer needed such a large house for herself. Besides, the years had not been kind to the Montgomery family, so she was forced to convert the home to a boarding house for some income. She took in lost souls, attempting to give them the kind of home everyone deserved. Battered women and bruised men alike slept in these very walls, often attributing the turnaround in their lives to Adelaide herself. She was warm, inviting, inclusive, and she made a mean chowder. Travelers felt safe in her home, and she did not discriminate. She took in freed slaves, waving away the questionable looks of her neighbors. She believed a person was a person no matter their color, and took them in, showed them love and hospitality.”

“Sounds pretty good so far,” said Topher.

“Mmhmm,” whispered Georgie, “I’m just waiting for the ball to drop.”

“But one day, Adelaide trusted the wrong man.”

“Oh no, here it is,” said Topher.

“John O’Toole was troubled, certainly. He’d seen too much death in the battles of Gettysburg and Chickamauga. It changed him, physically and emotionally. He walked with a distinct limp, having badly injured his left leg in battle. His face was pocked and scarred, his hair stark white. That much blood and terror would change anyone. Adelaide thought she could give him a warm place to land. She was wrong. When she invited John O’Toole into her home, she had practically a full house. A young family—husband, wife, three small children—were also living there at the time, but they were on the second and third floors with her, so she settled John in the ground floor bedroom for some privacy. So tortured he was by the carnage he’d witnessed, he was prone to night terrors. He often woke the whole house with his screaming. One night, late in August, on a night much like tonight, it all became too much to bear. He armed himself with the largest knife from the kitchen and ascended the stairs where Adelaide and the family would soon meet their doom. He ravaged the third floor bedrooms where the children slept peacefully in their beds; mercifully, some say, he suffocated them in their sleep. He bounded down the stairs to the nursery where he first had to face a wildly protective Adelaide. She valiantly tried in vain to save herself and the baby. Then, he went into the parents’ room where he really took his time. I’ll spare you the details, because if you knew the depraved things he did, you’d never look at a hairbrush and mirror the same way again.”

“Um, what?” whispered Topher.

She continued, “Some say they can still feel the presence of John O’Toole and Adelaide Montgomery, forever at odds, in the old house. The Montgomery family has kept the Ship Laugh all these years, restoring it to its former glory, opening it up just as Adelaide did all those years ago, to young families seeking respite from their daily lives. But legend has it…”

“Wait,” said Georgie, “I know that voice.”

“…that every decade or so, John O’Toole returns for new blood. Some say they’ve heard bumps in the night, seen flickering lights and bodies moving around. Some say it’s all a bunch of bunk.”

Georgie looked to her left and swore she saw a light toward the back of the house flashing. She stood up and addressed the woman, “Gigi? Is that you?”

Topher stood and turned on a lamp, Gigi jumped and spun around, “Oh, Georgie, I…hello…I didn’t see you there.”

“Gigi,” said Topher, “is this all true?”

Georgie could see a shift in the crowd. Friends clutched each other tightly, partners shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. Someone pointed toward the widow’s walk.

Gigi cleared her throat, “It’s just a ghost tour,” she said feebly, “it’s just stories.”

But then they all saw the lights inside flicker. They all heard the telltale shuffle, shuffle, thud. And Georgie knew at once that John O’Toole was back. She raced for the door, but it slammed in her face, locked.