by Eva Pohler
Ellen took out her cell phone and dialed the Forresters’ number. Bud usually picked up after one or two rings, but by the tenth ring, Ellen had been about to hang up when Millie answered.
“Hi, Millie. This is Ellen. I’m sorry to bother you. Is Bud not at home?”
“No, he’s here,” she said in between fast and heavy breaths.
Ellen felt awful. Millie must have had a hard time getting to the phone. “Oh. May I speak with him?”
Millie’s voice cracked with her next words. “I’m afraid he’s under the weather today. I’d hate to disturb him.”
Ellen immediately thought of the cancer. “I’m sorry to hear that, Millie. Is there anything I can do? Can I bring you anything?”
“I don’t want to be a burden. I have enough food here to last me a few days. I just took my mother a bowl of mac-n-cheese. I can also empty our bags and this and that on my own. We’ll be alright. The only thing I can’t do by myself is get in and out of my chair. If worse comes to worst, I’ll call Sam Robertson.”
“How long has Bud been ill?”
“This just started yesterday.”
“Did you have to sleep in your chair last night?”
“Yes, but it wasn’t too bad. I have a head rest that I can adjust myself.”
Ellen wondered about bed sores. “Can I please come and check on you all? I’m really worried. I’m calling from the Gold House and could be there in a few minutes.”
“I’d be too embarrassed for anyone to see me under these conditions,” Millie said. “I haven’t had a shower or been able to change my clothes and this and that.”
“I don’t care. It won’t bother me.”
“But it will bother me.”
“How does Bud look? Is he breathing okay?”
“He’s upstairs in his room, so I can’t check on him.”
Ellen’s heartrate increased. She clutched the phone in both hands and asked, “When was the last time you spoke to him?”
“A few hours ago. I asked him if he wanted to come down and eat, but he said he didn’t want anything.”
Ellen breathed a sigh of relief. “Please let me run upstairs and check on him. What if he needs a doctor but is too stubborn to tell you?”
Millie didn’t answer right away. Then she said, “I suppose I could leave the back door unlocked and hide in my room while you’re here.”
“Thank you! I’ll be right over.”
“Give me about fifteen minutes.”
“Will do.” Ellen hung up and said, “I wish he’d tell Millie about the cancer. Do you think I should say something to her?”
Sue shook her head. “I don’t think so. That has to be his choice.”
“It could save his life, though,” Ellen said. “Or, at least prolong it. If Millie knew, she’d insist that he get treatment.”
“But that’s not what he wants,” Tanya said. “I think you have to respect his wishes.”
“I’m also thinking about Amy,” Ellen said. “What if we don’t find her in time to say goodbye to him?”
Fifteen minutes later, Ellen made her way across the lawn from the Gold House to the Forresters’ Victorian. She envied their back yard because it was full of trees—pecan and oak. She wished there were as many trees at the Gold House, but there was just the one, and it was dead.
She supposed if they discovered that the tree really had been protecting German gold all these years, then the Forresters could keep their wooded lawn.
Ellen turned the knob on the back door and found it unlocked, just as Millie had said it would be. Ellen pushed the door open and stepped inside. The kitchen sink was full of dishes, and there was food and crumbs on the counter, along with half-empty mugs of coffee. She resisted the urge to tidy it for Millie and continued toward the front of the house to the stairwell.
As she took the stairs, she imagined all the times Amy had snuck up to bathe. Every Sunday, the ghost girl would take this very path. At the top of the landing, the first door to the left was a bathroom—probably the bathroom. Across the hall, another door was ajar. Bud’s room?
“Bud? Are you awake?” Ellen said gently from the hallway. She wanted to give him a moment to make himself decent if he wasn’t already. “It’s Ellen. I’ve come to check on you.”
“Oh, lord,” she heard him murmur.
“Is that okay? Can I come in?” She waited outside his door, full of uncertainty.
“You won’t like what you see, but go ahead and come on in.”
She pushed the door all the way open and stepped inside. Bud was on a double bed beneath a navy blue comforter. Although only his face was visible, it was yellowish-orange.
She crossed the room and bent over him, moving the white bangs away from his forehead. The whites of his eyes were yellow, too. “Oh, my God, Bud. You’re jaundiced. You need to see a doctor as soon as possible.”
He closed his eyes and spoke slowly. “I’ve already told you how this is going down.”
Ellen linked her fingers together as if in prayer. “But this could be an easy fix. I understand rejecting chemotherapy and other treatments that weaken you. I get that. But this may be something the doctors can fix without treating the cancer. You’ve got to give them a chance. For Millie and for Millie’s mother. And for Amy.”
Bud looked up at her. The hope in his eyes broke her heart. “You’ve seen Amy?”
Ellen shook her head. “Not yet. But we’ll find her. Have you ever heard her speak of someone named Jason?”
“No. Why?”
“Do you know of a Jason in the area?”
“One of the twins down the street goes by ‘Jay,’” he said. “I don’t know if that’s his full name. He and his brother mow my lawn. Why?”
“It’s just a theory. If you let me take you to the emergency room, I’ll tell you about it on the way.”
Chapter Twenty-Five: Near Misses
Wednesday morning, Ellen turned in her grades electronically and said goodbye to another semester. She had decided not to give her classes a final exam project in light of all she was going through. The students had not complained.
Ellen then went by Panera and picked up both potato and broccoli cheese soup, along with bread and cookies, for Millie and her mother. Millie had agreed to unlock the back door but had refused to be seen again, so Ellen left everything out on the kitchen counter. Then Ellen met Tanya and Sue at the Gold House to continue their work in the attic.
As they sorted and organized, Ellen told her friends the latest news about Bud. His bile duct bypass surgery had been a success. This would buy him a little more time. The doctor hadn’t seemed very optimistic about how much more time, but at least it would make Bud more comfortable. The hospital would release him by the end of the week.
Tanya had made a batch of brownies for them to snack on, and Sue had brought coffee, which made their work more tolerable.
Sue stopped organizing for a moment to have a brownie and said, “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you something I discovered last night. It’s really shocking. I can’t believe I forgot to tell you.”
“About Amy?” Tanya asked.
“No. About Mitchell.”
“What?” Ellen asked.
“Well, I was curious about that dust he sprinkled on the floors downstairs,” Sue said. “So I Googled it.”
“Oh my gosh, I should have thought of that,” Tanya said. “He called it goofer or something like that, right?”
“Yes, goofer dust,” Sue said. “It’s an old African American powder made from graveyard dirt, snake skin, and powdered bones.”
Ellen shuddered. “That’s so gross.”
“Powdered bones?” Tanya asked. “What kind of powdered bones?”
“The most commonly used bone is cat,” Sue said.
Tanya’s eye widened. “Cat bones?” Tanya glanced at Ellen.
Ellen covered her mouth. “Do you think that’s what he does with all those stray cats he’s got locked in the shed? Do you think he ki
lls them and turns them to powder for his spells?”
“That’s exactly what I think,” Sue said.
“We need to call the humane society,” Tanya said. “We can’t let him keep doing that.”
“I agree we should do something,” Sue said. “But I think we should wait until the tree is removed and we find out whatever there is to find out. We need his cooperation.”
Ellen thought that was sound advice. “But after that, we have to do something.”
A few hours later, Ellen, Tanya, and Sue took a break from organizing the attic to lunch at the café they had discovered around the block. Apparently, Nona’s was a popular place, because it was still crowded at two o’clock when they arrived. Luckily, they didn’t have to wait long for a table.
Once they were seated and were handed menus, Sue said, “I have an idea.”
“What is it?” Tanya asked.
“Why don’t we tell Mitchell Clark that the only way he can have his share of the gold is if he promises to take the cats to the humane society and to never kill another one again?”
“That’s brilliant!” Ellen said. “Good thinking, Sue.”
“Maybe we should make sure he does it before the tree service comes tomorrow,” Tanya said. “We could even offer to take the cats there ourselves.”
“Good idea, Tanya,” Ellen said. “Maybe we should stop by later today to pay him a visit.”
“What does he do, anyway?” Tanya wondered. “Is he retired? He’s the same age as we are.”
“Bud said his family was in the oil industry,” Ellen said. “Mitchell lives off oil money.”
“I wonder how he’s dealing with being made to wait for our tree people,” Sue said. “I bet it’s eating him up.”
“Do you guys really think there’s gold beneath that tree?” Tanya asked doubtfully.
“I hope so!” Sue said.
“I’m not sure,” Ellen admitted. “I suppose it’s possible, but I’m trying not to get too excited.”
Their conversation ended when their waiter approached their table. “Can I get you ladies something to drink?”
They all wanted water, so he left to get that for them, and after, Tanya said, “Did you see his nametag?”
“No,” Ellen said. “Why?”
“Our waiter’s name is Jason.”
Ellen and Sue gawked at one another.
“Jason is a popular name,” Sue said. “It’s probably a coincidence.”
“You’re probably right,” Ellen said. “But Bud did say that Amy used to eat from the cans in back. Maybe she’s been inside to eat since then. And maybe that’s how they met.”
“Why don’t you ask him?” Tanya said. “It couldn’t hurt.”
Sue lowered her voice. “How do you ask someone if they know a girl who pretends to be a ghost?”
Tanya giggled. “Good point. But you should say something.”
“Why me?” Sue asked.
“Because of the three of us, you’re the bravest one with people,” Ellen said.
“That’s right,” Tanya said. “Besides, we did all the work sneaking into Mitchell’s house—even had a gun pulled on us.”
“That two-hour Power Point presentation was no easy task,” Sue said defensively.
Jason appeared with their water. “Are you ladies ready to order?”
Sue glanced around the café. “Um, yes. But first I have a question for you.”
“Sure. Do you want to hear about today’s specials?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Sue said. “But that wasn’t my question.” She cleared her throat. “We’re looking for a young woman about your age named Amy Piers. Do you know her?”
The young man frowned. “No. Why?”
“We’re worried about her,” Ellen said. “We haven’t seen her for many weeks.”
“Sorry to hear that. I hope you find her soon. Would you like to hear about the specials now?”
When they’d finished their lunch and were heading around the block in Sue’s car back to the Gold House, they were shocked to see Mitchell Clark in their front lawn demolishing the tree with his chainsaw.
“Oh, shit!” Ellen cried.
“I guess it really was eating him up inside,” Tanya said as they pulled up to the curb.
As soon as Sue had parked, they climbed out of the car and charged toward him. Sue had one fist on her hip and was shaking a finger at him before he even turned and noticed them.
He shut off the chainsaw and gave them an angry glare.
Ellen lifted both palms up and shook her head. “What in the world are you doing?”
“We had a deal!” Sue shouted, wagging her finger. “Are you trying to get the jump on us, or what?”
“You vandalize my property, I vandalize yours!” he shouted back.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Ellen asked.
“Don’t act like you don’t know!” he said as he brought the chainsaw back to life and turned again to the tree.
Ellen marched right up to him—didn’t even care if he accidentally chopped off one of her own limbs. There was no way she was going to let him think he was in charge of this show. If they let him dismantle and remove the tree, he might think he had a claim to all the gold. She tapped him on the shoulder and screamed, “If you don’t stop, I’m calling the police.”
“Go right ahead!” he hollered back. “I’ll show them the damage you did to my storage shed.”
Ellen narrowed her eyes. “Your storage shed? We didn’t touch it!”
He turned off the chainsaw again. “I came home from running errands to find the shed door wide open, the lock busted, and all the cats gone. Who else would do that?”
Ellen glanced at her friends. Who else would?
“Well, we sure as heck didn’t,” Sue said taking out her phone. “I’m calling 9-1-1 if you don’t leave immediately.”
“Fine. I’ll leave,” he said. “But I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Fine!” Sue shouted as he stomped away.
Once he was down the street, the three women recovered from the shock and headed back to their work in the attic.
“That man is a lunatic,” Tanya said on the way up the stairs.
“But he sure is attractive, isn’t he?” Sue said.
“Sue!” Tanya chastised.
“But who else knew about the cats?” Ellen asked.
When they reached the attic, they were surprised to find that things weren’t exactly as they had left them. The most obvious change was the empty pan of brownies.
“Do you think Mitchell Clark finished off our brownies before attacking the tree?” Tanya wondered out loud.
“The letters from Joseph Clark and the copycats written by Amy are missing, too,” Sue said. “Why would he want those?”
“I don’t think he took the letters,” Ellen said as a strange thought occurred to her. “I don’t think he took the brownies, either.” She walked over to the corner and lifted the trap door. The pillow and blanket were still there, but they weren’t in the same position in which she had last seen them. She stooped over the niche to get a closer look. Lying across the pillow was a brand new long white hair. She lifted it between her thumb and index finger and held it up in the light. It was an exact match to the one she’d sent to the lab. “Amy was here. She must have overheard us earlier talking about the cats. She set them free.”
Tanya pressed her palms to her face. “Amy was hiding here all morning?”
“That gives me chills,” Sue said.
Ellen closed the trap door and let the single strand of hair fall from her fingers. “At least we know she’s alive. I wonder where she is now.”
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Search Continues
While the tree removal service cut down the dead tree in front of the Gold House, Ellen walked down the street toward the house of the twins who helped Bud with his lawn. Tanya and Sue stayed behind to keep an eye on the progress with the workers and to prevent Mitchell Clark fro
m finding the gold without them.
Ellen knew it was a longshot that the one twin who went by “Jay” might be the “Jason” in Amy’s letters, but she didn’t have any other leads, and she was desperate to find Amy. She couldn’t help but suspect that Bud’s sudden turn for the worse was due to his worry. Maybe if Amy could be found, Bud’s strength would return.
And then there was Cynthia. Ellen hadn’t been back to see Cynthia since the Wednesday before Thanksgiving—over a week ago. She imagined the poor woman must be anxious for some news. It must be torture, in fact, for a mother who hadn’t seen her daughter in twenty years to be told she could see her, but not yet. To make her wait was cruel.
Ellen turned up the sidewalk of the other Greek revival on their block. It wasn’t in as good of shape as most of the houses on Alta Vista Street. Bud had said that the twins’ mother was a single parent who worked long hours as a teacher. Her sons had been in and out of trouble with the law over the years, but Bud didn’t think they were bad to the core—just restless and undisciplined. They’d dropped out of high school several years ago and worked odd and end jobs around the neighborhood.
Ellen knocked on the door, expecting one of the boys to answer, since it was the morning of a school day, but a woman came to the door.
“Hello,” Ellen said. “My name is Ellen Mohr. I’m one of the new owners of the Gold House.”
“Hello,” the woman said. “How can I help you?”
“Bud Forrester mentioned that your sons are sometimes available for yard work?” Ellen said. “I was hoping to talk to them about helping me with some of my landscaping. Would that be okay?”
“Oh, of course,” the woman said. “Let me call Nick.” The woman turned toward the foyer behind her and hollered up the stairs, “Nick? Can you come to the door, please?”
A young man called from the top of the stairs, “Mom, you’re supposed to be in bed. What are you doing?”
The woman smiled at Ellen. “I’m not feeling well today. My son’s taking care of me.”