Paddy

Here is a story that has been shared, and we were told we could share it with you. Names have been changed of the people around to protect their identity, but the rest of the words are their own.

Back in the early 1900’s, many families in the area were struck with a terrible virus known in those days as “consumption”. When it struck a house, it tended to wipe out the whole family. That’s what it did to this family in Portage.

A house owned at that time by a man by the name of Patrick MacDonald, who lived in the small quaint house with his wife and kids. The family was struck with the deadly disease and one by one, they all died in that house.

Back then, many believed that the house became haunted by the family. The house sat vacant for decades.

After many years of trying to sell the house and no one willing to purchase, the extended family members of Patrick MacDonald decided that they might have better luck selling the land if the house was torn down.

In 1956, a man by the name of “Harold” used to work for a company that hauled homes and buildings. He heard that the house was going to be torn down and thought of the piece of land he was planning to give to his daughter and new son-in-law and thought it would be a great starter home for them and the kids. His boss said that he’d let him use the equipment to move it and the owner of the home were happy to let him have it for the cost of the move.

After being empty for so many years, the house needed allot of TLC and many repairs but between the men in the family working on the structure and the women working on the inside…the house soon became a home again. Harold’s daughter, “Louise” and her husband and children moved in.

Some time passed but then things began to happen that made them wonder about the house…One morning, Louise woke up and could feel an awful draft in the room. She got up out of bed and walked out toward the kitchen where he found the front door was wide open and the cold air from outside rushing in. Thinking it must have blown in during the night, she went over and shut it.

A few weeks later, the same thing happened again. The door was found open in the morning. Lots of reasoning was thought for this… perhaps the latch did not catch, or her husband forgot to shut it tight. Lots of different reasons for this to be happening Louise surmised. That night she decided that she would solve the problem temporarily until she could get to the hardware store and get a proper lock to bolt the door. That would work! She shoved a butcher knife in the door frame and across the door. There! That will keep it closed tonight.

She went up the stairs, put her bedclothes on, checked one more time on the kids, and went to bed.

About 3:00 am, Louise found herself trembling in bed. It was so cold she could see her breath in the air. “No, it can’t be” she thought to herself. She got up and went down to the kitchen. There was the door wide open and the cold air rushing into the kitchen. Where is the knife? She looked around and found it. There it was across the kitchen floor to the other side of the room. How did it get there? It didn’t fall and slide over there, that was impossible. No one else moved it, her husband was not home for the night. The kids were all sound asleep and were too small to reach the knife. Louise stood there in the kitchen in amazement. She knew ……It was Paddy.

For many years other little things would happen. Louise would swear she heard someone call her name…but there would be no one there. The kids would come in and ask what she wanted only to find that she never called them. A sound of the door slamming, or that something had fell only to find nothing moved out of place or no doors shut.

One day, Louise had some company drop by to visit. The kids were all in school and Louise was home making bread and doing the laundry for the day. She sat down for a spell and enjoyed a cup of tea with her neighbor, Mr. Coughlin. Some time had passed, and Mr. Coughlin asks Louise, “So who’s baby are you watching today?” Louise looked at him, a little puzzled, “No babies here” she said and smiled “Mine are all grown and off to school remember”. Mr. Coughlin looked at her with a very confused look on his face. “There are no babies here?” he said. Louise shook her head. Mr. Coughlin stood up quickly and made for the door. He was all flustered and panicked. A few days later, Louise ran into some friends at the corner store. One of the ladies said to Louise, “I guess you gave Mr. Coughlin an awful fright. He was telling us how your house is haunted.” Louise looked at them with a look of surprise. The lady went on to tell Louise that while Mr. Coughlin was visiting her, he could hear a baby crying in the other room. It was as clear as a bell. He was surprised to see her just sit there and not acknowledge the crying. Mr. Coughlin never went back to that house again. From then on, everyone knew that the house was haunted. Louise, however, was very content and was not afraid of the ghost.

Years later, one spring, Harold and some of the other men of the family were burning the old grass from the field behind the house, clearing it for the season crops. The fire began to get out of control and the wind picked up. Suddenly, the wind shifted direction. Harold turned around and saw Louise’s house on fire. There was no stopping it. With the house so old, it went up like match. The house burnt to the ground. Louise and the kids moved in with her parents for a few years until one year, her father got a great deal and found a house that was for sale to move. They bought it and moved it to the spot where the previous house once stood. After a long day of getting all moved in, Louise went around, tucked the kids into their beds, went to her bedroom, got dressed for bed and crawled in. She laid there reading a book. After a little while, she began to get a little chill. No, not a chill, a draft? She got up and began to walk to the kitchen of the house.

There was the door, wide open and the breeze from the night rushing in. Louise smiled, closed the door and said, “Welcome home Paddy.” She went back to bed and went to sleep.

Louise swears that Paddy has been with her everywhere she has moved and is still with her to this very day.