Teacher's Pet

by Richie T Cusick

  He seemed to mull the words over. The faintest hint of a smile struggled over his lips, and he allowed her a quick glance, almost shy. “Maybe,” he mumbled grudgingly.

  “I’ll come back to see you,” she promised.

  “At home. I’m not staying.”

  “Well… we’ll see.”

  Kate was still puzzling over Pearce’s words when she got back to camp, though she’d kept up a valiant effort all the way home to act as if nothing were wrong. The more she learned about Rowena, the more apprehensive she felt… the more alive the girl became… the more possible the whole thing seemed. Yet deep down Kate knew it wasn’t possible, that Rowena had died in a fire, and that whatever was going on was something strange and dangerous that she couldn’t understand. Stay away from Gideon, Pearce had said—but why? Because of his nervous breakdown? Did Pearce think he was unstable? Or could it be that Pearce is… jealous? And stay away from me, Pearce had said, Gideon really likes you. Is it that Pearce doesn’t want to compete with Gideon? And then Pearce’s other words kept drifting back—“Rowena would be jealous of that.” But Rowena’s dead… she can’t be jealous of me… she’s dead… she died in a fire….

  “Denzil?” Kate caught hold of his arm as he jumped out of the van. “I need to ask you something.”

  “What took you so long?” He grinned. “Of course I’ll marry you.”

  Kate ignored him, her voice urgent. “You remember that girl you told me about—Merriam—the one last summer?”

  “Who threw herself all over Gideon? Yeah. What about her?”

  “How did she die?”

  Denzil cocked his head at her, eyes narrowing. “Is this really necessary?”

  “Yes. I want to know.”

  “Okay,” he sighed. “It was a fire. She died in a fire.”

  Kate’s skin crawled. “A… fire? But you said—I thought—it was suicide—”

  “Right. Deliberately set. She waited till she was alone and—come on, do I have to go into all the gory details? She started it in her room at her house and that was that. Why? What’s the big deal?”

  “It’s… for this story I’m thinking of,” Kate mumbled.

  “Great. Remember to cut me in for royalties.”

  Kate nodded and backed away. “I have to go to class.”

  “Mind taking notes for me again?” His grin faltered and went crooked. “You okay?”

  Kate smiled. “Yeah, see you later.”

  There was a notice on the door that Gideon’s class had been canceled. With the scene at the clinic still haunting her, Kate set out walking, hoping to distract her growing uneasiness. Sitting by the lake, trying to make herself at one with its deep serenity, she supposed she’d heard the sound in the woods for some time before it actually registered. When she followed it to an overgrown thicket, she was surprised to see Gideon there, his jeans and shirt soaked with sweat, an axe poised above his head as he stood back and surveyed the tree he was cutting. She stood for a long time, staring at the axe, remembering the shadow on the bank of the inlet. She sensed somehow that Gideon knew she was there, though he went doggedly back to the tree again, breaking limbs with his bare hands, flinging them roughly to the growing pile at his feet. At last the axe lowered. He wiped at his upper lip and afforded her a quick glance.

  “I’m sorry about class. I know people were counting on me.”

  “I don’t think they’ll mind,” Kate said quietly. “I heard they were all going horseback riding somewhere.”

  “Then why aren’t you with them?”

  “I’d rather be here with you.”

  Another glance, and his hand rested lightly on his hip. “You must be desperate for entertainment, if this is the best you can do.”

  Kate ignored him. “Is this more fun for you than teaching?”

  “Pearce isn’t here. Someone has to do his work.”

  “Don’t you have employees for this sort of thing? I’m sure if you just asked someone—”

  “It’s good for me.” Gideon cut her off. “I feel better afterwards.” He picked up the axe again, turning it over slowly in his hands. “The control one has…” For a moment he stared at it, then his eyes slid over her and stayed.

  “Pearce looks good—” Kate changed the subject—“don’t you think so?”

  He nodded, rather mechanically, Kate noted.

  “He wants to come home,” she said.

  “Tomorrow, perhaps. By tomorrow they’ll be begging me to take him.” He gave a wry smile. “So. What do you expect me to say?”

  Kate looked surprised. “I don’t expect you to say anything.”

  “You didn’t come just to chat. Pearce talked about me, didn’t he? About my… condition? My credibility?”

  Kate saw the muscle tense in his jaw, the spots of color on his cheeks. His hand tightened around the axe handle and he swung so hard that she jumped.

  “He didn’t say much at all. Gideon—” Kate bit her lip, almost afraid to go on. “Gideon, if there’s anything you want to talk about—anything at all—I want to hear it. I want to.”

  “Don’t feel sorry for me. Nothing makes me angrier.” Another blow with the axe, and the tree shook to its very roots.

  “I’m not feeling sorry for you. I’m just trying to make some sense of everything. William’s friends don’t know me, and they don’t have any reason to come after me, even if they did know me. But someone wants to scare me, and I want to know who and why.”

  He struck another blow. The blade wedged in the fleshy part of the tree, and he worked it out… twisting it… side to side. “I thought you liked to be scared.”

  Something about the way he said it… the dark amusement she couldn’t quite read. Kate stared at him, and then the words blurted out before she could stop them.

  “And I thought you liked me. So why won’t you help?”

  This time the axe froze in midair… quivered… lowered slowly to the ground.

  “I do like you,” he said hoarsely. “And that’s why this frightens me more than you could ever know.” As she gazed up at him, he gave a sigh and came to stand beside her. “It’s not just Rowena. It’s William. It’s… everything. Everything is very, very… wrong, somehow.”

  “You’re worried about William, aren’t you? You don’t think he’s just hidden himself off somewhere.”

  “No. I think he’s dead.”

  Kate’s eyes widened. Gideon leaned back against a tree and looked down at her.

  “He could have had so much—William—but he’s always been jealous of everyone and everything. He’s the most pathetic person I’ve ever known. He hated Rowena for her beauty, and me for my talent. As long as I can remember, he’s begrudged us every happiness and every accomplishment. He spoils anything pure and good. He can’t bear to see anyone else happy.”

  “And he’s always been like that? Even when your parents were alive?”

  “Yes. They tried very hard to deal with it, but nothing seemed to work. He always won them over with promises to reform.”

  “Which he always broke?”

  Gideon nodded. “He’s always hated Pearce, felt that Pearce is beneath him. William took great pleasure in humiliating him, and he was jealous of Pearce and Rowena’s relationship. Rowena adored Pearce—not as her adopted brother; it was always more than that. They were in love. And Rowena was always afraid of William, ever since she was a child. God only knows what he did to torment her when no one was looking—I’m sure he threatened her with horrible things, but she’d never talk about him.”

  “But that’s so awful.” Kate shook her head. “So terrible for all of you, what he’s put you through—”

  “After the accident, there were only the four of us. Rowena was inconsolable, and even though she and I had always been very close, she seemed to need me so much more after that. She… well… clung to me… depended on me far too much. I should never have allowed her to grow that dependent… but I felt sorry for her and wanted to help.”

/>   “Because you were her security,” Kate thought aloud. “Her protection from William.”

  “Yes, I tried to protect her from William. I kept trying to get him to leave, but he wouldn’t. He was drinking and running up hundreds of bills we couldn’t pay. Pearce found work in the village to help out, but I had to find what jobs I could in other towns nearby. I hated it, going off and leaving her, but at least I knew Pearce was watching out for her. And then I found out William was trying to get rid of Pearce—trying to drive him off the property, making life miserable for him—even more than usual. Pearce wouldn’t leave without Rowena. And William wouldn’t let Rowena leave.”

  “Couldn’t they just sneak away? Without William knowing?”

  “They tried. Once. But somehow William found out about it and did something to their car. Pearce was in a coma for days. Rowena… withdrew even more.”

  “But surely there was some kind of legal action—”

  Gideon shook his head miserably. “William had lawyer friends, as well—and as crooked as they come. I even made a deal with him—I’d already gotten some favorable comments about one of my manuscripts, a publisher who was definitely interested—so I told William I’d put his name on it if he’d just take the royalties and leave.”

  “But he didn’t go?”

  Gideon ran one hand through his hair and closed his eyes. “I should have known better, but I would have tried anything. And William loved the sudden notice the book brought him. He started playing the part of the famous author, passing himself off as some great literary genius. It was his idea to start having writers conferences here, and I agreed because we needed the money so badly.”

  Kate looked down at the windblown leaves and tried to shut out the pain in Gideon’s voice.

  “And then”—he drew a shaky breath—“that night. Pearce was on a job and was spending the night in the village. And I… was two hundred miles away. They knocked on his door about midnight… said there was a fire up at the house—” Gideon closed his eyes and was silent. After a moment he spoke again, chillingly calm. “By the time I got there, it was over. We think Rowena set the fire deliberately—to kill William—but somehow… she got trapped. Pearce tried to go in after her, but the heat and smoke were too much for him. They kept him at the clinic overnight. William was rushed to the main hospital. There was… nothing left of Rowena.”

  Kate swallowed over the lump in her throat, forcing horrible images from her mind. “Gideon—”

  “I had to work, we needed the money—”

  “Of course you did! You were doing the right thing. You were helping her—”

  “But if only I’d been there! Maybe it wouldn’t have happened—or maybe I could have saved her—”

  “You can’t keep thinking that. You can’t keep blaming yourself.” Yet Kate knew by the desperation in his voice that her words had no effect; the guilt had been there too long. “Gideon, please—don’t do this. You’re hurting yourself so much, and it won’t change what happened.”

  “I fell apart,” he said, as if she hadn’t spoken. “I completely fell apart. I couldn’t deal with it. I still can’t.”

  “Please stop—I’m telling you, all this talk won’t change things—”

  “But what if things are changed?” Gideon said slowly, and his eyes burned into her with such sudden darkness… such sudden emptiness. “What if things have always been changed?”

  “What—what are you—?”

  “I never saw the remains. I didn’t, and William didn’t. What if… Rowena is still alive?”

  Kate felt her head move… someone else’s head on someone else’s shoulders. “Gideon…”

  “And it was her outside the house, and she did tell you her name, and William is missing because she finally succeeded in doing what she wanted to do her whole life—”

  “But—but—” Kate’s mind was spinning out of control. “Where would she live? How would she live?”

  “And maybe she’s not buried at all, she just set the fire and disappeared, and now she’s having her revenge—” He came closer. “You think I’m crazy, I know. Poor Gideon, never quite recovered from the shock—but you’re the one who said it couldn’t be William’s friends, didn’t you? You’re the one—”

  “I’m the one being terrorized!. There was blood in my room—my things practically destroyed—someone slashed up my clothes—and why did that trap just happen to be there at that cave you sent me to?” She hadn’t realized her voice was getting louder or that she’d leaped to her feet or that her face was inches from his as all her anger and fear spewed out. She didn’t even realize his arms were around her until she felt his kisses smothering her cries and felt warm tears streaking her cheeks. “Oh, Gideon,” she sobbed, “if it’s really Rowena, why does she want to hurt me?”

  For an endless moment there were only Kate’s quiet tears and Gideon’s comforting sounds as he held her.

  “My God, Kate, my God….” He sounded dazed, pulling away from her, his expression alarmed. “Just listen to me—to us! You must think me completely mad—carrying on the way I have, frightening you like this—frightening myself! Of course Rowena’s not alive—it’s absolutely impossible—ridiculous to even consider. I don’t know what’s gotten into me—William disappearing the way he has, and the power of suggestion, I suppose—for God’s sake, Kate, can you forgive me? Of course there’s no one after you, it’s only pranks—some other student’s envy because you’re the most talented writer in the lot. And that trap—Pearce will tell you about our problems with poachers. It’s nothing new, believe me. The trap was meant for no one… only some defenseless animal.”

  Kate looked up at him, wanting so much to believe him. “Why do you think William’s dead?”

  Gideon hesitated, looked as though he were debating over his answer. “It’s… just a feeling.”

  “It’s the glove,” Kate said accusingly. “The one I found on our walk. It was his, wasn’t it?”

  “All right, so it was. But he’s always losing his gloves, that’s nothing suspicious.”

  “You turned pale when you saw it,” Kate challenged him. “And now you’re lying to me.”

  Gideon’s sigh was tinged with impatience. “Let’s walk back. It must be time for dinner.”

  “I can find my own way, thank you very much.”

  “Kate! Come back—don’t be like that.”

  But Kate didn’t turn around nor did she stop walking until she saw the lodge ahead and Tawney waving at her from the porch.

  “Kate! Did you know you have a message in here?”

  Puzzled, Kate followed her inside and stared at the envelope that was tacked to the bulletin board on the wall.

  “I don’t know how long it’s been there.” Tawney shrugged apologetically. “I hardly ever come in here, and there’s always so much junk on this board anyway. One of the other girls noticed it, so I thought I’d better tell you.”

  “Thanks, Tawney,” Kate mumbled. She stared at her name typed on the envelope. “I can’t imagine…”

  “Oh, I hope it’s not bad news,” Tawney worried. “But they wouldn’t just stick it up there, would they? Wouldn’t they send a telegram or a messenger or a private detective or something?”

  Kate gave a wry smile. “Let’s have a look.” She pulled the paper out and unfolded it. She read the four neat lines in the middle of the page.

  She felt the room recede around her… sway… and fade into a black, deep shadow.

  “Kate?” Tawney whispered. “What is it?” With shaking fingers, Kate handed over the paper, but the typed words flashed like neon in her brain.

  One little teacher’s pet

  Feeling so perplexed…

  William’s gone to pieces

  And you’ll… be… next.

  Chapter 18

  “ANYBODY COULD’VE PUT it there,” said Denzil. “People go in and out all day and night. Besides, we don’t even know how long it was up before somebody noticed it.”


  “So it could have been put there yesterday,” Kate figured.

  “Yeah, or any other time. Did you notice anyone watching when you read it?”

  Kate shook her head. “I was too upset to notice. We came straight here.”

  Beside her, Tawney was wringing her hands, her eyes growing wide with fear. “Oh, what does that mean about William going to pieces! It has something to do with that hand Kate thought she saw, doesn’t it, and you’re just not telling me—”

  Denzil threw a look at Kate. “Don’t worry about it. It’s just somebody playing a joke.”

  “Oh, I’m so scared! There might be pieces of William all over camp, and we’ll never know where we’ll trip over him or fall over him or—”

  “Tawney.” Denzil grabbed her and glared as several of the kitchen crew tossed curious glances their way. “Will you please… shut… up? What are you trying to do, anyway? Start a stampede? We don’t want everyone getting spooked about this—we’re not even sure what’s going on!”

  Tawney nodded vigorously, and Denzil sighed, turning his attention back to a sinkful of pots and pans.

  “I told you,” he grumbled. “I told you not to trust Gideon.”

  “Not trust Gideon!” Kate burst out. “How can you say that? After all the pain he’s been through—the grief—the—”

  “And has it ever occurred to you,” Denzil said calmly, “that he might be a little off balance?” He tapped his head. “The whole family, as a matter of fact. All of them loco.”

  Kate bristled. “I can’t even believe you’re thinking such a thing! I wish now I hadn’t even told you what he said! He trusted me!”

  “He caught you,” Denzil cut in. “You’re bound to him now. He revealed deep, dark secrets to you.” Denzil snorted. “Just another reason for someone to want you out of the way.”

  “And what is that supposed to mean?”

  “Look, the closer you get to this guy, the more dangerous it seems to be getting for you. Or haven’t you noticed? How do you even know Gideon’s telling the truth?”

  “Well, why wouldn’t he be telling me the truth?” she asked indignantly.