Ghost in the Dungeon

1 "The Wine Competition"

Gàetan could hear the wind howling as he walked up from the wine cellar in the 16th Century Château in Loire Valley, France. He called up to his wife, "Dominique, Honey. Where are you?"

When he reached the second-floor landing, he found his wife looking out the window in their twin daughter's bedroom. "Ah, Honey, would you like to join me for a snack before we leave? Bordeaux is a few hours away. I'll make our favorite sandwiches."

Dominique responded, "I'm watching Clara down in the courtyard with her new drone. I was concerned it was too powerful for her, but she seems to control it very well, even on a windy day.

As Gàetan put his arm around her, they both looked down at their daughter. But now Gàetan tensed up. He quickly opened the window and hollered down to Clara's twin sister, Celia.

"Celia, Honey, you're practicing your gymnastics awfully close to the moat. Can't you move over? If you fall in, then all the dogs will all have to jump in after you. It'll be a big mess. Your mother and I are leaving for Bordeaux soon."

The 12-year-old brown-haired girl was wearing a white karate outfit with a pink and black sash. She was trying to use the fierce wind to her advantage.

Waiving to her parents up in the window, Celia replied, "OK Papa, one last move and I'll stop."

But before he could protest, Celia ran in a straight line on the grass. At first, she jumped up into the air with a quick double kick. With ease, the little girl gracefully flipped the rest of body over her head and landed upright on her feet with her arms held up in the air.

Gàetan, shook his head as he closed the window. "There will be six adults and 11 dogs at home this weekend with the girls, so let's not worry about them. After all, we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of our first date tonight. First, we'll go to the hotel spa for a nice massage. Then we'll finish the evening with dinner at our favorite restaurant."

After taking his wife's arm and pulling her toward him, he kissed her. "I'm really looking forward to our evening before the competition tomorrow. It's just the two of us this weekend."

Outside in the courtyard, Celia called out to her twin sister, "Clara, did you see my flip? I jumped further than I ever have before."

Clara responded, "I didn't see all of it. I was trying to control my drone in this wind."

From inside the kitchen, family friend Floria, and her new husband, Renard, the former police chief and now a catering chef, were using the gigantic stove. Renard called from the kitchen door, "Clara, you can send in the groceries from the van any time you're ready."

Using her laptop, Clara moved the drone up and around inside the van, and lowered down onto the small stack of groceries. The drone carefully lifted the bag and carried it across the courtyard, where it now hovered in the kitchen doorway.

Renard was waiting for his delivery. "Good job. Now drop the bag down into my hands." As he put his hands out, waiting for his important package.

Unfortunately, now the noise from the drone set off the dogs, and they were jumping up, trying to grab the bags as they flew overhead.

Lulu, a two-year-old Neapolitan Mastiff, and Chico, a Dogue de Bordeaux French Mastiff, and the tallest, was Cleo, an English Mastiff puppy who was now 18 months old, were all acting like crazy dogs. Renard watched from the kitchen, laughing.

Cleo was Clara's support dog and was taking over the duties from Bridgette, a seven-year-old English Mastiff. Clara sometimes required a support dog for help.

After hearing all the commotion outside, overprotective older brother, Théo, walked out of the kitchen with his plastic ball launcher, calling out to the troublemaker dogs, "Ok doggies, let's play ball and leave the girls alone."

Soon, a car arrived at the courtyard entrance, and big Bleu trotted over to it, but he intentionally sat down in the middle of the pathway, blocking the car from entering. The 175lb Italian Mastiff waited until someone handed him a biscuit out the window. Today, the twin's grandmother, "Cheri" and her husband Jules, the former village mayor, handed him an x-large size dog biscuit.

As Cheri and Jules were getting the grocery bags together, Cheri’s best friend, Floria, came outside to greet them. Cheri whispered into her ear, "We bought enough vodka for the entire weekend. I can only drink wine for so long, and then I need a martini. Right? Let's hide it before Dominique sees it."

An hour later, the van was ready with the wine and display materials for the competition.

Dominique looked at her son. " Théo, you'll be home all weekend to help Grammy, right? We'll return late Monday afternoon before dinner. Will you please call us if anything comes up?"

Théo kissed his mom on the cheek, "I'm meeting my friends tonight and Saturday night, but I'll be home fairly early."

Turning to Cheri, Dominique added, "Mother, Uncle Leon will return from the vineyard later today, and he's available if you need anything."

Kissing each of her daughters, Dominique added, "Girls, call us if you need anything, and please watch Grammy and Floria. Make sure they don't drink all the best wine from the cellar while we're gone."

Renard laughed, "I'm catering a large party next week, so I'm test cooking new recipes all weekend."

Cheri added, "Everything will be fine. I hope you have a nice anniversary dinner, and good luck at the competition. I hope you come home with many ribbons."

Gàetan nodded his head and laughed. "Be sure to call us if anything comes up. We love you."

Everyone waved as the van drove through the large courtyard, past the pool and Uncle Leon's cottage, and then out the main gate.

2 "The Full Moon"

Much later that evening, after Théo left to meet his friends, and Flora, Renard, and Uncle Leon had all gone home. Cheri and Jules were alone in the main salon, enjoying a glass of wine from the private collection. Jules was all smiles as he ran his hand along the silky material of the leopard and pink lounging outfit she had changed into.

In a sultry voice, Cheri asked him, "Do you like my silky print outfit?"

He replied, while still rubbing his hand along the silk material on her thigh, "You look lovely, Honey. Where did you get this sexy outfit?"

Cheri lowered her voice and replied, "My boyfriend gave me this sexy outfit to wear when we secretly rendezvous."

They laughed even more while toasting their glasses. Then Jules sat up and put his wineglass down. "Honey, are the twins asleep now? And the dogs? Are they in their beds? It seems pretty quiet in the Château?"

Cheri turned her head a little toward the faint snoring she could hear coming from the top of the staircase. She whispered, "Listen? Can you hear André snoring? He's asleep up there. Bridgette and Obi are in the kitchen sleeping and the rest of the dogs are in the twin's bedroom, all fast asleep."

Nodding his head, Jules replied, "Good, we'll have to make sure not to wake them."

He continued, "Honey, this might be a good time to give me a personal tour of the dungeon. Théo and his engineering professor have been excavating. It would be fun to go down there. I've never seen the rack and the stocks. Maybe we can have some fun? No one will hear us, and you can tie me up, or chain me to the wall and take your aggressions out on me. Ok?"

Surprised, she replied in her sultry voice, "You little devil, how long have you been keeping this secret from me? You want me to chain you up or tie you down to the rack? Yes, I can arrange that. But Honey, we should bring another bottle of wine with us."

When Jules returned from the kitchen with the second bottle of wine, he was also carrying a large flashlight. "Are you going to be cold down there? Let's bring this blanket as well."

The newlyweds laughed as they tiptoed down the long hallway to the old fortress section of the Château. But now André's ears began twitching. The big dog lifted his head, and in his stealth mode, he tiptoed down the stairs and followed them down the long hall to the steps leading down to the dungeon. There, he flopped down and continued his sleep.

3 "The Dungeon

The newlyweds flirted and teased each other as they walked down the old stone steps, and then cautiously tiptoed down the dark hallway that led to the dungeon entrance.

When they reached the ancient wooden door, Cheri squeezed Jules's arm. "Are you sure you want to explore tonight, Honey? It might get pretty exciting."

Jules was holding his breath as he peered through the iron bars of the window that were cut into the door. It was impossible to see anything. He replied, "I'm going to shine the flashlight in the window first, before we go inside."

Cheri started laughing at him loudly, and replied, "WHY? What do you expect to see? Ghosts or monsters? Don't be so silly."

Yet, Jules put the flashlight up against the bars and indeed looked inside to make sure everything was clear.

Finally, he said, "Ok, we can open the door now."

Charlene snickered at her husband, "Let me have the bottle and the flashlight and you can open the door. It's rather heavy and it sticks."

Surprised at her comment, Jules stopped and replied, "How do you know? Have you been down here before? Did you and Hugo ever come down here?"

She sighed a little, "Honey, don't you remember? Théo and his professor started the excavation two years ago. We didn't know it existed until they were working on the moat. Yes, of course, I peeked inside while they were working. Plus, they had many questions for me and Leon about the Château's history. Everything is fine now, I promise."

When Jules swayed the heavy wooden door open, it creaked a little, and that seemed to freak him out. He froze.

As Cheri gave him a light shove, she teased him, "What's wrong with you? Why did we come down here at nighttime if you're so afraid?"

After walking inside, she went directly to the large portable light on the floor and turned it on. Looking back at her husband, who was still standing in the doorway, she repeated, "See, everything is fine."

After wiping the sweat off his forehead, Jules turned off his flashlight. It took him a few minutes to look over everything in the room, and he replied, "It's roomy in here."

His eyes glanced over the large metal rings screwed into the stone wall along one side. Then, he noticed the wooden stand of the "stocks," and finally he stared at the long wooden table, with a wheel on one end of the notorious "rack."

To distract him, Cheri took his hand. "Honey, look here." Then she walked over to the "stocks," the ancient humiliation punishment device, and she leaned over and placed her head and arms onto the carved wood platform that was rather tight.

"Come over here and hug me." She knew that would distract him, and soon he was the old playful husband she married, standing behind her, hugging her, and kissing her neck.

After having fun playing on the stocks, they took a breather and sit at the table and chairs that Théo had placed in the corner near a wooden door. As Jules poured more wine for his wife, he asked her, "What's inside that door, Honey? More play toys?" And they both laughed hysterically.

Cheri stood up, replying, "I really don't know? I know they had difficulty opening it up. She winked at her husband as she tried to pull open the old wooden door. It shook a little, but did not open.”

After a minute, Jules waved his hand and remarked, "Honey, leave it for now."

Jules was staring at the large wooden table nearby. Squeezing her hand as he commented, "Well, that looks interesting, don't you think?"

They both laughed and then Cheri challenged him, "You think so?" She slowly stood up, and said, "Come on Honey, I think you might fit." She knew he was excited, yet terrified at the same time. As they both laughed, she egged him on, "Come on now, your turn."

As they stood next to the low wooden table, Jules asked his wife, "Do you think it will hold my weight? Both of us? If we break it, we'll have to explain to Théo what we were doing in here."

After laughing, Cheri replied, "I'm not getting on that uncomfortable table."

Slowly, Jules sat down, testing out the strength of the table. He replied, "It feels pretty sturdy, but it's a little dusty. I think I'll take off my trousers so I don't get them dirty."

After he took off his shoes and moved them aside, he took off his trousers and folded them over the nearby chair. Now taking the blanket, he laid it on the long table and sat down.

"I'm going to lie back and stretch my arms out. I have an idea. The next time the parents go away on a trip, we can invite Floria and Renard to join us down here for a party."

Cheri was snickering at her husband, "How long have you been planning this visit to the dungeon? Floria has already been down here when Théo needed our help for something or another. I don't know if she told Renard anything about it, but I know he has not been down here."

Then, Jules slowly laid backwards and stretched out his arms into the metal brackets, commenting, "It's a little tight, but ok."

Nearly in hysterics now, Cheri told her husband, "You’re really full of excitement tonight, aren't you, honey?"

He quickly replied, "Well, I'll blame it on the full moon. Come on Honey, climb on top of me and see if the table will hold both of us. I'm ready for you now."

Slowly, Cheri climbed on top of her husband and they both held their breath, but the table seemed to hold their weight just fine.

After a few minutes of fun on the table, and out of the corner of her eye, Cheri spotted something shiny on the floor nearby. "What's that shiny metal thing on the floor? Wait a second, Jules, I think I know what it is."

Jules quickly replied, "I don't care what it is, just ignore it."

As Jules groaned and protested, Cheri sauntered around the table picking up the rather large metal key ring with a few large antique metal keys.

"Honey, I know how to open these old locks. Théo should have asked me if they could not open the door." She took a few minutes to try each key, then finally, one key turned, unlocking the door. They both looked at each other with excitement when the key turned around all the way.

With some difficulty, Jules sat up. "Honey, wait a minute. Let me get up and put my pants on. There might be a big dead rat or snakes or something else inside there."

But Cheri was not listening to him, she was listening to the strange noises on the other side of the door, and she said out loud, "It sounds like wind whipping around or something else. Maybe there’s a window back here that we never knew about? It sounds like birds flapping their wings. Do you hear that?"

Jules put up his hand. "Wait, wait. It might be bats." And he awkwardly tried to climb off of the table.

But Cheri ignored him and pulled the door back and forth with a jerking motion to open it. Finally, the door creaked as she slowly pulled it open.

After Cheri opened the wooden door, a tiny crack so she could peer inside, it blew wide open, knocking her backward and right back onto the wooden stocks.

She didn't know what was happening, but now she found herself trapped with her head down and arms resting in the slots. And before she could move away, the wooden top closed over her head and wrists, tightly trapping her.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, "Help, help! Jules, I'm trapped, and it’s hurting my neck."

The mighty wind was fiercely blowing around the room like a tornado, and the door to the dungeon suddenly blew shut with a loud, "Bang."

4. "The Tornado "

A fine mist had now covered everything, and Cheri screamed again, "Jules, Jules, hurry-up and free me."

But after hearing a "Thud," Cheri could see that Jules was back on the rack, and the metal clamps secured his arms and legs down.

She screamed at Jules. "It's the ghost Grandfather told me about. Come on, help me scream for help."

She screamed as loud as she could, "Celia, Clara, Help! André, come here! André."

Luckily for Grammy, André woke up when he heard the dungeon door slamming shut and Grammy screaming. He barked loudly as he raced down the steps. He was ferociously barking as he threw himself at the wood door trying to bust it open, but to no avail.

Grammy was screaming, "André, go get Celia! Hurry!"

Still barking, the faithful dog ran back inside the Château, and up to Celia and Clara's bedroom.