“Jody, darling, do you know who I am?”
The struggle intensified in the boy, and when Dora would have spoken, Ginnie touched her arm lightly and shook her head. At least the “m” sound was easier to achieve than “k,” and in a moment Jody said “Ma” clearly. When he’d managed the one syllable, he began to cry, tears running down his cheeks.
Ruth picked up his hand and pressed it to her face. “That’s wonderful, darling! It’s all right—don’t cry. I do understand. You must have worried a lot. I was afraid to come to see you because it might upset you all the more if you began to remember. But everything’s fine now. What happened wasn’t your fault, Jody. You must never think that.” She looked up at her husband, standing impassively beside her chair. “Tyler, you can’t send Jody away. Please! Let Kelsey come to help him, and help Ginnie. You really must do this.”
Tyler continued to look blank, his dark eyes empty, as though nothing that had happened had moved him in the least. “Whatever you wish,” he said dully.
Ruth gave him a bright, tearful smile. “We have so much room in this house. Can’t we ask Kelsey to come and stay for a little while? If she could be here all the time, then what happened last night might be prevented. Jody, would you like Kelsey to stay here with us?”
“No!” Jody cried with great enthusiasm.
“It’s all right,” Ginnie told Ruth quickly. “He means ‘yes.’ I do think it would be a real help if Kelsey could move in and be on call.”
“Would you, Kelsey?” Ruth cried.
She looked at Tyler. “I’ll come if Mr. Hammond won’t send me away, along with Jody, at the end of the week.”
Tyler thought for a moment, his dark face still expressing nothing. But when he spoke to Ruth his words were mild enough. “We can try it and see how her staying in the house works out. But if she upsets Jody, we’ll return to the first plan. Let me know when you want to go upstairs, Ruth. Don’t wear yourself out.”
He walked out of the room, his back reminding Kelsey of one of those granite slabs below Tor House. Yet now and then she’d glimpsed a chink in the rocky armor. Perhaps his guard was extreme because he feared the emotion that might break through. Once more, she felt touched by sympathy for him, but she resisted it, lest it weaken her resolve to help his son.
She spoke reassuringly to Jody. “I’m going to the inn now so I can pack some of my clothes. If a room can be fixed for me, I’ll come back in an hour or so. I have some things in mind that we can try together, Jody, and that might be fun. So I’ll see you very soon.”
“Thank you, Kelsey,” Ruth said, still tearful. “I know you can help Jody. If you happen to see Denis, please tell him I need him. He mustn’t stay away any longer.”
“I’ll tell him,” Kelsey promised, but a question was growing in her mind. Somewhere along the way, she had been allowed to think that Ruth wanted to send Jody away, and that she had refused to see her brother. Who had been trying to deceive her? Tyler? Denis? Ginnie? Dora? By this time she wasn’t sure, but it could very well have been Tyler.
She went outside quickly, and ran up the steps to the upper level, feeling relieved. Tomorrow Marisa’s Dr. Norman would probably come, and possibilities would open up to speed Jody’s healing. It might even be good for her to live at the house where she could see him whenever she wished. Then she could do much more for him. Through this little boy, her own healing had begun, her own grief had been assuaged a little.
When she climbed to the garage area, she found a second car parked beside her aunt’s. Denis Langford sat at the wheel, and the moment he saw her he got out of the car.
“Hi, Kelsey. I’ve decided to storm the fort. I won’t let them keep me away any longer. Even if Ruth doesn’t want to see me, I’ve got to see her!”
“She does want to see you,” Kelsey said. “But you can’t go barging in like a white knight, sword in hand. Come back to the inn first so I can tell you about what’s happened. Away from this house.” She glanced over her shoulder as she spoke, and saw Dora once more at an upstairs window, watching. Denis saw her too, and for a moment she was afraid he would do what he’d geared up his courage to do—assault the house. Then he grinned sheepishly and got back in his car.
X
At the inn, Denis was called to the desk, and he showed Kelsey the way to his office along a wooden gallery built above an inner courtyard.
“My rooms are at the end, Kelsey. Wait for me there, and I’ll be with you in a minute.”
She enjoyed the rambling galleries and courts that made up the Manzanita Inn. It had grown over the years as new owners added on, and she stood for a moment looking down at a small fountain lined with Spanish tiles—a touch of old California.
Where the gallery ended, she found herself at the open door of what was apparently both Denis’s office and his living quarters. From a big central room, stairs mounted to a gallery level of bedroom and bath. There were no windows at this lower level, but skylights in the roof banished shadows. A walnut desk held a prominent position, and there were files and a place for a stenographer to work. There were also armchairs, lamps, and a bookcase to make this a living room as well.
Kelsey went to look at two framed photographs on Denis’s desk. One was a studio portrait of his sister—a lovely picture that must have been taken when she was much younger. The other was an enlarged snapshot of a young, pretty Dora standing beside a man in full dress uniform. The General, of course. Dora wore the same air of uncertainty that was characteristic of her now. There was nothing uncertain about the man beside her. The rugged, rather ruthless face seemed to indicate all that Kelsey had learned about him. General Schuyler Bridges Langford must have done his part to cripple whatever lives came close to him. And probably without ever realizing it—because his way would always seem right and best to him. Looking at the picture, she felt even more sympathy for Denis.
On the desk pad lay three loose black beads, placed close together, as though to prevent their rolling. They looked unusual and Kelsey picked them up. Each bead had a different face carved in black ebony—tiny, grotesque faces done in amazing detail. On one side of each bead was a miniature face, the features carefully etched, so that piercing eyes, distorted mouths, and elongated ears were shown. On the other side, intricately braided strands of hair had been carved in the wood. The work was beautifully executed, and undoubtedly African. Nevertheless, the beads repelled and chilled her because the little faces had an evil look. Somewhere recently she had seen a strand of black beads, but she couldn’t recall where.
She replaced the beads on the desk pad, and moved on around the room. What was surely a Marisa Marsh black and white photograph dominated one wall—a splendid interior shot taken at Tor House. She recognized the bedroom with its sea window—the bed in which Robinson Jeffers had died peacefully in a snowstorm. Marisa had managed to convey a brooding sense to the scene. It seemed intensely real, as though Jeffers himself might walk through the door at any moment.
She turned as Denis breezed in, and was struck once more by his youthful look. He had managed long ago to put on a guise of cheerfulness that stood him in good stead, though she knew by now the sadness that existed underneath.
“Now we can talk without interruption,” he said. “How do you like my place?”
“It’s perfect.”
He shrugged. “I’m always living in borrowed homes. One of these days I’ll move into something of my own. Sit down, Kelsey, do, and tell me what happened this morning.”
She glanced again at the Tor House photograph. “When you were telling me about the jobs you’ve tried, you never mentioned that you’d worked on some of Tyler Hammond’s films. He said you were very good with a camera.”
Denis dismissed the subject. “It didn’t seem worth mentioning. Let’s talk, Kelsey. Then I can get back to the house and try to see Ruth.”
She sat in one of the armchairs, and told him about Jody’s attempt to form words, and even trying to say her name; about Ruth’s
unexpected appearance when Tyler wheeled her into Jody’s room. And of how Jody had managed to say “Ma.”
Denis was silent, as though this might be a lot to absorb. He’d lost his cheerful look, thoughtfully sober as he asked a question.
“How did Ruth seem? How did she respond?”
“Very well, I thought. She reassured Jody and told him that the accident wasn’t his fault. If he can remember, he may have been brooding about this. Then she sprang a surprise by asking Tyler to have me move into the house so I could work with Jody on a regular basis. I told them that I would if they didn’t plan to send Jody away in a week or so.”
Denis looked astonished. “Will he allow that?”
“He’ll let me move in and try. Ruth wants to see you. She asked me to tell you—so now you needn’t storm the fort. There’s still an uneasy atmosphere, and I guess we’ll all have to move carefully. I didn’t think you should go in there until I’d had a chance to tell you what’s happening.”
Denis was roaming about the room in his usual restless way, but now he sat down at his desk. “I wonder what’s happened to change things. You, maybe? Perhaps Ruth will start to get well herself now.”
“I hope so. The only person who isn’t responding naturally is Tyler. He’s holding on to himself for some reason, and he’s said strange things about the situation at the house being explosive. He doesn’t yet dare believe that Jody will improve enough to matter. He doesn’t appreciate what an achievement small things can be at this point. Anyway, I’m going to move up there for now. If you’ll wait till I pack a few things, I can go back with you. I’ll let Aunt Elaine know and join you in a few minutes.”
“She’s at the cottage now, so let’s go see her and I’ll wait while you pack.”
Denis put his hand on the desk pad as he stood up, and the little black beads rolled. He saw them for the first time and stood staring down in something more than surprise. It seemed to Kelsey that he looked shocked.
“Where did these come from?”
“They were there when I came in. Why?”
“Tyler must have been here.”
“I don’t see how he could have been, since he was at the house. Unless he came earlier. What’s wrong, Denis?”
He sat down again at his desk and stared at the three tiny faces, grinning maliciously up at him from the pad. When he spoke, it was as if to himself and almost by rote.
“Marisa has a theory about evil. She thinks it’s more than just an absence of what’s good. She thinks it’s a force in itself—maybe even a necessary part of life. Because there are always opposites. Dark and light. Happiness and grief. Goodness and wickedness. Poles that attract and repel—and balance the universe. When there’s real wickedness, rationalization can be carried to an extreme. What happens is always someone else’s fault. The owner of these beads was that sort of person.”
He stared now, not at the beads, but at the picture of his father and mother.
“You’re thinking of your father, aren’t you, Denis? Did the beads belong to him?”
He looked startled, but he didn’t answer. Gingerly, as if they revolted him, he picked up the little black beads, folded them in a bit of tissue, and stored them in a brass box on his desk.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this later. I’m sorry, Kelsey. I didn’t mean to carry on.”
As they walked to the door together, he put an arm about her for a moment, and she knew he was thanking her for listening.
At the cottage, Elaine approved the new move at once. “Yes, of course you must do this. Take her up there, Denis. I’ll look in on the girls at the desk and keep an eye on things.”
Kelsey went upstairs to pack some things in a suitcase. If she stayed, she could come back for more.
They left as soon as she rejoined Denis. On the way he was silent, thoughtful, more than a little anxious. When they reached the House of Shadow Hana let them in at the front door and Denis asked for his mother. Hana said she’d gone out some little while before.
“Mrs. Langford had some shopping to do, and I think she went to the Valley.”
“Then I’ll see my sister,” Denis said, and Kelsey sensed that he braced himself.
“Mrs. Hammond is on the living-room balcony,” Hana told him. “This is the first time she’s been there since—since what happened.”
“Thanks, Hana. I’ll look for her there. Kelsey, will you come with me for a few moments? This seems a good sign, but I’m afraid of upsetting her, saying the wrong thing. It might help to have someone else there at first.”
“Of course,” Kelsey said, and put down her suitcase.
Hana picked it up at once. “Mr. Hammond chose a lovely bedroom for you upstairs, Mrs. Stewart. I’ll take your bag there now, and when you’re ready I’ll show you where it is.”
She went off and Denis crossed the foyer to the big living room with its beamed ceiling and great limestone fireplace. They could see Ruth’s wheelchair through the open balcony door, so Tyler must have carried her down here. She sat motionless, her back toward them. Beyond her, the mists had cleared and sun was coming through to bathe the splendid view.
For a moment, Denis hesitated. Then he spoke softly to Kelsey. “More than anything else right now, I want to help my sister. This may not be a comfortable meeting. She may not understand why I’ve had to stay away. So help, if you can, Kelsey.”
She wasn’t sure what she could do, but she followed him through the open door. Denis stopped beside Ruth’s chair, and she looked up at him with the same emptiness in her eyes that Kelsey had seen before.
“You were long enough coming, Denis. Kelsey, I’m glad you’re moving in. No matter what Tyler thinks, I believe you can help my son.” But she spoke in a monotone, and Kelsey wondered whether she believed.
“I’m going to try,” she promised.
Even though she had asked for him, Ruth seemed guarded toward her brother, blaming him in some way. Kelsey stepped to the balcony rail, looking out toward the water, giving the two behind her a chance to make their peace.
They were talking softly now, so perhaps she wasn’t needed. She gave her attention to the hillside, dropping steeply away below the house. Only a few nearby pines rose taller than the roof. The rest grew down the hillside, so that one looked out over a billowing sea of dark, whispering green toward the blue of the ocean. Surf creaming in, trimming the waves with white lace, marked the edge of the continent. To the right Point Lobos cut into the water, with the village of Carmel visible beyond. This was a view from the opposite side from the Carmel beach. On the left, where the land curved around the water like an enclosing arm, she could see again the long ridges of the Santa Lucia Mountains.
The two behind her were silent now, and Ruth wheeled her chair closer to Kelsey. “There’s a path down there near a stream that runs through the woods to the sea. Dogs who’ve belonged to this house are buried down there in a small enclosed space. And you’ll find a little marble statue hidden among the trees. There’s even a gate and some green steps—though we don’t know why, because they lead nowhere. You’ll enjoy exploring, Kelsey, but stick to the path and watch out for poison oak.”
“I’ll walk down when I have time,” Kelsey said.
Ruth looked up at her brother, her lips suddenly trembling. Tears came into her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. It was part of her weakness that she cried so easily. At once Denis dropped to his knees beside her chair and pressed his cheek against hers. The ice jam had broken, and Kelsey was no longer needed for moral support. She slipped away and neither brother nor sister seemed to notice her going.
She thought of what Denis had said about evil. The General had probably left his indelible stamp on both of them, and made their lives difficult enough without this further blight that had been set upon them. Perhaps those wicked little beads were just the sort of thing that would have appealed to him. Though why they’d been placed on Denis’s desk now she couldn’t guess.
Ginnie Soong met her at t
he door of Jody’s room. “I’m glad you’ll be in the house now, Kelsey. I’m so busy with Jody’s physical needs that there’s never enough time for anything else. So you can help a lot. Right now he’s sleeping. He’s had a pretty exciting day, so we’d better let him rest for a while. Why don’t you get settled in your room and come back in a couple of hours?”
That was fine with her, and Kelsey found Hana waiting in the hall to show her upstairs. Her room was big and comfortable. Windows seemed to let in the outdoors, and again there was a small balcony, its painted white floor strewn with pine needles.
“They get into everything,” Hana said. “Somebody’s always sweeping them away, but they blow in again with every breeze. I love it here—it’s so beautiful. You should see the woods in springtime. The hill along the stream is white with calla lilies, and there are wildflowers everywhere.”
“Where are you from, Hana?” Kelsey asked.
“I grew up around here. I’m saving to put myself through school, and Mr. Hammond says he’ll help. Someday I’m going to open my own Japanese restaurant in Carmel.
“I think you will,” Kelsey said, glad of Hana’s friendly presence in a house that sometimes showed its hostility.
“I just hope the peanut shells won’t bother you,” Hana said from the doorway.
“Peanut shells?”
“This is the haunted room. Of course there has to be a haunted room, doesn’t there? A gentleman ghost who eats peanuts visits this one, and he leaves shells around on the floor. So don’t mind if you find them.”
“I hope I will,” Kelsey said. A peanut-eating ghost seemed rather pleasant to have around.
When Hana had gone, Kelsey moved about the room, getting used to it. There was an enormous old-fashioned walnut bed with a heavily carved headboard, the bed covered by a green and white patchwork quilt. On a bureau, dark with more carving, sat a small lamp with a china globe strewn with pink and green flowers. It had been an oil lamp originally, for a chimney rose above the globe, but now it shed an electric yellow glow.
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