Ghost

"My turn to tell you all a story.

"There's just enough light left to see those mountains off in the distance. If you look closely, you can see a peak just over there, there's a sort of V shaped saddle going down to a smaller saddle. Can you see it?

"Look closer at that saddle, and you might be able to see a hut. It's a little too dark to see more than a smudge now, but in the day you should be able to see the bright orange of an alpine hut. That's where we're going tomorrow.

"Before that particular hut was there, there was another hut. They replaced it when it burnt down a number of years ago.

"The old hut. I remember going near there when I was about your age. What's that? Yes I was a teenager once too! Cheeky brat!

"Anyway, as I was saying, I was there when I was your age now. My father and uncles and I went hiking over that saddle, but we never went into the hut. My Uncle Tom said it was haunted. I didn't really believe him then. I do now.

"My Uncle Tom told me that there had been a couple of murders in the town down below. A young lass who had just started working as a housemaid was found dead in her bed one morning, and a few weeks later an older lady was found face down in the local creek.

"Both ladies were missing the ring finger of their left hand.

"I understand the cause of death was different. The lass was strangled and the lady drowned. But both had that finger sawn off. I'm told it was probably a handsaw.

"Now the police, in those days, didn't have all the advantages they do now, but one thing they did have was a fair amount of brain power and the logic of deduction. You kids might want to take note. Anyway, they pointed the finger at a fellow by the name of Jim. Jim was a young fellow, who recently wandered in seeking a job. Lucky for him, one of the farmers had some work for him with the sheep.

"Turns out Jim had seduced a number of the ladies. They reckoned he'd slept with the two he'd killed. And a couple of others who were now missing. And being from one of those religious type families, he couldn't stand the idea of being in sin. So he killed those he claimed seduced him. Except that he was the seducer.

"Now, there were two lasses missing, two lively lasses who'd been best friends since almost before they were born. Jim must've gotten wind of the finger pointing just before fingers were pointed and made his escape, convincing the two girls to go with him.

"They tracked him down to that hut. And, in that hut, they found a bag full of fingers. Dried out fingers, all carefully stored in such a way as to not cause a stink. And three more fingers drying out by the fireplace.

"But that wasn't the worst of it, you see. Because they found the bodies first. One of the lasses was dead. Very dead. And missing her ring finger. Jim was also found dead, with a knife in his eye. But the other lass was missing.

"They searched, but her footprints trailed off at a rocky outcrop. And they had to stop searching as the weather set in.

"They cleaned the hut up as best as they could, and brace adventurers continued to shelter there. But more than one came back to town talking of strange noises, and one looked out the window and saw what seemed to be the form of a lady. His companion went out to try and talk her in, but didn't return. They found him next morning with a broken leg and frost bitten fingers. They got him back to town and the fellow survived. Even if he was raving.

"But what he said was 'she only had three fingers on her left hand'. The ring finger had been cut off, you see. Obviously he wasn't counting her thumb.

"The locals, now listening, said it sounded like the missing girl, the one they never found.

"And so it seems she's still out there, minus her finger, luring unsuspecting fellows to their doom.

"For there were a number of adventurers who vanished from that hut over the years. Some were found dead, some were never found.

"And so one day, they burnt that old hut down in the hope of saving the adventurers who were to come.

"Now they've built a lovely new hut to replace the old haunted one. We'll be staying there tomorrow night, in fact.

"But the real question is, is the haunting over? Or is she still there, ready to lure people out of the new hut to their doom?"

[820 words]