While Beth has always been open to the idea of the supernatural realm, ever since having supposedly experienced it firsthand herself ... 'supposedly' meaning that everyone else that had heard Beth's account of the 'ominous man haunting that house' had dismissed it as being just one of Beth's 'episodes'; merely a vivid hallucination brought on by her anxiety disorder ... Martin looks at things more analytically, putting belief in only what is deemed rational and can be seen.
After having a conversation with Anna about Mary, Martin is convinced that Mary is nothing more than his daughter's new imaginary friend; and not some malevolent spirit that is bound to the property like Beth seems to believe. As Martin sees it, Anna is using Mary as a 'much-needed-playmate'; while Beth is going to use Mary as a 'crutch' from now on as a means to rationalize and justify her apparent resurging anxiety.
Martin is well aware of those frightening nights spent at her grandmother's house that Beth had experienced as a child; Beth had recounted them on several occasions to Martin. He's also aware that their new house is very similar in appearance to that house; Beth has also mentioned this to Martin. ... And of course, this subject was also recently brought up during his phone conversation with Beth's Aunt Alice earlier that day.
Because of this knowledge, Martin is fairly confident that all the uneasiness and trepidation that Beth has been feeling since moving in ... the recurring nightmares ... the feeling that she's being watched ... the mysterious knocking at the doors and child's footsteps ... they're all manifestations brought on by Beth's anxiety; which has been triggered by those drudged up memories of those nights spent at her grandmother's house. It's the only logical explanation; a rational reason for the analytical mind.
As far as everything being moved around, Martin has two theories about that.
The first being that Anna is going a bit overboard with the interaction between herself and her new imaginary friend Mary. In this scenario, Anna would have been the one behind moving everything around the kitchen; but then claims that Mary was the one who did it, going as far as saying that Mary both admitted to it and apologized for doing so.
Admittedly, Martin is hoping that this isn't the case, being how Anna swore to them that she didn't do it, which would mean that she straight up lied to their faces. So, Martin is leaning more to believing that his second theory is more than likely the explanation behind the kitchen incident. And this explanation, like all the other recent 'strange phenomenon' occurring in the house, stems back to Beth's own anxiety.
Though rare, on occasion during her bouts of severe anxiety, Beth has been known to sleepwalk ... and not just walking in her sleep but also carrying out other more complex activities.
There was one Thanksgiving that Martin can remember when Beth was so stressed out about hosting ... this one having been the first time she was responsible for hosting the dinner for the entire family; both sides ... that every night the week before the holiday, Beth would get up in the middle of the night, while still asleep, and proceed to clean the house.
Being how Beth was so fixated on having the kitchen organized first, Martin believes that Beth had probably rearranged everything while in her sleep; done subconsciously to 'legitimize' her fear that something was 'wrong with the house'. Since Beth was always very methodical about how she arranged things in the house ... following a set 'blueprint' that she's been adhering to for years ... she would obviously notice that everything in the kitchen drawers and cabinets had been 'mysteriously moved about and rearranged'; not consciously aware that she was the one who actually did it while asleep...
This giving Beth the 'proof' she needed to convince herself that there was 'some sort of presence in the house'.
And while Martin's hypotheses about the current situation seem to warrant some merit, they still don't explain one unusually strange coincidence ... how is it that even as these mysterious, odd occurrences were happening, and Beth was experiencing feelings of uneasiness and trepidation, Anna had been in contact with Mary all along while still unbeknownst to Beth.
************
It's 1:45 A.M. ... Anna's been asleep for hours in bed ... Martin is upstairs in their bedroom waiting for Beth ... and Beth is sitting motionless on the back porch with a stoic expression etched on her countenance, as she has been for the past couple of hours, staring at the barn with a far-off gaze embedded in her eyes.
With his impatience steadily growing, Martin finally reaches the point where he can no longer just wait around for Beth to show up, so he decides to go downstairs and see what's taking her so long.
Not seeing her sitting in the living or dining rooms, Martin goes into the kitchen, where he notices the back door open. He goes over to the open door and looks outside, quickly spotting the statue-like Beth sitting at the edge of the back porch; conveying a zoned-out appearance while fixated on staring at the barn ... looking like one of those stone gargoyles perched on the ledge of some old, Gothic-style building 'watching over' a European city's view.
Martin takes in a deep breath before opening the screen door and stepping out onto the porch, then sits down beside Beth to join her. Beth seems to be oblivious of Martin's presence, so he takes hold of her hand in his, then speaks up...
"You know ... there's nobody out there."
Beth doesn't turn to face Martin, she remains focused on the old barn, but at least acknowledges his presence by replying, "Oh, but there is, Martin: Mary's out there."
"Mary's out there?" Martin expels a subtle huff. "Hmph ... and what makes you think that Mary's out there?"
Still staring ahead, Beth replies, "Because Anna said that's what Mary told her; that she lives out in the barn."
Now Martin lets out more pronounced exasperated huff. "Okay; yes, Anna did say that ... but do you know what else Anna told me that Mary said?"
"No, what?"
"Anna told me that Mary said the reason that we haven't seen her around here is because we can't. Only people that she allows to can see her; and for now, she doesn't want anyone but Anna to see her."
Martin pauses for a brief moment, waiting for Beth to respond to what he's just told her. But Beth doesn't reply, she just remains staring at the old barn with her eyes conveying that far-off gaze locked onto it, while once again appearing to be oblivious to Martin's presence. Martin, realizing he's not going to get a response any time soon, continues...
"So, you what that means; don't you?"
Martin still doesn't get a response. He speaks a little louder, while giving Beth a little nudge on her shoulder...
"Hello, Beth ... you know what that means ... right?"
Beth remains motionless, still staring ahead; but at least this time responds to him, "No; what does that mean?"
"Seriously? Come on, Beth; really? Jeez, it's so obvious that it's almost ridiculous that you haven't realized it yourself, yet ... Beth; Mary is Anna's imaginary friend."
Beth finally averts her eyes from the barn for the first time in hours; turning her head to look at Martin. "Anna's never had an imaginary friend in her entire life ... so why now?"
Believing that this was the one and only reasonable explanation, Martin is caught a little off guard and slightly taken aback by Beth's questioning of it; so, he struggles briefly to come up with an answer plausible enough that even Beth wouldn't be able to doubt this was the case...
"I don't know ... I suppose it's because Anna's always had other kids around her before to play with. But now we're out here kind of isolated, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, with no other kids for her to play with; so, maybe she just needed to come up with a playmate to spend some time with."
Again, Martin pauses for a brief moment to give Beth a chance to respond ... and once again, he gets no immediate response; just a vague stare from her. He concludes his explanation by adding some reassurance...
"You'll see; I'm sure that once Anna starts the school year this fall, and meets other actual real kids, Mary will become a thing of the past."
Beth begins to mull over Martin's explanation for Anna suddenly conjuring up an imaginary friend. Was this really a plausible explanation? Yes, it seems to be. But is Beth willing to accept it as the reason? ... No.
Why? Because Beth's convinced that Mary is no imaginary friend. ... Not imaginary ... and possibly not even a friend. As far as Beth's concerned, the jury's still out on that.
Beth finally replies with a seemingly lifeless, flat inflection in her tone, "I don't think so, Martin."
Martin appears a bit perplexed. "What do you mean you don't think so ... what; you don't think that Anna will give up Mary as an imaginary friend once she makes friends with some real kids?"
"I mean ... I don't think Mary is just some imaginary friend that Anna's making up."