by Susan Calder
“Can’t I go with you to scatter them?” Isabelle said.
“You’re doing your scattering with Dimitri on the mountain top. One per person is enough.” Kenneth would bury his share of the cremains in the ground. Callie’s daughter would toss her fifth to the sky. Callie’s son would sculpt his into art. It was a bit weird, but Paula thought Callie would like it.
Sam, Leah, and Erin were laughing.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Nothing,” they said.
She hugged her three girls good-bye. “I love you,” she told each one.
“Even me?” Isabelle beamed.
“Even you.”
Isabelle and Erin hopped into the car. Leah halted at the driver’s door, glanced at Sam and gave Paula a thumbs-up.
“What was the joke?” Paula asked Sam as they entered the trail.
“I’m not telling,” he said. “No way am I getting in the middle of three women.”
“Did you bring everything?”
He held up his shopping bag.
The trees on the pathway still held onto their leaves. Their silhouettes swayed above the gorge. Twenty feet below the river rushed over rocks. Paula and Sam stopped by the slope where Callie’s body was found.
“It’s flat at the top,” Sam said.
They walked up the hill and smoothed the blanket he had brought on the grass beside the trail. Paula set the cheese plate and wine glasses on it.
Sam took out the crystal candlestick. “Why did you want this?”
“Its mate saved my life. If I hadn’t been crawling back to reach it you’d have driven right into me.”
“I remembered a candle.” He wedged it into the candlestick.
In the dark, the box containing Callie’s ashes looked like it was painted shades of gray, not green and blue. Paula carried it to the ledge. “Should we say something?”
“Your call.” Sam echoed his words from the coin toss.
Their scheme had worked out, just not exactly as planned. She hadn’t planned for this moment, either. A gust cooled her arms. In the morning, frost would coat the grass, but this evening was balmy enough for their little wake.
Staring at the box, she cleared her throat. “Callie, I hope you’re at rest. I hope I did right by you in the end. I hope—” Her voice cracked.
Sam’s shoulder brushed against hers. Candle light flickered across his face. He was far away, immersed in his own thoughts. The box squeaked as she opened the lid. A warm breeze caressed her cheek. Strange, changing weather they were having this night.
Paula held the box out to the gorge. She turned it upside down. Callie’s ashes swirled into a cloud falling into the river. A breeze blew some particles back. The candle flame sucked them in. They shimmered pink, gold, red, mauve. Colors danced in the flame. They faded and were gone.
Acknowledgements
Twenty years ago I took up writing. Many people contributed to this journey to publication. I thank you all. I especially thank:
Jean Humphreys, Stephen Humphreys, Shaun Hunter, Marilyn Letts, Steven Owad, and Bernice Pyke, who read drafts of the manuscript and provided thoughtful comments and encouragement for the book.
Lawrence Hill and the Booming Ground online mentorship program, for taking the story to another level.
My writing communities at the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society, Mystery Writers INK, and the Writers Guild of Alberta; AWCS instructors Eileen Coughlan and Fred Stenson; Steven Galloway and the Sage Hill Writing Experience.
The Calgary Police Service Citizens’ Police Academy and RCMP Sergeant Patrick Webb, for advice on crime and police procedure. Any errors are mine.
Ruth Linka and TouchWood Editions, for giving me this chance.
My editor, Frances Thorsen, owner of Chronicles of Crime bookstore in Victoria, BC, and a great person to work with. My copy editor Lenore Hietkamp. Promotion experts Tara Saracuse at TouchWood and Susan Toy in Alberta.
Leslie Gavel, Pamela McDowell, and Lianne DesBrisay, for helping me through the lean writing times, with laughs.
My parents, Murray and Emilie Calder. I wish you were still here. My siblings Moira, Lorna, Lynn, and Bruce.
Deborah Donnelly, for youthful adventures shared.
Finally, my three men: my husband, Will Arnold, and our sons, Dan and Matt, who lived with the quirks of a writer wife/mom and managed to thrive. Much love. You made the journey worthwhile.
SUSAN CALDER is a member of Mystery Writers INK and the Writers Guild of Alberta. She has a degree in Urban Studies from Concordia University. Susan’s poems and short stories have been published in The Prairie Journal, Alberta Views, Other Voices, and the Silver Boomers Anthology. She teaches writing at the Alexandra Writers’ Centre in Calgary. Deadly Fall is her first novel.
DISCOVER MORE GREAT MYSTERIES LIKE THE ONES HERE AT OUR WEBSITE, TOUCHWOODEDITIONS.COM
THE PAULA SAVARD MYSTERY SERIES BY SUSAN CALDER
Deadly Fall
THE CASEY HOLLAND MYSTERY SERIES BY DEBRA PURDY KONG
The Opposite of Dark
THE DANUTIA DRANCHUK MYSTERY SERIES BY KAY STEWART
Sitting Lady Sutra
THE HAL BANNATYNE MYSTERY SERIES BY RON CHUDLEY
Act of Evil
Act of Justice
THE LULU MALONE MYSTERY SERIES BY LINDA KUPECEK
Deadly Dues
THE ISLAND INVESTIGATIONS INTERNATIONAL MYSTERY SERIES BY SANDY FRANCES DUNCAN AND GEORGE SZANTO
Never Sleep with a Suspect on Gabriola Island
Always Kiss the Corpse on Whidbey Island
Never Hug a Mugger on Quadra Island
THE MARGARET SPENCER MYSTERY SERIES BY GWENDOLYN SOUTHIN
Death in a Family Way
In the Shadow of Death
Death on a Short Leash
Death as a Last Resort
THE SILAS SEAWEED MYSTERY SERIES BY STANLEY EVANS
Seaweed on the Street
Seaweed on Ice
Seaweed Under Water
Seaweed on the Rocks
Seaweed in the Soup
Copyright © 2011 Susan Calder
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (access Copyright). For a copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Calder, Susan, 1951–
Deadly fall / Susan Calder.
Print format: ISBN 978-1-926741-18-5 (bound).—ISBN 978-1-926741-19-2 (pbk.)
Electronic monograph in PDF format: ISBN 978-1-926741-36-9
Electronic monograph in HTML format: ISBN 978-1-926741-37-6
I. Title.
PS8605.A4568D43 2011 C813'.6 C2010-906340-6
Editor: Frances Thorsen
Proofreader: Lenore Hietkamp
Design and cover illustration: Pete Kohut
Leaf texture: Irina14, stock.xchng
Author photo: Leap Frog Photography
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support for our publishing activities from the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, Canada Council for the Arts, and the province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
TouchWood Editions
www.touchwoodeditions.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
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Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Other Mystery Titles from TouchWood Editions
Copyright