Diamond Run

by Michael Croucher

She appreciated the strong police presence on and around her property, and liked having Danielle Garvey and another female officer—well armed and competent—bunked out downstairs. However, she was still on edge, worrying that Marco might somehow find a way to get to her. It didn’t help that Phil was gone most of the time. He’d called and reassured her that when Marco heard that the keys and safety deposit boxes had been located, he would start putting distance between himself and her property.

  She felt even better after the press release. She’s heard several references to it on the radio, and assumed it had made the papers. Unless Marco was hunkered down in a cave somewhere, he would know there was nothing of any financial interest to him on her property. She was feeling reasonably safe for the first time since her abduction. A police car arrived at her house just as an evening newscast started. Two uniformed officers brought in boxed chicken dinners and an assortment of soft drinks. They set them up on her dining room table. The two officers ate their dinners quickly and left. Other cops working the detail drifted in, picked up their meals and returned to their posts. Seeing them all was further reassurance.

  Two dinners remained, one for Sue and one for Danielle Garvey. The other female officer had left for a court appearance that afternoon, and would eat somewhere before she got back. Sue and Danielle sat at the table, chatting and picking at the chicken.

  The phone rang. Sue answered on the third ring. It was Gloria.

  “Hi, Sue. I know you’re weighed down and coming to terms with everything that happened, but I wanted to make sure you’re okay. I resisted for hours, but you know what I’m like.”

  “That’s fine, Gloria. I’ve been wanting to talk with you as well. As a matter of fact, I was going to call you.”

  “Good. First of all, how are you doing?”

  “I’m not sure. Sometimes I feel I’m putting it behind me as best I can, but that will be a lot easier to do when that other guy’s been captured.”

  “He’s not coming back, Sue, and it won’t end well for the creep. Try to put him out of your mind, the police will deal with him. But I think there’s a lot more than police activity happening at your house. Am I right?”

  “Of course. And, I need to tell you how that played into everything. I think it’s the reason I’m still alive.”

  “Look, Sue, the other day, when we were checking out the barn, I found an old candle mount. Its small, about the size of an egg cup, dating from around eighteen hundred. It’s beat up, nothing fancy, very basic. It was just lying with some other clutter. I took the thing home, wanted to tap into it a bit. I’ve been getting a hell of a spark from it, Sue. We should get together.”

  Sue looked over at Danielle Garvey, now going over some papers as she ate. She knew that as part of her job, the police woman would be tuned in to her conversation.

  “Well, how about tonight? I’ll let Detective Garvey and Phil know. I’m sure it will be all right.”

  “I’ll bring an overnight bag, we have lots to talk about.”

  Chapter 45

  Gloria was at the door within the hour. To her surprise, she was met and frisked by a Hamilton cop she knew, Danielle Garvey. After a quick chat, she told Garvey she was staying the night. When she got to Sue’s upstairs office, Gloria heard the shower running across the hall. Sue’s bedroom door was closed. The pullout bed in the office was already made up. Gloria dropped her overnight bag on top of it and sat at the desk A pink note on the desk pad caught her eye.

  Join you shortly. Make yourself at home. Sue. X

  She knew Sue liked long, hot showers, one in the morning and one at the end of her day. Longer showers were taken when she was stressed; they helped her wind down. She smiled. After that ordeal, Sue might stay in until she drained the hot water tank.

  Gloria switched off the brass lamp on the desk. Settling into the chair, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, holding each before slowly exhaling. She repeated a mantra until she drifted into a lighter, thought clearing level of consciousness. Twenty-five minutes later, she turned the desk lamp back on. She’d heard the shower stop. Sue would be in shortly.

  Life really does go in circles, Gloria thought. Her best friend was seeing a Toronto cop who was involved in a criminal investigation in the Hamilton area. Two Hamilton cops working with him were Danielle Garvey and Roy Jacobs. Danielle and Roy had opened the door on a nice little sideline for Gloria. She been called in on half a dozen cases in Ontario and New York State since the first file she’d worked with them.

  She recalled that first case. A Hamilton boy named Richard had gone missing. The parents feared the worst. The police at first suspected Richard was just another runaway. Eventually they feared the worst as well. Months of exhaustive searches by police and volunteers, as well as appeals for leads had turned up nothing.

  One of Gloria’s friends who knew the boy, brought over his library card and his school pencil case. Gloria got readings from both items. She went to Hamilton Police Headquarters. Detective Danielle Garvey took her in to see Roy Jacobs. Gloria explained that she was a psychic and had information about the missing boy. She’d expected cynicism but hadn’t got any. They’d both been real pros.

  Richard was located within a week. As predicted by Gloria, he was alive and well, living on the streets in Toronto. He was with a gang of squeegee kids who knew him as Tommy from Barrie. They all lived beneath the Gardiner Expressway under a cover of cardboards and tarpaulins that were propped up by broken shopping carts. They slept in smelly sleeping bags, and earned enough money washing car windows to buy the food and grass they needed. Jacobs and Garvey returned the disappointed youngster to his parents. Gloria had effectively ended Richard’s adventure.

  Later, Jacobs gave Gloria his card and took one of hers. He’d said that should the need arise, they would call her. They didn’t call. But officers from other jurisdictions did, saying she had been recommended by Jacobs and Garvey.

  Sue came in carrying two steaming mugs of tea. She had on house pants and a comfy sweater. She put the mugs on the desk and stood in front of her friend.

  “Chamomile, is that all right?”

  Gloria stood, wrapped her arms around Sue and squeezed. “Perfect. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “Phil’s got this place really well-covered, and I’m coming around a bit. Now that you’re here, I feel even better, Gloria.”

  Gloria removed some folders from her overnight bag and put them on a small round table between two wing backed chairs. Sue brought the mugs of tea over and put them on coasters.

  “Did you have a nice shower, Sue?”

  “Very, it helped so much.”

  Gloria smiled and took a sip of tea. “When you’re ready, tell me everything that happened before you were brought back to the house. And then, everything that happened after.”

  Sue summarized everything up to where Jasper had her searching the office. She stood up and touched the drape she’d used as a signal.

  “I did that when a commotion across the hall gave me a chance.”

  “What was the commotion, Sue?”

  “An incredible banging. The bed being slammed up and down...The same presence that confronted Phil.”

  Sue repeated the sequence of events she’d given Phil, and then described Jasper’s arrest. She took a deep breath, reflecting on the wild swing of emotions she’d felt during her rescue.

  Gloria waited a moment, and then reached over and touched the back of Sue’s hand. “You know, I don’t know this floor of the house very well. Could you give me a quick tour and point out the areas where there’s been activity?

  They went into Sue’s bedroom.

  Sue showed her the place where Phil was confronted by the disappearing image of the man’s face and the disembodied voice.

  Gloria had brought along a manila folder. She opened it and nodded towards the bedroom window. “Show me exactly where you were standing when you saw the vision of the woman and child by the barn.”

  Sue w
ent to the window and stood in the spot. “Here.”

  Gloria took out a copy of the sketch she had shown them the other night. A likeness of Elizabeth Rafferty, the woman who had lived on the property in 1813. She handed it to Sue.

  “I want you to pull a chair up to this window, and then sit and concentrate on this picture. Completely absorb yourself in it. But don’t move from this spot. Look out the window towards the barn periodically. I’m going down there and will go in for five or ten minutes, maybe a bit longer. It’s really important that you stay put and stay visible, Sue. Be connected with that sketch the whole time I’m out there. I’ll also have a copy of the sketch.

  Sue shuddered at the prospect of her friend making an evening visit to the barn. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

  “It’s what I do, honey. I’m good at bringing closure to restless souls. The time is right for these folks.” She kissed Sue on the cheek. “I’ll just tell Detective Garvey that I’m heading out for a smoke.”

  SUE STUDIED THE SKETCH. Once again, she was taken by the woman’s uncanny likeness to herself. She imagined what life would have been like for her in this place so many years ago, trying to raise a family. It was probably a hard, simple, and satisfying life during peacetime. After all, the location was beautiful and lush, the soil on the escarpment was ideal for certain types of agriculture. The family could have generated an income here. The war, more specifically, the Battle of Stoney Creek would have changed all of that. It had been a short and decisive encounter that stopped the American advance into Upper Canada. The nearby landscape had been littered with bodies. Hundreds of hungry and desperate American soldiers had scattered from the battlefield, trying to reconnect with their units, or to reach the Niagara River.

  Sue looked out the window. Gloria was holding a lit candle. It was in the old candle mount she’d found in the barn. She also had her copy of the sketch. She stood near the barn door with her back to the house. Periodically, whiffs of smoke drifted away from her. The glow of her cigarette’s tip brightened whenever she took a deep drag.

  Sue watched Gloria. She dropped the butt of her smoke into a bottle with water in the bottom that some of the cops on the security detail had used for the same purpose. She raised the candle, opened the barn door and went in. There were no other lights on inside or outside of the barn. The heavy barn door swung shut behind her.

  Sue tightened her fingertips on the sketch. She thought of the ghostly images she’d seen near the barn. Determined to focus as Gloria had suggested, she fixed her attention on the image of Elizabeth Rafferty, and took glances at the barn door.

  She could see dim flickers of candlelight that seeped through the gaps on and near the door. The flickers gradually weakened, and were gone. Sue guessed that Gloria was now deep inside the barn. For a moment, her attention wandered and she looked towards her bed, recalling the other sensations that had been initiated there.

  Fifteen minutes passed without a glimpse of Gloria, or flickers of candle light. Sue raised her palm to her throat and clenched her lips. Was Gloria all right? She considered going downstairs and asking Danielle Garvey to go with her and check the barn.

  Suddenly the dark shape of the barn door moved. It swung open and Gloria stepped out. She carried the smouldering candle mount in front of her and the copy of the sketch by her side. Sue let out her breath. She watched her friend return to the house.

  Gloria came into the bedroom. The candle had burned down. She placed the mount on the dresser and put in a fresh candle.

  “Are you ready for some sleep, Sue?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m a bit jittery after watching you out there.”

  “When was the last time you meditated?”

  “I’m sporadic with it. Maybe a month ago.”

  “You should be doing more, especially with all the things happening around this house. You might pick up on something.”

  Sue grinned. “That’s what I’m worried about. I’m not as cavalier with this stuff as you are.”

  “I’d like you to try now. Not in a chair. Get right into bed and start your mantra. That will relax you, get you sleepy. Keep the sketch of Elizabeth on the next pillow, image up. All right?”

  “All right. I am tired...what do you expect to happen, Gloria?”

  Gloria walked over and closed the bedroom drapes. “I’m not sure, but there will be something. I’ll sleep with the office door open, I’m a light sleeper. Call me if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll come in when I know you’re awake.”

  “Thanks, Gloria.”

  Gloria left. The scent of smoke from the extinguished candle she’d used in the barn hung in the room. Sue also noticed the smell of tallow from the fresh candle, now burning on the dresser. They smelled different from modern scented candles; slightly acrid, but pleasant. Elizabeth’s bedroom would have smelled like this.

  Sue touched the sketch of Elizabeth on the next pillow, said a brief prayer, and started saying her mantra.

  Chapter 46

  Stoney Creek, 1813

  “Simon, no! Dear God, please, no!”

  Elizabeth was on her knees, wailing. She rocked back and forth. Her son’s bloodied head rested on her lap, his musket at her feet. Tears streamed down her cheeks and splashed onto his face.

  She looked across the road. Two soldiers emerged from the trees at the top of the escarpment. They were Americans. Both were drunk, unsteady. One carried two flagons of drink, the other had his musket at his hip, pointed towards the house.

  She looked to her other boy harshly. “Go, John. Go now. Quickly.”

  John stood by the back door, shaking. His face twisted with grief and anger.

  Elizabeth raised her voice as high as she dared. “Leave, boy. Run from here.”

  “I’ll be back with help, Ma.”

  “There won’t be time. For God’s sake, save yourself.”

  John grabbed his musket, some powder and shot, and ran out the back door towards the shelter of the woods.

  Elizabeth wouldn’t run. She had to delay these men so her John could escape, and she wouldn’t leave Simon’s body. She picked up Simon’s gun by the still warm barrel, held it in both hands like a club.

  The front door swung open. One of the soldiers came in with his back pressed to the door jamb, then the wall. He moved slowly towards her.

  “Put it down, woman, it’s of no use to you now.”

  “You murdering pig! You’ve killed my boy!” Elizabeth raised the weapon above her head and leaned back to strike.

  Footsteps behind her. She turned. Too late. Strong hands seized the musket by the stock and wrenched it away. The second soldier had come in the back. He flung the gun across the floor, and wrapped both arms around her from behind. Both men reeked of drink. They laughed and tugged at her dress.

  The first soldier placed his hands on her hips and pulled her forward, his face contorted with a hungry grin. “We’ve got time for a little cuddling.”

  She pulled away from their grips, and received a vicious slap across her face. She sobbed quietly, resigned to the inevitable.

  There was a sound from outside the house. The clatter of hooves and cart wheels. It distracted the men, they stepped away from her. One held her by the wrist as the other hurried to the front door. He looked out carefully, spun on his heels and pointed at his partner.

  “Gag her, quick,” he said.

  The other man dragged her further into the house, cut the hem of her dress with his bayonet, and ripped off a long strand.

  “Not a sound from you, girl. Even after this is on. Not a murmur, or I’ll run this blade right through you.”

  Elizabeth glared at the man. He looked at his friend. “What’s out there?”

  “British patrol about a hundred yards along the ridge. Picking up corpses. They’ll be here soon... take her out the back. We’ll wait in the woods till their gone.”

  They arrived at the woods and moved into the tree line about fifteen yards. Both men grabbed an elbow and
pulled Elizabeth to the ground behind the trunk of a huge tree. They all watched as the British patrol approached the house.

  The patrol consisted of two soldiers on horseback and a two-horse wagon driven by a man in civilian clothes. The wagon was loaded with bodies. Elizabeth saw the crimson jackets of British troops among the pile of dead.

  One of the riders dismounted and walked into the house. He stepped out immediately and waved at the wagon. There’s another one in ‘ere, Nigel. Just a lad, I’ll bring him out.

  The wagon pulled up to the front door and Simon’s body was dumped on top of the pile of corpses. The soles of his boots were marked with chalk by the driver. The soldiers went back in and checked the rest of the house.

  Elizabeth struggled to call out through the gag. All she could manage was a groan before she felt the point of the bayonet against her neck. She stared at the crumpled body of her son through a veil of tears. They soon streamed down her cheeks. Beneath the gag, she murmured an emotional farewell to Simon and a prayer for her boy John.

  The wagon rolled east and turned into the steep path that led down to the village. She watched it rumble to the first curve in the path. Then, the wagon and her beloved Simon dropped from her view.

  Elizabeth kicked at the nearest man, her eyes round with rage. She missed his crotch by several inches. Both men laughed, they pulled her to her feet and dragged her through the darkening field to the house.

  The three of them were in her bedroom. The bigger man sat on the edge of her bed and drank his whiskey. He drew the back of his hand across his lips and motioned for Elizabeth to join him.

  “My friend here will keep an eye on the outside for a few hours. Then he’ll need a bit of cuddlin’ himself. You be accommodating to both of us, girl, and no ‘arm will come to you.”

  Elizabeth backed away but was pushed forward by the other soldier. The one on the bed clung to her from behind, his lips slobbering at her neck She retched, overcome by his body odor and the smell of drink.