0425273059

by Miranda James

  “All right, then,” Dickce said. “I’ll see you back at our cottage.” She headed for the kitchen.

  An’gel picked up her purse, checked to make sure she had her keys and her wallet, and then let herself out the front door to make her way carefully through the wet grounds to where the Lexus was parked.

  She returned an hour later with several bags, and Benjy came out to assist her with them. She thanked him, then said, “I overheard a woman at the grocery store talking about the weather. Apparently the next wave of thunderstorms that’s headed our way will be more violent than what we’ve had already.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Benjy said. “I checked the forecast on the Internet a little while ago, and it was saying the same thing.” He took all but one of the bags from her, and she let them into the cottage.

  “How are Peanut and Endora doing?” An’gel asked as they walked into the tiny kitchen area off the small living room.

  “They were pretty restless earlier.” Benjy set the bags on the counter and began unpacking them. “They’re still a little on edge, I guess because they can sense there’s more to come. Funny how animals can tell things like that.”

  “I feel a bit edgy myself,” An’gel confessed. She opened the compact refrigerator and put the eggs, milk, and cheese inside.

  “I’m sorry about your cousin,” Benjy said. “I know you’re worried about her.”

  “Yes, it’s a bad situation,” An’gel said. “All we can do now is pray.”

  In his quietly efficient way, Benjy had finished putting things away. He rolled up the plastic bags and stowed them in a drawer. “If there isn’t anything else I can do right now, I guess I’ll go back next door and read. I don’t like to leave the kids alone too long.”

  “You go right ahead,” An’gel said. “And if you want something to snack on, help yourself.” She knew Benjy was often hungry between meals, and she had bought extra fruit and a few snack items for him.

  Benjy grinned. “Thanks. I’ll take a couple of things with me.” He chose an apple, a banana, and a package of cheese and crackers. “See you later.”

  After the door closed behind him, An’gel went to Dickce’s bedroom and quietly opened the door. Her sister lay on her side on her bed, evidently asleep, so An’gel pulled the door shut and moved away. She might as well nap herself, she decided, because she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep with a violent storm going on around them. Best take advantage of the lull in the weather and get some rest.

  An’gel quickly disrobed and slipped on her nightgown, then lay down on the bed. She prayed for several minutes for her cousin, and then dropped off to sleep not long after.

  She jerked awake several hours later, thanks to the crash of thunder. Moments later, lightning flashed, and she counted the seconds until the next boom. Four seconds. The storm was about four miles away.

  She dressed quickly and left the bedroom. She found Dickce in the living room, sitting in a chair with its back to the inside wall.

  “I was going to wake you up in a minute if the storm didn’t,” Dickce said. She, like An’gel, hated thunderstorms. Their mother had been terrified of weather like this and would hide herself and her daughters in a first-floor closet at Riverhill whenever storms threatened. The sisters had conquered the worst of their fears of bad weather, but their mother’s legacy lingered.

  An’gel retrieved a chair from the kitchen area and brought it to sit beside Dickce. For a few minutes, An’gel shared with Dickce the events of the morning at Willowbank, while Dickce was at the hospital in Baton Rouge. Once the storm was overhead, however, neither of them spoke. For the longest time, it seemed to stall right above them. They huddled together, their breathing ragged, until after an eternity the storm began to move away.

  An’gel got up, intent on fetching a bottle of water for each of them from the fridge, but a knock on the door halted her. She opened the door to find Benjy, with Endora on his shoulder and Peanut at his side, standing there. Peanut looked frightened, and Endora had her head against the side of Benjy’s face.

  An’gel motioned them in and shut the door behind them. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  Peanut loped over to Dickce, woofing happily, but Endora remained on Benjy’s shoulder.

  “We’re okay,” Benjy said with a faint smile. “But the guys were really spooked by the weather. Peanut spent the whole time under the bed with Endora.” He chuckled. “A couple of times I was tempted to join them.”

  “Poor babies,” Dickce said as she rubbed the Labradoodle’s head. “I don’t blame them. It was a pretty fierce storm.”

  “It certainly was,” An’gel said.

  “The bad thing is,” Benjy said, his face darkening, “it’s not over. I checked the forecast, and there’s another wave of it moving right at us. Should be here within the next hour.”

  An’gel shuddered. She wasn’t sure her nerves, or Dickce’s, could take much more of this scary weather.

  “From what I could see, there are a lot of limbs down, and the ditches are overflowing,” Benjy said. “I guess Willowbank is high enough up it’s not in danger of flooding, but we’re considerably lower here.”

  “Do you think we should move up to Willowbank then?” An’gel asked. Benjy’s evident uneasiness made her even more nervous.

  Benjy nodded. “Yes, ma’am. The radar showed a big system, and it’s probably packing a lot of rain and high winds. I think we’d be safer up there.”

  “All right then.” An’gel nodded decisively. “Let’s pack up quickly what we need for the night, and put it in the car. We’ll drive up there. I don’t want to leave the car here and have it washed away.”

  “I’ve got my stuff and the guys’ food and everything ready,” Benjy said. “Just need to load it.”

  An’gel found her handbag and dug out her keys. She gave them to Benjy. “We’ll be out right away.”

  Twenty minutes later they were all safely inside Willowbank, with the Lexus stowed in the old stables that had been transformed decades ago into a multicar garage. Estelle was grumpy but grudgingly agreed to get a couple of bedrooms ready for them.

  “I don’t want those animals on the bed, though.” She shot a dark look at Benjy. “You make sure they stay on the floor.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said.

  An’gel, Dickce, along with Benjy and the animals, trooped upstairs after Estelle. She showed the sisters to a bedroom on the second floor, then led Benjy up to the third floor. When she returned to the sisters’ room, she carried fresh linens.

  “We’ll make up the bed,” Dickce told her. “I’m sure you have enough to do.”

  “And we certainly appreciate the hospitality,” An’gel said. “We’re concerned about the storm that’s coming, and we thought Willowbank would be safer than the cottages.”

  Estelle shrugged. “Don’t expect much in the way of dinner. We’ll be lucky if the electricity stays on. It was flickering on and off earlier.” She walked out of the room.

  An’gel and Dickce exchanged glances, then Dickce shrugged. “Even if the lights do go out, I’d rather be here,” she said.

  “Me, too.” An’gel started stripping the bed.

  The storm reached Willowbank about an hour later, and the old house shook from the force of it. An’gel and Dickce, along with Benjy, Endora, and Peanut, sought refuge downstairs in a small interior room that served as a den. Once part of a larger space that had been divided in two to allow an extension of the kitchen on the outer side, it was cozy and furnished with overstuffed chairs and two small sofas. The sisters planned to ride out the storm there. They were too nervous to eat anything, but Estelle popped in at one point to tell them food was available in the dining room.

  They did not see anyone else, though from Jackson they learned that Horace and Trey were in residence, along with Sondra and Tippy. Richmond Thurston had come back and then had been caught by the storm, and he would be staying the night as well.

  Benjy huddled with Peanut a
nd Endora on one sofa while the storm raged, with An’gel and Dickce sitting close together on the other. Conversation was ragged.

  The fury of the weather seemed to have chosen Willowbank as its target, or so it seemed to An’gel. The system must have stalled in the area, because the wind and rain lashed the mansion for nearly two hours. Finally, though, the noise began to lessen, the house stopped shivering, and An’gel breathed more easily.

  “Thank the Lord, I think it’s finally gone,” she said.

  Dickce nodded weakly. “About time.”

  “I’m going to check out front,” Benjy said. “If the rain really has slacked off, I’m going to let Peanut do his business.”

  “Good idea,” An’gel said. “I’m actually hungry now. Let’s go see if there’s anything edible in the kitchen, Sister.” She got up and motioned for Dickce to join her.

  “I’ll take Endora with me,” Dickce said. “I’m sure she doesn’t want to go out and get her paws wet.” She took the cat from Benjy, and Endora promptly climbed on Dickce’s shoulder.

  They all trooped out into the hall. An’gel and Dickce made for the kitchen while Benjy headed to the front door. An’gel and Dickce found the kitchen deserted. An’gel opened the refrigerator door to survey the contents.

  “There are some cold cuts here,” she said. “A bit of leftover chicken. Guess we can make sandwiches, if there’s bread.”

  Before Dickce could respond, they were both startled by the sudden entrance of Benjy and Peanut. Benjy’s face was pale.

  “There’s a body on the ground in front of the house.” His voice quavered. “I think it’s Sondra.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Dickce stared at Benjy, uncertain whether she had heard him correctly. “Sondra? Lying out there in the rain?”

  Benjy nodded. “Yes, ma’am. It is her. Wearing a blue dress.”

  Dickce felt a chill run down her spine. Sondra had threatened to wear a blue dress for her bridal gown. Was that the dress she had on?

  “Did you check to see if she was alive?” An’gel spoke harshly.

  “Yes, ma’am. I checked for a pulse, but there wasn’t any.” He grimaced. “She’s soaking wet. She must have been out there awhile during the storm.”

  A sudden shriek ripped the air, startling them all. The screaming continued. Endora dug her claws into Dickce’s shoulders, then launched herself onto a nearby shelf. Peanut tried to worm his way under the sofa, but it was too low to the floor to allow him. Dickce, An’gel, and Benjy hurried from the room, but Benjy paused long enough to shut the door to keep the animals securely inside. The screaming had begun to diminish in volume, and as they neared the front door, Dickce caught a glimpse of Estelle in the dim light on the verandah, hands over her eyes.

  Dickce almost collided with Jackson, hurrying in the same direction, but she managed to swerve just in time. Jackson scuttled over to the wall near the front door and flipped several switches. Light flooded the dark night outside.

  Dickce heard loud footsteps on the stairs before she stepped onto the verandah.

  “What the hell is going on?” Horace Mims demanded. He pushed past Dickce and the others to stride out the door. He grabbed Estelle and shook her lightly. “What are you screaming about?”

  “That.” Estelle pointed into the front yard, now brightly lit by floodlights set around the yard and on the front of the house.

  “Oh my lord,” Horace muttered.

  Trey pushed past his father and ran down the steps. He lost his balance and went stumbling onto his hands and knees on the wet lawn.

  Dickce stared at the body, a huddled mass, that lay about twenty feet from the verandah, near the center of the yard. She closed her eyes for a moment and prayed that Sondra really wasn’t dead, that Benjy had been mistaken.

  When she opened her eyes, she saw that Trey was on his feet again, moving more cautiously now. Within seconds he reached the body, and everyone heard his frantic orders to Sondra to wake up and get up off the ground.

  There was no response.

  By now Horace had reached his son, and he put a hand on the young man’s shoulder. Dickce moved to the railing to hear what was being said.

  “I don’t think there’s anything you can do for her now, son,” Horace said.

  Estelle turned to Dickce and An’gel, who had joined her sister at the railing.

  “I tried to warn everyone, but nobody would listen to me.” Her expression alarmed Dickce. The woman looked almost triumphant.

  “What do you mean?” An’gel demanded.

  Estelle flung out her arm and pointed. “That out there. Sondra. Lying there dead, just like Melusine Devereux all those years ago. The mighty storm last night took Sondra up and threw her to the ground, the way it did Melusine. Sondra went out on the balcony to see the storm, and the wind took her.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Dickce snapped, and An’gel echoed her.

  Estelle’s eyes narrowed. “If you think it’s so ridiculous, then why is Sondra lying out there dead in her bridal gown? Just like Melusine Devereux.”

  Dickce realized that there was little point in trying to reason with the woman, she was so obviously convinced that she was right. Dickce admitted to herself that the circumstances of Sondra’s death appeared to be similar to those of Melusine Devereux, but that had to be nothing more than bizarre coincidence.

  “I’ve called 911. The ambulance is on its way, along with the police.”

  Dickce turned to see Richmond Thurston step onto the verandah, cell phone in hand. He came to stand beside Dickce and An’gel and stared at Horace and Trey, still beside Sondra’s body. Horace was trying to pull his son away from the body, but Trey refused to go.

  Dickce was struck by the young man’s devotion to Sondra. Perhaps he really had been in love with her. She sighed. Then another thought struck her.

  What if his actions now were signs of remorse? According to what An’gel told her, he had made threats yesterday. What if he had argued with Sondra during the storm and thrown her out the window in a rage?

  Dickce wanted to pull An’gel aside to talk to her about it, but an interruption put an end to her speculations.

  “Whewe is Mommy?” a little voice inquired. “I’m hungwy. I want a dwink of water.”

  The poor baby, Dickce thought. She mustn’t be allowed to see her mother’s body out there on the lawn. She moved quickly to intercept Tippy, along with An’gel. Dickce moved in front of the child and bent her face toward Tippy’s. “Hi, Tippy. We haven’t met yet, but I’m your granny’s cousin Dickce, and this is my sister An’gel. Why don’t you come with us, and we’ll find you something to eat and a glass of water, okay?”

  Tippy, still dressed in pajamas and dragging a stuffed bear by the ear, regarded the sisters with a frown.

  “Okay,” she said after a moment. “I guess that would be okay. Mommy must be busy getting weady for de wedding tomowwow anyway.” She turned and headed for the kitchen.

  Dickce and An’gel hurried along behind her, exchanging glances as they went.

  Dickce breathed a bit more easily once they were in the kitchen. Tippy walked over to the table in the corner and climbed into one of the chairs. She settled the bear in the chair next to her.

  “What would you like to eat, Tippy?” An’gel asked.

  “I want ceweal,” she said. “And a banana and owange juice.”

  Relieved that the child’s choices should be simple ones to fulfill, Dickce started hunting through the cabinets to find cereal and a bowl. An’gel went to the refrigerator and rooted around for milk and orange juice. In short order, they gave Tippy her cereal and orange juice, then Dickce found a banana and peeled it.

  “Would you like me to cut it up for you, dear?” she asked.

  Tippy nodded. “Yes, pwease.” She scooped cereal and milk into her mouth and chewed.

  While Dickce cut up the banana, An’gel found a half-full pot of coffee, and she poured cups for herself and Dickce.

  Dickce acc
epted her coffee with a quick smile. She pulled out a chair across from Tippy and sat. An’gel chose a seat at the end of the table, to Dickce’s left. They watched the child eat for a moment. Tippy seemed content as she continued to work her way through the bowl of cereal.

  Dickce glanced at her watch and realized to her surprise that it was nearly nine o’clock. Why was the child out of bed at this hour? Surely she went to bed earlier than this. Perhaps, Dickce reflected, Estelle’s screaming woke her. She certainly didn’t appear to be affected by the storm that had passed over.

  Dickce noticed that An’gel was fidgeting with her coffee. That meant An’gel was restless, and Dickce knew her sister was anxious to go back to the scene at the front of the house. “Why don’t you go check on Benjy?” she suggested. “He might need help.”

  An’gel stood quickly. “Good idea. You don’t mind staying here?”

  “Not at all,” Dickce said. She loved small children, whereas An’gel felt uneasy around them. She was as curious as An’gel about what was going on out front, but she knew Tippy needed an adult with her and was content to watch her.

  An’gel hurried out of the kitchen, and Dickce watched Tippy eat. The child finished her cereal and pushed the bowl away. She reached for the saucer with the pieces of banana and examined them carefully before she chose a piece to pop into her mouth.

  “You haven’t introduced me to your friend.” Dickce nodded at the bear in the chair beside Tippy. “I’d like to say hello to him, but I don’t know his name.”

  “He can’t tawk.” Tippy stared at her for a moment. “But if you want to say hewwo to him, his name is Wance.” She stuck another slice of fruit in her mouth and chewed.

  Dickce was in a quandary. Was the bear’s name really Wance? With the child’s lisp, she wasn’t sure. Perhaps his name was Lance instead.

  “Oh, is he named after your mommy’s friend Lance?” Dickce asked.

  Tippy giggled. “Yes, Wance is siwwy wike my bear, and that’s why I named him Wance.” She regarded the bear with affection. “Siwwy bear.” She went back to eating her banana slices.