For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was haunted. The farm was owned
by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox. They employed a few farmhands, but no one
was willing to work there long. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told
the same story. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work
had been done overnight. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned. A
farm worker, who stayed up all night, claimed to have seen a figure cutting
corn in the moonlight. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers
employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.#
No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never
been seen. This was indeed the case. A short time ago, villagers were
astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died. Everyone went to the
funeral, for the 'ghost' was none other than Eric Cox, a third brother who was
supposed to have died as a young man. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed
a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.#
Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two
brothers. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War. As
he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment. When he learnt that he
would be sent abroad, he returned to the farm and his father hid him until the
end of the war. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war
as well. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action. The
only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob. They did not even tell
their wives. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric
in hiding. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse. He used to sleep
during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become
the ghost of Endley. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible
to keep the secret any longer.&