Kentucky Hauntings(39)

Mrs. Granger was busy and did not notice right away that Howard had not come back yet. Mattie woke up and asked for him, so Mrs. Granger went to the back door and called him. She expected him to come running like he always did, but this time there was no sign of the little black dog.

“Mommy,” said Mattie, starting to get out of bed. “I'll go look for him.”

“No, Mattie,” said her mother. “You have to stay in bed until you feel better. Howard is probably off chasing a rabbit somewhere, but I'll have your dad go look for him if he isn't home by suppertime.”

Howard still had not come home by suppertime. Mattie felt well enough to come down to the table for supper, but her mother still would not let her go outside. When the meal was over, Mr. Granger went into the woods to look for Howard.

“Howard!” he called again and again, but there was no response. Darkness was settling over the woods now, so Mr. Granger gave up the search and went back home.

“I'm sure he'll show up in the morning,” he told Mattie. “He's probably rambling around in the woods.”

Mattie went to the door and called for Howard before she went to bed, but all was silent in the yard and the woods beyond. She hoped her dad was right about Howard's coming home in the morning. She went to bed and finally fell sleep.

During the night, a thunderstorm passed over the Granger house. The wind howled and the rain beat down on the yard and woods. The thunder and wind woke Mattie, and immediately she thought of little Howard out in the storm. She pulled back the cover and got out of bed. She stuck her feet into her little house shoes and went down to the kitchen. She opened the back door and called and called for Howard, but he didn't come.

“I've got to go find him,” she told herself. “He's afraid of storms.”

And out the door she went, straight into the woods. She walked farther and farther among the trees, and there she saw Howard's body on the ground. She sat down beside him and began to cry. She began to feel a chill and started to cough, but she had no idea of how to get home. She began to get very sleepy.

Back at the Granger house, the storm woke Mrs. Granger. She went to Mattie's room to check on her and discovered she was not in bed. She looked in the bathroom, but Mattie was not there, either.

“Wake up!” she called to her husband, running back into their room. “Mattie's not in bed!”

They both hurried down to the kitchen and saw the back door slightly open.

“Oh, my Lord!” cried Mrs. Granger. “She's gone out in the storm to find that dog! She'll catch her death of cold. We've got to find her.”

She was interrupted by a bark coming from the edge of the woods. She and her husband both looked out the door.

“Look at that,” said Mr. Granger. “Howard's home!”

He opened the door wider and called to him.

“Come here, boy! Come on in!”

Howard made no move toward the house. He would bark, go into the woods, come out and bark again.

“I think he wants you to go with him,” said Mrs. Granger. “Maybe he knows where Mattie is!”

“I'm going to follow him,” said Mr. Granger, pulling on his raincoat. “I'll be back as soon as I can.”

Mrs. Granger watched Howard and her husband disappear into the woods. She stood at the kitchen door and waited as the minutes ticked by. The thunder and wind had passed on, but the rain had stayed on to continue its steady beat. She could see most of the yard from the porch light, but nothing moved out there.

She left the door and put on some water to boil for tea. When her husband found Mattie, she would need something to warm her up. She made strong coffee for herself and her husband. With that accomplished, she went back to the door. It seemed forever before she saw her husband emerge from the woods, carrying their daughter in his arms. Howard was not with them. She thought that was odd, but she now focused her attention on her child. She took off Mattie's wet clothes, put a clean, warm gown on her, and wrapped her in a blanket. Her head was hot with fever, so Mrs. Granger gave her some tea and put her to bed.

Mr. Granger changed into some warm, dry clothes and sat down with his wife to drink a cup of the steaming coffee.

“Where's Howard?” she asked.

“He's dead,” Mr. Granger answered softly.

“Dead?” gasped Mrs. Granger. “What happened?”

“It didn't just happen,” Mr. Granger explained. “He's been dead awhile. It looked like he got in a fight with a big dog, probably the Phillips's dog. He was back in the woods off the path, and I found Mattie beside his body.”

“But he was clearly leading you!” exclaimed Mrs. Granger.

“I know,” said Mr. Granger. “He seemed as alive as you and me! I thought he was alive until I caught sight of Mattie beside his body there on the ground. The Howard I'd been following vanished then. I wouldn't have found Mattie so soon without his help.”