Mystery Behind The Old Farm House
The old tiny farmhouse seemed more rustic than a few years ago. The reason for its deterioration remained unknown. Once flocked with travelers, it looked spooky now. The visitors now prefer staying in the Riverbed farm adjacent to it. Elena Smith, a journalist in her early thirties, visits this town every time there is something she wants to find out about the old farmhouse. As a child, she stayed in the farmhouse with her cousins and family during winter vacation. The town of Magna is just 150 miles from London City, and she drives her hatchback to reach here. This is the first time she is forced to stay in a place other than the old farm due to its closure. It came as a shock for her as all her plans of visiting the town went down the drain.
Ms. Smith grabbed a room with a clear view of the old farm. During her visit five years back, she almost reached a secluded place inside only to be suddenly stopped by the gardener. She was an intern and was working on a mystery genre. This mysterious farm made her very curious. She started jotting down every detail about the farm and its surroundings. Life got very busy with new projects piling up on her table, and she almost forgot about the journal that she started a few years back. It was dusk, and Ms. Smith suddenly saw the gardener working inside the old farm; at once she ran to meet him, only to see him disappear from behind the farmhouse. This incident gave her chills, and she started trembling from inside, wondering where the gardener had disappeared.
That night she couldn’t sleep, and she decided to get to the roots of this mystery. A sudden flash of light from her room window grabbed her attention. The light came from the farmhouse, and there were human activities happening inside. Ms. Smith immediately grabbed her camera and mobile, tiptoed to the farmhouse, and left no trace of her act. Once she reached the farmhouse, she heard voices of people and faint party music, but the farmhouse was again dark. This made her more curious; she switched on the flashlight of her mobile and slowly went around the farmhouse. There was a tall pine tree in the backyard where she hid herself to have a glimpse of what exactly was happening there. It was past midnight, and she suddenly saw a flash of light again. The flashes are only for a few seconds, and that comes with a creaking sound. Though it was dark, she still took a few pictures just not to leave any chance. She was waiting for an hour, and there was absolutely no movement; she leaves for her room. She plugs in her camera to the laptop and starts seeing the pictures one by one. She spends the rest of the night trying to zoom in and out on the pictures in search of clues.
The next morning, she goes jogging around the farm and takes pictures to compare with those taken the previous night. She goes back to her room, plugs in her mobile, and starts comparing the pictures one by one. Suddenly she sees something very strange in two of the pictures that she took at the same angle, one the previous night and the other a few minutes ago. She notices a big oak tree near the backyard entrance in the picture she took when she went jogging, while the other picture did not seem to have any tree. She decides to go to the old farm that very night to sort the confusion. She reaches the same spot, hides herself, and slowly tiptoes near the backyard entrance. She gets shocked to see a huge well with a door on top in the place of the oak tree. Before she could react, she hears music and faint chit-chats of people. She suddenly notices a shadow of a huge man near the well, and she clicks pictures. The man suddenly disappears; due to darkness, Ms. Smith was unable to see his face.
Back in her room, she freezes seeing a picture in which the huge man’s face is seen due to the flashlight that came from the well. The face seemed very familiar, and she quickly started digging into her old pictures taken during her past visits to Magna. That's when she finds the picture of herself with Mr. Parkson, the owner of the old farmhouse. She quickly compares the pictures after doing some Photoshop to get clarity. “It's him!” she shouts with anxiety-filled excitement. Now her head is breaking with so many questions and doubts. Her inquisitive nature makes it more difficult for her to sit back and relax after knowing such news. She recollects the conversation she had with a florist two days back. He had mentioned that the reason for the old farm to be shut is the death of Mr. Parkson.
Ms. Smith sits by the serene lake behind the farmhouse where she stays, and thoughts fill her mind while she sips the hot turmeric tea. She recollects how Mr. Parkson used to call her Smithelina, combining her full name together. The thought of seeing him the previous night while the town considers him dead makes her restless. She ponders putting in the missing pieces to get the complete picture of this mystery. She decides to meet the florist who had shared the news of Mr.Parkson’s death. She drives to the florist shop and sees a long queue infront of the shop. She wonders what occasion drew so many infront of the shop all at once. Thats when she learns its Mr.Parkson’s birthday and everyone gathered to offer their prayers to the one who no more with them. She manages get into the shop and waits for the florist. Night falls but the florist doesn’t come and she decides to come the next day.
While she was driving back to her farmhouse she notices a man going inside the old farm house. She parks her vehicle and tip toes to the backyard , hides behind a tree. Next what happened gave her chills and she couldn’t believe her eyes. She saw the florist talking to Mr.Parkson, she suddenly felt breathless and concluded she is hallucinating. She relaxed a bit and calmed herself before looking in their direction . She knew now for sure that it is Mr.Parkson , but is he alive or is it his ghost? Why did the florist lie to her incase Mr.Parkson is alive?
She decides to get into the old farmhouse the next night to get answers. She first needs the blueprint of the farm house so she can plan her move inside . She sits back and digs into the past articles and comes across an interesting page about the old farm house . She finds a promotional advertisement which was shared after Mr.Parkson’s death announcement. In that she finds the old farm house project plan explained in detail to attract buyers. Ms.Smith wondered who wanted to sell the farm house and after that no news at all about the sale or promotion. She manages to capture the project plan in her mobile.
She packs her backpack with torches,extra batteries,a water bottle, few tools that she could gather from around, a lighter, mobile fully charged and a power bank just incase. She dresses in black tracks shirt and hoodie to camouflage easily with the surroundings. Midnight is her target and thats when she has always noticed strange things happening. She leaves her room and reaches the backside of the old farmhouse carefully without anyone notice her. As she reaches the backyard she suddenly trips and falls inside a deep well and as she walks inside she sees a big hidden door and that leads to something really strange. She hides herself when she hears footsteps approaching the door right behind which she stood there. As the door opens she sees huge crowd partying inside and her curiosity is double folded now to know whats happening. The hidden door can open only with a registered access card. She saw people getting in through the door.
Ms. Smith is filled with too many ifs and buts that was making her restless. How so many reach this place whenfrom outside there is no one and only access from Magna is the well. Thats when she see a tunnel just past the well and she slowly walks in for some time and finds a huge door. The door cannot be opened without a card and she waits for someone to open the door. Just then a visitor arrives and barges open the door and she sees a huge parking area with cars parked in levels. She pinches herself to ensure she isnt dreaming. As she was about to get back to the party room she was forcefully taken by someone with a mask to the party room. The masked up person is none other than Mr.Parkson. She trembles and with a jerk hits the floor , hurts her left knee. Mr.Parkson reaches to her and says “ Dont panic dear, we wont hurt you, Please listen to me.”
Mr.Parkson starts narrating about what exactly happened that lead to all these hidden things happening around. Mr.Parkson was cheated by his best friend Mr.Drake ,who was jealous of his progress. He took away the old farmhouse showing some old papers that had mentioned about Mr.Parkson’s father had borrowed money from Mr.Drake’s father and hasn’t repaid it. But the amount was repaid and the papers supporting the repayment went missing. The old farmhouse gets shut due to legal notice ordering the repayment of the debt to reopen the same.
Mr.Parkson was heart broken and did not know what to do. Thats when he sees the blue print of the farm house and finds that there is an underground world hidden behind a door from Magna and Tunnel from the London highway. He gets an idea to open a restaurent and bar to raise money but this should be done in secrecy to avoid the evil eye of Mr.Drake. Thats when he meets the florist,his best buddy and they both decide to spread the fake news of Mr.Parkson’s death. They decide to bring in customers at night from London and ensure a breathtaking experience. The only rule is that everything is kept a secret and the visitors are given access cards and codes to visit the place . Also they should never talk about this place to anyone after they visit else entry will be denied. Choosing the visitors also is done by Mr.Parkson after through background check.
Ms.Smith listens to Mr.Parkson’s innovative dare act. She says I need to write about this in my detective novel. Mr.Parkson winks and says ofcourse you can but I have another hundred customers to serve before I come back alive with the needed money . Ms. Smith hugs Mr.Parkson and says “ I will name my novel “, The Hidden old farm house.” Just before leaving she hands over a sealed envelop that she found while she fell into the well. Oh ya, it is the repayment deed, the debt cancellation papers.
my dear kallola kkoyilaa...(I prefer to remember you like that cutie!), the setting for this story is an excellent selection. Creating a suspenseful thriller against this backdrop is another aspect. The author never lets go of the reader till the very end of this masterfully written, thrilling drama.
