The Haunted Pump-house Pt2

I don't remember how long we loitered about outside the pump-house before someone gathered enough fortitude to open the door which as if on cue, creaked on its rusty old hinges like something out of a gothic horror movie.
"We'll hold the door open" Rick said as the five terrified girls crept forward.
The bait having been taken, it was time to spring the trap! Rick reached inside to where he knew the switch for the motorized pump was and flicked it on.

I don't think that pandemonium is too strong a word for the scene which unfolded before us as the pump roared to life and gallons of water began gushing forth onto the floor soaking everyone's feet.
The slender connecting rod was all butt invisible in the darkness but you could just make out the pump handle going up and down at an incredible rate, as though gripped by some deranged spectre bent on frightening the life out of the living.

If I were to compare the commotion to a Hollywood film I would have to go with something like Nightmare on Elm Street meets The Keystone Cops!
Sort of a combination of blood curdling screams and running aimlessly about without any comprehendible objective.

It was a good thing that Rick and I had the good sense to get out of the way as the girls, having gained their bearing exited the pump-house at break neck speed, lest we be trampled in the ensuing stampede.
In retrospect though, had we really been thinking clearly that night we wouldn't have had to sit through the interrogation that would soon follow as the lights came on in the house.

I don't know if it's true that your hair can turn pure white from fright but I can attest to the fact that little girl's faces certainly can!
Still, other than a few bumps, bruises, and a few somewhat less than healthy looking complexions, "No harm done" as they say.

As I think back all these many years ago, I can not tell you if the semi stern talking too was the first one we got relating to our mischief making on the farm but I'm pretty sure it wasn't the last.

I recall the girls spending a night in a tent and something about a dozen or so chickens finding their way in there with them....
Isn't growing up just grand?

I lost touch with Rick as we grew older and some 25 years ago I found out that he had passed away from complications due to HIV.
I would have liked to have shared this with him.