by Marja McGraw
I could hear voices and knew Frank was with her. I hoped he was able to keep a straight face.
I opened the bathroom door and stuck my head in, speaking just loud enough for my mother to hear me. “Pete, you’re needed downstairs. Mom says there was an intruder here last night, and it wasn’t Blondie.”
I threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt and hurried downstairs with a pair of flip flops in my hand.
“What’s up, Mom?”
“What’s up? Didn’t you hear me? We’ve had a prowler out in the yard.”
“How can you tell?”
“He left some very distinctive footprints. I swear, this guy has to be a monster. The prints look like they’re at least a size eighteen.”
Frank stood behind my mother, covering his mouth with his hand. I could see the corners of his lips turning up, and he kept clearing his throat.
Mother turned and faced him. “What’s the matter, Frank? Why do you keep clearing your throat? Are you coming down with something?”
He cleared his throat again. “Must be the weather. I woke up with a frog in my throat.”
“Oh, dear, I didn’t mean it. I hope you’re not getting sick.”
“I’ll be fine, honey.”
“Let’s go take a look at those prints. I’m sure it’s nothing,” I said.
“I’m sure it’s something.” My mother crossed her arms across her chest. “And I sure don’t get why Bubba didn’t set off a ruckus last night. He must have heard something.”
“He was upstairs with us. He probably didn’t hear a thing.”
“Sure. Like a dog with super hearing would have missed a prowler.” Mother turned and headed for the front door.
“Shouldn’t we check to make sure Felicity and Stanley are okay first?” I asked.
“We’re fine,” Felicity walked around the corner, into the living room, with Stanley trailing behind her. “What’s going on?”
Chapter Forty-seven
“My mother says we had a prowler last night,” I explained. “We’re just about to go look at the huge footprints he left.”
“What footprints?” Felicity sounded frightened. “You’re saying they’re big?”
Stanley tried to reassure her. “It’s okay, sugar foot. Let’s put on some clothing before we go outside.”
He ushered her toward the stairs and I could hear him quietly talking to her.
I’d forgotten she wasn’t in on the plan. Stanley would take care of that, and I hoped she didn’t give it away.
Pete hurried down the stairs and joined us. He had a great poker face. “What’s happening? Sandi said there was an intruder last night?”
“Follow me.” My mother strode toward the front door and threw it open like the drama queen she can be sometimes. She also shoved the screen door open with gusto. It creaked loudly, adding to the moment.
I smiled at my mother’s back.
The mud had fallen in on the prints, just a little, but they were still discernable.
I made light of them. “Oh, Mom, these could be anything. Maybe they’re not footprints at all.”
“Of course they are. Those are gigantic footprints or I’ll eat dirt. Take my word for it. They’re from a prowler.”
“They are pretty big, I have to admit. Maybe Marion has a partner in all of this. No, I think these are an anomaly. They could be something that just looks like footprints.”
“Sandra, there’s a trail of them. And look how far apart they are. This guy must be huge!”
“It’s nothing, Mother. I’m sure of it.”
Pete nodded his agreement.
She didn’t look quite so sure of herself. “Weeeell, you never know about these things. But, Sandi – ”
“Don’t make something out of nothing. This is some strange kind of coincidence or something.”
“I think you’re wrong. I’m going to investigate and get to the bottom of this. And keep your eyes open.” She narrowed her eyes and turned toward the Ellison house. “I’m going to be watching Marion very closely today. I have no doubt that she’s involved with this person in some way.”
“This doesn’t scare you, does it?” Frank asked.
“Of course not. Well, maybe a little. I just don’t know, but I’ll get to the bottom of this. Trust me on this one.”
“I’m sure you will, Mom.”
Bubba sniffed the footprints. He didn’t seem all that interested and only wagged his tail once before wandering off toward the barn.
I put my hand on Pete’s arm and turned back to the house.
“I will,” she said to my back. “Frank will help me.”
“Uh huh.”
I heard her speaking to Frank as we walked away. “Pete was a police officer. You’d think he’d be interested in those prints, wouldn’t you?”
“Give him time to wake up. He’s probably still half asleep.”
Felicity and Stanley passed us when we walked inside. She was grinning, and Stanley stared at the ground. I had a feeling that was the only way he could keep a straight face.
I glanced out the front window and saw Felicity nodding while Mother talked, her hand flying through the air. She pointed toward the garage, indicating the prints went around the house.
Stanley continued to stare at the dirt.
“How long are you going to let this go on?” Pete asked.
“As long as it takes her to say Uncle. I want to win this scare game.”
Pete shook his head and headed for the stairs to the apartment and the kitchen, meaning the coffee pot.
I climbed upstairs to take my shower.
When I was done and made my way to the apartment, I found my mother showing pictures she’d taken with her camera – of the footprints, of course. “You can see how big they are, even in this picture. I had Frank stand next to it so we could compare sizes.”
I wondered what Micah had done so the footprints stopped at some point and didn’t show him walking back to Tyler’s.
“Where did the prints lead you, Mom?”
“Out to the field. With all those weeds I couldn’t see where they went after that.”
“Ah.”
It was smart of Micah to head in that direction. She couldn’t follow him. I had a feeling he probably stuck to the heavier weeds. Of course, with the rain and moisture, he may have tramped them down. I’d have to ask him what he did.
We ate breakfast, a serve yourself type of meal consisting mostly of cereal and toast, and went back to work. It was never-ending.
I noticed a conspicuous absence of the Hansens that morning, although I knew they’d be over later for one last discussion about our strategy for the evening.
The clouds had disappeared and I didn’t think rain would be an issue again.
We were as back to normal as possible. No snakes, tarantulas or black widows were in sight, no Blondie sightings, but there were still the footprints.
My mother went outside no less than half a dozen times to take another look at them. She followed them to the weeds at least three times.
I began to worry when she was too quiet for the mother I know and love. Maybe I’d gone too far.
“Mother, I said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for the footprints.”
“What are the odds that they’re anything other than a prowler? I haven’t seen any neighbors who might be big enough to wear shoes that large.”
“I think the odds are good. We’re way out here in the desert, and why would someone want to come all the way out here to prowl around?”
“Weeeell, you never know. Maybe we haven’t seen all the neighbors yet. Can ghosts leave footprints? Maybe Harry Stockholm was a big guy. No one ever really described him.”
“Micah’s a big guy, too, but I don’t think his feet would fit those prints. Besides, we saw a picture of Harry and he wasn’t all that big.” I was pushing it.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Felicity’s voice was high pitched and
she quickly turned her back on us, heading up the stairs.
I thought I heard a small giggle, but I wasn’t sure.
Mother was too intent on looking at her photos again to notice any sounds out of the ordinary.
“Let’s forget this for right now,” I said. “I think we’ll want to rest a little before our big night.”
“Maybe Marion won’t show up. Maybe Big Foot will come in her place.”
“Mother, let it go!”
She turned off her camera. “For now, dear, but not forever.”
I’d created a monster. She wasn’t going to let anything go until she had answers, but I wasn’t ready to provide them.
At around one o’clock we decided to call it quits for the day. We sat out by the pool and drank from a new batch of sun tea.
“It’s too bad you don’t have the pool ready to use yet,” Pete said. “I could use a swim right now.”
It had warmed up considerably. It was unseasonably warm for October.
“It’s going to have to be redone.” Frank stared at the pool. “The pool sat empty for too long. The bottom is stained from old water sitting in it for too long. Must have been rain water.”
It was about twenty-five feet wide and fifty feet long, and it was going to have to be completely done over. It had been covered by wooden planks forming a protective covering, but the men had worked and finally pulled the covering away, revealing a pool filled with rain water and bugs.
“That would have been a good place to hide if you boys hadn’t taken off the boards.” Mother’s forehead was creased with worry lines.
“Livvie – ”
“Now, Frank, I can’t help it. Why isn’t anyone else worried about the intruder? This just doesn’t make sense. Well, in a way it does. I mean, we’ve been inundated with bugs, creepy crawlies, snakes and… Wait a minute.”
She turned to Stanley.
“Don’t take offense, Stan, but if anyone should be as scared as I am, it’s you. How come you’re not having fits?”
“I guess I’ve come a long way since staying out here. If I can face a snake and those big arachnids, I can face anything.”
Mother pursed her lips. “Uh huh.”
I had a feeling she was beginning to catch on.
She left us and returned to take another look at the footprints, returning with a skeptical expression on her face, but she didn’t say anything.
I smiled at her.
She didn’t smile back. She was putting the pieces together.
“What did you...?” She stopped talking when we heard voices coming up the driveway.
“We figured we’d better make it look like we’re making plans.” Racheal pulled up a chair and sat down with us. She’d brought her own soft drink with her.
Zoë pulled up another chair. “I’d love some of that iced tea.”
Mother poured her a glass and handed her a spoon and the sugar bowl.
Racheal dropped the bomb, so to speak. “I heard you had some problems over here last night.”
“And where did you hear that?” Mother’s back stiffened.
“Oh, uh…”
Racheal let her voice trail off.
Chapter Forty-eight
“Um, it’s like this, Mom.” I thought I’d better answer on Racheal’s behalf since she and my mother would be neighbors. “You know how we kept trying to scare each other?”
Before I could say more my mother started laughing. “You almost had me, Sandi, but it just didn’t make sense that no one else seemed concerned.”
My turn to laugh. “I did have you, Mom. I saw how worried you’ve been all day. My little plan worked.”
“And who’s the culprit who left the prints?”
Zoë held her hand in the air like a kid in class. “That would be my culprit. In fact, Micah was the one who gave Sandi the idea. A friend of his named Al pulled this on him when he was a kid.”
“Oh, my.” Mother leaned back in her chair. “You really had me going. You win, Sandi. I can’t think of anything to top this, unless Blondie turns out to be an honest-to-goodness ghost and not Marion.”
“You just had to say that, didn’t you? Ghost. I don’t believe in ghosts, and you know it.”
“We’ll see.” My mother gently nodded her head, her eyes looking far away as though she were watching something in her mind.
I sincerely hoped I hadn’t given her any new ideas.
Zoë set her glass on the outdoor kitchen bar. It almost fell over and tea sloshed over onto the bar top. “It looks like you’ve still got your work cut out for you. This bar needs new tiles.”
Mother handed her a napkin, for all the good it would do on the dirty bar. “You’re right, there’s lots to do, but we want to be done and open for business in about six months. Actually, we already have some soon-to-be newlyweds who want to be our first guests.”
She was talking about Rick and Jessica, who’d mentioned at our wedding that they were going to be wed in about six months.
“Okay,” Micah said, “let’s get on with it. About tonight, what time do we want to start this shindig?”
“Let’s make it about six o’clock.” Pete looked at Tyler. “It should be dark by then, or at least almost dark. Pull in and let Sandi climb into the truck. Racheal can climb out to let her in so Marion will see her and think you have a full truck. Then drive to the back like you’re going to turn around. Sandi can jump out by the garage and use the garage entrance to get to the basement.”
Mother spoke up. “Frank can get in the car with me. Zoë, you come with us. We really need to make it look like we’re all leaving. We’ll drive down the road a way until we’re out of sight, and then we can all sneak back to the house.”
“Everyone can take a spot to watch from,” I said. “Pete will be in the basement. Marion is going to have her eyes on me when we load up, not him. Actually, when I get to your truck, I’ll point to the back and holler something about needing to pick him up. That should account for his whereabouts.”
“You’ve got this pretty well planned out,” Tyler said. “I think she’s really going to think we’re all leaving. And I’ll remember to turn the radio up so we’re making noise. That will throw her off.”
“What about Stanley and me?” Felicity asked.
“You’ll come with us.” Frank turned to Stanley. “Don’t worry, when we sneak back we shouldn’t run into any snakes or anything.” He was giving our friend a hard time.
“Are you sure?” Stanley had been fine until the mention of snakes.
“I’ll take my snake gun, just in case. Remember, Marion walks these dirt roads all the time, and she doesn’t seem any the worse for wear.”
Frank was grinning and Stanley realized my stepfather was messin’ with him.
“Whew! You had me going for a moment.”
We walked down the driveway with the Hansens and made a show of looking like we were finalizing our plans. Bubba walked with us and sat next to Pete when we waved goodbye and stopped to talk.
Now, all we had to do was wait. Or, at least, I hoped that was the case.
“What if she doesn’t come back to the house?” I looked up at Pete.
“Then we’ve made a lot of plans for nothing.”
“What about Bubba?” Felicity asked. “If we’re going out for a night on the town, or so we want her to think, we can’t leave Bubba here.”
“Sure we can,” I said. “He’s used to her comings and goings. He never alerts us when she’s around. I’ll bet you anything that she’s been making friends with him all along, giving him treats or something. Remember how he walked with her when we approached her on the road? She wasn’t afraid of him, either.”
I looked at the dog and narrowed my eyes. “Traitor.”
He grinned at me. You’d think he understood what we were talking about.
I sighed, again, for about the umpteenth time since our stay began at… “Mother, did you and Frank ever decide what you’re going to name your B&B?
”
She glanced at Frank and he nodded.
“We’re naming it Legend Ranch. Between the history of the house and the things that have happened since we got here, we decided that’s a good name.”
I thought about it for a moment. “You’re right. It’s a perfect fit. Legend Ranch,” I said, repeating the name.
Pete looked upward, at the sky, before turning to my parents. “It’s perfect. People will find it intriguing. Just don’t share everything with them. You don’t want to scare them off.”
“Good point,” Frank said. “I can’t explain it, but from everything I’ve heard I have a feeling there’s more to this Marion situation than we know.”
“I think you’re right,” I said.
“Let’s get some rest.” Mother turned toward the house. “It looks like it might be a long night.”
No one actually took a nap. We settled out by the pool and leaned back in our chairs, once again making small talk.
It felt good to relax. My arms were sore from all the work I’d done, and I figured that was a good thing. I needed the exercise, although going up and down the stairs hadn’t bothered me because I had stairs at home.
Stanley actually looked healthier since we’d been in Arizona. His color was good and he’d been eating bigger meals. Even though it had only been a week, I was pretty sure he might have put on a couple of pounds. With all the work he’d done, he was toning himself up. He seemed to have gotten used to wearing jeans instead of slacks, but I honestly couldn’t say he looked more rugged.
I caught Felicity watching him with admiration in her eyes.
After some time passed, my mother turned and said, “We need to eat. She may be watching, but that can’t be helped. We’ll just let her think we’re going out for a night on the town, not dinner.”
While she put something together, I fed Bubba and checked his water dish. It was almost empty so I filled it.
Over dinner I explained a variation on our plan. “I’m going to wait near the garage door so I can watch the Ellison’s house. If I see her heading toward Legend Ranch, I’ll hurry to the basement. Pete, you should probably stay out of sight, but upstairs, in case she doesn’t come to the basement. Maybe you could relax in a corner of the Arizona room.”