“Nora said Hazel heard things that Nora couldn’t hear—saw things that weren’t there.”
“Did she say what?”
“Voices. People walking around in the house.” Andy thought a minute. “She’d see faces at the windows, or hear people on the stairs. Things like that. Or she’d ask Nora to stay over sometimes so the screams wouldn’t keep her awake.”
“What screams?”
Andy shrugged again. “Of course, Nora never stayed—she’s always afraid she’ll get possessed by something. Right—like it hasn’t already happened.”
Carolyn stared at him. Andy opened another cabinet and tossed the potato chips inside.
“I can’t imagine anyone living out here all alone like that,” Carolyn mumbled.
“Well, she wasn’t always alone, I guess. Nora said Hazel took in drifters now and then—word got around the docks that she’d give them work and a hot meal. They made Nora really nervous, so Hazel would call her up and tell her not to come if one of them was staying there. Thing is, Nora never actually saw them. So who knows—maybe Hazel made them up.”
“You’re kidding,” Carolyn said.
“No, really.” He turned back to face her and crossed his heart. “Nora said Hazel would swear up and down that something was one way when it really wasn’t. But you know”—his glance was almost apologetic—“old houses creak … old people imagine things.”
He let the cupboard door slam, and Carolyn leaned toward him across the table.
“But what if she wasn’t imagining it?”
Now it was Andy’s turn to stare. “Excuse me?”
“What if she really did hear and see those things?” Carolyn burst out. “Old houses can be haunted, too.”
“Oh.” Andy’s eyes narrowed. “I get it. Nora’s been telling her ghost stories again. The old throat-ripped-clean-out bit. Did I forget to mention that housekeepers can be the most crazy of all?”
“You mean the story about the house isn’t true?”
“Well, of course it’s true.” Andy laughed. “But Hazel lived here for years and years. So why would the spirits suddenly get restless when Hazel suddenly gets senile?”
“You don’t know for sure she was senile.”
“Like I don’t know for sure Nora’s an alien? If you ask me, those two crazy women deserved each other.”
“You don’t know anything about anything—” Carolyn began hotly, but Andy held up his hands in defense.
“You’re right, you’re right—and Hazel’s your aunt, after all, so I shouldn’t—”
“I didn’t even know her,” Carolyn grumbled. “I just happen to believe that anything is possible, and it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re crazy. Or senile.”
Andy leaned back against the counter. She could feel his eyes on her, and she pulled nervously at a loose thread on the tablecloth.
“Okay.” He nodded. “I’m open-minded.”
“Is that sort of like empty-headed?”
“Ouch!” Andy’s jaw dropped. “All I did was bring groceries. Okay. Let’s start over.”
Before Carolyn could respond, Andy started opening cupboard doors again, pulling things back out.
“Will you stop?” Carolyn watched in amazement, trying not to laugh. “I was just trying to make a point.”
“Yeah. And you’re about as subtle as a dumptruck.”
“Well, I wasn’t ever around Hazel, but I have been around Nora, and I really think she believes this place is haunted.”
Now it was Andy trying not to laugh. He pressed his lips into a tight line and nodded.
“Carolyn,” he said reasonably, “all the island kids think Nora’s a witch. Or haven’t you noticed her eyes?”
“She can’t help the way she looks.”
“You couldn’t pay kids to come within two miles of this place! Most villagers, either, thanks to Nora’s and Hazel’s ghost stories!”
“I’m just trying to be fair.” Carolyn looked away, embarrassed. “I think it’s cruel when someone really believes something, and no one listens to them.”
For a moment there was silence. At last she glanced over at Andy, and he smiled.
“You’re right,” he said. “You’re absolutely right. No one will ever really know what Hazel saw or heard—not even Nora. And now Hazel’s dead. So she can never tell us.”
Carolyn’s nod was halfhearted. She felt sad all of a sudden, and strangely uneasy. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.
“Andy …”
“Yeah?”
He was finishing with the groceries and glanced up from the bag. A shock of hair fell stubbornly over one eye, and he gave it an impatient swipe.
“The letter we got said Hazel died of exposure,” Carolyn said. “Couldn’t the doctors do anything to save her?”
“She didn’t have doctors.” Andy looked startled. “Nobody found her till it was too late.”
“You mean … she died here? In the house?”
Neither of them noticed the shadow slipping along the hall outside the door. And neither of them saw the tall, dark figure glide into the room until Andy looked over and gave a yelp.
“Dammit, Nora! What is this—a conspiracy to give me a heart attack today?”
Carolyn started from her chair as Nora’s eyes raked her over. In one movement the woman’s black coat slid from her arms onto a chair, and she walked to the stove.
“I had to stop at the store,” Nora announced crisply, putting on the teakettle. “For detergent.”
Carolyn’s breath came out in a rush. Andy sagged back against the counter and put his hand to his chest.
“She’s the one to ask,” he said irritably. “She’s the one who found Hazel.”
Nora stiffened. Carolyn saw the bony hands hesitate over the stove, and she could swear they trembled.
“And she didn’t die in the house,” Andy went on, his voice steady now. “She died out there.” He jerked his chin toward the kitchen window, indicating the gray oblivion beyond.
“How awful,” Carolyn murmured sympathetically to Nora’s back. “I’m so sorry, Nora.”
“They brought her back here and tried to revive her, but they couldn’t.” Andy flicked a glance in Nora’s direction, but the housekeeper didn’t return it. “They think maybe she’d been out there all night—maybe even most of the day before.”
“It wasn’t my fault!” Nora turned suddenly, her eyes flashing. “She gave me the day off! How was I to know?”
Carolyn looked back at her in surprise. “Well …” she stammered, “I’m sure no one blamed you. After all, if it hadn’t been for you, who knows when they would have found her—”
“Wasn’t the cold that killed her anyway,” Nora mumbled, turning back to the stove. She snapped off the burner and set the kettle to the back. She took down a cup and saucer, china rattling softly in her hand. “Wasn’t the cold at all, nor nothing like that. It was him.”
“Him?” Carolyn echoed.
Nora swung around, her flinty eyes holding Carolyn in a relentless stare.
“They’ll say different,” Nora whispered. “But me … I know better!”
6
WITHOUT ANOTHER WORD THE HOUSEKEEPER SWEPT OUT OF the room, leaving Carolyn and Andy to stare openmouthed. After several seconds of silence, Andy finally cleared his throat.
“Well. I rest my case.”
“What did she mean?” Carolyn demanded. “What did she mean by that?”
“You’re asking me?” Andy feigned surprise. “This is Nora we’re talking about. If you want to interrogate her, do it on your own. But not by a full moon.”
“Are you afraid of her?” Carolyn asked incredulously, but Andy didn’t seem at all bothered.
“Have you ever seen that movie with all those brides of Dracula?” he asked her. “They have eyes like Nora.”
“But she seemed really upset. I’d like to know why.”
Carolyn got up and crossed to the kitchen doorway, peering into
the rooms beyond.
“I don’t see her. Where’d she go?”
“Back in her web?” Andy suggested. “Hey, look.” He hopped lightly onto the counter and sat there, long legs swinging against the bottom cabinets. The knees of his jeans were ripped out, and his sneakers were torn and stained with mud. “The first thing you’re gonna have to learn is not to let Nora’s wild imagination get to you. Legends are great for the tourists, but not to live with on a day-to-day basis.”
“Oh, I get it. You believe in vampires, but not in ghosts. That makes a lot of sense.”
Andy remained unruffled. “I realize you’re trying to be Nora’s good pal and all that, but hey—consider the source!”
Carolyn was only half listening. “Nora said something about drowned sailors. Drowned sailors calling—”
“Their own names,” Andy finished. He jumped down, crossed the room in two easy strides, and poured himself some coffee. “Supposedly they call out their own names when they want the help of the living.”
“And what can the living do?”
Andy shrugged and took milk from the refrigerator. He poured a thin stream into his cup before he answered.
“Help them find eternal rest.”
“And how can they do that?”
“How should I know? I don’t make up these legends.” Andy boosted himself back onto the counter again and raised his cup to his lips. His blue eyes squinted mischievously at her over the rim.
“You’re making that up,” Carolyn grumbled.
“Hey, I wouldn’t do that.”
“And you don’t really believe that story, either.” She lifted her chin indignantly while Andy grinned.
“One legend’s as good as another, as far as I’m concerned. With all the rocks and cliffs along the coast, this has always been one of the most dangerous islands—put that with the wind and fog, there’re only a few spots around here a boat can safely land. It’s not the best atmosphere for happy endings, you know what I mean? So the island stories have lots of murders and suicides in them. Not to mention pirates … smugglers … hurricanes … shipwrecks … you name it, it’s had them all.”
“So what,” she challenged him, “if none of them are true?”
Andy sipped his coffee. He gazed thoughtfully into his cup, and then he grinned.
“Ever hear of ghost lights?”
“No.” Carolyn poured herself some coffee and tried to sound bored.
“Lots of people claim they’ve seen them. Spooky lights glowing down along the water late at night. Some say it’s a natural phenomenon—weird gases coming out of the rocks when the atmosphere’s just right. But others say the lights are the souls of drowned sailors. And that the sailors can’t rest till they’re reunited with what they loved most in life.”
In spite of her coffee Carolyn shivered. “You’re making fun of me. You don’t believe it.”
“Hazel did. Nora does.”
“So you think I’m a crazy eccentric just like them.” Carolyn sniffed. “Thanks a lot.”
She went to the sink and rinsed her cup. Andy’s grin widened.
“Pretty eyes,” he said.
“What?”
“I said,” he repeated, hopping lightly to his feet, “you have pretty eyes.”
Carolyn glanced at him, feeling a flush across her cheeks. “Stop it.”
“Come on, can’t you take a compliment?”
“They’re not pretty,” she said, flustered.
“They have that nice shape,” Andy went on, his own eyes sweeping her casually. “Kind of wide and innocent. Even though I bet you’re not. Innocent, I mean. Not that you’re wide, either. Actually, you’re pretty tiny.”
Carolyn opened her mouth, but stopped short of an angry reply. Instead she laughed helplessly.
“I’m trying to be mad at you!”
“Don’t try. You won’t be able to do it.”
She flushed again and sat back down at the kitchen table, watching as he sat across from her.
“Well, I already know you’re from Ohio,” Andy said amicably, scooting his chair sideways, crossing his long legs. “And I already know you’re here for a business venture. But that’s about all the information I’ve been able to dig up so far.”
“I don’t know what else to tell you,” Carolyn said truthfully. “Hazel’s really a long-lost relative on my mom’s side of the family. My dad died suddenly, and then my mom found out she’d inherited this place. So we decided to come and … you know … start over.”
She glanced up into his blue eyes. This time when he smiled, there was unmistakable kindness.
“I’m sorry, Carolyn. This must be hard for you.”
“I hated to come,” she admitted. “But Mom really wanted to. So for her sake …”
To Carolyn’s surprise Andy reached across the table and squeezed her hand.
“Look, if there’s anything I can do …”
She shook her head, not knowing what to say. “I didn’t mean to go on like that. I hate it when people expect you to listen to all their problems.”
“I’m a good listener.”
He still had ahold of her hand. Carolyn fidgeted and tried to change the subject.
“So … do you get many tourists out here?” she asked, and Andy smoothly followed her lead, releasing her at last.
“Lots in the village. But on this side of the island …” He sighed and shook his head. “Have you had time to look around yet?”
“No. It was kind of late when we got in last night.”
“It’s not Ohio, I’ll tell you that. As a matter of fact, I don’t think it’ll be anything like you’re used to.”
“That much I’ve figured out.” Carolyn gave a shudder. “It’s so … depressing. The wind sounds so sad.”
“It never stops blowing,” Andy informed her. “Not out here, anyway, and some days you wonder if you’ll ever see the sun again. It’s always darker and colder—but beautiful, too, in its own way. A wild kind of freedom, I guess.”
“So you come out here often?”
“Only by water. When I take my boat out.”
“Your boat?”
He nodded and smiled. “I take tourists around. Another of my many odd jobs. Fishing … sightseeing … whatever. Or sometimes I just go by myself. To be alone. To think.”
“So is that all? Delivering groceries and riding around in your boat?” Carolyn tried to keep a straight face as Andy leaned toward her.
“No. Sometimes I go out. You know … on dates. With girls. Who aren’t sarcastic.” He grinned and raised an eyebrow. “Everyone’s saying you’ll never pull this off, you know.”
“Pull what off?” Carolyn looked surprised.
“Making a profit off this place. Turning it into something … you know. Interesting.”
Carolyn sat straight in her chair. “They don’t know us very well! And they underestimate our determination!”
“And just who do you think would ever come out here to stay?” Andy settled back again, a triumphant grin on his face. “It’s too far away from anything except water.”
“Well … water lovers, then!” Carolyn blurted. “People who enjoy having a little privacy from the rest of the world. Like you in your little boat.”
Andy cracked up. As Carolyn realized she’d fallen into his trap, she didn’t know whether to laugh or hit him. As if anticipating her second choice, Andy stretched to his full height and moved out into the parlor.
“It’s freezing in here, Carolyn. You can’t depend on Nora to keep the fire going—don’t you know reptiles are cold-blooded?”
Before Carolyn could answer, he took down a box of matches from the mantel, then knelt on the hearth to rearrange the wood in the fireplace. Moments later smoke was curling up the chimney, and Carolyn held her hands gratefully to the flames.
“I know you think I’m silly,” she said at last, “but there really is something about this house that fascinates me.”
“Fascinates?” Andy t
eased. “Or scares?”
Carolyn didn’t laugh. “I don’t know … maybe a little of both.”
“Well, maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll manage to see a ghost or two while you’re here.”
Carolyn stiffened. She opened her mouth to tell Andy about her nightmare, then changed her mind and gazed into the fire.
“Wouldn’t there be something written about it somewhere?” she asked softly. “Old journals or newspaper articles or pictures or something?”
“What?”
“For”—Carolyn thought quickly—“for the brochure.”
Andy looked lost. “What brochure?”
“You know. For the house. For the guests.”
“Oh. Something to stir up tourism.” He glanced at her, thinking. “You might find something in the library.”
“There’s a library?”
“Halfway up Main Street. I don’t know how good it is, though.”
“You’ve never been there?”
“I don’t have time to read.” He looked shocked. “I’m too busy delivering groceries and riding around in my little boat.”
In spite of herself, Carolyn laughed. She knelt beside him on the hearth and leaned in close to the crackling flames. Overhead the ceiling creaked softly as Nora’s precise, measured steps went back and forth between the upstairs rooms. Andy cocked his head, jerking his chin toward the floor above them.
“So you’re keeping Nora.”
“Mom wants to.” Carolyn sighed. “She’ll need help once I start school, and Nora’s worked here so long, Mom didn’t feel it was right to let her go.”
“How do you feel about it?”
Carolyn hesitated before she spoke. “Andy, what Nora said earlier—about how Hazel died—”
“Oh, come on now. I told you, everyone knows Nora’s crazy.”
“But what if she’s not? She said Hazel was killed. And she talked as if she knew who did it.”
“If you’re gonna start listening to Nora’s gloom and doom, you’d better pack up and move right back to Ohio, ’cause she’ll have you spooked in no time.” Andy raised an eyebrow, his tone suddenly serious. “Hazel died from the cold. Doc Brown thinks she must have lost her balance, and when she fell she couldn’t get back up again. She’d been lying out there all night in the wind and rain, and she was old. That’s all there is to it. Nora’s just trying to get to you. She’s never gonna accept the fact that you and your mom are living here now instead of Hazel.”
The Drifter Page 4