“You’ve also slept the morning away,” Lucretia yelled, intruding on her thoughts. “Why? Were you up late, Julita? What kept you up, you little whore?”
Lucretia stepped closer, her eyes dancing with hellish delight at the thought of beating the girl senseless. “You disobeyed me,” she hissed. “You know what happens when you disobey.” She waited for an answer, then with irritation said, “Don’t you Julita?”
Julita nodded, her fear taking hold like it never had before. She knew she had to get out before Lucretia struck again. She watched her closely, and the moment Lucretia reached out with her spidery fingers to grab Julita’s hair, to pull and jerk it as she had many times before, Julita ducked. Then she took a wild chance and quickly skirted around her, and out the door.
Lucretia whirled around, watching Julita’s quick body slam through the door. “Come back here, you little tramp!” she yelled, running to the door, plunging through it and watching her run down the steps and into the corridor.
The breakfast crowd was clearing out of the dining room, so Julita ran in, found a dark corner and crumpled into it, crying. Her face stung where Lucretia had hit her, and she sneaked her mask off and rubbed it. She looked down at the crude thing that hid her face, and hated it. She wanted to keep it off. He didn’t mind seeing her without it.
Remembering last night she felt warm inside. He was so handsome, and his kisses sent her into a world she had only just discovered. He brought feelings out of her that she never knew existed. The warm melting desire she felt deep inside her was something new. She knew that something more lay beyond it … a culmination of her feelings … a place where she yearned to be swept into. A place of utter bliss. Oh, God, she wanted to feel it, experience it. But not with just anyone, only with him. She’d never been so close to someone so handsome. She’d never seen anything like him in her life. A lot of people came to the inn but never anyone like him. He was dark and savage looking. Dangerous and exciting. From the first moment she saw him strange things had been happening inside her. And when he touched her, she wanted more. Again the dread of his leaving entered her, and she knew if he did she’d never see him again.
She looked down at her mask. It was wet in front where her tears had saturated it. She turned it over and over in her hand, looking at the crude stitches, the stains, and the places that had almost worn through with use. The ugliness of the mask brought on a sinking feeling inside. Why was he nice to her when he knew her face was a mess? Why would he even look at her? She was ugly. When fresh tears began to course down her cheeks she lifted her hand to brush them away and her hand stilled, groping along her face trying to feel her scars. Why couldn’t she feel anything? Lucretia had said that they were deep, ugly, purple scars that would scare the guests if she went without her mask, so she always kept it on when she wasn’t in her room.
Recalling Lucretia’s slap, she felt a deep resentment boil up inside her. She wondered what would happen if she began to fight back. She was getting bold. Today had been the first time she’d run away. She thought of the times Lucretia had loomed over her, beating her with anything she could get her hands on. A whip, a cane. Julita had wanted to grab it and snap it in two.
But something wouldn’t let her.
Something deep inside.
She’d been taught all her life to cower down to Lucretia, but she was slowly becoming tired of the whippings, the drugs, and the insane way Lucretia made her play the game. She could still hear Lucretia crooning to her as if she were a baby. Putting her hair up in dog ears, and making her fall asleep in her arms. Julita was tired of it. She wanted to be a normal eighteen-year-old. She was too old to be sitting in Lucretia’s lap and rocked. A deep sense of shame filled her. No one knew about that … no one but her and Lucretia. She agonized, knowing if something didn’t happen there would be nothing in her future but more of the same. Where would it end? How would it end? She couldn’t tell anyone. She was too ashamed. And she didn’t know how to make it go away.
Make it go away! Oh, God, please make it all go away!
She lowered her head and cried, wishing she could run away … far away and never see this inn, or Lucretia again. She’d thought of running away many times, but she was afraid. She had never been anywhere but this inn. She had no idea what kind of world was out there … what existed beyond the looming walls of this plantation. She wouldn’t be able to manage on her own, and she had no money. But what if someone took her away … what if Shadoe took her away? But would he? She had to talk to him, make him see that he was her only chance. She’d go to him again tonight. Maybe he would kiss her again … touch her. The thought warmed her in her most private place.
Just as she was getting up to leave, she turned and saw a silver tray lying with some other dishes on a busboy’s cart. Its shining beauty struck her, and she reached for it. After gently lifting it her hands had began to shake, and she dropped it with a clatter.
She had seen her face!
Had she imagined the horrible zigzag of purple scars? The hideous puckering? She felt like screaming and turned to run. Through the dining room, through the foyer, and up the stairs. When she got to her room she burst in and ran to her bed. She immediately began looking around for something, then remembered … she had left her mask in the dining room!
* * * *
Shadoe had slept late this morning, and was just stepping out of the shower. Wrapped in a towel, he sat down on the edge of the bed and put in a call to his captain. “Hey, Captain, what’s happening up there? Can’t solve a crime without me, right?”
“In your dreams, cowboy.”
“Please, don’t use that word.”
“Oh, hell, sorry.”
Shadoe laughed. “Just teasing. Samuels and Jones giving you a hard time? Tell me all about it. I’ve got a few minutes.”
“The only one around here that gives me a hard time is you. Now that I’m rid of you, I’m living the life.”
“Well, don’t get too used to it. I’ll be back, you know.”
“When the hell are you coming back? If something did break loose we’d be short handed.”
Shadoe laughed. “When I’m there I drive you crazy, and when I’m not you miss me. What the hell’s going on with you, Noah? You sound like a wife.”
“Insults, yet. So, where are you?”
“I’m way down in Georgia. Staying at the Scarlet Bay Inn. Nice little place. I was hoping you would see your way clear to letting me stay a little longer than planned. That’s why I called.”
“Got somethin’ hot goin’ on, huh? Yeah, sure. Nothin’ happenin’ here anyway. At least nothing we can’t handle.”
“Best thing that could’ve happened to me, you throwin’ me out on my butt like you did. You might want to put this place on your list of must sees. The sunrise is fantastic. I’ll bring a few brochures back so you can read ’em. Plus I took a few snapshots.”
“Hey, don’t get too comfortable. We need you back here. Just wanted you to get your head cleared a little.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be showin’ my face around there soon enough.”
“Hey, Madison. You are resting, aren’t you? I mean, you’re not digging up dead bodies, or looking through someone’s closets for a crime to solve, are you?”
“Me? Please! I’m on vacation. Bodies could be falling all around me and I wouldn’t blink an eye.”
“I seem to remember you saying something like that one other time. Remember that? You uncovered a coven of witches on some island. What was the name of it?”
“Captain, it wasn’t an island, it was in upstate New York. Some little place … I don’t know … just north of Tarrytown called Sleepy Hollow. Woodstock, Catskills. I visited all those places.”
“Oh, yeah. Headless Horseman territory.”
“Yeah, well, what can I say? Spooky gets to me.”
“Yeah? You solve more crimes away from home than you do here in your own backyard. How about giving us a little help now and then?”
/>
“I would but you kicked me out. See ya.” Shadoe hung up laughing. He could almost see his captain’s face banging down the phone and yelling, “Bastard!”
Rubbing his stomach and frowning, he felt a few hunger pains clawing at his insides, dropped the towel and quickly got dressed. He glanced at himself in the mirror. Turning his head, he flipped his earring, which was his habit, then smoothed his hair. Tugging on his lapels, he shifted his shoulders to adjust his jacket, then left the room, deciding that nothing was going to keep him from getting something to eat.
Stepping inside the French doors of the dining room, he looked around, finding it curiously empty. Just then the maitre d' walked up, and Shadoe indicated to the empty dining room. “Where is everybody?”
“The dining room is closed, sir. We open again for lunch at eleven o’clock. We remain open until two. Sorry.”
Shadoe looked down at his watch. “I thought you stayed open until ten.”
“No sir, we are open for breakfast from seven to nine.”
“Well, apparently I was misinformed. I thought....”
“No sir, you weren’t misinformed. During daylight savings time we keep earlier hours since it gets dark earlier.”
“Oh yes. Daylight savings time. Is it that time of year already?” Shadoe smiled, slightly embarrassed. “Well, no problem, I’ll come back for lunch.”
“You may order room service anytime, sir.”
“Yes, I know.” Shadoe smiled at the gracious gentleman. “If I get too hungry to wait I’ll do that. Thank you.”
The maitre d' stepped away from Shadoe and headed toward the kitchen. Shadoe was just about to turn to leave when something caught his eye. He stared at it intently, but couldn’t tell what it was, so he walked over and picked it up. “My God, it’s Julita’s mask,” he mumbled. A sharp stab of fear speared through him. Had something happened to her? He looked down at the mask, knowing how important it was to her. To get it off her was like pulling a stubborn tooth. She would never leave it behind … not if she could help it. And that’s what worried him.
His eyes darted around quickly. Then he stuffed it into his pocket and headed up the stairs. When he reached the second landing, his eyes fell on a set of winding steps that he’d never noticed before. They were draped in shadow and looked very unpretentious, almost as if they were hiding. He’d seen Julita heading toward them any number of times. His eyes trailed up into the darkness, but could see nothing until he walked over and looked up into a tower that the steps led into. Without thinking he began climbing. His shadow climbed with him, step by step, until finally at the top he found a door. It was set in a portion of recessed wall, and a shadow covered it. The door showed patches of ashen wood under peeling paint.
It has to be the attic, he thought. One of the places Lucretia had warned him to stay away from. He turned the knob, expecting it to be locked, but it gave way easily. He eased into the room and looked around. It was a nursery. Shabby and small, the unusual room was round, fitting into the tower with a high domed ceiling, and high windows. If not a nursery it could have been used as a cell. He looked around, seeing stuffed animals and toys scattered around. A child’s vanity table was beside the door, cluttered with a brush, barrettes, ribbons, and a music box. Crayons were scattered, and pictures torn out of coloring books littered the floor. A small bed, something a small child might use, occupied the main part of the room, but pushed back into a shadowy niche was a cradle, old, well used, with a pink blanket in it. Against another wall, beneath a window that looked out on the front lawn, was a baby bed.
Shadoe walked farther into the room, wondering what baby or small child occupied this room. He picked up the music box and twisted the key on the underside and it began playing. Just then a head popped up from the baby bed.
It was Julita! He looked at her as if he’d never seen her before. She was dressed in brief, baby doll pajamas and lifted herself to her knees, holding on to the sides of the bed. She looked like a beautiful woman playing the roll of a baby in some man’s lusty fantasy. Her breasts were unbound, and jutting. The baby doll, ruffled and short, slid off her shoulders, exposing almost all of her breasts. Ribbons tied each side of her hair up in dog ears. When he looked at her, he couldn’t help becoming aroused.
“Julita,” he whispered, then looked around. “Is this your room? Why do you live in a nursery … with a child’s furniture, and....”
“Get out,” she said, sobbing. “You can’t be in here. She’ll find you.”
He thought of the mask, and slowly pulled the scrap of material from his pocket and held it out to her. When she reached for it, he held it just beyond her reach.
“You only get it back if you answer some questions.”
“What questions? Why … why are you here? You’ll get into trouble … we both will,” she whispered, frightened.
“I found your mask … I had to return it.” His eyes searched her face. “Tell me. Why do you wear it? Is it part of the inn’s charm … it’s appeal?”
“I … I d-don’t know what you mean,” she agonized. “Please go now, before she finds you!”
Shadoe gave her a suspicious look. “How do I know you’re not just some little seductress who makes money for the inn on the side? You’ve been very friendly to me. Offering yourself. How many men have you lured into your little web? A sexy woman dressing up like a child … it’s every man’s fantasy.”
Julita’s face crumpled in tears. “Please … I don’t know what you mean. I dress the way I do … bind myself up because Lucretia … my sister … tells me to.”
His suspicion turned to anger. “I can’t believe that. You’re a grown woman for God’s sake. Why would you let her tell you what to do? You have a mind of your own, so you must be in this together. She gets you men and you....”
“No!” Julita sobbed.
“Why not?” Shadoe yelled. The thought of Julita being a whore tore at his insides. Tears swelled in his eyes, and almost spilled over, threatening to course down his cheeks. “The big hotels do it all over, why not this remote little inn? At least they’re honest about it. Their girls are professionals. They don’t have some little whore dressing up like a child running around driving the men crazy.”
“I don’t know why,” she sobbed. “I … I’ve always lived like this. I … I don’t know any other....”
Shadow’s eyes scoured the room. “Just look at this place,” he said in amazement. “No one lives like this. It’s a nursery … a child’s room.” He looked back at her. “And you’re a grown woman.” His eyes narrowed on hers. “Is this your lair? Is this where the dirty deed takes place?” His voice became husky. “It seems I … as have countless others, I imagine … have played right into your hands. I mean,” he continued, forcing the words out, the hurt still sharp and strong, “finding you like this.”
“Why won’t you believe me?” she sobbed, pleading with him.
He stared at her for a moment. To Shadoe the tears looked real. It confused him. He didn’t know what to believe, and he couldn’t think because of the heat that was burning inside him. He thought of what he had gone through to keep his hands off her … to keep her pure and innocent. What a colossal fool he’d been. She was no innocent. To make up for all the cold showers he’d taken because of her, he was tempted to chuck it all and take the little thing right there in her baby bed.
Slowly she crawled out of the bed and came over to him. He looked down at her bouncing breasts and couldn’t think of anything but the aching desire he felt for her. All at once he caught her in his arms and kissed her, his mouth ravishing her face, her neck, then burying his head in the valley between her breasts. He no longer cared what game she was playing. Maybe he was the fly caught in her spiderweb, or maybe she was telling the truth and she truly was a victim in this mad, insane tale she was telling him.
“Don’t … not here,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. “I’ll come to you tonight,” she whispered. “We’ll be together then
.”
“The way I feel....” His breathing was labored. “I’ll be too rough. I can’t….”
She found his lips again and began kissing him.
He couldn’t resist her. She was too much for him, and if he found out she was a whore, then he didn’t care. He couldn’t care. He wanted her too much to stand on principles. It was just the trickery of the whole thing. The show she’d been putting on. If she’d been making him believe something that wasn’t true, that was difficult to forgive. No man liked to be made a fool of.
“I’m sorry you found out about this,” she whispered.
“About this? You mean about you?” He hesitated. “Your little game?”
“No, I mean all this,” she said, looking around the room. “The way I have to live.”
“Come on, Julita, tell me the truth. It’ll be all right. I just want to know.”
“I told you the truth. Why can’t you believe that?”
Taking a deep breath, he turned away from her and reached up and rubbed his eyes. He had no choice but believe her until he had proof she’d been lying. And then she dropped a bombshell.
“I want to go away with you,” she said urgently. “Will you take me?”
“What?” he said, whirling around. “Away from the inn?”
“Away from the beatings, the....” She looked around. “This room! I want to live like a normal person.”
Whoa, Shadoe thought. This was a whole different ball game.
“I want to wear lipstick,” she said, looking up at him, memories of the other night dancing in their eyes. “Pretty dresses.” She looked down at her feet. “Shoes.”
Things were happening too fast for Shadoe. Sure, he might take home some souvenirs, but a whole girl? He gazed down at her violet eyes and still saw innocence there. Still how could he leave her behind? Especially if everything she said was true. There was no way he could casually get in his car and go, knowing Julita was here, still in her misery … still a victim. He reached up and raked his fingers through his hair. How would this thing end? Around every corner he found something new. And now even Julita wasn’t who she appeared to be … or was she?
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