The Trefelin Poltergeist

You know about all these traditions of supernatural events on the slopes of Carningli?  Well, yesterday Inger and I came home from the Scolton Manor Christmas Fayre and were settling in for a nice cup of tea when there was a bang somewhere in the house -- we thought nothing of it, since old houses are quite noisy anyway, with creaks and bangs all the time, mostly caused by the central heating system.  Anyway, after a while I went into the living room to draw the curtains, and ------ MAYHEM!  A very nice Art Deco jug, inherited from my parents, was on the floor, smashed into pieces.  Another very pretty ceramic duck, given to Inger as a present from a friend, was also in pieces on the floor.  Assorted CDs which had been on the lid of the hi-fi system, were scattered about on the floor.  One of our cactus plants had various bits knocked off onto the floor.  One or two of the pictures were no longer hanging straight.  A couple of pictures of the grandchildren had been knocked over, and lay face down.  Very strange, I thought -- is there a burglar in the house?  Has somebody broken in and got back out again?  I did a quick check, and all the doors and windows were closed, with no sign of damage........

Then I went into the dining room, and MAYHEM there too -- a wooden Christmas light holder was on the floor, whereas it had been in the window when we went out.  So I checked out the house in a bit more detail, and went back into the living room, and raised my head from examining the floor to be be confronted by something truly terrifying, no more than two feet away from me, staring into my eyes......

AAAARRRGGGHHHH!!  Cue for dramatic music......

......... a grey squirrel, perched up on top of the curtain rail!  Before I could react, it bolted back into the dining room, hopped across the table to the fireplace, and disappeared up the chimney.  There was a short period of scrabbling inside the flue, and then all was quiet again.

How on earth it got down the chimney in the first place is a mystery.  It might have fallen down, and then rushed about the house in a panic, trying to get out.  Then when I appeared, it obviously had the same instinct as sheep do when they get in through a hole in the fence -- if in doubt, go out again by exactly the same route.  Climbing UP the chimney would have been no problem for a grey squirrel.

So there we are --- if you think Siamese cats are monsters who delight in smashing up houses, be afraid.  BE VERY AFRAID!  Grey squirrels can be far worse.......