The Disappearance of Baby Charlotte

By Karen Rule

Lela had given birth to a little girl they call Charlotte Charlie is over the moon to be a dad, and can’t wait until they are all home together. But when they do arrive home and Charlotte is put in her cradle for a nap, the unthinkable happens.

Keeping her ear out Lela hears something strange coming from their bedroom. Quickly on her feet she rushes to investigate.

Throwing open their bedroom door Lela sees this tattered ugly hunched form standing over Charlotte’s cradle. Lela was afraid that any sudden movement could spell disaster. As Lela watched, the thing picked Charlotte up, and in a flurry of tattered cloth disappeared with her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Sep 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781984508348

Karen Rule

Karen Rule only started writing in 2011. She writes what she has experienced in her early years at her family home with her mother father and sister. They all shared ghostly encounters, knockings and other strange and sometimes scary apparitions. As she had to give up work for health reasons she decided to put all of those encounters into her first book. She has found it a delight to keep with the same story line and penned three more along the same line.

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 by Karen Rule.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 09/22/2021

Xlibris

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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

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Thank you to all the people who have

supported me throughout the years.

I would not have written this

Fourth book without their support

and enthusiasm.

A special thank you to the friendly

people of Ross Tasmania, who have loved

my books as much as I have

loved writing them.

A note to the Reader

The colour meanings in this book are

of my own design and may not be

specific to actual colour meanings.

If you want true colour meanings, there

are plenty of books out there that do just that.

Thank you.

CHAPTER 1

A s Charlie stood with little Charlotte in his arms, Doctor Doyle walked in.

‘How is everything going Lela?’

‘Fine thanks.’

‘Any pain?’

‘No, no pain I feel fantastic.’

‘That’s good Lela, I think we will move you to a private room. How does that sound?’

‘Sounds great.’

‘Do you have any questions?’

‘Not that I can think of at the moment.’

Dr Doyle looked at Charlie. ‘What about you, Charlie?’

‘How long will they be in hospital for?’

‘Usually, for the first child, it’s about seven days, but if Lela and Charlotte do well and there are no complications, they could be out of here in four or five.’

‘That’s great. Thanks, Doctor.’

‘No problem. Well, Lela, someone will be in shortly to take you to your room.’

‘Thanks, Doctor.’

‘You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you later.’

Dr Doyle turned and left the room.

I started to feel weary and stifled a yawn.

‘When you are settled in your room, I’ll leave so you can get some rest, and I’ll come back later tonight with Audrie all right?’

‘Yep, that sounds good, darl. I am feeling tired. I must look a fright.’

‘You look terrific to me, honey.’

‘You’re a smooth-talker.’

Charlie smiled. ‘I tell the truth.’

‘Uh-huh.’

Just then, an orderly walked in. ‘Mrs Banks.’

‘Yes.’

‘My name’s Joseph and I’m here to take you to your private room.’

‘Hello, Joseph.’

‘Are you able to sit in a wheelchair? Or do you want me to get a stretcher for you?’

‘I’ll be fine in a wheelchair.’

‘All right, I’ll just get one then.’

Joseph left and was back within a couple of minutes, pushing a wheelchair in front of him.

‘Let me check to make sure I have the right patient.’ Joseph took my wrist and checked my name against his records. ‘Yes, all checks fine here.’ He did the same with Charlotte and was happy. ‘Good, good, all’s OK here too. Mr Banks, you cannot carry Charlotte. Could you put her in the crib and follow us.’

‘Sure.’ Charlie placed Charlotte in her crib and was ready to follow Joseph.

I sat up, and Charlie and Joseph helped me into the wheelchair, then we were off. Joseph walked down a long corridor then turned right and wheeled me down to the end of another corridor and turned left into my private room number ten.

My room was quite large; it looked like it was once a semi-private room with two beds. There was a wall mounted TV and a separate shower and toilet just like any other hospital room, nothing exciting, just plain.

Joseph pushed the wheelchair next to my bed. He turned down the sheet and helped me into bed. Charlie put Charlotte and the crib next to me.

‘There you go, Mrs Banks.’

‘Thanks, Joseph.’

‘You’re welcome. Bye now.’

‘Bye, Joseph.’

Joseph left Charlie and me alone. Charlie stayed a little longer, he waited until I was comfortable and settled in, then he kissed me goodbye and leaned into Charlotte’s crib and gently kissed her on top of the head.

‘I’ll see you later tonight, honey.’

‘All right, darl. See you then.’

‘You get some rest now.’ Charlie said on his way out.

‘I will.’ I smiled and blew him a kiss as he walked out.

I was now alone with Charlotte who was fast asleep. Watching her sleep made me feel all the weary myself. I knew that a nurse would be coming in at any moment, and I fought to keep my eyes open as they wanted so desperately to shut. And just as I was about to lose the battle, in walked my nurse.

‘Hello, Mrs Banks, I’m Dorinda Hollis. I’ll be looking after you and Charlotte while you are here.’

‘Hi, nurse Hollis.’

‘Please call me Dorinda, Mrs Banks.’

‘Only if you call me Lela.’

‘Deal. So how do you feel?’

‘Actually, I feel good.’

‘Wonderful. Let me take your vitals.’

‘Sure.’

I watched Dorinda go through all the checks that are usually done, and she looked pleased.

‘No wonder you feel good. Everything is fine. Any pain?’

‘Not really, just a little sore down south.’

‘To be expected. Do you want anything for the pain? I should ask first. Are you breastfeeding or bottle feeding?’

‘I’ll be bottle feeding.’

‘Any reason?’

‘I want Charlie to experience the closeness with our daughter as I will.’

‘Fair enough.’

‘And to answer your question, I don’t need any pain relief at the moment, but if that changes, I’ll let you know.’

‘All right, I’ll take Charlotte to the nursery so you can rest, and I’ll bring her back when she gets hungry.’

‘Thanks, Dorinda. Oh, could you please wait until she wants it and not because of time.’

‘You mean demand feeding?’

‘Yes.’

‘No problem.’

‘Thank you.’

Nurse Dorinda left, pushing Charlotte’s crib, and my eyes immediately closed when she was out the door.

I opened my eyes to the clanging of dishes on my table, realising that I had missed dinner before and that they decided to bring it to me now. I sat up and pulled the table closer and as I was taking the cover off, I was hoping it wasn’t anything too heavy. I was in luck. It was just a salad, a cup of tea, and a jelly. As I was finishing my cup of tea, Nurse Dorinda brought Charlotte to me.

I sat with her and gave her her bottle, and she took it with gusto. She was a delight to watch. Her little fingers opened and closed as she drank; her toes curled too. She looked so cute. I hoped Charlie would arrive while Charlotte was still feeding so he could see his daughter and have a go at feeding her as well. And as luck would have it, he walked in at that very moment.

‘Hello, honey.’ Charlie bent down and gave me a kiss.

‘Darling, I’m glad you’re here.’ I looked around. ‘Where is Audrie?’

‘Here I am,’ Audrie said, coming in through the door. ‘I just had to visit the little girl’s room.’

‘I see.’

Charlotte finished her bottle, and I burped her. ‘Do you want to hold your daughter?’

‘Sure do.’

Charlie came round and took Charlotte in his arms.

‘Then me.’

I smiled at Audrie’s enthusiasm. ‘How is your house going?’

‘Everything is going good. I’ve bought a few things from the antique shop for it, but I do need more. You’ll have to come and have a look-see when you’re settled at home.’

‘I’ll be in that.’

‘OK, Audrie, you ready?’

‘Sure am.’ Audrie took Charlotte from Charlie’s arms and immediately started swaying back and forth, with her talking softly. ‘She is beautiful, Lela. She has your hair and eye colour, but I do see Charlie there in her facial features.’

‘At least that’s something I suppose.’

‘But all in all, she is going to look like herself.’

‘Yes, I agree, Audrie.’

‘What time is visiting hours over, hon?’

‘Um, about eight thirty at night. I think.’

‘Right, then we have another fifteen minutes. Were we late coming, or did the time just fly by? It only seems like we just walked in.’

‘I think it flew.’

‘Yep.’

With the last fifteen minutes, Audrie held Charlotte. Charlie and I sat and chatted about coming home, which I was already missing, but I knew it wouldn’t be long till I was there again.

With time up, Audrie reluctantly gave Charlotte over to me, said her goodbyes, and waited in the hall for Charlie. Charlie kissed Charlotte and me and said he’d see us tomorrow and waved us goodnight and left.

When they had gone, I put Charlotte, who was sound asleep, in her crib and took her off to the nursery myself, which they were thankful for and promised to bring her back to me when she woke for a feed.

I made my way back to my room and showered, brushed my teeth, climbed into bed, and fell asleep straight away.

The next four days went by rather quickly, and early Monday morning, Dr Doyle walked into my room.

‘Good morning, Lela.’

‘Morning, Doctor. You’re doing rounds early.’

‘Nothing like getting an early jump on the day.’

‘I’ll say.’

Dr Doyle picked up my chart. ‘So how have you been?’

‘Fine, doing good.’

‘Any pain?’

‘Nope.’

‘Keeping things down?’

‘Yep.’

‘No headaches, stomach aches, anything like that?’

‘Nope, nothing.’ I sounded like a broken record.

‘Yes, it all looks good here. And Charlotte has been given a clean bill of health too, so I don’t see why the two of you can’t go home this morning.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes, really.’

‘That’s wonderful. Thanks, Doctor.’

‘I’ll sign yours and Charlotte’s discharge papers and leave them at the nurses’ station for you so when Charlie comes in to see you this morning, you can pick them up on your way out.’

‘Shall do. Thanks again, Doctor.’

‘No problem, Lela. Remember if you have any problems, come straight back here, all right?’

‘Yes, I will.’

‘It was nice meeting you, Lela. Goodbye.’

‘Nice meeting you too, Doctor, and thank you for everything.’

Dr Doyle smiled and walked out.

‘Wow, I’m going home. I can’t wait,’ I said to myself, all excited.

I quickly got out of bed and changed, went into the bathroom, ran a comb through my hair, and brushed my teeth. I come back into the room just as Nurse Hollis brought a hungry Charlotte to me.

‘I hear that the two of you are going home today?’

‘As soon as Charlie gets here, yes.’

‘Good for you. Then this is your last feeding here.’

‘Yep.’

‘You have clothes for her to go home in?’

‘Sure do.’

‘Then I’ll leave her to you then.’

‘Thank you, Dorinda, for all your help.’

‘My pleasure. You two take care. Just leave everything in the room. We’ll take care of it later.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Bye, Lela.’

‘Bye, Dorinda.’

I settled myself in the comfortable chair beside my bed and fed Charlotte her bottle. While feeding Charlotte, my mind turned to Blake Logan and the promise I made him. I wasn’t going to forget it; he just had to wait a couple of weeks until I’ve settled in at home.

After Charlotte finished her bottle, I took off the hospital clothes and dressed her in what I brought from home. She was decked out in a white nappy, pink pilchers, and a singlet a cute little pink-and-white cotton dress with butterflies and booties of the softest wool. She looked so cute, if I do say so myself. I might be biased, but she did. All we had to do now was wait for Charlie; he would be pleased, that’s for sure.

I was going over everything in my mind, checking off a list of things that I knew we had and making sure we did have them because I didn’t want to be caught unawares. I was so far into my own thoughts that I didn’t hear Charlie and Audrie walk in. It wasn’t until he tapped me on the shoulder that I realised it wasn’t just Charlotte and me any more.

‘Oh, hi, guys. You’re here.’

‘Yep, we are,’ Audrie said, watching me.

‘You look like you’re ready to go somewhere, honey.’

‘That I am, or I should say we are,’ I said, wearing the biggest smile.

‘Then please tell me that you pair are coming home with me.’

‘All right, I’ll say that.’

‘You’ve just made me the happiest man alive.’

‘And me the happiest aunty alive.’

‘And I make three.’

Charlie looked around my room. ‘Well, it looks like you’re all packed.’

‘Sure am.’

He then squatted in front of Charlotte. ‘And look at you, little one. You look so cute in that little outfit you have on.’

‘She sure does,’ Audrie agreed. ‘Can I hold her, Lela?’

‘Of course, you can.’

Audrie came over and picked up Charlotte from my arms. I handed her Charlotte’s pink blanket I had made, and Audrie bundled her up tightly.

‘While you were in here, honey, I enquired at the police station to see if there were any restraints for babies and bassinets, and get this, there is nothing. You either hold them on your lap or you put a seat belt around the bassinette on the back seat.’

‘You’re kidding.’

‘Nope, not kidding.’

‘Jeez, that’s not safe at all. Thank goodness we live in a small town where there’s hardly any traffic. Well, I guess I’ll be nursing her on my lap then.’

‘I’ll take it easy too.’

‘OK, I’ll just do one more sweep of my room, then we can go.’

‘All right, hon.’

I went into the bathroom to make sure I got everything, which I had, and after checking at the nurses’ station and having them check everything, it was time for Charlie, Audrie, Charlotte, and I to leave the hospital.

CHAPTER 2

W hile driving through the streets, the first thing that struck me was the increase in traffic, although not heavy, mind you, but much more than we were used too, that’s for sure.

‘Wow, I can’t believe this.’

‘The traffic?’

‘Yeah, there’s a lot more of it. How long has it been like this?’

‘This is just a week’s worth.’

‘My goodness. So it’s ever since the veil was lifted then.’

‘Yes, quite the influx, isn’t it?’

‘I’ll say, at this rate, it will be standing room only.’

Charlie laughed. ‘God, I hope not.’

Charlie then turned right on to Moon-Hollow Rise, and when we passed the real estate office, I quickly glanced in and saw Blake standing, staring out the front window. For a split second, our eyes locked, so I pushed a thought out towards him, "I haven’t forgotten my promise to you." I then saw him nod and smile. I was glad that he had got my message. However, the strange thing was, did Blake somehow know that we’d be passing at this exact moment? Stranger things had happened, so I guess so.

I would keep that promise because I didn’t want or need any more spirits being annoyed with me and the possibility of them attaching themselves to me or anyone in my family for that matter.

As we turned into our street. Charlotte started to stir in my lap. I looked down to find a pair of green eyes looking up at me. I couldn’t help but smile, and for the life of me, it looked like she smiled back.

Now some people would say No, it’s not a smile. It’s just gas, while others and this includes me would say "Rubbish about it being gas. You just know it’s not. It is a smile’. Besides, how does anyone know for sure?

As I looked into Charlotte’s green eyes, a clear and definite impression of her thoughts pressed themselves on to my already crowded mind. How did I know they were Charlotte’s thoughts? That’s easy. I saw myself from her perspective, and for the briefest of moments, I thought, hang on, I did hear the word mummy uttered. And that thrilled me to no end, so I smiled at my daughter and projected a thought of my own on to her just to see what would happen. So I thought for a moment of what I would project and came up with, Are you my special little girl who is psychic and can read mummy’s thoughts? I put psychic in there just to see if she somehow knew what that meant, and I waited to see what kind of response I would get.

As I watched Charlotte, she started to struggle against her blanket that held her little arms trapped. I was just about to help her when she drew her left arm free of herself. That made me wonder what she was going to do next. Now that her arm was free of the blanket, she reached out and up, and her little hand came in contact with the left side of my face. Then something unbelievable passed between us, something that would bond the two of us together, something that Charlotte showed me that I would never forget.

‘What was that all about?’

I looked up and over at Charlie and saw that he was watching me with interest, as was Audrie, who was almost in the front seat with me. I then looked to my left and saw that we were already parked in our driveway.

I turned back and faced them. ‘It was a moment that the two of us shared. It was . . .’ I thought for a moment; I didn’t know how to explain if fully. ‘Um.’ I think the look on my face told them that I wasn’t sure.

‘Don’t worry, honey. You can tell us later.’

OK.’ I was relieved because I didn’t know if I wanted to or whether I should. I didn’t want to shut Charlie out of this, but . . . I liked the thought of having something just between Charlotte and me alone. I’ll have to think about it.

‘Just sit here for a moment while I go unlock and open the door, then I’ll come back for the two of you.’

‘Thanks, darl.’

‘I’ll get the bags from the boot,’ Audrie said as she got out and softly closed the back door.

‘Thanks, Audrie,’ I said to a closed door.

I sat and watched as Charlie opened the back door and Audrie walked inside with the bags. Charlie then came back to the car, opened my door, leaned in, picked up Charlotte, and help me out of the car.

What a gentleman, I thought. I climbed out and shut my door, then the three of us walked over to the back door. Charlotte was sound asleep again, cradled in Charlie’s arms, but when we entered through the door, she immediately opened her eyes and turned her head to look at what seemed to me to be where the secret door was, which had been walled over. And I thought I heard a sound come from her, but surely, I must have been mistaken.

Charlie stopped in his tracks. ‘Did you hear that?’

‘If you mean the sound our daughter just made, then the answer is yes, I did. And I don’t know if you noticed, but she opened her eyes and turned her head towards that wall.’ I pointed to the far wall.

‘No, I didn’t, but what does that tell you?’

‘I’m not sure. Do you think she’s picked up on something there?’ I asked, quite puzzled.

‘I reckon so. Our little girl shows signs of being like her mum.’

I beamed at Charlie and thought about what had happened in the car. ‘I’d say so, poor girl.’ I was in two minds whether to tell Charlie or not but then thought I’d tell him sometime tonight.

‘No, having two psychic women in the family might make for interesting times.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘Oh, very funny.’

‘What’s keeping you pair?’ a whispered voice said from behind us.

I all but screamed and spun around only to find Audrie standing there. ‘My god, Audrie, you almost gave me a heart attack.’

‘Oops, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just wondering what happened to you,’ Audrie said sincerely, but I could see the making of a smile lift the corners of her mouth.

‘Uh-huh.’

The smile Audrie was trying not to show was now plastered across her face.

‘Anyway, why the delay?

Charlie and I relayed what had happened when we walked in, and by the look on Audrie’s face, it said that she wasn’t surprised at all.

‘Well, having a mother who is psychic, I don’t doubt it one bit.’

‘It’s going to be interesting,’ Charlie commented.

‘OK, you two.’ I was trying to sound peeved, but it didn’t come across like it, so I shook my head. ‘Come on, let’s get Charlotte to her cradle.’

I went ahead of Charlie so I could prepare her cradle for her, and as I walked up the hall, Audrie came up behind me.

‘Charlie’s put the cradle in your bedroom for the time being. He says you’d want her in there with you for a while.’

‘Good idea. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.’

‘Well, you did have a lot on your plate giving birth and all that.’