A Good Deed

By Annette Siketa

When Miss Margaret died, Jack and Elizabeth thought they were doing the right thing when they took care of her afairs.  But the crotchy old widow had other ideas...even from the grave

A somewhat humourous yet chilling ghost story set in the 1880's.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Annette Siketa
• Release date: Feb 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393657842

Annette Siketa

For those of you who have not yet made my acquaintance, my name is Annette Siketa, and I am totally blind. Were you aware that most blind and visually impaired people are extraordinarily perceptive? To sighted people, this ability must seem like ESP, and I suppose to a certain extent, it is. (I'm referring to the literal meaning of Extra Sensory Perception, not the spooky interpretation.) To compensate for the lack of vision, the brain and the other four senses become sharper, so that we can discern a smell or the identity of an object. I promise you there's no trickery involved. It's simply a matter of adapting the body to ‘think’ in another way.Being blind is no barrier to creativity. Like most things in this world, life is what you make of it, and after losing my sight due to an eye operation that went terribly wrong, I became a writer, and have now produced a wide variety of books and short stories, primarily of the ghost/supernatural/things that go bump in the night genre.So, how does a blind person write a book? On the practical side, I use a text-to-speech program called ‘Jaws’, which enables me to use and navigate around a computer, including the Internet, with considerable ease. Information on Jaws can be found at www.freedomscientific.comOn the creative side...well, that’s a little more difficult to explain. Try this experiment. Put on your favourite movie and watch it blindfolded. As you already ‘know’ the movie – who does what where & when etc, your mind compensates for the lack of visualisation by filling in the ‘blanks’. Now try it with something you’ve never seen before, even the six o'clock news. Not so easy to fill in the blanks now is it?By this point you’re probably going bonkers with frustration – hee hee, welcome to my world! Do not remove the blindfold. Instead, allow your imagination to compensate for the lack of visualization, and this will give you an idea of how I create my stories. Oh, if only Steven Spielberg could read my mind.

Book preview

England, 1894.

She was known in the village as Miss Margaret.  Few knew her surname and even fewer cared, for with her sharp tongue, cold heart, long skinny fingers and frizzled white hair, many were convinced she was a witch. 

Miss Margaret had lived in the two room stone cottage near the cliffs for most of her adult life.  She had no friends or acquaintances to speak of, and local gossip claimed that, although she was of noble stock, she had been ‘born on the wrong side of the blanket’.  Her only known relative was a grandniece, Lily, with whom she had not spoken in years.

The nearest neighbours were Elizabeth and Jack Barnet, who owned a small dairy farm.  Elizabeth was passing on her way to market when she saw Miss Margaret working in the yard.  The first autumn chill was nipping the air, and the old woman looked more bent and feeble than usual.

Good morning, Miss Margaret.  Tis rather cold today.  The weather is changing and not for the better.  You ought to have a lass to look after you in the coming months.

I don't need anyone, thank you very much.

Suppose you took a tumble, or when the really bad weather sets in, you fell ill and couldn’t get out of bed?  Who would fetch and carry for you?  Surely it would be wise to have a serving girl stay with you, at least until the spring.

And pay her for the privilege, was the grumbling reply.

For the main part, Elizabeth Barnet was kind at heart.  She had a soft spot for the elderly, and would often give them eggs and milk and butter from the farm - meat too when it was available.  But, when she chose, she had the annoying ability of mixing shrewdness with sarcasm, and it was sometimes difficult to determine whether she was speaking wisely or impudently.

What about Lily's eldest daughter, Mary? she suggested.  "She's a good worker, knows her place, and