The Mystery Of Hurtleberry House: The Reboot Files, #1

By C. L. Ragsdale

The host of a paranormal investigation show? For REBOOT? The worst TV station EVER?!
Not the career move that reporter Irene Waters ever wanted, but with a scandal now on her resume she can't be picky. So teamed with a cameraman who thinks he’s seen it all, they are sent to a rumored haunted house called Hurtleberry.
With a name like that who wouldn't be terrified?
Things soon take a turn for the weird, just not the kind of weird they were expecting. But it's interesting, and might even be dangerous.
Still, if they pull it off The Reboot Team might actually get a good story out of it.
If the story doesn't get them first.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C. L. Ragsdale
• Release date: May 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533776211

Book preview

THE REBOOT FILES

THE MYSTERY OF HURTLEBERRY HOUSE

BY

C. L. RAGSDALE

Copyright 2010 by C. L. Ragsdale

Cover Design by Jesse Ruiz

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This is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead, is completely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

About The Author

Chapter 1

It was said that Hurtleberry House was conceived as an act of spite and completed in one of petty revenge.

The builder, Walter Rockingham, was renowned as a miser of unfathomable proportions. He spent his long life accumulating a vast fortune, after which he was determined to spend as little of it as decently possible.

Decency being a relative term.

His first wife, the gentle but meek Jenny, had been forced to merely endure his financial meanness until the day of her death, thus ending an unremarkable and pitiful existence.

However, the second Mrs. Rockingham, a local beauty named Pamela, was of a different caliber altogether. She had been raised to believe she was owed the finer things this life had to offer. So, to her way of thinking, her rich, much older husband was obliged to meet her expectations, little knowing that Walter expected his new wife to simply accept her circumstances as his thoroughly cowed first wife had done.

Such opposing viewpoints were bound to result in conflict, which soon came to pass resulting in an epic battle where the final victor was far from certain.

And it all centered on a house.

Mere months after their marriage, Pamela demanded that Walter replace their modest dwelling with a grand structure as befitted his new bride.

Walter, true to his character, was stubbornly defiant against such lofty, and expensive, notions. The old miser held out for quite some time, but at last, to end his wife’s constant carping, he finally gave in.

On his own terms.

Terms which proved to be quite severe.

For instead of a dwelling of elegant refinement, Walter presented Poor Pamela, as she came to be known, with a monstrosity of vulgar excess and poor design he dubbed Hurtleberry House. Then, in what all agreed to be a final act of spite, he died, leaving his fortune in a complicated trust allowing his furious wife the funds to maintain, but not change, the architectural atrocity he had created.

Even worse for Poor Pamela, although Old Walter never actually lived in Hurtleberry House, most say that he took up residence there after his death and never left.

Since that time, the ghost of Walter Rockingham has made life a misery for all who dared to live in Hurtleberry House. Even to this day...

That’s quite a dramatic delivery, a soft female voice interrupted the tale. Maybe you should be in front of the camera instead of me.

Chapter 2

Troy Stenson glanced over at his companion and couldn’t help but feel a little peeved. He was not conceited by any means, but with his full head of dark hair, warm brown eyes, fit physique and rugged good looks, he was used to a more sympathetic hearing from the opposite sex.

That was before he had met Irene Waters.

It had been a memorable meeting, on his part anyway. Simply put, his new reporter had the face of an angel and the body of a Greek goddess. She was currently trying to downplay those assets by wearing large framed glasses, casual attire and her long glorious thick blond hair pulled back in a ponytail.

He hated to break it to her, but the effort was a waste as it didn’t achieve its intended purpose. Besides he thought it was a strange choice of costume for an on-screen personality for a television show. Even an obscure one.

Troy, the cameraman for the show, knew most men would have envied him. After all, how could any man not fantasize about being teamed with such a beauty? That’s until said beauty had gotten wind of it, which had occurred when he’d made a mild pass at her at their first meeting. It had been nothing serious, at least he hadn’t thought so.

Irene, however, had taken it very serious indeed. Her big, dark blue eyes had gotten positively glacial, and her body language relayed a very clear message.

Knock it off or I will! And if you don’t think that I can you’re very much mistaken.

Actually Troy believed that she could and backed off immediately.

They’d moved on, although she still tended to be guarded around him. But then Irene didn’t know Troy well enough yet to realize that he was not the type of man to pursue a woman who didn’t want to be pursued.

It was just as well that he preferred red-heads.

Now on a thoroughly professional only status, they looked up at the large house perched atop a hill overlooking a small sleepy town. It was unfortunate, but they’d been told they’d have to park their vehicle, an older model Jeep, at the bottom of that hill. This meant they’d have to climb the steep incline to get to the house itself. With their bags and their equipment.

They were both in good shape, and were glad that they’d packed light, but they were still going to have to make more than one trip. Not the way either of them had wanted to start their day.

The hike aside, Troy approved of Hurtleberry House. It at least had the appropriate sinister appearance on its exterior that every haunted house worth its salt needed.

So that’s our haunted house? At least it looks the part this time. Once Bernie sent us out to a so-called haunted house and it was a ranch style. A ranch style? What was I supposed to do with that?

Irene gave him a searching look, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. Apparently he was.

I’m glad you’re pleased, but I’m not sure how easy our job is going to be. According to the information we were given the house is half torn up from renovations. Besides that, although it isn’t a ranch it’s a...unique design.

The cameraman looked at the house again and had to admit Irene was right. It was an oddly designed house. A horizontal rectangle with two connecting vertical rectangles and three chimneys?

Still, it beat the ranch style any day of the week.

You’re going to be just great at this job, he joked. Let me give you some advice, Irene. Practical and logical thinking won’t do for this gig, you’ll just drive yourself crazy. Trust me, just go with whatever is thrown at you, and plenty will get thrown at you. Still, I admit it’s crazy architecture, and what’s that other building off to the side? Now that looks out of place.

Out of place? How?

It looks like a normal house.

Irene smiled a smile that momentarily made Troy forget all about his red-head preference. He recovered quickly, sort of, but decided for the sake of their working relationship he would need to get used to that smile.

Or Irene really would knock his block off.

Completely unaware of the internal havoc she had just caused her cameraman, Irene consulted her notes. After flipping a page or two, she offered, It must be the caretaker’s house.

Caretaker? What do they need a caretaker for? Don’t the owners live there?

Again Irene looked through her notebook before she answered the question.

They do now.

Now?

The owners are new, sisters named Jennifer and Jessica Rockingham. They’ve just moved in after inheriting the house from their grandfather, Harold Rockingham.

What did they do to the old guy to deserve that? Troy asked sarcastically.

Irene glanced back at the house, and gave a small shudder, causing Troy to laugh. She darted a look at him, her big blue eyes twinkling with amusement.

This flash of humor made her even more attractive. So much so that Troy was now constantly reminding himself that he preferred red-heads. Blonds, especially this blond, were kryptonite to him.

For her part, Irene continued to relay the facts.

As to why a caretaker was needed, it seems that Harold was seriously ill toward the end of his life. He was constantly in and out of the hospital and extended care facilities, so an old family friend looked after the place for him. That’s the caretaker.

So are the sisters going to live there now?

Irene frowned slightly over the notes.

There’s no definite answer on that question. But all agreed that a massive remodel, they’re calling it a restoration, was in order.

Troy leaned back in his seat and sighed, "Meaning it’s a mess in there, and that you were right. That’s going to make our job a whole lot more difficult. I wouldn’t mind the mess so much,