The Other Side Of The Painting

by Amelia Rey

  Shane could hardly contain the excitement he felt. His imagination was going wild. He rushed back up the stairs with a big grin on his pale face. Anxiously, he unbuttoned his shirt as he walked back toward the bedroom. After removing the rest of his clothes, he got under the red satin sheets and pretended to be asleep.

  Danielle slowly followed him into the bedroom, placed the tray on the nightstand, and played along with his seductive game.

  Danielle removed her clothes and lay down next to her husband. She tenderly caressed his neck, rubbed his chest, and whispered softly in his ears, “I so wanted to massage you all over, but since you are asleep, I guess I’ll have to leave now.” Danielle acted as if she were going to leave their bed.

  Shane grabbed Danielle’s milk-white arm and pulled her slender body under the sheets.

  About thirty minutes later, Shane rushed down the stairs, fixing his tie and tucking in his shirt. Danielle walked right behind him with a cup of coffee in her hands.

  “Honey, you haven’t eaten your breakfast.”

  “Oh, but I thought I did,” he said facetiously. “Do you mean there’s more?”

  Danielle smiled and handed him the cup. “Drink your coffee before it gets any colder.”

  “Oh, that breakfast!” He grinned broadly. He took the cup from Danielle and quickly took a sip and then handed the cup back to her.

  Danielle took the cup and kissed him good-bye. As he was about to walk toward the door, she grabbed his hand and pulled him back toward her. “I thought you had decided to close the clinic on Saturdays.”Danielle’s voice was gentle and seductive. “I would love to enjoy our Saturday morning a bit longer.”

  Shane gently caressed Danielle’s face. “In the near future, that will be possible, but for the time being, I need the extra time to better acclimate myself to every aspect of the clinic, and my presence will also help my father’s patients get used to me.” He told her that he was running late for his first appointment, kissed her, and rushed out the door.

  Chapter 2

  Danielle went into the kitchen to clean up a little. While she was doing the dishes and looking out the kitchen window, she saw her neighbor Susan dressed in provocative clothing and putting a small suitcase into the trunk of her car. She then got into her car and drove away. Danielle was a bit surprised that Susan did not call to let her know that she would not be joining her today to go hunting for yard sales.

  Danielle and Susan had become close friends. Their mutual passion for antiques and yard sales had brought them together. They went out every Saturday morning to look for yard sales in the area. Danielle had been worried about Susan ever since they last talked two days ago. Susan had confided in Danielle about her love affair with her husband’s business partner, David. Danielle had advised her to end the relationship for the sake of her marriage. But Susan was determined to continue her affair. She had fallen in love with David, and she did not feel guilty or bad about it. Her husband, Mathew, had not shown interest in her in quite some time. Danielle could not possibly understand what Susan was going through; she had a husband who showed his love for her in every area needed, a husband who physically couldn’t get enough of her. Susan’s marriage lacked the physical part. Her thirty-one-year-old husband was cold and somewhat lazy in bed, while David was passionate, wild, and good at anticipating and then fulfilling her every need.

  Danielle had a slight idea about where Susan was heading. Mathew and their four-year-old son, Kevin, had travelled to Florida to visit his parents. He begged Susan to go with them, but she made all kinds of excuses not to go. David wanted to spend a few days alone with her in his beach house in Cape Cod. A romantic weekend at the beach with a passionate, wild, middle-aged man was clearly more enticing to a neglected thirty-year-old housewife. David’s grass looked greener from Susan’s side of the fence. There was nothing Danielle could say to her that would make her see otherwise.

  Danielle finished cleaning up the kitchen and went upstairs to get ready to leave. A few minutes later, she got into her car and drove away. She stopped at a red light. When she looked to her right, she noticed a large, two-story Victorian house with a wraparound porch. The house was captivating; it had wood siding, and it gleamed under the sun. It was a deep green with soft gray around the edges, and it was surrounded by golden maple trees.

  It looked like there was a yard sale, so Danielle parked her car. She walked around the sale, browsing through several items, but nothing really caught her interest. So she decided to leave. As she was leaving, an older woman dressed in old-fashioned garments rushed toward her, shouting, “Katherine! Katherine, please don’t leave!”

  Danielle turned and looked behind her. She noticed a brunette woman about fifty-five years old, who was looking at her and smiling. The woman seemed sad, tired, and sweet.

  She walked toward the woman, and as she came closer, she began having strange visions. She saw that same woman, only younger, brushing the hair of a little girl about six or seven years of age. The little girl referred to the woman as “mother,” and the woman called her Katherine.

  Danielle was confused by the strange vision she had just experienced, but she managed to approach the woman. “Hello, there! I felt as though you were calling me, but my name is not Katherine. It’s Danielle.”

  The woman smiled and looked at her with tenderness. She gently caressed Danielle’s face. “You have aged a little, my sweet child. The last time we saw each other you had just turned twenty, and you were extremely happy because a few months before, you had finally married the man you loved. You thought you might be with child. Today, you stand in front of me a different woman, a woman who is profoundly melancholic and confused.”

  Danielle gave the woman a sympathetic smile and backed away from her. She perceived a profound sadness in the woman and became sad herself. She thought that maybe this poor, sad woman was mourning the loss of her daughter, who she seemed to be confusing Danielle with. “With all due respect, ma’am, you are the one who seems to be confused. My name is Danielle Lancaster, not Katherine.”

  The woman smiled and handed her a silver hand mirror, which appeared to be an antique. Danielle accepted the mirror, and as she examined it, she had a distinct feeling that she had seen it somewhere before. The unique design on the handle captivated her. Without taking her eyes off the mirror, she asked, “How much do you want for it?”She looked up, and the woman was no longer there.

  Danielle walked around the house, trying to find the woman. She bumped into a young girl about ten years of age with deep green eyes and jet-black, shoulder-length hair. The young girl was also dressed in old-fashioned garments.

  The girl dropped her rag doll on the ground as she bumped into Danielle.

  “Hello,” said Danielle.

  The girl smiled at her without saying a word. Danielle bent down and picked up the rag doll to hand it back to the girl, but by the time Danielle stood up, the girl had already vanished.

  Danielle stood in the middle of the yard sale, confused. She walked up to an elegant young woman who seemed to be the owner of the house.

  “Excuse me, ma’am,” said Danielle. “Did an older woman and a young girl who were dressed in old-fashioned clothing pass by here?”

  The woman looked at her and said, “Katherine, have you forgotten my name?”

  “Ma’am, I have no recollection of ever meeting you before.”

  “Take a closer look at me, Katherine,” the woman said.

  At that point, Danielle became a little suspicious of the strange behavior of the people there. She finally realized that everyone there wore old-fashioned attire. She also realized that the patio furniture and the items that were on display were vintage.

  Danielle looked the woman straight in the eyes. “I’m sorry, but I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is not Katherine. It’s Danielle.”

  Danielle walked away from the woman and went around the back of the house.

  Everyone here is very strange,
she thought.

  She looked through a window and noticed a man tied to a bed. The window was open, but Danielle couldn’t go through it because it had metal bars all around it.

  The man became aware of Danielle’s presence. He struggled to get her attention. As he raised his head, their eyes finally met.

  “Danielle, you finally made it back!” shouted the man.“I want to go home, Danielle. I want to go home!” he screamed in desperation.

  Danielle moved away from the window and ran to her car. Once inside, she laid the mirror and the rag doll down in the passenger seat.

  Danielle lived only a few blocks away. She thought of going to her house and calling the police from there, but as she was about to start the car, she saw a payphone across the street.

  She nervously got out of her car again and walked to the payphone to call 911.

  “911. What’s your emergency?” asked the voice on the other end of the line.

  “Operator, there’s a man tied to a bed, and he seems to be hurt!”

  “Please, slow down, ma’am! I can hardly understand you.”

  Danielle managed to calm down and slowly told the operator again. “There’s a man tied up to a bed, and he seems to be hurt.”

  “Is he responsive?” asked the operator.

  “Yes, he seems to be responsive but confused,” said Danielle. “He seems to know me; he was shouting my name and saying he wanted to go home.”

  “What’s the address?”asked the operator.

  “I’m not sure,” Danielle said. “But there’s a park with the statue of a man on a horse right across from the house.”

  “Wait on the line. I’ll give that information to the local police.”

  The operator came back on the line and told Danielle that help was on the way.

  Danielle hung up the phone and walked back to her car. She waited inside the car for the police to arrive.

  A few minutes later, Danielle heard a distant siren. She waited impatiently for the police to arrive, the siren becoming louder and closer. Two officers arrived at the scene. Danielle got out of her car to greet the officers.

  One of the officers stared at Danielle in profound astonishment. Danielle approached the officer and pointed straight ahead. “Officers, that’s the house where the tied man is.”

  The officers looked at each other, and one officer said, “Lady, do you find this amusing?”

  “I don’t understand your question, sir,” said Danielle. Danielle was too aggravated by the officer’s comment to realize that she was pointing at a cemetery.

  “Ma’am, you do realize you’re pointing at a cemetery?”

  “What on earth are you talking about? What cemetery?”She looked again and realized that, in fact, there was a cemetery where the house had stood.

  Danielle walked up to one of the officers.“Officer, I don’t understand what’s going on here, but I swear there was a house there only minutes ago.”

  “Why don’t we finish this conversation at the station?” asked one of the officers.

  “Michael, give the lady time to calm down. She seems really frightened,” said the other officer. He approached Danielle and asked her if there was anyone they could call for her.

  “Thank you, officer, but that won’t be necessary,” said Danielle.

  “Please, call me Zack,” he replied. At that moment, Shane pulled over in his car.

  “Dr. Lancaster, what are you doing here?” asked Michael.

  “I was driving by and noticed my wife’s car,” Shane answered. He got out of his car and walked up to his wife. “Are you OK, honey?”

  “Oh, Shane, I don’t understand what’s going on. I swear what I saw was real!”

  “Dr. Lancaster, your wife called us and said there was a man tied to a bed at this address,” said Zack.

  “Well, did you find the man?”asked Shane.

  “No, Doctor,” replied Zack. “As you can see, this is an abandoned cemetery—not a house, as your wife claims it was.”

  “No disrespect to you or your wife, Doctor,” said Michael. “But is your wife on any medication? Maybe something that causes her to hallucinate?”

  “No, she is not,” Shane replied. “But she has been under a lot of stress lately. We moved here a year ago, and it’s taking Danielle time to adjust to the New York life.”

  “Didn’t you used to live here sometime ago? I think we’ve met before,” said Zack.

  “Dr. Lancaster is originally from here,” Michael confirmed. “My mother was a nurse at his father’s clinic many years ago.”

  Zack looked at Shane. “I remember when I first started this job, and my previous partner and I brought a young woman to your clinic who we found roaming around in the park without memory. She looked a lot like—”

  Shane interrupted the officer.“Yes, I’m originally from New York. But I lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, for ten years.”

  “I see,” said Zack.“Is that where your wife is from?”

  “Yes,” replied Shane. “That’s why she’s having such a hard time adjusting.”

  Danielle remained quiet while they talked about her as if she wasn’t there.

  “I can relate to that,” said Zack. “I’m from the South myself. I moved here ten years ago, and I’m not completely acclimated to the big city life.” He looked at Danielle with a sympathetic smile.

  “Officer, I know what I saw.” She turned to Shane and said, “You of all people should believe me, but you choose instead to make me look like one of your mental patients.”

  Shane was saddened at his wife’s words. He rubbed her shoulder and said, “I’m sorry, sweetheart. That was not my intention.”

  “Dr. Lancaster, take your wife home, and we’ll forget about this whole incident,” said Michael. Zack nodded his head in agreement. Shane thanked both officers and walked away.

  Danielle was very confused, and she didn’t know what to make of the strange visions, if she could call them visions.

  “Come on, sweetheart,” said Shane. “I’ll drive you home.”

  “I’m OK. I can drive myself home!” Danielle replied with a mixture of anger and confusion in her voice.

  “All right. You can drive your car, and I’ll follow behind.”

  “I said I was OK! Why do you insist on treating me like a lunatic?”

  Shane put his arms around Danielle and gently caressed her hair.“I’m sorry for dragging you back to New York,” he said softly.

  “Honey, don’t you mean dragging me to New York?”

  “That’s what I said,” he immediately replied.

  “No, you said, ‘I’m sorry for dragging you back to New York.’”

  “Oh, I probably did say that. It hurts me to see you this unhappy. I’m beginning to regret coming back. I’m seriously thinking of selling everything my parents left, including the clinic and the house.”

  “I won’t let you do that!” Danielle exclaimed. “I know how much continuing your father’s work means to you. And I won’t stand in your way. I promise everything will go back to normal, especially now that I’m teaching again.”

  “But not having your own classroom is making you miserable.”

  “For the moment, I’m just substituting and teaching summer school, but soon I’ll have my own classroom.”

  Danielle and Shane embraced for a long moment and apologized to each other.

  “I’m sorry for getting so upset with you, honey,” Danielle softly whispered in his ear.

  “I deserved it. I shouldn’t have doubted you,” said Shane. “And to prove to you how sorry I really am, I won’t insist on following you home. You can drive yourself home. Just make sure you call me as soon as you get there.”

  Danielle kissed her husband and walked away. “Honey, you are such worrier. I’ll be fine!” she shouted as she got into her car.

  Shane got into his car and waited there until Danielle drove away.

  Danielle made a U-turn and pretended to head home, but she parked he
r car a block away. When she saw her husband’s car moving in the opposite direction, she turned her car around and drove back toward the cemetery.

  Danielle was nervous, and she drove slowly, looking from side to side to make sure her husband had not turned his car around to follow her. As she drove, she tried to reassure herself that she had not imagined everything she saw and heard.

  I know what I saw was real, she thought. She glanced at the rag doll and the silver hand mirror in the passenger seat.“Aha! Are those imaginary, too?” she asked aloud.“I’ll get to the bottom of whatever it is that’s happening to me.”

  She parked her car in the exact spot as before. Much to her surprise, when she got out of the car, the house was still there. The young girl who had dropped her doll was sitting on the front porch reading.

  Danielle walked up to the young girl.“Hi, there! Do you remember me?”

  The young girl nodded her head and reached for Danielle’s hands. But as she was about to talk, a deep, masculine voice from inside the house startled her.

  “Annabelle! Come inside the house this instant!” shouted the man.

  “I’ll be right there, sir!” the young girl shouted back.

  “Annabelle! That is such a beautiful name,” said Danielle with sadness in her voice.

  “Thank you! I’m named after my grandmother,” Annabelle said.

  “Would it be possible to go inside and talk to your parents?” Danielle asked.

  “My parents are not home, but I can take you to Aunt Sarah.”

  “I would appreciate that. I think your aunt might be able to help me with what I’m looking for.”

  Annabelle held Danielle’s hand and led her inside the house. Two older men sitting under a maple tree stared in anguish as Danielle and Annabelle went inside the house.