It is a big old house that sets high atop a hill on the edge of town.  You know the one, it sems like there is always at least one in every town.  A big old house, that is in direpair and the once beautifully maintained yards are all grown over and it just generally has a spooky look to it.  There are always spooky stories about them, about how they are haunted and the ghosts that live there.  Well its no different for the house on haunted hill.  The stories go way back for as long as the locals can remember.

     The original owners came here from another county and built the house and in its day, it was a grand old house.  Very ornate, with large, really fancy hand carved furniture.  The owners were very wealthy and entertained often.  Some of the locals said they entertained to show off their wealth and the fancy, expensive and unusual objests that they obtained on their travels abroad.

     Rumor has it that the husband died on a business trip back to their homeland and the wife never really got over the loss and pined her life away for her lost love.  Their children had all grown and moved on, and the house slowly fell into direpair.  The once beautifully maintained grounds and gardens eventually were overtaken by weeds and the beautiful once bright and gaily lit house was now dark and gloomy.  Then when she died, she left the house to her children, of which not one wanted to move back to.

     Stories started to circulate about the old woman haunting the house where she had lived alone for so long, pinning over her lost husband.  The family members tried in vain to sell the house and property, but nobody wanted to live in a haunted house.  So the grand old house sat empty with all the beautiful furniture and treasures covered with sheets.

     It was almost 30 years later when a distant relative needed a place to live and a fresh start in life.  No none really knew why Miss Casey was alone with 3 children, but as with anything else, when people don't speak of the past, folks start to make up their own stories.  The most popular story was that she had had an abusive marriage and because she was a distant relative of the oringinal owners, she was given the house and a large sum of money to live in it.

    Even thousgh Miss Casey's three children attented school and had several friends, Miss Casey kept pretty much to herself.  She didn't work, but they always had plenty of money to get whatever they wanted or needed.  Slowly she managed to get the house repaired and painted.  The yards began to look as beautiful as they once had.  The four of them worked very hard to get it that way and to keep it up.

     But no matter how good the house looked the stories about the old ghost kept most people away.  Friends usually never came into the house and the few that did wouldn't stay there for very long.  As the years passed, slowly one by one the children grew up, went to college or married and moved away.

     Of course when her last child moved away, Miss Casey was all alone in the big old house on the hill and because she had kept to herself a lot, she only had a few friends.  Her best friend Miss Elizabeth suggested that she get a pet of some sort, but Miss Casey had never had a pet.  She wasn't sure that she even wanted one.

     But Miss Elizabeth was persistent and one day she showed up at the front door with a big pretty cat.  He was some kind of mix and had long hair, with tabby stripes and white patches.  He was very pretty and very affectionate.  His owners had to move out of town for employment reasons and couldn't take this lovely boy with them.

     When Miss Casey answered the knock at the door, she was shocked to see her best friend standing there with this beautiful cat and just dropped her jaw and stared at it for a minute.

     Miss Elizabeth quickly told her that "His owners couldn't take him with them and that if he had to go to the animal control he would probably be put to sleep.  He really needs someone just as much as you do!"  Since Miss Casey had never had a cat her entire life, she tentativley reached out her hand to touch his loverly fur and was pleasantly surprised that it was so soft.

     What is his name?"  she asked.  "Keno" Miss Elizabeth replied.  "Keno" she repeated and before she could say anything else, Miss Elizabeth placed him in Miss Casey's arms.  Almost immediately Keno started to purr and Miss Casey asked "What is that, what is he doing?"  Miss Elizabeth just smiled sweetly and explained to her that he was purring, because he was happy"  "Oh" exclaimed Miss Casey and that was that.

     From that moment on, Miss Casey and Keno were almost always together.  Keno helped to fill the void of loneliness left by her children.  He stayed in the house with her and slept on the foot of the bed and sat in her lap when she was reading or watching television.  If she was outside, Keno was always nearby.  People would laugh to see Miss Casey walking around her yard with Keno right on her heels.  If she was working in the flower beds, he was either lying there watching or trying to help, by chasing away the butterflies or ladybugs.

     Whenever Miss Elizabeth came by to visit and share a glass of tea with Miss Casey, Keno would jump up and sit in her lap and purr while she stroked his fur.  He would crawl up and look in her eyes and press his head against her chin, as if to say 'Thank You' and Miss Elizabeth would always tell him, "Your Welcome, my furry little friend."

     One day about a year later, a woman that Miss Casey barely knew drove up the long driveway to the house on the hill.  Miss Casey and Keno watched the car with curiosity as it approaced.  Miss Casey recognized it was Miss Rose who'd come to see her.

     "Hi Miss Casey, I hope I'm not disturbing you" she said.  To which Miss Casey replied "No of course not, what can I do for you Miss Rose"  Miss Rose, gave a slight cough and shuffled her feet a little and then replied "I found this beautiful black cat.  She has gotten herself in trouble, (if you know what I mean).  No one seems to know where she came from or who she belongs to, but she was always scavenging for food.  I was finally able to coax her up and get her caught before animal control got her.  I have tried to find someone to take her in and then I saw Miss Elizabth in town and she suggested that I talk to you."

     Miss Casey laughed and replied "Oh she did, did she?  Well I don't know, but let's have a look at her and then of course it will depend on whether Keno thinks it's OK."