“How grateful?” The edge in his voice was replaced with a honeyed tone.
Laura giggled. “That grateful. Anyway, I need to get off to work here soon, although if the roads are as bad as they are saying, I doubt we’ll have anyone there.”
“The roads are as bad. If you were driving, you wouldn’t make it.”
“Yeah, luckily I’m within walking distance.”
“Not all that lucky, babe, it’s cold and windy out there, with lots of drifts and blowing snow. Stay pretty far on the side of the road if you can.”
“Will do. And thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
Laura hung up the phone and heard a big yawn come from the couch. “Morning, sweetie.”
“Morning, Mommy. Why am I out here?”
“You had a nightmare. Don’t you remember?”
“Nope.” Lizzy actually looked well rested and certainly didn’t seem concerned in the least about last night’s activity. Then again, she’d become accustomed to night terrors when she was younger. Maybe this episode was just an extension of those.
“What do you want for breakfast?”
“Oatmeal?” Then she stopped and ran to the window. “Snow! Do we have school?”
Laura smiled. “No school today.”
“Hurrah! Let’s go tell Amanda.”
Laura grabbed her hand as she ran past. “Let’s just let Amanda sleep, okay? She’s not going to be as excited as you are.”
“Oh.” Lizzy’s face fell. “Yeah, okay. Do you think we could go out and play in it later on?”
“Well, I have to go to work. But Mike’s coming by around lunchtime and he’ll be here when I get home.”
Lizzy grew cautious. “Like a babysitter, you mean? We’re too old…”
“Just as a friend. Maybe he wants to play in the snow too.”
“That’s okay then. I like him.” Lizzy paused for a bit. “Are you going to marry him, like Dad and Susan?”
Laura laughed. “He hasn’t asked me yet. But if he does, I’ll think about it.”
“You should,” Lizzy nodded, “he’s nice. And it won’t be if he does, it’ll be when. He likes you too, I can tell.”
“Thanks for that vote of confidence, honey.”
Amanda came out with a hopeful look on her face. “No school?”
“No school,” Laura confirmed, “so if you want to crawl back into bed, that’d be fine. By the way, how did you sleep last night?”
“Great, as far as I remember.”
“You didn’t hear Lizzy then?”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Did you have another nightmare, squirt? She’s been having nightmares now for months, Mom. Susan says she thinks it’s stress, between school and the marital situations. Not,” she added quickly, “that anyone thinks it’s your fault. Susan says that Lizzy’s just a bit more sensitive than I am. And she picks up on things. Like Dad and Susan and you and rehab and stuff like that.”
Laura gave an internal sigh, but kept her opinions to herself. Susan was their step mother now, after all. She always felt bad about not using her degrees, Laura thought. At least she’s practicing a bit. I just wish it wasn’t on Lizzy. “Well, Lizzy has always been like that so Susan’s probably right. But I’ve got to get to work now. You guys stay out of trouble until Mike gets here and I’ll be home as soon as possible.”
Rather than struggle with the key to Laura’s door, Mike rang the doorbell. When he received no answer, he rang it again. Then he knocked, loudly, on the door. Still, no answer, so he pulled his key out of his pocket and fitted it into the lock. Twisting and turning the knob, he jostled the door with his hip. “Damn thing,” he muttered under his breath, “I keep forgetting to change these locks.”
Finally, the door yielded and he walked into the house. It was quiet, very quiet and he called for the girls. “Amanda? Lizzy?”
No answer. The house felt empty. Where could they be? Before he allowed himself his initial reaction, he walked back to the bedroom the girls shared. Amanda sat there, reading a book and listening to her music. “Hello?” Mike said and she looked up.
“Hi,” she mouthed, not removing the headphones.
“Where’s Lizzy?”
“What?”
“Where’s Lizzy?”
Amanda looked surprised and slid the phones down around her neck. “She was just here.”
Mike shook his head. “She’s not in the other rooms, as far as I can tell.”
“Bathroom?”
“Nope, no one in there.”
“Maybe,” Amanda nodded her head down the hall, “she went down to the cellar.”
“The locks were still on when I walked past. Anyway, isn’t the basement off limits?”
“Well, yeah, but…” Amanda thought for a minute, “she really wanted to go out and play in the snow. Maybe she got tired of waiting.”
“Her coat and boots are out in the landing.”
“Weird,” Amanda said, “but she has to be around somewhere. People don’t just disappear.”
Mike felt a sharp stab of fear in his gut. But people do disappear around here, he thought, or at least they did, five years ago, boys and girls around Lizzy’s age. But that’s over. Right? Unsolved but over. “Exactly,” Mike said, “so let’s find her before your mother comes home.”
They called her name and checked all the corners of the house. Outside they saw that the only footprints in the snow that led to the house were Mike’s, so she couldn’t have been outside. Finally, Mike threw open the locks on the cellar door and looked down the steps. There sat Lizzy, huddled in the corner at the end of the stairs, clutching a blue stuffed animal, the black cat curled up next to her. She appeared to be asleep, her eyes were closed, the rise and fall of her chest was slow and steady. “Lizzy?”
She moaned a bit in her sleep and Mike ran down the stairs and picked her up. “How on earth did you get down here with the doors locked?”
Lizzy opened her eyes, looked up at him and gave him a little smile. “Hi,” she said, “I thought no one would ever find me.” She shivered. “I was down here forever. And I’m so very cold.”
“How about some cocoa?” Mike carried her up the stairs and settled her in on the couch, wrapping a blanket around her. “We’d have found you sooner, but the door was locked. How’d you manage it, Houdini?”
Lizzy giggled. “I went through the cat door.”
“Ah,” Mike said, giving the door an appraising look. “I guess you would fit, at that. That never would have occurred to me. Maybe now you should tell me why on earth you went down there in the first place.”
“B Bear was down there. I’d been watching television and I wanted him with me, but when I went back to my bed, he couldn’t find him.”
“B Bear?”
“It’s this,” Amanda reached over and poked at the toy.
“Anyway,” Lizzy continued, “I wasn’t sure where he was so I asked Amanda. She said the cat had been playing with him and the next time she looked up they both were gone. So I called Anubis, but he’s not like a dog; he only comes if he wants to. I went to hunt them down and as I walked past the cellar door, the cat door clicked. I peeked down it and B Bear was lying at the bottom of the stairs. I knew that if Mommy saw him down there, she’d think I put him there and she’d be upset.”
“We’re not supposed to upset Mom,” Amanda supplied, “or Dad said she might start drinking again.”
Mike nodded. “It doesn’t really work that way, you know. People who have a drinking problem don’t really need reasons; it’s more like a disease.”
“Yeah, that’s what Susan said. She and Dad had a very loud discussion about it one night.”
“But we’re getting sidetracked,” Mike said, “what happened next, Lizzy?”
“I couldn’t reach the upper lock, but thought I could probably fit through the flap on the cat door, so I did that. It was easy – it’s a very big door for a cat. I got down the stairs just fine and picked up B Bear, but coul
dn’t get the flap to open when I tried to crawl back into the house. I knocked on the door for a while and called for Amanda, but if she’s listening to music, she can’t hear.”
“I found that out,” Mike said. “How did you end up at the bottom of the stairs again?”
“I got really sleepy after a while, and I didn’t want to fall asleep and roll down the stairs, so I went down and curled up in the corner. It’s not quite so cold there. I figured someone would find me sooner or later. Anubis came over and kept me company and that made it better. But it’s dark down there. There are spiders. And the furnace makes funny whispering noises.”
“Yeah,” Mike said, “we’re getting that fixed today, I think. I have a friend who said he’d do it.”
“Good,” Lizzy said. “Mommy hates going down there.” She paused. “Do you have to tell her where you found me?”
“Yeah, sorry, kiddo, I do.”
“I knew you would, you’re a policeman. But maybe she won’t be mad. It wasn’t really my fault Anubis stole my bear. Can you tell her that?”
“I’m pretty sure she won’t be mad, Lizzy. Now,” Mike stood up from where he’d been crouching next to the girl on the couch, “who wants lunch? And who wants to help me fix dinner?”
“I still can’t believe she crawled through the cat door.” Laura and Mike sat snuggled up on her couch; he’d returned after his second shift, and had a bowl of the stew he and the girls had made earlier. Lizzy and Amanda played outside, riding down the hill in the back yard with the large plastic discs he’d brought with him.
“Well, she did. That door is awfully big for a cat door. And you can answer me this time, right?”
Laura ducked her head in embarrassment. “It’s not really a cat door; I bought the wrong size and didn’t realize it until it was already installed.” She paused. “I’d been drinking that day, of course.”
“Of course. It’s not a big deal, anyway. The door serves its purpose. I’m more upset with myself for not noticing it earlier; I’m usually more observant than that. I almost called 911 to report her missing, you know.”
“I’m not surprised.” Laura kissed his cheek gently. “Thanks for taking such good care of them. They really enjoyed fixing dinner with you. Even Amanda seemed enthused.”
“They’re good kids.”
“And thanks for the snow saucers. They’re really enjoying them.” Laura could hear the girls’ laughter along with that of the other neighborhood children who’d joined them for their impromptu sledding party. “They needed a little fun, I think. Especially Lizzy.”
“Yeah. I figured they’d need something to do for the next couple of days. Although your neighbor—Carolyn?—called and wanted to talk to you about a sleep-over on Saturday night.” Mike gave a chuckle. “She’s quite the talker, isn’t she? I didn’t think I’d ever get her off the phone.”
“Yeah, she’s something.” Laura paused, wondering how to tell Mike about what happened here last night. About how she was convinced something was wrong with this house. But she had no idea how to bring up the subject, without appearing totally nuts. And she didn’t want to scare him away. Not now, she thought, I couldn’t bear losing him now.
Mike noticed her silence. “What’s wrong, babe?”
Laura sighed. “I’m tired, I think. It was a long day at work – boring as anything, since there were no customers to speak of and they had us reorganizing the register racks and cleaning the bread racks.” She gave a little laugh. “Cleaning the bread racks? I’m too old for that nonsense. I’m going to try for a better job in the spring, once I adjust to this new sober life.”
“And how is the sober life treating you?”
“I’m getting used to it, I guess. I only stop for five minutes to stare in the liquor store window instead of ten. And Renee is a joy – she’s always there for me when I call. But I have bad nights. You know?”
“Yeah,” Mike pulled her a little closer to him. “I do know.”
“Trying to get to sleep is impossible. That stupid furnace…”
“I’m sorry about that,” Mike said. “Stan did show up, but took one look at the wiring set-up and said he’d have to come back over the weekend when he had a little more time.”
“You needn’t be sorry, Mike. It’s wonderful that you tried.”
“He’ll get it fixed, I’m sure of it.”
“It’s not just the heat, although that’s a real problem. I just toss and turn and every little sound is amplified. Finally, when I do fall asleep, I seem to wake back up within an hour or two. Especially with Lizzy here – she talks and walks in her sleep. Granted, that’s better than the night terrors she used to get, but it doesn’t make for a restful night for me. No wonder Tony and Susan were so anxious to get away.”
“That, plus the fact it is their honeymoon. Speaking of which…”
Mike pulled her to him and kissed her hard on the lips. She relaxed into his arms and gave a happy sigh. He always made everything better.
The neighborhood girls formed a semi-circle around Lizzy. Thinking it was only the cold that made her shiver, she took a deep breath. This is a stupid game, she thought, I never should’ve said I’d play. But she knew she couldn’t back out now. Amanda, who’d been enjoying the other girls’ company, would never let her forget it.
“Go ahead, Lizzy.” Brittany gave her a little push forward so that Lizzy’s nose almost touched the sliding glass door.
Lizzy shut her eyes and began to count silently.
One, two, three, four…
The girls around her began to chant softly. “Aunt Dolly, Aunt Dolly, Aunt Dolly…”
…twelve, thirteen, fourteen…
The girls’ voices grew louder and Lizzy felt her heart beat faster and faster. She wanted to stop this stupid game. She wanted to stop it now. But she kept her eyes closed tight.
“Aunt Dolly, Aunt Dolly, Aunt Dolly…”
…eighteen, nineteen, twenty!
Lizzy finished the count. She opened her eyes. And screamed.
Chapter Sixteen
Laura jumped up out of her seat and ran out the front door in less than a second, not stopping to put on her coat or her boots. That hadn’t been a scream of delight or a protest about having a handful of snow put down one’s neck. It was pure terror. The distance from the front door to the backyard was short, but it seemed like miles. On the way, she envisioned all sorts of terrible scenarios: Lizzy, her finger partially severed by a sled rung; Amanda, bleeding from a head wound; broken legs, broken arms, any of a dozen accidents that could have happened.
When she got to the back yard, she was relieved there were no dark pools of blood on the white snow. What she saw seemed trivial in comparison. Lizzy stood, standing in front of the cellar door, staring in the window. The other neighborhood children stood huddled around, a few yards away from her, whispering and tittering. But Amanda stood next to her, holding her hand. “Lizzy,” she said, “what is it? What did you see?”
Laura heard one of the girls whisper, “She saw the ghost. She must have.”
“Shhhh,” the other girl said, “be quiet, Brittany. You shouldn’t have made us play that game.”
But Laura had no time for their games. She picked up Lizzy, and smoothed her hair back from her face. “What is it, sweetie?”
Her teeth chattered a little. “I thought I saw a face.”
“What sort of face, Lizzy?”
“I don’t know. I’m cold.”
“Of course you are, you’re shivering. Let’s go inside.”
Laura gave Amanda a signal to come in as well. “Say goodnight to your friends, Mandy, and let’s go get something warm to drink.”
Once the girls changed out of their snow and ice encrusted clothes and both had bathed, she sat them down in the living room with a steaming cup of cocoa. “So which of you wants to tell me what you were all doing outside? That one girl said something about playing a game. What sort of game?”
“It’s a stupid game,�
� Amanda said. “They were just trying to punk Lizzy.”
“Punk Lizzy?”
“You know, play a prank on her. Trick her.”
Mike shook his head. “This wasn’t the Aunt Dolly story, was it? We get calls from hysterical teenagers every few months on that one.”
“The Aunt Dolly story?”
Mike nodded and continued, “It’s like an urban legend. The hook on the door of the car or the sweater left on the tombstone by the girl ghost.”
Please, no ghosts. Not tonight.
“That’s exactly what it was,” Lizzy said, warmer now, her fright forgotten, or at least consigned to nothing but a curiosity. “The Aunt Dolly game. You look into a pane of glass from the outside on a night of the new moon. Then you close your eyes and count to twenty. When you open them again, you see the ghost.”
“And did you?” Laura’s voice trembled just a bit, remembering playing similar games with her friends when she was Lizzy’s age. Those games then, as now, always freaked her out.
Lizzy gave a little laugh. “I thought I saw something. But that’s probably because I expected to see something. Amanda stood right behind me and didn’t see anything at all. Did you?”
“Nah. Just Lizzy’s and my reflections in the glass, that’s all. Like I said, it’s a stupid game.”
“Are you sure?”
“Laura?” Mike looked confused. “Of course it’s just a game. What else could it be?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m tired. And grouchy. And I don’t like people playing tricks on my daughters.” Her voice sounded cross, but she gave Mike a smile to soften the tone. “Anyway, I think it’s time for bed now, you two. We’ve all had too much excitement for one day. At least I know I have. I’ll come back in a few minutes to say goodnight.”
Recognizing, no doubt, the certainty in her tone, neither girl protested. She sighed, and watched them walk down the hallway, not looking forward to the night.
“Laura? Are you okay?” Mike came up behind her and massaged the back of her neck gently. “You’re really tense.”
Modern Magic Page 13