Skellyman

by Rie Sheridan Rose

  “I hate to interrupt, Brenda, but I need to be at the school by—what’s wrong? You both look terrible. Has something else happened?”

  “There’s been a murder.” Philip answered quietly. “At Brenda’s house.”

  “Oh my God!” Penny’s hand flew to her mouth. “Are you okay?” she asked Brenda.

  “No. I’m really not.”

  Penny reached out to place a hand on Brenda’s arm. “You don’t have to go with me today. I’d completely understand.”

  “No,” Brenda answered. “I want to go. I need to see Daisy…make sure she’s safe.”

  “Of course. Shall I meet you downstairs?”

  “I’m ready to go.” She picked up her purse and started for the door.

  Phillip reached out as she passed him, and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

  “Be careful out there, querida,” he whispered in her ear. “If you see this man again, you call me immediately.”

  A little dazed by the ferocity of the embrace, she nodded.

  “I will, I promise. I really hope I’ll never see him again…though I doubt I’ll be so lucky.”

  She patted the kitten on its head, and followed Penny out of the room. Phillip was gazing thoughtfully around the space as she headed out the door.

  They were silent for most of the short ride to the school, but as they turned into the drive, Penny said softly, “My brother really likes you.”

  Brenda felt herself reddening.

  “I really like him too.”

  “He’s never acted this serious about anyone before.”

  Brenda was stunned.

  “Never? But he’s so…so everything.”

  Penny smiled tightly.

  “He seems it, doesn’t he? But he’s always held back from commitment. Oh, he’s dated plenty, but he’s never looked at anyone the way he looks at you.”

  “I don’t know what to say…”

  Penny pulled into her assigned parking space and killed the engine. Then she turned to Brenda.

  “Say you won’t hurt him. Say your intentions are honorable—whatever that means. Say you understand he’s vulnerable and this is all new to him.”

  “Penny, I don’t know what you think I’m planning on doing to him, but I promise you I’m extremely fond of your brother, and I wouldn’t hurt him for the world. He’s the first man who’s ever made me feel this way, and I was married for more than thirteen years.”

  “Just…be careful. For both your sakes.”

  Brenda nodded numbly, feeling a bit overcome. She got out of the car and glanced around the parking lot.

  “Mama! Mama!” shouted a clear little voice from across the lot, and Daisy barreled across the tarmac to throw herself on Brenda. “Mama, did you see our house? It was on TV. Papa and Grammy wouldn’t let me see what they were saying, but I knowed it was our house. Didn’t it look pretty? Grammy tried to call you, but she couldn’t get the phone to go. She was really mad at you. When are we going home? Did you find me my skellyman costume yet? Why are you here?”

  Brenda let the torrent of words roll over her, basking in the warmth of the chattering child’s affection. She smoothed back Daisy’s unruly curls and kissed her daughter on the forehead as her father strode toward her across the lot.

  “We’ll talk about all of it later, baby,” she whispered. “Now it’s time for school. I’m going to help Mrs. Castillo today.”

  “You all right, Brenda?” George Fullerton asked her grimly.

  “Yes, Papa. I’m fine. I’m sorry I hadn’t called yet.”

  “Not me you should be apologizing to. Your mother’s worried sick. I suppose you saw the news this morning.”

  Suddenly all the well-being Daisy’s mere presence had given her faded away like mist. “Yes, I saw it. Mrs. Castillo, could you take Daisy into the school for me?”

  “Of course,” Penny answered. She reached for Daisy’s hand.

  Before she could lead the child away, George continued, “Your mother is understandably fit to be tied, honey. They said the girl was a—” He glanced down at Daisy. “—a h-o-o-k-e-r. What would a woman like that have been doing in your house?”

  “Not now, Papa. Please.”

  Daisy pulled at Penny’s hand. “Who was in our house, Mama? Why was she in our house if we weren’t? Did you know her, Mama?”

  Brenda looked at her father helplessly.

  “Don’t you worry about it none, Daisy. Your mama will tell you about it when it’s a good time. For now, why don’t you show her what you made for her?”

  “Oh, yes!” Daisy’s eyes brightened, and she dug into the pocket of her jacket, fishing out a piece of yarn slipped through some grimy lengths of uncooked pasta. “Look, Mama—I made you this beeeutiful necklace.”

  Brenda took the prize with a mixture of emotions. It was obvious the child was very proud of her creation…but the pasta was filthy, and the yarn a bit frayed.

  “That’s very nice, Daisy. I love it.”

  “Wear it to school, Mama,” ordered the little girl imperiously.

  “Well, Mrs. Castillo might not like that,” Brenda hedged, turning a helpless glance to Penny.

  “I think it’s lovely, Mrs. Barnett. You should definitely wear it.” Penny hid a smile behind her hand.

  Brenda wrinkled her nose. She slipped the string over her head. At least the talisman made her feel a little better.

  “Maybe you can bring Mrs. Castillo one tomorrow,” she said.

  “Oh, I brought her one too,” beamed Daisy, fishing out an even grimier specimen. She handed it to the teacher. “You wear yours too.”

  Brenda laughed at the expression on Penny’s face. Her mood was gradually lightening.

  “We’ll match,” she said smugly.

  Penny slipped the cord over her head.

  “Thank you, Daisy.”

  “Well, I’ll let you ladies get on to your work…but you call your mother as soon as you can, Brenda. She’ll want to hear your voice for herself. You promised her a number where you could be reached.”

  “Here’s my card, Mr. Fullerton,” Penny said, digging into her purse and handing him a business card. “It has the number at the Bed and Breakfast.”

  George Fullerton nodded at her. “Thank you, ma’am. That’ll help.

  “I’ll come back by for Daisy when school lets out, Brenda…but we’re going to need to discuss all this sometime soon.”

  “Yes, Papa,” replied Brenda meekly, kissing her father’s rough cheek. “I understand.”

  He headed back to the truck, and the women led Daisy into the school, each holding one of the child’s hands.

  Daisy continued to chatter away about Halloween and the museum trip on Friday. Brenda was stunned to realize that had only been three days ago.

  Brenda followed Penny into the brightly decorated classroom. Daisy pulled away to go and tell Tommy the adventures of Bones over the weekend. The children were soon shrieking in laughter. Brenda envied them.

  Penny strode to the front of the room and clapped her hands.

  “Alright, boys and girls. Time to begin. Everyone sit in their place.”

  The children scrambled to sit down. Each shining little face was turned to Penny. They were models of behavior.

  I could never get this sort of behavior out of a classroom, Brenda thought to herself.

  By lunchtime, she was even more impressed by Penny’s boundless energy and teaching skills. And she was exhausted.

  “How do you do it?” she whispered to Penny as the children worked on Halloween art projects in pairs.

  “Do what?” asked Penny.

  “Keep these kids so engaged. I can’t get Daisy to concentrate on anything for more than ten minutes at a time, and yet she’s been an angel for you.”

  “It’s not as hard as you think. At this age, they really want to be good. You just have to give them a chance.”

  Brenda pondered the answer as she circulated around the room admiring the children’s picture
s and offering suggestions. When she got to Daisy and Tommy—the two really did seem to be inseparable at school—she fought to hide her dismay over their subject matter.

  Yes, they were supposed to be drawing Halloween pictures…but the gruesome skeleton with a machete in one hand and an open grave behind him was a little much.

  “That’s…interesting, sweetie,” Brenda murmured. “I…uh…like the colors you used.”

  “Blood, blood red and dead, dead black,” replied Daisy matter-of-factly. “Those are the colors of Halloween.”

  “Okay…” Brenda shivered. “But how about giving him a jack-o-lantern to carve in his other hand?” She was trying to justify the machete as something other than a weapon.

  “No! I forgotted—” Daisy said. She drew a head in the skeleton’s other hand, gripped by short brown hair, and dripping blood, blood red.

  Chapter 45

  Somehow, Brenda made it through the rest of the school day without screaming. What am I going to do about Daisy’s obsession with death?

  Maybe she really should talk to Elise about it. She had been toying with the idea, but maybe it was time to make a decision.

  The thought eased her mind. Her weekly appointment with Elise was normally on Thursday, but if she called this afternoon, she suspected the therapist would squeeze her in.

  Maybe I should take Daisy along—if Elise talks to her, maybe she can help break the child out of this fascination with the macabre.

  School was over by two in the afternoon, and Brenda knew Elise saw patients till six. A quick call to her office confirmed she could see mother and daughter at four.

  Brenda waved to George as he came to pick Daisy up.

  “Can you do me a favor this afternoon?”

  “What is it, honey?”

  “I made an appointment for Elise Fairbanks to meet Daisy at four. I’ll need a ride over there, and I hate to impose on Penny.”

  Phillip had offered to take them shopping this afternoon, but she didn’t really want him to be the one to take her to her therapist…not at this point in their relationship. Maybe Penny would call him for her—she hadn’t programmed his number into her phone yet.

  “But you don’t mind imposing on your old man, huh?” George winked at her. “Sure, sweetheart. Who is Elise Fairbanks?”

  Brenda hesitated. She knew Mary thought her therapy was a waste of time and money, but George had seemed supportive of the idea originally. She just didn’t know what he felt about it now.

  “She’s the therapist I’ve been seeing.”

  “Oh! We’re gonna go see the crazy doctor?” cried Daisy excitedly…and loudly.

  Several heads turned in their direction, and Brenda felt her face heating up. George chuckled, and he knelt beside Daisy.

  “Your mama’s taking you to meet a friend of hers, that’s all, little missy. Now, what do you say we go get ice cream on the way?”

  “Chocolate!” Daisy crowed.

  Brenda turned to Penny, who was standing nearby making sure her students all had a ride home.

  “I’ll be back to the B&B by seven.”

  “Take as long as you like. The door is open till nine, and if you need to be later, just knock and someone will let you in.”

  Penny smiled down at Daisy. “Have fun, sweetie.”

  “I tell you what,” Brenda told Daisy. “Why don’t we go look for a Halloween costume after the ice cream?”

  “It’s about time.” The little girl planted her fists on her hips. “All the good skellymens will be gone.”

  “Why don’t we wait and see what they have?” replied Brenda helplessly, looking to her father for support.

  “We’ll find you something perfect, Daisy Mae,” George promised, ruffling the child’s curls. “For now, we’d better hurry on, or we won’t have time to get everything done.”

  He picked Daisy up and swung her onto his shoulder amidst peals of laughter from the girl. Brenda followed them to the truck.

  Daisy needs this. She deserves a father figure who will pick her up when she’s down—literally and figuratively.

  They drove over to the nearest ice cream parlor, Daisy chattering on about her costume the entire way. Brenda’s heart sank. The child was determined to go trick-or-treating as a skeleton.

  She caught George glancing over at her and shrugged. What was there to say? She didn’t understand why Daisy was so obsessed with the idea, but she didn’t seem able to change her daughter’s mind, either.

  “Maybe they’ll all be gone,” she mouthed to George, and he nodded back.

  It was a bit chilly to totally enjoy ice cream, but it made Daisy happy. She devoured her chocolate sundae without getting too much of it on her school clothes. Brenda was glad to see it, because she knew Daisy must be running out of clean things, and Mary really hated doing laundry.

  Not that she blamed her mother in this case…she knew the heavy lifting involved was hard on her own back—and could imagine how it would stress the older woman.

  She remembered the suitcase in Phillip’s car. Darn. That was another reason he had been going to pick them up, and she had forgotten all about it.

  I’ll have to make it up to him…

  As soon as Daisy had licked the last droplet of chocolate from her spoon, she let it clatter to the table and announced.

  “Done, Mama. Let’s go find my skellyman suit.” She slid from her chair and started toward the door.

  “Hold on, little missy,” called George. “You wait for your mama and me. Don’t forget, it ain’t as easy for us old folk to get around as it is for you.” He winked at Brenda.

  Daisy stopped dead in her tracks and turned back toward them.

  “I forgotted, Mama. I forgotted you were old.”

  Brenda rolled her eyes at George.

  “Thanks ever so much.”

  Daisy came back and took hold of Brenda’s good hand, carefully leading her towards the door.

  “I’ll help you, Mama.”

  Brenda was exasperated yet touched by the gesture. How old does Daisy think I am…and why do I feel it right this minute?

  There was a mega-market costume center close by, set up in a big box space whose original tenant had gone belly up. These costume places sprang up sometime in August usually and melted away a week after Halloween—but they did carry a huge variety of colorful costumes. Brenda felt a bit overwhelmed walking in the door.

  There were giggling children everywhere, calling to each other from across the store. Daisy waved frantically at someone, and Brenda glanced over to see Tommy with a striking redhead she assumed must be the boy’s mother. Her dress suddenly felt frumpy instead of stylish when compared to the redhead’s immaculate suit.

  Daisy began to drag her over to where Tommy stood waffling between a robot ninja costume and a vaguely dog-shaped creation. Brenda tried to hold back, but finally gave in to the inevitable and allowed herself to be led.

  “Hey, Tommy! Are you going to be dressed as Filbert? That would be cool!”

  Brenda realized the vaguely dog-shaped costume must be based on a popular children’s book series currently all the rage. Funny, I always thought Filbert was more of a horse…

  “Hello,” said the redhead, as Daisy and Tommy lost all interest in the adults and began searching through the racks together. “You must be Daisy’s mother. I’m Vivian Sullivan.” She held out her hand, and Brenda shook it awkwardly.

  “Brenda Barnett.”

  “What happened to your arm? It must be difficult coping with a dynamo like Daisy when you’ve got one hand tied behind your back, so to speak.” Vivian smiled.

  “I fell trying to coax my kitten out of a tree. It was silly, really. My parents are keeping Daisy for a few days—this is my father, George Fullerton,” she added as he joined them.

  “That must be a blessing. Listen…I don’t mean to pry—” Vivian’s expression had turned suddenly…odd…and Brenda got the impression prying was exactly what she meant to do. “—but wasn’t
that your house they showed on the TV this morning? I mean, I recognize the name. Was there really someone murdered there?”

  Brenda glanced uneasily at the children, but they were totally absorbed in the brightly colored costumes.

  “I really don’t know any more than you do, Mrs. Sullivan. The first I heard of it was when I saw the news report this morning, and I’ve been at the school all day.”

  “They didn’t even call you? How awful! You’d think the policeman from the news report would’ve had the decency to come and speak to you.” Her voice took on a coy, simpering tone. “I mean, they said he was a friend of yours.”

  Brenda was surprised she didn’t make air-quotes around the word friend.

  “Yes. He’s a friend. But he had his job to do and I had mine. If you’ll excuse me.” She took Daisy’s hand and pulled the girl away.

  Daisy protested.

  “But Mama…I think there’re skellymen right there—” She pointed back toward Tommy, craning her neck to see better.

  “You mind your mama,” George told her firmly.

  Daisy’s eyes welled with tears as she stared at her grandfather. He rarely ever denied her anything, so the little girl realized this must be something serious.

  “Yes, Papa,” she whispered.

  She let Brenda show her to the section filled with every Disney Princess costume to date, as well as a few more generic—and less expensive—gowns.

  “I think you’d make a lovely princess,” Brenda coaxed.

  The tears spilled over, running silently down Daisy’s cheeks.

  “But I want to be a skellyman,” she whispered in a tiny little voice that broke Brenda’s heart.

  She was about to give in and take the girl back to the skeletons, despite the Sullivans’ continued presence at the rack when George knelt down beside Daisy and whispered something in her ear.

  Daisy’s fingers wandered into her mouth as she listened. She shook her head emphatically.

  George continued to whisper. By the time he finished, Daisy was nodding thoughtfully, and the tears had stopped.

  Brenda looked down at her father and mouthed, “Thank you.”

  George rose to his feet and grinned.

  “Don’t thank me yet…you don’t know my proposal.”