Tales of Terror

Easy Money
Audrey P. Lind
October, 2011

A long time ago two young girls moved from their apartment in the city to a quiet neighborhood in a small town. Faye was seven and Emily was nine. Having left all their friends behind, they quickly got to know the brother and sister that lived across the street. Joseph and Anna were a couple of years older, but seemed a little lonely too, so the kids all became fast friends. One day when they were just hanging out together in a pile of fall leaves, Faye mentioned that she wished she had some money for new ice skates. Emily agreed that they both needed new skates. “We know how you can make some easy money,” Joseph said. The sisters were excited, and wanted to hear more. Joseph and Anna explained that all the girls had to do was to get old Mrs. Spraggin’s groceries for her twice a week. “You each get a dollar every time,” they said. Anna pointed down the block to the run down property at the corner. Mrs. Spraggin’s house was a huge, weathered old beast that loomed behind monstrous pine trees and over grown thickets. Faye and Emily hugged their sweaters tighter around themselves against the cool wind and shivered as they looked down the street at the house. “If it’s so easy, why don’t you do it?” Emily asked. The kids explained that they had been getting the groceries every week for over two years, but they were old enough now to do chores around their own home and earn money. They had grown tired of the job. It was time to pass it on. The sisters agreed that it was perfect, and they were excited about earning money for skates.

Joseph and Anna told the girls all they needed to know. Each Monday and Thursday afternoon at exactly three o’clock they were to knock on Mrs. Spraggin’s door four times. The old lady would hand them some money fastened with a rubber band. They would keep two dollars and bring the rest of the money to the butcher shop just at the edge of the town square. The butcher would give them a package of groceries which they would leave on Mrs. Spraggin’s porch. Everyone agreed that it couldn’t be easier, but as soon as it was all decided, their friends gave them a stern warning. “Don’t be late,” was all they said, but the way they said it made the sisters shiver and hurry for home.

Faye and Emily kept their word, though, and on Monday afternoon they crunched their way through the leaves to Old Mrs. Spraggin’s house. The house was surrounded by an iron fence. The gate handle was heavy in Emily’s hand as she lifted it up and pushed the gate slowly open. The trees and tangled bushes shrouded the old house in shadows so thick that the afternoon sun could not get through, and the house stood in eerie darkness. The sisters held hands as they slowly ascended the porch steps. As Emily mustered her courage to knock, she tried to look through the dirty windows of the house. The windows were cloudy, and she couldn’t see inside. Then she noticed something peering out. She saw eyes: many, many pairs of eyes--small eyes shining like glass marbles. They were cats’ eyes. But Emily was confused. How could someone have so many cats? She knocked on the door: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4. Immediately the door opened, but only a crack. It opened just enough for a bony hand to extend the money: bound in a rubber band just like Joseph had said. An awful, musty odor slipped from the house as Emily quickly grabbed the money. Faye and Emily turned to run down the steps, but stopped as they heard the old woman’s scratchy voice hiss at them, “Don’t be late.” The door closed, and the girls ran.

It turned out that the hard part was over. The butcher shop wasn’t very far, and the butcher had the brown paper package ready when the girls arrived. The girls dropped it off on Mrs. Spraggin’s porch, and were home early for dinner.

Weeks went by, and their job became routine. They had even saved almost enough money for new skates. Until one afternoon when it was pouring down rain, and the sisters’ mother caught them just as they were heading out for Mrs. Spraggin’s house. She forbid them to go out into the cold, wet weather. The sisters begged their mother, but she would not give in. The girls whined that they couldn’t be late with Mrs. Spraggin’s groceries. “Nonsense! That old woman will not die of starvation in one day, but you could die of pneumonia,” said their mother. The girls were not able to get to Mrs. Spraggin’s until the next afternoon. It was very strange, though, because the door didn’t open when Emily knocked. Again, she knocked four times, but still nothing. Emily noticed something else very strange: there were no cats in the windows. “Maybe she moved out,” little Faye suggested. Emily shrugged, and the girls went home.
Emily was concerned, so she told her father. Her father called the Sheriff. They all headed over to Mrs. Spraggin’s house to check on her. No one answered when the Sheriff knocked either, so he pushed and shoved on the door until the old wood gave in. The door flew wide open. They all stared into the dark house. When their eyes finally focused, they saw what was left of the old woman face down on the floor. Her shredded nightgown was covered in blood as hundreds of cats climbed all over her. They hissed and clawed viciously at each other while they tore chunks of flesh from her body. There on the floor in front of the old woman was a message written in blood: YOU ARE LATE!