While on the Gallia County Farm, I learned of a bizarre discovery: a man had been found living hidden back in the woods on the Farm. At first I thought the man was just living out in the elements, sleeping under leaves; but then I learned that he was actually living in a large two-story white frame house.

The bothersome part of the story was that the man apparently also owned a sizable chunk of land, part of which extended into the Farm itself onto land which we thought had been part of the Farm. My father didn't seem particularly concerned by this fact; but I was upset, knowing that I would one day inherit from my father, and that part of my inheritance would therefore be lost.

***

I was on the first floor of the house where the man was living. I had learned that some of my relatives, apparently some of my  cousins, were now staying in the house for part of the time. They obviously thought they might be able to obtain some of the man's land, either by inheritance or otherwise, and so had decided to just move into the house.

I was still upset because I didn't know what to do about the man. And now these cousins had swooped in like vultures to wait for the man to die. I wished there were some way I could go upstairs, to where the man was, and offer my services to him to be his attorney. Then I could show him how to wield some power in dealing with these relatives. But I knew it would be unethical for me to make such an offer, and besides, I still had a direct stake in this matter and I couldn't represent the man.

I did decide, however, to go upstairs and more fully investigate what was happening there. Once I was upstairs, I recalled that I had once before been here, but I hadn't seen all the rooms. Since it appeared that no one was upstairs at the moment, I began walking through the rooms to see what I could see.

I came to one large bathroom which seemed to have old ornate fixtures, some even gold-platted. Small tiles seemed set in designs on the floor. I walked through the bathroom to a small bedroom on the other side. I knew this was the bedroom where one of my "cousins" was staying. It was much smaller than I had expected. Looking around the room I noticed a ring with a large blue rhinestone lying on the floor. I picked it up, dropped it, then picked it up again. For an instant, I thought I might steal the ring. But instead I laid it on a dresser next to some other objects. I thought to myself that whoever was using this bedroom would now know that someone had been in the room, because the ring had been moved.

I walked back out of the room, through the bathroom and into the hall, where I saw someone standing. I immediately recognized this man: Paladin (the character played by Richard Boone in the old black and white television series "Have Gun – Will Travel"). He was dressed all in black and wearing a black cowboy hat. As soon as I saw him, several things were immediately clear to me. The man (the one who owned the house), actually stayed upstairs over the second floor in a kind of attic or mansard. He wouldn't come downstairs and he wouldn't show himself to anyone. Paladin on the other hand was just a boarder, and he had a room here on the second floor. I was unsure how long Paladin had lived here, but I thought it had been a long time.

At first I was hesitant to say anything to Paladin. After all he was a famous television personality and I was unsure he would want to talk with me. But finally in an assured friendly voice I spoke out, "Paladin."

He turned to me in a friendly way and we began talking with each other. Our discussion focused on the man living up in the attic. I thought Paladin was neutral on the subject of what should happened to the man's land and who should inherit it. Since Paladin was merely a boarder, he had no direct interest, so I felt safe talking with him.

Paladin told me some odd stories about the man. He said that other people had tried to buy the land from the man. Once someone, whom I pictured in my mind as a bulky man in a brown suit, had even claimed to have given the man $11,000 for the land, and had begun to claim to own it. But the bulky man hadn't actually paid for the land and he had soon disappeared. On another occasion someone had sent the man $1,500 in money orders as partial payment for the land. But the man had never cashed the money orders, and it was still uncertain what had ever happened to them. On yet another occasion someone had given the man a large amount of grass (the kind which comes cut in squares with the sod, ready to be placed on the ground), and the grass had been planted in the yard. The grass was supposed to have been some kind of payment for the land, but once again, the man never signed over the land. Over the years the man had steadfastly held onto the land.

I asked Paladin how long he (Paladin) had been living in the house. He told me he had been living there for 20 years, and during that time he had never seen the man. That struck me as very peculiar, to have lived for more than 20 years in the same house, with the man sleeping just above his head, and to have never seen him. I said, "That strikes me as strange."

As Paladin and I continued our conversation about the man, I suddenly heard a noise which seemed to be coming from the ceiling directly above our heads. It sounded like the sudden squeaking of springs, as if someone were getting up from a bed with old metal springs. And then I heard a squeaky eerie voice which seemed to say, "Why can't they leave me alone?"

I knew immediately it was the man talking upstairs. Obviously he could hear Paladin and me talking about him and he had become upset. In a flash it was clear that the man was going to come downstairs and confront us. Instinctively I knew that he wasn't going to just confront us, but that he was going to attack us. I also suddenly realized that the man was not quite normal, that there was reason to fear him.

As I heard the man coming down the stairs, I was relieved that at least Paladin was here. Paladin was a strong man who would be able to protect me. But as I looked around again for Paladin, I suddenly realized that he had fled in fear like a brazen coward, and was nowhere to be seen. Before I could regain my senses and flee myself, I suddenly saw the man appear in the doorway of the room and run toward me.

I was unprepared for what I saw. It was indeed the figure of a man, yet he almost looked like some kind of alien being. He was probably about 1.7 meters tall, about 20 centimeters shorter than I. He was emaciated, yet somehow seemed strong. Probably most striking was his skin, which was all black, although he was a white man. Apparently something had happened to his skin. The skin looked as if it might have been burned, although it appeared to be smooth. The man had no hair on his head, which was particularly round. He didn't really look old – in fact it was hard to tell how old he was. Since he was rushing right at me, the only thought I had was that although he looked small, he must have enormous strength, and I was in grave danger.

He lunged at me and I held out my right hand toward his face to stave him off. When I did so, the two smallest fingers on my right hand rammed into his mouth. As I felt him clamp down on my fingers, I thought for sure he would simply bite them right off. But as he mouthed my fingers, I suddenly realized that the fellow had no teeth. I saw that he was just clamping my fingers with his gums, like a baby that had no teeth. Still, it was a particularly disgusting feeling, especially since he had some kind of white slaver around the corners of his mouth. I felt thoroughly repulsed that he would have my fingers in his fetid mouth.

With a sudden maneuver I was able to extract my fingers and at the same time knock him down onto his back on the floor. As I stood over him, I realized he hadn't been nearly as strong as I had feared. I also realized something else – he was not moving. In fact he didn't appear to even be breathing. I stood staring at his motionless body, convinced that I must have killed him.

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