One could argue that Martin's 'new job' really isn't a 'new' job, but more like a transfer to a smaller branch of the same company; an accounting and consulting firm with offices located throughout the United States. Even businesses in unknown reclusive towns like Beaver Ridge can occasionally use consulting services from time to time; and every company, no matter how big or small, can take advantage of a professional certified public accountant to make their business thrive. And though the local office that Martin now works out of may not have many local clients, thanks to the internet and this branch's central locality to several fairly large cities, it operates as a remote hub for the main office.
Although Martin was familiar with the overall operations of the company ... just required to review and go over some minor nuances of how this particular firm runs its daily operations during a brief orientation period ... he's still considered to be a newbie on the roster without an established workload or an assigned clientele, so he isn't very busy; finding himself with much free time at the moment. Therefore, Martin ... becoming more and more concerned over Beth's recent odd behavior and growing anxiety, which is clearly evident after their conversation earlier that morning ... had decided to make use of some of this time by calling Beth's Aunt Alice.
Alice is Trish's mother. Both aunt and cousin are on a very short list of relatives on Beth's side of the family who are still willing to speak with Beth; and on the even shorter list that will speak with Martin.
Although highly doubtful, Martin was hoping that perhaps Alice might be able to give him a little insight, or at least a clue, as to what may have triggered Beth's sudden resurgence of anxiety since moving to their new home; feeling that Alice 'owes him one', considering how it was Trish who planted yet another 'seedling of suspicion' in Beth's mind by mentioning that they greatly underpaid for what the house might actually be worth ... 'fanning the flames' of Beth's already heightened anxiety about the place.
As Martin expected, Alice wouldn't reveal any information, either directly straightforward or in a roundabout cryptic manner, to him regarding the trauma that Beth experienced as a child ... and just for the record, Trish has absolutely no idea about what happened to Beth; she was never told either ... but Alice did mention something about their new home; although the price of the property wasn't her concern.
Alice could understand Martin's reasoning for why he believed moving to a more relaxed environment might help Beth curtail her anxiety; possibly even keeping it under control ... in theory it was a sound assumption. Unfortunately, in Beth's case, as she's already exhibiting, an extreme proverbial swing of the pendulum could have the opposite effect, exacerbating her anxieties.
By moving Beth to such an isolated location ... not to mention into a house that resembles Beth's grandmother's house; a place which would sometime trigger Beth's anxiousness as a small child ... not providing Beth with enough stimuli to keep her brain at least a little preoccupied; even if it is taxed with a small amount of stress ... in this type of idle, mind numbing environment, under these types of conditions, Beth's mind has been known to run wild; allowing her pent up fears and imagination to take control over her.
Those instances at her grandmother's house with the hallways and staircases 'stretching out before her'; a fairly common illusion experienced in the dark by frightened, tired children at night ... the strange, scary noises heard throughout the night; more than likely the case of an old house settling, and water and steam moving along through rusted pipes ... a shadowy figure of man emanating an evil aura from a 'haunted house'; clearly a manifestation of the over-active imagination of a teenage girl suffering from frequent anxiety who's convinced herself that an old, abandoned house was indeed actually haunted.
That was what Alice believed to be the plausible explanations behind all of Beth's apparent 'delusions' that she experienced growing up while suffering from an anxiety disorder. And this is what Alice believes is happening with Beth now in that house ... and Martin tends to agree with her.
Beth, on the other hand, sees it differently ... especially since she's the one personally experiencing these feelings and occurrences herself.
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In a brief moment of lucent thought and reasoning ... since being in this house, Beth finds that these types of moments have been few and far between ... Beth rushes over to the phone to call 911. She frantically picks up the receiver, pressing it to her ear, and ... no dial tone.
At first, Beth's so overwhelmingly dumbfounded that she goes completely numb and drops both the receiver and the candlestick holder. Soon, Beth's overtaken by a debilitating fear that leaves her standing there paralyzed; unable to move no matter how hard she tries.
After being motionless for what seemed like an eternity to her, Beth suddenly hears what sounds like a child's footsteps running along the floor above her. And right after this begins, Beth's able to move; and she starts following the pitter-pattering of the steps moving back and forth across the ceiling.
This goes on for several minutes before suddenly stopping. Beth stops under the last location that she heard the footsteps and waits there. Waits there and listens. Then...
"Mommy?" Anna calls out from the kitchen entranceway.
Beth jumps from being startled ... this time however maintaining enough restraint to keep from emitting an accompanying gasp or scream ... then calls back to Anna, "Wait, sweetie; I'll be right there. Give me a minute."
Beth listens for another brief moment, or two, but doesn't hear any more footsteps; so, she heads to the kitchen to find out what Anna wants. When she gets there, Anna's at the kitchen dinette table getting ready to pour two cups of orange juice...
"Mommy, did you see Mary around?"
Beth's standing at the kitchen's entranceway, still distracted with her mind preoccupied on those mysterious footsteps; and while looking back out past the dining room to the living room, she intuitively carries out their conversation as if on autopilot mode...
"No, I haven't. ... Wait; who's Mary?"
"She's my friend."
"Your friend? I didn't know you made a friend out here, yet."
"Yeah, we play all the time out at the barn."
"Oh; that's nice. I'm glad to hear you found someone to play with." Beth keeps looking out the kitchen towards the living room. "So, is she nice?"
"Yes, very nice."
"That's good. You'll have to introduce her to me sometime." Then it dawns on Beth. "Sweetie, hold on, why are you asking me if I saw Mary; wasn't she outside playing with you?"
"Yeah, she was, but she had to go to the bathroom and asked if she could use ours."
"So, then you told Mary she could go ahead and use our bathroom?"
"Yeah ... that's okay; wasn't it, Mommy?"
Beth begins to quickly hash over all the recent inexplicable events occurring this afternoon and comes to the conclusion that it was more than likely Mary who was behind all the commotion.
Not getting a response from her mother, Anna asks Beth again, "Mommy ... it was okay that I told Mary she could use our bathroom; wasn't it?"
To be honest, Beth isn't too particularly fond of the idea that Anna's new friend may be ... at least she seems to be, taking into account everything that happened ... a bit of a prankster with a sort of dark sense of humor; but she is finally relieved to find out who's been behind that alarming pounding knocking at the doors and mysterious child's footsteps coming from the second floor. So, Beth finally responds by bending down and hugging Anna...
"Yes ... yes, of course it was okay, sweetie."
She hugs Anna again, quickly followed by a tender kiss on the cheek.
Beth sits down at the kitchen dinette table while Anna finishes pouring the juice. Then, they sit and wait for Mary to come downstairs and join them...
But Mary never did come downstairs to join them that afternoon.