“They’re very good with this, Abby. I remember when you were little, you hated having your face washed. It didn’t matter how dirty you were, either.”
“Trust me, this is just a lucky wipe. They usually put up a fight, but they’re at Gramma’s, and I think that makes them happy.”
“Of course it does, and it makes Gramma happy, too. More than you’ll ever know. I am so blessed to have you living so close to me. Just think how many sets of eyes you’ll have on these two when they really need it.”
“Toots, are you going to shut up for a second so I can tell Abby what you wanted me to tell her?” Bernice interjected.
Toots almost flipped Bernice the bird but caught herself just in time. She wouldn’t want to corrupt her grandkids before they were ready to be corrupted.
“Go on, I’ll keep quiet.”
Bernice scrunched up her face when she looked at Toots, then gave the most beautiful smile when she returned her gaze to Abby. “It’s probably not a big surprise, but Robert and I have decided to get married. Tie the knot. Hang the noose around our necks. And we want to seal the deal next week.”
Abby felt tears in her eyes. “Oh, Bernice, I think this is the best news I’ve heard in ages. I’m so happy for you two.” Abby leaned down and wrapped her arms around her godmother.
“Did I hear you correctly? Did you say you wanted to get married next week?”
“You did, and we are. Is that enough time to plan a big event?” Bernice asked.
“No! I mean, yes, but don’t ever, ever call a wedding an event! Events are funerals, Bernice. You should know that by now. You’ve helped me through eight of them.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot. So, what do you think?” Bernice asked Abby.
“If you and Robert are happy, I think that’s what matters most. Right, Mom?” Abby looked at her mother, who had a very strange look on her face. “Mom? Are you all right?”
“Abby, I want you to take the kids outside right now. Do not ask any questions. Just go! Hurry!” Toots shouted so loud, the twins started to cry. “Bernice, help her get them outside immediately! Move it!”
Hearing the urgency in Toots’s voice, Abby and Bernice practically yanked the little ones out of their high chairs and ran out the back door. Another second, and they would have been exposed to Ida, who stood on the bottom step. “What in the world was that all about?”
Chapter Fourteen
Still in the séance room, Sophie crept back to her chair. “I mean you no harm. I want to help you. Your staying here isn’t going to change what happened to you. Do you understand what I am saying?”
She was talking to an entity. It was quite normal for her to do so, but for some reason, this time she was frightened. Maybe this was a demonic spirit. Maybe she should call a priest or a member of the clergy.
No, she needed to calm herself down. Closing her eyes, she tried to slow her breathing to a normal pattern. That would still the rapid beat of her heart, help her to gain control of herself.
In her séance voice, she began to speak softly, encouragingly. “If you left this world unexpectedly, I know you must find it hard to let go, but you must. If you want my help, you need to show yourself.” Sophie paused, looking around the room to see if anything appeared changed. Other than the door slamming shut, there was nothing at all. “Is this your former home? Did you have an accident while living here?” She thought of the dream and the woman at the bottom of the stairs. Maybe she lingered because she wanted to . . . to find out who pushed her!
The image was so vivid that Sophie drew in a breath. “Somebody pushed you down that long staircase, and you want me, need me, to find out who did this to you. If that is what you’re trying to tell me, show me a sign acknowledging that it is.” Sophie waited for a few seconds, then saw the knob on the door turning. The door opened so slightly that, had she not been watching for any changes, she wouldn’t have noticed.
“You’re here now?”
The door opened again, but this time it moved at least a foot. Sophie knew she was taking a chance, but there wasn’t much to lose at this point, so she went with her gut instinct. “Are you a member of the Dabney family?” The words barely escaped her lips when the door slammed again, only this time it was with such force the window behind her shook. She turned around, expecting to see an apparition, a wisp of something, but still she saw nothing remotely otherworldly in the small room.
Sophie scanned the room again, really looking at it this time. There had to be a clue, something about this room that would aid her in releasing this . . . spirit from its earthly bonds. Nothing. She stood up and went to stand by the window. The beveled glass gave the images outside a distorted look, almost like one of those mirrors in a fun house. Sophie blinked, then looked outside again. She gasped, then took a calming breath, letting it out slowly.
The gardens that she and Goebel had worked so hard to bring back to life were gone, replaced by dirt paths. The giant trees, which were as familiar to her now as her own image, were small and scraggly, as if they’d only been planted recently. She shook her head to try to clear the visual, but it remained. Looking through the window and squinting her eyes, Sophie saw a man on a . . . horse? “Dear heavens,” she said, and strained to see the details. Though this time all she saw were the gardens, the giant trees. The gardens appeared as they should. Stepping away from the window, Sophie realized she’d just seen her home and how it had looked in the past. Not having a lot of experience with the past in the sense of actually seeing it as it was in real time, Sophie decided this wasn’t leading her where she needed to be led. Without another thought, she raced out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen.
What she saw almost sent her into a state of shock.
Ida’s description of the mess in the kitchen didn’t begin to cover the devastation she observed. This was not an entity trying to get her attention. No, this was something much more wicked. Carefully, she walked through shards of broken glass, splinters of what once were her cabinet doors, and the detritus from several jars of jam that had been smashed on the wood floor. “Goebel needs to see this.” She removed her cell phone from her pocket and dialed his number. He answered on the first ring. “You need to come home right away. Borrow one of Toots’s cars, and hurry.” Sophie clicked off, not giving him a chance to respond. She knew he’d understand the urgency behind her call when he saw the disaster in their kitchen.
A buzzing sound coming from their pantry made her turn around. A few feet away from the kitchen island, Goebel had enlarged and redesigned the pantry, telling her they would never have an issue storing food, paper towels, odd-sized platters, and the usual kitchen items that never fit in a normal-sized cupboard. He’d customized it just for her. What she saw now brought tears to her eyes. It wasn’t the loss of the food; she didn’t care about that as it could be replaced. But she did care that the custom-built shelves were split into tiny pieces. The handcrafted porcelain knobs looked like someone had taken a hammer and smashed them into tiny pieces. Boxes of rice were ripped apart, peanut butter smeared on the floor, and the canned food they had was destroyed, crushed. Several antique platters and bowls she and Goebel had collected during their short marriage were now nothing more than colored shards of glass. A swarm of flies buzzed through the pantry, hovering above each pile of spilled food. “There is no way a spirit did this,” she said out loud. While she was no expert, she knew this much destruction had to come from a source so evil, so foul and unholy, that she feared its malevolence and its power. This was not the woman in her dreams, or her vision. In all likelihood, Sophie was staring at the work of the devil or someone who had the devil inside them. Most likely the latter.
With that thought in mind, she knew she had to get to Ida, and if she needed the aid of a member of the clergy, then so be it. Still, there was that small, still voice in her head that told her, no, this was not demonic in the sense of needing a priest but demonic in the sense of the evil quality of a person who hadn’t managed to find their way to
the other side. Sophie knew better than to ignore her gut instinct. This entity who’d destroyed her house was powerful, but not as powerful as she.
“I’ll send you to the other side, you son of a bitch, and when I do, I hope you burn forever in the fires of hell.”
“Sophie.” She heard Goebel call out to her. He’d used the front door, too.
“In the kitchen,” she answered.
“My God! What on earth happened?” he asked as he observed the destruction. “Are you all right?”
“I’m going to find out, trust me. I’m a bit shook-up, but I’ll be okay,” Sophie said, as they both stared at the mess.
“Think we should call the police?” Goebel asked her. She knew he wasn’t asking her because he didn’t know what had happened, but because he knew she would know if this was a supernatural event or just another break-in.
“You are the police, and no, we don’t need them here. I would hate to try to explain this to them. Even though they know we do psychic investigations, I’d rather keep this between us.”
“I hate to tell you this, but there’s more bad news. Abby brought the twins over to Toots’s, and Ida came downstairs. Toots said she was sure that Abby and the kids didn’t see her, but she rushed them out of the house so fast that she knows Abby isn’t going to forget about it or let it go.”
Sophie felt her heart sink to her feet and back. “That’s not good. I need to keep Ida somewhere safe until I find out exactly what I’m dealing with. When I saw this”—she pointed to the kitchen—“I felt sure it had to be some demonic thing, but it’s not. It’s connected to that woman in my dream, or vision, whatever. I went to my séance room when I arrived and just sat there, waiting to see if I could make contact with . . . well, you know the routine, but I had the oddest experience.” She told him about the door and what she’d seen when she looked out the window. “I think it’s imperative that we speak with this Dabney man tonight. Maybe he can tell us something that will send me in the right direction.”
“Would another séance help?” Goebel asked as he trudged through the unholy mess that had once been their beautiful kitchen.
“No. At least I don’t believe it would at this stage. Later, I’m just not sure.” Confused by the turn of events, Sophie wandered through the kitchen, careful not to step on the glass.
Goebel frowned, his eyes taking in the scene around them. “I need to start cleaning this up. We’ll have bugs if I don’t.” He headed for the pantry, where they stored the cleaning supplies.
“Stop!”
He did.
“Don’t go in there, okay? It’s much worse than this,” she said, gesturing at the mess surrounding them.
For once, Goebel didn’t listen to her. He stepped inside the pantry. “Son of a bitch!”
Sophie stood next to him. “I told you not to go in there.”
“Soph, get real. I live here, too.”
What was she thinking? That she could hide this from him? Take care of it without his knowing? Stupid, stupid, stupid, she thought. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that you worked so hard in here. I know how proud of it you were. I was too, and now look at this.” She splayed her hands out in front of her. “Totally destroyed.”
A loud crashing sound caused both of them to look up. “It’s coming from the attic. Follow me,” Sophie called out as she rushed through the debris in the kitchen and up the staircase.
She’d been meaning to get Goebel to do whatever was necessary in terms of safety so that she could return to the attic and look in those trunks she had located in the corner. But after the lack of results with the séance and everything else that had been happening, she had forgotten to mention it to him. And she had almost forgotten about what had happened when she had gone up there.
But there was no more time to spare. Someone or something was insisting that she go back inside the dark, dank space and find whatever it was she was supposed to find.
Remembering that the light had been too dim to navigate safely around the floorboards that had been prepped for whatever remodeling was to take place, Sophie grabbed a flashlight before starting up into the attic. Pushing the heavy door aside, the late-afternoon sunshine penetrated the dusty panes of glass only enough to illuminate particles of dust dancing in the air, suspended for a few seconds before settling on the old wooden beams. She stepped inside the small space, stopping when she was greeted with such a foul odor, unlike anything she’d ever known, that she was forced to cover her mouth and nose with her hand. Suddenly, Ida flashed around the edge of her thoughts, and she knew then that, without a doubt, the key to finding out what or who had possessed her lay here, somewhere in this pile of ancient dust and rotting wood.
Now all she had to do was find it.
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Chapter One
Chester greeted Abby at the back door, sensing that she needed his assistance. He leaned against the heavy frame to keep it open when she entered with Amy on one hip and Jonathan on the other. Once inside, she stooped down, allowing the twins to wiggle out of her arms. “Thanks, Chester,” she said before giving her longtime best friend a rub between the ears. “I swear you’re more human than animal.”
“Woof! Woof!”
Once inside and seeing that Amy and Jonathan were occupied with a scattering of toys they’d left on the floor this morning, she found her godmother Mavis’s cell phone number written on a notepad next to the phone. Quickly, she punched in the digits. Mavis picked up on the third ring.
“Yes, dear.” She didn’t bother with hello. Abby smiled. She knew Mavis was fascinated with the ability to see who was calling.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Abby asked.
“Of course not, Abby. Wade and I were getting ready to close up for the night.”
Abby could only imagine what closing up for the night consisted of since they operated a funeral parlor. There was no way that she was about to ask.
Peeping around the corner to make sure the twins were safely occupied, her voice grew serious. “Is there anything going on with Mom that I need to know? I stopped over earlier, just to say hi and let the twins visit, and we were no more settled in than the next thing I know, she’s practically tossing us out. She didn’t bother with an explanation, either.”
Abby was more than concerned. Normally, her mother would practically have to beg her to stay longer just so she could play with her grandchildren, but that hadn’t been the case today.
She could hear Mavis’s intake of breath across the wires. “I haven’t seen your mother since we attended the séance at Sophie and Goebel’s. She did have a little too much to drink that night. Wade insisted we drive her home even though she said she was fine. Of course, I knew better. I haven’t spoken to her since then, so as far as I know, everything is fine. She and Phil were talking about their upcoming trip to New York for his book launch.”
Mavis was so kind, but sometimes she could be a bit long-winded.
“Yes, she mentioned the trip the other day,” Abby said. “Do you think Sophie or Ida might know what’s going on with Mom? It’s just so unlike her to act . . . well, never mind. Mom does act weird, a lot, but I’ve never seen her act this way around the twins.”
“I’m sure everything will be just fine. I wouldn’t worry too much, dear.”
Abby thanked her and ended the call. She punched in Sophie’s cell phone, and it went straight to voicemail. She tried her home number, and no one picked up. “Weird,” she said to herself. With Ida next on her list, she punched in her number. It rang at least ten times, then Abby hung up. That left Bernice. She called her mother’s house, knowing the odds of Bernice’s answering the phone were in her favor.
And, sure enough, Bernice answered on the first ring. “Thank goodness you called,” Bernice said.
Abby’s heart raced. “What in the world is going on?”
“I’ve been sworn to silence, but your mother told me if you called to tell you she was just fine, and not to worry.”
“Oh, great. That’s just great. Seriously, Bernice, is there something going on with her that I should know? She tossed me and the kids out so fast, I was too shocked to question her. Now I know something is wrong because she would insist on speaking to me if there wasn’t.” At least that’s what Abby thought. She and her mother didn’t keep secrets. At least none that she knew of. Of course, there was the matter of the Informer, but Abby hadn’t cared that her mother had purchased the struggling tabloid behind her back. She thought it truly proved to what lengths a mother would go for her child. Had the situation been reversed, she was sure she would have done the exact same thing for her kids. Like mother, like daughter.
“Abby, your mother is fine. Physically at least. Now, as far as her mental state goes, I’ve questioned it for the past thirty-plus years.”
Abby grinned. Leave it to Bernice. “Yeah, I understand where you’re coming from. But still, this isn’t like her at all, and I need to know what’s going on so I can help fix whatever it is.”
She heard Bernice’s sigh. “Do you think the twins are old enough to be in the wedding? I was thinking ring bearer and flower girl.”
Abby pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it. Maybe Bernice was the one she needed to be concerned about. “I’m not falling into your trap, Bernie,” Abby said, knowing she hated being referred to as “Bernie.”
“Look, I understand where you’re coming from, but I really don’t know what’s going on with your mother. Ida’s upstairs in her room, Sophie and Goebel went home. Well, I think that’s where they’re at. She left in a rush, and he wasn’t far behind her. I’m as much in the dark as you, and you know your mother. When she wants us to know something, she will tell us. If it were life threatening, she would have told us. I wouldn’t worry if I were you,” Bernice said. “I was serious when I asked you about the twins being in the wedding. Since they’re practically walking, I thought it might be fun to see them in action.”
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