The Child At The Top of The Stairs

My husband's parents own a beautiful vacation home on the coast of the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, Canada. They have owned it for almost 25 years, but the home is over a 100 years old. The original wing of the house was built around 1895, and two more wings were added - one right before the First World War, and the final wing, with the kitchen and the furnace, in the late '40's.

The original owner of the home was a minister from Wisconsin - Fredrick Edwards. He had one son, Trevenen, who joined the US Army and went away to the War. He was tragically killed in France, at Mountfaucon. After his son's death, Edwards had his letters to home published into a book in the '20's, and our family has a copy of this book. I've read it, and can attest to the fact that Trevenan loved the home on the coast of New Brunswick - many of his letters state his desire to return there after the war and live a simple life - but unfortunately, that was not to be.

Edwards, shaken by the loss of his son, eventually began to research the paranormal, and even became President of the American Paranormal Society. According to a newspaper article we have on him from the 30's, through his research, he became "convinced of life after death."

But, on to my experience in the house.

Early in July of 1993, my husband, daughter and I drove up from Massachusetts to the home. It's an eight hour drive, and Kat, who was two at the time, hadn't travelled well. Upon arriving at the house, she was cranky and tired, so we put her in a double bed upstairs in the original wing of the house. Then, we went down to the kitchen and poured ourselves a cup of tea. We three were the only ones in the house.

We were talking quietly for a few minutes, when we heard a child's footsteps upstairs, running from the bedroom in the old wing, through the hall of the second wing, then to the top of the stairs above the kitchen, where we were sitting. My husband said, "Kat's awake." We waited a minute to see if she would come downstairs. We heard nothing more. No sound came from the top of the stairs. My husband then got up and went to get her...she was not at the top of the stairs. He then went through the upstairs of the house to the bedroom, where Kat was fast asleep under the covers.

He came back downstairs, with a strange look on his face, saying, "She is still asleep." I said, "But, we heard the footsteps? It wasn't her?"

"She is absolutely asleep, and I heard them, too," he said. We looked at each other - and realized that maybe perhaps, we weren't alone in the house. My husband and I did not believe in ghosts. But, now I am not so sure.

Many people have heard this story - many who have vacationed at the house. Some believe us, some do not. But we both know what we heard that afternoon. It was the sound of a child, running happily through the house. I like to think it was Trevenan, finally home.