by Aiden James
She handed him the flowers, blushing as well.
“Gosh…thanks, Allie!”
Zachariah stood silent for a moment while his face grew darker. It looked like he had something important to tell her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothin’,” he told her, and took a deep breath. “I-I…I’ll always be true to ya!” He blurted it out.
“I know ya will,” she told him, her voice soothing.
The bullfrog let out a deep throated croak and they giggled in response. Allie Mae pulled the frog close to her chest and grasped Zachariah’s hand.
“‘Friends for life?” she asked him, smiling.
“Yep, friends for life,” he replied, his own smile very broad, with several teeth missing.
David smiled as well, watching their interaction until they disappeared from his view. He raised himself to get a better look as they walked back to the top of the ravine, hand in hand. She suddenly turned her head back toward him, forcing him to drop prostate on the ground while he silently cursed his hasty indiscretion.
What’s wrong, now?” asked Zachariah.
The two stopped walking, and although he couldn’t see them, David knew they both looked back in his direction. He heard soft footsteps approach. After an agonizing few minutes spent wondering what would come next, the footsteps moved away.
“‘Probly nothin’,” said Allie Mae, once she returned to where Zachariah waited for her by the oak trees. “Just a snake or some other vermin!”
He heard the boy say ‘Let’s get on home’. Their voices faded once they climbed out of the ravine.
David couldn’t resist getting one last look at her, leaving the safety of his hideout for a better view. As he reached the clump of oak saplings, the pair had just climbed back onto the ledge. Allie turned her head toward him again, and despite his quickness to duck away from her line of vision, he knew she saw him. Not merely the fact she smiled knowingly. Rather, the seductive wink that followed. It surprised him, so much that he stepped back carelessly. He tripped over a fallen tree limb near the bank and fell backward into the stream below. Embraced by sudden coldness penetrating his body far more than the cold Smoky Mountain water could’ve done on its own, he screamed….
He awoke with a start in his bed, panting heavily from the nightmare. The air in the bedroom had become frigid again, and he saw his breath in the room’s dimness. With his teeth chattering, he pulled back his blanket to reveal his drenched pajamas. He hoped it was only perspiration, but then he felt a small muddy leaf stuck to the bottom of his right foot.
I was really there!
He looked over at Miriam. She slept soundly, her bed covers pulled up tightly around her neck to keep warm. He quietly slid out from underneath his covers and stood next to his nightstand, removing his soaked pajamas and dropping them in a pile by the bed. He then checked his side of the bed, relieved to find the blanket, sheet and mattress pad just slightly damp. The stream’s water hadn’t touched anything until the very instant he awoke.
Shivering and with gooseflesh popping up everywhere on his naked body, he quietly lifted another blanket from the cedar chest at the foot of the bed and climbed in on his side. Pulling the blanket up all the way to his nose, he tried to ignore the bed’s cold clamminess pressed against his back. Once the terrible chill left his body, he finally began to drift off to sleep. But just before he did, a loud crack ripped through the air from behind the television set, causing Miriam to stir briefly from her sleep. She readjusted her body on her side of the bed and pulled her covers up even tighter.
As for him, falling asleep again wouldn’t be so easy. He knew the source for the sound. It came from the mousetrap he set the other night, the small metal hinge slamming down on the bait nugget carefully placed on the trap’s wooden base. He knew without checking that it lay empty.
The cable box on a shelf beneath the TV showed the time as 12:40 a.m., and he thought again about the similar times for what happened in Gatlinburg and the incident Sunday night. A definite pattern had emerged. His nervous gaze shifted from one end of the room to the other while he worried what would happen next.
Sleep did come, but only intermittent from then on, and it brought little rest. He awakened several times each hour; while blurred images and shadowy silhouettes flitted between the bedroom and various dreamscapes he visited. He found eventual peace, but not before the early light of dawn drifted into the room, announcing the promise of a bright, but weary, Wednesday morning.
Chapter Thirteen
“You look like you could use a few more of these,” said Ned Badgett, offering David a cup of steaming black coffee. Just after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, the Applewood Associates meeting ended a few minutes ago.
“Thanks.” David grimaced from embarrassment and took the cup from his boss while balancing a manila file against his chest overflowing with report copies from the meeting.
“I’m really sorry I dozed off in there,” he said. “You know it’s not like me to do that.”
“I know,” said Ned, his smile compassionate as they headed back to the mortgage department. “I’m thinking you had a much better time last weekend than you’ve let on. You could probably use another vacation to recover.”
“I’ll be all right.” David tried not to think about the past weekend and everything that had transpired since. “Lord knows I can’t afford to fall any further behind.”
They soon reached his desk. The paperwork pile from yesterday stood taller than his desk lamp and a second pile had recently risen next to it.
“I intend to have all of this cleared away by Friday night at the latest.” He set the file next to his briefcase on his desk. Before he sat down, Ned leaned toward him from across the desk.
“Stephen noticed you dozed off too,” he said.
“He did?”
The thought of Stephen Perrault, one of two chief executives who ran the firm, thinking anything less than positive about him brought a pained grimace to David’s face. Rarely in town, Mr. Perrault often traveled across the country with his sales staff and preferred his team of managers to handle the firm’s day-to-day operations.
“David, it’s okay,” Ned assured him. “He knows you’re our department’s ace, and he’s quite comfortable knowing someday you’ll be running things for us. It’s not just my idea you could use some more time away from the office. He’s the one who first suggested it. Hell, you’ve still got more than six weeks left in your vacation accrual. But getting you to use any of it’s like pulling teeth!”
He chuckled and moved toward the aisle.
“Maybe you’re right,” said David. “When we have some downtime, say in mid-November, I’ll take a few more days.”
“How about a couple weeks off for Thanksgiving?” Ned suggested. “That’s if you survive until then. If I see any more signs you need time off before November, you won’t be allowed back in this place until you’ve taken at least one more week off. You got that?”
“Then who would get this stuff done?”
“Tracy and Dan should be ready for some additional work. Just keep it in mind. I’ll check up on you later this afternoon, and perhaps bring you a refill.”
Ned tapped his own coffee cup before moving back to his office.
“It’s going to take a helluva lot more than two newbies and some coffee, my friend,” David mumbled, turning his attention to the mound of work that awaited him.
***
Anxious to check on the kids, Miriam listened to the phone ring on the other end of the line. Finally, an answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me.” Seated at her desk with her mobile handset pressed close to her face, she glanced toward the open doorway to her office. Almost noon, it had taken nearly four hours to find a moment to call Janice. “Did the kids get off to school okay?”
“The morning went without a hitch, although Ty mentioned something about a missing book report,” said Janice. “He thin
ks he might’ve left it at school yesterday, but he’s not sure.”
“Did Jill remember her fieldtrip money and the permission slip?” Miriam rose up from her chair and moved toward the doorway. She closed the door, muting the latch’s click as much as possible.
“Yeah, she remembered to put the envelope in her back-pack,” said Janice. “All in all it was a smooth go today. Is that the only reason you called?”
“No…it’s not,” she confessed, and then grew silent while deliberating on how to approach what was foremost on her mind.
“So, what’s up?”
“It’s David,” she said.
“Is he being an insensitive ass again?” asked Janice, snickering slightly. “Surely the ‘changed man’ you told me about on Sunday would last longer than a few days.”
“No, that’s not it,” said Miriam. “It’s more like he’s hiding something from me. I’m sure of it.”
“About what’s going on at your house right now, or do you think it’s something else?” Janice now sounded worried. “He’s not having an affair, is he?”
“Oh, no,” laughed Miriam. “I’m surprised you’d say that! But I believe it does have something to do with what’s going on in our home.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for one thing, his reaction to what took place last night seemed odd,” she explained. “It’s like he wasn’t at all surprised to hear the pounding on the ceiling and the strange whispers we heard. I mean, the kids and I were huddled on the couch about to pee our pants because we’re so scared, and he acted like he was searching for a water leak!”
“Maybe he was trying to appear brave,” countered Janice. “How would you have felt if he jumped onto the couch with you and the kids?”
“You’ve got a point, but still….”
“I know you so well, Mir,” she said. “It’s not just what happened last night that’s got you thinking like this.”
Miriam thought about this past Saturday in Cades Cove, and the strange feeling that embraced her when she gazed deeper into the woods beyond the ravine. An incredibly sad and lonely feeling, it made her think of what it had been like when her mother passed away a few years ago.
“I think it’s more the way he’s looked at me since Monday morning,” she said, pushing the unpleasant thought from her awareness. “Like he has something he wants desperately to keep from me. In a way it reminds me of when I busted him for visiting those porn sites on the Internet a few years ago, after he first denied doing it.”
“I remember how pissed off he got about that.”
Janice chuckled. Miriam chuckled as well.
“Well the trip to Gatlinburg was so good.... I just wish I knew what he’s hiding and why,” said Miriam. “I’ll talk to him about it tonight, if you don’t mind the kids hanging out with you for another day or so.”
“You know they can stay with me for as long as you need. Whether Ty can survive that long without his Xbox Live is my only concern.” Janice laughed.
“I appreciate everything, Jan. Oh, and I plan on telling David about your spiritualist friend’s offer to come over and cleanse the house. I’ve got a nagging gut feeling that if we wait too long to take care of this, something terrible will happen.”
“I agree, Mir. I feel the same way.”
“Hey, do you mind if I call you back later? Mary’s at my door trying to get my attention, so it must be important.”
“That’s fine. I’ll talk to you then.
Mary Lavoi stood on the other side of her office door window, waving three large tan envelopes containing x-rays Miriam waited on. She motioned for Mary to come inside her office and bring the envelopes to her. Following a busy morning, the afternoon promised to be even more hectic.
***
Norm Sowell came over to David’s desk at noon. “Did you forget about lunch today?”
“Huh?” David sat up with a start. His laptop lay open with the screen blank. He had dozed off again, and this time for nearly half an hour.
“Man, are you all right?” Norm looked more amused than worried. His furrowed brow and eyes that were a pair of narrow blue slits shining out from his tanned face belied his sly grin. “I do believe you’ve been sleeping on the job, my friend.... Or, maybe having a little too much fun at night, and I don’t necessarily mean at home with the wife.”
“Sh-h-h!” David whispered sternly. “Keep your voice down! Do you want everyone around here to think I’m some slacker? And to answer your other comment, no way, not ever. Your style my friend, not mine.”
Norm stepped back with a look of feigned offense. He moved out into the aisle, arching his back as he scanned the area. Satisfied they were alone, he stepped back inside the cubicle and propped his arms up on either side of the entrance to David’s ‘home away from home’.
“I hate to tell you this, bro, but your pals over here are probably aware you’ve been snoozing, seeing they’ve all left for lunch already,” he said, chuckling. “I suggest we head out before they come back with a pillow and blanky for you!”
“Very funny,” David replied, irritated but finding it hard not to smile. He closed his laptop and took off his glasses, setting them next to his PC. “I think you should drive this time, buddy, because I’m not feeling myself today.”
He grabbed his coat and joined Norm in the aisle.
“No problem.” Norm patted him on the back as they headed for the elevator. “But, you’re going to have to fill me in on the wild escapades obviously keeping you up late these past few nights.” David cut him a look. “With the wife I know, I know!”
The two left the building and headed to Norm’s Jaguar in the parking lot. Since both had busy afternoons awaiting them when they got back, they opted for an O’Charleys a few blocks away. David opted for iced tea instead of his usual beer. Once it arrived along with Norm’s preferred Heineken, David asked a question he thought he’d never consider prior to Sunday night.
“Do you believe in ghosts?”
“You mean the kind that say ‘boo!’ and go bump in the night, like Casper?”
Hating Norm’s contemptuous smirk, David regretted bringing up the subject and the likelihood of being mercilessly teased for the next several months.
“I’m serious.”
Norm’s smirk faded as he studied David from across the booth. He tapped his fingers against the label on his Heineken, obviously buying time to think.
“I can see you are serious,” he said. “I’ve got to admit I’m going to be real disappointed if that’s the reason for your lack of sleep, rather than some intense sex with your lovely wife.”
“Well, do you or don’t you?” asked David, unable to mask his growing irritation.
“It’s hard to say,” Norm replied, relaxing against the back of his seat. “I haven’t even thought about anything like that since I was a young boy with an overactive imagination. Now my imagination’s only active if we’re talking about pussy.” He flashed an impish smile. “Why do you ask?”
“There’s something in our house.”
“You’re not yanking my chain, are you?”
He sipped his beer while his smirk returned, bigger.
“I wish I was,” said David, loathing Norm’s look. He pushed ahead despite this. “More than that, I wish it was something on a small scale, like most of the haunted house shit you see on TV late at night.”
“So, what are you talking about here? If it’s more than some nighttime phantom, is it a screaming banshee, like my auntie used to talk about when I was a youngster?”
“What’s a ‘screaming banshee’?”
Norm shook his head and took another drink from his Heineken, glancing at his wristwatch before answering David.
“According to Estella, my aunt, a screaming banshee is a restless spirit who’s often given to spells of violence—like shattering glasses or throwing candlesticks and shit like that across a room,” he said. “You know, your basic poltergeist activity. Also, legend sa
ys they fly shrieking into forests late at night. It’s Old Irish folklore.”
“How in the hell do you know so much about this stuff?”
Norm’s knowledge of the supernatural impressed David, suspecting it far exceeded his own, to his surprise.
“How in the hell do you not!” Norm replied. “You grew up in the south. Don’t tell me you never heard any ghost stories growing up in Chattanooga.”
Their food arrived. They moved their plates and utensils aside to allow enough room for the large platter of ribs set before them. As soon as the waiter moved on to his next table, David picked up where they left off.
“To be honest, I don’t remember hearing any stories like that,” he said. “I mean, I vaguely recall a few times when ghosts were mentioned. But my childhood was such that I avoided my folks’ discussions since they usually led to a fight anyway.”
He grew sad reminiscing on his early youth.
“Hey, we don’t have to talk about the past if you’d rather not,” said Norm, placing a small pile of ribs on his plate. By now his latest smirk had disappeared, which made David feel less self conscious. “We’ll keep it to the here and now.”
“Okay,” he said, exhaling deeply.
He told Norm what happened on Sunday night when he heard the mysterious female voice calling to him from downstairs. He paused to put some ribs on his plate, and to study Norm’s expression. For the moment Norm seemed interested, so he shared everything else that had taken place through yesterday evening.
“You’ve got some pretty weird shit going on, my friend,” observed Norm, between rib bites. “I take it something else happened later last night for you to be as tired as you are today.”
“Yeah, something did,” said David. “Miriam and I dropped the kids off at Janice’s place, where they’ll be staying until we figure out how to get rid of this thing. Meanwhile, back at our house, the ghost or whatever it is set up some kind of strange symbol or message in our bedroom. It did it while I waited downstairs for Miriam to return after she took some clothes for the kids and other stuff to Janice’s.”