THE HAUNTED MANSION

by Scott Oliverson

Author's Note: During a dark night out on town, so to speak...Balto, Jenna, Aleu, Kodi, Boris and Steele get caught in a downpour when a storm strikes without warning and the wolves, snowgoose and huskies are forced to seek shelter inside an abandoned, rundown, delapitated mansion that's rumored to be haunted since people and animals are too afraid to walk by at night due to strange occurances happening within its walls. When the front door slams shut, trapping the canines inside with no way out they are escorted on a guided tour by their unseen Ghost Host through his humble home while looking for another way out!

Story begins one dark spring night in Alaska, in the community town of Nome where winter is almost ended and the days are starting to get long and the nights short, the weather beginning to warm up and the snow is melting away. At the other end of Main Street, high on a knoll overlooking the settlement town there stands a delapitated rundown old mansion. It resembles a Victorian antebellum manor-style house like those back in the 1800s during the American Civil War era. It is surrounded by a tall stone wall and fence with only one entrance, brick & stone pillar columns flanking each side of a large iron gate. Trees, bare of their leaves bend and sway slightly in the breeze like native hula dancers of Hawaii while an unseen voice sets the stage for things to come...

"Have you ever seen a haunted house? You know the kind I mean. That old dark house that's usually at the end of a dimly lit street. The owners haven't been seen for years, no one really knows why. The windows are broken and boarded and the shutters hang loose on their hinges. The sidewalk pathway leading to the front porch is broken and overgrown in places with grass and weeds. The trees have grown wild, their branches brush against the sides of the weathering old house, making strange noises in the night. There's a high stone wall and fence around the property. Is it there to keep somebody out, or is it there to keep something inside?"

"It's a house that people and animals avoid walking past at night...strange sounds come from within the walls and it's said that errie lights have been seen both in the attic windows and in the cemetary to the side of the house. Our story revolves around this mysterious mansion. Nights not long ago, several dogs and wolves were walking home from a date. The night was cool as lightning broke through the sky. The wind began to blow as the lightning flashed again while thunder boomed across the heavens to change this pleasant evening into a night to be remembered. The lightning struck again to illuminate the front of the old mansion, it began to rain. Balto, Jenna, Kodi, Aleu, Boris and Steele ran toward the old house, through the old iron gate and onto the porch for protection. Protection? If only they had known..."

Now as the wolves and dogs stood huddled & shivering together on the front porch staring out at the storm, the rain coming down like a gray wall of water with constant lightning flashes like God was taking flash pictures from his kingdom above and occasional thunder explosions that sounded like bombs going off each canine was worried about making it home safely in this weather. "Oh, father. Look at that rain come down" exclaimed Kodi "We'll never get home on time" "Sure we will, don't worry son" his father assured him, though he did not believe it himself. "It's not quite midnight yet" "Really?!" asked Boris with a cocky attitude, arched eyebrow _expression and smirk on his face, "How do you know it's not midnight yet?" "Hey! Nobody asked for your opinion." Balto yelled back as he tried keeping his temper in check. "Whoa, chill out, blood-brother. I'm sure he was only concerned, that's all" Steele said. "Oh, right" Balto responded. Aleu, his daughter began to examine the front double doors as if pondering their next move.

"This old porch isn't gonna keep us dry longer, honey" Jenna said, glancing at her husband-mate, "Huh?" Balto asked, caught off guard by her response. "I mean, we're still getting wet" Jenna looked up towards the arched roof supported by ivory column pillars on both sides of the double doors. The boards seemed to be warped and water-stained, droplets of rainwater falling between the cracks and splattering not only on the wolves, dogs and goose but also hitting the floorboards of the porch as well. Balto took a glance up at the roof and nodded. "You're right, dear. We'd better get shelter and quick" the wolf answered his wife-mate. Just then a noise caught everyone's attention and all heads spun about to see the female wolf struggling with the doorknockers, pulling and tugging on them with her teeth clamped firmly against them. "What are you doing, sis?" Kodi said with suprised shock. "What does it look like, eh? Trying to get front door open, no one lives here" Aleu spoke between her teeth while still fighting the stuck doors, "We can wait inside till the storm's over" "What?! Are you nuts or what?" Boris reacted with shock! "I heard stories around Nome that this house is haunted, that no one has lived here ever since the origional owners passed away"

"Haunted?!" exclaimed Jenna with stunned disbelief on her face, "Are you sure about that, Boris?" "Trust me, madame, I know what I'm saying here" the goose answered back. "No one has dared enter this house or even walked past it, especially at night-time because of strange things happening within its walls" "Oh, like what?" Steele wanted to know, "What kind of wierd things going on inside this mansion?" the former bully and sled-champion seemed curious to hear more so Boris was kind enough to explain. "Strange noises, errie lights appearing in the windows, the usual things that keeps people and animals like ourselves away from this house" Balto, Kodi and Jenna began to have second doubts about going inside the house now that what Boris was telling them could possibly be true! "Not me, I'm not going inside that old house. I'd rather stay out here and get wet" Jenna answered in a panicky tone, she seemed frightened by what would happen if she dared cross the thresh-hold. "Me too, mother" said Kodi in agreement. Even Balto agreed with his son and wife. Finally Aleu succeeded in opening one of the two front doors wide enough to stare into the gloom beyond. "Come on, don't be afraid, daddy, mom, bro. I'm sure nothing bad will happen, we'll just wait inside a little while until the storm passes. Then we can run back out again and continue on our way home" she asked her parents and uncle Steele (since he agreed to become a guardian to both Aleu and Kodi) to follow her inside the house.

So, the dogs, wolves and snowgoose nervously stepped across the thresh-hold and entered the mansion. Once inside they found themselves to be standing in a front entrance hall or front parlor. Huge picture windows gave views of the outside property although some panes of glass were missing and patched up with wood and/or cardboard, the curtain-drapes hung like limp flags in a still breeze. A crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling above with countless flickering candles, its illumination barely penetrating the darkness that surrounds the dogs and wolves. Other candles set into scounces on the walls cast errie shadowy patterns against the Victorian wallpaper design. Facing the canines was a fireplace, there seemed to be a fire billowing within its grate. Kodi, Jenna, Balto and even Steele hurried over to warm themselves from the radient heat to dry off, sighing with relief while Aleu and Boris stared about in awe and wonder. "Well, I'll be. This house is still full of furniture" Boris said as he glanced around at the furniture pieces covered in sheets, some were uncovered but layered with dust and spiderwebs. "It's as though someone still lived here" he said to himself. "But, if the owners died or passed away. Why leave their personal belongings behind?" Aleu wanted to know. "Because you can't take your earthly possessions with you when you die and go onto heaven, silly" the goose answered, trying hard not to laugh at the shewolf's antics as Aleu frowned, glowering. "Hah, now you tell me" she snapped back.

Suddenly without warning there came a deep ominous voice from out of nowhere, startling the dogs and wolves. "Good evening..." it said. Balto, Jenna, Boris, Kodi, Aleu and Steele jumped and spun this way and that way, looking around in all directions, trying to see who had spoken to them but there was nobody there. "Who said that?" Jenna asked in alarm, "Did I just hear a voice speak to us?" "I heard it too, Jen" Steele replied, a scared look on his face. "I got a bad feeling about this" Balto said nervously, "I think we'd better leave now" "Dad, let's get out of here!" whined Kodi in a panic as the male husky or wolf spun towards the open door and started running in that direction to escape. Aleu, Jenna, Boris, Balto and Steele followed quickly but as the family approached the door it began to swing shut by itself and without warning - IT CLOSED!!! Now the dogs and wolves were trapped inside the cursed house with no escape. "No!" cried Aleu, she ran toward the door, "The door closed!" and started fighting the knobs again in her effort to pry it open but this time it would