Im revisiting the music theme of two weeks ago, this weeks tale of the haunted state of NC involves a small town church haunting with a ghost who has a flair for the dramatic arts. The church in question, Kadesh church, is located in Cleveland county on the south side of North Carolina.
The story starts with a down on his luck, jack of all trades sort of carpenter name Horatio Carter. Having no permanent home, Carter would wander from town to town, only staying for a few months at a time when and if he decided to stay at all. It just so happens he found himself in the town of Kadesh in early October just after World War I. Having secured the job of repairing the window sill for the Kadesh Methodist Church, Carter set out for the church to finish his task.
He’d not been at it for more than an hour when he heard footsteps at the rear of the church followed by the sound of a chair being dragged along the floor. Not long after came the sounds of the church organ. Carter was a religious man and knew a lot of hymns, but the sounds the came from inside the church was no hymns he’d ever heard. Nor were they ballads.
Curious about the name of the music being played, Carter entered the church and made his way to the organ. However has he got closer to the instrument, the music faded out, leaving the silence and stillness of the church. Horatio called out for the unseen musician, but no one replied. With a cry of fear, Carter ran from the church. His work unfinished, his tools on the ground.
The following day the preacher came to the boarding house Carter was staying at only to find the carpenter long gone. “That poor fellow took crazy” was the word from the landlord. The carpenter was never seen nor heard from again.
It wasn’t long after that that the Sunday evening services were interrupted by a horrible dust storm. After his congregation had gone and he’d finished closing the windows that were allowing dust to enter, the minister began reading his bible. So absorbed into his study that he did not notice the haunting music beginning to swell from the organ.
As he began to take notice, he too was puzzled as to what hymn was being played so masterfully. Wanting to see the unknown player he walked toward the organ. As before, the closer he got the fainter the music became until he saw the empty chair and the music died. he drew his finger over the keys and discovered they were covered with a fine layer of dust from the storm. He knew then what you know now. The ghostly music from the organ was not made with human hands.
