Ghosts in the Attic?

“What was that?” Denis exclaimed – “Where’s Dog?”.

“Dog’s here, by my feet; what’s the problem?”

“Didn’t you hear that thud?”

No, I hadn’t heard the thud and since Denis didn’t seem overly concerned about it, the silent evening continued with us both working away at our respective tasks.

A couple of hours later, there was another thud and I heard it this time. Odd, I thought to myself, the house does creak and groan from time to time, but I’ve never heard a thud before now. I was just trying to work all this out when there was yet another thud. Not a very loud one, but it definitely sounded as though someone or some object was coming into contact with the wall. The trouble is, there is no wall in the attic, except the outside wall and it sounded like an inside thud – not an outside thud.

We experienced this noise later in the evening in what appeared to be in the attic above our bedroom, but we still couldn’t figure out what it was. I can’t say that we were frightened or particularly worried about it, but it was an uncomfortable feeling.

Obviously this thump, once started, didn’t feel like stopping and we heard it the following day and again in the evening, whereupon I decreed that steps must be taken to investigate. Denis could not go up into the attic, and I would not go up into the attic so, working on the assumption that it must be some sort of large rodents, or, heaven forbid, even a coon, we called our friendly pest control expert the following morning.

Dave arrived just before noon and I was anxious to find out if he had been called out for this kind of thing before.

“Oh, lots of times,” said Dave, with a large grin spreading from one ear to the other, “but most of the time it’s just ghosts in the attic!” Knowing what my reaction might be to that last sentence, he hurriedly climbed the ladder to the attic.

He found nothing, certainly no coon; after he had climbed down the ladder, he heard the thud which prompted him to revise his opinion of ghosts in the attic and he decided to take a tour around the house outside.

Five minutes later, he reported back with his findings. We were all agog thinking that our little mystery might soon be solved.

“It could well be something to do with the attachment of the main electric cable to the house” Dave, the pest control expert explained. This cable swung across the road and up to the side of the house where it is attached to some kind of fixture on the outside wall of the house. “Phone Hydro,” he suggested.

The following day, having heard more “thumps in the night” I called Hydro. The operator at the other end of the phone explained that the gadget which attaches the cable to the house is called an Emily knob and as such was not Hydro’s responsibility. Ah, I thought, we are running true to form – pass the buck. The operator suggested I call an electrician.

Friday morning dawned, with more thuds during the night and I was on the phone to the electrician. Yes, they would come out some time today.

Two electricians turned up at 1:30 p.m., and did a thorough investigation, absolutely intrigued with their unusual problem at this residence. Apparently the Emily knob was sound and secure, as was the electric cable attached to it. Since the cable entered the house below the attic line, the electricians ruled out the Emily knob or the cable being the cause of our small problem. Why were Dave and ourselves not able to figure that out before I called Hydro, because I guess were are not electricians.

While standing at the bottom of the ladder to the attic, both electricians heard the thud, and raced back up again to see what they could see which was absolutely nothing. Finally, they left, completely perplexed, as was I. What next, I wondered.

What came next was a cessation of thumps, and a huge bill from the electricians.

I must report that we didn’t hear another sound for about three weeks; but the thudding started again on Tuesday.

Stay tuned for an update on Ghosts in the Attic?

© Susan Lancaster