The Cruelest Month

by Louise Penny

  ‘Still, it must have scared the crap out of all of you,’ Olivier laughed, imagining Ruth at the window.

  ‘Fortunately Clara here was on top of the spiritual crisis, repeating an ancient blessing,’ said Gabri.

  ‘More drinks, anyone?’ Clara asked.

  ‘Bless O Lord,’ Gabri began and the others joined in, ‘this food to our use, and ourselves to Thy service.’

  Peter sputtered with laughter and felt Scotch dribble down his chin.

  ‘Let us be ever mindful of the needs of others.’ Peter looked her directly in her amused blue eyes.

  ‘Amen,’ they all said together, including Clara, who was herself laughing.

  ‘You said grace?’ Peter asked.

  ‘Well, I thought I might be seeing my dinner again.’

  By now everyone was laughing and even staid and proper Monsieur Béliveau was letting out a rolling, deep guffaw and wiping his eyes.

  ‘Ruth’s appearance sure put paid to the séance,’ said Clara after she’d regained herself.

  ‘I don’t think we’d have been successful anyway,’ said Jeanne.

  ‘Why not?’ Peter asked, curious to hear her excuse.

  ‘I’m afraid this place is too happy,’ said Jeanne to Olivier. ‘I suspected as much as soon as I arrived.’

  ‘Damn,’ said Olivier. ‘That can’t be tolerated.’

  ‘Then why’d you do a séance?’ Peter persisted, certain he’d caught her out.

  ‘Well, it wasn’t exactly my idea. I’d planned to spend tonight here having the linguine primavera and reading old copies of Country Life. No mean spirits around.’

  Jeanne looked directly at Peter, her smile fading.

  ‘Except one,’ said Monsieur Béliveau. Peter tore his eyes from Jeanne and looked at Béliveau, expecting to see the kindly grocer pointing a crooked Jacob Marley finger at him. But instead Monsieur Béliveau’s hawk-like profile stared out the window.

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Jeanne, following his gaze but seeing only the warm lights of the village homes through the lace curtains and the old leaded glass.

  ‘Up there.’ Monsieur Béliveau jerked his head. ‘Beyond the village. You can’t see it now unless you know what to look for.’

  Clara didn’t look. She knew what he was talking about and begged him, silently, to go no further.

  ‘But it’s there,’ he continued, ‘if you look up, on the hill overlooking the village, there’s a spot that’s darker than the rest.’

  ‘What is it?’ Jeanne asked.

  ‘Evil,’ said the old grocer and the room grew silent. Even the fire seemed to stop its muttering.

  Jeanne went to the window and did as he instructed. She lifted her eyes from the friendly village. It took her a moment, but eventually above the lights of Three Pines she saw it, a spot darker than the night.

  ‘The old Hadley house,’ whispered Madeleine.

  Jeanne turned back to the gathering, now no longer lounging comfortably with each other, but alert and tense. Myrna picked up her Scotch and took a swig.

  ‘Why do you say it’s evil?’ Jeanne asked Monsieur Béliveau. ‘That’s quite an accusation, for a person or a place.’

  ‘Bad things happen there,’ he said simply, turning to the others for support.

  ‘He’s right,’ said Gabri, taking Olivier’s hand but turning to Clara and Peter. ‘Should I say more?’

  Clara looked to Peter who shrugged. The old Hadley house was abandoned now. Had been empty for months. But Peter knew it wasn’t empty. For one thing he’d left part of himself in it. Not a hand or a nose or a foot, thank God. But things that had no substance but fantastic weight. He’d left his hope there, and trust. He’d left his faith there too. What little he had, he’d lost. There.

  Peter Morrow knew the old Hadley house was wicked. It stole things. Like lives. And friends. Souls and faith. It had stolen his best friend, Ben Hadley. And the monstrosity on the hill gave back only sorrow.

  Jeanne Chauvet floated back to the fire and dragged her chair closer to them so that she was finally in their circle. She placed her elbows on her thin knees and leaned forward, her eyes brighter than Clara had seen them all night.

  Slowly the friends all turned to Clara, who took a deep breath. That house had haunted her ever since she’d arrived in Three Pines, a young wife to Peter, more than twenty years ago. It had haunted her and almost killed her.

  ‘There’s been a murder there, and a kidnapping. And attempted murder. And murderers have lived there.’ Clara was surprised how distant this list sounded and felt.

  Jeanne nodded, turning her face to the embers slowly dying in the grate.

  ‘Balance,’ she finally said. ‘It makes sense.’ She seemed to rouse herself and sat up straighter, as though moving into another mode. ‘As soon as I arrived here in Three Pines I felt it. And I feel it tonight right here, right now.’

  Monsieur Béliveau took Madeleine’s hand. Peter and Clara moved closer. Olivier, Gabri and Myrna inched together. Clara closed her eyes and tried to feel whatever evil Jeanne was sensing. But she felt only –

  ‘Peace.’ Jeanne smiled a little. ‘From the moment I arrived I felt great kindness here. I went into the little church, St Thomas’s I think it’s called, even before booking into the B. & B., and sat quietly. It felt peaceful and content. This is an old village, with an old soul. I read the plaques on the walls of the church and looked at the stained glass. This village has known loss, people killed before their time, accidents, war, disease. Three Pines isn’t immune to any of that. But you seem to accept it as part of life and not hang on to the bitterness. Those murders you speak of, did you know the people?’

  Everyone nodded.

  ‘And yet you don’t seem bitter or bound by that horrible experience. Just the opposite. You seem happy and peaceful. Do you know why?’

  They stared into the fire, into their drinks, at the floor. How do you explain happiness? Contentment?

  ‘We let it go,’ said Myrna finally.

  ‘You let it go,’ Jeanne nodded. ‘But.’ Now she grew very still and looked Myrna directly in the eyes. Not challenging. More imploring, almost begging Myrna to understand this next part. ‘Where does it go?’

  ‘Where does what go?’ Gabri asked after a minute’s silence.

  Myrna whispered, ‘Our sorrow. It has to go somewhere.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Jeanne smiled as though to a particularly gifted pupil. ‘We’re energy. The brain, the heart, run by impulses. Our bodies are fueled by food that’s converted into energy. That’s what calories are. This’, Jeanne brought her hands up and patted her thin body, ‘is the most amazing factory and it produces energy. But we’re also emotional and spiritual beings and that’s energy too. Auras, vibes, whatever you want to call it. When you’re angry,’ she turned to Peter, ‘can’t you feel yourself tremble?’

  ‘I don’t get angry,’ he said, meeting her gaze with cold eyes. He’d had just about enough of this bullshit.

  ‘You’re angry now, I can feel it. We can all feel it.’ She turned to the others, who didn’t comment, out of loyalty to their friend. But they knew she was right. They could feel his rage. It radiated off him.

  Peter felt set up by this shaman and betrayed by his own body.

  ‘It’s natural,’ said Jeanne. ‘Your body feels a strong emotion and sends out signals.’

  ‘It’s true,’ Gabri said, turning to Peter apologetically. ‘I can feel your anger, and I can feel that the rest of us are uncomfortable. Earlier I could feel the happiness. Everyone was relaxed. No one had to tell me. When you walk into a room full of people don’t you get it immediately? You can feel whether people are happy or tense.’

  Gabri looked around and everyone nodded, even Monsieur Béliveau.

  ‘At my store you get good at reading people fast. If people are in a bad mood, or upset or might be a threat.’

  ‘A threat? In Three Pines?’ Madeleine asked.

  ‘Non, c’est vrai,’ the gro

cer admitted. ‘It has never happened. But still I watch, just in case. I can tell as soon as they walk in.’

  ‘But that’s body language and familiarity,’ said Peter. ‘That’s not energy.’ He vibrated his hands in front of him and lowered his voice in a mocking tone. Monsieur Béliveau was silenced.

  ‘You don’t have to believe it,’ Jeanne said. ‘Most people don’t.’ She smiled at Peter in a way he took to be patronizing. ‘Bread cast on the water,’ she said unexpectedly. ‘If we put angry energy out that’s what we’ll get back. It’s pretty simple.’

  Peter looked around the gathering. Everyone was listening intently to this Jeanne woman, as though they believed this crap.

  ‘You mentioned balance,’ said Myrna.

  ‘That’s right. Nature is balance. Action and reaction. Life and death. Everything’s in balance. It makes sense that the old Hadley house is close to Three Pines. They balance each other.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Madeleine asked.

  ‘She means the old Hadley house is the dark to our light,’ said Myrna.

  ‘Three Pines is a happy place because you let your sorrow go. But it doesn’t go far. Just up the hill,’ said Jeanne. ‘To the old Hadley house.’

  Now Peter felt it. The skin on his arms contracted and his hairs stood on end. Everything he let go of had claw marks on it. And it made straight for the old Hadley house. It was full of their fear, their sorrow, their rage.

  ‘Why don’t we do a séance there?’ Monsieur Béliveau asked. Everyone turned slowly to stare at him, stunned, as though the fireplace had spoken and said a most unlikely thing.

  ‘I don’t know about that.’ Gabri shifted uneasily in his seat.

  Instinctively they turned to Clara. Without asking for it she’d become the heart of their community. Small, middle-aged and getting a little plump, Clara was that rare combination: she was sensible and sensitive. Now she got up, grabbed a handful of cashews and what was left of her Scotch and walked to the window. Most of the lights were out around the village green. Three Pines was at rest. After a moment appreciating the peace her eyes traveled to that black hole above them. She stood for a couple of minutes, sipping and munching, and contemplating.

  Was it possible the old Hadley house was full of their anger and sorrow? Was that why it attracted murderers? And ghosts?

  ‘I think we should do it,’ she said finally.

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake,’ said Peter.

  Clara briefly glanced out the window again.

  It was time to lay the wickedness to rest.

  SIX

  Monsieur Béliveau opened the car door for Madeleine. ‘Are you sure I can’t drive you home?’

  ‘Oh, no, I’ll be fine. My nerves are calming down,’ she lied. Her heart was still racing and she was exhausted. ‘You’ve brought me safe and sound to my car. No bears.’

  He took her hand. His felt like rice paper, dry and fragile, and yet his hold was firm. ‘They won’t hurt you. They’re only dangerous if you come between mother and cub. Be careful of that.’

  ‘I’ll mark it down. “Mustn’t anger bears.” Now you’re sure of that?’

  Monsieur Béliveau laughed. Madeleine liked the sound. She liked the man. She wondered whether she should tell him her secret. It would be a relief. She opened her mouth but closed it again. There was still such sadness in him. Such kindness. She couldn’t take it away. Not yet.

  ‘Would you come in for a coffee? I’ll make sure it’s decaf.’

  She released her hand from his light grip.

  ‘I must go, but I’ve had a lovely day,’ she said, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

  ‘Though no ghosts.’ He sounded almost regretful. And he was.

  He watched her red tail lights head up du Moulin, past the old Hadley house and out of sight, then turned and walked to his front door. There was a small, almost imperceptible, bounce in his step. Some tiny thing had come alive in him. Something he was sure he’d buried with his wife.

  Myrna shoved a few logs into her woodstove and shut the cast-iron door. Then she walked wearily across the loft, her slippered feet shuffling on the old wooden floors, instinctively moving from one throw rug to another, as a swimmer might travel between islands, shutting lights as she went. The beamed and old brick loft slowly subsided into darkness, except the one light beside her large and welcoming bed. Myrna placed her mug of hot chocolate and plate of chocolate chip cookies on the old pine table and picked up her book. Ngaio Marsh. Myrna was re-reading the classics. Fortunately her used bookstore had no end of them. She was her own best customer. Well, she and Clara, who brought in most of the old mysteries. The hot water bottle warmed her feet and pulling the comforter up she started to read. Sipping on her chocolate and nibbling cookies she realized she’d been reading the same page for ten minutes.

  Her mind was elsewhere. It was stuck in the darkness between the lights of Three Pines and the stars.

  Odile placed the CD in the machine and slipped the headphones on.

  She’d waited for this moment. For six days she longed for it, with increasing anxiety as the week wore on. Not that she didn’t enjoy her everyday life. In fact, she was amazed by how lucky she was. That Gilles should turn to her when his marriage soured still amazed her. She’d had a crush on him through high school. Had finally found the courage to invite him to the Sadie Hawkins dance, only to be turned down. But he hadn’t been cruel. Some boys were cruel, especially to girls like Odile. But not Gilles. He’d always been kind. Always smiled and said bonjour in the hallways, even when his friends could see.

  Odile had adored him then and she adored him now.

  But still, every week she longed for this moment. Every Friday night Gilles went to bed early and she went into their modest living room in St-Rémy.

  She could hear the first notes of the first song and felt her shoulders sag, letting go of the tension. She could also feel her vigilance slip. The need to watch every word, every action. She closed her eyes and took a massive gulp of red wine as a drowning man might gulp air. The bottle was half empty already and Odile worried she’d run out before the magic happened. The transformation.

  After a few minutes Odile was on her feet, her eyes closed, walking across a flower-festooned stage. In Oslo. It was Oslo, wasn’t it? Didn’t matter.

  The distinguished audience, in tie and tails and evening gowns, was on its feet. Applauding. No. Weeping.

  Odile stopped part way to acknowledge their cries. She placed her hand on her breast and curtsied slightly in a gesture of immense modesty and dignity.

  And then the king was presenting her with the silk sash. Tears in his eyes too.

  ‘It gives me great pleasure, Madame Montmagny, to present you with the Nobel Prize for Poetry.’

  But tonight the wild applause didn’t move her, didn’t wash over her and protect her from the suspicion she’d been found out for the pathetic little thing she knew herself to be. From trying to fit into a world where everyone knew the code, except her.

  But Odile knew one thing no one else did. Her little secret. All those people at the séance had been afraid of evil spirits, but she knew the monster was from not the next world, but this. And Odile Montmagny knew who it was.

  Hazel seemed distracted when Madeleine arrived back.

  ‘Couldn’t sleep,’ said Hazel, pouring them a cup of tea. ‘Expect I’m excited about Sophie coming home.’

  Madeleine stirred her tea and nodded. Hazel was always a little nervous when Sophie was coming home. It disrupted the quietude of their lives. Not that Sophie was a party animal, or even loud. No, it was something else. Some tension that suddenly appeared in their comfortable home.

  ‘I took poor Mrs Bellows a dinner.’

  ‘How’s she doing?’ Mad asked.

  ‘Better, but her back still aches.’

  ‘You know her husband and children should be doing that for her.’

  ‘But they don’t,’ said Hazel. She was sometimes surprised by a hard edge that appeared in Madeleine. It was almost as though she didn’t care about people.

  ‘You’re a good soul, Hazel. I hope she thanked you.’

  ‘I’ll get my reward in Heaven,’ Hazel said, bringing a dramatic arm to her brow. Madeleine laughed, as did Hazel. It was one of the many things Mad loved about Hazel. Not just her kindness, but her refusal to take herself too seriously.

  ‘We’re having another séance.’ Mad dipped her biscuit into the tea and got the soggy and sagging cookie into her mouth just in time. ‘Sunday night.’

  ‘Too many ghosts to deal with in one go? They had to take shifts?’

  ‘Too few. The psychic says the bistro’s too happy.’

  ‘Sure she didn’t say gay?’

  ‘It’s possible.’ Mad smiled. She knew Hazel and Gabri were good friends and had worked on the Anglican Church Women together for years. ‘Still, no ghosts to be had. So we’re going to the old Hadley house.’

  She watched Hazel over the rim of her teacup. Hazel’s eyes widened. After a moment she spoke.

  ‘Are you sure that’s wise?’

  ‘Have you been in here?’ Clara called from her studio.

  Peter froze in the act of giving Lucy her goodnight dog biscuit. Lucy’s tail swished back and forth with increasing energy, her head tilted to the side, her eyes glued to the magical cookie as though desire alone could move objects. If that was the case the fridge door would be permanently open.

  Clara poked her head out of her studio and looked at Peter. Though her face showed simple curiosity he felt accused. His mind raced but he knew he couldn’t lie to her. Not about this, anyway.

  ‘I went in while you were at the séance. Do you mind?’

  ‘Mind? I’m thrilled. Did you need something?’

  Should he say he needed some Cadmium Yellow? A number four brush? A ruler?

  ‘Yes.’ He went over and put his long arm round her waist. ‘I needed to see your painting. I’m sorry. I should have waited until you were here and I should have asked.’

  He waited to see her reaction. His heart sank. She was looking up at him, smiling.

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