This post sets the stage for all of the ghostlike occurrences we had at Rob Haney’s ranch, some were terrifying, some were comical and all were interesting, very interesting! It all began in the spring and went on for 8 or 10 years, then the entire house burned down during the summer, when there were a bunch of fires around Abilene, Texas..

Just before Brad joined the Army, he and I went up to help Rob repair his barn and, since it was very comfortable for the springtime, both nights we slept out on the porch. The screened in porch was on 2 sides of Rob’s old ranch house. I noticed that Rob was sleeping with his AC roaring, but said nothing to him about it. Maybe it covered up our snoring!

The next morning, sunrise found us along a creek, in a makeshift blind, making hen turkey sounds. Brad leaned over to me and whispered, “Dad, did you hear those animals bumping around under Rob’s house last night?” Whispering back, “Yes, Son. It sounded like someone walking around the porch, or a herd of ‘dillos!” I continued, “To me it sounded like they were walking right around my bed.”

Staying out for over an hour we didn’t have a turkey come in close and as Brad was sitting in the grassy blind he exclaimed, “Dad, I think a snake, or something, just bit me. Something just hit my left ankle!” “What”, I exploded! As Brad was taking off his boot, I looked around in our hastily made blind and didn’t see anything. Boot off, Brad showed me 2 red marks on his lower ankle, but closer inspection showed that his skin wasn’t broken. Sure must not have been a big one because a big one’s fangs would have gone right through his boot! Hastily we excused ourselves from the blind and decided that work on the barn was the best thing to do.

The second night there was more bumping around, but barely waking, we both slept right through it. As we were leaving for Houston, I mentioned to Rob, “You need to trap those animals under your house and close up where they are getting in.” His short reply was, “I’m going to.” Little did we know that he slept out at his ranch 3 or 4 nights a week and his roaring A/C was not all he used to protect himself from the “Ghosts”, but I get ahead of myself, more ghosts stories will follow in the fall.