A Ghost in the Old School

Náklo’s old school stood in the rectory yard behind the prelate’s residence. At night a goat shod with iron horseshoes appeared, stamping loudly. It knocked pictures from walls and broke windows. Doors opened by themselves, and many human and animal voices were heard. The old cellar beneath the former sheepfold had the most ghosts. Peace came only when it was filled in and its entrance walled up. A manor of the lords of Hradisko once stood on the rectory site, where a cruel lord’s ghost appeared. The rectory was haunted too. A fiery barrel rolled about, shining brightly like burning straw. It disappeared beside the former rectory garden, where legend places Náklo’s first church. There was a small mound with deep passages beneath it. Sometimes a horseless coach drove out of the rectory yard. Its driver sat on the box with bright flames shooting from his hands and head. Sometimes he shared the seat with a skeleton. The coach travelled silently, but the hoofbeats of invisible horses were clearly heard.