The Mystery of Kolbe Mansion: Part I

THE MYSTERY OF KOLBE MANSION

Part I: At The Station

           The air blew hard that October day when Annie and I stood on the platform of the Mayfield Train Station. We were traveling to see our Uncle Bill, and the train had dropped us off in what seemed to be the middle if nowhere. The train station was lonely and no one stood outside, they all sat in the waiting room for the next train. Annie and I were told to wait outside so Uncle Bill didn't have to come looking for us. It was fall and the air had chilled earlier this year, the leaves had turned their beautiful apple red, golden yellow, and fiery orange. The station was old and not well taken care of, there was only one man who worked here, he sold tickets and made sure the trains came in on-time. The train station had a small building attached to a long platform made of wooden beams running vertically. The platform dropped off where the railroad tracks stood. I shivered as a strong gust of wind whipped my body blowing my hair and the white tag that was tied to my lightweight jacket. Annie and I had tickets tied to us when we left the station in Holly Brooke. The woman who tied the ticket said it was in case we got lost.

      "Oh i'm cold can't we go inside Owen?" Annie cried as the wind blew fiercely again.

      "We can't Uncle Bill might come, and if we're not here he might think we didn't come at all."

      "Well it's so cold he'll check inside for us."

      "Well he might, but we might as well stay out here where he can't miss us." 

      I noticed a bench near the end of the platform, and brought Annie over and we sat down. Annie and I sat and waited. Time passed and another train came. People rushed out of the small building and climbed onto the train. The man who ran the station came out and looked at the train. As he turned around her saw Annie and me.

     "Weren't you two young-ins dropped off at the last train?"

     "Yes Sir," I told him.

     "Don't you need to get on the train?"

     "Nope, Mrs, Carter told us to stay off the train in Mayfield and wait outside.  

     The man was old, he had a white mustache and was mostly bald. He wore a black suit and often took out a gold watch the hung from a train.   

     "Well you've been here for quite awhile, who are you waiting for?

     "Uncle Bill," I told him. His eyebrows went up and his mustache wiggled.

     "Uncle Bill," he echoed and thought for a second. "Oh, you must mean William Kolbe." 

     "We're not waiting for William Kobe, we're waiting for Uncle Billy!" Annie corrected.

     "Annie! Hush!" I said, "Sorry sir, she's only six and doesn't know any better, William Kolbe is our Uncle. 

     "Well i'll be darn! I didn't know he had any family. But you wouldn't know so much if he had a dog, he never leaves that mansion of his."

     "Mansion?" I asked.

     "Why yes. Mr. Kolbe has got one of the largest estates in the countryside."

     "I thought he was poor," I muttered.

     "Ha, no surrey. It isn't a blessing from the rumors that have been spread about his house, yikes! They send shivers down my back."

     "Why?" Annie asked. The old man shook his head.

     "I think I've told you two young-ins enough. After all, I don't want to give you nightmares."

     "Oh, please sir! We may be there a long time and need to know, please tell us," I begged.

     "Okay, I see you really want to know. So I'll tell you."

     The train conductor called out,

     "All aboard!" The train whistled and slowly started. It was loud and the smoke from the train blew in my face. Then the train pulled out and I saw it no more. I turned to the old man and he began his story.

*Please forgive typos/miss-spelling, I was in a hurry!*