Charles and Elizabeth

While visiting a village church in Cornwall, Brian Kenyon stumbles upon several leaflets about a home, Traeger House, built in the 1700's. The leaflets inform him that the house was the possession of the Bottrell family for over two hundred years until the last family member, Amelia Clark-Bottrell, died at the age of 101. Now it is untenanted. Reading further, Brian is intrigued by the house and decides to take a look at it. Traeger House proves to be as splendid a home as described in the leaflets with vast lawns, a waterfall and a maze. But there is something unusual about this house too. A beautiful girl appears out of nowhere—dressed in Victorian costume—then she disappears as mysteriously as she had appeared. Brian sees children playing at the waterfall and they suddenly disappear just as the girl had. Then, he encounters Charles Bottrell, who is his mirror image. As he visits Traeger House more often and learns more about it, Brian begins to identify with Charles Bottrell. He hears what Charles hears, thinks what Charles thinks, and even understand him. But Charles is dead, and the images Brian sees are of people who lived a century before Brian was even born. Are these visions? Mere daydreams? That is what the psychologists who are treating Brian believe. But it is up to the reader to decide in this exciting and suspenseful Gothic tale told by a true master, W.J. Burley.