While growing up I had a pretty good life. Lived out in the country. Had a horse or 2, cow, pigs and a few chickens. Had a lot of chores to do, but the nights were mostly free. Winter time was always fun, snowball fights and making snow forts. Wasn't much road traffic back then so we used the roads as a sled run.. Summers were the best. Swimming hole, the big lake, horseback riding. So many woods to explore. Ronnie and I were always together. He would help me with my chores and I would help him with his. Ours Dads didn't care as long as the work got done. Then the fun began. The whole month of June was spent exploring this old woods. It was so overgrown that it made a perfect Jungle, forest or even another planet for two 11 year olds. We would pack a lunch after the morning chores and be back in time for the evening chores. After supper we would head out again to save somebody or some one.. One day we found a old trail, overgrown but still plain. It was a drive way and we followed it on out. We came to a house. We could tell it had not been lived in for a long time. We checked it out by going around the house. Found a garage out back the door was open. Walked in and found magazines from the 20's and early 30's. Newspapers. Box's of stuff. This was neat.. but why would someone leave all this stuff here and never come back? We decided we would ask our parents about this place. Went up on the porch, and just like the movies it squeaked. The door was locked. We found a open window and went in. Now we were really confused. Except for the dirt and dust it could pass for any house. It looked liked the people just moved away and left everything here. Chairs, couch, tables. Nic-knacks and pillows. We went into the kitchen and there were pot's and pans, dishes, table cloth. There was even a phone hanging of the wall. It didn't work. The upstairs was the same. Old blankets on the bed, clothes in the closet's and medicine bottles in the bathroom. We even found combs and shoes. We sat on the bed trying to puzzle this one out. The sun shone in through the window. Light dust danced in the air. It was very quite, the air held no movement. It was almost serine. At any minute it seemed like someone would just come up the stairs. It was as we were not really there, but looking back into the past. We left the house as it was and went home. Next day I told my Dad about that house. He looked at me funny and said there was no house back in those woods. While we were doing the chores Ronnie told me his Dad said the same thing.. Both of our Dads lived here all their life, it seems they would know. That afternoon we rode our bikes into town. Stopped at the library and looked up plat maps. We found maps from 1882 thru 1891, then from 1933 to the present. The maps showed owner ship but not houses. Now we didn't want to ask the police or check with the owner. We had found a neat place to play and didn't want any adults telling us not to go there. When we got home Our Dads were both there. They told us to say away from that house. Neither one would even answer any questions we had, like who lived there or why did they leave everything behind etc. Now thats not the way to get two young boys to do what you want. You just deepen the mystery, and thats how we looked at it. We cooled our heels for awhile and saved countries and the world in the near woods. Bout 1 week later we went back. The house was the same. Surrounded by big pine trees, the sun shining down. Little powder seed floating in the air. Still and very quite. We checked out the garage again and found a trap door. It went down 3 ft and then became a tunnel. I followed it and came up in the basement of the house. I yelled for Ronnie and he came down in the basement. The basement was full of old tools and boxes. Toss in about 1,000,000 spider webs and one damp dirt floor. There was good light coming in the windows of the basement. We left the basement when we heard the floor boards upstairs creak. Then a soft moan. We got the hell out of there around the speed of a jet. We ran into trees and under them, through thorn bushes and fences. Nothing stopped us from our flight. Once we were safe we tried to rationalize what we heard. After all we were just about teen-agers and could take care of our selves.. We both got the same answers about that house. No one would talk about the house, just stay away from it. Dad told me that next week we would be going on vacation for 3 weeks. I told Ronnie about the vacation. My Dad said he could go but his Dad said he needs him for chores. Over the next week we were really busy on the farm. Getting ready for a vacation when you own a farm will make you ready for a vacation. We got the people who would watch the farm for us all ready to take over. It was the last day and Dad said I could have the day off. I went over to Ronnie's and we talked his Dad into letting him off too. Packed a lunch and headed out for the house. This would be our one last chance to explore it, cause I was leaving the next day. The house was the same, still and inviting for the 2 explorers. We walked around to be sure no one else was there. We looked at the dust on the floor, only our prints were there. Ok lets go up stairs. We only found our prints there as well. A few jokes about being fraid of those sounds and all was back to normal. We looked around through the drawers and found Bra's and nylons with the old elastic ring to hold them up. One drawer had shirts and pants. We found a couple of ear-rings the old clip-on type. Now we knew something happened at this old house. No women would ever leave ear-rings behind.. Went downstairs to find more clues. Checked over the forks and knives, it was a full 6 piece set. Nice dishes in the cupboard, no chips or nicks. We looked in the couch and under it, as well as the chairs. We checked out the walls to see if there was any hidden treasures or evidence. The day passed faster then we noticed. It was getting dark. The basement needed a good check over so we went down. It took longer then we figured, it was dark out now. Then we heard the sounds up stairs. We froze! Creaking, footsteps? The only way out was through the tunnel to the garage. We dove into the tunnel. Scrambling as fast as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I came out and just kept on running till I got home. Whiter than a bleached sheet. I got cleaned up and went to bed. This was a covers over the head night. We all know that with the covers over your head the monsters can't get you, but you do have to come out to breath! Well we left about 5 am the next morning. I didn't get a chance to see Ronnie, but I'd be back in 3 weeks. We were about 4 hrs into the trip. Dad was in a good mood so I asked him about the house. The reason Dad didn't want us to go there was every parents concern, we might get hurt. It was a old house and the floors could collapse, anything could go wrong and no one would hear us or be there to help us. The story of this house was old man Peters and his wife had a bitter divorce and owed money on the house and neither one wanted it, so they just packed a suitcase and left. No mystery, no monsters. Saw the Grand Canyon and all of Southern Utah. Hit parts of California and then headed home. When we got home the police and Ronnie's Dad came over when they found out we were home. They asked me where Ronnie and I went that day. Now I was scared. I told them we had played around out in the near woods till it got dark and we went home. I thought we got caught and were in trouble for trespassing or something else. We had a candle, I don't remember if we put it out. Maybe the place burned down. Later on I found out Ronnie never came home that night. I had told my lie so many times to so many people I was afraid to tell the truth now. It had been 3 weeks. There was talk of a child molester, or a kidnapping etc. I wanted to go back to the old house but was too scared. The police and many others did a massive search of the area including the old house and no sign of Ronnie was ever found.. It took a long time but as all young kids do I got over it and stopped wondering about it. As I got older I learned about old houses and how the temperature effects the wood. Night time will bring on all sorts of creaking and boards shrinking and moving. Thats what we heard that night, just the house, old boards and the weather. It's been 42 years since that happened. The old house is gone and there is a Wal-mart there now with it's very large parking lot. I drive past it every day. Then one day I knew what happened to Ronnie. There was nothing I could have done as we left so early that next morning. I had no way of knowing at that time, but I do now. You see the police and the others didn't know about the tunnel, and I didn't mention it because it never crossed my mind, what with all the talk of kidnapping or a pervert. Ronnie was a large kid, some would called him big boned but he was just over weight, fat. I never did see him come out of the tunnel. Ronnie is still in the tunnel, under the parking lot!!