She backed up immediately. “You were snoring.”
He grinned. “I couldn’t have been.”
“You were.” Jessie laughed. “And shaking the rafters I might add.” As soon as she said it, they heard footsteps overhead.
“No, I could not have been,” Jacques said. “That’s not me.”
“Well, no, not that,” Jessie said as he up and disappeared. “But you were sleeping and snoring,” she added.
He blinked back into the room just to say, “I don’t sleep.”
“Yes, you do,” she yelled as he vanished once more. He came back, wearing a huge grin.
“What?”
“It’s a great morning, oui?” He emphasized this by throwing his arms wide. “I received my first kiss from you, and my great-er-grandson is here.”
“Jonathan is here?” Jessie asked.
Jacques nodded. “He and Earl are getting the Christmas boxes from the attic,” he explained.
Jessie shook her head, watching him. He was practically giddy, drunk on sleep and parental pride. She laughed. He looked like Santa Clause had just brought him his favorite toy. “Why don’t you go hang with the boys then while I get done.”
“Excellent.” He smiled. “And, uh-remember about the flushing thing,” he said before vanishing once again.
“Thanks,” Jessie said, heading down to Ol’ Yosemite Sam’s room to potty. She passed her mother in the hall.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” her mom said. “Just a quick warning. We have men in the house.”
“So I heard.”
Her mom looked at her oddly.
Jessie pointed to the attic.
“Oh.” Gloria smiled. “They are getting the Christmas boxes down. Did you sleep well?”
“Hmm-hmm.” Jessie yawned. “I did, but I think I could sleep the day away. I’m so tired.”
“You must have been exhausted to have been snoring like that.” Her mom smiled at her, then added gently, “Are you depressed, honey?”
“No, Mom,” Jessie said, somewhat mortified that her mother had heard him. “I’m just dog tired.”
“You must have really been in a deep sleep to have slept through the noise last night.” She pointed to the ceiling as footsteps sounded in the attic. “That lunatic gardener of Katie’s was shooting off his shot-gun in the middle of the night.”
“Really?” Jessie said.
“He told me some kids were digging in the old cemetery out back.”
“They were?” Jessie asked, wide-eyed and innocent.
Apparently, her mom had seen that look before, because she then asked, “You sure you didn’t hear anything?”
“Nope,” Jessie said. “Did he call the police?”
“No,” her mom said. “I went out to look this morning, and other than some scratch marks that look like a big dog was burying a bone, there was nothing.
“Humph?” Jessie made the noise and then asked, “Coffee ready?”
“Already on the second pot.” Her mom snorted. “Earl drank the first all by himself.”
“I’ll be right down,” Jessie said, heading for the gunslinger’s room.
Her mom watched her. “What’s wrong with your bathroom?”
“I don’t know,” Jessie said. “It might be those pipes. I just didn’t want it to overflow or anything to happen with the guys in the house.” Jessie turned back to add, “Best to be safe.”
When she got out of the restroom and went back into her room it was to find her mother in the bathroom flushing the toilet. Jacques was sitting on the back, looking mildly amused. “Mom, what are you doing?”
“Well, I figured if there was something wrong with it, it would be best to have the men look at it while they are here, but it seems fine to me.”
“Oh, well,” false alarm then,” Jessie said. “These pipes just make weird noises.”
“I guess so,” Gloria said, flushing it once again for good measure. “It doesn’t seem to be filling up right.” She moved to lift the cover off the back tank.
“Mom,” Jessie said as Jacques looked on in alarm. “Let’s not worry about this right now. “It’s fine, I already looked at it. The chain just gets hung up. I’ll stop by the hardware store and get a new one.”
“Oh, all right,” Gloria said.
“Mom,” Jessie added to distract her. “Let’s go get a Christmas tree.”
“That would be lovely,” her mom said. Looking down at the sink, she spied Jessie’s tweezers. “Can I borrow these? I have a whisker on my chin that’s bothering me, and I forgot to pack mine.”
Jacques, Jessie noticed, looked like he’d give anything in that moment to be able to flee. He was well and truly horrified.
“Sure.” Jessie grinned at him.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” her mom said while inspecting her chin in the mirror. “A package arrived for you today.”
“A package?” Jessie asked.
“I set it on the kitchen table.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I’ll be right down,” her mom said as she went to war with her facial hair. Jacques sat on the potty looking up at her in horrified curiosity and then to Jessie who stood in the door.
“Help,” he mouthed as he tried to make a break for it. It was no use, he was just going to have to wait for the back of the tank to fill up.
Jessie was still grinning from ear to ear when he joined her at the table.
“You deserted me,” he whispered as he sat down at the table. Elvis rubbed his leg. He leaned down and scratched his ear affectionately.
“That makes us even then,” Jessie said as she picked up the box. “You deserted me the last time. I had to explain my way out of stealing Aunt Katie’s stash all by my lonesome.”
“Hmmpft,” he snorted, placing his booted feet on the table and crossing his legs.
“I wonder who this is from,” Jessie said.
“A secret admirer?” Jacques asked.
Jessie picked up the same paring knife she had held the first night.
“I thought we were past that, oui?” he teased.
She sliced through the tape and opened it. Inside she found a brand new pair of Minnie Mouse slippers and pajamas, identical to the ones that were taken from her during her makeover.
“I hope they are the right size,” Jacques said.
“You did this?” Jessie asked, looking at him in amazement. “How?”
“It was nothing,” Jacques said.
Jessie pulled out the shipping receipt, recognizing the last four digits of her own credit card number. “You used my card?”
“Who are you talking to?” her mom asked as she walked into the kitchen.
“Elvis,” Jessie said as the kitty leapt onto the table. She scooped him up, set him on the floor, and headed for the coffee pot.
“What did you get in the mail?” her mom asked.
“It’s a secret,” Jessie said as she selected a cup from the cupboard. “I did a little shopping online.”
“That reminds me that I want to go do a little shopping today. Only seven more days of shopping left until the big day,” Gloria said. “When can you be ready to go?”
Jessie could see two booted feet coming down the ladder in the pantry, followed by some long legs. Thor turned around once he landed and smiled at both the ladies staring at him. Then he went back to the task at hand. Instead of wrestling with the Midgard Serpent, he pulled down a large candy cane. Tugging on it until the hook part was free of the trapdoor. “That’s everything we could find,” he said.
He was joined by a much smaller man who followed him down the ladder. Recognizing him from last night’s grave robbing incident and mad dash, Jessie prayed to God that he wouldn’t recognize her. “Ladies,” he said.
“Hi, you must be Earl,” Jessie said.
“Have we met?” he asked, looking at her strangely as he put on some mirrored sunglasses. “Had my eyes dilated this morning and they’re still a little fuzzy.”
“No, I don’t think so.” Jessie shrugged innocently, at least that was what she was trying for and hoped the sunglasses didn’t help.
“I’m sure we have,” Earl said. “I never forget a face.”
Oh boy, here it comes, Jessie thought. She could see her own distorted reflection in the lenses as he continued to look at her with an expression of . . . now where was that?
“I’ve got it!” Earl said, “You’re the one—”
“It was an accident!” Jessie interjected. I Can’t take it! I’d never make a good criminal. I’d cave on the witness stand.
“What was an accident?” Gloria asked.
“When she was here last, she fell out of that tree, remember?” Earl asked.
Jessie practically fell into the kitchen chair in relief. . . . Jacques was grinning at her from across the table.
“I remember that now,” Gloria said.
Jessie had forgotten all about it.
“I told you I never forget a face.”
Jessie just hoped the same wasn’t true of her backside! “That’s remarkable.” She nodded at him.
“Well, I’ve got to get going,” Earl said. “Back to the old grind as they say. I’ve got a few holes to fill.”
“Thank you for coming over and getting those things down for me,” Gloria said.
“That’s my job.” Earl tipped his cap and left.
“I have to get going too,” Jonathan said excitedly. “I’ve almost got ‘er finished. Engines are purring like a kitten.”
“What engines are you talking about?” Gloria asked.
“I’ve got a plane,” Jonathan said.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Gloria said.
“You have a great day ladies,” he said in parting.
“He’s a little old for toy airplanes isn’t he?” Gloria said as she watched him cross the yard.
“I think it may be a real one,” Jessie said.
“A real one,” Gloria said. “Oh, his mother is going to flip. She told me last night how she lost her husband.” She shook her head. “Such a shame. He died in an airplane crash when Jonathan was still just a boy.”
“That is sad,” Jessie said.
“Mavis said she was so grateful that he was too big to fly the jets like his father and had opted to be an electrician.” Gloria turned from the window. “Can you be ready in an hour to go?”
“I think so.” Jessie nodded.
She showered, put on her make-up, and did her hair before coming out of the bathroom.
“You look nice,” Jacques said as she slipped her jeans on while still wearing her robe. She pulled out her bra and looked at him.
“I have got to see how you manage to put that on without taking the robe off,” Jacques said.
“Easy.” She went into the bathroom and returned a moment later completely dressed-minus the shoes.
“That is cheating, I think,” Jacques called.
“What are you doing today while we go shopping?” Jessie asked as she put on her socks.
“I may read my journal,” he said. “Where is it?”
“I didn’t put it anywhere.”
Jacques began the search, tossing a mountain of pig pillows from the bed.
“I just put those on there,” Jessie said as she watched him systematically destroy the room she’d straightened earlier. Forced from the bed by his searching, she stood up. “You are cleaning those up!”
She picked up a boot and put it on as she hopped on one foot.
“It has to be here,” Jacques said. The bed covers followed the pillows.
“Where could it have gone?” Jessie picked up her other boot and started to put it on. She lost her balance, tripped on the sheet, and stepped on a piglet pillow that let out a squeal from being squeezed by her foot, and jumped, falling out of control. “Ahhh!”
Jacques was there to catch her in an instant. Crash! Jessie fell through him and hit the dresser, even Betty Boop hit the floor.
“Oh, no!” Jessie groaned.
“Are you okay?” Jacques asked as surprised by the mishap as she was. “Is anything broken?”
“Yes,” Jessie said sadly.
“Where?” He leaned over her in concern. “Is it your foot?”
“No.” Jessie said holding up Betty’s headless Boop.
“What happened?” Jessie’s mom burst into the room. “I heard a crash,” she said in shock as she looked across the torn up room to where Jessie was sitting on the floor. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” Jessie said. “I was just-uh-looking for my shoe,” she said, looking across a sea of covers and piglets.
Gloria picked her way through the mess.
“The doll I bought Aunt Katie didn’t fare so well, though.” Jessie said, holding up the doll’s body in one hand and her head in other.
“Poor Betty,” her mom said. She took the pieces from her. “I think that we can glue it. It’s a pretty clean break. Oh, look, I think this has been broken before. There is some resin on the porcelain and a wire.” Her mom pulled it out. A small electrical device was connected to the end of it. “Does this doll speak?”
“I didn’t think it did,” Jessie said. “No wonder she was so expensive.”
Her mom set the head back on the neck to check the fit. “She must have been one of the first dolls to have that feature.”
Jacques leaned over to inspect it and then looked up in surprise. He gave her the, no, plus the cut throat move. Jessie gave him a puzzled look. He came close to whisper. “It’s a bug.”
“Where.” Jessie jumped up from the floor.
“What?” Her mom looked at her like she was losing it.
“There, my shoe,” Jessie picked it up smiling, “found it.”
“I’ll just go glue this for you,” her mom said, then paused at the door. “Are you going to be finished here soon?”
“Yeah.” Jessie nodded. “Let me straighten this up and be right down.” As soon as her mom was out the door, she looked over at Jacques. “A bug?”
He nodded, not looking happy about it at all.
“Are you sure?”
“Oui.” He shrugged. “I’ve watched a lot of crime shows. Plus Ted Larose carries them down at the hardware and electronics shop,” he explained before sweeping across the room. He turned, giving her a look of pure agony.
“What is it?” Jessie asked with concern.
“I think someone has stolen my journal . . . along with the key.”
“No.” Jessie smiled.
“No?”
“I just saw it under the bed.” Jessie pointed.
“You did?” He swooped down and recovered it in an instant.
“So you think that whoever it was that stole the key was listening through that thing?” Jessie asked as she pulled the sheet back on the bed.
“It makes sense,” Jacques said, turning to leave.
“Where do you think you are going?”
“I am going to visit Henry Pierson,” Jacques said.
“Not until you help me clean up this mess, you’re not.” Jessie put her hands on her hips.
He looked like he found her more amusing than threatening. He held the comforter up and spun it around until it floated down on the bed.
Jessie watched him make the bed expecting little birds and Cinderella to start singing. “You think he planted that bug in there knowing Katie would buy it?”
“It makes sense,” Jacques said. “Now that I think about it, he has been quite friendly to both Mavis and Katie through the years, and he’s always been quite interested in the history of the place. He was always asking them about it.”
“Do you think it’s safe?” Jessie asked as she placed a pillow on the bed. “What if he’s expecting you and has some kind of ghost plasma trap?”
Jacques chuckled.
“Don’t laugh.” Jessie threw the pillow she was placing on the bed at him. “Didn’t you see Ghost Busters?”
He shook his finger at her. “I will finish this pillow
fight with you later.”
And with that, he vanished. Jessie stood looking around the room when her mom walked back in.
“That was fast,” she said, looking at the neat and tidy room. “The doll is fixed!” She held out Betty Boop. “I have gotten super glue on my fingers though.” Her mom touched her fingers together. “I hate that!”
“Thanks, Mom,” Jessie said, not quite sure as to how to ask the question . . . especially if someone was listening. “Did you get the voice thing to work?”
“No, but I left it in there just in case.” Her mom placed it on the dresser. “I didn’t want to devalue it.”
Jessie stood looking at the doll, thinking about the eaves dropper and all the times they’d listened in. . . . invaded her life, her privacy, her bedroom!
“Are you ready?” her mom asked, standing back to see her handiwork.
Ready? Jessie asked, having been lost in thought.
“To go shopping?” Her mom sighed. “Jessie, I’m worried about you.”
~*~
Bob’s Tree Lot was quite busy considering it was just days now before the big event. Most the people milling about were there for the shops that lined the parking lot though.
“Let’s get a flocked one,” Gloria said, looking at a blue spruce. “The man said he can flock any tree we want.”
“Sure, that sounds fun.” Jessie nodded, looking at her mom for a moment. She’d always loved the season and made it fun for her. “Mom,” Jessie said.
“Hmm?”
“Thanks for coming.” Jessie smiled at her before moving on to the next tree. “How about that one?” She pointed out one in the back that was a little higher than the rest.
“Aw, now that is a lovely one,” Gloria said moving towards it for a closer look.
Jessie rounded the end of the row and ran straight into Jacques. She jumped and then looked around before saying anything.
“You’d think you’d be more used to that by now,” Jacques said, grinning.
“You’d think.” Jessie sighed. “What did you find out?”
“He’s sneaky, but I’m wearing him down.” Jacques nodded.
“What do you mean?”
“He is reading a cookbook, but I know he’s getting bored. Any moment now he will do something that will show me what he is up to.”
“So you’ve got nothing.”
“Well when you say it like that,” Jacques sighed.
Treasure of the Jaguar Warrior - Mystery of the Mayan Calendar Page 13